The Betrayal of the Guardians

~ (33) Caris ~

Arisa traveled through the woods, walking back to the place she shouldn't have left. She mentally scolded herself for leaving the team without warning and worrying her friends.

As the morning sun brightened and bathed the land with its light, Arisa checked out the trees that surrounded her. She noticed that the leaves of some strangely shaped trees had a curious color. Instead of the typical green or orange-brown leaves, the ones that she was witnessing had a purple color. Some even had a silvery gray color.

If she hadn't been in a hurry, she would have admired her surroundings even more. A sudden flap of wings stopped her for a moment. She gazed at the little sky the colorful trees allowed her to see.

There, she saw the same black dragon she had seen when she woke up.

"Leo?" she whispered.

The dragon faded from her view as it flew away from the little piece of sky she could see.

"Arisa," called a familiar female voice.

Arisa gazed at her front and saw Thelma approaching her alongside Nala.

"Thelma, Nala," she replied.

Thelma hugged her tightly. "Thank goodness you're fine. We were so worried about you."

Arisa tried to apologize, but nothing left her lips as she fought to breathe through her friend's tight hug.

"For a moment, I thought that my memory manipulation failed," said Nala, her unusual accent still evident in her tone. "I thought that maybe Gemini succeeded in compromising your mental health."

"Memory manipulation?" Arisa frowned. "Why would Gemini compromise my mental health?"

Nala didn't reply. From her expression, Arisa could read that she had said something she shouldn't have. Confused, Arisa wondered if Gemini had the ability to drive people crazy

"Anyway, what matters is that you're fine," said Thelma quickly.

Thelma grabbed her mini robot, which was floating above them. As she opened its side, she typed something on it.

"I'll tell the boys that we found you and that we're meeting at the appointed place." Thelma locked her gaze on her assistant. "Hopefully, Train won't freak out with my device's ringtone."

Arisa raised a brow, wondering what a ringtone was. After Thelma finished typing her message, she let her mini robot float around. They resumed their walk, back to the place where they had camped.

As they walked, Thelma and Nala demanded answers about Arisa's sudden disappearance. Arisa apologized once again for being dumb and putting herself in danger. For a few seconds, she debated whether to tell them about Aries. She wondered if what she saw was real or was a product of her imagination.

"So?" Thelma persisted. "Why did you suddenly leave?"

"Oh, um—"

A sudden bump interrupted her and knocked her to the colorful ground. She tried to move away from the weight that forced her to fall. As she did so, the salty scent of the ocean invaded her sense of smell. 

Arisa never went to a beach or ocean before, but Kazuya's dad would bring souvenirs from his trips around the worlds. Some of the souvenirs were seashells. She remembered smelling those curious objects and wondering why they had a salty scent. Shin simply told her that that was the scent of the ocean.

"Sorry," said a nervous female voice.

Arisa's forehead wrinkled. As they tried to stand up, Arisa gazed at the person who had bumped into her. The girl in front of her looked really young; she guessed that she may be fourteen or fifteen.