“Спасение.” Tacio said again, raising his hands before gesturing to the humanoid to calm down. “Друг.”


    The floating rifle’s bolt pulled back by itself. The ejected bullet landed on the humanoid’s feet as it clenched its fists.


    Sensing the increased tension, Tacio backed down a bit and even lowered his posture while still continuing to gesture to the humanoid to calm down.


    A tense silence then befalls this windless area as the two stared at one another. Focused, barely blinking, and eyes continually locked on one another, the two seemed to be waiting for the other to make a move first.


    This tension was broken by the sound of inhuman roars echoing around them. Immediately, the humanoid’s eyes widened as it looked to its left. There were no threats in the area but the trees were swaying as if there was wind pushing the branches and leaves.


    The humanoid muttered a Russian profanity as it quickly shifted its focus between the trees, Tacio, and the unconscious girl.


    “T-1!” Command radioed. “Clairvoyance senses an abrupt change in Lost activity. K-2 has been unresponsive for the past few minutes!”


    “Tsk. Copy that Command…” Tacio grunted as he turned to the humanoid. “Спасение! Друг! Come on…! Get the hint, goddamn it!”


    Another set of inhuman cries echoed once again. Immediately, the humanoid became more frantic, shifting its focus ever so faster until he finally broke his silence. “Дети в опасности!”


    “What?” Tacio said, taking a single step forward. “Command. What is he saying?”


    “Children!” Command replied. “T-1. The humanoid is saying there are children in danger!”


    “Well shit… Command. Can you translate ‘I want to help’?”


    As per his request, Command provided a translation to which the mystic promptly said to the humanoid, who quickly pointed to its left. Tacio nodded and asked the humanoid for its name.


    “Andrei.” the humanoid replied.


    “Приятно познакомиться, Андрей.” Tacio replied. “Я Тасио.”


    After about half an hour…? Forgive me for not being certain as I was more focused on Luna’s group at the time but I believe my estimates here are correct. Anyhow, after about half an hour of back and forth, the two had finally reached a common ground and formed a truce. Tacio picked up the unconscious girl in a princess carry before following the humanoid towards the same building Luna’s group was currently defending.


    “Command.” Tacio said. “Diplomacy has succeeded. Unknown is no longer hostile and is actively cooperating.”


    “Solid copy, T-1. Demographic parameters changed. With K-2 still in the dark, ascertain their current status and eliminate all hostiles. If what this unknown is saying is true, secure additional civilians for evac. Cleansing squads are enroute.”


    “T-1 copies! Moving out!”


    Unlike moments ago, the creatures had surrounded the structure, banging on the walls, doors,  and windows like the zombies that they are. Though the volume of this horde suggested a greater purpose than a random group of Lost stumbling upon prey.


    No. This horde was coordinated and though their strategy consisted of simply breaking into the building and overwhelming the people inside, I suspect that there was a… sort of leadership at work.


    Wasting no time, the humanoid conjured two shadow wrist blades before slicing its way into the horde. It cut its way through several creatures before the horde began to react to its presence. A few tried to pounce it from behind but the floating rifle and pistol combo had its backside covered.


    Tacio, following close behind and burdened by the unconscious girl, was limited in his options when defending himself. He opened with a spinning kick before slamming his right hoof on the ground, conjuring several earthen spikes to erupt from the ground and impale the surrounding creatures.


    Meanwhile, Kaede, Nathan, and Mikhail loosed projectile after projectile at the horde that was slowly crowding the hallway, which was already breached halfway. Every creature they took down only served to tighten the space as the creatures began pushing their way past the corpses and even grinding against the walls, which was putting the building’s structural integrity to the test.


    “There’s too many!” Nathan shouted, throwing another fireball. “We can’t sustain this!”


    “I agree.” Kaede answered as her icicle bow dissipated. “We must break through to more spacious ground!”


