"There you two are." The boy's mother sighed as they came running into the house. "Were you messing around in the forest again? I thought I told you it was dangerous to play out there without your Father." The two were covered in dirt, leaves tangled in their messy hair. It was a common occurrence to see the two boys running about and getting dirty, and the villagers had long since grown used to see them and their friends running through the trees.

"We were just on the edge of the forest, I promise! There were some really neat bugs!" Vikal said with a toothy smile that made it hard for his Mother to chastise him. He was likely no more than five or six years old, only slightly younger than his brother, and both boys shared their mother's brown hair. Though, while Vikal's was straight and short, Alec had let his grow long which showed off its curls with how unkempt it was.

"Yeah! We even got this cool beetle! See!" Alec said as he held a large bug up, startling his Mother, who shrieked at the top of her lungs before throwing the poor creature out the window and yelling at her children for bringing it into the house.

"Nice to see that even in another world, kids collect bugs." Akagi chuckled as she watched the scene from just outside the window where the bug had gracefully passed by. "You seeing this, Yumi?"

"Yes, but where are we?" Yumi asked, still inside Akagi's shadow. "You touched that crystal, and the next thing I know, we're at some farm watching kids get yelled at by their Mother."

"I'll give you some time to guess. It's no fun if I spell it out right away." Akagi chuckled which made Yumi grumble about her being secretive for no good reason. "Oh, alright. I'll give you a hint. This is most certainly a memory." She said as the kids ran around the house, avoiding their Mother's fury long enough for their Father, a tall and muscular hunter that looked strikingly like Alec, to return home.

"It looks like you're all having fun!" The boys' Father laughed as he watched his Wife ready a wicker broom to bap the boys on the head. “I'm a bit sad you're enjoying yourselves without me!” He smiled.

"It's about time you got back! The kids brought another bug in the house!" The boys' Mother grumbled as she put the broom down. "You need to tell them to stop! You know I can't stand those things!"

"But it was cool!" (Alex x Vikal)

"Now, now. You boys know your Mother doesn't like bugs." Their Father said as he walked over and rubbed their heads. "Don't bring more in the house anymore, okay? Its not nice to do things like that."

"Alright..." (Brothers)

"Snakes are fine, though!" Their Father laughed before being smacked on the back of the head with the broom.

"No. Animals. In. The. House!" The boys' mother hissed which caused the boys and their Father to look at each other and snicker. "Don't go encouraging them! Otherwise, you're sleeping in the barn!" She sighed. "Enough... Dinner is ready, so everyone wash up!"

"Dinner!" (Alex x Vikal x Father)

As the family sat down, the scene rapidly shifted around Akagi, changing from a warm house to the dark and lush growth of the nearby forest. The two brothers were the only ones around, and were deep enough that you could no longer see the edge of the forest through the dense underbrush.

"Hey Alec... If we go deeper, Mom's gonna get mad." Vikal said as he followed behind his brother, who was using a large stick to smack away bushes and other plants. It was clear that he was nervous, and tried to keep as close to his other Brother as possible "We should go back... Dad and the other Hunters always said there were scary monsters out here..."

"Don't worry about that! The adults in the village just say that to scare us, and besides we've never seen a monster around the house! The other kids in the village said they only show up when you go really far in, and we're just going to this neat cave I found anyway!" Alec said with a happy smile, showing that he was not worried in the slightest. "You're gonna like it, Vikal! I even asked Maliee and Jorton to meet us there. We're thinking of making it a secret hideout!"

"A hideout!" Vikal said excitedly as he forgot about his worries. "That sounds awesome!"

"Right?!?" Alec said excitedly. "Now, come on! We're nearly there. There's a small stream just up ahead, and it's right on the other side!" He said as the two brothers continued deeper into the woods, crossing a small stream by leaping over some rocks before walking along the opposite bank and eventually coming to a clearing where two older kids were waiting for them. The older boy wore something that looked like hunter's gear, and his short, reddish hair was the same as the older girl's. She wore clothing not too dissimilar to what the brothers' mother had worn, though it was much smaller and had several holes where wear and tear had taken its toll.

