After Tem chased down a fake Yumiko, who turned out to be one of the forest's Ghalies, Tim came across a group of three 'Sun's Order' helpers who were on the hunt for trying to abduct every Ghalie due to the terms of providing Muro with new test subjects, but Tem's caring personality helped her take the foes down, but just as she was about to save the Ghalies, someone else approached her from the bushes.
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A few minutes ago...
With a professional and confident smile on his face, the three 'Sun Soldiers,' Kizu, Trap, and Bow finally approached Muro, who had been working on another project inside his laboratory, but just after adding a new type of ingredient, the potion exploded and pink smoke surrounded the room in an instant, fully enraging Muro, who struck the table with his fists. The 'Sun Soldiers' waited for an opportunity to speak by opening the door to allow the light to shine through and into the chamber.
"This is stupid, stupid, stupid! All of my hard work in trying to brew the perfect potion has been for naught, and all I've gotten out of it is a waste of supplies! There isn't a single individual I've used as a subject who is useful to me, and none of them had royal blood, which is why choosing them so casually is the worst notion I've ever been given! There had better be someone of royal blood in the upcoming 'Maiden Selection'!"
Kizu, Trap and Bow entered the room and finally received their opportunity to speak the moment they noticed Muro turn behind and face them. They ignored the pink smoke, caused by the failed attempt of brewing the required potion and bowed their heads forward.
"Excuse us, Dr. Muro, we've come to visit you to share some of the most helpless news. May we speak, please?"
"What now? Did you come here to waste my time with your failures or what's the reason for this awful approach? Go ahead and tell me, since I still have no details involving about the potion I require."
"Thank you very much, sir. We apologize, but the woman we pursued down was a failure, as commanded by Empress Oriyana. We didn't expect the woman to be able to use Water Release, so she washed us away, leaving us frozen solid in the ice. Because of your need and the 'Maiden Selection' that should commence tomorrow, we returned here after the woman escaped. We need your directions on whether we should begin the preparations right away or wait until tomorrow, and, of course, if you are willing to forgive us for failing."
"You let that girl escape?! Failure is not an option, as I already stated! Even if the woman could manage and release water, you should have apprehended her, she might have had vital blood that could have helped my project! I can't afford to mess up this potion, or I'll be in big trouble!"
"Yes, we are aware of our failure, but please, forgive us this one time. We promise that it won't happen again."
"I don't see the sense in continuing this chase now that you've failed; after all, I'm sure the woman is still stuck on this island. Prepare the gathering room for the maidens and give the letters to the maidens who will be our next "helper." Only if we can discover someone with vital blood, or someone with royal blood, will the potion be successful."
"We understand, we'll start delivering the letters to the maidens'' homes right away, Dr. Muro." Bow stood up with Trap and Kizu and quickly left the laboratory, where they shut the door and made their way to the desired rooms in which the letters were kept.
"I'm not sure what you're talking about, Bow. Muro is just being commanded to do silly things that have nothing to do with our profession, so why don't we just leave him alone to do his own thing, or perhaps murder him? I despise working for this stinky guy; it's too inconvenient!"
"The 'Sun Soldiers' are in charge of approving any request made by Dr. Muro. We can't turn our backs on him or we'll be the ones paying the price for his wrongdoings. Our present mission is to distribute the letters to the women who have been chosen to be the maidens of tomorrow. We don't have much time, so hurry up, and send one of the letters to the "Ghast Interface", I have an odd suspicion involving that place."
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Tem stood in the middle of the dancing Ghalies while looking in the direction of a person who came across her. Looking at the person, they seemed to be rather different than the people around the town. Their hair was mostly blue, with orange tips added, with their left eye covered by the hair. They were dressed in blue and black clothes, and kept a white mask, tied tight around their waist.
"Uh, hello. Are you here for a reason or to cause me trouble?" The Ghalie, named Toffy, that was stuffed between Tem's chest, slipped out with happiness and quickly floated toward the person who was a boy. The Ghalie sang in excitement and continued to float around him, finally sitting on his shoulder and raising its right hand.
"..."
"...."
"....."
"Not much of a social person, huh? Um, excuse me, my name is Tim, and do you maybe know what this building is?"
In response to Tem's introduction, the boy gave Tem a sidelong stare and proceeded to stand calmly, silently, and curiously."Tim? That's your name?" Tem was perplexed at first, but soon recognized that the boy's reaction was unusual.
"Y-Yeah, Tim? Is there something wrong with my name?"
"I don't know... It just doesn't work well with who you are on the outside..."
"Huh? What do you me-?! Oh, I completely forgot! S-Sorry, my mistake! My name's Tem, sorry for the inconvenience! I usually just forget my own name, haha! I'm completely serious, don't mind me, just a bit on the edge! Totally serious! Dead serious!"
The boy pat the top of Toffy's head and then stepped forward, closed his eyes and reached into his pockets. "You don't need to hide your identity. I know that you're not who you're supposed to be. I've been following you and Yumiko this entire time, and learned a lot about you. My task would usually be to kill you in this forest, but based on what you did, I think I should spare you."
"Aha! So *you* are one of those people who're constantly trying to kill me! Tell me, what did you do with Yumiko?! Where is she?!"
