A/N: We finally made it to Chapter 10 of this story. To recap, Jamal is starting to find all sorts of changes in what he's been expecting to see. Some of which he may not have had a hand in...
My POV
"Just who is Arin?"
Kieri looked at me, and then glanced at Buwaro and Rhea.
"Yeah, you know who else is travelling with your brother?" Rhea said.
"Please, we really want to know." Buwaro said, pulling his bandana down and giving her puppy dog eyes.
You know, it's funny how a literal demon with blood red eyes can pull off the look genuinely. It was also this look that made Kieri concede, if she wasn't going to tell us already. She nodded and spoke. "Alright...
"Arin is a human I met roughly two weeks after Kazai, Sanjulo and I were dragged down to Medius. They had only been in Farun for four days before I ran into them in a small artisan shop..."
"I remember!" Buwaro piped up. "You went to that shop to say goodbye."
"Well, yes," She sighed. "They were one of the few Medians I could talk to that didn't immediately treat me like...r-royalty, because I'm an angel." She looked up. "In fact, they didn't seem to even realise I was an angel until I showed them. They didn't believe me at first."
What? Wait...oh, no way...
"Huh, that's odd..." Rhea noted. "Go on."
Kieri continued. "We managed to become friends, and I even taught him some Angelic in that time...but..." She looked down. "You know the rest..."
"Yeah, the demons..." Rhea said again. "And now Arin's looking for you with your brother?"
"That's what it seems like." Kieri said. "According to the owner of the store they had worked in, they hadn't given any other reasons for leaving other than they had to."
"Oh wow..." Buwaro said. "Also, you keep saying 'they'...?"
"Oh, uh..." Kieri replied, turning to Buwaro. "Some people don't go by he or she, and Lingo doesn't have any other alternative words."
"Oh. Wait, what about 'it'? Rhea calls Thadius that all the time." Buwaro put a claw to his chin, in thought.
"That's because 'it' is used for objects, Buwaro." Rhea told him sternly.
"Hm..." Buwaro thought for another moment. "...I'm still confused."
Oh, okay then. "We can explain it all to you on the way to Riverside. Come on, we have to hurry along." And I need to think about Arin...
I gestured for the three of them to get a move on. I knew we probably weren't gonna get there before night fell, but at least we could still get there as soon as possible, before the temperature dropped too much. Because God knows I hate this fucking cold, and I hate that I've had to deal with it for the past few days.
But...there's also the matter of Arin. Completely new, has an unscheduled influence...apparently didn't know about angels, or at least this world's version of angels.
I have to think about this. If I only arrived four days ago, immediately before Buwaro and Rhea found Kieri in the woods, I couldn't've influenced events that happened weeks before, or even events that took place in Farun, so what gives!
There's the possibility that they're from Earth too.
But that would be insane!
Think about it! If I made it here what's stopping anyone else?
What could even have brought them here, though? Are we the only two people or are there even more?
Questions for later, I suppose. For now, just bring your mind back to the present, and focus on the road. Best not to let too much show.
I glanced back up at the group, who were now slightly ahead of me, still trying to explain pronouns to Buwaro. I liked them a lot, now being able to interact with them personally. Having read the comic did help a little in getting attached, but overall they were nice people...only exception would be Rhea, with her hard exterior...and also Thadius, if we're even counting Thadius.
But I felt...conflicted about keeping them all in the dark. I...it was hard to put everything even into thoughts. Telling them could have a negative butterfly effect, but...then so would pretty much all my actions...maybe even the actions of Arin, or whoever else happened to have been dragged here.
And the last few days had finally started to catch up to me. I was stuck in a world filled with elemental magic, afterlives, beings that weren't even remotely human in appearance, and to top it off, locked in a soon-to-be-not-secret war between angels and demons that would ruin lives.
Even through my new clothes for the winter, I felt cold, and a headache was coming on, too. And as Rhea had pointed out earlier, it seemed I was eating less than I should. The only plus side to this is that I have water magic, and even that has yet to fully develop; I barely know two simple spells.
I sighed to myself. I need to stop complaining and just count my blessings. I can use water magic, I happened to meet the group pretty much immediately; I killed Lazuli for fuck's sake!
