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Chapter 32: Eclipse Part 3

After a few seconds, when it became clear that nothing was going to attack him, he took a glance at the brittle light that accompanied him. The pale glow of the eyes allowed him to see the familiar outline of Medusa\'s cheekbones.

"For crying out loud, you almost scared me to death!" Uriel said amidst whispers.

"There was... something blocking our way, I think it was a cryptid but I couldn\'t see it clearly." Medusa said as she retreated to a corner of the dark room to have a point of reference. She then walked further inside the building, only this time she was using her cellphone to light her way.

Uriel followed closely behind, there were a few low tables, potted plants, some expensive leather couches and, although Uriel couldn\'t make anything of it because he had never been to a similar place before, Medusa realized they were in the lobby of some sort of office building.

"We need to find a restroom." She whispered.

"Can\'t you hold on until we find a safe place?" Uriel replied a bit annoyed by her lack of common sense.

"That\'s not it, I think it\'s the best possible hideout, there\'s only one entrance in bathrooms and they\'re supposedly the safest place anywhere." Her idea wasn\'t necessarily bad, especially considering that if they take shelter in a place with a single entrance, they would at least know where to look for possible enemies.

"The problem with a place with a single entrance is that it also means there\'s only one exit. I don\'t want to become trapped, we should probably look for a place with two entrances and... Hang on a minute." Uriel said as he picked up his phone that just vibrated. "I think I just got a message from Luna."

Luna: "Hey Uriel, are you safe?"

Uriel: "Yeah, I\'m fine, just couldn\'t make it to the same building you guys did. We are both safe and sound in the previous building."

Luna: "What do you mean, we."

Uriel: "Medusa couldn\'t make it either, she\'s with me."

Luna: "Medusa is with us."

Uriel: "What? that\'s not possible, she\'s right in front of me!"

Uriel: "Luna, that\'s not funny, stop messing around."

Cold sweat ran across his face as he realized the situation he was in. Essentially, Luna just told him that Medusa had been impersonated again, probably by the same shapeshifter cryptid.

Uriel managed to remain calm despite the harrowing situation and cranked up his brain. Then, he spoke to the person or cryptid in front of him:

"Medusa, I want you to take off a piece of your armor please." He said with a calm voice, mentally preparing himself for battle.

"What? You think I\'m a shapeshifter?" Medusa replied squinting her eyes with suspicion, the sheen on her face dimming softly.

"Not really, I mean, I would have doubted you but we can use our cellphones which means there aren\'t any cryptids nearby. Still, we\'re alone and we can\'t rule out the possibility that one of us may have been impersonated." Uriel replied.

"How do I know it\'s not you?" Medusa asked taking her distance and clenching her fists ready for battle.

"That\'s fair." Uriel took off the vambrace of his armor set.

"I see... Then I\'ll do the same." Medusa followed suit and removed her vambrace.

Both of them sighed in relief after confirming they were in the company of another person instead of a cryptid, completely forgetting for a brief moment that they were still trapped inside a building in the middle of a cryptid infested city in ruins.

"We need to find a way to reunite with the others." Uriel said after a while.

"But Miss Dragonfang told us to not huddle together and our current situation is not that bad." Medusa replied.

"That\'s not it, our situation might not be as bad, but I think there\'s a shapeshifter in the other team. Luna told me you were with them and my last message couldn\'t reach Luna\'s cellphone, meaning there\'s probably a cryptid near her and since there\'s another Medusa..." He explained.

"No way! Again!? Why does that thing have to look like me again?" Medusa pouted. "No, wait, maybe it chose me because I\'m pretty!" Her mood suddenly brightened up a little, but Uriel showed no interest in that line of thought.

"I think there must be a condition for it to be able to imitate someone\'s appearance. I can\'t be sure of what it is, though. There must be a clue in Miss Dragonfang tale and our previous encounter with that creature. Do you remember something weird from when you were running alone in the dark that time?"

"I don\'t know, it was all dark and I was scared and... No, wait, now I remember something grazed my skin, I thought I ran close to a thorny bush or something, but now that I think about it, there weren\'t any nearby."

"That must be it! That\'s the reason why it didn\'t look like any of us and, instead, limited itself to mimic you. We need to find a way to contact the others and let them know there\'s an impostor with them, or else..." Uriel\'s grim words resounded in the dark room.