Chapter 27

Noises filled Sika’s ears, yelling and laughter before sweet scents soon followed. She could feel the light trying to break past her eyelids before a voice soon followed.

“Oi you can’t sleep here.”

Her eyes shot open at this and she found herself staring at the sky between two buildings, it took her a moment to recognize she was in an alley, then to the guard who staring down at her.

She slowly climbed to her feet, narrowing her eyes at the man who clicked his tongue and walked over.

“So many Vagrants lately,” the man mumbled as he turned the corner.

“Vagrant…how dare he…wait-”

Sika cut herself off realizing her robe was larger than usual, only her fingers were poking out of the sleeves. It felt heavy when she stood up but she just thought that was exhaustion, looking closer it was much looser than before. She went to move only to stumble due to the robe’s length falling into the center of the Bazaar.

“What is going on?”

Climbing to her feet once again she looked around, her eyes falling on a mirror. Meeting her reflection she felt her blood run colds, grabbing the standing mirror she leaned closer to it.

“What?! How?!”

Sika almost didn’t recognize the person in the mirror, her golden hair had been replaced with sandy blonde hair, no longer flowing down her back but stopping at her neck. Her shining eyes were now light green for some reason and she was smaller, substantially smaller in every aspect no matter where she looked.

“How did I get shorter…wait I look…similiar to when I was human.”

Sika become a god when she was young, before she was even consider an adult, the reward for her unyielding faith.

“Is this…how I would have looked if I hadn’t become a Deity?”

Everything came together as she stared at her reflection, she remembered the Blessing being taken from her, she was no longer a Deity, thus she lost the aspects of Divinity. She was a human and her appearance reflected that, even her Mana had shrunk considerably, a drop in the pool compared to what it was.

She even touched her throat at her own voice, she even sounded younger.

“Hey.”

A voice pulled Sika from the harsh reality.

“If you ain’t buying then don’t touch the merchandise.”

Sika eyed the person at the stand but took a step back and walked away, she recognized where she was. Her spirt had been drawn to the Light Realm, but her body remind in Uliaz. She no longer felt a connection to Lito, she also felt…heavier.

“I’ve regained my mortality…and all that comes with it.”

Sika walked through the Bazaar for some time, enough for the sun to no longer rest high in the sky. Thanks to her outfit she was getting more attention than she wanted, thankfully people were making more of an effort to avoid than bother her but exhaustion had started to set in, and the growl of her stomach was getting louder with each passing moment.

“...it’s been a while since I’ve felt hunger,” she mumbled. “Also I used to sprint through half the Light Realm…how am I tired with just a few hours of walking.”

Human bodies were inconvenient, she’d been living as a Deity for so long she had forgotten how all of this felt.

“...this is all that Shadow Mages fault. I swear when I find him again I’ll make him pay for this humiliation."

“Excuse me.”

Sika looked up at the voice and met eyes with the very person who put her in this mess.

Naro arched a brow a basket of fruit in his hands, his head tilting slightly he eyed her clothes.

“Hm, that outfit is-”

“Radiance Times Five!”

Sika extended her hand towards Naro who immediately dropped his basket, lowering his body as his guard went up.

He started to cast his own spell but stopped when nothing happened.

“Huh?” Sika said looking up. “Radiance!”

She extended her hand again only for nothing to happen once again, no movement of magic, no flash of light, only a passing breeze responding to her attempts, almost cackling at her attempt.

“Radiance! Light! Illumination! Magic Blades!”

Each attempt Sika changed her pose, trying to summon her blades but nothing happened, at this point Naro was just standing and staring at her.

“I thought it was you. Sikali right?” Naro said bending down to grab the basket. “Aw man some fell in the sand. I’ll clean and keep these for myself.”

Crimson flowed into the girl’s cheeks as she remained in her ‘attack’ stance, trying to use her magic in any way possible. Realizing it wasn’t working she slowly lowered her hand before falling to her knees. Not only did she lose the element of surprise, but she revealed that she couldn’t use magic. Revealing her defenselessness to the enemy meant death.

“Well I’ll be on my way. Oh here, I have extra.”

Naro held a piece of fruit from the basket towards Sika, narrowing her eyes at him she started to speak only for her stomach to do so first, she gripped it in an attempt to shut it up.

“I…I don’t need mercy from the enemy.”

The stomach growled louder in protest causing the red in her cheeks to deepen.

“It’s fine if you see me as an enemy,” Naro said walking forward.

He watched Sika raise her hands before holding the fruit towards her.

“That’s not going to stop me from helping you though. Here.”

Sika eyed the round peach like fruit, she could feel her mouth watering now that it was closer. Gritting her teeth she snatched it out of his hand before standing up.

“...thank you,” she mumbled before taking a bite.

Naro smiled seeing her eyes light up and devour the rest of the fruit. When she wasn’t trying to kill people she really didn’t seem like a bad person. Putting aside that she tried to skewer him a moment ago.

“What do you want for this?” she questioned wiping her mouth with her sleeve.

“Hm?”

“You gifted me food when I had none. Light Mages don’t ignore favors done for them. Name your price, how much was it. I’ll get the money eventually.”

“It’s that not big a deal, I got extra when I bought some, that was just one of them. You can have another if you want.”

“You want me to owe you more. Your machinations aren’t lost on me.”

Naro wanted to explain to her that wasn’t the case but she was already eating two more peaches.

“Are they good?” He questioned.

“Delicious!” she exclaimed. “I haven’t tasted things for so long, I forget how nice things taste.”

“Did you not eat as a Deity?”

“I…”

Sika trailed off and Naro eyelids lowered slightly, he apparently asked a difficult question.

“Sikali…if you’re open to it I can help you out.”

The woman looked at him, with an expression that seemed a mix of horror disbelief, as if she was staring at being beyond comprehension.

“It…shouldn’t be that surprising for someone to offer help.”
“It is for a Shadow Mage,” Sikali said regaining her composure. “...all you bring is despair, misery and death.”

“If I wanted to kill you…I wouldn’t have helped you back then,” Naro said.

“Even still I won’t accept your pity.”

“Don’t think of it as pity then,” Naro said. “When I got lost here before, everyone ignored me and even looked down on me. A singular person reach a hand out to me, gave me food and a bit of hope. Just think of it as me paying that forward.”

Naro said this extending a hand towards her.

“Or you can go on your own. You have food in your belly and I can tell you where you can get some water. If you don’t want to trust me find your own place in the world, just like I did. Change your mind and I’ll be right here.”

Sika fell silent at Naro’s offer, her eyes going to his extended hand. Raising her own she reached towards him only to smack the hand away.

“I don’t trust you…but I always repay favors. You fed me…and more than that spared my life for some reason. I will accept your help, get back on my feet, then repay you. After that however I intend on finishing what I started.”

“So still trying to kill me…” Naro said lowering his hand. “I’ll be honest, I probably won’t spare you a second time if you try.”

Sikali noticed a small shift in Naro’s expression at those words, the smile on his face all but leaving and his eyes piercing into her own. She understood the weight behind those words.

“Fine by me…but for now we have temporary truce. I will not attack you and when I do, I will be straightforward about it, no sneak attacks. I will defeat you fair and square.”

“Then I look forward to our collaboration.”