It was a custom of the Sun Grow Tribe to share tales over the bonfire. Every member would join together at least once a season, and everyone would contribute with a piece of wood to fuel the fire. It was a dear and cared tradition the tribe slowly forgot since the invaders came.
But now that their wrong-doers were no more, every bit of tradition would return in full force. The tribe would make their most prominent fire pit ever, and then they would share the tale of their saviors and deeds, even if everyone already knew their stories.
The fable would be embellished and hardly faithful to the original, but the core would be truthful. An eccentric outsider showered in mysteries joined forces with the fiery daughter of their tribe. Together, they wiped out almost all the invaders, with the outsider leading and the tribe's daughter supporting. It was a glorious epic adventure that culminated in the death of an evil cultivator at the hands of the outsider. Or so they wished, for the story continued a little more.
The dreadful and confusing duel between both their saviors was the actual climax of the tale. No one in the tribe could understand what led to the fight, and they would not dare to speculate, for they understood that the conflict was beyond them. They could only watch, dumbfounded, as the combat concluded with their fiery daughter falling into the healing red sea, defeated.
Mac stood there facing the waters. What was going through his head was a mystery to the tribe folks. The answer was just excruciating pain, though.
"HOLY THE FUCK!!! AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Mac roared in his mind as he fought the urge to corner on the ground, for he knew that would only worsen the pain.
Oh, how he regretted headbutting Hai with a cracked skull. And the reason why he did that? Because he thought it would be "cool" to end the fight that way. He was that stupid!
It was as if dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphin were oozing through the cracks in his skull because there was not an inch of happiness or satisfaction inside Mac. He wished he was dead a thousand times as he could not move without sharpening the pain.
But Mac would not die, no matter how much he wished; or refused to shower in the Crimson Coast. Anyone else would have perished to the wound in his place, but not him. He was even more stubborn than Hai, with all things considered.
"Hai." It seemed a bit of serotonin still lasted in his brain. Despite how the duel turned out, Mac held no grudge against her. He actually adored her. For someone to face him for that long, there was no way he could not respect them. Mac could not wait to make Hai an Hevi.
Mac cringed when his smile alone elevated the pain to another level. "OH, MY HEVI!!!" He refused to dive into the sea, no matter how easy that was. He would have to rely on his friends that were coming for help as he was confident he would not find a cure for his type of wound on this remote tribe. "Wait, that is right! Where are those fuckers?"
He remembered the project they had hatched together in the night. Hai and him were supposed to scout the enemy and wait until his friends arrived for support, but the plan had burned to nothing when the invaders set the tribe on fire. Either way, they were still supposed to arrive by morning, as they had said.
With all the pain his broken body had to offer, Mac turned his body away from the Crimson Coast in the opposite direction to look sky-high. But he only saw the usual cloudless blue sky. "Huh, maybe they will be getting here by foot. That must be why it is taking so long."
"But then, in that case, it means I will have to walk home!" Mac could not have that in his state. He was about to suck up the pain to grab his Komyu Stone in his pocket, but then there was a disturbance in his head.
It was like a little bunny fizzling in the bushes. Arani jumped around frenetically on Mac's hair. "AAAHHH!!! You hell spawn! Stop!" But the spider did not. Mac was in too much pain to ratiocinate what was wrong with his pet until he heard a peculiar and soothing sound behind him.
"Boiling water?!" With his so-called infinite experience, Mac's fractured mind rapidly reacted. Pushing through the pain, Mac shifted his stance smoothly and precisely and looked at where the sound was coming from.
Not so far from the sand, in the near waveless red sea, Mac noticed the dozens of bubbles forming and exploding on the water's surface. The concentration of the disturbance was in the exact place where Hai had fallen. "Something is coming." His smile hurt the most. He had experienced similar events before.
From the Crimson Coast, as if reborn, someone arose from the wine water. There was a striking resemblance to the eager-to-help and stubborn Hai. But it was as if every inch of childish and rushy trait had vanished, washed away by the healing sea.
With a pair of smoldering wings of fire on her back, the stellar woman ascended above the water. Her coppery skin brightly shined as if it feeds off the attention and the awe of everyone there present. Her fiery long red hair now shared a tone of golden glow as it floated around the space as if gravity itself was unworthy of touching it. This seemly divine existence emanated an air of reverence that would dazzle anyone who even dared to look her in the eyes. It was probably a good thing that she kept her eyes shut close.
Mac touched his lips to assure himself he was smiling. The pain was still there, but now it was absolutely overwhelmed by his sense of excitement. It didn't matter how high the rate of evasion of his happy chemicals was; their production worked at a breakneck pace, sufficing for what he lacked.
The divine figure floated peacefully, seemingly in a sleeping state. It was like a painting beyond the reach of anyone blessed to look at it. That was the case only for the tribe, though, as Mac thought too highly of himself to be stunted by someone else's appearance. "Hey, what is up?" He tried to stir up a reaction with a monotone greeting.
It worked, for the woman who rose from the waters finally opened her eyes. Mac was eager to see how they looked, but a front of heat erupted from the awakened woman instantaneously that briefly blinded him. Mac had almost forgotten that fire produced heat after spending time with Hai.
The shower of heat was similar to the sun's when it reached its grandest size in its warmest season. The type of heat that would force anyone to seek shade or water. Mac's eyelids flicked with tears as the heat bothered and worsened his wounds, but the warmth was not enough to disrupt his highly trained body.