I killed Lazuli...Jesus, that is very hard for me to comprehend. I killed probably one of the most persistent and ruthless demons out there, one that just wouldn't quit until she got her revenge...I wonder, what does happen to her in the end? Is she struck down? Does she rejoin Hell's Army?
No point wondering about it now. She's dead, for good this time. It's not like I'll even find out what does happen to her in the comic. At least I won't have to deal with her shadow over the group.
...I was so lucky.
Well, if that luck keeps up, this'll be a breeze.
Heh, if only reality was that kind to me.
Rhea's POV
We stopped for lunch by the side of the road right at noon, stopping by another set of scattered boulders. I took a pear and some water from the bag, and then passed it on to Jamal, who had put his hood back on. "Remind me how much food we have left?" I asked him,
"Enough that we have nothing to really worry about." Jamal commented, taking his own ration from the bag. "Should last us dinner and tomorrow's breakfast, if we're unlucky and don't make it to Riverside by then." He handed the bag to Kieri, who ended up taking bread and a carrot from the bag before handing it to Buwaro.
I'll admit, I tried to hold back a chuckle. I couldn't, though, so I chuckled anyway.
Buwaro just grabbed an apple and took a large bite out of it. Damn it, I was gonna save that last one for later!
I went to stand up, only for a sharp pang to go through my chest. I flinched and sat back down, wincing; scratching at it again, furiously this time. I hated this; I hated having to deal with these stupid phantom pains!
"Are you okay, Rhea?" I heard Buwaro ask.
I looked up and saw him—well, actually all three people—looking at me in what I could only assume was worry. I shuffled slightly into a more comfortable position before answering.
"Yeah, I'm fine..."
"Are you sure?" Jamal asked again. "You seemed to be scratching pretty hard..."
"I said I'm fine." I said, sitting up straighter, the itch coming back quickly. "Just...I keep getting these phantom pains." I started scratching again; I was practically gonna undo my shirt at this rate. "They come and go at random times...sometimes it's just an itch, other times it feels like I'm getting stabbed all over again." I scratched again, but then I accidentally hooked my hand on one of the strings and got it tangled in my shirt. "Ugh..." I started disentangling my hand.
Jamal sighed, his book in his own hand. "I suppose your damnation isn't about to go away, huh..."
"Doesn't seem like it..." I got my hand free, and then started fixing the string back into place. "I mean, it didn't hurt in Hell, but that was only because I wasn't fully damned." I took a bite out of my pear.
"Are you sure you will be okay?" Kieri asked.
"Yes." I replied with my mouth full, swallowing after I responded. "Pain's gone now."
Kieri nodded slightly and sat down to eat her carrot and drink her water. Jamal quietly munched on his bread with one hand, while reading his alchemy book with his other. Buwaro went back to munching on his apple. It was clear he was enjoying it, at least.
I continued eating my pear. I let my thoughts drift back to the task at hand. Kieri's brother is in Riverside, along with his friend and a Human that they had met along the way. They had a head start, but we were hot on their trail. This trip wasn't in any risk of going south...both literally and figuratively.
And I would finally be able to get a warm place to stay again! And I'd finally get a bed to myself! Jamal's sleeping bags would see to that!
I glanced at Jamal to see him drink some water from his bottle. Heh, have to admit, I don't regret having come across him back in the woods. He's been a good help so far.
Hmm...but then there's also his own issue. Looking for a family he doesn't know the location of, and doesn't have leads...I bet he's hoping the mission to find Kieri's brother will lead him through his home town...
But that's unlikely. As far as I know, it snows pretty much everywhere on Fragaria. Although, he did note that he lived by the south coast...could be Port Dorade, could even be St Curtis, neither of which we'd get to anytime soon. Guess he'll just have to be patient.
I finished eating my pear, and pulled out a couple of marshmallows, which we hadn't gotten to eat last night. So, we have our mission to find Kieri's brother, then to find Jamal's family, and then...
What happens then?
With Buwaro in the group it's highly unlikely we'd ever find a good place to stay. As much as it pains to admit it, his demon heritage is probably our biggest problem, even now.
But...we have time. I believe at least one of us will have a solution by then.
Buwaro's POV
Rhea had kept insisting we hurry so that we got to Riverside while the sun was still up and the sky was still blue. But then the sky once again changed, turning shades of red, yellow and indigo, and darkened until it reached blackness.
