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Three pairs of tiny feet splashed in the shallow water of the oasis, a chorus of giggles bursting out with every swing and stomp. The kids were having the time of their lives, until they were called inside again.
“Agh, seriously? We're going to run out of clean and dry clothes at this rate..” the lady in charge sighed, ushering the kids into their rooms to change.
It was time for some quiet studying, and after that, the usual evening meal.
Days at the Temple of Silence were simple and structured, but nice and cozy enough to be happy.
Y/n, Cyno and Sethos had grown up together within the walls of the temple. None of them really remembered their real families, and maybe it was better off that way. A kid didn't need to know if their parents had died or sold their child, after all.
Regardless of their backgrounds, they had found a home. They were fed, educated, trained, and got plenty of free time to play with each other, too.
What more could a little kid need?
Definitely not a test of whether a fragment of a god likes them or not.
But that is exactly what the children of the temple had to go through.
~
“It looks scary, I don't want to-!”
“Y/n, there's nothing to be afraid of. If he doesn't pick you, you'll be fine. If he does, it's a marvelous thing and a great honor.”
The little girl was gently but firmly pushed towards the pulsating fragment, already reacting to the presence of people.
“I don't-!”
“Y/n, go! Now!”
She didn't have a choice. Small fists clenched and tears in her eyes, she walked towards the fragment. It sparked and pulsed in place, as if studying her.
Then it let out a violent hiss, and she stumbled on her behind, scrambling away as soon as she got on her feet.
“Good job, y/n”, the adults briefly smiled, petting her hair, “you can go now. He didn't pick you.”
She ran off, still crying, barely noticing how another kid was called in for his turn.
She ran through the temple halls to her favourite spot, a tiny nook in the weapon storage wing. It was a secret hideout for her and her best friends, and they had planned to meet there that morning.
Sethos was already waiting there. He immediately turned to his crying friend.
“Y/n, are you okay? Where were you?”
He dragged her down to sit with him, looking into her eyes and wiping a tear off her cheek.
“They took me to-to see the pieces. It didn't hurt, it was just scary.”
She kept sniffling, but soon calmed down thanks to him and his warm palm on her cheek.
“What happened?”
“...There was a little orb. One of the pieces of Lord Hermanubis. I-I had to walk to it, see if he'd pick me too.”
She still trembled a little, so he held her tiny hand with his.
“Did he?”
“...No. The piece hissed at me, and I ran off.”
“Okay.”
That was all he could reply. He didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing, after all.
Sethos himself had gone through the same thing, apparently, but with a very different outcome. He had no recollection of the events, only a vague memory of being really sick for a while. He had been told she'd cried at his bedside for days, especially when he hadn't recognised her or Cyno.
He had become one of the vessels for Hermanubis’ power. That’s what the adults said. He had no idea what it even meant.
Whatever happened had just made him sick and hurt his friends.
And now she'd been through the same test, too, just without losing her memory.
He tightened his hold of her little hand. She remembered him. That was good, at least.
But now the problem was Cyno's absence.
“Did you see Cyno?”
“I don't think so”, she said, wiping her eyes with her arms, “I ran so fast I barely saw anything.”
“..Let's go look for him. I've got a bad feeling about this.”
They snuck out and walked through the halls hand in hand, peeking behind corners and checking their usual hide-and-seek spots. But they didn't find him.
Until he walked towards them from the scary corner of the temple she had just moments ago ran from.
“Cyno!!” they both exclaimed and ran to him, hugging him.
He stood there, unmoving.
“Are you okay??”
“Did you see the pieces??”
They practically shouted at him once they had given him a bit of space. Cyno just stared.
“I don't know. I'm tired. My head hurts.”
She placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Let's go get you some help-’
“Who are you two again?”
Their eyes flew open, pupils shrinking in shock.
“It’s us! Your best friends, Sethos and y/n!” Sethos tried to grin, but it looked more like a grimace.
“Yeah! And we were planning our snack heist for today, remember?”
“...I don't know. I don't remember.”
