'Huh...? They...'

 

'They merged?!'

 

The sudden bright light attracted the attention of many onlookers, thus the entire plaza was awestruck when the two children blended together. Full of disbelief, Juno took the liberty to slap herself in the face.

'Ouch!' 

Sure enough, this was reality. Meaning... The little girl really just fused??? 

 

"Um... Lady." 

"Huh? Me?"

"Yes. You."

"So, you can talk. Care to tell me who this 'Ili' person is, then?"

"Come."

It seemed like with the upgrade to hardware came an upgrade to the child's vocabulary. No longer were they limited to the words "help," and "Ili." To Juno's dismay, however, the child still talked in short sentences. Seeing as she had already wasted five hours, Juno decided she would finish the job and help this child. After nodding in confirmation, Juno was forcefully pulled away from the village.

 

The two ran past the wreckage left by the hero’s party, straight into an ominous forest. The village they had been stationed in was on the edge of Diverre’s territory, therefore any uninhabited space could contain demons. As the sun set, the shadows seemed to grow larger, enveloping Juno in darkness. But the child never let go of Juno’s wrist, leaving her unable to prepare for combat. Just when Juno wanted to forcefully stop and take precautions, the two arrived at a clearing in the forest.

Lying on the ground in front of them was a woman, her face obscured by the fallen leaves around her. Based on her height, Juno guessed that this woman was a young adult around her age. Although she had the same features as the children Juno had met, the woman was covered in wounds. When Juno turned to ask the child who this was, she was met with a bright burst of light, and the child dissipated into the wind.

Instantly, Juno knew that this woman was the “Ili” that the children had referred to. 

“My will is the will of your god! My prayers are those of the divine! With the power of the holy priestess, I will save the unsalvageable! O, god of this world, heal!”

The content of the holy priestess’s chants were quite embarrassing to Juno so she normally shortened them, but the severity of Ili’s wounds made Juno want to go all out. Seeing as the child had left right as they found Ili, they must have put their trust into Juno, and the holy priestess was not one to break the trust placed in her. But even with all of her power, Juno barely made a dent In the woman’s wounds. Perhaps this “Ili” was predisposed to reject divine energy? In that case, Juno would have to use the potions given to her by Vie.

Juno brushed off the fallen leaves and held the woman in her arms. Upon further inspection, this “Ili” seemed to be slightly older than Juno was. Though since she was a different species, there was no telling what the actual age was. Like the children before, her white hair gave off an ethereal feeling, almost illuminating the space around her. Truly, this woman seemed like a ghost. 

In the silence of night, the only audible sounds were crickets chirping and glass clinking as Juno slowly emptied bottles upon bottles of potions into this woman’s mouth. Eventually, the wounds on her body began to close, prompting Juno to breathe out a sigh of relief. By the time the woman was in stable condition, Juno had almost used all of the potions in her possession. Slowly, Juno began to take in her surroundings.

Before, she was too focused on the woman to notice, but now Juno could see that the clearing was not a natural one. The edges of the forest seemed to be pruned in a crescent shape, though it was hard to tell from the foliage scattered throughout. Farther into the clearing, there were bits and pieces of rocks spread around. By squinting, Juno could see ridges in those rocks, almost as if they were chunks of a chiseled pillar. As Juno was readying herself to drag the woman closer to the rocks, the clouds moved, letting a glimmer of moonlight into the forest.

 

Suddenly, the ground began to glow.

 

"Huh? Wha-"

 

---

 

When Juno woke up, she felt a strange softness under her head. The last thing she remembered was the ground starting to glow, so if she had passed out, should she not have the floor under her head? Before Juno could collect her thoughts, she heard a voice from directly in front of her.

"Ah... Are you awake..?" The voice was soft but clear, carrying a tone of aloofness in every breath. Just then, Juno realized that the voice didn't come from in front, it came from above. And under her head?

 

It was someone's lap. 

 

Juno jolted up and rolled onto the ground, taking in her surroundings. Seeing the familiar crescent-shaped clearing, Juno instantly knew who the woman had to be.

White hair, a fair complexion, and an ethereal glow. The only difference from the children before was a golden hue in her eyes, radiant like the sun. It turns out that the positions of the two had been reversed?! 

 

"I... am Iliya. Are you the one who saved me?"

Juno nodded silently, and continued to stare at the woman. The more she looked at Iliya, the less sure Juno was of what the girl was. Although she had the hallmark pointed ears belonging to the elf species, the aura Iliya was giving off seemed to be a bit... different. 

