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Mystic Heart Odyssey

Part 4: Quality Time

Chapter 3

A new face enters the adventure! Well, new to Lykou and Kuna, anyway.

-Llox

___________________________________________________________________________________

After finishing breakfast and packing up, the boys began their trek around the perimeter of the lake. The rest of the morning was relatively calm an uneventful. Strange birds sang high up in the trees, and other weird-looking, but otherwise small and harmless critters darted about on the sides and lower branches of some trees, as well as the stems of some of the enormous flowers. On one occasion, Kuna was freaked out by an overly-large caterpillar lazing about on an enormous, low-lying leaf, much to Lykou's amusement. Fortunately, no other oversized insects or similar creatures appeared.

Eventually, the sereva calmed down somewhat, especially when Lykou distracted him with idle chatter. The relatively peaceful, if strange environment helped. The slightly overcast skies kept the temperature mild as well, and it was overall a fairly pleasant walk. But eventually, Kuna started spacing out a bit, occasionally shooting glances out towards the lake, and Lykou couldn't help but take notice.

"Okay, what's eating you, Ku? Something's clearly making you anxious."

Kuna stopped and scratched his head, staring out at the lake thoughtfully for a moment. "Something... just doesn't feel right."

"Oh? How so?" the canid asked, tensing up a little and searching the lake for any sign of danger. "Think we're being watched?"

"N-... well maybe, but you know I tend to get that feeling a lot anyway," Kuna said, shrugging. "More like... hang on, let me check something." He manifested the silvery pale-blue glow of soul magic around his hand and checked the mark that appeared on his back. "...huh. Mind helping me re-cast the star spell?"

"Er, sure? Not like we'll be able to see it in the daytime, though."

"No, but... just trust me."

Holding the konuul's hand with his off-hand, he bent down and scratched the symbols in the dirt, after first clearing away some fallen leaves and other debris, then cast the spell. The light briefly flashed and darted into the sky, though it was quickly lost in the daylight, even against the patchy clouds above them. Still, he held up his hand against the sky to capture the path and frowned once the spell was complete.

"...shit. That's weird."

"What's up?"

"The spell feels like it's pointing out to the center of the lake, not across it like I originally thought."

Lykou stepped closer to the shore and squinted out across the water, squinting and holding his hand up to shield his eyes from the sun a little. "...but there's no island out there."

"Exactly."

"....huh."

"Yeah," Kuna said, scratching his head. "Maybe I'm just sensing it wrong though, I don't know. I'd hate to think the next arch is... underwater or something."

Lykou frowned. "Fuck, I hope not."

"Let's... try walking a little further. Maybe it's just a weird angle and its actually pointing to that bit jutting out on the far side."

"That wouldn't really line up with what it was telling you yesterday, though."

"...like I said, maybe I just... messed up or something. Let's just walk and see if the feeling changes."

"Right..."

The two walked for a while longer, with Kuna repeatedly shooting worried glances out at the lake. Suddenly, though, he was startled when Lykou threw up his arm and blocked him, stopping them both dead in their tracks. "Woah, wha-"

"Shh. Look," Lykou said quietly, pointing off towards a figure leaning against a tree in the distance, further along the shore.

Kuna squinted for a moment, then arched a brow. "Okay... random person. Right. Maybe there's a village nearby?"

"...I don't know. Something... feels a little off to me."

Kuna was surprised Lykou was being the paranoid one about a person for once. "Oh? Huh. Yeah now that you mention it, I kind of get that vibe, too... you think they might know something about the arch?"

"Maybe, but... before we run over and ask them, let's see if we can sneak a bit closer and get a better look at them."

"Sure, sounds reasonable."

They both lowered themselves closer to the ground and carefully crept forward, darting between bushes and trees to keep themselves concealed until they were only a few dozen yards away from the stranger. Eventually they ducked behind a large, thick patch of brush. Lykou stole a quick glance and immediately pulled back with an unsettled expression. "...shit," he said in a near-whisper.

"What?" Kuna asked warily. "They look dangerous?"

The canid just gave him a flat look and gestured around the corner with his thumb. "See for yourself."

Kuna took a quick peek, then nearly stumbled over backwards. "Fuck."

"That look to you what it looks like to me?"

Kuna's eye twitched as he gave a tiny nod. "Jarzin."

"Dammit, I was hoping it was just me."

"You think it's Ink?"

Lykou took another hesitant peek, then rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I don't know... doesn't look like her. Then again, she could change her appearance, and even had a male form, so who knows?"

"Not like it matters. Last thing we need is a brush with another trickster... spirit, half-spirit, witch, whatever they really are."

"True. Although frankly I'd rather deal with one of the... 'lesser' ones than Ink again," Lykou pointed out.

"Fair point. Either way, let's just get out of here bef-"

"It's rude to talk about people behind their back, you know," a voice suddenly said behind them, startling them and making them jump slightly.

"Fuck!" Lykou blurted out as he stumbled back, with Kuna shrinking back with him and clinging to him.

When they looked back, they saw the figure they'd just been spying on, now standing just a couple yards away, surrounded in a cobalt blue mist. Now much closer, they could make out more details of his appearance. He was definitely a jarzin- but he didn't look like Inkari, even in male form. For one, he was shirtless and only wearing slightly baggy pants made of some kind of slick, slightly shiny purple material. Both of his ears were pierced with small silver loops. There were elaborately-decorated bangles made out of shiny green and gold materials of some kind on his wrists, and a few smaller matching ones along his tail. And with his hands on his hips, his well-toned upper body was proudly on display, somewhat similar to Lykou's physique. In fact, if it wasn't for being a jarzin and probably about to give them trouble of some kind, Kuna would have found him pretty damn attractive as well.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I startle you?" he said, grinning toothily. "I didn't mean to interrupt your flagrant spying."