    Ice particles began to gather around the woman’s palms as she brought her hands in front of her chest, as if she was holding a ball. The particles gathered at the space between her palms, slowly forming into snow while her arms were starting to shake. And with a deep inhale, Kaede stretched both arms forward and unleashed an intense blizzard down the hallway, freezing the creatures that


    She then conjured a tower shield and spear. “Stay close to me! We will break through their lines!”


    “Got it!” Nathan said, turning to the girls. “Luna! Stay close behind! We’re leaving!”


    “R-Right!” Luna answered as she directed the children to stay close to her though Mikhail and Sasha insisted on being close to Nathan.


    Within less than a minute, Kaede led the charge forward with her shield, smashing the frozen creatures in the hallway before breaking through the door to the playroom. Immediately, she skewered one creature with her spear.


    “Look out!” Nathan exclaimed as he hit another creature that was about to pounce on the woman from the side. “Watch that peripheral.”


    I think I remember seeing Nathan shoot a smug smile at Kaede for a moment though the action was fast and intense that if it did happen, it only lasted for about a second at most. Regardless, Kaede responded by squinting her eyes into a frown before throwing her spear in Nathan’s direction. Of course, he instinctively moved his upper body out of the way as the spear landed on another creature’s torso.


    “Oh look at that.” she said with a mocking tone. “You may want to keep an eye on your back.”


    Meanwhile, Mikhail hurled numerous plates and utensils at the horde while Sasha gripped the wooden board tightly before he screamed the loudest battle cry a little human boy could muster.


    “Wait!” Luna exclaimed, grabbing the boy by the arm. “Dangerous! You understand? Danger!”


    Sasha looked confused at first before making way for frustration as he tried to wrestle free of the young lady’s grip. He would have probably escaped had Nataliya and Sofiya not grabbed the boy in time.


    As the battle continued, the group heard gunshots and felt the earth shake for moments at a time. There was a pause in the fighting as the creatures turned towards the windows. In an instant, Andrei and his floating guns burst through the windows in a scene so similar to an action movie. Good thing my eyes could see in slow motion as well because Andrei was rather quick in his movements at this moment.


    He plunged both of his shadow wrist blades into two creatures’ necks as his rifle sniped the closest creature to the group and the pistol headshotted about three more. All this done within the span of a second and a half.


    “Andrei!” the children called as the humanoid pulled down its scarf, revealing his face. I must say that despite the menacing look of his outfit, Andrei’s face was the exact opposite, specifically that of a man in his early to mid 20s. Mustache was starting to get a bit thick and, from the looks of it, he hasn’t shaved much, if at all. Sideburns were nowhere to be found though. But the most striking change was his eyes, from a piercing gaze to that of one that exuded of a worried caretaker. To further hammer the point, he even breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the children safe with Luna before turning around and confronting another set of creatures charging towards him.


    With his shadow wrist blade, he effortlessly sliced several of them despite the unconscoisu girl he was holding though one managed to get close enough to force him into a deadlock with the creature’s mouth and blade-like appendages. This deadlock did not last long as Tacio leapt through the window and kicked the creature off of Andrei. He then conjured several earth pillars around them, momentarily covering the entire room and protecting them from the horde.


    “Tacio!” Luna called to him.


    Tacio turned his head in Luna’s direction. “Luna? Kaede and Nathan, too! Great! We’re all here!”


    “Are you cooperating with that Lost?” Kaede inquired, aiming her spear at Andrei, who willed his rifle to aim at the woman in return.


    Immediately, the children protested the hostilities with Nataliya tugging Luna’s uniform before pointing at Kaede and shaking her head. “Wait, Kaede! I don’t think that uh… Lost is an enemy!”


    “She’s right.” Tacio added. “This is Andrei. Looks to me, he’s these kids’ guardian. He’s no threat.”


    Despite this, Kaede still continued aiming her spear. “His appearance and symptoms confirms that he has become one of the Lost.”


    “Hey!” Nathan shouted. “Didn’t we just have a conversation on adapting to new situations?!”


    His protests landed on deaf ears. Oh dear… Her extremely dogmatic and hardheaded ways struck again. Luckily I remembered my little interference earlier and it looked like that was the best time to undo my meddling.


