Aki groans, trying to rub the exhaustion from her eyes. Every corner of her body aches and burns, still she urges herself to sit up.
"I feel dead…" Aki stretches and yawns.
"Oh, she's awake."
Aki freezes. Was she so drained she hadn't noticed another's presence in the same room as her? She peeks through her lids toward the speaker. A certain blond-haired adventurer with a red headband sits against the wall by her bedside.
"Um, your name is Aki, right?" Caor tentatively asks. "I'm glad you're finally awake. You've been out for almost a whole month."
Panic shoots through her, chasing any semblance of tiredness out of her.
"A- a month!?"
Caor starts laughing, failing to hide a massive grin behind an armoured hand. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's only been a few hours. Not even midday yet."
"A half hour till midday. It's 1230 to be precise," interjects a deeper, serious voice. "Although that isn't why you bugged me to come here for now is it?"
Dent sits on the sofa on the other side of the room reading a book. Next to him on the side table he's reclining on are the combat gauntlets Mirra wears though she is nowhere to be seen. The rest of the room is quite clean. Spacious and gilded, with two unlit fireplaces. One near the bed and another in the sitting area of the bedroom. Sunlight streams in from the pair of floor-to-ceiling windows - leading to a balcony - on one side of the room. A definite upgrade from the room she woke up in before.
"What do you mean?" Aki asks, turning her attention back to Caor.
"Ah well, y'see…" Caor sheepishly rubs his head, trying to gather his thoughts. "I guess I wanted to apologise. For uhm…"
"Being abrasive and unfriendly." Dent assists. "Also for being a pain in the ass."
"Y-yeah. For being abrasive, unfriendly, and a pain in - hey!" Caor purses his lips and shoots Dent an offended look. "Anyway, you're actually pretty amazing, huh? I wanted to apologise way earlier but after you first woke up, everything went by so fast and we were dungeon diving before I knew it."
Aki eyes him, confused by what he means. She racks her brain trying to understand what he's talking about.
"Oh! I remember," she knowingly nods. "Don't worry about it. You were just worried about your party members, right? It's pretty w- uh, abnormal to meet an Acolyte as young as I."
"Yeah, I guess so. Those are supposed to be, like, hobos or something, eh? Seeing a kid like that is pretty weird."
"Barely apologised and already saying rude things." Dent sighs. "Anyway, Lady Acolyte, a certain party member wishes to discuss something with you. Regarding your life essence."
Aki arches a questioning brow but Dent offers no elaboration.
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Aki Title: Witch
LE: 55 HP: 50/200
MP: 300
SP: 50
[Reinvigorated: Until HP is fully restored, status recovery is slowed by 80%]
[Starved: Lack of food dulls sense by a small amount]
More: ⟲
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"It's fully recovered. Is there someone with an essence restoration spell in New Pinacca?"
"Task complete, Caor. You've apologised and I've delivered the message. Mirra has yet to return, so I'll be taking these to her." Dent closes his book and scoops up Mirra's gauntlets before making his exit.
"Wait for me Dent, man!" Caor gives Aki a quick bow and follows after his comrade.
She stretches once more and steps out of the lavish bed. Her HP is low but that's to be expected. Even with an essence restoration spell, the body still needs to recover from being on the verge of death. A healing spell along with proper rest and nutrition are imperative.
"Well, no time for that. Winter seemed to know her, so maybe he can tell me something about that necromancer." She pauses, recalling the stream of emotions from the other day. "Sorry Winter, I'm gonna have to pry into a sore spot for the sake of our lives."
She looks around the room for her belongings and finds her bag and stone amulet neatly placed on the centre of the long sofa. Unfortunately her normal clothes aren't in the room, so Aki has no choice but to leave on the oddly poofy white gown.
"Can't use that title dressed like this but dressing this body's age every now and then isn't so bad."
Outside of her room, the hall is long and decorated with paintings, potted plants, and a decorative suit of armour but no people. She can hear the sound of metal on stone clanking away in the distance but no other footsteps. Dent and Caor most likely.
"Guess I'll follow them."
She makes her way through the large, maze-like manor halls, getting closer to the sounds of people.
Just as she rounds the corner of another hall, she runs face first into Phoebe. What a soft wall to run into, Aki thinks.
"Oomf, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there." Phoebe just about offers a hand when she realises who she bumped into. Rather than a hand, she pulls Aki up into a really tight hug. "Aki!! I'm so glad you're awake! I was so worried when the healers told us you used your life essence to restore ours!"
Aki feels a warm liquid against her neck. Tears? She wriggles herself free and pushes Phoebe away so that they can look at each other. Certainly, tears are streaming down Phoebe's cheeks.
"How could you do something so reckless, Aki!? You should be worried about growing up, not balancing lives like that! That's not healthy, not healthy at all!"
"It would've been fine, Phoebe." Aki gently pats her head, trying to reassure the crying woman. "I had more than enough HP."
"You can't trick me," Phoebe responds, tears still streaming down her cheeks. "Just 'cause I'm an Otherworlder doesn't mean I can't learn. The healers told me that special high level magic can restore it but sharing your own works too. That they felt your life essence in ours!"
"Well, that's to be expected I guess."