He suddenly fell on his knees, clutching his head and clenching his teeth in pain.
“He needs help”, they shouted, making eye contact.
“You stay with him, I'll go get someone”, Sethos decided, “I'm faster.”
She nodded, and he immediately dashed away to find someone, anyone.
But while Sethos was gone, Cyrus appeared. He ran out from the scary room with a panicked expression, and it worsened when he saw the situation.
He approached the two kids, trembling.
“Sir Cyrus! Come help Cyno!” she immediately called out.
Cyrus knelt down, picked the confused boy up to hold him gently against his chest, and looked down at her.
“Y/n, be good, okay?”
“What does that-”
“Please be good. And take care of Sethos for me”, he pleaded.
“Wh-”
“Goodbye, y/n.”
Cyrus carefully held Cyno as he ran off towards the exit.
“Where are you going?! Bring Cyno back! Sir Cyrus!!”
She was left there, screaming and crying, as one of her best friends had once again forgotten her - and this time taken away to who knows where.
She slumped on the ground, curling into herself, and cried herself dry and sore.
When Sethos eventually returned with an adult, she didn't have any tears left, so she just held onto him, afraid of him being taken away as well.
When he found out, he cried too.
~
Their group obviously felt empty without Cyno, and they didn't know what to do about it.
One day y/n and Sethos were sitting outside by the oasis, not in the mood to play, but just sitting there to absentmindedly watch the fish.
“Did you ask your grandfather about Sir Cyrus and why he left and took Cyno?”
“I did, but he said it was complicated. He was mad about it, too, so I didn't wanna make it worse.”
“I'm also mad! How could he just take Cyno?! And after he lost his memories, too!”
She pouted, and Sethos tried to support her by leaning against her shoulder.
“The adults must know what they're doing. Grandfather says that they're close, and that it's going to be great.”
That didn't seem to lift her mood, so he tried again.
“I'm sure we'll see him again one day.”
He was angry as well, especially since he hadn't even been there to witness the situation. Cyno had just been ripped away from their lives all of a sudden, and it still didn't feel real.
But Sethos himself had also apparently been blessed by Hermanubis, so he didn't exactly have the choice to leave or fight against the adults, either.
“I'm glad I still have you, though”, she smiled sadly, resting her little head against his. “But yeah. We'll find him one day. I'm sure.”
~
As days, weeks, months and years passed, the memory of Cyno became more and more hazy. It never went away, of course, it just stopped hurting as much.
Sethos and y/n were still kids, but they'd gotten busier as time passed. More education, more training, more tasks. They had to learn more about the temple and what it stood for - especially Sethos, since he was the heir and the remaining vessel.
Y/n had her own share of tasks too, of course. She wasn't as informed about all the lore of the temple, but did her best with the more physical labor as she grew. She wasn't as quick and nimble as Sethos, sure, but was as much of a little rascal as he was. She ran through the temple delivering things from one member to another, learnt combat from some of the older folk and also Sethos who was taught by Bamoun himself, and became a handy little scavenger to pass time while Sethos was busy.
She heavily contributed to the number of times they could eat fish, and she was proud of that.
Sethos was trained in all forms of combat - polearm, sword, claymore and bow. He preferred the polearm, though, since his grandfather did as well. She, on the other hand, was on her way to become a skilled swordswoman. As she practiced, she even started fishing with her blades instead of a fishing pole.
Despite all the training and studying, the two stayed close through all the years.
~
“Knock knock. I’m really feeling like having scorpion today. Wanna take a break and come with?” she leaned in his room with a grin, skillfully spinning one of her dual blades in her hand.
Sethos grinned back just as smugly, closing his books.
“Heh, sure. Someone's gotta watch how you dish the spices, after all.”
“Rude, but true”, she chuckled, sheathing the weapon and stepping out the way. Sethos stretched his arms and back, earning a good few pops, and walked to her.
“You know, it's like you have a sixth sense for when I'm starting to get hungry.”
“We've been close for years, Seth. You should stop being surprised by my awesomeness.”
