Umbra followed the winged girl, walking through the city of Emain Macha. She hadn't visited it in a while, as she had little to no business there these several years anyway.
“I’ve never really invited people over to my place for a long time.”
When Breezy said that, Umbra remembered her own home. A place she doesn't stay in often. It was more of a place to stay at when she had nothing else to do and she happened to be at Tir Chonaill.
The girl continued to talk as they walked, indicating that they were close to their destination.
"I live in the middle of nowhere, but it’s nice."
A secluded place sounded nice, no one to bother her.
Umbra's own home was located in a decently populated area, but not many people bothered her.
She did receive a pamphlet on Lymilark once, and she promptly burned it, not being a very religious person. She never did figure out who had sent it to her, but she didn't care anymore. [haha it was judas]
Speaking of Lymilark...
She looked over at Judas, remember that he was a priest in... Emain Macha? Maybe? She had forgotten.
"How did someone like him get to be a priest? He looks suspicious as fuck!" she thought to herself.
Umbra followed Breezy and Judas, a little bit behind, just to guard the rear since she could fend for herself. Maybe.
She looked around, noticing the forest had gone a bit quieter, with a lot less of the ruckus from earlier. The luminous Aos Si still looked upon them from between the trees, but they didn't try to attack the trio.
"Maybe it's cause there's three of us this time..." she mused to herself.
She looked at several of them in the eye, while maintaining her pace to keep up with the group. The number of blinking eyes dissipated as they kept on moving, until she couldn't see them anymore. Now she kept watch for anything else, like Carnivorous Plants or Sprites.
“Ah..there it is!”
Breezy's voice stopped Umbra in her tracks, and she looked forward, glancing at the Goddess Statue. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at Morrighan's effigy, remembering her dissatisfaction of the gods.
She looked over at her partners, watching Breezy exit the dungeon and Judas feeding his ego. The priest then left the dungeon as well, looking over at Umbra as if he was expecting her to follow them.
"No point in me staying here. Of course I'm going," she said into the silence to no one in particular.
She sighed as she stepped up to the altar and touched the statue, exiting the dungeon.
When Umbra reappeared on the other side, she looked at Breezy and Judas, who were probably waiting for her.
"Let's go then," she announced, not bothering to apologize for any delay. Wasn't like it inconvenienced them, anyway.
"I’ll try not to get in your way," the priest said, glancing at Umbra for a moment.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she huffed, crossing her arms and smirking a little. She still held a grudge against him after their first confrontation. The air was stagnant for a while until the third person spoke up.
"It’ll be no problem right? I hope. If you think I’m gonna do anything to you at my house, think again. I don’t do that sort of stuff."
The uneasy feeling in Umbra didn't dispel when Breezy said that, but she was a little bit less hesitant to go to her house.
"Anyway, that’s besides the point. Let’s get out of here."
Umbra nodded, drawing an arrow from her quiver as she watched Breezy summon her staff, realizing she had never seen the druid fight yet.
"You lead the way?" Umbra suggested since Breezy was the one who offered to let them rest at her home. Besides, she didn't want to have Judas mocking her in case she got them into any trouble.
“If you change your minds, I’ll be around,” Nekyu announced to her and Judas, walking off.
Umbra let out a loud "Pfffftttt" as if to mock him, laughing a little. After watching Breezy get hit in the head that hard, she definitely did not want to lose her memories that way.
“Do you two want to leave? I don’t want to be here anymore. Maybe go to my place to rest? It’s….not far from here.”
Umbra looked over at Breezy, who had just spoke to the two of them.
... Huh? Go to her place?
Umbra narrowed her eyes at the thought of that, a bit suspicious.
"Is she planning something? Can't be too careful," she deliberated. "... But, she just lost her memory. And she never seemed to be a threat to me."
She looked over at Judas a bit, remembering how Breezy invited both of them.
"I don't feel like dealing with him right now, but what can he do with a weak spirit sword in a confused girl's house?"
She hated to intrude on someone's home, since she rarely had guests at her own home, even if she was not home often.
"Yeah, guess we should leave now. I could use a place to rest for a night if it's not too much trouble..." Umbra answered, trailing the end of her sentence, still a bit hesitant to go to an acquaintance's home.
Umbra felt a gentle touch on her left arm and almost jumped at the sudden contact.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Umbra looked over on her left, and nodded to Breezy and tried her best to smile her usual prideful smile.
"I'm fine."
“Umbra, it’s okay!”
"Yeah, that's what I should be thinking right now. 'It's okay'."
Just when she thought she would not concern herself with the matter anymore, a tall and looming figure strode to the table the trio were seated at, a nasty sneer on his face.
"Is this Nekyu?", she thought to herself, remembering what everyone else had said about him. When he leaned over to them, Umbra contorted her face into a scowl, sharpening her gaze.
Her eyes widened slightly as she watched Nekyu shift his gaze over to her.
"If you’d prefer, I could take a bite of your actual flesh instead of your soul.”
She held her breath. The offer was tempting, and she had always wanted to forget what she had done, hadn't she?
Umbra parted her lips, almost ready to accept the offer, but she couldn't say anything. A part of her didn't want to let go of the memories she had.
