CH. 91 - A Strange Cave

 Later that day, the group all make their way through the trees along a dirt path up a hill. They sweat, a couple of them holding their backpacks as the heat of the day beats down upon them. Chizuru pants heavily as she tiredly steps along the path following Hikigaya and Haru. 

 “I don’t know why I thought this was a good idea.. I’m not sure I can make it..” Chizuru says between breaths before stopping and bending over on her knees. She rubs her chest as Lucy notices before looking at Chizuru with a concerned look.

 “You sure you’re okay? We don’t have to finish the hike if you want to head back.” Lucy says with a concerned tone. Chizuru picks up on her tone and quickly composes herself.

 “No! I don’t wanna ruin this for everyone, I was just joking haha!” She says with a tired laugh. “Come on, I just needed a sec!” Chizuru stands back up and starts back into the hike as the others follow suit. Lucy’s face still shows concern but doesn’t push it any further. The group continues for a little while as the trees start to dwindle in numbers and the top of the hill begins to appear. 

 “Hey, when we get to the end, pull over, will ya? I’m gettin’ real tired from all this hiking.” Mormo says from the backpack of Suiyoubi. She smiles and nods as Kitaro speaks.

 “What are you tired for? You haven’t walked at all.” He says with an irritated tone.

 “Listen buddy, keeping morale up for your group of losers here is pretty drainin’ so I’d appreciate it if you stepped up off my back about it.” Mormo says with an attitude.

“I’m gonna give you something to step off of in a second.. Come here!” Kitaro shouts.

 “Huh? Aghh!” Mormo yells as Kitaro grabs him by the throat aggressively and starts throwing him around.

 Eventually, they make it to the top for a gorgeous view of the ocean and beautiful nature around the area. Shiori smiles softly as the warm breeze blows by them. 

 “This is what I call a vacation.” Ryuji says as Shiori nods in agreement. Haru stretches his arms over his head with a satisfied smile.

 “That’s what I’m talking about! I always feel so full in the sunlight like this.” Haru says as he stares into the sky. Sugawara blushes a little while looking at him before looking away embarrassed.

‘So cute!’ he thinks.

 “Still want me to put you down, Mormo?” Suiyoubi asks.

 “No thanks, I think I stretched enough.” Mormo says casually, with a big swollen bump on his head and a bandage on his cheek from Kitaro beating him up. Hisana sees the view and gets an excited look on her face.

 “Oh wow! Look at that view!” Hisana says happily. Kitaro follows behind her with his hands in his pockets.

 “Can’t beat graphics like this.” He says with a smile as Hisana gets an idea.

 “Oh, I know what this place is good for!” She suddenly gets on one knee and pulls out a ring in a proposal position towards Kitaro. “Kitaro, will you be my-”

 “No.” he says coldly as Hisana cries comically.

 “But I didn’t even get to finish…” Hisana cries. Shiori then looks over to see, just a bit away from them and down the hill, a dark cave entrance.

 “Check that out.” She elbows Hikigaya and points to the cave. Hikigaya is surprised to see it.

 “A dark and ominous cave entrance. Probably pretty scary in there.” Hikigaya says plainly.

“Yup.” Shiori says back. They stare at it for a moment before getting evil smiles across their faces. “Come on, guys! We’re gonna explore that cave!” Shiori says with an excited smile while pointing at the cave. Chizuru instantly starts sweating nervously.

 “We’re all going..?” she asks, tired and anxious. Alice sweats in anxiety too as she looks at the cave down below.

 “I don’t know… There could be a creepy monster or something in there…” She says nervously before a lightbulb appears above her head as she gets an idea. “Wait! If there is a creepy monster in there, that means I’d get a chance to see Fullsky and Watchdog fight in person! And they’d have to protect me!”

She envisions Fullsky and Watchdog holding her in their arms with longing looks.

 “Are you alright?” Fullsky asks. Alice focuses on her lips. “Alice…”

 Alice giggles and holds herself while blushing and jumping excitedly.

 “Ehehehe! Okay!” She points at them with a cat smile. “We can go!”

 “If you say so.” Kitaro says with a shrug, following the group as they march on. It doesn’t take them long to make it down to the cave, entering it without hesitation with Shiori and Hikigaya leading the way.

 As they walk in the dark, a couple of them pull out flashlights as Chizuru and Sugawara hold each other and look around in fear, Touma walking anxiously behind them.

 “Did you bring a flashlight?” Hikigaya asks Shiori. She smirks before lifting her hand and igniting fire from it, creating a hand torch to light the way.

