Rosa sat on the floor, her breathing uneven as she tried to process everything Aria had just told her. "So… Mike wasn't real. And this was all some twisted plan to mess with my head?"
Kai leaned against the wall, picking at his nails. "Pretty much. The monsters have a thing for drama, don't they? Horned Imps are like that—always extra."
Aria shot him a look. "Kai, focus." She turned back to Rosa, her tone softening. "We didn't find you by chance. It was Ress who figured out where you were."
Rosa blinked. "Ress? How?"
Aria sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Let me explain."
Flashback
Aria stood in the middle of a chaotic building, her phone pressed to her ear. "Ress, this is urgent. Rosa's gone missing, and we think she was teleported by a Horned Imp. Do you know where she is?"
A long yawn echoed through the phone. "Ugh… why do you guys always call me when I'm napping? Can't it wait?"
"No, it can't!" Aria snapped. "She's trapped in the Imp's domain, and we need to get her out before it's too late!"
Fren popped his head into the phone, munching on a sandwich. "Tell kai he owes me five bucks from last week."
Aria glared at him. "Not now, fren!"
"Fine, fine. Just saying," fren muttered, retreating.
Ress's voice came back, unbothered. "Okay, okay. So, if the Imp teleported her, its portal is probably still in the building where she disappeared. Horned Imps don't like to stray far from their domains."
Aria frowned. "How do we find the portal?"
Ress yawned again. "Look for the shiniest thing in the building. Horned Imps love making their entrances flashy. Oh, and when you get there… brace yourselves. The domain might mess with your heads. You'll probably have to fight Rosa too, because, you know, monsters love mind games."
Aria's grip on her sword tightened. "Fight Rosa? Are you serious?"
"Relax, it's probably her younger self. I'll send you a picture so you can recognize her," Ress said lazily. "And don't worry about holding back. It's all illusions anyway. Just… smash through whatever's in your way. Easy peasy."
Kai reappeared. "Illusions, huh? Guess that means I can show off my amazing strength without any consequences." He flexed dramatically, grinning.
Aria groaned. "Kai, I swear—"
"Hey, I'm just saying," Kai interrupted, striking another ridiculous pose.
Ress chuckled faintly. "You two are exhausting. Anyway, when you're in the domain, follow the brightest light. That'll lead you to the Horned Imp. Oh, and one more thing…"
"What?" Aria asked impatiently.
"Don't die. It'd be annoying if I had to come and clean up your mess."
Aria sighed deeply. "Thanks for the pep talk, Ress."
"Anytime." The call ended with a click.
Back to the Present
Rosa's eyebrows shot up. "That's it? That's how you found me? By following a shiny light?"
Kai smirked, cracking his knuckles. "Well, it worked, didn't it? Plus, I got to crush some monsters and flex my legendary strength."
"You mean you smashed through every door we saw until you got lucky," Aria deadpanned, crossing her arms.
"Details," Kai said with a wink.
Aria ignored him and continued. "Once we found the portal, we stepped into the domain. It was filled with illusions—people from your past, monsters trying to distract us. But we knew they weren't real, so we didn't hold back."
Flashback in Aria's Perspective
Kai swung his feast, obliterating a group of shadowy figures. "Boom! That's how it's done!" he shouted, grinning ear to ear.
Aria rolled her eyes, slicing through another illusion with a graceful arc of her sword. "Showoff. Try doing it without making so much noise."
"Why? Afraid I'll outshine you?" Kai teased.
Aria didn't dignify him with a response. She focused on a glowing window at the end of the hallway. "There. That's where Rosa is."
They moved quickly, fighting through waves of illusions and monsters. At the top of the stairs, they knocked on a door.
A young boy answered, his eyes wide. "It's my dad!" he shouted before slamming the door.
Kai raised an eyebrow. "What was that about?"
Aria frowned. "A distraction. The monsters are trying to scatter us."
Kai grinned. "Not for long." He smashed the door open with a single swing, only to find an empty room. "Huh. Anticlimactic."
Aria noticed a ladder leading to a lower floor. "There. That's where we need to go."
They climbed down, eventually there was a door again and kai smash it and the rest unfold.
Back to the Present
Rosa shook her head, disbelief etched on her face. "So, let me get this straight. You guys fought illusions, found a glowing window, smashed some doors, climbed a ladder, and… here we are?"
Kai gave her a thumbs-up. "Pretty much. And I did most of the work."
Aria smacked him on the back of the head. "You did not. If anything, you just made more noise than necessary."
"Hey, noise gets results," Kai argued, rubbing his head.
Rosa couldn't help but laugh, despite the chaos. "You two are ridiculous."
"Maybe," Aria said, smiling softly. "But we got you back, didn't we?"
Rosa's chest tightened with gratitude. "Yeah. You did. Thank you."
To be continued…