"I thought I wanted to forget that he died. I thought I wanted to forget that they left. I thought I wanted to forget my old life."
In a quandary, she gritted her teeth, waiting for one of the other two to possibly request Nekyu for something before she made her decision.
"If I let go of these memories, I could become stronger, and I can go back to being a bounty hunter. I wouldn't have to rely on the people I know so much.
But if I forget them...
'But' ?
Why am I hesita--"
A loud crash of silverware and fine china interrupted her thoughts, and she jerked her head up, to see Judas stabbing at the food haphazardly.
"Are you crazy?" she shouted at him. Her eyes followed the sword, and when she glanced up at Judas' face, his eyes were widened in a state of panic. An expression she never thought she'd see on his smug face.
Having still not made a decision, Umbra was a bit glad that Judas and his spirit sword provided a bit of a distraction.
"We can run right now, can't we?" Umbra whispered to Breezy.
She hated running away from an enemy. But she felt like she had no choice, since she couldn't make a decision.
"It's better I keep my flesh and soul safe than have him eat my flesh or soul," she thought, watching Judas and Nekyu.
-- "I couldn't save him I couldn't convince him I had lost another person I trusted It was my fault ItwasmyfaultIt'sasifImurderedhim" --
"Uhm..I’m over here! Come join me?"
Breezy's voice snapped Umbra out of her thoughts. When she looked up, she realized Breezy had already seated herself, and Judas was approaching the table. She looked down at her hands, noticing her hands were trembling. Her knees felt weak, and her face felt cold. She took a step forward, and tried to smile a little, in an attempt to mask her insecurity again.
"Just need to stop being able to love people. Hide the past again. Don't let my guard down. Make everything seem right. I'll be okay," she chanted in her head, as if it was a dogma she was to strictly follow.
"Bastard," she cursed under her breath, directed at Judas, although she wasn't sure if he would ever hear it. She wouldn't care if he did, anyway.
As she came closer to the table, she debated whether to sit next to Breezy, or next to Judas. Or rather, which was the lesser of the two evils: having to see Judas' face, or having to sit next to him? She decided on the former.
"I'll just talk to Breezy. Don't want to be alone in these kind of things."
When she sat down, a voice echoed again in her head.
"You have to eat it.
That is, if you want the deal."
Deal?
When she mentally questioned that word, she reached out to try a small piece of something that wouldn't look unappetizing. As she swallowed the bite-sized portion, a list of offers was recited in her mind.
"A memory you’d do anything to forget."
She tensed up a bit, forgetting that she was around two people.
"Should you take any of these deals, in exchange, you must give me a nice juicy bite of your soul."
A part of her soul in exchange for any of the offers.
"No," she whispered, trembling slightly again. Although Nekyu had said that the effects wouldn't be too major, she was still hesitant about losing her soul, the only thing that had allowed her to evade ageing in the world she came from.
"Mm? Yes, I’m aware of that. He’ll be fine, I’m sure. Though…I don’t suppose you have anything as simple as a small gem for him? I've been ill-prepared," Judas replied, eyeing Umbra carefully.
"No, why would I carry something as worthless as a small gem? And don't you ever feed him more expensive gems?" she replied, narrowing her eyes.
"I knew it he's a terrible person. He even starves a spirit and feeds it crap. Why get a spirit weapon when you can't even feed it properly?"
“I’m sure you need energy too. Not sure what kind of food will be at this feast. I fear things I would never even think of eating.”
Umbra looked over at Breezy, seeing the mauve-haired girl handing her a health potion. She already drank one earlier, but she took it anyway, just in case.
"Thanks," Umbra muttered, drinking a sip. She corked the bottle and stored it in a small bag she had brought.
"Come on, the flames made a pathway for us to pass through. Let’s see where this leads us?" Breezy noted, walking through the opening of the flames.
Unsheathing her bow and arrow, Umbra nodded and followed Breezy, and headed past the fiery wall, as if entering the gates of Hell.
Umbra watched as the priest walked back to where she and Breezy were, and acknowledged her presence. She merely smirked, avoiding having to look at his unnerving eyes.
When he walked past her, she glanced at his hand to see what kind of weapon he used.
"A spirit sword..."
Spirit weapons fascinated Umbra slightly. The idea of using someone's soul to implement into a weapon sounded brutal, yet interesting. The potential a spirit weapon could grow to allured many, but Umbra wasn't interested in having to take care of a weapon as if it was an actual person.
Upon closer thought, Umbra felt like she recognized the spirit in his sword, sensing a familiar presence.
"... A mage. What's a former mage doing as a sword?" she pondered as she stared at the sword.
"Wel…I guess we should go see what the host is serving."
Judas's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she remembered how she was curious about the host earlier. To be honest, she wasn't really hungry, but she could do with some food -- if she could even trust the food, considering what the orange headed elf said earlier.
"Yeah, it might lead us to an exit too."
She looked over at Breezy for her response, and then remembered something.
"Hey, your mage spirit sword seems a bit hungry," she commented, noticing the faint glow. As much as she tried, she couldn't remember the mage's name, probably because they only met once, and the meeting didn't last long.
