Divinia | Various! OCs x Reader

[7]: An Addition to the Ariti Household

And so they strolled through town, ignoring the laughter and chatters around them as [Name] was immersed in their thoughts.

How would they be able to convince Myles to let them join Forrest? While they had over two months of swordsmanship by now, their fighting skills were nothing compared to their two best friends. [Name]'s wind magic wasn't exactly a thing to flex either. They had continuously trained it everyday ever since [Name] awakened it, yet their magic could barely lift them in the air.

Sheesh, this was a problem alright.

As the sound of people slowly died around them, [Name] finally halted. They quickly glanced around, eyes widened. How long had they been walking for? This is why they needed Myles by their side at all times, he always kept them grounded in reality.

But right now, he wasn't here with them.

"...Where am I?" [Name] muttered. The unfamiliar area they were in didn't resemble the upper part of Skya at all. Here, an unnerving feeling crawled down their spine, pricking goosebumps along their skin.

From just one look, they could see poverty roaming around at every corner. There were beggars on the streets, crawling around - desperate for anyone to drop any change. [Name] could hear the squeaking of rats, the buzzing of flies, and the cries from ravenous children. Their gut instinct told them one thing:

they shouldn't be here.

Yet, their legs kept on moving forward, eyes warily examining everything around them. Minutes ago, they were just trying to decide how to convince Myles to join them on Forrest's journey...! How the hell did they even end up here? And how could this place be in the peaceful and prosperous nation of Skya?

But for some reason, a gut feeling was telling [Name] to go further down in this secluded area. They frowned and took a look around. Was this place ever shown in the Divinia series? There were so many places over the course of ten novels, but for some reason, [Name] felt an ounce of familiarity among the dread in these streets.

They decided to trust themselves and continue to walk further down.

And that's when they heard the soft cries and pleads of someone calling out.

"....help....please....anyone..." a hoarse voice rang out from their left side. [Name] immediately glanced towards it. The sound was coming from a dark, shady alley.

They froze in place, their heart threatening to beat and explode out of their chest. Could it be? Did their last encounter in their past life with creepy alleyways traumatize them in this one?

"..cough...please...! hun...gry....so...hungry..." the unknown pleads snapped them out of their trance. Who cares about a little trauma now, no matter what, they had to help this person!

[Name] ran straight into the alleyway, they could feel Myles' ice dagger poking at their thigh. Man, if the familiar red-haired boy was here they would definitely scold them for booking into a possible trap. They were completely aware of that possibility though. This could be a repeat of [Name]'s death in their past life...! Yet they trusted their gut. It was the same one that led them to Forrest, after all.

And soon, they were right to listen to it. [Name] stared in shock at the sight of the disturbing image in front of them. From her appearance, she couldn't have been over the age of 11. This only made their heart ache even more.

There was a child starving in front of them...! Her only clothes were soiled, brown rags - dirtied from, what [Name] could only guess, were months of crawling through the streets. She appeared to have brown hair, but [Name] couldn't really tell since it was covered in dirt and grime. They snapped out of their thoughts when the child's bony hand stretched forward. The skin on her arm was like a thin sheet of fabric, practically nonexistent compared to her prevalent bones.