Watching all this happen, over the two hours that Rhea cursed about our slowness, was...beautiful. Rhea was right, Medius was very beautiful. This is why Sakido wanted to leave Hell...
I carefully pulled out her sun pendant from under my coats. It was still intact, it was all I had left to remember her by...including the wings, those were pretty nice.
I saw something shining on the pendant, and I looked up. I was taken by surprise. It was like there were two very dim suns in the night sky. One was green, while the other was red; they were very close to each other. I could see shadows again, but these were fainter than before.
I think Snowy caught me staring up at them. "Wow..." I heard her say. "The twin moons of Medius are so beautiful..."
"Is that was those are?" I asked, not sure who I was actually asking.
"Yeah..." Jamal answered lowly, looking up at them as well.
"Yes, yes, the moons are pretty, how long until we reach the damn city?" Rhea groaned.
Jamal looked down at the map for a couple of moments. "It should be within eyeshot in a few. Thank G-Gaia I can still see the map in the moonlight..." He huffed a little; I could see his breath.
The air was cold, but not as cold as it was before. The air felt slightly heavier than before. But then...
"Achoo!"
Snowy sneezed, suddenly turning into a snow bunny.
"Achoo!"
Then she sneezed again; she was an angel again.
"Ah-CHOO!"
And she was a bunny again, lying on the snow.
"Whoa, are you okay, Snowy?" I asked, crouching down to see if I could help her. She looked dizzy...? Dazed.
I saw Jamal and Rhea stop walking and come back to help "Yeah, jeez, that must've been pretty disorienting..." Rhea commented. Jamal remained silent.
Snowy muttered something that I didn't understand. It was probably Angelic language, actually. She stopped, and then spoke again, in Lingo this time. "I-I'm fine..." She sighed, and looked back up at us.
"Let's not get sick so soon..." Jamal muttered, before standing up and turning around. "However, we do have some good news. Come take a look."
Rhea and I stood up and walked over to Jamal, noticing the ground falling from a little crest, the path continuing sideways down it. Past that crest there was a line of inky black cutting through the snowed plains, and right next to it, was a gigantic mass of lights, which stretched as far as I could see.
"We made it to Riverside City." Jamal said proudly.
"Wow..."
"Let's go!" Rhea proclaimed, running down the slope towards the city.
I turned around and walked back to Snowy, who was still a bunny, her bag and her sword still lying next to her.
"I..." She closed her eyes for a few moments before opening them again. "I-I can't-"
Jamal walked up to us from his spot. "What is it?"
"I can't change back..." Snowy whimpered.
"I see..." he replied, crouching down next to her. I did the same.
"Don't worry, Snowy." I told her. "You'll figure it out later!"
Jamal half-smiled. "Yeah. We'll carry your stuff for now." He picked up her sword and her bag.
Wait, that's all her stuff...oh wait, I can still carry Snowy! I picked her up off the snow, making sure to hold her carefully. She squeaked as she was picked up, but then looked up at me and smiled.
"Thank you...both..." She said quietly.
"No problem!" I replied, smiling.
"W-well...we should get a move on." Jamal commented. "Rhea's gonna leave us in the dust at this rate." He pointed to a small dot far down the path to the city. Wow, Rhea made it that far already?
Wait, I think I can hear her...
"WHOO! CIVILISATION!"
Boy, did she sound excited.
I quickly ran down the path after her.
My POV
Riverside City is absolutely amazing. I mean it, it looks...pseudo-modern, in a way. The general architecture gave it away, though the roads were cobble instead of asphalt and street lamps were only 3 metres tall, made of pure black iron, fuelled by oil, and had two heads.
Wait...that doesn't look like oil, does it? It's not flickering...it's too hard to tell, but something tells me the lamps might be using something different. Imagine if it was actual electricity.
I was starting to share in Rhea's excitement about being back in civilisation, because Riverside itself felt...familiar almost. This was both good and bad, but I did my best to focus on the good.
"Okay. We're here now..." I muttered. "Now all that's left to do is find an inn."
"Okay!" Buwaro replied happily.
"Of course, he's to hoping Rhea doesn't get lost again and we have to go around the whole city for the next 6 hours..." I muttered.
"Hey!" She snapped.
