Chapter 5

After paying their respects to a fallen hero, the team heads towards their next destination in search for adventure. Even though Iyashi's heart will take time to heal, he has decided to use his magic to assist his newly found friends. They now find themselves at the archer village of Payon, hometown to one of the members of the party. Payon may not be the best place for adventure, but Bowen practically begs Juxapose to go back to his hometown to feast on Payon's specialty, meat.

They spend the afternoon sitting at a restaurant stuffing themselves with freshly hunted meat, except Chisa who is a vegetarian. Bowen then takes a swig of some fresh ale and says, "Wow! Nothing like eating great roasted meat, and drink beer from your very own hometown!"

"When was the last time you were here?" asked Artisan before taking a bite from some fresh turkey.

"A few months ago. Juxapose and Ryuker came around that time hunting bears. We met up that day, and we made a decent team. So they they recruited me, and we went to all different cities, and went on quite a few adventures before you joined us."

Ryuker sighs and says, "Sometimes, I wish we'd have left him here. Ever since he joined the party, he acts like a knucklehead around girls. We tend into get in trouble with other parties, and shopkeepers."

"I've behave myself around Chisa!" yelled Bowen.

"That's because you know what I'll do to you if you don't." answered Ryuker waving his mace at him. Everybody then laughs and continues to heat heartily. Even though Payon is not the best place for adventure worthy for their experience, Juxapose has a feeling that their next big hunt will find them very soon. As the team eats, another party enters the restaurant, and sits at a nearby table. They are not adventurers, but they seem to be close friends.

"Hey, have you heard rumors about the Payon Cave?" asked the person who seems to be the leader of the group.

"No, what about it?" asked one of the other guys.

The leader looks around, and whispers, "Seems as though there are talks about a dark force present in there."

The female swordman laughs and says, "That's stupid. The Payon Cave always had zombies, skeletons, and floating virgin spirits. If that is not evil, then I don't know what is."

The leader then shakes his head no and says, "That's not what I'm talking about. Seems like something else has entered the cave."

"Something else? Like what?" asked one of the other guys in the group.

"Nobody knows. But lately, people has been going in the cave, and never coming out again. It's been about a month since parties has gone in, but went missing. I know the cave has always been cursed, but now, something EVIL lurks in those caves." answered the leader.

"Well, I'm glad I don't have to go in there. Maybe King Tristam III should send some of his men in there, and check it out."

"Hey, do you hear that?" whispers Artisan

"Are you kidding? Nothing gets past my keen sense of hearing. Sounds like an adventure to me." Juxapose whispers back.

Ryuker adds his opinion, and whispers, "Payon Cave is supposed to have been raided hundreds of times, I doubt that we'll get any treasure in it."

Bowen then whispers, "But I've been to Payon cave before, and I've never heard anything about this. This must be something that started after I left."

Chisa also whispers, "Well, It is an acolyte's job to banish evil, so I say we should do it, even if we don't get any money out of it."

Iyashi begins to worry and whispers, "I don't know. . . Are you sure it's a good idea? If parties has gone missing, then what guarantee do we have?"

Juxapose proudly whispers, "Don't worry, we are a party of six. I don't think that there is anything there that we can't handle."

Artisan and Chisa nods and says, "Agreed."

"I'll be a guide if you want." volunteered Bowen.

Ryuker shakes his head in disbeleif and says, "I guess I don't have much choice. Count me in."

Iyashi equips his Evil Bone Wand and says, "I'll also have to go, to make sure everybody comes back safely."

With that decided, the team finishes their meal, and leaves the restaurant. The party then gears up, and heads out to the Payon caves. Unlike most dungeons and caverns that are usually located far away, and need a journey to get to, Payon cave is located just above the village. After they arrive, they all stopped at the entrance to have a small chat.

"By the way, what's up with this cave anyway? Zombies, skeletons, and spirits roam around here, and the people live so close to it." asked Artisan.

"According to history class when I was a kid, Payon didn't used to look like the way it is now. Many generations ago, this place was called the Kingdom of Fayon. One of the richest nations of Rune-Midguard. However, an evil foreigner used forbidden magic to summon a comet that destroyed the Kingdom of Fayon. Although most of the people in the kingdom was killed, there were enough survivors to start over, and the village was renamed Payon." answered Bowen.

