2: Sprout of Revision

From the waters of darkness, muffled voices swam through. Disturbing someone in the dark.

From the view of an unconscious person now waking, opened their eyes, surfacing from the dark waters of sleep.

Looking up to see a ceiling made from plates, this person was the young girl Oenhi. Awakened from a bed, in a room that was unfamiliar to her. Built from brick walls with several shelves containing books.

A spike of pain was on the right side of her forehead as she observed sterile gauze pads on it, indicating she's hit her head.

"Ow...my head." Oenhi mentioned.

"Look who's finally awake." The voice of a woman made itself known.

Oenhi turned her orange eyes to gaze, to see two female figures. One taller, with dark blue hair. Wearing a magenta dress, adorned with patterns of flowers. And the other being shorter with Cyan blue hair, wearing a casual female attire.

Due to their similarities, the little girl assumed they both must be related. While she held onto her head.

"Oenhi right?" The taller woman spoke out, confirming it was her voice earlier.

"How do you know my name?" Oenhi questioned her.

"Oh. He never told you about me? Your grandfather was always protective of you." The woman said.

Then the memory of that night ran back into Oenhi's mind like a herd of bulls trampling insects. The fractured mask figures, her grandfather defending her, the massive roots, the bright light, and her hitting her head. It sent a displeased expression on her face.

"Where is he? Where is my grandpa, where am I? Who are you people?" Oenhi jolted backwards, allowing the information to sink into her, which in response made her freak out.

"Calm down Oenhi, you're safe. I'll tell you what happened." The woman assured with a secure voice.

The woman got closer to the edge of the bed, sitting down while the younger one stayed her distance.

"It's okay to be scared, it's your grandfather after all. You're attached to him. I understand your worrying of him." The woman continued with sympathy.

"Where is he?" Oenhi questioned again.

"..." The woman stayed quiet, then looked back at the younger woman which looked away from both of them.

The taller woman then turned to Oenhi and explained. "I don't think you're ready for that."

This answer displeased her as she expressed aggression.

"What happened to him!?" The little girl shouted in concern.

"Easy, you'll know soon. Just calm down. You've hurt yourself badly, do you know how you got that?" The woman asked in an attempt to ease the situation away with another topic.

Oenhi paused her hostility as she didn't remember how she got that blunt force hit to the forehead, as she placed her hand gently over it once again.

"Iya...I don't remember. All I know grandpa was fighting those bad guys and now I'm here." Oenhi replied.

"Your memories must be in shambles from the hit you got, everything will soon piece itself together." The woman said, expressing a short smile on her face.

"My name is Sarahliza. A friend of your grandfather Solomon." The woman confirming her name.

"And she is my apprentice in training. Mimya." Sarahliza pointed at the girl who was looking away from them.

Then a memory clicked into Oenhi's head, she remembered Solomon saying those names before. She then assumed they must be friends after all.

"Oenhi Yggdrisil. I expected her to be...bigger." Mimya said, now looking at the two.

"Mimya don't be rude to our guest." Sarahliza responded.

"Anyways, you know what happened to my grandpa? Just tell me already." Oenhi re-invited the question with a niggling pain of want.

Not seeing another way out of this situation, Sarahliza sighed at spoke. "That we really don't know. Bu-"

Sounds of vibration rang inside of Sarahliza's dress, prompting her to place her hand within it and pulled out a flip phone. Her yellow eyes widen as if something was up.

"Listen Oenhi, I'll tell you later. Just stay here as of now. There's something I have to do." Sarahliza said, removing herself from the bed and walking towards the door to the right.

Oenhi wasn't fond of this information, who called her? Why is she leaving? She was getting aggravated.

"Stay here? I don't even know where I am!" Oenhi yelped.

She glanced at Mimya who did the same to her.

"Watch her while I'm gone. Gibbit found something about Solomon, I don't want her to get involved in this. She's still too young." Sarahliza quietly said to Mimya.

Mimya frowned at this as Sarahliza left the room and closed the door shut behind her.

