I need to stop doing that. Keith thought to himself when he woke up. Unlike last time, he didn’t wake up to the familiarity of his room back in Kiol. No wooden walls. Instead, it’s… he furrowed his eyebrows.
Underwater. There beside him is a wall of glass held with gold and bronze, allowing the person to see the halocline that Seipodon is so famous for. The clear distinct split between freshwater and saltwater, as if viewing two shades of blue slowly fading into one another. Seeing the two shades of blue mingling, meeting, clinging, it’s quite calming actually.
He looked at his bed. It’s a plain cream color and quite soft too, seeing as he slept peacefully. If he pretended for a moment, he can imagine this as a new fancy hotel trending online. Which reminds him… where is he? The room was nicely decorated, and the light itself is good too. It’s enchanted quartz, probably imported from somewhere else. The decorations are very Grecic.
The door opened revealing a young girl, her hair is wavy and tied back in a braid and she’s dressed in a simple chiton. Yet, the most stunning thing about her is the golden lyre imprinted on the back of her hand. As she got closer, he realized, Oh she has a similar eye color to Hyacinth.
In her hands is a tray of pita bread and water.
“Miss Silon was right!” The girl explained as she set the tray down beside him, a delighted smile on her face. “You must be exhausted. Here, have some water. You woke up at the same time as my brother.”
Keith hummed, taking the glass of water. After drinking it, he said, “How long were we out for?”
“Four hours, but only thanks to the fact we’ve been keeping you both close to the water. Magically rich areas are good for your healing, you know. You and my brother have the same high magic requirements, seriously! You’re like some high grade quartz bulbs, you need a super long charge time if you run out which you both nearly did.” She rambled.
He tuned out the rest of her rambling, nodding along as he ate his bread.
So far he can glean that this girl is the sister of Hyacinth, they’re currently in some sort of medical bay, and that he doesn’t feel like passing out for once. The last part might be due to the fact he actually got to sleep after this hassle of a day and because he slept in a room soaked in a natural magic spring thanks to the halocline.
“Oh! This is embarrassing, I forgot to introduce myself!” She flushed. “I’m Amaryllis of Seipodon, Hyacinth’s younger sister and proud Chosen of Apollo.”
“Keith of Kiol,” He smiles. “Son of Astra.”
Before she could keep talking, the voice of Hyacinth floated through the halls. He tilted his head. Should Hyacinth even be yelling while they’re in some sort of medical ward?
“Amaryllis!”
“Sorry, I should go,” Amaryllis laughed. “Rest up a bit, no doubt my brother would like to talk to you and the rest of his friends as soon as he’s out of bed.”
Letting out a laugh, Keith made a ‘shooing’ motion at her. His tail softly thumping against the bed in time with his laugh. “Go. I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” Oryath growled. “Where my brother goes, I go. You got a problem with that?”
“Yes,” Perseus said, as honest as the rising tide. “Your brother is no coward. You scheme, you ploy, and you take murder in stride. I wonder if the demons had dropped a child next to Orionith with your morals.”
“Oh so that’s what it’s about,” Oryath scoffed. “Our hosts were going to kill us. So I killed them first.”
Perseus scoffed. “The poison in our tea was to knock us out, at most they wished to rob us, I overheard them whispering about robbing us blind. Was it right to meet robbery from our hosts with murder?”
“Hmph.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Though he cared a bit too much, Keith thought bitterly. Dead and denounced.
Pushing away the thoughts of Oryath’s past, he focused on examining the room. He stood up and knocked on the glass. It’s solid. He touched the gold, his hand pulsing with magic.
The gold pulsed back. A magical array flashing in front of him, revealing the enchantments in the gold. Keith loomed through the array with interest. According to his mother, Grecic magic arrays were less compact and less focused on information and more on power and placement. Which made sense now that he looked at it, the lines of the array are brilliant and colorful strands all woven like a tapestry.
His ears pricked up, picking up the sound of footsteps and the sound of muttered complaints from Amaryllis. Most of those complaints were done in between huffing and calling her brother names. He let the array go back to its hidden state, fading away from its colorful tapestry to hide within the gold. He turned around, a smile on his face as he opened the door, letting Amaryllis fall through.
“Wah-!” She stumbled, falling into his chest.
