Thion 3XQ: Journey [ON HOLD]

Lisa and the others barely managed to escape. She had to use a few of the bombshells so they could run away and escape back into the ship. Along with Chaeyoung, they both made sure they were being followed.  Luckily, no one was seriously injured because the suits proved to be incredibly useful. They merely got a few bruises. 

The ship was still invisible and Lisa hurriedly commanded Vez to get them out of the planet. Once they were back in space, Lisa had them fly out of orbit, away from Greon in case any of the Thions tried to follow them. 

“What are you doing?”  Chaeyoung asked as Lisa gave the command to Vez. 

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m getting us the fuck away from here!” 

“But what about the Captain? What about..” Chaeyoung furrowed her brows as she recalled the memory of watching Tzuyu jump into the puddle right after Sana had fallen in. “What about the others?” 

“You saw what happened, didn’t you? You were there. They’re gone” 

“You don’t know that!” Momo angrily spoke up and interrupted them. She had been helping Nayeon carry Jeongyeon in after she had fallen and hurt her foot when they were running back to the ship. They all heard Lisa and Chaeyoung bickering, but she was appalled and furious about Lisa’s decision to leave the other behind. 

“We all saw them fall right? No one’s ever survived from that” Lisa said as she continued looking at the monitor. Momo knows it’s true, they were archaeology students so they knew first-hand that there was no recorded evidence that someone had even survived a fall into one of those puddles. No one even knows what happens to those who fell into them. 

“W-Well we at least have to try and get them back!” Momo argued. 

Lisa turned around to face her. “And how do you propose we do that? You saw what happened! We have a bunch of fucking aliens on our necks trying to kill us and you want to go back?” She scoffed and shook her head. “I don’t think so” 

“You don’t get to decide that” Chaeyoung said. 

“Yeah, you aren’t the Captain. We should hold a vote” Nayeon added. She and Jeongyeon agreed with Momo, they weren’t willing to just leave the others there. The chances were low but they could somehow still be alive and they were all persistent to go back. 

But Lisa wasn’t having any of it. She walked up to Nayeon and stood right in front of her. Seeing this, Momo stepped in between the two. Lisa then looked down at Momo and said,  “This isn’t some democracy. The Captain isn’t here anymore. I’m in charge” 

“Oh yeah? And who put you in charge?” 

Lisa narrowed her eyes. “I’m the most experienced one here. Among a group of students and a rookie, I think I have the upper hand here” 

Chaeyoung clenched her fist. This was basically her first mission so she didn’t have that much experience out on the field while the rest weren’t even agents. Months of training just isn't merely sufficient to the years of training Lisa or Chaeyoung had. They all knew Lisa had a point but they were still persistent to go back. 

Before Momo could retort, Vez signaled an incoming signal. “Warning! An unidentified ship is coming our way”

They all turned around to look at the monitor. Before Lisa could even ask
Vez to identify the ships, it signaled another message. “Warning! Five unidentified ships are coming our way!” 

“Five?” Jeongyeon asked nervously. “What do you mean by five?”

Chaeyoung clenched her fist as she knew what was going on and who they were. Lisa also knew what was happening, “Shit” she uttered. 

“What’s happening?” Nayeon asked. Momo looked at her in concern, she also knew what it was. 

The Thions and the other goons had chased after them and Lisa needed to do something quickly before they surrounded them. 

-

Tzuyu and Sana had been spending about half an hour trying to get back up through where they came from. Before that, they had tried contacting the otters using their helmets and watches but they couldn’t get through to them or to Vez. There was no signal down there. 

Tzuyu was trying to use her boots to fly back up but there was this force that kept pushing her down. Realizing it’s no use, she decided that they walk and try to look for a way out. 

“Do you think the Captain and Elkie may be down here too?”  Sana asked as she fiddled with her fingers. They were trudging along the muddy fields trying to get out of whatever trench they had fallen. The air was foggy and they couldn't really see much around them. Sana hated the noises of the bones cracking under their feet as they walked along. They couldn’t really avoid them so they had to step on them. 

