The Corruption

Chapter 7

Amore Island, deep inside a cave

The woman could only press her back closer to the wall, her whole-body trembling with fear, yet her gaze did not waver. Her eyes narrowed and focused on the shadow figure in front of her. "W-Who are you." She only managed to curse her mind as her mouth betrayed her, letting her words stumble with each other as they left the confinement of her thoughts. The figure walked closer, until both the flame and the shadow were close enough for the woman to be able to acknowledge their appearance. Her eyes widened for a millisecond as she stared at the man in front of her, unkept brown hair, green eyes tainted with heavy bags under them, a bloody bandage also wrapped around his head along with another wrapped around his shoulder and chest, the top part of his robe only hanged around his waist, leaving his torso bare. "I apologize, I must have startle you..." His voice was laced with preoccupation, tired eyes looking at her in an apologetic way as he raised his right hand to rub the nape of his neck as his left one held the torch. "My name is Misha, god of art... I woke up here after being attacked while on a walk trough the forest..." The woman paid attention to his words her she didn't speak nor move an inch still feeling relentless of the unfamiliar stranger in front of her, she had heard of his name before but that ought to be normal when one participated in as many gatherings as she did. The man however also stood in his place, not wanting to cause further discomfort on the young woman. "I understand how suspicious I must sound... But please believe me I have no idea either were we both are or who brought us here..." His voice trailed off as he glared at the floor. "I only came here to see the famous Lady Hana... They say her beauty comes straight of the most gorgeous canvas, I could not wait to see her..." His ears burned a reddish color, but his hands could only shake. "Yet, I'm not even able to protect myself... What a disgrace I bring for my ancestors..." The woman took pity on the man, his eyes spoke the truth, and despite his tall figure he did seem to have came of age only recently, and if she thought about it she did heard that the former god of music had been murderer... The truth is that even in the called 'peaceful' land of the gods such things were bound to happened. They were born out of human emotions, while much more powerful and advanced, they mirrored the human behavior on much aspects. Murdering, kidnappings, slave trafficking, all of this were activities that happened once to many times on this lands, and the reason things like the 'Pecatrix Prison' and the 5 departments of the realms. She raised her own trembling hand, grabbing his and offering a soft smile. The man raised his eyes to her for a second before looking away. "My apologies my lady, I've bothered you with my words, more importantly-" He took a knee, placing the torch in a way that still served as enough light to allow both of them to stare at each other's face. "-Is your head still hurting?" The woman softly shook her head only staring as her action was greeted with a soft smile from the man himself. "I'm glad." She suddenly felt apologetic for having even doubt him in the first place, his eyes held nothing but kindness and so she repaid his smile with one of her own. "Thank you for treating my wound Sir Misha." She only stared as the man himself stared blankly at her for a second before quickly averting his head to the side, covering his face with the back of his hand as his ears once erupted into a red color. "Once again, I apologize my Lady... It's just that your beauty seems to have caught me off guard." Even thought his hand covered most of his face, you could still feel the heat that radiated off his face as he didn't dare to look back at her, that is until her soft laughter brought him gaze to her. She was used to these reactions, yet not everyone were so honest with their reactions, and it never failed to amuse her. "Many thanks Sir, I would imagine it so if I happened to be described as someone who came from such a beautiful canvas." His eyes widen at her words as she smiled at him once more. "Let me introduce myself, my name is Lady Hananoai, or Lady Hana, goddess of love." Misha let his other knee hit the ground as he place now both of his hands on his face to hide his embarrassment. "I keep embarrassing myself!..." She could only giggle in response once again. "It is quite alright Sir Misha." If she was honest to herself, she was quite thankful for the younger man, not only did he treat her wounds but even his soft and kind tone when speaking with her has served as a distraction for her situation, but now it was time to face it. "But, we must try to leave, I'm quite certain the situation on my temple must be chaos at the moment, and whoever placed us here might hurt more people..." The man regained his composure, staring at her and nodding his head. "I agree, while waking for you to wake up I took a look around and it seems we are far to deep in a cave, I only managed to light the torch thanks to my fire attribute." Hana gave a nod back as Misha stood up. "I might be lacking in many ways, but I'll try my best so that Lady Hana doesn't get hurt once again." And as he said such words he extended his right hand which she was quick to take, letting him help her back to her feet. "I will take you on that, while I also have fire attribute mana, I'm afraid I have no knowledge of attack as I specialize in healing." They started to walk, Misha in front of her. "I know." She paused, staring at his back for a second before shaking her head. Was she feeling suspicious? Her being specialized in healing was a well known fact. Once again she felt apologetic, the man had been nothing but kind and helpful yet she could not bring herself to fully trust him, but then again given her circumstances at the moment it was to be expected that she would be even suspicious of a rock if necessary. "Lady Hana, are you okay?" Misha spotted, looking back at her with a worried expression and only there did she understand that she had already been frozen for more than a few seconds. "Was it what I said? I apologize... I only meant that I had already heard it in gatherings-! N-Not that I've been talking about you! I-I heard in passing!" She could not hold her laugher once more as he stumbled over his words, his face getting redder for the second as he faced the dark corridor of the cave in front of them to hide his expression. She smiled, walking to his side and offering a smile. "Do not worry Sir Misha, I was only distracted by my thoughts for a second." He returned her smile with a shy one as they continued to walk.

