"Her na was Estania, the beloved of the sorcerer. When he passed, she wept, clutching his lifeless body by the wall. Her tears fell, crystallizing into beautiful shards that held the power to break his curse..."
Elder Gareb finally revealed the solution to lifting the curse. Chang Long and Siegfreid nearly jumped for joy, but they forced themselves to stay composed and listen carefully. Gareb had yet to explain where these crystal tears could be found.
"Unfortunately..."
"Huh!" Chang Long exclaid in alarm.
The word unfortunately from the elder's lips imdiately dashed her hopes of an easy resolution. It ant their way to lift the curse would not be as smooth sailing as she had thought.
"Heh heh heh, I see your troubled faces, kids. Unfortunately, Estania's tear crystals were stolen by those who had transford into animals. Eventually, the once-beautiful crystals were shattered and scattered across the island. The curses, consud by their rage, killed Estania. When she died, no one was ever able to return to their original form again."
A heavy silence filled the room after Gareb finished speaking. Though they waited calmly, it beca clear that he had no further tales to share. Finally, unable to suppress her frustration, Chang Long burst out,
"So where can we find these tears, old man? Are you sure you've told us everything!"
"Exactly, this explanation is far too vague. How are we supposed to find these shattered crystals scattered across an entire island?"
Siegfreid chid in, equally annoyed. The old man before him gave a quest that put their friendship with King Duck at risk, only to tell them half-baked way to break the curse?
"E-S-T-A-N-I-A. The tear crystals of Estania are clear and pure. They can be found mixed with river pebbles and even on the sands of Europa Island. Each shard bears one letter of her na and will glow if a person cursed by the Beast Wall cos near. Gather all the shards, and they will fuse into a whole crystal. Then all you have to do is drink it."
Gareb explained with an amused grin.
"That's it, old man?"
Chang Long asked skeptically, not entirely convinced that the elder was not holding anything back.
"That's it. Do it if you can, kids. Those tear crystals are so rare that so people have spent their entire lives searching in order to return to their human form."
The elder warned.
"You, maybe. We definitely won't take that long."
Chang Long comnted with a snort. Gareb looked genuinely shocked—not at her confidence in taking just a short ti to find all the tear crystal of Estania, but because she seed to know sothing she should not. Specifically, that he too was cursed by the Beast Wall.
"How do you..."
Gareb began, his voice dry, as he set down his glass and stared at her intently.
"How am I so amazing? Of course I am, old man. How else could I have gotten that wine to you on ti, huh?"
Her cheeky response left Gareb montarily speechless. For a few seconds, he thought Chang Long had figured out his secret—that he too was a victim of the Beast Wall's curse.
"So confident,"
the elder muttered with a strained voice, still looking shocked.
"You bet, heh heh,"
Chang Long replied smugly.
"Overconfidence fueled by exhaustion,"
Devi-chan cut in, appearing beside her. He observed his master, whose eyelids were drooping from sleep deprivation after completing Gareb's demanding task.
"What did you say, Devi-chan?"
Siegfried turned to ask the spirit of the forr pirate king, his eyes still watery from a yawn he had barely finished.
"You're just as bad. Go get so rest before you both turn into animals again. Look, before I even finished my sentence, she's already fallen asleep,"
Devi-chan grumbled. Siegfried chuckled softly and carefully scooped Chang Long into his arms. He carried her out through the tear in the tent, with Lycanth padding close behind.
Outside, the first light of dawn began to crest over the treetops. The transformation started—both Chang Long and Siegfried reverted into their furry animal forms. Exhausted from their all-night quest, the little cat Chang Long and the puppy Siegfried fell into a deep, dreamless sleep on the dew-drenched grass, ignoring the ghosts' protests entirely.
"Hey, you can't sleep here! Are you crazy? Look at this dew—it's thick enough to make you catch a cold,"
Devi-chan scolded loudly, though his words failed to penetrate their sealed ears.
"I think they've reached their limit. Look, they're completely out,"
Hisa-chan said, appearing beside Devi-chan.
"That's true. This is a safe area anyway; nothing will harm them here,"
Alice-chan said with a cheerful smile as she sat beside the sleeping little cat.
"She's adorable, isn't she? If I had a physical body, I'd love to hold her like this at least once."
"Pfft! If you tried, she'd claw your face until it was shredded!"
