The Oracle

Chapter 48: Preparing for War

AKARI

While the others have wandered off, I decided to stay by Kaito's side while Isabella treated him the best she could, adding on to the treatments Nikita already gave him.

"Well," Isabella sighs as she wipes the back of her hand against her forehead, "that should do it."

Kaito tiredly looks at Isabella as she wanders around the room putting medical supplies away.

"I'll let you rest now," Isabella smiles softly. "I'm sure you need it."

Isabella heads out of the room after wiping her hands off on a damp rag and I go to stand up as well just before Kaito grabs ahold of my wrist and I look back to meet his eyes.

"Wait," he breathes out, his eyes honest. "Don't go."

"Kaito..." I breathe out, slowly sitting back down and watching as his expression relaxes. "What happened?"

"I learned how to swallow my pride and my envy," Kaito starts slowly. "Little did I know, all my life, I thought my problems were just bitterness at unfairity, but I realized it was actually grief. I was letting my judgement be swayed by how jaded I am. I shouldn't...I shouldn't have done that. I was unfair, not only to you but to Sora. I wanted to fix what I had ruined. I realized that maybe you were right, that maybe I'm not always the one who has to be right just to prove a petty point because I can't move on from the past."

"What did you do?" My breath hitches in my throat.

"I went to ask Carmin to tell me the truth about his intentions and his plans, and when I didn't agree with them, when I questioned him, he accused me of letting you and the others go. He told me he would give me a fair trial, but I knew that wasn't true," Kaito explains. "A few hours later, when I was packing in my dorm, I was attacked. I managed to escape my assailant and get out of Aria, despite it being on lock down due to everyone fleeing, but they trained their dispatch team on me while I was out in the jungle."

"Dispatch team?" I furrow my eyebrows.

"Due to most of the vital Arias fleeing, Carmin decided to make a security team that would be his main forces," Kaito sighs. "Aikaterina was put on the team, and she's the one who let me escape. The other members...weren't so kind. I knew where you had fled to, so I came here hoping that you'd somehow find me, somehow trust me again. Akari, I'm...I'm so sorry. I was a total ass to you and you didn't deserve that. Nobody did."

"You couldn't help it," I sigh. "That's not your fault, but...I am grateful that you finally see the truth and that you're willing to try to change."

Something that I can't recognize flickers in Kaito's eyes and I offer him a soft smile before I squeeze his hand gently.

"You should rest for now," I say. "We'll have to leave soon."

"Yeah," Kaito breathes out, the conversation hanging in the air as if there's more to be said.

I give Kaito one last soft smile before I head out of the room, leaving him to rest. As I wander around the castle, I run into a blue mana wisp that floats around, my eyebrows raising in surprise. The mana wisp whirls around in the air, as if indicating for me to follow it. Hesitantly, I reach out a hand to touch the mana wisp and it whirls around, humming in the air before it flies off down the hallway.

"Hey, wait!" I shout and chase after the mana wisp.

I follow the mana wisp down the corridor and through several hallways until I reach a pair of great oak doors with black decals designing the framework. The mana wisp whirs happily around in the air and indicates for me to push on the doors to open them. I slowly glance away from the mana wisp and back to the doors before I gently push on them, opening them to reveal what looks to be a forge type area with a large metal table in the center of the room, lined with weapons and armor.

I also notice that Nikita and the others are all standing around the table, Nikita's eyes meeting mine as they all look over to see me, and she smiles softly. It's then that I notice Nikita has changed out of her usual dress into an armored silver top similar to Gambit's black one, black leggings, a silver chain belt that drapes around her waist like a sash, ankle high grey boots with white fur lining them, and a grey jacket with white fur lining the hood, her long and wavy blonde hair pulled up into two buns with french braids.

"Sorry if my mana wisp startled you," Nikita smiles apologetically. "I wanted to gain your attention somehow since we're all gathered here. I took it upon myself to make some...enhancements...to some of your weapons and armor. Not all of you, but just a few of you who I noticed could use some upgrades. In addition to that, I also wanted to discuss where we should go after this."

"Nikita has a point," Kit points out. "Where should we go? We could return to Gambit's cottage, sure, but we'll be found eventually. Besides, sitting up there doing nothing certainly wouldn't help us against Aria. We're in a race for time. We can't afford to sit around waiting like ducks."

"We still need to get the runestone of Patience and Wrath. Carmin may have four of the runestones, but we have two. If we can keep him from gaining the ones we have and the one for Patience and Wrath, we can keep him from going through with his plans," Gambit says.

"Where even is the runestone of Patience and Wrath?" I ask.

"I may be able to help with that," Clea chimes in. "It's been said that the runestone was lost after Wrath was banished from Aria, but I could potentially help track it down with my oracle abilities."

"That's all well and good, but another primary concern of mine is if Carmin is able to gain the abilities of a Chronos," Miroslava adds.

"Do you suggest we split into groups to look for the Chronos and the runestone?" Evory asks.

"Well," Miroslava starts. "I've been working on the former already. Whether you were aware of this or not, I am the Chronos of Past. If we gain my brother on our side, that would be a tremendous help. However, there remains the issue of the Chronos of Present."

"So, we have two Chronos members to look for, as well as the runestone of Patience and Wrath?" Sander asks.

"It would seem so..." Isabella trails off.

"There's also Carmin's new forces to deal with," I mention. "I was talking to Kaito and he said that Carmin put together a team of elite Arias to aid him and protect the academy. One of them is Aikaterina, so I'm sure she'll be on our side. As for the rest...I cannot say."

"I have a place near Elvenowl that we could find refuge," Nikita says. "If those of us looking for the Chronos of Future travel there, I could provide a refuge along the way. I happen to know someone who would help."

"The path to my brother is not an easy one," Miroslava sighs. "That would be greatly appreciated."

"Logically speaking, I believe it would be best for Sekai, Sora, Isabella, Shae, Clea, Kit, and I to look for the runestone," Gambit says.

"Darius, Kaito, Sander, Miroslava, Akari, Nikita, and I could then look for the Chronos of Future," Evory suggests. "We would have to look for the Chronos of Present later. We could do it now, but I don't believe it would be wise to go in groups any smaller than what we already split up into."

"It's a risk to go after Future before Present because my brother is more secure than the other, but I also believe you're right," Miroslava says. "We can't afford to break up into smaller groups or change focus, and it would be easier to reach Future first since I've already put plans into motion for that. It's difficult per say as to which should be the right choice, but doing nothing is worse than getting to at least one of them."

"Then, it's settled," Nikita nods. "We'll head out in two hours, which should be enough time to prepare and let Kaito rest for a bit."

With that, we spread out to do our own things, some of us checking out the upgrades Nikita made and others going to prepare to leave.