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Chapter 32

  From defeating another monstrous creation by the Necromutants of Chaos, the party have returned to the cell where The's sister is. Tanais waits in her cell and looks to see Shokei and her friends are back in one piece.

  "Shokei!" Tanais called out to her, feeling gd. "I'm so happy to see you alive."

  "It was rough, but we are still alive." Shokei said to her.

  "What about that witch? Did you defeat her?" Tanais asked.

  "No. She got away." Shokei replied. "But don't worry, for as she won't come back to harm us."

  "Awww...but at least you chased her away." Tanais said.

  "Wait! Where's the key?" Shokei asked, looking through herself. "I thought I had it on me."

  "Here it is!" Tanais responded, revealing the key in her hand.

  "Huh? Where did you hide that?" Shokei asked her.

  "Actually, I gave it to her." Rei pointed out to Shokei. "I had her hold on to it in case we lose the key during the fight."

  "I see." Shokei said. "In that case..."

  Shokei takes the key from Tanais and does the honor of bailing her out. Tanais is finally free from the cell and goes over to hug Shokei.

  "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!!" Tanais said happily to Shokei. "You have no idea how terrible it was to be locked in that cell."

  "No worries little one." Naoko said to her. "You're free."

  "By the way," Shokei looks at Tanais and asked. "What was your purpose in coming to this Monastery?"

  "Let's see..." Tanais replied. "Right! I was looking for a particur jewelry that is hidden inside this pce and I thought about going here alone. My younger sister wanted to come along with me, but I refused when she asked."

  "Really?" Shokei asked.

  "Yes. It's true I did that. I didn't want my sister to come along because I care for her safety." Tanais said.

  "I mean, she is your sister." Rei said to her.

  "Do you two have parents?" Naoko asked.

  "No." Tanais shakes her head. "My sister and I are orphans."

  "...wow." Naoko quietly said.

  "Hmm..." Shokei thinks about this for a second.

  "That's really retable." Rei said to Tanais. "You live with anyone like a guardian or anybody?"

  "We used to." Tanais replied. "However, our guardian passed a long time ago."

  "Damn." Rei said, looking down.

  "You two are by yourselves?" Naoko asked. "How you two survive anyway?"

  "We can manage ourselves without help." Tanais replied. "It's really a long story."

  "I see." Naoko said.

  "Anyways," Shokei said, changing the subject. "How do you know about this Monastery? Where did you find out about this treasure?"

  "I read it from a source back at Egesul's library." Tanais replied. "It was detailed in one of the books. It's a particur jewelry that's been used by spiritual worshippers that cherished the treasure as part of the Monastery, many years ago."

  "I see." Shokei said. "In fact, we are looking for the same thing. However, me and Rei have ran into some trouble with a group of people."

  "Oh! Are they helping you along with the search?" Tanais asked.

  "Unfortunately, we don't belong to this group in particur." Shokei expined. "You see, a bandit of thieves captured me, and my allies and the rest of my allies are held at the bandit's territory. Their leader, whose really edgy, made me and Rei travel here to this pce."

  "Aha! This might be the work of Woundcw I assume." Tanais said.

  "Hold up now!" Rei called out to her after hearing the name from her. "You KNOW these guys?"

  "I...I heard of the bandits, but never saw them in person." Tanais replied.

  "Shucks! And I was about to ask you what their lifestyles are." Rei said, snapped her fingers in disappointment.

  "We know where to go from here and we will show you where their hideout is in the Maple Forest." Shokei said.

  "Are you serious?" Tanais asked. "You know where their hideout is? And is my sister being held with your friends held captive?"

  "Of course." Shokei replied. "But before we can do that, we need to find that treasure to retrieve for the cn's leader first."

  "But I don't understand why Woundcw would enforce you guys to find a treasure for them?" Tanais asked with concern. "You people are not bandits at all. Why work for them?"

  "So that we can get ourselves out of the bandit's hideout and be free from them." Shokei replied. "It's a real burden, but it's for the sake of our friends that are in need to escape."

  "That's terrible!" Tanais said, feeling mad about this. "You guys shouldn't go through this."

  "I know." Rei said. "We have no choice."

  "So, you want to help me and my friends on finding that treasure?" Shokei asked.

  "Sure!" Tanais replied and nodded. "I'll help you out and help your friend escape this Woundcw."

  "Tee hee, she's determined to help you two." Naoko said with a smile.

  "Then its settled." Shokei said. "We need to return back to that door that's locked. Come on!"

  With Tanais on Shokei's side, the party returns to the underground to find that treasure.

  The party went back downstairs to the underground and found their way back to one of the doors. The door that has been locked is right in front of them.

  "Let's see if this works." Shokei said.

  Using the key that she used to free Tanais, Shokei inserts the key into the hole and turns it to unlock the door. The key would not unlock the door.

  "Damn." Shokei said, after trying out the key. "There isn't any other key that would just open this door."

  "Hmm...how about this one?" Tanais asked.

