Chapter 3

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PART 1 

COLSENT BAY – DEEP WATERS 

 

After hearing Coraline’s concerns, five of them all nodded in harmony, as if they had all reached an agreement without prior arrangement.

 

“ But. . . How are we going to tell the others ? “ Pun-hmorg asked while giving a stumped expression on his face.

“ It should be enough that you told them to keep an eye out, “  Coraline answered. Falling silent for a moment , she rested her chin on one hand, as if deep in thought.

“ If anything happens, please come down and let me know as soon as possible,” Coraline finally spoke.

“Sure thing! I’ll let them know, “ Pun-hmorg answered.

ALTUS MEADOW – UNEVEN TERRAIN

With that settled, a group of four which is Pun-hmorng, Zona, Lunaria, and Y/N said their goodbyes to Coraline and headed back to the shore, splitting up, then gathering the people of Colsentia. It didn’t take long before numerous Colsentia citizens showed up in droves. Pun-hmorng, Zona, and Lunaria rose up on the boulder. Pun-hmorng held an infected crystal as Lunaria stepped forward, appearing somewhat nervous, she was likely unaccustomed to speaking in front of a crowd like this.

H-H-H-Hi. . . . “ Lunaria began with a simple greeting, her voice soft.

“ Thank you all for taking the time to gather here. ”

“ M-M-My name is Lunaria. I’m one of the Corallis. Customarily, we take on the role of protecting, preserving, and restoring underwater coral reefs near Colsent Bay, “ she took a deep breath, composed herself, and proceeded with her story.

" As you may know, this island we call home is protected by the Crystal of Light, enshrined up on the Crystal Tower. All of you are probably already familiar with its purity and stability , right ? "

“ But we’ve discovered a-a-an infected crystal, ” she turned towards Pun-hmorng and Zona, signaling them to come forth. Both of them held up the infected crystal for everyone to see. It’s no surprise that there were horrified screams or babbling from the crowd of Colsentia that were listening.

“ W-We found them inside the forbidden forest… Actually, there was also a sealed door… and they found them inside ” she glanced at Pun-hmorng and Zona before continuing.

“ Coraline, our sister, the former Corallis, and the elder Stardust all agreed that these crystals are dangerous… ”she got a little anxious when mentioning two of the most respectable Stelciar.

 

“ This may be a sign that something dangerous is bound to happen. We can’t predict…what will happen at all. What’s worse is that those infected crystals did not only appear in that forest, but elsewhere too! ” Lunaria’s face went a little pale.

“ Therefore, we’d like to ask for everyone’s cooperation. Please keep an eye out around the island and if anyone comes across anything unusual, please inform us immediately, " she bowed her head down, pleading politely. 

Soon enough, the crowd began cheering in agreement, more or less boosting Lunaria’s confidence. She slowly lifted her head up and continued.

“ Then, please keep us up to date on the situations on this island every month, ” she said before walking down from the boulder, thus ending the meeting. There were some stutters here and there, but all is good in the end. 

 

Since the discovery of the infected crystals, all of them believed that a similar situation would occur again. So, they decided to group up and informed Lunaria of the situations monthly, like she requested.

 

Most of the reports showed no sign of abnormalities. Some weirder ones are usually some minor arguments, but everyone still agreed to keep reporting the situations until they figure out what to do with the infected crystals.

 

At least all these events made you closer to Lunaria! Aren’t you a little excited? She’s a Corallis!! Once in a while, you’d go talk in her cottage, exchanging various experiences.

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Eridas Forest - Riverside City

Another meeting was held once again. Some time had passed and it was almost the season when the void attacks. Of course it was a normal occurrence for the Stelciar. Many started to become wary, but the most cautious one would be Lunaria without a doubt. It’s written on her face even when she hid it beneath her soft smile.

 

“ Heyy, hurry up Y/N, or you’ll be late, ” Pun-hmorg, who was flying, along with his best friend, Zona, shouted out to you.

You answered hastily, “ I know! I know! ” You spread your wings further in order to catch up but stopped when you caught a glimpse of a strange shadow. You decided to go into the forest where it came from, which prompted your friends to follow after. They looked at each other, as if they were telepathically speaking before Pun-hmorg dove down after you.

You ran deep into the forest to find that shadow, but it seemed like you had lost it.

“ Hey! Where are you going? ”  Pun-hmorg ran after you.

