(A/N: TIMESKIP Y/N IS HEREEEEEEEE (ALTHOUGH THE DRAWING APPARENTLY ISN'T DONE YET- BUT YOU CAN'T RUSH MASTERPIECES SOOO...) ALSO GHGHF I'M WAY TOO INTO THIS STORY AND I LOW-KEY SQUEALED AT THE END WHAT- 

ALSO I WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGIZE FOR THE HESITANT AND CRAPPY ROMANCE, BC AS STATED BEFORE, BOTH ANNA AND I ARE LONELY SOULS WHO IN OUR 14 AND 15 YEARS OF LIFE HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED A SIGNIFICANT OTHER ETC SOOOO AHHAHHAHAHAHAHA

This chapter was nearly 3,000 words I-)

I elbowed Don in the side discreetly as we dashed away from the demon child who saw his feet from under his cloak.

"Ouch!!" He huffed as we ran, dashing through alleyways and gates. After we made it far enough into the forest we all pulled off our masks. I pulled the duo-horned mask off of my head and let out a deep breath I'd been holding as we ran. My hair fell loose from the mask, the pale white strands cascading down my shoulders. I wiped sweat from my brow and sighed. 

"You almost got us caught!" I yelled at Don whilst pulling my hair up into a pony. The bottom section of my head had had a close call with a rabid demon's claw and had severed practically all of the hair from that section, enabling it far too short to pull into my hands. 

"Sorry..." Don sighed apologetically, messing with his hair. 

"Don't mind it." Zack reassured him with a wave of his hand. 

Emma grinned. "I'm glad we have these masks, costumes, and incense! When we get back we need to make sure to thank Nigel and everyone!" She reminded herself. The sight of her unruly hair brought a smile to my face. We'd all grown quite visibly in the past 2 years or so. My hair had grown unreal amounts. I was taller now, too, although still slightly shorter than Emma, it was a large amount of growth compared to how small I was originally. I'd gotten stronger and faster, as well. 

I was completely distracted from everyone's conversation as we began our journey back to the shelter, mainly because I knew what major event was supposed to come next- the destruction of the shelter, and the loss of Yuugo and Lucas. 

"Yeah, looking at Y/N really makes you wonder that!" I heard Emma say bittersweetly, snapping me back to reality. I turned to her, a quizzical expression on my face. "We were wondering what Norman would look like by now..." Emma hummed. I tried to suppress a snort. Norman, huh? Now that I think about it, I doubt I look quite the same as him, if similar at all. After all, Norman nowadays was tall, broad-shouldered, handsome as f*ck, might I add, and the man's eyebrows were probably larger than my desire to smack him upside the head, which is saying something, for me.

"That's true. Although she's grown in height she still has the same face from 2 years ago." Ray nodded, his hand on his chin as he appeared deep in thought. 

"Well Zack still looks the same-!!" I said, pointing to the 19-year-old man. Sure enough, he had finished puberty long ago, and still looked pretty much the exact same. Emma let out a laugh.

"That's true! But the person who changed the most was Hayato, by far!" She said. I smiled nervously. Sure enough, Hayato, who was once small and scrawny, now easily overtook Ray in height and stature. I wondered how he'd compare to Norman...

I hushed everyone suddenly when I felt the small shift in the environment, my stomach dropping to my feet, and not a moment too soon. The treetop demons were above us, luckily still unaware of our presence.

Heart beating fast, we escaped from that area quickly, without making another sound until we were well away.  

Along the way to the shelter we had several more encounters with the demons, myself killing about 30% of them, before we finally arrived. I felt everyone take in a deep breath before we opened the entrance, all of the others worried about the state of everyone inside.

But, as expected, everyone was alive and well. Reina, Hayato, and I were tackled by Daisy and Poppy. "WELCOME HOME!!" Everyone in she front hall erupted. 

"Is everyone doing well?" Emma asked.

 Oliver smiled. "Yes, everyone is well and safe." He said as I sucked in my breath when I saw him- apparently the now 17-year-old had not finished growing since we last left. It was a similar case for Nat and Anna, and several of the younger kids, who had grown and changed a lot.

"So, how did it go?" Yuugo asked, breaking the greeting up. I grinned, coming to the front and linking my arms around Emma and Ray's necks.

"We found it!!" I exclaimed excitedly- despite knowing since we left how long it would take for us to find it and where and when we would find it as well. "The temple and the golden water!!" I took a sharp inhale, my face darkening significantly "But now... we have other matters to worry about. It's happening." The worried faces of everyone stared back into my serious eyes.

-----flashback------

"This is it!!!" I yelled, pointing towards the temple as soon as I saw it. "There's now mistaking it- this is the temple that scary-*ss demon showed to me in Cuvitidala!!" Ray turned to me, and although I couldn't see his face, I bet it would've had an expression of excitement on it.

There was a moment of pause before everyone began cheering. "We did it!!!" Gilda cheered, wrapping her arms around Emma in a hug. 

"We found it!!! It's here!! It's really here! I'm so glad!!" Don exclaimed, waving his arms in the air. 

"Cool it." Hayato said, jabbing a finger in our direction. I saw Ray look down in thought, his shoulders slouching slightly like they always seem to do whenever he thinks. 

"This temple's real quiet, huh?" Zack asked in a hushed tone after a moment of silence.

"It's a lot different from how lively the city was." Gilda hummed. We all paused for a moment before Emma recoiled in momentary shock.

"Someone's there!" She said, turning our attention to the black-cloaked figure walking along the mountainside. 

"We shouldn't stay here for long." Zack stated. 

Ray hummed. "Yeah, let's get this over with quickly-"

"ALRIGHTY THEN!!" I whisper-shouted. "UP I GO~~!!" I began skipping up the steps.

"...How does she have so much energy all the time?" Hayato grumbled, beginning the long hike up to the top.

"I wonder..." Ray agreed with a sigh.

"LAST ONE THERE'S A ROTTEN EGG!!" I called from several steps above them. 

-----

"I- I WIN!!" I said, exhaling a puff of breath as I arrived at the top step. I huffed, placing my hands on my knees for a minute before the other's began arriving. 

Ray took a glance at my pitiful state and sighed. "That's what you get for running the whole way." He rolled his eyes.

I stood up and brushed off my legs. "You say that, but you still hurried to keep pace with me~~" I teased. Ray quickly turned away, brushing past me.

"We should look at what's inside." He said, changing the subject. Despite knowing he wouldn't be able to see it under my mask,  I stuck out my tongue before walking towards one of the other towers.

I was looking at the 2nd tower when I caught sight of Hayato. He waved me over and I shrugged, wondering if he found the tower with the faceless demon. Sure enough, as I arrived, the sight of the faceless demon sitting inside of the small tower sent shivers down my spine. I got what Emma meant when she said that it was similar to him in the manga... The demon had an extreme presence and felt similar to the air around the childlike demon god.

"Everyone over here!" I called them all towards me, knowing that 'Hayato the quiet' wouldn't do so himself. Sure enough, my demon-disguised friends quickly came over, inspecting the demon and its surroundings on the other side of the gate. 

"...A human?"  Don began before humming. "No, a demon...?" He reconsidered. "...It doesn't have a face..."

I groaned. "Mans gives me the heebie jeebies." I said, for lack of a better word to describe it, shaking my head and shivering. 

"...the heebie jeebies?" Ray muttered. 

I grinned. "The heebie jeebies! It's similar to him- although its clothes and appearance are different." I explained. Ray hummed.

"But, this temple doesn't seem to have any clues regarding the seven walls..." Reina murmured in disappointment. "What's the deal with the temple?" 

I looked to Ray who was slouching slightly, his hand placed on his mask where his chin would be. I smiled. Good. Any second now... I watched as his gaze wandered to the ceiling which upon seeing he suddenly backed up in shock. "Hey, look at this! The ceiling-!!" 

"Ahh... Day and night!" Don exclaimed.

"Everyone~!!" I called, waving to everyone from the second tower. "Look over here! 'Golden Water'!!" I exclaimed with a grin. Everyone dashed over but Ray who trudged slowly.

"...you noticed it before me didn't you..." He sighed. 

I grinned. "Ahahha...maybeee..." 

Ray huffed. "Were you just waiting for me to notice it?" He asked as everyone ran around, trying to find the images that would be on the other temples.

I snickered. "Maybe I thought I'd let you have the limelight every once and a while." I said, leaning back on the wall. 

Ray hummed. "So it has to do with that again, huh... But It's not like there's a problem with you always being.. the center of attention..."

The pause in the middle of his phrase caught my attention. "Ohoho??..." I said, elbowing him gently in the ribs. "Your hesitation says otherwise." I said cheekily. Ray crossed his arms as if telling me to leave it, but me, being the obnoxious pr*ck I was, refused to let it go. "What is it???" I fufu'd. "Are you jealous~~" I asked with a laugh.

"No, its not that..." He muttered, standing up as we saw everyone else approach.

I groaned. "Tell meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!" I said, without pause for breath. "-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" I continued once I ran out of air, nudging him in the shoulder with my own.

"Be quieeeeeeetttttttttttt." Ray said in return, nudging me equally hard back. The other 5 children arrived quickly, telling their findings excitedly as they all pieced the pieces together. In the middle of the conversation I pulled Ray aside.

"I'll leave it for now but you better tell me later."

"I could say the same to you, you question-and-explanation-evading butt." He responded without pause.

I giggled nervously but turned my attention back ahead as we walked passed the demon feeding seeds to a flock of birds.

-----present time-----

"I-is it really going to happen??!" Yvette asked in shock as we dashed for the secret tunnel entrance from the armoury.

"Yeah." I said, a bead of sweat sliding down my face. Pepe joined us in our dead sprint as we tried to reach the tunnel.

"No way-!!" Multiple kids chorused. I herded them all to the armoury, waving them all in before going in last. Yuugo opened the door to the secret path and we all headed out.

"So they really found us?!" Lani exclaimed as we continued our run.

