I can hear the birds chirping. Was the sun already setting?
"Mahina,"
I can hear a soft voice.
Where am I? Am I not inside of the green dome anymore?
"young Mahina, you need to wake up. We're here."
Here? Here where? The only thing I can see was a dark, blue sky with thousands of lighted stars. I can hear the winds softly swooshing, the grass underneath me followed it as well, tickling my skin and face delicately. My body felt numb yet relaxed. If only I can stay here just a bit longer.
"Mahina!"
Mahina…was that me?
"Mahina! Wake up!"
My mommy…
"MAHINA!"
!
The grassy-woman, who was now standing at her shortened height, stared down at me with a attitude that seemed confused and a bit impatient.
'Was I dreaming just now?'
I asked myself. The leaf probably disappeared. I felt the texture of the smooth, gray floor, and I knew I was at the known entryway of Belgium (which was no more). The grassy-woman bent down towards me. She titled her head, a tiny thorn moving a strand of my hair away from my face.
"Do humans sleep so hard that they are incompetent to hear other voices outside of their minds?"
I sat up, cracking my back.
"I guess so. I didn't realize that you were yelling out my name."
Hey, where's Phoenix?
"You were talking in your sleep."
She said, leaning back.
"I figured. I do that all the time, I don't know why."
I wasn't typically known to sleep quietly. Good thing that the grassy-woman kept me inside of that leaf dome. Otherwise she would've been in danger because of me. I drooled out of my mouth as well. I quickly wiped it before she noticed.
"That feeble creature, was she one of your companions?"
The grassy-woman asked.
"Oh, its a she?"
I said. If I knew that it was a she, I would've picked a more feminine name for her. Maybe instead of "Phoenix," I'll call her "Enix" or "Nix."
"Nix" sounds oddly familiar to someone…I'll just keep Phoenix for now. I gotten too familiar with that name already.
"Yes. You haven't realized that yet?"
I shook my head to the grassy-woman's concern.
"Hm, that's strange."
I sighed. Everything I do is strange to these beasts. Are you gonna tell me what happened to her or not?
"That sack you carry, is it her home?"
"..yes. I mean, I originally founded her inside of a washing machine."
I looked at the bag she mentioned. Phoenix was all curled up inside.
"She had eaten all of the bread. The water wasn't finished though."
"Yet, I've noticed something about the bread."
The grassy-woman uses a small thorn to slither inside of the opened bag. The thorn held a chunk of the bread, before shoving it in my face.
"You see?"
…
"Yeah. I see the colors."
The grassy-woman scoffed.
"No, I mean the texture. Look at it."
What was she trying to say?
"The texture of the bread is airy. Just by the one chunk I am holding, you'd know that the airy the dough, the well and healthy the bread is."
Airy…
When I first founded it, I didn't necessarily see any problem with the bread instead of white spots which were more likely the flour. So, if the bread was already in good condition and appeared airy,
"it's still fresh; which means that there is people out here. Your people."
That sounded a bit weird.
"Right."
I picked up my bag, zipping it up but leaving space for Phoenix's head.
"…hey, for the naming thingy,"
"What if I called you "Gia?"
The grassy-woman thought about it. The firelights in her eyes gazed down, considering if the name suited her. The name "Gia" is just a shorter name for "Gaia." I know that Gaia represents nature, but I didn't wanna use her full name.
"..I approve of that name. I'll carry the legacy of it."
Didn't think it was that serious.
"Well, I'm leaving."
…
"You should stay here and watch out for anything that comes."
I suggested.
"I simply cannot do that. The area that I claimed is the area I need to be located at all times."
Gia went quiet for a bit.
"…but, I can send singals. If I detect something unusual, I can cause the soil to vibrate to alert you."
I smiled, nodding.
"Thank you for your help."
"Be safe on your journey."
Gia's thorn spun inside of the soil. As she swam away underneath the soil, I turned around to start exploring the damaged area of Belgium. Was this even the entrance I was talking about?
Ding!
Oh, good, something useful.
