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The two Inklings were stepping on the stair steps.
"Now that we are moving out of the canteen…" Hun frowned. "… can you please tell me what's happening? I'm getting confused!"
Master, I called you telepathically because of a problem going on inside the Shrine…
"Is that the reason…?" Hun's mouth opened. "… then, I guess I must do something to solve it!" He nodded. "Give us a second: once we reach our room"
"Big bro, you should stop being so dependent on Mirii!" Fara frowned a bit. "Don't you see she's not letting you to be yourself?!"
"What are you saying, Fara?! That's not true!" Hun's head shook. "I'm improving a lot with her! I swear!"
Yet, you still want to stick around with her way too much…
"Why is that a problem?! I don't understand!" Hun's head rose, as his irises stared on the grey ceiling. "I enjoy my time with her! Even now, she wanted to stay with me! How can I say no to that?!"
"… Hun… haven't you notice it yet…?" Fara's head turned to her right for a moment. "She doesn't want you to be the follower… she wants you to be the leader."
"WHAT?!" Hun's eyes expanded. "Th-the leader…? Me?!"
The two Inklings walked out of the stairs, immediately stepping on the red carpet.
"She sees potentials in you, big bro. She wants to see you succeed… and even when she helps you out, she hopes that her work will let you be the leader she wants to follow!" Fara smiled a bit.
Hun was blushing a lot, as his mouth opened wide.
"… and how did you know this?" His eyes blinked.
"She said it… more specifically, she thought it." Her eyes closed.
"Wh, you were reading her thoughts?!" Hun's eyes expanded.
"Reading ordinary Inklings' minds is so easy!" Fara giggled. "Besides, Mirii is the one who does stick around with you a lot… so, I wanted to make sure that she never has any malicious intentions in your regards. She just wants you to become a better Squid… but her way of doing that is not helping you much!"
You have to be more independent, my Master. It might not be easy… but in order to become a better Squid, you have to rely on yourself. Me and everyone else wants to see that…
"… shouldn't Mirii know this…?" Hun's eyebrows went up. "I feel bad leaving her behind…"
"Her emotions will push her to stop you!" Fara frowned a bit. "No one should get in our way, big bro. We are meant to be Masters, after all…"
The two Inklings stopped in front of a door. Hun's right hand went inside his right pocket, as he took off a plastic card.
"Ehm… are you saying that I should follow you instead?" His right hand went towards the door…
Clic.
"Not at all. In fact, I want to let you deal with this problem yourself… while I'm acting as the follower!" Fara nodded, while smiling.
The two siblings entered inside the room, as Fara pushed the door back.
"Phew! We can talk normally, now…" Fara sighed. "My head was about to burst out!"
"Really?" Hun turned behind, as his right eyebrow went up. "… are you alright, Fara?"
Her eyes expanded, as her mouth opened wide.
"You are not feeling any pain in your head?! How did you do that?!" Her mouth sealed.
"Doing what?" His head shook. "I feel fine. I mean… was I supposed to feel pain?" His eyebrows went up. "Am I not able to tell pain…?"
Fara, your brother seems to have a lot of Mental Stamina.
"Are you sure?!" Hun's teeth gritted. "I-I could have pain and n-not tell…! Wait, m-maybe I do have a little pain going on!"
No, you don't have any fatigue… be calm.
"Ehm… eh… ok." Hun nodded. "I hope it's nothing major…"
It will, if you use telepathic skills for a long time…
"I think I'm just too young to keep up with my big bro!" Fara giggled. "That's why I want to be a bit of a follower…"
"Bu-but I don't even know much of anything!" Sweat was jumping out from Hun's head. "I-I don't even know what I'm supposed to do in order to help the Shrine out!"
"Don't say that!" Fara's eyebrows went up, as her mouth downturned. "Why you keep throwing yourself down like this?! I'm following you! I trust you…" Her head lowered, turning to her right. "… it's not fair that you keep others decide for you…" Her eyes closed. "… I didn't dragged you here just because she wanted to…"
"Who?" Hun's right eyebrow rose.
