Craig opened his mouth and inside you could see so many baby teeth continuing to grow. There were standard human teeth and then there were more than a few incisors and canines in Craig's jaws as he bit down into a pancake that was freshly made. The little boy's face had a couple of crumbs scattered all over from that single bite. All around his lips was a bunch of syrup and pancake fluffy bits. Craig didn't even seem to bother as he picked up another piece of pancake with his plastic fork and held the small circular piece over his mouth. He dropped it in, eating the entire thing in just one fell chomp.

As his mouth was full of waffle, syrup, and butter, he picked up his plastic fork again.

"Craig?"

Until a womanly voice stopped him cold. It wasn't cold, but it wasn't gentle either. It sounded more of an inquiry. The little boy froze up, his eyes widening as he looked ahead of him. Staring at him with a slight sense of awe and disgust, Cornelia and Cana were on the opposite end and looked at him with nothing more than silence.

Looking at Craig's puffed cheeks and the crumbs and syrup all over his mouth, Cana began to giggle, until she broke into a laughter. The little girl pointed and laughed at Craig's silly face.

Cornelia – despite how gross it was – thought it was cute as well. While she was borderline appalled with Craig having no sense of shame, or manners, this was a three-year-old she was dealing with. Two in fact. All she could do was sigh.

She smiled at Craig. "Craig, sweetie."

"Mmm?" He muffled as he swallowed a little pancake.

"Please don't shove food in your mouth like that. It's not really healthy to inhale it all like that. Okay?" She softly asked.

Craig nodded in understanding, continuing to swallow some more food down his gullet.

Cana perked a smile. "Mommy's teaching you manners, so you best use them when around other people!"

Craig swallowed the last bit of pancake, no longer having any puffed cheeks. He looked at Cana quizzically. "Are manners edible?"

Cana and Cornelia couldn't laugh at Craig. Of course it was a stupid question, but then again he never knew manners to begin with, so no one could blame them. Cornelia continued laughing for a bit and smiled at Craig. "No, silly. Manners is like…folding a napkin, or perhaps holding the door for someone."

"So…it's not something I can eat." Craig looked down at his plate, seeing it empty. "Oh." He sadly pouted.

"Don't worry, Craig. You'll learn to like using manners, hopefully." Cornelia never lost her smile. "We'll just keep trying until you understand manners, okay?"

Craig nodded, but when he did, he had three little sausages in his mouth. It was as if the whole message just went over his head. Cornelia could only stare at how Craig just completely disregarded her in that instant without using a brain, and instead used his stomach…on second thought, ever since she knew of him yesterday, she should've expected his appetite to come first. She groaned and pinched the bridge of her own nose in embarrassment.

Cana, however, just laughed in amusement as Craig's cheeks were all puffy again. "Mommy, he's so funny!" She giggled. "The way he eats food is funny!"

Of course Craig gave a pouty face to Cana as he swallowed. He crossed his arms and looked away…but only for a brief few seconds. His eyes slowly traced back to the sausage and bacon still on Cana's plate. His head slowly cranked at her fully.

All he did was just point at her food. "Are you going to eat those?"

Cana nodded. "Mhm!"

"Oh." Craig gave another facial figure of disappointment. He turned towards Cornelia and leered at her food. "Are you…?"

Cornelia sighed with a smile. "You're a silly kid, you know that?"

Cana laughed, but then Cornelia started to giggle as well, seeing as how Craig was gonna be someone to make things all the more interesting. Though he didn't understand it, seeing Cornelia and Cana laugh, Craig began to giggle as well, eventually him too succumbing to laughing.

All three continued to laugh in full amusement of their latest guest, who was soon going to be their greatest influence of all.

"Cranky…? Cranky?" A voice called out.

Craig stirred away, his face facing the voice. "Mmm…beat it." He mumbled before settling back to sleep.

Cana angrily looked down at Craig and had hands to her hips. "Hey! Cranky!" She yelled loudly.

Immediately Craig's eyes widened and he jerked back up. He sat up, his right hand grabbing the hilt of one of his swords. He opened his mouth and bared his teeth, exerting an animal-like growl towards the disturbance that was Cana. His monstrous snarl, however, didn't surprise Cana, though she did lean back with crossed arms for slight precaution. "What do you want, woman? Don't you know not to wake me from my nap, period?!" He angrily scolded her.