He chuckled and rolled his eyes.
“Sure, sure, maybe one day. But scorpion, eh?”
“Yup. They're making potato boats and other stuff I don't really care for today, so I thought we could go for a little hunt and get our own food. Sound good?”
“Definitely. Not as much of an adventure as it used to be, but fun nevertheless. Lead the way, hunter.”
“Just try to keep up.”
“You know I'm still faster than you.”
“Oh shut up and come on or they'll stop us again.”
They swiftly exited the temple and made their way along the cliff sides, until a lone scorpion caught their eye.
“The usual plan?” she grinned, taking her blades out.
He materialised his polearm and nodded.
“Yup. Get ready.”
She nodded and brandished the weapons, and he dashed forward, spear in hand. He jumped over the scorpion with an overly dramatic flip, dug the tip of the blade into the sand underneath it, and launched the creature towards her. She caught it midair with her swords, and slammed it down on the ground to finish it off.
“I think that might have been our best time”, she chuckled, giving him a high five.
“Eh, you could've been a bit faster.”
“Says the one who had to show off his agility and do a stupid flip.”
“Hehe, you're just jealous.”
She rolled her eyes and shooed him away.
“Go get firewood already, you doofus.”
He laughed softly, ruffled her hair, and started gathering dry sticks and branches nearby while she began preparing the scorpion meat.
It didn't take long for them to have a crackling campfire with a good amount of fresh meat grilling over it. They were sitting together in front of it, enjoying the warmth of the fire as the cooling evening air started nipping at them.
Both had soft smiles on their faces.
“Running away in secret has always been fun, but it's especially so when I've had my nose in a book all week”, he eventually chuckled, “so thanks.”
“I'm glad you're benefiting from me being a picky eater, hehe.”
He playfully elbowed her.
“I meant it, you know. I know I was doing important stuff, but I feel like I was built to be active and spend time outside instead.”
“That does sound more like you than being a nerd in a dusty study.”
“Heh, exactly. So, we're enforcing each other's bad habits by being here.”
“Isn't that what friends are for?” she bumped into his shoulder with hers, grinning playfully. He elbowed her again.
“Apparently, but don't push your luck.”
The sun had dipped below the horizon by the time the meat was done. Just like usual, Sethos did his magic with the spices, and they leaned back to look at the stars while enjoying the warm fire, good food, and even better company.
“This never gets old.”
“You sound like an old man, Seth.”
“Am I wrong though?”
“...No, you're not.”
“Thought so.”
Once Sethos was done with his food, he fished out his lyre from his bag, and started gently picking at its strings, playing a relaxing rhythm. She lounged next to him at a friendly distance, but even a fool would know that the look in her eyes was far from a friendly one. His wasn't much different - though maybe even softer than hers.
But neither brought attention to it. Maybe they didn't know, or maybe they just wanted to give it time.
They were perfectly content nevertheless.
~
“Sethos, Djer, y/n, training day. Let's go.”
Bamoun's word was law, and so they left. She was excited, anyway. She liked their regular combat camps, for both sides of the experience - combat AND camping.
The group gathered everything they needed for the trip before heading out to their usual training area.
“Ready to get beat up?” she playfully poked him.
“You should be. I may have been training my archery lately, but my polearm is still deadly, you know”, he grinned back.
“That little stick? It looks like it'll snap in half any second now.”
“So you'd better pray you're not the one it ends up snapping on.”
“If you get that close, it's already too late for you.”
“Now you're just starting to sound jealous.”
“Me? Of what?”
“If you hadn't been such a picky child, maybe you'd have the skills to wield several weapons now too~”, he smirked with a mischievous lilt in his tone.
“Psh, I'm plenty capable with just my blades, and you know that.”
“You say that, but when you feel like eating fowl, can you snatch a bird midair?”
“...Will you ever stop boasting about that? You already got your grandfather's pride and even a gift, what more could you possibly want?” she whined dramatically, a playful glint in her eyes.
