In the darkness, a slumped over undead stirred awake. Iris grabbed her head feeling like she was spun around by a cave troll while having an anvil tied to her neck. She remembered cuddling with Kia and kissing her small and lovely companion before her memory became fuzzy and then blank.

 

Status

...

HP 1750/1750

MP 305/2000

...

 

Her half-conscious mind scanned her status for an answer to her sudden tired feeling, finding her mana severely depleted. To her relief, the mana slowly ticked upwards causing the heavy exhaustion and headache to lessen enough for her to open her eyes. The risen instantly noticed the delicate kitten's absence and looked for the missing girl.

 

A series of small footsteps accompanied by the soft whisper of the grass alerted the ever-vigilant elf of someone's presence. After an awfully long creak made by the wood, Kia climbed onto the wagon and tiptoe her way toward the tired elf.

 

Iris silently watched through half-open eyes the undead mage creeping toward her before stopping in front of her. The small otherwordly creature hovered still, rubbing her delicate fingers on her palm. The elf tried to muster enough strength to comfort the troubled necromancer but her body barely moved, disobeying her increasingly desperate commands. The girl's slender fingers stopped and she gently grabbed the risen's head and pressed her cold forehead to Iris's before affectionately rubbing her gentle face on the warm-blooded elf.

 

Kia stood there continuously rubbing her cold skin against Iris before she abruptly stepped back and threw her cloak onto the floor and lay down on the hard wooden floor.

 

Iris watched as her mana slowly refilled itself as the bell passed and as soon as she felt her muscles heeded to her will, she did the only thing on her mind. Slowly scooping up the shivering undead, who somehow managed to fall asleep and embraced her. The risen rested her dear companion's head on her chest which led the rest of her soft, delicate and petite body to fall into its rightful place.

 

"Did you sleep well?" Iris caressed Kia's cheek as the necromancer yawned in her arms.

 

For the first few moments, the girl nestled deeper into the risen warm body while the sun slowly rose above the horizon wearing a crimson dress behind the girl.

 

"Iris!?" Just as the risen saw her reflection in Kia's eyes, the girl's muscles suddenly tensed up before trying to stand up.

 

"Did you have a nightmare?" The risen's calm words caused the panicking girl to stop trying to escape.

 

"No," The necromancer answered, not allowing her body to sink into the elf's welcoming arms. "W-why did you picked me up?"

 

"Because I care about you." Iris's arms stayed still around the undead neither pushing Kia away nor closer to her.

 

The ancient undead stayed silent and stared at the elf with a blank expression not knowing how to answer. The violet-eyed hoplite grew bored of waiting for the necromancer to speak up and extended her arm toward the girl whose face hid away from the warm elven touch like a wild animal scurrying away from a predator.

 

"Did the humans turned you into an actual cat when you left?"

 

"H-how do you know I left?" The girl stumbled on her own words.

 

"I just know."

 

"Then why are you this way?" Kia asked with a progressively confused voice.

 

"What way?"

 

"I did a bad thing to you and-and you still hugged m-me, why?"

 

"Because I care a lot about you," The elf's finger pushed the selfish girl's chin upwards forcing the glowing water jewels to look at her. "Never force me to look at you punishing yourself for no reason ever again."

 

“But-“ The girl's voice suddenly erupted from her chest with duty bound resolve.

 

“Please, it hurted me more than anything anyone had done to me before.” The elf begged the undead.

 

Kia nodded as her body weakly sank into the risen seemingly not as certain of her conviction as her voice would hint at. Iris still felt something troubling Kia’s mind but she awaited the girl to speak her mind as she diligently stroked her hair. The girl wiped her eyes in the elf's clothes before sheepishly turning onto her back and watching the many colours painted on the cloudless canvas by the rising sun trying to organize her thoughts.

 

“How do you know, that I was with humans?” Iris heard the girl’s puzzled voice and couldn’t stop a small smile from appearing on her face as she could tell that the ancient couldn't let go of being defeated by her creation.

 

“I just knew.” The elf hid her nose in the long, midnight hair of the undead sitting on her lap.

 

“Iriiis, tell me… p-please.”

 

“Where else would you go?"

 

“Oh,” The gifted mage fell silent, her boney hand grabbing Iris's hand. “Are you not mad at me?” She said cocking her head to the side, her emotions taking a back seat as her more calculating side tried to pry shard of knowledge from the risen.

 

“No, I am not angry.”

 

“Why not? I don’t understand,” The necromancer asked but before the risen could answer the girl spoke once more. “I feel strange in your arms now. It’s still comfortable and warm but it’s like my body cannot accept you, doesn’t deserve you.”

 

In truth, Iris did feel ever so slightly irritated by the girl’s thoughtless actions. What if something happened and she was incapacitated or severely weakened unable to help the mage? Her gut was too telling her that Kia had made a mistake interacting with the humans but she couldn't feel angry at the necromancer seeing how the undead mage was treating herself. Even if she wanted to be mad at the girl, she couldn't find a legitimate reason for her to be mad unless at the inexperienced girl had told the humans about their undead nature or if the siblings were currently laying in pools of crimson blood which felt uncharacteristic of the highly intelligent undead in her arms.

 

As much as the elf didn't want to leave Kia alone she had to admit that Ba, a human Hunter level 20 and his sister who achieved an impressive level of 49 at such a young age, couldn't pose a significant threat to the innocuous angel who would most likely tear the siblings into small bloody chunks before returning to her covered in blood. But what calmed the risen's hollow heart was that the girl herself had ventured outside, fuelling her curiosity of the outside long denied by creatures who should have known better.

 

"I too feel I don't deserve you but I promise you, Kia, that I will be with you for as long as you allow me to be but if someone tries to steal you from me, I will murder them." The girl rolled over like a whisker-less seal onto her stomach and carefully listened to the elf's declaration.

 

"Prrrrr~" A soft purr tickled the elf as the cat on top of her rubbed her nose against the elf, silently mirroring the elf's bloody promise.

 

"But," A word, spoken in a sharp tone foretelling the seriousness of Iris's next words abruptly echoed inside Kia's mind. "You do have to be punished for putting me to sleep." The risen's words hung in the air. Eyes deeper in colour than any creature in Niuran, shined weakly with anticipation for the elf's next words. "I will not be making food for the next three days and you are not allowed to eat anything from the humans.

 

"No..." A singular pungent word escaped from the girl’s barely moving lips, somehow expressing a downpour of emotions alongside an apocalyptic flood assaulting the elf's mind through the connection shared with the little devourer. A single tear ran down Kia's milk-white cheek again as she hugged the stalwart hoplite and begged for forgiveness from the cruelest of punishments.