Chapter 4

The five party members returned to Werites Beacon. The sun was still high in the sky as it was still midday. There was still a whole day to live.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about that spacecraft right now," Will said. "So all we can do is just go on with our day."

"Thanks, Will," Senel said. "I'll head to the graveyard."

"I'm feeling a little tired, so I'm going to take a little nap," Shirley said.

"You're still going to ask Walter about the saucer, right?" Chloe asked.

"Yes...but there's no emergency, right?"

"Of course you're right. Well, I guess I'll take a short nap myself."

Senel, Shirley, and Chloe began to walk down the road, soon parting ways. Will said nothing, but went into his house, leaving Jay alone in the road.

"I don't want to go back to the Oresoren village just yet," Jay told himself. "I guess I'll stop and relax for a while."

Therefore, he decided to rest at the inn.

Only moments later, Norma, Moses, and Grune crossed the bridge into the city. They stopped in the middle of the road and looked around for a moment. Finally, they decided to go into the bar.

--

Shirley lay in her bed, only half asleep. The whole situation with Stella and Walter was engraved deep into her mind. Her left arm hung over the edge of the bed, holding what was left of her brooch after the stone inside it ad shattered. As her body twitched in her sleep, she dropped the brooch to the floor.

A shadow of a figure slowly approached the bed, picking up the brooch along the way. As the shadow fell over Shirley's face, she slowly opened her eyes.

"Lose something?" Grune asked in a sultry voice.

Shirley sat up slowly, her eyes open nearly wide enough for her eyeballs to fall out of their sockets. Grune stood beside the bed, wearing her green veil...but that was all she was wearing. Shirley tried her hardest to keep her gaze only on Grune's face, but it wasn't easy.

Why...is she standing in front of me naked? she thought in horror.

Grune only smiled her eerily innocent smile. Shirley didn't like where this was headed at all. She didn't know what Grune was intending, but knew that she had to get out of there.

"I...I, uh..." Shirley stammered as she stumbled out of the bed. "I have something to...take care of. Thanks for waking me, Grune..."

"A pleasure..." Grune responded simply.

Shirley continued to stumble out of the bedroom, slamming the door behind her, and then crashed into Chloe.

"Whoa, watch out!" Chloe exclaimed. "Are you okay?"

Shirley looked up at her, her face souring as if she were about to cry. Instead, she turned and fled into the bathroom. Chloe started to follow, but immediately stopped herself upon hearing the sound of Shirley vomiting. Chloe waited patiently, while fighting her own urge to vomit. Then she let out a relieved sigh when she heard the toilet flush. Shirley came out of the bathroom, her face completely blank.

"Are you okay?" Chloe asked again.

Shirley took in a shaky breath, then exhaled. "I'm fine. I'm gonna go look for Walter now."

"Well, at least let me come with you."

--

After searching around the town, Shirley and Chloe eventually found Walter at the bar beneath the inn. He sat on a bench with Norma and Grune. Norma rested her head on Grune's shoulder, while Grune was tracing some unknown patterns in Norma's palm with her finger. Walter sat next to them, watching the pattern carefully. Shirley paused, not wanting to move any closer to Grune. She didn't want to admit it, but that unexpected "encounter" with Grune still had her quite shaken.

"W...Walter..." Shirley called, trying to keep her voice firm but failing miserably.

Grune stopped what she was doing, perking up. Norma opened her eyes, but still kept her head on Grune's shoulder. Walter straightened himself for a moment, then stood up and went to Shirley.

"Yes, Merines?"

"I have a favor...a small favor...to ask," Shirley went on. "There's a spacecraft at the Ruins of Frozen Light, and I was wondering if you could...fly up to it and see what's inside. Like any monsters, or any other signs of life. You can do it at your...earliest convenience, seeing as you're busy right now."

Walter nodded. "Of course, Merines."

"Th...thank you."

Walter returned to the table and sat down, where Grune resumed tracing the patterns in Norma's palm.

Even Walter sounds different... Shirley thought as she watched them for a moment. I wonder what they're doing...?

Chloe moved next to Shirley. "Well?"

"He says he'll do it...whenever he's ready," Shirley told her. Still wondering what Norma and Grune were doing, she added, "I'm going to sit down for a while."

"All right. I'll be right back; I need to use the ladies' room." Chloe went to the back of the bar and into the ladies' room.

Shirley slowly moved towards the counter, still watching Norma and Grune. Then in the background, she spotted Jay entering the bar. Moses also entered the bar a good distance behind him.

Jay walked across the room, stopping to stare at Norma, Grune, and Walter for a brief moment, raising an eye. He then shook off his confusion before moving to the counter next to Shirley.

"Hey, Jay..." she greeted him. "Um...any news?"

"Not a thing," Jay replied flatly.

Chloe stepped out of the ladies' room, drying her hands with a rag. She started to join Shirley at the counter, but stopped as she saw Moses walking up to Jay from behind. She just knew that another Moses/Jay tongue-lashing was about to begin.

Moses stopped only inches behind Jay, reaching over his shoulder to grab a few jelly beans from the bowl in front of him.

"Hey!" Jay cried, moving out of the way. "Have more respect for my personal space, you stupid bandit!"

Moses popped the jelly beans into his mouth, then turned and started to walk away, completely ignoring Jay.

"Excuse me!" Jay persisted. "Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you!"

Still paying no heed, Moses continued to walk.

Jay gave up and turned to Shirley. "What's with him?" he asked, irritated.

Shirley shook her head. "I wish I knew."

