The Lost one's journey

Part 33: Ikati

A young Ikati sleeps on a large and comfortable bed. They wake up and look around their room. They see a jeweled dresser and mirror. She doesn't say anything as she gets out of bed with a blank face and puts on a black dress with panthers all across it. As she changes, she runs her hand on a scar where her heart would be. "..." She only focuses on it for a second as she finishes putting on her dress. She goes to the mirror and looks at her reflection. Her cold, almost dead eyes were looking right back at her. She doesn't do anything else as she leaves the room. A long row of beastkin butlers bow before her. "Lady Ikati. Lord Voda and Qattus await you in the parlor. Please allow me to take you there." Says an older beastkin. Ikati doesn't say anything, with a blank look on her face. The beastkin leads her into a large room with multiple luxurious chairs and tables in it. Voda sits on a chair, talking to a man whose face is unknown to Ikati. A small boy with short white hair and cat-like ears on his head excitedly walks up to Ikati. His eyes glow a bright gold as he looks up at Ikati. "Ikati!" He happily declares as he hugs her. She lets out a smile as she hugs him back. "There she is. Ikati come. I've got much to discuss with you." Voda commands as his purple eyes pierce through her. She nods and goes over to sit on a chair next to him while the little boy sits on her lap. Ikati looks towards the man her father was talking to. She can tell it's a human; his hair is jet black and his eyes are the same. He wears a blue tunic and black pants, and he has a wide smile on his face. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Galdur Rodet." He says it with a smile and an extended hand. Ikati briefly looks up at her father, but only gets a glare in return. She quickly becomes nervous and shakes Galdur's hand. "M-my name is Ikati." Voda glares at her once again as she stutters. "I see! It's very nice to meet you, Ms. Ikati." He excitedly says, "This man here is, as you've no doubt assumed, a human. I'm sure even you know of such a basic concept. He's come here on his journey across the world and has asked us for a guided tour of Kruhabelt. To show our hospitality to Sir Galdur, you are to show him around. Is that clear?" Ikati quickly nods her head. "Good. She'll be out front soon. Await her there. I have something I must discuss with my blood." He says as he glares at her. Galdur, however, doesn't notice and nods his head. "Yeah, no problem. I'll be waiting for you outside, Ms. Ikati." He says with a happy grin on his face as he leaves the room. After Galdur leaves, Voda stands up and turns his back to her as he looks at a portrait of himself and a white-haired beastkin with pointed cat ears. "Stand." He commands, and Ikati complies as Qattus hops off her lap. "You've repeated that sentence numerous times. Are you so animalistic that you cannot utter such a simple word?" He speaks in a tone that, while not shouting or quiet, still slices her deeply. "No Sir." She shakily says, "So then why did you stutter? Do you just want to bring such abhorrent behavior into my home? You are my blood. My blood doesn't stutter like that. You're to inherit this grand paradise I have created; therefore, you must never bring such disrespect to my city again. Is that made clear?" Ikati is quiet for a second before speaking. "...Yes Sir." "Good. Now show that human around. He has a great deal of mana and a gift I refuse to lose. You are to do whatever he says, no matter what. If he asks you to kill people, you only ask how many. If he asks you for anything, what so ever, I don't care how much you may hate it. You will do it." Ikati pushes down on her finger, almost on the verge of breaking it. "Yes Sir." She says as she turns around and starts to leave. As she leaves, Qattus attempts to follow her, but a wall of shadows blocks him. He calls out to her, but she ignores it as she walks up to the exit. She opens the door and is met by rows of servants, with Galdur standing in the center. The servants bow to her as she walks towards Galdur. "Lord Galdur, are you ready to depart?" Galdur grins. "Yeah! I'm excited to check out Kruhabelt." Ikati nods and begins to lead the way into the city. As they walk down the stairs from the palace, Galdur turns back to see the servants still standing there while the black palace stands before them. "Are they not going to follow you?" He asks, sounding slightly confused. "No, they aren't. There is no need for guards in Kruhabelt. No one would dare commit any crimes." Ikati calmly says this as she continues to walk down the steps. Galdur decides to shrug it off and follow Ikati. They soon arrive in the