"I think we are ready to go!" Mac said as he stood up.
"Ready to go, your mom!" Licia's voice could be heard from the Komyu stone. "Sit your ass down, now!"
"How did you know I was standing up?" Mac asked, obeying.
"Because I know you better than you do yourself!" Licia said. But she then continued with a much softer tone. "Hai, are you sure you want to follow up with our plan? As you know, we are just outsiders, and you, as a member of the Sun Grow Tribe, have every right to refuse."
"No, I think that is a good plan!" Hai said confidently. After the initial shock of knowing that she was facing some deserters from the Kingdom of Erapta, she found solace in knowing that Mac and his friends wanted to help her. It was weird to think that a bunch of kids could be of any help before her predicament, but after all she had been through with Mac, for some reason, she started to believe in him.
Together with Mac's friends on the other side, they come up with a different type of plan than Mac could think of. While Mac would focus on the attack (as he called the fun part), his friends sounded more careful and wiser. Hai liked their strategy a lot as it did not involve Mac and Hai fighting alone. In fact, they were supposed to wait for the arrival of the trio of friends.
Hai did not know how strong they were, but Mac said they were Chosen just like her. So if that meant that they had the same amount of strength she had, they would be more likely to win together.
But that wasn't the whole plan. As the backup would take a long time to arrive, Mac and Hai should spy on the enemy meanwhile.
At first, that idea was only mentioned by Blake to be cut short by Guima as he considered it too dangerous and highly likely to fail. But, to everyone's surprise, Hai liked the idea.
She had complete certainty in her knowledge about the geography around her tribe. If the invaders were really in the cave she thought they were, then she knew a couple of paths that they could take that would avoid detection. Hai even knew about a high hill where they could see the cave from far away.
Hai was willing to risk high to end this night in her victory, and the fact that she would be receiving help soon filled her with determination.
"If you really are ok with this plan, then I guess you should be on your way," Licia said. "Just remember to keep an eye on Mac. Stealthy is not really his style."
Hai looked at Mac's warhammer. Licia's statement was pretty obvious.
"Oh well, I guess this is a goodbye then," Mac said. "I will have to deactivate the rune if I want to move freely."
"This is not a goodbye, Mac!" Licia said. "Remember, we are coming to get you back!"
"Oh please, stop! You are filling me with dread." Mac said, giggling. "But yeah! see ya later." And then he deactivated the rune.
Mac could not hide it. He had a dumb smile on his face. He could not wait to go back home. But then Mac remembered about his Small Orbis and how the cultivation world was impossible to him. "Everything will be ok." He lied to himself.
"So, Mac, should we get going?" Hai said.
"Ah, not yet." Mac was not as animated as he was before. "We need to figure out what to do with Lapido here."
Both of them looked at the old man. He was obedient to Mac's orders and didn't bother them throughout the whole conversation they had on the Komyu stone.
"Am I to follow you, children, in your escapade?" Lapido asked.
Despite being in a weird trace caused by Mac, Lapido still could think and act by himself. The only difference is that he could not go directly against Mac's demands. Somehow, Lapido still being conscious of himself made Mac's ability even more creepy to Hai.
Mac eyed the old man carefully. It was like his body was deteriorating from the inside. His eyes were turning black, and it seemed like he was missing mass by the minute.
"Are you... in pain?" Mac asked. He was starting to get genuinely worried about the old man. Perhaps the reunion with his friends changed Mac a little.
"Oh, there is no need for you to worry about me, Mac Key Kast," Lapido said as his head trembled. "I am not in pain. In fact, I think I can not feel anything anymore, at least physically."
"Ah, ok then..." Mac hissed, not knowing what to do. "Can I help you somehow?"
"No, Mac Key Kast. I fear there is no way for me to be helped." Lapido said. "But there is something you can do for me, and that is for you to let me help you. Please, let me cure your Small Orbis!"