"About time you two showed up." Jorton said with a snort. "I thought you'd chickened out!"

"Be nice!" Maliee chastised her younger brother for his rudeness. "You don't need to pick on them all the time!" She said, puffing her cheeks up cutely. "Sorry about my idiot brother."

"It's alright. We all know Jorton is all bark and no bite." Alec snickered. "He probably needed to hold your hand all the way out here since he was scared anyway."

"What'd you say?!?" Jorton exclaimed, prompting his sister to tell him to be quiet as his voice could attract animals or monsters.

"Alright! Let's go to the cave! Its going to be awesome!" Alec said as he continued past the two siblings, followed close behind by his brother.

"Wait up!" Vikal said as he hurried to keep up, and about five minutes later, they arrived at the entrance of a dark cave. It wasn't very deep, and if you looked closely, one could see the back, though it gave off an eerie vibe that was impossible to ignore.

"That place looks kinda scary..." Maliee said while ducking behind her brother. "And gross..."

"Bah, it's not that bad! When I came here before there was a really cool flower growing inside too." Alec said as he walked toward the cave's entrance, Vikal and the siblings following closely behind. It smelled of moss and dampness within the cave, with little signs of life beyond lichens and other small plants clinging to the small amount of light spilling through the entrance. Just beyond the mouth of the cave, the children could see several pools of stagnant water, around which grew small blue flowers that looked similar to roses only smaller and without the thorns.

"What kind of flower is that?" Maliee asked, intrigued by the strange plant. "I've never seen it before."

"Dunno." Alec said as they slowly entered. "You know, Jorton? Your Mom knows all about herbs, right?"

"I don't know either." Jorton replied curly. "I have no interest in girly things like flowers, anyway."

"Let me go see!" Vikal said as he ran past them and over to the flowers, crouching down to inspect them. "Do you know what these are, Enūma?" He asked, turning to his side to ask someone that didn't quite seem to be there.

"He's still talking to that imaginary friend? What a baby!" Jorton laughed at the young boy for his delusions.

"Be nice!" Maliee hissed at her brother.

"Just leave Vikal alone." Alec said as the three of them looked deeper into the cave. "This place will make a really cool secret base! I doubt any of the adults know about it either! We can do whatever we want all the way out here!"

"I wonder if some animals live here?" Jorton asked as he saw a few small scratches on the floor. “This place seems like the perfect place for a nest.”

"No clue, I've never seen one come in before. They always stop just outside and leave without going inside. There was a bear that sniffed around before leaving one time." Alec explained, his words causing Jorton's brow to furrow slightly.

"So you don't know either? Awww..." Vikal said, sad that his invisible friend didn't know about the strange blue flower. "That's okay! You know lots of other stuff! So don't be sad!" He smiled before standing up and turning to the others. "Hey, Alec... We should take one of... these..." His words came to a crawl as he froze in place, his eyes going wide in terror.

"Huh? Something up Vik?" Alec asked his brother, wondering why he'd stopped talking.

*HUFF*

"T-T-T-T..." Vikal stammered as he slowly raised his hand to point behind them, the other children realizing quickly that something was standing behind them at the front of the cave.

"H-Hey... Alec... You said that other animals didn't come into this cave, right..." Jorton said quietly as he side-eyed his friend.

"Y-Yeah... I never saw any

come inside..." Alec said, his blood running cold as he listened to the deep breathing coming from behind him.

"I... Is that maybe because... Because of this place... Is some dangerous creature's nest... And t-they were scared of it?" Jorton gulped as he cursed himself for forgetting something so obvious.

"Brother..." Maliee squeaked as she hugged him tighter. "I'm scared..."

"W-What should we do?" Jorton asked as the creature grew closer, its footsteps squishing on the mud behind them.

"W-We need to run..." Alec said, his mouth running dry from fear. "O-On three... We'll turn around and run as fast as we can... Back to the village..."

"A-Alright..." Jorton said as he gripped his sister tightly. "O-One..."