Lykou hazarded a glance back to the spot the stranger had previously been standing, and sure enough, there was nobody there. He sighed as he turned back to the jarzin and shot him a look. "Forgive us for being wary out here in the wilderness."

The jarzin crossed his arms and took a few steps closer. "That's quite alright. Kuma and Lyshoo, was it?"

"...it's Lykou, actually. And he's Kuna, not Kuma," the canid corrected. "How d-"

"Ah yes, yes, of course, my apologies," the stranger said dismissively. "Nice to finally meet you and all."

"Feeling is definitely not mutual," Kuna snarked, glaring at the jarzin.

"Wait, finally? What do you mean finally?" Lykou asked, giving him a wary look.

"Ah, let me introduce myself," the jarzin said, taking an elaborate, overly dramatic bow. "I am He who Travels In Twisted Moonbeams, the Fateful Wanderer in Mists, Star-Spinner Zynshal of the Ancient Order of-"

Suddenly, in the middle of his excessive spiel, a pair of glowering eyes appeared on the jarzin's belt, then it pulled away from his waist and smacked him upside the head.

"Ow! Fuck, what was that for?" he blurted out, rubbing his chin and glaring at the shadow spirit that was giving him a withering look. "C'mon, can't I have some f-"

Again, the spirit smacked him.

"FINE! Jeeze," he groused, then turned his attention back to the now thoroughly perplexed and slightly amused travelers in front of him with a somewhat dour look. "...just call me Zyn, I guess."

"Uh...huh," Lykou said with a dubious expression.

"Are you quite done? I can handle things myself, you know," Zyn said to the shadow spirit. After eyeing him for a moment, the shadow re-formed itself into a belt around his waist. "Ugh. Anyway, where was I?" he said, then grinned and vanished in a puff of blue smoke, only to reappear behind the boys, wrapping his arms around them. "Ah, right. While it's flattering being compared to the illustrious legend Inkari, I'm only here to check in on you two on her behalf."

Kuna and Lykou jumped in surprise, with the former actively pulling away and shooting an anxious glare at him. "Lucky us..."

Zyn vanished and reappeared on Kuna's other side, again wrapping an arm around him. "Indeed! Few of you mundanes have the honor of meeting even one of us in a lifetime, let alone two, nevermind a legend like her!"

Before Kuna could react, he vanished yet again and reappeared leaning against a tree a few yards away, in the direction of the lake. 'Mundanes?' Lykou mouthed to Kuna dubiously, to which the sereva just shrugged and rolled his eyes. Kuna turned back to Zyn with a thoroughly un-amused stare. "Oh yeah. We're so lucky."

Zyn chuckled. "So let's get down to business, shall we? Seems you two are in a bit of a predicament," he said, then gestured back towards the lake. "Looking for the next arch, but imagine that! The spell is pointing you to the middle of a lake!" He theatrically brought his hands up to his face in mock despair. "What an awful day to not have gills!"

"Hilarious," Kuna deadpanned.

"Something tells me you have something to do with it, don't you?"

Zyn magically teleported to Lykou's side, resting an arm on his shoulder. "Nope. Alas, even my own formidable powers aren't enough for feats that big," he said quickly with a shrug, then teleported over by Kuna and leaned in conspiratorially. "Trust me, you don't want to try and move Sylthean ruins around without knowing what you're doing anyway. Naaaasty mystical feedback," he said, wiggling his fingers around.

Kuna stumbled back again as Zyn teleported back by another tree, this time in the opposite direction from the lake. The sereva was growing increasingly annoyed with all the jarzin's antics. "Yeah, great, thanks for the tip," he replied, eye twitching.

"Let me go ahead and put one worry to rest for you. The arch isn't, in fact, underwater."

Lykou glanced out at the lake, arching a brow again. "Well then... where is it?"

"And why's the spell pointing that way?" Kuna chimed in.

"Well it's right there, can't you see it?" the jarzin said with a big grin, gesturing past them towards the water.

"...uh, no," Lykou said as Kuna walked over next to him and peered out at it alongside him.

"Yeah, there's n-AH!" Kuna started to reply, then jumped back when he turned and found the jarzin in his personal space, looking him over with a glowing eye effect similar to the one Inkari used, albeit with the silver-blue glow of soul magic instead of the indigo light of whatever version the elder jarzin used. "Fuck off, dammit!"

Lykou took a step back with the sereva, holding him protectively and shooting the jarzin a glare. "Seriously, watch it."

"Ah, right, you mundanes and your poor, limited vision," Zyn replied, shaking his head and tsk-tsking at the same time. "Such a shame. Can't even see things right under your nose."

"The fuck are you talking about?"

"Fear not, friends-"

"Like fuck you are," Kuna snarked.

"-for the Syltheans left you a clue right-" Zyn continued, unphased, then teleported closer to the shore and pointed towards the side of the lake opposite the side they'd previously camped on- right near, in fact, where they'd originally been headed. "-over there!"

"Oh good. Clues and riddles. My favorite."

"Ugh," Lykou grumbled, rubbing his head. "Why can't you just tell us what we're missing? Haven't we endured enough at this point?"