Keith laughed. “Woah there, kid. You’re a century too young for me.”
Amaryllis flushed, glaring at him. “Not you too! It’s bad enough that Hyacinth teases me by putting everything on the tall shelf.”
Righting herself and dusting herself off, she crossed her arms and huffs, lifting her nose high into the air like a wronged little princess. “Besides, girls are much better! Like- Like Lady Silon.”
Keith raised an eyebrow. Shrugging, he walked past her. “So, where are they? And, was it okay for Hyacinth to yell in a medical ward?”
“You do realize this is our house right? Uh, if you didn’t , now you know! So don’t go accidentally breaking stuff please. Anyway, they’re over in the receiving room, around the corner past the fish tapestry. I’m sure you can hear them with your ears. Speaking of which, can I touch them?” Her ocean green eyes stared at them pointedly.
Suddenly self conscious, Keith’s ears flattened against his head. “Don’t. That’s- It’s- Just, please don’t?”
“Oh wait, is it some kind of romance thing?” Amaryllis pressed.
Ignoring her, he walked by her, following the sound of soft discussion and Hyacinth’s honest way with words.
“I can’t just leave Seipodon. I have a duty here now. Perseus had his adventure, and now mine is here.”
“Hyacinth, please. The Seal-”
“The Seal wasn’t done by us, it was done by Oryath, therefore I do not see why it concerns me.”
Keith frowned as he paused at the doorway. That’s true, Hyacinth has a proper life now. Unlike Perseus who was hotblooded and eager to prove himself, Hyacinth doesn’t need to do that. Perseus was eager to end Tiamat because it was his chance to gain renown seeing as his parents were suffering as a poor and lowly couple. Hyacinth is clearly not lacking in comparison seeing as this five star hotel looking place is his home.
Silon’s voice cut through the tense air. “Are you willing to stand aside while Tiamat roams free?”
“What?”
“Are you going to standby and watch as Tiamat roams free? Those demons will not be the last of it. There’ll be more. And more. And more. Avalon’s already hidden itself from outsiders with the fog borders.”
“Which only proves my point, I must stay behind and aid Seipodon.”
Keith shook his head, Hyacinth is nothing but stubborn. Walking in, he gave his own two coppers.
“I say, let him do as he pleases.”
Leonith frowned at him. “But, it took all of us to go against her, even if you were playing spy. And the seal, we still need to find a way to reapply it.”
“Which you can do without me. The Seal was done by Oryath and Oryath alone. Clearly, we weren’t needed.” Hyacinth sneers.
Keith rolls his eyes at them. “See? The guy doesn’t care. Why bother wasting time in trying to bring him along? Every minute we lose, she grows stronger.”
Silon bit her lip before nodding. “I agree. Keith is right, we have no time to waste on convincing Hyacinth.”
Leonith gave Hyacinth a pleading look. “Please. We need your help. We’re only three people. There’s still-”
“Still nothing!” Hyacinth shouted.
Thump!
They paused, eying the water outside their window nervously. An angry water gift is nothing to sneeze at. A powerful water gift with two lifetimes of mastery? That’s a death sentence. As if sensing the accidental death trapped they’re forced in. Hyacinth takes a deep breath, calming himself down. Turning away from them, he kept quiet.
Keith glanced at Hyacinth. “Let him stay, he’s nothing but a washed out hero. Either way, we’re going to finish what we started.”
Leonith paused, bright blue eyes glancing at everyone before relenting. “Alright. Let’s go. We’ll get a ship to Trinity as soon as possible.”
Silon grabs Leonith, guiding him out and murmuring to have him ask Amaryllis about the boat to Trinity. As she turned to leave herself, she glances at him. Quirking up an eyebrow, she tilts her head at the door. He shakes his head. Nodding, at this, she leaves. Her hair fluttering behind her like a red flag. Her picture perfect beauty seems straight out of a movie set, absolutely eerie in Keith’s opinion and very much in line with her Fae gift.
“I know I can’t convince you but… We really do need your help, you know?”
Hyacinth glares at him. “Why do you care?”
He froze.
Oryath sighed as Perseus moved closer to him. “Just get on with it.”
“Alright.” Perseus mumbled, as he helped bandage his chest.
