Faith - Kain Highwind x Reader (FFIV)

VIII. A fighter's burden

Once you two arrived in front of the temple again, you noticed something different from before. A single monk was standing at the two gates, clearly waiting for you, having noted the change outside. The elderly man shortly touched his long beard and then smiled at you. "Good day to you Holy Priestess. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Farrell Kangen, a monk of the temple here in Cerinn. We welcome you wholeheartedly into our home, despite the earlier circumstances. Who might the person next to you be?" You greeted him back with a similar expression. "I am the one who should be thankful to be so kindly accepted into your home. My name is (Y/N) (L/N)." While slightly bowing, your (H/L) (H/C) colored hair fell over your shoulder, as you hoped it did not look too messy after the fight.

Introducing your companion, you continued, "This man here is a Dragoon called Kain Highwind. He served as a bodyguard during the battle just now, but has another reason to visit you here as well. However, that story is up to him to tell." Kain also bowed a little, being as polite as you were used to from watching him interact with others. The monk welcomed you both now, gesturing towards the stairs behind the gate that led up to the temple, which was set on a small hill in the city. "Please allow me to escort you inside, so that we can discuss the situation." You nodded and obediently followed the elderly man with Kain only a few steps behind you.

. . .

Once you had settled down in a large room, now sitting at a long table, a group of monks entered after you, taking up their own places. You glanced at Kain next to you, a worried expression on your face. At first Sir Kangen had wanted your companion to stay outside during the discussion but you had insisted for him to join, as he already was caught up in everything anyway. It felt wrong to exclude him after he had supported you that much. Though reluctantly, the elderly man had agreed, hence the Dragoon now sat besides you, slightly shaking his head. Obviously, he wanted to disperse your worries, which he managed to do, as you were grateful for his presence alone already.

One of the group of four monks now spoke up, directing his question at you. "Well, we have already been informed by the people at the temple of Demno about the strange orb in their slums that appeared to contaminate the residents. Since we were unable to actually advance forward until the core of the darkness in our city without being polluted ourselves, we would like to know how the situation was when you arrived Lady (L/N)." You nodded, calmly stating what you had seen. "It was a sphere very similar to the one in Demno that caused the issues here in Cerinn. However, the atmosphere was much more crucially spoiled here. That went even to the point where evil spirits were attracted by the darkness. Other than that, the residents here also possessed pitch black eyes, which seems to be an important similarity in our cases."

The monks gasped, looking at each other out of nervosity. You grew suspicious of their behavior, solemnly asking, "What is it that you are concerned about?" The group of men stopped staring at their partners and instead, Farrell Kangen seized the opportunity to speak. "You see Holy Priestess, there is a theory we have in terms of these cases. It is connected to the existence of the crystals that were involved in the recent civil war." You narrowed your eyes to a slit, remembering that there had been a rather large fight in another part of the blue planet. However, since you had been far away from it in terms of distance and occupied with your own jobs, you had easily missed it. Upon that war being mentioned, you detected how Kain almost inaudibly gasped next to you. As you glanced at him out of the corner of your right eye, you realized how tense his body was. Did he know something?

Shaking off those thoughts, you motioned for the monks to continue presenting their theory. "During the war with the crystals, they were all stolen by a strange man as we have heard and disappeared afterwards. Yet at the end of the fight during one night, there was a black rain. One that appeared to have consisted of magic falling down the sky in four larger shards. We suspect that the concentrated, dark magical essence that landed on our planet formed into one black orb each. Because ever since that rain, the contamination has started spreading much faster." You bit onto your bottom lip, seriously considering the possibility. It did appear to make some sense.