Me. I cannot reveal my name, but I'll explain later on… please, continue.
"Oh… oh." Hun's mouth opened.
"Big bro…" Fara's nose inhales loudly, then her head returned to the center. "I'm tired to see you left behind. Your friends always pull you back, thinking that you are not ready to be considered as the smart Squid you are!" Her eyes went slightly watery. "But I know you are ready… you are smarter than you think to be! Your intelligence is so inspiring… that's why I want to follow you: I want to be as kind and wise as you are!"
"Huh?!" Hun's irises shrunk.
"What does Technie know about being wise and kind?! Nothing!" She frowned. "Just earlier she tried to manipulate you with her question! She even threatened us into telling her our affairs! Would you ever do this to your friends?!"
"Ehm…" Sweat was jumping out from Hun's head. "… n-not really! I mean"
"Exactly, you wouldn't!" Fara frowned a bit more. "That's why you shouldn't follow her indications… she is not even aware of what she's doing!" She nodded. "She's so passionate about her perfection that… she can't even notice her terrible behavior towards"
"Fara, she doesn't have a terrible behavior!" Hun frowned. "I can't agree with you on this one: if you let her know about this, I'm sure she will stop dragging me around!"
"That will not happen anytime soon!" Her arms opened wide. "Her emotions are way too strong"
"Why are you mentioning her emotions?! She was just worried about us!" His head shook. "I would be worried too, if Mirii began acting strange! And you too, if I began screaming or something!"
"But I would never menace or manipulate you!" Fara snorted.
"Well, I wasn't being honest to her too…" Hun's back tilted a bit backwards. "Doesn't that mean we tricked her into believing something that's not true?!"
"She didn't believe it at all!" Fara bended forward, keeping her frown. "Instead, she immediately used her bad tactics against us!"
"That's because we were using bad tactics too…" Hun's eyes closed.
"We had no choice, Hun: no one must know about this call we had!" Fara walked in front of Hun. "While Technie didn't had any reason to be a meanie towards us!"
"… if she was really that mean, then she wouldn't even bother stopping us…" Hun turned behind.
Fara's mouth opened.
"… I trusted her for a long time… I can't see her betraying me. At all." Hun's head lowered. "Even if she knows about the Shrine problem… what that will cause to us, in the long run? Mirii would understand… Mirii is capable of learning from her mistakes!"
"Big bro…" Fara's eyebrows went up.
"… you said that I should be more independent…" Hun returned forward. "Yet, I was dragged by you instead of letting me decide which choice would be the best. I'm still following someone else's indications… how will that let me grow out of the dependency?!" Hun frowned a lot.
"It-it's nothing like that!" Sweat was jumping out from Fara's head, as her hands went in front of Hun: she began walking backwards. "I-I just dragged you here, because you wanted to help"
"Who told you I wanted to do this? I don't even know who this voice is belonging to!" Hun began walking forward. "Why we should trust a complete stranger, if she's not even telling us her name?!"
I-I can't tell you that! Th-there are several procedures
"Why there are procedures for just knowing a name? That doesn't make any sense!" Hun's head rose, as his eyes were looking the ceiling. "Tell us the truth: you have a trap reserved to us, don't you?!"
"She can be trusted, Hun!" Fara bended forward, as her eyebrows went up and her mouth downturned. "I have talked about this to Kelly, Emi, Eri, Chie and everyone else in person: they know her and the fact she talks to me without revealing her name."
"And when you saw them?" His head pointed back at the little girl.
"Yesterday." Fara's hands clasped together. "They were wondering why she wasn't talking to you…"
Hun's mouth flattened to the right a bit.
Master Hun… angering you wasn't my intention. I apology for the inconvenience.
"I'm not mad… just frustrated." Hun's eyes closed, as his mouth rose and his eyebrows went down. "I understand that Mirii does have some weak points on her behavior… but she's not terrible! I outright refuse to believe that!"