"How should I know? I just got here!" Zyn said, then teleported back over next to Lykou. "Anyway, where would the fun be in th-"

Just as the jarzin was about to lean on the canid's shoulder again, he was cut off by the backside of a fist aggressively meeting his face. Kuna immediately snorted and stifled a laugh, a mixture of surprise, amusement, and worry on his face. Lykou shook his hand and smirked. "Fuck, that felt good."

Zyn stumbled over in shock, clutching his nose, the glowing eye-effect fading away as his focus was momentarily thrown off. After a moment, he scowled at the canid. "Why you little-... I should turn you into a roach for that!" he growled threateningly, crackling green and black energies swirling up around his arms.

Just as he seemed about to do something, however, he was smacked clean into a nearby tree by his former belt, again manifesting itself in front of him, bigger and more menacing than before. He groaned and stood up, rubbing his head. Again, Lykou and Kuna found themselves unsure whether to believe jarzin were even partly mortal or not- he was definitely very much a physical being- there was bit of blood on Lykou's hand from having hit him- but the way the strike from the shadow-spirit caused the large oak to fracture from his impact should have damn near killed any other mortal, other than perhaps a much larger creature, like an Ursaran. Nonetheless, Zyn grumbled and stood up, brushing himself off casually. He looked more annoyed and embarrassed than anything.

"You don't have to be so rough, Baniv! I wasn't actually going to do anything, for fucksakes!" he shouted at the spirit. He then grumbled some more and rubbed his head. The spirit emitted a series of odd rustling sounds that the boys' medallions strangely seemed unable to translate. "Oh come on, he hit me, and I can't even spook them a bit in response?!"

Again, more rustling. Lykou and Kuna exchanged a look, then started slowly backing away, trying to slip away from the situation without being noticed.

"Oh, excuse me, I thought she trusted me to this job, not you! Something tells me you wouldn't be stopping Inkari from having some fun! I don't even know why you're here, I'm not some kid- I don't need a damn babysitter!"

The boys continued creeping away as quietly as they could as the sound of strange bickering grew more distant. Finally, when he figured they were far enough away, Lykou got Kuna's attention and gestured towards the point the jarzin had previously pointed out on the far edge of the lake. The sereva nodded and they began sprinting off towards it as quickly and quietly as they could, occasionally shooting nervous glances back over their shoulders. But there was no sign of Zyn or the shadow-spirit following after them. Somehow, Kuna wasn't sure whether to be relieved or more anxious as a result.

*****

A while later, they'd slowed down as they gradually made their way to the general location the jarzin had indicated. There was no sign of having been followed, but they still felt on edge from the encounter. In any case, at the very least they eventually felt the urge to break the silence as they slowed to a casual walk, albeit keeping their voices a bit low.

"I think it's safe to say that wasn't Ink in some weird disguise," Lykou commented, inspecting his hand.

"Yeah, I doubt you could've snuck a hit like that in on her," Kuna replied, then grinned at the konuul. "Nice, by the way. Probably not the smartest idea, given what he can probably do, but nice."

Lykou smirked. "I don't care, it felt fucking satisfying."

"I bet," Kuna said, snickering a bit.

"I wonder if all the other jarzin are so..."

"Obnoxious?" the sereva suggested. "Irritating? Full of themselves?"

"Yeah, all of that," Lykou agreed. "Weird that that... shadow-thing intervened, though."

"Baniv, yeah. That was one of those spirits that was working for Ink, so I guess he wasn't lying about working for her, at least," Kuna said, scratching his head. "Wonder why she's sending someone else in her place, though."

"Good question. And I wonder why that thing stood up for us like that."

"...hard as it is to believe, maybe Ink wanted to make sure Zyn didn't go overboard and end up hurting us."

"I guess," Lykou said with a shrug, then looked up and pointed over by the water's edge. "Hey, look at that big boulder over there. Looks like something's carved in its side."

Kuna looked at it and arched a brow. "Yeah... let's get a closer look."

When they got closer, they could see that the side of the rock was covered in a bunch of symbols carved smoothly into its face. The symbols seemed to repeat intermittently in various patterns, and tended to flow together line by line.

"Are they... spirit signs, I wonder?" Lykou pondered aloud.

"I... dunno. They don't look like the ones we've seen before."

"To be fair, neither did some back in those ruins."

"True..." Kuna thought for a moment, then conjured up his life magic and attempted to feed it into the lines. But nothing happened.

"Try the other one," Lykou suggested.

The sereva swapped over to the soul magic and found just as much resistance, then eventually dismissed his magic in frustration. "Damn, nothing," he muttered, then stood up and sighed. "Well, now what?"

"You'll probably have to wait for nightfall," a voice said behind them, startling them. They whirled around and groaned when they saw the jarzin standing behind them with his arms crossed, considerably more serious looking than before. Blue mists surrounded him and obscured his lower legs. He and the boys stared each other down for a moment, with the jarzin specifically shooting a glare at Lykou. "...yeah, you know there's a million unpleasant things I could do to you and there's nothing you could do to stop me," he said, then sighed and rubbed his eyes. "But honestly I wouldn't. And I'm not just saying that because of Baniv."

"Sure, definitely not because you don't want another ass-kicking from your babysitter," Lykou snarked. "I'm sure it's all personal restraint."

"In case you hadn't noticed," Zyn said, gesturing to his waist with a faint smirk. "Baniv isn't here now."

Suddenly, Lykou felt a lot more anxious. Kuna did as well, and clung to him, eyeing the jarzin nervously.