For a brief moment there was silence between. The two girls in the room, Oenhi had the eager of exploration and escape on her face as she looked through a window near a bed.

"Before you attempt to go through the window, I think I know what happened to your gramps." Mimya spoke to the little girl.

This caught Oenhi's attention who looked at Mimya.

"You do?" Oenhi replied.

"You guys were attacked by wraiths if I'm correct." Mimya provided.

"Wraiths? What's that." Oenhi requested.

Mimya looked at her hand, considering what she's doing is against the wants of Solomon and Sarahliza. But she couldn't bare the feeling of a child lost in a situation like this, while being hurt and traumatised. Why can't she know of them, when she did as well.

"Wraiths are corrupted spirits that refuse to pass on in the afterlife. Like ghosts, or evil ghosts." Mimya explained.

This scared Oenhi a bit, a corrupted spirit. Her memories flashed back to Mazaeta and that insidious grin he had on his face. He definitely looked evil and paranormal on how they behaved.

But then she remembered Solomon fighting them with roots, like powers. She wanted to know about that.

"My grandpa fought those things. He made tree like stuff that grabbed them and snatched them up when he said random stuff. What was that?" Oenhi asked, while placing her legs on the floor at the bed's edge.

"Hm. Oh yeah, your gramps was using Arcane. Powers basically." Mimya summarised.

"Arcane? Powers? Wha." Oenhi was amazed and puzzled by this information. But then she asked." Where did Sarahliza go?"

Mimya walked over to the window and said. "Only one place, back to your house."

"I gotta go back there!", Oenhi yelped.

"Go back there? Why?", Mimya asked.

"Because my grandpa was there, maybe he beaten those wraith bad guys up and is waiting on me. I can't stay here." Oenhi assumed.

Mimya looked at the hopeless little girl, but she admired her courage. Or maybe this courage was an immature trait.

Maybe not, she did saw those people for herself and yet she wants to go back there with a chance they might still be there.

"Fine, I'll take you there. He owed me something anyway." Mimya said, making up her mind. Indicating that she has some relation with Solomon.

"Well great, let's go right now." Oenhi urged.

"But, we can't let Sarahliza catch us. So we'll take another route, a shortcut." Mimya mentioned, while walking towards the window.

Mimya opened the window, revealing the view of a village downwards. With people going about their daily routines and occupations. The Toki-Toki Village.

Oenhi also walked up to the window and observed the small village.

"Oh. Is this the village grandpa always told me about. Ah look." Oenhi added, then she pointed to the Northeast.

Mimya looked in the direction and observed a few hills rubbing onto each other. Springing forth from a thick festival of trees.

"I know those trees, my house is over there." Oenhi claimed.

But then the memory of the house being destroyed slithered into her head, due to Solomon's mysterious powers.

"Or what's left of it." Oenhi continued, with a unlikeable voice.

"Ironic, that's also the shortcut." Mimya added.

Both girls made their way out of the house via the back door once they went down stairs. Taking the mangled path within the woods that led back to her home.

Mimya was having a hard time traveling through crowded woods, she doesn't like being dirty. Not to mention bushes were latching and slapping onto her the more she attempts to swipe them away from her face.

"How are you doing this?" Mimya asked in annoyance.

Oenhi on the other was running, jumping, sliding, swinging and leaping through the woods like a monkey would on a hunt. Demonstrating flexibility at peak, snatching onto tree branches and using them as plat forms to swing to the other. She hardly touched the ground.

"Wait Oenhi!" Mimya shouted in amazement.

Although, at the location they wish to reach. On a hill, Sarahliza was already there, but with a man holding shovel and a dead body of a man.

Sarahliza expressed slight disgust at the sight, but she kept her composure, as if she's used to circumstances like these.

"How long has he been dead?" Sarahliza asked.

"Beats me. I found the place wrecked and him here." The man responded.

"Judging by the ruins, the house looked as if it was inverted then exploded outwards. The place is covered in dead tree trunks." Sarahliza commented.

"You think arcane had to do anything with it?" The man asked.

