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There’s not going to be enough time.
Kinich has forced Ajaw to bite into the air exactly in front of where she stands but he can’t drag him there fast enough, the cord pulling at his hips in vain, the air nipping at his face with a biting frost.
It’s too bright to even see the projectile underneath the fire, too cold to keep his eyes open as he soars closer-
Kachina wails out a terrified cry as she tries to duck but it’s no use.
It’s simply too fast.
In a horrible twist of fate, Kinich makes a fatal mistake.
The battlefield will be one additional fighter short just because he couldn’t curb his stubborn instinct.
Both him and Kachina share the impact of what feels like a fragment of the moon on their skin, cold and rooted deeply with corruption, seeped through with blinding abyssal energy.
His body slams into hers as the attack soars past them, searching for more targets, barely fazed by the warriors in its way. Something snaps as soon as his back hits the uneven ground and Kachina cries out a sound of pure agony, clinging onto him as they come to a stop.
Her grip on his arm is like stone, cold and brittle, but too strong to break out of if he tried. But he doesn’t try, he can’t. Something is horribly wrong in a way that tells him that he’s lost the battle. He won’t be getting back up. He can barely move as it is.
A gasp does escape him, audibly, so he tries to rasp out Kachina’s name as well, just to distract her from what’s most likely a similar situation.
“‘Kachina,” he says softly, finding his breath stuck halfway in his lungs. “-You hear me?”
The girl is trembling, breathing roughly with her head tucked onto his stomach, clutching him as if he can lend her strength with his fading fire, a dull emerald mixing with a muddied gold.
“Ki-” Kachina tries. Something seems to be stuck in her throat and the sound dies out with a cough. “K-Ki-”
She’s even worse than he is. Archons, this never gets any easier, does it?
“It’s alright, Kachina,” Kinich says, lifting a hand to rest on her hair, shaking fingers finding the spot behind her ear that feels the softest, both for her comfort and his. “It’ll be over soon. Breathe through it.”
There’s a call of their names, panicked and confused, off in the distance.
Mualani needs to stay away. There’s no saving them. All she’ll be doing is dooming herself and cutting their forces even shorter.
Kinich tries to look her way, but as soon as he tries turning his head, a pain shoots through his neck that’s so sharp his vision cuts out for a moment. With a gasp, he tries to center himself, but he comes up empty. The world never sharpens into more than a vague blur of burning lights and frantic movement.
“Kachina! Where are you?” Mualani calls out, her voice tight with concern. “Kachina!”
A part of him hopes his fire dies soon enough for them to become more unnoticeable within the mess of slain monsters and broken stone, but he knows she’ll keep searching until she’s verified her friends’ safety.
So instead he takes a deep breath and summons the last spark of his elemental power, lighting them up like a beacon, just shortly. Better to get this over with and get her focused back on the mission.
There’s a vague whisper of annoyance in the back of his mind, chastising him for locking Ajaw away where he can’t witness Kinich actively dying, but he makes sure to pay it no mind. Ajaw will get his wish soon enough, if only for a day or so.
“Kinich!” Mualani exclaims, and she’s so much closer now, she actually startles Kinich into flinching painfully. “Oh Gods- guys!"
Strong and vibrant cyan comes into his vision, an immediate warmth caressing his cheek that makes him realize just how cold he really is.
“Kinich, can you hear me?” Mualani asks urgently, patting his cheek lightly, her hand steady and soothing. Kinich almost wants to just close his eyes and let himself go, knowing she might pull away soon and rather wanting to go out with at least a bit of comfort, but he has more important things to do, like tell her to leave.
“You need to- go,” he rasps, trying to focus on her, to make out her eyes amidst the blur of light and color.
“No way,” Mualani says immediately, “What I need to do is get you guys- back on your feet. That’s what I need to do- just- keep your eyes open, yeah?”
Her voice is unstable. There’s a light that isn’t born of elemental energy swimming in her eyes now that they’re a little clearer in his vision.
“‘Lani,” Kinich says, as clearly as he can muster, “we’ll be back. You should-” his voice cuts out of its own accord, and Mualani gasps at the sound of it.
She rakes a hand through his hair, and for a moment Kinich wonders why she isn’t more focused on the little girl by his abdomen. Then again, he doesn’t feel her trembling anymore, and maybe Mualani has noticed that too.
“I’m not leaving you,” Mualani snaps, almost angrily. “I’m not- I’m not leaving you to… die all by yourself.”
“It’s- okay… I’ve been th-”
A trio of illuminated streaks claw through the sky and Mualani jolts.
In complete silence, the warmth of her slumps against his side and a choked gasp brushes past his ear.
All Kinich can do is sigh and search for her hand where it still lays against his cheek, her fingers cramping in pain. He clutches it tightly and steels himself for the pain that’ll come with the movement of tilting his head towards her, but he wants to be able to see her when he speaks to her.