-MISSION UPDATE: YOU HAVE SUCCESSFULLY LEFT THE TERRITORY OF THE BODYGUARD OF SOIL.-
-YOU'RE NOW IN THE BELGIUM AREA: KNOWN AS "MENIN GATE BRIDGE.-
'Menin Gate…'
"Phoenix, you up?"
She wasn't. She sure likes to sleep a lot. Maybe I'll scratch the nickname of "mewl" and call her "lazy-bones."
I sighed. Looks like I'm alone once again.
Anyways. My goal in Belgium is to find out what the red circle on the map means. When I ripped out that map behind the magazine, I noticed that at least four circles were jotted down. The fifth one was too transparent for me to make out the details.
But I did manage to locate the four circles.
"Second, New Zealand."
"Third, Canada."
"And fourth, Japan."
Why were these all so far? I never had to walk to so many places. Well, maybe that's because I didn't go out too much. My mother restricted me for exploring outside the world because a lot of dangerous events would happen there. Too many fights, too many deaths, too many "accidents" involving other people. She didn't wanna let me see such things knowing I couldn't comprehend it.
I mean, I was just a little baby, so I don't blame her. My mother isn't as ruthless as people make her out to be.
She's just not that open.
It was pretty silent. The only thing that filled my mind was my footsteps and Phoenix's shallow breathing. I ignored the gurgling sound that was coming from my stomach. I was pretty hungry, but I refused to eat anything that would came in my way. Phoenix needed it more than me.
"If I remembered correctly, the map said to turn…left."
I said, heading towards an alley way that was still intact. It was a dark path with walls that are almost too close.
I struggled to fit through the cramped walls. I tried not to hurt or squish Phoenix in the process. I almost fell on my face when I forced myself to push through outside of the cramped walls.
"Is this even from this area? It said nothing about a alley."
People usually write on maps about how they were going to execute their plan to get to certain goals. But, what if this person didn't want others to know where they were headed? Smart choice. I just took a guess that they went through this alley way. It was the only thing that was on my left.
!
Oh, another item!
It was a medium-sized dagger that had a rosary chain attached to it. Catholics and Christians would be wearing this; was the person who dropped one of the two?
I put it inside of my pocket.
Ding!
-YOU HAVE OBTAINED THE "ROSARY HAIL.-
-THE "ROSARY HAIL" IS CONSIDERED TO BE A C-TIER WEAPON.-
You know, ever since I mentioned the mission-information giving problem to Gia, the messages are now giving me a little information than just a few words.
"Hm. That's right. You better give me more details."
I continued to walk. I felt a bit paranoid. A sudden shiver went down my spine, leaving my breath to become shallow. I can't understand this feeling, or explain it properly, but I knew it was for a good reason too. Throughout my missions, I never felt this way before.
Buttttt I was so far into this journey I couldn't give up now.
-The author decides to fast-forward to the next scene. Mahina has completed her journey by climbing up loads of stockades, pushing through tight spaces and cramped alleyways, tripping over rocks and scraping her palms or knees against the rocky surfaces of cliffs. Mahina is on the path of fully completing her journey by pushing through the pain and uncomfortable conditions. All to get to her one goal.-
-remaining back to the scene.-
I needed a moment to catch my breath. I guess the map didn't really wanna specify what was coming ahead, huh?
I pulled out the crumbled map out of my pocket. I didn't know exactly where I was, but I had a feeling I was close. The fresh wound of my palm was smeared on the paper. Without proper hand wear, you already know I was falling back on the ground multiple times.
I fell on my stomach too during the attempts. Again, I didn't wanna hurt Phoenix. I can't believe she wasn't awake during this.
If I knew saving the planet had to deal with getting knee scrapes or having to climb up high walls or cliffs, or falling flat on my face and stomach just so that a baby Ailouros wouldn't get hurt, then I knew for sure that the old stubborn little me wouldn't dare to think taking this job.
"Alright…"
My hand pushed my body up with the support of my knee slowly.
"Time..to enter the cave."
