James and Clark had returned to the camp, desperate, worried, and anxious due to their separation from Helena. James paced back and forth, praying for his niece's safety, wanting to go back and find her immediately. Clark shared the same sentiment but was somewhat better at keeping calm than the older man.

"Uncle James, I'm really worried too, but I think it's better if you think more calmly first. Helena knows this forest like the back of her hand, and she knows how to defend herself; she's not in immediate danger where she is..."

"I KNOW THAT!" The older man shouted, his eyes red and his voice faltering considerably. No matter how hard he tried to seem strong, he was still human and was afraid. " But she is all I have since my brother... I can't lose her too, I swore to protect her... Oh Lord, please have mercy..."

"..... I understand, but let's wait a bit; maybe she arrives here on her own." As Clark spoke, James began to calm down, the desperation and fear in his heart slowly seeming to dissipate, as if something were interfering and affecting it.

"Okay, you're right, being impulsive like this won't help me. So what should we do then?"

"Well..." Before he had a chance to answer, Clark saw Helena returning from the woods. She was holding her sword and appeared to be carrying some kind of book in her hand. She didn't seem injured, and the young man smiled and let out a sigh of relief. "Why don't you try hugging her?"

James looked at him confused, then followed his gaze and saw Helena approaching. The man couldn't hold back or hesitate and ran to his niece; the swordswoman sheathed her sword and returned her uncle's affectionate gesture.

"Oh thank God, you scared me Helena."

"It's your fault. Were you really worried about something so trivial?" The worry disappeared, and James gave his niece a light punch on the head as a reprimand for her lack of manners.

"You know how to ruin the moment, don't you? You're so rude, young lady."

"OUCH, OLD MAN, THAT HURT, YOU IDIOT!" He gave her another, slightly stronger punch, which made the young woman furious and try to hit him back, failing. Clark laughed in the background, making Helena notice his presence and turn red for three different reasons. "What are you laughing at, Mr. Charm? I'll still beat you up"

"Helena, please don't ruin the moment..." As he asked, Helena began to calm down; his voice was extremely gentle and kind. It was irritating how she obeyed him. "Anyway, how are you? Did anything happen on the other side of the chasm?"

His question made Helena remember what had happened and realize what she was doing. She hadn't understood half of what that monk had said, but it seemed extremely important, and she would definitely need help. The best thing to do was to share things as quickly as possible.

Actually, it's a long story...

A EXPLANATION LATER

"So..... You're a chosen one of a prophecy...?" James asked with an incredulous look on his face.

"Apparently."

"And you have to find three others like you?" Clark continued the question with an even more skeptical look.

"I guess so."

"And... it was an albino monk who told you this?" Both asked simultaneously.

"ARE YOU BOTH DEAF OR SOMETHING? DO YOU WANT ME TO REPEAT EVERYTHING AGAIN?"

The two stood staring at her, still skeptical. Clark then, in a comically subtle manner, leaned towards James and whispered:

"I think you hit her head too hard."

"I HEARD THAT, CLARK!"

"Helena, you can't blame him too much..." James said, scratching his head in frustration. "I know we live in a strange world, but what you said is another level of weirdness. Why are you a chosen one among so many?"

"I have no idea, I just know that's what that man told me."

"That doesn't make sense, Helena." Clark questioned once again. "Deceived and Aberration are terms I've never heard before, and if they exist, I understand needing someone strong and someone wise, but how can someone beautiful and someone good help? There are so many strange things in all this."

"Do you think I don't know, Clark? But that's what happened, am I red to be called that? I have zero desire to do this, it must be better to ignore it anyway."

"No." James interrupted "If it's true, it might be too serious to simply ignore."

