Kendrik balled his hands into fists and bit his lip. "Where's it?" he said. "Is it close? Is it far off? Ain't ya supposed to know what's goin' on, bein' the goddess of forgotten memories and all that?"
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse a persona che mai tornasse al mondo, questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero, senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.
Noticing how tense Kendrik was becoming, Thymea made herself somehow look smaller than she already had. "It doesn't work like that," she protested with a small shake of her head. "I can make people remember what they've forgotten, but I can't access the memories..."
Reyes gave her a warm smile, having noted how uncomfortable she was about this current situation. "You mentioned something being here," he gently said. "Can you tell us more about what that something is?"
Sallow took a breath to calm herself. Monsters- she could handle monsters. True, in the past she had just melded into her trees until they left but- fighting them shouldn't be too hard either.
"How's that work?" Kendrik said, glancing down and spotting Jaron still trying to hide himself. "They remember things when they stand next to ya? Do ya have to make them remember things?" He would've asked about the monster, but the nymph asked basically the same question he had in mind. Besides, if that meant that Jaron was remembering some past trauma, a monster or two were unimportant.
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse a persona che mai tornasse al mondo, questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero, senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.
Thymea looked over at Sallow and quietly replied, "I don't know. I know it's powerful, and I know that it brought you here." She shifted uncomfortably, raising her head ever so slightly as she looked over at Kendrik again.
"I have to hold onto them and think about unlocking their memories," she explained.
Sallow wasn't going to pretend that she wasn't affected by whatever this monster's control was- she suspected that it had probably been the one to wake her.
"Great," she groaned and put her hands to her face, "the nasty, meddling kind."
The hound sighed in relief. It was just the embarrassment. He crouched and gave Jaron a pat on the back. "If the thing's why were stuck here," Kendrik said, looking up to Thymea, "Then it's goin' down. I ain't gonna be part a' its games."
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse a persona che mai tornasse al mondo, questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero, senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.
Thymea looked terrified at the decision, but what other choice did they have? They needed to get back to their homes. They would have to defeat the monster, and then-
Well, Envy wasn't sure what would come next. It wasn't like there was a clear way to return to the reality they were in last or his actual reality. And considering Lust, Gluttony and Pride were still out there in the wrong reality, it looked like he needed to return to the reality in question.
"Don't worry," he reassured her, giving her the warmest smile he could muster in the moment. "My brothers and I are good at fighting, and it's hard for us to be seriously injured."
"We get hurt pretty easy," Kendrik said. "But we can fight, so it's 'k. 'Specially if Lunis is hangin' around." Thymea looked about how he felt.
The hound distracted himself by leaning up against Jaron and whispering in the fox's ears, "I don't blame ya, and nobody else does neither."
After a few seconds, Jaron opened one eye, then the other, then pulled his head up. He let Kendrik grab his wrist and pull the both of them onto their feet. Jaron, after quickly checking one his pockets, nodded at Thymea to confirm Kendrik's statement.
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse a persona che mai tornasse al mondo, questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero, senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.
"I won't make any promises- I'm not sure how well I could attack a monster of that caliber in combat. I have a decent defense system, though."
Sallow wrapped her arms around herself and hovered near the back of the group. She had gradually been feeling weaker and weaker while there was no sign or reason that she should.
Thymea looked far from convinced. She somehow managed to appear paler than before as she looked up at the darkening sky and then back down at the group gathered before her. She quickly turned and started to head inside the temple, only to hesitantly look over at her shoulder and gesture for them to follow. Seeing that they had no other options, the four homunculi did exactly that.
Kendrik wouldn't move. He didn't fully trust Thymea. He didn't know where Lunis was. He could see Jaron shaking a bit more than usual. Dark as it was getting, and despite the possible presence of the monster, he felt frozen in place.
So he was surprised, though he didn't resist, when Jaron started to pull him into the temple. "They're going in," Jaron whispered, as though he could tell Kendrik was about to ask a question. "And we need them, so we're going in too." He stammered, his arm and legs shaking, but his conviction didn't waver. Kendrik couldn't help but admire that.
"And you'll be happy to note that it's a pretty quiet and boring temple," Lunis said, popping out from one of the walls after Jaron and Kendrik took their first few steps into the temple.
Jaron screamed and jumped back, taking Kendrik with him. The fox lowered his head and took a few deep breaths as Kendrik glowered at Lunis. He'd seen this kind of stunt coming. The panther just nodded and got in line behind the others. Jaron, lifting his head back up, joined after the few seconds he needed to calm down, Kendrik in tow.
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse a persona che mai tornasse al mondo, questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero, senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.
Sallow followed Thymea into the temple. Something was definitely wrong with her, but she couldn't put her finger on what. She felt untethered, and the ends of her hair were slowly starting to die, a few browning leaves dropping off here and there. She didn't like it, but following the group would be her best bet to returning to her rightful place among the trees. Most likely, she had spent too long in a physical form.
"Hey, Envy?" Greed asked, leaning over to his brother as he spoke. "I think our group isn't doing so good."
Envy looked over at the other three homunculi. Reyes and Sloth were in the middle of chatting, most likely about the temple from the way they were pointing different points of it out. "They look okay."
"Not them," Greed said. "Them."
He turned and looked at the other members of their strange little group - Sallow, Kendrik, Lunis and Jaron. It wasn't hard to see what Greed was talking about. Kendrik looked like he wanted to murder Lunis. Jaron looked like he was on the verge of having a panic attack. And Sallow looked like she was withering and dying like a plant.
"So," said Kendrik, breaking the awkward silence that followed. "Who's the god a' this place? A normal one or a blood an' guts one? Any knives or stuff like that lyin' 'round?"
Lunis looked back. "I can answer that -"
"I'm talkin' to her," Kendrik said, pointing to Thymea. He pulled Jaron closer and scowled at Lunis.
Lunis scowled back. He stared ahead and moved past Sloth and Reyes, taking up the empty spot behind Greed and Envy. Another awkward silence fell on them.
S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse a persona che mai tornasse al mondo, questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo non tornò vivo alcun, s'i' odo il vero, senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.
