Efa and Harvey's side
Efa was sleeping peacefully in the storage room at the back of the restaurant.
She suddenly woke up.
Efa:
"Ah… I slept so well. I feel completely refreshed."
Suddenly, noises caught her attention.
She listened carefully—behind the door, the restaurant owner and Harvey were arguing.
Owner:
"I've had more than enough of your nonsense!"
Harvey:
"Yes… I admit it…"
Owner:
"Be quiet! Not only do you come out of nowhere and wreck my nice restaurant,
but now even paying me back is a problem!
And who is this little girl!?"
A waiter interrupted.
Waiter:
"Boss, the table—"
Owner:
"Can't you see I'm busy!?"
The waiter hurried away.
Owner:
"I was kind enough to take you in so you could pay off your debt,
and you turn my place upside down!
That's it. I'd rather hand you over to the authorities."
He grabbed an old landline phone and began dialing a number.
Efa thought:
"Oh no… he's going to get into trouble because of me."
Harvey, his face full of shame:
"Lapis-Lazuli…"
The owner froze.
Harvey:
"My name is Harvey Lapis-Lazuli.
I am the elder brother of Anna Lapis-Lazuli."
A heavy silence filled the room.
The owner suddenly threw himself at Harvey's feet, sobbing.
Owner:
"I didn't know… I'm so sorry! Please forgive me, my lord!
It will never happen again!"
Harvey, looking depressed:
"I forgive you… on the condition that you erase my debt."
Owner:
"If that's all, then it's already forgotten…
In fact, I should be the one paying you back for everything you've done here."
Harvey opened the storage room door, took Efa by the hand, and led her outside.
Harvey:
"No, that won't be necessary."
Owner:
"You are far too generous…"
Efa, confused, heard Harvey mutter angrily:
"Damn it… that name saved me again."
Once outside, Harvey took a deep breath.
Harvey:
"Where did Arata go?"
Efa:
"I don't know…
All I remember is that Rin and I were talking."
Harvey:
"I'm sure I saw him drop you off here.
Alright, we need to find them.
Where were you and Rin talking?"
Efa:
"I think… it was that way…"
They walked, retracing Efa's steps.
Along the way, she wanted to ask more about what had happened in the restaurant,
but she didn't dare.
Soon, they arrived at the site of the fight, where Ren and Maru were still lying on the ground.
Harvey opened his hand.
A freezing wind escaped from it and flowed toward the two men.
One of them slowly opened his eyes.
Efa held his head in her hands.
Efa:
"Do you know me?"
Ren, half-asleep:
"Oh… you're the pretty little thing we found.
You're really cute, you know?"
Efa, with a fake smile:
"Oh really…
What happened right after you found me?"
Ren:
"Heh heh…
We were planning to take you with us on our camel.
But then something suddenly attacked us and knocked us out."
Efa thought:
"That must have been Arata."
Efa:
"Do you know where he went?"
Ren:
"No…
He attacked us by surprise, then disappeared…
But I think I heard him say he was heading toward the city exit."
Efa, delighted:
"Thank you very much!"
Then, with a sharp motion, she punched the poor man,
who immediately collapsed again.
Harvey:
"Alright… let's hurry."
---
Arata's side
Arata, Rin, Balthazar, and Hastur were still inside the creature.
Arata:
"But how are we supposed to get out?"
Hastur, the sailor:
"In our current state, we are doomed to die…
But at least we will sink with the ship.
Isn't that right, Captain Balthazar?"
Balthazar:
"You're seriously sick, kid…
How many times do I have to tell you I'm not your captain?
And besides, we're not even at sea!"
Rin, addressing Arata:
"Yes…
I confirm that the individual named Hastur is suffering from a dissociative fugue.
A rare form of dissociative amnesia:
the person changes location and sometimes identity.
The duration can range from a few hours to several months.
Return to the original identity is common."
Arata:
"How long have you been stuck here?"
