Chapter Text
Oh, I’m having the dream again.
That was the first thought that slipped into Helena’s head as she lied upon a familiar field of hyacinths. The amethyst petals bloomed around her, gently gliding across her arms and contrasting against her dark skin. Helena directed her sepia eyes towards the sky, meeting the unwavering gaze of the Sun, its radiant beams stretching to meet the eager arms of the Earth below.
“Helena,” a quiet voice called out from beside the girl.
A soft smile sprouted on her face as she met the eyes of Reina, her precious friend. The word felt wrong, even in Helena’s mind. But she’d just ignore it, like she always has–will. She’d been by Helena’s side since they were small children, her parent’s frequent absence only working to bring them closer. Reina had always been so accepting of her, like she’d already seen all the flaws and impurities Helena had to offer. Back when they were no older than ten at their introductory, she could recall scrambling to cower behind Reina’s back when other kids would try to play with them. Helena didn’t care about playing with the other kids. She would’ve gladly joined them if she weren’t so shy at that age.
No, she was scared of Reina leaving her.
She was Helena’s one and only, the one person who would look at her gently and call out her name, no matter what. But would she stay? Reina was the only one Helena had, but the same couldn’t be said inversely. Her eyes followed Reina as she grinned along with another girl–were acutely aware as the same clique of kids approached again and again, like they were mocking Helena. Who could really blame her, though? She’d placed all her hopes on Reina, and the girl had graciously taken them in stride. How could she not be attached?
But no matter how concrete Helena’s apprehensions felt, Reina would, unfailingly, interlock their hands and say assuredly,
“I’ll join you guys later, Helena and I still have a bit of work to do.”
Those few words were enough to satisfy the small group, and they would scurry off almost immediately. Now that Helena was older, reminiscing about those times only made her cheeks warm. The only thing that helped to alleviate her shame was that Reina broke into loud cackles upon hearing the story. The harmonic sound danced in Helena’s ears–-and it abruptly made all those memories quite dear to her.
All of it was simply a testament to their friendship, just like the dream she was settled in now. She wasn’t quite sure when it began, but Helena had seen this same scene–endless fields of flowers showered with sunlight and Reina lying next to her–more times than she could count. It would be quiet for a few moments, and then Reina would call out her name, like it was something fragile and sacred.
Helena turned her head, and the two girls gazed at each other with euphoric expressions and enchanted smiles with no need for words. This would go on, and the Sun would gingerly kiss their faces. Until the ending came. Quicker than either of them could react, the sun would dive down, merging with the horizon, and darkness’s cold breath would unveil itself. Reina’s entire form would be consumed by the starved shadows, ripping her away from Helena’s yearning grip.
The dream would close like this without fail, and it always left Helena with an inexplicable feeling akin to exhaustion and anger. She wondered if Spesyui was trying to warn her of something.
She sincerely hoped it was just an unfound fantasy.
-ˋˏ ༻𖤓༺ ˎˊ-
Helena awoke with a start. Despite it being so frequent, she could never quite get used to the dream that had haunted her for so long. After collecting herself, she noticed someone had been rapping on her door, each strike escalating in volume and speed. Helena was sure it was Reina outside, since the other three friends she lived with were menaces who didn’t bother knocking before barging in.
She groggily rose from her messy bed, not bothering to shake off a stray blanket wrapped around her ankle. She made it to the door in a few short strides, and the knocks had started to sound like they would bruise the source’s hand. Helena half-expected the mahogany to splinter before she reached it. She turned the knob, and the door almost clobbered her face from the amount of force it emitted.
“Shit! Why do you always knock on the door like your life depends on it!? Actually, why are you knocking at all? We literally share a room.” Helena groaned, scratching her bunched up curls unceremoniously.
Reina stared at her blankly, letting out an exasperated sigh, "It's usually expected that people get confirmation before entering a room, though I’m beginning to understand I’m the only one who follows that rule.”
Helena waved her hand dismissively, “I only do that when absolutely necessary. At least I’m not like Lyhn, it’d be a marvel to see him doing anything but bursting into a room.”
“We all have our faults. Like how you can never seem to answer the door in a timely manner.” Reina commented, making no effort to hide her obvious grudge.
