The open plains around the east side of Lea Monde were resplendent with the sun's warmth, warm green grass and not a breeze to chase it away despite its flatland scope.  Far from the seawards coast to the west of the city, James guided the Cupid Mark Crusaders across the plains towards a particular region of the expansive Snowfly Forest that covered most of the city's outer limits.  With advice from Mother Mariel, he had scoped out the most reasonable place to give the three girls their first earning in combat, showing their true mettle once and for all.
It was a beautiful day as they traipsed through the lands, the sun on their backs and a moderate pace was made as they kept up with each other.  Dahlia was at the rear whilst James strided out front, keeping an eye out for potential weak-minded foes as the girls became more and more excited by the prospect of their first real adventure.  The sun was beaming bright across the land coating it with an emerald sheen, the odd tree here and there dotting the landscape no doubt cast from their mother roots by the passing of windy days in their seeded youth, far from the madding forest.
	"I'm so EXCITED!" crowed Lu.  "Our first real mark and it's gonna be GREAT, we're gonna get right in there, and then-HYAAAAH, RAAAAH, YEAAH-"
	"LU watch it!" said Blum.  "We don' go swingin' our swords fer no reason we gotta keep our heads together!"
	"That's right," said FG, "I know you're all excited but one of the things about being a real warrior is knowing when to keep your cool.  You gotta keep your mind straight, like your swords."
	"Righ', what mister James said!  Where we goin' anyway?"
	"To the Fearoscuro Caves down in Snowfly Forest, we're doing a special mission for Mother Mariel and I need your help with it because all my clan's busy."
	"Are we?" asked Dahlia.
	"Yes."
James looked pointedly over at her over the heads of the children and she understood, nodding firmly.
	"Any monsters yet?!" asked Lu.
	"Nooooot yet," replied James, "heh, you're a bloodthirsty little girl aren't you?"
	"I-i-i'm just keeping my eye out, that's all, wouldn't wanna get ambushed or nothing right?!"
	"Hah, right, good point.  Anything yet Dahlia?"
	"Not that I can see," said the adult nu-mou, "what a beautiful day it is today, maybe the monsters won't come out."
	"Are you serious?" asked Belle.  "If it's a good day for us, it's a good day for monsters too."
	"That...is true but...some monsters don't enjoy sunlight."
	"Those ones live in caves, not out here!"
	"W-well I just meant-"
	"Guys relax," said FG, "if any monsters come out of the bush we can take them on, that's why we have you along so let's not worry about it."
	"Right...very well."
Dahlia was uncertain, and as much as she did not approve of the idea of taking children along to fight monsters no matter how weak they may be, she found herself not able to compose the authority to protest such.  After all James was a much more practiced warrior far beyond her capacity, and in all fairness he had trained the three girls well in being competent amateur swordfighters.  The forest region they were heading to was only but an hour's walk away, and even then the way was not entirely clear once they stepped near some muddy marshland.

Even on the plains as open as this, there were odd bouts of brown puddles and foot-sucking shallow bogs that threatened to take the children's shoes as they walked over and around them.  But James knew one particular short-squatted bog that would make an interesting turn of events, owing to the ominous-looking bubbles frothing up from the middle.  He paid it no mind at first but upon approach he suddenly took an interest, stopping at the puddle's edge.
	"Hey there, what's that?"
	"Huh?" asked Lu.
	"That thing in the middle, all those bubbles."
He brought out his wooden sword still kept on him before poking underneath the bubbling point, seeing them froth and gurgle before suddenly there came a burst with a splash of mud, the children recoiling back with shrieks as something rose up from the depths.  It appeared to be some sort of orange jelly-like creature, wobbly all over and shaped like an overturned yoghurt carton.  Its eyes were a filmy aquamarine, its mouth wide and drippy with tooth-like droplets hanging down as it slathered and jiggled menacingly.
	"WH-WHAT IS THAT?!" cried Belle.
	"It's a Flan!" replied Blum.  "That thing musta been sleeping!"
	"It's groooooss ewwwwww!"
	"Don't be so chicken!" squawked Lu.  "We can take it, it's just a slimeball anyway!"
	"That's the spirit!" said FG standing back.  "Now remember your training and don't get cocky."
	"Alright, come on girls!  CUPID MARK CRUSADERS GO!"
	"YEAH!" cried out Blum.
	"O-o-okay!" said Belle shortly.
The three girls stared down at the pustulent form of the Flan, its gurgling body shivering at the prospect of new food as it slid forwards like a giant slug, every moment amplified by a shlurping globulent sort of noise.  Belle stepped back cautiously, whimpering whilst Blum stood guard and Lu stepped forwards, thrusting her sword forwards with a striking swipe diagonally across its face, followed up by a vicious stabthrust.  The creature seemed to shudder in some pain, but not enough to go down as it slammed its whole body forwards, headbutting the girl in the chest.
The top part was surprisingly harder than the rest of its body causing a stunning blow to the moogle, who cried out falling backwards but not badly hurt.  Blum took up the offensive defending her friend by a cutting strike horizontally, one leg bent down on her knee to keep posture like practiced as her sword cut straight across its eyes.  Unsurprisingly, its eyes were also bulbous pudgy goo like the rest of it, simply reforming from two bluish blobs back into one despite the quivering of pain that it made.
	"Give up now monster!" cried the viera strongly.

But of course the beast did not listen and simply peered into her eyes with a sudden evil grin, glaring a potent magic that suddenly blacked out her vision in one strike, the girl screaming and falling back with a stumbling panic.  Dahlia rushed forwards to tend to her but James held her back firmly with a shake of his head.
	"A-AAAAAH!  I CAN'T SEE!"
	"CALM DOWN!" cried FG.  "Just get up and stand your ground."
	"B-BUT I CAN'T SEE, HE BLINDED ME!"
	"It's just a spell, your eyes aren't gone or anything now focus!  Use your ears, listen out for him and your friends."
	"A-a-alright...okay."
Blum cleared her throat trying to steady herself and turned towards the slime hearing its shuddering gurgle of glee as it crawled forwards.  She poorly judged the distance and swung with a scream but hit solid air instead, whimpering at whether it would be close enough or not.  Unfortunately she did not strike soon again when the flan slammed into her with a strike across her cheek, slapping her with its head twice to knock her down hard.  Belle was close enough to attack, but she panicked with quivering blade crying:
	"I-I-I DON' WANNA FIGHT!"
	"It's okay," said FG calmly, "you can do this."
	"B-BUT IT'S CREEPY AN' MOVIIIING!"
	"Well right now it's creepy and moving towards your friend who's gonna be slime food next.  You gonna chance waiting for Lu to get back up, or are you gonna buy some time?"
	"...I....I-i-i-i-"
	"BELLE!" cried out Blum.  "I NEED YER HELP!"
	"...DON' HURT MY FRIEND!"
The nu-mou ran forwards with her sword out and ready, shaky but determined in a flash of friendship as the googly-eyed monster wobbled itself at her direction with demonic stare.  She looked away in panic not wanting it to blind her, closing her eyes before taking one step forward and slashing wildly thrice across the flan's face.  Each hit counted barely across its face, and was not enough to cripple the beast as it recoiled back to headbutt her.  But the moogle Lu had leapt up from recovering and slam-thrusted her sword straight into the monster's back, stabbing violently as it silently shrieked with a crumbling gurgle.
	"BACK OFF, CHUMP!"
With a twisted look of pain on its face seen by Belle alone, the monster suddenly began to rear back gargling silently as it turned itself round with a violent swish of its slimy footmuscle.  If it even had muscles as it tried to smack its head across Lu's chest, but this time the moogle backed off readily and waited before striking once more.  Bounding forwards with a carving strike, she cut through the middle of its body as it made a shlorp-sort of noise before trying to reassemble itself, the two gleaming halves of its gel-like body snapping back together with a wet slap.
Blum was still blinded and therefore backed away from the battle allowing Belle and Lu to take their chances, the nu-mou panickedly rushing forwards hoping to stab the monster right in the back.  The viera however relied on her hearing, and with the sound of her friend's footsteps moving towards the creature she soon heard the flan jerked with surprise and turn hard giving the perfect opportunity to pick up a rock and hurl it straight at the ball of pus.  A cracking shot perfectly upon its head left it stunned and confused briefly, for Lu to finish it off by a sweeping deadly cut.