    “K-2! Do you copy? K-2!” Command interjected with a firm tone. “Stand down! I repeat! Stand down! Mission parameters have changed! Disengage! That is an order!”


    Kaede’s eyes widened as she slowly put her weapon down. “... Acknowledged, Command.”


    “God fucking damn it…” Nathan said with a sigh. “That was a close call. You really have got… to-”


    Midway through his speech, the building shook for a moment before a small group of Lost, four to be exact, led by a monstrous angel burst through the earthen pillar in the corner near the door leading to the previous hallway Kaede froze.


    Like most infected, it was surrounded by a purplish aura and its glowing yellow eyes were a stark contrast to Andrei''s. While his eyes were that of someone who had seen many horrors yet still maintained a hint of care, this Lost angel’s eyes were blank, pupiless, and it glistened a more intense yellow glow. Sadly, those were the only facial features visible as the rest were obscured by the purplish aura complemented by its tattered hood.


    As for its apparel, the creature’s uniform bore a frightening resemblance to Andrei’s apparel, save for the absence of any patches or identifying markers on it. Though its build was fairly average for an angel, the razor sharp claws that used to be its fingernails, jet black feathered wings, and the numerous black crystalline growths all over its body suggested that one would be a fool to dismiss as a ‘regular’ Lost.


    True to my observation, the creature didn’t even give the party a second to even comprehend its entrance as it used its wings to propel itself towards the children, with Luna quickly getting the children behind her.


    Andrei fired a few shots at the monstrous angel only for the creature’s eyes to turn in his direction before using its wings to backflip away from the bullet’s trajectory. It then sent two of its subordinates to engage the Russian.


    He yelled a Russian curse word as he dodged several attacks from the two subordinates. Meanwhile, the creature still around a few meters away from Luna, suddenly loomed over her within a blink of an eye. Instinctively, the young lady shielded her face with her left arm while her right arm corralled the children to stay behind her as the creature raised its right claw, ready to swipe at whoever it reached first.


    The claw dug deep into Kaede’s tower shield, just a few inches shy from scratching her skin. “Go! Move to the back!”


    “Th-Thank you!” Luna said as she and Nathan guided the children by the table with the pot. Andrei also went to them just to drop off the unconscious girl he was carrying before proceeding to engage the monstrous angel.


    Unabated, the creature plunged its other claw deep into the tower shield, still inches shy from scratching its adversary, before pressing its weight against it. Kaede, in turn, pushed back but quickly realized that the creature was too strong to hold back.


    She then crushed her icicle spear into smaller shards before dispersing them around both creature’s flanks before pelting her target with a hailstorm of small ice shards. The creature then surrounded itself in an aura of flame, melting the icicle projectiles before they even touched its skin.


    Small cracks started forming around the tower shield, slowly but surely combining into bigger cracks as the flame aura slowly melted the ice.


    Before the creature could crumble Kaede’s shield, Tacio came in from the side and tackled the creature away from her. The tikbalang covered both of his arms and fists with rocks before landing five punches to the creature’s stomach area in quick succession.


    The creature barely flinched with each hit and allowed the mystic to land those hits without resistance. Upon Tacio landing the fifth punch, the creature raised its right claw and swiped downward. The tikbalang instinctively raised both his arms into a cross formation, absorbing the attack. He quickly ducked, narrowly avoiding a swipe from the creature’s left claw. This was followed up with a leg sweep that managed to imbalance the creature’s center of gravity. It was forced to crouch with one knee but the impact of its boot hitting the ground created a small but strong shockwave that forced the tikbalang back a few feet.


    “This is one tough motherfucker…” Tacio uttered, wiping the lower part of his lip with the back of his hand. “Command. What’s the read out on this thing?”


    “Hostile is a Class A Lost Soul.” Command replied. “Exercise caution. Its companions are Class B. Advise you and your team to stall it until reinforcements arrive.”


    “Since it’s a Class A, where’s its core?”


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    “The core is located in the torso. Center mass.”