“It doesn’t matter when one answers the door. It is only of concern if they do it.” Helena strutted theatrically, exercising her ability to embody the most insufferable person Reina knew.
Reina pursed her lips, trying to hold herself back from instigating even more, “How do I always get sidetracked by you?” she muttered, shaking her head before continuing, “Dahlia’s found a Ohreindi lurking near a small town. We think it’s already begun absorbing the resident’s Sautiba, so we need to purgate it as soon as possible. Lynn, Dahlia, and Ilya are already at the site.”
Helena perked up at Reina’s words, “Really? Why are you still here, then?”
“How would you know to show up when you’ve been sleeping like a dead man for the past hour?” Reina responded almost immediately, like she anticipated the question.
“Oh, yeah…that does make sense,” Helena mumbled to herself, “but do I have to go? There have been so many sightings during this week alone! We already work ourselves to death as it is, we’ll be twelve feet deep in the grave at this rate.”
Helena swears she sees a fearful expression flash across Reina’s face at her words, but quickly lets it go. Reina was the last person she’d think would be scared in general, let alone because of her careless words.
“It’ll be faster if we’re all there, and you know Ohreindi rates shoot up during winter. They’ll go back to normal soon.”
When Reina realized her words weren’t doing much to convince Helena, she added with a sigh, “And we’ll find somewhere to eat afterwards.”
“Come on, Reina, we wouldn’t want to miss out on the action!” Helena said, her attitude immediately lightening. She grabbed her friend’s arm and pulled her along.
As she was dragged along, Reina could only think:
She has no clue where we’re going.
-ˋˏ ༻𖤓༺ ˎˊ-
After nearly getting into a scuffle with two different drunk street vendors in the same ten minutes, Helena and Reina made it to the small town. By now it was dark, so the only source of light were the dreary lanterns that flickered like a dying star finally beginning to go out. It was eerily quiet, and Helena couldn’t spot a single soul out in the open.
“They’ve already ushered everyone back into their homes. This Ohreindi must be starving.” Reina observed, hastily leading Helena through the chilled roads.
The two walked the worn dirt path leading out of the village until a hushed voice beckoned them over.
“Reina, Lena come over here!” a short blonde man waved to the girls, a grin plastered on his face. Beside him stood Ilya, his tall build making him seem a little imposing in the moonlight, but his gentlemanly expression dipselled the illusion. Dahlia had already passed by Helena and was talking with Reina, probably to fill her in on the full details of the situation.
How curious that Dahlia always seemed to graviate towards Reina.
“Lyhn!” Helena scurried over to join him and Ilya, “How did you three manage to rangle all the residents into their homes?”
Lyhn shrugged casually, “We didn’t do anything. They were all cowering by their windows when we got here.”
Ilya nodded along with his words, “They’ve probably been witness to the Ohreindi already, and didn’t want to face it again.”
Helena couldn’t help but be a little excited to see the impurity, even though she’d previously complained about the mission. The second she was old enough, her parent’s had placed in an introdcutory school meant to help her control Sautiba, so she would qualify to purgate Ohreindi when she was older. All to keep Spesyui’s blessing burning brightly. It had become less and less of a chore as Helena got older, and more of a purpose hobby, the one thing she could confidently say she was good at.
“We have to act now, or the Ohreindi become too desperate to be handled with just our power alone. And calling in for help gurantees a demotion from the Masout.” Dahlia’s commanding voice extracted Helena from her thoughts, casuing her to scrutinize the area.
“Then where the hell is it? I haven’t sensed one trace of it the entire time I’ve been here.” Helena replied, taking a few steps closer to the gushing river beside them. It was hypnotic–the way the waves fell over each and folded in on themselves.
Behind her, Lyhn groaned, and she swore Ilya breathed out a sigh, “How does she always find the Ohreindi so quick? She literally just got here.”
Helena whipped her head around, tilting her head, “What are you talking about? This is a river, not some abstract shadow entity.”
Dahlia shook her head, “Lyhn’s not wrong. That river is where the Ohreindi was created. The townspeople here are known for throwing the possesions–and sometimes even bones–of people they hated into the river. All the negative memories and emotions attatched to the objects were enough to drain the river of any traces of Sautiba, causing the conception of the Ohreindi.”
