Chapter -49: Parental Misguidance

"Mrgghhh…ugh, my head." Nimus groaned when stacked up against incredible pain throughout his body.

He awoke to a high-pitched sensation in his brain whenever he tried to sit up, most of it centering around his chest.

His immediate assumption was to laugh it off and suggest, "Damn…did I really bite it?"

It felt cold and the environment he was in was lacking in lighting.

"Have I been returned to the Aura? …Naaaaaah, no way." For one, he could still feel his body. Two, and he was vaguely recalling this part, the Aura was once described as a land of ethereal light.

And three and most importantly…

"I don't think the great beyond would greet me with a cozy blanket." He figured, grabbing hold of the icy-blue fur sheet covering him.

He dropped it and then took a look around, rubbing his eyes for clarity. Then he noticed his helmet was off.

"Huh, how about that?" He tried to look for it but even a light twist led to excruciating pain.

"Aaaaah, ok body I get the point!" He put a hand over his gut and felt a slight dampness there.

He had been wrapped in cloth bandages from shoulder to waist.

"Oooookay, let's rewind. I went to take a nap, then I'm here…" Just ignore the part about the Rot Walkers.

"So who's done it?" The more his light returned, the clearer it became that he was in a small house made of ice, thick enough to dampen the sunlight.

"Ice? OK, Cryofloe then," He smiled and wiggled his brows, "Didn't realize I had a fan. Hope she's cu-"

He then slowly squeezed his eyes shut and grimaced, "Oh. Right. Male-centric society."

"Damn…" He whispered out the side of his mouth while slumping down back under the sheets.

"Guess I may as well slow down and enjoy the mood."

He got a few minutes into a nap before a rustling sound came from the front door, "Ah, my rescuer has returned!"

And passing through the thin veil of cloth was none other than...Carolina?

"Huh? Carol?" Nimus uttered with a rare show of surprise.

The lady of snow stood at the door and let out an inaudible gasp, planting her fingertips before her agape mouth before it was pressed down into a smile.

Nimus remained speechless as the lady walked over in a dainty fashion, carrying a small bucket full of fresh bandages, a couple stones, and pieces of wood.

Nimus tried to sit up but she was able to keep him down with the mere suggestion of forcefulness from her hand.

Then she set out to take off his bandages, pausing with puckered lips at the presence of new blood in the wound.

She shook her head at him and then applied her aura gently to the wound.

Nimus winced as he felt and heard his wound closing, and was left with a couple drops of sweat off his forehead and a forced smile.

Carolina smiled satisfactorily and unfurled the new bandages, taking careful care to wrap them around his body. Not too forceful, not too tight, it was like being the hands of an angel.

She then took the empty bucket and filled it with ice from her Drive, followed by using the stones and wood in conjunction to light a fire that would melt the ice down to water.

And all throughout this process Nimus chuckled and teased her in a playful manner, "You're funny, Carol."

She winced and then proceeded to avert the direction of her face away from him, using the water to wring the blood out of the old bandages, and then propping the still lit torch underneath them as they laid on a clothesline.

She then took to kneeling beside him like a prim and proper lady: Hands on her lap, delicate smile, all that was missing was the tender emotion from her gaze for obvious reasons.

Nimus laid comfortably against the ground and tucked his hands behind his head with a sigh, "Guess I'm stuck here for a while. Man, this sucks."

He then flashed a smile her way and said, "But I guess it's not so bad, now that you're here."

With the wink of his eye, his angelic nurse got a light pink blush in her cheeks and then raised her fingertips to her mouth, rattling like she was restraining a giggle.

Sadly now it was time to get to the point, "Alright lay it on me, how long have I been out for?"

She raised two fingers from her lap, and with a brow raised he rapid-fired questions, "Minutes? Hours? Days? ...Dare I ask, weeks?"

She nodded three times, which he took to mean "Days" was correct.

"...Huh," He shrugged and leaned back into his arms, "Not too bad."

She tilted her head and hung there for a while, leading to him saying in a nonchalant tone, "What's up?"

She settled upright and etched a "?" out of glittering snow, then pushed it to hover over his wound, where it twirled and bobbed around.

Nimus took his hand and fanned the snow away, "Eh, don't worry about it. Just got into a fight I wasn't prepared for."

Her blindfold furrowed.

He was quick as a whip though and asked, "Sooo what about you? Not like you to be outside your territory."

She flinched and then with a bit where her hands hung around indecisively, she flicked her fingers at empty air to sprinkle snow and form the small army of Cryofloe out of it.