"Relax, they just went to report back to Ink that you made it this far. I'm not looking for revenge," he assured them, though he briefly narrowed his eyes at Lykou. "...even if it might be warranted."

"Er... yeah, s-sorry for hitting you I guess," the canid replied, albeit without any real sincerity.

Zyn shrugged. "Look, I know I came on a bit strong and maybe I deserved it. I'll reel it in a bit and keep my hands to myself, if you'll just listen and do the same. Deal?"

Lykou and Kuna shared a wary look, then Lykou shrugged slightly. "Alright, deal."

"Excellent," he said, then took a slow breath, glancing out towards the lake. "Between you and me, this is my first.... well, project. And technically it's not even mine. So forgive me if I got a little over-excited."

"We're not a 'project', you know," Kuna snapped, glaring at the jarzin. "We're people."

"Riiight," Zyn replied with a grin. "Anyway, point is, sorry I went a bit overboard with the introduction. Believe it or not, I'm genuinely just here to check in on you two, and give you a little help."

"Right... 'help'. I'm sure," Kuna snarked.

"Oh, you don't need help, then? Well, if you can read what the stone says, I guess I'll just be on my w-"

"What do you mean 'says'?" Lykou asked incredulously. "It's a damn stone with weird symbols on it. It doesn't speak."

Zyn gave the konuul a dubious look, then turned to Kuna, gesturing to his companion. "...is he joking?"

"I was going to ask you that," Kuna replied, arching a brow and crossing his arms. "What, are those spirit signs that make sound when they're imbued or something?"

Zyn gave them a long, flat stare, then brought his palm to his face and shook his head. "Right. Your people don't have writing yet, do they?"

"Writing?"

"Is this some kind of weird riddle or something?" Lykou asked. "It'd be nice if you could just be direct for once. Bad enough Inkari threw us halfway across the world and scared the shit out of us, the least you could do is actually help us instead of playing games."

The jarzin sighed. "No, it's not- well, technically, there is a riddle, most likely, but it's not my doing. That's just a thing Syltheans tend to go in for a lot," he said with a shrug. "In this case you can blame them, not us. But that's not the point. Those symbols on the stone are representations of words."

"Huh? How's that?" Kuna asked dubiously.

"Oh, wait a minute, that... sounds vaguely familiar. I think Kitza was coming up with something like that back home," Lykou said, scratching his head, then briefly turned to Kuna. "I hadn't thought about it and I don't think she's gotten very far, but she sometimes talks about doing something to put words into some kind of physical form so they could be 'preserved' for others. I never saw it, though, so I have no idea what it looks like."

"And you still didn't think it might be magic?" Kuna asked with a faintly bemused look.

"Well, no, I- look, Kitza's always been a bit odd. Her and Derrish both. I figured it's from the fumes they're always working around," the canid replied, then turned back to the jarzin. "But maybe not. So it's called... 'writing'?"

"Exactly! Sounds like Lakefire's finally growing up," Zyn remarked after teleporting next to the konuul and reaching out to pat his head. Halfway through the motion though, he stopped himself and teleported back a few feet after catching a nasty glare from the canid. "...right, sorry, personal space. Forgot."

"Nice condescension there, too, asshole," Kuna commented. "Anyway how does it work?"

"Basically each symbol represents a different sound you can make with your mouth, although it can get more complicated than that depending on the language. And those medallions of yours, in an amusing twist, will only end up complicating matters."

"Oh?" Kuna asked, glancing at the medallion around Lykou's neck briefly. "How's that?"

"Well remember, while you're wearing those, you're not necessarily hearing what sounds people are actually making. It's just linking you to their intent via soul magic, making it sound and look like they're saying the equivalent words in your own language, albeit occasionally with odd quirks based on factors I don't care to get into."

"Like the lepne's-"

"Yeah, yeah, some accents, sure," Zyn continued, waving a hand dismissively. "That's some Sylthean nonsense in their case though. But anyway, writing matches the actual sounds, and I doubt either of you are fluent in any Sylthean languages," Zyn pointed out with a smirk.

"Huh... you know, I never even put much thought to how these things worked," Lykou said, examining the medallion again. After a moment, he took his off and eyed the jarzin. "...say something."

Zyn snickered and crossed his arms. "Yeah, you'd like to know what our true language sounds like, wouldn't you? Unfortunately for you, I learned to do what those medallions do several years ago, before I was allowed to leave home. Only jarzin and some spirits will ever know our true tongue."

The konuul frowned and put the medallion back on.

"So what do we do, then?" Kuna asked. "Can you teach us how to, er... understand those symbols?"

"I'm afraid I haven't the patience to stand here and give you lessons in literacy, so for now I suppose I'll just read it for you," the jarzin replied with a shrug, then teleported over by the boulder, rubbing his chin. "Hmm... looks like twilight script, as I thought."

"What does that mean, exactly?"

"Twilight holds special properties, marking the gap between day and night, and the Syltheans are keenly aware of it. And they also hold that words carry subtle power in themselves. So when they created a language that somehow carries its own mystical energies when spoken or written, they named it for that special time of day," Zyn explained. "Hence, twilight-tongue and twilight-script."

"So what does it... er, 'say'?"

The jarzin looked over the stone thoughtfully for a moment. "...it's total gibberish."

"What?!"

"Knew it. You're just fucking with us," Lykou accused flatly.

"Not at all. Like I said, it's twilight-script. Of course it's gibberish right now. But wait until dusk and it'll probably rearrange itself into something actually meaningful. A lot of Syltheans love doing shit like that. Obsessed with the moon and whatnot, generally preferring to enter and exit those gates during twilight hours."

