Naomi Ailani - POV;
"Thank you so much child," the elderly woman showered her gratitude on us profusely, "Please, take this. I know it isn't much but it's all I have."
"No, no, no, I can't," I told her as I looked at the small bag of currency in her outstretched hands.
"But how will we rapay you? If it wasn't for you, my son would have been sent to prison for a robbery he never did. No one believed him because we are poor folks way out here and no one wanted to represent him until you came along! Please, let us do you something in return!" the woman begged.
"Okay, then how about this," I proposed, "If you really want to pay me back, then go out in the word and help two people. Just two. Then, tell them to go out and help two people each and so on. Two helped people becomes four helped people, then eight, then sixteen, then thirty two. It's exponential and the world just may be a better place. If you want to make it up to me, just promise me this."
"Y-yes! Of course! Thank you so much!" she bowed. After hugging her, I went on my way through the small town as she and her son waved me off with smiles.
"Well, well, look at miss charity over here," the half-angel mocked, dropping down from above.
"Oh shut up, Zeliel," I laughed, hitting my brother playfully as we strolled through the cheerful, humble streets
"Ouch! So violent!" he snickered, "No but seriously, as great as it is to aid people in the name of love, you really need to start getting money or we'll be broke."
"Oh, come on. We'll be fine! Jaya makes enough income for all of us," I assured him.
"What? Are you kidding me?! Jaya is ten times worse! I mean, just look!" he said, pointing to a dainty shop across the road.
We came to a stop while I looked towards it to find Jaya tinkering away at a device attached to a large dog's hip.
"Aaaaaaand done!" Jaya exclaimed letting go. The animal jumped up immediately, pouncing on her excitedly as he licked every inch of her face.
"Ahaha! Oh my God, that tickles! Yes, I'm happy for you too! Yes I am!" Jaya purred.
"I can't believe this! It's a miracle! How much do I have for you?" the scruffy man pressed her.
"Oh no, that's okay. You barely have enough for yourself," Jaya told him.
"But you've changed our lives! My daughter can see clearly again and we thought our dog would never walk again but here he is running! It's all thanks to you!" the man prostrated himself.
"Really! It's fine! Seeing you all be happy is good enough for me," she told him.
"See?" Zeliel muttered, "You may be giving your services for free at no loss or gain but Jaya is spending to build all these contraptions and then accepting nothing. She's losing us finances. I swear you two will be the end of us!"
"Yikes.... maybe I really should take a second look at our money situation," I conceeded.
"You've said that a hundred times already!" he cried out.
"Okay... maybe I have, but I can't help it! These people need us! They were in a bad place before but after Fenix City fell they were in a terrible place. With no jurasdiction, their whole lives fell apart. In the little time we've been here, look at how much they've flourished. The town still isn't rich or anything but they've improved so much. I can't leave them hanging Zeliel! Let's give our all for them! It's the least we could do! Our mother spent so much time helping them when she was here. Let's do the same!" I pleaded.
"Of course, we will. I never said we wouldn't," he grinned.
"Hey! What're you two all smiley about?!" Emiko called out as she leapt nimbly across the rooftops and swung along the gutters before landing on all fours in front of me.
"Emiko, you're back already? You're getting much faster!" I said in awe.
"Hah hah hah, I ain't training for nothing!" she declared.
"I can see that!" I cheered.
"Anyway," Emiko continued becoming much more serious, "There's something I have to talk to you about."
"Hmm? What wrong?" I questioned, growing a bit worried.
"It's serious."
****
"They've been what?!" I shouted in disbelief.
"Keep it down, Naomi. We may be at home but we don't know who can hear us!" Zeliel warned.
"Crap. You're right. Sorry. I got too worked up," I admitted, "But what do you mean the beasts have been migrating?!"
"I've been monitoring the surroundings of the town ever since we came back here, you know that much, so having spent such a long time consistently going over the same place has made me very familiar with it," Emiko noted, "The typical sounds, smells and appearances of each corner has been imprinted into my memory. A few weeks ago, I began to notice small changes but these quickly accumulated and compounded into something more. Certain sounds dimmed, disappeared or shifted as animals began to move to different areas. Certain portions of the forests grew unhealthier as it lost its dense, varied ecosystems and biodiversity. I knew something was happening and that nature was aware, but I didn't know exactly what was going down. That's when I began to investigate further north... to the ruins of Fenix City. When Blaze departed after their dominion, they left behind entire hordes of the demonic dogs they enlisted. The beasts scavenged the region freely until the World Heirarchy swooped in to investigate the destruction. They fought off the demonic dogs and were able to push them outside the borders, barricading it so they could not return. The beasts roamed the environs aimlessly for some time but as of recent times, they began to act more more concordantly. They've made great migrations in sustained packs, decimating everything in their paths. I've made some calculations and estimates... all of which came to a similar conclusion."
"The same conclusion... why do I feel like this isn't something that we're going to want to hear?" Jaya gulped.
"It's okay Emiko. Whatever you have to tell us, I know we can handle it," Ciara assured.
She nodded and began to speak but as the words escaped her lips we could not help but gasp or cry out in horror and disbelief;
"At least half of those packs are converging directly on us."
A/N ~ As many of you have noticed, the month of October was an inconsistent one with updates releasing on unusual days, not to mention that only 7 of the 8 chapters slotted for release were put out. This was a side effect of some unexpected circumstances I faced these past few weeks which caused major disruptions in my hectic schedule. However, for the most part, that situation has come to pass and as of this week, upload schedules will return to normal. New chapters will release every Tuesday and Saturday. Hope to see you all then!
~ tO_x-in