“Hmm…maybe. If we’re still alive, I’m sure the Captain and Elkie are fine..” Tzuyu said as she reached out to hold Sana’s hand so that they would stick together. “Come on, we need to find a way out of this place quickly” 

Tzuyu was really trying her best to get them out of the fog as quickly as possible. The thick fog was dangerous to be in, this whole place gave her a bad feeling. They walked in silence for a short while more before Sana noticed something in the sky. “Tzu, look at that” she pointed towards the sky. 

Tzuyu squinted as she looked up. In the thick fog, she could see something sharp floating in the air. She looked to her left and noticed that there were two sharp objects just floating in the air. She couldn’t make out exactly what it was, but even so, she led them towards the direction of the objects. As they got closer, both realized that it wasn’t floating and it looked more like two thick sharp poles. 

Tzuyu took her gun out and tried shooting one of the poles, but nothing happened. She then touched it with her hand and even through her suit, it felt hard and rough. Sana did the same, she carefully touched it and examined it as best as she could. This pole oddly resembled and felt like a bone. Since their helmet wasn’t working, she couldn't have Vez scan it for her and tell her what it was exactly but Sana was positive that whatever this is, it’s a large bone. 

“What does it feel like to you?” Sana asked. Tzuyu was trying to kick the pole for some reason. “I don’t know” she replied. 

“It feels to me like it could be some type of fossil..” Sana said. “But I’m not sure” 

“Well, we should keep moving. This place gives me the creeps” After walking away from the large poles, the fog seemed to thin out, and eventually, they could both see grassy fields. The sky was still gray but there wasn’t any fog anymore. Tzuyu was a bit hesitant to retract her helmet, they didn’t have Vez to tell them whether it was safe or not.

“What is this place..” she heard Sana and turned to look at her. She gasped when she saw her with her helmet off. 

“Babe! Put your helmet back on, are you crazy?! You don’t know if it's safe!” she scolded as she stomped over to her and pushed the button for her helmet. 

Sana lightly slapped her hand away, “No Tzu! It’s fine, it was fine for those ten seconds. Nothing happened so I’m sure it's fine” She was about to retract her helmet again when Tzuyu held her hand. “I know how you are but please, for the sake of my heart, don’t take it off” 

The inquisitive side of her was itching for her to take off her helmet but knowing that it bothered her girlfriend, she’d keep it on. She sighed, “Okay..” 

“Let’s keep moving” 

They walked for a few minutes, not really seeing anything different. There were a couple of huge boilers and a few trees but they were still in a grassy field. The clouds had not cleared and Sana believes that it’s the constant state of the sky here in wherever they are. They walked for a few minutes more until Sana looked up and saw what seemed to me a mountain. She ran ahead of Tzuyu to see if it was indeed a mountain in the distance. 

Tzuyu watched as Sana zoomed past her, “Sana wait! Be careful!” 

Sana was too engrossed in the image of the mountain. Perhaps this place was bigger than they thought and it wasn’t just filled with foggy skies and grassy fields. Not to mention that chamber of bones they landed on. 

“Don’t run so fast” Tzuyu warned as she jogged to catch up to the girl. She managed to sprint a little closer when she stopped when she suddenly felt a rumble in the ground. Sana stopped as well and turned back to look at Tzuyu. “What was tha-”

She never finished her question when out of nowhere, a giant centipede-looking creature sprouted out from the ground and began wiggling it’s way towards Sana. “Shit” 

Sana screamed and tried to run away but she tripped and fell to the ground. She shuffled away, trying to stand up and run away, she ended up tripping again. Tzuyu ran towards her and pulled out her gun, shooting the creature on its back. Its hard shell prevented her from doing much damage. 