"Big bro, I-I'm sorry for saying that!" Fara walked forward, as her nose sniffed loudly. "I was the one who let out my emotions… it's because I'm so sick to see you being underestimated like this…" She stopped, bending forward. "I know you much more than Technie and any other Squid: when you are dealing with any problem, you can always manage to solve it! On top of that, you are very kind… and that's something I want to learn from you." She smiled.
Hun's mouth opened a bit. After 2 seconds, he smiled. His arms opened a bit. Fara's smile increased: she rushed towards her brother, as their arms wrapped around each other. Hun's right hand caressed Fara's head, as both Inklings had their eyes closed.
"… you are right…"
"Hmm?" Fara's head rose, as her eyes opened.
"… Mirii is a nice person… but I don't think she wants to see me being an eternal follower…" Hun's eyes opened, as they were watching his sister. "… she might be worried about me… but I hope she will understand." Hun nodded.
"She will, my dear brother…!" Fara nodded. "You are the only one who can show her the correct path… and I can't wait to see you doing just that." She giggled.
"Eh eh…" Hun blushes, as his smile increased.
Both their arms returned towards their respective sides. Hun's head rose, as his irises were watching the ceiling.
"Hey!" Hun's arms opened. "Since Fara confirmed you are on our side… I'm all ready to help out the Shrine! But before we go, can you tell me more specifically why Mirii shouldn't know about this?"
Master, the problem is… how to put it… related to the Shrine's ancient secrets.
"Secrets, huh…" Hun's head returned to the middle, as his right hand covered his chin, his irises were pointing upwards and his eyebrows went a bit down, while his right foot was tapping. "… knowing how the Shrine works, I can see that being a problem."
Hun shrugged, as his right hand went away from his chin.
"But why you haven't told me that earlier? I would had understood!"
I was explaining other things, Master. Aside from that, Mirii almost managed to make you spill the beans.
"Ah, right…" Hun's eyes closed, as a sweat drop appears on his head's right side for a moment. "… then, why not explaining the problem to us?"
That would be another problem…
"Eh?!" Hun's irises shrunk, as sweat was covering his forehead. "Wh-what problem?!"
It's true I can talk to you telepathically… which is a power I granted to you for just this moment. Unfortunately, mental thoughts can be tracked by malicious beings… thus you cannot know too much from over there. Once you are inside the Shrine, you can learn everything without letting anyone know a thing about it.
"… now that I think about it, I don't think to have the power to read thoughts…" Hun's head turned towards his sister. "How come you have it, Fara?"
"Eri taught me a little trick…" Fara's right eye closed. "… I can read thoughts, but only for a short while. Once I used my energy, I can't read more thoughts until the next day… or after I take a nice nap!" She giggled. "This is a little trick for Masters… but Eri said that probably you can't learn it."
"Why?" His right eyebrow went up.
"Emi and Eri can tell when someone have those compatibilities… don't ask me how they do it." A sweat drop appears on her head's right side. "Emi explained that once… but I still don't get it."
"Well, that's ok… I have plenty of powers to use, anyway!" Hun nodded. "Then, how about we go?"
"Yes! I'm super-ready, big bro!" Fara's eyes sparkled, as her hands clasped. "I'll follow all your steps!"
Hun chuckles.
"… ah, wait…" Hun turned behind. "… how did we reach the Shrine?"
"Through the paper…" Fara passed him, walking towards a desk. "… there it is!" Her right hand picked a drawn paper hanging near Skippy. "Skippy does a great job guarding the gate, doesn't he?"
Skippy squeaked.
"Aaawww, you are so awesome Skippy!" Fara's left hand petted his shell. "You are the cutest of all Super Sea Snails…" She smiled widely.
Skippy purred.
"Tee hee hee!" Fara turned behind. "Alright, alright… here is the paper!"
Her right hand opened, as the paper glided towards the floor. Hun's head pointed at the paper. He took some steps backwards…
"I'll go first!" Hun sprinted, as he jumped while turning into a Squid in midair.
