"Al, do it now!"

Sprawled at the feet of the girls in the dank cave were countless decaying corpses with yellow skin and tattered clothes, and Lenoria had just punched a shambling corpse to incapacitation. Out of their sockets were all manner of plant life, ranging from daisies to dandelions and green vines. The corpses had been entangled with vinelike tendrils, and all of them could be traced to a single source.

A giant green plant with numerous yellow flowers growing at the bulb and countless tendrils that wriggled in place sat at the end of the cave.

The girls weaved as Alistair charged with his new weapon, a two-handed hammer, and struck the bulb with a heavy swing. The plant hissed and screeched a dying cry as it released a cloud of yellow pollen into the air. Alistair remembered to cover his mouth and nostrils and stepped away to leave the plant monster on its death throes. Once it stopped moving, he breathed a sigh of relief and congratulated the girls with a high five.

"We did it," Lenoria cheered as the gang immediately vacated the area. Clara had informed them beforehand that the monster they faced - the yellow musk creeper - reproduced by inserting its tendrils into a victim's head, simultaneously killing them and planting its seeds in the brain, resulting in the walking corpses they faced just now. Should the walking corpse break away at any point, they would seek a suitable place before they collapse and fall apart to plant the seeds in their bodies. The pollen the main plant released often entranced unwitting victims long enough for the plant to start the process.

They exited out of the cave and back to the mountain trail. The temperature had dropped the higher they had gone up, so there were no qualms when it was time to put on their winter outfits. Alistair wore thick brown furs over his banded mail and head, while Clara wore a simple coat over her chain shirt. Lenoria's outfit, which was a gift from her mother, was a pair of black leggings, a long-sleeved pure white blouse, and an orange vest on top of the blouse. Having made enough money, she made sure to enchant her armor with the outfit so that she would look stylish for every battle.

When Alistair protested she wore too little for a hike to the mountains, Lenoria countered with a simple beige overcoat that covered everything, topped with a beige ushanka for the head. She couldn't get the black boots she wanted, but she settled for dying her fingerless gloves black.

"When those Blue Jays end up in prison, they're gonna know who sent them there," Lenoria would say.

The gang went back to the mountain druid who hired them for the job, an old and haggard man, short and stout, who was more than eager to reward them for a job well done. A dwarf.

"Thank you. Please take this," the druid said as he handed over a sack of money.

"Thank you so much," Lenoria said as she grabbed the sack, but she instantly dropped to the ground along with the sack as soon as the druid released it. "Ow."

Rewards

Took down 15 yellow musk zombies (CR 1/2 each) and a yellow musk creeper (CR 2): 535 XP for each party member.

Received 2,300 gp

Experience

Lenoria: 17,110/23,000

Clara: 17,020/23,000

Alistair: 30,020/34,000

"It's a hefty amount," Alistair commented. "Are you sure?"

The druid nodded. "If you hadn't arrived, that monster would have taken more people and scattered them across the mountains to reproduce. If we don't cull them regularly, they become a problem for the ecosystem and a danger to travelers." He stretched his arms. "This old body can't fight as it did in its heyday, but I can at least pluck the seeds, burn them, and give those bodies a proper burial."

"We can help," Alistair offered.

"Thank you, young man, but I can handle myself. This is a job for an old man like me, not for youngsters like you."

"Alrighty then, thanks for the money!" Lenoria grabbed Alistair's hand and pulled him away. The lad wanted to insist on helping but elected to follow Lenoria's lead instead. She led her companions down the mountain trail back to the wagon, where Chestnut and Tsukuyomi patiently waited for them.

Once they were out of the druid's earshot, Alistair pulled his hand away. "Was that necessary?"

"You heard the old guy. It wasn't our job, so there's no reason to stick around. If we insisted, he would have been too proud to let us do it for free, and I didn't want to bleed him dry."

Alistair seemed less irritated and blushed with embarrassment. "I didn't think of it that way. Still, I'd hate to leave him alone."

Clara patted the paladin on the shoulder. "He should be fine. From the way he spoke about the yellow musk creeper, he must have been doing this for a while."

"But-"

"Look at it this way." Lenoria opened the flap on the back of the wagon. "I've seen you carry a bunch of things. What do you do when one of us offers to help?"

"I say, 'Out of the question, I can handle this.'" Alistair immediately understood where Lenoria was getting at. "Oh."

Lenoria displayed a victorious smirk. She clasped his chin between her index finger and thumb and moved it side to side tenderly. "And we love you for it, you big, strong man."

"Alright, alright. I'll drop it." He sighed. "He can handle himself."