It’s sudden appearance had stunned Sana and she was frozen in her spot when she should have pulled out her gun and tried shooting at it. Tzuyu kept shooting at, “Hey! You ugly fuck! Come here!” She shouted to garner its attention so it came and attacked her instead of Sana. Which worked because now the creature was crawling towards her. 

Tzuyu ran backward while shooting at it. She managed to break off a part of its shell and shot at the open spot. The creature screeched and crawled faster towards her. There are not many places for Tzuyu to run and hide, she just had to outrun this giant creature somehow. The grassy fields were barren with nothing but a couple of boulders here and there. She had to quickly find one and try to climb up. 

She didn’t want to leave Sana too far alone in case another giant bug or any other creature came and attacked her. She ran towards the nearest boulder and quickly propped herself up as fast as she could. She thought that would work but the creature started climbing up as she was shooting at it. Shit

If she had jumped down, she’d probably get hurt so she jumped off and clicked her heels which activated the rockets. She flew up so that the creature couldn’t get her, instead the creature started crawling towards Sana again, who was still on the ground. 

She flew towards her and yelled for Sana to fly up here with her. It took Sana a few seconds to process what she had been shouting and gesturing for her to do until she finally got it and flew up as well. 

The giant bug-like creature started spinning in circles trying to reach them but it couldn’t, Tzuyu used that opportunity to continuously shoot at it. She kept shooting until she broke its shell on its head and shot it right in the head. The bug screeched before it stopped moving completely. All they saw was a green substance oozing out from it. 

Sana was the first to come down, eager to inspect the giant creature. 

“Be careful, don’t get too close now” 

“Isn’t it fascinating, Tzuyu? I’ve never seen or heard about a creature like this before..” Sana’s ardor made Tzuyu a bit uncomfortable, they almost died but she was much more interested in the giant’s corpse. “This place is so interesting, I wish Momo, Nayeon and Jeongyeon were here to see it. It’s like a whole new world to discover and write about” 

I guess she’s an archeology graduate for a reason. Tzuyu thought. “We shouldn’t stay here any longer. We need to get out of this place soon. There’s probably more of these fuckers out there” 

“Hm.. probably. But who knows what else is out there” 

“Yeah we just need to be vigilant in case something else happens” 

Sana agreed and walked beside Tzuyu, she held her hand. Tzuyu moved them away from the corpse and they began walking again. They walked for a short while before Sana spoke up. “You know.. I know we’re stuck in whatever place this is, but I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad I’m stuck with you” 

Tzuyu squeezed her hand. “I’m glad I’m here with you too.. I love you” 

“I wish I could kiss you right now” Sana said with a giggle. 

Although Tzuyu responded with a small chuckle, she was indeed a little hurt, as she remembered something when they were falling. She was a little hurt that even when they were probably going to die, Sana never said “I love you” back. It would’ve been the end, and Tzuyu would never get to hear those three little words she’s always wanted Sana to say back to her. But, she wouldn’t hold it against her. She’d have to try harder to be a better girlfriend so Sana could love her. 

However, she didn’t have much time to think about it when out of the corner of her eyes she saw a shadow move. She quickly turned around and aimed her gun. 

“Tzu- what is it?” 

“Shh.. just stay close” Her eyes were shifting all around in case another giant bug came out of the ground. They heard no rumble but she was afraid that something else might spring out at them. 

Seeing Tzuyu’s stance, Sana pulled out her gun as well. She had her back next to Tzuyu’s back in case someone snuck up from behind them. This was one of the things she learned in her training. 

Tzuyu was trying to figure out what she had seen or what she thought she’d seen. She felt uneasy, perhaps this place was getting to her and just having battled a monster just made her feel more on edge. 

When she was about to retract her gun, thinking it was nothing, out of nowhere an object came flying towards them. She couldn't quite make out what it was and tried to shoot at it but it was moving so fast, she missed. She suddenly felt something tight around her ankles as she was now falling to the ground. 

Sana fell down next to her when she felt the same tightness around her ankle. Tzuyu looked down to see her ankles were tied together tightly using a rope. Before she could even try to break free, a group of masked people came running towards them, pointing sharp spears towards them as they tied a rope tightly around their wrists. 

