Akeno managed to hear the conversation between Kai and Chysolite, and it was so hard for her not to say something. But it was easy to blame herself.
She bit her tongue, not wanting them to know that she knew. Mikky told her to lay down and rest for a few hours since she carried them so far and so fast, but truth be told she was afraid to sleep. Afraid to dream of what Kai's father had done.
He was so sweet and gentle when she was with him, and he was so grateful to be given a child to share with her. But when Akeno realized she was neglecting her duties as the guardian of the shrine, she had to leave him and protect it.
She assumed it was like Kai had said, and he just couldn't look at Kai without seeing Akeno. So he didn't look at her.
But was that not exactly what she was doing? Seeing the man she loved in her own daughter?
Mikky could hear Akeno's thoughts, and she knew what she was feeling. But to confront them might make Kai feel betrayed.
So she too bit her tongue and sighed as she sat beside her wife who was curled up hugging her tail as she stared towards the spring and away from Kai. Just looking at the poor girl made her feel guilty, but she would never abandon her again. She would stay as long as the child allowed her, and she would always give her the attention she deserved.
Chysolite gently pet Kai's fluffy white tail as she leaned against her, and Kai leaned back on the taller Zealot and allowed her to pet her tail. Juan climbed back on the land and shook a fair bit away as to not spray anyone else with water.
"When they sleep, do you want to go have a bath?" Chysolite whispered.
"I'd prefer an Inn to be honest." Kai answered. "A river is probably cold, and without Akeno to warm it I don't think I'd enjoy it."
"If Akeno's your mother, then you must be able to use some kind of fire?" Chysolite questioned.
"Perhaps I may learn at some point. But for the most part I doubt that I can." Kai explained. "Since I can't see anything, I don't like the idea of shooting fireballs."
"If we link, you can use my eyes." Chysolite offered. "Plus, you already see with aura when you want to, so you can use the fire like that."
"Maybe." Kai sighed. "But you said to link I'd need a catalyst."
"If you're really a deity, then you probably don't need one. There are accounts of people managing to hold all of a Zealot's magic in them without one, but most people need them."
"I don't think a lot of people have linked with a Zealot before anyway." Kai shrugged.
"There are only seven Zealots at a time." Chysolite explained. "As soon as one is killed, another is created by time and fate."
"I take it six of them don't have wings." Kai asked.
"That is correct." Chysolite smiled as she pet Kai a top her head, between her ears. "But we are not introduced to the other Zealots. I only know of a few. Peredite is with the Nightshades, and she's linked to Aviri Nightshade without the use of a Catalyst. Iodite is a Peace Keeper of the human world, but after coming across a Hybrid vampire of some sort, she went to Rose begging for forgiveness. Verdelite used to be the right hand of Ragnarok, but her location has been lost since he chose to help us. Perhaps she was in contact with Peredite and that's why she chose to not be a Peace Keeper anymore. Verdedite hasn't been seen, and since they cannot commit acts of evil, no one is exactly worried."
"Interesting." Kai nodded softly. "Do you want to link to me?"
"I want to help you however I can. Linking to you will allow me to share pain with you, and understand how you feel. It will let me help you a lot more. But it needs to be something you want. Once linked, you can't break it without a lot of effort and pain since our minds and souls will be connected. Especially since I'm a Zealot, and all my magic will flood into you."
"Will it hurt?"
"Yes. Normally it wouldn't, but with me, it will. As said, all my magic and power will flow into you, and your body isn't used to that kind of pressure. I know you'll be alright, and it doesn't last very long, but it will happen."
Kai nodded slowly, enjoying the Zealot's presence so close to her. The fox rested her head on Chysolite's shoulder, a content look on her face. Chysolite's wing opened, so the claw was rested on Kai's shoulder, holding her closer, and blanketing her shoulders with her wing. Kai's tail rested across their laps and Chysolite continued to pet the smaller girl's head.
Mikky laid down beside Akeno and pulled her into a hug, trying to comfort her. She wasn't used to people being so upset, and she didn't really know how it felt. But she was still going to be there for Akeno, and that's really all she needed.
Akeno gently took Mikky's arms and held onto them as she lay there. She liked the idea of knowing that someone else was there with her. But the guilt still lingered, and she honestly didn't expect it to go anywhere any time soon.
Time went on, and the group continued forward. Akeno once again carried everyone but Chysolite, running as fast as she could.
Kai could sense that Akeno was more tense as she tended to bounce around more than the last time she was riding her. But she didn't want to pry, especially since they had a more important job to deal with.
Chysolite flew up to look on ahead. Her eyes widened at the sight before her. She flew down and landed in front of Akeno as she too stopped, seeing the state of the forest.
"Is this the work of the Blight?" Mikky asked.
"It must be." Akeno answered. "There's no other explanation."
Sure enough, the trees were black, with thorned vines wrapped around them, digging into the bark like a metal chain.
The ground was covered in the same vines, dead plants, and dead grass, leaving the path as the only sensable way through, and even then, the thorns sometimes slithered onto the path like snakes, frozen in time.
"Is it bad?" Kai questioned.
"Yeah..." Mikky answered. "Is there another way?"
"As far as I can tell, the other paths were overrun with whatever this is." Chysolite explained as she motioned towards the forest. "And it only gets more dense as we go in."
"Hopefully the path isn't blocked." Akeno said.
"There's another few days travel from here, and it looks like this might lead all the way to the volcano." Chysolite sighed.
