Loose Pig

Creak, Creak, Creak.

Every step made a sound on the old wooden floor.

Thud, Thud, Thud.

The footsteps from upstairs echoed.

They reached the second floor.

Suri gave them a signal, and they stopped.

The sound upstairs stopped as well.

“That thing is aware,” Suri whispered.

She drew her Magica Bracelet.

The others did the same.

Creak.

They went up the stairs to the third floor.

A long hallway stretched out before their eyes.

They couldn't hear anything anymore.

Charlotte’s heart wouldn’t stop pounding.

She quickly scanned her surroundings.

“Everyone, keep your backs covered,” Suri ordered.

They began walking down the hallway, watching each other's backs.

Charlotte was able to look through the open doors. There were beds and wooden toys scattered about.

They finally reached the far end.

“Don’t let your guard down.”

The whole place was silent.

Rattle.

The doorknob to their left shook violently.

It was the only closed door.

“Wait here.”

Suri approached slowly.

Her hand was shaking.

She quickly opened the door, keeping her bracelet ready to defend herself.

Nothing.

It was the room with the broken window.

The curtains fluttered in the wind.

She let out a sigh of relief.

“It 's clear.”

The rest of the group let go of the burdens weighing on their shoulders.

The room was a disaster. Broken glass was scattered on the floor, and the beds had been overturned. Suri stepped on a teddy bear that was on the floor.

She knelt to pick it up. She stared at it for a couple of seconds.

“This must be where it happened.”

Arthur entered the room.

“What a tragedy,” he said as he scanned the place.

“What kind of marks are these?”

Gerald also entered. He was looking at the wall.

“Looks like claw marks, but are those pig tracks too?”

One by one, everyone went inside, except for Charlotte.

Drip, Drip, Drip.

She heard it in the room next door.

Charlotte went to check it carefully.

“Captain?”

Leif noticed and followed her.

Charlotte, shaking, scanned the room.

There was nothing, but the sound continued.

“Captain?”

Charlotte jumped in fright.

“Leif, you scared me!”

“I’m sorry, but you should not go alone.”

“You’re right, but don’t you hear it?”

Drip, Drip Drip.

“Maybe it's just a leak.”

A drop fell between them.

Slowly, they looked up.

“See, there’s probably a crack.”

“But it hasn't rained.”

A bunch of roots sprouted from the floor. They tangled Charlotte and dragged her to the second floor.

“Captain!”

Cough, Cough.

The impact had created a cloud of dust.

Once it began to fade away, Charlotte saw what was in front of her.

An enormous pig head was looking at her. The rest of its body was as stocky as that of an ordinary pig, but incredibly elongated. Centipede legs protruded from it, each made of roots and bark.

It let out a series of oinks, but they were cut short by violent panting, as if it were choking.

Charlotte instinctively covered herself with both arms. The roots on her left arm transformed into a shield all on their own.

The beast didn't attack. It used its long legs to climb up through the hole it had made.

When Leif saw it, he fell down and froze in fear.

It didn’t attack him either. It just continued, moving through the walls and the ceiling.

Thud, Thud, Thud.

The beast made the orphanage rumble, now completely out of control.

The rest of the group left the room when they heard all the commotion.

“What’s that thing?”

“Everyone behind me!”

Again, the beast ignored them and continued. It rushed into the room where the incident took place and started throwing the furniture all over the place. That beast was looking all around.

Suri tried to catch it with her purple chains, but the beast managed to dodge them with ease.

Oink!

The beast roared and headed toward her.

It came to a sudden stop, turned around, and began sniffing through the rubble.

The beast began searching with its snout until it finally pulled out a book, which it tore to pieces.

“Pure Magica. Crystal Thorn.”

Alysia conjured several water spheres through Bastion. They clung to the beast and turned into sharp icicles.

It cried out in pain.

The beast broke through the floor and began to descend to the first floor.

Suri jumped after it.

It headed to the office area, where they had been talking about the hero.

Charlotte, still a little dazed, went downstairs and followed it.

She found the beast wreaking havoc and sniffing around everywhere. Thousands of sheets of paper and books were flying through the air.

Finally, it turned its attention to a book with a red cover. Just as the beast was about to tear it to shreds, Charlotte extended the roots of her hand and snatched it away.
The beast roared and lunged at her.

Charlotte tried to run away, but it was hot on her heels.

And within seconds, it trapped Charlotte against a wall.

Before it could attack her, chains of fire trapped the beast and began to burn it.

“Charlotte, leave that thing.”

“But this thing wants the book. It must have something.”

“Just do it!”

Charlotte tore out the cover and a few pages from the book, then tossed the rest aside.

The beast writhed wildly, trying to free itself from Suri's purple chains. It became harder and harder to hold it down until finally she couldn't hold on any longer. The chains managed to burn several of its root-made legs.

With one last effort, the beast took the opportunity to eat and destroy the rest of the book.

Limping, the beast broke through one of the walls and struggled to get out, letting out groans of pain.

“Pure Magica. Before Dawn Chain.”

Chains with purple-flame shackles appeared on several of the beast's root-like legs. It slowed down, but managed to escape, carrying those chains with it.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, thank you, Miss Suri.”

Suri walked over to hug her.

“Miss Suri?”

“You need to be more careful!”

Charlotte noticed that her uniform was badly scuffed on one side, but she didn't have any injuries.

“I don’t understand.”

“It was Zoe’s card.”

“I see…”

After everyone gathered and made sure everyone was okay, they tried to look for clues, but everything had been destroyed.

“That was clearly its intention.”

“What do you mean, Miss Suri?”

“It destroyed the place, every clue, every trace.”

Arthur brought his hand to his chin.

“So, if that thing was meant to destroy the evidence… Could it have been the hero?”

“Maybe.”

Leif was unconsciously smiling out of nervousness.

“What was that thing anyway?”

“A corrupted animal.”

“So, now the hero can control the corrupted beasts?” Asked Alysia.

Suri remained silent for a while.

“I don’t know.”

She turned to look at Charlotte, who was holding the pages and the cover she had torn out of the book.

“What does it say?”

Charlotte scanned the pages. “O-orphanage record… eh…” She tried to continue, but felt stuck.

“Allow me.”

Zoe got next to her to read.

“Oliver Grenger, 12 years old…it seems to be just information about the children.”

“That’s all? That’s creepy.”

“I agree with Miss Alysia. Why would the hero want to delete the children's records?”

Gerald kept his arms crossed while speaking.

“So, we don’t have a clue who we are looking for?”

After Charlotte said that, the atmosphere grew tenser.

“I hope that's all it is,” Suri muttered.

She clapped her hands to get her students' attention. They all snapped out of the daze they had fallen into. She let out a sigh.

“We should go see where the orphanage is temporarily located.”

“What about the beast? What if it attacks the town?”

“It was injured and didn’t seem to be trying to attack people. Besides…” Suri paused. “It will help us later.”

They left the orphanage, dodging the rubble. Charlotte couldn't help but feel sad. When she entered, it seemed full of warm memories.

“Excuse me, Miss Suri, why do we have to go there?”

“We're just going to check on them. Just in case.”