Alma 118 Hidden Horror In Paradise

Tranquil waves washed the empty beach on a clear and sunny midday. Not a thing stirred aside from the peaceful ebb and flow of the sea in the private eden that they'd found by chance…

As far as they knew, the little beach had no name, nor did the island.

It wasn't even a marked location on their maps, presumably because of where it existed. They had discovered the hidden stretch of untouched pink beach far from civilization, within the deep wilderness past the Southern coast where only a few dared to venture…

A short chain of seemingly unnamed islands laid past the Southern coast that only Chosen had the qualifications to visit because of the dangerous beasts that lived on them.

One of them did have a proper name, though. It was a name only known by the Chosen of the South who had experienced the horrors contained within the island back when they'd been trainees. In the South, it was a rite of passage for trainees to be sent to a particular island for a test that'd challenge their survival skills to the limit.

On the surface, it appeared like a paradise — lush rainforests, clear skies, and nary a threat in sight, but… it was nothing but a cruel deception.

Nightfall was to be feared on the island, for it always heralded the arrival of those-who-hunted-in-the-dark. The Shadow-stalkers were an insidious batch of monstrosities that'd been created by the Ancient Mulians in an attempt to refine and harness the power of subjugation that the Outsiders possessed.

They were remnants of condemned criminals, turned into mindless, obedient horrors that only answered to their Mulian masters, much like the Infested. At night, what remained of the sorry, twisted monsters would come pouring out of the abandoned research station that'd been built beneath the small island.

Although the South could have destroyed the research station and the tormented creatures who lived in it, they had decided against it in the end.

The South ended up repurposing the island and turned it into a miniature test site for their trainees so that they could experience what it was like fighting the Infested in a safe and contained environment that instructors could easily supervise and control.

In truth, the trainees were not in danger, despite how it seemed at night. They'd be stalked, chased, and hunted by the shadow-stalkers, but the instructors supervising the test would never let the abominations make the final killing strike.

…Nevertheless, it was still a terrifying experience for the young trainees, whether or not it'd actually been a test without a true danger.

Everyone left the island had come to fear it from the bottom of hearts, even after they'd graduated and become contenders.

Generations of Chosen had come to fear the notoriously beautiful island they called… the Verdant Tear. It was a taboo place that no one wanted anything to do with…

The concept had arisen out of the ill-intentioned idea of "fighting fire with fire." What the Ancient Mulians had planned to do, at least in theory, had been a perversion of everything they'd stood for at their core…

Simply put, they had tried to create their own army of Infested, one that would answer to the Mulian empire. Rather than let the Infestation continue to harvest their entire multiverse of every single soul and turn them into Infested, they'd do it themselves.

In essence, the project was created to deny the Infestation of what they wanted and even use their own kind against them.

There were some who even claimed that given enough time, they'd unlock the full extent of the Outsiders' secrets.

That once they fully comprehended how the Outsiders controlled souls, they'd be able to completely turn the tide of the war, once and for all.

Had the project reached that point, the Ancient Mulian scientists would have set their sights on the Infestation itself instead. They would have tried to take the Grand Swarm for themselves and used it to fight the Outsiders on their own terms and, perhaps, even subjugate them as well.

Greed, ambition, and desperation had taken hold in the hearts of the Ancient Mulians to the extent that they had nearly forsaken their humanity.

Were it not for a certain individual's condemnation of the secret project and his direct order for it to be shut down, the Ancient Mulians would have surely ended up walking down a path of no return that'd destroy them from within…

Where'd that girl go off to? It's been at least fifteen minutes since she'd left to "powder her nose," as she called it…

Well, whatever… It's not like anything here is even remotely capable of posing a threat to her, a Goddess of War, anyway…

Reed felt that something was off and that she was most likely up to no good, but couldn't find the will to even care about it. His hammock slowly rocked back and forth when a cool breeze passed by, which he greatly enjoyed.

Ahhh… It's like nature's trying to rock me to sleep!

He let out a long, tired yawn and said, "Just another day in paradise, huh…"

The palm trees he had tied his hammock to swayed gently along with breeze as they basked in the sunlight and a couple of leaves fell off of them, landing on Reed's face.

He felt so relaxed that he didn't even bother moving the leaves and simply let them be until… someone moved them off his face.

"Oh, hey, I almost thought I'd have to go out and search for you," said Reed as he desperately tried his best to hold back a lazy yawn.

Lu'um skeptically looked at Reed and said, "Yeah, I sure you were, dear. Probably after your little siesta, right?"

When she hopped into the hammock Reed smirked and said, "I was really going to do it, but I didn't want to bother you… Still, I assume you must have gotten lost, right? Or… were you up to something?"

"I don't have the slightest idea about what you're talking about," said Lu'um with a blank, confused expression on her face.

"I was just... exploring a little bit, that's all."

Reed chuckled and said, "Yeah, I bet you were. Probably getting some exercise too, right? You know, I felt these really peculiar tremors not too long ago, a little bit after you disappeared… I also heard a lot of hubbub from the critters until things got strangely quiet, too…"

Lu'um awkwardly coughed and said, "T-That's odd; I don't remember hearing or feeling any of that while I was gone. I didn't anything out of the ordinary…"

"You've got a bit of blood on you, right there," said Reed and swiped a small dab of blood off that'd been on her exposed back.

When Lu'um saw the blood on his finger, she let out a deep sigh and said, "I... might've done more than just exploring."

Reed stroked her hair with a haughty smile and said, "Oh, really? I would've never guessed that. …Come on, out with it. Don't even think about worming your way out of this either, sweetcheeks."

Lu'um cursed herself for not triple-checking if she'd gotten all of the blood off of her. She eventually yielded; In the end, she couldn't handle the disappointed look on Reed's face…

After she explained the island's special history and the experiments that had occurred on it, Reed finally understood why she had suggested that they should, "go to the beach," several days ago.

"…Some romantic getaway this turned out to be," said Reed, "…but I understand why you wanted to come here now."

He held Lu'um close and said, "Look, I wouldn't have said no if you'd told me the truth, sweetcheeks. I haven't gone so soft that I'd say no to snuffing out a potential threat to the continent."

"I dislike using my power, but I'm not so irresponsible as to not take care of such an important like this was."

Lu'um nodded slowly and said, "I'm sorry, really. I just didn't know if you'd be ready for something like this again. ...I thought that it'd be better if I take care of something like this alone rather than let you--"

"I know," said Reed. "And thank you for considering my feelings, but we're in this together, okay?"

"Okay..."

The couple

ed; In the end, she couldn't handle the disappointed look on Reed's face…