"What do we have here? Two thieves and the three gladiators' weapons from the old building. Drop them now!"
There were still people on this mountain. Both Douma and Jeremiah spun around in the direction of that voice. An old lady approached them with a furious look on her face. She was accompanied by several other residents of the mountain who shared the same disapproving stares.
"Huh? Now hold on a second. We're here to return these weapons." Douma responded in a subtle tone to calm them down but they refused to believe that the blonde and Jeremiah were innocent. They were the only ones who dared cross the line where the old building was.
And that man in the samurai armor. The old lady held her chin, wondering what happened to him. He seemed terrifying to say the least, that man was the first person to step foot into the old building after decades.
She knew what was going on, but it was too early to jump to conclusions. The old lady had a few questions. Based on what she witnessed during the arrival of Ryukushu and Douma who caught up with him, she was very well aware that the demon was trying to get the three weapons when Douma got to the old building and stopped him.
"Then why are those weapons in your possession? You seem to be in a hurry." The old lady added.
"We couldn't just leave them back there."
"You're still not answering my question."
Jeremiah stepped forward. The large swan had returned to his human form. "If you can help us return these weapons that would be very much appreciated."
The old lady lifted an eyebrow and curled her fingers around her walking stick. "I've been keeping track of all the events that happened so far. That man in the samurai armor, he was the first person who dared break into the old building. What exactly do the three weapons have to offer? I know a lot but this is puzzling."
She glanced at Douma who realized she wasn't trying to accuse them of stealing the three weapons, rather, she was just worried after what Ryukushu did. Digging through her pocket, the old lady fished out a key and hung it in front of them.
"This key was entrusted to my family for generations. I'll never get to use it because that man tore the door down. What a shame."
"That man was planning on using the three gladiators' weapons for his own personal gain." Douma explained to the lady and the other residents crowding around them. "He's gone now."
"I saw you chasing after him. You stopped him didn't you?"
"That's right."
The people crowding around the old lady started whispering amongst themselves. Douma heard them talking about the history of the three gladiators' weapons and the possibility that both he and Jeremiah were lying. Douma furrowed his brows when they huddled together after bickering about his honesty. Why would he lie to them? It was clear that even the old lady knew he wasn't guilty of anything she was just being sure. They have a witness but still continued to undermine her words. Typical of humans. They're all the same.
"Everything's under control. That man isn't hurting anybody anymore. You're safe now, so is the mountain." Jeremiah reassured the old lady and the residents.
The old lady and residents exchanged glances with each other. A few of them questioned her about trusting Douma and Jeremiah in which she reminded them that they were the ones who saved the mountain when it was at the brink of collapse.
"If they were planning on stealing the three weapons they would've made a run for it by now." The old lady added.
Some of the residents scratched theirs heads in confusion at the old lady's statement about both Douma and Jeremiah saving the mountain. The old lady knew the two of them weren't ordinary people, if anything from the way they fought Ryukushu, these two might be supernatural beings. So the folklores were right. But people aren't easily going to believe it, the reactions of the residents was an example of that.
What the old lady said about actual suspects running away with the weapons made sense, most of the residents agreed but there were those who still couldn't grasp the fact that Douma and Jeremiah did save them from a potential disaster.
"They saved us?" One of them asked.
"The mountain didn't collapse because they stopped it?" Another added.
Someone from the crowd stepped into the center of the gathering, "Were you guys asleep or something? That large bird we saw restored the city and mountain. That light. It was right there at the mountain's peak." He watched the confused individuals who looked at him in disbelief.
Douma and Jeremiah watched the commotion between the confused residents. Listening to their conversations, the blonde speculated that the light dome must've wiped out some people's memories. That's why there are those who couldn't recall what happened and even if they could, they weren't so sure themselves. Because the last thing they saw was a flashing bright light. More over, the doubts of those who forgot the incident made the situation more perplexing that it already is.
"He's right. Don't you guys remember that large bird in the skies?" Someone else joined in.
"Nonsense! How can a bird do such a thing? You're out of your minds!"
"This is getting ridiculous!"
Jeremiah stood there, arms crossed. He didn't say anything, the man just listened to the commotion.
The large bird they were referring to was obviously Jeremiah who unleashed that light dome. Even if this remains mystery, as long as people were safe than that's all that matters. Douma looked at Jeremiah who remained silent and just watched the residents fighting among themselves about the incident which still didn't ring a bell for some.
"Then tell me, how did the mountain stop shaking out of the blue? Something had to have stopped it. I know it sounds crazy but it was the large bird that we saw. That bright light fixed all the damages. He was the one who did it." Another explanation surfaced among the residents with one of them pointing at the unfazed Jeremiah.
The blonde looked at the residents who squinted their eyes at Jeremiah and tilted their heads. It was both amusing and exhausting, they saw the dome of light on the mountain. Why was it so hard for people to believe the truth? This argument was completely unnecessary to begin with. Douma had no words.
Taking a few steps away from the gathering, the old lady turned around glancing at both Douma and Jeremiah. "Follow me." She said, expecting them to come along with her.
Douma nodded and followed the old lady down the mountain trail with Jeremiah and the residents walking closely behind them.