"BUT WHAT DO YOU TWO WANT FROM ME?" The young woman shouted in frustration, as if they only wanted to disagree with her, it was so irritating. "AH, FORGET IT! IF YOU TWO ARE GOING TO KEEP BEING A PAIN IN THE ASS, THEN YOU CAN TAKE CARE OF THIS THING HERE!" She concluded, throwing the book at them. Clark caught the object in mid-air with great agility, looking at her with reproach, but as soon as he held the book in his hands, his skin glowed yellow, and the book, which was red, turned yellow.

Both Clark and James looked at the artifact in amazement, while Helena looked at them with a certain superiority.

"Is this in my head, Clark?"

Beautiful as a yellow angel

MEANWHILE...

Lysa and Emily continued walking together around the camp. Emily carried a stick that she pretended was a sword, and Lysa followed with a book in her hands, which seemed to be about Eastern religions, and she was deeply engrossed in reading it.

"Lysa, why do you like reading so much?"

"Actually, I don't like reading, but I want to learn as much as I can to help others. At least, I hope it can be useful..."

"I think that's nonsense. How can knowing chemical reactions help you in a battle? Or in building something?"

"Emily... that's actually very useful..."

"Pffff, nonsense. I don't believe in these things. All you need is good reflexes and an attentive mind..."

"Boo." Coming out of nowhere, John made a weak and disinterested sound, but sudden enough to make Emily jump with extreme force and let out an extremely loud scream. Lysa couldn't hold back and started laughing at her friend's reaction.

"I really saw Emily... You're such a formidable warrior that you've awakened your inner Banshee."

"HEY, I'M NOT A BAN.. What's that?"

"Banshee is a Celtic mythological being." John began, grabbing some bread from a nearby table "They are known primarily for their screams. Theoretically, they have long hair and would wear a gray cloak over a green dress, with red eyes due to continuous crying."

"Wow, where did you read about that, Eagle-Eye?" Asked Lysa, impressed by the man's knowledge and seriousness.

"I don't know. I feel like I've known it since I remember being a person."

"Could you teach me?"

NO! Was what the man wanted to shout, John had no patience for children, especially to teach one, they could be so dumb and slow that it easily stressed him. But before he could actually answer the girl, he felt a dizziness in his head, he had woken up with a horrible fever that day.

It wasn't unusual, even before the world fell apart, John had an extremely weak immune system, he couldn't be an athlete exactly because he didn't have the stamina for it. However, this time, his fever came with great force, making the man stagger a bit and worry the girls.

"Eagle-Eye? Do you want me to get you some water?" Emily asked, supporting the man a bit as Lysa fetched a chair. Once they had him seated, Emily touched his forehead to check his temperature; it was not only very hot but he had already started sweating heavily. "Lysa, he's burning."

The other girl also came to help, checking and confirming the high temperature. Lysa even got disgusted by the sweat on her fingers. Lost, the duo started discussing what to do and ended up deciding to call Helena. Lysa ran off while Emily stayed to watch the archer.

The girl ran for a few minutes until she found Helena with Clark and James in a house, they seemed to be discussing something serious.

'Why both of us, Helena? What makes us so special to face this aberration?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't have asked you those same questions before, IDIOT!"

"You two calm down, we won't solve anything this way. Not to mention we still need to find the other two before the Deceived ones arrive."

"HELENA! JAMES! CLARK! WE NEED HELP, EAGLE-EYE IS FEVERISH AGAIN!"

"You've got to be kidding me..."James grumbled. "... Among so many moments, John?"

The trio followed Lysa to where the man was, coughing weakly and dryly while Emily remained by his side, extremely confused and worried, with no idea what to do.

Clark picked up the girl and moved her aside while James examined his friend. Helena, wanting to free her hands, tried to extend the book, which had turned red again, and the sword for Lysa to hold. The child had the reflex to extend her hand but halfway through stopped. Suddenly everything turned black and white, the whole world lost color, and the young girl saw black energy emanating from the book. Before she realized, she was trembling, every cell and molecule of her body and everything around her screamed, intensely,  four words, simple yet urgently defining a warning: DO NOT TOUCH THE BOOK.

