The Other Side

With the spider queen and her babies dispatched it was a lot easier to make their way through the caverns, even more so with them now free to burn the webbing while moving through the tunnels.

“That was incredible Kalia, where did you learn to do that?” Sahaela had caught the tail end of the conflict and was now enamoured with the strength she possessed.

“It’s a personal technique,” Kalia said with a faint smile.

Midori caught the brief way Kalia’s eyes flicked over to Rune before she continued speaking. She glanced at Rune and he shook his head before mouthing ‘later.’

“It took me a lot of time to learn how to cycle that much mana through my body though.”

“Who taught you?”

“The same person who taught Rune.” Kalia glanced over her shoulders as they entered the final climb up a tunnel toward the glimmer of light at the end.

“Is that old badger still kicking?” He asked calmly, though Midori was aware of him reaching for her hand as he spoke.

“Oh most definitely, I think he keeps living out of pure spite for the concept of death.”

Rune chuckled, “yeah that sounds like Kanale alright.”

Turning to Midori he smiled at her, “he taught me the foundations of mana, artes, and magick. I’ll be going back to him to learn more, you should come too.”

Tilting her head Midori asked quietly, “what are you planning to learn?”

“I’m going to need to learn how to harness more of my Herald abilities before challenging Kuruk.” Rune cracked his knuckles and displayed the blue flame that licked across them.

“Right now I can tap into just a small portion without losing control of myself. But there is more there, I can feel it each time, and it takes so much of my strength not to dig into it.”

Midori put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“We’ll figure it out, together.”

Climbing the rest of the tunnel the group stepped through the exit, and Midori smiled feeling the warmth of the sun on her face once more. It had taken them almost no time at all to move through the mountains and now she could see the rest of Moana Mau’u stretching out before her, and she understood why it was called the Green Ocean.

A sea of long, verdant grass stretched out far beyond what Midori could see with a long winding river cutting through part of the northern emerald in a beautiful melding of azure and jade. From where they stood, on a ledge jutting out from the mountain, she could see what looked to be a small township in the distance.

“Is that the capital?” She asked as they then began to carefully make their way down what looked to be a fairly precarious, and steep, path down to the grass.

Rune shook his head while helping Midori down a particularly steep portion. “No, that’s Lerila. It’s an interesting place, they have really good honey here.”

“Ooh, maybe we can get some sweets there. I’ve honestly been craving something sweet the past few days.”

“Pregnancy cravings?” Sahaela asked while floating casually nearby.

“Maybe, but I also just have a pretty bad sweet tooth.” Midori chuckled and after a few more moments of steep decline was happy to be on slightly more level, though her calves were screaming.

“Lerila definitely has some candy. I remember each year Gilya would treat the villagers with sweets from there. One in particular I loved, it’s a light, airy but crunchy candy that shatters when you bite into it.”

“That sounds like honeycomb candy,” Sahaela said with a smile.

Midori nodded, “we have something like that in Japan too. Usually there’s egg whites mixed in so it has like a puffy dome shape at the end. Very satisfying to bite into!”

“Gods, I didn’t realize how much I missed eating until now!” The ghostly woman flipped herself upside down while groaning in frustration.

“What if you possessed me and ate?” Midori asked, tilting her head slightly.

“That…might work actually. I hadn’t even really considered that. You’d do that for me Midori?”

She laughed and nodded, “of course! Small price to pay for your lessons. Just this time remember to-”

“Breathe! Yes, yes I will! I’m never going to live that down am I?”

Both Rune and Midori shook their head before the three of them shared a loud and joyous laugh. Kalia looked on quizzically and gave them a moment of revelry before interrupting.

“We should be able to make it to Lerila before nightfall if we keep a good pace.”

Looking over at her Midori chewed on her bottom lip and decided to perhaps overcome some of her anxiety, asking softly.

“What about you Kalia?”

“Hm?” The woman glanced over her shoulder to Midori.

“Do you have a sweet tooth?”

“I…” For a moment it looked like she was about to be curt, perhaps hide behind rank. But a small smile crested her lips and she nodded slowly, “I do actually. I happen to know that in Lerila there is a candy they make called star drops, they make it by dipping these slightly sour berries in honey. It’s heavenly.”

“Well we better hurry up then, I want to have some of those before we turn in for the night!”

“You heard my wife,” Rune said. He flashed Midori a playful smile. “Better get going!”

-----

Lerila itself was larger than Yanara for sure with well over a two dozen earth-homes of various size, multiple buildings each seeming to serve various functions; on just a quick glance Midori spotted a smith that also doubled as a bakery, a tavern that also sold general goods, and—what most interested her—a bathing house!

That was their first stop.

The bathhouse didn’t double as anything but it was heavenly after weeks of cold water baths and having to use makeshift shampoo it was nice to soothe her both in steaming hot water and lather her braids in what looked like a more proper shampoo; and it smelled heavenly, a light citrus smell faintly mellowed by a gentle floral odour.

Midori was incredibly thankful that they were able to find robes to use while their clothes were washed, and it was only then that she realized her and her entire party were likely pungent from how long their clothes had gone unwashed.

Though Lerila was a larger township it was not one so larger it had a dedicated inn, instead having a comfortable longhouse at the ready for any potential travellers.

It reminded Midori of her own apartment, a small but still fairly comfortable space equipped with a place to prepare food along with a separate room for sleeping; though for now they would use the living area as Kalia’s place of rest.

No one was there when Midori arrived, she suspected Rune and Kalia were out getting their supplies and Sahaela wanted to explore the area in a way only a ghost could.

For the first time in a very long time she was entirely alone, and she didn’t like it.

Before coming here it had been comfortable being alone, being engulfed in the silence. She knew that it meant no one was judging her, no one was doubting her, and no one was looking at her like she were a failure.

Now though it felt isolating. She missed the boisterous laugh of Rune, the clicking of Sahaela’s tongue, and the tittering of Popcorn.

Making her way to the back of the longhouse she flopped down onto the bed that she and Rune had claimed as theirs, looking up at the ceiling and letting out a deep sigh. Just when she was preparing to get up and look for them she heard the door sliding open, and smiled seeing her otherworldly boyfriend standing there wearing a proud smile on his face.

“You look pleased with yourself,” she said with a loving smile.

“I am, I am.” He walked over to her, keeping his hands behind his back until he got closer and then produced a small cloth pouch that was delicately tied at the top. “I brought you something.”

“You did?” She was surprised but accepted it excitedly, tugging the knot free to reveal a small handful of berries that were coated in a slightly hard honey exterior.

“You got me the star drops?”

“Of course I did,” he said with a smile. “I’d do anything to make you smile Midori.”

Leaning over she kissed him swiftly and without hesitation.

“You are too good to me.”

“It’s as you deserve, Midori.” He brushed one of her braids behind her ear before reaching down and picking up one of the candies, “now open up.”

She giggled and closing her eyes she opened her mouth, overcome with emotion as the candy was delicately placed in her mouth.

It was hard for Midori to grapple with, but being transported to this world had been one of the best things to ever happen to her.

She could only hope it was the same for Sara and Aki.