“It’s a shame, really. All those items could’ve been sold off for a profit, but know they’re waterlogged in the river and we have to deal with an Ohreindi.” Ilya whined, his eyebrows furrowed.
Reina clicked her tongue, “Always so money hungry, maybe we should use you as bait this time around. I’m sure it’ll be attracted to all your greed.”
Ilya sneered at her words, but there was no real bite behind it, “That trick’s only worked a few times, you know. Which is why our dear Helena is going to be bait intead, her method has a way higher success rate than I do.”
Helena couldn’t truthfully say she didn’t expect this. Out of their group, she had the largest Sautiba reserves, which was a reliable way to attract Ohreindi. She did have qutie a bit of trouble grasping control of her power, but it usually worked out in their favor.
She rolled her eyes, “Just tell me where I need to stand.”
Lyhn pointed directly over the river from her shoulder, “Just wade in there for a bit and steadily release your Sautiba. It’ll slowly sniff you out, and we should be able to track and puruify it without too much issue.” he explained.
Helena nodded, walking over to the shallow banks and slipping off her shoes before dipping her feet in. The chilling water bit at her bare feet, but she winced through it, eventually placing herself in the middle of the river. Now, the hardest part, releasing her Sautiba in a way that doesn’t sceam their location to all nearby.
Closing her eyes, Helena focused on the steady ebb and flow of the energy inside her veins, and honed in on slowly letting it spill out, like a dripping faucet. Eventually, a cold feeling of dread coiled itself around her, and she knew the Ohreindi was close. The moment she sensed it, Reina flew into action, releasing her Sautiba in small bursts that formed into a dart-like shape. They shot straight into the Ohreindi, which had been rising from the murky depths of the river, and stunned it momentarily. This provided Ilya with enough time to summon his Sautiba into a rope formation, wrapping itself around the entity and forcing it to take shape.
Dahlia used her energy to split the creature open, exposing it’s withered core. Lyhn manifested Sautiba in it’s purest form, a mass of burning, liquid plasma, and directed it towards the Ohreindi’s chest. For a moment, the it’s body seemed to be stretching to take it in, but once it tried to consume it, the Sautiba combusted, burning the Ohreindi into nothing but an ephemeral memory.
Helena ceased her flow of Sautiba, taking in a few short breaths. Once she camae back out of the river, Reina apporached her, “Are you feeling fine? Did that push you too hard?”
“I’m fine, Reina. You do this after every mission.”
“Because you’re the one exerting yourself the most.”
“Yeah, because I can take it.”
Sensing that his was probably going to perpetuate, Lyhn interjected their conversation, “Come on, you two! That thing was barely finsihed burning before you two started getting on eachother’s cases.”
His remark seemd to mellow them out for now, but it was only a matter of time before it started up again. After recuperating, Reina suggested they go out a find somehing to eat, though Ilya proposed it was probably a better idea to get their payment beforehand.
“I didn’t think your scheming personality would ever be the voice of reason.” Lyhn said, shoving his hands in his coat pockets as the group walked.
“I’m always the voice of reason, you lot are just to simple-minded to see it.” Ilya responded cooly.
Dahlia let out a soft chuckle, “You never fail to shock me, and yet, you’re the most predictable person I know.”
The group had come upon their destination, The Royal Palace, but the guards were unaturally hesitant to let them in. They’d all taken turns trying to sweet talk their way inside, Reina turing out to be the most successful becasue the guard left his post on account of being on the verge of tears. However, the other guard stood resolutley, no matter how many insults were thrown at her trousers. Just when everyone–well, really just Ilya–was beginning to depsair, an even weirder occurence transpired. The king burst through the palace doors into the outside air. It wasn’t everyday you saw the leader of Layeun exiting his palace, but the group of five was going to learn this certaintly wasn’t just any day.
After practically pushing them all inside and ushering down a broad hallway (which was adorned with a frightening amount of self portraits) King Oyut sat them down in the meeting room with a few cups of tea, as if that would make the situation any less dire.
He looked at them all with a strained smile, “My dear, dear, cleansers,” he clasped his wrinkly hands together to hide their slight trembling.
“Our goddess is dying.”