"Well your 'nap' took almost two hours. You're slowing us down, Cranky." She said.

Craig narrowed his eyes, glaring at Cana while a low growl escaped from his throat. "You make me sick sometimes. If you were an enemy, I'd cut you for disturbing my nap." He began to stand up. "But since we're on a deadline, might as well grab a quick snack and head up that cave towards those people."

Cana raised a brow. "You packed food?"

"Nope." Craig answered with a smirk. "Brownie, my poor, delusional, unintelligent, sloppy, half-naked, and extremely annoying Brownie; out here, you have to improvise for means of a snack."

Cana looked despondently at Craig. "And exactly what is that supposed to mean?"

As is the gods have answered the dispute, something passed them and went hopping off. It was a rabbit, and it was a relatively average sized one at that. It hopped away from them and into the nearby shrubs.

Cana looked back at Craig, seeing him hunch over and look like a hunting wild dinosaur. His neck craned a little low and his stride was sturdy, but a little on the soft side this time.

The brunette's eyes widened. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Cranky, are you seriously gonna…"

Craig spread his legs apart and eventually stopped. His stance altered, looking much like he was gonna draw up one of his swords. He narrowed his eyes, slowly investigating the rustling of the lower half of the bushes. It continued to rustle on, every rustle is just every second the little animal had left. Cana looked away, not wanting to look at Craig as he was gonna get them an apparent 'snack'. It was revolting, but it was apparently food as well.

The rabbit hoped out of the bush, and Craig's eyes narrowed. He drew his blood red sword in a flash and sliced vertically upwards. He didn't even move his feet as the proximity between him and the rabbit was a couple of meters, but apparently that was all the distance he needed.

As the rabbit fell back to earth, it split open in a bipedal fashion into the grass.

Looking at the fresh kill, Craig walked on over and picked up the half-rabbit each. He walked on over and presented the half-rabbit rabbit to her. "Here."

Cana glanced over his shoulder, seeing the half-rabbit's fur side showing and not the other side, which showed its insides. The Card Mage could throw up, but she was above that. As much as she wanted to deny such a kill, it's not uncommon for rabbit to be part of cooking apparently.

The brunette sighed as she grabbed it by the one ear. "You're a real sick man, you know that?" She scolded him, just as her stomach grumbled.

Craig rolled his eyes. "If you're calling me a psychopath, you're not the first. Either you eat it or it's extras for me, which is it?" Of course no pressure, but he knew Cana must've been starving, and as far as his compassion has gone, there was really no telling if this was just on a whim or just because.

Cana just ignored him and proceeded to gathering a nearby stack of sticks to set ablaze to. In less than ten minutes, everything for her was set, as she already had the rabbit cooked over the fire. She seemed placid, and also quite hungry to boot. Seeing rabbit being cooked like chicken was pretty delectable, in some way a little odd but it was as it was.

She looked over. "Hey Craig, do you know how long ya-!"

Her eyes widened and she just stared as Craig was nearby, his back turned to her as he completely ripped off a chunk of the raw rabbit he still had. Blood, bones, everything was gone into his mouth as he lifted it up and chomped. Blood dripped from his chin onto what was left of the raw rabbit. He craned his neck down and his sharp teeth ripped away the entire leg in one go. He swayed his neck around back up and raised it again, allowing for some parts of the leg to fall down his throat while the remainder was still in his mouth. He chewed and chomped, bone crunching up as more blood dripped.

Cana just stared like she's seen a ghost. She's seen a lot of gross things in life, but apparently Craig trumps all of that. She slowly looked away, her face having a despondent look with narrowed eyes. She shook her head in disgust. "You're seriously twisted and sick." She mumbled.

All Craig did in retort was just look over his shoulder, stared, paused while having a piece of meat sticking out of the corner of his mouth, and then resumed eating remainder of the rabbit.

Cana eventually finished cooking her share of the rabbit and ate it with more civilized manners unlike what Craig displayed. After she finished her share, both went over to the nearest pond and waterfall and decided to get some water. Cana bent over and put a hand into the pond, feeling the clear and dense vitality of the water on her skin.