Balthazar:
"Well, if I'm not mistaken—"
Hastur:
"Seventy-four hours, Captain!"
Balthazar:
"See?
You can be useful sometimes."
Suddenly, a dragonfly emerged from Hastur's head.
Arata:
"Is that… Lilith?"
Lilith, with a feminine voice:
"Alright, guys.
I've been watching you wander around for days.
It's time to get out of this creature."
Hastur:
"Sacré bleu… a fairy?
Could it be Tinker Bell?"
Balthazar:
"I think his condition is getting worse…"
Arata, stunned:
"You can talk?"
Lilith:
"For your information, I'm not actually a dragonfly.
This is just the form I take in this dimension.
Anyway, to get out of here,
you need to go deep into its throat.
If you deal enough damage there,
it will spit you out."
Arata, Rin, Balthazar, and Hastur looked at each other and said:
"We've got nothing left to lose."
---
Advancing toward the creature's throat
Inside, the ground vibrated.
The organic walls pulsed.
Every movement made the spongy floor tremble.
Arata:
"We're really going to die from digestion…"
Rin:
"Technically, the probability is seventy-two percent."
Arata:
"That's not helping!"
Dozens of small winged creatures burst out from internal folds.
Their shrill cries mixed with a sharp, metallic sound,
like repeated gunshots.
Hastur:
"Defensive formation!"
Arata froze.
Even Hastur himself seemed surprised by his own words.
The creatures attacked.
Arata barely dodged, striking blindly.
Rin fired impulses to divert their trajectories.
Balthazar screamed, swinging an empty crate as an improvised weapon.
BANG!
A detonation echoed inside the beast.
Hastur staggered.
His vision blurred.
Images flooded in:
the laboratory, the beam, Rastaban, the train, the explosion.
Hastur:
"…I remember."
His eye vibrated.
Hastur:
"Recording… Rastaban."
An invisible wave spread around him.
His stance changed, his gaze became razor-sharp.
He leapt forward.
Each movement was precise, brutal.
The creatures were swept away by an unknown force.
Arata:
"But… this isn't the same Hastur…"
Rin:
"Correction…
This is the real one."
The creature screamed.
Its inner walls contracted violently.
The ground collapsed.
A monstrous pressure crushed them.
Then—
They were expelled.
---
Exterior — the return
They were violently spat out of the Nile shoebill's beak,
hurled through the air like debris.
Arata:
"AAAAAAAAAH!"
They slammed into the sand in total chaos.
In the distance, two silhouettes were approaching at full speed.
Efa:
"Harvey! Look!"
A gigantic shadow crossed the sky.
Harvey:
"…They were ejected.
And not gently."
The shoebill let out a sharp cry.
BANG!
The sound exploded through the air like artillery fire.
Sand erupted everywhere.
Harvey:
"DISPERSE!"
He slammed his hand against the ground.
"Surface freeze!"
The desert was instantly covered in ice.
The tornadoes created by the creature's wings froze into crystalline spirals,
then shattered.
BANG—BANG!
Each snap of the beak triggered a shockwave.
Hastur slowly stood up.
Hastur:
"Efa… stay behind."
He raised his eyes to the sky.
Hastur:
"Recording: Rastaban — combat phase."
His aura changed.
Hastur:
"This thing… is a living weapon."
Harvey smiled, feral.
Harvey:
"Then we'll break it."
The shoebill's wings tore through the air,
creating a monumental storm.
Harvey:
"Absolute zero — polar field!"
Cold devoured the space around them.
Harvey:
"Now!"
Hastur leapt, sliding across the ice, then launched himself into the air.
Hastur:
"Echo rupture!"
He struck.
Sound imploded.
The creature screamed, flapped its wings frantically,
then rose into the sky, wounded, disappearing into the clouds.
Silence fell.
Hastur dropped to his knees.
Efa rushed to him.
Efa:
"You're back…"
Hastur nodded.
Far away, in the disturbed sky, one final snap echoed.
BANG!
Like a warning.