Maya!?

Me: "Well, what is it?"

My phone(Noah): "There's... I think there's a river. I could hear water streaming faintly from somewhere nearby."

A river?

Me: "Good enough. So Noah, listen to me. Don't go anywhere. I'll come to get you soon."

My phone(Noah): "Well, you better do it quick. If anything happens to me, I'll kill you myself.."

Me: "Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, princess."

We're both chuckled at the same time.

My phone(Noah): "But how are you going to find me? Who knows how far the current from the flood had drifted and separated us from the cave. We could possibly be miles away from each other right now."

That's true. To be honest, I'm not sure myself that if I'm capable of finding him in such a short time.

Me: "...Your phone. Remember about the Magic Network? I could track it through my phone that was already linked to yours. So just stay wherever you are right now as I go search for you."

My phone(Noah): "Got it. And I know that you're not good with the forest yet but just.... Be safe."

I could hear his voice, ample with concerns from the other side of the phone.

Me: "Yeah, you too, Noah."

I ended the call.

I looked at the screen and slid my thumb on it, tapping it on the Settings app.

As it opens its contents thus displaying bunches of options of settings on the screen, I tap my finger swiftly on the one that shows 'Track Devices'.

Without any help from the satellite on my side, the process of searching for Noah's phone takes a bit more time than I'd expected.

[Searching...]

...

Ah, this is taking too much time!

Anything could have happened to Noah right now if I hadn't been quick on finding him.

Then I remembered that the network was originally created by my aura so I calmly concentrate and transfer more of my aura directly to my phone.

A soft beeping sound generated from the phone.

[Searching complete: 1 device has been located nearby approximately 1.3km]

It worked!

Well... I mean, of course it would work. Why wouldn't it?.... Ehem.

...Anyway, Noah was right.

1.3 kilometres? That's quite far.

It would take me right about 14 minutes to get there by walking.

I proceed by tapping my finger on the small button below the notification which said 'Show the location' as the screen simultaneously changes graphically into a GPS radar with a long blue line emitted, leading to the small red spot which supposes to be Noah's current location.

Right, it's time to move. No need to waste more time.

I turn on the flashlight feature from my phone as it illuminates the path that leads straight to Noah's location.

Me: "Just wait for me, Noah. I'm coming for you."

I begin to walk forward, solely following the blue line displayed on the screen, busting myself into the pitch-dark forest through the overgrown bushes and trees.

-7 minutes later-

Hearing the pleasant sounds of crickets chirping merrily and the continuous beeping, coming from my phone between every 10 seconds rhythmically, substituting the eerie silence of the forest truly put me at ease as I walk idly inside the dark labyrinth, pointing the flashlight leisurely towards the darkness ahead of me.

I gaze my eyes upon my phone screen.

[937m]

I let out a soft sigh.

Damn, this is boring. I've been walking alone for minutes now and the loneliness has already devoured half of my sanity.

I wasn't aware of how lucky I was to have someone to go with me to the Capital but with Noah's absent, now I know how much I needed a company.

But the real problem is the path that I'm walking in right now.

It is extremely uneven and slippery due to the mud puddle along the path which I assumed that the flood occurred hours ago had affected the soil's density.

Just look at my shoes and jeans! They're all messy and dirty because of the mud stains! They're custom made, for gods' sake!

And the bushes! Let's not forget about the bushes.

They're all irritatingly overgrown that I have a piling urge to burn them all to the ground(It's a terrible thing to say, I know)!

Whenever I try to pass through the bushes, their annoying small leaves and twigs always get in the way and stuck or get hooked whether on my clothes or my fur.

And lastly, the bugs.

Those creepy-crawlies will always find a way to bug you from somewhere you least expected it to be, buzzing and crawling erratically around you.

Eww.

I've already even had to use two cans of insects spray to repel those bugs out of my sight.

[Author: Welcome to the forest, bitch.]

But thank goodness it happens to be only small bugs that I foun-

...*Thud*...

A small particular object fell onto my right shoulder with a soft thud as I point my flashlight towards it and turn my head to check it as it appears to be...

A big ass spider: "..*HISSING AGGRESSIVELY*.."

Me: "SPIDER!!!"

I swatted it away as I slapped it off of my shoulder with my hand, accidentally with an overly great amount of force induced by my great fear of spider while screaming out of my lungs in horror which I know it is a terrible thing to do so in the middle of a dark forest.

