Day 2: Year C-009

Arc II – Weeds: Demons disguised as angels planted wretched weeds within the Island’s gardens.

Trekking west within the underground sewers, the four escapees eventually surfaced upon West Castle Street —the most western street, which bordered Grand Island's endless evergreen forests. As the farmer's roosters began to stir from peaceful slumber, Billiam, Zanna, Chenille, and Mikey booked it toward the city’s brick wall. Usually, the Royal Guards patrolled this area, but due to the thick black fog, they were ordered to stay indoors, even if they heard cries of help from outside. 

The only lifeform roaming the streets was the assassin who searched far from West Castle Street, as no one sane would ever think of escaping through the deadly forests of the Island. As told by old scriptures, evil demons from the cold oceans occupied pools of water within the Island, and could easily drag innocent souls down into the depths.

As the four reached the brick wall, Billiam scaled the defensive anti-demon barricade with ease. Once upon the edge, he lifted his uniform’s hat and threw a large piece of rope towards the group. Mikey was the first to climb as the black fog slowly dissipated. Chenille gestured for Zanna to be the second to go, but the Priestess was hesitant. She knew the situation was dire, but climbing without her gravitational magic was no easy feat for her. Regardless, Zanna slowly crawled up the rope, not operating her legs at all, which caused minor confusion for the onlooking squad of runaways.

“What was that?” Billiam impatiently huffed once the Priestess reached the top.

“I-I deeply apologize for the wait, my lower legs are incredibly weak,” The Priestess vaguely explained, hoping not to elaborate further on her injury.

“If this is some sort of poor attempt at sabotage-”

“Shut it! You’re going to alert the roosters, Airhead,” Chenille hissed once they reached the top of the wall. “The assassin was after the Lady’s neck first. I highly doubt her climbing was a little slow on purpose.”

“Plus, her soles have never touched the ground for as long as I’ve known her,” Mikey added on, implying he also knew Zanna didn’t constantly levitate as a mere performance.

“Fine, fine. I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt.” Billiam retracted the rope and placed it back underneath his hat. “So, now that we’re technically beyond the Royal Guard’s reach, we’re free to use our magic again.”

Zanna gracefully leapt from the grey brick wall and nervously floated toward the soft grass. The medic instantly followed suit by quickly scaling the wall back toward the ground. Mikey nervously looked around, not knowing a way to get down without risking a painful fall.

“Hey kiddo, do you need a lift?” Chenille asked as they unravelled their arm into a rope.

Mikey profusely nodded.

“Alright, down you go. I won’t shake the rope like Billiam would, that’s a promise.”

“Ah, I missed out on that fun opportunity.” The medic yawned to himself.

“Excuse you, what is so fun about scaring a child?” Zanna scoffed as Mikey reached the ground.

“Simple, Lady Zanna, it builds a little character-”

Chenille shoved Billiam aside as they lifted the sleepy Priestess into their arms.

“That builds character, too. Now follow me into the forest.”

The former Temple Guard led the group, running ahead of the medic and former choir boy.

"I beg your pardon, is this distance not far enough?" The Priestess worryingly peered behind Chenille's shoulder. "Surely, the Royal Guards will not catch sight of us residing here, since we are beyond the city’s protective walls-"

"Ha! What naive thinking, Zanna. While yes, we are past the wall, some skilled Royal Guards would very likely have permission to go beyond it. Keeping our distance as humanly feasible is a necessity for our survival!" Billiam grinned as he swiftly dodged multiple low-hanging branches with ease.

‘Was Billiam always this athletic? I could have sworn he recounted his running speed was that of a domesticated hen.’ The Priestess silently observed with caution, as her coily locks gently flowed in the winter wind.

"And that's not the only issue, remember the intruder? My gut thinks they’ll find us, no matter where we are," Chenille added with caution. "After all, weren't you the one who theorized the Head Priest himself would try to go after your neck, My Grace?"

"Y-Yes. You're undoubtedly correct. I apologize for questioning your strategy," The Priestess felt her eyes grow heavy, "Though I must express aloud, you two seem to comprehend more than you lead on."

Chenille forced a grin and looked toward Billiam to answer.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Billiam chuckled as the four passed a peculiar pond with an oddly serene clearing.

Mikey instinctively halted running but quickly regained his acceleration. Falling behind and becoming lost in the woods was a request for a lonely death wish. Too many magical, nocturnal creatures lurked in the area at night during the winter season. However, as he sped up, the former choir boy could have sworn something otherworldly called out to him.

"Well, to specify what I meant, you two appear to have more survival skills than I could have speculated... Then again, I have only known you two for the past few months." Zanna sleepily commented with a gentle tone.

Chenille couldn't help but glance at the Priestess' peaceful expression with an amiable smile.

"Well, I’ll have you know I’ve brushed up on my survival tactics! My medical proficiency includes being resourceful enough to use any natural remedies for multiple scenarios." The medic boasted as a distraction.

Although the former Temple Guard wanted to banter along, they were exhausted from the absence of decent sleep and excessive running. The entire group began to waver physically, as the gentle sun’s rays barely caressed their skin.

Another 45 minutes passed when the group approached a run-down cabin hidden behind towering trees, moss and vines growing everywhere. It was a stunning sight from Zanna's perspective, as nature and structures coexisting were unheard of to the sheltered Priestess. She thought of Verde Street’s Temple, wondering if she could return one day to decorating her old home of safety with beautiful winter vines.

