The morning came once more, the back lines trembling and reducing their presence among the resisting cloudy grey. The dreary sky revealed a haze that seemed to hang about the land and illuminated with a dim glow a stretching Bie.
"Up early?" Casmere rose, his eyes suddenly darting open after hearing Bie's movement. He put on the cloth once more, despite hearing from Bie and Lulac that they weren't bothered, and Gyuho not even sparing a glace. To tell the truth, the cloth made him more comfortable, and was more of a memento that proved he had once been human...
Inside his head, he laughed. It was true that such thoughts would lead him to his sister's fate, who had doggedly stayed human despite its difficulties in the shattered age of Morris. She would constantly remind him that he was human, even giving up her own name and giving it to him when the demonic influence at away at his memories.
"Funny. I did tell you that I didn't have to sleep, right?" He kept his eyes fixed on the horizon, overlooking the land in front of him and tracing his sight along the dark green path. He was ready to depart, already, and hoped that his teammates wouldn't dally for too long underneath the slightly frigid air.
"Forgive me, I thought it was a joke. Interesting way your mutation manifested...did you like sleep, once?"
"I don't know, I can't remember sleeping. Maybe it was nice, who's to say?"
"Ah, interesting. Normally, the mutation eats away at what you hold dear. Maybe you just didn't care enough about anything in particular, so it just discarded random things you felt pleasant towards?"
Bie nodded, thinking that the whole process was quite interesting. He had a strong curiosity towards these Demon Hunters, being not quite human like him and more monstrous than the demihumans. He felt a sense of kinship with the man and liked the gloomy landscape he had been witnessing since he got here. For some reason, it put his mind at ease.
Gyuho stirred first as the two exchanged a pleasant conversation, promptly rousing a drooling Lulac after he was sure they were fine. He decided to retrieve his bat from his Inner World, knocking Lulac on the forehead since he resisted getting up.
"Haaa...fine, I'm up. Nothing compared to mentor's smacks, though..." Lulac rubbed his head and groaned before getting up, the two engaging in conversation watching the two's antics. Casmere then parted with a small gesture, grabbing the much lighter sack and pulling it over his shoulder.
"Shall we go, then?" Casmere left towards the path, Guides in tow.
--
It was midday when Wanxi woke up, looking at herself in the mirror before her. The room around her was elegant, drenched in the colors of autumn and fine patterns etched all over the regal flooring. Amber pillars supported a grand bed as they reached the ceiling, and there were three statues standing silently on the furthest wall.
She noticed the fact that her robes had changed, being the same white as before but sporting several insignia of a withered tree. On her back was the hood of an additional cloak, though she refrained to bring it up because of the boat shaped hat she insisted on wearing. Her ears were hidden by her very light purple hair, and not even the tips were visible. This was because some old man had warned her not to, spouting something about 'it's only a small trace', 'you poor child', and whatever else he wanted to say to himself.
What she was upset about was an amber talisman she held in her hand, that had previously shone an excellent shade of red. Faintly on her glabella was a simplistic pattern of a canna lily, barely visible but stuck out to her all the same. She knew that if she wanted to, the canna lily would shine a brilliant red once again, and she would be filled with strange power.
It automatically grafted itself upon her Inner World, so she was able to increase her stats, but she was dismayed at the process she had gone through to get it. She ordered Perdi to stay still, clutching the doll in her other hand as she was afraid the priests would mistake it for some form of witchcraft. After hearing the short summary of the Path, she was so very afraid of being branded a Demon Hunter right in the midst of the most devout of the Autumnal Clergy, though thankfully they only seemed dismayed.
Thinking back on yesterday, she shivered. That doddering old fool known as Reverend Juther had taken it upon himself to assert that she was from Gantria, and then inducted her as an Autumn maiden. Although there was some resistance from the other clergy, some voice from a small hall sounded out and allowed his decision to be final.
"Oh, I wish you were here..." A tear fell down from her eye as her face became pink, before she shook her head carefully as to not expose her ears. "And! Them too, of course! It's too frightening being here all alone, ugh."
An old man clutching a cane with a shouting man in it turned the corner, wearing heavily venerated robes adorned with Tears of Mithiu. He had a genial look and heavy brows and wore a concerned expression as soon as he heard the word alone. He turned the gilded ambver hall and stood in the doorway, a gentle smile showing on his face.
"Fret not. We will be going to the town outside the hall, so you can get some fresh air. Come now, maiden Wanxi." He waved her over and waited, while Wanxi hurriedly wiped away a tear before it rolled down her freckled cheeks. She huffed to herself, a small cloud leaking out of her mouth, before sporting an even smile and walking up to the man.
He nodded, patting er shoulder before walking forward. On the way out of the Mithusian Church, they passed numerous gilded halls and flowering trees overlooking farmland. The whole place was lush and elaborate, fine stone paintings of their worshipped deities taking up most of the wall as they "watched" the people who prayed all over the place.
The whole area was laced with so many perfumes that the welcome scent became more disagreeable the longer you stayed in it. Of course, this seemed to only bother Wanxi, as the rest of the holy people seemed to converse and move with deep happiness in every step.
The two made their way past the more regal looking church and walked past ramshackle buildings. On their way, a massive gothic building that stood strong and firm was very discernible from the rest, Wanxi picking up on the fact that it was the only full building besides the churches. There was also a smaller building that had pronounced iron bars, and beastly roars and screams sounded out from it every now and then.
Juther crinkled his nose, quickly holding Wanxi's wrist and dragging her away from there. There was clear disdain on his face, and he even chastised the young girl so that she would also think lowly of there from now on.
"That's the Hunter association and their lowly jail, hmph! You don't want to be near such low, disgusting, folk..."
He continued as they walked past the town, arriving at a gate nestled between two statues armed with stone axes. Just as they made their way to that same gate Casmere and Bie were walking side by side as they chatted, the other two dragging along behind and discussing their outlook on their abilities.
Tears welled up in Wanxi's eyes, and before she could even stop to think, she threw herself forward!