The Darkest Days and Blackest Nights

“Gah! Shoo shoo! Back off you little shits, I don’t wanna buy anything!”

I put up a defensive stance to try to get the children of the slums to back away. I had seen this shit before. They wanted to rummage my pockets or in this body, even worse…

Lyra slapped me on the back and gave me a wry smile. “Come on, Raze. They are just kids. Unfortunate kids.”

“You say that, but they are eyeing both Raze and I with a mischievous look in their eyes. I only want Raze to look at me that way.”

I can’t believe this princess or Lyra. We needed to find someone that could actually give some reliable information, not these shitty kids.

We arrived an hour ago in this Egyptian inspired city of Amon. The line to get in wasn’t bad, but this city was a lot worse off than I would have thought.

Homeless kids were everywhere, snatching purses or whatever they could find from the visitors. They had the ears and tails of wolves and cats, but with skin even tanner than Komoria’s. There were many food vendors with food I had never seen in here nor my past life. I was somewhat interested, but we really needed to find this Sage.

We had been sidetracked enough already and I was not sure how much time I had left.

“Let’s just keep looking for someone that may know.”

I got the other two to follow me through the many huts and tents that made up this town, asking our question to whoever came by.

The answers were either full of shit or were way too overpriced. One of them had sent us deep into the slums where we encountered these troublesome children that tried to sell us sketchy objects and fruits that had very strange colors. Almost none of them had shirts or shoes either. Everyone around here was dirt poor.

In my old life, I had passed homeless people on the street all the time for one reason or the other, but this was my first time seeing it in a fantasy world.

Even when I was in prison in the human capital, the place was way more pleasant than anything in Amon.

The people smelled, the food was suspect, and the sun was way too bright for its own good.

No wonder there was such a short line to get into such a large town. It is way more established than the other places I had been to though…

I took in all the nasty smells and did my best to ignore their putridness. I did not have time to be picky. Who knows how much longer I had.

We kept asking around, traveling through the narrow alleyways packed with people and vendors. None of them could give me what I wanted.

I gazed into the distance where golden pyramids were erected in a grand display. They were the main reason tourists ever ventured here. They towered in the distance, a total of five with three in front and two more behind them. They were easy on the eyes and a spectacle to anyone that peeked.

It was a shame that that was where they buried their dead. I would have thought that place would have been the key. Really...this place…

Then the princess who had left us to go down another alleyway came back in a flash, her cheeks flushed and nearly out of breath.

“”I...huff, huff...think I...found it…”

Despite knowing what kind of person she was, I decided to suck up to her. “Oh really? That’s great! Good work pr---Fione. So where can we find him?”

I clasped my hands together in desperation, hoping I wouldn't have to be in this limbo space much longer. My personality had already started to get warped from the lack of good deeds I had committed recently, but merging with Komoria made it far far worse. I needed to get out.

“Well...I asked this guy who ran a casino we passed by and he said he could take us directly to the Sage of the East…”

I was nearly jumping with joy before remembering where I was. Lyra also had an uneasy look on her face. I didn’t like where this was going.

“So…,” my eyes darted around, “What's the catch?”

Lyra kept her gaze on the princess while she squirmed left and right in embarrassment. “Uh...t-the catch, er, well...it’s like… He wants to have his way with one of us, doesn't matter who…”

Her words cowed us into silence, each of our breaths catching. This dude wanted to bang one of us… Well, I’m not gay so…

“One of you two should do it. Neither of you have ever been with a man, right?” I looked back and forth between each of them and smirked. “Komoria and I both have, so this is a good experience for either of you, or even better: both of you!”

The princess shuttered from my statement, while Lyra shrugged.

“I cannot w-with...that man...I want...you.”

“I don’t mind, but being from the scorpion beast-kin race makes it rather hard to get on in bed. If you know what I mean.”

I scratched my head in confusion. “Then how do you…”

“We procreate in our beast forms. It's easier that way.”

