II

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Arc II Chapter 19

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18th Anima Lunar VIII AAC 753

As it turned out, the explosion had not without consequence. As a result of it, poor little Aurora suffered from a mild concussion, accompanied by a severe case of motion sickness. Disorientation. Confusion. Dizziness. Her headsie kept spinning, unable to tell left from right. Her poor earsies rang. The tinnitus was the worst. Yet she knew that her concussion would pass. Sooner or later. Supposedly. It was only a matter of time and patience before the worst would subside.

Time passed and her vision gradually returned. Her blurry eyes recovered and her sight adjusted. Aurora, her doll, and her fluffballs were greeted by an enormous crater with rock and stone hurled around everywhere. The diameter of the crater was considerable to the point that she deserved a commendation for her handiwork, despite the slight miscalculation on her part. The detonation had proven far more powerful than anticipated. Myriads of crystal splinters covered the ground, glinting in the sunlight. Apparently, the crystal vein had run far deeper than she had assumed, thus amplifying the explosion far beyond her predictions. The resulting aetherial cataclysm ripped the ground apart, pulverising earth and stone alike. The explosion had created a giant crater in the middle of an ancient city, which was admittedly not the most optimal course of action, but wiser men than her had erred far worse before. Nobody would miss a small portion of Valentia, right? It was just some worthless rubble anyway.

"..." Aurora gazed upon her fallen enemy. The wolf was dead. The explosion and a few million volts had roasted the beast alive. He took the brunt of the blast, yet her heart felt neither pity, nor compassion for the dead creature. He deserved his fate for attacking a helpless and innocent girl. Her will o' wisps seconded her opinion, while dancing in joy. It was a miracle that they had survived the ordeal without suffering any casualties in the process.

Aurora rewarded her comrades in arms with a benign smile. They had truly made it... Somehow. Against all expectations, her friends had defied the odds. "Excellent work, everyone! You did not disappoint me."

Gullible in mind, the sprites fell for her flattery. Their chests swelled with pride, and their amorphous bodies expanded. Forgotten was the fact that she had used them as literal cannon fodder.

Together, they approached then the smouldering remains of their late enemy. Aurora took petty revenge on the carcass with a series of kicks. Unfortunately, her cute, little kicks proved rather ineffective, unable to even scratch his corpse. Her legs lacked the physical strength, but her small boots were at east able to scratch the soot covering his scorched skin. Take that! "Told you so, who is laughing last now, you oversized fur carpet?" The beast should have known that cute, little girls with dolls are no adequate food source ...

"What?! Spirits dammit, what're you doing there? Are you out of your mind, lass?" A familiar voice reprimanded her from behind. "Get away from it!!! Immediately ... Ouch. Why're you hitting me, Iris?"

Iris retracted her striking hand, her irritation evident. "Because you're scaring her, Rudolf. Don't you see that!"

"..." For the briefest of a moment, Aurora froze. This was bad ... Very bad ... They had located her where she had not been supposed to be, and they had seen her what she had not been supposed to do.

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Aurora deployed her brightest smile and masked her surprise before turning around to face her visitors. "Sister Iris, Uncle Rudolf, nice to see you! I am so glad you're here!"

...

...

...

"..." Rudolf narrowed his eyes. He was clearly not the type for niceties. "Listen, lass, this is not the way how things work around here. You've overstepped your boundaries, and we demand some answers, right here, right now. So, I ask you once again, what're you doing here? I want the truth."

"..." A hidden smirk crossed Aurora's lips, hardly visible. Rudolf had made a subpar move, presenting her with an opening, an opportunity she gladly took.

Aurora rubbed her eyes with her sleeves, her doll safely nestled in her arms. Her eyes burst into tears, a stream rolling down her cute, little cheeks. "But ... But ... But ... I only wanted ... I only wanted ..."

Her actions earned Rudolf a reprimanding and poignant look by Iris. The woman crossed her arms, glared at her companion. "Excellent work, Rudolf, you've made her cry. It seems that your children's skills are impeccable as usual."

"..." Her words made Rudolf fume. His temper got once again the better of him. "Don't be fooled by her, Iris. The girl is toying with us. Don't fall for her little act ..."

Iris, however, would not listening. The woman approached her, wrapping her arms around her to cuddle and comfort her. "Calm down, little one. No need to cry, Sister Iris is here to protect you from big mean Rudolf."

"Really?" Aurora sniffed, her tears slowly subsiding.

Iris nodded. "Yes, I will protect you. In exchange, you just need to tell Sister Iris what happened here."

"..." Aurora lowered her head. "But ... I don't know. Everything is so confusing. Everything happened so quickly."

"Don't worry, take your time. One small step at a time." Iris' wry smile encouraged Aurora. "Just share with us whatever you do remember."

"..." Aurora and her doll nodded. Her deception had succeeded.

"Good girl." Iris rewarded her with a warm smile, even patting her head, a gesture which Aurora appreciated. "Tell us, little one, why did you run away? Don't you understand that we were quite worried about you? You can't leave just like that, all on your own. This place is dangerous."

"I am sowwy." Aurora lowered her gaze in guilt, her meek voice barely audible. "I just wanted to explore the ruins. Everything was going well until the ebil thing there appeared."

Her fingers pointed at the smouldering carcass of the slain creature. Smoke was rising from the blackened mass of grilled flesh. "The ebil beast attacked me. The ebil thing wanted to eat me." Her aetherial friends supported her version of the events, aggregating around their saviour to support her.

"..." Aurora stiffened ever so slightly, but much to her pleasant surprise, neither Iris, nor Rudolf appeared to display any reaction whatsoever. The will o' wisps were dancing and floating around her, yet the two did not appear to notice them despite their frivolous activities. Could it be that ... Could it be that her companions could not sense them? It was the most likely explanation.

Rudolf and Iris followed her hand before turning suddenly strangely silent. Their very blood froze in an instant, and their eyes widened in pure terror.

"Holy spirits, this is ... This is ..." Rudolf gasped in shock. "This thing is a dread wolf!" His hand reached immediately for his trusted spear to poke the carcass from a prudent distance. Fortunately, his fears were unfounded, and the beast did not move. The creature was dead, deader than dead, which elicited a sigh of relief from Rudolf.

Yet his watchful gaze lingered on the carcass, ever watchful. "I can't believe it, a fully grown dread wolf ... Here in Valentia ... I've heard rumours, ... but to think they'd wander this far south at time of the year. I always thought you only find further up north."

Aurora tilted her head cutely, her ears sharpened. "A dread wolf? What's that?"

Rudolf rose from the ground, visibly shaken. "They're powerful beasts, usually affiliated with the dark elements, such as ice, lightning, and fire. They're native to the vast boreal regions of Norgard, but they're also quite common across the northern and eastern regions of Arcadia ... ... ... You're truly a lucky girl. Dread wolves are extremely dangerous creatures, easily capable of killing even seasoned adventurers. To be honest, I can't believe that you managed to survive ... ... ... Have you sold your soul to some demon when we weren't looking, or what?"

"Hmm, ..." Aurora tilted her head, clueless. "No, not as far as I know, Uncle Rudolf. I don't think I signed any contract, but what I know for sure is that the ebil wolfie killed himself."

"Sure ... Wait, what?" Rudolf's eyes blinked in what could be only described as utter disbelief. "Did you really just say that the dread wolf killed itself?"

"..." Aurora nodded vigorously. Her doll nodded vigorously. Her will o' wisps nodded vigorously. It was the truth, after all. To a certain limited degree, of course.

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