Part 5. The Cursed Woods


(Deidon Hold, south gate)

(Yuri's point of view)

We just bought some supplies (mainly gels, food ingredients). We thought about getting those Assam custom weapons, but they looked expensive, so we decided to just stick to our current weapons(Me my short sword, Estelle her sabre, Julia her rondel daggers, and Repede his kogarashi dagger Julia gave him three years ago). Also we got ourselves a camping set, sleeping bags, two tents (one for me and Ned, and one for Estelle and Julia) and a reasonably stout pony to carry our gear.

As we headed out through the south gate and began to turn west to the Quoi woods, Estelle walked up beside me and Julia.

"You looked very good swinging a sword, Yuri." She commented. "And you were pretty amazing with those daggers, Julia."

"You're not too bad yourself, Estelle." I replied.

"I suppose so, Yuri." Julia nodded. "You're getting better with your sabre, that's for sure, Estelle."

"Really?" Estelle looked at me. "My swordmaster used to scold me terribly."

"I do admit he can be a bit of an ogre when you perform those moves incorrectly…." Julia added.

"Well I have to admit I'd be surprised if you looked too natural." I said.

"I really don't like fighting…" Estelle sighed. "I don't like hurting people."

"How ladylike of you." I reassured.

"But...If I don't fight, I'll end up hurt myself, right?" She said.

"Or worse." Julia added.

"Yeah, that's pretty much how it works." I answered.

"True, from my experience if you don't fight, You're likely going to get hurt, killed, eaten...or, considering our gender, worse." Julia added.

"I wish I could enjoy fighting like you two do." Estelle said.

"You think I enjoy this?' I asked back.

"That's a rather… odd thing to say, Estelle." Julia added. "That we would enjoy doing such violence." Unless it's on a rapist.

"Don't you two?" Estelle asked. "I mean the way both your eyes shine(As well as your glasses, Julia)… That only happens when you're both fighting."

"O...oh really?" I asked back.

"You actually think so?" Along with Julia.

I continued. "Wow, you're pretty observant."

"Yes, I like watching people." Estelle smiled.

"Okaaayyy…" Me and Julia replied. Man, talk about weird habits… I'm getting a bit concerned. I looked at Julia and she she gave me the same concerned look…

As we traveled west, we fought a few more monster packs, mostly minicoids and tulipers. Collected some more parts. Before long the sun was setting. We set up camp, Julia cooked up some supper. We talked about the events back in Deidon Hold, then we turned in for the night...(And no, Estellise and Julia did not do it… So stop asking, Author)


(The next day)

The following morning we got up, had breakfast, packed up camp and headed out. By mid morning we soon arrived the edge of a forested mountain pass.

"A forest in a place like this can only mean… The Quoi woods?" Estelle said as she looked at the forest ahead.

"Bingo." I answered. "You're just full of information aren't you?"

Then she began to look nervous.

And so was Julia. "The Quoi Woods!? Yuri George Lowell, what in blazes were you thinking bringing us here!? Oh don't tell us this is the alternate route Mary Kaufman suggested?"

"I'm afraid this is the route she suggested." I answered the now nervous nobles. "So what's up with this place anyway?"

Estelle answered first. "I've read in a book that a curse will fall upon anyone who enters these woods."

"Same with me." Julia followed up. "Not to mention this curse is said to have a rather strong preference for ladies of nobility… Which, wouldn't you know it, both me and Estelle just happen to be."

A curse that goes after noble ladies first huh? "Ah so that must be the surprise." I replied as I looked at the woods.

"Are we we really g-going in?" Estelle asked.

"You're not actually t-t-thinking of taking us through h-h-here?" Followed by Julia.

When I turned to look at Estelle and Julia, I saw both of them had really nervous expressions on their faces, Both were clutching their upper arms and shivering as if it got really cold all of a sudden.

"(Estelle and Julia)...* shiver shiver shiver...shiver shiver shiver...shiver shiver shiver...shiver some more...shiver shiver shiver...*…"

"Not going in?" I asked the two shivering ladies.

They both shook their heads. "I d-d-don't want to be c-c-cursed…*shiver*...!" Estelle whimpered.

"M-M-Me neither...*tremble*…" Julia added.

"Well that's fine by me, you two…" I shrugged. "But what about Flynn?"