Mualani’s got her eyes shut though, and is breathing strained breaths through her teeth.
“Breathe through it,” he tells her, the same advice, “It’ll- It’ll be over soon, Mualani.”
“No-” Mualani gasps, shaking her head. A tear leaks from the corner of her eye and her fire flickers that much duller for it, making room for the night to descend upon them with its darkness.
“It’s-”
“No- I’m not- I’m not dying. I’m not-”
“Mualani…”
“I’m not dying- I’m-”
“Mualani.”
The girl of the islands falls silent, trying to keep as still as possible, wound up and shaking from how tight she’s keeping her muscles.
“Try to open your eyes,” Kinich says softly. A battle is raging on around them but it all seems to fade into obscurity. The only thing that’s there is the still weight against his stomach, the hand in his and the fading warmth and the trembling breaths by his ear.
And the stars. Every time this has happened to him, the stars have been there with him until the end, steady and comforting. Mualani should hold onto that sight as well, while she goes. And to him, if she can. It helps. He’s never… died with anyone this close by before, but it’s marginally better than the times before, that he knows.
“It hurts,” Mualani admits softly, “Aren’t you in pain?”
“I am,” Kinich says, although there’s a numbness there too. His shoulders, his neck and his chest all burn with a vigor, but the base of his spine and everything below that is so numb it almost feels like it’s not even there. He’s damn lucky his mortal body won’t suffer these wounds anymore in the Night Kingdom, and that that’s the version of him that will be brought back. This broken, paralyzed body won’t have to exist for long. “Look at the stars,” he advises her.
It takes a moment, but Mualani holds her breath and tilts her head to face the sky.
Kinich takes the moment to do the same. The big expanse of darkness spans out above them in a brilliant display of color that somehow only becomes visible in the midst of these agonizing moments. It’s like the sky shows her true colors only to those who need it the most, because they have nothing else left.
Mualani is silent at the sight of it, and the moment her grip relaxes in his, he’s afraid she might have gone sooner than him as well. But then she speaks, and it’s soft and filled with fear, still.
“Kinich,” she says, a breathy whisper, “I’m scared. I’ve never… I’ve never done this before.”
Kinich wants to tell her something in return, but his voice seems to be lost and he can’t really get his lips to move.
“How does it feel?” she continues. “It’s- It’s not too bad, right? I remember… I remember you saying before it’s not as bad as it would seem… Kinich?”
Her voice is drifting farther away, the stars streaking across the sky like they’re falling, shooting down to earth. Kinich likes to pretend they might be coming to help the remaining warriors in their fight. They could use the reinforcements.
For a terrifying moment, it occurs to Kinich that, with Mualani out of the picture too, the team has lost three of their Vision bearers.
They might not win.
If they don’t win… this might be the end. He’d want to say something to Mualani if that’s the case, one last thing at least.
“...you-” he manages, but he’s not sure it’s audible. “You fought well.”
“Kinich?” Mualani asks, terribly unstable, emotion choking her voice.
“See you… in… th’ N-”
“Kinich,” she calls for him. “’Nich- Hey. Hey, open your eyes-”
Oh, he’d closed them? He hadn’t noticed. There’s lights in his vision either way. Perhaps the stars, perhaps the souls of the Night Kingdom welcoming him to their ranks once again.
“Ki-” Mualani gasps, far away, unable to finish even the short call of his name past the sob that escapes her. “Hey. Please. Don’t die…”
Kinich can’t fault Mualani for being scared. Perhaps she’s realized that this battle might be a lost one too. And even so, it’s never any easier to visibly see the life leave someone’s eyes. Despite knowing it probably won’t be for long, Kinich has cried over his fair share of fallen allies.
It’s better that way, though. It’s better to not prolong the inevitable. Any moment trying to hold on is another that Kachina is already down there, all on her own. He should get there and try to find her as soon as possible.
“Don’t leave me, please…”
There’s no other way. Kinich just hopes Mualani doesn’t try to be stubborn and cling onto her life for as long as possible. He hopes she’ll follow him soon so they can stick together and wait out their time until the Rite.
They’ll just have to wait it out. They’ll be brought back, they have to be.
Mualani will have to spend her first death all alone. It’s something Kinich would have rather avoided if he could have. He wasn’t able to do it for Kachina, and he isn’t able to do it for her.
He supposes that dying is fated to be a lonely thing.
Yet, this fourth time he goes, he doesn’t feel alone, as the last thing that reaches his mind is a last call of his name, and with it, the reassurance that he won’t be by himself for long.
“Kinich…”
Kinich lets himself slip away, inviting blissful numbness to take over his entire body.
---
The particular, deep-rooted cold of the Night Kingdom almost feels familiar to him by now.
He supposes it’s not a surprise to feel cold when you’re dead, but he finds it rather unfair that he has to feel anything at all. At least the pain is gone, and his legs are there again too.
For now, he’s alright. If he can be brought back, that is.