city, and many different Beastkins happily wave to Ikati. "Daughter of shadows! How are  you?""Daughter of shadows, how is the king?" These are only some of the things they say to her. "Daughter of shadows? That's a rather unique name." Galdur says with a light chuckle. "My father, Voda, is considered the king of shadows, so it only makes sense." "I see, but you have your own name, do you not?" Ikati doesn't respond as they walk through the city. "This is our most popular tourist destination," Ikati says after some time of silence. Galdur looks up at the building with a slightly uncomfortable smile. "T- this is a bathhouse." "Yes, it is. Are you not comfortable with this?" Galdur nervously chuckles. "Aha, yes, I would say that." Ikati then thinks for a second. "Then I will show you another popular tourist attraction." She tells him as she walks off and signals for him to follow. As they walk down the city once more, the many beastkins stop what they are doing to wave to Ikati. "Daughter of shadows! Send my regards to the shadow king!" "Daughter of shadows, we are honored to have you here!" "Daughter of shadows! Your presence honors us!" Galdur raises an eyebrow once again as he hears their voices. "Does no one truly even know your name?" Ikati doesn't respond as they walk, worrying Galdur. As they walk, they arrive at a temple with two large statues of a black cat-headed woman. "Bastet?" Galdur says this in confusion. Ikati turns to him in surprise. "You know the name of the goddess?" Galdur looks at her and laughs. "Ahahah! Yes, I suppose I do! You see, this goddess of yours isn't from this world." Ikati looks at her in confusion. Galdur grins. "You see, Bastet is a god from my own world. My assumption is that someone was summoned from my own world and years ago brought the story of Bastet here into Kruhabelt." "Oh... so you already know everything about her." Ikati says, sounding slightly disappointed, and her ears point slightly downward. Galdur shakes his head. "Oh no, not at all. I'm no scholar. I just had a friend who was a scholar. I'm also not a follower of those gods. I have my own religion that I am a devout follower of." Ikatis ears perk right back up. "Then please allow me to show you the temple and tell you about our goddess." They walk up the steps of the alter, and a priest stands at the top, seemingly waiting for them. The man is a fox beastkin with bright, short red hair and wearing a white linen robe. "Ahh. Daughter of shadows. It has been quite some time since we last met, has it not?" The beastkin says. Ikati nods her head. "It truly has. I'm here to show this human around and tell him a bit about the goddess." The fox smiles and looks towards Galdur. "Hello. It's nice to meet you. My name is Galdur Rodet." The fox smiles and shakes his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Sir Galdur. Not many in Kruhabelt actually bother to come nowadays." Galdur raises an eyebrow. "Oh? I would've assumed the exact opposite of this." The fox shakes his head. "Oh no. Many Beastkins hardly care about relics of the past. I wouldn't be surprised if this temple was destroyed some time in the future." "That is truly a shame. Would you please tell me the stories you have of the goddess?" Galdur asks with a smile on his face. The fox happily nods his head and leads him deeper into the temple. Ikati doesn't follow. "Ikati? Are you not coming?" Galdur asks as he realizes she is not following. "Oh, I'm afraid she isn't allowed to." The fox says it with a sorrowful tone. Galdur looks at him, confused. "What, why not?" "Well, I have just mentioned how many Beastkins don't come anymore, but there's more to this. The truth is, Sir Galdur, many have become spiteful of the goddess. The shadow king is one of these people. So much so that he even carved into her very soul gem that she not take a single step deep into the temple." "You can do that!?" Galdur says this in shock. He turns to her, and she looks away. Galdur then grins. "Well, in that case, I can't exactly abandon my guide now, can I?" Galdur walks back next to Ikati with a wide smile. The fox looks at him and gives a nod. "I pray for your health and safety, Sir Galdur. As well as to the daughter of shadows." Galdur puts his hand on her shoulder. "She has a name, y'know? It's Ikati. Now let's be off! There must be more places you can show me." Galdur says this with a laugh as they walk away from the temple. Ikati quickly catches up with him. "Lord Galdur. Why-" Before Ikati can continue her sentence, Galdur interrupts. "What other places do you have in Kruhabelt? I'm excited to see more of this place." He speaks with a wide smile as a warm energy surrounds them as the sun sets in the evening.