There are many things Leonith prefers not to think about. From the current state of Clovis that forced him from his home in order to chase after demons, to the unwelcome hazy memories of Orionith, he truly isn’t without a topic he’d be better off not thinking about. He tries, in fact, to not dwell on them at all.
But still they plague him.
“We’re here in Ebsun,” Keith’s voice floats in, patting his shoulder and gently trying to wake him up. “Are you alright? You slept pretty deeply back there.”
Leonith smiled, sitting up and stretching. “I haven’t had some time to rest, is all. Are the others outside?”
“Yeah, I figured it was best if I went and woke you up with how Lady Ashala keeps glaring daggers at me.” Keith let out a nervous laugh, his tail swaying at the memory. “We already grabbed our things. Lady Ashala apparently had an entourage waiting for her so we won’t have to lug them around.”
“Right,”
Ebsun is exactly how Orionith remembered it to be, the same walls he watched be made still stood. A testament of the skilled builders who made it. Like a dream come to life, he reaches out and touches the side while Ashala leads the group forward. Knowledge he doesn’t fully understand taints his vision. For a moment, he sees himself standing watch and making juice for the workers because Orionith hates watching people do the work when he isn’t helping.
A shoulder bumps into him and the memory of the bright sun’s haze over the backs of people rebuilding gives way to the cool breeze of night, people milling about and enjoying themselves under the shade of woven cloth. He looks to his side. Hyacinth nods at him.
“This journey has tired you out more than I anticipated.” Hyacinth says.
Leonith shakes his head and tries to give him a smile. “Orionith has been taking advantage of my lack of proper sleep, it seems. He’s intent on reminding me of his own life.”
“Perseus has been the same.” Hyacinth says. “I suspect it is because we’re all together, or almost all of us.”
For a moment, Leonith pretended they were merely a group of friends visiting old places their memories used to know. It’s a lot better than their current circumstances. But even if the night life speaks of people trying to have fun, trying and pretending that for a moment the prices of food are going up as their own plates dwindle down, the weight of it is still there. His heart aches at the similarities between him and the people of Ebsun.
Pretending never made anything easier, it only made the truth harder to swallow.
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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There’s no way the Seal deteriorated, Orionith’s memory whispered.
And to do that, well, it’s best to have the reincarnations at hand so that they can get to the bottom of this and then find a way to end her permanently.
His eyes wandered to Keith, keeping an eye on if he had his mouth open. It’s an interesting habit the other probably isn’t even aware of, one that’s most likely born of his wolf Mark. Much like how dogs pant when overheated, so too does Keith.
The heat of the desert, the architecture, it’s familiar but for vastly different reasons. Still, he appreciates it, he hasn’t been around familiar in a while. He can hear the whisper of Corruption, murmuring tell of contract and blood and power.
He ignores it as he usually does.
Ashala doesn’t speak much, Keith notices. When they arrived at the palace of the pharaoh, he looked around and marveled at how much Ebsun had recovered. Tall structures and bright paint, wind wafting through to disperse the desert heat as water flowed in extravagance. The cool trickling waters make the room feel cooler by its presence alone.
Ashala salutes. “Hail Pharaoh Sati the Second, may your light continue to shine through the ages, I come before you with news of fellow reincarnations of the Heroes of Yore.”
They knelt before him, Keith sweating as he wondered if Ashala would have him thrown in a prison.
“Reincarnations of Old, it is a pleasure to receive you. Please, rise, I would not dare make my elders kneel.”
They did as told, and Keith so far is amazed by their current track record, don’t these stories usually have the harsh but fair ruler or the cruel and corrupt one? So why is this guy so nice? In fact, wasn’t the King of Seipodon nice too? As much as Keith would like to accept all these benevolent rulers, Keith is very much aware that these kinds of people are a rarity and to meet some back-to-back?
It’s starting to rub him the wrong way.
He scented the room, smelling for sulfur but all he could smell was the heavy scent of perfumes and burning fruits, the usual rich fanfare. He frowned and glanced at Leonith. He’ll have to ask later, though the man himself doesn’t seem to be exhibiting any signs of worry, in fact, Leonith had been rather… out of it today.
Distracted as he was, it took Hyacinth poking at him and hissing in his ear to snap him out of his thoughts.
“Say something, mutt!”