 “Don’t need one.” She says, trying to be cool. Hikigaya looks impressed.

 “Woah..” He says before smiling at her. “You’re so cool, Shiori.” he says. Shiori is surprised by his words before blushing embarrassedly, causing the flame on her hand to turn from a normal orange to a soft pink color. Suiyoubi looks around with a smile on her face as Hisana and Ryuji walk beside her.

 “I miss exploring caves. I used to explore the ones I could find at home when I was a child.” Suiyoubi says happily as Mormo turns and looks at her with a blank, unimpressed stare. 

 “You really are a freak, you know that?” he says plainly.

“Oh yeah!” Suiyoubi says out loud. She claps her hands together vertically in front of her before sliding them into a horizontal position. “May the 8 Eyes Light the Way.” She says before lifting her hands apart and creating a small violet orb of glowing light. She lifts it with a smile as the others get impressed looks. “I forgot most of you don’t have night vision, so I made this to help light the way.” She lightly lifts her hand as the purple orb floats above them, gleaming light to help light up the cave. 

 “Magic powers sure do seem to come in handy.” Lucy says as they follow the light orb.

“W-whatever! When I unlock my powers, they’re gonna be so much cooler than that!” Alice says, sticking close to her.

“Don’t get your hopes up.” Mormo says casually while looking away. Kitaro follows as he sweats a little.

 “Have we just been overlooking the fact that Suiyoubi has actual magic abilities? Don’t those count as superpowers?” he asks as the friends walk deeper into the cave. As they explore for a bit, taking turns and avoiding holes, the group starts to get a little more nervous.

 “H-how far do we plan on going? I’m not really seeing anything here.. maybe we should just go back.” Sugawara says anxiously.

“Well, we aren’t really looking for anything. It’s just a fun exploration adventure.” Hikigaya says with a smile.

“Yeah. Besides, we haven’t been in here nearly long enough to have all the ghosts attach themselves to us and haunt us.” Shiori says with an evil look as Sugawara gets horrified.

 “Well, actually, hauntings don’t occur based on time spent in one location. Ghosts, or Wandering Souls, kind of just choose where to go and when. They’d have to really like you to attach to you.” Suiyoubi explains.

“Yeah, thanks for that history lesson.” Mormo says. Suddenly, the sound of something hitting the ground hard rings throughout the cave, causing the whole group to stop and stand in silence.

 “W-what was that?” Chizuru asks nervously.

 “Sounded like a large rock falling down.” Ryuji says as he stares ahead, his eyes almost seeming luminesent in the darkness.

“Average cave things, right?” Haru asks, starting to get freaked out. Suddenly, a little head pops out from around a corner, only it peers at them from high up and looking upside down, almost as if it’s hanging completely sideways. The whole group stiffens up at the sight of this face. 

 “What the..?” Hikigaya says under his breath.

 “Ah! A monster! Fullsky, protect me!” Alice shouts with a blush and smug smile before jumping up expecting Shiori to catch her, but she just steps back, letting Alice hit the ground.

 “I don’t think so.” Shiori says plainly. The face then smiles widely at them.

 “Hey, I knows y’all! You’re them Super Helpers people!” the old man's voice shouts. They get a mix of confused and concerned looks.

 “That’s definitely not creepy..” Kitaro says as Hisana hides behind him a little.

“Y-you’ve heard of us?” Chizuru asks, still nervous.

“Why, of course! The bats told me yous were comin’. Now, come a little closer, would ya?” the old man asks. They hesitate and look at each other, silently debating who should approach the stranger. They all look at Touma, who sweats nervously.

 “Why are y-you looking at me?..” he asks.

“Don’t worry, big guy. I’ll come with you.” Hikigaya says confidently but still sweating a bit. They approach the hanging head.

 “That’s right. Come closer.” He says as they cautiously approach. Once they get in deep enough, they look around the corner and up towards the head. Their cautious and defensive postures instantly relax to a more casual stance as all fears and anxieties fall away. 

 “Oh, don’t worry, guys. It’s just some old dude tied up.” Hikigaya says, pointing a thumb at the man. The group all get looks of disappointment and disbelief. 

 “What??” they all say, disappointed. The group approaches and looks at the old man hanging upside down from a mix of ropes tied to rock formations in the cave. 

 “That’s right! What else did you think I was? AND WHO YOU CALLIN’ OLD??” the man shouts at Hikigaya.

 “Well, considering you were just hanging upside down making a creepy face in a dark cave, you could’ve been a whole host of other things.” Haru says to him.