"Sorry..." I said meekly. That comment came out before I thought about it.
"Ugh, besides," She continued. "I've never actually been here. The obvious thing to do is go around and ask for directions."
I looked around. The streets were all but empty. I rubbed my gloved hands a little.
"Everyone's inside because of the cold, Rhea."
"Oh, there's bound to be people out, Jamal." Rhea said. "It's only a matter of looking through a couple blocks."
About five blocks further down the street and the only other person in the area was a homeless guy. A Jakkai who looked...substantially bigger than Rhea, and had a surprising spotted pattern on his fur? I didn't know Jakkai could have spots. Also of note was his grey and white fur colour, though I quickly remembered why he'd have that colouration. I had just forgotten because Rhea didn't have it.
"Hey, uh..." Rhea greeted him awkwardly. "D'you know where we can find an inn around here?"
The Jakkai nodded calmly, speaking in a low, gruff voice. "Three blocks north and one west. I pass it on the way to the market."
"Alright, thanks." Rhea said, turning to go to another street. "Let's go, guys."
"Goodbye!" Buwaro said cheerfully, waving at the Jakkai with his free hand. The Jakkai tentatively waved back, probably taken off-guard by Buwaro's attitude. I stayed just long enough to note it, then turned and followed the trio down the street.
Sure enough, the homeless man's directions led to the inn we were looking for: The Chipper Mudskipper. It was a much bigger and nicer-looking building than the inn at Farun. It was wider, and even had a couple of extra floors. It was perfect for weary travellers such as us.
"What a dumb name..." Rhea groaned. "That doesn't even look like a mudskipper."
"I think it's kind of cute..." Kieri piped up
"What's a mudskipper?" Buwaro wondered aloud.
"Apparently it's not the animal painted on the sign." I shrugged, turning to look at another sign that was nearby. "Side note, the inn doesn't allow pets."
"Hm..." Rhea said. "Guess we'll just have to smuggle Kieri in."
"Wait, what?" The bunny in question blinked.
"Buwaro, think you can hide her somewhere?" Rhea asked.
"Maybe under your hat?" I suggested. "Or just in your jacket?"
Buwaro looked down at Kieri; I wasn't entirely sure but he looked confused.
"Why do we have to hide her? She's not a pet, she's an angel."
"The innkeeper won't know that." I told him. "And I seriously doubt simply explaining to him or her will fix anything; the situation is...unbelievable in virtually every sense of the word."
"Besides, we don't want to stay outside longer than we have to, Buwaro. And we don't have time to look for inns that do allow pets, if there's any at all nearby."
"...alright." Kieri nodded. Buwaro nodded as well; he took off his hat, placed Kieri on his head, and put the hat back on...
...only for the hat to not come down all the way.
"Heh, guess she's not gonna fit in there." Rhea chuckled. I noticed Kieri blush as she poked her head out from under the hat. "A-anywhere else?" She asked.
"Well, none of the pockets are big enough, either." I noted, looking at Buwaro's coat. "You know what? What if I just put you inside my hood?"
"That could work!" Buwaro proceeded to stuff Kieri inside my hood, which I was still wearing, mind you. Kieri squeaked as he did so.
"C-careful!" I grunted.
"Sorry."
I felt Kieri shuffling around- God, that tickles!
"O-Okay, how does it look?" I asked.
"Still looks weird..." Rhea said. "But passable, let's just go in already!"
Without waiting for confirmation, she stormed up the stairs and into the inn. Buwaro and I just followed her in. "Stay still..." I whispered to Kieri. She moved slightly, but remained silent.
Once inside the inn, I took in the warm atmosphere. Man, how I had missed warmth like this. The inn itself seemed much better kept than the one in Farun, both in terms of cleanliness and general quality of the material. It even had some really nice-looking furniture. With that in mind, the lobby was completely empty, just like in Farun. Must be pretty late to check in; I couldn't check the time to see just how late.
I watched as Rhea propped herself up on her tail to reach the counter, and rang the bell to call the innkeeper. "Anyone there?" She called out.
"Be there in a minute!" A voice replied from the other room replied. Pretty young-sounding, too.
"I'd like to check in, please!" Rhea called out again.