~~~
Standing on the porch, Kelpy gazed upon the rose in his hand and knocked on the door. He waited patiently for his princess to open it. Since the day he ran all the way here, injured and bruised, Kelpy decided to bring a gift.
Clementine answered the door and squealed when she saw Kelpy. The man smiled and gave her the beautiful rose.
"For me? Awww thanks Francis!"
"Anything for you my princess."
The Sagi-chi was dismantled ever since Ryukushu's death. Everybody went their separate ways. Kelpy decided to spend more time with Clementine and start a new life with her. His life of fighting and bloodshed was over. His love for Clementine was something he vowed to cherish for an eternity. She was the light of his world.
"Be careful Francis. You hurt yourself again." Kelpy recalled Clementine words while she was treating his wounds from the battle with the large celestial swan. That time, he actually needed treatment for his injuries, he wasn't faking them like the first time they met. Kelpy appreciated Clementine's care and help.
He was often referred to as the scavenger, the demon, the scum of the oceans by residents near the shore because they assumed he stole the belongings of those lying on the sand. Little did they know the blood of those bodies were on his hands. There were those who knew about Kelpy's motives because of the sightings and folklore so they warned others to stay away from the shore at night.
At least Kelpy didn't have to deal with that anymore, he was going to live in harmony among society. Clementine opened his perspective on the value of life. He swore to never take another person's life for they meant just as much as Clementine's. She shouldn't live with mental scars.
If she had any, Kelpy would get rid of them.
Like usual, Kelpy and Clementine sat down in the kitchen, talking about anything under the sun.
On the other hand, Kamba who was now a porcupine had started a new life in the wilderness. It started out as a dreadful life that he eventually had to accept later on.
Kamba resided at a barn where he sought refuge in after moving from one location to another, some animals were extremely violent with their ways. They wouldn't let trespassers or loners like Kamba roam around their habitat. Hence Kamba had no other choice but to stay at a farm even though he felt like an outcast because of how different he appeared compared to the farm animals there.
In addition to that, the farmer would often chase him out until he brushed it off and let Kamba roam around but sometimes he felt indifferent about the porcupine's presence. That large patch of missing spikes and skin on the animal's back raised a lot of questions. He'd rearrange his items in fear that Kamba would act out which the porcupine knew and never tried to interfere with the farmer's commitment and responsibilities.
Kamba trotted outside the barn while the farmer was carrying a few items into the barn. When the farmer walked out of the barn again, Kamba stopped and looked at the farmer for a while before heading towards the forest to find food.
The farmer glanced at the porcupine, watching the animal sniffing the grass and disappearing into the bushes.
The scent of food was rather stale which meant he had to go to a different location. Kamba decided to return to the farm and see if there were any leftovers around or perhaps continue searching for food elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Tanashi spent his entire time in a cell underwater. He drew out his escape plans on the wall at the end of his cell but none of them ever worked. Due to how messy and incompatible the structure of his escape plans were, Tanashi was always stuck at the first stage, he never executed the rest of the strategies he had set for himself.
The previous escape plans drawn on the wall were scrapped, crossed out. Tanashi wanted to convince himself that this new plan he came up with would work. He couldn't bare spending the rest of his life in an isolated and quiet underwater cell with little to no contact with other lifeforms.
"Yes this should do it." Adding a little more detail to his plan with a small rock as a chalk, Tanashi took a step back to admire his work.
This transformation of his had given Tanashi the ability to breath underwater, the only thing he was grateful for in this situation. Otherwise, the monster desperately wanted to swim to the surface and flee before the giant crustacean catches him.
Lying in a corner beside the cell's gate was a golden sash that Tanashi found floating outside his cell. He kept it close to him like the precious treasure that it is.
A group of dolphins swam towards the monster's cell, giggling among themselves when they saw how miserable Tanashi was in his cell. Sketching out escape plans with large crosses on them and working on another one that'll eventually meet the same fate.
The three dolphins saw the gold sash lying near the gate and giggled. Exchanging glances with each other, one of the dolphins quietly inched closer to the cell and stuck its fin out towards the treasure.
Almost done. Tanashi was unaware of the situation unfolding behind him.
The dolphin near the cell grabbed the golden sash which gave off a loud chain-like sound that alerted Tanashi.
He spun around and saw the three dolphins laughing at him with the golden sash in their possession. They began swimming away from the cell, taunting and humiliating the monster who stood there frowning in dismay at the loss of his prized treasure.
Soon the dolphins' laughter died off as they disappeared farther into the sea, leaving Tanashi all by himself in his cell without the golden sash. Frustrated, Tanashi sat on the floor and hugged his knees where he buried his face to hide from his ongoing problems; Being left alone in the cell without any form of contact or belonging to keep him out of his misery. The golden sash being the only item that kept him entertained and he couldn't even protect it despite how valuable it was to him.
Tanashi hated this isolating feeling, it reminded him of the times when his parents would ground him because of his demands. He felt like an outcast, never getting what he wanted. The monster sat there, muttering to himself about the loneliness that came haunting him again and to think that he'd have to spent the rest of his life in this cell with no way out. A place where he'd be reminded of those times that he wished to never relive again but now they were going to become a daily part of his life from here on out until a miracle happens. Until at least one of his escape plans work but for now it seems that even his latest plan was about to be axed on the wall.