Tzuyu tried to break free when she saw how roughly they were treating the girl beside her, “Sana!” She tried to get free when suddenly she felt herself getting electrocuted. The suit’s main fault was that it was not that resistant to electricity. So they’d feel the ample volts of electricity through their body. 

The last thing she saw before passing out was Sana getting electrocuted yet again. 

-

Luckily, the gang managed to escape just in time before they were surrounded. Lisa had ordered Vez to lightfold them away a little further than the ship is used to. She had to get them far away so that they wouldn’t be able to track the ship and follow them here. 

“Vez, what are our coordinates?” 

“It seems we are in radius of the Winged Nebula”

“Winged Nebula..” she muttered to herself. They were a bit far away from Zanerth. 

“We’re close to the Winged Nebula?” Nayeon spoke up and asked. The Winged Nebula resembled a giant bird’s wing with an array of different colors. It was the first time any of them, besides Lisa, has been so close to any Nebula before. 

“While we’re here, let’s take a look shall we?” Jeongyeon asked.  

Momo frowned upon hearing her request. “We were almost captured back there and who knows what would have happened if they did” She was upset, how could Jeongyeon even suggest something like that? “Not to mention, we lost Sana, our best friend!” She continued, “We lost Tzuyu, Elkie, and the captain! How can you think of going on some sort of field trip at a time like this when we should be trying to find a way to find them?” 

Jeongyeon had her eyes to the ground, feeling guilty. She was worried too and felt bad about even suggesting the idea. “You’re right, I’m sorry. We should come up with a plan” 

Lisa cleared her throat before Momo could answer, “Well, as much as I was agreeing with your little friend here, the only plan that’s going to happen is we go back to Zanerth” 

“This again?” Chaeyoung said with frustration. “We need to go back for the others!” 

“I thought I made myself clear last time. We’re going back to Zanerth and that’s final” 

“You want to go back and tell the base how we lost the Captain? You want to tell the Queen how we went against her orders?”  Chaeyoung said hotly, “You want to go back and explain it to them? Fine by me!”

Lisa’s jaw clenched. Chaeyoung had made a point- she didn't know where to start or how to even explain the situation, not to mention how they lost the Captain. She didn’t even know where to start and how to look for them or if they were even alive. “We can’t risk our lives out here anymore. I may not know the full details of whatever this mission was but I’m calling it quits! We need to retreat” 

“Go ahead. Get us all thrown in prison and have us rot in there while the rest of the team is out there!” 

“How do you know they’re still out there? You don’t even know if they’re alive” Lisa said through gritted teeth. 

“And how do you know they’re not?” Chaeyoung retorted angrily. Lisa knew she had a point but her ego forbade her from agreeing. She narrowed her eyes at the latter. Chaeyoung crossed her arms and spoke, “Vez, check and see if we can contact them. We need to get through to them” 

“It seems they’re offline. I cannot get through to them” 

Tsk. Lisa clenched her fist. She was hoping to at least get a signal. Chaeyoung and Momo were distraught, their best friends could possibly be dead but there’s no way that they’d just go home like this. 

“There’s your answer” 

“That doesn’t mean shit. No body, no death right? I need to see with my own two eyes if they’re dead or not” Momo spat. She wasn’t going to give up without a fight and she wouldn’t let Lisa’s obstinacy get in her way either. She was going to get Sana back even if it killed her. 

Lisa walked over to her and grabbed her by the collar. Nayeon and Jeongyeon both stepped forward in case she wanted to hurt Momo. Chaeyoung was also watching them carefully, in case she’d have to intervene. 