"Oh right, we're trying to warn him, weren't we." Julia answered first. "And time is of the essence… Oh dear... Estelle, I fear we have no choice… I fear we must brave these absolutely scary woods."

"I know…" Estelle said. "O-Okay, let's go!" And all of us entered the woods. And I think I heard the both of them go… "...*GULP*…!"

XXX

It's now been nearly half an hour since we entered. Man these woods are pretty gloomy. Only light we're getting are the thin rays of sunshine filtering through the thick tree canopy to the mossy forest floor below. Looking up we could barely see the sky. I could see why Estelle and Julia are frightened of this place. This is kinda like those spooky woods of those old folktales me and Flynn used to hear when we were growing up. The kind of woods where you'd run into witches living in gingerbread houses, ghosts, werewolves, vampires, zombies, animated skeletons, redneck trees, the odd monster created by a mad scientist using body parts robbed from graves. And eggbears.

Speaking of Estelle and Julia, they were both following REALLY close behind me and Repede. And they were just as close to one another, shivering slightly and nervously looking left and right. Sometimes one of them would yelp when they hear a sudden rustling in the surrounding brush, only for it to be just caused by a squirrigle or a bunwigle going about minding its business.

Still hard to believe that two perfectly educated ladies would be this… superstitious. You kinda expect this sort of thing from us Lower Quarter folk, being not too well educated and all that jazz. But let's face it; Both Estelle and Julia are high ranked nobles with way superior education (Hell, Julia took the time to teach me how to read and write and do math during my academy days), and yet they're even more superstitious than I am. Go figure.

"Yuri…?" Estelle nervously asked. "Will this really get us to the other side of the Hold?"

"If it doesn't, we'll just come back." I answered.

"...B-But what if I get turned into a frog or a snake by the forest's c-curse...*shiver*…!?" Estelle shivered.

"Or something else unnatural...*shiver*…!" Julia added. "I don't like being turned into these things either! Oh ew!"

"If that happens, I'll take care of you." I tried to reassure the two nervous nobles.

"You'll… Take care of me?" Estelle asked.

Of course I would. Don't worry." I answered. 'I had pet frogs and snakes when I was a kid."

"Oh ew, Yuri." Julia shuddered. "How disgusting. Boys… sheesh."

"Ickyness aside… If you got turned into a frog or a snake, Yuri, Julia, I wouldn't have any idea what to feed you…" Estelle said.

"Well, snakes usually eat small mice and lizards." Ned answered. "And frogs basically eat bugs, flies snails, slugs and worms."

"WORMS!? I'd rather starve!" Julia shuddered. "Just thinking about it...*KER-SHUDDER*...! Let's just get through these horrid woods quickly before that happens!"

As we continued deeper and deeper, we all suddenly heard giggling followed by really loud rustling coming right at us!

"EEEEEK!" Estelle shrieked in panic "Oh no! IT'S THE CURSE!" As she hid behind an equally frightened Julia. Both of them were really shivering.

"WHAAAH! YURI! WE HAVE TO RUN FOR IT RIGHT NOW!" Julia frantically yelled. "OR THE CURSE WILL…" Just then out of the underbrush emerged a tuliper followed by two mandragoras(guess that explains the giggling) and an axe-beak. "...Get us…!? What the…!? Those are just monsters?" Then Julia went from being scared to being angry. "OOOOOOOH! HOW DARE THEY! YURI! LET'S CLOBBER THOSE DAMN THINGS!" She pulled out her daggers and readied herself to fight.

"All right, all right." I readied my sword as…

"Don't get sloppy!" Estelle gripped her sabre and shield and Repede growled at 'em, dagger in his mouth.

Long story short, we clobbered the monsters. I could've sworn that mandragora yelled 'I'm a goner!' when she went down. Usually they go 'Yo yo yo!'. Man I was just getting warmed up.

"Well that was interesting." I commented as I cleaned my sword.

"Interesting?" Julia wiped down her daggers. "I'm certain those monsters were taking advantage of our fear of this place to… Oh, how dare they scare me and Estelle like that! Honestly!"

"You two feeling any better?" I asked.

"I think so, Yuri." Estelle replied. "Oh thank goodness that wasn't the curse." She let out a sigh of relief.

"You and me both, Estelle." Julia added. "Yuri I think we should keep going."

