Lyrics Nightmare

(POV Lyric)

Returning from the forest I split off from the rest of my group and decided to wait for the others to return. My group had gotten lucky and we found a small nest of leaf geckos soon after entering, so we managed to amass a large sum of points quickly. We ended up finishing our quota in about thirty minutes so we had some time to just relax. My group was unusual to be in as they were about average in the class, in skill. Having spent so much time with Alice and Tanya I've forgotten what normal people my age when fighting. This group lack the flare and ferocity of our lovely loose cannons.

Sitting in the grass outside the forest, I closed my eyes and let myself bask in the midday sun. It was warm and kindly accented by a gentle breeze. I sat there listening to the wind in the trees and the leaves rustling in the distance. It was peaceful outside the forest. Sudden nearby footsteps snapped me out of my daze.

" Greetings lyric." Miss Himeko said, before sitting down beside me.

" Hello, Miss Himeko. Did you need something?" I asked questioningly, opening my eyes to look at her.

" How did your trip into the forest go?" She asked, seeming unsure about something.

" It was quite enjoyable, my team was a little lackluster but they worked well together, and ultimately we passed. Other than that there wasn't anything noteworthy. We found a nest for Leaf geckos relatively close to the entrance, so we didn't go very far in before we finished. ... Did something happen?"

" No, it's nothing to worry over, I'm just a little anxious. It happens every year when we do this so you needn't concern yourself. It's never fun to find out one of your students have died, but it happens all the time. You always hope that maybe this year will be different, but it never is, and it never gets easier. It's the part I hate most about this job." She looked lost in though as she spoke but quickly snapped out of it.

" Ah, Sorry, I didn't mean to complain, I'm sure that's not what you need to hear right now. I just hope everyone gets back safely." I nod in agreement, and Miss Himeko gave a loose smile then walked off to talk to Ms. Talfa.

Closing my eyes again, I couldn't feel the same peace as before. I started to feel the unease that Miss Himeko had been feeling, and everything seemed, off. What would happen if someone else died? No, no one would die. The monsters were rather pitiful, and with how hard Ms. Talfa and Miss Hemiko has been training everyone there was no way something like that was going to happen. But, I suppose there is still that chance.

Suddenly two people come bolting out of the forest, frantically calling for our instructors. I recognize them as the other team members that partnered with Alice and Ravi. Seeing them alone I felt my heart start to pick up, and I found myself nervously nearing them, trying to hear what they were saying.

The girl of the pair was panicking, her voice carrying a tone of urgency." Miss Himeko! Alice and Ravi are in trouble! There was this massive flock of ringed raven's then, we ran into these grey wolves. They didn't seem right though, as if they weren't alive yet they were still moving. They helped us escape, but we need to help them!" Talfa seemed to know something, because as soon as the living dead creatures were mentioned, she immediately started barking out orders.

" Neori, go back to the guild and gather every adventurer you can. Inform the guild master and get back here ASAP. I'll go look for Alice and Ravi, and get the other kids out. Everyone else stay here, you'll only be more trouble if we lose you." Talfa yells to us and flashed into the Forest disappearing in seconds. As she leaves our sight, Miss Himeko, starts creating a magic circle far bigger than anything I've ever seen, and she vanished in a ball of fire. The flares descended and she was gone.

Looking back over to the pair, they both seemed scratched up and out of breath. They had been pushing themselves to get out of the forest, and now they finally relaxed a bit, the exertion was catching up to them. The girl's leg buckled and she fell, the boy catching her and gently lowering them both to the ground.

" What happened?" I ask hesitantly. None of what she said made any sense to me but the teacher's were fast to act.

Neither of them seemed to have noticed me and, they both jumped at the sound of my voice. After a moment, the boy spoke up and explained the situation.

Thinking back to the conversation from earlier, with Miss Hemiko, I started to panic. What if Alice died, what if Ravi died. I only just recently met them, but they were some of my first real friends here. The first people I've ever really opened up to. Eric had hit hard enough, I couldn't lose anyone else.

Dashing towards the forest entry, Another from person from my team closer to the entrance tried to stop me. Grabbing onto my arm as I passed by him. He was yanked off his feet and started sliding along with me.

" Let go." I growled at him, he was slowing me down, I needed to make sure Alice and Ravi we're ok.

" Are you crazy?"! The kid yelled in my ear shocking me a bit. " Talfa seemed super serious, your going to get in so much trouble if you go back in there. Besides she had a point, if you go back in you may get lost."

" I don't care." I say now almost desperate, " I can't lose them. I can't lose everyone, not again."

" I know it's hard to just watch but if you go in there, you could die too. Then when your friends come out looking for you. You could be dead, when there was nothing to worry about. Besides, Talfa is going to save everyone. She won't let anyone die." The boy, Cylis tried to comfort me.

