There was nothing except a small pond in front of her.

Hiromi took cautious steps towards the only other thing in this space. It feels familiar. Did she saw it somewhere before?

As she glanced into it — she jumped back at the sight of an uncanny figure. Its shape was unrecognizable, it was everything and nothing at once, vaguely humanoid but not truly. It tried to escape the waters but its surface seemingly blocked the thing from doing so. Its hand banging weakly at it but with no results.

The only thing that could have been heard were weeping of that person, the sound reflecting through the vast nothingness.

You did this to ▢▢.

Why did you make ▢▢ suffer like this?

“I’m sorry”, she responded with voice not of her own.

Sweat was running down her forehead as she abruptly awoke from her sleep. The minimal amount of light outside told her that it was still very early in the morning. Some part of Hiromi was glad for that as she wouldn’t like anyone else to see her in such state, so shaken up and—

Calm down, Hiromi.

Right… This phrase would follow her through life at every step. Don’t slip up, don’t feel anything and everything will be alright. Although it was easier said than done when the potential ‘slip up’ could cost her or someone else’s life. Still, she would like to avoid the situation from a bit over a month ago to repeat. This whole action with Miru, her actually starting the transformation…

She sighed as she got up from the place where she usually sleeps now — that is, a wooden couch in the kitchen. It wasn’t the comfiest place in the world but that was the only option at that moment. The bedroom was occupied by Moshi and Shion, where they would switch from time to time who would sleep on the floor and who on the bed (it could fit them both but Shion was not keen on that idea). Not that Hiromi would fit on it either way. Then lastly, Tamaki occupied space in the attic. After she was given some blankets there, it was rather cozy. Still, the demon preferred to sleep alone and the couch in the kitchen was the best option for that.

Hiromi readied herself, grabbed her backpack, put on her glasses and decided to venture out of the house. Strolls usually helped her clean her mind in situations like this or just turn off the thoughts running in it for a while. She probably should have grabbed something to eat but Hiromi couldn’t be bothered with it at the moment. If anything, that’s going to be a problem for future-her.

She didn’t know if it was the heat of the approaching summer that messed with her head or if something was genuinely wrong.

As Hiromi was getting further and further from the border, the feeling at the back of her head only strengthen. Although with nothing out of ordinary that would caught her glimpse, she just tried her best to ignore it. Speaking from experience, it probably wasn’t the best idea but what else was there for her to do about it?

She decided to explore the area southeast of their home this time. She still had a map that was given to her by Effole when she decided to leave the others… but failed to do so. On it, there was marked some mountainous region with — what seemed to be — a ravine somewhere in the middle of it. She hoped that the river that separated that area from the rest of the forest will not be much of an obstacle. After all, exploring more places meant more knowledge about the whereabouts of many different, possibly useful things.

The sun has now risen properly. She guessed it was about 2 to 3 hours now since she woke up. Better make that expedition quick before a havoc breaks out in the house. She probably could have left a note saying where she went. Oh well.

As she was moving further on, the weird feeling in her mind was joined by a slight headache. Weird. She wasn’t one to get sick but maybe there was something on Earth that was making her organism act up?

Hiromi squinted her eyes as a rather painful sharp pain went through her head for a second. Although she swears that in that moment she saw something in the distance, something sparkle almost unnoticeably.

A whistle.

In a split second all these weird sensations disappeared.

“What do we do now?”

Moshi asked, anxiously pacing outside next to their house. Now that the demon's sudden disappearance was noticed, they had to do something about it this time. The two other inhabitants were still asleep inside, blissfully unaware to this problem and she’d prefer to solve it before that would change.

Maii had just arrived at their place to fulfill her duty as a guardian when the other broke the news.

“I can send Effole’s owl to go and look for her,” she spoke after a moment of silence, “I'm sure she wouldn't mind.”

Moshi sighed, “I’m not sure about that... Also, Effole probably has enough on her plate without us. I could go look for her myself but I don’t want the girls to then worry about the two of us.”

Resigned, she took a seat on an ever so slowly crumbling stone, which acted as a fence for their house. Her gaze fixed on the ground and million thoughts running in her mind. Of course, Hiromi was pretty powerful and would probably handle herself in difficult situations if she’d find herself in such. Although that didn’t ease the worry that was only rising inside Moshi’s chest. What if something bad actually happens and she won’t be able to deal with it herself? What if she’d find herself in a situation with no escape and…

“I’m sure it will be alright,” Maii’s words took Moshi out of her spiraling thoughts.

“I hope so, but still… what should we do now?”

The elf thought for a moment, “I think we just wait now. She’ll probably come back at some point. She… should at least.”

Moshi could only hum at the response. Waiting didn’t feel right but it was probably the best they could do at that moment. If Hiromi was truly in danger, she couldn’t help her just by herself and she doesn’t really have anyone to accompany her. Maii can’t leave the elves’s terrain and Tamaki was still asleep. She could wake her up but that would potentially cause even more panic than if she’d just tell her that Hiromi went somewhere unknown for a walk and that they’re just waiting for her to return.

“I could also call out to our Goddess Melinoe. She was called to pretty insignificant cases before so she probably wouldn’t mind this one too.”

It felt as if Maii was trying to cheer up the other in any way now. The older woman appreciated her effort as she knew that the elf was also stressed over this situation. Nobody knew why that happened or what will happen now. Maybe Hiromi will come back in a moment or maybe she’s far away from here with no intentions of ever going back. Time will only tell.

Moshi send her a weak smile, “Thank you, but that doesn’t feel right to… you know, asking a Deity for a task like that.”

“Oh, no no! It’s totally okay for us!” Maii raised her hands, “some come to her for such silly stuff you wouldn’t even believe! And she does anything that we ask of her. Within reason of course!”

“That’s understandable-”

Both women stop in their tracks as they hear door cracking behind them. They turn their heads towards the sound.

“Hiya! Ya both up pretty early today.”

“Ah, hi Tamaki,” Moshi responded, preparing herself for what’s most likely next to come.

“Have you seen Hiromi? She’s not in the house.”

There it is. Tamaki quickly notices if anyone’s gone and today is no exception to that. Moshi and Maii exchanged nervous glances, unsure who should break the news. Not that any of them wanted to, but they knew they should.

The three eyed woman nervously glanced around, as if the blades of grass hid an answer to that question. What should she even tell her? Should she tell her the truth that might cause anxiety in the other? Or just simply give her a white lie that would only help in the short run, before that facade collapses.

“About that-”

“Well, she-”

“Over here.”

Moshi’s overthinking came to a halt as all three turned to the side at the unexpected voice that belonged to none other than the person they’ve been wondering about this morning.

“Hiromi!” Tamaki waved her hand towards the woman, who did the same in response.