"T-Two..." Alec said, reading his stick.

"Three!" Jorton yelled, quickly turning only to find himself frozen in utter terror as his eyes met the creature. It was a massive Black Wolf, large enough in size to block most of the cave's entrance. Its pitch black fur seemed to blend into the darkness around them, and its red eyes bore straight into him and the other children like daggers. It was angry, angry that something had come into its home and it bore its teeth at the four of them, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

"T-There's nowhere to..." Jorton paled as the creature's breath washed over him, the scent of death overwhelming his senses.

"Brother..." Maliee began to cry as she hid behind him.

"Hey! You!" Alec yelled at the creature, smacking his stick against the cave wall and getting its attention! Over here!"

"Grrrr." The Wolf growled as it turned its gaze on him.

"Go! I'll distract it!" Alec yelled to the others. "Go now! Tell the adults about the Wolf!"

"B-But what about-" Maliee was about to continue before Jorton put his hand over her mouth and picked her up in his arms.

"You'd better not die!" Jorton said as he ran around the side of the Wolf while Alec continued to smack the wall and ground to attract the creature's attention.

"Come on! Look over here! You big ugly dog!" Alec yelled loudly while continuing to make as much noise with the stick as possible. "You too Vik! Go! I'll distract it!" He said, unable to turn and look at his brother due to fear that the Wolf would immediately jump him. "Get out of here while you still can!"

"N-No..." Vikal's entire body was paralyzed with fear. "Alec you... Enūma, you have to help him!" He called out to his invisible friend. "You can take down the monster, right?" He paused, seemingly listening to an inaudible answer. "W-What? I-I can take it down? No way! I can't fight!"

"What are you waiting for!" Alec said as the Wolf moved closer, giving an opening to escape that Jorton and Maliee took advantage of. "Stop talking to your imaginary friend and run!"

"I... I have the power to fight?" Vikal said to his 'imaginary friend, confused. "H-How?"

*RAWR*

The Wolf growled as he leaped toward Alec, swiping the stick out of his hand and chomping at the child, barely missing as he backed away.

"Nice try!" Alec said with a cheeky smile, all while his legs shook in fear. "Run Vik! Now's your chance!"

{Mom... I'm sorry... We should've listened to you about the forest. Please don't blame Vik for this... It's all my fault that we came here...} (Alec)

"I... If I do that... I'll be able to save Alec?" Vikal asked his 'imaginary friend.' "Then... I'll do it!" He yelled as the Wolf jumped toward his brother, who readied himself to be devoured by the beast.

"I'm sorry, Vik..." Alec closed his eyes and let his arms fall to his side as the beast's jaws came crashing toward him, waiting for his death. However, it didn't come. Seconds passed and after nearly a minute he slowly opened his eyes to find the Wolf's jaws opened just above his head, but frozen in place, seemingly out of fear. "W-What?"

"I won't let you hurt my brother!" Vikal's voice sounded from the back of the cave, though it was heavily distorted and something about its unnatural pitch caused Alec and the Wolf to shudder. "I'll destroy you! Enūma, I'm ready!" He cried out for his friend, forming a dark black blade in his left hand! "Now die!" He said before zipping forward at high speed and clumsily splitting the giant Wolf horizontally with the sword, killing the best in an instant, its body burning away in black flame.

"We did it! Enūma we did it!" Vikal cheered, turning to his brother with a happy smile on his face. "I killed the Wolf, Alec! Enūma helped me!"

"V-Vikal..." Alec stammered, backing away from his brother in terror and confusion. "W-What..."

"Is something wrong?" Vikal tilted his head as he allowed Enūma to dissipate. "The Wolf is gone, so we're safe! We need to tell Jorton and Maliee and the other villagers!"

"Y-Your eyes..." Alec squeaked before falling on his behind. His brother's eyes had changed from their normal brown to bright orange, with his white sclerae turning black as night. It was a terrifying sight, especially when combined with the black flame-like aura that lightly surrounded his body. "What... Whatare you?!?"