Chapter 11: Reunited!

“Gratus!”

I looked ahead at the two familiar figures standing next to the exit of the forest.

“Cog!” I answered in a cheerful tone, “It is you! And, oh? Who is that?”

I pointed at the young girl that was clinging onto Cog’s back.

Cedric waved at me and replied in Cog’s stead, “We’re not sure since she doesn’t remember her name, but she is looking for her parents. They were wandering in the forest but got separated.”

Cog scanned the group behind me and asked in a whisper, “Are they all lost souls?”

I nodded and looked back at the group of lost souls before adding, “But I’m not sure if her parents are among the ones here.”

Cog looked at the girl on his back and asked, “Want to see if your parents are here?”

The girl nodded and crawled down from Cog’s back and dragged him with her while holding onto his hand.

I looked at Cedric and raised my eyebrow. He kept a smirk on his face and shrugged.

“Ah, there they are! Mother! Father! You’re normal again!”

Cedric and I turned around to look at the commotion the girl caused with her shouting. Cog and the little girl had found her parents. They were the man and the woman I had prevented from turning into Monstrum.

‘Well, this is interesting. What are the chances?’

When her parents did not respond to her, her eyes watered and she grasped onto her father’s arm and shook him, “Father, please!”

That was when I saw her mother stir.

When she got up and noticed the girl, she exclaimed, “Peregrin!”

Tears also formed around her eyes.

The girl looked surprised and then exclaimed, “Mother!” before running up to her mother and burying her face in her mother’s side.

I thought Cog would be happy, but he was not smiling. He had a serious look on his face and was thinking about something.

I turned to Cedric and asked in a whisper, “What’s up with Cog?”

Cedric looked at me and shrugged, “Not sure. He’s been kind of strange since we found that girl. He was first against me helping her, but then something changed his mind. It might have something to do with the necklace that girl is wearing.”

“Necklace?”

“Yeah. He asked for it in exchange for finding that girl’s parents. I was going to do it for free though.”

‘Hm… I don’t know what Cog is thinking, but I guess we’ll find out. If not, I can ask him about it later.’

“Let’s observe a little more.”

I approached the group with Cedric following behind and listened in on the conversation.

“Mother! Is father okay? He’s not waking up.”

The mother patted the girl’s head and said, “He’s tired. Let him sleep.”

The girl drew closer to her mother and asked, “He’s not going to eat me when he wakes up is he?”

The mother stuttered, “N-no, dear. He’ll be okay,” while glancing around at the surrounding people listening in on the conversation. She continued, “I’m glad you are okay, Peregrin.”

Cog stepped in and bowed with one arm across his chest, “Of course she is okay. The Morionis family would be put to shame if its most prized heirloom could not protect a lost one such as her.”

The mother looked up at Cog in surprise, “Morionis?” and tried to stand up but collapsed onto the floor.

“Mother!” The girl shouted and kneeled to help her mother.

Cog raised his hands and waved them, “Please, do not strain yourself.”

The mother repositioned herself until she was sitting up while leaning on her daughter.

“Are you Amber’s…?”

Her words trailed.

Cog nodded and replied, “Yes. My name is Cogito Morionis, head and only remaining member of the Morionis family.” He then looked at the girl and pointed at her necklace, “May I inquire how you got that necklace?”

“Yes… I am sure you would like to know, but…”

The mother paused and glanced around.

As if on cue, Cedric walked into the crowd while laughing, “Wow! It looks like you found your parents! I’m glad everything worked out, though Gratus was the one who did most of the heavy lifting.”

The girl looked down at her necklace and clasped it in her hands, but she nodded when her mother whispered something in her ears.

She looked up at Cog and ran up to him, “Here! This is yours! Thank you for letting me borrow it!”

Cog looked at the girl’s outstretched arm holding onto the necklace and exchanged a quick glance with the mother sitting on the floor before accepting the necklace with a smile.

There was an awkward pause before the girl returned to her mother.

The mother broke the silence when she spoke, “Ah, so are you the ones who found my daughter?”

Cog and Cedric both nodded.

“Then, I am indebted to you once again. My name is Eve, mother of this family. Please excuse my husband Pierre for not being able to introduce himself.” The mother looked at her husband who was lying unconscious on the make-shift stretcher and continued, “We were saved by Sophie and Gratus.”

Cedric smirked and struck a gallant pose, “Yes, my brother is amazing, isn’t he?”

