Earlier, Kay and Shira were chasing Kai into Hesperos. Kai was quite a ways away, merely appearing as a small figure in the distance. Shira looked concerned as the two of them made chase. Kay looks forward, eyeing the boy ahead.
KA-BOOM
Kay and Shira’s darted their attention to the sound of the booming explosion. Kay came to a halt and watched as a small fiery torrent erupted into the air and blanketed some of the air in a thick smog. Shira stops a little after Kay. Kay lowered her head and let out a sigh.
“Just another day in Licentiam…”
Kay looks over at Shira, who went from eyeing the explosion to curiously looking back at her ally.
“Say honey, do you mind chasing after the kid for a sec?”
Shira nods.
“Yeah.”
Kay parts some of her hair, whipping her luscious pink hair to the side.
“Sorry I gotta leave ya behind the doll, but it’s just one headache after another with this place. Besides, the kid is more familiar with you, right? I think he’d be more inclined to listen to you than little ‘ole me.”
Shira lets out a tiny chuckle. A visible sadness was behind her smile.
“Yeah… I understand…”
“If I can make quick work with whatever’s goin’ on over there, I’ll come runnin’ back, alright?"
Kay turns her body in the direction of the smoke and dismisses herself with a wave of her fingers.
"Stay safe, hun.”
Kay departs and Shira turns her attention back to Kai, who she can see has entered Hesperos and broke off into the corner of a road. She darts in his direction, and when Shira makes it to the premises, she takes to the top of the destroyed and abandoned structure for a better vantage point.
“Kai! Please come out! I don’t want to hurt you!”
There is no response. Shira looks down from the ruins above, but is unable to find traces of the boy. Her trail running cold, she leaps from structure to structure, hoping to find remnants of the fleeing child. She looked around, soon spotting a sole crow staring off into the distance. The crow turns its body, showing off its disheveled features; the corner of its eye darting toward the young woman. Shira takes notice of the bird’s odd behavior, but does not approach it; she ignores the animal and peers in another direction.
Caw! Caw! Caw!
The crow aimed its cries toward the young woman. Shira cocked her head back at the crow, watching curiously as the animal was rapidly turning its head left, seemingly aiming its beak into the crevice between two buildings. Although she found its behavior peculiar, she continued about her own business. A deep void lies beyond the crow’s stare.
Caw!
The bird calls out to her again. She ignores it entirely. The crow stares at the woman.
Caw!
The bird calls, the woman ignores. The crow stares. This time, it flies in the air and beams toward her. It flies right next to her head and pokes her with its beak.
“Ah!”
Shira recoils as its beak slams against her head. She tries swatting it away, but the crow evades it with an oddly masterful skill. It flies back to its original spot after pestering her. Shira shoots it with a grimace.
Caw!
The crow watches the irritated woman for a second before rapidly moving its head left into the crevice. It takes a short hop to the side and looks directly into the crevice. Again, it looks at Shira, then the crevice. Shira was beginning to catch on.
“Are you trying to show me something…?” She mumbles.
Shira walks over to the crevice and looks down. To her surprise, she sees the young boy Kai, fidgeting and breathing heavily. He sidled against the tattered wall, holding it so tightly his fingers were digging into the wall’s foundation. Kai moves more into the alley and hunches over panting, attempting to catch his breath.
Shira looks at the young boy with a concerned expression. Shira looks at the crow, who continues to stare at the boy with a blank expression. She allows Kai to travel deeper into the alley.
Kai travels to the other side of the alley, where he wanders upon a small empty lot filled with heaps of dirt among an array of destroyed constructs and equipment. Kai climbs one of the makeshift mounds and sits down, his head hung low, awash with a saddened expression.
All is quiet. The young boy clasped his hands together and stared at the ground with an empty gaze. Shira made her way down to the ground floor, approaching from the alley previous. The sound of her armored footsteps causes Kai to react immediately. He jolted himself up, preparing to make a mad dash, but when he turned his head, he stopped himself when he saw Shira, alone. Although her sole presence did not not completely ease him. He was still fidgeting, his eyes darting toward different corners of different buildings, looking for any of her potential allies. Shira walks toward the troubled youth, a sincere frown plastered over her.