“Your undivided admiration, of course.”
“Never.”
“Aw, shucks.”
Little did he know, he already had that.
Eventually they reached their training grounds, and got to work. Sethos set up a few targets for him to shoot at, while Bamoun directed Djer and y/n in a practice duel. Polearm versus twin blades was fairly evenly matched, even if one had an advantage with the weapon’s reach.
Bamoun was a good teacher, since he offered to teach everyone to wield several weapons if they were willing to learn. So, after some time and a brief break, he directed Djer for some archery training as well, and Sethos and y/n could duel, polearm versus blades, as always.
This time, however, something went wrong. That being a shot Djer missed.
The arrow flew into a passing herd of sumpter beasts - animals that aren't exactly known for running away when spooked.
The group was soon surrounded by wild beasts.
Bamoun wasn't exactly in the best shape after all the years and battles he'd gone through, so it was up to the three youngsters to deal with the herd. The beasts were strong and thick skinned, so the fight went on well into the night, the toughest of them fighting back until the crack of dawn.
The four humans were pushed back by the beasts, and as the fight continued, they'd covered a good amount of ground.
And some bad ground, too. The heavy beasts started sinking into the apparent quicksand with loud and panicked cries, and the four humans had to think quickly to avoid the same fate.
In little more than an instant Sethos had fished out rope and tools, and helped the group up to higher and more solid ground. Some of the sumpter beasts tried to follow them, but he shot them down. The rest fled the scene.
They had barely managed to find their bearings when the wind started howling angrily, and its speed soon picked up to a dangerous level.
“Quick, we don't have cover or the strength to run!” Sethos called out, and ushered the group closer.
“What can we do?” y/n asked, trying to keep her voice calm and level.
“Just hold on.”
Sethos made eye contact with her briefly, and tied the rope around her waist with careful but hasty moves, and did the same to the other two and himself.
“Stay low and hold on to anything you can!”
He managed, any other words drowned out by the howl of the harsh desert storm.
Her knuckles were white and fingers covered in cuts from holding on to branches and rocks for who knows how long.
So were his. He was tired, but he had to stay strong and hold on. For their sake.
Eventually the winds died down, and everyone slumped on the sandy rocks, completely spent. Sethos made sure everyone was there and okay.
Djer was a fellow temple member so Sethos obviously cared for him too, but he'd be lying if he said that he treated Djer with care and tenderness similar to what y/n and Bamoun got. The other two were more important to him, after all.
Everyone was quiet and tired on the way back. Djer supported Bamoun and y/n Sethos as they walked. She whispered supportive and thankful words the whole trek back, only broken by a little surprise.
Sethos' leg had brushed against hers, and both felt something odd in his pocket.
He had received a vision. Neither of them had the strength to check which element he was blessed with, but it was an important development regardless.
She was so proud of him.
~
More time passed, and with time came change.
Bamoun was getting worse by the day, which meant that Sethos was getting busier and busier to fill his grandfather’s shoes.
The Temple of Silence was starting to become too silent for her, as she saw Sethos less and less every week. There were other members, sure, but none of them could ever replace him.
Speaking of the other members… after all the years they'd been gone, rumors about Cyrus and Cyno suddenly began to travel around, and it didn't take long for everyone to find out why.
One day Cyrus just appeared in the temple, seemingly out of his own will. The lack of surprise on Sethos’ face showed that it was anything but unplanned, though.
After Cyrus followed Cyno, who had also brought his friends; Tighnari - a descendant of the Valuka Shuna - and the Traveler with his flying little companion, Paimon.
Cyno didn't remember Sethos or her of course, but Cyrus did shoot her a sad smile, recognising the girl even after all the years.
Things escalated, Bamoun fell into a coma, and soon there would be a Rite of Duels. She was so confused, but believed in Sethos.
She approached Sethos, who emerged from his grandfather’s room.
“Are you okay?”
Her voice was soft and quiet, but it still surprised him.
“A-ah, yeah. He's been sick for a long time, but seeing it get worse still hurts.”