"Great, so now we have to waste half the day and just camp out here until the sun sets?" the konuul grumbled.

"Looks that way, champ," Zyn replied, then teleported over to lean up against a nearby tree. "I suppose you could always go for a hunt if you like," he said to the canid, then turned to the sereva. "And you could... I don't know, pick dandelions or something."

"Yeah, because that sounds real exciting and useful," Kuna retorted.

"And what about you?" Lykou asked warily. "Just going to... hang around?"

"Sure, why not? It'll be fun to observe the boys that caught the almighty Inkari's eye," Zyn said with a grin.

"Oh goodie. Lucky us," Kuna deadpanned.

"I think I'll pass on the hunt," Lykou said, eyeing the jarzin for a moment before looking around. "Still... guess we might as well get comfortable."

"Well, for a given definition of 'comfortable', I suppose. You are out in the wilderness."

Kuna rolled his eyes and conjured up his magic, then spotted a couple mushrooms to grow and morph into reasonable comfortable seats before plopping down on one of them and taking a sip from his water jug.

Lykou grinned and sat down next to him. "Hey, nice thinking Ku."

"Thank Lana for giving me the idea," the sereva said with a grin. "Can't believe I never thought to do this kind of thing before."

"To be fair, I imagine that would have taken a lot more out of you early on."

"True."

"Are you two really just going to sit around, what, chatting for the rest of the day until the sun sets?" Zyn asked with mild incredulity.

"Uh, yeah, obviously. What else are we going to do?" Kuna responded, giving him a look.

"I figured you'd do something more productive with your time. You know, practice your magic, make something," the jarzin continued, then gestured to Lykou. "And maybe you'd go for find some meat. You're really just going to live off those fruit for a while?"

"Maybe later. I'm not inclined to leave Kuna here alone with you," Lykou said pointedly, crossing his arms.

"And I don't want you sneaking up on Lykou, either," Kuna added.

Zyn gave them a look, then rolled his eyes and summoned up a third mushroom-seat, which he then teleported to, sitting cross-legged near them. "And why's that?"

"You're a fucking jarzin, duh."

"We have no reason to trust you."

"I mean, if I wanted to mess with you two, I could do it whether you were separate or not, and there's not exactly much you could do about it. But like I said, this isn't my proj-" Zyn started explaining, then paused when he caught Kuna's expression. "...alright, plan, whatever you want to call it. I'm just here to check in on you two and help you out."

"And show off, of course," Lykou added.

"Wellll, yeah, okay, that too," Zyn agreed with a big grin and a shrug. "Come on, cut me some slack. You're the first mundanes I've been around since becoming an adult. You'd do the same in my position, don't even try to deny it."

Kuna rolled his eyes. "You keep using that word. Why do you keep calling us 'mundanes'? Sounds condescending," Lykou pointed out.

Zyn scratched his chin. "...yeah I guess I see your point. No offense meant though. It's just what we tend to call most other mortals."

"Meant or not, it's obnoxious."

"Fine, I'll stop using it around you two, eesh." The three sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, with Lykou and Kuna watching the jarzin warily and uncomfortably. Eventually, he spoke up again, "...by all means continue whatever conversation you were going to have, don't let me interrupt you."

"Do you want something from us?"

"No, why?"

"Why are you still here, then? Just to annoy us?"

"Eesh, I'm just curious about you two, that's all. There must be something special about you to catch the wise and powerful Fate-Weaver's attention."

"We- wait, 'Fate-Weaver'?" Kuna asked curiously.

"You know. Inkari? That's just one of her titles."

Lykou scowled. "Is that so? I think I can think of some better ones."

"Yeah, like Supreme Creepy Fuck," Kuna snarked.

"Or High Shadow Bitch."

"Or Miserable Mistress of Deception."

"Or the Almighty Asshole."

"Or-"

"Alright, alright, I get it!" Zyn cut in, rolling his eyes a bit. "Eesh, I know you mun-... er, mystically-challenged mortals-"

Kuna face-palmed. "Nevermind, go back to mundanes, it's somehow less offensive."

"-don't tend to see us in the best light, be ease up. She took you out of your element for a few days and you act like she murdered your loved ones."

Kuna immediately shot the jarzin a hateful glare. But it was eclipsed by Lykou's look as he started to stand up and ball his fists up. "A few... days? It's been a FUCKING MONTH. I haven't seen my family and friends in over a MONTH!" he snapped, his voice steadily rising until it sent nearby birds fleeing from the trees. "We were taken from our homeland without ANY warning. My tribe probably thinks I'm DEAD!! All so we could constantly find our lives in danger and have no idea when we might see home again, assuming we survive long enough! So yeah, I don't have the highest regard for her, or you, or any of your fellow high-and-mighty, shadow-shitting, manipulative magical assholes, so take your DAMN magic AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS UNTIL YOUR FUCKING MYSTICALLY 'SUPERIOR' THROAT GLOWS!!!"

Zyn stared at the panting, angry konuul with no small amount of shock, leaning back warily. After a few moments of tense silence, he furrowed his brow and looked away thoughtfully. "...a month? What??" he wondered aloud, seemingly talking to himself. "I've never heard of... I know she tends to think long-term, but... fuck..." When he finally turned back to the canid, he slowly slid off his seat and took a few steps back, fidgeting a bit awkwardly. "...I uh. Right. Um..."

"You should go," Kuna said, staring at him through narrow eyes.