““Yuck!””

Her calm facade dissipated. “Well, if you don’t like it, then one of you should suffice!” Lyra stammered, unnaturally flustered.

Could there be someone she wanted to have her first with? Not like I cared, but she would be pretty hard in bed with that tail.

“Alright, princess. Take one for the team. Prove your worth traveling with us. You already are blessed with a great physique. Put it to good use.”

I pointed to her chest and then to her and waist. This was her real chance to prove that she could hang around with us. Perhaps it would even humble her.

She looked at me with a mix of anger and betrayal. Her long eyelashes fluttered like she was about to spasm. It seemed her two personalities had come to clash.

“There's just no w-way I w-would… How dare you! How can you expect a devoted maiden like myself to lose her first to any man besides the one she wants to be forever with! Have you no shame!”

She thrusted an angry finger towards me, drawing attention from those around us. “You're the leader. Take responsibility and DO IT! You're not a man now, so why should it matter and to think you and her have already d-done it. How could you?!”

Lyra looked overwhelmed by the amount of people looking at us through the alleyway street. We had drawn quite a lot of attention.

I would not let this conversation end here.

“So what if I’m the leader. Ain’t no way in hell I will ever get in bed with another man. It's your fault I’m like this in the first palace. Go put some makeup on and sleep with that guy so we can find the goddamn Sage of the East!”

The princess shrunk back from my comeback, her confidence all but shattered. Tears began to well up in her eyes. Was she really going to cry?

“F-fine I w--”

“So you three are looking for the sage?”

A femine voice spoke out from under a brown hood. It was hard to get a look at her, but she was at least a foot shorter than myself. She was nearly entirely covered in the brown cloak except for her feet which were red and had talons like a bird.

I unconsciously let out a gulp as I move closer to her to speak. “Yea, I really need to ask the sage about where I can find something to get me out of a rather… I glared at the princess, “..annoying situation. Do you think you could...help us? We have a bit of cash, but that one over there can also sell her body.”

“Why you, R-”

“That’s alright, the only payment I need is your life story.”

She walked past us, using her head as a signal for us to follow her.

It took me a second to realize what she said, “W-w-wait. Are you the Sage of the East?”

The girl kept walking but answered with a nod.

The three of us scabled to follow her.

…

We sat in a hut that was quite larger than the others we had seen. The room we were in had a small bed in the back, a table with many vegetables and pots spread out around it. The air was a bit musty, but also had the smell of perfume as if to conceal it. There were two small holes that led into what I thought must have been other rooms in the back.

The three of us sat in chairs that were made from but while the hooded girl sat behind a mud made table that had a silver ball in the middle.

It was like she was a fortune teller or something.

She pulled off her hood revealing short and spiky red and yellow hair. Her eyes were also a mix between those two colors. Just looking into them made me hungry for some reason.

She stripped off the rest of her cloak revealing quite a sight. The top half of her body was bare except for a large white bandage that wrapped around her breasts while her lower half was completely covered in red and white feathers like a bird. White short shorts sat below her belly button, seemingly fine with all the feathers around it. Her skin above her feet to her legs was completely coated in some sort of golden plating like some birds. Her arms were the same color as her upper body while her wrist and hands were red as if they covered my feathered skin with wings protruding from them like a… well a bird with red and yellow feathers and thumbs with black nails above them.

She was a chicken girl. That’s what she was.

The other two stared intently and had her exposed body as well. She didn’t seem to mind though.

“I’m used to my clients gawking at my look. I am one of the last of my kind after all,” she said somberly, her eyes looking towards the floor.

“Are there really not any more chicken girls? What a damn shame…”

That caught her attention. She furrowed her red brows and directed her gaze solely towards me.

“C-chicken? What a rude misconception. No, I am one of the last phoenixes. To compare me to a mere chicken… Well, please don’t make that mistake again.”