A diagonal twirl of her body that almost set her off-balance, she spun round low before striking hard upwards causing her sword to run deep through its gelatinous body.  Having being sliced in half by a good too many times, the flan melted back into the boggy water puddle, slinking sadly in death as the girls regrouped feeling slightly winded.  But it was more their emotional state rather than any physical agony as Blum still panicked at being unable to see, until Dahlia stepped forwards at James' behest to cure the magic-induced blindness with Esuna, easily restoring her vision.  The viera hugged her friends tightly asking:
	"Did we win?!"
	"Sure did!" cried Lu.  "I told you we'd rock at this, we're the BEST!  That slimeball didn't know what it was up against!"
	"Dang right!" squawked Blum.  "Didya see the way I threw that rock, I couldn't even SEE it an' I still nailed it in the head!"
	"I-it was kinda scary," said Belle, "I mean...are you okay Blum?"
	"Um, I think so!  Feel kinda sore though but thanks miss Dahlia!"
	"That's quite alright," said the nu-mou adult, "I'm just glad you three are not so badly hurt, you should be more careful Blum.  The next time you get blinded you should watch your sword-swinging.  We don't want you to hurt your friends now do we?"
	"N-no, course not, I was careful!"
	"And you were," said FG, "even if you did miss hitting him but that's no problem considering you watched and listened out to hit with that rock.  Belle, you did a nice job evading his Blind trick but you need to strike MORE thoroughly, you keep glancing blows off him right there at the end."
	"I'm sorry," murmured the nu-mou child, "it was just...kinda scary."
	"It's not scary," said Lu confidently, "you're a Cupid Mark Crusader aren't ya?!"
	"Y-y-y-I am, but-"
	"Then you got NOTHING to fear!  We're all in this together and we're not leaving you, so don't be scared!  You got us if you need us."
	"Okay...thanks Lu."
The two nodded at each other as they headed onwards looking for more monsters to encounter and deal with.  James had already tracked out previously the best places to find them, knowing there to be at least a few more flans lying in wait within some other boggy marshes barely knee deep, along with some wildsnake nests that if approached would turn immensely aggressive.  But he also knew after having read up with advice from Navarro that, whilst they resembled greatly the vipers he had first encountered in the ruins, they were not poisonous and also much weaker.
Over the next hour as they travelled across the open plains they slew sixteen flans and at least five wildsnakes, a good start for the young budding adventurers in wanting to whet their blades upon monstrous flesh.  The flans were no problem once they became more certain in combat, with Dahlia always available to cure any bouts of blindness the flans caused in the young crusaders.  All of them were starting to exhibit their more potent qualities with each new battle, and despite the many fights they were now getting into, they had shown little sign of exhaustion thanks to FG's training on them.

Lu was most definitely the better swordsman of the three, young and feisty, perhaps a bit TOO arrogant in readily rushing forwards always first to attack.  But her enthusiasm at the very least was made up for by being absolutely the strongest of the three, as well as the fastest.  Blum was more cautious, kept back always a little further in order to assess the situation and keep striking away whilst the enemy was distracted.  Yet again she also showed a propensity for having good aim in throwing objects, and later on the use of her bow and blunt arrows to smack enemies in the face.
Belle continued being neither the strongest nor the most agile, and if anything acted more like support keeping behind her friends and watching them strike first, waiting to attack at the longest opportunity given.  The flans she grew more used to over time to the point of facing them head-on less fearfully, but the wildsnakes were forever horrifying to her, screaming shrill at the first sight of them and never hearing the end of it.  Despite the size of them, being tall enough to look like they could swallow a child, they were certainly not particularly strong beasts and as such made good training.
Speed however was its greatest advantage, striking and biting at the children with fierce fangs that scarred across their flesh and whilst Lu and Blum shrugged it off easily, Belle had to be constantly reassured after every scratching mark made on her.  She never received anywhere near enough bruises and bloodmarks on her as her friends did, but Dahlia kept her confident as did James to keep on trying and fighting, always encouraging her to be brave and stand by her friends.
James did not let their slaying go to waste either after Dahlia mentioned harbouring snake skins which made a good profit, especially for being made into garments by certain tanners adding:
	"You guys are doing great!"
	"Really?" asked Blum.
	"Course you are, you haven't died yet!"
	"JAMES!" cried Dahlia.
	"I'm kidding come on, these things aren't THAT dangerous, I mean what those flans just headbutt you?  Come on."
	"They're not THAT scary I guess," said Belle softly, "but those snakes were really evil."
	"They're just as scared of you as you are of them, and you're the one with the sword."
	"But, they're really fast a-a-and they bite me!"
	"So what?!" said Blum.  "We can fight 'em off, they're not strong, not like we are!"
	"I'm not strong..."
	"You will be."

James kneeled down beside the nu-mou child and pat-patted her soft head.
	"You just need to keep trying, you've been doing really well along with your friends on getting all buffed-up and ready to be a clan."
	"Do you think we can become a real clan one day mister James?"
	"I'll write you the recommendation myself, don't you worry about it."
	"REALLY!?" shouted Lu.  "I-if we finish this, you really gonna write us a permit, like Berniere did with you?!"
	"Absolutely, I mean you helped me out and proved yourselves, why shouldn't I give you a permit?"
	"THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!"
	"YEAH!"
The idea pumped up the girls insanely quick, high-fiving each other awkwardly when they tried to slap three hands into one point, wincing and clutching their sore hands as Dahlia took James to one side when the girls were distracted by each other whispering:
	"How can you promise them that?!"
	"What?"
	"Do you really think you can permit them to be a real clan when they have hardly come of age?!  What sort of example are you setting them?!"
	"Dahlia relax, it's not like a real permit I'll make, I'll convince Navarro that we write one out as a representative of them and that they are given trust to handle some minor jobs."
	"But what if they go out into the forest on their own, again, without us because you authorised it in future?  What if something happens to them?!"
	"Depends on how well this goes, look, I've been around a lot of kids in the past and I've seen some very competent ones."
	"Aren't you overestimating them just...a teeeeeny bit on their current ability?"
She emphasised how teeny this might be with her thumb and index finger pressed together in a circle.  James simply put her hand down with his and smiled calmly with full assurance, saying:
	"I've done this before.  The last kid I trained survived a desert full of monsters.  A forest like this...isn't going to be a problem."
	"...a...a-a-a desert?"
	"It wasn't my choice, neither was her's but we made it through and she survived and has a good and happy life with her mom right now.  If I can do that, then these little squirts are no problem."
	"Well...you seem so certain about this I-...alright.  Forgive me but I just-"
	"I know I know, you're worried and that's fine, that's why I brought you along in case of something."
The white mage nodded softly with reassurance in him before they walked back to the girls' side, hearing a conversation between them that had suddenly diverted to other topics of no relation whatsoever.
	"You ever put a penny in yer mouth?" asked Lu.
	"Nnnnoooo?" replied Belle.
	"Well do that next time cuz that's what blood tastes like, kinda metallic."
	"Oooooh...ewwwww that's weird, why would I wanna do that?!"
	"I dunno, so you can feel you got blood in yer mouth an' know what it tastes like!"
	"I don't wanna know that, what if I swallowed it by accident?!"
	"You're not a baby, just put it on your tongue an' don't talk, then you can feel it."
	"Please don't put pennies in your mouth," said FG, "even if that is true, I'd rather not risk anyone choking on my watch."
	"Okaaaaay...hey, is that the forest we're going to?!"
She pointed off towards a nearing group of trees not more than a few minutes' walk as James nodded.
	"That's right, the Snowfly Forest's southeast quarter.  Now when we get inside, we need to stick together, it's not too bright in there and there are a lot of pits you can fall into as well as roots to trip up over so you stick close by me.  We're gonna head off to a cave I found, deal with something down there, and then head back home, is that alright?"
	"Yes sir!" said the three crusaders.
	"Good!  Okay let's do this."