No use lingering on those worries. He has to get up and find the others.
When Kinich opens his eyes, he’s met only with a dull purple abyss, all of the light coming from close by the ground. Golden wisps are flocking around him curiously, trying to discern whether he’s one of them or not.
“Sorry to disappoint,” Kinich mumbles, moreso to himself than to them. They probably can’t hear him.
“You can say that again,” a familiar voice says right next to his face, sharp and grating. “Why do humans get all of these second chances anyways, it’s not fair!”
Kinich elects to ignore the small dragon sprite flitting about his general facility and climbs to his feet, scanning the open plains of rolling mist and darkness.
“You didn’t happen to see Kachina and Mualani yet, did you?” he asks instead, starting an attentive stroll past the towering obsidian stalagmites growing out of the ground.
“Why would I waste my time looking for them when I could spend it just as well staring at your lifeless face?” Ajaw teases, “I had to savor the sight for as long as it lasted.”
“Great to know you’re of as much help as usual,” Kinich mutters, keeping his voice down as he notices the golden ghosts drift after him slowly, not quite letting their attention wane from his presence.
That’s new. Kinich would have liked to believe that he might have discovered most there is to know about a stay in the Night Kingdom, but apparently death comes with its myriad of mysteries.
There’s movement not too far off. It’s not a guarantee that it’s them, but doesn’t remember anyone else being slain during their battle. Not that he was aware of at least.
“Ugh,” Ajaw sighs harshly, “Are you seriously going to waste your time looking for them? Can’t you just do us both a favor and take a dive into that river over there? I’ll keep count of how long you stay under, hehehe.”
“Not much of a game if you already know the outcome,” Kinich says cooly, hopping onto a slanted piece of raised rock and following up its spine onto higher ground.
Down below, on his left, the air seems to be seeped through with rotten corrosion, bitter and disgusting. The abyss.
Every bone in his body is screaming for him to not approach its poison further, but there’s something else there too, a sound, so he forces himself to push through his discomfort. Abyssal corrosion is going to be an inevitable thing to deal with, he can’t let that hold him back. The Archon will fix them up soon. He just needs to trust her.
The mass of swirling, black shadows is almost too dense to see through, but amidst their cloying clustering around a center-object, there’s the bob of a white ribbon.
Found one. A sigh of unwarranted relief escapes him as he forces Ajaw to bite at the air in front of him and let him down into the toxic air.
“Hehehe! This might be your best idea yet, Kinich. Go into the toxic abyssal corruption that’ll kill you from the inside out! I’ll even hold your hand and drag you along if needed!” Ajaw cackles as he lets Kinich drop onto the ground, his boots landing heavily as gravity seems to pull even harder at him than usual.
The air is nearly too thick to breathe and the little amount that does get into his lungs tastes like ashes.
“Mualani!” he tries to call out, his voice not nearly as strong as he tries to make it. It’s not needed, though. The moment he stretches out his hand in front of him in a blind grab at his friend, another clasps itself around his fingers and squeezes tightly.
All he gets as a response is a series of brittle coughs and Kinich wastes no time throwing Ajaw out again, perhaps with a bit too much aggression, and swinging them both away from the darkness and onto higher ground, accompanied by a disappointed: “Aw…”, from the dragon.
As soon as their feet touch the ground, Mualani collapses onto the ground and Kinich doesn’t try to stand either, letting his knees buckle and joining her on the cold stone.
She’s shaking uncontrollably, heaving for breath but seemingly not getting enough. Darkness rolls off her in waves and puffs of shadowy smoke escape her lips as she coughs out the corrosion.
Still, he can tell that the influence of the Abyss isn’t the only thing making her hyperventilate. The other cause, he might be able to do something about.
He drags Mualani closer and settles his arms around her shoulders, reminding her of his presence and trying to ground her with the feeble amount of warmth he’s able to give her.
“I’m here,” he tells her. “You’re not alone down here. I’m with you.”
“We’re dead,” Mualani whispers, clutching a hand around one of the straps spun across his chest, “I’m-”
“Not for long,” Kinich says. “Mavuika will get us out soon enough.”
“But- You- … How are you so calm about this?” Mualani asks, pushing herself more upright to meet his eyes and search his face, “Don’t you feel it too? This deep rooted emptiness, it’s- I’ve never felt anything like it before. It didn’t feel like that last time I was here, what if it never leaves? What if-”
“It’s only because I’ve been through this before,” Kinich says before she can spiral herself into a true panic attack. “It’s a horrible feeling, I know, but I’ve gotten used to it. What you’re feeling is the absence of your heartbeat. As soon as we’re resurrected, it’ll be gone, that I can guarantee.”
Mualani seems to settle a bit more at that, taking in his promise and keeping her grip on him tightly in place, coming down from the high that dying brings, somehow.
She looks like she’s in shock for just a moment, barely blinking, a thousand and one thoughts behind her eyes that Kinich can only guess at.