"Tell me, do you like Ghalies?"
"The who now? Wait a minute, don't try to trick me! I won't fall for your tricks! At least I think so..."
"Ghalies, these floating silhouettes. They are my friends, so I was wondering if you were friends with them as well."
"Uh, well... I guess I am friends with them, why do you ask?"
Tem stood gently, holding the back of her head. She noticed that she was itchy all over her body and that a couple of Ghalies had already wrapped themselves around her. It surprised her, but she realized they were grateful and joyful, and the boy smiled back and stepped closer to Tem, with whom he swapped views.
"My name is Ghast, and I am here to thank you for helping my friends. I'm intended to kill you as per Doctor Muro's orders, but after seeing your kind heart, I'm worried I won't be able to do it. The structure behind you is my house, and it is here that I prepare the necessary components for Doctor Muro."
"You followed me to kill me? But now you decided to spare my life? Look, I don't know how your decisions works, but if you don't want to fight me, then I guess I'll leave you alone, although, I would like to ask you something. When you told me you followed me and Yumiko and said that you don't know where she went, were you lying or were you serious about it?"
"I'm sorry, but I really don't know where your friend is, but are all of your friends this kind-hearted to the nature and creatures, such as Ghalies?"
"Well, yes, sure, as long as the creatures don't try to eat us alive or tear us apart, then yes. But I don't understand, why are you asking me these unnecessary questions?"
"It's a bit confusing, but if your friends are as nice as you, then I think I should let them be. But I don't want to disappoint, Doctor Muro, so I might need to kill you."
("Man, this guy doesn't waste a minute and goes straight to the point, huh?")
"I don't enjoy lying to others, but I'm lonely in these woods. When the Ghalies go out and play, I'm usually alone, so there's barely anyone around to talk to, and as a result, I usually don't have any friends to talk to, and now that I've seen that some people are kind-hearted, such as yourself, I was thinking that if it's possible, I'd like to meet your friends more closely."
"Yeah, of course! If you want to meet my friends, I'd be delighted to introduce them too you!"
"Really?"
Ghast's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm and waited silently to hopefully meet Tem's friends, who became ashamed of herself for a little. "Yes, but, I don't really know where they are at the moment, but I'm sure they are somewhere on this island. You see, we've come here for a Spiritual Artifact which could connect one of my friend's soul to it, so that she doesn't die, but I've ended up coming into the wrong place, and somehow ended up here in the forest, becoming a girl."
"You're looking for the Spiritual Artifacts? If you would like, I could give one to you, that is my job after all."
"Seriously?! Yeah, please, I'd love it, if you could!"
"However, I've ran out of material to make more, and I haven't had an opportunity to manufacture the Spiritual Artifact because I'm waiting for supplies, but there is one that Empress Oriyana wears around her neck if you're interested. You can go ahead and ask her to give it to you if you want."
Tem's eyes felt bored soon just thinking about Oriyana, so she folded her arms beneath her chest. "Oh, that girl..."
~ Oriyana's nails stabbed into the side of his hip before he could flee. "Hormone Injection..." His inner body was jolted awake by a violent shock. It quickly spread and flowed around his heart. His arms, as well as the rest of his body, began to slimmer down. His hair began to grow longer, and a bothersome pain in his chest began to build inside him. It began to bulge out, and his vocal cords became inactive for a short while, and he couldn't talk until the air returned to his lungs. It grew a little more soothing and higher-pitched. ~
"That's the girl who changed me into a girl. I still have a bone to pick with her, I won't just let her get away with it to what she did to me, but... Right now I've been running around for too long, and I haven't had anything to eat for a while. Where's Yumiko when you need her the most...?"
Tem tapped her own stomach and quickly started to feel weak. Her stomach was growling and she was shaking on the spot. "And now that I said that, I feel so, strange..." Tem collapsed to her knees when Ghast and Toffy quickly came closer to support her.
"I see, so you were stabbed by Empress Oriyana's 'Hormone Injection'... I suppose your body is slowly started to develop the same as the body of a woman. You need to cure this injection quickly, before your body cannot be transformed back into a boy."
"Huh? So, it's not really the food that's the big problem? Don't tell me I'll be stuck as a girl forever?"
"You shouldn't be, at least for the time being. Do you want me to go look for your friend? I don't think you're in the condition to chase her down."
"Ghast, what exactly are you saying? Just because I'm a woman doesn't imply I'm frail and incapable of running a single mile! Yumiko promised to return, so I'll be patient and wait for her. But I shouldn't be here; I told her I'd wait for her at the cave, so if it's not too much trouble, please ask. Ghast, would you mind showing me the way back to the cave where I was trapped?"
"I can show you the way back to the cave, if you'd like."
"Thank you, Ghast."
With a weakened state, while being hungry, she stood up and waited for Ghast to bring her to the cave, while Toffy worryingly floated close to them and showed fear. "Don't worry, Toffy. I'll be fine, I promise."
"Gho-Ro-Ro..."
"Okay, this way. Follow me, Tem."
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Meanwhile, Yumiko emerged from the forest, fatigued, and delighted when she noticed Sanguine Rose drifting on the ocean in front of her.
"That's the ship! I finally found it!"
To be continued...