Hananoai Temple, Amore Island

On the other hand, back at the temple, the group consisting of a demon, two angels and a god stood inside Lady Hana bedroom, the last place she had been seen. A rather extravagant bedroom consisting of a shell shaped bed, a few stands with various books, most of them regarding healing spells or about healing herbs, along with a small balcony. Something on the balcony grabbed Killian's attention. "Arthur, Lux, can you tell if there is any sort of mana around this area?" Both the angels turned to his directions and looked at where he was pointing, it was a small, burned leaf at the corner of the balcony, both of them nodded. "It's definitely fire mana." Lux spoke. "But it is also my Lady mana, without a doubt, so it serves not as a clue." Arthur completed, as they both shared a look after, offering a soft smile to each other. The demon however shook his head in a disappointed manner. "It is however a clue, can you see?" He crossed his arms, leaning against the rails of the balcony and tilting his head. "That leaf is different from the ones around the temple, it's much bigger in size." Amartya spoke, standing on the other side of the bedroom. "Ding ding ding!" The demon laughed, it enraged both of the angels that the black haired man was treating this occurrence so lightly yet they both stood quiet as he was indeed making progress. "I would imagine that on the more dense parts of the forest the plants would be bigger, therefore, their leaves should also be bigger. Perhaps we should change our focus to the interior of the forest." The other three males answered with nods, yet Lux still stood confused. "But why would they return this leaf here? Surely the kidnaper would place it here to show his location..." Killian hummed in response. "Perhaps this leaf is only meant to deceive us or..." The demon glanced at the god, the two sharing a knowing glance before his pale eyes returned to the angel. "Perhaps this kidnapping is only serving as bait for a bigger trap." Lux nodded uncomfortably, both the possibilities seemed plausible yet the latter served as fuel from the small flame of fear in his heart, he saw what that terrible 'curse' did to his friend, and he truly did not wish for anyone else to be affected by it, especially those so close to him like Arthur and Lady Hana. "Either way, it's our only clue so we should follow it." Amartya spoke once again, his tone as authoritative as ever, not bothering to even offer a comforting word to the clearly shaken fire angel who worried for his master day and night. "Let's move." And with that, the god left the room, being followed by the Lux. Arthur on the other hand hurried to the balcony, picking up the leaf as he wished for the bedroom to be completely clean once the goddess was back. The bandages around his left arm caught the attention of the demon who was still leaning against the rails. "You hurt yourself?" The angel felt a shiver run through his spine as he looked to the side and looked up, finding himself looking straight into Killian's pale golden eyes, the demon's gaze never once felt warm or kind, but being looked down liked this felt so terrifying that it urged him to immediately stand up again, leaf on his hand and gaze facing away from the demon. "I cut myself while looking for clues... Do you really expect me to fully mind my surroundings?" He spoke back, gaining his reason and glaring at the demon who only chuckled raising his hands in surrender. "Of course not! I just wished to tell you to be more careful little one!" Killian spoke cheerfully, placing his left hand to the angel shoulder before leaving the room. The annoyance Arthur felt was quick to vanish as he looked at the leaf on his hand, after all, as much as the demon's words and actions made his blood boil, it was true that his eyes were extremely sharp, he was the one to discover this clue on first place... So for now he could deal with such arrogance and impertinence, as long as it meant he could find his precious master... He clutched the leaf on his hand, raising it to his chest as he glared at the outside. "Please be safe My Lady..."

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Misha: A young god with tanned skin, a slim figure with broad shoulders and a leaner waistline, short and silky golden brown hair that falls on his right eye, being slipped sideways on his left side, revealing his emerald green eyes and the small semiquaver beauty mark under it, deep dark black circles that fall from under his eyes, usually seen in deep tones of blue robes that hang just below his ankles and are highly decorated with white and black accents, with grey robe pants.

Hana: A young goddess with a fair complexion, with porcelain skin that hugs her hourglass body, her thighs and her upper arm adorned with some fat, long honey blonde hair, usually seen in bold and beautiful styles, long eyelashes, doll like pale turquoise eyes, elf like ears, a permanent blush featuring alongside her beautiful face, usually seen with pink robes along with gold jewelry and fresh flowers along her hair.