“I told you already. We’re not going back there” Lisa said through gritted teeth while Momo looked at her with the jaw clenched. “You want to go back there and get us all killed? Then what? If you want a death wish then fine. Go ahead. I don’t give a fuck what tou do. Gear up and use your boots to fly to them. Vez can give you directions but you’re not taking this ship”

Momo grabbed Lisa’s hand from her collar and pushed her away. “You’re not getting in my way” 

Lisa chuckled huurously. “Oh yeah? Try me” 

Momo’s hand was balled in a fist while Chaeyoung stepped between them. “Alright let’s-” 

She was interrupted by Vez’s alert signal. Warning! An unidentified ship is coming our way

“Fuck” Lisa muttered. Now abandoning the conflict at hand with Momo she pulled up the screen and saw the same ship coming their way. 

“T-They’ve found us” Jeonyeon stuttered, Nayeon held her hand and then held Momo’s. “What do we do now?” 

“We need to lightfold again” Momo said. 

“No we can’t, the ship’s engine needs to build up stamina before we do that again. It’s at 30% right now” Chaeyoung explained. 

“What are we going to do now?” Nayeon asked with worry. 

Lisa was on the motherboard, trying to look for possible ways out of this situation before they arrived. “There’s only one thing we could do..” 

“What is it?” 

“We’re going to enter the Winged Nebula” she said before she ordered Vez to fly them away into it. 

-

“Tzuyu?” She looked up to see who’s calling her and was greeted by Yukhei’s familiar wonky smile. She rolled her eyes and shifted her eyes back down on the book before her. “What do you want? Aren’t you here to study too? We’ve got finals soon” 

‘Yeah, yeah. I’ll get to that in a minute but before that, I want to show you something” 

“What is it?”

“Just come on” he said. She looked up to see him gesturing for her to follow him. She sighed and stood up and followed him out of the library they were in. The minute she stepped outside she was in a white room. Confused and a little afraid, she watched as Yukhei’s figure was slowly leaving her behind. 

“H-Hey, wait for me!” She yelled but he continued walking.  She ran closer to him as she turned back with a smile. 

“Look” he said as she pointed off into the distance. She narrowed her eyes to where he was pointing and saw a small crowd gathered near a table.  “What is it?” 

“Go on, it’s for you” 

She walked closer and saw familiar faces. “Captain?” There stood Captain Lee Saerom and the rest of the f9 members all smiling at her. They were surrounded by Tzuyu’s birthday cake. 

“We have one more surprise for you, Tzuyu” he said excitedly. “Close your eyes” 

“Okay”  She said excitedly, like a child. She closed her eyes and put her hands on them. 

She heard some shuffling and then heard footsteps approaching her. Her heart was racing in anticipation, then she suddenly felt soft hands pulling her hands away from her eyes. She slowly opened her eyes then gasped. “Mom..” 

She saw her mother in front of her, holding her hands and smiling up at her. “You’ve gotten so big” 

With watery eyes and a shaky breath, she couldn’t believe her mother was standing here before her. “Mom.. you’re here” 

Her mother squeezed her hands and cupped her cheek, “Of course, I wouldn’t miss your birthday for the world” she ran her thumb across her cheek, wiping her tears away. 

Tzuyu engulfed her in a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re here” 

Her mother lightly patted her back, “It's so nice to see you, you’ve grown quite a lot” 

Tzuyu giggled, “You were always so tiny, mom” 

“Yes, I suppose so”

Tzuyu pulled away from her mother while she still held on to her shoulders. “I can’t wait to catch up”  she gave her a kiss on the cheek and hugged her again. From her shoulder, she watched as Yukhei and f9 were busy talking and laughing together. She felt happy and at peace… 

That was until she noticed a window, someone was standing outside. She frowned as she saw a familiar gingered hair woman. She felt this sense of familiarity but couldn’t pinpoint who the woman was. 

“I’ll be right back, mom” she said as she walked closer to the window. The woman had finally turned around, Tzuyu swears she’s so familiar but can’t remember who she is. She saw another woman approaching the gingered hair woman. 

“Chaeyoung” she whispered as she saw her best friend waving and greeting the gingered hair woman outside the window. 