Mac stumbled backward. "Could the old man be escaping the effect of Hidden Will?" He thought, but he was not worried about that. Lapido was in such a poor state that he posed no threat to Mac or the plan. And considering that, Mac started to feel pity for him again.
Just earlier this night, the once cultivator could have destroyed Mac and Hai in a moment. But now... It was like he would be better dead.
"Can't this wait for after we deal with the invaders?" Mac made an incredible unreasonable request, and at the same time, he did not answer the question. He felt ashamed of himself.
"It can be delayed," Lapido said. He did not have disappointment in his voice. "But not for much longer."
"Ok. Then I ask of you to stay here safe." Mac tried to push his shame away while saying. "Hai and I will find those invaders, and after everything is done, I will come back here, ok?"
Mac only received a nod from Lapido. He then, with a sigh, looked at Hai and said. "Hai, let's leave Olito here. Taking him with us will only drag us down."
Hai agreed with Mac. She stayed quiet while Mac and Lapido talked as she saw unfit to intervene. That was a conversation between the two and only the two of them.
Mac was about to leave, but his heavy conscience made him look at the old man again. Lapido was looking back at him with an expressionless face. He was nearly overwhelmed by guilt and felt he needed to do something. That was when a dumb idea popped into his head. Mac grabbed a small bag that barely fit in his pocket and showed it to the old man.
"This here is a bag of seeds that I bought for my friend!" He declared. "And I will be leaving it with you!" Mac carefully put the bag in front of Lapido. He was afraid that if he put it in his lap, Mac would break something.
Hai did not know how to react to Mac's actions. And apparently, neither did him.
"What am I doing?" He thought. Mac had a general idea that if he left something crucial behind, he would sound more confident in his promise to return. The problem was that Mac only had the seeds to give.
"Well, I will be going then." Mac jumped out of the hole. He thought he saw a soft smile form on Lapido's lips before he turned away. But Mac was too afraid and ashamed to turn back to check. He only ran away while Hai followed behind.
Mac noticed that the forest was becoming darker by the moment. "That kinda makes sense, I guess?" He thought. In the land of Omnelum, neither the sun nor the moon would ever set or rise from the horizon. Instead, they were always in the sky, shrinking or expanding, engulfing each other. That meant that the light they provided would reach its maximum when they reached their peak. But right now, the prime of the night was long gone, and the moonlight became fainter. That meant that the sun would soon engulf the moon, and a new day would start.
"This sure was a long night." Mac heard Hai saying. "I hope this "war" will be resolved by tomorrow."
Mac said nothing, but later, he started to regret that. Both kids with weird hair traveled through the forest in nearly complete darkness. Mac could not even see the fireflies anymore. It was like they felt the sun was coming in a few hours. As Mac jumped around trees, barely avoiding crashing into them while the only sound he could hear was of Hai and him mashing the leaves they stepped on, Mac felt alone. Alone with his thoughts. And he hated that more than anything.
"Hey, Hai." He tried to start a conversation while he muttered. "Do you wanna know about Arani?"
"Huh, what?" Hai was so tense that she stopped on her track when Mac called for her. "Arani? Are you talking about that thing that comes out of your hair? Why do you want to talk about it now?"
"Well, I have my reasons." Mac said. And he indeed had more than one. He was already pretty comfortable around Hai and wanted to share some of his secrets with her. Mac also thought that he could make a few jokes during this exchange.
"If you can talk about this Arani while walking, then I guess it is ok?" Hai was still confused.
"Nice!" Mac said. He then extended his hand near his head and made a little platform with the hand. "Arani!" He called, but only a white thread came from his hair and enveloped his hand. "No, not like that. I meant you! Jump here, c'mon."
Hai got closer to Mac as it was too dark to see the white thread. She was startled when she saw something small jumping from Mac's hair to his hand. It was a giant spider, almost the size of his hands!
"Say hello to Hai, Arani!" Mac felt a shiver going through his whole body when Arani jumped on his hand, but he still managed to say something.