  Shokei looks at Tanais and sees her holding a key, but the look of the key is golden.

  "Huh? Where you get that key?" Shokei asked.

  "I found this key when I first walked in this pce." Tanais replied. "I don't know but you can use this key to see if it works."

  "Thanks." Shokei said, taking the key from her.

  Using the key, the door's tch became unlocked with just one turn. Shokei opens the door with success.

  "Eureka!" Shokei said with excitement.

  Once the door is unlocked, everyone went inside the room. There, the party can see the next stone tablet with another mystery riddle. Shokei and her party went up to read what was engraved in the tablet. The Tablet reads:

  I never was, am always to be,

  No one ever saw me, nor ever will

  And yet I am the confidence of all

  To live and breathe on this terrestrial ball

  It never comes...

  "It never comes..." Tanais reads the st message of the riddle.

  "I'm not so good at solving these riddles, nor puzzles." Naoko said.

  "Maybe but let's figure this out." Rei tells her.

  "Reading from this, the clues can show what the riddle is trying to tell us." Shokei said.

  "I'm curious about the st line of this riddle." Tanais said.

  Shokei re-reads the words in the riddle. Thinking it over, she tries to find some sense into solving the riddle and takes her time to think of the clues again. Naoko scratches her head and she too looks back on the riddle. As Naoko takes her time to figure out the clue, her eyes light up as a thought hit her.

  "I got it!" Naoko said.

  "What is it?" Shokei asked her.

  "This clue doesn't look so bad now." Naoko said to everyone. "I believe this clue has to deal with an earth like reference. The means of "live and breathe" is probably a living environment referral."

  "You think so?" Rei asked.

  "Go on." Shokei tells her.

  "Those that look into the future while they are in the present, has to deal with the outcomes on the next day." Naoko continued. "That's it! It's...its..."

  The party waits for her response.

  "...its Tomorrow!" Naoko said, mentioning the answer. "Tomorrow!!"

  The stone tablet shines once the answer has been said. Just then Shokei and her party can hear a loud thump on the floor. The party turns to see that there is a treasure box that appeared in the room. The party went over to see the treasure box in the center of the room. From the looks of the treasure box, it appears to be in a bck box. However, this treasure box appears to be different as it has a lock with digits from one to nine.

  "A secured treasure box..." Shokei said.

  "Could this be it?" Rei asked. "Is this the treasure that we been looking for?"

  "It's possible." Naoko said. "I mean, we made it this far on our quest."

  "We can't be so sure but...hmm, there's a note attached to the box." Tanais points out.

  "I wonder what the message says?" Shokei said, taking the note and brings it closer for her to read it.

  Shokei reads the note, and the message says:

  Search for the numbers and you can have this. The colored numbers will lead you the way. Every digit counts but one...

  "Numbers? What Numbers?" Shokei asked.

  "Shokei..." Rei said, getting her attention.

  From reading the note, Shokei and her party looks around the room to see that the walls have graffiti all over. The torches on the wall illuminates brightly to see and the walls have scribbles and random messages that's been put on the wall. The numbers are scattered in the room.

  "What is all this?" Naoko asked.

  "That's...a lot of numbers." Tanais said, looking around the room.

  "We should take our time here and find the numbers that we need to open this box." Shokei said to her party.

  "Hmm..." Naoko thinks to herself and then she spots something. "Say, I found one of the numbers right away! It's circled."

  "Really?" Shokei asked her.

  "Yeah," Naoko said, pointing out the number. "The number is seven."

  The party can see that the number is circled in white color. The circle is done in bck.

  "Ok." Shokei said. "We need to find more numbers like that that's embedded in this color."

  The party looks around the room and inspects the walks for any numbers that's painted in white. Shokei scans around the colored marked walks to locate a number and soon, she finds another numbers, which is circled and marked "five." The rest of the other party members scouts the area to spot numbers that stood out.

  "What did you guys find?" Shokei asked her party. "What numbers you came across?"

  "I found a three." Rei

  "Four." Tanais said.

  "I found a number eight." Naoko said.

  "Hmm, let me check that box again." Shokei said.

  Shokei goes back to the treasure box. Shokei looks carefully to see that the locks consist of rolling digits.

  "What do we have to do to decode this lock?" Shokei asked.

  "Try reading that note again." Tanais said to her. "You should rely on that before trying to open that box."

  "The note did say that all digits are used except for one digit." Rei said.

  "We just got some numbers." Shokei said. "Let me experiment these numbers first."

  Shokei tried the first five numbers to open the lock and then used a few other numbers in the other nine slots. Unfortunately, there was no luck.

  "Damn." Shokei said, sighed. "No such luck."

  "You should pay attention to the note again." Tanais said to her.

  "Well, I really need to inspect the walls again." Shokei said, getting up and away from the box.

  "We're going to need more numbers to find out here or we'll be stuck here forever." Rei said.

  "Ehhh...I hope not." Tanais said.