"This water…it's so pure." She muttered. She put her hand to her mouth and gave a quick sip. When the water went down her throat, it was like all of the taste from that snack she had just vanished. A pure wave of tranquility relished within her, and she looked so shocked. She looked up at the waterfall, watching it pound down gallons upon gallons with every second into the pond. Her eyes kept climbing up the waterfall, seeing how it looked to be touching the sky if not for the humungous piece of rock it fell from high above. 'I wonder what's really up there…?'

Craig was equally as curious as he sat along the water's edge. He stared up as well, his eyes wandering from the pond to the waterfall. He was feeling something tingly inside, and it most certainly wasn't the rabbit he devoured like a wild animal. He looked down to his stomach, something vibrating. He couldn't understand it, but then again, there's a lot of answers that revolve around bigger questions.

He just stared down at this odd intensity for a few more seconds before he bent over and pushed his mouth into the water. Unlike the method Cana used, Craig drank with his head and mouth in the water, taking gulp after gulp. The upside was that the blood on his chin was washed off, but the method still disgusted Cana, not that she was already disgusted by him to begin with.

As Craig reeled his head back, his chin soaking wet, Cana just stared at him despondently. "Have you really learned any means of manners? Really, Cranky?"

Craig just looked at her, thinking back to the dream he had. Ironically it was like icing on the cake. He could still remember what the conversation they had was about, and how Craig continued eating. Some things really haven't changed. Still, he'd be lying if he didn't know a thing or two of manners.

He looked away. "Well for starters…maybe folding napkins, and maybe holding doors for ladies." He answered with a nonchalant look.

Cana put a dainty hand to her chest. "Wow, I am shocked." She said with thick sarcasm. "You actually know manners."

"I know them, I just don't use them. And besides…" He began to sit up. "I said holding doors for ladies, not beasts like you."

Cana's head showed a tick mark, and she got up and growled at Craig.

Craig just ignored her and pressed on. "Anyways, this water we drank. It was no doubt pure. It was thick with minerals, and you could taste them clearly. If I had to guess, I'd say there's a lake up ahead, hence the downpour."

Cana looked up at the nearby waterfall, her anger over Craig fading. "Well, you're not wrong. There's definitely some water source above. Where there's water, there has to be people. If they were taken away as some form of hostages or prisoners, they need a substantial water source nearby." Beginning her trek, she chose to persevere through the need to call Craig names. "Let's go, Cranky."

Craig followed behind. He walked close behind Cana as they went past the waterfalls that surrounded them, but even to Craig something was leaving his mind in what felt like a fog, despite ironically lifting one. He followed behind the Card Mage, his eyes cascaded onto the upcoming grass. The waterfalls began to disappear in the distance behind him as his feet pressed forward. One foot went in front of another, and with every step taken, the odd sensation dwelling within Craig was growing, palpitating with so much force. Every time he wanted to question himself or this odd feeling crawling around his stomach, he just couldn't seem to follow through. It most certainly wasn't the water or rabbit meat digested, far from it. Rather this energy he was feeling, it was rather…holy, or perhaps above magic. He wouldn't know considering he can't use magic to begin with, but that was the only way he could possibly describe it.

'What's this odd…' His eyes narrowed. 'A radar? Is it linked to my memory? What am I feeling? It's like a magnet's inside of my body and pointing at the…' He turned his head to look up at the rock that was towering above him like a mountain. Immediately things began clicking. 'Well whatever the hell is going on in my head, there's no doubt that whatever's up there is a bad omen and has my name written all over it.' He then held back the urge to snarl up to the mountain-like area above. 'This sucks.'

Walking along, Craig and Cana didn't have to walk very far to get to what looked like the entrance. Cana's eyes widened when she spotted a cavernous entrance engraved. "Cranky, up ahead!"

Craig's eyes narrowed. "I can see, stupid. I have eyes, and I see a hole bigger than your mouth."

"No pit is bigger than your own mouth."

"Why thank you."

"Damn you!"

Craig and Cana passed by pools upon pools of bubbling water, evidence of some level of heat. Already the two felt like they were in a kitchen. They stepped far away from the pools of bubbling water, which also had mounds of shrubs and bushes patched alongside and sticking somewhat into the boiling water. They made it to the front, where they saw some steam slowly and weakly fizzling out of the cracks and holes around the cave entrance.

Cana squinted her vison. "Steam. Guess that means it's going to be hot. If the water's boiling around here, then that means this whole place is just one big hotspot."

Craig looked at the rising steam coming out of the cavernous tracks. He scoffed off to the side. "Well what do you know? Looks like there's things other than you that are full of hot air."

