A Zoologist’s Guide to Surviving Magical Creatures

Jiuge ignored me and turned her ire on Agnos. "What the hell were you thinking? You almost got us all killed!"

"I..." Agnos looked genuinely lost, his usual bravado nowhere to be found. "I thought it would work. I thought..."

"Well, it didn't," Jiuge snapped. "And now we have to deal with the fallout. The Gleipnir will investigate, and if they find us—" She broke off, shaking her head. "We're screwed."

"Again, I feel like I'm missing some critical information here," I said, raising a hand like I was back in school. "Who or what is the Gleipnir purpose, and why are we so terrified of them?"

Jiuge turned to me, her eyes narrowing. "The Gleipnir are agents of the Council of Truths. They enforce the laws of Mythica, and they don't take kindly to... disruptions."

"Okay, you mean like FBI agents? I see...but—"

"No buts," she cut me off. "If they find us, they'll assume we're responsible for whatever the hell just happened back there. And trust me, you do not want to be on their bad side."

I glanced at the dimmed badge in my hand. Should I tell her it belonged to me? That there wasn't some random Gleipnir agent lurking nearby?

Probably not the best idea, given how on edge she already was.

"What happened?" Agnos asked groggily, blinking up at the unfamiliar sky.

"You nearly got us all caught by the Gleipnir agents, that's what happened!" Jiuge snapped, her anger finally boiling over. "What were you thinking, tampering with the Lake of Tears?"

Agnos sat up, rubbing his temples. "I wasn't tampering. I was trying to retrieve something important."

"Important?" My voice practically oozed disbelief. "You mean that cursed coffin? The one that almost turned us into pancakes?" I couldn't stop myself from cutting in, my bewilderment spilling out in full force.

Something about Agnos felt...off. He was acting completely out of character.

Was it because he was in his human form? Back when he was an annoying yet adorable purple cat, he was cautious—almost infuriatingly so—but never this reckless.

"It's not cursed!" Agnos snapped, his temper flaring. "It's… complicated."

"Complicated?" I finally cut in, my patience wearing thin. "Buddy, that thing nearly crushed my lungs and blasted you unconscious. You owe me an explanation. Now"

Agnos hesitated, his golden eyes flickering between guilt and defiance. Finally, he exhaled sharply.

"Fine. I wanted to retrieve the coffin from the Lake of Tears."

The room fell silent for a beat. Jiuge's face went pale, her jaw dropping as she stammered for words.

"You—you're insane!" she finally shot back, her voice rising with panic. "That coffin… He... the one inside wouldn't want this! Don't you understand? He's the one who bound himself to that lake in the first place!"

Agnos's expression twisted with conflict. His hands clenched and unclenched as he replied, his voice low but resolute. "I've found a way to awaken him."

Jiuge recoiled, stunned. "Awaken him? You really found a way?" Her tone was a volatile mix of surprise and skepticism. "How do you even know it'll work?"

"It will," Agnos said firmly.

Caught in the middle of this emotional tennis match, I cleared my throat. "Okay, pause. Innocent bystander here. Who—or what—exactly are we talking about?"

Jiuge turned to me, her sharp retort softening as she met my gaze. Her expression was filled with a sadness I didn't quite understand. "The one inside that coffin," she said quietly, "is the founder and creator of Mythica."

Her words hit me like a thunderbolt.

My jaw slackened as I tried to process what she'd just said.

"The creator of Mythica? You mean the Mythica? The entire realm? The one with magical creatures, glittering chaos, and, oh, tsunami-making kraken? The same Mythica I got yanked into from my own world... this Mythica?"

"Yes," she said simply, arching a brow. "I doubt there's another Mythica."

I blinked, my brain desperately attempting to catch up. "Okay, wait. What happened to him? Why is he, uh, in a coffin? He's dead, right?"

Agnos's face darkened, and he spoke before Jiuge could answer. "He's not dead," he said sharply, as if daring me to argue. "He's in a very deep, eternal slumber."

I raised an eyebrow, deadpan. "Eternal slumber? Doesn't that, by definition, mean dead?"

Agnos turned on me with a glare so sharp I instinctively raised my hands in mock surrender. "I'm just saying," I muttered.

Jiuge pinched the bridge of her nose, clearly trying to rein in her temper.

"Agnos," she said slowly, as though speaking to a reckless child, "do you even realize what you're messing with? If you wake him up—and that's a big if—you have no idea what consequences could follow. He chose to sleep for a reason."

"I know what I'm doing," Agnos shot back, his voice tight with frustration.

"Do you?" Jiuge countered. "Because this isn't just about you, Agnos. If you're wrong, you're not just dooming yourself—you're dooming all of us."

As the tension crackled between them like a live wire, I glanced between the two, resisting the urge to make a sarcastic comment about being dragged into yet another apocalyptic-level crisis.

Something told me this wasn't the time for jokes.

Instead, I decided to do the sensible thing—ask Agnos why he was so intent on waking up a dead—I mean, eternally sleeping—creator who, judging by Jiuge's reaction, clearly didn't want to be awakened.

Still, there was an unsettling feeling, as if I was missing something important. Their conversation had stirred a glitching memory, a faint trace of something I should know but couldn't grasp.

What had I forgotten? Shoving the nagging thought aside, I focused on the now.

"Why are you trying to wake the mighty creator, Agnos?" I asked, trying to keep my tone casual.

"It's my task," he said simply, as if that explained everything.

"Err… that's it? You're not going to elaborate on that?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Your task?" Jiuge interjected, her voice sharp with apprehension. "What task? From who?"

Agnos turned to her, his voice dropping to a low, almost reverent tone. "I know you have your task, Jiuge. You wouldn't be here at Lyngvi if you didn't."

His golden eyes gleamed as he added, "Just like you, I also have a task. But mine came directly from the creator himself."