The Squid dived inside the paper, navigating through black ink, while diving downwards. He was appearing as if he was made of paper, changing his color into the same semi-dark yellowish color of the paper. Suddenly, he jumped out of the paper, turning into his humanoid form in midair.
His feet landed on the wooden floor, immediately followed by his right hand: the boy stands up, as he turns around. On his left side, a short table with a light-blue vase on it, which was containing red, white and yellow flowers.
In front of him, two Inkling men wearing a Samurai-like outfit were holding a spear each, standing each in front of a shoji's lateral side.
"Ah!" Hun's mouth opened. "Who are you?!"
"We are gatekeepers, Master…" The man on the right bowed once. "We have been assigned to guard this entrance, because the authorities fear that said entrance might be abused…"
"True, although I wouldn't say that this is an entrance." The man on the left moved his left hand. "It's more about that paper you jumped out from: if its location changes, so will our guarding site."
"Ah, I see…" Hun's arms folded. "Well, I reached the Shrine: can you explain the problem to me, now?"
…
"Master, you have been called from The Voice… is it correct?" The man on the right rose his posture.
"Yes…?" His right eyebrow rose.
"The voice only works outside the Shrine: I believe you have to talk with the Shrine Sisters in order to learn about the problem." The man on the left nodded.
"Ah… then, I'm going to meet-wait!" Hun's head turned to his right, lowering towards the paper. "My sister hasn't come at all!"
The two men twisted their heads towards each other.
"Could it be…?!" The man on the right frowned.
"Let's warn the authorities! Now!" The man on the left opened the shoji, as he immediately rushed out of the room.
The man on the right followed him. Hun's face went paler, as he keeps looking at the paper.
"Fara…" His mouth opened wide.
"Master Hun!"
"Ah!" Hun turned forward.
The Shrine Sisters rushed in, both with their mouths downturned and their eyebrows up. They were wearing the same type of kimono, which had a floral pattern on the upper side, except the color: Eri had the purple variety, while Emi had the orange one.
"Are you hurt?! Do you need some tea?!" Emi's hands clasped, both covered by the long sleeves.
"Where is Master Fara?!" Eri's hands clasped, both covered by the long sleeves.
"I-I'm fine… as for Fara, she hasn't come through the paper." Hun's right forefinger pointed at the paper on the ground. "She was supposed to follow"
"We have to call Kelly!" Eri frowned a bit.
"But Kelly has a training exam!" Sweat jumped out from Emi's head, as she turned towards her twin sister. "You know that"
"We are talking about an emergency here!" Eri turned towards Emi. "We have no idea what's happening inside this paper and there is no way for us to know that!"
"But… what if we find one?!" Emi's hands went on her mouth.
"Do you want to risk a Master's life…?" Eri's eyes squeezed a bit.
"Not even for all the honors of this Shrine!" Emi's eyes expanded, as her mouth opened wide and her irises shrunk.
"Then!" Eri's teeth gritted, as her voice was coming out from those. "Let's call Kelly and bring her here!"
"Ok!" Emi nodded.
The two twins turned towards Hun: both bowed.
"Forgive us for a moment, Master… we have to call Kelly urgently." Eri's face was pointed towards the floor.
"You can go talk with Chie about the problem, in the meantime… just keep walking forward, after turning to your right." Emi's face was pointed towards the floor.
Hun nodded.
"Don't worry! I can do this!" He smiled.
"Thank you!" Both rose their postures, smiling and closing their eyes.
Eri turned behind and dashed, immediately followed by Emi. Hun's head turned towards the paper, as his eyebrows went down.
"… I'll get you out of that paper, Fara." He inhales from his nose, loudly. "Hang in there!" He began walking forward.
The boy walked out of the shoji, as his head turned to his right.
"This way…" Hun turned to the right, resuming his walk.
His eyes were seeing a woman behind a wooden counter. Her head turned towards his face, as her mouth opened: immediately, she walked away from the counter, stopping in front of Hun and bowing down.
"Master Hun, welcome back home." Her back rose, as her mouth was smiling and her hands went down. "Have you come in here to need some assistance?"