“... Kachina,” she says. “We need to find Kachina, now.”
She wrestles herself onto unsteady feet and nearly drags Kinich up as well by the arms, already scanning the surroundings for any sign of movement, however small. She stills, her eyes falling on the base of the stone they’re perched on.
“... What are they doing?” she asks, somewhat nervously.
The golden souls have gathered by the foot of their little hill, crowding around each other and morphing into larger and smaller shapes, like slowly flickering candlelight.
Kinich stares at them for a moment, a frown slipping onto his features.
“I don’t know. But we better focus on the task at hand. If Kachina is also shrouded by abyssal corruption…”
“Right,” Mualani says, tearing her eyes away from the sight. She takes the outstretched hand he holds out to her and clamps her other arm around his neck. “Let’s go then.”
Kinich can’t help but be amazed at the speed at which Mualani adapts to situations, her grip already stronger and more determined than he could have ever gotten it, were he in her shoes. They soar across the open riverbed, shallow lapsing waves taunting them from below.
Kinich forces Ajaw to keep them dangling from one point in the sky for a moment, granting them a minute to look around from as high as he can get them.
“Kinich,” Ajaw growls, “I’m not just your personal grappling hook, you know? If you don’t hurry it up I will drop you, and your little friend, and don’t think I won’t.”
“I know you won’t,” Kinich mumbles in response, not fully granting him any kind of attention, and honestly not even sure why he bothers. “Because you can’t. Now, shush.”
“Shush? Shush?! You dare command silence upon the almighty Dragon Lord, K’uhul Ajaw? I’ll have your head for that, you insignificant, puny, little-”
“Hey!” Mualani snaps at him, “Who are you calling puny? Let Kinich and I focus for a moment, okay? And shush.”
Both Mualani’s brazen tone and the dragon’s following affronted gasp draw a chuckle from Kinich, but his joy is not long shared as a dot of beige moves in the corner of his eye.
“There!” he exclaims, twisting Mualani around to follow his gaze over to the shadowy alleyway carved out of the rock wall, nearly entirely hidden behind layers of towering obsidian, where a pair of lightly furred ears darts past one opening and to another.
With one precisely aimed swing, the both of them send themselves through one of the openings and land heavily onto the ground that is almost slippery in its smoothness of the stone.
The reason for Kachina’s running becomes abundantly clear the moment they register what’s next to them.
A Lawachurl the size of both of them stacked atop of one another stares them down, its massive shoulders hunched and ready for attack.
“Guys!” Kachina calls from behind them, sounding more than relieved and slightly out of breath. “Careful!”
Kinich takes one good look at the monster in front of him and makes his decision right then and there. He’s not risking a fight. Not with two of his friends around. He might have, were he the only one, but with the promise he made to Mualani and the hope he’s clutching onto himself -- not to mention Kachina here -- he simply can’t risk it.
Mualani seems to share his thoughts on the matter, and decides the narrow path is more suited to her aid than his. He’s pulled onto her surfboard before he can even recognise his feet having left the ground and before he knows it, there’s a weight pressed against his back with a small huff.
Kachina clamps her arms around his neck in the same way Kinich holds on for dear life to Mualani’s shoulders, and Mualani steers them through the glinting walls of pitch black. The stone swirls up and closes in on them like a curling wave, but Mualani knows how to bend and when to lean, and she guides them past rapidly approaching outcroppings and sturdy pillars standing in their way.
The Lawachurl tries to stomp after them, but the path soon becomes too narrow for it to even try and fit through, and even when they’ve as good as lost it, Mualani doesn’t take her chances and keeps steering them past the shining lake and past drifting souls.
She steers them onto a piece of rock that juts upwards as soon as they emerge into semi-open air again and prepares to jump-
-only for the surfboard to dematerialize out from underneath them and send them flying instead.
Despite his rapid reaction time, the rock rushing up to meet them is faster and beats him to the impact, not giving him a chance to summon Ajaw again.
Unfortunately, despite being dead, one can still feel pain in the afterlife as long as one is tied to the mortal body they once lived in.
Kinich feels it exceptionally well when his cheek connects with the ground underneath him and scrapes past his skin, a sharp pain shooting through his nose. When he rolls, he makes sure to keep his grip on Kachina tightly and to not let her get too far away from him.
For a moment, he just lies there, flat on his stomach, trying to find the silver lining to the aching in his face by surmising that at least he didn’t land on Kachina.
Mualani groans from somewhere nearby, and when Kinich tries to push himself to his elbows, he sees the dull outline of her lightly colored drapery. The spot they landed in is dark and enclosed and definitely not where Mualani had intended for them to land.
“Ow…” Mualani groans, pushing herself upright and twisting to sit on her butt, facing them, rubbing her shoulder with a grimace.
“Are you guys okay?” Kachina asks, hopping off his back and kneeling by him to see if he’s bleeding anywhere.