"You don't wanna collect the monster parts?" I asked.

"Not really…" Julia replied. "For one I'm certain these monsters carry the curse and we'll be cursed if we collected their parts so we're leaving them… Not to mention it would waste our time and I certainty don't want to be stuck in these woods after nightfall...*shudder*... The curse will get us for sure!"

"I agree… Yuri, Ned, let's keep moving." Estelle added.

"Alright, Alright, no parts collecting until we're outta the woods." I agreed. So we left the slain monsters behind and pressed onwards… sigh… all that money…

Well we fought a couple more monster packs. Julia and Estelle were doing pretty good despite their fear of the place. Guess all that fighting's keeping their minds off this curse. Still we didn't collect any parts, The two ladies kept insisting that we'll be cursed if we stopped to collect.

It was after one such battle that Estelle approached me while cleaning off her sabre. "Monsters are easier to beat than I thought…" She said.

"I told you it gets easier, Estelle." Julia added as she put away her daggers.

"Right."

"Isn't that better than harder than you thought…?" I asked back.

"I guess… But I feel sorry for them." Estelle said.

"Really, Estelle? Feeling sorry for these monsters…?" Julia interjected. "… Oh honestly and good grief." And facepalmed.

Repede whined in agreement. And… facepawed…?

"I agree with 'em…" I added. 'You're way too nice. I don't particularly enjoy being someone else's dinner."

"Me neither." Julia added.

"Same here, guys." Along with Ned.

"You're all right…" Estelle sighed. "This is different from the castle… The strong eat the weak… sigh…"

"Well we're not gonna be eating any of these monsters." I stated. Repede barked in agreement.

"Well, least not these local monsters…" Julia added. "...Cursed meat." And she had to say that.

"I...I won't hesitate to defeat any monsters!" Estelle declared. "But I will never forget what I fought or where I fought it."

"Well...suit yourself, I guess..." I replied.

"Then when I return to the castle…" Estelle continued. "...I will make graves in memory of all the monsters I've killed." Say What!?

"...I...Uh...I guess you could that…" Me, Repede, Julia and Ned slowly back away from Estelle. Aheh heh... "I don't understand this girl at all." I quietly say to Julia.

"Me neither at times, Yuri." Julia quietly said back." Honestly... And I've been her servant for three years."

XXX

About an hour later, I think we're about halfway through the pass. A we entered a clearing we heard this sound. Doesn't sound like any monsters that's for sure. There's something familiar about it though… Can't quite place my finger on it…

Then I heard both Estelle and Julia yelp. I turned to see both of them looking really timid, knees bent slightly. Fists tightly up against their chests and nervously looking left and right trying to find the source of the noise.

"Yuri...D-Did you h-h-hear something…?" Estelle timidly asked with shaking voice.

"I think so…" I answered. "Not too sure what it is..."

"It's certainly the strangest sound I've ever heard." Julia said, her voice was also sounding shaky and timid. "It certainly doesn't sound like a rhinossus boar… Or a mountain schwert's roar…. It's certainly not the cry of any wild bird…"

"J-J-Julia… you don't suppose it c-c-could be…" Estelle stuttered.

"I t-t-think so too, Estelle…" Julia replied,

Them both of then clutched their upper arms and started shivering and fidgeting, making their skirts sway and rustle slightly.

"...Y-Y-Yuri...*shiver shiver shiver*… I just felt a chill go down my s-s-spine...*shiver*… My f-f-feet feel c-c-old all of a sudden…*shiver*…."

"Not t-to mention my spine and feet also feel really really c-c-cold...*shiver *…" Julia shuddered.

Then they looked at me, Repede and Ned with their fearful faces. "Oh no… Is this the C-C-C-Curse…!?*shiver shiver shiver shiver shiver*…" They both stuttered.

"So what sort of curse is it supposed to be anyway?" I asked. I'm kinda curious as to what kind of a curse that's making a naive pink haired princess, and her otherwise fearless maid shiver and fidget like a pair of frightened Yurzorean schoolgirls.

"Y-You want to answer him or should I, Estelle?" Julia stuttered.

"L-L-Let's answer together." Estelle replied.

They both looked and me and said. "The voices of corpses buried alive beneath these trees call out and lure us to our doom!"

"We could run into zombies what want to eat our brains!" Estelle said.