But the same could not be said about the bystanders behind him. The heat emanated managed to reach them without losing much of its potency. After being broken from their trance, they immediately left hurting urges as they felt their body burn.
Mac was about to call for the heatstroke to stop, but it suddenly vanished before he could say anything. The lasting burning sensation was still bothersome, but the coast breeze worked to refresh a little.
"I am sorry." Mac thought he heard something as he cleared tears out of his eyes. Being finally able, he noticed the now completely awakened "Hai."
Once the divine muse defying the laws of gravity now covered her face with her hands as her legs trembled in shame and distress. She was still a lovely and beyond figure with her shiny like-crystals tears cleansing through the brief gaps between her fingers.
"I am so so so sorry." She cried a bit more. "I did not mean to release that pain onto you. It has been so long that I momentarily forgot how to control my powers. I went even as far as to hurt Hai's family. I am so sorry."
The sudden change of turns left Mac dumbfounded without knowing what to say. That was just his case, though.
"Don't you fret with us, Fire Godness!"
"Yes, we are the people from the Sun Grow Tribe. We can only take your heat as a blessing from your kindness, Light Diva."
"Your kind words and care warm us in a way we never experienced before, Crimson Monarch."
The frivolous and passionate chants from the tribe continued for a good while. At first, Mac found it funny the multiple titles they came up with and how those tribal people knew of those words. But it went for so long that Mac felt the pain striking his head again. "HEY! Shut up already! I think she gets it."
The tribe people quieted at once. It seemed they still respected Mac enough to obey him. But it wasn't only them that had calmed down.
The fair fairy's tears had finally stopped. At least, the continuous bombing of praise and love had quenched her mood. "Are you all seriously not mad at me?" She asked with her hands still covering her face.
Fearing that the situation was about to repeat itself, Mac spoke up before the people behind him could. "As you heard, we are all fine!" His voice was loud enough to shun away the tribe folks from interrupting. He even added a bit of Hidden Will to his words. "Everyone here already voiced their opinion pretty clearly, so stop sulking!"
Mac heard faint whispers from his behind. It was probably the people not enjoying how he referred to their goodness. Luckily for them, the winged woman had his full attention as she finally moved her hands to show her face.
Her eyes shined like the sun, almost blinding but at the same time somehow captivating. It was like a mixture of purity and holiness. It really helped to sell on the goddess thing. Her gaze left the tribe paralyzed in wonder while Mac pondered if her eyes could illuminate the dark, akin to flashlights.
But it did not matter how much Mac tried to act like he was unshaken by beauty and dazzling eyes, for he still needed a few seconds to notice the lady pressed eyebrows and quivering lips. She was still evidently concerned about her previous outburst of power.
Mac caressed his forehead as an additional and different headache afflicted him. While he took time to recollect his thoughts, someone else stepped up to talk.
"Uhm, excuse me, Ms. Fairy." It was the old lady who told him about the Crimson Coast and the one that tried to stop Hai from fighting him, Miss Florinda, he painstakingly remembered. She was acting awkward and out of place when speaking to the so titled Ms. Fairy. "Forgive my presumptions, but... You are not our little Hai, are you?" The elder managed.
"So they noticed it too," Mac thought. After all, following common sense, it was expected to assume that Hai and the lady they worshipped were the same person. But there was this difference, this fundamental contrast in their energy that stopped anyone from making the natural comparison.
"No. I am sorry. I am not Hai." Ms. Fairy answered right away. "I am... My name is Ira. Right now, I am borrowing Hai's body at her request."
The tribe behind Mac repeated her name like gospel, but unfortunately, Miss Florinda did not share their devotion. "Y-you..." She stumbled. "Is Hai alright? What happened to her? I-i mean, with all due respect, Goddess Ira." She desperately tried to sound more respectful.
Mac observed the situation silently as he felt it was not his place to intervene this time. He could not be less surprised by the fact that this Ira person was another entity controlling Hai's body. He was far too used to this type of archetype. Actually, he had an extremely close experience with split personalities in specific.
"Please, you do not have to worry, Master Florinda." Ira showed a smile that forced loud gasps of adoration from the tribe behind Mac. "Hai is safe and sound inside this body. She was just left unconscious after such an intense battle. I am only stepping up for her."
Mac desperately fought the urge to awkwardly scratch the back of his broken head when Ira mentioned the battle they had for his definition of a funny bit. Luckily, his attention shifted to something else. Something more interesting, he would say.
"Hey, hey, hey." He half giggled as he lightly pushed the seemingly satisfied Miss Florinda behind him. "What is up, Ira? Can you tell me what you mean by stepping up?" Mac's tone was now weirdly excited and casual. He could swear he heard someone whispering "blasphemy" behind his back, but Mac would have to try his best if he wanted to care less.
Again with frowned eyebrows, Ira looked more troubled than ever. "Hm... Greetings, Mac Key Kast." She promptly raised her right arm to shake Mac's hand, but since they were so far apart, separated by the shore, she awkwardly morphed her compliment into a stiff wave with a lovely but forced smile.
Silence striked between them, with only some enthusiastic clappings from the tribe and the whispers of the wind to fill their void. "I am sorry." She shyly hid her hand away as her face burned red.