Yeah. All of that led to a cave. Here I thought it was gonna be the pathway to the Sacred island of Delos or something.
I stride cautiously inside the cave. My hand was placed on the halt of sword. If only I had a flashlight. I can't see anything here. The only support I had was the stony, rough walls inside of the cave.
"Yeah, 'mysterious mentor.' How about you mysteriously guide to my goal?"
"Meow.."
Hm?
My head peeked over my shoulder, noticing that Phoenix was wiggling around in the bag. I took off the bag and unzipped it.
"What's wrong, Phoenix? Did you wanna leave?"
I grabbed the water bottle from the bag, holding Phoenix's head by the neck as the water flowed gently inside of her mouth. Well, hopefully it did. I couldn't see anything in here!
I stopped once Phoenix creased her tiny paw against my finger. I can hear her tongue licking her nose thanks to the light vibration of the echoes inside of the cave. I can also hear her shuffling outside of the bag.
"Meow.."
I stared down to where I assumed she was standing at.
"Meowww…"
And just then: I could've sworn I saw a flicker.
"Phoenix, what are you.."
My words were immediately cut off. Phoenix's fur, that same knotted fur that was now all dried and puffy, was glowing a soft hue of red.
Was she already awakening a ability? The first time I saw her yesterday—she was so little and frail. She still is, but that's not the point.
The soft red hue was dim, but it was still enough to produce a good amount of light. Phoenix began to pur. Her paws lightly tapped on my hand, and those big rounded black pupils just staring at me with such intensity that I don't know if I should take my eyes off of them.
She began to walk. She turned her head, expecting me to follow.
"…y-yeah! Let's go!"
I couldn't help but to express my excitement with a wide smile. I cannot believe that I was actually raising a baby Ailouros! At first, I honestly thought it was just a normal baby creature, but turns out that the gods proven me wrong.
'A baby Ailouros already unleashing its power…the stars are really shining today!'
I followed closely behind Phoenix. Oh my stars, I can't help but just to smile. My first time taming a soon-to-be a grown Ailouros. I wasn't sure how to handle beasts or small creatures. I thought that those types of animals just didn't suit me.
Yet, now here I was, my own Ailourous guiding me to the path of the goal. Oh my little baby, Phoenix!
Phoenix took a right. She was confident in her strides. Her tail swooshed back and forth, her loud purrs echoed in the void of the cave. Did she even know where I was heading to? What if her next ability was to understand different languages?
"Meow!"
Phoenix stopped.
A pile of rocks. However. between the cracks, purple light peeked through.
"Is this the goal?"
I asked, turning my head towards Phoenix, who was staring at me as she sat down.
My dried-bloody hand touched the texture of the rocks. They were smooth. As if they were clay instead of rocks. They weren't too huge, so it was easy to move them without trouble. I started to carefully remove them. I started from the top, removing them piece by piece.
That's when I stopped.
'Why can I hear groaning?'
My movements sped up more. The little the stack the pile got, the more I can see the purple light inside. When the rock pile was no more, the thing I saw in there surprised me.
"Muu…"
All I can see was a tiny, white creature with a withered wing that looked like it was ripped or chomp off. The creature had a bunny-shape face structure, with teeth that were bucked but sharp. The tiny, white creature was quivering—hugging its body to produce its own warmth—
This was the goal. To find the Ethereal Future.
Actually, I don't know what it's called. I'm just making up stuff.
"Hey, are you okay?"
I asked, Phoenix coming to lick the creatures face. The tiny, white creature jumped by the sudden lick.
"AHHH!!! NO, NO, NO! GET AWAY FROM ME YOU WILD BEASTS!"
The creature was kicking its tiny feet, screaming at the top of its of lungs. I held my hands up to hold it down. I grabbed its little arms, grunting as it kept squirming. Phoenix was just sitting there with her ears all flared down.
"Stop…it!… I'm not trying to fight!"
The creature huffed. Its furry chest was raising up and down with its pink eyes with golden pupils just staring at me with fear.
"What?—"
The creature stopped.
"A human?"