Right. They were friendly once but then the betrayal happened. And besides, Keith looked out at the water. Oryath’s memories push and push image after image of Tiamat’s rage. Even if he decides to stay behind, Keith wants to at least warn him of what may come.
“She won’t wait and she won’t hold back. You saw what happened to Uruk. And besides, if we don’t do anything she may as well consume the world. Personally, I think you’d help Seipodon out better by going after her.” Keith says, “She won’t let the people who offended her go with a light sentence.”
Hyacinth stares at him. “Why did you join Leonith? If you don’t count the Seal, you have all the more reason not to join him. You are hated. You are despised. The entire world loathes who you used to be, so why leave the comforts of home for… this?”
“Kiol would be safer without me. Tiamat is a vengeful woman. She would not let me live, not when I had looked her in the eye and betrayed her.”
“Why chase such a certain death?”
Ash in the sky, embers and heat and a ruined city, all turned into a sealing array. The people were evacuated as best as he could, with the limited transportation. Ren had seen to it personally.
The rest of his friends, they’re exhausted, which is the perfect time to strike. He arranges them around the seal. Four elements and a unifier, Tiamat is at the center watching in delight as he separates them. She doesn’t know. He told her he’s going to drain their souls and turn it to magic to feed her.
She doesn’t doubt him for a second.
The array spans throughout the entire city of Uruk. Even if she’s suspicious she’d have to examine each and every crevice to understand this. Ren is with her. Keeping an eye out on the array. Once it begins, the backlash is enough to send him flying to the hill of Nisir.
When he did seal her, her eyes… Her scarlet eyes, bright and brilliant, blooming with the promise of pain, glared at him. For a moment, Oryath wondered if her glare alone would kill him where he stood.
“The look in her eyes was one that swore vengeance and a fate worse than death.” He ends up saying, making eye contact with Hyacinth.
It’s blue and green, like gentle waves and lapping waters. There is no promise of blood and pain. At this moment, he understood why Hyacinth wished to stay. There’s an aching tiredness, and a lost confusion swirling amidst a hopeless gaze in those ocean green eyes. Perseus was always emotional, being water gifted and of Poseidon’s Chosen makes it par of the course.
Now that he remembers a lifetime of grievances, well, who wouldn’t want to avoid that in favor of the comforts of home?
They don’t speak for a while. Silence and the sound of their breaths, flowing in and out, in sync. Keith can feel his heart thrumming against his chest, nervous. What was he even doing? Was he trying to convince Hyacinth or not?
“Fine.” Hyacinth says, soft and resolute. “I’ll go. It would be folly of me to hide in Seipodon’s temporary safety when she’s already made it clear that she’s targeting us. After this incident, the city will be on higher alert. I’m not needed. Even Amaryllis will be fine seeing as she’s a Chosen of Apollo, the temple can take care of her.”
“Come on, pack up and say your goodbyes. I’ll stay here and then we can join them.”
Hyacinth doesn’t say anything. Instead, his only confirmation is the sound of footsteps against marbled tiles as he goes about preparing. Keith goes back to his guest room, and finds a note he had overlooked from Leonith. Apparently, the other had been holding onto his luggage ever since they left the ship. He snickered. Right, he almost forgot about that.
He tunes out the soft voices of Hyacinth and Amaryllis, letting them have the privacy of goodbye.
When the two later join up and find them at the harbor, Leonith cheers louder than a gull, hugging onto the two of them while Silon catches them up. She tells them when their ship will arrive and the two rooms booked. Hyacinth nods in understanding and together they sit and watch the lights of the market glittering over the sea like stars on the ground.
And just like that, four out of six are reunited.
Hyacinth joins the party! In RPG terms, Hyacinth would be a dps, Keith would also be a dps, Leonith probably a support/tank, with Silon as the healer. This chapter was surprisingly long. Ah, my little merman, he’s a bit stubborn but he has a good heart. Now that he’s part of the crew, we’re only missing two out of the six reincarnations! Ohohoho, who would that be? Well, I know, but it’ll take a bit of time to meet them. Ah, speaking of meeting!
Countdown: 2 >:3
Did Hyacinth get swayed because he got worried for his little puppy’s safety? I hope so and I hope he gets to touch his ears soon too. 😏🥰 Damn, but Oryath was sure smart to mislead that evil women. I do hope she never gets a chance to get back at him. 😖