"...yeah. Yeah good idea," Zyn agreed, giving the canid a somewhat sympathetic glance before vanishing in a puff of blue smoke.

*****

The rest of the day passed by quietly. With Kuna comforting him, Lykou gradually calmed down shortly after the jarzin left. Neither wanted to do very much, but they were relieved to be alone together again. They debated setting up another campsite as the sun crept down towards the horizon, but neither really was in the mood to go through the effort. And in any case, they didn't really want to separate from one another, even for a short time to gather firewood. By and large, they didn't have much appetite, either. They chatted intermittently, pondering the stone and the words written on its side, and wondered how they'd find and use the next arch.

Finally, when dusk was approaching, Zyn made his reappearance. This time, though, it was without fanfare. And he didn't bother sneaking up on them- in fact, he seemed intent on not surprising them at all. When they were looking over at the stone, a hazy blue mist began to coalesce on top of it, forming a large smoky cloud. When the smoke faded, he was sitting in its place, with a somewhat uneasy, yet sympathetic expression.

"Oh good, you're back," Kuna said sarcastically.

Lykou didn't bother to say anything, just staring at the jarzin flatly.

"Er. Yeah. It'll be time to read this thing soon, so I... figured I should get back here," Zyn said, tapping his fingers on his leg thoughtfully. He took a deep breath before continuing. "Look, I uh... I'm not-"

Lykou sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Save it. I know, we're Inkari's 'project', not yours. I'm sorry I yelled."

"Under the circumstances, I can hardly blame you, honestly. Usually when we uh... interefere," the jarzin continued with a slightly sheepish grin. "We rarely separate people from their home or loved ones, and when we do, it's rarely for more than a week at most, and usually for reasons that are supposed to help them out in the end. Or at least that's what I've always been told. So I... really don't know what she's up to with you two."

"Forgive us if we find the 'helpful meddling' thing a bit pretentious and questionable," Kuna commented with a glare.

"Yeah... given what you've probably been through, that's... that's fair. Listen, I know it's... incredibly cold comfort, but I do know she doesn't do anything without good reason. For whatever it's worth, as much as I'm sure you're hurting for home right now, you've probably somehow helped a lot of people an awful lot along the way at some point, even if you're not aware of it."

Lykou furrowed his brow, staring at the ground thoughtfully. "I... guess we did help the lepne with a dangerous situation. And the shakonu, to a degree..."

"True, but... with all her power, I'm sure she could have just helped them directly, instead of taking you away from your home," Kuna pointed out.

"Well... technically yes, especially in her case, but... well, I guess I'm not really the best one to explain it. She'd probably have to tell you herself. All I know is that apparently, in the past, jarzin tried to do more direct things like that, and... it ended up going very not-well, somehow," Zyn explained, then quirked a brow, glancing over at Kuna. "Wait, 'his' home? What about you, are you not homesick, too?"

Kuna frowned and rolled his eyes. "Really? Guess she didn't tell you much about us, did she?"

"Er, not really."

"...actually yeah, I guess there is one thing I should be thankful to her for," Lykou said, a small smile slowly creeping across his face as he looked over at the sereva, then suddenly pulled him into their favorite cuddling position, causing him to let out a small surprised yelp. "She brought us together, and you're not alone anymore."

Kuna blushed a little and smiled back. "W-well, yeah, but again, I'm sure she could have done it without throwing us across the world."

"Wait, alone?" Zyn asked curiously.

"His tribe abandoned him, so he was living on his own."

"Wow. Shit. That's... pretty fucked up."

"No shit," Lykou agreed, then smirked and squeezed Kuna gently. "And while I hate to give her any credit, thinking back, would you have stuck around long enough for us to become friends if we weren't thrust into a crazy unfamiliar place with barely any tools?"

"I-" the sereva began to respond, then froze and thought for a moment. He wilted a little with a sheepish expression. "...okay, point taken," he finally agreed, then looked over at Zyn with a flat look. "Let's just say I was a cranky paranoid bitch when we first met. Don't you dare tell her we're giving her credit for anything, though."

Zyn smirked. "Don't worry, I won't. But see? We're not evil, and that includes her," he said, then held up a hand before Lykou could respond. "NOT that I'm trying to downplay your feelings, mind you. I get it, I'd probably hate her in your position, too."

"Hey, if that's the case, can you, y'know... just send us home? The way she sent us across the world?"

"Heh... um. No, sorry," the jarzin said with a sheepish grin. "That's the kind of thing only she can do. Even most elder jarzin can maybe at most transport an unwilling or unaware target like a day or so away from where they were, and get tired doing it. Hell, I can't teleport anyone but myself. We're powerful, but she's a legend for a reason."

Lykou sighed, his gaze falling. "Well, it was worth asking."

"Hey, I don't know how long it'll take, but you will make it home. That much I do know."

"How do you know that?" Kuna asked suspiciously.

"Wellll... there's only so much I'm allowed to say, but let's just say she's shown me where Lakefire is, and I have a rough idea of how you're going to get there, using those gateways."

"Really?" Lykou asked, then frowned. "Let me guess, you're not going to tell us what we're in for."

"Nope, sorry. Hey, I don't want to risk messing up Inkari's plans and getting on her bad side. Can you really blame me?"

"...I guess not."

"And I don't know all the details either, anyway. Just some general things. But hey, I will be popping in around some of the gates to check in on you two and help you out where I can."

"Why?" Kuna suddenly said. "Seems weird that she'd send another jarzin to watch over her schemes."