"Sounds similar to what happened to Geffenia." added Iyashi.

Bowen nods and says, "It was proven that the person who summoned the Comet in Geffenia and Fayon were two completely different people. They never found out who summoned it, but they did find out that the person was killed in the impact along with the Kingdom."

Juxapose then points at the entrance of the caves and says, "Enough of the history lesson. Now, lets explore the cave!"

The team then walks into the cave. Inside the cave, the team found many weak monsters such as skeletons and zombies. But the dark and restless spirits that haunts the cave are no match for the six adventurers who has defeated much more powerful foes in the past. As they go in deeper into the cave, they find more stronger opponents, but they are still far too easy for the six member team.

Ryuker yawns and complains, "Guys, I'm bored! I can take these monsters by myself, and the best thing we found so far was this worthless skull ring."

"Don't complain. We've only scratched the surface. This cave goes very deep into the now buried ruins of Fayon." said Bowen full of confidence. After getting through the skeleton soldiers and skeleton archers, they finally reach the old ruins of Fayon. In the ruins, many sohee spirits are found floating around the completely dead city.

Bowen's eyes glow with lust as he says, "WOW! SOHEES! They are so cute and full of mystery. I just want to grab one and make sweet love to it, and -"

After whacking Bowen over his head with his mace, Ryuker says, "Stupid perv. You shouldn't torment the dead, you'll get cursed. So Juxapose, what are we looking for?"

Juxapose looks around, making great use of his great senses. He frowns and says, "Something is not right. We're very deep in the cave, yet something is missing."

"What do you mean?" asked Bowen who quickly recovers from his clubbing.

"Those people in the village did say that many parties went missing in here. If they were killed, we should have seen some sort of clue as to where or how they died. But I've seen so bodies, or remains, or anything like that." answered Juxapose. Bowen tries to make use of his great tracking skills, but he too finds nothing.

Artisan thinks for a moment and says, "Maybe they didn't go missing after all. Maybe they just left using a butterfly wing, and never told anyone that they left?"

Just then, they hear the crying of a young girl from a distance. Juxapose points at the direction of the crying voice and says, "Someone is over there! Lets go!"

The party follows the voice, and they find a young girl in a red Chinese dress sitting at a corner crying. The young girl moves her hands away from her face as the team draws closer. Juxapose then approaches the girl, and asks, "Hello there. Are you OK?"

"WOW! She's beautiful!" said Bowen before running to her aid. He then takes her by the hand and says, "Hello there little angel, can I help you with anything -"

Ryuker whacks Bowen over the head with the mace again, and says, "IDIOT!!!Can't you see that she is terrified? Last thing she needs is help from a pervert."

Chisa offers her hand to help and says, "Can you get up?"

The girl takes Chisa's hand, and gets up silently. But as their hands meet, Chisa notices something unusual about her. Her hands are frighteningly cold, and feels clammy and lifeless.

"You must be one of the missing people the villagers mentioned. Come with us, we'll take you to your family." said Juxapose, unaware of what Chisa felt about her.

The team turns around, and heads towards the way they came in. Chisa decides to stay behind, and cast a Ruach spell just in case. Just as she fears, the girl that they found is an undead corpse. Without Juxapose noticing, the girl pulls out a weapon known as the "Punisher". She quickly runs through the team, and hit Juxapose with it over the head.

Juxapose rubs the top of his head, and yells, "Hey! What was that for!?"

The girl makes a terrifying face, and her eyes begin to glow an errie red color as she yells, "Being by yourself isn't good for you~"

Bowen points at the girl and yells, "What's up with that chick? She's not making any sense!"

The strange girl then tries to attack Artisan, but he blocks using his shield. As the girl continues to mindlessly attack Artisan behind a shield, Chisa's voice screams, "Holy Light!" A burst of light energy hits the girl in the back, causing her to fall over and flail frantically in pain.

Chisa runs to the team, and yells, "She's not human, she's one of the undead!"

