Elemental: Fire

Chapter 11

They were hit with a scent of damp and freshness as they entered the Washers. Upon entrance, the pair was led to towels and soap, then taken to shower. While in the shower, Scarlett let herself relax and remember the good times. The shower kind of reminded of her of how everyone would spray water from their water bottles when they won the Kutomun Academy Ultimate Level. She released a small laugh, forgetting where she was.

"Hurry up, Scarlett, you're taking forever." Finn paused, about to call her 'Sparky', but remembering he shouldn't give hint they were from Simul.

Scarlett snapped out of her thought and twisted off the water immediately. Pulling the towel around her tightly, she stepped out of the shower and found Finn had already gone to the Changing room. Walking down the row of showers, Scarlett too found the changing room for females and stepped in.

For three coins they offered clothes, so Scarlett searched through the satchel and found a small sack of coins. The sack was already loosely closed, so the girl assumed Finn grabbed some for himself. Removing three, she handed over the currency and picked out black pants and a black sleeveless shirt.

Once exiting the Changing room, Scarlett put her wet hair into a braid to control it when it dries. Finn came out shortly after with different clothes and wet hair as well. They both left the Washers and turned left, as the man said. Instantly, an oddly shaped library appeared with not that many people in it.

As they walked over to the building, Finn reminded, "Remember: don't mention where we're from and only look for useful bestiaries."

"But why can't we mention where we're from?"

"Because if the news of what happened at DIA had already spread, they'll probably 'banish' us or something in fear of their kingdom getting attacked. Pretty sure the Mortems are still in search of us anyways."

"Okay, okay, I get it."

Reaching the great dome doors, they swung open without hesitation. So, Scarlett and Finn walked into a loony setting. Short, slim people were hanging on the shelves and organizing the shelves. They were like trapeze contortionists, swinging and bending backward to receive the books.

One of them was hanging upside down above the door and opened it for them. As they set to work, the pair looked at the rows of books, which were curved and twisted peculiarly.

"They look like Menehunes," Finn guessed,

"I'll ask one of them," Scarlett volunteered.

Stepping over to one of the Menehunes, she quickly tapped its shoulder before it swung back up to put the book away.

"How may—I help—you," the creature responded as it came up and down.

"Oh, um, we were just looking for the bestiaries."

"Forward—right—third."

"Well, okay. Thank you!"

The Menehune just continued to work as the two walked down the aisle of books. Finding the first turn, the two turned to the right and saw numbered shelves. The books on the third shelf were neatly organized, as though they were untouched. They were all the right size and height to fit neatly into the one shelf.

Quickly grabbing one, Finn swiped the book from the shelf and sat down at the round table in the intersection of four rows. Scarlett quickly followed suit, assuming an Earth elemental knew more about these kinds of things.

Okay, what would an Earth do? What would an Earth do? Maybe...the table of contents!

Quickly opening up the volume, Scarlett looked through the boring table of contents:

Chapter One: What is a beast in this world?

Chapter Two: The small and the friendly

Chapter Three: The small and the vicious

Chapter Four: Deadly plants

Chapter Five: The giant and the friendly

Chapter Six: The giant and the vicious

Chapter Seven: Creatures of the skies

Chapter Eight: Creatures of the oceans

Chapter Nine: Creatures of the underground

Chapter Ten: Creatures of the mountains

Chapter Eleven: The deadliest of the deadly

Chapter Twelve: The hypnotists

Chapter Thirteen: Those of the day

Chapter Fourteen: Those of the night

Chapter Fifteen : The most rare

Index

Instinctively, Scarlett turned to the chapter 'The giant and the vicious'. The lists went on and on, since it was in alphabetical order. Her bright eyes skimmed over the descriptions in the bestiary, hoping to find something similar to what she described.

At some points Scarlett would zone out and forgot what she read and where she left off. After looking through 20 pages of giant beasts and creatures, none of them matched her Vision. Considering the chapter called 'The most rare', Scarlett flipped through the thick pages and saw yet more lists.

Scarlett started to give up until she came across an interesting creature: Will-o'-the-wisp. She paid close attention to this description.

Will-o'-the-wisp: Flame-like lights that beckon travelers to follow. A rarer kind of Will-o'-the-wisp are Lumens, which give travelers a chain of visions on their travels. These must be sent from a sender to the traveler.

The girl felt washed over with a certain feeling of realization.

"They're called Lumens," Scarlett whispered out.

"Hm?"

"The-the Visions I've been having. They're actually creatures called Lumens. Professor Nova sent them specifically to guide me."

"Well that's dandy, isn't it?"

"Fine, never mind then," Scarlett replied.

Going lower down the list, Scarlett read past the creatures under 'X' and 'Y', but when she reached the very few 'Z' beasts, her eyes found another jackpot. As she read the description, the memories of her Vision matched perfectly:

Zithone: The rarest of beasts, typically found underground. These are giant creatures with white glowing eyes and fairly long black hair. This beast is a special Therian, so a human can transform between human and zithone.

"I found it!"

"The thing from your Vision?"

"Yeah! It's a Zithone, or a special kind of Therian. So, we are battling a human as well."

A sort of silence fell over them. Even though they had found the creature, there was still one piece missing of the puzzle.

"So the question is...who are we battling?"