“Of course it does.”
She gently sat him down on the stairs.
“Are you going to fight Cyno?”
“Yes.”
“Are you ready to give him your Ba fragment if he wins?”
“...Yes.”
He sighed, obviously tired from everything that had happened. He stood tall around the others, but was able to relax only with her.
“You're doing good. No matter what happens, I trust you, and I'll be here for you.”
Sethos let the words sink in, and leaned his head on her shoulder. She found his hand, and ran her thumb over the back of it, hoping to calm him even a little.
He closed his eyes, and for a moment, he was not the heir or the vessel.
He was just Sethos.
~
The rite of duels was intense, neither side was willing to back down. Tighnari and Aether were already tough opponents, but her nails scraped the stony railing as she watched Cyno and Sethos clash time and time again.
The fight was about something deeper than just Ba fragments; Sethos’ view of the world, the temple, his power, and even himself were all changing.
But he seemed to come to a conclusion, since when Cyno hit Sethos’ polearm from his hands and made him yield, Sethos smiled in response.
He gave up the power personally granted to him by Lord Hermanubis. But he was fine.
The temple was fine too, since Cyno let Sethos become the one in charge instead of taking over himself, despite what the rules had said.
The only thing that wasn't fine was Bamoun, whose death was expected, but still painful for everyone.
As she had promised, she was always by his side, especially in his hour of sorrow.
~
But things changed.
Now that Sethos was the leader, he was busy. Even busier than before.
And now that the Temple was communicating with the Akademiya again, Sethos was out and about a lot.
He even moved to Sumeru City.
The temple was and had always been her home. But it was silent without him.
She continued doing her responsibilities - hunting, gathering and helping the others with physical labor - but nothing felt the same.
The temple was full of changes and fresh air, but had never felt so stuffy and silent.
She missed him.
Sethos, of course, didn't forget his home or his duties. He had a lot to do, but always brought some rainforest specialties back with him. Fruit, leaves, flowers and feathers, whatever he could find, and everyone loved them.
He brought her something, too.
“Y/n, there you are!”
He threw his arm around her shoulder with an affectionate grin.
“I missed your grumpy face! What's up?”
“The usual, really. Getting food and carrying things”, she replied in a neutral tone, happy to see him, but sad about how things had turned out.
Sethos, after all these years, could pick up on her tone of voice, of course.
“..Y/n, are you okay?”
He turned her to face him, and brushed a few strands of hair away from her cheek.
“And don't you lie to me or I'll put you in timeout”, he chuckled, bringing a small smile to her lips, too.
“...I just.. miss you. The others are here, of course, but… it's not the same without you”, she eventually admitted, voice barely audible.
Sethos noticed how vulnerable she felt, and gently turned her face away from him, beginning to comb his fingers through her hair to help her calm down a little.
“I'm glad you're getting to see the rainforest and make new friends, I am! But… I feel like you.. you left me behind.”
He carefully thought of his next words, absentmindedly twisting the strands of hair into pretty braids, matching his.
“...I'm sorry for being out so much. I haven't had much time to think with everything going on, but I can definitely say that I have missed you too.”
She didn't know what to say, so she just nodded slightly, accepting the apology she knew was genuine.
He chuckled softly in response, and kept messing with her hair, now actually styling it.
“I mean it. Cyno, Tighnari, Collei, even Hat Guy… they're all interesting and fun, of course...”
He gently wove a Padisarah flower into her hair, secured it in place, and turned her face towards him again.
“But you're the most important person to me, don't ever doubt that, y/n.”
She smiled softly at his words, and placed her hand on his, still resting on her cheek.
“You're mine, too.”
A meaningful pause later he placed a tender kiss on the top of her head, and laced his fingers with hers after helping her up.
“You know.. I’d really like to go for a walk in the city today. What do you say?”
“Well, if you insist.”
And so, for the first time ever, she stepped foot into the rainforest and the city streets.
And, for the first time in a while, the world was far from silent again.
The outside air was fresh.
She could get used to it.