No one said a word as they headed inside and understandably collapsed onto the cabin’s sturdy, wooden floor.

Billiam curled up by an old couch in the living room, Mikey sat underneath the windowsill by the entrance, Chenille leaned against the front doorway, and Zanna lay directly beside the former Temple Guard. In their deep sleep, the faithful Temple Guard held the hand of her Grace, Zanna.

...

It was now 9:15 in the morning.

Chenille darted awake and immediately scanned their surroundings.

‘Good, everyone’s still asleep.’

The former Temple Guard silently stepped past everyone’s sleeping bodies, reviewing the overall condition of the cabin.

The grey, crooked furniture remained intact, the tiny black radio box was slightly damaged but not unusable, and all four rooms in the house needed serious dusting.

Chenille re-examined the smallest room upstairs and studied the wooden carvings hidden underneath the bed frame. The marks were in the shape of a typical summoning circle for the residents of Grand Island. A large circle, with two inner circles representing the Ruler and Priestesses, respectively. Then, the sun and the moon are at the northern and southern areas of the circles, representing Life and Death. Finally, at the centre of the summoning circle, Grand Island’s crescent shape was outlined with the small island to the North.

‘...That's right. Back then, I heard magic could be enhanced with a summoning circle over the radio. I’ll engrave another one next to the bed...’

Heading back down the creaky stairs, the former Temple Guard immediately thought of breakfast. Though waking up around nine meant the group were far more likely to have brunch, with all the preparation and inconvenience of cooking everything from scratch.

‘None of us here can start a fire in the stone oven or even summon anything for cooking, might as well start the day by chopping up some lumber.’ Chenille thought to themself on their way outdoors.

The ex-Temple guard quietly snuck to the washroom, took a quick bath in an old tub, and quickly changed out of their musty old white uniform in exchange for woolly grey winter attire. As Chenille stepped toward the front, they quickly grabbed a black fur coat, shut the door behind them, chewed on a mint leaf, and commenced dicing wood by the front. The sun still brightly shone, though with so many trees in the way, it was a little difficult to tell at first glance.

Mikey was the second to wake up, sweating from a nightmare.

"...I forgot to return the book!" He whispered out loud to himself as he nervously looked around. "Huh? Billiam? Are you awake yet? Chenille's gone!"

The medic shook himself awake and groaned.

"Dear me, Mikey, what is it that you wanted?" The medic crankily grumbled.

"Chenille's not at the front door!" Mikey exclaimed as the Priestess was the last to wake up.

"You're right, I'm in the front yard," Chenille casually replied through the glass window with a casual smirk. "I'm chopping wood before we cook something. Speaking of which, I didn't think far ahead for our meal plan. The only edible thing that's close by is the winterberry bushes."

"Ah, bullocks, we were lurking around West Castle Street earlier!” The medic whined as he sleepily rummaged for new clothes by the front closet. “Snatching a couple of eggs for ourselves would’ve been a cinch!"

"Well, either you go back, try fishing in the unfrozen pond we passed, or we're going on a completely meat and alternative-free diet,"

"...Fishing it is, I'll prepare the right gear." Billiam yawned and made his way to the washroom. "Mikey, after I finish washing for the morning, do the same or else you'll reek of sweat and tobacco like our friend over here,"

"You know damn well I shower in the morning!" The former Temple Guard grunted.

"Remember, Lone Wolf. Wash your hair first-"

"Eugh! Go fishing already, Airhead!"

The two then commenced laughing while Mikey blinked in confusion.

‘Are they chums, or do they secretly see each other as chumps? Sometimes, I can't tell under their layers of sarcasm.’

Meanwhile, Lady Zanna gently yawned as she attempted to reach for Chenille, but they were not there. She seemed a little disappointed, but remained calm and kept a positive appearance.

"Ah, what a way to wake up. Good morning, everyone!" The Priestess greeted the party as she floated about. "Won't you join me for a morning prayer, Billiam?"

The annoyed surgeon pretended not to hear and shut the washroom’s door, as Zanna made the suggestion.

“So, he chooses to say his prayers during breakfast.” Zanna turned toward the ex-choir boy with a smile, still wearing yesterday’s torn gown, “Mikey? What precious words will you contribute to our lovely prayer?"

The former choir boy walked up to the Priestess, kneeled in prayer, and closed his eyes.

"...Good morning. Good Goddesses. I love the recent invention of soap, let's hope our fish are plentiful like that one story of Life splitting two fish into two hundred."

Mikey stood up, quickly bowed, and joined Chenille outside to inquire about fishing with Billiam. Zanna sadly exhaled and shook her head with disappointment.

‘How could Mikey be insensitive and annoyed during a morning prayer session? At a time like this, one would assume he would turn to prayer...’

The Priestess dusted off her worn gown, took off her white Priestess cap, and folded her hands at the coffee table. She closed her eyes and attempted to ignore the sounds of chopping wood, rummaging through clothes and the water pipes running.

"O' Life. Forgive my choir boy's choice of words. He is lost without the comfort of the Temple, as the rest of us are confused and afraid. But I shall continue to live humbly daily and thank you for the gift that is life... O' Death, our youth continues to thrive. When the time is right, we will accept your cold embrace and face your trial of justice. Thank you both for this incredible, mystical cycle of give and take. Hail to thee."