Lenaria: The Party Begins CONTINUED

Until Next Time - Part 3

It kept her up all night.

A strange feeling.

Evgenia didn't get a blink of shut eye. There was a strange presence, as if there was someone watching her. Not in a creepy stalker way.

Just... someone watching her.

It irked Evgenia, making the hairs on her neck stand on end.

When she woke up, or more like just got up from a sleepless night, Evgenia bitterly rubbed her eyes. They were irritated, begging for sleep.

It didn't help that she was sleeping on the floor. The crew could get another room, the inn keeper was only allowing the crew one. It was off, seeing as the inn was nearly empty.  But the crew couldn't afford to complain, they desperately needed a room.

Bella and Adva were in one bed, Minerva and Momoko in the other. The siblings slept on the floor, thankful that Evgenia had brought along blankets and pillows.

That morning, Evgenia cracked her back, groaning in the satisfaction in her joints popping. Beside her, Victor groggily got up, rubbing his eyes.

Her brother yawned, clearly lacking sleep as well.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" Victor asked quietly, barely able to keep his eyes open. Evgenia shook her head, plopping her head back on the pillow. She threw the blanket back over her, listening as her brother said, "I just felt like someone was, I don't know, watching me last night-"

Evgenia shot up, staring wide-eyed at her brother. Barely a whisper, Evgenia asked, "You too?"

Victor nodded, scratching his head in confusion.

"I felt that too," Adva muttered, rolling over to face the siblings. Beside them, Bella hummed, stretching in the bed and curling up again. The necromancer smiled briefly at her then turned back to the siblings, eyes dazed with tiredness.

Evgenia groaned, mentally cursing at the torture of last night. Minerva mumbled awake, slowly sitting up with a sunken face. She raised her hand, "I felt that too."

Bella hummed in agreement, still sinking more into the blanket. Momoko was unresponsive, silently staring at a wall with red eyes. Minerva looked down at her, slowly rubbing her back in soothing circles.

Evgenia sighed, getting up from the floor, "We should go investigate the forest."

...

Evgenia, Victor, Adva, and Bella stepped out of the inn, leaving Minerva with Momoko.

It was hard to see Momoko so withdrawn and quiet. They all knew Momoko was recovering, tormented at the thought that her home was being destroyed without her knowledge. It must also be the issue that... there was no going back for Momoko. She didn't have a place to go back to if she "died".

All her life, as a spirit, nothing could touch her. Nothing could seriously harm her. But now... Now there was a chance. A serious chance that Momoko could die.

She needed time. Time to recover.

Hopefully it would be soon because in the midst of war, there was no time to grieve.

The village was still quiet as ever, though now there was more people out and about. Not much, but enough to let the crew know they weren't alone.

Though, the villagers just stayed at their front porches, sitting in crooked chairs and staring at the travelers. Their eyes were so... judgemental.

Adva gripped their hood over their head, calmly keeping in line with the others. They knew they should've stayed back at the inn, stay away from the eyes of the villagers. But they wanted to make sure Bella was safe.

Not so say Bella was weak. Over time, the bard has proven she could defend herself... a little bit. she wasn't exactly a fighter, but if push came to shove, the Bella could put up a fight.

But Bella was still a regular human. She had her limits, and those limits happened to be at a lower standard than the others in the group. It was a harsh thing to say, but true. Bella, as much as she's tried with a sword, wasn't the best at it.

It was just pure luck nothing terrible has happened to her yet.

And if something bad actually did happen to her, then... No, Adva didn't want to think about it. It was their worst nightmare. The thought of Bella being hurt... it was worse than death.

Okay, maybe that was overreacting it, but still. Adva wanted her to be safe.

They glanced at Bella, spotting the wary ways their hazel eyes darted around. Their freckled cheeks were pale, as usual. Bella's curls tickled their cheeks, occasionally being found twisted in her fumbling fingers.

Bella was carrying her guitar on her back for some reason. Not even she had a good reason why, she just felt like it.

The forest was almost there, just a couple feet away.

But before any of them could get out of the village, they were stopped by a stranger.

"I don't think you should go in there," It was a small child, curiously looking at the crew with big eyes. With simple brown hair in pigtails, she pointed at Bella, "What is that on your back?"

"Um- a guitar," She answered.

Evgenia rolled her eyes. Victor knelt down to the girl's level, gently smiling at her and kindly asking, "Is there something wrong with the forest?"

The girl shrugged, playing with the hem of her shirt, "I'm not sure, but these metal people go in there and sometimes don't come back. Ma says it's a forbidden place to enter."

The crew shared a look of interest. Forbidden she said? Now that was something worth looking into.

"Paulina! What did I say about talking to strangers?" A woman came running to the little girl, snatching her hand. The woman cast angry glares at the crew before dragging her daughter away, the whines of the girls echoing in the village.

As the girl was dragged away, Evgenia rubbed her chin, frowning down at her feet. Her eyebrows furrowed, glaring at her shoes as she thought deeply about what the girl said.

Metal people must mean the troops Faust sent. And it must be true that they disappear, considering the little girl did say that they don't come back at times. So, that begs the question, what is in the forest?

The crew looked over at the forest entrance. As beautiful as the scenery was, there was an eerie look to it. The shadows seemed to mock and whisper at them, daring them to enter.

Bella shook as cold chills ran down her spine, "I don't like this."

"Agreed," Adva said, taking Bella's shaking hand.

Evgenia was about to say something when she heard it. A voice. It was... singing? That's as close as she could call it at least. Evgenia snapped her head to the forest, blinking wildly as the strange voice disappeared.

Staring at the forest... it was like... something was calling.

"Eve, you okay?" Victor nudged her back to reality.

"You- you guys heard that, right?" Evgenia pointed at the large trees, frowning even more at the thought of her possibly going crazy. With the confused looks everyone gave her, that only concluded that she was, indeed, going crazy. Evgenia shook her head, "I guess it's nothing, I'm just tired."

"We should check out the market before getting into the forest," Adva suggested.

Having nothing else to do and wanting to procrastinate for the time being, they agreed.

But as they furthered away from the forest, Evgenia couldn't help but feel those eyes on her.