Later in the forest near the school, Ali said, "Let’s split up, then!"

  Matt frowned. "What? Don’t be stupid. We have no idea what’s out there, right? And if the person attacked is all alone, they’d be done for."

  Malak nodded thoughtfully. "It’s risky to split up. You’re right."

  (It’s better to search separately. We need to find them, and fast! But it’d be awful to be attacked alone. How many monsters are out there? What’s the best way to search?)

  Sufian suggested, "Maybe we should be in groups of two?"

  Matt, in a hurry, said, "That’s a plan! Let’s do that!"

  Ali grinned, "But then whoever gets Matt will be stuck with the short end of the stick!"

  (Shut up…)

  "Hey, Ali! Don’t say that!" Malak scolded, glaring at him.

  "There doesn’t seem to be anything dangerous around here. We’ll be okay," Thoren said, glancing around.

  Pimi chimed in, "There’s a slight disturbed aether, but we’re probably fine!"

  Snagglix added, "No matter what—Boblin protect you, YES!!"

  Matt rolled his eyes. "What a joke! Unlike you, that thing can’t even talk! If we go into the forest, it might just go back to its nest or whatever!"

  "Kiwi’d NEVER do that—no-no, not ever!!" Snagglix shouted, his arms crossed defiantly.

  Sufian smirked, "Yeah, he’ll protect you Matt, for sure!"

  "Shuddup!" Matt snapped, glaring at Sufian. "I said I’m not going in there! I’ll look around here. Okay? And if something happens, hurry back!"

  "Let’s just leave him." Ali shrugged, shaking his head.

  "Alright…" Sufian agreed, turning to leave.

  As Sufian and Snagglix were about to leave, Sufian looked back.

  (Guess he is staying after all.)

  "Kew… kew?" Kiwi called out, hopping a little.

  (Kiwi seems like it’s doing its best to look around. There’s just one problem…)

  Kiwi jumped. "Kew? Kewkew!"

  "WAAAH!" Matt yelled, jumping back in surprise. "I thought I told you to keep away from me!"

  (It’s staying so close to Matt that it might as well just be searching the same spot.)

  Matt looked at Sufian. "What? There’s nothing around here. Hurry back!"

  (Jeez. He’s such a coward, but he still acts like he’s the one in charge… Maybe I should tease him just a little? Nah, just let him be.)

  Sufian sighed. "I thought about moving around for a bit."

  "Okay… then I should look around, too…" Matt muttered reluctantly.

  "It’ll be dangerous. Stay close, okay?" Sufian warned, looking at him seriously.

  "Yeah, I know!" Matt said, a little annoyed.

  Snagglix looked at Kiwi and said, "Oof… Matt’s a toughy-tough, huh?"

  "Kewee!" Kiwi chirped happily.

  "Enough already. I’ll follow you," Matt grumbled.

  (It’ll be better if he comes and helps instead of just staying here terrified.)

  "Nobody here... place all quiet-quiet…" Snagglix said, his voice a little worried.

  "I guess not. I’ll look around a bit more, then let’s head somewhere else," Sufian said, stepping forward.

  (Nothing left to do here.)

  "Yeah!" Snagglix cheered, following him.

  ?????

  When the group came within reach of the spider lilies area, Sufian thought, (Malak and Pimi… I wonder if they found any clues about the others yet?)

  "How’s it going, Pimi? You find any clues?" Sufian asked, walking over to her.

  "No, I’m afraid not," Pimi replied, her face downcast.

  "Can’t you track them by their aether, like what you did with Malak at the school?" Sufian asked, frowning slightly.

  "I can… but I can’t track those whose aether I don’t know," Pimi explained.

  "Oh yeah. That makes sense." Sufian nodded, understanding.

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  "But if you knew their aether, you could track them, right? You’re so dependable, Pimi." Malak said with a smile, her eyes warm.

  "Mm-hmmm! You know you can count on me!" Pimi said, her grin wide.

