Ori and the Spirits Within: Revitalized

Chapter 18: Revelations

The sun rose on another day in Niwen, a dim blue light slowly encapsulating the sky above. Hints of wind blew through the Wellspring Glades accompanied by the distant chips of birds sitting atop branches. Few people were up this early in the morning, but there were a few quiet conversations between those who had awakened. But there was also Ori, the only spirit living in Niwen, who was slowly waking up...

Having fallen asleep in a purple owl's wings, the spirit opened his eyes to the new day... which was an important day for him specifically. The spirit carefully weaseled his way out of Ku's wings, trying to not disrupt the owl's slumber. Having done so successfully, he quickly jumped out of the nest, stretched his back while grunting, and took a step outside into the moderately cold morning. Taking in a quick breath of the cool morning air, he remembered all of the things that happened to him the past few days.

After having learned of his true self, the insecure future of a young, heroic spirit trapped within himself, and a liar who kept the truth of the hero's safety this whole time... it was about time he got some answers.

He slowly came to terms with his situation, knowing that there might not be a future for him in this world should fate decide so. He knew that Sein was going to be arriving in Niwen today to finish what they set out to do... but... he felt like he couldn't lay down his life without knowing the full truth of him having wound up living in this world. Seir brought him to this world to fix a wound, lied to him about his true origin and life, and on top of all that, lied to the young hero who rebuilt his forest and made him weep in grief over the presumed loss of a dear family member. It disgusted him, truly, to think that someone thought it ok to mess with people's lives like this. Whether those lies Seir told were intentional or not, whether or not the golden orb of Niwen had good intentions behind those lies, the human soul was determined to seek out the truth... and he knew what he had to do to get it.

Not wasting any more time, he promptly hopped to his pawed feet and wandered his way west towards the Spirit Willow, determined to find the truth to all of this...

...

But someone else wanted to find it as well...

Having woken up around the same time Ori did, Gumo had watched his adoptive son leave bright and early, heading west for some reason.

Gumo has always been paranoid. It's been a flaw for him ever since his tribe passed away, and that feeling is always heightened whenever his family is involved. Ever since Ori came back to life, there was a little thought in the back of his mind that something was wrong. He still remembered the sudden turnaround that Seir made from forbidding to resurrect Ori to bringing him back like it was nothing. It may just be him overthinking the situation, but it took hold of the Gumon's actions nonetheless...

Ori was going to do something important... and Gumo felt the need to learn what it was. A little bit of guilt hung in his heart, being unable to completely trust his reborn, adoptive son... but he needed to know what Ori was doing. Once Ori was far enough away, Gumo quietly but quickly trailed behind the spirit, following him to wherever he was trying to go...

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It was a decent trek to the Spirit Willow, and Ori wanted it to be that way. He had a lot of thinking to do, mostly centered on whether or not Seir would even tell him the truth. After all, once he confirms the truth, it's out there. He can't take it back, and he is more than able to go back to the family and tell them about it, which would further align Seir as a liar.

He also wondered if Seir had any other information of note... like the human's origins. But that was all secondary to him finding the truth of why he did this in the first place.