Hai then saw the spider waving at her with one of its legs, and she instantly fell in love with it. "It is so cute!" She said in a high voice. "Can I hold it?"
This time Mac was the one startled. For someone to want to touch a spider near the size of his hands, that was not a feeling he could comprehend. But he hander her Arani anyway.
Hai carefully picked the spider with her two hands as only one would not suffice. She gently took the spider closer to her face, and it touched her nose with one of its legs. She somehow felt even more in love with it.
Hai only calmed down when she almost hit a tree. After that, she took her time examining the spider. Arani had big red eyes that were a little too big for its head. Its body was something that Hai could only describe as plushy, with soft hair covering its whole body. She probably wouldn't mind being bitten by such cute fangs. She also noticed a white line in each of its legs, which Hai thought was cool. The last thing to be seen was a weird mark on its abdomen. It was like a flattened heart.
"I think I have never seen a more beautiful thing in my life." Hai reluctantly handed Arani back to Mac.
"It is a fucking spider!" Mac said in disgust when Arani landed on his hand. "How can it be beautiful?"
Hai was ready to fight Mac to the death, but then she noticed that he had stopped and supported himself on a tree with his free hand.
"Why did my pet have to be a motherfucking giant spider!" Mac lamented. He didn't consider that he would get melancholic when he came up with the idea to show Hai, Arani. "It could have been anything! It could have been a blood mastiff! It could have been a thieving cat! But no! It had to be a spider of all things!"
Arani, as if understanding its master's feeling, jumped from his hand to his shoulder and "hugged" the left side of his face.
"How can you say such horrible things to such a beautiful bug," Hai said as jealously filled her entire existence. She also wanted to be hugged by Arani.
"Well, maybe I wouldn't be so miserable with a spider as a pet if I wasn't arachnophobic!" He angrily said. This little setup of a joke of his really backfired.
Mac then started to walk again but staggering as Arani was hugging him.
"You are arachnophobic?" A mischievous idea appeared in Hai's mind. That was probably the first time for her. "So... How about giving Arani away? To someone who is not arachnophobic." She was horrible at manipulating people.
"Oh, you know what?" Mac showed a smile. Hai had just given him a chance for a joke. "You just gave me a great idea! Why have I never thought of that!? Arani, quick, jump on my hand!" And so the spider jumped. "Good, good." Mac repeated and then closed his hand with the spider into a fist.
Hai thought that her plan had worked at first and was ecstatic. But her face completely changed when Mac smashed the poor spider. She only felt such a sense of despair back when she saw Lapido falling before the invaders.
"Y-you... you... How could you?" Hai said as tears flooded her eyes and face. She was trembling all over.
Mac was someone that sometimes would act dumb and fake being surprised by something as some sort of joke. But this time he was really shocked. He expected Hai to be a little upset, not for her to have a mental breakdown.
"No! It is ok! It is ok!" Mac hastily said. Another one of his jokes had backfired. "Look, look! Arani, come here!" And the spider jumped from his hair to his hand once again.
Hai felt like she was experiencing a miracle. He legs gave out in relief, and she just stayed there on the ground admiring the beauty of Arani. "How?" She managed, at least.
"Well, you see, this spider is actually immortal," Mac said. He thought about proving his words with examples, but he did not think that Hai's poor heart could take it anymore.
"Immortal?" Hai could not understand the concept of immortality fully. But she did feel an immense sense of happiness when the idea that Arani would never die came to her mind.
Mac did not share Hai's ideals, though. He supported himself on a tree with his free hand just like last time and lamented. "Holy Hevi! Immortality and spider! Two of the things that I hate the most combined." Mac was starting to have a mental breakdown, too, as he was reminded about the powers of Arani. "And this fucker had to set a spawn point inside my gorgeous hair of all places!" He eventually let himself fall on the ground in front of Hai.
Arani was hugging him again.
"Hey, weren't we supposed to be spying on the invaders?" Mac remembered after a while, layering on the ground.