I stepped to make sure I faced the front desk. It was a paper-thin disguise for Kieri, but maybe they won't notice from this angle. I, however, noticed Buwaro once again looking around the room in wonder.
"Like the place, Buwaro?" I asked him.
He turned to me and nodded. "Yeah-huh!" He glanced around a little more before settling on the paintings again. "How do they get these?"
"They paint them by hand using paint, which is basically a coloured paste." I explained. "As for how real it looks, well, that's just skill."
"Wow..." Buwaro said. "...so, how do they-?"
I heard footsteps come from the other room, and soon after, the front desk guy showed up. I guessed that it wasn't the innkeeper; the guy looked too young. And I couldn't really tell anything else, other than the nice glasses they were wearing.
"Sorry," they said. "I was helping out in the kitchen for a bit." They put a kitchen towel down on the desk. They looked up at us. "So, heard you'd all like a room?"
"Yes, please!" Rhea all but chirped happily. "Room for f- three?"
"We have rooms for four." The front desk guy replied, shrugging. "Will you be fine with that?"
"Yeah, yeah!" I nodded. Well, this was pretty convenient. "It'll do great."
"Alrighty!" They said, reaching back to the wall and grabbing a pair of keys. "Room 303 for you guys. Ten silver."
Rhea reached into her back, pulled out the aforementioned silver coins and handed them over. Then she turned to go up the stairs. Buwaro followed suit. And I...awkwardly shuffled there because I was still trying to hide Kieri. Hopefully they didn't suspect anything...
Anyway, the stairs and the hallways were all lit up with lanterns, which was great because that didn't mean we were simply walking around in the dark like in Farun.
...wow, I keep comparing it to just that one place.
Maybe because it's the only other building I've been in besides the stores and Rhea's old abandoned house in the forest.
...anyway, we got to the third floor soon enough. We walked down the hallway to Room 303, unlocked the door, and stepped inside. The room, like the rest of the inn, was well-kept, lit up, and overall had a very warm and welcoming atmosphere to it. It had four beds, each with bedside tables; two closets, and two chests to put our stuff in. It even had some nice-looking banners on the adjacent wall, and windows in the opposite wall.
Rhea immediately jumped up and flopped on one of the beds. "Finally..." She all but moaned, before sitting up to look at the room again. "This is place is so much better than Farun!"
I set Kieri's things down next to another bed, and sat down, pulling my hood back and carefully picking Kieri up and out. "Okay, there we go." I sighed, gently placing Kieri on the bed, next to me. She was a very fluffy bunny.
"I...feel bad about lying about my staying here..." She muttered.
"We didn't really have much of a choice." I replied. "We weren't just gonna leave you outside, anyway."
"So cheer up, Kieri." Rhea said; she looked pretty happy. She got up off the bed and slipped out of her jacket. "I'll go get us something to eat, you kids just wait. Mm, bet they have a feast down there..." She walked out of the room and closed the door.
Kieri let out a sigh and laid down on her bed. Buwaro, who had been busy removing his jacket, hat, gloves and boots, had finally finished freeing himself of the disguise and immediately sat down next to her, setting Thadius aside.
"Everything okay?" He asked her.
"I suppose..." Kieri mumbled, sitting up, and looking up at Buwaro. "At least we made it, right?"
Buwaro nodded happily, smiling brightly, and for the first time, I noticed his tail had started wagging like a dog's.
If you don't think that's adorable, then...never mind, lots of people on Medius wouldn't find it adorable.
"We'll find your brother in no time!" He said as he scooped Kieri up off the bed "Just you wait!"
I found myself smiling too. "We're only getting closer to reaching him." But then I did something I found myself regretting immediately. I raised my hand and pet Kieri.
It wasn't much of a pet. I did it with two fingers and it was just the one tap on the top of her head. But when I lowered my hand, I found myself thinking I overstepped my boundaries there. Did Kieri even mind that? Was I overthinking this?
In hindsight, I probably was, but in that moment, I just sort of went quiet and thought to myself. Maybe I should just...stay a little quieter from now on, not interfere too much.
I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Anyway-"
Rhea opened the door at that moment, carrying two trays, each with bowls of what looked like noodle soup. Thank you, once again, for the save.
"Dinner's here!" she proclaimed as she closed the door with her tail. "I even got some vegetarian for Kieri!"
