Faith - Kain Highwind x Reader (FFIV)

V. A fateful reunion

You woke up, your head hurting quite a lot, whereas you gritted your teeth. Slowly looking around from the bed you laid on, you recognized the room you were in as part of the temple in Demno. Exhaling, you mentally went back to what had happened before you had lost yourself in your dreams. After having cleansed the slums, you remembered going back to Ishina and explaining to her how that strange orb had been polluting the people of this town. She did not appear to know anything about the object but had insisted on you resting first. Now that you had done so, you expected to have another conversation with her about the circumstances. Stretching your arms to the sides a little, you felt how the fatigue from before had faded away. It was good to know that you had regained your strength.

Nodding to yourself out of determination to go find the woman who had guided you until now, you jumped out of the soft bed and headed for the door. As you were about to open it, someone appeared to be faster than you and you almost bumped into Ishina, who was on the other side of the wooden forte. Out of surprise, you stepped backwards a bit but you quickly regathered yourself, faintly smiling at her. She returned your expression with a startled face. "Lady (L/N), you are already awake! But it has only been one night. Are you positive you're not pushing yourself too hard?" You let her in, while denying her assumption. "No, don't worry. I have always recovered fairly faster than most Holy Priestesses. Putting that aside, we need to discuss the incident from before."

Ishina straightened her short hair, as if she was nervous and nodded, gesturing for you both to sit at a table in the room. After each of you had chosen a place, she started talking, "Well, I have reported your findings to a high priestess but even she did not know what the ordeal was about. However, she is impressed and thankful that you handled the situation so well. Therefore, she ordered me to give you this..." She took out a small pouch and put it down on the table. The object caused a few noises that you interpreted to have been created by several coins. Quite a lot of them, actually. This probably was much more than what had been promised to you at first. Thankfully, you accepted and stored it away in your belt pocket.

"I can see that you're hesitating to tell me something different. What is the matter?" You softly inquired, trying to offer some comfort for the young woman. She slightly squinted her eyes, looking at you, full of remorse. "I hate to have to be the one to bring this up Lady (L/N), yet I don't have any other chance. We immediately beg your help with something that seems to be a similar case. Since you are already familiar with the situation and the only Holy Priestess around, we are very reliant on you." You raised one eyebrow, urging for her to continue. She gulped and nodded, "In Cerinn, a larger city about two days of walking from here, there were many sightings of people that seemed to have gone insane. They are slowly taking over a few districts of the town and the guards or monks can't hold them back for much longer. We seriously need your assistance on this case, especially seeing how capable you are in terms of your job."

You figured she felt bad for you, due to your recent exhaustion and having to ask your services again that shortly afterwards. However, you weren't bothered too much. Your body belonged to your occupation after all, so there was no reason to deny. With a tiny smile lacing your lips, you answered, "I will accept to go there, don't worry. If the situation is that dire though, I should probably depart right away." Before you could say anything else, Ishina interrupted you. "You don't need to wander there on foot Lady (L/N)! We have arranged a white mage to teleport you close to the town, so we can save some time." You widened your eyes but quickly found yourself appreciating their offer. That way, you could act even faster. "All right then. Let us meet with the wizard." You replied determined and got up. Ishina mirrored your actions, while speaking, "Before that though, please let us offer you some food and water for the next weeks plus a new set of clothing. We cannot let a Holy Priestess like you enter a large city like Cerinn in that condition."

You could sense how shy she felt admitting that, yet you agreed. Another part of your job was to maintain the good public image of divine people. Agreeing, both of you started the preparations.

. . .

A blinding white light appeared in front of you and suddenly, still a little dizzy, you found yourself a few hundred meters away from the gates of the infamous city Cerinn. Holding your head, you took a deep breath of the fresh air, circling your shoulders to relax as much as you managed at the moment. All right, you were one step closer to your next mission, which meant to enter the city now. Looking down at yourself, you checked your appearance once more. The clothes the people of Demno had gifted you, actually were very comfortable and made out of expensive silk. Now, you wore a dress, which was reaching your knees on the front and on the back it was right above the ground, lace at its end. A golden belt was put around your waist, tying up in a bow next to your leather belt, which you had insisted on keeping.  The cleavage of the outfit was also decorated with lace and tied up with two golden traps behind your neck. The two sleeves were separately attached to your arms, right underneath your shoulders, reaching your wrists. Of course, the material was colored white with once more similar golden embroidery like the outfit you had worn before too. Perhaps Ishina had exaggerated a little with it, nevertheless, you knew you were now much more presentable to the public.

Nodding to yourself, you checked your polished short staff at the left side of your leather belt and then took a step forward into the direction of your destination. As you neared the two large gates, you spotted a row of people in front of them, being held back by some guards. Your brows knit together as you approached the small crowd, already able to hear their loud voices.

"Let us in!"

"What insolence to leave us out here like that!"

It was easy to see how stressed out and annoyed these humans were. Guessing from their outfits, you assumed it mainly were merchants, whereas you understood their urgency. It was very typical for people with that job. "Excuse me." You announced yourself, as you stepped past the people. At first someone was angry at you for moving past them, however, upon recognizing your clothes, they quickly shut their mouth. You sighed to yourself, gently shoving away others in your path. As you arrived at the front of the crowd, you did not only find the guards but someone familiar as well.

"Kain..!" You exclaimed, completely surprised to find him again so soon. Of course, you were delighted that was the case. As he detected your voice, the Dragoon turned around, his mouth slightly agape, which you were able to barely make out underneath his helmet. As you were about to talk to your former companion again, one of the guards interrupted you. "Please return to the end of the crowd, no one is allowed to-" You turned to face the man addressing you before he was able to finish his sentence. Cutting himself off, he gasped upon realizing who exactly you were. The man immediately cleared his throat and spoke to you in a much more refined tone. "Pardon my rude behavior Holy Priestess. You were sent here to help us out, right?"

You solemnly nodded, confirming his assumption. "Perfect, please enter right away." He gestured for the other guard to open the gate but you interrupted him. "Please give me a moment to talk to this man." With that you faced Kain again, your heart strangely beating faster. "What are you doing here?" You whispered to him, leaning in a little closer to prevent the guards from listening in on your conversation. The Dragoon quietly answered, his arms crossed, "I heard of monks that teach spiritual ways very well in this city so I decided to visit. It is... Extremely important to me." He admitted and you could tell that there was a serious pain hidden within his voice. Seeing how willingly he shared more about him with you, even after such a short time, you felt as if your heart melted. "Do you truly need to get to those monks?" You inquired with a stern voice.

Kain seemed to be taken back by the change of your expression, yet nodded shortly afterwards. With that confirmation, you mildly smiled at him and mumbled, "I understand."