  "That’s a good girl!" Malak praised her, giving her a pat on the head.

  (Malak’s just treating Pimi like a toddler now. Is… is that okay?)

  Malak looked down and said, "There’s nothing here. If we found the professor’s hat, then Bayan and Jeremy should be alive…"

  "Please, Malak! Cheer up!" Pimi said, trying to encourage her.

  "We’ll find them. Let’s keep looking." Sufian said, offering her a reassuring smile.

  "You’re right. But… it’s no good. I keep overthinking this." Malak admitted, her shoulders slumped in frustration.

  "What’s the matter, Malak?" Sufian asked gently, sensing her distress.

  "I’m really anxious about this… Even if we find everyone… I don’t think it’ll change anything. What do you think will become of us? What… what in the world is happening here? My mother… my father… will I ever see them again?!" Malak said, her voice trembling with worry.

  "You’ll definitely see your parents again! You’ll see!" Sufian said firmly, trying to reassure her. "We’ll make it happen! We have to believe it if we’re gonna make it back. Let’s look for a way back together!"

  "…Really?" Malak asked, her voice soft with doubt.

  "Really! We’ll make it happen! We just have to believe in it," Sufian said with confidence.

  "Me help, too-too!!" Snagglix cheered, bouncing excitedly.

  "… You’re right. Thank you, Sufian. I’m feeling a bit braver now, thanks to you." Malak said, her expression lightening.

  "I’ll help too, Malak!" Pimi added eagerly.

  "Thank you, Pimi… Thank you for listening to me. I think I’ll look around here a bit longer," Malak said, her tone more determined now.

  "Sure. Okay, see you later." Sufian said, stepping back. (Maybe they went somewhere farther out? But it’s weird that they wouldn’t head for the school. I wonder if something happened.)

  ?????

  As Sufian and Matt’s party got closer to the shrine, Sufian thought, (Ali… I wonder if he found any clues about the professor?)

  "Any clue, Sufian?" Ali called out, his voice loud enough to carry.

  "Nope, not at all… you?" Sufian replied, looking over his shoulder.

  "Same, same. They’re not around here. Dammit! Where could they have gone?" Ali muttered in frustration.

  "Calm down, Ali. Let’s stay focused on the search," Thoren said, his tone calm and steady.

  "You’re right. Stay calm…" Ali nodded, trying to take a breath.

  "Listen carefully. You’ll surely hear something," Thoren said, his voice sharp and attentive.

  "Hmm… it’s no good… I can only hear the rustling leaves." Ali said, his frustration building.

  "Hmm. He seems to have calmed down." Thoren said, nodding.

  "That’s why you made me do that?" Ali asked, raising an eyebrow at Thoren.

  "You make a good team, don’t you?" Sufian said with a grin, eyeing them both.

  "You think so? Well, if Thoren thinks so too, it’ll be easier to believe," Ali replied, his tone teasing.

  "Well, Ali. I accept your strengths and weaknesses," Thoren said, his tone approving.

  "Stop. You’re embarrassing me," Ali muttered, his cheeks turning pink.

  "Me trust Sufian, too!" Snagglix shouted, giving a thumbs up.

  (Trusting each other, and working together… they’re kinda like…)

  "It’s like you’re brothers in arms." Sufian said with a smile.

  "That has a good ring to it! Brothers in arms! We fight together. Cool! Brothers who watch each other’s back? That’s perfect!" Ali said, his face lighting up.

  "Yeah, it’s not bad. It has the ring of truth, too. We’ll fight together to survive together," Thoren agreed.

  "Then Boblin’s Sufian’s fighty-bro too, YES-YES!!" Snagglix cheered, bouncing around.

  "I’m counting on you, Ali," Thoren said, his voice serious.

  "That’s my line! Ha! Anyway, we need to find Bayan and the others as soon as possible!" Ali said, his face hardening with determination.

  "Any luck, Thoren?" Sufian asked, glancing at him.

  "Unfortunately, no, I have not found anything. However, I am sensing some sort of presence. I’m not as good as Pimi thought," Thoren admitted.