 

"Thank you...for helping me." 

"No problem. You should thank the child that brought me here."

"...Child?"

"Yeah, the one that looks like you but younger, maybe around ten years old. Was that your little sister?"

 

Iliya burst into gentle laughter, her soft smile washing over Juno.

"Either way, you were the one that ended up nursing me to health, no? And that 'child'... was a fragment of my soul."

"A fragment of your soul?"

"Yes. When I was injured, wisps of myself must have broken off and searched for help. Luckily, you were there." The genuine dedication in Iliya's voice made Juno slightly flustered, but Juno quickly set herself straight again.

 

"Well anyways, I have to head to Atska now. It's a three-day journey, so I have to get going quickly. I'l drop you off at the village, let's go!" Juno impatiently stood up and gathered her things, oblivious to the nervous expression growing on the other woman. As Juno started to walk away, Iliya called out.

"Wait a minute! I... I cannot stay at the village." Juno slowly turned her head to look back at Iliya. She was still kneeling on the ground, dirt creeping up the edges of her white dress, and the pitiful expression she had reminded Juno of a certain other elf. 

 

"This village is not my home." Iliya got up and went to Juno's side. "Please, allow me to join you on your journeys!"

Juno  sighed. "Well, I can bring you to Atska, but I can't take you to battle with me. It's too dangerous. If you want to go on an adventure, you should probably go with the Hero's party, they'll take better care of you."

"No! It must be you!" The sudden burst shocked Juno, who had never been chosen over the Hero before. "You are my savior... the only one I will trust."

"Fine." Juno pulled at Iliya. "You can come with, but be warned, we'll have to walk. Ugh, if only there was a temple we could use!"

"A temple?" Iliya questioned. "Are we not... at a temple?"

Juno took a few seconds to process what Iliya had just said.

 

'Wait... Don't tell me... These ruins are a temple?!'

 

At second glance, Juno could see the markings of the temple. In hindsight, she should have known from the chiseled pillar last night, but Juno was too preoccupied with saving Iliya to care much. In addition to the pillar, Juno noticed ridges in the floor. Upon closer inspection, those ridges seemed to be emitting a faint light. Actually, the light wasn't that faint. The sunlight shining down was just too strong. Putting two and two together, Juno could tell that it was these ridges that blinded her last night.

The two followed a path of ruined rocks and went deeper into the temple. That is, if it could even be considered a "temple" anymore. Before long, a large rock appeared in their path, covered in strange inscriptions. Iliya stepped in front of Juno.

"This says, 'To those who seek sanction from evil, let her divinity Solista's light shine upon thy bodies.'"

"How do you know what that says?" asked Juno. Although it wasn't unexpected for Juno, as an outsider, to not know the language, she had never seen those runes before, even in Diverre.

"I don't know. It just... came to me."

"Ah, whatever. More importantly, that platform ahead...!" Juno redirected her attention to a flat platform in front of the rock. Normally, a temple in Diverre would have one of these platforms inscribed with a magic circle that allowed easy teleportation between temples. However, the circle on this platform seemed to be different in comparison to the ones Juno had seen.

'Old goods, maybe?'

Juno and Iliya stood in the center of the platform, waiting for the spell to activate. 

 

"Oh, come on! Why won't this stupid thing activate?" Juno stomped on the circle, causing a push back onto the heel of her boots. "Ow!"

Iliya put her hand on Juno's shoulder. "Perhaps you must use divine energy? It did say to 'let Solista's light shine'..."

"Oh, you're right!" Juno readied herself. "Alright, then!"

 

"My will is the will of your god! My prayers are those of the divine! With the power of the holy priestess, I will save the unsalvageable! Enhance!" Juno cast a buffing spell this time, directing the energy to the middle of the magic circle. Suddenly, the floor started to rumble.

 

Crack! The edge of the platform formed a visible tear. Juno silently cursed the god of this world. 

 

"Wait. Allow me to do it," said Iliya. Effortlessly, she gathered a clump of light into her hands, and spread it in the air.

Iliya formed the light into a mirror image of the magic circle, then slowly lowered it until it perfectly overlapped. After a short while, the glow of the magic circle started turning a bright blue.

"I am not incapable of fighting. Once again, I ask for you to consider letting me join you."

 

The two spent a while staring into each others' eyes, as the wind slowly picked up around the platform. Juno sighed and held her hand out towards Iliya.

 

"Thanks. I'm Juno, the holy priestess. From now on, let's be partners."