I hesitantly relent, and don't go into the forest. He had a point. If Alice was in trouble, then whatever's out there is dangerous and not to be taken lightly. Ravi was no slouch in a fight either, and if they needed to send the other two back to get reinforcements, then Chances of me taking it on alone weren't good. I'm weak, I've always known that, I've never been able to protect anyone before. Why would anything change this time? But if there is the chance I could help, shouldn't I take it even if I'd die?

Waiting in dreadful conflict, unable to make up my mind about whether entering would be the best choice, other groups began to slowly trickle back in. Some groups had returned unaware of the situation with Ravi and Alice, having finished the task we were sent to do, while others seemed slightly more rattled, however I hadn't heard mention of Alice and Ravi.

With each group that came back, my worry about what happened grew. Why hadn't they returned yet? By this point most of the other students we came with were back in the clearing. Everyone aside from five people, two of them being Alive and Ravi.

The sound of heavy foot traffic snapped me out of my distress momentarily, as the reinforcements from the guild showed up. A collection of teachers and adventurers had arrived. After spotting me, Miss Himeko lead them over in my direction.

" Lyric how have things been going here? Is there anything that has changed since last time?" She asked

" Almost all of the students have come back, only five are missing. Two are confirmed dead by their team." I gave a rough summary of what I had picked up as more people had returned.

" Alice and Ravi?" She asked with gentle hope, as if she could assume what my response would be but didn't quite want to accept it.

" Still missing." I choked out, trying to keep composure. She placed her hand on my shoulder sympathetically, and I could see she too was holding her own tears in.

Snapping her eyes shut and taking a deep breath she turned to address the Adventurers" Alrighty everyone, there's five children in the forest we haven't found yet. Dead or alive bring them back. If you notice anything odd in the forest be sure to give a thorough report upon return. Don't do something so humiliating as to die here." Miss Himeko used a facade if mockery to both hide her grief and motivate the volunteers to help.

As they marched into the woods I felt compelled to follow, however I was stopped by Miss Himeko.

" Lyric there's something very important I need your help with, can you do that for me?"

Looking between the forest and Miss Himeko I hesitate. " I ... Yes. what do you need?"

"... Come with me, you should probably grab your friends as well before they try to run to Alice's rescue." Miss Himeko says before going to corral the others. I did the same telling them Miss Himeko needed us for something. I felt bad for keeping Alice's situation a secret, however I understood in an odd sense. I kept telling myself that we had nothing to worry about but I still felt conflicted

After everyone was gathered Miss Himeko began to activate the large magic circle again.

" Miss Himeko what's going on? Talfa wasn't overly explicit in telling us why we were supposed to come back." Tanya spoke up for the group.

" We'll discuss things further in a moment." The circle was then completed and activated billowing forth a mass of flames that descended upon us. Our visioned flashed red as a bright light consumed our horizons like a flowing wave of fire, before it receded leaving us in a wide open room, with a pedestal in the middle, cradling a soft dancing light.

" What was that?" Julian asked in fascination. I too was rather taken by the beautiful light display, and based on my current surroundings, it seemed to be some form of teleportation skill.

" I like to call it Phoenix Transport. I'd explain how it works but that would take too long. Follow me, We'll go somewhere better for this." Miss Himeko said and took us out of the room. Leaving the door and walking up a large winding staircase We came to the bottom floor of the school.

" How did we get here?" Gram asked shocked at the distance we covered in such little time.

Miss Himeko paid him no mind as she pressed forward winding through the halls of the school until she reached her classroom.

" Why here?" Emmy asked looking around at the classroom. I found myself doing the same thing. It was the same class we always were met with every morning, our seats were still there the way we left them but something was off about the atmosphere, it felt empty, and chilled, almost foreign.

" Well, I find it more comforting here." Miss Himeko said before turning, and taking a deep breath.

" Alright where to begin. How much do you all know about Blights, curses and the changing states of Mana spots?" Miss Himeko asked. We all hesitated. I don't know about the others, however I knew only a bit about each of them.

" I see then I'll need to explain that too briefly. Alright, Firstly Blights and Curses. These are conditions that can be given to any living thing that cause steady negative effect. Anything from Poison, to mind control. The only real difference is curses are placed by other creatures, Blights are created by or on nature. Secondly, the Mana spots. They, just like any living ecosystem, change and evolve independently. This can cause things like the types of resident animals, the strength and number of creatures within the spots, and a number of other factors to change and skew over time. Mana spots can create Blights, and spread them around their inhabitants, radically changing them, however they typically disappear with time. That or they change the habitat completely and become the new normal."

