A few miles away from the jungle, in a quaint seaside village, in the home of a little old woman and her littler pet parrot, Dreadlilocks and Lucid Fright stared out the window of the small bedroom they had been given for the night.
“C-can’t sleep, huh…?” said Lucy from her chair.
Dreadli sat up on the bed. “No, I can’t…I’m too worried. And guilty…while we’re sitting here together, safe and warm, Miss Pitch could be anywhere in the world. And Mr. Azor might be dead…”
“I don’t think he would have d-died from that. He’s very strong.”
“But there were so many phantasms…anything could have happened. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to sleep again until I’m sure they’re okay…!”
“If only it were that s-simple for me…” Lucy leaned back in her chair. “Y’know, I kinda liked being unconscious for a little while, when we suddenly got sent here. I’d almost forgotten what it f-felt like to wake up…it’s nice~.”
“…I wonder if we should really go see this ‘Navigator’ person tomorrow,” Dreadli mused, not paying any attention. “Can we really go to the moon just by ourselves…?”
“Well, that’s how we started.”
“But after seeing what the phantasms can do when they’re serious, I’m scared to go without at least one of the grown-ups. Aren’t you scared to go??”
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“Hey, I’m only f-four or five years younger than Pitch. You can count me as a grown-up if it m-makes you feel better.”
“Oh, but…you don’t know how to do anything…”
Lucy stuck her tongue out in response, but Dreadli was too busy staring out the window to notice.
She focused her eyes on the trees in the distance, as if sheer willpower would force some familiar authority figure to materialize there. Pitch, Azor…Papa Bear or Mama Bear…
And eventually, she did see something. Something that made her eyes widen and her breath catch in her throat.
“L-Lucy…” she said. “I think the phantasms followed us here…!”
Lucy joined her at the window, and she pointed to a shadowy figure, weaving through the bushes. It was a bit difficult to track in the darkness, and after a few seconds it disappeared from their sight. But both girls were sure they hadn’t imagined it.
“We should g-go after it,” said Lucy. “It could attack someone…!”
“…I guess if we can’t sleep, we might as well,” Dreadli replied hesitantly. “But we don’t have our weapons anymore…”
“S-so we’ll find stuff on the way!”
~~
The girls quietly slipped out of the house and headed for the trees. As they went, Lucy picked up a rake, promising to return it to no one in particular.
Dreadlilocks suddenly remembered her golden pistol, and a quick survey of her dress pockets revealed that it was indeed still there. Slowly, she pulled it into her grip.
The phantasm was nowhere to be found in the spot where they had seen it, but the girls continued to hunt for it in the dark, holding hands in order to stay together.
After a few minutes, Dreadli was ready to suggest going back…when suddenly, something roughly gripped her free arm.
“A bit young to be carrying a gun, aren’t you…?” said a voice.
Dreadli yelped as her pistol was ripped from her grasp. Lucy gasped and dropped her rake.
“…S-see, I told you he wasn’t dead! Hi, Mr. Azor!!” she exclaimed.
Sure enough, Azor was standing before them in the moonlight, holding the golden pistol.