Devi-chan snapped, but even so, he sat down near Chang Long.
"This dog, though—couldn't he at least sleep a little farther away from my descendant?"
Devi-chan muttered, side-eyeing Siegfried's sleeping puppy form. He used his foot to nudge at the dog, as though to push him farther away from Chang Long.
"Stop that, Devi Jones. You're such an ill-mannered ghost. Can't you see he's sleeping!"
Heaven quickly intervened to defend his own descendant from Devi-chan's bullying.
"Oh, you dare talk back to ? Let remind you—there are three of us here, while you're alone!"
Devi-chan retorted, glaring at Heaven. The elven ghost hesitated for a mont but still retorted smugly,
"You wouldn't be able to handle alone—that's why you're relying on those two to gang up on ."
"What was that!"
Devi-chan bristled imdiately and lunged after Heaven, chasing him around the grassy field as the other ghosts watched, half amused and half exasperated.
When the sun climbed higher, its intense rays roused Chang Long and Siegfried from their sleep, to their dismay. The little cat stretched with a wide yawn, her fur standing on end, and looked around. Nearby, the puppy Siegfried sat up groggily, looking just as bleary-eyed as she was. The sound of Brownie calling out drew her attention. She saw her animals gathering around, their expressions filled with concern.
"Master! What are you doing out here? We've been looking for you everywhere."
Brownie, the tiny field mouse, shouted. His squeaky voice caused a few passing attendants to stop in their tracks in shock. They rubbed their ears and strained to listen again, thinking they had imagined it.
"Master, I'm starving. Now that you're a cat, can you still pull out sunflower seeds for ?"
Brownie chattered as he scampered up to Chang Long, oblivious to the startled humans.
"The m, mouse, it can talk!"
one out of two attendants stamred in disbelief. Brownie quipped.
"Yes, of course I can. Haven't you ever seen a handso mouse like talk before?"
The mouse grinning smugly as the attendants stood slack-jawed. Then, he scampered over to nuzzle against Chang Long, completely unfazed.
"Brownie, get ready for a journey. We're going to have to fend for ourselves along the way. Honestly, these paws of mine aren't very good for holding anything,"
Chang Long said.
"No problem. So, where are we headed, Master?"
Brownie answered without much concern about finding food. He had often fended for himself before Chang Long had taken him in. However, he was not so sure whether creatures like Kitsune and Flatear, who had hatched from eggs, knew how to forage. Especially since Flatear's diet was far more peculiar than anyone else's.
"..."
Brownie went silent when he saw Flatear grab Chang Long's backpack with his jaws and lift it, shaking it in an attempt to find food. Thankfully, the contents of the backpack would not spill out no matter the circumstance; otherwise, they would spend the entire day trying to gather everything back. Their hands (—or rather, feet—) were not exactly designed for delicate tasks as grabbing.
"Stop it, Flatear. Shake it all you want; nothing's going to fall out!"
Chang Long scolded. Flatear let out a grumpy huff and dropped the bag onto the ground.
"Hahaha. Don't worry. Stick with , and everyone will eat their fill. I know where to find food,"
Brownie laughed heartily at Flatear's antics.
"Wait a minute, Brownie. Are you speaking the human language right now?" Chang Long turned to ask, a bright smile spreading across her face. She was relieved that, even in her current feline form, she had so way to communicate with others during the day, even if all she could do herself was ow.
"Huh? Of course, Master. You already knew that. Otherwise, why would those two humans over there have looked so shocked?"
Chang Long's eyes widened like saucers at the response. She chuckled in satisfaction, though the sound ca out more like a cat choking on a hairball.
"In that case, let's bid farewell to King Duck and Queen Anna,"
Chang Long suggested cheerfully. She began leading the group toward the temporary throne room but stopped after just two steps. Turning back sheepishly, she asked,
"Uh, which way is the throne room?"
"Seriously!!"
Everyone groaned in unison, even the usually silent Little Jade, the tiny dragon.
Devi-chan volunteered to lead the group to the throne room. When they arrived, they found King Duck looking quite irritated over sothing. As soon as he saw Chang Long and the others enter, he approached them and sternly asked,
"Perfect timing. Do you all know anything about the break-in at the royal storehouse last night?"
One cat and one dog froze in their tracks, utterly speechless.