“Sana” she smiled as she remembered… Sana. Her Sana, her girlfriend who she’s madly in love with. She felt excited at the thought of introducing her girlfriend to her mother, “Mom, I want to introduce you to someone” she said with a wide grin plastered on her face. Her gaze never left the window where she saw Chaeyoung and Sana conversing. 

“Sana” Tzuyu tried to call out to her from the window. But the woman didn’t respond. She tried to open the window but it sealed shut. She then tries to tap the glass, “Sana” she calls out for her again. 

“She can’t hear you” she heard Yukhei say behind her, but she chose to ignore him. She began to feel agitated and banged her fists on the window yelling out her name. 

“Why can’t she hear me?!” She shouted. She turned around to find that she was alone in the white room. Feeling now very afraid and even more agitated she kept trying to call out for Sana. She punched the window with her fists until it bled, yelling out her name. “Sana!” 

“Sana!” 

“Sana!” She sat up with fright, panting heavily, her eyes tried to search around for her girlfriend. She was beginning to hyperventilate when she heard a voice beside her. 

“Tzuyu, hey, calm down, she’s right over there” she looked to her side to see Elkie frowning at her. “E-Elkie..?” Her breath was ragged and she could feel how much she’s sweating. 

“Chou, take it easy. Just breathe” she heard another voice say. 

“Captain?” 

“Your girlfriend is fine, she’s right over there actually” Since her hands were tied, Jihyo couldn’t really point to where Sana was and instead used her chin to show where she was. 

Tzuyu’s mind was racing but at the forefront was Sana and she needed to see the girl to make her feel at ease. She followed Jihyo’s line of sight and found an unconscious Sana laying near them. She had her back facing them. 

“Sana” Tzuyu’s voice cracked as she tried getting to her but her hands and feet were tied and her waist was held together by a thick metal chain. Luckily she wasn’t too far away so she tried wrong wiggling her way towards her, the metal chain barely managed to even reach that far. But it was enough for Tzuyu to reach her face. 

“Baby” her voice was thick with emotion, perhaps it was due to the dream she just had but she needed Sana to wake up. She needed to see those brown eyes that she loves staring back at her. 

Tzuyu leaned her head on Sana’s cheek and placed a kiss. “Baby please wake up, I need you” 

“Tzuyu, she’s fine she’s just-“ Elkie tried to calm her down but Jihyo whispered for her not to intervene. Elkie was surprised, she had never seen Tzuyu so vulnerable.

Tzuyu rubbed her nose against her cheek, her eyes were filled with tears just watching Sana unconscious like that. “Sana please wake up” she nudged her a little until Sana finally started to stir. 

She moved her head to the side and let out a soft groan. “Mmm.. Tzu?” 

“Yes baby, yes it’s me” Tzuyu excitedly continued plastering small kisses on her face until Sana opened her eyes fully and giggled. 

“Hey, hey are you okay?” Sana frowned as she saw Tzuyu’s red and wet eyes. She tried to reach up to touch her face but realized she couldn’t move her hands. It was then that she also realized she was tied up and on the floor. “Tzu, where are we? What happened?” 

Tzuyu ignored her and leaned her head on Sana’s cheek. She closed her eyes and sighed, feeling herself calm down a bit more. “I love you, Sana” she mumbled against her cheek. 

“Tzuyu, what happened?” Sana asked again. This time, Elkie decided to speak up and intervene. “Uhh, I believe you two were captured and brought back here” 

Sana had to move a little to the side to see who was speaking since Tzuyu was in the way. She was surprised and relieved to see both Ekie and Jihyo. “You both are alive!” she exclaimed. 

Jihyo chuckled, “Of course. I’m not easy to kill” 

“Why did you think we were dead?” Elkie asked. She was about to reply but she heard Tzuyu’s soft whimpers next to her. “Tzu, what’s wrong?” 