Me: "Aaaahhhh!"

I started to run away in fear but right at the fucking moment, my face then accidentally clashed with a huge, sticky web with another fucking spider clinging motionlessly at the centre of it.

I could clearly see the reflection of my face reflected from those tiny black orbs of eyes.

Me: "AAAAHHHHHHH!"

And again, I screamed. But this time with a higher-pitched scream that echoes through the whole forest.

I wipe the sticky web including the spider off from my face horrifically and continue to run in horror aimlessly into the wrong way as I felt the adrenaline starting to rush rapidly, coursing in through my veins as I got myself further astray from the path that leads to Noah's location.

Me: "No! Please! Not again!"

A huge flush of memory then rushes through my brain as I remembered the fearful event that happened at the summer training camp took place 8 years ago.

The day of when I felt myself to be unimaginably useless and extremely hopeless will always burn in my memories.

I cried silently as I flee pathetically, randomly inside the forest.

Later, I eventually slowed myself down as my pace gradually come to a halt, panting desperately to breathe with both of my hands clenching on my knees tiredly.

Me: "Fucking dammit. Why does this always happen to me?"

I abruptly complain about my unfortunate condition at nothing.

Soon after I've calmed myself down, I look at the path behind me where I came from which only left nothing but only darkness lurking behind and proceed myself to check on my phone.

Me: "....!"

[1.1km]

I raised my eyebrows in incredulity as I gaped my mouth open in terror, speechless on how the hell did I unconsciously get myself further astray from Noah.

Me: "Maybe running aimlessly to nowhere in fear did the trick?"

I sarcastically thought to myself as I frowned in distress and then let out a long, harsh sigh.

I rub my fingers gently along my temple as I steadily recomposing myself before the migraine hits me.

Me: "Come on. Get it together, Bal. You need to save Noah..... Do this for Jonathan."

I let out another short sigh and start to wipe the tears off my matted cheeks with my sleeves, ready to take on the world again valiantly with new determination burn in heart.

Me: "This is fine. Could anything get worse than this?"

The answer is yes.

As harsh as the world can be, it seems that nature itself wouldn't give me a bit ounce of mercy as the ground beneath me, without warning, cracks and crumble, altering into an unexpected mudslide, causing me to fall and land on my back very hard, knocking the air out of my breath.

Me: "Ack!"

But the awful scene is yet to come to its end as my body resumes to glide into a deep, muddy steep in a state of upside down, hitting myself with some debris of log fragments and huge rocks rolling in the process around my face, knees and legs.

Hearing the inner sound of my body parts and limbs hitting, crashing and cracking against the torture mechanisms of nature were very unpleasant things to hear.

The tremendous irritation of pain and trauma is unbearable for me to withstand, too much for me until there's no strength left inside of me to let out a cry or groan as it wavered through my whole body from my head all the way down to the edge of my feet.

Hence, ending up losing my grip on my phone and ultimately my body without forgiveness, getting buried under the muddy rocks of the mudslide.

...

Me: ".....Noah.........Jonathan...."

Those are the first thing that I'd thought myself in my indistinct mind, drowned in the endless lake of pain and misery.

The name of two humans that had taken good care of me in this foreign world with warmth and faithful friendship.

Am I going to die here?

....

It's getting colder....

....

It's dark....

....

And it hurts....

....

I'm scared....

....

I can't hear anything with my ears anymore....

....

I don't wanna die here....

....

I've never had a chance to say goodbye to my friends back in Agrian.

....

Angie.... Mink.... Douglas....

....

And Arthur, my dear best friend.

....

My prideful team, I'll always remember you guys.

Thank you....for being my comrades....my precious friends.

....

I'm sorry guys, looks like I've never got the chance to say goodbye after all.

....

...and Maya, my tenacious little spirit.

I'll never forget about you.

You've taught me lots of new things.

You've taught me the meaning of life.

You've taught me what's the meaning of not being alone.

Whenever I was sad....whenever I was in dismay....you'll always have taken care of me.

Thank you....for being there for me.

....

....

It's funny....for being a Worldwide Hero, admired and adored by all creatures, is going to die alone miserably under these pile of rocks.

....

....I'm tired. So let me just get a....long relaxing sleep for a moment.

