Apologies for the wait! I've been without wifi for a week now, so I haven't been able to access . I'm actually using public wifi right now, but hopefully my wifi will be back up on Tuesday, so I should be back to my regular 3-7ish day updates. Well, theoretically. School starts next week, so we'll see how that goes, but I'll try to keep a semi regular schedule. Now then, read away!

The light beyond my eyelids is soft next I'm aware. A dewiness that smells like grass hangs in the air's warmth, preventing it from getting hotter, which leaves the temperature subtly rejuvenating, and still cool enough to keep me sluggish. I yawn, and roll over onto my side to keep on sleeping.

"If you're awake, get up. We're heading back to Chwara."

"Mmnot awake…"

A rough material shoves my arm and I flop back onto my back with a grimace. Then I vaguely register the presence above me, and the grimace quickly turns around. I peel open my eyes just a crack. Killua stands over me, feet on either side of my waist and hands shoved in his pockets. I tilt my head to the side and bite my lip with a fang.

"There are nicer ways to wake me up, Killua. Wanna try?"

"Wanna try not being sexual for two seconds?" He still has on that face of boredom as he extends a hand to help me up, but after being served a hefty glimpse into his mind, I know full-well my looks aren't lost on him. I take the offered help, more than pleased with myself.

My smile only slips away when I notice Naii standing nearby, looking as fierce and picturesque as ever. Pity. She got all tangled up in those plants, but it doesn't look like they've left any lasting damage.

Behind her, the daylight illuminates the web of foliage and human body left gnarled around the tree. Now, where the mushroom stalks erupt from his right eye socket is fully visible, as well as some pale discoloration like decay splotched across the tan skin. The buds around the roots and vines flowering out of his stomach must've bloomed last night like I thought, because now their full petals droop, shrivelled and wilted, their fragrance musty.

There's a species of bird in NGL that spears its prey and puts them out for show in order to attract a mate. If those little featherballs had the brain for it, they'd be jealous of this display.

Killua eyes it less critically. Seeing us examine the body, Naii says blandly, "He died happy."

I sigh. "I suppose." Even if he does look fine like this, I've always preferred flashy displays of power rather than possessions, so I'd say it was a waste of a good specimen.

Skeptical, Killua mocks, "You're just upset you didn't get the chance to seduce him."

"Well yeahhhh." I set a hand on his shoulder, then my chin on my hand. "But if I got to do anyone—"

"We're heading out. It should be easy enough to head West without that sentience blocking our way." He moves away from me as he talks. "Naii, we'll count on you to lead the way. Without Omim you're our best bet for a guide."

I let my hand drop with a huff. He could at least let me finish what I was saying. My attention goes back to Naii, though, because she continues to stare at me.

"You're okay?"

I raise an eyebrow. "And that's your business because…?"

She seals her lips and turns around, making a motion for us to follow. "Don't fall behind."

Killua appears to wait for me to move, so I step up, take his hand, and follow Naii. I tighten my grip when he tries to take his hand back and copy his habit of talking without looking at the person he's dragging along. "There's still a chance we could get separated if we're not in contact. I'm just trying to be safe, you know?"

Naii glances back at me, and I send her a look of What? You got something to say? Behind me, Killua sighs. My satisfaction returns when he doesn't try to extract his hand again.

Maybe it's because he's in the back, but he doesn't use his Nen to remove the plants from our path anymore, so we return to shoving aside leafy branches and snagging our clothes every two minutes. Frankly, the clusters of plants still make me a bit uneasy. Holding onto Killua does a lot to keep me calm, though. That, and the fact that the omnipresent feeling of being watched from yesterday has vanished. Still, after last night, I'm not spending a second longer in this place than necessary.

We pass a tree with a trial of ants the size of my thumbnail running its length, and I finally voice a curiosity I've had for awhile. "They talked about being one and all that, and they absorbed everything that entered this place, right? Why didn't they take the insects?"

"They might've took some," Killua puts out there. "I mean, from what we know, they absorbed the other chimera ant. I'm guessing that probably had something to do with why the thing got aggressive all of the sudden."

