The four raced through the woods, desperately trying to get to their point of origin. The giant blob, hot on their tail. "You're kidding!? It knocked off all that stuff and came after us!" Ace yells when he turns to see the distance.
"Uhh… ugggh! Give… it… baaaack!" the thing roars, still sprinting after the group, though much more disheveled than before.
Deuce took a glance as well, instantly becoming more frightened. "Shoot, it's gonna catch up to us!"
Xinyi, still carrying the crystal in her arms, desperately tried to come up with a plan. She, too, glanced back, looking at the state of the creature. The red jacket was torn and shredded. The glace head had more prominent cracks, looking as if it would break any second. Its body was no longer holding its shape, globs falling off here and there. She took a deep breath before turning to the others. "But it's weaker! Now we might…" she states earning the attention of the three.
"Ah! Fine! Let's finish it! Don't let me down, Mr. Serious!" Ace exclaimed, turning around and wiping out his wand.
Deuce did the same, standing beside the ginger. "You too!" he said getting ready to fight.
Grim jumped up in front of them ready to fight. "I'll show off my true power!" the small raccoon monster yelled, spewing fire from his lips.
As they advanced towards the creature, Xinyi stayed back, not being able to help them. She bore no magic, no combat ability, nothing that would be useful in a fight. She could only watch as her friends went to fight the terrifying creature. So she did the only thing she could… she prayed.
Her hands went over her heart, her eyes closed in dedication. A gentle wind blew and surrounded everyone in the vicinity in a warm light. No one noticed, too focused on the fight at hand, but tiny silver threads appeared going between Xinyi and the others. Each one radiated energy, but none saw them, nor questioned their existence. All the three boys knew was a new rush of confidence flowed through them, enhancing their skills in battle.
Once the battle was over, everyone stood exhausted, heaving deep breaths of cool air. The monster lay at their feet, nothing but a torn cout and shattered glace remained.
Ace was the first to speak, releasing their accomplishment. "We… did it?"
Grim relied too, jumping a bit. "W-we won… we actually won!" he began to dance around the group, happy as can be.
"Hooray!" Deuce cheered, throwing his hands in the air.
Ace did the same, smiling brightly. "We did it!"
"Victory high five!" Grim suggested running and jumping at the humans, all placing a palm together and yelling in excitement.
Xinyi smiled at them, glad they were getting along. "Sometimes adversity brings people together." She whispered, not realizing she was heard.
All jumped back at her statement, realizing what they were doing. "N-no. This is nothing like that!" Deuce stunted, turning away.
"Y-yeah, yeah! Could you stop saying word things?" Ace remarked, looking at the girl before freezing, seeing something had changed.
"W-we won thanks to my genius!" Grim remarked, not noticing the change in mood. "It's not because we pooled our strength!" Ace didn't listen to him as he stared at the person in front of him.
"You're a girl?!" His remark caused both confusion and alarm to go through the group, making them look at Xinyi. She no longer held her hair, for now, it cascaded down her back, brown with a bit of white here and there. Her face was now fully revealed, the hood falling off due to the wind, showing off her amber eyes. She looked terrified, completely shell-shocked by the situation.
"I-I-I," she said not sure of what to say, not sure of how to handle this situation.
They stayed there in silence for a bit, not saying anything before Ace started laughing. A whole hatred laugh that shocked everyone. "Oh my god," he said between gasps of breath. "Honestly we should have known. The signs were so obvious."
With this Deuce and Grim began to laugh too. "I guess we shouldn't really be surprised." the raven spoke as he looked at the girl. She looked like she was about to cry.
"Hey, why do you look like that?" Grim exclaimed, going up to her. "Did you not want to show us or something."
She shook her head trying to wipe away the tears. "Y-your… n-not m-mad." She muttered out, trying to control her tears.
Deuce could hardly hold back a smile. "How could we be mad? The signs were pretty obvious but I guess we just put them off as odd behaviour. Honestly, we should be thanking you right now for helping us." he then froze at his words releasing what he had said.