"Or vampires that want to suck our blood!" Julia added.

"Or get trapped in a quick slime pit!...*shudder*…" Estelle starts moving her feet up and down as if she was trying to pull them out of said goo, making her skirt sway and rustle a bit more.

...And Julia was doing the same… dance steps. "And that goo would, no absolute doubt, would be created from the thick sticky slimy greasy foul putrid smelling mucus of hundreds of large flesh eating w-w-worms waiting at the bottom of said pit to drag us down and eat us at their leisure! I'm certain that's the sound of them we're hearing! Just listening to it makes me squirm… *shudder*...!"

...Wasn't that how you ended up afraid of worms in the first place, Julia?

"Or all of the above! And the zombies and vampires will rape us too, as we desperately struggle in that putrid greasy worm infested goo!" Estelle said, and then they...

"EEEK!"… Both yelped and glomped each other. "Hold me, Julia/Estelle! I'm so scared!...*shiver shiver tremble tremble whimper whimper*..."

"Oh, brother…" Me and Ned sighed and facepalmed. Repede moaned and even that pony shook his head at the sheer silliness of those two letting their overactive imaginations get carried away over this curse nonsense. "C'mon, seriously, you two…?" I added.

Then Estelle notices something. "Huh…? W-What that?"

"You see something, Estelle?" Julia asked. They were still holding each other. "Ah...Yuri...look over there!"

I looked in the direction that out two fearful ladies were looking and I see this crumbled ruin with some kind of gem attached to it. Not to mention I think that's where that weird sound is coming from.

"A Blastia? What's it doing in a place like this?" Me, Repede and Ned approach it first. "Well that explains it." I said. "And I now remember that the fountain blastia back in the Lower Quarter used to make this noise whenever it's out of tune."

"Yeah, I remember that too." Ned added as Estelle and Julia nervously approached us, their feet shuffling and skirts rustling as they kept VERY close to one another. Take your time, you two. We notice that quite a bit of brush was cleared from it, Not too long ago it seems. And there was some writing on it.

"Discovered by W. Milo, I.B.R.L. Hands off! I mean It!" I read the writing "W. Milo…? Who's that?"

"Milo…? As In Witcher Milo?" Julia said. "I met him a few times. He's that young mage that's sometimes attached to Flynn's squad."

"You mean that cute boy with the glasses?" Estelle asked.

"The same one, Estelle." Julia answered. "And I just remembered, Flynn told me that he had to take a shortcut through these very cursed woods a few months ago. And I do believe this must be the very blastia that they discovered."

"Flynn went through these woods?" Estelle gasped hands up to her chin. "Oh my, It's a miracle that they didn't get cursed."

"I'm not too sure, Estelle…" Julia replied. "You remember Sodia, Yuri?" I nodded, thinking about that female Cumore brigade knight I met last fall. "She thinks that the woods had cursed her to be glomped by lesbians… And I do admit me and Clara had been hugging her quite a bit lately…" Oh really...

"Right… I wonder if you two have ever heard a blastia malfunction before?" I asked.

Both ladies shook their heads. "No, Yuri, I don't think neither me nor Julia have heard a blastia break down before."

"True, enough, Estelle…" Julia agreed. "Blastia are always kept well maintained in both the Noble and Royal Quarters."

Right… "Let's take a break." I suggested. "Give you two a chance to calm down from overreacting to this guy…" I look back at the broken blastia.

"Um… We're alright." Estelle replied. As she and Julia walked past me, she notices the blastia core starting to glow. "Huh? What's this?" And walks up to it to take a closer look.

"Um, Estelle, I simply don't think that's such a good…" Julia tried to warn, but…

...*FLASH*…

The core suddenly let out a really bright blinding light. "UGH!" My eyes were stinging as I tried to shield them.

"I heard Estelle yell "AAAH!"

And Julia "EEEK!"

And Ned "WOAH!"

Then We heard something go thump and when our vision came back, we saw Estelle lying on her back.

"ESTELLE!" Me and Julia yelped as we both ran up to her.

"oooo…." She moaned. Looks like she's just passed out.

"Is she okay?" I asked.

"I think so…" Julia replied as she checked her neck for a pulse. "Look likes that core let out a burst of aer at her. I think it's best that we let her rest for a while until she comes too…"

I moved her away from the broken blastia and layed her down on a patch of grass. Repede propped her head up with his body, using himself like a pillow. "How considerate of you, Repede. "Julia commented.