  Shokei looks up at the walls again, to see if there was anything else that she might have missed out. Then, she finds the number six which has a star instead of a circle.

  This six has a star instead of it being circled... Shokei thought. The clue did state that its 'every digit but one'...maybe I'll try out that number first.

  Shokei returns back to the box and then she turns the dial of the number to a six. Then, she looks back at the number and takes note that the number is connected with another number, which is a one. Shokei counterclockwise the dial back to one on the lock. She resumes back to the walls and can see that the one connects to a nine. Shokei dials back the number clockwise to a nine. Then, getting the idea on what to do with this puzzle, Shokei can see where the puzzle is leading to.

  "I think I figured it out guys." Shokei said to them. "The numbers...they're connected."

  "Wait! They are?" Naoko asked.

  "How can you tell?" Rei asked.

  "I noticed one of the numbers has a star to it." Shokei replied. "Somehow, the star is indicating that the number is the first in line."

  "Are you sure?" Tanais asked. "What if its misleading?"

  "No..." Shokei said. "The numbers are connected. The number six is in a shape of a star and the lines are connecting to that number."

  "Huh?" Tanais looks carefully at the walls and she can see the traces of bck lines. "Aha. I see now."

  "I'm onto something here." Shokei said to her party. "Hold on."

  Figuring out the idea to the puzzle, she puts the rest of the numbers in order: 5,3,4,8 and 7. She looks around for more clues and finds out that the number "two" was nowhere to be found. That's when she figured it out and the mystery on opening the box. Using the numbers in order, she includes the number two as the final digit on the dial and then pulls down the lock. The treasure box has been unlocked successfully.

  "YES!!" Shokei said, with excitement.

  Shokei carefully opens the treasure box. Opening the box, she can see a shiny glow coming within the box. Keeping her eyes dim, she opens the box all the way and there it was.

  "This..." Shokei said, taking the item out of the box. "This is..."

  "The Diamond Light Idol." Rei said, seeing the item in pce.

  "It really is a shape of a Diamond all right." Naoko said.

  The Diamond Light Idol is shiny as it looks brand new and it emits a bright wave of light from the inside.

  "Amazing..." Shokei said, seeing the Diamond giving a soft shiny glow.

  "It's beautiful." Rei said. "Imagine making a profit out of this baby."

  "True...but this is a rarity indeed." Naoko said.

  "Well, we got what we came for." Shokei said to everyone. "All right, we can finally get out of here."

  Shokei and her party can leave the Monastery with the treasure in hand.

  Evening time came in the Maple Forest. Shokei and her party are staying over at Naoko's house for the night. It was a long day for them after going through everything that they been through at the Gal Quis Hallowed Monastery. The Diamond Light Idol shines as it is pced on the table.

  "This thing still shines." Tanais said, seeing the treasure on the table.

  "I don't know, but could this specific treasure be magical or just a valuable item?" Naoko asked.

  "I can't tell what it is." Shokei replied. "I guess its magical."

  "Now that we have this in our possession, we can give it to that Woundcw bitch." Rei said. "I bet she's wondering what is taking us so long to come back."

  "It's not like she would sent out her own bandits to come find us." Shokei said. "She should know that we are coming back to rescue our friends."

  "Let's hope that those bastards won't think too much about us escaping from them." Rei said. "Then again, I hope our friends are holding up well."

  "Yeah." Shokei said. "I missed all of them."

  "You have to admit, this has been one long day out there." Naoko said, feeling tired. "I'm sleepy now. I'm about to call it a night girls."

  "Me too." Rei said, yawning. "I'm tired from all this. I'm heading to sleep."

  "I'm heading off to my room. I'll cover up this thing with a bnket so that the light won't bother you all while you sleep." Naoko said.

  Shokei, Rei, and Tanais slept together in a bed after a long day. Naoko used a bnket to cover up the Diamond Light Idol to prevent it from gring into anyone's eyes while they're asleep. Then, she leaves the living room to go back to her bedroom.

  However, the night is not settling well back at Woundcw's hideout. Cyril is up te at night looking out at the open window.

  "What the hell is taking those two so long?!" Cyril said angrily. "Those two should be back here by now!!"

  "Beats me." Lucreita said with a shrug. "It'll be te for those two to arrive back at this time of hour."

  "You don't think they got lost, huh?" Editha asked. "You think they got lost in the forest or got killed by some wild beast or even got kidnapped and raped perhaps?"

  "Yeah yeah, I doubt it." Cyril said. "Perhaps they might have some help along the way. I just hope that those twats found my treasure that they're looking for. Hell, I am damn sure that they have FOUND that treasure that I am looking for. They better not have any scratch marks or anything on it."

  Back at the cell, Shokei's party members are sleeping quietly. Not knowing what to do in their situation, the only hope that they can rely on is for Shokei and Rei to come back with the task that they are being assigned by Cyril. Only one of the party members was still up te and could not rest.

  Oh Rei..., Lei thought to herself. Please come back...I can't stand being held in here...please...you and the Emissary...please, rescue us.

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