Fatheema slowly closed her eyes, trying to calm herself after everything that had happened to her lately—events that had once been far beyond the limits of her understanding.
Gradually, her entire body felt light and relaxed. Her consciousness seemed to be drawn into a nonphysical realm: the world of dreams.
At this moment, her awareness within the dream was just as clear as when she was awake. She experienced the dream world with the same level of consciousness she had in reality. The only difference was that everything felt lighter and easier, unbound by the laws and limitations of the physical world.
She sat cross-legged and tried to quiet her thoughts. Yet her mind continued to wander aimlessly.
After a while, her awareness faded and sank into oblivion. For a brief moment, her consciousness disappeared completely.
Then—
Suddenly, she opened her eyes. The surroundings were bright. It was morning.
Slowly, Fatheema sat up. No one was nearby. Akane and Nyx were nowhere to be seen.
She stepped out of the tent. There was nobody there. Only the remains of the campfire, now reduced to cold ashes.
"What happened? Where did they go? Why would they disappear this early in the morning? Why didn't they wake me up? We were in a hurry, weren't we? Hmph! Those two..."
Fatheema walked around the campsite while calling out to her friends.
No one answered.
"Did they really leave just like that? Was I sleeping that deeply? It feels like I just closed my eyes, and suddenly it's morning. I don't remember anything. I'm still tired..."
"Akane?! Nyx?!"
Once again, she called their names. The forest remained silent.
"Why does something feel wrong? What is it? Is it just my imagination? No... I'd better look around."
Fatheema broke into a run, heading back along the route they had taken earlier. She chose that direction so it would be easier to find her way back to the camp.
After running several hundred yards, however, she abruptly came to a stop.
Something stood before her.
"Hey, what's this?"
A thin, transparent veil stretched across the path.
It looked like a curtain made of water.
"Is this some kind of illusion meant to mislead people?"
She reached out and touched it.
The surface rippled like water disturbed by a fingertip.
"I'm going to walk through it. If my guess is correct, it should lead back toward the campsite."
She cautiously stepped forward and passed through the veil.
"Hmm..."
Her eyes narrowed.
"This is the same path as before. But now it's leading in the opposite direction."
Realization dawned on her.
"So I was right. This place has been manipulated."
"Akane! Nyx! They must be in trouble!"
Fatheema spun around and assumed a stance.
She recited a dispelling mantra intended to destroy deceptive illusions.
Then she slammed her palm into the ground.
BOOM!
A shockwave of spiritual energy surged outward toward the strange veil.
The barrier rippled like the surface of a calm pond struck by a pebble.
Yet it did not disappear as the illusion barrier in the demon prison had.
"What?! The veil didn't disappear?!"
"What's going on?"
"I can still see it! Even if I pass through it, I'll just end up back where I started. I'll never be able to leave!"
"It feels like I'm trapped."
"What am I supposed to do?"
Confusion and frustration swirled inside her mind.
Finally, she decided to return to the campsite.
Running at full speed, she soon arrived back at the tent.
A few steps away stood a figure dressed in red. Akane!
She stood there as though she had been waiting.
"Oh, Akane! Thank goodness. Where have you been? Where's Nyx?"
Relieved, Fatheema hurried toward her friend.
But instead of answering, the girl remained silent. Then she growled. Sharp fangs became visible between her lips. Her fingers twitched, revealing long black claws like those of a wild beast.
Without warning, she lunged at Fatheema's face, striking as though trying to snatch a ball out of the air.
Startled, Fatheema barely managed to evade by leaning her upper body backward.
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
"Akane, snap out of it! It's me, Fatheema!"
She shouted while retreating.
Akane showed no sign of stopping. Instead, she attacked again with her other hand. Her feet rapidly closed the distance.
Both arms slashed wildly from side to side.
Every finger ended in a long, black, razor-sharp claw.
Fox claws!
Fatheema dodged and blocked the erratic attacks.
Despite their lack of technique, Akane's strikes were surprisingly troublesome.
More importantly, Fatheema hesitated to fight back and risk injuring her friend.
Then suddenly—
Akane pounced like a cat.
Reacting instantly, Fatheema twisted her body and unleashed a spinning kick.
THUD!
Her foot slammed into Akane's back.
The girl was hurled forward and crashed into a tree. But before impact, Akane's hand swept outward and managed to rake its claws across Fatheema's left arm.
Fatheema jumped backward and assumed a defensive stance.
Looking down, she saw several claw marks carved across her forearm.
She winced and rubbed the wounded area.
"Damn it. This kid isn't holding back."
"Those claws really hurt."
Meanwhile, the figure that had been kicked into the tree rose to its feet and turned around with an angry growl.
But now its appearance had changed.
It no longer looked like Akane.
Standing there was a girl with an unnaturally flat white face.
Her mouth, nose, and eyes were almost featureless.
Her mouth resembled a simple horizontal line with no lips.
Her nose consisted of nothing more than two tiny holes.
When she blinked, her eyes became two parallel slits, while glowing orange irises shone from within.
Small pointed ears resembling those of a rabbit protruded through her long white hair, which flowed down to her waist like soft cotton.
"Damn it!"
"So you're not Akane after all!"
"Who are you really?!"
"Where are my friends?!"
"What did you do to them?!"
Fatheema shouted angrily.
She felt completely deceived by the creature before her.
What puzzled her most was how perfectly it had imitated Akane's appearance.
If it had merely been a visual illusion, her Mystical Eyes would have detected it immediately.
The creature simply growled and let out a shrill, high-pitched laugh.
Its strange voice matched its unnatural mouth.
"Fine."
"If you won't talk, then I'll beat the answers out of you and force that weird mouth open!"
Fatheema drew her twin Arnis rattan batons.
Then she exploded forward.
Moving so quickly that her motion was almost impossible to follow, she zigzagged toward her opponent, hoping to confuse it.
Moments later, she was already at its side, ready to strike.
CLANG!
Her baton collided with a staff that had somehow appeared in the creature's hand.
The weapon was white and over three feet long. At its tip were three white spheres, each about the size of a tennis ball, arranged in a line along the shaft. The outermost sphere contained a small marble-sized hole.
But what truly shocked Fatheema was the creature's face.
It changed once again.
This time, it became the face of Nyx Merry.
The little girl entrusted to her care by Grandfather Duratara.
"Oh my God!"
"Now you've turned into Nyx too?"
"You're a face-stealing ghost!"
"What did you do to my friends?!"
"If anything has happened to them, I'll beat you senseless, you evil monster!"
Fatheema's anger intensified.
Attack after attack rained down upon the creature.
Although she felt slightly uncomfortable striking an opponent that wore Nyx's face, she continued pressing forward.
Despite her hesitation, Fatheema's agility and martial arts skills clearly remained superior.
***