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The voice came out of seemingly nowhere. It echoed from tree to tree, from bush to bush, from person to person.
Kincaid didn't recognise it.
It could only mean trouble.
Everyone armed themselves, battle stances taken. They had no idea who that was, or where it came from. Hell, they had no way of knowing if that even WAS a 'who'. You could never be sure of anything unknown in Iradith. Kincaid could feel sweat dripping down his face. He had his fists raised and feet planted into the hot dirt beneath him. Him and his friends were silent.
Well, not all his friends.
Orius, didn't seem... fazed?
Like... at all?
Orius was stood a few meters away, his posture straight and his fire out.
He looked... wait happy? The hell?
Kincaid stood up in confusion, too curious to care that there was a possible threat.
The point was, that Orius was happy.
VISIBLY happy.
And that never happened.
"Allow me to introduce to what I was talking about in the castle," Orius said, spinning around with outstretched arms, "I recommend you close your eyes."
And so they did, the group shielded their eyes, mainly hiding behind Zenobis's shield. A blinding light filled the forest, seemingly out of nowhere. They all waited a good minute, before hearing Orius laugh and... grab something? They all looked up from behind the shield and to their disbelief, Orius was hugging someone. Hugging. Orius was hugging someone. A girl, by the looks of it, the same age as them.
She had long, black hair that blocked any light that hit it. Her eyes were as green as the ivy that engulfed the forest the group was in. She had a grey cloak adorning her shoulders, and what looked like a white... something... beneath it. Kincaid would've said she looked perfect (Kamaria hit him on the shoulder), because honestly... she did. Her face was so evenly structured, her eyes glistened in the sunlight like sequins. But... something stopped him from saying so. Then he realised. She looked kind of... sick. Ghostly. Translucent. Her features seemed big on her, her green eyes like fragile glass, her bright red lips dry and crusty. He wouldn't be surprised if she burst into dust if Orius hugged her any tighter. The cloak looked heavy, as if it was going to bury her into the ground.
Zenobis cleared her throat, snapping Kincaid out of his staring faze.
"Mind introducing us to the girl?" she asked, Istrum nodding behind her supportively.
"Yeah and what's with the sceptre?" he asked, now leaning on the handle of his big hammer, eyebrow raised in interest. Kincaid hadn't even noticed the sceptre she was holding. He cursed at himself in his head, 'Am I going blind or something? It's bigger than her and I didn't notice it!' Kamaria chuckled. It was his turn to hit her.
"Guys, meet Queen," Orius said, holding his hand out towards the group. God, he looked so awkward, he clearly wanted to impress this girl, "Queen, meet my adventure group companions."
"So these are your friends you were telling me so much about?" She said, and damn oh boy was Kincaid surprised beyond belief. How could such a fragile, little, fledgeling sound so damn powerful? Her tone of voice was so assertive and confident, almost a bit cocky and arrogant. She strode towards them, with clear meaning in each of her steps. She may have been small, but she sure as hell didn't seem like it. He was impressed.
"Yeah, so this is Ze-" but Queen cut off whatever Orius was about to say, with a small dismissive wave of her skinny finger.
"Zenobis, Kamaria, Istrum and Kincaid; am I correct to assume?" she asked, with the same confidence as before. She was right, even pointing at the right person as she said their name. 'Even her questions sound like a statement,' Kincaid thought in utter shock.
"Yeah, how did you know who's who?" Orius asked, but Queen merely shrugged her shoulders, still facing the group.
"You can relax now you know, I'm not going to bite," she said, pointing to the positions the group was still in. They quickly got up and straightened themselves out, embarrassed slightly.
"Okay, so we know your name," Zenobis began, "But may I ask who you are? Last I checked, Orius doesn't socialise, like ever-"
"Unless he's going to set someone on fire."
"Yeah unless he's committing arson, my point exactly. So who are you, Queen?"