Tzuyu shook her head and stared at the wall next to her. She really felt out of it but she had to pull herself together. She closed her eyes and sighed before opening them again and giving Sana a small smile. “I love you” she said before giving Sana a kiss that lasted a few seconds on the lips. 

She then tried wiping her eyes on Sana’s jacket. She turned around at Jihyo and Elkie and narrowed her eyes. “I just realized something” 

“What is it?” 

“I can see all our faces.. we’re not wearing our helmets” she looked at Sana’s neck and her wired collar was gone. “Nor are we wearing our suits” 

“They also got our boots” Elkie added as she tried wiggling her toes through her socks. 

Sana struggled a bit to sit up and leaned her back on the wall, “Well at least we know the air here is fine”. Tzuyu wanted to stay close to her girlfriend but her chain wasn’t long enough for her to sit next to her so she went back to the place she was before (which was between Elkie and Jihyo) and sat down. 

“How long have you guys been here? And what even happened?” She asked. 

“Well after we fell, we never expected to land into you know, this place” 

“Same! I thought for sure we were goners but here we are alive!” Sana giggled. 

“Anyways, when we woke up we were surrounded by bones and corpses which was weird but Captain suggested we keep on walking” Elkie continued, “we were walking for a while until we saw this huge fucking wasp-looking bug come down swooping at us. It was crazy!” 

“Bugs.. so it’s not just us… It’s not just one specific type of bug” Tzuyu mumbled. 

“What was that, Chou?” 

Tzuyu looked up to see Jihyo looking at her. “Oh, we were also attacked by a bug it looked like a centipede” 

Sana nodded, “It was disgusting but incredibly fascinating” 

“What is this place.. A planet of the bugs or something” Elkie uttered then continued, “Anyways after we managed to get away from it were captured by those guys in masks. We were outnumbered and there wasn’t much we could do”

“Yeah, they snuck up on us too” Sana said. 

“So what even is this place? There’s been no documented proof that anyone has survived from falling into one of those puddles right?” Elkie asked Sana and in response, she nodded. “Then how come we’re still alive?”

Sana was about to say something when they heard footsteps coming towards their cell room. They all fell silent and waited for the doors to open. When they felt like no one was coming, they were startled when the door flew open. There stood a figure in clothes that resembled leaves and they were wearing a mask that seemed to be made of bones. It was different that the masks of the ones who captured them, their masks resembled wood. 

“You won’t be alive for much longer. It’s almost feeding time” the masked figure said in perfect Villari. 

“Your accent is quite good” Elkie pointed out. 

“It’s not an accent” the figure stated. 

“Really? You speak great Villari. I’d almost think you’re a Zanerthean native” Sana said. 

Jihyo looked at the two in disbelief, how could they be nonchalant and speaking so lightly towards the person that captured them and implying that they’re going to kill them. She shook her head and mumbled, “unbelievable” 

“Actualy, its funny that you say that” The figure walked a bit into the room and stood in the middle. “You see..” They grabbed their mask and took it off. 

They all gasped when they saw what was under it. “Is that..?”  Tzuyu felt like throwing up. 

The mask was taken off and there stood the figure with the head of a mantis.

“So you’re one of them bugs too huh?” Elkie said. 

It turned its eyes towards Elkie, “I am not a bug. You see, I am a Zanerthean just like you” It took off one of its gloves and it had the hand of a human but it’s skin was a paleish green. “This is what happens when you’ve stayed in this place for too long. You become an animal..” It put the gloves back on. “But not me, I’m not one of those brainless creatures” 

“I-I don’t believe you. How is this possible?” Sana asked.

The creature shrugged. “It’s the way of life here” 

“And how come you havent turned into one of those giant bugs out there” Tzuyu asked. 

It looked at Tzuyu in amusement or what Tzuyu thinks is amusement, it’s hard to look directly at its face because she found it too disgusting. “Fresh blood and flesh keeps you sane” 

“So that means..” 

It put its mask back on its head. “Precisely, it’s almost dinner time” it said before it walked out of the room.