The kwamis found themselves hugging each other in great spirits. Smiling, laughing, and simply complementing their diverse personalities. How weird they must have looked to potential viewers, but they didn't care, so long as the moment carried a special kind of energy for them. Tikki's antennas tickled Plagg, Wayzz continued hugging everyone, Nooroo was nudging Trixx's head, and Duusu held up Pollen on her back. It was all in good fun of course.
Having had that upsurp of positivity, they flew out the pot to view a familiar golden nectar, honey, in all it's sweet glory. Hands were already in the way of Trixx who snarled in retaliation. "Seriously, you won't let me snack on it all in one bite?" Tikki answered him swiftly. "If one of us eats, everyone eats. So, we all go." He hated admitting that she was right. "Whatever lord of the rules, as long as I eat." Everyone flew over to the wealth of gold, indulging in the goodness, except for Plagg.
Nothing would convince him to betray his favorite food so easily. Cheese could never be replaced! Or that's what would've been the case. Trixx approached the on standby cat with a smirk and an arm covered with honey. "Trixx, I shall do unspeakable things if you don't get away from me with that cursed sweet." The fox flew closer swinging the honey covered arm teasingly as Plagg flew farther away from him with each approach. He found himself backed into a corner with Trixx inching very close to his mouth.
"Open wide Plagg! It's for your own good." To that, the cat thought he had more leverage on his side. "Maybe, but you should know that I don't fear no evil or you!" That was a lie, as with another close arm swing from Trixx, he yelped. With no room left to fly, he could only mentally make testaments to his will and add up the amount of things he didn't get to finish on his bucket list. Before he could even think about his tombstone engraving, the sweet was harshly pushed into his mouth.
Once Trixx removed his hand, Plagg got a taste for the substance that to him, shouldn't have been there. "Well?" He towered over the fox. "Tell the others this and I'll murder you. It… was… delicious." Trixx wasn't a fan of blackmail, so he let the cat be as a moth with an unfamiliar aura came crawling down from an opposing wall.
Nooroo and Tikki rushed past the fox who got spun around until one of the others heading in their direction halted him. Plagg had all but a couple of seconds before the moth lunged, piercing his already small being with it's legs and crushing him in pain. "Ah!" The cat wailed in pain as Tikki and Nooroo attempted to save him. The butterfly sent a beam of psychic energy at the akuma which nullified it temporarily and let Tikki give it the purification treatment. It let go of the cat who had scars all over and then promptly flew off. This time the butterfly could tell instantly that the influence was removed.
One moment they went from lunch and easy goings to shock and some terror. The attack was not normal in the slightest, the moths hadn't ever tried to attack them like that remotely unless it was inside a person or like earlier in their day. There was no time to speculate the quick assalt on Plagg, for they needed to tend to him as he was pretty beat up. His fellow kwamis were quick to find some discarded leaves that they trimmed down to patch up his wounds, but he still felt weak, and would've collapsed to the floor had Tikki not caught him.
"It's ok Plagg, we're here for you." Tikki said looking somewhat distraught at her hurt kwami. Duusu and Pollen now were concerned about the stranger. It could not have been a coincidence that a corrupt moth found them in the town, in an ideal location for an attack, and certainly was dead set on getting back at one of them.
"I have a feeling we won't be getting off easy today. Between a normal attack, the stranger, and now this? We can't keep our guards down this time around." Lectured Wayzz. "Can't stay here much longer, because we'd be vulnerable to that again, sadly." Said Nooroo. All of them nodded in agreement. They flew upwards in unison while Plagg was in Tikki's arms in a bridal fashion. Back in the sky they flew with Nooroo not sensing anymore evils for only a bit.
Then a spike occurred as the butterfly shouted, "Faster!" Upon seeing the moths behind them, they did just that but also looked back occasionally to make sure that they never went downwards to cast their influence over any unsuspecting individuals.
Everywhere they thought they could get away to, was invaded by the akuma cloud of moths. It was no use to try and tango with all of them. The moths chased the kwamis for a good long while, about half an hour. Fortunately once they reached a metropolitan, the kwamis were able to hide out from behind the structures of a gigantic library. Sensations of negativity fizzled out which let them take a breather.
Taking another gander at Plagg he looked worse somehow and a bit paler in the eyes. Duusu was wondering how things could have gone from bad to worse, but she by all means wanted to find where the heart of the stranger lied elsewhere.
Passerby offered their condolences for their situation. It almost took them off the subject of the stranger's identity until another more mystifying passerby whispered something. "What happened to Plagg was most unfortunate." So condescending the person put it with a glare. There was no doubt it was the stranger, the one they wanted to tear apart, which would've happened, but there was no leaving the cat alone. Even a small risk could possibly be their undoing.
They headed into the library going over an unoccupied table and sighing. Unbelievable had become the buzzword now, because the day had only been that for them. The string of occurrences was unprecedented, there had been days in the past full of hiccups or bad karma, but today just felt unreal. It wasn't as though the world was against them, it was just that everything happened so fast when they least expected it. Sucking it up was all they could do, and in most cases was the best scenario.
