Chapter 54: Flowers of the Grave
Truth had begun to doze off when Dare smacked him.
With a snort he awoke, and affixed a fierce glare on his twin, opening his mouth to scold him, but Dare pressed a hand to his mouth, motioned to his ears before turning back to the origin of the sound.
Instantly, Truth stiffened, activating his [Heat Eyes] before carefully surveying the territory around them. Dare speedily settled an illusion over them, and with bated breath they watched for intruders.
A stumbling of movement caught their ears, while Truth employed his vision to find the source, discovering a orange and yellow personage who seemed to have a yellow and green blob thrown over their shoulders.
"What the..." he mumbled, confused at what he was seeing.
"What do you see?"
"A person and a blob or something. I can't tell very well, they seem stuck together."
"Is it a survivor? Should we save them?"
"What if they're hostiles?" Truth rebuked harshly, his eyes focused on the hobbling mass of heat.
"What if they're not?" whispered Dare, his voice tense but reasonable.
Truth turned silent at that, and memories of when Jörmungandr found Ime came to mind. It was a similar situation, where they were unable to discern her allegiance upon glance and as such prepared for a fight, only for Jörmungandr to intervene.
The little girl who had been stumbling towards them muttering to herself in the snow had pulled a knife at Jörmungandr's approach, raising it to slash at him. He had grabbed her arm, and while holding it in place, quietly stared at her while she struggled.
"'...Want... help?'"
That was Truth had heard before the wind snatched the words away, leaving whatever else was said to drift in the wind.
All he knew was what he saw.
And that was of Ime sobbing before collapsing into Jörmungandr's arms, like a rag doll who had only been able to stand due to tension which had snapped with whatever his Patron had said.
It felt much like a similar situation now, with the unidentified person stumbling around with a blob, and as such, he found himself saying, "Either way, best to check it out. If they're hostiles, depending on the level, engage, otherwise, return to grab assistance; if not..."
Dare nodded at the unspoken words, shielding himself with an illusion that managed decently within the night, before approaching the figure, only to stop dead in his tracks.
There, stumbling his way through the snow that the twins were only beginning to get used to, was a familiar face.
"Anubis?! The Hel's going on man—"
"Anubis, you sure? It is Anubis! Dear heavens man, say something if you're going to stumble back to camp after disappearing! Not only that, but who on Earth is that??"
While Dare glared at Truth for thinking that he had gotten Anubis' identity wrong, opening his mouth to retort, only to be interrupted by the aforementioned god, who was the most panicked they had ever seen him.
"Get me to camp, now! She needs to get out of this winter, she won't last otherwise!"
"Who? Who are you—"
'"NOW!"'
Anubis' eyes glowed a hint of darkness suddenly, a snarl building on his face as a jackal-like illusion started enclosing his face.
Chills cloaked the twins, and it was not due to the cold around them; pure divinity seemed to radiate from the god—whom they realized was older in appearance than his usual juvenile self—and for a second, they thought he would end up killing them instead of having them lead the way back to camp.
It was all broken by a small groan, and immediately, the aura hushed.
Anubis looked frantic as he looked at the person on his shoulder, and Truth realized it was a young, white haired girl with a predominant streak of black in her hair, a girl who was shuddering with cold.
The girl began to slip, and suddenly, a trembling Anubis was holding onto the young girl, tenderly, as if he could break her. The girl began to convulse, and Anubis scooped her up, desperate to share warmth and power with the girl who had long since lit up his world.
"Ain! Hang on, Ain, I-I'll save you! I will, you, you can't die... you can't... I won't allow you to!"
In spite of his almost obsessive words and his frantic, now teary expression, Anubis looked as if he was already deciding what flowers he would place on the grave he would bury the stranger under.
Truth—though shuddering from the aftermath of the aura—quickly regained his bearings before ordering Dare to camp, which his twin complied to, sprinting the distance as face he could while yelling at the top of his lungs.
Even when help arrived in the form of a sleepy yet serious Fenrir, and a pokerfaced Jörmungandr, Anubis did not relinquish his hold on her.
It was as if he was afraid that she would disappear if he let go of her.
'I'm sorry, Ain..'
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone