Sig’s Secret Chapter 7 - Gotta Find Sig!

"Okay then, let's not waste any time and get Sig!"
"Yeah, let's go!"
"Guu!"
"Right with you!"

Arle and Carbuncle, and Ringo continued on with me. I'm not losing my way. I've got two reliable friends...Oh, and Carbuncle too! ...Yeah, it's great being able to take that brave step forward.

One hour later...

---

“S-Sig, where are you...?”

I kept running, and now I'm dead out of steam. Sig's obviously always looking for bugs at the Nahe Forest, and I even looked around the Magic School, the shopping district, and even his house. But he's nowhere to be found.

"So this is what discouragement feels like...Seems our progress for the cyan-haired boy is at a standstill." Ringo dejectedly dropped her shoulders.
"Now what do we do~...HEY, Carby! Don't go falling asleep on me when you're bored!" Arle went up a nearby tree's branch to call out to Carbuncle.

Get really real, we were ready to go earlier, but now it up and crashed!

"Does no other place come to mind, Amitie?" Ringo turned to me.
"Ah, hmm...I can't think of anything right now..." I tapped my forehead with my finger.
"If we don't know Sig's whereabouts, then maybe we can ask someone else that knows about it?"
"Hnn..."

Sig doesn't talk with me much, but I think we have a special kind of connection. What do I do, I want to hurry up and see Sig, but I don't have any clues! Wish I could do divination right about now, just go "hocus pocus" and guess wherever the heck Sig exactly is...

...hm?

"AAAAAAH!" I suddenly shouted, which ended up grabbing Ringo and Arle’s attention. The shock even made Carbuncle fall out of the tree.
“What’s up, Amitie?” Arle asked, while she went to catch Carbuncle. I confidently put my hands on my waist and answered her.
“Hu hu huu! I just got an idea! This way, guys!”

I took Arle and Ringo along to the edge of town, and down past the quiet alleyway. Near the graveyard is a fishy-looking house in a kinda scary place, a place where "that girl" comes by often, even walking to Primp Town, just for the quiet time. I'm sure she's here today...ah-ha, I knew it!

"I spotted a Feli!"

Did I walk in on her with those bent rods held in position and slouched a bit? As I see it, I skipped up to the long-haired girl I saw...which is Feli. She turned to me, barely letting out a laugh.

"I. See. You've. Come...I foresaw that you would come..."
"Whoah, but how!?"
"Fate...fate has decided it..."
"Ah, fate, you say!"

Uh, I don't really get her, but Feli's in top form today!

"Hey uh, Amitie? You sure Feli knows about Sig's whereabouts?" Arle sounded doubtful. I just cocked my head.
"Nope, not at all. But I think Feli can use divination to look for his whereabouts!"

Yep, divination! If we have no clue, then wouldn't Feli's skilled divination point us in the right direction? Nice idea, huh♪ My thoughts only made Ringo furl her brows though.

"Hmm, divination..."
"Something up, Ringo?"
"Hmm. Divination is an unscientific craft, so relying on such ambiguity minutely raises fear of the unknown dangers..."

Oh, I see. Ringo's more on the more certain stuff, so stuff like "divination" make her anxiously question stuff a ton, huh? But Feli's divination is special! I opened my mouth to quickly follow up, but Feli cut herself in.

"What you said just now. My divinations...are uncertain, you say...?"
"Ah...do excuse me, did I hurt your feelings?"
"Fate has come clear to me...the radiant stars are the truth...let all uncertainty begone...!" Feli pointed the rods in her hands at Ringo, standing slouched forward. "Proof is laid before you..."
"Eh? P-Proof?" Ringo got all confused when Feli began muttering things. And then...
"KI...KIEEEe...!"
"Eh!? Wha!? What is this state?"

Ringo snapped her attention to me. Yep, not surprised Ringo's scared of Feli's trance-thing, considering she's never seen it. Feli's always so quiet, this gap of sudden-ness is unsettling.

"Well...This is how she routinely performs divination...Nothing much really. It's all fine~" I attempted to laugh it off...

"KIEEEee...KIEEEEEeeeee!!"

Uhm, I don't think I should follow her when she's in perfect form. And then, before long...

"I see it!" Feli exclaimed, and she suddenly dropped her arms. Then she faced Ringo... "You...Three days ago, you passed by the house's nearby garden...it seems."
"Uh? Well yes. I believe took a shortcut because I overslept...How do you know that?" Ringo got startled and shivered, answering timidly.
"And then, you encountered a pair of quiz-loving ghosts..."
"Wha-"
"Falling down on your back, you tried to crawl and escape, whimpering and grasping a charm and shivering in fear... so it seems..."
"Hold-...Stop, STOOOOOP!" Ringo's all flushed bright red.
"Oh, I see now! Three days ago, Ringo was late for cafe work, and that must be why that happened!" Arle looked like she realized something, and Ringo and Feli are looking at each other.
"H-H-Handling ghosts is my crippling weakness..."
"You see now...? All of it is well projected..."
"I-I-I understand completely! Your divination has been experienced firsthand!"
"Ufufufufu...So then..."
"But please, I request your forgiveneeeeeess!"

Well then. Ringo looks kinda helpless after that whole deal... At least it seems she's on board with Feli's divination being awesome! I looked over to Feli again.

"Alrighty then, Feli! I need your divination for something. It's uh- well er-..."
"Sig..."
"Yeah, you see, we need his whereabou...huh!?" Before I can cut to the chase, Feli was already murmuring his name.
"Red...blue...red, red, red, blue...such immense calamity. Sig is in danger. You must not draw near him..."
"W-What do you mean!?" I shouted out my thoughts.

Come to think of it, Sig aside, I totally forgot she was the one that predicted a "great calamity" would happen. Though, how and why is Sig the one involved in her talk of calamity?

"The stars cry out...a calamity steadily rises...The red shall crush the blue. You cannot stop it. However...it is best left to him. Yes, that is what's determined...!"
"Hey wait, Feli!"

Now what. I don't get a thing Feli just said. I turned over to Arle and Ringo, and even they look distressed.

"Sorting out Feli's words out for conjecture...to put it, should we refrain from seeing Sig because of the dangers?" Ringo said, cocking her head. Feli nodded off to the side.
"D-Danger? Then is Sig-?"
"Yes...rightly so."
"W-What do you mean!?"

I unintentionally grabbed Feli by the shoulders. She only said "Wait..." and gave me a piercing glare.

"I merely conveyed the message of the shining stars. The red is rapidly growing to preserve a lasting balance. ...All of it shall be left to him. There is nothing you can do..."
"By 'him’, you mean Lemres? Y-You know something about Lemres?"
"Such. A. Sudden. Thought... There is none I don't know about him. I am fated to be with him..."
"..."

Now what? Why is Sig part of this calamity? What about red and blue? What danger? Was Lemres lying? There's so much I don't get, and pretty dizzying. Anyhow, after a moment of silent thinking just now, Arle went and spoke up.

"Hey Amitie... A while earlier, didn't the sudden truth Sig dropped on us sounded a bit odd?"
"Bwah? Y-Yeah."
"So then, if Sig knew about the calamity, maybe he wandered away somewhere so he won't trouble you and the rest of the class..."
"Uh-"
"Ah, seems I have come to several explanations!" Ringo said from the side. "See, the green-hatted candy man pulled Amitie away from something. Yet Amitie and her class have yet to face the dangers!"
"A-About that...Well, I did meet him in secret about Sig he said he looked dangerous. Lemres knows something about that, and stopped me going at it alone."

To say the least, I'm slowly getting where they're going at, and then they suddenly gave me a nod. Just like that...Exactly like that...

"There's too much to ignore!" I turned to Feli yet again. She just sighed at me.
"So be it, then...I leave you a small hint. Seek the pointed blue hat with golden hair...That person is the key..."
"Pointed blue hat...golden hair?"
"Guguuu!"

After some mumbling, Arle eventually realized it. Carbuncle noticed by her side too. Yeah, that person has to be...

"It's Witch!" Me, Arle, and Ringo all exclaimed at the same time.

We made our way to Witch's shop. Man, I've gotta shake off the nervous feelings in my chest.

"Wiiiitch!"

Witch was doing the same thing like before, small bottles lined up the store front, and she's stirring something up in her big pot. She greeted us with a peaceful wave and a smile once she noticed us.

“Yo! Looks like we meet again. Though, what’s with the panicked faces?”
“Witch! H-How do I put it, well, uhh, you see...”

Now would be a good time to explain. Does she know something about the calamity and the danger Sig's in? Will she know if I just asked her out of the blue? I was trying to think of something while frantically catching my breath, but then Witch goes and says "Oh yeah, about the 'Wonder Power-up Potion' effects..." all casually. Oh. Yeah, I forgot I had that magic potion thing. Though, I never did take a drink of it. It took a spill on Sig during cafe prep work... ...huh? Took a spill on Sig...?

"Ah...AAAAAAAAH-!?"
"Ack-...What gives, that was uncalled for!"

My sudden shriek got Witch's annoyed attention. And from behind, it also startled Arle and Ringo.

"What's going on Amitie!?"
"Did you think of something?"
"Y-Y-Yeah! I totally forgot until now, S- SSSig could be acting kinda weird from Witch's magic potion!"
"Eeh?!"
"H- Hold up... Can you explain? Is something up with my potions?" Witch looked pretty distressed.

I began talking about that day, me and everyone else...Sig covered for me from that fall, and the potion in question accidentally fell. I'm sure Sig started acting strange the day after the potion spilled on him. The more I think about it, the more I think that's the case! Am I right about that!?

"I-I see. Mystery solved, I guess..." Ringo crossed her arms.
"Witch, did you sneak something funny in that potion?" Arle looked at Witch.
"That's not true! Witch's Magic Potions are made with peace of mind and safety!" Witch answered a little angrily. "It draws out a bit of the main power. Tha~~~t's seriously all it does!"
"Sig's...main power..."

Oh yeah huh, Sig's red left arm and the parts that turned red might have something to do with it. Feli mentioned "The red shall crush the blue." earlier. Sig's red left arm might have some power sleeping in it. If that's true, could that be the power that's being drawn out? Is he hurting because of it though?

"......"

I got really worried just thinking about it. After Witch blew off some steam, she went up to me and anxiously told me something.

"Uhm...Heya, if you don't mind, maybe I could give you...a "Power Overload Neutralizer" to counter it?"
"Th-That thing exists!?" My face lit up.
"Yeah, duh. I just sold one earlier, but I have exactly one left..."
"Sold? Who could have bought the first one?" Ringo asked.
"Some person in a green hat. I even got candy from the guy after he bought it." Witch answered, picking up one of the potion bottles lined up and handing it to me.
"!!"

Me, Arle, and Ringo exchanged shocked looks with each other. That's, without a doubt, Lemres! No mistaking it. He must've noticed the raging disaster and went to stop it by himself!

"Witch! You've have to tell me where the green hat guy went!" Arle asked her right away.
"Let's see...I'm pretty sure he left town. He might have went off to these old ruins off over there...uh- AAH!? Hold up, don't just run off in a hurry like thaaat!!"

The moment Witch finished her sentence, I ran out of town in the direction of the ruins.

"A- Amitie!"
"Gugu!?"
"Please wait for us!"

And in a panic, Arle and the others came running after me.