I looked for some fruit to snack on while we waited for Estelle to recover. I came back with something that looked like an orange. And sat down right next Julia and Ned to take a bite…

...Ugh…" Damn, that's bitter." I said as I spat out the rind.

"You're sure that's safe to eat?" Julia asked.

"I think so…" I replied. Just then, Estelle opened her eyes and got up on her knees. "You all right?" I asked.

"You had us rather worried there." Julia added.

"Ooo… My head feels a little…" Estelle moaned. "I'll be fine… I think." Then she looked at us. "What happened to me?"

"You just fell over all of a sudden." I answered. "Don't you remember?"

"Perhaps it was the aer that made me dizzy." Estelle answered.

"I think 'dizzy' would be a bit of an understatement." Julia said. "You were out like a light."

"Oh…" Estelle looked back at us.

"Aer. That's sort of like the fuel that powers the blastia, right?" I asked. "I heard that, even though we can't see it, it's scattered through the atmosphere."

"Yes, that's aer." Estelle answered.

"You're quite correct, Yuri." Julia added. "You're getting all this, Ned?"

"I think so." Ned replied.

"I've read once that dense aer can have negative effects on people." Estelle said.

"Hmm… Maybe that's what started the rumor of the curse." I theorized.

"You think so, Yuri?" Julia replied. "I'm not so sure."

Estella slowly stood up. "Hey, you only just woke up." I warned. "You should rest a bit more."

"I agree." Julia added.

"But I cant!" Estelle objected. "If we don't catch up to Flynn soon…"

"And what if you collapse again and this time you're out for the whole night?" I warned.

"And I'm NOT looking forward to spending a night in these awful woods." Julia added.

"You're both right. I'm sorry." Estelle apologized. Then she walked over and sat down to my right. I offered her that fruit. She took it and took a nibble. "...Blugh…" Heh heh, you should've seen the face she made. Guess it wasn't to her refined taste.

"Heh, guess we'll never get full trying to eat these." I said.

"It's delicious…" Estelle replied.

"Are you sure?" Julia asked. "Could you please pass it over?" Estelle passes Julia the fruit and she takes a bite. Then shuddered. "… Oh Zaude…" She spits it out. I guess it wasn't to her refined taste either. "Estellise Sidos Heurassein, you were lying…"She scolded. "Ugh… I swear this tastes like floor polish."

"I'm sorry…" Estelle apologized. "I was trying to convince Yuri that it wasn't bad."

"Good try, I do suppose, but it doesn't change the fact that this fruit taste awful." Julia shook her head and tossed the fruit over her shoulder. "Hardly a suitable fruit for our refined tastes and cultured pallets."

"Hold on a sec." I interrupted. "I can make something simple that you two might like."

"You can cook, Yuri?" Estelle looked at me.

"I'm not exactly a royal chef or Julia here." I replied. Julia raised one of her eyebrows. "I just have a few decent recipes I learned growing up."

"Now this I'd like to see…" Julia got up and unpacked the stove blastia, a frying pan, cutting board and knife, and our provisions. "What do you need, Yuri?" She set up the stove and activated the two burners.

"Well, the bread for starters…" I replied. "Some eggs, bacon, green onions, and the seasonings." Julia bought me the ingredients and I diced up the bacon and onions, cracked the eggs and poured the contents into the pan then put in the remaining ingredients, applied the seasonings, and cooked them up on one burner while I toasted the sliced bread on the other burner.

"Aren't you worried at all that Flynn is in danger?" Estelle asked as I finished preparing the sandwiches.

"Huh? Does it look that way?" I replied.

"Well...Yes." Estelle answered.

"Honestly I'm not worried about him." I said as I put the sandwiches together and cut 'em diagonally. "He's always managed to take care of himself." I looked over my shoulder at Estelle. "Actually, it's the guys that are after him I feel sorry for."

What do you mean?" Estelle asked.

"Ever since we were kids, I've never been able to beat Flynn at anything. ' I answered. "Swords, racing, horseback riding, whatever."

"Take his word for it, Estelle." Julia added. "I've seen those two compete quite a bit at the academy."