Cana glared angrily towards Craig, her teeth bared. "Coming from the obnoxious airhead who doesn't even know that forks exist for a purpose!"

"Coming from the human being who doesn't wear a shirt!"

"Coming from a walking kitchen knife!"

Craig out a hand on one of his swords, his palm resting on the pommel. "Well this did get yourself a snack." He noted. "Way to be observant."

With the small silence between him and Cana set, there was a sudden, and extremely quiet rumble. It was so quiet that it wasn't even felt. However, Craig could've heard it. He did. There was something he could also hear, but it wasn't all that clear.

Craig looked ahead towards the cavernous entrance, having little to go on with that sudden vibration and weak roar. His focus was diverted from his brunette partner, which caused some curiosity.

Cana saw Craig space out. "Cranky?"

Craig shook his head and leered at the ground. "I must be getting delusional or something. Come on, we're wasting time." He proceeded on ahead into the cavern. Almost instantly he was hit by a wave of heat. It was so staggering that Craig almost felt his skin burn, but he could only persevere and show no signs of weakness as he just walked on ahead.

"Careful, it's hot when you get in here." He warned.

Cana took his warning as advice and slowly proceeded inside. She went in step by step until she managed to actually feel the intense heat from inside the cavern as well. Already she was beginning to sweat. "Damn, no joke. It is freakin hot." She answered. "I thought I was gonna burn for a second there."

Craig didn't bother to look back. "Well I did warn ya." He checked his surroundings of the cavern, getting a valuable checkout of his surroundings.

The cavern itself was rather spacious, and there was a number of steam holes embedded inside of the walls. While steam was coming out, Craig's eyes looked up to the spikes hanging down. And yet despite those no spikes were not on the bottom. There was boiling or perhaps heated water all around them; one touch and it could be as hot as a spa in some aspect. Looking around the darkness, Craig didn't seem to have any apparent problem.

"That way, I see a path that slopes up." Craig pointed ahead, trudging forward.

Cana grunted. "Hold on Cranky." She scolded. "I can barely see in front of me. How are you able to see anything in here?"

Craig looked back to Cana, seeing her squinting. He didn't answer immediately, and rather he just looked behind and stayed quiet, silently recounting more than a few tales that gave him what he had. "Night vision. Long story. Don't wanna talk about it."

"How is it that you have night vision?!" Cana exasperated.

"Watch it, there's water right beside your foot there." He warned.

"Wait, wha-!" Cana stepped off to her left, and immediately her sandals and foot were soaked into hot water. Immediately she recoiled in pain. "Ow!" She screeched.

"Warned ya."

Cana looked towards the faint image of Craig and growled. Her foot calming down, she limped ahead, angrily keeping up with her bane of existence. She just can't question him with the way he does things, that's one thing she's learned from this crazy adventure…among other things. With nothing to lose except her self-worth, dignity, and quite possibly her own life, Cana followed her paranoid, deranged, psychotic, aggressive, and apparently intelligent guide with sensory in the dark.

They thus embarked, and Craig paced himself upwards through the cavernous location. As they began to slope up, they bypassed a few numbers of flowing streams. The hot water ran down the eroded sides of each of them, and you could hear the water flowing weakly. It was enough for Cana though. She could hear the weak streams on either side, and eventually her eyes finally adjusted to the less than adequate lighting inside the steamy and heated cave.

However, enough soon came to be enough. After about ten minutes, not only were the two sweating like crazy, but the steam was starting to irritate their eyes some.

Cana closed her eyes for a few moments as she trudged on. "This steam is burning my eyes."

"I know what you mean. I can barely go fifty feet without having the need to keep my eyes shut." Craig lethargically replied back. He blinked again, this time pretty harsh. The over-excessive levels of steam were more than irritating, but both knew that they must persevere. "All this steam is so bided up inside this structure of a mountain. How is it still standing without exploding with all of this heated air around. You'd expect maybe there'd be a few holes of peaks of sunlight somewhere, but it's just like that fog, only weaker and instead increases temperature."

Cana proceeded behind Craig, keeping her pace. "Whatever, we need some place to rest before we-!"

Suddenly Cana was cut off as Craig grabbed her by the neck. He pushed her down onto a knee, and Craig followed, hunching over. A sudden steam blast went shooting across over Cana's head, from what looked like a large hole in the wall. Both Craig and Cana stayed down not just because of the steam, but also the fact that Craig was still somewhat restraining her down.

