Morning had arrived, it was 6:30 AM, and they were still at the house. Mathias and Samantha had stayed with the little girl to make sure she could sleep peacefully. Seeing a monster and witnessing its brutal death was not something a child should have to endure.
|||||
“Why state the obvious?” Eliah remarked.
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By this time, TRX and Blocky had rejoined the group. They had also discovered that the two graves outside belonged to Aelin’s mother and grandfather. Aelin had mentioned them in her sleep, her tone tinged with sadness.
Mat had also discussed his “new power” with Samantha, the ability to manipulate rocks, but she didn’t understand how he had it either. The fact that he could manipulate stones in a certain way reminded Mat of the pastor’s ability.
While Aelin slept with Roundy, the group gathered outside the house.
“So…” Mat began. “That thing was a real monster, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” Blocky confirmed.
“And that is…” Samantha prompted.
“A creature born from people’s fears, taking the form of creatures created by humans. It doesn’t necessarily look like the fear it represents. Moreover, there isn’t just one; there are several, so even if you defeat one, more will keep coming,” Pointy explained.
“Oh, I see…” Mat said. Sounds like a dictionary entry... But it doesn’t matter. “So… what do we do now?”
“Find the temple,” TRX replied.
“Yes, we know that, but… how? It’s supposed to be around here, but… it’s difficult to search for it in the middle of the forest,” Samantha said. “It will take us quite some time, which we don’t…”
“We do have quite a bit of time,” Blocky said. “Until the 23rd, right?”
“Of November, yes,” Pointy confirmed. “But the sooner we find it, the better, so let’s get moving.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“Okay, okay, but the most important thing is… what do we do with the girl? We can’t leave her alone,” Mathias said.
TRX, Trixxie, or Trixy looked up at the sky for some reason.
“I’d like to take her with us, but… is it okay to do that? Besides, she seemed to have powers too… but…” Samantha said.
“She also seems a bit… odd. Did you see her ears and hair color?” Mat added. “Besides that, the aura she emits is strange, like she has two auras or something. I can’t quite describe it.”
“...I don’t quite get the last part, but yes,” Samantha agreed.
“Well, Hero,” TRX said. “If you want to take her, there’s no problem, although… we’ll be a lot of people, and you’ll have to protect her too.”
“I see…” Mat said. “Well… Sam, what do you think?”
“And why are you making me decide?” Sam said, slightly exasperated. “But… I’d take her, but we still don’t know if she has other family or anything…”
“That… we’ll find out later. For now, I’ll check if she’s still asleep so we can all have breakfast together,” Mat said.
“Ah, then I’ll go too,” Samantha said.
“Go ahead,” Pointy said. “We’ll stay here for a while, checking out the place.”
“I’ve never been in a forest like this,” Blocky commented out of the blue.
“Well,” Mat said.
They went back into the house.
Inside, Aelin was still asleep. Mathias and Samantha stayed in the room, waiting for her to wake up. In that time, Mat realized something.
She seems familiar… even her name…
After a while, Aelin woke up.
“Good morning,” Sam said, smiling.
They proceeded to have breakfast. TRX and the others also entered the small house. They took food from the Infini-Bag. Everyone ate, and Aelin found TRX and the others' eating habits amusing. Mat and Sam found it unsettling.
Samantha decided to ask the bag for a map of the area.
“Yes, let’s do that,” Mat said.
“I don’t think it can do that,” Pointy said. “It only provides specific items.”
“I see…” Mat said as he grabbed the Infini-Bag.
“Yes!” Blocky exclaimed. “I tried it before and didn’t get anything… HUH?”
“So… where is this? Loreto?” Mat asked.
“Loreto? Let me see…” Samantha said. “This… Wait. We’re in the Amazon rainforest in Peru.”
“Wait, wait, wait…” Blocky said. “What the heck? Why did it give you something and not me? Why!?”
“H-hey, I don’t know. Get off me,” Mat said.
Aelin giggled at the situation.
Oh, and by the way, after finding out the approximate location, they realized there were no towns near the house. They were “near” a city called Iquitos.
|||||||
“Ah! Hey, that’s where my...” Eliah started.
“Shhh… Don’t say anything,” I interrupted.
“Huh? Why not?” Alaya asked. “I don’t understand…”
“Just because.”
“…Alright,” Eliah said.
||||||||
After breakfast, Samantha tried to ask Aelin if she had any relatives, but she only reiterated what they already knew: that her mother and grandfather had passed away. She also mentioned that she didn’t know her father, or at least she hadn’t met him. She told them that she was the one who buried her grandfather at his request when he was sick, asking her to do it after he had been dead for several hours.
In addition, she said she didn’t know anyone else. TRX and the others went out after eating, thanking everyone for the meal.
After saying all that, she seemed on the verge of tears. Samantha tried to comfort her, and yes, she “tried.”
This is all so tragic, but… why were they living so far from the city? There don’t even seem to be any towns nearby…
She calmed down after a while, when Mat managed to soothe her. He then said:
“So… we’re going to leave for a while.”
“No! Please… don’t leave me… I’ll be good, I promise…” sobbing “I’ll be good!”
“Huh? B-but we’re going to take you…”
“Ah… R-really…?”
“Yes, yes… stop crying,” Sam said.
She moved closer and patted her gently. Aelin hugged her.
“Uh… am I doing this right?”
“I-I suppose.”
Moments before, when Aelin was crying, outside:
“W-what’s going on in there?” TRX asked.