As the cabin doors opened, it revealed two maidens, holding each other and shivering in fear. They were the witch sisters that lived in the small cabin. However, Lyte did not know they were witches yet. One was wearing a pastel green dress with white ribbons and a pair of green kitten heels. She was also wearing a royal blue amulet around her neck that was giving out an eerie glow. The other one was wearing a lacy golden yellow dress with black rhinestones decorating parts of it and a pair of golden mary janes. She was also wearing the same jewellery as her sister.
Both of them had long straight hair that was as dark as coal. The green dressed one had her hair until her waist while the other one had her hair down all the way to her knees. Both of them had bangs that slightly covered their eyes although for the green dressed lady, her eyes were completely out of sight from the hair covering it. It was a wonder she could see perfectly fine. The other one had her bangs separate in the middle and curled hung at the side of her face. The most distinct difference between them was their eyes. The green dressed lady had eyes as green as emerald that could be found in mines, similar to those belonging to Lyte. The yellow dresses lady had eyes as black as ink, so dark that the irises was one with the pupils.
They looked around to make sure their attacker was gone before walking out to thank their saviour. They had a teardrop sweat on their head each as they saw Lyte smiling proudly while celebrating like a little kid. One of the sisters who was wearing the green dress decided called out to get Lyte's attention.
"H-hello, sir?"
"Ya, I am the bes- Huh? Oh, hello fair maidens. How may I be of service to you two young ladies today?" Lyte awkwardly said after trying to make himself seemed as mature as he should be, knowing very well the two girls saw his whole celebratory dance a moment ago. A lot of embarrassment for poor Lyte that day. First with Snow after the weird invitation, then the ogre with his failed counter attack, and now the two ladies in front of him with his immature act at a small victory.
"Did you defeat that ogre?"
"I do not see anyone else here who could have done so,"
"Oh, well then, thank you very much for saving us, kind sir. That ogre had been terrorising us for days, demanding us to be his wives, or else he will kill us both. We were so scared we did not know what to do. Thank the angels someone out there heard our prayers and sent a brave warrior to save us,"
"All in a day's work, miss. My mother had always taught me to be kind and help others who are in need, even if they are strangers,"
"Oh my, there is a gash on your arm!" the other sister wearing the yellow dress suddenly chimed in as she noticed scarlet red liquid dripping from Lyte's arm.
Only when she said it out loud did Lyte felt the stinging sensation on his left arm. There was a deep wound there, trailing from his shoulder to his elbow in a straight line, seemingly from a sharp blade. Blood was oozing out of the wound very quickly. Lyte did not remember getting hurt by the ogre, so what in the world made that?
"Oh, it is nothing. Just a small scratch. Nothing to worry about," Lyte said through gritted teeth, the pain started to get him.
"A-are you sure? Why don't you come in and I will patch that up for you?"
"No, no. It is quite alright. I can handle it myself. No need to trouble yourselves,"
Thinking back now, Lyte has nothing to say about his actions then. He needed the aid the sisters were offering. However, he did not want to be seen as a weak man in front of two ladies. His swore his pride would be the death of him one day.
"Sir, we insist. You helped us get rid of that scary ogre and got hurt in the process. It is the least we can do for you. Please, let us help," the other sister insisted.
Seeing their persistence and knowing very well that the closest healer was going to be far away, Lyte decided to accept their help. He knew better than to resist and end up dying from blood lost. In the end, Snow might really be the reapress to collect his soul if he passed away.
Lyte followed the green dress maiden to the living room and was offered to sit on the couch while the other sister went further into the house to get the first aid kit. This was when Lyte realised the two ladies were witches.
The cabin was full of shelves packed with many different elixirs and potions. There seemed to be a potion for everything. There was also a shelf full spell books and multiple magic items on it such as a crystal ball and a human skull. Furthermore, there was a black cat who meowed at Lyte as it saw a new person in its territory.
While Lyte observed the small space, the other sister came back into the room holding a small briefcase containing all the healing items she needed. She set the briefcase on a small table in front of the couch Lyte was sitting on.