    “Copy. Kaede! Class A. Target the torso!”


    “Acknowledged, Command.” Kaede said as the hostile extended its right arm and conjured a stream of flames aimed at Tacio.


    The tikbalang randomly pulled one of the rock pillars on the side and placed it right in front of him just as the flames reached his position.


    Kaede tried charging another blizzard but the other Lost quickly tore some of the crystalline growths in their skins and threw them at the woman, which then proceeded to line themselves up midair before flying towards their target.


    Quickly noticing, Kaede stopped mid-concentration and conjured a pair of icicle swords. She then spun them around in some kind of sword dance, slicing all the projectiles and avoiding injury.


    After cutting the last projectile in half, a medium-built human Lost with a gigantic curved but sharp crystal for a right arm swooped down from above. She backflipped, avoiding the attack as it damaged the wooden floor upon impact. Kaede then charged forward and attempted a rather elegant side slash, complete with some kind of dancing spin, though it was parried by her opponent’s crystal arm with such strength that her right sword was flung out of her hand.


    She didn’t miss a beat, though, since she used the momentum she already had to swing her left sword towards the creature’s left flank, deeply stabbing the side of its torso. It tried to grab her face in retaliation but the woman simply moved her head to the side before conjuring an icicle stake and stabbing it into the creature’s heart.


    “The core is no longer in there!” she uttered. “Command! This is K-2. I request a scan of the hostile I am engaging! The core has moved!”


    “Solid Copy, K-2. Standby for support scan!”


    While the scan was underway, her opponent screeched in pain before opening its mouth wide, revealing the rows of sharp almost shark-like teeth and attempting to bite Kaede’s face off. She pulled her head away, using her left arm to keep those teeth away from her skin via the neck. It was a struggle and a half.


    Fortunately, Andrei threw one of the two defeated subordinates in the creature’s direction.The Lost grabbed it with its free hand and slammed its downed subordinate to the ground without so much as moving an inch away from its initial position.


    The soldier then followed up with a shovel to the creature’s face which the creature barely registered before a shockwave emerged from the point where the shovel’s tip and the creature’s skin met. It was sent flying back, giving Kaede some breathing room though it wouldn’t have lasted long as it quickly recovered and was ready for another round.


    While charging towards his target, Andrei recalled his rifle back to his hand. Pulling the bolt back, Andrei willed his pistol to open fire on it. The creature shielded itself with its crystalline arm as it smashed it on the floor and reciprocated its opponent’s charge.


    It attempted a shield bash-like maneuver but missed as Andrei slid under and fired a near point blank shot in the torso. It slashed the ground its opponent came from in retaliation before spinning towards him. Getting closer to its opponent, the creature stopped spinning and used its momentum in a massive swing of its crystal arm.


    Andrei quickly blocked the attack with his rifle’s bayonet as the creature’s free hand grabbed him by the throat. It lifted him up for a moment before smashing him into the floor. The creature then opened its mouth, ready to take a bite out of Andrei before a lucky shot from the soldier’s pistol hit it in its left eye. He then conjured a shadow wrist blade and sliced the creature’s left arm off before jumping back.


    “K-2! Scan complete!” Command communicated to Kaede. “The core is located midway through the creature’s crystal arm, where its elbow should be!”


    “I copy Command.” Kaede replied.


    “The backside of that arm is one big soft spot! A piercing shot in the elbow area should be enough to neutralize it!”


    Kaede then moved parallel to Andrei. “Acknowledged. I am proceeding with my attack.”


    Seeing her, Andrei spoke a sentence in Russian and, of course, Kaede didn’t understand a word though she did respond by showing the underside of her arm and doing a stabbing motion on her elbow. The Russian seemed to have understood what she was trying to say as he had this determined look on his face before nodding.


    The two then face their adversary who roared loudly at them. Andrei opened with a bayonet charge, exchanging several blows with the creature before ending up on a deadlock. Kaede then created an ice path in front of her before using it to slide her way to the creature’s backside. Conjuring an icicle bow, she did a front flip as the creature attempted a shoulder tackle.


