Dragons were a mighty race of beings and ever since the first one was spotted over a millennia ago, they gained a reputation for many different things. They were known to be prideful, powerful, wise, but above all else, they were known to be greedy. Guarding their treasures with such ferocity that any who dared to take it from them met a grisly end. There were also a few things that weren't associated with dragons, one of those things being fear. If you were within Camelot and happened to be walking its streets, you'd see a dragon who not only upheld the reputation of their kin, but also contradicted it. For you see, Vera Pendragon was a greedy woman, her treasure was her family, and one of her family was currently laying inside of the church in a coma. This is where the contradiction comes in, for the news had managed to illicit a response from Vera that dragons weren't supposed to feel, fear. Vera was the red dragon queen, the most powerful of the red dragons and had learned a great many things over her long life, but there was still doubt within her heart, a doubt that gave rise to an ever-growing fear within her.
Fear that she wouldn't be able to help the person whom she regarded as a grandchild, despite being many generations older than him. She was a red dragon, her particular skill set revolved around destruction. There was little she could actually do to help, she wasn't a blue dragon who could use healing flames. That didn't mean she would give up, she picked up a few tricks over the years, and she would go through all of them if it meant she could protect her treasure. As soon as she heard about what happened and found where he was being kept, she immediately left the castle to find him. She had a few guesses as to what was wrong, but without being able to observe him, she couldn't make an accurate assumption as of yet.
Within the church, Artemis was still getting over the shock of what she had just heard. Then she looked into Inari's eyes, all of her panic and anxiety seemed to slowly melt away. She could feel herself beginning to calm down the longer she looked into them. She broke eye contact after a few seconds and took a deep breath. "Well, Lady Inari, I believe Leanna should be in the castle at this moment. As for Ulrich, well..." Artemis paused for a moment, thinking on what to say to the goddess in front of her. Normally, she wouldn't be telling anyone about Ulrich's current condition, but Inari seemed to give off a friendly and welcoming aura that made it clear that she had no bad intentions. "...I'm afraid he is currently in a coma deeper within the church. The saints have been doing their best to heal him, but it appears that nothing works. We managed to keep him alive and heal most of his injuries, but he still doesn't wake. If you wish to speak to the one in charge, his sister..." Artemis was interrupted when Inari simply raised her hand up.
"Can you escort me to his room? I would like to help him, if possible." Artemis noticed that, despite everything she had told her, that her warm smile never left her face. While she was a bit hesitant, she knew that there were people capable of bringing her down if she tried something. Then again, that was just the logical part of her brain, something else told her to trust the goddess in front of her. Perhaps it was her divine aura, which had yet to change from its warm and welcoming atmosphere. Normally, a deity's aura would have fluctuated as the conversation went on, yet, she still seemed warm, happy even.
"I can, but I must warn you not to do anything suspicious. The ones guarding him are quite protective." Artemis replied while making her way towards the hallway leading to Ulrich's room. Inari simply continued to smile as she trailed behind Artemis, her foxes following closely behind. As they approached the room, Inari took note of the two female knights that were sitting next to the door. One had blood red hair, while her partner was a snowy white, both appeared to still be wearing bandages from the injuries they must have sustained. She took notice of the few pieces of armor they were wearing, along with the new looking clothes they wore underneath them. The two stood when Artemis and Inari walked into the room, both grabbing their respective weapons and following them inside.
Artemis and Inari walked up to the bed that Ulrich was placed on. Artemis looked down at him, inspecting the different injuries that had yet to heal. She was beginning to lose control of her emotions the longer she looked down at him. Just as she was about to be overwhelmed, she felt Inari place a hand on her shoulder. Surprisingly, the mere touch of her hand sent a soothing feeling throughout her body that seemed to calm her emotions. She looked over her shoulder at the older goddess, who simply looked at her with that same smile on her face, though her eyes seemed to communicate a feeling of understanding. Artemis took a deep breath and composed herself as Inari made her way to the other side of the bed. "The healers have all done what they could, the injuries that remain on his body will have to heal naturally because using healing miracles and magic too much will end up causing harm to his body and magic pathways. That's also the reason we are waiting to fix his left eye. Thankfully, the more serious injuries were healed first, but the cause for his coma is still unknown."
