Smoky clings to Lucy's blouse as she runs. When Lucy stops, she looks around to see if the creature is still nearby. Luckily, it seems to be out of sight. Taking in her surroundings, Lucy sees that the tree tops are so thick that she can’t see the sky. The ground is illuminated by glowing flowers. She squints her eyes, trying to make out the path ahead, understanding it would only lead her further into the woods. Knowing what she has to do, Lucy bends down and gathers as many of the glowing flowers as she can carry. 

"We need to get off the path," she says to Smoky, "Walk backwards then once we know that creature is behind us--we can get back on the path." Smoky meows in agreement, picking up a flower in his mouth.

Lucy takes a deep breath to calm her nerves, “These will light our way.” 

“I will be okay. We’ll get out of here and…” She freezes, remembering the initial problem she was running from.

She shakes her head in frustration. “We’ll worry about it later!” 

With a new found determination, Lucy sets off onwards into the unknown depths of the forest, Smoky following close behind. 

After a bumpy ride, Lavender and Mezti arrive at the school. Mezti pats her creature's head fondly. "See, we made it in no time!"

Lavender clumsily descends from the beast's back and stumbles onto the ground. She immediately remembers why they were there and hurriedly springs up towards the front doors. To her dismay, they are locked shut. 

“Yeah…schools don’t usually leave their doors unlocked, especially during an emergency.” Mezti says matter-of-factly as her creature dissolves into a gooey substance and vanishes.

Frustrated, Lavender sprints to the side of the school, heading towards the back courtyard. Mezti attempts to stop her, but it’s futile. Mezti simply shrugs her shoulders and follows behind her. Lavender eventually makes it to the back courtyard, only to be met with an unexpected surprise. She had forgotten about the beast that was on the loose - a panther-like creature whose body is semi-transparent with a blue-to-pink gradient. The beast appears to be trying to climb a tree until it spots Lavender. In a state of panic, Lavender unsuccessfully tries to run away and stumbles over her own feet in the process. A familiar purple serpent wraps around her.

“I was trying to remind you that there was a beast on the loose.” Mezti says, stepping out in front of her.

“Though in your panic I can see how you could forget. But don’t worry-”

Mezti beckons her serpent to follow her as she walks closer to the panther.

“That’s why I’m here.” 

Mezti stands a few feet from the beast, her serpent coiling around her. The panther growls and bends down, ready to pounce.

She readies herself till she notices it’s translucent nature. Realizing something, Mezti stands up straight. The panther begins to charge at her, at the same time, Mezti lets her serpent melt away.

“Mezti!” Lavender screams helplessly. 

The panther lunges at her, but before it makes contact, the panthers body dissolves and rematerializes behind her. Lavender gasps in astonishment.

“Whoever made this creature, made it scary, most likely to ward off people.” Mezti states. 

"But they had no intention of harming anyone, so this creature does anything it can to avoid touching another living being.” She turns to face Lavender and the creature. 

Lavender sat facing the panther, with its trick revealed, it calmly lowers its head. Cautiously getting up, Lavender walks around the creature but it does not move an inch.

“So you're telling me that thing…can’t hurt anyone?” Lavender asks cautiously, hiding behind Mezti. 

“‘Can't’ isn't the right term. When a creature like this is created, it is entirely based on what the creator was thinking.” 

“For example! This creature was made most likely to scare people away but if the creator of it was in serious danger, it could attack.” Mezti explains. Lavender stares at her in a mixture of shock and terror.

“Well that’s just me guessing of course! It's possible the creature also doesn't have the capability to attack anyone…Anyways!”  Mezti turns her attention to the nearby tree. 

“Now that the creature is pacified, you all can come down now!” Mezti shouts. 

Lavender now notices the tree that the panther was attempting to climb, was full of students. Mezti walks over and starts helping them down one by one, assuring they would be alright. Lavender anxiously watches in hopes of seeing her sister climb down. To her dismay, none of the six children are Lucy. A feeling of dread settles in her stomach, yet she does notice Ivy. She quickly grabs onto Ivy's shoulder. 

“Ivy! Have you seen Lucy? Was she with you?”

Ivy stares back at her with a surprised expression before averting her gaze.

“Y-yeah…She ran into the woods to avoid that thing.” she replies softly.

Lavender quickly glances at the dark woods, her impulse prompting her to run towards them. Mezti, however, grabs the back of her shirt and pulls her back. 