"...how?" I raised an eyebrow.
"I told the chefs that one of us needed a double serving." She put a tray on her bedside table. Now able to hold the remaining one—the one with the vegan soup—with both hands, she walked over to us with a grin. "And that the other wanted vegetarian." She put the tray on the other bedside table. The soup actually smelled super good.
"Well, you guys go ahead and dig in!" She walked back to her bed and grabbed a bowl. I got up and joined her, while Buwaro and Kieri went to take their respective servings. I don't know exactly how or why, but I was the first one done. Yes, I beat Rhea AND Buwaro. Kieri was still a bunny, so she didn't get to eat all of it at once.
She did, however, still have concerns about Kazai. "D-do you really think we'll find Kazai here?"
"Well," Rhea said, with her mouth full, before swallowing and continuing. "We know for a fact he and his friends came here. But for all we know they could've already left."
"Hmm..." I let myself start thinking aloud. "Kazai and Sanjulo had a two-to-three day head start on us...but they're also grounded, because Arin is also with them. Best case scenario, whoever they're chasing is still here, and so they're still here. If not, they could be anywhere between prepping for the next leg and being already out of the city." I took a sip of my soup. "I don't know, they might just still be here, but likely not for long."
Kieri looked down. However, Buwaro was quick to pick her up again and give her a hug. "Don't be sad! We'll try our best to find him for you. We promise!" He held Kieri in his arms, with a big smile on his face.
I have to admit, his positivity can be pretty contagious. I actually feel happy just watching him be positive. I felt like adding to that, something about being able to follow him even if we didn't catch him in Riverside, but I stopped myself.
"Th-thank you so much, Buwaro!" Kieri said, her tone of voice indicating that she was hopeful once again. "I'm so glad I met you three!" Buwaro just smiled more and hugged her again, giving her a nuzzle, his tail wagging.
Kieri actually lets out a small giggle at Buwaro's antics. "I-I just wish I could do something for you in return..."
"Actually..." Rhea started, setting her now finished bowl of soup on her bedside table and turning to her bag, which was lying beside her. "There is something you can do for us. I kept forgetting about it 'till now." She rummaged through it, searching for the diary.
I watched as she pulled the worn leather-bound book out, and I even noticed Buwaro's expression change slightly.
"I brought this book back from Hell." She proclaimed, holding it up as she got off the bed. I noticed the pure white feather poking out of the book's pages. I also saw the label on the cover, written in what I could only assume was Angelic. Some kind of runic alphabet that looked unlike anything in the Latin alphabet. I could only guess what was written was Darius' name.
"Buwaro and I couldn't make heads or tails of it," Rhea continued, passing the diary to Kieri. "but Buwaro's sister said it was written in Angelic. She didn't tell us any more than that, though. Can you read it?"
She sat down on Kier's—at least I assume it's now Kieri's—bed and watched as the bunny carefully lifted the cover with her paws and looked at the writing in the book. The feather came loose and Buwaro carefully picked it up, looking down at it.
Kieri said something in Angelic, in astonishment. "What? What?" Rhea pressed.
"This diary was written by an Angel named Darius Elexion. You..." she looked back up at Rhea. "You really got this in Hell?"
"I've had it for as long as I can remember, Snowy." Buwaro said.
"I guess that means that feather really is an Angel's..." Rhea said, putting a hand to her chin. "Darius...Darius...that name sounds..."
"Familiar..." I suddenly realised that I mouthed it when Buwaro and Rhea said it. "...It does?" They looked up at each other in confusion.
I sat back and watched them as they started talking about it.
"At least I think 'Darius' sounds familiar." Buwaro noted. "Maybe it's just 'cause it sounds like 'Thadius'?" He tapped Thadius as he spoke.
"I know I heard that name somewhere." Rhea said. "But I just can't remember where..."
Hmm...if I remember correctly, you heard that name from Sakido back in Hell.
"Eh, I'm sure it'll come to me later." Eh, hopefully.
"I...I-I'm not sure we should read it." Kieri said softly.
"Why not?" Rhea was quick to shoot back.
"W-well..." Kieri tapped the inside of the front cover. "Underneath the profile card with his name and favourite colour," Oh wow, Darius actually had that? Didn't remember that detail. "he wrote: 'This diary is private property! Do not read! This means you!'" And then she made an adorable 'Hmph!' noise as if she was acting the writing out.