“Kai…” She says gently.
As Shira steps forward, Kai steps back.
“Sh-Shira…” The young boy stammers. “Wh-what do you want?”
“I just want to take you back home…”
“Home?” Kai repeats in an insulted tone. “I don’t wanna go home! I don’t have anyone at home! I don’t even have a home! So get out of here!”
“I know you were captured by that man, but he’s not in the kingdom. He’s not going to hurt you anymore…”
“And you think taking me back home is gonna help?!” Kai raised his voice. “Who am I going home to, Shira?! Who’s waiting for me there?!”
The life force surrounding Kai became stronger and more malicious. Shira falters for a moment, as she sees the young boy’s aura sporadically spike in power. He grinds his teeth and glares at Shira. Despite his angered demeanor, a steady stream of tears were falling down his cheeks.
“No one…!” He exclaims through clenched teeth. “No one’s waiting for me…! I don’t have a home! Just leave me alone…!” He exclaims through grounded teeth. “Stop trying to bring me back…! I don’t wanna hurt you…!”
“Kai, please calm down. If you don’t wanna go home, then that’s fine! You had a lot of us worried! We thought you were dead! Please let’s just sit down and let me talk to you!”
Kai’s glare softened. The moment his aura began to ease, a blinding glare stopped the both of them. They look up and see a stray fireball falling from the sky. The two barely had any time to react, the fiery meteorite colliding directly into Shira.
BOOM
The fireball crashes, engulfing the area into a thick black smog; the blast of the impact sending him a ways away, crashing into a small mound of debris. The surrounding structures crumbled to the ground, burying atop where the woman once stood. Damaged, Kai manages to raise his head, and through the smog, can faintly spot the lifeless arm of the woman previously.
“Shira…!”
He called out to her, but the torrent of flames drowned out his desperate cry. The smoke around him became thicker, deafening his vision further. He stands on his two feet, his right arm placed in front of his eyes, to shield him from the fumes.
“Cough! Cough! Arrgh…!”
A mystical voice suddenly permeathes through the air.
“I thought I sensed something abnormal of you. Yet upon closer inspection, now have I deduced the secrets of your aura…”
Squish-squish-squish-squish-squish.
A rapid succession of soft and wet taps came into earshot of Kai. He raises his head, he looks left and right, but cannot deduce the cause of the sound. The tapping gradually picked up speed, causing the boy to panic. He hurried his scouting around him until he spotted an entity through the smoke. It was great size and speedy, creeping through the smog like a spider. It sifts swiftly across the ground, sneaking up on the young boy. Kai sees the creature at the last moment, his eyes delved into the eyes of a makeshift mouth composed of dark thorns. The boy jumps away, dodging the strike by a hair’s breadth. The boy lands upon more debris and raises his head to see the spider-like creature beginning to stand erect.
The creature's body was dark brown but stained with fragment splotches of red blood. It had six brown, tentacle-esque appendages with four arms and two legs. Its upper arms and lower legs hardened, while its other set of arms remained wavy, thick, and flexible. The creature stood at two meters tall with a massive cavity stitched together like a net by its own branch-like material, starting from the bottom of its stomach and connecting to its collarbone. Small thorns dripped out of its body. Its head resembled that of an insect, with two bright yellow bug eyes with multiple spongy antenna atop its head slicked back similar to long hair.
The monstrosity stands on its hardened feet, with the rest of its appendages whipping and waving about like a squid. Kai stood terrified by the creature and its mystical articulation. Kai responds by bolstering his life force.
“How quaint… for a mere child your power is impressive… though it is no concern to the strength I’ve detected before…”
Its neck continuously cracks as it turns its head to the frightened child. Kai clenches his fists. The creature takes notice of the boy’s standoffish behavior.
“I assure you, filthy Mongrel, you cannot hope to tackle the terror you bear witness…”
It bolsters its own power, taking one of its hardened arms, it points it toward the child’s head.
“You, and this entire realm, shall be eviscerated!”
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