Faith - Kain Highwind x Reader (FFIV)

VI. It's a two player game

Taking a deep breath, you turned around to face the guard who has spoken to you before. "I will begin with my job right away, however, you will have to allow this man into your city as well. He is acting as my bodyguard." Your voice was steady and your expression earnest. The unknown man appeared to want to protest but fortunately he was aware that he was not allowed to reject the demand of a Holy Priestess. Simply nodding instead, he now gestured for his coworker to open the gates, whereas you silently smiled at them as a thanks. Glancing over at Kain who was right behind you, you entered the city of Cerinn, followed by your companion.

As soon as you were inside, the two heavy gates fell back into their old place, a loud noise created at that. You flinched, surprised at it at first and then began looking around the city. Even though it was supposed to be a big, the streets were almost completely empty. Merely a few citizens, albeit appearing very scared, were moving around the plaza that was right in front of the entrance. "All right, this must be one of the stable districts." You mumbled to yourself, not seeing traces of darkness anywhere close. Once you directed your gaze towards the back of what you could see of the city, you instantly recognized black clouds above that part. Gasping out loud, you bit onto your bottom lip. Even from a distance, the amount of darkness appeared to be quite large. It seemed to be much worse than in Demno. Fear traveled across your body, as you felt sweat slowly starting to build up on your skin.

"What's wrong?" Kain's gentle voice snapped you out of your thoughts, which you were grateful for. There was absolutely no space to waste on worrying. You had a job to finish. Shaking your head at the Dragoon, you weakly smiled. "It's nothing, let's go." You stepped forward, taking the left road, as you also spotted the temple in that direction. During your walk, everything was quiet aside from murmurs of the residents around you. Many seemed to be surprised to see a Holy Priestess in their city, nonetheless, some even expressed hope upon that. Those small comments filled your heart with more determination, as you and Kain trailed the street towards your destinations.

After a few more minutes of growing silence, you stopped at a large building that was standing to your left. Exhaling, you twirled around, a friendly smile on your face, as you started talking, "Well, this facility over here..." You pointed to the house with a very familiar architecture on the left. "It is the temple of Cerinn. The monks you are searching for are here for sure. Perhaps you should wait a little so that I can finish my job and they won't have to worry about other issues anymore, before requesting their services. Either way, I wish you good luck." You sounded rather cheerful, which was contrary to the uneasiness you felt on the inside. This darkness truly worried you but there was no way, you would let Kain notice that. He had his own demons to deal with so you could never ask of him to listen to your burdens.

The Dragoon crossed his arms in front of his body, calmly stating "I am going to join you on that job, if you don't mind." Baffled, you blinked a few times, before furrowing your eyebrows. "Please don't pay attention to my work. I know you have a reason to be here and I don't want to stop you from that." You admitted, squinting your eyes together a little. Kain however, simply shook his head. "'I insist on helping you out. The monks will be busy now anyway as you have ascertained, hence there is no reason for me to idly stand by and watch as you fight whatever every person in this city is afraid of. Not to mention, all by yourself." You wanted to find an argument to convince him otherwise, yet nothing logical came to your mind. He was right in every way. At the moment it was not like he could achieve anything at the temple.

"Besides, you announced me as your bodyguard and I think therefore, I should live up to that title. I take pride in my profession after all." For a tiny second, you imagined to see an almost invisible smile on his lips, causing your face to immediately turn red, even at merely the thought of that. Averting your gaze, you tried calming down and focusing on the task at hand. Indeed, it would be helpful to have Kain as your guard during the mission. That way you didn't need to waste your strength on defending yourself. With more darkness gathered in this city, you feared you needed every last bit of your power to cleanse that.