“No, Ryan, I’ve lost you again!” Michelle cried. She could hear the war in progress just on the other side of the steel door, but she could not get to Ryan. All she could do was sit there in her Dark Moonlight, tears running down her face. “I can’t take it anymore,” she sobbed.

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Michelle awoke with a start. Her nightmare left her dripping in sweat. All she could hear were her shallow breaths as she tried to regain herself. For a few moments, she laid on the bed, blinking and adjusting her eyes to the dim light of dawn. Slowly, her ears cleared up and she could hear Pepes squawking in the distance and the light breeze blowing through her open window. Snow lightly drifted down onto her windowsill. Dawn’s creeping rays shown crimson in the sky, encompassing the whole entire city. Night had given way to day.

She turned her head and smiled, forgetting all about her nightmare, and remembering everything that had happened last night. It had been the first time she had done it, and it was beautiful. She felt everything had gone perfectly, and still was as she laid there on the bed next to Hariyama, who was still snoozing away. Michelle propped herself with her arms and rested her back on the backboard of the bed. Her eyes surveyed the room. Her Dark Guiltian, Mystic Shield, and Fairy Wand were sitting on the nightstand beside her, where Hariyama had set down the night before. At her feet were hers and Hariyama’s clothes, spread out on the bed.

Michelle smiled as she got up and slid on her Dark Moonlight. She quickly scribbled down a letter saying she was going downstairs to grab a cup of coffee. She softly set the piece of paper down on her pillow, grabbed her belongings, walked to the door, and went down stairs.

The lobby of the inn was extremely rowdy, in fact, it was too rowdy. Michelle sat herself down at a small table in the corner by a window overlooking the El Nath Market Place and ordered a coffee. She inhaled the precious fumes, sighing in relief. Nothing like a cup of coffee on a cold winter morning, she smiled.

Footsteps echoed through the lobby, rushing outside. Michelle’s head whipped around towards the market square. People seemed to be gathering around something in the middle. She watched in curiosity as more people tried to catch a glimpse of something stirring in the middle of the intersection. Suddenly, Michelle felt the floor start to rumble. At first she thought it was a freak earthquake, but then a strange mechanical howl filled the air. It seemed to be coming from the market square. Michelle sensed something was wrong.

All of a sudden, cracks in the ground shot out from the middle of the square in all directions. Michelle looked on as one came bearing straight towards her. With a crash and a scream, the window shattered into a million pieces, littering the bench she had sat on a second ago with broken shards of glass. Michelle started to take out her Fairy Wand and Mystic Shield when all hell broke loose.

It happened as if in slow motion. Michelle watched, hand covering her mouth in horror, as numerous tentacles shot out of the middle of the market square, grabbed a few people and ripped them apart with ease. Mass pandemonium ensued. Michelle charged up her Wand and ripped open a Holy Arrow which shot straight into the nearest tentacle. It pierced the rough hide and a green ooze started to drip out. As the substance hit the ground, it boiled and seethed, melting the pavement several centimeters.

All of a sudden, an undamaged tentacle shot towards grabbed her and swung her into the air. Another one was coming for the kill. Michelle screamed for Hariyama. As if he heard her, four sets of Ilbis sliced both tentacles cleanly in two, dropping Michelle right into Hariyama’s arms.
“Run Michelle! I’ll take care of this!” he demanded. Michelle teleported away hastily, not daring to look back. Behind her she could hear the continuous screams of people being torn apart, and the bellows of the monster as Hariyama attacked it with his Ilbis stars.

“Look out!” someone cried. Michelle turned around and ducked instantly. A huge chunk of concrete had hurled over her, missing her head by a few inches. On the ground now, Michelle could only watch the remaining tentacles rip off chunks of the road and parts of buildings in an attempt to ravage as many people as it could. She could see Hariyama desperately flash jumping in the distance, trying to cut off the tentacles before it grabbed anything else to kill. Michelle noticed Hariyama was curiously dropping mesos on the ground as he dashed madly around, ducking and diving at the monster.

Suddenly, a tremendous explosion rocked the cold wintry air. Michelle covered her eyes at the blinding light.

Time stopped for a nanosecond. Then, as if a million stadium lights flashed simultaneously, a great fireball careened into the sky. Then came the sound, deafening and earsplitting. The shock wave soon followed, crumbling many buildings from their foundations. The gigantic ball of fire twisted higher and higher into the sky, vaporizing all of the clouds in the vicinity. It was a splendid yet terrible sight.

Michelle stood up. Around her, littered countless bodies of the good citizens of El Nath. The inn she stayed in last night, had been razed to the ground. A cloud of pitch black dust covered the crater of the explosion. All Michelle could see was a black haze in front of her. She waited for something to happen, someone to come out, anything.

Then, with her eyes strained, she saw a blurry figure’s shadow inside of the cloud. As it came nearer, Michelle recognized the way he walked and his strong stature. Hariyama burst through the clouds, his clothes tattered and his Ilbis spent. Michelle ran up to him and embraced him, kissing him forcefully on the lips. Tears streamed down her face.

They stood there amidst the bodies and wreckage of the buildings. Michelle took a look around and then buried her face in Hariyama’s chest.
“So much death,” she sobbed, her hot tears seeping into Hariyama’s shirt, “I can’t take it anymore!”
“When all hope is lost my darling,” he spoke firmly and strongly, “You look into yourself. Look to your heart to tell you what to do. Because of this, I have saved you and this town from destruction. When I woke up, I found your note on your pillow. I planned to come down to you, but it came out. I had to make a choice. To carry you to safety, thus dooming the city, or kill the monster, saving the city, but possibly losing you. I had to take the chance Michelle. Luckily things turned out in our favor. I guess if you hadn’t ducked from the window, I would not be with you right now.” The two of them stood there in silence. “I love you Hariyama, thank you for everything.”

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“When all hope is lost my darling, you look into yourself. Look to your heart to tell you what to do.” His words repeated in her minds over and over again, drowning out the clangs of metal on metal on the other side of the steal doors. Michelle straightened herself up, and flew up the stairs. She passed the throne room and flew out into the corridors. She felt her heart beating as fast as a savage blow. She led herself blindly, but surely, to a room. Michelle barged in and found Vanya’s Kage, Mark’s Holy Spear, and Ryan’s quiver full of steel arrows and his Asianic Bow. Her heart roared in triumph.