    I slowed down time for a moment here just to observe this trick shot which honestly felt like I was watching a movie. Anyhow, with her body upside down and in midair, Kaede took a deep breath as she acquired her target located halfway through that arm.


    In that specific location lay a black oval-shaped crystal that seemed to be embedded in the arm. Several dark purple veins protrude from it and spread around the arm, like some kind of plant root. That was definitely a Void Core. So, with her target acquired, she loosed her ice arrow.


    She was sure that her arrow would hit its mark had it not been for the creature’s left hand catching it while it was in transit. “It has regenerated already?!”


    The creature smashed the ice arrow with just the grip of its left hand alone while it pressed its full weight upon Andrei. Kaede quickly conjured icicle daggers and threw one after another, still targeting the elbow area. The creature simply repositioned itself whenever Kaede would move, ensuring that her attacks would be absorbed by its back.


    With her ranged attacks not working, Kaede noticed the floating pistol. It wasn’t firing but rather, subtly repositioning itself every few seconds. The woman took a quick glance at the struggling Andrei before equipping two of her daggers and charging towards her opponent. Several blackish spikes began to protrude all around her but she was agile enough to dodge them. After a minute of dodging, she jumped on the creature’s back and stabbed one of her daggers on it. In retaliation, it attempted to grab Kaede with its free arm but the woman stabbed its free arm from the front of its face with her other dagger.


    It was at this moment that she met Andrei’s gaze. For a moment, he squinted his eyes, looking at the dagger though this reduced his concentration a bit which allowed his adversary to slowly begin to overpower him. After about half a minute and with the creature’s arm almost ready to cut him in his shoulder, Andrei’s pistol fired a shot that landed on the core, slightly cracking it.


    His adversary screeched in pain as the pressure on him was alleviated a bit. The creature attempted to move its arm closer to its torso but another shot pierced through its elbow, this time coming from Andrei’s floating rifle, creating a crater in the core. Seeing that it was weakened, Kaede conjured an icicle spear and plunged it deep into the creature’s elbow, shattering the core completely. The moment that core shattered, the creature flailed and wailed for about two seconds before death finally claimed it.


    Around the same time, Tacio was still pinned down behind the earthen pillar. He had hoped that Kaede would back him up but he saw the human Lost engage her. “Well… There goes the backup…”


    Wiping the sweat off his head, the tikbalang could hear the loud sound of footsteps on wood, the monstrous angel was creeping ever so closer with each step. He quickly pulled three more pillars from random locations, creating a wider earthen shield, before hitting the center pillar with his palm, sending the entire group towards the creature.


    The creature then leapt upwards and almost immediately plunged back down with its claws stretched out. Tacio backflipped out of the way as the creature slashed the air, conjuring a few wind blades at the tikbalang.


    “Figures…” Tacio remarked as he hastily shielded himself in midair with his arms and legs. The crossed arms covered his head, face, and neck while his legs protected the torso. The winds tore through his rock armor, bit by bit, as the creature continued to send one after another at him. Eventually, the armor gave way and parts of the tikbalang’s arms were slashed by the conjured winds.


    The creature wasn’t about to let its opponent rest though as the moment Tacio landed, it dashed forward using its wings and attempted to slash Tacio’s face. Acting quickly, the tikbalang ducked and with one charged punch, he hit the creature in its center mass but his fist was met with a small barrier, preventing him from hitting the core.


    “Damn it!” Tacio uttered as he narrowly dodged a swipe like he was playing limbo. Using the momentum of his movement, the tikbalang backflipped away from the creature’s claws.


    “So that’s why you’re so confident in exposing your core like that…” he remarked as a fireball flew past him and hit the creature in its face.


    “Hey!” Nathan shouted, as he charged forward and threw another fireball. “Over here, bitch!”