They continue to watch her until she finally stops moving. Beleiving that the girl is finally dead, they all relax. The battle wasn't very difficult, but it just caught them by surprise. Chisa then begins to examine the undead creature. As a warrior trained to battle the powers of the undead, she is very knowlegable when it comes to zombies and ghosts. However this undead creature is different than the rest. Unlike the other skeletons and zombies that barely hold a human image, this girl appears almost alive.

After a while, Bowen takes his attention away from the girl, and looks around the cave, He then sees something that makes him sweat nervously, and says, "Hey guys?"

"What is it Bowen?" asked Juxapose.

Bowen then points into the darkness and says, "I think that girl's boyfriend just found us, and he doesn't look very happy."

They look towards the dark shadow to see what is frightening Bowen, and they see a young man wearing a blue Chinese suit bouncing towards them with an angry look on his face. He is carrying a large blade called the "Grave Keeper's Sword".

The young Chinese man draws his sword and yells, "I shall kill you without suffering!" It then rushes to the team aiming for Bowen. Artisan intercepted his attack, and they clash swords while Iyashi casts a spell. Iyashi yells, "Soul Strike!" Then five white balls of spirit energy appear, and strike the blue Chinese warrior one by one. The undead young man then collapses after being hit by the spell.

"What's the deal with these two?" asked Ryuker.

"Could they be the reason people have gone missing?" asked Bowen

Artisan thinks for a second and says, "No, this was too easy."

Chisa shivers and says, "Something else is here. I feel an evil presence, and it wants to destroy us. . ."

Suddenly, a strange laugh can be heard. They look towards the direction of the evil laugh, and see something unusual. On top of a roof of a near collapsed building, barely hidden behind a group of Sohee virgins, they see a humanoid being in a foxlike costume. However, this feminine being is completely naked from the waist down, but has no genitals. The creature is also carrying an exaggeratedly large bell on the end of a stick.

"He he he. Naughty humans have once again attacked my little pets. Now you shall be punished." said the strange fox creature.

"Who. . . Or what are you?" asked Juxapose.

"Me? Demons have no use for a name, but if you must, call me 'The Moonlight Flower!'"

The Moonlight Flower then rings her huge bell that she is carrying. The two humanlike undead Chinese creatures stood up again upon hearing the bell. "Kill them! Kill them!", yelled the Moonlight Flower.

The undead boy and girl in Chinese clothing circle the party. But even if they are surrounded, it's two against six, so they have the advantage. Artisan begins the battle with a Magnum break, breaking up their formation. Bowen then Double Strafes the undead boy with holy arrows. Iyashi casts Soul Strike on the girl. Chisa casts as many Holy Light spells as she can as long as the battle lasts. Before the team takes any heavy damage, the two undead are defeated once again.

The Moonlight Flower rubs her chin, and says, "Not bad. Now try this! Come to me my nine tails slaves!" A group of Nine Tails pop out from the ground. After growling for a second, the started their attack. Iyashi can sense the firey spirits inside them, so he casts Frost Driver, freezing the Nine Tails solid.

"Impressive! Now, Fight me!" said the Moonlight Flower. She then casts Teleport, and appears behind Iyashi slamming him with a Mamonite spell. Iyashi was knocked out quickly by the Moonlight Flower's surprise attack.

"Iyashi! Hold on, I'll heal you!" cries Chisa running to Iyashi's aid.

"Where do you think you're going?" yells the Moonlight Flower. She then casts Ice Bolt, sending bolts of icicles at her. Chisa yells in pain as the spell hits her directly. Chisa is also knocked out.

Moonlight Flower nods with confidence, and says to the rest of the team, "Well, well. Without your healer and magic user, you're all as good as dead!"

Artisan becomes furious and yells, "You Monster!" Without thinking about the consequenses, Artisan attacks the Moonlight Flower, but he misses. Moonlight Flower uses a Hammer Fall skill to stun Artisan, and Mammonite skill to attack. Artisan is still conscious, but his leg is injured, and he cannot stand up. Juxapose, Ryuker, and Bowen fights the Moonlight Flower, but they know that they are fighting a losing battle.

As Artisan watches the rest of the team helplessly, he thinks about a plan, "What can I do? I need a heal or a potion to help, but I can't walk." He then looks at Chisa who is lying unconscious nearby, and says, "Maybe if I drag myself quietly to Chisa, I can revive her."