" Now onto the important part, Recently we noticed an unusual occurrence in Dark Wood Forest. We assume it's some form of blight that has caused some of the creatures to behave oddly. They attack other non-infected creatures viciously, don't die when killed, and are wildly unpredictable. They also seem to pass along the blight to victims they kill, or badly Injure. There have been a few cases where People have been attacked, however people seem to have a different reaction. It works similar to a strong poison quickly killing whoever was exposed without immediate treatment, but doesn't bring them back. The discovery initiated a large hunt in the guild, anyone who successfully hunted one of these things down, got a reward. We believed that we would eventually begin dwindling their numbers and with time completely wipe out the blight, however now things have changed. Since it has been able to cross Mana spots, it has become something much more terrifying, and needs to be addressed immediately." Miss Himeko was speaking in a tone of worry, at the thought of what may happen, but was clear in explaining the important parts.

Patiently waiting until she finished speaking, I hoped for good news to put to rest the fear thrashing in the back of my mind, however, I needed to make sure. "So you think, Alice and Ravi may have ran into one of these things?"

" I'm afraid that is a possibility, and if she has, then the chances of her living aren't great. These things are like pack animals, no matter what was killed they typically ignore each other, if not actively try and help catch any new prey, given they're both infected. With how long she and Ravi have been missing, I fear they both could already be dead." Miss Himeko said solemnly.

" Lyric what are you talking about?" Tanya asked, concerned about the talk she just heard about Alice dying.

" You were one of the last groups back right?" So, you probably hadn't heard, but about a half an hour before you got back two of the team members with Alice and Ravi came back terrified about deathless creatures in the forest. That's when Talfa entered to find them, sending back anyone she was near in the process." Miss Himeko said for me, since I couldn't form the words right.

" Then we need to go back and find her! If we don't find her she'll be in trouble!" Tanya yelled as she tried to bolt towards the door. The others followed, and I did too. With her conviction, she lead us towards the door. Before we could leave, A gust of wind blew the door shut and sealed it.

" I'm afraid I can't let you do that, you'd be too late. Besides, as your teacher I won't let you go out to die. What happened here today was an accident, caused by our own negligence, but I refuse to repeat past mistakes. No student of mine will be re-entering that forest." Miss Himeko scolded us, but she seemed just as vulnerable to her own words as we were.

" But, we can't just leave her. If we could just find her then we could save her. If you hadn't brought us back we maybe could have ..." Tanya didn't want to give up trying with all her strength to open the door however it refused to budge.

" No, there are plenty of others out looking, you'd only be getting yourself in unnecessary danger. As your teacher I cannot allow that. Besides I have another mission for you. See, due to the passing of Eric, the city lord and many of the city guards are currently in Haven attending his funeral. Because of the unnatural nature of the blight and the timing, some of the more radical human supremacists have started blaming the demi-human races residing in New Home of some sort of evil ploy. I need you to warn grandmother of the possible conflict in the future. Without the lord's hand staving off these claims things could get unpleasant quickly, and a great number of people could end up injured. Lyric can give you any further details about where to find her, I just need you all to stick together and stay safe. Word has already been sent to the royal capital for reinforcements, to help our situation."

I couldn't believe what I had just heard. People believed we're responsible for this? That's just a testimony to human stupidity. Stupid or not this was bad. Really bad. If war actually broke out I shutter to think what would happen next.

" If that's true, we need to hurry. Please, help me save my family." I begged the others. I realized why Miss Himeko wanted the others to come with. If I was alone then it is possible I could be used as an example or declaration of war should I get myself caught. I needed protection, however they couldn't be just anyone, They needed to be trustworthy, lest they make matters worse. My friends are the best option. Not only that, this would help keep us preoccupied and get our minds off our endangered friends.

"We've got your back. If we can't help Alice we can try to help you." Gram placed an assuring hand on my shoulder, I could tell from the fain trembling though, he was having trouble too.

"I'm so done with this shit. So help me if you die too, I'll ... Nevermind." Tanya grumbled to herself.

" You've got our help." Emmy said " You're our family, so they are too." Caroline continued.

" I'll help too. you're the kindest person I've ever been able to make friends with. It's the least I could do." Julien said.

" Miss Himeko, Make sure Alice gets back safe alright?" Tanya voiced. " So long as you promise me that, I'll go too."

" I'll do my best." Miss Himeko agreed

" I suppose that will have to do." Tanya reluctantly agreed. " We'll just be in the way otherwise." I could see the pain in her face as she admitted our weakness, and I too felt a sharp sting in my heart. Regardless, I was thankful she would help me, especially considering how much Alice meant to her.

" Then go. Your time is running out." Miss Himeko said. " And please, stay safe."

" Yes Ma'am!" We said in unison, and with a wave of her hand, Miss Himeko unblocked the doors and we left to tell the others of the situation that was heading their way.

I hate this, everything seemed so perfect up until two weeks ago. Now I'm running for my life again.