A Land Of Secrets: ATALANTE

Act XIII- Mimic

Meira's POV

It's the second day we stayed here on the island, even if we haven't stayed here for too long... I miss the academy already. I woke up too early and can't get back to sleep again. I raised myself from the bed as I saw Al and Leigh sleeping peacefully beside me.

I looked at where Zeke and Everett slept but I only saw Everett sleeping. Zeke must've woken up early like me... It's a little bit cold right now since the lamps' flames as died down, though it's not pitch black in the cave since I think it's already dusk.

I quietly stood up, careful not to wake up anyone. I stretched my arms and yawned, I felt thirsty, I should probably get some water.

I left the cave as I saw everything was filtered in cool blue, It was a bit dark but I could see some stars in the clear sky. I took a glass from our supplies and washed it in the river as well as grabbed some water to drink.

Suddenly, I heard rustling leaves so I had my guard up. Is it grim? Just an animal? Wind? Or someone from the other camp who wants to sabotage us?

I stood up and walked towards the sound. I stepped slowly, trying to not make any noise to alarm the one who made the noise.

Why am I even doing this? It could be dangerous...

I swiveled the bush to find Zeke reading a book. I sighed in relief as he looked up to stare at me with confusion.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be asleep?" He asked me. I sat beside him without asking his consent, making him close the book he was reading.

"I could ask you the same... What are you reading?" I asked him back. He simply gave me the book as I pouted. Maybe he isn't in the mood to talk... well it's early in the morning.

I averted my attention to the book he was reading. It's about the different kinds of species of grims.

"How come you have this book?" I asked him. He leaned his head back on the tree bark, closing his eyes.

"I took it from the library in the town." He answered while yawning. I raised my eyebrows as I thought of something.

"Isn't that stealing?" I told him. But he only ignored me. I mean... It's not like he can return to the town so he could just return the book, Everyone there is dead so basically, no one will know. I started flipping the pages, I noticed that the contents were arranged by the ranks of the grims. I guess this means the higher the rank, the more dangerous it is.

As I scanned through the pages, I stopped when I looked at something familiar. The tall, thin-like bones, arms so long that they touch their feet... is this-

"That's the grim that we encountered yesterday." Zeke suddenly blurted out. I looked at him as he pointed at the ranking of the grim. S-tier?!

"That... dangerous?" I muttered in disbelief. Does the academy know about this? Isn't this dangerous?

"Yes, it was my fault that I didn't notice it as soon as we entered their territory. I probably didn't notice because I didn't let us rest." He admitted. I patted my hand on his shoulder to assure him, I didn't want to spit in his face that it was his fault. Everyone makes mistakes.

"It's fine... it already happened, at least now we know," I said. Looking back to the book, the grim species is named Narcissus.

Its presence makes everyone within 10 meters of its range making them feel tired and lose their motivation to go on. When heard its screams, they could slow down time and the effects of the tiredness are amplified...