After the mishap at the park Gomenne and company returned, turning in their quest and collecting their reward from before heading home to call it a day.

A week passes, bringing nothing but mundane quest after mundane quest. Pest extermination in the sewers, item finding, trash collecting—any quest they were allowed to do, they did. Leagues less exciting than fighting a crazed monster, but it was better than nothing.

And although the friends were more than willing to put what happened on that day behind them, others were not so eager.

One day, a summons letter quickly reached them, sent by the Guilds Committee, demanding them to return immediately to the community center they had accepted the quest from. Should they not comply by the end of that day, the letter threatened they would use force.

With no options other than to comply, the friends set off at once that afternoon.

Upon arrival, the center seemed strangely quiet, crowds of people staring and whispering among themselves. Choosing to ignore the strange atmosphere, they quickly reached the receptionist’s desk and identified who they were.

They were almost immediately approached by two large and rugged-looking men dressed in black who seemed to be waiting for them to show up.

“Come with us,” one of them spoke harshly. The other walked behind the group to ensure that they don’t even think about trying to run off, sandwiching the friends between them.

“The hell is this? What’s going on?” Gomenne protested.

“Look lady, just do it. Don’t make this harder on yourself.”

Gomenne opened her mouth to speak but Kiki quickly placed a hand on her shoulder, one look in her partner’s eyes telling all she needed to know. Gomenne still had no idea what was going on but she trusted Kiki’s intuition, deciding to hold her tongue for now.

The group could only share confused and worried glances among themselves as they were escorted by these men.

They passed through several corridors through employee areas that the general public don’t get to see, making the party feel a little anxious about where they were being taken and why.

The building was much bigger than they had realized previously.

Before long, they arrived to the door to a lone room in an eerily barren hallway. One could assume it was a back room that only the staff running the center knew about, but the hallway seemed to look nothing else like the rest of the building. It seemed unfinished, maybe even abandoned. The walls weren’t even covered in the usual plaster walling and the floors had no carpet, but instead brick and concrete.

The man who had been leading them had walked ahead of them to open the door, gesturing them all to go in, and they comply. The door was shut behind them as they entered.

Inside is an older gentleman, dressed for business and seemingly a normal human, sitting at a large table covered by a table cloth with a distinct rose insignia. Behind him are a couple more similarly dressed men-in-black, all staring us down intensely.

“Come, come. Have a seat, ladies,” the gentleman at the table gestured to four chairs sitting on the opposite side of the table from him.

The girls looked at each other before reluctantly having a seat at the table as told.

“You must forgive me for meeting with you like this, but this is the only way they’d allow me to even meet with anyone outside of the Committee.”

“Who the hell are you? What the hell’s going on?” demanded Gomenne.

“Ah, yes right, the summons. That I also apologize for, I’m sure it sounded frightening, but I assure you I do not wish you any harm. You’ve my word as a member of the Guilds Committee.”

“Yeah yeah. Get to the point already, ya geezer.”

“You show your respects to the president, girl!” One of the men-in-black behind the old man commanded, taking a step forward, only to be stopped with a gesture from the old man.

“President?” Star spoke up, “President of what exactly?”

“Ahh, I’d wished it was kept a secret at least a little longer.” The old man cleared his throat before continuing.

“Yes. I am the President of the Guilds Committee, Rosewater. Or so, that was a name from the guild who founded it long ago. I simply inherited it.”

Among the group only Star seemed surprised by this revelation. The others had not even a clue who this old guy even was.

“Ah right, why I summoned you. I’m sure that’s what you’re all wondering. Well, it has something to do with the events that happened in that park you all visited some days ago.”

“You’re talking about the black slime, right?”

“That’s right, Miss Star.”

“You know my name?”

Rosewater chuckled. “Yes well, I had to find out who you all were in order to contact you, yes.”

He then took a deep breath and leaned onto the table, resting his head on his interlocked hands. His gaze changed to one that felt as if it peered deep into their souls.

“You see, that incident is only one of many others. A few reports from other parts of the world talk of similar counters with black creatures, all difficult to bring down. And, unfortunately, there have even been casualties.”

The girls exchange glances of utter disbelief among each other, but continue to listen intently to the old man’s words.

“We have done all in our power to stop this new threat from reaching the capitol of Jaune, but well I suppose you’re already familiar with that case now, aren’t you?”

“What the hell are they, then? I ain’t never seen any monster like that.” Gomenne said.

“That, we’ve yet to determine. But, there is one irregularity about your case.”

“What’s that?” questioned Star.

“In every report we’ve received thus far, there were always a mention of casualties of some kind. All, except for yours. I could simply chalk this up to pure luck that you’ve escaped with your lives, but the more one thinks about it, the less sense it makes.”

Rosewater darted his eyes to each of them, and addressed them individually.

“A fledgling guildmaster reported for her reckless and rude behavior. A mysterious long haired woman with no specific roles at all. A woman with the eyes of a killer. And lastly, a child who might possibly not be from this country at all.”

He paused briefly before speaking once more. “Don’t you see what’s strange here? The lot of you should have been at the very least injured, but here you are in perfect health. Care to explain?”

“That’s because I fixed it,” Muffler spoke plainly.

“Muffy, no!” Gomenne blurted out.

“Shhhh,” Kiki also attempted to silence her.

“Huh? But that’s the truth. It only seems fair, since he’s telling us all this stuff.” Muffler rebuked.

Rosewater couldn’t help but break his serious act and laughed at the child’s unyielding honesty.

