Taking the first gulp of my beer, I spat it out inside my cup, wiping my mouth with my hands. Oh, God! Does beer taste this bad? How did Aunt Inara handle the taste? I threw my beer inside the sink and poured myself a glass of water, washing down the bitter taste lingering in my throat.796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqE1pfoRGY2
Cassie burst out in laughter as she wiped her happy tears, holding her chest. I gave her a death glare towards her, crossing my arms. "Very funny, Cass. I bet your reaction to your first alcohol was even worse than mine."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ1SXLHhrxd
"You're supposed to swallow it straight away, silly," she nudged my elbows, finding it hard to contain her laughter. "This is the funniest thing I've ever seen in my entire life."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡElNoMTHcVR
"Now you tell me," I rolled my eyes as I stormed out of my quarters. 796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70Ia43Qcqx
Cassie stopped herself from laughing as she caught up with me, walking beside me. "Are you mad?"796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGWEaqIf4f
I bobbed my head. "Of course I am. This is my first beer and you're laughing at me."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7zFuCuFLNA
"I'm sorry," she placed her hand around my shoulder. "I didn't mean to make fun of you, really."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTLstfLiJx
My lips curved into a smile as I shook my head. "I forgive you, Cass."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrAquopCqPE
We laughed along as we headed to the training room, getting into our lines and faced Sergeant A'tynn with a straight face. "Alright cadets," he spoke. "We have a new mission. There have been reports of mass hysteria in the village of Ionis. We will be sent to investigate the issue. Am I clear?"796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQHIuLpe4e
"Sir, yes, sir," we saluted in unison as we prepared our weapons and wore our armour, walking towards our horse stable, ready to depart to our destination.
Arriving in the village a few hours later, we were greeted with hostile glares from the villagers as we got down from the horse. Their houses were painted with yellow paint and their roofs were made out of cemented tiles instead of straw. The villagers were well dressed with the ladies wearing ruffled blouses and midi skirts made out of linen while the men were wearing suits and ties.796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡavwEfImlH1
This must be a rich neighbourhood where everyone is well-off. Unlike Surfis and Lavinia where the people were mostly farmers and shopkeepers, the people in Ionis worked in white-collared jobs such as bankers and businessmen. Their chief, Tanin greeted us with a handshake and led us inside his gated mansion.796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcliRR0eul3
As we sat down on his olive green, velvet sofa, his servants served us a cup of Vanille d'Orage tea inside a ceramic cup. I thanked the servant as I took a sip. Oh wow, I smiled to myself. It tastes like the vanilla cake my aunt usually sells at The Little Owl Coffeehouse. And it smells like vanilla too.796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbnUKdODjBI
"So when did this mass hysteria happen?" asked Sergeant A'tynn, sipping his tea. 796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSVXntqNqUH
"It started out a week ago," Tanin told him. "At first, we tried to treat our patients with the medicine they were prescribed with but then it's gotten worse. There were complaints that they saw some creature lurking in the corner of the room and that it tried to attack them."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaNag8bT9e5
"What does this creature look like?" I asked, putting my cup on the saucer. "The creature was reported to be green, short, skinny, and has sharp teeth."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEk0N34HniQ
"Sounds a lot like a terrorlich," Nat commented. "Yeah, but we conducted a search on them, there was nothing to be found. Usually, if the terrorlich is here, some of your things will be missing."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwPDKmah5mx
"Terrorlich will usually steal your money and gold and jewellery for their owner," the sergeant explained to me. "They also leave footprints around the house that looked similar to a child."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGKgGYYG5Vo
"Anyways, that's the reason why I called you here. I need all of you to investigate the cause of this hysteria before it gets out of hand."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ72afUUWLYh
"Understood," he nodded as we were led into our rooms. I had to share a room with Cassie, Nat and Gatsby. Cassie's a great roommate, always makes her bed and folds her blanket after she's awake. Nat, well, how do I begin? He hates my guts and is super stuck up whenever he sees me. As for Gatsby, well, I barely know him at all. We hardly talk at all.796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAUgI3mWdb6
As the night falls, I decided to pass my time by reading faerie literature titled 'The Mother of Demons' while Cassie knitted herself a woolly blanket just for herself. Meanwhile, Nat was resting his eyes on his bed as Gatsby rolled his eyes and drew on a piece of paper with a pencil.796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAEv1fSEgWF
"Aren't you supposed to keep yourself focused on your task?" Gatsby scolded his friend, not looking at him. 796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKvRZ0UIP9w
Nat scoffed, his eyes still shut. "I'll know when there's hysteria, don't worry."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbMkqkCL0UG
I rolled my eyes at his ridiculous claim. "It might happen when you're deep asleep and you won't know it."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWlphPjHWHq
"I'm a faerie unlike you, so yeah, I do what I please."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqnL464mrD
"Just ignore him, Bugsy," Cassie retorted, ignoring our arrogant comrade. "He's just a lazy bum."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKim8MRBDbF
"Tell me about it," Gatsby laughed, as he focused on his drawing. "So, I see you're reading about the Mother of Demons."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVga6i0NSxD
I nodded. "Yup, I just want to know about her. I heard this name from Prince Thadeus before."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjw5nXKXA34
"Woah," her eyes widened. "You met The Crown Prince of Angelis?"796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrsjlbYz55G
"Yeah, I did. He's the one who brought me to Angelis in the first place."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9IkIxMXr1v
"I'm kinda jealous of you," Gatsby laughed. "You, out of all people get to personally meet the handsome Prince Thadeus."
