Death was the first thing she thought when she saw the sudden glimmer at the back of her eye. Dark with a sparkle at the tip, the projectiles were advancing fast with no likelihood of stopping.
The first of the three missed… almost intentionally piercing the end of the hall before disintegrating. The second however was having none of that. It had a target and it had the momentum. No backing out of it now, it was aiming for blood.
Cilia noticed this. Knee hard on the bench she pushed back to dodge. The blade swooshed by almost tearing the tip of her large chest and making away with it. The third and final followed in fast. Faster than its predecessor and it aimed for decapitation. It was close but not until its target did the unexpected and morphed into a bunny.
The blade shot past just at the tip of her fully stretched bunny ears, shaving away some fur. She hopped back and into the hall hurrying and taking to the nearest pillar that held the roof of the hall and hid. She peeked out a little only to notice Karin readying another batch of blades, her hands wavy in their unique dark aura.
"Karin stop!" a voice commanded.
"What is she doing here?" Karin asked Kisharu, the glow in her hands still menacingly gushing.
Kisharu eyes rolled towards Cilia who hid behind a pillar. "I don't know. But we'll find out, so just calm down."
"Yeah…" Cilia whispered.
"Shut! You little b…" Karin said, anger obvious babbling in her words.
Her eyes were darting around. Kisharu stood close to the center of the open space his arms folded like he was thinking of about something. Lozo was cowardly crouched on the ground. He was slightly confused wondering why the events had transpired as they did. As for Kento his eyes were glued to Cilia, stuttering in attempts to talk to her but couldn't. He was just as shocked as Karin was.
"Did I do something wrong?" a gentle voice asked some distance away.
It was from the last person whom Karin would wish to hear that and the reason as to why she was fuming right now. Those innocent and oblivious eyes. The crumbs still present on her furry little cheeks. And worst of all the audacity that she was still alive and even dared to ask that question.
To her unbelieving eyes that was truly her. It was Cilia, alive and breathing.
A part of her felt relieved. But that part was small. It was struggling for recognition in the contrast of the rest of her that was clouded by sizzling anger. For the past two months Karin had been worried sick about her. Even made her stop taking tasks just to stay by her. Then on the previous day when Kisharu summoned her and explained her that Cilia might never wake up, she was devastated. And so was Kento. Hence their irritated mood towards Lozo in the morning.
So, when she asked whether she had done something wrong the answer was obvious…
Karin didn't know.
She was glad and angry at the same time. Her friend was awake but at the same time her friend chose to meet a stranger before coming to her. Her friend made her worry for so long but the first thing her 'friend' did was visit the kitchen for rice cakes instead of coming to her.
So, for her 'friend's' question she answered.
"Yes, everything about this and about you is wrong. You were supposed to be dead Cilia..."
***
The dust had settled but the tension was far from joining it.
Karin and Kento stood on one side of the open space passively glaring at Cilia. Cilia had reverted back to her human form and was gloomily looking down. The earlier response from Karin had gotten to her. For a moment not to long ago she had spent time trying to see if she could see through herself. But alas she wasn't a ghost bunny, she was a silver bunny.
As for Lozo his body tremors had settled. Distracted by the words and reactions of the trio he had forgotten his earlier bit on Cilia's transformation. He was now more focused on the thin tight string trying its best to hold the three's friendship.
There was something else bothering his mind. Something Kisharu had bluntly told him just after they had settled down. Came as a surprise because of how abrupt it was.
"You are the weakest one here, Lozo."
…
Being called the weakest in a group of four was quite the shock. He was weak even compared to the girl who had just woken up.
"Okay now that everything has settled down, I'd like to get to reason I called you here. Earlier in the Hearth room I told you the importance of Harmatia-Normals relationships. Its cruciality cannot be emphasized more and is always our top priority. As such events are orchestrated where Harmatia, especially new Harmatia, get time to spend and work with Normals in order to strengthen that bond. And for this season just like the others there is one." Kisharu began.
"It's called the Brown Sky festival."
"It's usually held each year but our status during the previous one wasn't so flattering. But now we've got a chance to join back into the fray. And that's where you three… you four come in."
Karin scoffed. "Why is she coming? Isn't Dok supposed to check on her first or something?"
Kisharu noticed the sad glimmer on her face.
"The festival isn't starting for another few days. During that time Dok can do all the experiments he needs on her. But there another reason I need her to go with you."
He turned to Lozo and bluntly said. "You are the weakest one here, Lozo. And to cover for you weak link I'd prefer Cilia to go with you."
"How am I the weakest one here? She just woke…" Lozo stopped before venturing into that topic. It was a little bit too hot for now.
"Karin gave me a report on your previous mission. She thought it of a drag carrying around a Harmatia who one hasn't become a vassal yet and two can even muster the slightest of Natural Energy."
Lozo's eyes dropped. He'd actually thought that he had made a good impression on her. But turns out he hadn't.
"But don't worry we'll solve most of that right now. We'll start with the Natural Energy part. Please go and stand in the hole over there at the center." Kisharu said pointing at the center of the open space.
"It's safe" he said on realizing the hesitation in Lozo's eyes. "It's called an Affinity Pot. It gauges your affinity and reveals it to the rest of us."
Affinity pots were one of the few wonders found to occur naturally in the world. They are hemi-spherical in shape with three concentric contours dropping inside of it. they have small perturbations, troughs and holes, that rise from the center in a regular pattern. It's purpose, as mentioned by Kisharu, is to gauge one's affinity and display the weights of each. Use was simple to.
One just need an open space filled by white sand then dug a hole in the middle of that open space and inserted the Affinity pot in there. The rest was just to step into the pot and…
"Now close your eyes and feel the Natural Energy within you." Kisharu said.
The bare footed Lozo did as he was told. He stepped into the pot and closed his eyes.
Down below he could feel something rise into his skin and another seep out through his skin. Slowly he opened his eyes to the spectacle that awaited.