"Of course, Solomon's Arcanecraft no doubt. I guess Mazaeta finally caught up to him." Sarahliza pointed out.

"And this dude?" The man said.

Sarahliza walked up to the body, placing her hand onto its face. Closing her eyes for a brief moment and then widen them.

"There's remnants of waja in him Gibbit." She mentioned, while confirming the man's name.

"Then it means he was possessed by a wraith? Looked like whoever the spirit was they found a better host and killed him off." Gibbit assumed, placing the shovel over his shoulder.

"....I hope the host isn't Solomon. Such a combination would be dangerous." Sarahliza concluded.

Oenhi and Mimya soon made it near the hill, taking cover near several bushes. Peeking to see Sarahliza, Gibbit and the dead body.

"Who's that guy?" Oenhi asked, looking at Gibbit

"The guy who found you and brought you to us. A friend of ours." Mimya answered.

"Is that...a dead guy?" Oenhi said in fear, never seeing a dead person in her life.

The lifeless eyes were abnormal to her, as if it was against the natural of order for her. For in fact she was still too young to process death, she trembled as Mimya noticed.

Mimya touched her shoulder and reassured her. "Everything is fine, don't get worked up. Everyone is gonna go at some point."

Oenhi listened, as this Southend the building anxiety. Then she looked around and she isn't seeing Solomon.

"Where's grandpa?" Oenhi asked.

"I don't know. I don't think he's here." Mimya replied.

Oenhi didn't like this response, she wanted to go out there and look for him. But Sarahliza would spot them.

"So what we do now?" Gibbit asked.

"Bury the body. Solomon's grandchild will be staying with me until I can figure out what's going on." Sarahliza answered, removing herself from the deceased.

"Poor guy, probably didn't know what he got himself into." Gibbit claimed, removing the shovel from his shoulders and began digging into the ground.

Sarahliza spoke. "After getting Solomon's message, he said it was a group of them. If that's the case it'll be dangerous for us to pursue them. With all assumptions so far, the only thing we can say happened to Solomon is that-"

"Solomon is a host now." A familiar feminine voice interrupted the telling woman.

All four turned their eyes towards the source.

Oenhi's eyes widen as another memory came to her head.

They saw one of the wraiths that were amongst Mazaeta's group. The woman with a fractured jester masked, with blue tentacle like hair that falls down her back. She had a smile on her face that synchronised with another on the broken mask.

"What?" Gibbit said.

"Did yah not hear me? Solly is a hosty" The jester wraith claimed.

"I assumed much, you damn bustards." Sarahliza spoke in displeasure.

"Ooo that burned." The jester wraith replied.

"Host? What does she mean?" Oenhi asked Mimya in the bushes.

"..." Mimya knelt there in disbelieve and silence.

"What does that mean!?" Oenhi shouted at her.

"It means....gramps is a vessel for a wraith." Mimya muttered under her breath.

"What?" Oenhi spoke, her face was in confusion and horror.

What did it all meant, to her it was something very bad. Not to mention the memory of Solomon telling her to smile before launching her away from them, is that why he told her this? Oenhi thought to herself as her emotions bottled up to overflow.

Oenhi with an upset face leapt out of the bushes and yelled. "My grandpa is alive!"

Sarahliza, Gibbit and the jester wraith turned around and observed the upset little girl.

"Oenhi? How did you get here?" Sarahliza asked in concern.

"The kid?" Gibbit asked.

"Well well if it ain't miss kicky kickster!" The jester wraith announced.

Oenhi ignored Sarahliza's words and stared at the wraith in aggression.

"Where is my grandpa you octopus clown freak!" The girl spoke out.

"Ouch." The wraith commented.

"I'm so sorry Liza.....it was her idea..."Mimya claimed while stepping out of the bushes.

"Oh? Wasn't expecting y'all." The jester wraith added.

"Tell me this jester. Which one of your allies possesses Solomon." Sarahliza demanded.

"Really wanna know? Very well, since the little girl made me hurt, I'll say it." The wraith answered.

"Mazaeta." The jester wraith said in satisfaction, as she created sinister smile on her face.