"Right, our little scorpion complained about you meddling in Cryofloe's battles," Nimus felt more inclined to be relieved than annoyed at the moment, "But hey, I set up my own rescue and didn't even plan it. Damn I'm good."

And besides, who could be mad at someone like Carolina? She's simply a cute and whimsical lady.

Nimus then closed his eyes and forced out a yawn, "Thanks for the sheet by the way, but...wouldn't it have made more sense to get me back to my bed?"

Carolina lightly shook her head and then gestured her hand out, gracing her chest with the other. She then formed a certain person's razor sharp beard out of snow and her forehead scrunched like she was mimicking a tired gaze.

Nimus puffed out the side of his mouth and muttered, "You're trying to spare ol' Borealis the grief of worrying about me...Ugh."

Carolina returned to her natural position and turned her head aside. Nimus wagged his hand out and said, "Again, don't worry about it."

"If you want to be helpful, get us something to eat. I can already feel my stomach growling something fierce."

"Just snatch some fruit from Tanglefae and get a fish or two from Aquamoria, that'll be enough."

When he finished saying that she froze there looking completely at wit's end, far as he could see. He sat up part way and wondered, "Oh, you not a fan of fish?"

She shook her head a few times and then crossed her arms with a firm, feet deep in the ground kind of stance.

Nimus looked at her with half a mind to laugh but held it off and told her, "It's not that bad once you get-"

She continued to shake her head and then quickly pretended to snatch at his body and pull an invisible object against her body tightly. She then swung her arms back up in a cross and shook her head faster.

Nimus stuck out his bottom lip and rolled his eyes back. Then he rolled his hand around in the air, "Do you...not want to take food from them?"

She nodded.

"Aaaah, that food belongs to everyone. Nobody's going to miss a few bunches of grapes or a couple small trouts."

She continued to shake her head and through her blindfold, Nimus had this feeling that she was being very judgmental towards him at the moment.

But it was hard to take her seriously once she puffed her cheeks in a tiny pout and fluttered her icy wings.

"Ha ha ha! OK, fine, I'll eat whatever you want," Nimus then settled back down softly, "Just make sure it's fresh."

She slid back into a smile and with a gentle nod, stood and made her way out the door.

"Haaaa…What a situation I've found myself in. Lilith's gonna chew me out really good when I get back."

He then closed his eyes and shrugged, "Oh well, no shame in losing to the better man at the moment."

Carolina was still hanging outside the door, her smile fading into a worried frown before she marched away.

She returned some time later with the meat off a still fresh carcass and another bucket, along with a few spices she likely grabbed back home.

With it she made a simple if not mealy meat soup. Without the vegetables to give it flavor it was…probably one of the worst meals he's had in a while.

…Buuut, only his stomach was going to be vocal about it.

After that combined with the wound in pain he really had no choice but to fall asleep and heal up.

Over the course of the next few days his only company was Carolina and her various attempts to make a good meal.

Her inexperience showed but her efforts made them taste a little better.

His wound was starting to show progress. He was kind of impressed how long it was taking. Sarajin had gotten really strong…

When he was finally able to sit up with minimal pain, Carolina propped up his back with a fluffed pillow.

And then she helped guide his head to lay on it, her touch as light as a feather.

There wasn't much of a push to have a conversation, he just enjoyed the company. But, he started to pick up on the distance forming between them.

"Everything alright, Carol?"

She shook her head after a long pause and then proceeded to work on his bandages.

Nimus sighed through his nose and picked up the conversation after she was done, " Hey if I'm being a bother, just sa-errr, pantomime it!"

She stood there carrying the bandages away. Nimus then pushed the sheet off and forced his body to make a stand, in spite of his knees opinion on the matter.

"Look, see? Good as new!"

The moment his legs buckled Carolina dropped the bucket and hovered over, supporting him by the chest and back to guide him back to rest.

He smirked and chuckled, "O-OK but seriously, I want to hear what you have to say."

Carolina and his face were a few inches apart, giving him a clear view of her hesitation.

She pulled back onto her knees and fluttered her wings, her fingers fidgeting between her thighs.

Then she relaxed and pulled herself back onto her feet, and used her glittering snow to shape her hair to resemble Lilith's.

Nimus' eyes popped and with a brief stutter he remarked, "Oh, her?"

"Did I even bring her up? Huh, in my sleep...I guess?" While he was rubbing his chin, Carolina dropped back onto her knees and hovered her finger over his wound.

Nimus plucked his hand off and leered at her, "Does she know what we're doing?"

"Hmmm, come to think about it, she's not on our side...Hard to tell what she's thinking sometimes."

Nimus looked at her actions with a little patience until she shifted her pointer finger towards her hair and then pushed it back towards his wound again.

