The last one of Douma's followers left, disappearing into the storm. Even though they caused a mess in the main hall, Douma wished them well, it was dangerous to go outside. Their anger must've taken a toll on them to make such a rash decision. The blonde male sat back down on his beanbag and thought about what to do after the storm, he could go for a walk or read a book, he was also in the middle of studying about the Northern Lights, the shelf in the garden had some pictures of the night sky's neon color scheme.
"Lord Douma those people have become a little too complacent, we can't allow such behavior you must do something about this," Mr Hanekama approached Douma slowly. "If you want to disband the shrine and its activities I understand."
The blonde male looked at him surprised, was Mr Hanekama sure about this? It was a tough decision. The young founder himself didn't even know how to go about it, the shrine could stay on the mountain but with what's happened the villagers may think otherwise.
"I was planning on doing that," Douma didn't know what else to say it was hard to explain the whole situation to Uncle Hanekama, there's a possibility he might not remember, once the shrine gets disbanded he might return to the shrine and wait for long hours with nobody to tell him.
"Then do it, save your energy this isn't worth it you've got a while life ahead of you."
"I told them we'll just focus on motivational speeches and advice. Not sure if that'll convince them but I have to disband the shrine eventually." Douma replied watching the wind blow away the leaves on the ground.
The cold that everyone was talking about was starting to get to him, the blonde male was used to it so it didn't really bother him that much but it seemed unbearable for ordinary individuals who just wanted to go about their lives normally. He was starting to wonder if the villagers would return because he wanted to understand what they were going through so he could at least try to help which was already difficult given that his abilities was the cause of it. Admittedly though, he felt guilty and wished there was a quick solution to this icy mess.
"If I were you I'd just move on, the village will be fine, Hasu Mountain is more than just a place to seek acceptance from a particular location. I'm sure you've accepted everyone without them knowing." That struck Douma because if he ever comes back to Earth and settles down somewhere else would he be accepted? They didn't need to know he came from elsewhere but on the other hand, his inability to feel like any normal individual was blank.
"Did you hear about this?" Mr Hanekama handed Douma a newspaper that he'd been holding since the chaos in the main hall.
There was a picture of a creature in a lake under the headlines, 'Attack of the Unknown.' The creature looked to be a limbed fish that was upright. For a longtime people have been making predicaments and jokes about fish with legs with various sources of media portraying aquatic animals integrated on land. At first it seemed intriguing that such a thing exists in the real world but on the other hand it just didn't feel right something was off about it.
Why the news was so worked up about this never surfaced. Details were vague, Douma couldn't even make out the animal's features, the picture was taken from afar leaving only a silhouette that seemed cryptid-like, maybe it wasn't even a fish. The more he read about the situation it seemed there was a bigger picture to the problem. But the legitimacy was the question.
"Hmm strange aquatic monsters? You only see these in movies. What's makes this even more disturbing is that a few people have gone missing near ponds and lakes recently," This reminded Douma of the mythologies about river monsters and spirits like the Ningen and Kappa. Never go to the lake at night people warned, it was that serious. "It started in New Jersey and Michigan. Not long later Europe had two cases now Eastern Asia too, Japan being one of them. Is this really true?" The blonde male wasn't convinced.
"Those things are definitely not from here. It would be blasphemous to say it's a real case but I'm not surprised anymore there are things out there that humans are not aware of," Walking towards one of the paintings, Mr Hanekama thought about the sudden emergence of believed-to-be alien creatures hidden from humanity's view.
"From the information here, they're very hard to deter, these creatures are deemed to be immune to almost every weapon out there because of their defense. A few towns in New Jersey were rampaged by a three of these alien creatures but no one managed to get a good look at them they got away fast. But we've got bug spray and flamethrowers so why can't they make giant pesticides that'll surely work." Douma laughed a little to him this was nothing worth making a big fuss about he sat back and continued reading the article. These creatures sounded like oversized pests.
"Douma you're very bright, things aren't always easy you must understand that," This was starting to get a little heated but Douma didn't really care. "We're trying our best to get rid of them, maybe they've already tried the pesticide, we don't know but there are other solutions."
"Compared to what I've seen these aliens aren't that menacing what's the big deal? Besides the technology humans have now is a huge advantage. Don't tell me you guys are afraid to use it."