He’s never tried it out before, but Kinich doubts they can bleed down here, seeing as their blood is not actively being pumped around their body as for the lack of a heartbeat.
“All good,” Mualani mumbles, “Kinich?”
“Been better,” Kinich tries to say lightly, but it comes out a little depressing.
“Are you alright, Kachina?” Mualani asks, “Nothing hurt you yet, did it? Breathe in any abyss fumes?”
“Any-” Kachina starts, a bit alarmed, “Oh- No, no abyss fumes. I’m alright. I’ve been trying to hide since I got here but the monsters keep finding me. I’m really glad I’m not alone anymore.”
“How about you, Mualani?” Kinich brings up, “Do you think it was those fumes that cut off your power just now or something else?”
Mualani coughs behind a fist softly and clears her throat, grimacing as if something doesn’t feel completely right within her chest. Kinich fears it’s not the lack of her heartbeat this time.
“Might be,” she muses, “I didn’t mean to throw us into this little nook anyways, but I guess it’s not too bad in here. Could have been worse.”
“Should we stay here?” Kachina asks, letting her big eyes go over the dark confines of the little cave, barely visible in the shadows.
“Might as well,” Mualani says. “It’s big enough for the three of us, and I don’t think anything will find us here. Not one of those big guys, at least. I think it’d be best to wait out however long we’ve got in here and not risk our necks again out there.”
“Agreed,” Kinich says, settling himself against the cold wall, a shiver racking through him. Again, it’s unfair how cold being dead really is.
Kachina crawls over to sit beside him. Perhaps she noticed, or maybe she’s just feeling the exhaustion of the past days sink in as well, now that they’re finally in a silent and vaguely safe space. The little girl leans her head against his arm and lets out a heavy sigh, much too loaded for someone her age.
Kinich will always wonder how the Archons and Wayob alike could grant such great power to such a young person, but then he reasons that life has never particularly cared about a person’s age when deciding what hardships to throw at them. He should know this all too well. But still, when it’s someone other than him -- someone who he still needs to see grow up -- it feels different. Kachina shouldn’t be here. She should be playing tag with a Tepetlisaur or digging through the sand along the Natlanese border for pearls and pretty shells. She shouldn’t be holed up in a Kingdom of lost souls, awaiting rescue from death for the second time.
And Mualani… She seems to have adapted to the situation quickly, and she’d been able to accept her fate for what it was impressively fast, but now that everything has quieted down, she sags against his other side with such a heaviness to her that Kinich can’t help but worry.
A first time is never easy. He hopes she won’t ever have to get used to the feeling of being dead. The sun is supposed to shine in her very soul, not this horrid imitation of moonlight that suffocates her from the inside out.
They can’t stay here for too long, they all know. The longer they stay, the more obviously their strength will wane.
Kinich can’t help but consider the possibility that they might be sitting there forever. Well, until they lose awareness...
At least they’ll be there together. As awful as it is… at least their deaths -- their permanent deaths -- won’t be spent alone. It’s all he could have asked for when going into this, really.
There’s never a guarantee of victory. They should be prepared for the worst. And yet when the worst might actually come to pass, it seems exceptionally hard to accept.
“Kinich?” Mualani asks softly.
Kachina is quiet in between them, and the way she lets herself sag against him fully tells him that she’s fallen asleep. This time, her absence of a heartbeat isn’t as alarming as back up in Teyvat, but it still feels eerily similar to that moment.
Kinich decides to ignore all of those bone chilling thoughts and hum quietly instead, to let her know he heard her.
“How long did it take? The first time you had to be brought back?”
“I don’t remember,” he admits. “My memory of it is pretty blurry.”
“Maybe… you were here for quite a while then,” she considers. “The Archon said that if you stay here for long enough, your mind will start to come undone. You’ll lose memories and… stuff like that. That’s… not gonna happen to us, right?”
He knows she knows that he can’t answer that truthfully. They’re both aware that this might be a rare conversation, one of the last ones they could have with a clear mind over the next couple of days.
“It won’t,” he lies. They’ve gotta hold onto something. “One thing I do remember from that time is this feeling that I had, right before I was brought back. It was warm. Like the sun had found its way onto my skin again, even though I couldn’t see it. We can just… look forward to that. It felt better than even a soak in the hot springs, I can tell you that.”
Mualani chuckles.
“Oho, that’s a bold claim to make,” she says, and he doesn’t have to look at her to hear the smile on her face. “We’ll have to compare then, won’t we? As soon as we get outta here, you two better come with me for a soak, okay?”
“That’s a deal,” Kinich says, feeling sleep pull at his own mind too, despite the uncomfortable crick in his neck at the stone behind him.
“We just have to wait…” Mualani muses softly. “Not too much longer…”
He thinks she might be talking to herself now. She definitely doesn’t sound very energetic anymore either.
It’s not their minds that are deteriorating. It’s just the exhaustion. Only a lack of sleep because of multiple days spent out on the field.