"Uh... really, Your Majesty? What did they take?"
Brownie asked, translating Chang Long's anxious ows into human speech.
"They took two bottles of my finest malt whiskey... Wait a minute, did you just talk?"
King Duck replied, his frustration palpable. But then he paused, turning back to scrutinize the one who had spoken.
"Yes, Your Majesty. I was the one who spoke, following my master's orders,"
Brownie said, bowing politely.
"Who are you? And who is your master?"
King Duck inquired, bewildered, unsure if he was actually talking to a mouse or rely dreaming.
"My master is Master Chang Long, Your Majesty. She's currently in the form of a cat and unable to speak, so I'm speaking on her behalf,"
Brownie explained. King Duck sat down in front of the talking mouse, laughing heartily.
"I must be dreaming. Hahaha. A talking mouse in my dream. That ans my malt whiskey wasn't really stolen, then."
Chang Long and Siegfried exchanged weary glances, rolling their eyes. The whiskey had to have been ridiculously expensive for King Duck to act so distraught. Still, if he thought it was all a dream, that was good news—it would make their escape much easier. Chang Long nodded at Brownie, signaling him to relay her ssage. With that, Brownie began delivering their farewells.
"Your Majesty, we must take our leave now. We regret that we can no longer stay and celebrate with you. Please accept our humble farewell, and may Your Majesty remain in good health always."
King Duck cheerfully waved off the group of animals, which included two humans trapped in animal form. Queen Anna, stumbling upon the scene, looked perplexed. She approached the king, curious as to why he seed so cheerful.
"Your Majesty, what's making you so happy? Or have you found those two bottles of malt whiskey already?"
"Oh, don't worry about that. I'm sure the whiskey is perfectly fine because this must be a dream. Otherwise, how could a mouse talk?"
Queen Anna was at a loss for words. Was her husband truly this far gone?
"No, Your Majesty, this isn't a dream—it's reality. What has happened to you!"
King Duck glanced at his queen, a flicker of panic crossing his face. He bombarded her with so many questions that she eventually gave up trying to answer. Frustrated, she pinched him hard enough to make him yelp, montarily dropping his regal deanor. Thankfully, it worked, snapping him out of his delusion. The king imdiately ordered his soldiers to search every corner of the temporary royal compound and to check everyone entering or leaving.
"That whiskey was for Anna's father's white stag. If he finds out I lost it, he'll be furious,"
King Duck muttered to himself, sighing heavily. He slumped onto his throne, inspecting the bruise on his arm that his beloved queen had left as a reminder with a smile.
.....
The world seed to shift and expand when viewed from a different perspective. It felt vast, endless. Grass lood tall, trees swayed like giants, and people towered like colossi. This was the world through the eyes of little Chang Long in her feline form. Her new, little grand adventure to reclaim her human body was about to begin. Oh, how thrilling it was than any mont in her life...
"Enough already. That's giving chills,"
Chang Long interrupted, cutting off Brownie's narration, which sounded like he fancied himself a top-tier voice actor. His dramatic tone reminded her of a movie she had watched with her father as a child.
"So, where should we go first? Complete another quest or search for Estania's tear crystals?"
Siegfried asked after secretly laughing to his heart's content.
"There's no way I'm taking on any quests looking like this. We're tiny—we'd end up as bird food."
Chang Long stated. The group of animals continued walking toward the newly built temporary city that the townspeople had built by themselves, a placeholder for Ark City while it awaited reconstruction after Chang Long had accidentally wrecked it during her earlier exploits.
"Alright, so we'll search for Estania's tear crystals first, right? But where do we even start? The crystals are scattered all over the island—it's overwhelming."
Kitsune questioned, a note of concern crept into his voice.
"They're probably like gems, right? And since they're tears, they'll be clear and shiny. Plus, they'll glow when we're near them because of the curse. It shouldn't be that hard to find them,"
Flatear chid in confidently. However, the others imdiately voiced their disagreent.
"Easy, my tail. The crystals aren't going to be conveniently as big as rocks and visible from a mile away. I'm more worried about them being right under our noses, and we still can't find them."
Chang Long snapped, baring her teeth at Flatear.
"Aw, co on, Master. I was just trying to keep your spirits up,"
Flatear replied, clearly amused by her cat-like grumpiness.
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