Lenoria released him. She smiled sweetly, albeit still keeping a trace of her earlier smugness. "If it makes you feel better, we'll pay him a visit when we return."

Alistair gave it some thought. "I have a feeling you're mocking me."

"Nope. I just don't want my sweetie to be left unheard." The trio boarded the wagon and sat on the driver's seat. Flicking the reins, they once again made their way forward.

***

26th of Cobre, 6pm, 1659

The path eventually led into a tunnel. Numerous green torchlights illuminated the inside, giving the path an eerie feel.

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"Everburning torches," Clara pointed out. "Whoever was in charge of building this tunnel must have been a mage of some kind. Instead of having to relight these torches every few hours, they reduced the cost of labor and manpower by lighting up this tunnel permanently."

"Mundane, but useful," Alistair commented.

Lenoria contemplated on the journey thus far while Alistair steered the wagon carefully towards the exit of the tunnel, which was several twists and turns away. To break the monotony of the silence, Clara grabbed her guitar and strummed a few tunes just as they made the final turn. The light from the exit was at least hundreds of feet away, and a sweet scent lingered in the air as the tunnel became foggy. This concerned Alistair, but not by a lot after realizing he could see through the fog.

"Al said he was going back to his noble house once we settled in Goodsprings. How long will it be before I see him again?" Placing her elbow on the armrest, Lenoria rested her head on the palm of her hand. "I'll ask him if I can come along, but I won't hold it against him if he says no. It's only been a week since we got together, and some time apart can do some good, anyway. It's not like I should expect him to make a risky move on me anytime soon."

Lenoria nearly tipped over the wagon when she felt a sudden force on her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She recognized Alistair's incense scent on the heavy weight leaning against her body.

"Oh my gosh, I wasn't thinking out loud, was I?"

"Zzzzz."

A sense of both relief and disappointment washed Lenoria's anxieties way. She instinctively caught the reins just as Alistair released them. "Poor guy. He must be tired."

"That's odd." Clara set her guitar aside. "We just woke up a couple of hours ago. He shouldn't that tired."

The girls nearly fell off as the wagon came to a sudden stop. Chestnut whinnied before bending his feet and lied on the ground on his side.

Lenoria shook her fist. "Chestnut, you jerk! Why did you stop?"

"I better check on him." Clara hopped off the wagon. She looked back at Alistair, who unconsciously lied on a fetal position and used Lenoria's lap as a pillow. "You two, uh, get comfortable."

"P-please hurry." Hiding her face with her hands, Lenoria didn't want anyone to see her. She could feel Alistair's scratchy chin nuzzling against her thighs, which had her open a gap between her middle and index fingers out of curiosity. Lenoria nearly jumped when she saw Alistair facing her, eyes closed and snoozing peacefully.

"Please...don't...leave," he said weakly in his sleep.

Hearing Alistair's softened voice eased Lenoria's nervousness enough to use a hand to comb through his hair. "O-on second thought, please take your time."

"Alistair is so lucky." Clara marched over to Chestnut and called out to him. "Chestnut, you're...not alright, are you?" She gave him a pat on the rump to wake him. "Hey, look what I got? Sugar cubes! Your favorite, right?"

Clara just so happened to have Alistair's jar of sugar cubes with her and rattled it with a wrist motion. The cubes clashing with the jar should have been enough to rouse him from his slumber, but Chestnut peacefully slept in the middle of the tunnel.

There was a flowery fragrance in the air Clara assumed was roses. When she couldn't see the tunnel exit anymore, something just clicked in her brain. "The fog's grown thicker." The tunnel had grown quiet. "Lenoria!"

The elven girl jogged quickly back to the wagon. Besides Lenoria and Alistair, there was a third silhouette hovering above them. She stopped immediately, and feared the worst since her weapons were back at the wagon. "The enemy?"

"Take a closer look, Clara," Apus suddenly said to her.

"Apus! I'm so happy to see you!" Taking Apus's suggestion, Clara ran through the fog and back to the wagon, seeing a familiar black dress hovering in the air. "Pearl!"

Upon seeing Clara, Pearl made an aerial dash to the elf's location. "What happened? Why are these two asleep?"

"Good to see you, too," Clara said, narrowing her eyes at Pearl. "Where were you?"

"I was meditating. What-" A green glint pierced through Lenoria's left pocket. "The Soulstone? That means another user is nearby. I'll need to realign my focus to it. Just a moment."

Pearl snatched the Soulstone from out of Lenoria's pocket and closed her eyes as she wrapped her fist around it. The Soulstone shined intensely, and soon enough Pearl's body did as well.