"Well they've only been here for a couple days, how is it that the Blight has spread this much?" Kai questioned.
"Krivalar must have his Blighted creature at the volcano. He probably only chose to come here to make sure we couldn't attack it, but in doing so, led us straight to it."
"How has no one noticed this before?" Mikky asked. "Its a giant black spot on the earth."
"With the Battle of Mars still on everyone's mind, most people don't travel. Not to mention that Juno's volcano has been seen as a dark place since Exodious used it as her base in that battle." Chysolite shrugged.
"It's likely we're the first to notice it." Akeno agreed.
"I wish we could send magic brain messages to people." Mikky groaned. "We're on our own for now."
"Unfortunate." Kai sighed. "We should get moving."
"Well I can't run through this." Akeno stated. "I'll get tangled up in seconds and drag you girls with me."
"That's a point." Mikky sighed. Chysolite helped Kai back onto the ground and Mikky hopped off, allowing Akeno to shift back into her human form.
"Be careful Kai." Chysolite said.
"Juan will help." Akeno added.
Juan jingled his bell for them as Chysolite set him down.
Kai nodded as Juan followed Akeno and Mikky into the dark forest. Kai followed after the small fox, Chysolite following right behind her, making sure the blind fox wouldn't hit her head on a hanging thorn vine.
Chysolite put her hand on the top of Kai's head and pushed it down, to lower her head to avoid one such vine.
"This doesn't feel right." Akeno noted.
"What part doesn't feel right? The fact that the entire forest is covered in dark thorns?" Mikky asked.
"I feel like we're being watched." Akeno admitted.
"Its not a good thing." Kai admitted. "We'll be in trouble if we get attacked, there's not lot that we can do. We'll have a hard time running away."
"We'll be okay." Chysolite assured her.
"I hope so." Kai nodded.
"There should be village up ahead." Akeno noted.
"It's probably been infected." Mikky added.
"Probably." Akeno agreed. "Be careful."
Juan hopped over another vine and Kai carefully stepped over it, hearing his bell.
Kai was being careful with her steps, trying her best not to trip. A thorn caught the leg of her pants and she stumbled, but Chysolite manage to catch her.
"Thanks." Kai told her as she corrected herself.
"Of course."
"I think we're in the village." Mikky called.
"Are we?" Chysolite asked.
Mikky drew her dagger and cut a vine off revealing the sign for an inn.
Akeno took a dagger out of Mikky's boot and the two of them managed to cut free the door before pushing it opened.
The building was dark, and nothing could be seen other than small rays of light. Akeno collected a flame in her hand and illuminated the room revealing it to be the bar of the inn. The furniture was all broken and decayed, like no one had been here in a long time. Some vines had broken into a few of the windows, but otherwise didn't seem to be spreading far into the building itself.
"We should look for supplies." Mikky explained.
"I can smell cooked food." Kai said. "And there are people bellow us. I can hear them."
"Turn on your eyes." Chysolite told her.
Kai touched her temples then nodded.
"What? 'Turn on your eyes'?" Mikky asked.
"I can see the aura of things. I can't hold it forever, but I won't trip over things and give away my presence." Kai explained. "Juan, silence your bell, and let us know if anything dangerous is in here."
Juan hopped off into the darkness.
Kai followed him a bit glancing around cautiously as she wasn't used to sight.
She stepped over fallen stools, looking around the floor incase there was something of use.
Chysolite put her foot on a overturned chair and pushed it over, revealing broken glass and a rat eating a leftover meal. She looked around the dark room, her eyes just glowing as usual.
Zealots see the world far differently than other creatures. Its as though they see the world through hundreds of lenses at the same time.
Mikky's eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly, and Akeno let her light go out, allowing her eyes to do the same. Kai followed Juan to a doorway and let the fox in the doorway, only opening it a small enough amount for him to slip through.
She waited, pressing her fluffy ear to the door.
"There are a three people down here. They look starving and afraid. A man, woman, and son."
Kai motioned towards the others and the four of them descended the stairs. The people panicked and moved to the back corner, the father standing in front of the woman and son as if protecting them.
Mikky frowned then went through her satchel before pulling out her bag of food which she offered to them. "Its enough for a few days. The path out of here is clear, as long as you don't head towards the volcano."
"W-why help us?" The man asked. "Are you the cause of this darkness?" He asked.
"That's a Zealot." The woman noted. "They can't be creating such monstrosities."
"Take our supplies. When you get to the border, tell them The Fate Weaver Mikky needs them to send a message to Rose. We'll probably need help." Mikky explained.
The man took the bag cautiously. "That's it? You want us to send a message?"
"That's it." Akeno smiled. "If there's anything else you can tell us about what's happening that would help."
"Do you know how this started?" Mikky asked.
"No." The man shook his head. "The only thing suspicious was the carriage that just went through town. It smelled of rotting and death." He explained. "Then a week later all this started growing. In another week we were overrun. As most of us were leaving the black knights came in and kidnapped people."
"Well, you should be safe. They don't seem to be here anymore." Mikky said. "You should head out before that changes. We'll head deeper and cause a bit of ruckus in the town just to be safe."
"Bless you." The man said. "Thank you so much!" He and his family then ascended the stairs.
The group followed them up and out.
Kai had a warm fuzzy feeling in her chest that she didn't quite understand. Do people normally feel this way after saving the lives of others in need of it most?
She didn't know. But she enjoyed the feeling.