After several more seconds, Craig let go of Cana and both weaseled themselves around the steam hole as steam continued puffing out of it. With that sudden reaction over with, Cana turned towards Craig.

"A little warning next time would really be appreciated. I was almost steamed alive there!" She barked.

"You're welcome." Craig snarked back. "You were lucky. Now come on, and this time onwards, try and pay attention."

Cana rubbed her eyes just a little as she was still trying to get the exerting steam in the air to not irritate her. She pressed on soon afterwards, following Craig until the duo was resorting to clawing their way up.

Climb after climb up through the caverns, they kept pushing up through the narrow spaces, which expanded out into large empty areas. It was nothing if not an inconsistent maze of long, narrow, wide, and vast passages. The ground itself was hot, the whole landscape itself was feeling like it was about to explode with heat, but otherwise it was contained. The cracks in some parts of the ground had buts of steam rise, causing Craig to maneuver around, Cana being in pursuit.

Climbing up a narrow tunnel, Craig and Cana finally reached what seemed to be an open chamber. They looked around, seeing absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. And what felt surprising to them, was…

"You feel that?" Cana looked around, her eyes cascaded up towards the veiling, and all across the walls. "It's cooler compared to down there."

Craig went over towards a nearby wall, spectating and seeing large thin crevices. As he started to look up, the crevices much bigger. "This has to be where the steam filters out. These crevices are thin, but they're big enough for steam and air to get through to the other side. Guess now we also know why it's so hot at the entrance. If we're going up for what felt like hours, then that must mean we're over mountain height. That means the heat in the atmosphere is staying in low pressure areas. If I had to guess, maybe we're nearing the peak, meaning the odds are that it might cool down just a bit." He explained.

Cana raised a brow, her eyes all red. "Well thank god. That steam was really driving me nuts."

Craig felt down to the water that encompasses the area all around them. He ran his fingers through the small bit of reserved water and felt it a little cooler. "We'll take a break. Our eyes took a toll."

"I second that." Cana agreed.

"Half an hour, tops." Craig said.

"Fine with me."

Atop of the huge location, the crystal clear water remained still. Despite what happened as of a few hours prior, the woman looked undeterred from what had upset something beneath the surface. She stared out with a stale look in her eyes. "I swear, the great one will indeed be appeased. Whoever has lifted my fog, they will perish before they can even make it up to the summit." Her hand slowly reached down, scooping up some water. The water was cool, refreshing, dense, and extremely rich and healthy. Her skin looked like it was glistening underwater from the minerals. "It's this great land's secret that must be forgotten. However long it takes, this foe will pay for the atrocity of revealing these grounds to the world."

Shakily, another voice spoke up. "N-no!"

All that could be labeled as serene was then dropped. The woman turned around, her glare facing the man's scared eyes. "What did you just say?" She asked in a menacing tone. "What did I just hear?"

The man amongst the group of maybe four-hundred swallowed, but he dared not back down. "Y-you heard me! I have a wife, and two beautiful to get to! I've been missing for almost six months now! My little girl's birthday is coming up, and I would rather be damned than let me miss it."

In spite of his courage, others seemed reluctant. A random woman spoke up next. "I refuse to be here any longer. This is nothing but torture if I can't see my husband!"

"Yeah! I have no idea who lifted that fog, but if they can pull off that miracle, then we may as well pray they can get us home." Drake said. "Like you said, we won't tell anybody about this, but you know that what this is just borderline inhumane."

The woman only stared at Drake and everybody else. "…" She only remained quiet and glared as many others were beginning to speak up of loved ones and missing relatives, broken hearts and anniversaries missed. All of which is touching, but were grating her ears without any will to care for.

Her hazy eyes widened, and a pulse went through the air. Immediately everybody went silent. Their sense dulled and their shock showed. They felt petrified as the land itself seemed silent. Her Magic Power and abilities that they've seen first-hand were starting to surface. It was leaving them to remain speechless again. Her eyes narrowed. "I don't care. This secret is more important than every life worth on this planet. The great beast himself will end this dilemma below."

"But…"

Drake was silenced by the unemotional stare of the woman. He backed down and his clutched fists loosened up.