Glancing across the room again, she watched as Norma, Grune, and Walter stood up and began to follow Moses. The four walked in a single-file line as the quietly left the bar. Stella entered the bar, passing them as she walked. She stopped a few feet behind Jay.

The bartender came to the counter, setting a soda beverage in front of Jay. "Here you go, sir."

"Thank you." Jay picked up the soda and began to walk away.

Stella watched Jay as he passed her, narrowing her eyes. Then returning her expression to normal, she stepped up to the counter, reaching for the jelly beans. Shirley absent-mindedly reached for the jelly beans as well, briefly making contact with Stella's hand.

A series of images suddenly flashed through Shirley's mind. The first was the spacecraft at the Ruins of Frozen Light. Second was a horde of large slimy insects, and then the third was of Stella herself. Images of Norma, Grune, Moses, and Walter also flashed through her mind. Shirley jumped out of her seat, knocking the jelly beans to the floor in the process. Her heartbeat accelerated drastically as she felt her stomach sink. She pressed her hand over her mouth to hopefully avoid vomiting again.

"Shirley?"

The images stopped at the sound of Stella's voice. Her vision still distorted, Shirley stared at her in disbelief, then looked down at the jelly bean clasped between Stella's thumb and index finger. Shirley looked into Stella's eyes again. Stella's expression showed care and concern, much like the Stella that Shirley knew. But there was something behind Stella's expression...Shirley couldn't put her finger on it, but she knew that the person standing in front of her was not the sister that she knew and loved.

"Are you all right?" Stella asked.

Shirley hesitated before responding, switching her glance from Stella's eyes to the jelly bean in her hand. Waiting for the sick feeling in her stomach to clear, Shirley finally replied, "No...I mean, yeah, I...I'm fine."

Stella looked down at the jelly beans scattered on the floor. She then gave Shirley a warm smile as she popped her jelly bean into her mouth and walked away. Her knees trembling, Shirley dropped on all fours and began to gather up the jelly beans.

After watching these events, Chloe finally rejoined Shirley, standing over her as she cleaned up the mess. "What's wrong, Shirley? You look a little shaky."

Shirley stood up, restoring the bowl of jelly beans to the counter. "Yeah...something's not right."

"What do you mean?"

"It seems like Moses has changed."

"Because he wouldn't take Jay's bait? Well, it's about time," Chloe said.

"But it seems so sudden."

"Like you throwing up this morning?"

Shirley was caught off guard. "I...I must be coming down with something."

Chloe nodded. "I wonder what it could be?"

"I don't know, but I just feel this big knot in my stomach. I barely touched Stella's hand just now, and I saw something."

"You saw something?"

"Something terrible."

"Maybe you're just going crazy?"

Shirley scoffed slightly. "I love you, too, Chloe..."

Chloe placed her hand on Shirley's forehead. "It feels like you're running a fever. A fever can cause people to have illusions sometimes."

"I..." Shirley looked away slightly. "I didn't know that..."

"Look, why don't you go home and get some rest?" Chloe suggested. "There's no need for you to exhaust yourself. We'll take care of anything that happens."

"Well...okay...I'll go home..." Shirley began to leave the bar, thinking to herself, I just hope that Grune doesn't wake me up again.

--

Instead of heading home, Shirley went to the graveyard, knowing that Senel would be there. She found the Alliance Marine once again at Stella's grave, now filling it up with a shovel.

"Senel..."

Senel looked at her briefly. "Hey, Shirley."

"You're...filling up the grave?"

"Yeah...there's no reason to leave it empty like this. People could just fall in."

"I see..." Shirley looked down for a moment, and then looked up. "Senel, I need to talk to you...it's about Stella."

Senel stopped, giving her a suspicious look. "What about Stella?"

"Well..." Shirley paused, trying to think of how to put the words together. She knew that Senel would most likely get upset, plus there were so many pieces of the puzzle that still needed to be put together. "There's...really no easy way to say this..."

"Just tell me already," Senel pestered her. "What is it about Stella?"

"Well, she's..." Shirley felt a strange force within her, trying to restrain her words. Still, she managed to force the words out. "She's not the real Stella!"

"Whaddaya mean she's not the real Stella!?" Senel exploded.

"She's just not...she's not the Stella we know!"

Senel swung his arm out. "How can you talk like that!? If that's not the real Stella, then the real Stella would still be in her grave!"

"Senel..." Shirley tried to explain further, but could not find the words to do so.

"I know what it is!" Senel ranted. "You're just trying to pry us apart, aren't you!? You're just jealous of us! You always have been, haven't you!?"

Now Shirley exploded. "No!! This isn't about the past, Senel! This is about right now!"

"Oh, right now, huh? Do you have any idea how I felt when Stella died!? Do you know how I felt to see her alive again!? I will not lose her again!" Senel brought himself down, lowering his head. "Twice is enough..."

"But Senel, don't you see how wrong this is!?" Shirley insisted. "The real Stella is gone! There's no one more aware of that than you!"

Senel shook his head. "Shirley, stop it!"

"No! Senel, listen to me!"

"I don't want to hear it! Leave me alone!" Senel threw the shovel violently aside and stormed out of the graveyard.

Shirley felt the emotions building up rapidly within her. She couldn't tell if she was sad or angry, or if this was just an intense frustration that fully consumed her. But once again, she felt the physical effects; her knees became weak, and her stomach became nauseated again.

"Damn it!!" she screamed as she stumbled over to Stella's tombstone and sat on it. Then she threw her face into her hands and began to cry.