Rhea laughed and ruffled Kieri's head (at which point I'll admit I felt a litte ashamed for getting so worked up about doing it earlier.). "Oh, you're such a goody-two-shoes! Guess it's expected for an Angel, but come on, be a good sport! Like Buwaro said, he's had this diary for years now, this Darius guy isn't gonna find out or even care that we read his old diary!"
Kieri herself was left a stuttering mess. "B-b-but...but, I don't know..."
"Aren't you the least bit curious about how the diary ended up in Hell?"
"I'm curious!" Buwaro said. "Please, Snowy? Can you read it?"
She looked up at him for a moment, and then sighed. "Okay..." Hmm...
"Hey, Jamal, wanna come over?" Rhea asked. I started slightly and looked back up. Kieri was gonna read us Darius' diary. No need to worry about it...
"Um, sure." I said, getting up and joining the three on Kieri's bed. We shuffled around slightly, so that Rhea was sitting between Buwaro and I, holding the book for Kieri, who sat in front of her to read.
"Okay..." Kieri started reading, turning each page with her paw. "Darius wrote that he worked as an artisan, crafting pendants like the ones Buwaro and I have..." She turned a page and read it aloud, slowly, as she translated directly. "'Even though I've already earned all three pendants, I haven't been drafted to fight in the war yet. I'm worried it's only a matter of time before I'm fighting Demons face-to-face...'"
With each word she spoke, I recalled more and more of what I had seen represented in the comic. This was the exact same text, the exact words. It was becoming clear to be that my memory hadn't been completely perfect. I was fully aware of the exactitude of these words, but I couldn't remember the dialogue perfectly. Conversations I had seen had already started fading from my mind.
At least it gives me more of a reason to stay in the present and listen.
"I wonder if Heaven did draft artisans like him..."
"Hm? What do you mean?" Rhea inquired.
Kieri help up her sun pendant to Rhea. "These pendants are very difficult to make, and not many Angels learn the craft. The pendants are too rare to just h-hand out, so they must be earned. If Daruis really was forced to fight, Heaven must've been very despe...despera..."
Sneeze incoming.
I shuffled away slightly in anticipation. Rhea wasn't so lucky. Kieri sneezed loudly, turning back into an Angel, knocking the diary out of Rhea's hands...and knocking Rhea herself backwards and off the bed. "Ow!"
Kieri didn't have time to apologise before she sneezed again. And then a third time, before she finally managed to stop and take a look at herself.
"I'm an Angel again!"
Buwaro immediately hugged her. "See? Told ya there was nothing to worry about!"
"Th-thank you!"
Rhea poked her head back up from behind her bed. "Ow...well, that's good and all..."
Kieri turned to look at her. "O-oh, sorry Rh- rr-"
And then she sneezed again, and she was back to being a bunny. Poor Kieri.
Buwaro just held her, and sighed. "You'll get the hang of it..." Kieri muttered something in Angelic.
Rhea rubbed her head. "I think we've had enough of this for one night." she said, walking around the bed and picking up the diary off the floor. "It's late, and our translator is having some," she chuckled. "technical difficulties."
"I'm sorry..." Kieri apologised, sniffling and rubbing her nose with her paw.
I looked down at her. "It's okay. We should just get rest already. We've got a day of searching ahead of us." I grinned and pet her again. "Sleep well." I looked up at Buwaro. "You too." And then I shuffled away to the bed on the far side of the room.
As I got ready for bed I sneaked a glance at my watch. 10:34pm. Yeah, it's high time we all sleep. I slipped out of my shoes and my jacket, hiding my watch under my shirt sleeve again, and climbed into bed, curling up under the covers. I had stopped paying attention to the happenings on the other side of the room, but I could still hear shuffling as everyone else went to bed.
The noises stopped hours before I finally managed to drift off.
A/N: We slowly but surely make our way further into the rabbit hole...no pun intended. In the meantime, I would like to hear some constructive criticism for this story. See if I can improve on some things for future chapters.
Ronmr: Jamal himself is surprised about it too. He wasn't expecting there to be new people besides himself in the world.
Guest: Here's to hoping more is learned about Arin's own situation in this world.