He knew she was right. The white monsters she created were one thing, but what she had sent after Craig and Cana was another thing.

The woman looked back at the monstrous lake, and she walked slowly towards the edge. She knelt down onto her knees, and silenced herself. "My great master, what startled you, it will end. I swear."

Beneath the surface, something within the bottom of the dark abysmal reached was unable to respond. But the one thing that was clear, it looked large.

Her eye closed. "I have sent him to destroy the intruders for startling your slumber. Do not worry, for all will be set back into balance."

Somewhere in the darkness beneath the location, something had growled.

"Come on, slowpoke! It's such a beautiful day!" The three-year-old that was Cana went running out of the house, filled with vivid energy to start the day. He had a big smile on her face and her little feet ran through the grass in front of the small cottage.

Cornelia was next to come out. She smiled as she watched her sweet baby girl run around in the fields. She turned around, watching with some level of hysterics of Craig lethargically making way. Unlike Cana, he was more reluctant than anyone else. If anything, he was conflicted as to even leave the house. He's never played with anyone before, and by no means was this new experience all that it seemed, at least to his eyes.

"Come on!" Cana called out.

Craig stumbled outside, into the morning sun. He walked ever so slowly out onto the dewy fields of the cottage. He seemed rather intrigued with Cana, but whatever went through his head was nothing short of complete wonder and mystery beyond his feeble imagination.

In truth, he's never played with anyone, nor has he even hung around a family nor anybody this long. It's been almost an entire day, and yet everything for the little boy had just turned upside down.

Once Craig met Cana in the fields, Cornelia sat on a blanket and watched with a smile as the two were about on the fields.

Cana cheerfully looked at Craig. "So, what do you wanna do?"

Craig looked confused at her. He wasn't sure himself. "I…don't know."

Cana gave a small pout. "Hmmm…oh!" Her eyes widened. "How about a game!"

"What kind of game?" Craig asked.

Cana looked quizzically around. "Hmmm…how about…" Cana wanted to say something amusing, but there was one problem, and it made her pout again. "I don't know any games."

Craig looked at the ground, staring at Cana's feet. "Oh."

"Why not tag?"

Craig and Cana turned their heads to look at Cornelia, who was smiling from afar. She seemed amused that the two children were clueless, but thought tag would bring some life into their legs.

"What's tag?" Craig asked.

"Yeah, Mommy? How do you play?"

Cornelia chuckled at their perplexed faces. "Well sweetie, Craig, it's rather simple. Cana, tap Craig for me, can you?"

The little girl looked quizzically at her mother, but otherwise complied. She stuck out a finger and poked Craig gently on the shoulder. Craig looked down at where his shoulder was touched and looked back up at a perky Cana, only making him less than amused.

"So Craig, what you do now that Cana touched you, that means you're 'it'." Cornelia explained. "That means that now she has to run and keep away from you. Your goal is to tap her, so that she becomes it. And then it goes back and forth until you decide to give up. Got all of that?"

Craig and Cana nodded in understanding. They then looked towards one another, and they both paused. While Craig gave a small pout, he wasn't gonna quit. He readied his hand, and Cana immediately ran off. The little girl ran through the fields, her energy brimming in her tiny feet. Craig followed along, running after Cana with his hand reached out to her.

"You can't catch me~! You can't catch me~!" Cana teased. She ran about, but Craig was closing in fast. Cana didn't even get to look over her shoulder to turn before Craig tapped her.

"Now you're it!" Craig exclaimed. His little toddler body went running off in the opposite direction. Much to Cornelia's surprise, Craig was running quite fast despite the little body he had. Craig was followed by Cana, who turned around and went to get him. The little brunette went chasing after him, her hand stretched forward, and she tried to reach him.

"I'm coming after you!" Cana warned.

"You'll never take me alive!" Craig declared. He took a sudden right turn, surprising Cana as she went to turn after him.

Cornelia watched with a smile as her little girl and their newest friend made a morning worth remembering.

As the sun kept rising, there was no telling how much time had passed. The trees' leaves were growing, and the grass was basking in more and more of the sun's rays. Among the grassy fields, Cornelia got up from her seat on the blanket and folded it up. She tucked the blanket underneath her arm and turned around and walked over to the two people on the field. She stopped over their bodies and smiled down on them.