"And where did you come from?" asked Kamaria.
"It's rude to ask where someone's from," Queen answered Kamaria.
"No, I mean literally where did you come from. There was a blinding light and KAPAM, there you are," Kamaria corrected herself. A small oh escaped Queen's lips.
"Well, I don't like to speak about who I am, but since you are Orius' friends, I'll share something. I am his friend, I believe, and I am here to help you cross over into the mundane land," Queen said, giving small jazz hands and a really fake smile. Totally not suspicious, but she was stopped before it could get any more awkward. She tied her hair with a pair of sticks that she pulled from the sceptre, and sighed in what Kincaid could only assume was irritation. She took off the cloak, and Kincaid could now see her clearly. She was wearing a sort of wrap dress out of white fabric, with a golden seal holding it in place at her hip. Her shoulders were visibly, and they were just as ghostly pale as her face. She had a small waist and slim hips that were outlined by a small golden chain belt that was attached to the emblem. There was a distinct symbol on it. He recognised that symbol. It was an eye with lines beaming off of it. He couldn't remember what it was, much to his displeasure. He didn't have enough time to wonder further, as Queen continued talking.
"I am one of the last light witches, that's how I did the whole manifestation, or "kapam" as Kamaria called it. It's called "leganda manific", and it's where I bend the light around me and transfer my being into another area of light. It's pretty much teleportation if you want to avoid the convoluted explanation."
Light magic... The seal... The strange dress... oh shit!
"OH MY BIRDS ARE YOU PART OF THE NAVADEYI?" screamed Istrum, beating Kincaid in the remark.
Kincaid didn't know what to expect. She obviously wasn't going to pull off a disguise and scream, "Ah you got me!" She obviously wasn't going to burst into confetti. She obviously wasn't going to sing and dance because they got it right. However, he didn't expect her to look away and mumble, "Not exactly..."
That was not the response he had expected and felt awful as he could see some small tears form in the corners of her eyes.
It was Orius' turn to step in.
"Okay enough with the interrogation, she's going to help us and then we'll be able to celebrate like Kamaria suggested," Orius said, wrapping a hand around Queen's waist. She wiped away her tears before they could fall.
"Yes, right," Queen muttered, gaining her composure once more, "What we are going to need is a merging orb. Using this we will be able to open a portal and we'll be able to step into the Mundane realm, without limboding-"
"I'm sorry Queen," butted in Kamaria, her eyebrow raised, "What the bird is limboding?"
"Oh, it's not important, we just need to avoid it," Queen waved her hand, and continued with her plan. Kamaria was intrigued, but had to keep it to herself as Queen carried on, "so, we use the orb to open portals to the Mundane realm, find a suitable person as fast as imaginable, pull them in and push their alters out. Easy as. Any questions?"
She stepped away from Orius and lifted her sceptre, probably preparing to perform some more light magic, but was interrupted by a very loud throat clearing.
"AHEM," Istrum was the one who did said throat clearing.
Queen looked at them and saw that they all had their arms raised. They all had questions. She only sighed and lowered her sceptre. She hated questions, almost as much as she hated the strange forming fog that the group had failed to realise had followed them. But what could she do?
"Okay that was rhetorical, but I guess you guys have an issue with the plan," Queen said, looking to Orius with a cold glare. He had previously promised her that his friends wouldn't be too nosy with her ideas. Shrugging, Orius offered a small smile to her, since there was nothing he could do.
Kincaid watched Queen with a questioning gaze.
"No. No issues, we just have some questions about it," Kamaria said, lowering her arm, "For example, where are we going to get a merb?"
"A what?"
"A merb; or merging orb as you called it. I didn't like the name so I made a nicer one."
"That's- that's not how-"
"Just let her have it, Queen, there's no point in arguing with Kam on this kind of stuff."
Queen rolled her eyes. Orius warned her that Kamaria was like that, but she didn't expect her to be... so much like that. Another irritating sigh was let out from her thin lips, "I suppose I should tell you then. In a Bacadolian."
