Arle invites her friends back to her world and shows them Lyla's Ruins. However, a monster from her past dashes through their excitement with a strange liquid dripping down his beak. Requested by a tumblr anon!

This ficlet is a rewrite of Chapter 45, "Return," to better suit the prompt sent by the requester.

Content warnings: Blood, implied character death.

Strange World

Arle's world was something straight out of a fairytale. Forests dominated the world with rich trees towering high above their heads. Quaint villages and towns existed without a hint of modernism. The sea was as sparkling and pure as far as anyone could see, and even the air tasted fresher than it was back on their respective worlds.

Arle was mostly excited to show them all Lyla's Ruins. She claimed to be quite an expert in dungeon crawling. Maguro commented it was like a video game when she guided the them down the dark, dank depths. Arle's lantern provided the only source of light, mentioning that Schezo hadn't lit the torches in many years.

"Only because I haven't been here in a while," he snapped, and Arle rolled her eyes, Carbuncle on her shoulders imitating her.

"Of course Schezo wouldn't keep his place spick and span. He's filthy in all of his habits," Rulue sneered, Raffina chuckling next to her.

"Hey! Like I said I haven't been here in a while! Get off my case." He clutched his sword, tapping it against the stony floor as they marched on.

Sig yawned, asking, "Are there any bugs around? I haven't seen any."

"Well, we are exploring. Maybe we'll find some new ones along the way," Ringo replied, noticing Risukuma was fiddling with a flashlight he kept inside his coat.

Managing to flick it on, Risukuma checked over his shoulder. He thought he heard an odd groan behind him, but only the same stones they trekked over greeted him. He cocked his head, certain that he hadn't been hearing things and flicked the light over to another corridor.

"What's down this way, Arle?" he asked, catching everyone's attention.

She stepped towards him, her lips pursed. She flicked her gaze over to Schezo, who curtly glared at the floor, and Carbuncle hugged her neck. Sighing, she said, "Let's not go down that way."

"Why not?" Raffina wondered, cocking her hip out.

She patted Carbuncle's head when he shivered. "Well, I'm pretty sure that way leads to a...dead end."

"Are you certain?" Risukuma crouched and patted the ground. Raising his hand, he revealed an inky liquid trickling down his palm. "Then what would you call this?"

He wished he hadn't asked as the blood drained from Arle's face. Schezo and Rulue stumbled forward, the latter quickly tearing a cloth from Raffina's pouch and shoving it on his paw, ordering him to wipe it off. Grimacing, he obeyed as their narrowed eyes focused on the liquid dribbling between the cracks in the stones.

"Whoa! What's up with you guys? You look like you've seen a ghost, " Maguro said, exchanging an uncertain glance with Ringo.

"He can't be here, right, Schezo?" Arle glowered at him, Carbuncle uttering a soft hum. "I thought I defeated him."

"I told you that I haven't been here in a long time." He streaked his fingers through his white tresses. "If that liquid is what I think it is…"

"Then we certainly shouldn't have brought them here," Rulue finished, crossing her arms as Amitie tapped her chin.

"Is it something dangerous? Are we in trouble?" she asked, causing Raffina to scoff.

"You would be frightened over this, Amitie. It's probably nothing so serious."

"Whatever it is, I'm sure we can defeat it. We have the numerical advantage after-!"

Slicing through the Ringo's words was a scream that rendered them all silent. Chills raced down their spines, and they felt as if they were cemented to the ground. Risukuma dropped his flashlight, horror beseeching him as he quietly realized what he had touched.

With the faint light provided by Arle, all they could see were swathes of gold. Thunderous footsteps stormed towards them. Another ear-splitting screech echoed through the corridor, causing Amitie and Sig to cover their sensitive ears. Maguro instinctively reached for his kendama, unsure of what to do as they all made out the monster racing towards them.

Garuda bellowed, black blood dribbling from his beak. The shadows dispersed as he dashed towards them, his wing slashing into Arle's side and knocking her into Rulue. Hunched forward, he surveyed the others, his eyes gleaming with hunger as Lamia simply wasn't enough to satisfy him.

"Garuda!" Schezo roared, aiming his mighty sword at the beast. "Leave them, and obey me!"

Garuda smashed his wing on top of Schezo's head, pinning him to the ground. His sharp talons aimed for his skull, but Rulue dashed forward, raiming her knee right into his appendage. As Garuda shrieked and fell backwards, she ordered Schezo to lead everyone away.

"Wait! We can defeat him!" Ringo shouted, clenching her fists. "We can Puyo battle this monster into submission!"

Arle opened her mouth to reply when Ringo hurried forward with Maguro, shouting for a Puyo battle to begin. However, Garuda slashed through the Puyos appearing through a starry portal above their heads, his razor sharp wings carving through them. All Ringo and Maguro could do was gawk, their bodies stiff, their expressions stricken with horror as the blobs became akin to popped water balloons.

Amitie screamed, and Garuda seized her. The black blood dribbling down his beak whipped about and slathered his feathers. Before he could chomp down on her, Raffina and Sig snatched her wrists, dragging her underneath the monster when he dived at the spot where she once stood.

"Run!" Arle roared, fire encompassing her fists as she tossed her lantern to Risukuma. "Carbuncle, lead them outta here!"

Risukuma caught it, allowing Carbuncle to dash in front of them and lead the others down the corridor. Only the roars of spells and blows echoed behind them, their own breathing silent. The sounds of the harrowing battle became fainter as they escaped, each of them fearing the very sun leering at them through the trees.

"We-we have to go back! They could be hurt!" Amitie cried, but her legs quaked.

"H-how do you propose we halt that…" Ringo trailed off, glancing over as Risukuma rapidly waved his hand, the bloody residue still clinging to his paw. "Oh, Ris…"

"It's...it's fine. I'll recover," he mumbled, and Maguro patted his back, his hand shaking all the while.

Sig swallowed, his normally half-lidded gaze wide and alert. "Arle's world is…" He gulped again. "...bad."

"Oh, yes. Absolutely. This world sucks," Raffina replied, her complexion pale.

A loud sigh caught their attention, and Ringo yelped, throwing her arms up. Arle, Rulue, and Schezo emerged battered, bruised, but victorious. Their clothes were ripped in various places. Splotches of blood coated their armor and skirts. One of Garuda's feathers was stuck in Arle's hair, and Carbuncle cried out, quickly climbing up her side to perch on her shoulder.

"Been a while since we fought him, huh, guys?" Arle asked, laughing.

"It was a good workout," Rulue replied, flicking her long locks of blue hair over her shoulder.

"You're slipping, Arle. You didn't cast quickly enough," Schezo remarked, and she pouted, her cheeks puffing up with air.

"Aw, don't give me that! You were being slow, too."

"H-h-hey! Uh, are you guys okay? You sound like this is normal! " Maguro exclaimed, hugging himself.

"Oh, that's because it is on our world." Arle smiled.

As a hush fell over them, they all watched Ringo's eyes roll into the back of her skull and while she fainted, Arle kept giggling.