There they were, sleepy and exhausted; Craig and Cana were both lying on the field, fast asleep. Apparently Cana fell asleep atop of Craig's back as the latter was sleeping on his stomach. It was hard to tell if it was because Cana was after Craig this time or the reversal. Cornelia honestly lost count after 37 taps for Cana and 39 for Craig.

She sighed, but couldn't help but smile at how adorable they both were. They both sounded so peaceful and tired. They've been running around the entire time.

"You both are gonna have a big appetite when you wake up." Cornelia said.

Craig opened his eyes again, overlooking everything all around him. As usual, it was just another memory that was supposedly lost. It was tough to say, but the pieces were looking like they were coming together, at least for the beginning. He turned over onto his side, his weary eyes catching a glimpse of Cana lying on her side, sleeping and resting her eyes. 'There it was again. Every time I'm around her, they always come back…' He raised a brow. 'How is it that thing ended up being in my memories? I'm still perplexed how the hell she and I were like that…' When he sat up, he stared ahead, pondering of the three-year-old Cana he played with. His face twisted again.

'This is so screwed up…'

"Grrooooh!"

Craig jerked up, almost standing up. He went wide-eyed as he heard some low growling it seemed. He turned to look all around. "Okay…I know for a fact that ain't coming from me."

"GRROOOOOOH!"

The monstrous roar reverberated through the walls, rattling the entire mountain. Craig's eyes widened and he could tell in that instant that something disastrous was nearby. He crouched, his hand reaching for a sword as the cracks long the chamber lengthened, having even more steam filter out.

Craig's eyes narrowed. "Something tells me this ain't gonna be fun."

Cana stirred awake, groaning. Craig looked on over, seeing Cana beginning to arise from her short rest.

She yawned. "What's all the commotion?" She questioned. "Either the ground just shook, or that was your stomach."

Craig gave Cana a serious look. "Shut up." He scolded. He turned away, facing the chamber tunnel on the other side. '…' He slowly paced himself forwards, heading towards the tunnel heading towards the peak. 'What was that roar just now? It sounded hefty, and the entire chamber shook…' He looked down again to his abdomen, that odd feeling in his gut churning with some pulsing sensation. 'And my gut, it's acting up again. At least we know that we're drawing in, but I worry what might really lie ahead.' He turned back towards Cana, seeing her pat some dust of her cargo pants. "Hey, your eyes better?"

Cana nodded. "Yeah, and it probably sucks that the first thing I look at is that face."

Craig gave a despondent look before turning away. "Good, because you're gonna need those eyes to see something scarier."

"What?" Cana tilted her head.

"Call it instinct, just keep an eye out for any sights or sounds, got it?"

Cana shrugged. "Whatever you say?"

Cana thud followed Craig up the cavernous chamber. They were relatively silent the more they escalated, hardly even speaking any words at all. The entire location even seemed to have altered some in regards to the steam and water. The water was cooler, and there was no steam. The upper half of the territory seemed almost completely in contrary to the lower half, where it was closer to the ground. But despite there being less steam, the temperature didn't seem to lower. It quizzically stayed at a high level of heat, enough to still make them sweat.

However the case may go, their objective was drawing near, and much to Craig's own wonder, something else was drawing him in as well. It was still very hard for the 18-year-old to understand nor even fathom. It was more than a gut instinct. Among that the pressure within the atmosphere was getting more tense as they embarked upwards.

As the altitude increased for them, the greater the pressure seemed to have increased. Not the kind that makes your ears pop, but that sinister pressure that Craig had felt before when he heard that monstrous roar. Unable to shake these feelings, the duo pressed on.

Eventually came to what seemed to be the peak. In stark contrast to the lower half, which was more narrow with every cavern they've ventured through, the level they were beneath was heavily spacious, with near craggy sloped sides.

Cana and Craig both started to pant again, their bodies more than a little exhausted from the heavy climb they've endured. "That only took forever." Cana huffed. "I guess we're almost there?"

Craig caught his breath, but rather than jerk back at Cana, he only stared out ahead.

This didn't go unnoticed by the brunette however. "Cranky? Hey, what're you staring at?" She wondered.

His eyes narrowed. He didn't at all look sound. "…" He glared sharply all around, seeing the stones all around lying with some sense of horror. 'The air…it's not just hot. It's dense; a very boiling dense…' He turned towards Cana, now seeing her face brimming with uneasiness. "You feel that?"

