Trial Three~Birth
"Sooo you have a son?" Illya asked curiously.
"Yeah. And a daughter. My boy's older by a year."
She nodded awkwardly. "No offence but when the hell did that happen."
"Four years after you happened."
Illya thought for a moment. He could have very well had his kids four years after she discovered the ruins of Aruma An, but when she met him, he didn't look like he even had a wife, much less someone he was interested in.
"You got a wife?"
"Yeah. She's not from here though. She came from Yah Rin. She showed up on Arunian shores by accident, got herself attacked by an Ifrit and I rescued her. Happened sometime after you left."
Illya hummed in response. Tekina tapped on her shoulder and she turned around. "Um...are you two friends?"
"No." The both of them answered simultaneously.
"Princess Crybaby over here is a huge pain in the ass."
"And Mister Cultist over there isn't exactly a ray of sunshine if you haven't already noticed."
"I was Just wondering since you two seem so familiar with one another."
"Don't let the little names and forced civilized interactions fool you. I only call her a crybaby because when we first met she wouldn't shut the hell up about how I killed her prey. Like I give a damn. All she does is whine about everything I do."
"No, I just call you out on your bullshit and you start throwing tantrums like a little kid."
He abruptly spun around and grabbed her by her throat, pulling her towards him. Her face contorted into a cocky smirk as she glared back at him. The both of them looked like they were gonna start fighting again, what with their growls and fingers, slowly inching towards concealed weapons. Whatever bloodlust they had was quickly engulfed by one more potent and bone chilling. Hideki immediately let go of Illya, who turned to see Callisto standing menacingly behind her. As soon as Hideki let go, he slipped his hand around her waist and pulled her closer to his side to make sure she wouldn't pounce at Hideki.
"How about you lay off yeah? My lovely wife over here just had a baby not too long ago and I'd hate to have to break that shitty face of yours. Honestly, what kind of man grabs a lady like that!" He huffed in irritation. He continued on, getting straight to the point, hoping to leave quickly so he didn't kick Hideki's face in. "We're looking for a certain witch that we were told passes by here."
Illya tried to shuffle around Sora and take a swing at Hideki but he held her firmly in his arms, soothing her little burst of anger. Hideki scoffed.
"Well, you're in luck. She's supposed to be dropping by here soon."
"I thought you don't let outsiders hand around here," said Sin.
"I don't but sometimes we need her potions to use as catalysts in various rituals. As long as she doesn't tell anyone our location, or sells me some crap quality bullshit then I got no reason to kill her."
"That must be why we got here before her. She must take alternate routes to avoid having someone tail her," whispered Tekina.
They continued down the village. They were lead to a small hut with a few hammocks inside.
"You can stay here while you wait," said Hideki.
He turned to leave but was met with a young girl, barreling into his stomach.
"Papa!" She cheered.
The girl looked to be about sixteen. She had the same purple eyes and silver hair as her father and had a pretty blue flower in her hair. Judging from the beads of sea glass around her torso, she seemed to be quite into pretty things.
"This is my baby girl, Kaimi. Kaimi, these guys are waiting for the Witch. Don't mind them." He patted her head and walked away, the adults followed him out to the boat shop they saw earlier.
"Hi there!" Kaimi chirped.
"Uh...hi?" Said Avarice.
"Why are you looking for the Witch?" She asked curiously.
"...My mom's hoping she can help my baby sister," he said quietly.
"Hmm...you have a baby sister huh. I'm a baby sister too! My brother doesn't let me talk to guys so I have to hide and do it. But that hasn't stopped me from finding the love of my life!" She beamed.
"One day I was exploring the mountain west of the village when I came across the lover's pond. Its a big heart-shaped pond at the top of the mountain. They say you can meet your true love there. The water's magic too. A lot of people take its powers as a sign of fate because if you show up there by yourself and your fated lover is also by a 'holy' body of water then it'll show you the other person and let you communicate with them. That's where I met my sweet Koteru! Ah! The way his gorgeous face face reflected in the water was absolutely breathtaking," she gushed.
Avarice was exhausted just listening to her. She was far too energetic and chipper for him to keep up.
"You wanna come see the pond? I'm sure it would be more fun than waiting in this cramped hut!"
Everyone looked at each other. "Sure why not!" Nikiro said.
She turned to Nikiro and beamed, giving him a quick hug as he stood up.
"Nikiro! It's been a while!"
He patted her head. "Sure has. I haven't seen you in years!"
"Kashino will be happy to see you again!"
"I can't wait to see him either! How is he?"
Sin watched them talk about Nikiro's mystery man with an irritated look on his face. Avarice watched as Sin progressively got more and more irritated as he listened to them talk about Kashino. Eventually, Sin had reached his boiling point and decided to interrupt them. He slung a hand around Nikiro's shoulder and grinned, trying to mask his irritation.
"So this Lover's Pond seems interesting! Let's hurry and go see it!"
Kaimi looked at Sin and then at Nikiro. "Nikiro is this your friend?" She asked.
Before Nikiro could even get the first syllable of "yes" out, Sin butted in once more.
"Oh yeah! We're greeaat friends. We basically live together. We spend a loooot of time together. I was the one to show him around when he first came to my country and since then we've basically been inseparable!"
Nikiro gave Sin a weird look, kind of concerned about his bizarre behaviour. Kaimi simply smiled."That's great! I'm sure my brother will want to thank you for taking good care of Nikiro all this time!"
Avarice held back laughter as a vein popped on Sin's head. Sin was always a little eccentric but he just seemed...a little teeny tiny bit more aggressive...at least that's what Nikiro thought as he watched Sin glare at a stray chicken that wandered into the hut like he was about to drop kick the poor thing after it "squawked mockingly" at him, whilst Kaimi spoke.
"Well come on then! Let's get going!" Said Kaimi as she skipped away.
"Avarice you coming?" Asked Sin.
"No, I'll stay here...I don't wanna see you embarrass yourself even more." Avarice lowered his voice so only Sin would hear that last part.
Sin would have been more than happy to throw down right then and there but when Nikiro grabbed his hand, all his head went blank.
"You coming?" Nikiro asked.
"Y-Yeah!"
Sin let himself be pulled along by Nikiro. Kaimi lead them to a narrow path a little ways down the beach from the village. It wasn't a long trek up the mountain, only about a ten minute walk. Kaimi had been skipping along in front of them while they walked. Nikiro took the opportunity to talk to Sin.
"Hey, are you okay? You've been acting a little strange ever since we left the stable before we crossed Lake Ruyi."
Sin went pale. "Everything's fine. I'm just a little tired."
Nikiro raised an eyebrow. "I find that hard to believe. Everyone knows you don't tire easily."
"It's not just that though, I'm worried about my sister too. I mean she hasn't even entered the world properly and she has to fight for a life she can't have."
Nikiro smiled sympathetically. He put a hand on Sin's shoulder. "It'll be okay. We'll find a way to help her.
While Sin was genuinely concerned for his new sister, he felt a little bad using that as a shield to avoid talking about the things he was beginning to feel for Nikiro. Nevertheless, Nikiro's smile seemed to put him at ease and for a brief moment, Sin found himself wishing that they could go one like this forever. Just the two of them, taking leisurely strolls, chatting about nothing in particular, unburdened by worries, but as they arrived at the pond, his fantasy came crashing down when Kaimi uttered the words he had so dreaded to hear.
"Oh! Kashino! This is where you were!"
Sin's heart sank as Nikiro's eyes immediately left his and all of his attention shifted to Kashino who sat at the edge of the pond, twiddling a white gardenia in between his fingers.
"Nikiro? Is that you?"
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