It’s only exhaustion that pulls him into sleep, and nothing else.
---
A freezing cold bite of ice clamps itself around Kinich’s ankle and startles him awake.
Before he can make even a sound, he’s pulled out from in between his friends and dragged across the smooth obsidian floor.
Within seconds, multiple attempts to keep him in place are deployed.
He summons Ajaw, for one, snapping his teeth into the air before him, but the cord that spans between them does little to keep him from sliding backwards -- a small rebellion from the dragon himself who’s more amused than alarmed by Kinich’s situation.
Mualani yelps as she topples over at the lack of his shoulder to lean against and reaches out to grab for his outstretched wrist, fingers nearly as cold as what’s clamped around his ankle.
Kachina gasps and grabs for one of the straps running across his back, using both hands to yank at it.
A warm glow lights up the small space of the cave and gilds every line and patch of stone with a gold, shimmering border.
Those souls.
A glance down at his attackers confirms his fear, his right leg swallowed up to the knee by morphing lights.
“Argh-” Mualani grunts, pulling at his wrist with all her might, nearly popping it out of place, “Let go of him!”
“Give him back!” Kachina exclaims, getting to her feet and throwing her entire weight against the task but achieving little as for her small stature.
Kinich tries to kick at the lights with his free foot but it does nothing more than simply faze through them like they’re nothing but air.
“Kinich, why are they doing this?” Mualani asks past the strain in her voice.
“I-” have no idea, Kinich wants to say, but in the back of his mind, he might start to have his suspicions. It makes sense, in a way. “I think they’ve gotten too familiar with me,” he says.
Kachina gasps at the realization. “They think you belong here now?”
“Think so,” Kinich grunts, aiming another kick for a lack of anything better to do.
The icy grip clamps around his second ankle as well, and once they’ve got both of his legs, the girls and the unhelpful Ajaw don’t stand a chance at keeping him in place.
They’re merely dragged along, the glowing cord elongating against his will to allow for him to slide across the ground with the girls in tow, out into the open and towards the bed of the lake.
There are more souls awaiting him there, clustered around the shore. They weren’t brave enough to venture away from the water but they seem to be just as eager to welcome him in as the others.
“Ajaw!” Mualani cries, summoning her own surfboard and willing it to go the opposite direction of the lake.
Kachina does the same with her mine cart while the dragon lord stays entirely unhelpful.
“Shouldn’t have shushed me before!” he chortles, “this is what you get for thinking you can order me around! Hahaha, revenge!”
The moment Kinich’s foot makes contact with the water, a chill runs through his nervous system that’s so cold it feels like his blood turns to ice in his veins. It seeps through the clasps of his boots and bites at his skin viciously, drawing out a pained gasp from him.
He concentrates all of his power into one singular spot and tries to focus on locking the cord in place, to go against Ajaw’s own force and help himself, but it’s a monumental task to even think clearly, let alone summon his full control over the beast.
Kachina loses her grip on him and the jolt with which she shoots back makes Mualani falter for a moment as well. She readjusts her footing, however, and keeps pulling steadily.
“‘Lani,” Kinich gasps, fearing she might actually break his wrist if she keeps it up, “don’t get dragged in too.”
Mualani gasps out a frustrated breath, shooting him one of her best glares.
“If you think I’m letting you die twice without being able to do anything about it, you’re wrong. And don’t tell me it’s alright, because it isn’t! This is one you won’t come back from, Kinich!”
“It’s better than both of us meeting our end here!” Kinich shoots back, fingers cramping in her hold, as if they’re trying to break themselves free of their own accord.
“It is not! Any second I hold on is a chance at rescue!”
A particularly harsh yank at the jacket tied around his waist brings Kinich in up to his thighs into the water, feet going numb from the sheer cold.
Kachina latches onto him again, pulling at his other wrist which is barely holding onto a flickering joke of an elemental cord connecting him to Ajaw.
“Kinich~” Ajaw laughs, destroying the remains of the cord with a taunting pop, “It’s over! I can feel your hold on me weakening and it’s the most glorious thing! Just give it up, there’s no rescue coming~”
“You really- hate me that much, huh?” Kinich grunts, meeting the dragon’s eyes, trying not to let his inaction hurt him too genuinely, but failing miserably. This is truly nothing new, and yet faced with an actual life or death situation, it hurts to know that this miserable little creature isn’t all bark after all.
Ajaw doesn’t answer to confirm it, though, or maybe Kinich just doesn’t hear it.
He’s completely pulled under in a single instant, water muffling his hearing, Mualani’s hand slipping across his skin with anxious sweat and Kachina simply letting go before she can follow him down.
For a moment, Kinich keeps his eyes closed, trying to take in the sheer and utter lack of anything around him. His skin could just as well be stone, completely frozen and devoid of any warmth or movement. There’s no sound either.