"Normally yes, but that's probably because most jarzin are busy with their own stuff. I'm new to these things, though, and she's... well, Inkari. She has the privilege of delegating if she wants to, and I guess she finally decided to take a break and do it. Anyway, I'm happy to help you two, in whatever ways she'll allow me to. You seem like good guys, and it's fun finally meeting some mun- er, I mean-"

"'Mundanes', yeah, we get it," Kuna replied with a small eye-roll.

"Well, thanks I guess, for whatever help you can give," Lykou said, then sighed. "And... sorry again for losing it earlier."

"Hey, don't sweat it," Zyn said, waving off the apology. "You had every reason to. And again, I'm sorry I came on so strong earlier. I imagine that probably didn't help matters." He grinned and idly began juggling a ball of fire and lightning. "Hope you'll indulge me if I do still show off a little now and then, though. A guy's gotta have a little pizazz."

"Pizz... what?" Lykou asked, arching a brow.

"You know. A little flair, a little style," the jarzin explained, then stared at them for a moment. He sighed, then tossed the fireball aside, where it rapidly blossomed into a mature rosebush upon striking the ground. "I gotta have some fun with things now and then. What good's having all this power if I can't do that?"

"...well at least he seems more like Daisy than Ink," Lykou commented, glancing down at the sereva in his lap.

"True."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean? Who's this 'Daisy' you're talking about?" Zyn asked somewhat defensively.

"Another really powerful individual we met. Seems like anyone with that much power has to show off somehow."

"Hey, I'll take show-offy or goofy over creepy and ominous any day."

"Wait, you met a third jarzin?"

"Not a jarzin, a wolpertinger."

"Technically half-wolpertinger."

Suddenly, Zyn teleported closer to them, his eyes wide. "Y... you met a... a-a wolpertinger? A Sylthean?!"

Kuna shrank back into Lykou's arms warily. "Uh... like I said, half-tinger, technically, an-"

"STILL! Do you have any idea how lucky you are?!" the jarzin exclaimed. "Where did you meet- wait, you were in Clovaria before you got here, right??"

"Yyyeahhhh?" Lykou responded.

"You mean the legends- the fae queen of the emerald hills still lives?!" Zyn responded, then teleported directly in front of them, grabbed Lykou by the shoulders, then shook them both with overly-enthusiastic zeal. "AND YOU MET HER?!"

"H-hey!" Lykou objected, prying his hands off, slightly dizzy from the surprising force behind the jarzin's shaking. "Watch it!"

Zyn immediately teleported back a few steps and grinned sheepishly. "Right, sorry. But... FUCK you for being so lucky! First you get chosen by Inkari- yeah, I know, different perspective for you- but then you ALSO get to meet HER?! Fuck, man!"

"Yeahhh....? I thought you guys had like some kind of rivalry thing with her or something?" Kuna asked, holding his head as his own dizziness faded.

"...I mean yeah technically, but that's all older generation shit," Zyn said, waving it off. "We're not allowed to go there, but I honestly thought everyone just stuck to that for some tradition nonsense anymore. Syltheans are super rare these days, and I thought Lady Aelana was dead or even just a myth at this point. And she's going by... 'Daisy' now?"

"Er... it's uh, kind of... complicated," Kuna said.

"There's basically two of her. Aelana and Daisy," Lykou chimed in, grinning at the idea he could make the jarzin jealous. "And they're both great. We had a lot of fun hanging out with them."

"W- two?! How the..."

"Like I said, it's complicated. And we probably shouldn't go around blathering other peoples secrets," the sereva replied, nudging the canid behind him.

"Oof. Right," Lykou said sheepishly. Then he furrowed his brow. "Hey, wait, shouldn't that 'gesh' thing have stopped me?"

"We're not in Clovaria any more, remember?"

"Oh. Right."

"She even put a geas on you?? Oh, man," Zyn said, clutching his head. "It bugs the shit out of me that you two don't know how damn lucky you are. You've seriously got to tell me all about h-, er, I guess them sometime," he said, then glanced up at the sky. He then teleported back over by the stone, whose symbols had began to subtly glow and rearrange themselves on its surface. "...another time though. We should try and read this thing before we miss our chance and have to wait another day."

"Oh shit, yeah," Lykou said, sitting up a bit. Kuna crawled out of his lap and they both got up to join the jarzin by the rock. "Do you have to do some kind of magic thing, or...?"

"What, just to read? Nah. I'm familiar with twilight-script so no magic needed," Zyn said dismissively. "Although, since that is what we're dealing with here, don't be surprised if something strange happens when I start reading it out loud."

"S-strange?" Kuna asked warily. "Like what?"

"Who knows? Syltheans are crazy. That's part of the fun, honestly," the jarzin explained with an eager grin.

"...yeah something tells me you'd get along great with Daisy," Lykou said. "If you weren't a jarzin, anyway."

"...I'll ignore that last bit," Zyn replied, rolling his eyes, then turned back to the stone. The symbols appeared to have settled into their new locations. "Right, let's see here... yndaril morwynen almari-"

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light and all three were catapulted back onto the ground by a burst of energy. The symbols began glowing more brightly, one at a time, as an inscrutable, ambiguous form appeared above it and an androgynous voice boomed out in sync with them.

"Greetings, wanderers foreign and bold,

Heed my words, and your way will be told.

Over waters dark, a path unseen,

Beneath the stars with a moonlight sheen,

When midnight's watcher climbs up high,

Upon the lake, hidden bridge will lie.

Guided by the sky's speckled display,

The light within shines and guides the way.