....

????: ".....d........v........p...."

....

....Huh?

????: ".....on.......gi.......up...."

A soft distorted voice lingered in my head, yet felt so far from my consciousness.

Me: "...h-hello?...."

I tiredly spoke in my head.

????: ".....Don't.....give.....up....."

The voice that keeps calling me is getting more vivid by the moment.

A certain energy or I positively assume it to be an aura, little by little, flowing steadily through my vessel.

A familiar power that I haven't felt for a long time is coming from behind my shoulder.

????: ".....Call......me......"

I.... I know that voice.

Even though I'm in a subconscious condition I could feel a warm and wistful tear falling from the edge of my eye as I call the name that I've been waiting for a long time with an abundance of hope with all my heart.

Me: "Maya."

At once, a bright blue light then glows, illuminate as it chases, fading the darkness of the forest away as a powerful blast explodes under the pile of rocks, creating a shower of small debris and dust whisking within the radius.

-Meanwhile; Noah-

Noah: "Huh? What was that!?"

He tilted his head instinctively in a certain direction, responding to the explosion that had occurred from somewhere in a distant.

Noah: "That's unusual. I hope Bal is safe- Achoo! Ugh, it's freaking cold out here! And this damn wet clothes is not helping either!"

He complained to himself, filled with steaming irritation.

Noah is still waiting for my arrival but as it impossible for him to know about my unexpected delay, he kept waiting patiently for me, resting under a shady tree at somewhere in the forest that neither he nor I could recognise.

Noah: "Anyway, what could he be doing right now?"

He let out a tired sigh.

Noah: "I'm thirsty. Maybe I should go explore for a bit to find water- No! Bal said, "stay!". And that's what I'm going to do. He trusted me to stay here until he comes to get me."

He's waiting....and waiting....yet nothing happens other than the cold breeze that keeps blowing from any random directions and crickets chirping rhythmically behind those bushes everywhere.

There are also a swarm of little pecks of yellow lights hovering and flickering lazily in the air that Noah believed to be fireflies, lighting up the place mildly with its innocent lights.

It was almost like a peace, small, little garden where nothing could ever go wrong inside the place, only for Noah.

Thanks to those fireflies, he felt safe and secured even when he's alone.

And also using the knowledge of using his phone to take pictures, he had caught a few good couples of the scenery of the place earlier when he's bored and intend to show it to me in the future.

It seems like this kid have found a new hobby.

Noah: "Haah, my backpack.... It's gone."

Yep.... He still mourning about the loss of his backpack.

Noah: "Not just my backpack. My spare clothes, my sleeping bag, even our whole supply for the journey were gone drifted by the flood! Aaaahhhh! Why is this happening to me!?"

He let out another sigh but in more disappointed manner.

Noah: "But if I look at the bright side, thankfully my money is still here with me."

He grabs out his leather money pouch with a bulging base caused by the weight of the coins out from his pocket inside of his jacket and shaking it promptly up and down.

Loud coin noises could be heard as it clashes to each other inside of the pouch.

He stores the money pouch back into his jacket and continued to reminisce about his lost belongings.

Noah: "Okay, I'm done. I'm going on searching for the stream that I keep hearing from earlier."

Well, who can blame him? He has waited there, sitting alone for hours compared to me who just woke up minutes ago.

Noah: "I'll be back here minutes later if I don't get to find the river. And curse this travel! Why does my first adventure have to be so disastrous!?"

He grumbled in angst, puffing his breath out of his nose while crossing his arm as he stands up and walks towards the quiet sound of the water stream, hoping to be a river nearby.

-Moments later-

As he walks further, following the sound of the stream as it getting louder and louder by the moment with the biome of the forest geographically changes from the grassy ground into a track of small, smooth pebbles.

Then, in front of him, the scenery drastically changes from a thick forest into a...

Noah: "River! I found it!"

Finally, a long, wide river, flowing as far as the eyes can see displayed ostensively in front of his eyes.

The air around here feels cold thanks to the water from the river it's likely has affected the surrounding temperature, plus the night time which leads the temperature to drop more.

Noah: "Shit, it's cold here. Nevermind that, I really need a drink now."

He ran straight to the riverbank and kneeled near it as he quickly cupped his hands directly into the surface of the river as the coldness struck his hand mercilessly.