When he dares to open his eyes, he’s met with a sea of glittering lights, an abyss full of stars, swirling around each other and phasing in and out of his vision. Souls welcoming him home, inviting him further inside of the endless depths below him.
It’s breathtaking and debilitating and terrifying, the way his mind doesn’t fill with anything. No recognition and no prompt to move. Just- nothing.
Then it’s all over.
There’s light and color and sound and heat, all around him, overwhelming and all encompassing.
Hundreds of voices, singing a melody. A flickering flame, orange and blue and green and red. The sun, familiar and scorching.
A shriek of unknown origin erupts from his right and he’s enveloped in a mess of arms at once.
The stadium falls quiet.
“You’re alive,” a voice whispers in sheer relief right next to his face, but he can’t place it.
Kinich blinks numbly at the thousands of eyes fixated on him. His gaze falls still on the lady towering over them, bold and powerful, but with a concerned frown to her eyebrows.
For a moment, she simply looks at him, and the other people crowding around him, clinging to his dripping form. Then, she turns to the crowd and projects her voice for all to hear, and to echo through Kinich’s mind endlessly.
“The Rite of Resurrection was successful,” she announces, “But our heroes are in need of recovery. Please, everyone, grant us a moment of privacy. Further information will be made public at the soonest possible notice, but for now I ask you all to head back to your clans.”
“Kinich,” the voice from next to him says again, and a tan hand places itself up against his cheek, drawing his gaze up to meet that of a girl. She’s definitely familiar, but he can’t put a name to the face. The jumpy fall of white hair that frames deep amber eyes reminds him of a good feeling, a warm one, but he can’t put a name to that either. He just knows that it’s relaxing, so he allows himself to let her guide him. “Can you hear me?”
“I hear you,” Kinich answers, but his voice sounds a little far away. He barely feels his own mouth move as he says it.
“Mualani?” a younger voice pipes up, sweet like honey and yet with a brave edge to it. Familiar, familiar… “He looks really pale. Do you think he-”
“Yeah,” the other girl says -- Mualani, that’s it… “I’ve got him, though. Nothing to worry about.”
Kinich has a hard time following their conversation. Suddenly he’s blinking up to the sky instead, colorful lines of drapery cutting through the fluffy clouds. When did he…?
“Step aside, girls,” that lady from before says from somewhere close by, “I’ll take care of him. Please, come with me. And… welcome back.”
The sky moves and gravity pulls at his limbs that only now seem to be waking up from a numb slumber, his skin shedding a layer of ice crystals underneath the warm sun.
What happens after, exactly, is a blur. A blur of voices, all female and familiar, discussing things in various tones of relief and distress alike. A blur of color as he moves through a space without moving an inch of his own body. A blur of thoughts, all fleeting and never clear enough to actually grab onto, his mind frustratingly forgetful, even about matters that only came up a second or so prior.
He lets it all happen, because he does know he’s safer now than he was, and he can’t bring himself to do anything against it.
Apparently, he’d passed out somewhere along the way. Kinich only knows this because he blinks open his eyes to find a sturdy, banner-lined ceiling greeting him, clear and steady in his vision.
There’s a moment of complete quiet in his mind, and then everything snaps back into gear.
He’s alive. He’s out of the Night Kingdom.
Kachina and Mualani-
“Atta boy, I can just see those thoughts of yours forming behind your eyes... There’s the Kinich I know.”
Kinich lets his head fall in the direction her voice is coming from and locks eyes with Mualani, smiling warmly at him, full with relief.
“How…” he starts, but he finds his words to come somewhat difficult to him, still, so he takes a moment. “How did I…“
“Sheer perseverance,” Mualani tells him, a proud edge to her voice, “and a little cheat code called the Traveler.”
Ah. That makes sense. Purifying the Abyssal contamination they’d all brought back with them is bound to help leagues with his recovery, and who knows what other tricks the Traveler has had up their sleeve this whole time.
“Mavuika did the rest, though,” Mualani continues once she figures he’s going to be the quiet one in the conversation for a while longer. “You were… in there, only for a few seconds but it was enough to nearly freeze you over. Not to mention your legs…”
“My legs?” Kinich asks dully, a little pit of nerves rooting in his chest at the thought. He doesn’t feel that much wrong with his legs, but he hasn’t tried to move them either. His first effort comes up fruitless as his muscles refuse to respond, but the second gives him at least the feeling of his toe brushing against the blanket over his legs to work with.
“They took the brunt of that cold water, that’s all. But she was able to warm you up well enough that there shouldn’t be any lingering problems. At least, that’s what she told me.”
“That’s good…” Kinich sighs out, abandoning his attempts at moving too much. His body feels way too heavy for all of that. Sheer exhaustion is keeping him rooted in place, only blinking and forming thoughts at a snail’s pace -- but at least he’s forming thoughts now. “My mind…” he starts, intending to bring up the issue, but Mualani beats him to it.