"Can you maybe remove your shirt, sir?" the lady said as she opened the briefcase.
"U-uh?! Is that really necessary? C-can I maybe just roll my sleeves up?" Lyte was caught off guard and he blushed.
"The wound is very close to your shoulder, sir. If you roll up your sleeves, I will not be able to tend to that part of the wound. It is best if you remove your shirt,"
"O-oh. Alright then," Lyte reluctantly and carefully removed his shirt. He had never shown neither his top part nor his lower part naked to a woman before so he was a little shy. It turned out he was not the only one. A hint of red slowly crept onto the twoo ladies's faces.
After he removed his shirt, the lady in the yellow dress immediately started to clean his wound with a damp cloth while her sister started to chat with Lyte.
"My name is Laura and this is my younger sister, Lisa,"
"My name is Lyte, pleased to meet you two,"
"The pleasure is all mine. If you don't mind me asking, Lyte, what brought a young human like you here? "
"Oh, I am on a quest to protect the cursed Wind Goddess Statue. I was told by a friend back home that someone now has a hold of it and intended to use to destroy the Sylph Clan,"
"That is very noble of you. But why do you feel like you need to do this? You could have just left it for someone else to deal with,"
"That is true. But as a said earlier, my mother raised me to be as helpful to society as I can, so I'll do just that,"
"I see. Well, I represent the people you helped and will help in the future to tell you your help is greatly appreciated."
"Oh, erm, well no need to thank me. But you're welcome,"
"Though I have one question. Your smell. It's different from a human. Why is that?"
"Oh really? Maybe it's because I am a keeper, the Griffin to be precise,"
"The Griffin?!" both sisters exclaimed at the same time. At this point, Lyte's wound had already been healed using a healing elixir. It looked as if nothing even happened to him.
"Yeah, as unbelievable as it seemed. And thank you for patching me up, Miss Lisa. I really should be going now though, "
"Oh of course. We are sorry for keeping you from your mission for so long,"
"It's okay. Thank you both. You've been great hostesses. Goodbye, ladies," Lyte said as he picked up his bloodied shirt and his stuff up and began to walk out of the cabin.
Before he could get far from the cabin, the younger witch sister ran out after him, carrying a new, orange shirt and the briefcase in which she kept her healing items along with a small bag containing some stuff she would need for the road. She had also changed her outfit to be one more suitable for travelling. She wore a purple turtleneck that showed her shoulders, a red miniskirt, a pair of black leggings and a pair of purple sneakers. Of course, her blue amulet was still around her neck. It seemed like it possessed a special meaning to Lisa.
"W-wait, Lyte. Here, a new shirt for you," Lisa handed Lyte the shirt as she reached him.
"Oh, t-thank you very much. Sorry for the trouble. But why do you have a baggage with you?" Lyte took the shirt from her hands and put it on, keeping his bloodied clothes in his bag to be cleaned later. One thing was for sure, the blood stain would never leave the shirt. He was going to have to explain himself to Snow later. He had to figure out how he could get his hands on some needle and tread to fix it too.
"I have decided to join you in your journey. I believe I can be of use to you in the future. Please bring me along,"
"Are you sure? What did your sister think about this?"
"I have discussed with her and she agreed to let me go with you. She trust you will make sure I'm safe,"
"This is going to be a very long and very dangerous journey though. Are you very certain?"
"I know what I'm getting myself into. I am as certain about this as I am certain that you will be there to protect me if there is danger, just like today," the determination in Lisa's eyes made it very hard for Lyte to say no.
After a while of getting certainty from Lisa, Lyte agreed to let Lisa went along with him on his journey. Lyte was still scared because he was not as strong as Lisa claimed him to be and he worried that he might not be able to protect her. But he swore to himself that he would do anything to protect her, even if it meant putting his own life on the line.
Now, the duo started walking side by side out of the Dead Forest and closer to Lyte's destination - Smiley Mansion in the Forsaken Land.