"Crystalo Teleporto!"

Suddenly, Alonso disappeared in a puff of smoke. Bryan and Jackran exchanged confused looks before looking around. Bryan gasped.

"Galilea! Klarissa!"

"Looks like you two are in a pickle," Klarissa chuckled, walking over with the other girl.

"You two alright?" Galilea asked.

"Yep!" Bryan smiled, lowering his kunais. "We're fine now,"

Jackran gave him a look, the grip on his bow and arrow not faltering. "What are you girls doing here?" He turned to them, narrowing his eyes.

"Chill, Jackran, put the bow down," Klarissa used her finger to lower the arrow pointing towards them.

"You would not believe the day we've had!" Galilea began to explain. "You guys have been missing for a while, and your families got worried! Kertan, Tristan and Shawran visited me to ask if I've seen you, Jackran, and I said no and that you never showed up to school or to the gaming club either,"

"Tito Mat and Tita Franzine also came to ask if I've seen you, Bryan," Klarissa went on. "You haven't been to school or to your His-tour-ical club, and people got worried,"

"Good to know my dearest big sister cares about me so much," Bryan sighed.

"At least your parents cared," Jackran huffed. "My mother couldn't be bothered to look for me,"

"Guys, that's not the point," Galilea shook her head before continuing. "We all went to the police, and we've been searching for you guys for hours!"

"...And yet you ended up here," Jackran's lips pursed.

"The forest is the only other place we haven't checked," Klarissa pointed out. "Your familes' are checking the city, and our parents are helping them out, so we decided to check the forest,"

"And thank goodness you did!" Bryan laughed. "You guys have no idea what we've been facing,"

"We can talk later," Galilea spoke. "Come on, let's get back to the city. We can go forest exploring some other day!"

"Hang on, Gal," Klarissa interrupted. "I'm curious," She tilted her head. "What are you guys doing in the forest?"

"Does it matter?" Galilea swallowed. "Let's go before something attacks us! Like bears! Or snakes!"

Jackran frowned at their interaction. Galilea loves snakes...

"Oh! Right!" Bryan beamed. "You guys will never believe the adventure we're going on!"

"I'm sure we have plenty of time to chat... when we get back," Galilea urged.

"No, no, you've piqued my interest, Bry," Klarissa crossed her arms. "Especially since you chose to go on an adventure with... Jackran, of all people,"

Jackran glared. "You're the one to talk, Klarissa." He rolled his eyes. The only people bearing you are Bryan and Galilea. No one else likes you at school."

"Excuse me?" Klarissa gritted her teeth.

"You're excused," Jackran huffed. "At least I have a whole club of friends who like me." He smirked. "Where are yours?"

"Right here." Klarissa scowled, motioning to Bryan and Galilea. "They're all I need as friends. All of yours are fake." She scoffed.

"As fake as your personality?" Jackran raised an eyebrow.

"Why I oughtta-"

"Okay, okay, guys," Bryan went between them. "Take it easy. Please don't fight,"

Galilea whimpered. "This is getting out of hand. We need to get back, please. It's getting late..." She looked around worriedly.

"What, you're afraid of night time now?" Jackran turned to her. "I get being afraid of the dark, Galilea, but I didn't know your fear got an upgrade,"

Galilea shrugged. "If it's getting late, I'm getting hungry. I wanna eat!" She pouted.

"...of course," Jackran sighed. "Do I expect nothing else from you?"

"Don't you talk to her like that." Klarissa stepped forward.

"Klara, it's fine, I'm used to it," Galilea assured.

"I think Gal is right; It is getting late," Bryan looked at the sky with a hum. "We've been unconcscious for hours, I'm guessing. We need a place to rest,"

"Home is a place to rest," Galilea insisted.

"No, Gal, we can't leave," Bryan shook his head. "We'll explain later, but right now, we need a place to rest for the night,"

"We passed by a cave when we were looking for you," Klarissa offered. "Maybe we can rest there?"

"Good idea," Bryan smiled. "Let's go!"

Galilea sighed but didn't oppose, hugging herself as she followed after her two friends. Jackran watched them leave, giving himself a good distance from them before he let his bow and arrow revert it's form back to the half-moon medallion. He clasped the medallion, keeping it close to his chest with a sigh.

It felt very... strange to see the girls here.

Here, where they were just cornered by the demons.

Here, where the demon king just... disappeared.

"Crystalo Teleporto!"

