“I-Is that Miao?” exclaimed the friend with pink eyes as she frantically tapped Alex’s shoulder, pointing at the person that was approaching the edge of the bridge. It was indeed the backdoor guard of the Library.

The two then noticed more ooze dripping from the sky. In a panic, the individuals on the island yelled for her to run, but Miao was too focused to pay attention.

“What is she doing?!” The friend asked as she stood close to Alex, scared for the woman’s life.

“Not sure, but this isn’t going to end well if we don’t stop her.” The doctor then bolted towards the edge of the bridge, avoiding any ooze that was in her way, with the other woman not too far behind.

The bridge was slowly being reconstructed, and nothing seemed to be breaking Miao’s focus, no matter how much they yelled, pleaded, or waved. Alex’s voice cracked as she desperately screamed and when the droplet splattered onto the guard’s shoulder, she shrieked in terror and despair. They were unable to reach their friend, and only watched as Miao dropped to the floor. 

Immediately after, a woman descended from above; She was dressed in mostly black with hints of red within the clothing. With one hand, she raised it above her head and the pieces of the bridge started to float out from the space below, rebuilding the broken pathway on the spot. 

As grand as their entrance was, it seemed that no one in the Realm recognized the woman. Yuw could hear murmurs surrounding her, people asking each other who this person was. It wasn’t until someone spoke up, gasping ‘That’s Li’ahnah…’, did the confusion die down in exchange for awe.

Yuw snapped out of her suspended shock, curious about the appearance of the Realm’s creator and was completely stunned to realize it was someone she was familiar with all along. “...Ryahno?” She huffed her friend’s name weakly. 

Before long, the dark goo was lifted off from the ground, and tucked back into the crack they’ve dropped down from. Pieces of glass also followed as they rose up into the atmosphere, repairing the broken sky.

When the threat was removed, the domes on the other islands dissolved. Finally, supplies were being transported from the Healing Temple to the Fountain. Countless healers all rushed towards the injured, doing what they did best. Many were healed of their minor injuries on the spot, while others were taken back to the temple. 

The unfortunate few were put into white pods that were pushed back towards the hospital building, carrying the ones that were harmed the most, the ones that weren’t breathing anymore; they were drained of so much energy, only a frame of what they once were remained.

Alex frantically approached the fallen guard to assess the damage. The woman’s whole shoulder was burnt off and was unconscious, but not bleeding. The doctor was at a loss and panicked, looking up at her pink-eyed friend for help. The two, together, checked Miao’s vitals and breathing, while trying to avoid the wound. The guard was weak, and no amount of cpr seemed to work. When things started to feel hopeless, tears began to fall, and a feeling of dread washed over them.

“What happened?” Ryahno walked towards Yuw, asking softly. The giant was caught off guard, and found herself staring at the darkly dressed woman for two straight seconds, trying to find an answer. Upon getting a closer look, one could see reflective triangular shapes on the fabric of the woman’s dark clothing.

Yuw anxiously searched for the pink-eyed woman that she passed her when she first arrived. “H-her! It was her!” The giant hectically pointed towards the woman, “She has pink eyes, and ever since the first time she made eye contact with me, the voice wouldn’t stop, then all of this started happening!” Ryahno looked at the accused woman, then back to her disoriented friend.

The lady looked towards the giant, realizing that the conversation was about her. Once she realized what they were saying, she averted her gaze in a verge of tears, scared this may all be her fault.

As Yuw was explaining to Ryahno, she noticed a silver haired doctor, and remembered seeing them at the festivals. This time, they were focused on their duty, pushing one of the white pods towards Miao. After the guard was placed into the large container, they started to move it back towards the Healing Temple, with the pink-eyed person escorting, avoiding eye contact as they did. 

“Since the pink eyes, the voice wouldn’t stop, then all of this happened, and-” Yuw’s repeated mumbling was cut off by her friend, who quickly corrected the giant.

“Pink eyes? Yuw, the pink-iris curse is just folklore back home. It’s not real. Especially not here.” Ryahno said, feeling the need to establish that before the conversation continued.

Though stumped by the statement, what caught Yuw more off guard was how soft spoken her friend was. This wasn’t the Ryahno she knew. Their speaking habits and body language were all the same, but from Yuw’s memory, she has never really seen the woman be so gentle to people. 

While the conversation went on and most of the fountain area was cleared out, the giant noticed three people approaching the island and gave their greetings to her and Ryahno. Without the need to introduce themselves vocally, Yuw instinctively knew who they were. Falehi was one of them, though she didn’t look like a butterfly as the folklore described. The holy being looked more like a tall, black, cosmic owl with a white mask. The other two, were significant to the religion back in Dikuda, but the giant had a hard time recognizing them. She can only assume that they are the owners of the islands.  

Ryahno turned to speak to the three, informing them of what had happened. She spoke, partially with a voice, and with a less recognizable language. They began to converse amongst themselves as they looked around the fountain and the sky. 

With the group discussing, the curious giant could only guess what they were talking about. One member of the group would often turn their head to stare at the giant as they spoke. It was a lion-like creature, with pupiless yellow eyes, white fur, paired with a mane and tail that matched the color of the Realm sky. Yuw could only hope that this won’t end too badly for her.

Alex walked up to the anxiety-filled giant, sniffing and huffing, still trying to calm herself. “Hey…” She called out to Yuw, getting closer so they could whisper. “Will you be okay?” 

“I... I honestly don’t know, I...” Yuw couldn’t give out a decent answer. As of right now, she was overloaded with stress and confusion.

The doctor looked to the owners and Ryahno. Though she didn’t understand them, she could somewhat tell that they were asking about the amount of injured people. 