Lysa was caught off guard, tears fell from her eyes as the girl threw herself on the ground without ever touching the object.

"GET THAT AWAY FROM ME!" the child screamed, her voice so loud it was ripping her throat. So intense it shook her soul. "DON'T LET IT TOUCH ME, GET IT AWAY!"

"Lysa, what happened?" Helena asked. James was unsure whether to focus on the girl or on John, and Emily jumped from Clark's arms, concerned for her friend.

"Please, Helena, don't give it to me, it's going to kill me, GET IT AWAY!"

"Lysa, calm down..." This time it was Emily who came to talk to her. "...W-What happened? It's just a book, you don't need to..."

"That's not just a book, Emily, listen to me, my instincts are screaming at me, if I touch that, I will definitely die."

"But Lysa, I'm holding the book right now and I'm alive. See? Nothing's wrong with me."

"I don't know, I don't know..." the girl cried. It was humiliating to be there, making such a fuss. The fact that she was the only one acting up tormented her; she felt like she was overreacting, like she was being a nuisance. At that moment, she felt like a burden. "I'm sorry, I don't know... I just know it's going to kill me, I just know I can't touch it, I just know what I feel, please listen to me..."

Seeing how distressed her best friend was, Emily felt a strong urge in her heart. She ran to Helena, Lysa noticed what she was planning to do and screamed to stop her friend, fearing for her life. Emily was already gathering strength to throw the book away when the red cover... turned blue.

Someone wise as a blue hermit.

The transfiguration of the object left everyone there even more confused. Helena looked at her uncle as if seeking help.

"I'll talk to you about this later. For now, I need you to leave and let me focus on who really needs me at the moment." Lysa still had tears on her face but was staring at the confusing scene. How had Emily not died? Now everyone would think she was crazy... Why did it change color in Emily's hands? Why? How? What? How embarrassing, how humiliating, how childish, how ridiculous. She should have acted more composed, how exaggerated, she was just a child... no... no... no... No. NO!

Lysa stood up stiffly and walked with firm steps toward Emily. The girl, seeing her approach, held the book away from Lysa to protect her friend.

"Lysa, don't worry, I won't let this book hurt you, I think it might..."

"SHUT UP, EMILY." Pushing the girl aside, Lysa took the book into her hands, but nothing happened. The color didn't change, it didn't kill or hurt her. In fact, all the ominous feeling she had before didn't show up this time. The book didn't do anything, and it was as if Lysa didn't exist, as if she were insignificant. It was as if it had all been a scene just to mock her. She had been humiliated; she had been a pointless nuisance; she had been so immature and exaggerated.

"Lysa, are you okay?" Of course, the idiot Emily would repeat the idiotic thought that the most idiotic Lysa had, just to dig herself deeper into embarrassment. Again, in a moment of impulse, Lysa hit Emily with the book. And began hitting again, and again, and again. Clark and Helena ran to break up the fight, while Helena picked up a crying and hurt Emily in her arms, Clark pulled Lysa away.

"LET GO! LET ME GO, CLARK!"

"LYSA!" Clark shouted, holding the girl's arms tightly. "ENOUGH OF THE TANTRUM! What happened to you today?"

....................

He didn't believe her. At no moment did he believe she was serious. He didn't even try to believe. Cry, little Lysa, for you deserve it; shed your child's tears, for you are merely a stone in the way of adults. But no, even the will to cry was denied to her. For when she looked at Clark, she felt her heart calming down, she was denied the part of the process and learning, and she simply returned to normal. Just as Clark wanted.

The duo took the two girls to a nearby house, putting them in separate rooms while they started talking in the living room.

"Have you ever seen Lysa like that?" Helena asked Clark worriedly, who had sat in a chair, thinking.

"Never, it was very unexpected. I couldn't read her feelings, so much was happening at once..."

"I'm worried about both of them now. She just lost it when she saw the book. But honestly, there's something else I found very strange..."

"What?"