I guess she didn’t like to be called a chicken, even if she looked like one. But a phoenix, does that mean..
She clasped her feathered hands together and grinned. “Moving on from that. Allow me to introduce myself to you travelers. I’m Seraph, also known as the Sage of the East. Now, my clients, please tell me your story, your situation.

And so, we told her everything.

…

“Wow. You have done some amazing feats for sure. To best three of the Lord of Tyranny can be nothing short of impressive,” she narrowed her almond shaped eyes and stared directly at me once more, “but this situation is dire and needs immediate attention. I know what you need, but I don’t know where it is.”

“Well then how the hell can that help us?”

She waved a thumb at me back and forth, “Now I didn't say I couldnt find it. Just give me a moment.”

She got up from her chair and went to the table behind her and bent down. After digging around for a bit, she found what she was looking for. It was a large blue curved blade. It was easily over three feet. She held it with just her thumb and wings. What strength they must contain.

Uneasiness filled the room from all three of us. What exactly was she going to do with that blade?

She sat back down at her desk and admired the blade as if she had crafted it herself. The blade was already larger than half her body and yet she looked far more intimidating than it.

“I always love this part. You three sit back and relax. It’s time for an augury.”

Is she...

She placed her head down on the table and raised the blade above it.

Going to…

Then she slashed down.

...Kill herself?

The princess screamed like a little bitch, while Lyra looked slightly stressed. I’m not sure what I looked like at that moment, but it surely caught me off guard.

Her headless body slumped on the table while her head nearly rolled off it.

“There we go.”

Her head regrew nearly instantly, her face undisturbed by the sight of her own head in front of her. She grabbed it and the moment she did, it burst into flames.

“W-wha? What the heck?” The princess was all confused about what just transpired.

“Phoenix's are immortal so they can’t die,” I explained. “Though I have never heard of one intentionally harming themselves.”

Also, what happened to all the other hoenix people?

“Raze is correct. I can’t die and I use phenix body parts to use my Skill, Divine Augury. It lets me see anything I want to see, past, present, or future as long as I consume and absorb a phoenix part as the offering.”

Nevermind. I don’t want to know.

“So what did you see and what do we need to find to save Raze?”

Lyra leaned in, still relatively calm during the whole exchange while asking the question that needed to be asked.

“Ah, yes. You seek a Splitting Seed. It grows from a plant in a location that has long been abandoned by humans. They lie past the Underwater ruins. It is home to the Locust King. Someone you can’t hope to defeat as you are now, but do not fret. All you need to do is find the seed and get out. Eating it will separate the two of you.”

That was exactly what I wanted to hear, even if I would have to sneak past this ‘Locust King’. The main problem was…

“So, we need a boat or something to get there, right? Also a way to breathe underwater or dive for a prolonged period as well, I would think?”

She nodded, affirming my question. “That is the case, but I cannot help you any more. It shouldn't be hard to find, but know it is in the far east sea of this continent. That is where you will find what you seek.”

The princess stood up and looked towards me with determination in her eyes.

“Don’t worry, Raze! I can get us a boat as well as allow us to breath underwater for quite some time. There should be no problem with me around.”

She thrusted out her skinny fist into the air as if it would have any affect on me.

“Well, alright then. I’ll leave that to you.”

She blushed with excitement as I said that and sat back down.

This time, Lyra stood up. “Thank you for doing this for us. I feel a bit unclean for only telling you our tale for compensation…”

“It's fine, really,” she brushed the hair up and down with her wing. “What comes next is the true form of my compensation. So don’t worry about it!”

Her giddiness was truly unnerving for the three of us. I had a feeling it was best to leave sooner than later. The others agreed with me with just their eyes.

“Well, thanks again, Seraphe. We are truly grateful.”

Lyra left first, followed by the two of us, that said nothing.

Perhaps there was a good reason why no one went to the Sage of the east anymore...

While I was telling my story, she said we were the first customers in a while. I hope that doesn't matter.

I could not have been so wrong.