Silence.
Kincaid and Kamaria tensed up incredibly at the sound of that name. Everyone did, even Orius. Everything at that moment froze. From the fog that was moving about, to the firefox that was mid-jump, to the leaves of the trees. Even time stopped dead in its tracks as that cursed word was bought up. Only Queen didn't realise the shift of mood. It wasn't her fault. She didn't know the third rule.
"Alright now can we go final-"
"We're not going there," Kincaid said, a hand resting on Kamaria's shoulder, eyebrows knitted together in worry, "I'm sorry but no good things come from Bacadolians."
"Fine, I'll go fetch one for you. You will be able to sit on the edge of the water or by some trees or something."
"We're not going," Zenobis spoke up. She didn't want her friends to be distressed on this quest. Rule number three was there for a reason.
"Oh my birds! I do not care if you guys have an issue with Baciis! I'm doing this to help you, I don't have all day!" Queen exasperated.
"Queen, this is a personal problem with them two, seriously don't press on it," Orius said, surprisingly. They were all surprised at how he was defending the couple, but again, rule number three was rule number three, and even he couldn't argue with it.
Queen looked around her, at the group sitting there, in stillness and silence. She thought many things in that moment, many of them being unpleasant, but amongst those thoughts, she understood that whatever the reason behind their stubbornness, it was very personal. She may know little to nothing on socialising, but she was intelligent enough to make the connection that:
Bacci = no... for some reason.
She'd have to work around it.
...
...
...
Or maybe if she just explained it right...
"Look, if there was another way, we would do that instead, but this is the only safe way for us to do this without becoming stranded in that hell world," Queen turned to pick up the cloak and put it around herself. The fog was beginning to cancel out the Iradethian heat.
"What's the unsafe way?" asked Kincaid. He'd kill her if Kamaria got hurt.
"Limboding," was all she said.
The group was in silence for the next few minutes. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. Just earlier they were all jumping with joy at the thought of being on a quest given by the king, now they were all sulking in the middle of the forest, not knowing what to do, with a forming fog that no one seemed to acknowledge.
After a while, the group dispersed from their little huddle.
Zenobis was skipping rocks into the river (missing every time), Istrum was practising his mud shots to distract himself from the tension in the group, Kincaid and Kamaria were debating silently whether or not to go through with this, while Orius was begging silently for Queen to stay.
No one knew what to do, or what to say.
Iradith was weird and unpredictable. You were never safe, no matter what you would do. But somehow, despite the chaotic nature of the lands, civilisation thrived. Against all odds, humanity managed to find a way around it. That was why Queen was finding it so hard to understand why Bacadolians were such a soft spot for the strange family of misfits. It seemed so small and trivial. It was just a lake for god's sake, a lake with merfolk in it! Their ancestors had to deal with birds for god's sake, and they couldn't even deal with some small Baccis! She was beginning to grow offended by their strange behaviour. Did they think they were better than the Bacci? Were these humans so self-absorbed? How dare they!
Queen decided she had enough.
Time to start shooting back.
"So, you two are bonded?" she asked, looking across from where she sat on the floor to the couple in question.
"Yes we are," Kamaria sadly said, the situation still haunting her in the back of her mind. She lifted her hand to reveal a tattooed flower on the back, Kincaid showing his as well. They were small hiccups.
"Happily," they said simultaneously.
"For how long? You two seem awfully young to be committed," Queen said.
"Well, we love each other and have gone through many things as a pair, so it only seemed right," Kincaid sighed, leaning his back against the tree bark behind him, the leather belt that rested on his chest making a strange noise when he did so.
"I agree, it does seem to be right," Queen said, now standing up to walk over to them, "since you two seem to be equally stubborn and brainless."
"Queen," Orius hissed behind her, "I know you have a problem with communication, but please, you must know that it's wrong to insult people."