"That monk told me that blue is wise as a hermit, and Emily... well, Emily is too dumb to be wise."

"But still, it chose her. Just look at the pattern; you're strong, and I'm beautifull. It doesn't make sense to have gotten it wrong with her."

"In any case, all of this was very strange. I don't even know how to talk to them about what happened..."

"Don't think too much about it." Clark asked, standing up and approaching Helena. Immediately, her attention was focused entirely on him. The young man placed his hand on her face and looked at her. "...You're too beautiful to worry about two squabbling brats."

His words were a perfect argument and made total sense to her ears. Beauty and strength met, and beauty won... beauty always won... beauty dominates you...

"Thank you, Clark." Helena said, not even questioning the feeling that had arisen in her heart.

IN THE FOREST, NEAR THE CAMP

"Okay, I just need to go inside, right?" Pedro asked anxiously while snapping his fingers, talking to the trees. They told him that his fate was there. "They won't want to hurt me, will they?"

"They wouldn't be able even if they wanted to..." the trees assured him. Pedro then turned and looked at the camp entrance, trying to recreate every possible scenario that could happen and what the best course of action was to avoid causing problems. Then he saw someone who seemed to be a guard. The person didn't look like a friendly face, which made Pedro consider that he might be a trained assassin. He looked to be around 30 years old, with light brown hair that was almost blond.

"Come on, I can do this..." Taking a deep breath, Pedro stepped out from the bushes, still dominated by insecurity, and out of all the approaches he could take, of course, he chose the worst one. "HEEEEEY, Eric, how's it going, old buddy?"

"My name is Stuart. Who are you?" Raising an eyebrow, staring at someone who was obviously suspicious, Stuart lifted something that resembled a bricklayer's maul, which could easily be a war hammer.

"It's, uh... I know, it's just that Eric is how you say Stuart in Japanese, my homeland..."

"You're not Japanese, Eric isn't Japanese, and Eric has nothing to do with Stuart. Do you want to get beaten, kid?"

"S-S-S-S-SORRY! It's just... WAIT!" On the outside, it seemed like bipolarity, but inside, Pedro was electric, trying to predict Stuart's movements, which he would never make, and beginning to change. "HAHAHA, You wouldn't hurt me even if you wanted to. If you try, my wolves will tear you apart."

"We won't..." Pedro heard from the forest. He sweated coldly, knowing the animals wouldn't help him. Stuart, however, only heard barking, which made him stay on guard.

"I-I-If you try anything, they'll bite you and rip you to shreds. Their names are... er... BITE and SHRED!"

"...Seriously, Pedro? That was cringe as hell." He heard the wolves say again from the bushes. Stuart, however, continued only hearing the barks, ignoring the boy's speech and focusing solely on the barks.

"So you have some power..." Stuart concluded, swinging his maul from side to side. It was better to end it all quickly and eliminate the source of danger. Stuart ran at Pedro, who began to panic as the enemy came wielding the weapon. Pedro was as agile as a rabbit, dodging the first attack, and Stuart was extremely fast as well. There was so much skill in his handling of the weapon that it seemed weightless.

Once again, Pedro dodged, and once again, Stuart attacked. The thrusts were continuous, but so were the dodges; the traveler wasn't fighting back, and his stamina never seemed to wane. Putting an end to all that confusion, the tree roots emerged from the ground and wrapped around Stuart, holding him in place.

"Phew, thanks girls, I wouldn't know how to calm him down..." Stuart tried to struggle, but it was futile; the trees were much stronger. "Sorry man, I swear they won't hurt you, it's just to prevent problems."

"Pedro, ask him..."

"Oh right, excuse me good sir, w-would you happen to know where I can find a woman named Helena?"

"Helena? What do you want with her?"

"Well... what is it that I want with her again?"

"PEDRO!" The animals of the forest screamed, which to Stuart was a kind of animal onomatopoeia, but to Pedro was stressful; he even heard the trees sigh this time.