"Well, I was lucky," I shrugged. "Besides, I already have a boyfriend back home."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkJQYoTnEtY
Before Cassie could open her mouth, there was a loud shriek coming from the house right next to us. All four of us rushed out of the mansion and ran towards the sound, only to find a purple-eyed woman screaming on her bed, with her black-haired husband trying to calm her down.796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAY1Bp5nHyg
"What happened?" Cassie asked as she tried to calm the woman down. She glared at Cassie and continued screaming as she pointed at the corner of her room without saying a word. 796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM1yWi3A9Bj
Her husband rubbed her back as he was sweating profusely. "I don't know what's happening to Greta," he hailed. "It's been like this for days now."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDXylDgvEN8
Then, we heard another howling coming from another house, prompting Nat and Gatsby to run out of Greta's to handle another patient. I opened the window and let in the cool wind that blew into the house, hoping to calm her down. "Bugsy grabbed a sample of food and water," Cassie ordered. "The sergeant wants us to bring them over to the doctor for more information."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnBwEcrnoZB
"Got it," I answered as I grabbed two small bottles and filled it up with both pieces of bread and water, respectively. Placing the samples inside my pocket, I helped Cassie to restraint the woman as she kept questioning her. "Why are you screaming? What's wrong?"796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2rFok9iLkb
"There's a terrorlich at the corner of the room," Greta shouted, pointing with her finger. "Can't you see it?"796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡri20ucDoxe
I raised my eyebrows. "There's no one there," I told her. 796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7RdVZ9bhjj
"It's there, it's there! Can't you see it? Are you blind, human?"796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjHNmUtvf0
I glanced at Cassie, who shook her head. "I don't see anything either."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1qfCUSqppM
Greta hollered at my face as she bit her husband's hands, slamming herself at the corner of her room. Cassie and I grabbed her hand and held her tighter as I began to hear her husband screaming along, knocking his head on the wall. I groaned in frustration as I ran towards him and stopped him from hurting himself further.796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQqhiBwoUEt
The medics rushed into Greta's home and helped Cassie to lay her on the stretcher, clamping both her hands and legs with a cloth. They did the same with her husband and took the couple away from the house, placing them inside a large cart, which was full of other hysterical patients.796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVqXUx7YhJE
As they rode towards the hospital, Sergeant A'tynn gestured us to get on our horses. "Come on, we need to get those samples to the doctors," he barked. "There's no time to waste."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfozOVjQGek
Hours later, he was pacing back and forth as we waited in the hallway, his hands locked behind him. Then, one of the doctors walked out of the testing room, glancing at the sergeant. "We have news about the samples."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0NLyJ3gmUE
He took her hand as he stood closer to her, and his breathing quickened. "Did you find anything? Is it contaminated?"796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1a4WtLTfKy
"Calm down, dear," she told him, caressing his cheek in a gentle manner. "The results are negative. The food and water aren't even contaminated at all."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpYPNNW7SOs
"Then what caused this hysteria?"796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHhYTV0Qw7p
"I don't know. We're trying to search for the source right now."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmF43SjC1Oy
Sergeant A'tynn sighed and gave a peck on her cheek. "Be careful, my love. Don't overwork yourself."796Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMrVU1kmwFq
She smiled as she walked back inside, leaving us alone in the waiting room. "So what do we do now?" I asked, my eyebrows drooping. He stroked his chin as we looked at each other, uncertain about this mission.
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