Mr Hanekama walked towards him with another newspaper in his hand. This time there were two pictures on the very front page of the report. Same topic with another set of information, Douma took the newspaper from Mr Hanekama and browsed through it.
The two pictures that he was now looking at it made his heart race. One of them was taken in someone's home and this had to be the most horrifying image of an unrecognizable creature caught on camera; In the dark room of the house was a figure staring at the person who took the photo with a hand in between the door that was holding onto the wall beside it. How the monster got into the person's home was the main question, but having to deal with something so dangerous was the bigger problem. Douma wondered if this person was still alive. Anybody would run out of their home if they encountered such a thing, this person was brave enough to snap a photo of it.
Even though the camera was directly facing the creature, it was still difficult to see its features. The quality of the image was dark so the apparent details wouldn't be that clear. Nevertheless, it was strange to see something like this appear on the headlines. Douma could see those hollow eyes staring at the camera and what looked to be teeth that didn't seem like a human's, but enough to leave a deep cut on any surface.
"Has anything even been done to stop these things at all? From what I've read here, the authorities dismissed some of these cases because they couldn't find clues to determine the cause. Not only that but their extermination attempts failed." Douma placed both newspapers right next to each other while holding them. "When the situation got worse they just told everyone to stay indoors with some safety instructions. Nothing has been done. They can't contain people in their homes forever it's only going to cause more problems, this isn't even the first break in that's happened."
"So now you know why people are so pressed about this issue, it shouldn't even be taken lightly." Mr Hanekama said. About time the blonde understood what everyone else was facing during these times.
"I understand but it seems the so-called reliable ones in this situation aren't taking this seriously. That's what's mindboggling, you can come up with ways to keep your people safe but you refuse and give up. Only because of the difficulty level of the task, but you still have to complete it anyway not leave it like that."
The next picture wasn't any less terrifying. It may not be directly unsettling but it still was in its own way. This was taken by the surveillance camera at a convenient store at a town.
From the looks of it, everything seemed normal there were people walking by the isles grabbing some stuff they found on the shelves. But there was this one person who seemed off from the rest of the people in the store, this 'person' was wearing a coat and a hat which covered most of their features. The legs, eyes and neck however, definitely weren't human. They were eerily similar to the pictures and descriptions.
"And they can blend in with society too." Mr Hanekama responded.
"So there are speculations that if these things aren't aliens they're malicious entities that are looking for a host to disguise themselves or carrying out some sort of motive that the public isn't aware of. Seems like the alien title was approved though." Douma added.
"Whether they're aliens or not, this has gone out of control and we can't rely on anyone except ourselves. Until someone steps in and decides to use their power to restore the peace we once had, nothing will be done unfortunately. That is the truth."
After reading the rest of the details on the newspapers, Douma put them aside. Those safety instructions aren't guaranteed to protect people from these alien creatures. A few people have already gone missing, some wounded and worse because they're never coming back. Why on Earth would anyone with the resources and strategies sit there without doing anything to help? That's terrible.
"It's a rather difficult situation the more you read up about it. Treat this as an opportunity to perhaps go out there and use your abilities to the finest," Mr Hanekama stood there looking at the red and golden dragon in the painting.
Douma thought about it for a while. Since his abilities were going to remain hidden possibly starting now, he could use it for something else worth fighting for. But right now, they were causing the world to fall apart, temperatures were plummeting down, even if the creatures disappear the aftermath may not.
"It's your choice Douma. You don't need to prove anything to those people or anyone else, you've done enough. Take your time thinking about this it might mean a lot more to you one way or another." The painting stood out to Uncle Hanekama, it reminded him of a particular event.
"The children always looked forward to seeing The Dragon of Hasu Mountains. To them it was a symbol of dignity. When are we going to see that dragon again? It's been a while since we saw it." The old man continued looking at the painting like it was some kind of story. To others it was a still picture on the wall but not to Mr Hanekama, it was a story on its own waiting to be told to future generations. If the shrine needs a storyteller they could count on Mr Hanekama for the job.
Douma looked at the painting and stood up. Maybe there was something else he could do for the world and how people felt about it didn't matter as long as everyone was safe.
"I'll think about it, maybe you're right about this."