The spell echoed in his mind. Where did it come from? Who casted it? The voice of the caster sounded so... familiar.

But why?

"Come on, Jackran!" Bryan's voice echoed from afar. "The girls have food!!"

Jackran felt his stomach rumble at the mention. He sighed. "Fine..." He couldn't think well with an empty stomach...

"...And that's why we need to stay in the forest," Bryan finished telling their tale as they gathered around the campfire they made.

"Wow..." Klarissa's eyes widened. "That's... noble of you to think about world like that,"

Jackran rolled his eyes. He was at the far corner of the cave, staying far from the girls as possible. He didn't trust Bryan enough, much less these two. How could Bryan trust them with their mission?

"And very irresponsible for Goddess Night," Galilea huffed. "No offense, Bry, but you and Jackran are still kids! You guys shouldn't be in the forest this late and alone! And with demons and other creatures!" She shuddered. "I could never!"

"But... you love helping people, Gal," Bryan frowned.

"I do, but at the best of my capability," Galilea sighed. "I'm still fifteen; I wouldn't pull a superhero move and fly across the ocean to save people,"

"It is a bit reckless for Goddess Night to put so much responsibility on you and Jackran, Bryan," Klarissa agreed.

"Yeah, the responsibility is a bit too much..." Bryan admitted. "But we can do it! With enough practice with our weapons and magic..." He twirled his kunais, letting it shift back to the half-sun medallion.

Klarissa's eyes sparkled. "Fascinating..." She reached out to try to touch it.

A stick was thrown before she could. She hissed and flinched back, glaring. "Jackran, what the hell!?"

Jackran turned to her, the half-moon medallion glowing a dark blue. He growled. "Don't touch." His eyes were gleaming in icy blue.

"Woah," Galilea's eyes widened.

Klarissa hissed, rubbing her hand. "I didn't know he was protective," She scoffed. "I'm surprised. It's only been a day or two."

"Hmm," Bryan hummed, grasping the medallion. "I think it's the bond thing,"

"Bond thing?"

"The half-moon and the half-sun are bonded," Bryan nodded. "They were created to be a pair. Kind of like those soulmate tropes in the books,"

"...You don't say." Klarissa glanced at Galilea, who sipped her water and turned away to avoid eye contact.

Jackran took a breath and shook his head. The medallion ceased it's glow. "Ugh, I hate this adventure..." He curled up, leaning against the wall.

Galilea's eyes softened. She set her water down and got up while Bryan and Klarissa continued to chatter. She reached to get the blanket from Bryan's knapsack before moving over to place it over.

"Here, Jack,"

"...thanks," Jackran looked up. "I'm surprised you're not upset with me as Bryan is,"

"...I know you, Jack," Galilea gave a smile. "You're nicer than people give you credit, and you wouldn't shut any of us out without a purpose,"

"..." Jackran huffed. "You hope too much,"

"You wouldn't be here if you didn't care for Bryan,"

"I can't leave," Jackran scoffed. "The medallion won't let me. I tried to remove it, and it freaking attached itself." He growled.

"But you could always leave with the medallion," Galilea suggested. "And I think you know this... that's why you tried leaving the medallion," She chuckled. "You wanted Bryan to at least be safe with both of them,"

Jackran stared at him before narrowing his eyes. "How would you know it would?"

"Because of the bond thing Bryan said," Galilea replied. "Soulmate bonds always work like that,"

"Oh yeah, you should know, you just love reading, those weird tropes," Jackran rolled his eyes.

"They're more... interesting than weird," Galilea snorted.

"Yeah, yeah, whatev-" Jackran paused, his eyes gazing at the orange crystal hanging from the girl's neck. "What... is that?"

"Hmm?" Galilea blinked.

"That." He pointed to the crystal. "What is that? Where did you find it?" Had she always it? He'd never seen that on her before...

"Oh!" Galilea lost her composure for a second, but she regained it not long after, grasping the crystal. "Just a crystal I found while looking for you guys! Haha!" Her smile was lopsy, moving a bit from the boy.

"...What?" Jackran's eyebrows furrowed.

"Um... look at the time! It's getting really late!" Galilea let out a yawn. "Welp, I'm tired! Good night!" She quickly walked back to her side of the cave.

Jackran watched her leave, his stomach churning. He grasped the medallion he had instinctively, scooching further away as he narrowed his eyes at her. Her and Klarissa.

What are they really doing in this forest?