Cana nodded in understanding. "I understand. This tension…it's making my skin crawl." You could actually see goosebumps on her arms and shoulders. "Cranky, you feel something…!"

Craig's eyes kept a sharp sense of danger within them. "Yeah, this pressure all around…it's making me feel like I'm crushed…!"

There was a long silence brewing beneath their feet. The air's tension suddenly spiked and remained that way. Craig and Cana stayed completely still, not making so much as a hitch in their breathing as the energy in the atmosphere was at a crushing peak. The heat in the room was already making them sweat, but this pulsating feeling was keeping them far from unsound.

"GGRRROOOOOOH!"

A violent, earth-shaking roar bellowed. The roaring reverberated off the rocks and through the atmosphere. Craig and Cana both covered their ears as the loud roar rattled the ground beneath them. A dreadful cringe in their chest made Craig jerk back at the staggering energy he was sensing.

As to where he was almost baffled, Cana was just downright horrified. Her eyes showed sheer terror as the roar was dialing down, but the earth kept thumping. Every thump in the ground was like twenty heartbeats for the brunette. "This…this raw power…"

Craig grabbed for one of his swords, narrowing his gaze. "I knew it. We weren't alone."

Another blood-curdling bellow shook the entire domain. The roar was so catastrophic that its sound extended out from near the very top. The citizens atop all were petrified by fear, and the woman smirked. Near Fogbound, the violent roar was faint, but it could be heard. All of the citizens free from the fog looked in the direction the sound came from, and they were far from pleased as their worries spiked.

The pressure in the air was making Craig and Cana's spines crawl, but Craig more composure as he had dealt with beasts of such monstrous caliber before The ground continued to thump with a heavy tone. Something was coming their way, and by no means was it small…nor friendly.

Cana pulled out a card. "Sometimes I really hate it when you're right."

Craig crouched. "Me too." The rocks beneath them began to glow red, much to their sheer bewilderment. They could feel a vibrant, hot energy course through the cracks of the rocks. Everything around was nothing short of shrilled intensity.

Up ahead, they could see glowing eyes, and something large. They heard a low growl, but it was enough to make Cana shiver harder.

From the darkness in front, with nothing but the ground's glowing red cracks as sources of light, they could see something with a molten outline. The inside of its mouth was nothing but molten. The eyes were also somewhat of a molten color. The outline of its armor all the way down to the tail proved just how hot the monster was in terms of temperature.

Its feet crashed against the ground, causing more cracks to be embedded into the earth. Red glowing energy poured from the armor on its body, and by no means did this beast look like it was nice.

When the beast's near seventy-foot-tall structure was over Craig and Cana's head, they could only stare with shock and terror.

Craig's eyes were sharp, but his nerves crawled with this pressure. It was like Essence when he fought the monster for the first time. "Brownie…"

The image of the large beast in front, it startled the brunette. "But…didn't that statue say that it lived long ago? How is it even here?!"

Craig pulled out his dark red sword, ready to attack. "That doesn't matter now. It's here…and apparently it still lives to this day."

The menacing eyes of the monster cascaded down onto Craig and Cana as they also looked up, but with more shock. Its mouth opened, revealing its molten gums.

Craig's stance adjusted. "15,000-years-old and still lives on. That plaque was right when it said this monster holds secrets…the Behemoth."

The Behemoth was looking exactly like the statue, only much larger, and its bare skin was charred black. The armor around it was all red. The eyes, mouth, and the rest of its outline was pouring with molten energy.

The land monster bellowed out, sending heat waves at Craig and Cana that forced them to cover up while being pushed back. The monstrous roar again made red cracks bloom between the rocks. The roar was again so massive that it could be heard from afar.

Up above, the woman smirked. "It's over for the fools. My Behemoth…will make sure they don't get out of this alive."

Sorry again for this chapter being so late. I'm devoting a vast majority of my time writing A Contender's Bonds, plus a little Writer's Block on and off, and the fact I only operate this story either in the early morning and night. I was hoping to write more of the fight that was to come, but I got too carried away with Craig's flashbacks. I do intend to finish the Fogbound Arc next chapter, as well as make the fight of Craig and Cana VS Behemoth, so not only will the next chapter take some time, but will also be extremely long. Still, if this chapter sufficed and you are content with the CraigxCana and their history, leave a comment and review, and until next time!