The Snowfly Forest had always been spoken of in hushed tones of awe by the locals of Lea Monde, at least as far as Dahlia heard.  She could see why as soon as she stepped four paces within.  Clustered trees with trunks as black as the night sky, creeping flowers with vine-like roots that twisted in the breeze, shadows of her darkest faintest imaginings coalescing amongst the flora.  Her feet sank slightly into the ground with each step, soft yet threatening with the possibility of swallowing them whole.
There was however a path through the forest, either natural or made over the years by various explorers.  She kept her eyes on the three children ahead as well as James out in front, the place ever encoraching upon their vision as light dappled faintly through the treetops.  It was a strange almost mystical place, tender green and black occasionally interspersed by soft strange white lights floating across the air almost like faeries had come to this place, to dance upon the breeze.  James had seen them once when scoping the place out but had never truly known what they were, asking:
	"What ARE these things?"
	"Those are the snowflies," replied Dahlia, "they are strange creatures certainly.  Mariel told me that they congregate wherever the Dark is most potent, so they use them in order to find and hunt down any last traces of it in Lea Monde."
	"Huh, I wonder why that is?"
	"I am not sure, perhaps they're really faeries."
	"I loooove faeries," said Belle softly.  "But...not all of them are nice, some of them are very mean."
	"Whut you mean?" asked Blum.
	"Well, some of them are just mischievous, they love to prank people and have lots of fun, but some others are...really mean and like to...hurt people for fun."
	"Really?  Woooow...but they're so tiny how can they hurt anyone?!"
	"Magic, obviously."
	"O-oh, right...I knew that."
James chuckled as they kept on walking through the forest, the snowflies occasionally floating past him almost ethereally like wisps, plaintive and curious about this strange visitor.  He noted quite a few of them came near him, convalescing around his body before shimmering away softly.  They tickled him slightly, and at the same time also brushed across the trace depths of his soul in a way that was not unpleasant.  Few creatures seemed to walk through this forest's region, for unknown reasons which made James all the more pleased by having an easy time walking through it.

He had little idea what sort of beasts walked within its worn ancient embrace but he knew he had seen very little monsters around apart from basilisks whilst examining the right passage through towards his destination.  Small lithe wicked lizards the colour of coal-grey that crawled through tree branches hoping to stare into the eyes of its prey and petrify them.  But James had an even worse stare upon them enough to hurry them away, forced to flee from the larger lizard too big for them to take on by themselves.  
Making his way over roots and large tree trunks wrapped around each other through centuries of odd growth, he noticed that some of the trees were rather malignant in their gnarled design, almost resonating with a certain aura.  He could not quite comprehend it but slowly walked forwards towards one certain tree with branches raised violently upwards in distress, asking:
	"Why does this tree feel...warm?"
	"OH, d-don't touch it!" warned Dahlia.
	"Why?"
	"It could be a witch, or maybe the Dark has inhabited it.  In older times one of the punishments for witches and warlocks was to trap them inside a tree, their souls rotting into the earth permanently."
	"...jeez."
	"That's awful," said Blum.  "We don't still do that anymore don't we miss Dahlia?!"
	"No dear," said the nu-mou, "not anymore, we now have courtrooms to decide more fairly the fate of others."
	"An' whut if yer found guilty?"
	"...that...depends on the severity of the crime but let's not talk about that, you're adventurers, not attorneys."
	"We sure are!" said Lu proudly.  "So where's this cave already?!"
	"Just a few more clearings up ahead," said FG, "you just go right ahead for two clearings then turn left and then you see-wh-WHA-AAAA-AAAAAAAGH!"
	"JAMES!"
Suddenly, as if from thin air he had vanished by a sudden fall forwards down what appeared to be a long slope into a much deeper region of the forest.  The raptor went sliding down a muddy point fading from view as the girls rushed forwards to try and stop him, but only too late did they realise how treacherous the ground was and they fell in turn too, screaming together as they clutched on tightly before seeing a rather dark pit at the end of it.
	"JUMP!"
Stumbling rushing forwards as they regained their footing with panic the three girls hopped over the large hole by sheer momentum, diving forwards and landing fearlessly on their feet.  They staggered slightly but had managed to clear the pit, with Dahlia at the top of the ledge frightful with fear shrieking out:
	"ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!"
	"YEAH!" cried Blum.  "WE'RE FINE!"
	"WH-WHERE IS JAMES?!"
	"I'M HERE!"

A voice came echoing from the pit, the three girls leaning over cautiously but seeing nothing from within.  It was pitch black and they could possibly see some light from fire at the very bottom of it as Belle was first to cry out to him, calling:
	"MISTER JAMES, ARE YOU OKAY?!"
	"I'M FINE, JUST STAY THERE I CAN GET BACK UP!"
	"OKAY!"
	"...nnngh...h-hhhnnnngh...um...ON SECOND THOUGHT, MAYBE I CAN'T, THE WALLS ARE TOO SLIPPERY!"
	"DO YOU NEED ANY HELP!?" called out Dahlia.
	"NO I'M FINE JUST, LISTEN, THIS PIT CONNECTS TO THE CAVE I WANTED TO SHOW YOU, SO WE CAN MEET UP THERE ANYWAY!  DAHLIA, TAKE THE GIRLS OVER TO THE CAVE, IT SHOULD BE ONE CLEARING NORTH, THEN TWO CLEARINGS OFF EAST!"
	"I...I-I-I CAN'T, I'M NOT DOWN THERE WITH THE GIRLS I'M STUCK ON THIS LEDGE!"
	"SERIOUSLY?!  OKAY UM...LOOK, JUST FIND A WAY DOWN, YOU THREE GIRLS JUST STAY THERE AND WAIT FOR DAHLIA, ALRIGHT?!"
	"OKAY!" cried the three crusaders.
	"YOU SURE YOU'RE ALRIGHT?!" asked Blum to FG.
	"OH YEAH YEAH FINE NO WORRIES, JUST A LITTLE WET LIKE I PEE'D MYSELF OR SOMETHING!"
	"SNRRRKhehehehe, hehehehee!"
	"LISTEN, JUST WAIT FOR DAHLIA AND THEN GO ONE CLEARING NORTH, THEN TWO CLEARINGS OFF EAST, YOU GOT THAT?!"
	"GOT IT MISTER JAMES!"
	"ALRIGHT GOOD...hey there's something shiny down here, well at least I found some treasure so it's not all bad."
	"IS THERE TREASURE?!" cried Lu.
	"OH YEAH TOTALLY FOUND A NICE WIERD-LOOKING CHEST AND I-OH JESUS CHRIST WHAT THE FU-AAAAAARGH!"
	"JAMES!?"
	"AUGH FUCKIN' SHIT IT'S IN MY FACE GOD DAMMIT YOU LITTLE-AAAAAAUGH FUUUUCK!"
	"MISTER JAMES?!  MISTER JAAAAAAMES!"
	"S-STAY THERE!" cried out Dahlia.  "I'M COMING DOWN!"
The nu-mou had scoured over the area whilst the girls were talking to FG feverishly looking for a means to get down.  She had found a tree that grew off-kilter along the slope, twisting itself upwards diagonally ike a cradled hand towards the sky but with lowering branches towards the slope's base.  With careful footsteps, she moved out of vision from the girls to make her way onto the branch, digging her soft fingers into the harsh tree bark unsuccessfully.
It was an arduous climb that took ages to succeed but she managed to hoist herself up onto the first branch and slowly move her way downwards, whimpering as she made sure to keep herself away from the wide pit that FG had fallen into.  Smoothly moving her body around the tree's central part, she hopped daintily onto one thick branch then the other, before it snapped under her weight and she slipped falling down into a bush.  Poking her head out, she stood up brushing her robe clean of scratched leaves before realising she was alone.
No sound of children nor screaming raptor from beneath the depths of the pit.  Only one thing remained in her vicinity, and that was the footprints, freshly trotting off into the woods as she called out their names.
	"BLUUUUUUUUM!  BEEEEEEELLE!  LUUUUUUU!  GET BACK HERE NOW!  PLEAAAAAASE!  ...BLUUUUUUUUUUM!"
Crying himself hoarse did little to help, sighing with panicked frustration as she kept following the foot trail hoping it didn't go through any dry areas or else she would lose them.  She had no idea what plans they had, and even less idea of the geography of the forest.  Thankfully the trail kept itself well-marked enough for her to see, and soon she found herself wandering on to where they would be, hopefully.  The wind whispered across her cheeks, slithering between branches to entice her with paranoia.  She started to shiver, shaking nervously at her hidden fears.
What if they got hurt?  What if one of them breaks their leg o-or something even WORSE?!  Oh...oh Faram, James would never forgive me, I was given one job, I DEMANDED to come along and I couldn't even do that right!  Stupid girl stupid STUPID worthless......no...no this is, this is not the time for that, I just have to find them, if I find them, everything will be alright.