"I'm here to solve the problem!" Hun nodded, as his right hand formed a fist, raising at the same height of his shoulders. "… well, I'm trying to at least…" His eyes closed, as he grins and backs a bit.
"You want it to, now?" Chie's mouth opened a bit. "Don't you want to relax for a moment? Or perhaps you would like to eat something?"
"Ehm, I-I already ate breakfast…" A sweat drop appears on his head's right side. "I don't feel tired, so"
"Excuse my interruption, but where is Master Fara?" Her head tilted to her right. "I heard voices coming from the room… and I also saw the guardians and the twins fleeing at full speed."
"Ah… it's because of my sister." Hun's mouth downturned. "She's not coming in here…"
"WWHHAAAAAAAAATTT?!" Chie's eyes almost popped out, as her face went paler.
Hun jumped, as his eyes expanded. Chie began breathing loudly, as sweat was covering her forehead.
"Oh no…" She rushed behind the counter. "Oh no, oh no…!"
She bended down for a second, before lifting her posture back: her hands were holding a silver Squid statue. The woman put the statue on the counter, as her hands moved on the tip: her eyes closed.
"... eh? What's she doing…?" Several sweat drops appears behind his head.
Her eyes opened: her hands took the statue, as she bended down while carrying it. She lifted her posture, as her head turned towards Hun: her mouth was downturned and her eyebrows were up.
"Master Hun, I'm terribly sorry for the silence…" Her eyes closed. "I'm afraid the problem you wanted to know cannot be faced right now…"
"Why?" Hun's mouth opened.
"It's a bit too long to explain… however, it's related to the fact that Fara is missing." She sighed loudly. "Like you, Master Fara is very important for the Shrine… the fact she's in trouble cannot be ignored."
Hun's head lowered a bit, as his eyebrows went up.
"I know… I'm worried about her…"
"Earlier, I called everyone living and working in the Shrine: they are all coming soon…" Chie's head turned towards the entrance.
"… I-I actually wanted to help my sister!" Sweat was jumping out from Hun's head. "Bu-but it wouldn't be fair to leave the Shrine with this huge problem! M-many Squids are counting on me and"
"Master, listen to yourself." Chie frowned a bit, as her head pointed back at the boy. "Don't let others affect your decisions…"
"… if I would listen to me… … no, that wouldn't be correct." Hun's head shook.
"What?!" Chie frowned a bit more. "Master, you clearly have the desire to save your dear sister! You can't ignore"
"But I have the desire, just because I don't know much of this situation!" Hun frowned, as his arms opened a bit. "I still don't know anything about this problem, after all…"
"The problem is just mere bureaucracy. It's nothing compared to this one." Chie's eyes closed.
"Huh?" Hun's head shook quickly. "What's bureaucracy?"
"It means following formalities." Chie's eyes opened, as her eyebrows went up. "Now"
"And what are those formalities?" Hun's right hand was scratching the top of his head.
"… Master, why are you asking all those questions?! They are not important!" Chie snorted. "They will never be as important as your dear sister! You have to follow what you think is right!"
"Ehm… but if I follow that, doesn't that mean I'm forced to think that said message is right?" A sweat drop appears on Hun's right side of his head. "I mean, why I should listen to you, in order to listen to me?"
"Wh… wh…" Her irises shrunk. "… eh?!"
Hun frowned a bit.
"You are insisting on that too… what do you have in mind? Is this a trap?"
"IT'S NOT, YOU IDIOT!" Chie frowned a lot. "I TOLD YOU TO FOLLOW YOUR TURF-DAMN SELF WITHOUT LISTENING TO ME OR THE OTHERS! GET BACK IN THAT TURF-DAMN ROOM"
Suddenly, Chie's eyes expanded as she began coughing loudly: she gasped loudly… before collapsing on the counter. Hun's mouth opened wide, as he took two steps backwards: a purple aura surrounded the woman. The aura began raising, while gradually dissolving into thin air…