Then a spark went off in his head and he snapped his fingers, "Oh...! You think Lilith did this to me?"

Carolina nodded and flashed a brief affirming smile.

"Ha! She can be abrasive at times but her way of hurting others is a lot more..." Was a thought forming that could have led to him trapping himself if spoken.

Carolina then tilted her head to the side and gave a quizzical pucker of the lips.

Nimus laid back against his pillow and waved his hand over from behind his head, "Lilith tends to give me a lot of tasks to do, and-"

No. Again, that would reveal his allegiance isn't in line with Borealis, and out of the other Ten Sages Carolina and Stonestein were the only two who could rat them out.

Assuming, of course, that it was in her best interests to do so.

Nimus decided if there was any time to be serious, it was now. He looked her where he suspected her eyes were and asked a piercing question, half out of curiosity, and half out of unexpected confusion, "Carol, don't take this wrong way but...Why did you save me?"

He smiled and said, "I mean if you wanted to pamper me you didn't have to wait until I was wounded! Ha ha."

She smiled wide and hung her head as she shook it.

Cold rejection...Not exactly amping him up here.

"I-I was just joking there. Seriously though, why?"

Carolina propped a pointer finger up before her lips and started tapping. She then laid her hand out, and waved it back in the direction of her chest, pointing at her heart.

"Boy if only that was a love confession..." But alas, he knew what it really meant, "I'm important to you, is that it?"

Carolina pointed at him, and then began alternating which hand was raised, using the gesture to etch the faces of the other Sages out of glittering snow.

Nimus was stunned and also a little put off, "Riiiight, she's more of a traditionalist. Think it's good that the Ten Sages remain unified..."

He closed his eyes and smirked, "Would hate to burst your bubble, but that's not been possible for a loooong time now."

"...So there's no deeper reasoning behind her actions."

He popped one eye open briefly and then pulled his hand away from his face, rolling the wrist a few times in quick succession, "...Would you have saved me if I wasn't on your side?"

It was bound to happen eventually. One mistake would get through, and it'd be too late to take it back.

Carolina at first merely tilted her head and thought little of it, but over time her mouth expressed pressing concern for that sudden remark.

All Nimus could do was click his tongue and hope that she would get over it on her own.

Instead, she waved her hands out and puckered her lower lip.

"Shoot...! Now she's curious..." All this rest was throwing him off his game. But maybe this could still be salvaged?

He put on his usual smile and decided to just run with this as best he could, "I mean let's face it, we don't spend a lotta time together. How much DO you know about me?"

He then gestured his hand out towards her face, "I don't know a lot about you. Like...what's behind your blindfold?"

This sudden intrigue made Carolina retract her hands and crumple up. He then threw his hands up and sighed, "You claim keeping the Ten Sages unified is the right thing to do, but we ain't friends or family. Those kinds of people spend nights together over a hot meal or laugh about jokes."

"We're both strangers. So maybe I just don't feel comfortable about you asking all these questions, ever thought of that?" He said this all with a carefree tone, trying to not edge her away too hard.

And she seemed receptive to his attitude, so he threw in a dash of kindness to lower her guard further, "I AM grateful that you rescued me regardless of the reasons, but this won't change our relationship unless you want it to."

"Once I'm healed, we're back to business as usual..."

Nimus felt that was probably all he needed to do to diffuse the situation, except now he left his little icy angel hanging her head and pouting with limp wings.

He didn't even get halfway to laying down before he started to feel bad, "Awww, heeeey, don't make me feel like the bad guy."

Carolina slowly reached for her blindfold, her hand trembling all the way, with it getting particularly terrible when she hooked her fingers into it.

"..." Nimus' mouth went agape as her whole body was trembling like mad.

He then reached out with both hands and whispered, "Here, let me help you."

The moment he was within range of touching it, she grabbed hold of his wrists and squeezed them tight.

"Ok something is definitely wrong here." He deduced, gritting his teeth through the pain as he wiggled his hands through her grasp and managed to put his fingertips into the blindfold.

She curled over and started flailing her head wildly.

"Tsk...! I really have no idea why I'm going through with this...!" But it really was kind of too late for regrets at this point, so before she slipped away she made one last push to dig his fingertips in so that when she pulled back the blindfold would come with him.

She was thrown in the opposite direction and slammed her hands upon the ground. Once she noticed the blindfold was missing she covered her eyes with her arm and lunged back around, swinging her free hand through empty air to try and get her blindfold back.

But Nimus was playing a strong game of keep away, impressive given how fast she was. She eventually collapsed onto her elbow and breathed deep, ragged breaths.