The water was so cold that Noah is unexpectedly taken back by the extremely cold water temperature thus pulls his hands back from the water, shaking rapidly by the coldness.

Me: "Oh shit! That's cold!"

He slips both of his hands into his jacket to warm them up and when he manages to calm his hands down, he tries to cup the water again using his hands but this time is much slower.

He winces by the coldness but seconds later after his hands have adapted to the water temperature, he brings his hands out from the water and begins to drink the water from his hands.

Noah: "Wooowie!~ That's so good."

He repeats the action of cupping his hands into the water and continued to drink more.

He stands himself up after done filling in most of his stomach with cold water and enjoying the view of the river surface, glistening and sparkling beautifully enhanced by the shining moonlight.

The water surface flows steadily against its riverbed that is covered by twinkling pebbles, passing against by the varieties size of rocks and boulders, creating a soothing sound of water splashing rhythmically.

He was both amazed and fascinated as he is subconsciously absorbing himself into the symphony of his surroundings.

Noah: "I guess it's not that bad I suppose."

After that, he takes out his phone from his pocket and opens the Camera app, taking a couple of pictures of this authentic picturesque scenery as a safekeeping from his first journey.

Afterwards, he sits down on the pebble matted ground to relax and right about when he tries to put his right hand on the ground, he feels something thin yet hard, scraping softly and crunching sound created under his palm.

Noah: "What the-?"

He instantly pulled his right hand away from the particular object and begins to examine it carefully.

Me: "The hell is this?"

He pinched his fingers on the translucent paper thingy cautiously, closely looking at it to identify its origin as he notices some kind of foreign writings scribbled on it.

Noah: "Wait, isn't this..."

Then, other than noticing the object, his eyes shortly gazes to somewhere else to something that has already caught his attention near the vicinity.

The ground which full of mud puddle....

....is covered with tracks of paws scattering randomly towards the forest.

Noah: "Oh no..."

-Back to me-

????: "....b......l.......al...."

There it is again.

Another voice that's hazily trying to call me.

????: "....ba......l.......bal...."

Am I dead yet?

Was that an angel who's trying to call me?

Or was it a devil from hell trying to drag me into the hell for the retribution of my past sins?

????: "...bal..... Bal!.... BALTHAZAR! Wake up, dammit!"

Out of the blue, I felt a sharp stinging pain of a slap surging on my right cheek which stimulates me to wake up straight out of my sleep.

Me: "Bwaah! Hah! I'm up! I'm up! Wha- what happen!?"

????: "Oh thank goodness you're okay. Your heartbeat stops beating for a moment there."

Me: "What?"

It appears that I'm not under those piles of mud anymore now that I'm here, leaning comfortably on a tree trunk.

Confused, my eyes are still blurry as it tries to adjust to the darkness around me.

Slowly, a pristine white figure slowly created in front of me.

My eyes are still hazy, irritated by the sight I gently rub my fingers on my eyes to get a better picture of the blurry figure.

I look at it again.

Then I see her.

A little girl with long pristine white hair, wearing a white and blue contrast lining patterns modern dress who's also about shorter than Noah's height is gazing her sparkling electric blue eyes at me with a gentle smile.

Me: "......"

????: "What's wrong? Are you having a headache? You need to rest more before you could move anytime soon."

I can't believe it.

????: "Hey. Bal~ I'm talking to you."

Me: "... Ma..."

????: "Hm?"

Me: "Maya!"

I quickly lurched myself towards her as I embrace her into a very tight, warm hug passionately to release my eternal loneliness that had been piling up since the first time I came here to this world.

Maya: "E-eeeehhh!? B-bal!? What are you doing!?"

Maya blushed by the gesture I made upon her.

Me: "Maya! Maya, Maya, Maya! You really are here!"

I rub my fluffy cheek against hers for an extra affection while my tail is wagging like crazy, sweeping the dust on the ground behind me.

Maya: "Yes! Of course, I'm here, idiot! I've always been with you this whole time! Now can you let go of me!? You....are....suffocating....ME!"

Me: "Oh! Sorry, sorry. I... I thought that I would never get to see you again."

I let go of her with dissatisfaction.

Most of the big part of me still wants to hug her.

Me: "B-but... How? I've called you twice before but you never showed up."

Maya: "Ah, sorry about that. I was too weak to create a form of myself to meet you on that day until now."