Ace did his best to contain his laughter. "...I guess making excuses is pretty lame. I hate to admit it, but we won thanks to your plan." the ginger complemented, hoping to brighten the teary-eyed girl.
The raven looked at him and relaxed a bit. "...true. We got the magic crystal because you gave us level-headed instructions," he stated, turning to the girl. "This way, we can prevent expulsion. I am so relieved…" he bowed slightly, showing his gratitude.
More tears fell from Xinyi's eyes as she longeched herself forward hugging everyone. They were all supposed by her actions, not knowing what to do. "I-I'm just g-glad everyone is a-alright." she sobbed, as she pulled away. "I-I d-didn't do a-anything. Y-you guys are so strong but all I-I could do was provide words of encouragement. I-I'm just so happy everyone is safe."
The three looked at each other and then at the girl, realizing just how relieved she was. Ace couldn't hold back a smile and patted the girl's head. "Yeah, yeah. We're all relieved. And seriously worn out and battered. Let's go home." he said, lifting the mood slightly.
"I'm starving from using so much magic…" Grim joined in, making Xinyi laugh a bit. They gathered themselves and began walking away when Grim sniffed the air. "Hm? What's this?" he asked as he went over to the remains of red fabric. Swiftly removing it to reveal a shining black stone.
The other came over to observe the object. "Remnants from that monster?" Deuce questioned looking closer at the strange mineral. "A magic crystal? But I've never seen one pitch black like coal before."
Grim sniffed it once more before licking his lips. "This thing smells really good…" he stated, surprising the rest of the group.
"Seriously!?" Ace exclaimed watching as the monster picked up the object.
"This has to be candy the monster was hiding! Ooooh! I can't hold back!" He quickly put the crystal in his mouth ready to eat. "Time to dig in!" with that the dark object was gone.
"He actually ate it!?" Xinyi whispered in surprise before going down to Grim in worry. "G-Grim! S-spit it out! I-I don't think you should swallow it!" her pleas went ignored as they all heard a big gulp.
Suddenly, the monster's face changed, making everyone become worried. "Hey, you alright?" Deuce asked Kneeling down with Xinyi to make sure the creature was okay.
Ace only face palmed as he watched the situation. "Oh boy… that's why you don't eat things off the ground," he exclaimed miserably.
"De… d-d-d-delicious!" all were shocked by Grim's sudden outburst, not understanding what he meant. "It's full-bodied but also rich with an aromatic sweetness that blooms in my mouth… Like a whole field of flowers in my mouth!"
The ginger reeled in disgust. "Bleh! Monsters really do have different tastes from us."
Deuce and Xinyi just sighed, both in relief and in knowing. "I guess so… but more than that…" The raven turned to the monster. "Most people wouldn't put a mysterious object in their mouth without thinking."
The brunette only shook her head, smiling a bit. "I-I guess monsters will eat anything…" she stated before tuning to Grim with a worried expression. "A-Are you sure you're okay?"
The gray cat only danced a bit later. "Tasty, Tasty!" he sang as he moved and looked up at Xinyi. "Don't worry. My stomach isn't weak like yours."
The girl nodded warily while Ace just shook his head. "Don't come crawling to me when you get sick later," he stated as he helped Xinyi up, looking at her new hair length. "That reminds me… wasn't your hair short at the entrance ceremony?"
The girl paused looking down at the brown and silver strands. "I-I don't know. I-It wasn't l-like this a moment ago," she stated just as confused as him. "M-magic?"
They all laughed, putting the strange occurrence in the back of their minds for the moment. "Switching gears, let's get this magic crystal to the headmaster!" Deuce stated, all of them nodding in agreement. Grim jumped onto Xinyi's shoulder and she followed along with the two males, resting back to night raven collage.
Your hardest times often lead to the greatest moments of your life. Keep going. Tough situations build strong people in the end.
Roy T. Bennett