In another part of the forest, the Cupid Mark Crusaders were clambering over tree trunks and snaring shrubs to reach their destination.  Blum was out front, her red bow marked out clearly from the rest of their surroundings upon her long rabbit ears.  Belle was behind her, mawkish and hunched over in her robe with Lu at the back as rear guard, pompom whiffing back and forth upon her head along with her blue chocobo feather.
	"Are you sure this is the right way?" asked the nu-mou.
	"Course I'm sure!" said Blum, "I know this forest like the back o' my hand!"
Belle briefly examined her hands to ponder how easily one could recognise them.  Lu was getting tired already saying:
	"UGH, are you sure we're going the right way?!"
	"He said it was one clearing north then two east!  Why?  You scared?"
	"Wha-No WAY!" shouted Lu.  "I'm not scared!"
	"Shure about that?"
	"Totally!"
Lu pounded her heart with a fist of strength, striding confidently with a new brisk step.
	"Me an' Berniere, we got a few things in common, like how we're awesome and doesn't afraid of anything!"
	"It's aren't," corrected Belle.
	"What?"
	"It's aren't, not doesn't."
	"What are you, a dictionary?"
	"STOP CALLING ME THAT!"
	"Oh, excuuuuuse me, I mean a thes...thesau...some other book that's a dictionary, a Bellasaurus!"
	"Shut up, chicken!"
	"Oh that's it!"
	"GUYS!"
Blum stomped her feet and stopped, turning around to break them up.
	"I ain't movin' another budge if'n you two don' stop it.  One more word an' we're goin' straight back!"
	"B-but she started it!" argued Lu.
	"Did not!" retorted Belle.
	"Did too!"
	"Did not!"
	"Did too!"
	"Did not!"
	"DID TOO!"
	"There you are!"
	"AAAAAAAGH!"
The three fillies jumped in panic at the sound of Dahlia from behind them, immediately leaping behind a tree trunk for cover.  When they lifted their heads to see the adult nu-mou staring down at them, they balked under her disapproving stare.  She was not so much angry but rather worried whilst still intimidatingly cross.
	"I've been looking all over for you, why did you run off like that?!"
	"W-we're sorry!" shouted out Belle.  "We were just gonna check something and then come back, honest-"
	"NO!  You don't just run off into the forest without telling someone or asking at least!  Think about how much trouble you'd be in if something happened and I didn't know where you were!  Think how much trouble I'd be in!"
	"We're sorry..."
	"We were jus' gonna go find the cave," said Blum.  "We wanted to know where mister James is."
	"...right," said the adult, "but that still doesn't mean you can just run off without telling me, why did you do that?!"
	"W-we thought you'd be ages, o-or maybe run back to town an' get help, we just wanted to rescue mister James!"
	"That is not your responsibility children, he can look after himself."
	"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" screamed Lu.  "We're trainin' to be HEROES, what kinda hero after all that training we got from you an' Mister James, just goes an' runs off like a coward?!"
	"A smart one who knows their limits."
	"We dunno our limits, we never DONE this an' if we never try anything then how are we ever gonna know what we can and CAN'T do?!"

She could see their logic, but she was still angry much as she tried not to be.  She knew kids had to have adventures, they needed to explore and take risks.  But she had a duty also, to protect them from being harmed by anything unplanned which in their case was everything.
	"Listen, I don't mind you girls having an adventure, but this is too dangerous."
	"Pffft we can handle danger," said Lu with a cocky grin, "and we gotta get to that cave!"
	"No."
Dahlia waved her arms low, taking responsibility into her own hands in full-on matron mode.
	"Absolutely not, you girls have had quite enough adventure for one day, now I am sure that James can handle himself without you and he will understand.  Now you three come back with me, and we won't tell Mrs. Imrie or Mother Mariel alright?"
At that moment, Blum made a devious grin up to the adult upon a certain realisation.
	"Why?  Whut if they found out?"
	"Well obviously you'd be in trouble."
	"Soooo wouuuld youuu."
	"...what?"
	"Well think abou' it!  Yer supposed to be keepin' us safe an' outta danger!  And yet here we are, deep inside thuh Snowfly Forest doin' sumthin' suuuuuper dangerous fer li'l kiddies like us!"
	"Uhhh-"
	"An' Mrs. Imrie's gonna be suuuuuuper mad, but she ain' gonna do much other than punish us an' send us to bed early or sumthin'.  But whut about YOU?  She gonna be reaaaaally disappointed in you, an' mister James, an' then HE'LL be in trouble."
Dahlia's eyes widened at the possible repercussions of all this.  She tried to keep an adult stance, but Blum knew she wouldn't risk it.  She knew it as well, staring down upon her.
	"...you wouldn't dare."
	"...try me."
I can't believe this, thought Dahlia to herself with frustration.  Am I really being blackmailed by a little GIRL?!  ...what a deceitful little mind, now I see why you're the leader of your little playgroup...I think, she IS the leader right?  But she has a point...Mrs. Imrie can do little to them, but if we don't get our pay, James is going to get punished and all because of ME I...I think...and then Navarro would be mad at me for wasting our time and not getting any money!  Oh...goodness what have I gotten into?
Eventually, she felt she had no choice but to concede, and sighed saying:
	"Alright.  Maybe we can work something out.  What's your offer?"
	"We go in an' explore them caves, rescue mister James an' get outta there, that a deal?"
	"And what do I get in return?"
	"We don' report you to Mrs. Imrie.  An' if you try an' take us back before that, then we're takin' you down with us."
	"...deal."