Keith looked at the Pharaoh and found the genial face gazing at him. Keith smiled, “I apologize, Your Effervescent Lightness, I fear the journey to Ebsun has taken much out of me that my mind had begun to drift.”
The Pharaoh laughed. It sounds kind and warm, and it sets his instincts screaming. “Fear not, I understand. I suppose I have kept you and yours waiting for a room long enough. Come, my servants! Prepare the best rooms for these weary travelers.”
Ashala’s eyes are pointing daggers at him but she says nothing, contests nothing, and speaks nothing of a prison cell. Instead she watches them, her eyes shining and her tail swaying behind her. She doesn’t follow them. No, her position as Ebsun’s defender has meant that she doesn’t have to, instead she is most likely reporting to the Pharaoh everything that has happened.
A cold hand touches his shoulder and he glances into the worried eyes of Silon.
“You’ve been deep in thought, Keith. Perhaps you should rest. I know you haven’t gotten much rest on the boat ride.”
Keith smiled at her reassuringly, “I’m fine, Silon. I have a lot on my mind is all.”
“Fine?” Hyacinth scoffs beside him. “You didn’t even hear the Pharaoh ask who you’re the reincarnation off.”
His smile grew strained as his ears flicked. He glances around meaningfully, scanning the vast hallways filled with servants and what have you. It seems that despite Ashala’s worry over the drought, the Palace cares not or perhaps is not affected. “That’s just the journey catching up to me, I assure you.”
Silon immediately caught on and switched her tune. “Ah in that case once we get to the room I should do a check up on you, the weather may affect you more than most.” She gave Hyacinth a look of her own. “And also you, Hyacinth, your fins are starting to look a bit dry.”
He lifted up a hand to his fins, water forming at the tips before he nodded. “Ah, yes, of course. Whatever the healer says is best.”
Once they finally arrived at the room, Keith quickly began warding the place with temporary silence seals. The golden glow that jumped to life as he hummed for silence, protection, warding from evil, layering it and weaving it to his satisfaction until there before him is a tightly woven tapestry of golden wards. The seals all shimmering brightly in gold amidst the silver threads of the layers.
“Those look to be some heavy seals, Keith,” Silon hummed, eying them.
He turned to them to find them looking at the tapestry with awe. “It’s just a temporary measure. It will fade as soon as everyone leaves the room. For now though, something isn’t right.”
“Oh? Did you hear something? Sense something?” Hyacinth’s fins flared out a bit, alert for any sign of trouble.
“Something’s setting me on edge, Ashala said that Ebsun has been under drought for a while now, and despite taking care of the demons responsible they keep cropping back up.” His tail swished in deep thought. “Yet when we entered the Palace what did we see? Water. Lots and lots of water, yet the ruler himself pretends to be a kindly and friendly man. Something just isn’t right. I don’t trust this at all.”
Silon hummed, her glowing green eyes seemed to have taken an angry and otherworldly shine to them as she mulled upon his words. “Not all rulers would be kind even if they act so, Keith. Still, we’ll take your words into account.”
“If that’s it then I’m going to my room and drinking some water.” Hyacinth sighed with a roll of his eyes.
Keith scowled at this. “Stay with Silon for now. I’m not keen on having us separated in our sleep right now.”
“Paranoid dogs like you should quit barking at nothing and go to sleep.”
He bristled. A part of him screamed at his words not being taken seriously. Even in Silon he can see the exasperated indulgence in her tone. It’s bristling and rubbing him like static against his fur. His hackles raise, tail and ears pointing up.
“Listen, you arrogant fish fillet! I’m telling you, something isn’t right. And it isn’t paranoia, something’s connected to all of this.”
It is then that Silon looks around the room and says, “Wait, where did Leonith go?”
Finally got this chapter out! Ah, I’ve been really busy, sorry about that ^^; Between my many family members coming in and out for the passed two months and leaving me dead on my feet, I ended up getting sick with a fever, cough, colds, and a sore throat. It was not pleasant. But now it’s here! Finally, completely here! Ehehe, thank you so much for reading!
Hopefully Leonith is alright |•́ – •̀｡)… Thank you so much for the chapter! 😘💕
Oh no. Leonith got lost. 😣 How the hell come they didn’t realize this sooner. Are they all out of it from the heat and the memory overload? A overly kind ruler is truly suspicious. Those are normally the one who get overthrown the fastest. 🤔