Inari leaned over the bed to inspect Ulrich closer, looking over his body and memorizing every single injury that still lingered on his body. Artemis noticed that her eyes seemed to be emanating a slight glow as she looked him over. The most crucial detail that Artemis took note of, was that Inari's expression had completely changed, as did her divine aura. The warm smile that was ever present on her face was now replaced with a small frown of sadness, her eyes appearing to be holding back tears. Her aura, while still radiating warmth, seemed to now have a gloomy undercurrent to it. It was now clear to Artemis that the goddess in front of her had some sort of history with Ulrich, but what that history was remained unknown to her. 'Even if I asked, I'm sure I wouldn't get a straight answer.' As Artemis thought this, Inari placed a hand on top of Ulrich's forehead with a faint smile on her face.
"The reason he hasn't awoken is a simple one. Whatever happened to him, caused his soul to fracture slightly. It's still whole, but the cracks present need to mend themselves. When I first felt what happened, I was afraid his soul would require a bonding ceremony. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. I can help expedite his healing a bit, if you would allow me Lady Artemis." She looked towards Inari and took in the information that she just heard. Artemis had checked his soul many times, yet she hadn't noticed any fractures present. The only thing she could think of, is that this goddess's eyes were better than even hers. She then pushed that to the back of her mind as she focused on the last thing Inari had told her.
"You can speed up his healing? It won't have any harmful side effects will it?" Artemis asked with a worried tone, before shaking her head. "I'm not sure if I'm the one you should be asking, I think that responsibility should lie with his sister." Inari tilted her head slightly, her eyes flicking from Artemis, to the ground, then back to Artemis before offering a regretful smile.
"Yes, normally, I would seek out Alicia Pendragon about this matter, but as Ulrich is currently your chosen avatar and I'm pressed on time, I would prefer if you answered in her stead. If it helps with your decision, there will be no harm brought to him. In fact, he will more than likely be stronger than before." Artemis was torn, she knew that she should inform Alicia before making any decisions regarding Ulrich's health. However, wouldn't Alicia agree to what Inari was proposing? She knew that claiming Ulrich as her chosen avatar was a flimsy excuse at best, especially when considering the fact that she was sure that there were other deities who more than likely placed some kind of blessing upon him. 'No, that wasn't important right now.' She had to give her an answer. Taking a deep breath, Artemis peered into Inari's eyes before turning her gaze to the two that were standing guard.
Inari saw her look towards the two who entered with them, realizing that she was looking for anyone to help her decide her answer, even though they both knew she had already come to a decision. Inari closed her eyes for moment and extended her aura out to the two by the door. She could feel the storm of emotions within them, how conflicted they were about what they had just heard, but yet the negative emotions they held were aimed mostly at themselves. 'Curious' thought Inari. Despite their stormy emotions, she could feel a flicker of hope ignite within them, it seemed to grow stronger as the three seemed to be reaching an understanding. Inari opened her eyes and cast her gaze back down at Ulrich, a small smile etched upon her face. 'It seems you have very loyal followers Ulrich. If I didn't come prepared, I'm sure both of these two would have given up either of their eyes for you without a second thought.' Inari knew of two people who would be glad to hear of the loyalty of Ulrich's followers, if only to assuage their fears of what was to come.
Inari looked back to Artemis who had finally come to her decision. Rather than speak, she only offered Inari a nod in confirmation. She turned her sight from Artemis to the two by the door and saw both offered their own nod towards her. "I am pleased with your decision." Inari clapped her hands together twice, a moment later, the white fox carrying the box in its mouth made its way into the room and lifted its head to offer the box to the goddess. She grinned at the fox as she bent down slightly and gently plucked the box from her companion's mouth. The three others within the room were at a loss for words when they saw the fox bow its head down before it made its way out to join the other fox outside of the room.