While the team keeps the Moonlight Flower busy, Artisan quietly drags himself near Chisa. He then reaches into his pocket for a yggdrasil leaf, and begins using it. After whispering Ressurection, he applies the leaf on Chisa's head. Chisa quietly wakes up, and heals herself.

"Thanks Artisan!" yelled Chisa, then she covers her mouth, hoping that the Moonlight Flower didn't hear her.

"Quickly, you have to heal and buff us." said Artisan.

"OK!" yelled Chisa. She then casts Heal, Blessing, Increase Agility, and Angelus on the party.

The Moonlight Flower looks back to see who is casting all those spells, and yells, "What the f***? I thought I took care of you? Doesn't matter, I'll take you down again!"

The Moonlight Flower casts teleport, and vanishes again.She then appears in front of Chisa, and tries to swing her bell at Chisa. But Chisa casts Teleport, vanishing before the Moonlight Flower attacks her. Ryuker then swings his mace at the Moonlight Flower attempting a Mamonite attack, but she jumps away. As she evades, she holds the bell as if she's protecting it.

Artisan whispers to himself, "She seems to be awfully protective of that bell she carries."

Chisa then teleports to Iyashi, and revives him with a Yggdrasil leaf of her own. The team comes together, and forms an attack formation. Now that they know the Moonlight Flower's tricks, they are prepared to give it their all.

Artisan points at the bell and yells, "Guys, lets focus our attack on that bell! I'm sure that's her weakness!"

Juxapose nods at Artisan, and commands, "You heard him, lets work together!"

"Right!" everyone cheers together.

Juxapose and Artisan confronts the Moonlight Flower, Ryuker hides behind a wall, Bowen stands back with Chisa and Iyashi. The Moonlight Flower grows angry and yells, "I don't care how many are you, I'll still kill you!" She begins the battle by casting Mammonite on Juxapose, but Iyashi casts Safety wall, protecting him. Juxapose and Artisan are now covered in an invincible wall. The Moonlight Flower then tries to go after Iyashi, but Bowen's Arrow Repel keeps it back. Then, Ryuker comes out of hiding, and surprises the Moonlight Flower with a Mammonite surprise attack. The skill hits the bell directly, causing it to shatter.

The Moonlight Flower screams while glowing brightly. Soon enough, the fox demon grows shorter, and changes shape. When the glowing stops, the Moonlight Flower becomes reduced to a baby fox. The bodies of the two undead Chinese corpses also vanish.

Juxapose jumps for joy yelling, "We beat it!"

"Hurray!" yells everyone joining in on the celebration. And after the celebration is over, Ryuker checks for any spoils.

"Hey! Look at what I found!" yelled Ryuker. He then shows the party a book he found.

Juxapose looks at the book strangely, and asks, "What is that?"

"According to my Identify skill, it looks like a girl's diary. I can't read the contents, but I bet it belonged to that Chinese girl we fought earlier."

"Think it's worth anything?" asked Bowen.

Ryuker thinks for a moment, and says, "Maybe. A sage who collects books may buy it."

Chisa then runs to the terrified baby fox, and hugs it like a stuffed animal. "Awww, look at the cute little fox! Can we keep it?"

Juxapose panics and says, "Are you kidding? No way!"

"But why?" whined Chisa.

"That is no ordinary baby fox, it's a baby nine tails. It becomes aggressive when it grows up."

Chisa then let out a sad face. She looks at the baby fox's cute beady eyes, and cannot imagine it harming anything. Even thouth the leader of the party objects, she still wants to keep it. Artisan then comes up with an idea how to make Chisa happy. He walks to her and says, "If you want a pet, how about I buy you a Lunatic egg instead? Will that OK?"

Chisa then releases the baby fox, and lets out the biggest smile she has ever shown, "Really, you will? I already have a name for it! I want to call it. . . Mr. Whiskers!"

Artisan laughs and says, "Just hold on a second, we'll have to buy it first!"

With everything examined for loot, the team then leaves the cave, and turns in the baby fox to the leader of Payon. They are then rewarded well for their success in defeating the Moonlight Flower. And since they fought a hard battle, they all decide to stay in Payon for a few more days. What else will happen to the team as the hands of time continues to tick?