Cyril didn't dream that often, and whenever he did, there would be no memories of it the following morning.
He could tell there was a dream, but if asked what it was about in detail, he would struggle to answer.
This night it was very different, however.
At first it started relatively normal.
A vague dream about traveling the world with someone—it felt familiar; perhaps it wasn't the first time he had seen it.
As it continued, things drastically took a strange turn.
The dream felt interrupted.
Suddenly he was in some vast space covered in darkness.
Before him was a giant, beating mound of flesh.
Now Cyril was acutely aware of his own state; it was like having a lucid dream.
But he couldn't move his body in any way, nor could he turn his head to look away.
He could do nothing but stare at the rhythmical beat of the mound, the sound resonating through his whole body.
Cyril could feel there was some kind of meaning here he couldn't quite comprehend.
This thing was alive, and it wanted something.
It didn't feel malicious.
...
Taking a sharp breath, Cyril raised his body from the bed and warily looked around.
There was nothing wrong. His actions only scared Morpho, who quickly flew up, battle-ready.
"What happened?" urgently asked Rhamn.
You didn't see it?
For some reason, Cyril always thought they were sharing dreams.
"No... Hold on, let me get the memories about it." Rhamn closed her eyes for a few seconds.
Her face became confused with time.
"Weird. That clearly wasn't a normal dream." She held her chin in thought.
The image from the dream still felt just as pronounced as ever.
Cyril felt this 'dream' would stay with him for a long time.
It felt more like a 'vision.' He came to a conclusion after thinking about it for a bit.
He never had a lucid dream before, but it definitely wasn't like this for other people.
The experience felt incredibly real, like he truly stood in front of a giant mound of flesh.
Cyril could even vividly remember the weird growths on it that looked like branches.
"Is there something we encountered at the zoo that could be the cause?"
Nothing comes to mind. The closest one would be my meeting with the vampire princess, but that's a bit of a reach.
The vampires were the most 'special' beings he encountered yesterday, but as far as he knew, vampires weren't related to a giant pile of flesh.
They sat in silence, thinking about the event, until the sun completely illuminated their room.
This woke up the carefree tiger, who slowly and lazily opened his eyes.
No use thinking about it now.
Looking at this somewhat cute picture, Cyril gave up finding an answer for what he encountered.
Cyril got up and went to the bathroom to prepare for the day.
On the way he grabbed Tigris with him. The tiger got his fur quite dirty yesterday.
Unfortunately he didn't address this the previous night. He was just too tired and forgot about it.
While feeling slightly guilty in front of the cleaning staff, Cyril put the struggling Tigris in the shower and turned on the water.
In the meantime, Morpho landed before a mirror and started cleaning herself with her antennae and limbs.
Perhaps thanks to her butterfly nature, she had a habit of keeping herself clean and was a bit of a mysophobe.
Luckily the biggest parts of her body, the wings, were covered in scales repelling most dirt.
Usually it was enough for her to flap the wings frequently just to get rid of the dust.
Soon Tigris was done washing up, and after taking a spell to dry his fur, he escaped the bathroom to embrace a few more minutes of sleep.
Dressed in his uniform, which now had a torn sleeve, Cyril looked at the mirror after finishing his morning routine.
This wasn't the first time he damaged the Ailanthus uniform and had to apply for a new one.
Maybe I should dress somehow differently next time... Such a thought crept into his head.
Cyril felt if this continued, the administrative office would soon run out of spares.
"What a brilliant idea! We must visit a clothing store soon. I'll help you choose," Rhamn said, placing a hand on her chest with a 'leave it to me' expression.
We'll see... Cyril didn't mind her giving opinions. He only hoped it wouldn't be too showy.
"It's a good idea to prepare some clothes for when we go on another nightly adventure." Rhamn continued to think. "Preferably something that can hide your identity."
With this, Rhamn was consumed by the idea, incessantly talking about it the whole way downstairs.
After returning the keys to his room, Cyril sat in the hotel lobby waiting for his friends, with Morpho and Tigris on his shoulders.
Before long, other members of this group started appearing.
Myra actually came in through the hotel front doors with a pensive expression on her face.
Upon seeing Cyril, she came over and sat nearby, relaxing in the chair and letting out a tired sigh.
"Where have you been?" asked Cyril with curiosity.
"I went to see what's happening to the zoo right now." She rested her hands on her elbows.
"They worked rather quickly. The wall around the zoo was reinforced. Guards are now patrolling every corner of it. There is also a visible barrier covering it like a dome." Myra turned to face the window.
"They really are just planning on letting it be like this..." She said, somewhat befuddled.
"And Theches is just sleeping inside of the lake with no issue?" further asked Cyril.
All of the magic creatures he has met so far possessed a high level of intelligence. It was safe to assume the snake was also not silly.
It could definitely feel these barriers around it.
"That's how it appears. After destroying the control center of the zoo, it didn't do anything else for now." Myra threw her hands to the side.
She continued after a pause. "The Empire is also evading even mentioning the existence of the serpent. In fact, they are slowly twisting the narrative to make it look like the Empire is preparing to open a national park."
The knight from yesterday also said something similar.
Cyril thought he was only joking back then, but it appears there was more truth in his words than expected.
"Things are so messed up, I don't even know where to begin unraveling how it happened," Myra dragged her face in frustration.
"Sometimes, even I start doubting whether I saw the future or not." Her voice was becoming heavier.
"There must be some reason for it, right? Who knows, maybe you are not the only prophet," Cyril said more as a joke than anything.
Hearing his words, Myra froze for a few seconds, processing what he just said. A few beads of sweat even appeared on her forehead.
"N-No, that can't be. That's simply impossible." After a delay, she replied with an almost panicked voice.
"What a strong reaction"
"Alright... Do you have any theories about how the zoo could've transported the serpent to the city?" Cyril asked to snap her out of it.
This somewhat worked. Myra's expression soon turned thoughtful again. "I think it must've been with the snake's consent. It's a colossal creature with the power to crush mountains into dust; there is no way it will just let itself be moved wherever."
"There must be a conspiracy here; maybe the Empire made some deal with the Theches." Her voice turned suspicious.
"An interesting theory"
Soon Rose came down as well. Her face was rather refreshed and bright.
She clearly didn't take the situation as seriously as Myra did.
The moment Rose sat down with them, she began excitedly describing her findings to Myra, who could only nod from time to time in feigned understanding.
This helped improve the mood somewhat.
"...It's a pity that the zoo will be closed from now on," Rose even said with a disappointed expression.
"You know we can go outside the city if we really wanted to," Myra said when met with such enthusiasm.
"Huh?" Rose reacted with confusion, as if she never even knew such an option existed.
Which was understandable, considering that probably not even her parents have ever been outside yet.
"Is there a particularly interesting area somewhere out there?" Rose said, slightly interested.
"Yes. There are Plains of Plenty to the east, further than even my village. That land is inhabited by a great variety of magic creatures," Myra said with a nostalgic smile.
"How can magic creatures even exist so far from the mana vein?" Cyril asked, somewhat perplexed. "Don't they feel weak?"
At his words, Myra smiled mysteriously and raised her index finger. "That's because there is a mana vein there! A smaller one, but still something."
Hearing such an answer, Cyril was getting filled with enthusiasm as well.
The last time he left the confines of the city, the feeling of emptiness made him a bit uncomfortable.
And now that he knows how deadly the lack of magic can be, Cyril was very hesitant to ever leave an area with a mana vein.
Cyril and Rose looked each other in the eyes and saw the familiar excitement again.
"That's actually a pretty good idea. Unfortunately, we have studies."