Maybe the stranger purposefully tried to gaslight them, something of a rarity for the kwamis. They'd probably deconstruct them from the inside before they actually offed them or have them finding out the truth about them. But, that was no issue when they had each other, though that feeling was soured by gloominess. "...you can put me down Tikki, I think I can fly again." Cooed Plagg. She let him fly off as his eyes fluttered and he shook his head.
Pollen broke the mood. "Things may seem rough right now, but they'll get better. Don't they always?" Then the peacock added to that. "I admire your optimism. It's fitting in this place and time. At least we can maintain our confidence, I mean, it does give us an edge." Nooroo thought about it, and yes, that was very true. They can only go further and if the stranger was their blockade, then they'd just have to remove it.
"You'll never escape me..." Murmured the estranged voice that no one could see the origin of. Respect was an afterthought for the cruel misty figure. Before they could get anymore agitated by the stranger, they left with another line. "Fine kwamis, I'll go. I think you should find the moths not causing trouble within the next two days. Tackle more personal quelms why don't cha." It sounded like an echo when they finished, but they weren't kidding.
Now in a circle, they each stared down each other in a circle of glances and unease. Spooking them was only the beginning. A book that was not there before layed behind them like a beacon of darkness. Wayzz flew to it. It looked very old while possessing no title nor even an author, plus it seemed relatively short. He opened it and was instantly shown just dust, but he brushed it off. The turtle was confused when he saw an emblem of sorts that looks eerily like Nooroo's head spiral and wings.
When the others looked over, they were puzzled and so was the butterfly. "Any grievances for the one of mind are held within the akumas. Any power he may have after subsequent creation is on a neutral basis." The next five pages were blank while the sixth page had something to say as well. "Claiming enough victims enables a bandwidth of an energy like no other. The evils are capable of real horrors, beyond the corruption of the innocent. Seven creatures will end up broken as they continue their plight."
Old it appeared, but in present tense. They were references to themselves and probably the aura filled akuma that attacked Plagg. That being said, what did Nooroo, the butterfly kwami, have to do with the moths? Eyeing him, Tikki spoke in confusion. "Though I can't tell if you know what this is about, I can see that you're wondering about the connection." He nodded, but couldn't think of a response.
Having always been the critical thinker, it was weird for him to approach with some kind of response to words from some book that had to do with him. Never in his tiny life had he thought of the real reason for his being. The sky was now an orange tint with the clouds few and far between. "Listen Tikki, it's been a long day concerning oddities for us. I can't explain anything of nature in regards to this book as of now, if our focus becomes skewed once again. My mind needs to take a break, so when things are flowing more consistently and normally, then the answers will follow." She nuzzled him, and he quite liked that.
Then came the last page, seven, where another haunting piece of text was inscribed. "The pillars will fall where they once stood. No divide no divide…." God, Nooroo was right, their brains did need a break. So, Wayzz closed the book with wide eyes and yawned. "Tommorrow?" He said to everyone. "Tommorrow." They replied.
The kwami spent the rest of the afternoon more or less waiting for the sky to darken and for the night to begin. A fair share of other not cryptic or creepy books were read while they waited. Mostly atlas' of some cool parts of the world beyond them which were decently intriguing, but some of the places were where they had their never ending battles against akumas. Those memories were fun to remember, as the attacks were low stress and not too challenging.
What light at the end of the tunnel had they not had? Crystal caves, forest tundras, geyser zones, and various island types were only the miniscule amount they saw. Perhaps someday they'd see it all, yet it wasn't guaranteed as per usual. No matter, the night fell and they decided to sleep in between some book shelves, oddly in the fantasy genre. Despite how tense the day was, their sleep was as peaceful as ever.
At half past twelve in a window adjacent to them were infamous outlines of corrupt moths watching their every move and communicating with Nooroo. He suddenly heard others in his head saying how he'd never reach the truth. His counter speeches echoed far, but nothing happened. They kept him up through the night making it impossible to get to sleep and he wasn't gonna wake one of his kwamis. Nooroo lied in silence trying desperately to tune out the moths, but they were persistent.
He did manage to come to a resolve by mentally telling them bluntly to shut up. Then they were clouded out with his own thoughts. An analog clock that he gazed at in the moonlight displayed that two houes had passed. The only thing left to do was close his eyes and drift off into a dream land, or a world of nightmares. Some situations can't be approached with logic. The best course of action is reason. His mind wandered.
When awakening in the warmth of the sun at what appeared to be six in the morning, Nooroo felt a sting in both his eyes, finding himself crying a bit. That didn't make much sense. Though he didn't have to think long when he noticed Tikki in front of him, with a frightened expression and with something in her hand, the dust from an akuma. She asked him to touch his head, he complined knowing that it was the same substance, that evil substance.