"...What the hell am I doing?" Nimus felt like he was playing cruel games with a bug at this point.

As he started to pull the blindfold back around he heard a whisper of, "P-Please..."

It was somewhat high-pitched and crackled with a series of tongue clicks.

...It was Carolina's voice.

She exhausted herself of her will to try and laid there, heaving her chest with whimpers.

Nimus helped her raise her head and then tried to peel back her arm, his curiosity now bordering out of necessity rather than a bizarre whim.

And what he caught a glimpse of astounded him...

Her eyes were pitch black and full of tiny lens, capturing not even a hint of light in them. No sclera, no pupils, nothing.

His skin turned pale and he bit his teeth down, and in that moment she launched her counterattack and snatched the blindfold from his hand.

She stood and hastily tied it over her eyes.

Nimus dropped his hands onto his lap and lost all feeling throughout his body save for his eyes, which refused to escape the sight of her own.

"C-Carol, you..."

She turned her back on him and stiffened upright.

The atmosphere grew stiff and unwelcoming to either party. Nimus was the first to reach through it, muttering from his mouth something he never thought he'd be forced to confront again, "...You too, huh?"

The lady of ice flinched further upright.

Nimus laid his hand against the side of his face. There were memories that he had registered long ago but never really cared to think about until this encounter forced him to.

"I think I remember now...It was around when I was a teenager."

"There were talks among my old man's generation about a sect of Aurian cultists obsessed with 'The Old Ways'. They would sneak into Sancturia undetected and kidnap random children to seek a way to 'Return us to the basics', or some nonsense."

"Nobody knew where to find them...Until they kidnapped a child of one of the Ten Sages."

"That provoked the mother to hunt down the cultists on the outskirts of the Khull Drago's mountains and slaughter them all to save their child."

Nimus laid his hands down and spoke softly, "That child was you, Carol."

"The eyes of a moth...I can only guess how excited those bastards were to find a child with a rare condition like that. Can't imagine how much pain they put you through."

Carolina spun around and fluttered her wings aggressively, her lips stern as a frown.

Nimus gently propped up his hand and remarked, "I won't force you to relive those."

Her expression was soothed, but also perplexed.

Nimus smiled fondly on that part of the past, "Your mom was pretty cool. I looked up to her once upon a time."

"I can only take a guess here but...I bet after that incident, she did everything she could to hide your condition from the other Sages."

"Haaaa, I'm sure she meant well, but she definitely took it a step too far if that's the case."

"But that's a parent for you, always thinking they're right, no matter how hard their kid has to learn it..."

Carolina kept staring at him and seemed attentive to his words now.

He perked his head up and sighed, wagging his hand out to whisper, "...Heh, bet you'll be surprised to hear this but, your condition isn't as rare as you think it is."

"You see...I used to have insect parts of my own," He gestured his thumb towards his back, "A huge, cumbersome pair of monarch butterfly wings, glued right to my back."

Carolina winced.

Nimus hung his head and sighed, "Happened out of the blue on my eighth birthday. Just woke up, and there they were."

"It was like...a web of nerve endings growing out of me. The brain isn't designed to handle that much sensory overload all at once."

"Heh, but while I was busy screaming in fear and pain my dad was ecstatic. Seriously, I bet he wasn't even that happy when I was born."

"He took my condition as a 'blessing' from the Aura, that our lineage of Sages would prosper forevermore, as I was transforming into our symbol."

He hung his head and his eyes were drenched in a grim shade, "I begged him to help me. He called me ungrateful."

"He said, 'Being a Sage is all about honoring our legacy, and you have received the greatest honor of all'."

"And he made sure I remembered that through every knuckle that hit my skin."

"Tsk...!" He scoffed and held back an intense scowl, "So what did I do? I gave up on trying to wait for someone to make sense and took care of the problem on my own."

"A couple hours with a knife and a lot of screaming and blood I cut the wings off my back and melded them onto a jacket...As a reminder to myself to never let anyone but yourself decide how you'll live your life."

"Of course my old man was pissed. The only time we'd 'communicate' was when he was giving me a few bruises as a 'gift', constantly trying to tell me that it's MY fault."

A sense of relief washed over him as he reached the next part, "Needless to say I smiled when that poison left him choking on his own blood...Guess HE wasn't so blessed, was he?"

"...I'm not a bad person. Nah. He got what he deserved...No, he deserved worse."

Then his tone took a turn towards regret, starting with him releasing a deep sigh, "What happened to your four's parents though was a tragedy. You were way too young to lose them."

"I wish I could say 'I'm sorry' and that's that, but we're too many years too late and the damage's been done."