I continued. "After he'd won, he'd always have the nerve to say, 'you all right, Yuri?'.."

"Just remembering that…" Julia giggled.

"That must be nice…" Estelle sighed. "I've never had anyone like that in my life."

"You can count yourself lucky." I replied as I placed the four sandwiches on a tin plate. "Well dinner's ready."

We ate the Tolbyiccian sandwiches. I could see that both Estelle and Julia really enjoyed them. Ned too.

"Thank you for the meal." Estelle smiled.

"I'm rather impressed." Julia added. "My thanks as well."

You're welcome…" I replied. "Well, it wasn't anything special."

"I thought it was very tasty." Estelle complimented. "I can't imagine being able to cook anything myself."

"It's just like using a sword or magic." I explained. "You've got to learn it by doing it. You just need to practice with a few recipes. You'll be cooking before you know it."

"Practice with recipes?" Estelle asked.

"Here I'll show you how it's done." I answered. "Watch." And I started preparing two more sandwiches. "Cooking clears the mind, and it's great for regaining lost energy...This is pretty everything I know how to cook right now. So in order to make a Tolbyiccian sandwich, you'll need bread, an egg, seasonings, some onion and bacon. Which we happen to have right here! After choosing the ingredients, it's time to cook!"

Before long, I was done, I turned off the stove, cut the sandwiches in two and give each half to Estelle, Julia, Ned, and one half for myself.

"And...There you are! A delicious meal!" And we enjoyed our sandwiches.

"You're so good at that…" Estelle said.

"I certainly agree." Julia added.

Estelle continued. "I'm not sure I'll be able to get that good at cooking."

"Well it comes more naturally to some people than others." I replied. "Just because you have a recipe, it doesn't mean it'll turn out like you think."

"Really?" Estelle cocked her head. "So you can mess it up…?"

"Well you usually taste the food you're cooking…" I answered. "But some people don't." Like a certain blonde knight for example.

"Tasting…?" Estelle asked.

"You know, like when cooks taste the food they make?" I replied.

"I know I certainly do." Julia added.

I continued. "… Well you're a sheltered little princess who's lived her life in a castle, Estelle. It's only normal."

"Sheltered little princess…" Estelle pondered. "I suppose so."

"Quite true, Estelle." Julia agreed.

Just then, Repede got back up on his paws. "What is it, Repede?" I asked. Looks like he's getting restless, and the stove's finally cooled down. "Well everyone, shall we be going?" I asked as I packed away the stove and provisions.

"Sure." Ned answered first.

I suppose so." Estelle followed. "I'd like to be out of these woods as soon as possible."

"Me too…" added Julia.

Then Estelle walked up to Repede, closed her eyes and… "Repede, when I passed out, you layed down and made the nicest pillow for me." Started thanking Repede. "Thank you very much." She didn't realize that Repede had wandered off. He wasn't big on compliments.

I walked up next to her. "...What are you doing?" I asked.

Estelle opened her eyes and looked at me. "I'm… Um… Thanking Repede..." She answered.

"Repede? He's not here…" I replied.

"Huh? Wh- what?" Estelle looked around to see that Repede wasn't in sight. "...Maybe he doesn't like me…" She sighed looking a bit upset.

"Nah, he just acts like that with just about everybody." I replied. Although he has taken a bit of a liking to me, Flynn and Julia.

"Well then, I'll just keep trying until he accepts me!" Estelle declared, Eyes shining with determination. Well good luck with that…

XXX

...Now we've been following the trail for a good wile now. Not too sure if we're on the right path…

...And I wasn't the only one. "We cant seem to find our way through this forest at all." Estelle said as she looked right and left.

"Indeed, and it doesn't help that the canopy's blocking out the sun." Julia added. "Rather hard to get our bearings and I think it starting to get dark."

"Oh! Could this be the curse!?" Estelle asked with a slightly air-headed expression on her face… Which suddenly became very worried. "Oh no! What should we do, Yuri!? What should we do!? There really was a curse after all!"

"Don't be stupid…" I scolded.

"Sorry." Estelle apologized."Or do you not have a good sense of direction, Yuri?"

"No, of course I do… I think..." I answered.

"Then maybe it's my fault…!? Oh, what should we do? What should we do…?" Estelle asked.