  "What do you mean? Is it something dangerous?" Sufian asked, his brow furrowing.

  "I’m not sure. Since I can’t tell what it is. It’s hard for me to describe." Thoren said, looking uneasy.

  "Alright, well, our first priority should still be to find some trace of the others," Sufian said, nodding.

  "Very well," Thoren said, agreeing.

  "Nothing here, either," Snagglix said, his shoulders slumping.

  "There’s not even any footprints or anything. I guess they didn’t come this way," Sufian said, looking around.

  "Hmm... Boblin don’t know, but somethin’ feelin’ weirdy-weird…" Snagglix added, his voice uncertain.

  "Oh? What kind of something?" Sufian asked, curious.

  "Mmm... sorry-sorry. Boblin not sure-sure…" Snagglix said, shaking his head.

  "Oh. Okay… Ali, Thoren, I’ll leave this area to you two." Sufian said, turning to walk away.

  "You bet! Oh… wait, we also are coming with you," Ali said, quickly following him.

  ?????

  Everyone arrived in front of the shrine.

  "Hmm… they’re not around here. Where did they all go?" Ali muttered, scanning the area.

  Malak and Pimi approached the group, and Pimi asked, "Did you find anything, Sufian?"

  "No, not really…" Sufian replied, shaking his head.

  "Okay… I’ll keep looking around back there," Pimi said, already turning to leave.

  "Let me take a look around the school again. We might have just missed them. I’m also worried about Layla and Zayn," Malak added, her voice full of concern.

  "I’ll follow you… with no signal, we need to stick together! Get going, then!" Matt said, eager to move.

  (Everyone’s looking so hard… why haven’t we found them yet? Those guys, are they…) Sufian thought, unease settling in.

  "Are they really here somewhere?" Sufian asked, glancing around, his voice quiet.

  "Hey. Don’t give up yet on them now," Ali said, giving Sufian a reassuring smile.

  "But we’ve looked and looked…" Sufian muttered, looking down.

  "You saw the professor’s hat, right? You think only his hat made it here?" Malak asked, looking at Sufian for an answer.

  "That wouldn’t be impossible, but…" Sufian said, trailing off, uncertainty in his tone.

  "Boblin all twisty-brain now... so confuse-confuse!" Snagglix said, his small body twitching with discomfort.

  "Keep it together, Sufian. We’re all counting on you! For now, let’s focus on looking for them!" Ali said, putting his hand on Sufian’s shoulder.

  "Yeah, you’re right. Sorry…" Sufian said, forcing a small smile.

  Pimi squatted down and touched the ground with her fingers, her brow furrowed in concentration.

  "Huh? Pimi? You okay?" Sufian asked, watching her.

  "The aether is distorted here… but I can’t tell where, exactly." Pimi said, her voice uncertain.

  "Is something happening out there?" Malak asked, her eyes narrowing.

  "I’m not sure whether it’s someone fighting or if it’s friendly play… but it’s a strong distortion…" Pimi explained, standing up.

  "There are traces of something around here," Thoren said, scanning the area with a keen eye.

  Matt, now clearly freaking out, said, "Traces? But nowhere else?"

  "Something might show up on the camera! Take a look, Sufian!" Ali suggested, pulling out his phone.

  Sufian took out his phone and began scanning, focusing the camera in different directions. He didn’t see anything unusual at first, but then something caught his eye.

  "Woah!" Sufian exclaimed, zooming in on the phone’s screen.

  "WHAT’S THIS-THIS?!" Snagglix squealed, leaning in to get a better look.

  "The footprints of a bunch of creatures! The professor’s in danger!" Sufian said, his voice rising with urgency.

  "They’re heading away from us…" Thoren observed, narrowing his gaze.

  "To the altar!" Ali exclaimed, his voice filled with newfound urgency.

  (Is something dangerous coming? I hope the professor is safe…) Sufian thought, dread settling in.

  ?????