"The priestess? What makes you say that? Isn't she supposed to be dormant right now?" Nerian asked. As Daliyah was about to explain, she stopped herself. Her eyes darkened as she felt a presence around them. She was not the only one, since the warriors quickly stood up and placed themselves around Agatha.
"What's the matter?" Agatha asked as she still felt weakened from earlier.
"It seems like our lady's little display caught unwanted attention," Myer said sarcastically and annoyed. It seemed like none of them were getting much sleep tonight. From the darkness of the tree trunks, what seemed like hundreds of red, glowing eyes could be seen.
"Wolves? No, their eyes were glowing green," Agatha thought as she tried to get herself on her feet. It was impossible to forget those green, grotesque eyes. She felt dizziness mixed with a pain in her chest, making her quickly fall back down.
"Stay down. You are in no condition to move," Arcane expressed without looking back.
"But…I can't hold you back from running away if I can't move," Agatha said, frustrated.
"Who said anything about running?" Arcane asked, this time looking at her.
"Don't worry, my lady! These insignificant bugs are nothing for us," Nerian said with confidence in his voice.
"Bugs?" Agatha asked, confused. As the clouds cleared away from the moon, Agatha was able to see the "insignificant bugs" that Nerian was referring to. Standing at around two meters tall, huge, spider-looking creatures emerged from the darkness. Agatha covered her mouth as her jaw dropped from the shock. Each of them made hissing sounds as they slowly approached. Their long, hairy legs quietly and smoothly moving along the soft grass. Agatha observed as their mouths seemed to be dripping some sort of gooey liquid, though she could not tell what color it was, not that she wanted to find out.
"I suddenly want to throw up again," she said as she looked away. At least in terms of fears, she was the typical girl who was disgusted by bugs, and she was not ashamed to ever admit it. Bugs were unpleasant creatures in her book. These were not just any bugs either. They were huge and…
"Is that a scorpion tail?" Agatha asked in horror.
"Yep, that's why they are called 'Scorpion-tailed Tarantulas,'" Nerian explained with the calmest voice ever known to man, which did not fit the situation.
"How creative," Agatha said, giving Nerian a dirty look. The warrior was confused at Agatha's sudden annoyance.
"There are fifteen of them," Arcane said, ignoring the somewhat interesting conversation happening behind him.
"(I guess I can leave this to you gentlemen)" Zaki announced while smiling.
"That's right. Zaki, you stay here with Daliyah and protect the v-" Arcane stopped himself. Agatha avoided his gaze, waiting for him to call her a "vessel" once again. She kept telling herself that this should not bother her since a vessel is all she will ever be, but every time she heard the word, she felt her chest tighten.
"...and protect milady…" Agatha's eyes widened as she heard Arcane's last word.
"What did you…" she started to ask, but Arcane did not let her finish.
"Let's get this over with if we want to get any sleep at all tonight. Each of us will handle five of them. I trust it's not much to ask from you two."
"I see you are in the mood to joke today," Myer said.
"This brings me back to our days as trainees," Nerian expressed as he stretched his arms and took out his sword.
Agatha witnessed as the warriors bravely charged towards the vile creatures. She wondered what this felt like, to face danger and death head on without breaking a sweat. For as long as she could remember, she had never been very brave. She knew that people expected the chosen vessel to feel honored about the position and to happily accept it, but she could just not do it. No matter how she looked at it, or the reasons she was told for why it had to be done, she still felt terrified. It wasn't just terror that filled her mind, however, but also anger. She felt angry at how she had no say in her fate. Angry at the fact that she had to just accept things as they are, just because. Angry that she could barely remember who she was before becoming the vessel. Angry at the priestess for making such a foolish plan.
"The priestess…" Agatha thought about what Daliyah had said earlier. What if that beam of light, and that voice, had come from the White Lotus Priestess herself? Does that mean that she is awake? But that made no sense. As far as she had been taught, the priestess's soul would stay dormant within the vessel until the day of the ritual, where she would awaken and take over the body of the vessel.
"Sounds like a parasite taking over its host if anyone asked me," Agatha thought bitterly. Could it be that what she had learned was wrong and the priestess was beginning to awaken even before the day of the ritual? Is this why the royal family had ordered for her to be retrieved three months before the designated date? Did this mean that the priestess would slowly start taking over her mind and body as they got closer to their destination? She didn't feel any different than before, so this was just one possibility. Another possibility was that the priestess was forced awake within her because of the life-or-death situation Agatha had just faced.
"So the parasite doesn't want to die. huh?" Agatha chuckled at this. Whether these possibilities were true or not, it amused her to think that even the great White Lotus Priestess was fighting to survive. She wants to come back. She wants to live.
"So why is it wrong for me to also want that?" Agatha felt a hand on her shoulder. Zaki was kneeling in front of her with eyes full of worry. Agatha realized she had tears rolling down her cheeks. Why was she crying? Because of the realization that everyone other than her had the right to want to stay alive? Because she was afraid that there was a possibility she had been lied to and that the priestess could start claiming her body and soul at any moment, making Agatha disappear forever? Why was she sad? She just did not know anymore.
"Sorry," Agatha said while she wiped her tears, "I don't know why I'm crying. I think I'm just in pain from earlir." She tried to smile to put Zaki's mind at ease. Agatha felt Daliyah's gaze on her. Though she was not saying anything, Agatha could read what her facial expression was trying to ask.
"I'm alright, Daliyah, truly." Daliyah only nodded, though not fully convinced. Agatha noticed that Zaki had silver gloves on.
"Oh, those are pretty. Did you just put them on?" Agatha asked, trying to change the conversation. Zaki smiled and nodded.
"Are you cold?" Agatha asked. Zaki shook her head and wrote on Agatha's hand, "(It's just in case)"
"Just in case? Just in case what?" Agatha tilted her head, wondering what Zaki meant.
"(In case-)," as Zaki was writing on Agatha's hand, they felt the ground underneath them tremble.
"What the!" Daliyah cried out as she tried to balance herself.
"Get away from there!!!" Nerian shouted as he and the other two warriors dashed towards them.
"What-?" Agatha's words had barely left her mouth when she felt someone lift her and push her with full force.
"Ugh!" She grunted as her body hit the ground. She slowly opened her eyes and felt chills running down her spine. An inhumanely large snake had surfaced from the ground beneath them. Its thick body reaching higher than the trees around them. What terrified her, however, was the snake's mouth. In one of its fangs was a small cloak hanging loosely.
"No…that's…" Agatha sat there, frozen in disbelief. That was the cloak that Zaki had been wearing. But where was Zaki? She had just been there, talking with Agatha seconds ago.
"Za…Zaki…" Agatha whispered as she slowly remembered the young girl grabbing her and pushing her away from danger.
"No…" Agatha felt her mind go blank.
"ZAKIIIII!!!"