"Don't go blaming yourself… Calm down." I replied. "They say no medicine can cure a fool, but I wish something could cure a bad sense of direction…"

Repede moaned in agreement.

"Maybe we should stay on this trail…" Julia pointed. "It looks a bit lighter up ahead." So we pressed on…

XXX

… Sure enough, it looked like we were on the right path after all. The canopy started getting lighter and lighter. And Julia thought she could see glimpses of the plains through the trees. Guess it won't be too much longer…

"I think we're almost out." I said.

"Oh thank goodness." Estelle replied. "Curse or no curse, those woods are just scary."

"You certainly said it, Estelle." Julia added. "I hope we don't have to go back in there. I certainly don't wish to tempt fate… Or the curse."

"Me neither...*shudder*..."

I guess those two are still gonna believe that these woods are cursed, no matter how much I try to convince them otherwise...sigh...

Just as we were passing by some brush… Repede suddenly stopped and started growling.

Then we heard some rustling in the brush. "Hmmm…?" I looked in the direction of the noise. Estelle and Julia were readying their weapons, and Ned and the pony were backing up just in case.

What we heard next wasn't anything any of us expected… "P-Prepare to die, egg bear!"

"Did that sound like a young boy?" Julia asked. And, sure enough we got our answer when…

… This kid, with an oversized great sword came spinning out of the brush. "WHOA!" He shouted as he spun outta control past us(We had to get out of the way of course), "WAAAAAH… Oof!" And into a tree, breaking that big-ass sword of his in the process. "Oh man, that hurt..." he moaned as he lay on the forest floor.

Now this kid had thick swept back brown hair and brown eyes. And he was wearing a black shirt under a white and green shirt, white gloves, oversized orange pants with white cuffs over blue and black shoes, a red bandanna tied to his neck and a large blue and orange bag hanging from his right shoulder by a single strap.

He looked to a couple of years older than Ted… About 12 years old, I guess.

"Um… Is he part of that curse that you two keep mentioning?" I asked Estelle and Julia.

"Um… I don't think so, Yuri…" Estelle replied first. "He doesn't look scary. In fact he looks cute."

"Well, he looks too alive and… fresh to be a zombie…" Julia added. "And it's still daytime, so we can rule out vampire… So no, not the curse...Thank goodness. But what is he doing here…?" Good question. "And where are his parents?" That's an even better question.

While we were talking, Repede walked up to that prone kid. "GYAAH!" The kid yelped as he sat up…. And flopped back down. "I-I'm warning you! I don't taste very good." He whimpered. "You'll get the runs!"

Repede barked. Does that kid think Repede's a monster?

"Oh my gosh! S-S-Somebody h-h-help mee…! AAAAH!" The kid squealed like a frightened girl.

"Is this kid for real?" I asked.

Then Estelle approached the panicking kid. "It's all right now." She reassured as she knelt down beside him.

The kid opened his eyes to see Estelle's smiling face. "Huh? The monster turned into a girl?" He said. Then he noticed Repede and scuttled back away from him.

"Oh brother, this should be interesting." I commented.

"You could say that again." Julia added.

The kid, after calming down, got back on his feet. "I'm Karol Capel!" He introduced himself. "I'm a member of the hunting blades guild. We travel the globe in search of monsters."

"I'm Yuri." I introduced back. "This is Estelle, Julia, Ned, and you've met Repede already." Karol nodded to Estelle, Julia and Ned. "Anyway, nice to meet you." I turned around to continue onwards.

But Estelle… "What? Yuri wait!" Wanted us to wait a bit. "My apologies." She bowed to Karol and then, along with Julia and Ned caught up with me.

Huh…? Hey wait up!" Karol called out. "Where are you guys going!?" Then he ran out in front of us. "You guys are here to enter the woods, right?" He asked. "Well then, I'll…"

"Actually, we just finished coming through the woods…" Estelle interrupted. "And we're on our way to Halure."

"NO WAY!" Karol yelped in complete surprise. "You guys made it through the cursed woods!?"

"We did." Estelle replied. "Thankfully we didn't get cursed."

"That makes both of us." Julia added.

"Really? By the way, did you guys run into any eggbears?" Karol asked.

"Do you know what he's talking about, Yuri?" Estelle asked.

"I do, Estelle. And nope. I don't think we've seen any, Karol." I replied.

