Shinzo yawned, walking on deck with his hands outstretched. Octavius sat on deck, eating a piece of cake.
"Isn't it too early for cake?" he asked, staring at the chocolate cake in his hands.
The older boy wrinkled his nose, glaring at him as if had cursed his family lineage. "Take that back, it's never too early for cake."
Suddenly, two arrows whizzed in their direction. Shinzo caught one of them, the tip dangerously close to his skull while Octavius tilted his head backwards, the arrow landing on the wood of the ship.
He threw the cake in the air, summoning a bow and two arrows. He swiftly stretched the arrow, shooting it at the direction where he sensed the arrows from, and neatly caught his cake before it hit the ground.
Shinzo clapped at his display, the engineer bowing. "The arrow was a paralysis arrow. They won't be able to move. Let's go get them," he said, taking a bite of his cake.
Shinzo sighed, squeezing his face as he stared at the cake. "You'll get diabetes."
Octavius snorted. "Never."
.....
Paolo, Luna and Aline walked on deck, stopping to stare at two strangers tied to the mast. The intruders, a female in red and black attire and a boy with a lion tattoo on his nose and red and black sleeveless shirt with khaki trousers, struggled in the ropes, but it wouldn't budge.
Paolo laughed, not perceiving anything strange with the scene. "What happened here?"
"They shot arrows at us with the intent to kill," Shinzo explained.
"Who are you guys?" Paolo asked the intruders. "I promise I won't bite."
The boy in the group huffed, turning his head sideways in defiance. "We don't have the obligation to tell you."
Aline grinned, a blush tinting her cheeks. "What a good looking guy, I need a camera."
A blush brushed his cheeks. "Compliments won't get you in my good books."
Luna covered her mouth. "He's blushing, how cute."
Paolo laughed, turning to the two girls. "Now, now girls, don't tease him." He crouched in front of them, his smile turning sadistic. "I'm usually pretty chill, but trying to kill my crew members is a crime I'm not nice enough to let slide."
Shinzo grinned, fire blazing in his eyes. "Let's torture them."
"I agree, they interrupted my breakfast," Octavius added.
Aline held her cheeks with a pleased expression on her face. "I've never tied up a handsome boy before, this should be fun."
The five adventurers towered over the intruders, the two gulping at the devilish expressions on their face.
"Now, now children, you wouldn't want to make rash decisions."
The five adventurers turned around to face a woman wearing a mask, a witch's hat propped on her black hair. She stood on the roof of the control room, her hair ruffled by the wind.
Aline unsheathed her sword, pointing her sword at her. "Who are you?"
The woman smiled, her blood red lips blooming. "That information cannot be revealed." She twisted her wrists, summoning a wand which stunned Luna. "I shall now be taking my comrades."
She flicked her wrists again, a huge wind picking up anything on the ship and throwing away – including the crew. They held on to anything that would stop them from falling, the wind not giving them the opportunity to go after the woman and the intruders.
"Damn it, they're gone," Shinzo hissed, staring where the intruders had formerly been.
"If this helps, that lion on his nose probably means something," Octavius said, steady the fallen chairs.
Paolo nodded. "Something is going on in this island and we're going to find out."
.....
Wandoo met the adventurers in front of their ship. "Are you guys ready for the investigation?"
Paolo nodded. "But before we go, we have a question for you. Do you know any adventurers that have a lion logo?"
Wandoo smiled. "Oh, those are the Lion Pride Adventurers. They are the only adventurers we have on the island."
The adventurers exchanged looks, Paolo sighing. "I had a feeling."
"What happened?" Wandoo asked, confusion written all over his face. Paolo explained what happened, the boy frowning at each word. "Why would they want to kill you, are you sure you didn't imagine it or something?"
"We saw the mark clearly," Shinzo said. "If we didn't catch those arrows, we'd be dead."
"I have a hypothesis about why they'd be after us, but I'll have to be sure." Paolo said. "Wandoo, could you take the girls to their adventure house to investigate while the guys and I go to the volcano ourselves."
Wandoo nodded. "Of course I'll help."
Paolo smiled. "Thank you." He turned to his crew. "Now that it's decided, let's go."
.....
Wandoo and the girls walked down the street, heading to the building holding the Lion Pride Adventurers.
"Wandoo."