She shook the little viera's hand, the girl smirking slightly at her clever argument.  She could have tried to take them back regardless and use her power of elder authority, but she wasn't well reputed enough from around here.  These were rather rascally wily girls that apparently everybody knew in Lea Monde's quarters, they clearly had a stronger word against hers, and she wasn't going to take that chance.
	"Alright then, I'll head out in front and keep an eye out for any danger.  BUT..."
The nu-mou put out her finger before the children, making them focus on her eyes potently.
	"If things get too risky or if any of you get hurt badly, then we are going straight back home, got it?"
	"Got it!" said all three of them perfectly.
	"Alright.  Lead the way Blum."
She strided out in front alongside the viera, who navigated the forest with surprising ease, far more than she expected as her memory of James' words took them through a rather haphazard path through the ever-changing undergrowth, passing two more clearings before they soon found themselves at a yawning cavern's entrance.  The cave was twice the height of Dahlia at the very least, the darkness within swallowing any light that dared creep in.
	"This is it!" said Dahlia to confirm.  "The Fearoscuro Caves."
	"Fear-ob-scure-o?" asked Lu awkwardly.
	"Mister James told me about it, he heard it from Mother Mariel.  Legend has it that there was once a traveller who ran away from a most terrifying monster, a monster that came out of his own nightmares by a ruthless manipulation of the Dark.  He was so frightened, that he died out of pure fear deep inside that cave."
	"W-...woah...that's creepy."
	"But his last wish was that no one should ever have to fear their own nightmares again, and his wishes seeped into the ground out of his own tears, before they were absorbed by the mushrooms that grow only in there!  If you get a piece of that mushroom, you can cure nightmares with it."
	"...so...wait, why are you getting it then?"
	"Mother Mariel requested them, she said it would be a good thing to stock for the cathedral."
	"Well," said Blum skeptically, "I suppose it WOULD be good fer people if we gathered all them soothin' shrooms.  But...how are we gonna see inside it?"
	"...yeah," said Lu, "it does look pretty dark.  Anyone got a big stick?"
	"OOH," cried Belle, "I think I saw one over there!"
The nu-mou child ran briefly towards a nearby tree before pulling back a sizeable stick, large enough to make a solid club to whack someone over the head with it.  Lu snapped off a little from the end for being a mite too long before Blum took it from her.  The viera was more resourceful, bringing out some rocks of flint and striking sparks across the wood before causing it to set alight.  Dahlia swiftly picked it up, being the adult and having the height advantage to give a better sweep of light across an area.
	"Very good," she complimented, "how did you learn that?"
	"Mister James taught us!" said Blum.  "He called it survival trainin'!"
	"Well, that's good.  Now stick close to me and DON'T run off, alright children-"
	"LOOK OUT!"

Suddenly, from the dark of the cave entrance some swooping beast had come forth ready to attack Dahlia's torch, the mage crying out and falling back with shrieking fear as the three girls jumped forwards readily on guard.  A reddish-green imp with grand wings like that of a faerie, wide long horns almost superfluous like hair snaking back with tailfeathers fluttering underneath.  Screaming fury with anger at the torch, the monster swung itself down towards Dahlia before Lu striked up at its wide grinning face, slashing across its cheek and forcing it back dutifully.
	"Wh-what IS that?!" squawked Blum.
	"That's a-" stuttered Lu, "garchi...garfiel-"
	"GARCHIMACERA!" cried Belle.
	"YEAH, what she said, just stay back we'll handle this!"
	"Wait WE?!"
	"Um, YEAH, we're heroes now!"
	"N-not officially!"
	"WOULD YOU TWO JUST SHUDDUP AN' FIGHT ALREADY?!" roared Blum with authority.  "Miss Dahlia, you best keep back, we'll take 'im down for ya!"
Dahlia would have protested, but seeing the children were well-armed and she herself was not, she decided to step back and ready herself for healing in case any of them got in too bad a scrap.  The gremlin swooped down upon Lu seeing her as the most dangerous, the moogle dodge-rolling to one side rather clumsily and stumbling out of the roll giving perfect opportunity for the beast to latch onto her back.  The gnashing of teeth turned ravenous upon her, biting and gnawing away viciously as Lu shrieked and cried out before Blum tried charging towards it, the beast leaping off upon seeing her approach.
Lu had a few scratches on her, no worse than a cat bite but Dahlia took no chances and almost immediately swept her healing staff across her vision cleansing her of all pains.  Blum watched and waited for the monster to strike again, but she saw that it had a dark glint in its eye that was somewhat familiar to her.  Before it could strike with a blinding gaze, she turned away harsh and avoided the attack, the monster swooping down thinking it had won out.  The viera smirked as she heard the flap of wings come close, striking her sword upwards with a turning slash vertically.
The monster shrieked at its face being cut open, a lancing scar tearing up its chin and nostrils splitting open with blood spraying potently all over the little girl in front of it.  Blum grimaced at the brief shower, but she ignored it swiftly before pulling out her rope and hurling it right towards the monster's neck in its brief moment of agony.  Lassoing around its neck, she pulled it down hard but the beast resisted, flapping its wings fiercely upwards as the viera tugged hard as she could, the garchimacera soon circling around her like a wild kite forcing Blum to spin round faster and faster.

The girl looked as if she was about to hurl the imp like a hammer at the stadium, spinning round and round as the beast snarled and tugged viciously at the rope around its neck, but she refused to let it go.  Whenever it got tired, she became dizzy from spinning round so hard but did nothing except pull simply focusing on the beast.  Then it began burning its claws up hotly with potent fire and tore at the ropes fraying them into burnt cinder as it freed itself, rasping its snarl down towards Blum who pulled back what remained of her rope.
But the creature decided to attack the girl who had least fought it, and swung down upon Belle who screamed and fell back with its drooling form upon her face, biting into her shoulder as it started sucking hungrily for blood.
	"AAAAAAH, AAAAAAAAH HE'S SUCKING ME, HE'S SUCKING ME HEEEEEEELP!"
Blum and Lu rushed forwards to her aid, the monster being distracted by Blum enough who stepped out in front of its vision before Lu stabbed it from behind right into its hindleg, twisting her blade fiercely as it howled with agony.  It had managed to heal itself partially with the blood of the nu-mou who simply cowered and whimpered clutching her shoulder mournfully.  Dahlia healed her instantly, soothing her wounds as Blum reassured her.
	"It's alright, yer fine!"
	"B-but he bit meeeeeee!"
	"So whut, you ain't dead, you just even stronger now fer takin' it!"
	"I-i-i-"
	"LOOK OUT!"
The gargoyle hurled a flaming ball of fire straight towards the two girls who ducked forwards to the ground, the moogle crusader rushing under it and trying to stab upwards as the beast flapped lower to the ground.  Wounded from the surprise attack, it tried to flap upwards with all its might but it was clearly losing stamina as Blum pulled out her bluntheaded arrows and took an aiming shot for its head whilst it was distracted.  Stunned with a fierce headache, the monster went straight down before Lu slammed her sword straight into its head piercing the skull.
As much as the garchimacera writhed and shrieked there was no escaping the moogle's blade, her roar of fury signalling the end of the fight as blood dripped down the front of its face.  As soon as it had fallen still, she unsheathed her blade from its head and panted thickly with a hot rage saying:
	"Do NOT...hurt my friend."
Dahlia walked over towards Lu gently getting worried about her disposition.  But when she approached the girl turned hard and swung her blade in a panic almost cutting across the robe of the nu-mou.
	"A-AAAAH!"
	"OH!  ....OH...n-no, no I'm sorry!  I'm sorry I didn' mean it!"
	"It...Lu...calm down."
	"I...I-i-i-i...I'm sorry!  I'M SORRY!"
	"It's alright, just please relax, we are free of danger thanks to you three.  Put down your sword back into its sheath and calm down."
	"O-o-okay...I'm...I didn't mean-"
	"Never do that again.  Just promise me that."
	"...I promise...I nearly...I could have-"
	"Shhhhh...it's alright...come here."