“What are you doing here, anyway?” Lucy asks.

 “Well, about five years ago, I came down here explorin’ for somethin’, not sure what. I can’t seem to remember? But once my lifeline broke, I tried following it back out until I eventually fell down that there hole and got all tangled up!” the old man explains. Shiori looks shocked.

“Wait, you’ve been down here for five years?!” she asks, as shocked as the rest of the group is. 

 “That’s right! Yuehhehehe!” the man laughs strangely.

 “Wait a minute.” Mormo says with a surprised look on his face before turning to look at the man. “Frankle?” Mormo calls out.

 “What’s that? Who called my name?” the man asks. He looks around rapidly as Mormo jumps onto Suiyoubi’s head.

 “Frankle! It’s me, Mormo!” he shouts.

“Oh? Is that yee old King of the Ghouls I hear? Now why in the cosmos are you in that bear body? Yuehehehe!” he asks before laughing strangely again. Mormo droops a bit. 

“Don’t remind me…” Mormo mumbles.

It flips to Frankle now standing up, freed from the ropes as the others all stare at him in confusion. Frankle stretches his back as the others start to ask questions.

 “Mormo, how do you know this man?” Suiyoubi asks.

 “His name’s Frankle. He’s an archeologist who traverses the Universe in search of ancient artifacts before they fall into the wrong hands.” Mormo explains. Frankle cracks his back and stretches.

 “That’s right! And boy was I something back in the day before this old body decided to quit on me.” Frankle says with an aged smile.

“True, you’re nothing like you used to be. You’re even starting to look like the average citizen back in Cemetari!” Mormo says with a big smile.

 “Take a look at yourself! I could beat you with a single kick!” Frankle says back. They laugh together as the group stares in disbelief and disappointment.

 “Yeah, but that doesn’t explain how you know him.” Alice says. Mormo turns and looks at her with an upset look.

 “Believe it or not, sidekick, I really am the King of Ghouls. But before that, back in my soldier days, I came across an explorer looking for his next big adventure.” Mormo explains.

 “Old Mormo here was probably expecting his next meal, but boy was he mistaken!” Frankle says with a laugh.

“We scrapped for days only to end up as best friends once all was said and done. Man, those were the times.” Mormo says, smiling. They both get a bit nostalgic as Lucy leans over to Hisana and whispers.

 “I don’t think I’m buying any of this..” Lucy whispers.

 “I know! It’s kinda hard to imagine a dirty old man and a stuffed teddy bear as young, strapping men.” Hisana says plainly. Lucy sweats at her response.

 “That’s not what I meant…” Lucy mumbles.

"So, what? Mormo is actually a monster from another dimension, and this man is an interplanetary alien?" Shiori asks, obviously skeptical. Frankle looks at her.

"Oh, no. Mormo is the alien from another planet in this same dimension. And I is from this here planet, Sol, my home. I'mma proud Solian!" Frankle explains. Shiori just stares in disbelief.

"And that's much better." She says plainly. Hikigaya then throws his arms up and behind his head with a sigh.

 “Well, whatever. This isn’t creepy anymore, so I’m going back home.” Hikigaya says, turning to leave.

 “Any excuse to get out of this cave…” Sugawara says nervously before following Hikigaya as the entire group does the same. Mormo sits on Frankle’s shoulder as they walk out together.

 “Please don’t tell me he’s gonna stay with us the rest of the trip…” Kitaro says openly.

 “Oh, don’t get yer knickers in a twist. I gots a place of my own to stay. A little beach house overlooking the ocean blue not far from here.” He says with a relaxed tone as Shiori and Hikigaya stiffen up at his words. “Nah, I’m just kiddin’ y’all! I know that’s y’alls place, but don’t worry about me. I’ll be alright.” Frankle says. They both sigh in relief as Frankle laughs a bit.

 “You said you were down here for five years?” Mormo asks.

“That’s right. I was lookin’ for my next big find!” Frankle says back with a raised finger.

 “And what was it?” Mormo asks with a raised eyebrow. Frankle thinks for a moment, rubbing his chin with his hand.

 “Well, that be the problem there. I don’t seem to remember what I was lookin’ for. Ah well, must not’ve been a big deal then.” Frankle says with a hearty laugh.

 “You old moron.” Mormo says with a smile.

 Back in the cave, even deeper in the suffocating darkness, behind a thick wall of stone and rocks, lies a large empty room stay for a single pedestal in the center. There, a crest of bright metal and luminous crystals in the shape of two hands wrapped around said crystal in the center lies and waits to be found.