    Brave as he was, Nathan’s attacks, and by extension his bravado, was akin to that of an ant defying a human with a magnifying glass at the ready during a bright sunny day. Admirable effort and his attacks did inflict some damage but it was negligible and annoying at best. Granted it was annoying enough for the creature to switch targets as it seemingly forgot Tacio’s presence and proceeded to let out a torrent of flame towards the young man.


    Seeing the flames heading towards him, Nathan dove under one of the tables. “Oh shit!”


    Unfortunately, wooden tables tend to combust much faster when exposed to such flames so the young man found himself getting out of that table and running for his dear life, running parallel to the creature’s left side, as the flames were close behind him.


    Seeing an opportunity, Tacio recalled another two pillars from both his left and right directions. I don’t know if he calculated this but the right pillar he recalled momentarily got in Nathan’s way as it whizzed past him. Of course, the surprise caused him to jump back as his backpack caught fire.


    Immediately noticing the flames, the young man jumped into a prone and started clumsily rolling to the side as the creature’s flames were getting dangerously close to his skin. This predicament did not last long as the creature noticed the recalled pillars, stopped its attacks on Nathan, and extended both its arms. Tacio then dove forward and, after a little roll, covered his right arm and hand with rocks before punching at that same spot though the barrier still held.


    “Come on!” Tacio yelled as he continued pressing his fist against the barrier, struggling to overpower it.


    The pillars hit hard but the creature proved to be stronger than what its seemingly thin frame suggested. Now it was a tug-of-war between the monstrous angel and the tikbalang, who curiously was still half standing before the creature. I say this because if he wins this tug-of-war he’d be crushed alongside his opponent.


    “Nathan!” he yelled. “Can you get to me?”


    Nathan stood up and ran to the tikbalang’s side. “What do you need?”


    “Place your hand over my elbow here! Create a fireball but don’t complete it! Before it forms, I need you to cut your casting!”


    “Cut my casting? How do I do that?”


    “Remember how you create those fireballs? I need you to immediately think about stopping the casting!”


    “So you want me to think of creating a fireball then suddenly think of canceling it?”


    “Something like that! You think you can pull it off?”


    “Uh…”


    “Good enough! It’s do or die, Nathan!”


    “R-Right!”


    Nathan pressed his hand over the tikbalang’s right elbow. Just as he does, rocks began to envelope his whole body, it felt soft inside though the surface was very much hard. “What’s this for?”


    “... Just in case…”


    Getting a feeling on what will happen, Nathan swallowed his anxiety and began conjuring. The fireball grew slowly with each second and on the five second mark, Nathan immediately thought of canceling his spell. The fireball shook in place for a moment before exploding, sending him back a few feet. Thanks to the armor Tacio provided, the impact was absorbed by the rocks and the soft interior limited the force of the impact on his body.


    For his part, the explosion created a big enough force to allow the tikbalang to destroy the small barrier, punching a hole into the creature’s center mass. He felt the crystal on his hand and with no delay, he crushed it. The creature writhed in pain as Tacio quickly jumped back before the stone pillars finally won that tug-of-war. Tacio then turned to Nathan, who was still on the ground.


    “You ok?” he said, sticking out his hand.


    Nathan took the hand and stood up as his rock armor slowly and safely fell apart. “Y-Yeah… Damn. You didn’t tell me that would happen…”


    “Sorry… We were on a time limit. But yeah. Point of reference for you! When casting spells, don’t halfass it or else!”


    “How about you? Are you ok?”


    “Yeah! My rock armor protected me for the most part!”


    “That’s good.”


    Seeing that the monsters had been neutralized, Luna let out a relieved sigh though her clairvoyance acted up again. This time, it pointed her towards the window. There, she saw a horde of those monsters and towering over them was the silhouette of what I can only describe as a giant sloth.


    “O-Oh no!” she said as the horde unexpectedly turned around. “... What?”


    One by one, the creatures all left, going deeper into the woods. The last one to leave was the giant sloth. Though all of its features were obscured by the darkness outside, its bright yellow eyes clearly stared directly into Luna’s. A chill went down her spine as their eyes met. But it was over just as it began. The creature turned around and walked away.