“And then there’s that,” she says, “don’t worry about that, kay? You were… let’s say you were out of it for a sec, but I can see that you’re back now, so…”
“I was gone?” Kinich asks, mildly morbidly curious as to what Mualani had had to deal with. He has to admit that the details of what happened after getting dragged under are exceptionally fuzzy to him now.
“For a bit,” Mualani answers honestly, glancing at the hands she has perched on the wood of the chair, between her legs, swinging back and forth absentmindedly. “You didn’t really seem to know any of us as soon as you came back and you didn’t look like you were processing what was happening around you at all… But clearly you do now, so that’s major improvement! I guess taking a dip in the hotspring of death isn’t all that good for the mind.” She tries to chuckle lightheartedly, but he can tell the moment weighs on her.
Kinich can’t help a chuckle at the description, though, and that seems to cheer her up a bit.
“Wait,” Kinich begins, trying to peer past where Mualani sits, squinting at the light of the window to his right. “Where’s Kachina?”
“Fast asleep, alive and well,” Mualani assures him, leaning to the side a bit to reveal the little girl curled up on the next bed over behind her.
Her short tail thumps softly onto the mattress in tandem with whatever dream she’s having, and her ears twitch softly at their conversation, but she seems peaceful and unhurt.
Kinich breathes a little easier for it.
“And you?” Kinich asks, “Are you alright?”
Mualani sits up a little straighter at the question, eyes wide with innocence that Kinich sees through in a heartbeat.
“Me? I’m good. The traveler purified all that abyssal stuff, so I’m right as rain. Besides, I wasn’t the one who nearly drowned in-”
“I meant, mentally,” Kinich interrupts her, knowing she’d change the topic back to him if he’d let her have free reign of he conversation. “... You died for the first time. That’s not easy. At all.”
Mualani falls quiet at that, looking at him with a mix between worry and a need to keep her face pleasant for him at all times, smiling.
“You were right,” she says, somewhat tightly, “It wasn’t as bad of an experience as I thought.”
Kinich sends her a dull look, making it clear he doesn’t believe her at all.
“I wasn’t…” Mualani starts, carefully thinking through her words and dropping her voice softer with every word she says, “I wasn’t necessarily scared for myself… I mean, it was scary, don’t get me wrong, but… Well, I haven’t figured out exactly how I feel about it yet, actually.”
Kinich lifts a heavy hand and offers it to her, simply watching as she curls her fingers around his and leaves them clasped in between them like that.
“I can’t decide whether it would have been better had I been alone, or not,” she continues, staring at their hands instead of meeting his eyes. “It feels rotten to admit, but I think…”
“It was better together, in a way?” Kinich offers.
“That sounds wrong,” Mualani counters, frowning. “There’s no way I’d ever wish for anyone else to die with me.”
“Maybe not the dying, but simply having someone there,” Kinich says, “that was better for me, at least. Thanks for coming for us, even though you couldn’t help us.”
A somewhat bitter laugh escapes Mualani’s lips and her frown only deepens.
“Yeah, well… Not my best moment, still,” she says. A heavy sigh escapes her and she slumps forward, burying her face in her free hand for a moment. “I messed up so bad. I couldn’t do anything for you and the only thing I accomplished was getting myself killed in the process. It was so stupid.”
“It might not have been very… beneficial to the battle, but it wasn’t stupid,” Kinich says. “It helped me.”
“You died,” Mualani deadpans.
“I died in comfort,” Kinich says. “It was much less horrible than the previous times.”
“... Archons, you say that so casually,” Mualani sighs.
“It’s part of the job,” Kinich counters.
“Yeah, well… It's a horrible part of the job. But I guess it’s pretty inevitable… I’d go to war against the Abyss a thousand times over, but seeing you guys like that, all broken and- …Hmpf, It’s almost enough to make me want to keep you back here forever.”
“Speaking of which, where’s Kachina?” Kinich asks, the thought only just occurring to him.
Mualani stills for a moment, brought out of her own mind and blinking at him.
“You… already asked that,” she says, a bit unsurely.
“Did I?” Kinich asks, genuinely trying to remember when he did.
“Yeah, just now,” Mualani says, leaning to the side to show him the sight -- that now suddenly seems familiar -- of Kachina, curled up on her side and sleeping.
“Ah… Sorry,” he says softly.
“No worries,” Mualani says, mustering a kind smile. “Ask all you need. I’ll tell you ten times if needed. I bet your memory will be back to a hundred in no time.”
Kinich tries to mirror her smile, but finds his own falling short in comparison to hers, as usual. Nothing can hold a candle to the joy of a child of the islands, after all.
“In the meantime… will you stay?”
Mualani nods kindly, scooting her chair to border against the wall, placing herself right next to him instead of in the general vicinity of his bedside. Their hands remain clasped as ever, a silent promise that hangs between them.
“I’ll make sure you can recover in comfort too,” she says softly. “So rest up yeah? I’m not going anywhere.”