"Yeah." I said. "They'll be here soon." 

We ran a little further down the hallway and I grinned when I saw the row of packs neatly packed on the side. Everyone grabbed a pack themselves and I did a headcount, finding everyone safely here.

"Anna, you have the self destruct device, right?" I asked her. Anna nodded and pulled the self-destruct switch from her pack. I smiled. 

"Poppy?" I asked. Poppy nodded and pulled out a receiver. "We completed it while you were gone." She said, handing it to me.

I inhaled a breath of relief. So far, so good.

---a week after the group of 7 arrived back to the shelter after finding Cuvitidala-----

"What?!! The shelter is going to be attacked?!!" Everyone exclaimed at once.

"A-Another one of you hunches?!!" The Goldy-Pond resistance gulped nervously, them turning out to be the most superstitious out of everyone.

I laughed nervously. "My hunches are based off of actual reasoning, not a superpower, you know." I lied.

"Can we hear the proof?" Ray asked. 

I grinned. "Glad you asked. Firstly, I noticed an abundance of owls were always nearby. Whenever one left, one would appear."

"-But that's not enough to assume the shelter is being attacked." Sonja said.

I nodded. "That's right. But once you recognize the irregular behaviour of these owls- not once, did I-" I then turned to Pepe and Rossi in question. Both of them nodded their heads. "Or Pepe and Rossi, who were mainly watching surveillance, see any of these owl's hunt- even when small lizards would appear right beneath them. That's what lead me to assume that they are for surveillance." I explained.

Ray hummed, resting his hand below his chin as he always did while thinking. "It may be a little far-fetched..." He looked up, his grey-green eyes meeting my blue ones. "But I'll trust you." 

I nodded in thanks. "And not only that, we already know that the shelters are being targeted by the Ratri clan- who's symbols seem to be owls. In my opinion, it's far from a baseless assumption, although it may be a little presumptuous. As to when this would happen... judging by how long they've been surveilling us they'll probably attack in the later part of the next 2 years." I explained.

"2 years- but why wait that long?!" They asked. I hummed. This was the tricky part. The owls were, in fact, not cameras of the Ratri clan- but camera's of Norman- however, they didn't know that. Although if any of them catch sight of one of these owls and panic in the future, it will become a problem, however, making sure everyone can escape safely is far more important.

I answered the question in a single breath"Because they probably want us to stay cooped up in here and allow our brains as much time as possible to mature to hand us over to the demons. If they allow us to be happy for so long I'm sure we'll taste delicious." I lied through my teeth. Ray gave me one of his sideways glances and I bit the inside of my lip. He knew something was up. 'I'll tell you later.' I mouthed, knowing I'd off-put it for as long as possible.

However, everyone else seemed convinced in this half-*ssed reasoning, or all of them just decided to go along with it.

"After another week has passed our group of 7 is going to go look for the clues I received from Cuvitidala. Depending on whether we find the temple and golden water, we'll return in 7 months at most- which is if we check all possible locations in the east and turn up empty."

 "Either way, while we're gone, I'll be leaving Oliver, Anna, Poppy, and Lucas in charge of preparations." The names I called looked up in surprise. I waved it away with a smile. "Besides the ones coming on the trip with us, each of those 4 have their own special talents- Oliver in leading, Anna in medicine, Poppy in athleticism, and Lucas in, well... momming." All of them gave me a proud smile, Anna blushing at the praise, but Lucas, who wore a confused expression and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "And even if the shelter isn't attacked in that time, it's good to have a plan, anyways, right?" I reaffirmed, and everyone nodded.

"Then, I'll be leaving Yuugo in charge of keeping all the children in good condition along with Poppy and the addition of..." I paused in thought. "...Sandy. Nigel and Gillian, help Anna with the preparation of clothes. Oliver, oversee everyone and give directions, and Lucas, make sure everyone's doing ok." I finished in one breath. 

"Sonja, and... whoever else is good at engineering or areas related to that, will be working on a special request from me. Everyone else, do what you can to help and besides that, make sure the shelter is functioning properly." I looked across the sea of blank-faced children and sweat anxiously. "...anything else?" I asked them quickly, worrying that my explanation made too little sense or was hard to follow. 

There was a long pause before Yuugo spoke. "Y'all kiddos better buckle up. This ain't gonna be easy." he grinned, cracking his knuckles. I let out a laugh.

"...Y/N-!!" A bunch of the kids began. "Y/N IS SO RELIABLE!!" Some shouted, turning to eachother. "AND SHE'S SO COOL!!" They cheered. I blushed in embarrassment and scratched the back of my head.

"Hey, Ray!!" Jemima said, running up to her favourite ravenhead, the emo Ray. "When I grow up, I wanna be Y/N!" She said with an adorable grin. My stomach flip-flopped, even more so when Ray patted the little girl's head and responded with a smile.

"That's a great thing to be."

(I decided to edit the time-flips/skips, (as you probably already know whenever there is a (-----) the time changes- whether a flashback or a skip-forward) and add in the time that section is at, because this time it may not be obvious right away -Anna)