“ Ha ha sorry, I must be seeing things, “ you answered and laughed at your worrywart self. It should have been like that but not this time; it was not just your anxiety: this time, whatever you just saw actually existed.

 

While you were laughing yourself off, a strange tiny creature suddenly dashed out of the bushes at you and your friends.

“ Watch out !! “ Pun-hmorg shouted then jolted backwards, with you following suit.

“ A void ??? How did it get inside ?! “ Zona yells in confusion.

“ I have no idea! But, I guess we have to take it down first! “ Pun-hmorg answered back to his buddy and squared up to the enemy, ready for a fight.

You and Pun-hmorg worked together and finally got rid of all the void in the area. Although, that meant what was happening right now was absolutely out of the ordinary.

“ That's why. . we haven’t seen any signs of them grouping up, ” Pun-hmorg muttered.

“ yeah “

“ We should let Lunaria know as soon as possible, “ you alerted Pun-hmorg immediately.

“ Of couse! “
“ We are going to see her today anyway. “ Speaking of which, you all just realized that you were going to be late for the meeting.

Altus Meadow - Uneven terrain

The trio rushed off to the meeting location. Luckily, it looked like the meeting had just started a not long ago.

 

“ Thank you for coming here today and for all of your hard work, “ Lunaria, the current protector of the reef, opened the meeting with a warm welcome.

 

“ Umm “

“ See, . . .  “ Zona tried to jump in.

 

“ W-We encountered a void in the Eridas forest just a moment before coming here. . .  ” Zona quickly explained the circumstances before you all arrived. 

 

“ But it was pretty small compared to the previous invasion, so don’t worry, we had already taken care of it.

 

“ How strange!? “

“ It shouldn’t have been able to get in here, “ Pun-hmorg asked Zona skeptically.

 

“ I also saw a few too.. “
“ Ah ! me too.. “
“ Same. . . I thought it was just me! “ More places keep popping up in Colsentia’s residents’ chatter about encounters on the island. From what seemed to have happened in a few places, the spotting had now increased in many parts of the island, progressively making the situation more acute.

 

" No way. . . .” Lunaria expressions began to pale when she heard those words. Her anxiety intensified far beyond what she could have anticipated, similarly, a unanimous cloud of worry fell over the face of the residents of Colsentia.

 

“ I give you my word, it is undeniably true, “ a calm voice broke through the silence, capturing the attention of the crowd. Elder Stardust, the owner of that voice, suddenly appeared above everyone’s heads, descending through the air, she made her way through the awkward and panicking crowd.

 

“ What does that mean? “ Zona asked

“ There  is no guarantee that the barrier protecting this island will hold forever. Is that what you mean, Elder ? “ Lunaria, who just managed to clear her mind, responded to Elder Stardust. Stardust nodded as an answer, confirming Lunaria’s suspicion.

 

“ I believe the barrier might have grown weak,allowing them to slip though. “

“ Let alone everyone else, even I failed to notice the slightest hint of this abnormality, “ she added.

 

That helped to clarify the situation a little. Lunaria took a deep breath, she knew that despite her nature and the fact that she had only recently taken over her sister's position, it wasn’t an excuse for her to neglect her duties.

“ Everything is going to be okay right ?! “ Lunaria cried out softly.

“ Even though things are looking pretty bad right now. . . “

“ But. . . ‘
“ It doesn’t mean we can’t fix it, right ?! “

“ For now let’s get them out of our home! “

The mood was still gloomy, probably because her gentle voice wasn’t exactly fit for a rallying cry. Everyone just stood there, not knowing how to react.
“ Hooray!!! “ Pun-hmorg who loved being the clown of the group, shouted his support for her.

 “ Hooray! “ As soon as Pun-hmorg took the lead, everyone  joined in, cheering along in harmony.

“ I will bring the news to Merciars who are still under the ocean myself. And of course, I’ll make sure to inform my sister too. ”

“ The Merciers will focus here on areas around Colsent Bay and the waters surrounding the island. And for the rest of the island, I’ll be counting on you all. “ Immediately after finishing her words, she sprinted towards the settlement of the other Merciars.

 

“ No time to waste! “ Elder Stardust shouted.

“ Split equally and cover North, South, East, and West. Don’t go alone and stay alert! “

“ Don’t let a single one of them escape! “

“ Let’s move ! “ With those words, she spread her wings and flew out in the lead.