"Hey, there could be more dangerous creatures in there," Mezti warns. 

"I know! My sister is in there somewhere! I have to do something!" Lavender shouts desperately.

Mezti is astonished by Lavender's courage. She then places a comforting hand on Lavender's shoulder.

"Don't worry, I will find your sister and bring her back to you safe and sound. That's a promise." Lavender looks into Mezti's bright purple eyes, despite knowing her for less than an hour. She feels she can trust her. 

"Thank you…please be careful." 

"Take these kids to the front and call for help. I'll be back soon." Mezti commands before turning away and walking into the dense forest. With that, Lavender watches as Mezti disappears from sight.

Lucy and Smoky stumble through the thick woods, the flowers grasped tightly in Lucy’s hands providing a slight bit of light to guide them. It feels like they had been walking for hours.

"I think if we walk left we'll find the path again…hopefully that deer thing should be far behind us." Lucy hopes, Smoky jumps ahead, trying to lead the way.

"Ah- Careful, I can't see as well as you. I almost stepped on-" Lucy stumbles over a tree root and falls on to the same path they had just left, dropping all her flowers.

Smoky jumps on her head then onto the path, meowing at her while picking up more flowers. Smoky starts down the path and stops to see if Lucy is going to follow.

"Shouldn’t we go the other way?" Lucy wonders, picking herself up.

Smoky sits defiantly, wanting her to follow him.

"Okay, lead the way." 

The two start walking down the path, after a few minutes, Lucy sees a small light at the end of the path. 

"That must be where we came in! Smoky you little genius!" Lucy starts rubbing Smoky's head. 

Lucy and Smoky both freeze hearing a familiar burning noise. The black oozing deer stumbles onto the path ahead of them. 

"Oh crud-" whispers Lucy, scooping up Smoky in her arms as she takes off down another branching path. 

Unfortunately, this route leads directly to the underside of a cliff. Desperately looking for somewhere to hide, Lucy spots a nearby fallen tree and runs toward it. She holds Smoky close as the beast's steps grow ever louder; the creaking of its bones and burning of grass beneath it audible with every step it took. Despite having no eyes, ears, or nose it tries to find them. It looms closer and closer to the fallen tree. Lucy can smell the stench of burning flesh from the deer, she holds her breath. It grows closer trying to find them; could it tell they were there? Lucy holds Smoky tighter and closes her eyes, praying to not be found. 

The sound of a different set of footsteps grow louder and louder as Mezti runs up behind the beast, grabbing it by its antlers and pressing one foot against its back, that being the only part not touched by the black ooze. With one swift movement, she throws the creature into the nearby brush. Quickly, she turns and allows any of the excess black ooze to hit the back of her jacket. Upon hearing the commotion, Lucy peers out to see what had transpired. Astonished at the sight of Mezti, she watches wide-eyed as Mezti quickly stands up and shakes the black stuff off of her coat. 

“This coat of mine can take on anything, no matter how acidic,” Mezti says as she accidentally touches some of the black goo with her right glove. 

“Not these though,” She says as she quickly rips off the glove and lets it fall to the ground, burning to ash. 

Lucy and Smoky share a look of confusion while taking in all that had just happened.

In the bushes, the creature stands up and Mezti turns to face it. She stands tall and puffs out her chest, taking a big step forward. The creature quickly pulls itself together and scurries away. Mezti then smiles at Lucy, who stares back in disbelief. 

“That was a fear eater - as the name suggests, they feed off of fear. It uses the black ooze on their bodies to scare prey and produce more fear; however, if you stand tall and show that you're not afraid, they will usually leave you alone.” Mezti says with pride.

Lucy just stares back at her with a horrified expression. 

“Sorry, my beast expertise just kind of slipped out then," Mezti says apologetically before extending her hand out towards Lucy. 

“Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah, thank you.” Lucy stutters, grabbing her hand. As Mezti pulls her up, Smoky hops onto Lucy’s shoulders.

“I’m glad, I came with your sister, she asked me to bring you back safely.” 

Lucy straightens her back suddenly in recognition of this act of kindness before replying. "Oh! Thank you so much Ma'am!" She starts shaking Mezti's hand vigorously in appreciation.

“Of course dear, though something was bugging me…” Lucy lets go of her hand.

“Someone told me you had run into the woods to escape that beast, but…”

Mezti smirks before bluntly saying “You made that big guy didn’t you?”