"I came here to help you," Queen said, still maintaining eye contact with the couple, disregarding the words of Orius. He had no effect on her, "And I intend to carry out my promise-"
"Why?" asked a voice behind them. Istrum had taken a break from his earth magic, and stood with his hammer swung around his shoulder, "Why are you so eager to help us?"
"Because of Orius!"
"You're lying," he said calmly, and Queen shot him a dirty look. She was about to say something, but Istrum continued before she could butt in, "I'm an earth warlock, I can feel your heartbeat increase when you speak, vibrations in the earth and all. You are lying."
Shit: that was the only thing Queen could think of.
I knew it: was what Kincaid was thinking.
Queen glared at him, her eye bags becoming more emphasised and harsh on her pale skin.
"You humans are really annoying me."
" 'You humans'? So you're not who you say you are, or what you say are," Istrum observed.
"She is human Istrum, she's just a loner," Orius stepped in, "Listen-"
"How do you know this chick?" Istrum said, ignoring what Orius was about to say.
Orius flinched. He looked really uncomfortable, and so did Queen for a matter of fact. They glanced at each other, before Orius finally answered, "I found her, a while back when we were partners, back when 'Orius and Istrum' was a duo. Since then we've been... helping... each other."
"King of being vague over here," commented Zenobis, finally joining the conversation.
"It's a bit complicated to explain. Hell, I'm not even entirely sure how it happened. But that doesn't matter. What does matter is the fact we have someone who can help us do this stupid quest," Orius said, "I thought you guys would be happy."
They all stood in silence once more.
God, it was taking forever.
Only one thing was becoming more and more apparent as the whole ordeal was playing out. Kincaid hated it. He couldn't stand the fact that it was the only way. They could try 'limboding', but maybe Queen was avoiding that word for a reason. He mumbled gibberish to himself, before glancing over at his partner. He apologised in his head, knowing full well she was listening.
Rule number three: Bacadolians are off-limits...
... it was high time for an exception...
"Alright, let's go."
He stood up and picked up his large rucksack. Kamaria scrambled up to help him, while the rest of the group was utterly dumbfounded. They could only stare with blank expressions and open mouths. What happened to rule number three?
"Wait so we're going to the Bacadolian?" Zenobis asked in disbelief, "You can't be serious! What about-"
"We do this quest, we're set for life, I think that's a fair deal," Kincaid said, now fully ready to set off. Smugly smiling, Queen armed her sceptre, ready to perform another leganda manific, before being stopped by Kamaria.
"Um could we not kapam ourselves there?" she asked, cowering behind Kincaid.
"Why not?" Queen asked, lowering her sceptre once again.
"I don't know, I've never kapamed and I'm scared it'll go wrong," she said. Usually, Kincaid would laugh at his partner's silly worries, but this was one of those rare times where he wholeheartedly agreed with her. Queen had lied to them, they definitely couldn't trust her under any circumstances. Kamaria smiled at what she was hearing in Kincaid's head.
"You know what! Fine! We've wasted enough time already! We'll walk there! Woopty doo I can't wait for my feet to burn!" Queen said, waving her arms in the air dramatically while walking off with the group desperately trying to scramble behind her.
"I said no magic Queen!" yelled Kamaria, now becoming annoyed at the woman's attitude.
"What are you talking about?! I'm not doing anything?" Queen said, equally fed up with the amount of interaction she was being forced through.
"You're the only light witch here! Only you could be making that blinding light!" Kamaria screamed.
"What? What blinding light?"
Kamaria pointed into the direction where they had come from. In the distance, there was an incredibly bright light, coming right at them; very, very fast. The fog had become extremely thick, it was no wonder they were only realising the light then... or the fog for a matter of fact.
Not that it mattered -
"RUN!" Queen tried to scream.
- it was far, far too late.
And on that sour note, the group was engulfed by a blinding light.