Nimus then swiftly raised his head and chuckled, "Ha, bet you're not too used to this young man not being a joker, are ya?"

"...But there's a point to my story," He returned to his serious gaze as Carolina watched on in unmoving silence, "There comes a point in our lives where we should realize that our parents aren't always right."

"Look at you, Carol..." He made a lofty gesture, "The snow art is charming, but there's some things you can only get across by talking."

Carolina crossed her hands before her waist and looked towards the ground.

Nimus then smiled and urged her kindly, "Hey. Take off your blindfold again."

She sprung up and he said, "Just for a moment. Please?"

"..." Carolina reached for her blindfold and this time, was able to pull it off with minimal resistance. Her eyes now out in the open, when put in comparison to the rest of her face, made Nimus smile warmly.

"Wow...and I thought you were beautiful before."

Carolina quickly shoved the blindfold over her eyes and started blushing, feverishly shaking her head.

"Ha ha, I'm not teasing you, I mean come on, only a real loser would care what your eyes looked like."

She raised her head up and he kept laying out some sincere advice, "Again, your mom meant well. I'm sure of that. But what she did to protect you has had lasting consequences for too long I say."

"...I want to talk about Borealis real quick," Nimus swiftly raised his hand to stop her, "Hear me out."

"I don't like him. Never have. At first I thought I was jealous because he got to be the leader and I never could, but it's more than that."

"I hate him, because the teachings he's lived by are the root cause of how my father ended up the way he is."

"And since Borealis got to live to become the leader those values are continuing to be pushed upon us and our people."

"We're living in a peaceful society, but that's not the same as a free one," He folded his fingers together and looked towards the door, "The world refuses to change because we refuse to let the old be replaced by the new."

"Bold thinking and bold actions are required if we want to make this world a better place, and Borealis will never have the humility to change his ways so long as he exemplifies the root problem of our society."

"Look at me, Carol. You want the prime example of what freedom looks like? Here I am."

"You've lived long enough to see how this all works. So I want to know...Are you a true believer in Borealis' ideals?"

There was a long pause of anticipation, leading to Carolina briefly shaking her head.

Nimus' heart skipped a beat and he smiled, "So you agree with me?"

Carolina shook her head again, causing Nimus' expression to become mixed up in a quagmire of emotions, "T-Then...who DO you agree with?"

Carolina paused some more, putting her hands up before her shoulders and brushing them down, unfurling a poncho made of snow over her shoulders.

She then blushed, and smiled with sincere confidence.

"...Ah," Nimus smiled and bobbed his head. He then regained a bit of that lost cockiness and flicked his fingertips off his forehead, "I had totally figured that was the case! That's why I made that comment about us not being on the same side."

Carolina tilted her head and brushed the snow off her body.

Nimus then closed his eyes and smiled, "You can't go wrong with him though..."

He then snapped right to another topic, "Ok! One last bit of advice from your senior, and then we can just put this whole thing behind us, alright?"

"...Learn to start talking again." He said sincerely.

Carolina flinched and shook her head wildly.

"They can beat your body, they can cover your eyes, but it's only when you refuse to speak that you've lost everything."

"Your voice is the freedom of your heart. It's the most precious gift you can ask for."

"Yeah so you'll say stupid shit, so what? Nobody's perfect."

"But you've never going to get through to anyone if you aren't true to yourself and right now, you're just living vicariously through your mother's wishes."

"You're not ugly, and you're DEFINITELY not worthless."

He then smiled and laid back, "That's all I can say though. After we're done here, we're going to be on opposing sides."

Carolina tilted her head and gestured her hand out, which Nimus interpreted to mean, "So what side am I on? Heh, isn't it obvious?"

He raised his head high and grinned, "I thought I was out of the running, but I guess I still have a lot to accomplish..."

"I'm the hero of this story, destined to give this planet the fighting chance it deserves! That's the freedom of my heart, baby!"

He held his fist against his chest and briefly looked down at his jacket, and then towards Carolina's blindfold, "I was just about to give up without your help. That's not a cool look for a cool guy like me."

She then began to take a bow, fluttering her wings.

"Th-th-th...an...k..."

Nimus' eyes widened and with a perky smile he told her, "You're welcome. Think nothing of it."

She blushed and raised her head, and Nimus then remarked, "And...I'm sorry."

Followed by a whisper of, "For everything..."

Thus, Nimus would finish his rest with Carolina at his side. Over the next few days, she would slowly learn to regain her voice.

At least by the time they went their separate ways, she was able to say one full word again: "Goodbye".

There was still plenty of work to be done...

Next Time: Bitter Frost