The moogle suddenly broke into tears from a state of shame as Dahlia hugged her tightly, petting her on the back of her head and rocking her back and forth.  It only took her a few minutes before Lu cleared up herself, wiping her tears as she nodded up at the adult.
	"Th-thank...you...m-miss Dahlia."
	"That's quite alright, but next time you should always be careful about your blade.  I know that mister James wants you to prove yourselves but you should not let yourself go so wildly, you must always control yourself-"
	"I KNOW!  I-I KNOW I SHOULD but-...i-i-it was just a mistake, I-i-i-i got panicked I-...please don't tell him."
	"We may not have to, if we can find him and complete our objective.  Are you two alright?"
	"Mmhmm!" said Blum assertively.  "Belle's a li'l scared but we're all in this together!"
	"I'm not-" stuttered the nu-mou Belle, "s-scared...might be, but I wanna keep going, I don't wanna quit, not after we stopped that thing!"
	"Whut wuz that thing anyway?!"
	"That must have been one of those beasts," said Dahlia, "that the caves are so known for, I read that those things became formed out of the pure fear some people exhibited upon seeing demon statues, who thought they were real.  But the fear became so great that it took shape to become the very thing that they feared most."
	"Well I'M not afraid!" said Lu defensively.  "Just a stupid imp, nuthin' to worry about!"
	"Right...now, as I was saying, stick close to me and don't run off.  True adventurers always stand by their allies, right?"
She hoped that little strike of adventuring would help motivate them to stick together, the three girls doing so as they walked down into the cavern.  Already they could feel a different sort of wind from within the darkness.
The Fearoscuro Caves had earned their name well, at least for the little fillies.  Dahlia however was more fearful, if anything for her young charges that she resolved to protect.  She lifted her torch slightly above her own head to cast a better light upon the creatures within.  The ground turned rocky, stones gently kicked around by furred feet, creatures quickly dispersing away from the alien light.
For a while, silence reigned the cavern, the children barely saying a word for fear of awakening some terrible beast lurking within the darkness.  The torchlight danced across the walls, shadows prowling around the four of them.  It felt like an hour since they had started, but thankfully it had only been around 20 minutes or so, until Dahlia pondered out loud:

	"How big IS this cave I wonder?"
	"Feels like it could go on forever," whimpered Belle.
	"Don't be scared, we'll find mister James here soon enough."
	"I-i'm not scared."
	"Are you certain?  I know you are nervous about all this, and I have to wonder if you aren't pushing yourself a little TOO hard for these adventures-"
	"I'm NOT scared!"
	"Hey leave her alone!" said Lu defensively.  "She's not afraid, not when she's got us so don't worry about it!"
	"But I do worry," said Miss Orosco, "I worry that you are not doing this for yourself, but for the sake of your friends Belle.  Now tell me, do you truly enjoy adventuring?  Do you like swordfighting, do you enjoy the risk of it?!"
	"I...I-i-i do!" squeaked Belle.  "I just...I-i-i'm not good at fighting, I don't like hurting things, even if they are monsters!"
	"Whuh?" replied Blum.  "You...whuddaya mean?"
	"I'm sorry, I-...I didn't wanna say it I thought you'd think I was a coward or sumthin'!"
	"Cuz you don' wanna fight monsters?"
The girl shook her head bashfully, hiding her face away from her friends until Lu clasped her by the shoulder.
	"It's okay."
	"Huh?"
	"Yanno we'll always be friends right?  We know yer not the best fighter, but that don't matter.  Maybe you don't wanna fight with swords but there's plenty other ways you can fight, you don't even have to hurt nobody!"
	"That's right!" said Dahlia helpfully.  "You can be a white mage, a beastmaster, a bard-"
	"Bard?!" asked the young nu-mou.
	"Why yes...after all, you have one very special talent one can use in battle quite easily so long as you've got proper training for it."
	"Heeeeey yeah!" replied Blum.  "That's RIGHT, you DO have a special talent, yer a great singer!"
Belle blushed and curled up slightly, whimpering mute as she covered her face.
	"No really, you're amazing, I wish I could sing like you, really!  You could be a bard, me an' Lu could do swordfightin' an' then you can keep up our spirits while healing us!  That way we'd still be together, we'd still be adventuring an' being awesome!  Whaddaya think?!"
The nu-mou spoke up softly, whimpering as she tried to open up.  Dahlia stopped and turned, letting light cast over them with wide innocent eyes glinting softly.  She was about to offer her own interpretation, when suddenly Belle looked past Dahlia and cried out with absolute fear.
Dahlia quickly turned round as she cast a light further upon the darkness, causing the other two girls to scream their lungs out.  A dark rock-coloured spindly-legged spider, its legs bending twice the height of its body with spindly blue undertones the size of a child itself, hissing with one single opened mouth split fourways drooling a thick blackening tar from its mandibles as its bloated rear abdomen glowed an electrical blue and green.  It was not the fact there was even one that scared them, but rather that when Dahlia turned to see what it was, there was in fact two dozen of them hissing all at once.
	"OH, FARAM HELP US!"

An intimidating horde of beasts large enough to take on the three girls suddenly made their prospects wilt at the upcoming battle.  But Blum stood forwards first sternly with sword at her hand as she made ready for attack, Lu following her lead as they waited for the first beast to come forward.  Their eyes glinted like a cavern of jewels towards the light, fearing it with deep hatred of an instinctual need to snuff it out as they readily came upon Dahlia, the nu-mou mage crying out and swatting them back with her burning torch.
The two sword-wielders wasted no time in fighting them off, roaring together as they stabbed and thrusted upon each and every spider that came skittering forwards.  Small as they were meant they could handle each one individually, but when they started piling up things turned difficult.  Blum dragged her blade across one's thorax slicing it in two with hot greenish-yellow blood vomiting out of its putrid abdomen, whilst Lu came down upon another by cleaving its head open wantonly.  But when one of their allies had fallen, the other spiders began teeming all over them.
Biting viciously upon their cheeks and legs, the girls shrieked and tore them off from each other with slapping hands and thrusting blades once any monsters were safely away from each other.  But the biting turned fiercer, as blood started to draw out of them from being riddled with hot bites as Dahlia did her best to heal from a distance.  But in a moment of distraction, the torch was knocked from her hand and darkness came soon upon them, the spiders at an advantage as the nu-mou felt the biting at her heels screaming with panic.
	"H-HEEEELP!  SOMEONE HELP US, OH FARAM PLEASE HELP US!"
	"...siiiiiing, fiiiiight, fooooooor, meeeeeeeeee."
	"Wh-who is-"
	"Strooooooooong heaaaaaarts are-beeeeeaaaaaatiiiiiiing."
	"I-is that-"
	"Beeeeeaaaaatiiiiiing liiiiiiiike a-druuuuuuum, maaaaaarchiiiiiiing through waaaaaaaaar-tooooorn fiiiiiields."
	"Belle?!"
Standing behind Dahlia, on a small rock raised above the ground, was Belle as she closed her eyes in the midst of darkness and chanted out a song.  It was a song that at first seemed beautifully soft and slow in its pace, but then they realised that it was not a song of peace.  It was a song of battle as Belle stomped her feet to a rhythm.
	"In waaaaaaar we fiiiiight agaiiiiinst the seeeeeeeaaaaa.  Riiiiiising waaaaaaaves of blooooood and teeeeeeaaaaaaars."
Blum and Lu felt a surge of energy through them, the words encompassing their thoughts.
	"Praaaaay for meeeeeeee, staaaaand for theeeeeee.  Iiiiiiii will neeeeeeever beeeeeeee afraaaaaaaaaid."
They readied their swords as strength soon came to them, the biting slowing down as the creatures listened with confusion.
	"As looooooong as youuuuuu will fiiiiiiiiight for meeeeeee, weeeeeee have nooooothiiiiiiiiiing to feeeeeeeear.   Beeeeeeee my heeeerooooes, friiiiiiiends."

