"Right now, it is the 25th day of the 9th month of the year 158, according to the calendar of the goddess Kitsune."

Nao Akatsuki’s words fell upon us like a slab of ice. Terror washed over our faces. Four years. Four years had passed.

"What… What’s wrong, children?" Nao asked, worried by our reaction.

Nagi was the first to find his voice, though it trembled slightly. "Sir… the thing is, we’re from that village."

"B-but how…? The people from that village all died."

"Apparently we didn’t," Nagi said, his analytical mind already working at full speed. "We were teleported to the future. But how?"

"The light," I said, images of the battle returning to me in confusing flashes.

"The light?"

"Yes, don’t you remember? Just when I fought the dragons..."

"Y-you fought dragons!" Nao exclaimed, his eyes wide.

"Yeah, though... I don't remember much of the fight. Just that white light that covered the entire village."

"This is complicated..." Ren murmured, hugging herself.

Nao began whispering to himself, putting the pieces together. "Dragons?... Time travel?... The future?... A white light?"

"What is it, Mr. Nao?" Nagi asked.

"Ren, could you get me that book from the bookshelf in my room?" Nao said.

"Okay, I'll go."

Ren got up and ran softly into the room. We saw her stop in front of a bookshelf full of books.

"Let's see... which one was it?" she murmured. "Wait... he didn't tell me which one, did he?"

She peeked around the door. "Mr. Nao, excuse me... which book was it?"

"Oh, sorry, I didn't tell you. It's the only red one on the shelf."

Ren returned with a heavy, red-leather-bound tome and handed it to Nao, sitting back down at the table.

"Let's see..." he said, quickly flipping through the yellowed pages. "Uh-huh, here it is... Are these the dragons you saw?"

He showed us a detailed illustration of two magnificent and terrifying beasts. I looked at the image seriously.

"Yes, those are the ones," I said.

"That's right," Nagi confirmed. "One was midnight blue, and the other was a bright, shining cyan." 

"My hair is the color of a dragon," Ren chuckled, with a touch of pride.

"Why are you proud of that?" I asked.

"I don't know."

"Ahem..." Nao cleared his throat to get our attention. "Well, these are the Dragons of Time and Space. Their names are Taurius and Hinoari."

"Who gave them those names? They're difficult," I exclaimed.

"They're only difficult for you," Ren replied.

"Well," Nao continued, "the thing is, when these two dragons fought, they must have caused a distortion in space-time. But what I still don't understand is why it happened in Nalia, specifically."

Before we could continue, a desperate voice shouted from outside the house.

"Lord Nao!"

The voice grew louder. "Lord Nao!"

The door slammed open, and a villager burst in, breathless.

"Lord Nao..." he said, exhausted. "Sir, Miss Naori... she's disappeared!"

"W-wait... but how?"

"We don't know, but some children said they saw a fairy-like girl heading into the forest."

"Okay, okay, tell everyone to get ready. We're going to find Naori."

I jumped up. "Sir, we want to help too."

"Yes," Ren added. "You helped us. We should return the favor."

Nagi shrugged. "Whatever."

"Thank you very much, children."

Outside, almost the entire village had gathered in the plaza. A man named Shan addressed the crowd.

"Friends, listen up! Miss Naori has disappeared! We have to find her!"

"Why did the whole village gather?" I whispered to Ren.

"I don't know," she replied.

"Don't be disrespectful," Nagi scolded us in a low voice.

"Please do your best!" another villager named Shiori urged.

"Let's go!" Shan shouted.

The crowd split into groups of three and headed deeper into the dense, dark forest.

Far away, in the gloom of a cave, a little girl walked, tightly hugging a dog doll.

"Shion-chan, it's so dark in here," the girl whispered. "Are you sure this is the way? It's scary."

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through her, and she fell to the ground, stunned.

"Ahh..." she moaned.

Blurry, terrifying memories assaulted her mind. She saw the shadowy figures of a man and a woman with murky mouths and eyes.

"She's so pretty, ma'am," said the woman in the memory.

"She must be very clever," the man added.

The image distorted, replaced by a nightmarish vision: her parents, tied to a post, engulfed in flames as they screamed in pain. And in the background, the evil laughter of their executioners.

"That's what they get for betraying us!"

"Naori-chan, never do what your parents did. Be a good girl, okay?"

"Someone help me, please," thought the Naori of the memory. "I need help. HELP, HELP, HELP!"

"AHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed in the present, coming back to herself as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Just at that moment, she heard voices shouting from the top of the cave.

"AHAHHHHHAhahhAHAH!"

It was Natsu, Nagi, and Ren, who had fallen through a hidden hole in the cave's ceiling. Ren landed directly on top of Natsu.

"Ouch... that didn't hurt as much as I expected," Ren said.

"Well, it didn't hurt you, but it sure hurt me... could you get off?" I complained.

"Sorry. Thanks for being my pillow."

"Whatever you say."

Nagi, who had landed standing next to us, was looking at us with a very serious expression.

"Well, it looks like we can't go back the way we came," I said, looking up at the hole in the ceiling.

"Then let's go deeper into the cave," Ren suggested.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The scream came from further inside.

"It's coming from there, let's go!" I shouted.

We ran into the darkness, and what we saw stopped us in our tracks: a giant, monstrous spider looming over a little girl lying on the ground.

"There's a girl down there!" Ren shouted.

Without a second thought, I leaped forward, my hands glowing with energy. I threw a sphere of power that was a mix of fire and ice, slamming directly into the creature.

