Chpt. 46) End Mission Reports

I soon left the rooftop and returned to our motel with Yuki on my shoulders. When I opened the door, I saw Guru Shi’en sitting cross-legged at the foot of Haze’s bed. He cracked an eye open and looked at me sidelong. “What have you been up to since we separated?” he asked me. Shrugging, I told him about my brief exchange with Shiro’s sister and the spirit bell. He raised an eyebrow at my short tale and nodded thoughtfully as though considering his next words.

When he said nothing for a moment, I asked, “How’s Haze doing?”

“I’m doing fine, kid,” came a groan from under the covers. Haze popped her head out, still looking sickly, “So, you received a spirit bell. That’s a rare gift to have.”

“It is indeed,” Guru Shi’en agreed, “I know of only three people in all of history to have received a spirit bell. And now you make four.”

My eyes bulged at that, “I’m the fourth! Who were the others?”

Guru Shi’en thought momentarily, “The first was god emperor Buffet. He was known for creating peace wherever he traveled. The second was a blind man a thousand or so years ago. I forget his name. The third you actually know, Lady Sheji, received hers when she became a Grandmaster. Of all of them, you are the youngest to receive one. So, be honored.”

I rubbed a finger along the bell, now understanding the object’s importance. Yuki licked my cheek, and I smiled, “I am honored to have this. I think it means more than even I know.”

Guru Shi’en got to his feet with a chuckle and said, “Good, now Hazaizil, you are to stay in bed until I come to wake you tomorrow. Then we leave for Nexus. Am I understood, Hazaizil?”

“Yeah,” Haze groaned and rolled over in the bed.

Guru Shi’en nodded and turned to me, “Don’t let her leave the bed. And when we get back to Nexus, I’m giving you two special training. So, look forward to that.”

I snapped into a salute and said, “SIR, YES, SIR!” Guru Shi’en chuckled heartily and walked past me and out the door. The moment the door closed, Haze threw her blankets off and tried to stand. I reacted instantly and lunged at her, grabbing her shoulders and forcing her back to bed.

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“Damn it, Zeana! Let me up!” Haze protested weakly.

“No!” I said, and once Haze was back down on the bed, I pointed to her chest and said, “Lay down.” Yuki yapped and jumped onto Haze’s chest, curling up into a ball of floof, and laid on Haze’s chest with one rubellite eye staring into Haze’s orange eyes.

Haze sighed and stopped resisting, “Why do you have to fight dirty?”

“Because my master is stubborn,” I countered, walking over to my bed. Taking off my clothes and putting on my pajamas, I climbed into bed and said, “Goodnight, all.”

“Goodnight,” Haze sighed and flapped her blanket back over herself. I closed my eyes and began cycling to replenish my nearly empty cores as I drifted to sleep.

***

The moon hung in the night sky high above the world, its pale blue light illuminating the world around me. I looked around and saw Haze, Yuki, Scarlet, Jax, Xiao, Cami … and Shiro. They all stared at me with blank expressions in their eyes. A dark figure appeared behind, weaved out of the darkness. The figure reached toward the moon and plucked the rays of moonlight out of the air, casting the world in total darkness. One by one, rays of blue moonlight pierced everyone’s chest, and they crumbled to dust.

I tried to scream. I tried to stop it. But I couldn’t move. I could hardly breathe. Then, a sultry female voice whispered in my ears, “Choose wisely.” And a ray of moonlight shot right between my eyes.

I awoke with a start, my body drenched in sweat, and my breathing hurried and ragged. Clutching at my chest, I tried to slow my breathing and calm myself down. “Are you all right?” Fangbao asked in my mind.

‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ I respond, ‘Just a bad dream.’

“Would you like to talk about it?” Apollo asked, concern evident in his voice.

‘No, I’m fine. Really. It was just a nightmare, nothing more.’

“Worried,” Crucible stated.

I chuckled, ‘Thanks for the concern, everyone. Honestly, I am grateful. But I need to get back to sleep now.’

“Of course,” Apollo said, then added, “One question though, what happened to your body?”

I raised an eyebrow at the question and looked down at myself. My eyes widened as I saw something unexpected. I grew. I grew a lot. My feet touched the end of the bed, and my arms and body were longer with more defined muscles. My clothes no longer fit me and only went halfway down my legs, and my shirt looked like it had a mid-drift, showing my six-pack abs.

Standing up quickly, I looked down and guessed my height to be two meters tall. Even my hair changed. It grew out and hung down to my waist, and at the ends of my hair, instead of being ginger red into white like a fox’s tail, it went from ginger red to a light blue and then into a dark blue like Yuki’s tail.

I need to fix this now. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on my body and felt myself shrink and return to normal. I quickly examined myself and saw that everything but my hair returned to what it was when I went to sleep. I shook my head, perplexed. How did this happen? Was I sleep-shifting and creating an ideal body for myself or something? Or was this a freak growth spurt? Either way, I’m too tired to figure it out right now.

Crawling back into bed, I told Apollo and the other spirits in my head that I had no idea what had happened and that it was a mystery for another time. They accepted the answer and let me try and get more sleep.

***