Zodiac Story

Take Up This Terracotta Armour, For The Hunt Begins Part 6

"Willa? Are you alright?"

Willa opened her eyes. The Sun was out, shining directly in her eyes.

"What happened to Ate Willa?"

"Shhh, don't look."

The last thing Willa remembered was fighting a wolf...it was daytime now? "What happened?"

Jenny put her hands on her hips. "You don't have to worry about the safety of the kids or Hina, or anyone here. On the other hand, you need a shower."

"That was awesome!"

"Caleb, she doesn't need to hear that right now! And there are children here!"

"Ate Liza, why can't I see anything?"

"I'm already in big trouble with your mother. I don't want you to see anything."

"Ate Liza, where's Mommy?"

"...oh fudge."

Jenny and Caleb dragged Willa into the campsite washroom. She winced when they took off her helmet to go and wash it. The amount of blood on her armour, on her clothes and everything was too much. When she was done showering, she looked at the beach. The sight made her gag. Thankfully, Liza moved the kids and Hina far away from the area.

"...did I do all of...that?" She asked Jenny as they walked away.

"Yes, you did." Jenny's concern was apparent. "Are you okay? You looked like you were in a trance. And before you say anything, I'll explain everything to the park rangers."

"I had another vision." This one was longer though. Who was the Lady?

"Oh. What did you see?"

"This massive wall and there was a lot of fighting. There were these scales and an angelic figure. I was arguing with her."

"That's new."

"Yeah, that's new."

They walked in silence the rest of the way.

Once they got back to the hotel, Willa collapsed on the bed out of exhaustion. She slept for the entire day. Once she was well rested, she asked Liza about the kids and Clara.

"The kids are fine, they're with Hina right now." Liza nodded. "She seems like a good kid. Clara got airlifted to Foothills Hospital. They told me she was stable, but she was in a coma right now. Jason dropped everything and is driving here at breakneck speed, or something like that. His text messages were illegible."

Willa nodded and buried her head in a pillow. Clara...

For the most part, the kids were unhurt. They seemed to have adopted Hina as a big sister figure, which Hina didn't mind at all. Willa tried to resist the urge to hug them tightly and never let any of them go. Hina herself went through something similar with her friends and slept through the Calamity. She was planning to sleep through this one as well, but she noticed a menacing bear in the lobby, so she grabbed the kids and left the hotel immediately. After she was told about Clara, she mumbled for a bit and stated that she hoped that Clara recovered and that she was sorry about the confusion.

Hina must have inherited her heavy sleeper tendencies from her parents, because they had slept through the entire night. They both hugged their daughter, glad that she was safe and sound...until they discovered that their daughter had stolen someone's keys and taken their boat on a joyride. Despite Hina's protestations that she did it to protect Miguel and Nina, they still forced her to apologise to the man.

"Gomen nasai!" Hina bowed deeply to the confused man. "Gomen nasai!"

The man was deeply confused until Jenny translated what was going on. He fainted once he was shown the extent of the damage to his beloved boat with its many scratches against the hard rocks.