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" We do not fear the unknown, we simply do not wish to give up the known. " – Kinich
My eyes go wide open as what she says registers in my mind. A harbinger's daughter? Out of all the things I would've expected, this was not one of them. Yet I composed myself before she could catch onto my shock.
"That's... uh... I would never have guessed that," I mutter, watching her vague figure across the room. She's sitting with her legs pulled up to her chest, her dress wrapping around her legs. My mind struggles to make sense of things. I work with logic and recognisable patterns, and that's where I find my familiarity and rhythm. But with her, it seems like one surprise after another. Just when you think you've seen it all...
"Yeah, sorry to throw something like that onto you," Y/N replies to me in a tone that feigns boredom, yet beneath the surface, there seemed to be something I couldn't make any sense of. I've never been good at dealing with complicated feelings like hers. I tend to ignore my own most times.
"You don't have to apologize. I was simply caught off guard, that's it," I reply, choosing my words very carefully. I can tell that she seems to be troubled by having to tell me, even though I can't see her expression in the darkness. To have a deceased parent, I know that feeling far too well. A shiver goes up my spine as I recall the very things I forced myself never to think about, and instinctively, I freeze up, my hands clenching and unclenching automatically as I zone out, trying to dissociate from the emotions suddenly rising to the surface. The same way I always deal with things.
"Kinich?..." When my vision clears, she's right in front of me, holding my hands in hers as she kneels on the ground. I try to speak, but I can't make a single sound. There's like a vice around my throat, choking any words I had out of me. I can't break down. Not here, not now. I don't even know what happened, I just thought of father and then it all–
She's rubbing her thumb on my palm in circles, her gray eyes studying me with no hint of malicious intent. She doesn't say anything, but that's exactly what I need. I can't speak. I just need to calm down, get my shit under control, not lose my mind here. I'm being stupid. We're on the run in a nation of people who are on our tail, and I'm being stupid. If we get caught, if we get killed, it'll all be my fault. My fault. I couldn't even save Ajaw in time. If I lose her too, the last familiar face in this vast, snowy landscape, I'll never forgive myself. Never.
"I don't know what's going on, but I'm... I'll try to help." She says softly. I watch her eyes. She's acting much more maturely than I am. I'm being a fucking child.
"We have to get out of here," My voice is barely a gasp. "How do we get back to Natlan?"
She shakes her head. "They don't know where we are. Don't panic. We'll stay here for the night, and then set off once it's bright outside."
"No, they're gonna come, they're going to–" A tight squeeze on my hands makes my train of thought trail away immediately.
"Don't. It's okay." She reassures me. "I would make you some incense to help you calm down, but we're not at home..."
"I don't need to– I can't calm down! While you were unconscious, I was trying to get to my bracelet, where Ajaw is kept, and we almost got killed again. He's still in the Fatui's grasp, and if we don't get out of here now I swear I'll–" In a fit of blinding frustration, I pull my hands out of her grasp, scooping up a shard of ice and throwing it towards her. She flinches backwards, dodging the hit, and the ice shatters on the opposing cave wall. I realized what I did, and to my own horror, I began to tear up. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry, I don't understand what I'm doing."
"The Wayob's protection is faltering, and you're becoming emotional as a result. Remember that you're safe, at least for now, and we have plenty of time."
"It's not the stupid Wayob's protection, I just–" The truth of her words hit me like a truck, and my voice became softer. "Sorry, I just remembered something I didn't want to think about, and I... kind of just lost it..."
"I understand. If it makes you feel any better knowing this, tomorrow, we'll go and get that friend of yours, and try to reach Katheryne without being spotted." She sits back down in front of me, cross-legged.
"Katheryne? Isn't she the head of the Adventurer's Guild or... something?"
"No, she's a puppet. A robot with the appearance of a human. If you step through her, you'll be teleported into whatever nation you wish to reach, almost like a portal. It's... Snezhnayan knowledge. One of our harbingers created her for varied purposes."
I try to process everything. "Right, so we go and get Ajaw... and try not to die, and then run off to Natlan?"
"Yes, and two pieces of good news. One, I think I'm able to harness magic, even without my equipment in Natlan. Two, once we get through the portal, the Fatui won't know which nation we go to. As long as we successfully reach Katheryne, we'll be safe."
"Harness magic? I thought you could always do that. You saved my life with it when we were children too."
Back when I was younger, my parents would always fight, and the one time it escalated so much, that even as my mother backed down all the way to the backyard, father refused to relent, chasing her down. The last thing I remember was a stray knife flying straight at my face, before it froze only inches from my eyes. A red aura, just like the one around the soldiers moments before they collapsed, surrounded the knife, as it floated in the air. Like a vision, but I know for a fact she doesn't have one. As the knife crumbled to my feet, I caught the faintest glance of her figure – Blonde hair, gray eyes, staring at me in fear, before she vanished behind the bushes. My parents were so busy yelling at each other, that neither of them noticed that I could have been killed only moments before. That's when it dawned on me. The witch girl next door saved my life.
I never saw her again, until today. Several days after the incident, father gambled our house away, forcing us to the bottom of a mountain. And afterwards, I never got to find her again. Never got to thank her for saving my life.
"I could only harness magic with the help of herbal influences before. But now, I think I can do it without external help. I... I'm not sure though. I need to do some testing. But that's not of concern, at least right now. Get some rest, Kinich. I'll stand guard."
She lays me down before I can protest, putting her hand over my eyes. "Good night, Kinich."
The last thing I see is a faint aura of red as she uses her magic to put me to sleep, before I lose consciousness.