“Where’s Gwadeweido? Is she still at the Library?” Ryahno mumbled, mostly to herself, as she looked towards the island. 

“I- The um…” Alex raised her hand but spoke with hesitation in her voice. Still, it had gotten the attention of the owners and they all turned their gaze towards her. “The- um… The guard of the southern gates of the Library was heavily injured and taken to the Healing Temple, so…  M-maybe that is the reason why Gwady isn’t here yet?” She felt like she was put in the spotlight and was a bit anxious.

“I- I’m sorry, Alex. I…” Yuw cut in, wanting to express herself right away, knowing that she was probably involved in all of this. “I wish I could’ve helped somehow… It was all a blur when it happened and the next thing I know, Miao was injured on the ground and-...”

Upon hearing that, Ryahno frowned and tilted her head thoughtfully. With a gentle tap on Yuw’s arm, she spoke up. “Yuw, question… Do you have a problem with Miao?” 

“W-what? I don’t-... I don’t think I do. No.” The flabbergasted giant answered, startled by the question, and wondered why her friend would make such an accusation. Things didn’t exactly go smoothly with the guard at first, but after that, Yuw didn’t have any hostile intent towards the woman.

“Let me ask it in this way,” Ryahno then replied. “...are you in love with Alex?” She looked at the giant with her piercing red eyes, focused on getting an answer, and hoped Yuw would give an honest one. “Because… This all sounds very familiar to what happened to Wyse.”  

The blue-haired woman noticed the doctor taking a step away from her, looking distraught and betrayed by what she just heard. With panic starting to set in once more, she became unsure what to say to gain her trust back.

“No- it isn’t like-” Yuw attempted to explain as Alex pulled further away. The giant then turned back towards Ryahno to plead her case. “This is nothing like what happened to Wyse…” She replied to the friend, shaking her head, looking at the ground. “I didn’t kill her... It was because a building collapsed on…” She stopped talking and asked herself if she really should repeat the lie again when she already had taken the first step to confess to Miao mere moments ago. 

Now, under the watchful eyes of these greater beings, they most likely were able to tell if she’s trying to deceive or not. The more she lied, the more she needed to cover up. No. She decided to express the truth and braced herself for whatever that may come. 

“Um… About that incident…” Yuw took a deep breath in. “I… I killed Wyse. I… snapped her neck and buried her under the rubble. I told you and the rest of the rescue team that I couldn’t recover the body and…B-but that is different from what happened with Miao! I swear!”

Yuw was expecting to be cut off, but the opposite happened. She was allowed by everyone, and more importantly, by Ryahno to finish her story. The amount of freedom she was given to express herself was making her feel very uneasy.

“I know.” Ryahno responded to the giant’s explanation.

“You… You did?” Yuw was surprised as she looked at her friend for confirmation. “For how long?” 

Ryahno slowly blinked once before speaking up. “Ever since we found the body.” 

In what felt like her heart dropping, the giant was panicking once more. “H-How, she was under all the rumble…” Her voice started to tremble, and even if she just confessed, she still wanted to run from it all. “T-This whole time you knew? I… I…”

Yuw tried her best to keep herself composed. She did so when the nightmare of the truth revealed itself; she held it together when she came face to face with the pink-eyed lady; she even managed to remove herself without a breakdown after she told Miao the truth. From then on out, it was more or less confusion as the events unfolded before her. But to find out that the one person she has been hiding the truth from, had known about what really went down that day, was the last straw. 

The giant started to hyperventilate and her vision slowly brightened as she felt dizzy and blurry. She stood there, freezing up in place, feeling caught in the gaze of everyone. They spoke up, instructing her to calm down, but Yuw was already pushed beyond her capabilities to be calm at this point. She was having a silent panic attack.

“Never fear, your favorite rat bastard is here!” A voice cut through the others as the owners turned their gaze towards the source of the call, and eventually Yuw did as well. 

It was a woman with a ponytail, and wore a long-sleeved purple shirt underneath a black vest, which matched the tie and pants they were wearing. What stood out, beyond anything else, was her set of purple eyes and sharp teeth. 

“Where were you?” Ryahno asked, while still remaining soft-spoken. It made it hard to tell if she was annoyed or concerned at the woman’s tardiness.

“Well, as the owner of the Library,” The gleeful woman had begun to boastfully say, their tone was energetic and light-hearted compared to the situation that just happened. “I’m pleased to announce that I’ve just checked with all of the staff and refugees that were on my island, and other than my witty kitty,” The woman’s tone turned a bit dark at those two words, and so was her expression, but immediately brightened up after it, “...everyone is accounted for!” She concluded, sounding proud of herself. 

Yuw jumped back into focus as she heard a long dead voice that sent a cold chill down her spine, causing her to become short of breath once more. “N-no! No! It can’t be you!” The giant hysterically pointed to the mirror image of Wyse and yelled out, the distress within her voice sent her into a panic state of mind. She had brought her hands up to the side of her head, trying to wake herself up. “She can’t be here! This isn’t real!”  Yuw looked at Ryahno. “Why is she here?!” 

A large splash caught the attention of everyone nearby as they saw Yuw on her knees, mumbling to herself the same question on repeat. “Why is she here? Why is she here? Why is she-” The giant heard splashes of water come closer.

“Now, now, there’s no need for panic. We wouldn’t want you to clumsily snap my neck again, now would we?” Yuw heard the taunt, and looked up to see the woman’s toothy grin smiling back at her.

Unable to even process what was being said to her, the voice triggered the giant into a screaming fit. The world around her warped and shook until she found herself back in her own room.