Listen to Cynthia

You stop in your tracks and raise the rock over your head.

"Don't you come ANY closer!" You yell.

"That's fine!" Cynthia responds. "Just please, listen! I... I just realized what this must look like... I'm sorry, I... I got so caught up in the moment..."

You relax a little. Cynthia's at least 7 feet away and isn't making any sudden movements. You still keep your hand raised however.

"May... I thought Miku's the one who did it. She keeps acting all strange, she wouldn't tell me about the first incident, she's been working a lot less... She treated me with such respect... On the day I ended up in this place, she came up to me, and she was so kind, and so helpful... She was supportive and motherly and just... fantastic. I wanted to be like her. I thought she trusted me. I thought people would trust me no matter what I was doing... But I was wrong. I acted shady, I wasn't clear on my motives, and I got way to personal with people... It's no wonder they thought I was the one. I must have put Miku through hell..."

Cynthia tossed the strapon over to your feet. It was black with a large blue dildo on the front, and it was covered in mud. She then fell to her knees, and started sobbing.

"When I found out Hestia'd been raped, I took maters into my own hands. I didn't trust anyone else. Especially not Miku... I started looking for clues... Looking for places that monster could have hidden their equipment. Since she was certainly female, she had to have some kind of toy, hidden somewhere. And so I looked. And I looked. And then finally, one entire hour ago I found it buried under a patch of dirt over in the corner. I found a footprint in the dirt next to it. It wasn't very clear, but I knew it might give me a clue to the rapist's identity. I started to try and memorize it.

And then it started to rain.

I couldn't go inside. The rain would wipe the footprint away. I had to try and memorize as much as I could before it was gone forever. Then I heard you sneeze, and well, I thought you were the culprit, and so I started to panic. When I realized it was you, I knew you couldn't be the one. You had only arrived on the day of the second instance..."

"But..." You state. "But if it's not you, then..."

"I don't know. In the end, I unfortunately didn't get a very good look at the print. I know it was quite small, but nothing else. Comparing it to my foot size, I don't think it belonged to C.C., Erza, Ruby, Filia, Velma or you... Of course, this is only suggests it was the rapist. Anybody could have mistakenly left this print behind..."

You put the rock down, and toss it to the side. You pick up the strap-on in your left hand.

"Alright." You state.

"It's going to be an ordeal to explain this to Miku, but I think she'll believe you. Let's get back to the cave for now, I'm freezing."

"Ah... Yes, let's."

The two of make your way back to the cave. You shiver as you exit the warmer, steamier jungle and back into the colder rain. When you get to the cave, you let Cynthia go and hide the strap-on in a nearby tree for now, and enter the twisting passage of the cavern. The flickering light of campfire flames licks the walls of the cave, and you turn the corner into the main chasm.

It smells good. The food had been reheated and mixed with fruit, and was sitting on the side of the cave on a raised rock. Everyone was already fast asleep on their leafy beds, except for Hestia who was tending to the fire.

"May!" She yelled.

"Are you alright? Let me get you something to eat, and you can tell me what happened..." You nod, and sit down by the fire. You poke the embers with a nearby stick, and glance around the room at all the sleeping people. They look so peaceful, like they didn't have a worry in the world. You smiled, and turned to Hestia who was scooping some chicken and fruit salad onto a carved wooden bowl.

"They sure fell asleep quickly..." You mention.

"Here you go, eat up..." responds Hestia, and she hands you your bowl. "It's just that cozy in the cave, I guess. I keep telling Miku we should move in here permanently, but she claims she likes the outdoors. Heh... It's not even the actual outdoors, what does it matter?" She scoffs, and crosses her arms.

"Now, why don't you eat up and tell me what happened with Cynthia? I'm sure it was awful."

"Actually, not so..." You stop. You drop the bowl as well as the food that was in your hands. You quickly wipe your hand off on your leg.

"Why... Why would you assume my talk with Cynthia was bad?"

Hestia's eye twitched. A bead of sweat dropped down her face. Whether it was from the heat of the fire, or the stress, you didn't know.

"Well, uh... You looked so pale and distraught when you came in... I only assume something went wrong..." You looked at Hestia with suspicion. She grinned, nervously.

You walked over to Filia and shook her.

"Filia! Hey, Filia! Wake up! Wake up, Filia!" She didn't wake. She didn't even respond. She was sleeping like log.

"H-heavy sleeper, that girl!" Hestia responds. "Really, though May, you shouldn't disturb someone-"

"What did you DO?!" You growl at Hestia. Her innocent smile turns to a nasty frown, and her cutesy blue eyes flatten into a cold glare.

"You know what I did, May." She growls back. She picks up a flaming branch from the fire and approaches you slowly. You try to back up toward the exit, but she cuts you off. "I put a berry into that salad. You know the one. They won't wake up for another 6 hours or so..."

Hestia lunges at you and swipes the branch. You jump backwards, and manage to avoid her strike.

"And as for the time you found me in the bathroom... I did that myself."

Hestia backs you up into the corner of the cave.

"That's right. Masturbated and everything. Sat my ass down in the outhouse and scarfed down all five berries at once. When I woke up, I was under the tree, with Miku looking after me. That cyber-haired dolt fell for it! It was the perfect excuse! I was off the list of suspects! I had everything planned for tonight, May! You were going to be my third! I was going to fuck that hot body of yours RIGHT May! And once I stuff that salad down your gullet, I still will!"

Hestia raised her flaming branch to strike you, but suddenly, something swept her leg from behind. Cynthia had arrived, and she was PISSED. She gritted her teeth and curbstomped Hestia in the stomach.

"YOU. WILL. NOT. HURT. ANY. MORE. OF. MY. FAMILY!" She yelled. You blushed a little. It was a little bit weird to be referred to as Cynthia's family, but in a sense, there was a sense of serious comradery between group members. You still remember the amount of tears she shed when Velma was taken away.

Cynthia raised her foot again, but Hestia raised her branch, and ended up burning her foot. Cynthia shrugged it off, and picked up a flaming branch of her own. You did the same.

Hestia having gotten the shit kicked out of her by the second largest woman here, crawled over to Noel's bed. You approached her with flaming branches in hand.

"WAIT!" yelled Hestia. She held the torch over Noel's sleeping body.

"Take one step closer, and Noel goes up in flames! The leaves here are quite dry, and she can't wake up to defend herself. If she's not dying, she'll at least end up with several third-degree burns..."

Cynthia pauses. You pause.

"Good girls! Now, listen up. Here's what you're going to do. You're going put down your weapons, and you're going to walk over to that salad bowl, and you're BOTH going to stuff a big ol' handful of it into your mouths. Once you're passed out, I will put down the torch. Got it?"

Cynthia glared at Hestia with a violent look on her face. Without blinking, she threw her torch onto the campfire, and started walking toward the bowl.

"Good, now you..." Hestia started. Suddenly, Cynthia lunged. Hestia dropped the torch, but before it could hit Noel, Cynthia caught it in her bare hands, burning them severely. She tossed it over to the firepit and put Hestia in a headlock.

"Why... you..." Hestia croaked. Cynthia didn't say a word and only proceeded to choke her harder. Hestia's face went blue, her eyes rolled up, and she finally passed out. Cynthia let go, and Hestia fell from her arms, and down onto the stone floor of the cavern, her eyes still wide open, her tongue hanging out and a large pool of spittle forming under her face.

Cynthia didn't even bother checking her injuries. The first thing she did was check on Noel to see if she was alright. Then, only after having forcefed Hestia a handful of the salad did she head back out into the rain to cool her burns.