"You don't look so good, Seer. Are you still alive?"
Ikky shrugged. The beasts all around him seemed to have stopped attacking, perhaps due to the Believer's control over them. However, Yaga knew not to let him drop his guard.
"Yeah, I'm fine... Just feel a bit itchy." He answered.
A third figure soon appeared from the side, walking towards the bloodied seer.
"I'm sorry, if you have any further business you'd like to resolve amongst eachother, but might I suggest another time." Ikky heard a familiar voice. It was the man he had just met a while ago, Ivan.
Timofey nodded. "He does look like he needs immediate help, so I'll wait until then to tell you what I have to say." He then turned to focus on the globe of blue and purple light spinning over his raised finger.
The monsters— those alive and those barely, all stood in attention. Their wounds began to heal rapidly, furs straighten and eyes turned calm.
Ivan watched as they all slowly walked to Timofey, their bodies shrinking rapidly till they became nothing but little figures that looked like they could be used as pieces for a board game. After gathering around the Believer, they broke down into dust and were all sucked into the spinning globe.
Timofey relinquished his Totem.
"Ah, you want the Solstice too?" The believer asked, before kicking Astrid's body over to Ivan. "She's just a little embarrassed, but she's fine."
Astrid was indeed fine as she stood up, and dusted her body before walking into the forest.
Ivan chuckled awkwardly because he could definitely still see her peeking at them from behind a tree.
"Umm, can you stab me now?" Ikky asked. "Please?"
"Ah, definitely! As long as I have your permission." Ivan replied, quickly summoning his Totem.
———
Ikky raised both of his hands to slap his face and stomach, laughing loudly. "This is awesome! You have a really great Totem, Ivan!"
"Alright, alright. Now put your clothes on." Ivan shook his head.
This man is really strange.
'Very strange indeed.' Aos-sia agreed.
'How do you feel?' Ivan asked.
'What do you mean, how do I feel? I always feel as elated as the bright fluffy clouds hehe!' She laughed.
Ivan hummed suspiciously. He turned to Ikky. "For some reason, I couldn't completely heal you back there, so the pain should feel awful even now. You don't have to fake it if you're not really okay."
Ikky stared at him for a second before replying, "Well of course I'm not, 'Okay', I'm Equinox Summers— wait pause." He held his chin. "That's way too corny even for me. Hahaha!"
Ivan chuckled along for a while before inviting Equinox once more to the underground base... along with Timofey and Astrid.
Ikky of course insisted that Astrid shouldn't come along, and that she was crazy. There was also the question of whether or not she was even human and not an evil spirit.
But Ivan explained, Astrid is Indeed a spirit, but also kind of a Prophet. "Was it even possible?" Ikky asked— for a spirit to become a Prophet? He had never heard of such a case before.
"Kind of." Ivan explained,
Astrid is the conscience of a human being— the original prophet who had made so much peace with her destiny and self that her intrusive thoughts and the whispers that caused her to doubt and disregard morality became apart from her. Astrid had gotten her form after the first omen of this original prophet, to do whatever she wants with her own life now that she had no soul to live in.
Her physical form is just tangible thought; she possessed no Totem, only virtues; but even a true name shared by her and the original human prophet— Heaven's favourite children.
"Astrid acts strangely sometimes because she's mostly ignorant of the world around her. She's also been alive for as long as the body she came from, yet had never parted from it until a few years ago, and hence acts like a child with too much power in her hands." Ivan turned to look back at Astrid who was following closely behind them through a dark tunnel, her form lighting up the way ahead. She could clearly see Ivan's smile being directed at her.
"Where are you taking us, Ivanhoe?" She asked. 'Could it be that he is a spirit in disguise, luring victims underground to turn them into trees? But no, he has his Totem, and his spirit is... what is she doing on his—'
Like he could sense her having more bizarre thoughts bouncing around in her head, Ivan's smile turned into a laugh. "She's got a really wild imagination."
"Yeah, and a hecka wild sprint. She nearly chopped my head off!" Ikky complained still.
"Yes." Astrid added. "I am vastly superior to you and can kill you even now... But I will not. I am merciful, Ikky. Are you?"
Ikky scoffed, cracking his knuckles. "You wait! When I get enough strength, you'll be the one guarding your neck!"
Astrid's white eye-slits squinted darkly.
———
The group of four soon got close to the other end of the tunnel. They could see bright lights through the opening and feel a cold breeze rush past them— breeze that carried the scent of petrichor.
Timofey looked ahead before asking, " Is this some sort of underground shelter?"
"Most likely. One of my friends found it a few days ago. After confirming it was safe, we set up a refuge here for people who hadn't managed to find any food or something to drink along the way to the crimson pillar."
They stepped into a wide expanse with many walls splitting the area into different rooms and paths. It was akin to a maze.
The walls were made out of a sort of limestone material, and were noticeably worn out, echoing the very distant age of a civilisation that once dwelled within.
And littered all over the ground were broken pieces of wood, along with full bags that held more of the same kind of wood. This was clearly fuel for the fires that were started in the individual trays placed in the open rooms. However, they were clearly useless now since they had become soaked by the wet ground.
"Welcome to... Well, we don't know what this place is called." Ivan said to the other three behind him. He stopped to take a look at the various routes of the maze, before walking down one section as he continued.
"Watch your step. There might be some bones washed up here by the water, and more beneath the wet mud."
"Good thing we have a human torch here with us." Ikky said, realising Ivan was talking to him especially, since he had no footwear on.
"Two, if we're in somewhere really dark." Timofey joked along. Ikky's alien skin and yellow eyes seemed to glow a little in the darkness.
"Hmph!" Astrid scoffed.
The group could hear chatters within the many dark compartments of this maze. Some of these open rooms had lights shining from within them. However, Astrid and Timofey could notice, the only ones who had their lights on were enclosed rooms with old makeshift doors, or those with unwell people.
"Do pardon us for not illuminating the corridors despite the various hazards. It's just, rarely do we find wood from the over world that doesn't give off the smell of corpses when burnt." Ivan explained.
"... Do you have any information about those weird trees? I would like to know what you think." Timofey asked.
"I also would like to hear what you know." Astrid agreed.
"Let us get somewhere more private to sit down first. Also, please be mindful of where you go in this place. It is truly a maze, and the people down here are easily irritated." Ivan turned down another path and continued the long walk.