I woke up, and just lay there for a bit.
"Ah… Another day of traveling..." I sighed.
Getting up, still tired, I stretched and headed to get some food, nearly tripping over, Umbreon and Espeon, who were wrapped around each others.
Once I grabbed some leftovers, I just went outside to eat, and enjoyed the sunrise. After sitting there for a few minutes, I heard the door open and close. Looking back, I saw that Fennekin.
"Howdy, what are you doing?" She said.
"Uh, just eating..." I replied.
"This place is pretty nice. Even better with my friends. So why are you doing these things called "Trails"? Does it do something?" She asked.
"I'm just doing this to save someone." I replied.
"Ah… Well hopefully we can do this!" She said.
"Yeah… Are those two love birds up yet?" I asked.
"I'll go wake them up." She said, walking inside.
It was around 9:30AM, and I was still sleepy. Umbreon and Espeon walked outside, and sat down next to me. We discussed our plans, and we agreed on one. We only have two left, I know we can do it. After getting some more ice cream, we all headed to the next trail. But midway through, we stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom. While the others were using the bathroom, I was checking the map. And it said the next trail was pretty much up the road. As I was scanning the easiest way to reach it, I heard a bush rustle. I quickly looked over, but saw nothing. A bit confused, I just focused on the map. But once again, the bush rustled again. Looking over once again, I once again saw nothing.
"Uh, hello?" I called out.
"Anyone?" I continued.
It got me even confused, it was strange. But I chalked it up to wind. It was kinda windy out. Once I looked down again, a small pebble hit me in the head.
"Ouch, what?" I said softly.
When I looked over, I noticed just in time, a hand retreating back in the bush.
"Alright, who's there?" I said, into the bush.
"And what's taking them so long in the bathroom?" I softly said.
I walked up to the bush, and forcefully moved them aside, but saw nothing. I glared around, but saw nothing. So I didn't bother much about it, possibly pranksters.
And finally after what felt like hours, they walked out.
"Jeez, what took you so long?" I asked.
We continued towards the seventh trail. And ten minutes later, we arrived in a massive city. And it was called "Magma City". Getting it's name due to it's volcano, last active over 1,000 years ago. It was a super volcano as well, if it even erupt, half of the region would burn down. But not showing activity for 1,000 years, everyone doesn't worry. Yalso wasn't even made that long ago, so it didn't matter.
Checking my map, I saw it was, indeed located in the volcano. The pathway to it was pretty simple. An already made and polished footpath, so there wasn't a problem falling to your death. We continued our way down, and minutes later, I reached the bottom. Seeing the scroll in all it's glory.
"Man, never been in a volcano before. Thought it'd be more… Lava stuff..." Umbreon said.
"Well if you look closely, there are lava crystals. I wish I brought lava gloves. Would so gather these for some research." Espeon replied.
"Alright guys… We need to do this trail quickly." I told them.
"Right! Now, if we have nothing to say, let's start." Umbreon said.
We walked up to the scroll, and we heard a voice.
"Look like you made it. Hmm, six outta eight? Very good, but these last two will be nearly impossible. If you want to take time, and gear up… Then go, but if you think you have what it takes… Then go for it." It said.
I talked over with my team, and none of us needed anything. So without anything else to do, I said.
"Yes, we're ready. Let's get this over with..."
"Very well, let's begin the trail of hunted." It replied.
Being transported, we appeared in the arena, we planned to take it slow. And with that we walked in carefully. We continued walking through it, encountering skeletons and other enemies. While walking through the closed walls, I heard a strange noise. Stopping, I looked around, and look at my team confused.
"Did you hear that?" I asked.
"Nope. What did you hear?" Umbreon asked.
"Not sure, I thought I heard something. Let's continue." I said.
There was something off. I kept feeling a strange pulse all around. Finally reaching the center, Umbreon sprinted towards the item, and grabbed it, running at impressive speeds back to us. He tossed it to Espeon, and we started running from whatever was going to chase us. But something was different, I felt sick and dizzy. The pulsing being sent from whatever, it made my vision blurry. And made me feel like puking. The others were getting effected also, and I wanted to know who's causing this. But turning around, it was horrible.
A mass of bone, flesh and organs. Empty eye sockets, and visible beating heart. I couldn't even make out what it was.
"Oh gah! What is that!?" I yelled.
And what it did next, was complete disgusting. The horrifying view proceeded to rip off chucks of itself, and threw it at us. But we somehow dodged all it's fleshy attacks. But I felt sick to my stomach, that is something you'll never forget. But then I noticed, the pulsing making us feel this way, was it's heart. I saw ripples coming from it, and it effected us pretty badly. Whatever this abomination was, it was doing a good job trying to destroy us.
But we ended up outrunning it somehow. And rushed out the arena. Falling to our knees, we pretty much threw up at the same time. After that, I stood up, taking the item from Espeon, and placing it on the alter. It then vanished, and the voice allowed me to use the scroll. I picked it up, getting wrapped in orange mist, then blackness. All that stuff. And when I awoke, I saw my new bow icon.
"My stomach is on fire..." Umbreon complained.
"Same..." The other two said.
Walking, and helping them all up, I showed them my seventh icon.
"Cool man… Uh, can we get some ice cream sandwiches?" Umbreon said.
Not wanting to take the long way out, I let the hidden guardian do it for us. And when we arrived at surface, we tried to satisfy our burning stomachs.
And that night, I was sitting outside, staring up to the moon. Just silently doing nothing, till Espeon walked out.
"You okay?" She asked.
"Yeah, just one more… Litten..." I said, under my breath.
"Don't worry, I'm sure he's still going on. How long ago did you start these?" She asked again.
"I'm not really sure. Like a week and a half… Possibly two weeks, I'm not sure. And I'm not sure how long he had this curse..." I replied.
"Well, let's go early in the morning, I know we can do the last one." She said back.
"Yeah, I guess… You should get some rest. I'll be in soon." I said.
She headed back in, and five minutes later, I walked in and headed to bed...