Strength came to them as both Blum and Lu roared with renewed energy, screams of power rampant through the cavernous walls as they tore off the beasts from their bodies and suddenly turned to a frenzy of battle.  But not by berserk means, they had every control on their bodies, it was more like a second wind, a pulsing of energy through their very beings as every sword swing they made was just pure raw force.  Potent fury in their blades carving through the dozen horde like swords through water, streaking vile blood through the cave's subterrane.
Abdomens were completely carved in half, skulls split ruthlessly in twain and plunging thrusts went far deeper than either of the two could ever have made before.  Somehow even in darkness they knew where their enemies lied, as well as each other despite Dahlia completely fearful of what was happening to them.  It was only when the flames of another arrival came burning deep from beyond the cavern, roaring with fierce rage of a monstrous beast that she could see Blum and Lu standing amidst a sea of dead insects.  Streaked with bile fluids on their armour, they turned and panted with exhaustion before moving towards Belle.
	"That..." gasped Blum, "whut...whut wuz that song?"
	"I dunno," said Belle, "it...it just came to me, it was...I wanted to help you fight, to keep fighting off the monsters and wanted you to be...to be stronger."
	"I think you did...I think...maybe you wished it an' we got real strong fer sum reason."
	"That's it," said Dahlia softly.  "That's the gift.  You are a gifted singer Belle, but I told you before whilst we spoke in secret that you had a special talent beyond that, is that not right?"
The nu-mou child softly turned her foot inwards and blushed sweetly as the unknown fire continued flickering past their vision at the cave's turning bend before Lu asked softly:
	"So...two things, one, did you REALLY make us feel stronger by just singing?"
	"I-i don't know," said the sweet soft Belle, "it just...came to me."
	"Well if it did, yer awesome, maybe miss Dahlia's right you could be a bard fer us!"
	"Really?  Then I won't have to fight anything?"
	"Nope, but you'll still be with us an' helping!"
	"...thank you."
	"Also, two, what's makin' that fire?"
	"We best find out ourselves," said the nu-mou adult.  "Stick close to me children, we would not want anymore surprises."

The girls obeyed her as they slowly crept further into the cavern's depths which in truth were not as far deep or complex as some would make them to be.  But they were still dangerous for a child let alone three to wander in as Dahlia kept out in front, keeping her eyes cautiously aware of everything.  Shadows danced across the source of the firelight as they crept near, hearing the sounds of something striking hot like the iron upon a forge.  Roars of something beastly came further in as Lu and Blum braced themselves with swords at the ready, glinting a bloodied orange.
Standing before them, was a terrifyingly large spider beast, its body glinting like jewels of every colour underneath the sun with two large orange eyes above its shrieking mouth.  A myriad of rainbows fractured and twisted upon its gruesome chitonous carapace like that of shattered stained glass, painted windows villified against the burning fire that rose forth from a single blade.
	"RAAAAAAAARGH!"
Or rather two blades, the flames split in two before lancing forwards with a fierce plunging strike, straight into the underside of its mandibles as the monstrous queen screamed with agony, swiping its spindly legs harshly across the invader's light.  Lightning crackled burning in the air as the children watched on in amazement, electric blue bursting forth from the arachnid's maw and violently shattering through its attacker.
	"G-GAAAAAAAARGH!  HHHHH!  ...hhheh...hhheheheh...that all you got?  I've felt way worse than THAT you fucking bitch."
Dahlia clasped one of the children's ears out of reflex but they were far too awestruck to care about foul language when the voice echoing across the cavern walls distorted it slightly.  Already the nu-mou could guess who it was upon seeing burning scissors, whirling across the monster's eyes as it hissed with hesitance at first, eyes glinting like evil rubies from the firelight before it turned brave with a mighty swinging rush.  It sweeped one of its legs at the attacker, knocking him away with surprising strength before slamming him brutally against the side wall as he crumbled to collapse.
The monster soon peered over towards the Cupid Mark Crusaders, hissing with intrigue as Lu tried not to balk before she brought forth her sword, crying out in fury to scare it away as did Blum in turn.  Belle was too paralysed with fear, as well as something else soon enough when the spider squirted out a hot vile black tar from its throat towards them, pooling at their legs.  It soon quickly set in, trapping the children where they stood, making them panic and scream as they struggled.
	"Wh-WHUT IS THIS?!"
	"I'M STUCK, I CAN'T GET OUT OF IT!"
	"AAAAAAAAAGH!  S-SOMEBODY HEEEEELP!"
Dahlia was more horrified than anything to have seen such a giant beast, but she was quick enough to dodge backwards and try to make some sense of the scene.  She was incapable of fighting back, but at the very least she had the ability to try and free the children as she rushed towards them.  As she struggled to pull them out one by one before the tar sank in, the spider queen scuttled its way forwards with a spine-tingling noise, a trickling sound of clicking from its thin multiple limbs before they truly realised how tall it was.  It could not have been more than 10 feet leering over them, eyes twinkling for its next meal.

Before she was able to turn, someone had set fire across her very vision as the monster shrieked falling back in frustration, before somebody rushed past her and blasted water at the tar weakening it further to allow the girls' freedom.  The spider was not done yet, and readily ran towards its new feast, before a voice familiar came roaring beside Dahlia in the midst of darkness as flames fired from the stranger's hand.  James was right by her side, illuminated by the firelight as the monster reared its ugly head and staggered slightly away.
	"GET BEHIND ME!"
He roared his command to all four of them who did so without question, the raptor pulling out his scissors in earnest combat before heading straight towards the monster with burning flames latched onto his lethal weapon.
	"HRAAAAAARGH!"
The fire hit directly upon its mandibled face, but it was still undaunted despite a huge forming scar torn across its bejewelled face, blinking its eyes in irritation before trying to swipe at the raptor.  He was ready to dodge, slipping underneath before it tried to stab downwards with two legs whilst raising its body.  James was undaunted, and blasted a fireball straight at the creature's belly, knocking it backwards until it almost fell onto its back.
	"GET BACK GODDAMMIT!  Girls, get out of here, NOW!"
	"WE WANNA HELP!"
The three kids stood defiant behind the raptor, who really did not need to deal with their surge of independence right now.
	"NO!" cried Dahlia.  "You can't, it's too dangerous!"
	"BU-"
	"NO!  I won't let anyone hurt you, this is too dangerous!"
	"She's right!" agreed James.  "Things got a little too hairy so go on back to the cave entrance and just wait for me alright?!"
	"NOOO!" roared Blum.  "YOU SAID YOU UNDERSTOOD US, YOU SAID WE WERE GONNA BE HEROES!"
	"I'LL DO THIS BETTER ANOTHER TIME, NOW JUST LET ME-"
	"YER JUST ANOTHER GROWN-UP, YOU SAID YOU WERE GONNA GIVE US A CHANCE, YOU SAID YOU UNDERSTOOD US!  WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER NOW, WE GOTTA WORK TOGETHER, ALRIGHT?!"
As much as he didn't want to involve them in this, and as much as he knew that he could kill the spider himself after a long enough assault, he wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.  Hesitation grew dark in his heart, but he shook it off freely as he saw a perfect trap a little ways behind them, barely glinting in the firelight.  A sizeable boulder upon a higher ledge.
	"...Fine!"
	"WHAT!?" shrieked Dahlia.
	"See that rock up there behind us?  Get up there behind it and stay quiet, and when I tell you to, push it over!  I'm gonna lure that thing towards it."
	"Are you SERIOUS?!"
	"Got it!" said Blum.  "Come on girls!"
	"Dahlia stay with them!" commanded James.  "In case they need help."
	"B-but...but I-"
	"JUST DO IT!"
The four ran off to their position as James tempted the spider closer, who just recovered from its setback.  James could see quite the disturbing sight behind it too in its lair.  The many scattered web-covered bones of unfortunate creatures, clattering about as the arachnid stepped through them disdainfully.  The girls had struggled to make their way upwards, seeing the higher ledge that was a good 15 feet tall from the ground floor of the cavern.  But Blum had an idea.