    With the area cleared, the non-Russians gathered around the center of the room though Luna kept on looking at the window, her mind still stuck in that moment she locked eyes with that giant sloth.


    “... Luna? Luna?” Nathan called. “Oi! Luna!”


    “Huh?!” Luna uttered, blinking her eyes and shaking her head in quick succession. “Wh-What?”


    “You ok? You’ve been staring at the window for a while.”


    “I-I’m fine…”


    “Did you see anything?”


    “N-No… I just saw the monsters suddenly leave…”


    “Oh. They left? That’s good! We’re in the clear then!”


    “The horde of Lost just left without reason?” Kaede interjected. “It sounds suspicious. We must not let our guard down.”


    “Agreed.” Tacio added as he turned to Nathan and Luna. “But at least, we managed to hold them off. Good work you two. For fresh late bloomers, you both got quite a hold on your powers already.”


    “Uh… Th-Thanks…” Luna replied followed by Nathan. “Yeah. Not gonna lie, I’m kinda curious on what I can do with this.”


    Tacio chuckled. “After everything you’ve been through… Glad you’re taking all of this well.”


    Kaede stepped forward and pointed at Andrei, who was talking to the four children by the play area. “What does command plan to do with them?”


    “They’re considered civilians now, Kaede.” Tacio replied with his arms crossed. “Told you he was too coherent to be far gone.”


    The woman let out an annoyed sigh before she looked away.


    Tacio sighs in return. “Ever the ice queen…”


    Those last two words from Tacio seemed to have triggered something in Nathan as his eyes widened for a moment. “Oh right! I almost forgot. Kaede!”


    “... What?”


    “Are you ok? When I grabbed your hand a while back, you were really cold.”


    “And?”


    “What do you mean ‘and’? That’s not normal!”


    Tacio chuckled again as Nathan turned to him. “Wait. Why are you laughing?”


    “Sorry.” the tikbalang replied before clearing his throat. “With all the action, we never really got to properly introduce ourselves. Well you both know I’m not human by just looking, right?”


    “Yeah…”


    “Well… Kaede ain’t human either. She’s actually a Yuki-Onna from Japan.”


    “Wait… A Yuki-Onna? You mean like that snow woman yokai?”


    “The very same kind.”


    Nathan took about two seconds to comprehend that reply. “Huh… Suddenly everything makes sense… Man… So much information…”


    Tacio then walked towards Nathan before crouching and patting his back. “It’s a lot to take in, I know. You and Luna rest up for now. Reinforcements will be here soon. We can talk more once you’ve acclimated a bit.”


    “A-Alright…” Nathan said, holding his head. “Now that you mention it, I am feeling a bit tired all of a sudden…”


    “That’s the adrenaline wearing off. You two take it easy. Me and Kaede can take it from here.”


    “R-Right. Thanks. Come on, Luna.”


    “Y-Yeah!” Luna said as she turned to Tacio and Kaede, respectively. “Thank you, Tacio. Thank you, Kaede. For rescuing us. I don’t know what would have happened if you weren’t here in time.”


    “Part of the job.” Tacio answered with a thumbs up while Kaede shrugged. “Come on. At least acknowledge the ‘thank you’.”


    Kaede placed her right finger over her right ear before walking away. “Command. What is the estimated arrival of the reinforcements?”


    “Five minutes out.” Command responded.


    Tacio sighed. “Sorry, Luna. Kaede’s personality is as cold as her body.”


    “I-It’s not a problem. Don’t worry about it. I-I’ll go take a break now…”


    “You do that.”


    From there, reinforcements arrived and evacuated everyone to the exit portal. By the time they got out, the sun was starting to set. Nathan and Luna couldn’t believe how much time had passed when they got out.


    Who’d have thought that the simple and very human emotion of embarrassment would have led down to such a turn of events. All of that happened just within a few hours on what looked like a regular Monday.


    Well… That is the nature of Mondays, afterall. And the butterfly was quite a flutter throughout the day. Nevertheless, I am glad to bear witness to what seems to be history in the making.