My face contorts. All that stuff about standing at the acme of the world and being the best existence, yeah, that was a little uncomfortably familiar.

It doesn't matter if there are beings stronger than me in the world, so long as I never meet them. So long as I'm not under them. Yes Killua came along, but he's manageable. But what I saw in his memories…

And that thing...served under something else.

I'm so glad they're all dead.

"They left them to pollinate." Naii speaks from up ahead.

Killua surmises, "They were all about nature and being at peace with it, and I guess they could just absorb them if the populations overgrew."

The woman ahead of us pauses. When she picks up walking again, she says, "They needed them to grow. They were a consciousness inside the plants. Without pollinators, they would die."

"So it was the plants!" Killua exclaims.

"It was Chwara's god."

"...Oh. I get it. Awww man, we're gonna have to explain this to them! How're we supposed to do that?"

"What do you mean, 'how'? It tried to destroy me, so I destroyed it! It's as simple as that," I interject.

"It's not as simple as that. It tried to make us a part of it, and we refused. A person who worshipped them as a god isn't gonna understand why we'd refuse, and they're definitely not gonna be happy that we killed their god!"

"I'll be the one to explain it to the chief," Naii says firmly. After that, we fall back into silence.

Whatever. That god or whatever is gone now. A couple angry humans are nothing compared to a possessed jungle.

The sun comes through the canopy intermittently, and I watch the spots of blue as they come and go. The world is filled by the buzz of insects again, interrupted by the rustle of us shoving aside plants. It won't take long for creatures to move into the area. Birds and rodents will come first, and my scaly cousins will follow. For a little while, it'll be paradise for them. Then the snake eaters will come, and the jungle will start bursting with life and death. Nothing will be "everlasting," but that just means the snakes can eat their fill until they're eaten.

We step out of the forest with the sun boring down its mid-afternoon heat, and I let Killua take back his hand. We start towards the chief's house.

When we're close, a young boy spies us, and openly gap es. His expression draws the attention of the man he's with who, upon seeing us, is visibly shaken. He leaves the boy and runs up to the hut we're approaching and disappears inside, boisterously vocal the entire time. He reappears with Jiakair and a man and a woman I recognize from yesterday morning. Every one of them appears shocked.

"You have returned!" In tandem with surprise, Jiakair sounds equally delighted when he greets us. After a few sentences expressing the doubts and fears he had when we entered the land of Buchan, he finishes by asking, "Where is Baj Omim?"

On Naii's insistence, we enter the hut, and in the presence of the two people already accompanying Jiakair, she single handedly spins a half-true story about a monster with evil and destructive intentions. Halfway through, the woman villager's face twists from disbelief to fury.

"Lie! Do not go on! You will not say lie to dirty benevolent Buchan!"

"If you want to be angry, put your anger on the chimera that was sighted at the edge of the jungle. Timing and other evidence strongly points to it corrupting the land."

"The land of Buchan is not corrupt! These days, more merciful than ever! You not knowing will silence!"

Beside her, the unnamed male says something incomprehensible to the woman with a confused expression, but whatever he says only makes her more indignant. Seeing this, Jiakair asks, "Pyreh, the land of Buchan these days steals both intruders and Baj. Why do you say merciful?"

Shoulders back and chin held high, she describes, "Benevolent Buchan embraces us, embraces all worthy! We, worthy, and Buchan asks we bring other worthy so all share its benevolence. Not corrupt! This one corrupt!"

Naii retains her calmness. "Maybe they told you this, but it tried to take me. I would be a part of it now if not for these two, who also were briefly connected. We all could see into its mind while it tried to take us, so despite what they said to you, we know its true intentions better than anyone. Because of the strange creature it absorbed, the land of Buchan's heart became vengeful and destructive. It wanted to spread beyond its borders and destroy humans and animals alike, starting with Chwara, so we had no choice but to put an end to its existence. I'm sorry for the loss of your god, but we did what we had to do."