"And let's be thankful for that too…" Julia added. I'm told she had a run in with one some years ago prior to volunteering for the gods games.

Man…" Karol turned his back lowered his head, looking a bit disappointed. "...I wonder if I should head back to town then… They definitely won't like it if I keep them waiting...all right!" Then he turned to face us. "I'm not sure if you four would make it on your own, but never fear. The star member of the Hunting Blades will be your escort."

Then he showed us his bag. "See that?" He pointed at the gem on the flap. "I even got my own Blastia."

Me, Estelle and Julia looked at each other, seeing we each have blastias of our own, even Repede. And We showed him our bodhi blastias.

"What? You four have have one too?" Karol replied when he noticed our bodhi blastias. "Even the dog has one? O-Oh yeah? Well how do you like this!?" Then he pulls this book out from his bag.

I took the book from his hand and began to read it while Estelle and Julia looked over my shoulders.

"It has information about monsters." Estelle said. "Hm? After a certain point, the pages are all blank."

"Hardly an informative tome." Julia added.

"Th-That's 'cause I'm gonna fill it up with piles of monsters after this." Karol replied.

I too the pencil that was attached the book and wrote in some information on the monsters we ran into on out journey.

"Hey, wait!" Karol fidgeted. "Who said you could just write in there!?"

"It might hurt your 'star member' status if it got out that you just broke your sword on a tree." I replied. "I'll just say that you broke it while fighting a monster."

"Oh that?" Karol pointed his finger up. "I had to give myself some kinda handicap, or else it wouldn't have a fair fight." Riiight. Looked more to us that you spun outta control into a tree.

Karol picked up his broken sword, 'though it now looked a bit like an axe. "Hey that's actually not too bad." He gave his new 'axe' a few test swings.

We started off on the trail out. "Yo! Do you guys even know where you're going?" Karol ran up to us. "Halure's to the north once you get out of the woods. C'mon guys, wait for me!" Looks like our party just grew by another member.

...Monster Book…

A book to record enemy details. Collect various data to complete the book…

Warning; Do not confuse with Monster Book Of Monsters from Harry Potter continuum as that book is literally too dangerous to handle, let alone read…

As we approached the exit, We got attacked by another monster pack. During that fight, Karol noticed that Repede was using his dagger to take out a tuliper. After the fight was over He came up to me. "I don't understand Repede." He said. "He's a dog with claws and fangs, but he uses weapons...?"

Repede proudly barked.

"Yeah, I guess dogs usually do fight with claws and fangs." I replied.

"Huh? But Repede a dog, isn't he?" Estelle asked.

Repede barked back.

"Repede is Repede." I answered.

"What does that mean?" Karol asked.

Repede barked some more.

"Whatever he is, Repede doesn't think of himself as a dog." I answered. "That's why he uses weapons and items. But that doesn't say that he thinks of himself as a human either."

"...I don't really understand…" Estelle said. "But he seems very proud."

Repede happily barked.

"Yep, so show him some respect!" I stated.

"Hey, Yuri, are you translating what Repede's saying?" Karol asked.

"Nah, it's just your imagination." I answered.

We finally exited the woods. Both Estelle and Julia were happy to be finally out. By that time the sun was going down and we made camp. Turns out that Karol has his own camping set stowed in that bag of his. Tomorrow, we set off for Halure…

(Standard point of view)

As Yuri and company leave the woods, back at the broken blastia, the stranger they met at Deidon Hold, approached the glowing blastia. He raised his glowing sword and the area is bather in blinding light. When the light fades, the core is dark...


End Part 5.

Author's Notes:

The reason I'm having Yuri narrate this chapter instead of Estellise was because of her fear of the curse, she'd be stuttering all over the place.

The Inspiration for my OC's phobia was inspired by that old 1950s song,' There's A New Sound/The Sound Of Worms' by Tony Burrello and Tom Murray. There's a reference to it in this chapter.

I'll admit, I had a lot of fun with both Estelle and my OC and their interesting view on the curse.

The stove blastia Yuri uses is sort of a Terca Lumireisian version of a typical Coleman camping stove. A bit safer than the campfire shown in game. It probably uses the local equivalent of propane instead of a Fleck core(Blastia cores are still rare, after all).

Next chapter, our heroes hake their way to Halure. And find out why Karol was looking for an eggbear.