"Do you know how scared I was when the guys told me what happened?!" Phoebe tightens her grip on Aki and buries her face in Aki's shoulder again. "You could've died, Aki. Don't you know everyone would be sad if you were gone!"
For some reason, Phoebe's words struck a nerve. Her own feelings blended with Phoebe's overwhelming heartache.
"It's alright Phoebe. I don't have any friends or family that - uh, would mourn me." Aki reassures Phoebe, patting her head softly.
"Mourn is a word, right? Yeah, yeah it is. Acolyte status kept!"
Phoebe lifts Aki up, her crying already devolving into loud sniffling. She's saying something though Aki can't understand her.
"I'd miss you. Mirra would too. Plus all the people you protected when we first got here. And… well I dunno what Acolytes do exactly but everyone treats it like something super important like- like a pug skater." Phoebe states with clear, direct resolve. "I'm sure you've helped lots of others before we met too. They'd miss you."
"What exactly is a pug skater?"
Footsteps echo down the hall as several armed guards round the corner. In the centre of which are the Estril cousins; Viscount Estril and Verityu. A look of grim determination painted on their expressions that quickly changes to pleasant shock upon seeing them.
"Viscount," Aki calls out. "What brings you here?"
"Lady Acolyte, you've awoken." Viscount Estril raises a hand to command the guards to lower their weapons. "There were reports of cries and wails coming from the South wing. We were worried that the Dead had somehow made their way in, thus I dispatched a team to find the source."
"And you two decided to investigate too?" Phoebe asks, already rubbing the tears from her eyes after letting go of Aki. "That's pretty cool, actually."
Now that there's some space between them, Aki can finally get a proper look at Phoebe.
Her arm is noticeably covered in bandages wrapped over the stump where her right hand used to be. Her complexion is paler than before, likely the shock and recovery of prior events. Instead of her adventurer clothes, she wears a simple set of sand-coloured pants and tunic. The sleeve of the right arm is rolled up and a wooden spring sling - a contraption made across the sea designed to support injured limbs while still allowing mobility - is firmly attached to her.
Only her glasses remain the same. The round frames are undamaged and the lenses, perfectly clean.
"Lady Acolyte," Viscount Estril clears his throat. Now that everyone knows the threat was a false alarm, he calmly approaches the two women. "My apologies for interrupting. However, danger still looms on the horizon and the Dead have not halted their attempts at destruction. Even now those accursed beings stir within the catacombs, attacking and destroying the sweeper forces sent to clear stragglers this morning."
His expression is quite grim. It seems likely that the earlier run in with that necromancer woman must have caused her to double her efforts in conquering - or worse, destroying - New Pinacca.
Aki grits her teeth. If the Dead are active enough to wipe out soldiers during the day, even if they are underground, that necromancer holds even more power than expected. Which means talking to Winter is Aki's top priority. She already planned to speak with him regarding that necromancer, so it all works out quite well if she says so herself.
"She must be really powerful. Luckily, you have all of us with you. All we need now is a little information and we'll win." Aki looks up at him. She offers a kind, reassuring smile as she pats his arm. "Have you talk- eh, spoken to Winter, Viscount? How is he?"
"Ah yes, eh you see, Lady Acolyte," interjects Verityu. He pokes his head around Viscount Estril's shoulder like a shy child too nervous to speak with guests. "While unharmed, he has not spoken a word since returning. His parents are quite worried and… as I seek to adopt him into my house, I am as well."
Aki stares at him with a blank expression. Verityu isn't a bad person per se, but she recalls him being a bit pushy and braggadocious, though well-intentioned. Even being around his cousin where his behaviour mellowed out to something a bit more timid didn't make him this meek. Seeing him like this felt annoying in a different way. She shakes her head. His behaviour aside, there were more important things to dwell on.
"Can you take me to him? Winter seemed to recognise her and I thought maybe I could get him to tell me something?"
Viscount strokes his chin, the extended goatee he has has grown out some - the siege of Dead must not leave him with enough time for any grooming - and nods. With a word to his guards for all but two to patrol on high alert, he leads Aki and the others to where the Digger family is staying.
He leads the group down a set of stairs and through another long hall where a pair of Ork stand guard. The one on the left is a barrel-chested verdant green while his grey-skinned companion is slimmer in size but just as muscular and equally tall. Both are dressed in the armour of New Pinacca guards. The signature star of the city emblazoned on their chest plates and the right pauldron.
As soon as they see Viscount Estril approaching, the pair swing open the doors to the room and stand aside for everyone to pass.
"Didn't they help us, why are they under lock-and-key?" protests Phoebe. She waves her stump for a moment before realising it has no hand and puts it down, a look of dejection on her face. "You know what I meant."
"They're actually there for us," Vadi Digger says, walking up to them from one side of the room. She holds a teapot in her hands, wordlessly offering a drink. "In spite of my husband and son's aid, there were a few determined souls that believed us responsible and snuck in to kill us."
She and another woman - a maid judging by her outfit - serve everyone a cup. The pair of guards wave it away and retreat to stand by the doors while the Estril cousins move to sit on the sofa of the lounge. Phoebe joins them but Aki remains standing.