Me: "What happened to you?"

Maya: "You....you don't know?"

Me: "No, I can't say that I do. Do you know what happened here? What happened to us?"

Maya: "I'm afraid that I don't have much useful information to tell you. I will tell you everything that I know from my Data but for now, we need to hurry on finding Noah. But can you stand up? You were literally dying just now."

Me: "Nani? You know about Noah-..!"

Forget about the dying part, how the heck she knew about Noah!?

That's when I start to notice the unbearable stinging pain struck the senses of every part of my body to reality.

Me: "UGH!...... Yeah.... I felt that one..."

I stumbled my back onto the tree trunk with a loud thump to rest myself, waiting for the pain to settle down a little bit by itself.

Maya: "Looks like the drug is wearing off. Just so you know, I've had to perform a surgery on you earlier so please take it easy on yourself. You were truly was in a dire state as you were suffered a bunch of severe injuries you got from the mudslide. That was a pretty bad fall, indeed. You have barely had any health points left when I found you, I might add."

Wow, that bad huh? So it's just pure luck that Maya saved me from death back then?

Maya: "And yes, I know about Noah. I know everything that happened to you for this past three days."

....!

Me: "....so you know about me and Jonath-.."

Maya: "...Yes, I also know about the thing that's happening between you and the kid's father. What's his name again? Jony? Jones? Jona....Jonathan! Yeah, that one. And I gotta say, he was a nice catch."

She winked at me while saying her words in a teasing tone.

Now it's my turn for me to blush.

Shit. So you're telling me that she saw everything that happened that night?

....

Of course, she did.

I groan at myself in embarrassment as it bothers me very much whenever I tried to think about someone was quietly watching or rather spying on me and Jonathan were having sex even when we just met that day.

It's just so.....humiliating!

Me: "Just....just shut up..."

Now I felt like regretting myself having her with me.

But of course I'll not tell her that cuz I simply love her very much.

Me: "Anyway, about the surgery. Orb of Medic?"

Maya: "You got that right."

Me: "Huh, what would I do without you, Maya. So, what about the drug?"

Maya: "Ah, that's the tricky part. I've got to haste myself into the forest back and forth in search of ingredients of herbs to make a drug to cool down the pain."

Me: "H-how did you manage to find those ingredients exactly?"

Maya: "Hm hm hm~ Come on, Bal. This is your most beloved Divine Spirit! Of course I'll find a way to brew an instant drug to take care of my precious master just in time."

She pride herself as she carved a bright smile at me proudly, showing me the peace sign with her fingers cheerfully.

I slowly bend myself towards her and pet her gently on the head.

Me: "Still as reliable, I see. Good job, Maya."

She blushed again as she gaped her mouth to say something but shut it back, letting me to continue petting her.

Me: "Aight, let's go find Noah. I'm sure he's worried about me right now."

But something feels wrong here. Something feels breezy.

I look down at myself.

Me: "Why am I half naked? Where's my coat?"

Maya: "Uuuh. Here."

She handed me a ruined piece of cloth which looks like it has been torn up by a bunch of angry cats, tearing and clawing it like crazy.

It was also soaked with blood which I presume it to be mine just by smelling the stench coming from it.

Maya: "Um, sorry about your cloth. It was already too late for it to survive and I also had to use it to wipe your blood off from your wounds when I was performing your surgery."

Me: "Haah, another good piece of clothing...ruined."

I gingerly took the coat from her hand and threw the blood soak, torn up coat into my inventory whilst grabbing out a brand new looking black base colour sleeveless jacket with a neon green line pattern thus wearing it stylishly.

Me: "Okay, let's move-....!"

My mind then suddenly became hazy for a second as my body coordination is all messed up as my knees are shaking horribly as my breathing keeps increasing unreasonably fast.

I staggered erratically as I quickly hold my hand on the tree trunk I leaned on before.

Maya: "Bal! Are you all right!?"

Me: "Fuck! Maya, you said that I've wounds right? That means that I must have suffered a blood loss of sort, right?"

Maya: "Y-yeah."

Me: "How much?"

Maya: "A-about 20% of blood loss."

Me: "Twenty-...! Gah!..."

My head is throbbing like hell!

Maya: "I- I think you should rest first."

Me: "No! I need to find Noah before anything happen to him!"