"It's just as I feared; you have been attacked by Cassiopeia again. I can detect their energy not far from here."

"Cassiopeia? The one who left that...bud inside Alistair?"

Pearl nodded. "The one and the same. The purpose for my meditation is to scan the skies for any sign of the other Soulstones, but it seems I didn't detect it on time."

"Pearl, I know you woke up recently, but it's hard to believe a Soulstone flew under your radar."

Pearl sighed. "The easiest way to explain how my meditation works is to compare it to stargazing. You spend so much time looking at what's out there that it gets difficult to stay aware of your immediate surroundings."

Clara did not like the answer, but she was satisfied for the time being. "That's just great. Any idea on why they're here?"

"None. Whoever their user is, they must have decided to take the fight to us. This fog around us must be their doing. It induces sleep as long as one breathes it." Pearl scanned the area. Thanks to her vision, she was able to locate another path just a stone's throw to the right. "The fog is coming from there. We have to exit the tunnel and come up with a plan."

Clara, however, had a different idea in mind. "Tsukuyomi!"

The mechanical eidolon wasted no time to make a giant leap over the wagon and landed right next to his mistress, the seismic landing leaving a small crater on the tunnel pavement. With him, he had Clara's bag in hand and handed it over to her.

"You're not thinking about going in there, are you? You might get killed," Pearl warned.

"I can't think of anything else. Even if we take them out of the tunnel, anyone coming from behind us could be affected. I can't leave things like this if I can do something about it." Clara carefully dug through her bag, strapping the case of iron bolts to her belt and loaded her crossbow with one of them. "Nothing Cassiopeia does can put me to sleep. I'm the only one who can put a stop to this."

"Clara, if you go, there's a chance you won't return. We know very little about Cassiopeia. Their power could be much stronger than Apus!"

"If I don't fight them now, they could sneak up on us at any time. And if they sneak up on us and grab our Soulstones, then your mission will come to an abrupt end!" Clara's infuriated speech pushed Pearl back a little. "Don't you get it?! if I go in, the worst that can happen is that Apus ends up in their hands. But if we do nothing, we risk a back attack and may end up losing everything! Not only that, but Alistair was already under Cassiopeia's influence before. With all the fog he's breathed in, who's to say he won't be affected again if we don't take care of this now?"

The mood altered so quickly for Pearl that she was at a loss for words. "She makes a good point. She's not the same naive girl I met back at the Guild. If Cassiopeia's powerful enough to overpower even myself, we stand no chance. She's prepared herself to die here if she must." Gritting her teeth, Pearl had one last warning for Clara. "If you do go in and lose, we'll end up losing everything, anyway. If we run, we might stand a chance."

"I don't plan on losing. I promise to get to the bottom of this. If I fight, I'm fighting to win. But even if something happens to me, not all will be lost." Clara grabbed Tsukuyomi's hand to get his attention. "Tsukuyomi, if anything happens to me, grab my Soulstone and run. With your power, I'm sure you can get Al and Lenoria to safety. We'll have to leave Chestnut behind, but I know Alistair can recall him as soon as he wakes up. I'll try to hold on for as long as I can." She turned back to Pearl. "You said they'll stay asleep as long as they keep breathing in the fog, right? If we take them out of it, then that should be enough to wake them up."

"R-right," Pearl said, still dumbfounded.

"You're doing a brave thing," Apus said. "Please use my power if this enemy gains the upper hand."

Clara nodded. "That's the plan. Thank you, Apus." Strapping her guitar around her left shoulder, Clara strummed a few beats to make sure it was working. She glanced over at Alistair and Lenoria, both snoozing peacefully, and smiled. She decided to give both of them a hug, one at a time, at least as best as she could, given their seating arrangements.

"What happened while I was gone," Pearl finally asked.

"A lot. If I don't make it, Lenoria will fill you in. You better tell her what happened." Clara could only see so much with her eyesight, but she tried to pinpoint the direction Pearl pointed earlier. "That way, right?"

"Yes. And Clara," Pearl called out to the elf when she took a step forward, "please be careful."

"I will." Nodding to Tsukuyomi, both dashed to the hidden path with Apus flying right behind them. Clara blindly touched the tunnel walls until she found the entrance, and continued her jog once she figured out the new tunnel was smaller but free of debris. Clutching her guitar, she fondly looked back on her adventure so far. "Tizoc. Aquamarine. You both taught me so much in such a short amount of time. Please send some prayers, good thoughts, anything. I really need them."

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Clara and Tsukuyomi

image [https://i.imgur.com/fHTE6YQ.png]

image [https://i.imgur.com/5oppXC8.png]