An old man in a red and black robe ran towards them, beads of sweat rolling down his wrinkly face. "Wandoo, there's a problem."
"Grandpa Ameh, what's wrong?"
"T-the volcano, it'll erupt."
The three frowned, the news tugging their lips downwards. Wandoo stepped towards his grandfather, placing his hands on the old man's shoulder.
"A-are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure," the old man snapped. "The gods tell me everything. We have to go meet the governor."
"Grandpa, I'm busy, go by yourself."
The man narrowed his eyes, grabbing the young boy by the ear. He yelped, pain spreading through the place he held. "Don't tell me you have something to do when you are the heir of our priestly lineage. You will follow me and that's the end of it."
Wandoo sighed, knowing there was use arguing with the man. He turned to Aline and Luna. "I have to go, but I'll tell you the direction." He pointed down the street. "Just keep walking down the street and make a left turn, you'll the sign."
Aline nodded. "Thanks."
The priest grabbed his grandsons hand, dragged him down the road. He waved goodbye helplessly, the two doing the same.
Aline faced Luna. "Let's go."
The two followed his directions, standing in front of a yellow building. The girls pulled open the double door, a girl with a black witch's hat on top of black flowing hair wearing a black strapless shirt with leather trousers smiling at them. "Hello, how may I help you? I'm Aesha the vice master."
"We want to meet your master," Aline said.
Luna stared at the witch's hat suspiciously, feeling like she'd seen it before.
"My master isn't around, but before you can meet him you need an appointment. Can I get who you people are?"
"We are members of the Cross Heart Adventurers; we came to investigate the volcano," Aline said.
Aesha gasped, her lips parting a little. "You mean you don't know."
"Know what?"
"Adventurers who get sent to investigate the volcano always end up falling into it. The priests say the gods are probably punishing them. The place being holy ground and what not"
"I see," Luna said, her voice an octave lower.
"Anyways, you can see our master tomorrow."
The girls nodded and left the building, the door closing quietly behind them. "How annoying, we didn't get anything at all," Aline said.
"That hat," Luna mumbled. "It looked like the one of the girl that came to our ship."
Aline hummed. "It's better we meet the others back at the ship, let's not cause a scene."
Luna nodded. "I wonder how they're doing though. Hopefully, they're doing better than us."
.....
The three boys and Iverem trudged through a thin spiral path in the volcano, heat seeping from the lava down below. They had walked through a cave at the side of the volcano, their bodies clad in yellow hazard suits to avoid any mishaps.
Luckily, the lava had only filled half of the volcano, all their previous worries about their safety fading away.
Paolo pointed at a tunnel in the opposite direction. "Can we check that place out?"
Iverem nodded. "Sure, follow me and watch yourself, so that you don't fall into the volcano."
She led them towards the tunnel, pebbles from their path falling into the hot liquid. The hair on Paolo's arm stood, his eyes shifting to the tunnel they headed towards. He spotted a shadow on the wall, the shadow moving deeper into the tunnel before disappearing.
"Did you guys see that?" Octavius whispered.
The two boys nodded as they drew near the tunnel. They expected to meet whoever it was inside, but met an empty tunnel. A hole at the side of the wall had been covered with glass, the sharp edges pointed at them.
"What are these?" Paolo asked.
"The priest claims it belongs to the gods of the village and that we shouldn't touch it or it could trigger and explosion," Iverem explained. "It's been here for the past four years."
Iverem stepped back, her foot creating a golden magic circle beneath her. A barrage of rocks suddenly came from nowhere, Octavius creating a shield before they could get pelted.
She sighed once the rocks settled down, Octavius calling off his shield. "What just happened?"
"Probably a trap," Octavius said.
"There shouldn't be a trap though," she mumbled. "This place is mostly off limits."
"That attack clearly meant someone wanted us dead," Shinzo said.
Paolo turned to Iverem. "If you guys had the Lion Pride Adventurers, why did you contact us for help?"
"Wandoo wanted more eyes," she explained. "We mostly count on them to watch over the volcano since they aren't really experts."
"I see." Paolo turned around, Shinzo and Octavius following. "We'll come back later."
Iverem nodded. "That's okay with me."
As they walked out, Shinzo leaned into Paolo's ear. "What are you thinking?"
"If my hypothesis is correct, we might have gotten our hands full with this quest."