“Hahaha, what a clever girl you are, Muffler. Telling the truth even when your friends don’t want you to is quite brave!”

“It wasn’t that we didn’t want her to tell you,” said Kiki with a sigh. “It’s that we don’t fully understand the situation here.”

“Yeah, what if you’re some corrupt bastard who’d silence us the moment we fessed up and took all the credit? Can’t be too careful,” Gomenne added.

“Why are you telling us this, Mr. Rosewater?” Star asked with concern, “Surely, someone in your position of power has more resources at his disposal. Why are you here, and why meet with us directly?”

Rosewater’s expression became grim, closing his eyes for a brief moment.

“One of those casualties was a fellow board member of the Guilds Committee, and a close friend.”

The girls were speechless.

“I can no longer simply let others handle things for me while I lie in wait. I fear that this new threat may be more than we can handle alone. That’s why I sought you out myself.”

Rosewater took a deep breath, and spoke with a gentle tone. “So please, tell us what you know, Muffler.”

“I don’t really know what I know. But I know when I talked to the black slime, it calmed down and then there was a big flash of light. Then, the slime turned to a normal slime again.”

“A flash of light, you say?”

“Uh-huh, from my chest.” Muffler instinctively pressed her hand against the stones in her chest before realizing, “Oh, I guess you can’t see them through my shirt.”

“Mr. Rosewater,” Star began, “How much do you know about the war from a thousand years ago?”

“I know enough. That war was the very reason for the Guilds Committee's founding. These stones, you wouldn’t be referring to the Keystones now, would you?”

“Uh-huh!” Muffler answered cheerfully, “They’re stuck in my chest. Even the Dreamstone, but you can’t see or touch that one.”

Rosewater looked shock but did his best to regain himself quickly. “I see. I think I understand what may be happening.”

Star pursed her lips in hesitation, wanting to speak up but unsure if she should.

“Thank you for your time, ladies. I won’t keep you for much longer here, but I will definitely want us to meet again. When the time comes, we will reach out. I promise the means will be less forceful next time.”

Rosewater gestured to the men standing behind him. “Please, escort them out safely.”

“Wait!” Star exclaimed. “Mr. Rosewater, there’s something I want to talk to you about. Privately, if we can.”

“Of course.”

“You girls go on ahead. I’ll catch up in a bit, okay?”

The three girls looked at each other before turning to leave.

“Alright, but keep us waiting too long and you’re paying for next meal out!” Gomenne said with a snicker as they left out the door. The same two men from before escorted them out of the room.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As soon as the girls were gone, Star’s composure completely falls apart.

All the feelings bottled up inside of her began to trickle out like holes in the wall of a dam. Her usual gentle expression gone, replaced with one filled with guilt.

“Mr. Rosewater, I-I’m so sorry,” she sobbed. “This is all my fault, I was much too lenient before.”

The great Creator of the universe, with all of her infinite love of the world she had created, was now grovelling before a mortal, a product of her work from an age before history. She felt the seeds she had sewn just a thousand years ago were beginning to bear fruit, and it was much too late to stop it.

Where many other gods would not even dream of admitting their faults to a lowly mortal, thinking of either the benefit of their subjects or even their own ego, Star was different.

Star did not hide behind such vanity, her intentions were honest and pure. All of that was plain to see right before Rosewater.

“So everything Lady Capryce told us before really was true then,” said Rosewater. “You really are the Creator given flesh, which means the bad-mouthed one from just now must be the Light Deity, too.”

He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples, sighing, “Oh, what a fine mess this is.”

He could not help but laugh, though not at the predicament.

“We must act quickly, Mr. Rosewater,” Star spoke up, attempting to dry her tears at the same time.

“Gomenne is starting a guild in an attempt to gather faith and reclaim her power as the Light Deity, but without help it will take much too long.”

Star grasped Rosewater’s free hand, cupping it between her hands. “Please, you must give Gomenne any resources you can.”

Rosewater made a troubled expression. “Under normal circumstances this would get me kicked out of my chair at the Committee, perhaps even blacklisted.”

“Please! You must!”

“Miss Star, please. You mustn't degrade yourself anymore. You really must remember yourself.”

“Ah, sorry,” said Star with a sniffle.

“I can’t even begin to fathom the weight of this situation from your perspective, which is why I will do everything in my power to convince the other board members.”

That was all it took for Star’s usual smile to grace her face once more, a smile so bright and warm that would make even the sun itself jealous.

“Thank you. I will help in my own way as well.”

The two said their goodbyes shortly after, and Star left with one of the men-in-black tailing her to meet up with the others.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What happened to you?” is the first thing Gomenne says when Star meets up with them finally.

“She was crying,” Kiki replied before Star could say anything.

“Oh, I just got an eyelash in my eye, that’s all.”

“Now she’s lying.”

“Did that codger do anything to you when we left?” Gomenne’s permanent scowl deepened at the thought of someone making her mother cry.

“No! No, he’d never do anything like that! I swear.”

Gomenne squinted in disbelief.

“Come on girls, we’ll miss our bus if we keep standing around!” Star did her best to change the subject. Unfortunately she was the Creator of the world, not the Creator of lies.

Despite wanting to press further, the others decided to give in. She was at least right about the bus.

For a while, the mystery of what occurred when they weren’t around loomed over them like a curtain.

But fortune would have it that they did not have to wait much longer for the answer to reveal itself, and it may reveal a few more things along the way.