Chapter 336: No more hiding.

Zyra woke up early. She had more energy that usual because no matter what happened, she had to correct the mess currently sitting on top of her head. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up, moving as stealthily as a ninja sneaking past a sleeping guard. She took two quiet steps before a hand shot out from under the covers and grabbed her wrist.

"Where are you sneaking off to at dawn?" Hunter mumbled, his voice thick with sleep as he bleary-eyed peered up at her. "There are only two things you are allowed to do at this time of the day. Ride me, or punch me. Which will it be?"

"Neither, I’m going to get this awful patches out of my hair," Zyra replied, gesturing wildly to her multicolored, chaotic mess on her head.

Hunter rubbed his eyes, sat up, and gave her a drowsy smile. "I’ll help you."

"You? You don’t even know the difference between hair gel and body wash," she teased. "I bet they all smell the same to you. It’s like asking a man whether gold or silver heels look better on a white dress."

Hunter rubbed his eyes. "Does it matter, they are shoes. Pick one and walk."

Zyra rolled her eyes. "I think I can rest my case."

"Hey, this has nothing to do with your hair. I have excellent fine motor skills that are not related to the color of your shoes," he protested, swinging his legs out of bed. "And you cannot claim to be then expert when you did that." He pointed at her head.

She had no comeback for that. Within ten minutes, Zyra had gathered all the required bottles, bowls, and black herb-infused concoctions needed to strip the pink dye from her hair. She settled into a chair and closed her eyes.

Hunter took the bottle of color-stripping gel and squinted at the fine print on the back, reading through the ingredients as if he were scanning an ancient scroll. The last thing he wanted was to accidentally melt her scalp off or turn her hair swamp green or rusty red. Worse, leave her bald!

"Alright," Hunter muttered, tracing the label with his finger. "It looks safe to use."

He rolled up his sleeves with absolute seriousness, slathered a generous glob of gel onto his hands, and gently began massaging it into her hair. He looked like an grandmaster alchemist carefully mixing volatile ingredients, his brow furrowed in deep concentration.

"Are you turning it back to black like you originally planned?" Hunter asked softly, smoothing a section of hair down. "You know, for the cover identity?"

Zyra stared at her reflection in the mirror, watching his hands work. She shook her head. "I’ve thought about it. I’ve decided I’m not hiding anymore."

Hunter paused, looking at her in the mirror.

"I’m strong now, Hunter. I have money, resources, beasts, and power in the form of your grandpa." Zyra continued, her voice growing firm. "Besides, I haven’t done a single thing wrong to warrant hiding like a rat in the shadows. I was a coward before. I was weak. But now_ I’m embarking on a journey to find my parents. If I’m going to do that, I have to face the world and whoever comes after me."

Hunter smiled, a proud light shining in his eyes. He nodded in total agreement. "Then we face them together. I’m with you every step of the way."

Suddenly, Hunter bent over, slapped his knee with a wince, and let out a sharp hiss through his teeth. "Ow! Ah, damn it."

Zyra blinked, breaking her dramatic moment. "What is it? Were you hurt yesterday?"

"I think I twisted my leg." he complained, rubbing his calf with a pained expression. "It hurts a bit."

Zyra rolled her eyes playfully. "Take an instant healing pill, big baby. They’re good for sprains too. If it still persists after that, tell me and I’ll take a look."

Hunter chuckled sheepishly, tossing a healing pill into his mouth. "I’m sure it’s nothing."

Twenty minutes later, Hunter carefully rinsed the potion from her hair over the basin. As the water ran clear, the true shade emerged. The original deep, vibrant emerald green returned.

For her entire life, Zyra had hated her green hair. It made her stand out; it made people stare. But today? As she ran her fingers through the damp, shining strands, a bright smile spread across her face. She was actually happy to see it.

[Host, Spice’s evolution for stage 2 is complete. You can either move to Stage 3 or feed the beast with the Evolution Pill.]

The system prompt chimed brightly in her mind. Zyra let out a squeal of excitement and did a ridiculous little victory wiggle right there in the bathroom. "I’m going to the Beast Pavilion!" she announced, already darting toward the door.

Hunter, who was currently staring at a bathroom floor covered in green dye, wet suds, and scattered bottles, gave a defeated sigh. "Go ahead. I’ll join you soon. First, I have to clean up the disaster zone we just created in here."

Zyra sprinted down the hallway, rode a bicycle to the beast pavilion and pushed the doors open.

The moment her foot crossed the threshold, the loud, chaotic chatter of dozens of the beasts abruptly cut off. A silence so thick you could cut it with a blade descended over the hall. Three dozens pairs of eyes tracked her every move.

Zyra stopped and looked at them suspiciously, narrowing her eyes. "I hope you lot weren’t causing trouble while I was gone."

"NO!" chorus of squeaks, roars, and squawks chimed in perfect, terrified harmony.

Scotty puffed out his chest and put on his best innocent face. "They are all extremely well-behaved citizens, Boss! Never caused a single problem."

Zyra scoffed a laugh. She knew for a fact they weren’t being good out of the kindness of their hearts_ they were all terrified of the Beast Jail she’d threatened them with.

A leopard timidly raised one paw, pointing it toward a row of trees. "We_ we were actually just worried about Red Sun, Boss."

Zyra glanced toward the Red Sun’s space. Usually, the energetic little monkey was cackling, doing backflips, and hanging upside down from the iron bars to harass the other animals. Today, he was curled into a sad little ball, facing the cold brick wall. A pile of bananas and a small block of mineral salt lay completely untouched beside him.

"I’ll check on him," Zyra murmured softly to the crowd.