"Natsu!" Nagi shouted.

As the spider recoiled from the impact, Nagi leaped toward the cave ceiling. I took advantage of the distraction to run, pick up Naori, and pull her to safety. From above, Nagi launched himself down, his katana glowing, and slashed at the spider's back, defeating it with a single, precise slash.

He landed, swiped his sword to clean it of the creature's blood, and sheathed it.

"That was easier than I thought."

He jumped back to join us. "Who's the little girl?"

"I don't know, but why was she here?"

Ren knelt beside the little girl. "Hello, little one, what's your name?"

"My name is Naori," she said timidly.

"And how old are you?"

"Sixteen."

We fell silent, processing her answer.

"She's lying," I said.

"I'm not. It's just that I was cursed and stayed this way, but I can create an illusion of what I look like at my current age."

"Oh, don't worry, that's fine," Ren said quickly.

"Okay," Naori exclaimed.

"Little one, do you know how to get out of here?" I asked her.

"No."

"Then let's go deeper into the cave to find the exit," Nagi decided.

We walked through dangerous tunnels, crossed an abyss, and fell into an underground lake, worrying Naori. As we got out and dried off, I accidentally glanced at Ren drying her clothes. I got slapped, sending me back into the water. We continued through a cavern filled with beautiful minerals and luminous mushrooms. We kept going until we saw a light in the distance.

"Hey, look, there's a light over there!" Ren exclaimed.

We ran toward the exit and emerged... back in the same lake we'd fallen into on the way down the mountain.

"AHHHH... we're finally out!"

"Let's go back to the village," Nagi said.

"Yes, little Naori, let's go. There's a place nearby where we can stay for today."

Ren turned around, but the girl was gone.

"Naori...? Naori!"

"Don't worry," I said, nodding. "She's behind the rock at the entrance to the cave."

A small head peeked out.

"Ahhh..." Naori said nervously. "H-h-how did you know?"

"I just knew."

I jumped back, landing in front of her.

"Please tell us why you don't want to go back to the village... You've been there before, haven't you?"

"Hmm... even though you look stupid, you're pretty smart," she whispered.

I smiled. "You offend me a little. Now answer, have you been to this village before?"

"Yes," she admitted. "Almost seven years ago, my parents and I came to this village. But since we were demi-beasts, we were treated badly. My parents thought of running away, but... that same day, the village chiefs returned from a trip. When they learned my parents were going to escape, they captured them and... burned them alive."

Tears streamed down her face. "They threatened me that if I did the same thing, the same would happen to me. But the next day, the village chiefs died."

"But why did they burn them?" Nagi asked.

"Apparently, my parents had information about some shady deals and scams. They wanted to reveal it to the nearest kingdom."

"I understand," I said, my voice soft. "But I don't think you should blame the town or the current villagers."

"Yes, Natsu is right," Ren added. "They're all looking for you right now."

Naori raised her head, surprised. "They are...? Well then... let's go."

As we approached the village entrance, a guard shouted, "AAH... it's Miss Naori! Go tell Mr. Nao!"

The whole village was waiting for us. When we arrived, all the villagers bowed their heads in respect.

"Welcome back, Miss Naori," Nao said.

"I need to talk to you," Naori declared.

Later, at Nao's house, with the evening light streaming through the window, Naori confronted him.

"I need you to tell me the truth."

"Okay, I'll tell you everything," Nao said with a sigh. "Seven years ago, after your parents died, we couldn't take the deaths the lords were causing anymore. We rebelled. But since they were powerful mages, almost all of us died. With everyone's sacrifices, my wife and I managed to stab them."

"So, you're telling me all that mistreatment was forced? Then why did you lock me up in a house without letting me leave?!"

"Because after we killed them, the kingdoms the lords had made deals with came to attack us. We had to protect you."

Naori started crying again. "So... it was all... because of threats from those bastards!"

She cried for a long time. When she finally calmed down, she wiped her tears.

"Lord Nao, I need to talk to you about what I want to do with my future."

The next morning, we were ready to leave.

"Well, kids, do you have everything?" Nao asked.

"Yes, Lord Nao."

"We're leaving."

"Norimoa City is about three days from here," Nagi said.

"Yeah, it's not far. Are you going to the school there?" Nao asked.

"Yeah, that was always the plan. And then we'll find our family and friends."

"I see."

We hopped into the wagon the village had given us.

"Hey, wait for me!" Naori shouted.

I used some wind magic and gently brought her to the wagon.

"What are you doing, Natsu?" Ren said, surprised.

"Tell them," I said to Naori.

"I want to go with you."

"It's fine with me. She's sixteen," Nagi said.

"But what about the villagers?"

"It's fine with us," Nao said from below.

"Okay, let's go."

The wagon started moving forward. As we said our goodbyes, we saw a strange blue light emanating from the villagers and ascending into the sky. Tears sprang from Naori's eyes, and out of nowhere, her body began to grow. In seconds, she transformed into a young woman befitting her age: tall, with long silver hair, large wolf ears, and bangs that barely covered her light green eyes. Her skin was incredibly pale.

But as she grew, her clothes became too small and ripped apart, leaving her naked.

"KYAAAAAAAAAA!"

"NATSU, DON'T YOU DARE LOOK!" Ren yelled.

"WHY ARE YOU YELLING AT ME?!"

"WILL YOU TWO STOP SHOUTING?!" Nagi exclaimed.