Lance dove to grab Hikari as she was pulled under, but she was gone in an instant. Matt's reaction was just as fast. In a flash, his golden sword was in his hand and he swung it fiercely into the water. He felt it bite into something and cut through, severing the tentacle that he had hit. His hand darted out and grabbed onto a solid form. He pulled the spluttering and coughing girl from the water with a harsh tug.

"Back to the beach, right away! We need to get out of the water," Lance commanded. He had now summoned up his gunblade and was pacing back to the dry sand. Upon reaching the sand, his wet swimwear was replaced in a flash by his combat jacket, loose pants, and his helmet. Quickly following behind him, Matt reached the beach and a flash put him in his usual tattered jacket and pirate hat. He unceremoniously dropped Hikari to the sand like a piece of baggage and got ready to fight.

They stood on the beach between Hikari and the water and tensed, ready to cut at any more red whips that emerged from the ocean. Several of the tentacles shot out at once, gripping the surface of the beach, and the surface of the water began to part as the tentacles tugged the massive body of the creature up. The giant squid snapped several of its tentacles in their direction, but Matt was faster. A palm on his blade brought up a golden shield, his Protect Sword Art.

"I can't attack while I hold this up," Matt informed Lance, "Tell me when I need to drop it."

"Keep it up, I have an idea!" Lance pulled a device from the inside of his jacket and pointed it toward the squid. Several more tentacles slammed into the shield, and a crack appeared in the golden light.

"It's breaking through! Hurry it up, Lance!" Matt shouted.

"I know. It's almost here," Lance snapped back. As he did, the sand exploded with an impact as a small missile slammed into the ground next to the squid. The creature reached several tentacles over inquisitively feeling for it, and it detonated.

The blast wave broke through the golden barrier and pushed Matt and Lance off their feet. When they looked at the squid, they saw the blast had taken a toll, but not killed the beast. Matt's ears were ringing as he watched the squid continue its advance. He made the effort to stand, but the squid was halted when a shotgun pattern of icicles pierced it.

Natalie had her crystal staff in hand, finally reaching the other two. She needed them to recover quickly from their stunned state, but her wide range healing just wasn't enough yet. She had learned a technique early in her adventures that she had just enough power for, but she always hated using it.

As both of the guys turned to look at her, she channeled her mana into her appearance. She lifted her hand in a peace sign and gave them a wink. They both grinned like idiots and turned back to their foe. Luckily, with both of them facing away they couldn't see the scarlet streak forming across her face. Kyun was definitely her least favorite spell, but also possibly one of her most powerful. Her mind wandered for a moment and she considered whether it would be less effective if she worked with other girls.

Matt and Lance recovered almost instantly, feeling stronger than before even. Several shots, blasts, stabs, and slashes later, the squid lay dead on the beach. They each sat to rest for a moment, completely forgetting about the blonde teenager that they had with them.

"You saved me!" Everyone jumped at the shrill exclamation from Hikari, and Lance almost had the wind knocked out of him as the blonde slammed into him, trapping him in her arms. His face went completely red and he squirmed to escape her.

"Technically," Matt interjected, "That was me." Natalie shot him an accusing look, but she also saw his greedy eyes weren't looking at Hikari. They were looking at the dead squid. She could almost see the drool coming out of his mouth as he mentally devoured the foe. It wasn't a surprise to her that he was so distracted by the potential meal. He had been distracted from her by food more often than not.

Hikari shushed Matt and continued snuggling up to Lance. His pleading gaze came back to Natalie, but he saw no pity there. Finally, after a minute, he managed to separate himself from her. The scene was almost comical to Natalie, with Lance holding Hikari at bay with a stiff arm and Matt mentally dividing the squid into little bite sized pieces.

It wasn't long before Matt started a small bonfire on the beach and began cooking up the squid. Unlike the slime, the roasting squid actually smelled fairly appetizing. They ate their fill and still had plenty of leftover squid. A few hours later, as the sun set and Hikari had finally gone off to go to bed, they sat around the fire and talked.

They discussed what to do if the girl kept pestering Lance, when they should leave, and how they should proceed. Finally, they settled on actually trying to make their way down the rest of the shore before camping out. They encountered several simple foes, like strange flying jellyfish, aggressive and supersized hermit crabs, even some strange clay warriors that came to life and attacked them. It was nearly midnight before they finally found the path leading away from the shore and towards the Glacier Valley, where it never stopped snowing.

"I don't think we are actually prepared to face such a cold area," Natalie commented, gesturing to her swimwear. "I think if we camp out and gear up with warmer clothes and more fire elemental weapons, we would be better suited for it."

"Smart idea, Natz," Matt agreed. She raised an eyebrow at the nickname.

"Natz?"

"Yeah, Natz. I thought it was a good nickname. Cute and short. Fitting, right?" Matt shrugged and kept walking, not noticing her silent embarrassment. If she could generate as much heat as she felt rushing to her face, she could easily survive in land where winter never ended. It was time to take on Glacier Valley.