From the first step taken in faith that is certain,

Follow through beyond our magical curtain.

Past it a small secret land sits, all concealed,

Upon which the gate you seek will be revealed."

Once the voice finished, the apparition faded away. The words on the stone remained lit-up, but dimmed to their former faint glow.

"...what they said," Zyn said with a cheesy grin, then hopped back up off the ground.

"What was that??" Lykou asked as he and Kuna slowly got back up.

"Told you something crazy might happen."

"Was that some kind of Sylthean? Are they still here somewhere?"

"Nah, that was just a magical message. And no, before you ask, I can't teach you how to do that kind of thing."

"Because you don't know either, or because it's Sylthean magic?" Kuna asked.

"...yes," Zyn responded with a slightly dodgy expression. "Anyway, with that out of the way, I guess I'll see you two later. Good luck with th-"

"Wait, you're just leaving?"

"Aren't you going to help us figure out what it meant?"

"Well, no. I'm not supposed to just... give you answers," the jarzin said with a shrug. "But I mean... it's kind of obvious, don't you think?"

"We wouldn't be asking you if it was," Kuna said flatly.

"...well, think about it, how have you been finding your way until now?"

"The spell, but that just pointed to the lake."

"Right, but think about it. It's not just a pull in a certain direction, is it?"

Kuna lifted his hand and grasped the soul energy, then eyed the pattern on its back. "...well, no. There's also the star-path..."

"Exactly. And I think you can figure out the rest from there," Zyn said with a wink. "So I'll be seeing you two later!"

"Wai-"

Before either of them could object, the jarzin vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Ugh, great," Kuna grumbled.

"Hey, at least he didn't vanish with some freak storm or creepy shit like Ink did," Lykou commented, staring at the glowing letters on the stone.

"True."

"So we know it has something to do with this star-path thingy..."

"Yeah. What's 'midnight's watcher' though?"

"Umm," the canid said, rubbing his chin. "Probably the moon? It mentioned it being 'up high', so that'd be my guess."

"Makes sense," Kuna said, then sighed. "Great, guess that means we have to wait until later at night, though."

"Shit, you're right. Dammit..."

Kuna walked back over and sat down on the mushroom-seat. "Might as well get comfortable, I guess."

"I hate all this waiting around."

"Me too. Hey, we could always set up a fire at least, if you want."

"Mm... maybe, I guess. Let's stick together looking for wood, then."

Kuna grabbed his hatchet. "Time to put this thing to use."

"Heh, sure. But lets find fallen stuff first, it'll be drier."

"Fair point."

*****

When midnight came around, the boys were sitting beside a small fire, enjoying each other's company and finally eating a light snack while they waited to see if anything would happen. Finally, Kuna got up and walked over to the stone. "Well... I guess now's the time to start trying things."

"I guess so," Lykou agreed as he joined him. "So... what do we do?"

Kuna thought for a minute, then bent down and picked up a small rock. He tossed it out into the water, then frowned. "Doesn't look like there's any 'hidden bridge' there from what I can tell."

"Wait... it said something about a step 'taken in faith', right?"

"Er, yeah?"

"Throwing stones to check doesn't imply much faith," Lykou said with a smirk. "Let me see your hand real quick."

Kuna quirked a brow and let the konuul take a look at the mark on his hand. "Forgive me if I'm a bit wary of just wading out into the water all willy-nilly. Who knows what might be swimming around out there."

"You won't be in the water if this works, silly," Lykou said, then stepped towards the lake with a grin. "Let's see..."

The konuul approached the shore as the sereva watched him somewhat apprehensively. Once he reached the water's edge, he took a deep breath, then quickly stepped forward. To both their surprise, his foot did not land in the water. Instead, with a brief shimmer of faint, pale light, he found it resting on an invisible platform. He turned and grinned back at the sereva. "Put the fire out and let's go!"

Kuna quickly doused the fire, then joined the canid on the invisible platform, grinning a little nervously. "Okay, so... just follow the path, right?"

"Makes sense to me."

They both looked at the marking on his hand, then carefully followed it along a somewhat zig-zagging path across the water's surface. Every step briefly lit up the invisible surface under their feet. About a quarter of the way across the water, light began falling from the stars like rain, causing the rest of the path to light up, as well as a tiny island in the center of the lake. Besides that, however, a number of other ethereal lights could be seen illuminating the lake's surface, floating around in different positions and glowing in various colors. Some of the glowing butterflies they'd seen that first night with Aelana were also present. Finally, the shimmering outline of the arch formed in the middle of the island, looking like it was made of starlight itself. Strangely curved arcs of light faded in and out of sight around it.

When they finally reached the island, the path behind them faded away once they stepped onto its eerily transparent ground.

"Should we... I don't know, camp here until morning and get some rest before we step through?" Lykou suggested.

Kuna quickly shook his head. "That'd be a bad idea. What if this place vanishes when the sun comes up? We'd either vanish with it or get dropped into the water."

"Oof. Yeah, not a great way to wake up. Guess we'll just have to hope we can find a decent spot to rest on the other side."

"Yep," the sereva said, then stepped up to the arch. The gateway signs on either side were barely visible as faded, flickering outlines hovering in thin air. "...this is weird. I hope it works the same as the others."

"Only one way to find out," Lykou said, taking his other hand in his own. "Ready when you are."

"Right..." Kuna said, then began feeding energy into the signs. Almost immediately, the entire arch lit up with increased intensity. This time, they didn't even have to step forward, as a powerful force sucked them straight into the portal and the lake, island and all, vanished behind them.