"Sorry... well... I mean not sorry in a bad way, like i'm goingo to kill you, cuz i won't but.... oh it doesn't matter... I have some kind of world-related issue with her, about something like being green or something..."

"You're not right in the head, are you kid? But... okay, I guess, if you let me go, I'll take you to her."

"Y-Y-You won't attack me?"

"Even if I tried, I couldn't, and you're kind of... too peculiar to be someone bad." Hesitant, Pedro asked the trees to release Stuart. The older man then led Pedro to where the rest of the group was. John was lying on a rug, sweating profusely, and Stuart, seeing his feverish friend, immediately approached him with concern. "Again... James, how is he this time?"

"It's not the worst he's had. I've already given him some medicine; he just needs to rest and he'll be fine. Who is the boy?"

"G-G-Good morning, sir, my name is P-Pedro."

"Pedro? That's a nice name." Helena responded from a corner of the room with Clark. The last thing Pedro expected was a compliment from a stranger, so he just broke down.

"T-Thank you, yours too..."

"You know my name?" The woman said suspiciously while holding her sword.

"........ No.... I mean yes... I mean I don't know?.... The answer that will irritate you less, please...."

"Who are you? What do you want?" Clark asked, losing his patience. Pedro looked around the room from one side to the other until he finally spotted his objective: the yellow book in Clark's hands.

"Could you please pass me that book?" Everyone there looked at him suspiciously, except Clark, who saw no malice in the man. He had already deduced what was going to happen, so he stood up and extended the object to the stranger. Pedro took it, and the book turned green.

Someone good as a green priest.

"Are you the priest?" Helena asked. "Do you have any idea what's going on?"

"No... all I know is that the trees told me to come here to find a book with a Helena."

"Trees?" James questioned until Stuart responded jokingly, in a still sad tone.

"Looks like he talks to herbs..."

"HEY! N-N-N-N-N-NO IT'S NOT LIKE THAT, it's just that I can talk to them and..." A blow to Helena's head made him lose consciousness.

"THERE'S A SICK PERSON IN THE HOUSE, CAN YOU STOP SCREAMING?"

"WHAT? BUT YOU'RE SCREAMING TOO AND..."

"Both of you. Enough." Clark said, their anger subsided, and once again, the moment's process was lost. "What matters is that now we have everyone here, and we have no idea what to do..."

"Let me explain." A new voice echoed from inside the room, and before they could realize it, there was a monk, entirely white and golden, in a meditative pose, floating in the air. His presence emitted no presence; it was as if no one was there. Everyone was startled by the being and prepared to attack him. "Do not fear, I have come to guide you to the end of this tragedy."

"Who are you?" Clark asked, unable to see the monk's heart, as if something blocked him.

"Didn't the warrior tell you, angel? It doesn't matter. Nothing matters until it becomes important, at least that's how it is in the world we live in."

"That confused me..." Pedro confessed in a comically lost and thoughtful manner.

"In any case, I'll explain everything, but first I need all of you to hold the book. And when I say all of you, I mean ALL eight: Priest, Angel, Warrior, Hermit, Bait, Key, Goddess, and James."

"Why am I the only one you mentioned by name?" The monk gave the older man a look that needed no further explanation: "It doesn't matter."

"You don't have much time, those who are not holding the book in 5 minutes. Will. Die."

It wasn't a threat, it was a warning, and they all understood that. It was made clear in their hearts that they could trust, that their choice was to trust. There was no time; Helena ran to fetch the girls and brought them back. They brought the book near John and placed his hand on the book along with everyone else. And as soon as the eight touched it, the book released a white energy that surrounded and protected the group.

"But what..." Helena's question went unanswered until a huge explosion was heard in the distance. Amid the light surrounding them, they could also see a massive darkness spreading around and engulfing everything.

"I'll explain everything to you..." The monk answered calmly, as if nothing was happening. "But first, I need you to survive... to the end of it all."