"Hey, Mika! Are we there yet?" Silver moaned. "My feet are killing me!"
"We aren't even halfway there," came the reply.
Groaning, he dragged his feet along, slowing down the journey. Frustrated, Mika turned around and scolded him soundly. Sulking, Silver walked faster and ignored her. Oh, honestly! He acts like a big baby at times! Mika thought exasperatedly.
"Hey, Mika! Where are we now?" asked Variante. He was beginning to feel tired and he could see that the girls were exhausted as well. Well, at least Tranquil and Sakura was, but who could blame them, Sakura was wearing a chainmail after all and Tranquil is burdened with her priestess' clothes, which isn't exactly as light as a feather.
Mika seemed to realize the same situation and glanced at the sky. It was turning dark. She consulted her map once more and pursed her lips. "Hmm, we're somewhere near the Ant Hell entrance. I think we could camp out here without being harassed by any aggressive monsters," she said. "Yay! We rest at last!" cheered Tranquil happily.
They quickly set up camp and the guys went off to hunt down a few pecopecos to be roasted. Silver, still sulking, went off alone to kill a few some birds. Mika started the fire and Tranquil made the stew while waiting for the meat. Sakura, on the other hand, simply lay down onto the ground, too exhausted to move. Indeed, her uniform was like carrying a large rock all the time. It was so heavy!
"Dinner's here!" Black sang as he appeared from nowhere. Variante came right behind him as they had brought along three dead pecopecos among them. Her eyes gleaming, Tranquil instructed them to clean it and hack in into small pieces. Meanwhile, Mika looked around her and asked, "Where's Silver?"
"Ah, he probably went off to cry like a big baby," Black said offhandedly. He was more interested in getting his tummy filled rather than worrying about that pesky wizard. Mika pursed her lips and continued to look around her. Suddenly she spied Tranquil looking dreamily at something. "Tranquil? What are you looking at?" She asked tentatively, not wanting to startle her.
Tranquil opened her mouth as if to speak, but a voice so alien from hers spoke from within, "Silver, Earth, and Fire. Together united will bring us down. Darkness, Fear and Sorrow. I summon thee and destroy them all!"
Mika shivered as she heard this. There was something creepy about what and how Tranquil prophesized. She noticed the others were also looking rather pale and assumed that they had heard her too. Gingerly, she touched Tranquil. "Umm, Tran? Are you okay?" she asked again softly. With a start, Tranquil snapped out from her reverie. She looked rather confused.
"Mika? Is that you? What happened? Is the stew ready?" she asked serenely, unaware of what just happened just now. Mika bit her lip and tried to stay calm. "Umm, nothing happened. I think you need a rest now, Tran. You look rather tired. We'll wake you up when dinner's done," she said gently. Tranquil merely nodded her head tiredly and soon fell asleep.
The rest looked at each other, pondering about the spookiness that had just happened. "I wonder what did she mean by Silver, Earth and Fire will bring us down?" Sakura asked uneasily. Mika shook her head, trying to dispel the sense of fear trickling behind her back.
Variante paused. "Hey, doesn't anyone think Silver has been away for a long time? Do you think anything is happening to him," he asked quietly. They looked at each other once more. "I think we should find him, but..." Sakura's voice trailed off, glancing anxiously at Tranquil's sleeping figure. He understood what she was trying to say: if they organize a search party for Silver, who's going to take care of Tranquil?
Black took off his angel helm and scratched his head. "So now what?" he asked. Mika stood up. "I'll go and find Silver. The rest of you guard Tranquil," she said determinedly. Variante looked at her. "I'm coming with you," he said firmly. Mika glanced at Variante and nodded her head. She picked up her arbalest and reloaded her storage with arrows. "Let's go!" she said.