The mother did not seem to know how to respond so she defaulted to nodding.

“Ah, as for me, my name is Cedric Bonas. I hail from the great city of Otium, my paradise.”

“Otium?!” Someone from the crowd of people shouted, and everyone stopped what they were doing to listen. A man barged into the surrounding group and prostrated himself on the floor, “I have heard of your kindness to protect us lost ones. Please! Would you accept me into your paradise, my lord?”

Whispers and discussions could be heard spreading around the crowd.

“Otium?”

“That’s the Lord?”

“Can we finally escape this wretched place?”

Before long, everyone had crowded around asking for Cedric to consider taking them in.

Cedric raised his eyebrow and clapped his hands together, “No worries! That was what I planned from the beginning.” Everyone rejoiced, but Cedric suppressed their cheers, “However! My utopia is only for those who are not bound to another domain. We must first free you from Turbavi’s maze.”

A voice cut through the crowd from behind me, “And you know how to free them?”

I turned around and saw the woman that had been leading the group before. She walked passed me towards Cedric. As she walked passed me, she looked at me with her dark silver eyes and faded out of my sight even though I was looking right at her.

‘Whoa, what kind of material is her armor made of? Even with my light, I can’t see her that well. It’s like light isn’t reflecting off of her armor but getting absorbed instead.’

Cedric sounded amused, “Oh? I didn’t notice you among the crowd. Who may you be?”

The woman appeared next to Cedric and let out a faint snicker before replying, “Sophie Lattierre. Pleased to meet the Lord of Otium.”

Cedric smirked and let a brief silence pass before replying, “Right… Well, I do know how to free them, but there is a slight problem.”

Sophie stared at him and showed no signs of moving in the slightest. I think she was waiting for him to continue.

“We have to destroy Turbavi’s soul, but I don’t know how to find it.”

Sophie sighed and shrugged, “It’s tedious, but I don’t mind wandering in the darkness.”

While they were speaking, I had a strange feeling overcome me. It was a sensation I had never felt before. It was hard to describe, but there was something about this woman that baffled me.

‘Now that I think about it, where did this woman come from? Why is she helping out the lost souls? It doesn’t seem like she knows how to actually get them out… I don’t feel like she is an enemy, but her aura… It’s so bizarre.’

Many thoughts flowed into my head, but Cog’s voice cut my thoughts short, “Wait, didn’t Peregrin say she knew how to get to Turbavi’s soul?”

Everyone turned to look at her, but she hid behind her mother’s back.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know… If you go in the darkness, I think you’ll find it. A monster was calling me towards it. It tried to get me, but it couldn’t because of the necklace.”

Cog sighed but reassured the girl, “No worries. Maybe there is another way.”

“Wait. I encountered that monster. It tried to lure me as well,” said Sophie.

“Really?”

Cog didn’t seem to believe her, but Cedric nodded his head in silence.

She continued, “Yes. I didn’t have time to investigate since I was with the others and I didn’t want to put them in harm’s way either, but I am sure I saw that monster.”

This time I stepped forward and asked, “Can you take us back to where you saw that monster?”

Cedric inquired, “But not all of us, right? It’s better if we left the group here with someone to protect them. To tell you the truth, I want to stay behind to make sure these lost souls make it safe to Otium after Turbavi is destroyed.”

Cog added, “I’ll also stay since I have some matters to discuss with Eve and her husband.”

Sophie nodded and exclaimed, “Great! It’s much easier for me to travel with less people, more so alone. I think it’ll be better if you stay here with the group Gratus since you’d only draw the attention of the darkness and make it difficult for me.”

I laughed and rebutted, “But that’s what I was thinking of doing.”

Surprised, Cog asked, “You’re going to be bait?”

Cedric smirked and chuckled a little, “Not a bad idea. If it were up to me, I would have incinerated the whole forest.”

“And killed everyone here,” jested Cog.

Sophie unsheathed her sword and glared at Cedric. She seemed to be daring him.

Cedric raised both his hands over his shoulder showing he meant no harm, “All right. That was a joke.”

Sophie turned while sheathing her sword and beckoned me, “Let’s go. I will lead the way.”

Parting from the group, Sophie walked away from the light coming from the exit of Procella and faded into the darkness. I didn’t want to lose track of her so I followed her.

‘No time to say bye.’

I waved by hands in the air without looking back, and heard Cog and Cedric bid me farewell.

“See you later.”

“Don’t wait for me.”

…