As they fixed their gaze back to the goddess beside Ulrich, they saw her put the box onto the bed and lift the lid up slowly. Her hands reached inside and plucked out a jar that was wrapped with paper that had strange lettering, patterns, and symbols that, at a glance, appeared to be similar to the runes Ulrich used. Upon a second look, one would be able to make out the differences easily enough. With one hand, she closed the box, while the other placed the jar next to Ulrich's head. She looked up to the three in the room and, with her ever present smile, spoke, "I'm going to start with fixing his eye, so if any of you are squeamish at all, I recommend looking away." Surprising to all but Inari, the redhead actually diverted her gaze away from the scene about to unfold. The question on their minds was answered shortly after.
"I'm not squeamish or anything, but my ability has been volatile as of late. I'm not a hundred percent sure how it may react to whatever it is she's about to do, ya know." The white haired knight beside her seemed to take note of something she said, but offered no words. As no other words were said, Inari continued on. She opened the jar, tearing the paper wrapped around it. Before revealing what was inside, she moved her hands to Ulrich's left eye, her hands beginning to glow with a golden color. She held her hands over the eye for a moment before using one of them to open his eyelid. The other hovered over the area before it completely laid itself atop his eye. A few moments passed before a few fingers formed themselves into a claw and grabbed at the eyeball within.
"Lady Artemis, you can use divine energy proficiently, yes?" When Artemis responded with a nod, Inari continued, "Very good, I must take my hands away for a moment, if you could hold your divine energy over his eye while I retrieve the replacement, it would be very much appreciated." Artemis wasted no time in placing her hands over Ulrich's exposed eye socket, a silver glow emanating from them as she did so. Inari then retrieved the eyeball within the jar, replacing it with the ruined one in her hand.
"Why are you completely replacing his eye when it could be healed?" Artemis asked, a slight hint of anger in her voice. Inari looked up at Artemis, her expression remaining unchanged.
"His eye could be healed, however, it wouldn't be returned to its previous state. Lingering effects of the loss of his sight would remain. It would be an exploitable weakness, one that he does not have need of. What I will be gifting him will not only return his sight to him, but will offer him a great boon when he awakes. One that he will be needing to face the coming tribulations. Please continue providing your divine energy, I will need both hands for the installation of his new eye." She leaned over Ulrich and, her hands still alight in golden light, began to affix the gift to his eye socket. "Of course, I could have given him a normal eye and, while I would have been less than content, fulfilled my purpose for coming here. However, I know of two people who would be quite cross with me if I didn't grant him this gift. Of course, my own desire to grant him this boon made such a possibility unlikely." Artemis's eyebrow lifted with curiosity. Two people were not only able to influence a goddess to such a degree, but also able to convince her to offer Ulrich a gift in the form of his new eye? That doesn't include the fact that she herself desired to give him a new eye. Who were they and why did they care about him? Why did she continually refer to this new eye as a gift? Thoughts for later she supposed.
Another thing she noticed while she spoke, was the look of fondness that flashed across Inari's face. There was more to her appearance and her offer of assistance than she was letting on. Whatever it was, it wasn't malevolent, but it still bothered her. Just as she was beginning to shake off those thoughts, Inari straightened her back and looked down at her handiwork with a smile that held a tangible warmth, not the usual one she had plastered on her face. "Done, you may remove your hands now Lady Artemis. I was pleasantly surprised that his body accepted the eye as easily as it did. Perhaps the divinity already within his body helped it acclimate to the replacement. No matter, I should move on to the hard part before we are interrupted." Inari began to place her hands over Ulrich's chest, however, Artemis paid her no mind and decided to take a peek at Ulrich's new eye. She lifted the eyelid gently and held in a gasp as she saw the replacement. She looked at Inari before looking back to the orb. Looking back at her was no normal eye, not in the slightest. For the eye looking back at her was the same as the fox like eyes of Inari.