She saw there were several small stalagtites upon the back of a lower ledge and tied a lasso to one of her arrows, firing almost perfectly the second time as it trapped itself on the rock.  Dahlia climbed nervously up behind the three girls as they carefully made their way up further into position, scaling the rest of the rockway by foot before seeing the all-imposing thick boulder on the straight-planed ledge.  They pressed their hands upon it, all four of them awaiting orders as the raptor was now stepped closer towards their position.
	"COME ON THEN!  YOU WANNA EAT TONIGHT, THEN TRY AN' CATCH ME!"
The creature eagerly hissed and spat out its black tar once again, but the raptor was far more agile than just three little girls.  He dodged easily its shots, strafing left and right with his burning scissors luring it ever closer.
	"HAH!  You missed pal!  What next?!  Come on, lemme see how far you can run!"
And soon it showed him by charging ahead with a squirt of tar to follow up with, nearly hitting the raptor's foot as he dodged backwards from its sudden bullrush.  The shadows on the wall to his left helped indicate how close he was to the trap.  He just hoped the girls were able to do it.  He waited until he was just on the other side of the ledge itself, waiting to see how slowly the monstrous arachnid skittered up to him.  When the time was just about right, he cried out:
	"NOW!  PUSH IT OVER!"
He could hear small grunting sounds from the ledge as the girls tried to push the stone off.  It was the length of a coffin and as tall as Dahlia, as well as being quite heavy as it scraped further and further off the edge of the ledge.  Even with their strength combined, they couldn't push it quick enough.  The spider was almost upon James, who tried to remain in one spot long enough to tempt it.  The legs were ready to swing down upon him.
	"KEEP PUSHING!  HARDER!"
They grunted even louder, crying out with all of their miniscule strength to scrape the stone harder and harder.  Forcing all of their might, Belle cried out:
	"It's too HEAVYYYY!"
	"KEEP!  PUSHING!  YOU CAN DO IT!"
	"B-but...but-"
	"YOU'RE THE CUPID MARK CRUSADERS GODDAMMIT, NOT A BUNCH OF PUSSIES NOW PUSH IT OVER!  NOOOOOW!"
Trying to motivate them, the four soon screamed with their last furious exertion of strength before the rock finally succumbed to gravity.  As the arachnid was about to raise its legs for one more strike, the thick stone slammed straight onto its head, crushing it instantaneously into a black squishy puddle.  The legs spasmed and twitched insanely behind it, causing a ruckus in the cavern as rocks scattered everywhere from the great disturbance.  Finally, they forcefully curled up against its thick body, and gave in to the slow onset of rigor mortis.
The girls quickly headed down from the ledge to see their work, fearful at first at the sight of such an enormous dead creature, even Dahlia was gasping fearfully upon it possibly reviving.  But after making sure that it was dead by a good few prods of their swords, they started whooping with joy brandishing all three swords into a tri-crossed symbol of strength, crying out in unison.

	"WE DID IT!  WE DID IT!"
	"CUPID MARK CRUSADER, MONSTER SLAYERS!"
	"Yeah," said FG, "you guys...you really did it.  Damn, I didn't think it was that heavy."
	"We killed a monster!" cried Blum with excitement.  "I can't believe we actually killed a BIG monster!  See Belle, you got nuthin' to fear, if'n you can take down a monster lik this, you got nuthin' to be frightened abou'!"
	"R-really?" asked Belle softly.  "...y-yeah...yeah, I don't!  We're the bravest heroes around!"
	"I must say," said Dahlia with rapt amazement, "that you girls really did quite a task...well done.  You do have the potential to be warriors."
	"No," said Lu, "that's only cuz we have you miss Dahlia...and mister James."
The raptor smiled happily before petting the three on the head, putting his hands together to rub them for a good day's work.
	Alright girls, let's grab a piece of that mushroom back there and get the hell out of here."
	"YES SIR!"
They quickly headed to the back of the cave, the various desiccated skeletons lying around the spider's lair not helping matters as they clattered and skittled around their legs.  Various species including their own individually which unnerved them easily.  Soon however, Blum found what she was looking for.  A cluster of dark blue mushrooms, with darker black spots upon them.
	"THIS IS IT!  Thuh Fearoscuro Mushroom!"
	"Alright then," said FG, "um...Dahlia you know these better than I do, so you take it."
	"Very well."
The adult nu-mou walked forwards to soon carefully extract several fully-matured mushrooms from a single cluster, gently placing it in her bag with practiced hand and the help of a small sickle to collect herbs gracefully.  With their mission complete, they soon left the caves at last, eagerly heading home through the now darker forest with a spring in their step.  The Cupid Mark Crusaders were overjoyed at the fact that, not only had they completed their objective, but had also slain a true monster first-hand.  They felt unstoppable, like true warriors, as they sang of their great victory all the way home through an overembellished song.
	"We're the cruuuusaaaaaaderrrrrrrs, travelling the-laaaaaand, foooor any-eeeeeeviiiiilll!  Fiiiiighting, battling the hoooooorde, nothing eeeever stops us, to protect our hoooooooome I-will-neeever stop and hide awaaaay from friends who-cry-out-for-us in a time of greater need or-miserable with liiiife for we shall fight to chase the clouds away-from-them to brighten up the-days-of-our-lives together-moooooooooore!"
James could not help but chuckle as the children sang their praise marching all the way, stridant in their steps with swords raised like musketeers towards the light.  Stepping out from the cave, off through the woods and out upon the plains, they never stopped to sing their song merry on the way.  Dahlia was relieved that it was all over, sighing gratefully upon exiting the forest.

	"I'm sorry."
James said this as she turned towards him, a mawkish smile upon his face.
	"I know things got out of hand, but-"
	"No...well, yes.  I know you want to teach them the very best but-"
	"I know, I know, I should not have expected them to do EVERYTHING...I didn't plan on falling down that hole, but you guys came through right?!"
	"Well...we did, and I must admit, that you taught them well enough for them to have not only fought off a garchimacera but an entire horde of Mimics single-handedly!  I...I have to admit I was very impressed by their skill."
	"Wait, mimics?"
	"Those little arachnids we fought in the cave?"
	"Ohhhh THOSE things.  Yeah...huh, nice name."
	"What do you mean?"
	"One of them pretended to be a treasure chest.  Scared the crap out of me."
	"HOhohohohoho...s-sorry but, sorry that is quite a mistake for your experience."
	"It's my first time I ever saw one, so sue me.  How come you know about them then?"
	"I have seen these things before, in Barheim Passage underneath Nalbina."
	"Wait there's a passage under Nalbina?"
	"You never knew?"
	"I never had to pass anywhere near it so...what place is that?"
	"It's an old passageway to send goods to the fortress, but then people stopped using it once we invented enough airships to be a public commodity.  There were plans even to put electrical lighting into it and they did do so but...people aren't using the passage for anything else so if anything it made a nice testing ground for it, worked perfectly well too but then people just...stopped using it really."
	"Huh...that's neat."
The children kept on singing with swords still raised high, lowering them down occasionally every so often when they got tired, even Belle managing to keep it held aloft by her friends who all laughed and giggled alongside each other.  The raptor was pleased that all in all, they seemed no worse for wear, as he turned back to Dahlia asking:
	"You really think electrical lighting's gonna be a thing in this world?"
	"Oh absolutely, it works so well in underground areas as a constant source of lighting without needing magic to regenerate it, think about it, all that tedium of constantly recharging magicite or replacing it, when we could just simply put a generator and hook it all along to the lights, we just need to make it more accessible!"
	"Hopefully."
	"Did you know there is a type of Mimic that can actually feed on electrical currents, a Battery Mimic?"
	"Seriously?!"
	"Oh yes, incredible to think that a creature could absorb electricity, scientists have been studying them in order to harness such secrets to make batteries for ourselves."
	"Well at least that's going on, jeez that's pretty rad...this place confuses me, I'm not sure what kind of world it's trying to be."
	"Hmhmhm, don't worry James...the future is always changing, we just have to stop looking towards only one image of it."
	"Heh...true that.  Hey, thanks again for...looking after them for me."
	"On the contrary...you should be thanking THEM for looking after ME."
	"Well...either way, I think we all deserve a good drink."
	"Wha-James!"
	"I'm joking come ooooon...besides, just between you and me, I don't think I've got any proof of age on me to buy a drink."
	"...you are absolutely terrible, James Campbell."
She smirked happily and chuckled alongside him, the two heading back safely towards Lea Monde as the day grew long by the falling of sunset.  Shadows spread across the land reaching out from the cathedral's walls as the children had many a tale to tell, before James' time babysitting them was up and thereby freeing his group from the city walls.  But not before he had learnt of a new destination, the very next week following after.