The woman continues to hurl accusations at Naii, and even me and Killua who've stayed out of it until now. The man beside her stares blankly at the ground, stiff and silent. Jiakair stares at us with an expression that's unreadable. Eventually, the woman's screeching gets annoying enough that I can't help but blurt, "Oh shut up! That thing you call Buchan was absolutely disgusting! It wouldn't leave us alone! It wouldn't use other people's voices as a trap if it was as nice as you say, and if it was really as good as you think it is, it'd leave us alone when we asked!"

Killua pulls me back, but I've already finished saying what I wanted, so I just reflect the woman's haughty attitude and enjoy the way her aura boils with anger.

The woman tries to return my challenge, but a few harsh words from Jiakair stop her. After he snaps, there's a moment where he regains his composure. Then, he says, "This matter...it is hard to believe. You say Buchan is killed. To say you had no choice but to kill the Provider…"

The woman suddenly thrusts out her fists towards us, delivering a vicious stab into empty air. Her aura spikes with hostility. "Use their lives to give Buchan life!"

"If Buchan was corrupted as Naii says, Pyreh, it would make us wise to leave Buchan without life."

She's begun quivering in her rage, but obediently, she returns her fists to her sides. Naii covers the area above her heart and bows her head to Pyreh, then to the man next to her, and finally to Jiakair. The village chieftain raises his eyes, as seems to be his habit, to the hole in the ceiling, and deeply sighs.

The air of the room remains mixed when Jiakair asks the man to take us to Alluka. When the place she's staying comes into view, Alluka and three village children of various ages sit in a bunch outside the entrance. She and a younger female talk vividly, while a boy stares at her with obvious awe, and an older girl sits behind Alluka and weaves the face-like beads Alluka wears in her hair into uniform tangled patterns.

Suddenly, Alluka stops talking and whirls to see us. You would've thought I'd brought her a scrumptious snack so fresh it was alive with the way her face lights up. She pops to her feet, scurries over, and promptly throws herself at her brother who accepts her attack with open arms. The little thing's so bubbly, almost as if the three of us didn't just almost die. Or almost...whatever it is that thing wanted to do.

Then, out of the blue, she launches herself at me. I flinch and have to force myself to stay, because it'd be utterly humiliating to avoid something so harmless like she scared me, and then I'm at a loss because the human female has her arms wrapped around my neck, and once again, it's incredibly weird to be on the receiving end of something I like to do to guys. It's even weirder because unlike when I do it, there's no suggestion in her actions at all!

Unable to look at the thing hanging off of me, my eyes shift over Naii. She just stares stingers into me like always. I move my eyes off, and they land on Killua.

That bastard! His eyes are laughing!

Alluka strengthens her hold and I stiffen to keep from losing balance. "Welcome back Sera!"

What is this creature doing?

"Come on, Alluka, don't embarrass him. I don't think he can take it."

And why is Killua insulting me?

He doesn't laugh, but he doesn't need to laugh with his voice for me to see the laughter in his eyes and lips. The guy's like a self-satisfied cat watching a gaggle of kittens fight over a piece of fish it tossed them.

When Alluka finally releases me, he walks up next to me and rustles my hair, which I immediately smooth down with a glare.

Wait...if I'm not mistaken, it's times like this that he's attracted to me, right?

I keep my expression unchanged, but test my theory by leaning heavily, putting all my weight onto him. Sure enough, he not only allows the physical contact, but he lets out a snort of laughter. I have to tighten my expression to keep myself from giving myself away and smiling.

I'm right, I'm right! He thinks I'm cute when I act like this!

Yes indeed. Now that that 'us' is gone, I can feel a twinge of like for them.

Killua is mine!

Have I said I love Sera? I think I have. I love Sera. But I think my beta reader prefers Alluka. Every time Alluka comes up she gets so excited. What about you guys? What're your opinions on this group of four? I personally think they're coming together better than I expected, so I'm in a good mood! Anyway, I'll try to be back with another update when I get the chance. You guys definitely will not have to wait as long for the next chapter! Promise!