Keno and Satasha discussing the sudden news in the main hall after everyone left.
"Typheous?" he repeated "Why are you helping me finding him? I thought you were against the idea?"
Satasha hovered excitedly around him "You were born under a lucky star Keno!" she shook his shoulder eagerly "It seems like he is looking for you, perhaps he has sudden change in heart or you are Heaven's favorite"
Keno delighted "How so?"
She brightly smiled as she sat across him "The other day I was relaxing like you said in the east wing, then..." she clapped her hand "I felt it. His essence was hovering around your residence and keeping it under his watch"
Keno confused "Impossible! I gave everyone his description. If he was indeed here, I would have known!"
Satasha playful "When have I lied to you?"
"All the time!" he interrupted
"Ouch! That hurts my feelings" she clenched her clothing near chest area dramatically.
"If you have any to begin with!" he mocked
"Easy now O' all mighty dragon!" she warned "His intentions are yet mysterious, if he wants to cooperate with you he'd show himself and meet you already, but sneaking around make it like he intents are ill"
Keno pondering "Indeed! And he seems to have the shifting ability"
Satasha clarified "He's a serpent! Of course he can shift"
Keno "You think he knows that you're an imposter? Perhaps he's after you not me!"
Satasha smiled brightly as her eyes sparkled.
"Cut it out! You're scaring me!" Keno backed a bit.
"Oh silly!" she chuckled, he felt rebuked "I just have an idea" she added.
"No!" he immediately interrupted.
Satasha was pissed "You haven't heard my idea yet!"
Keno "I don't need to hear it! You want to be a bait"
Satasha corrected "Us as a bait"
Keno frowned.
"But here's the catch" she added "You be under disguise"
Keno rubbing his temple "It's no difference from what I've just said"
Satasha "Nah uh! There's a huge difference!"
Keno humored "How so?"
Satasha explained "If he's after me then once he sees me he'd attack right?" Keno nodded "Indeed, but if you were with me under disguise and he sees me with you coming out of your house what would he think?"
Keno pondered "You are suggesting that he doesn't know how I look? And he's waiting for whoever goes out with you to confirm?" she nodded
"But your assumption is highly dependent on the fact that he knows that you are here!" he argued "And don't forget that your presence as Satasha is now known! Perhaps he wants to meet this powerful person that everyone is talking about"
Satasha opened her mouth to argue then sat back rethinking "That has escaped my mind completely"
Keno asked "When did you notice his presence?"
Satasha "Two days ago"
Keno "That corresponds with the time line"
Satasha asked "So you're suggesting that both of us go under disguise?"
Keno "Precisely!"
Satasha "What about Gaia's core?"
"Can't you hide it?" he inquired
Satasha thought about the possibility "Too risky, better leave it behind" she took the bead out of her palm "The problem is that I won't be able to protect myself properly if I do so!"
Keno was puzzled "What are you saying? Is that why you need her core to make you stronger?"
Satasha shook her head "To stabilize my core!"
Keno was taken back by the sudden news, he didn't think it was why she refused to give him the core earlier "Elaborate!" he demanded
Satasha perplexed, she glanced timidly at him then away "I took a damaging hit from The Fallen while ago so Mark gave me this core to stabilize mine from deteriorating"
Keno opened his eyes widely, he looked aghast "You mean that without this core you'd die?"
Satasha "Not death, worse. I'd lose control over myself and destroy everything and everyone"
Keno froze, he stared blankly at het for a minute before saying "And you kept this hidden from me? Had it occurred to you that this information is rather crucial?"
Satasha mumbled "Cause you'd either lock me up or treat me like a bedridden"
Keno scolding "You bet your ass that I'd do both! That's it you aren't coming, I'll take Yuki"
Satasha agitated "Like Hell you would! If I am not going then good luck finding Typheous"
She stood up quickly forgetting that the core isn't within her and got dizzy dropping the bead.
Keno immediately went to fetch it, he press it back in her palm after he caught it "Don't be reckless! Your life matters more than anything else"
Satasha sarcastically "If you failed to notice, I have suicidal tendencies"
Keno didn't smile, he stared seriously at her "Absorb the core!"
Satasha scoffed "You are no fun!" she walked away, before she leaves the hall Keno called "Haru!"
Haru opened the door and bowed "My lord!"
Keno ordered "Lock Satasha in her quarters and keep her under constant watch"
Satasha scoffed "Like that would stop me from leaving"
Keno ordered "Shackle her!"
Satasha arched her brows "You'd lose your hand before you even touch me!" she warned Haru.
Keno immediately held her arms around her back and cupped her chin with the other "Shackles!" he ordered and Haru left to get them.
"You are going to regret this!" she promised "If you don't unhand me now, I'll make sure you'll end up unrecognizable!"
Keno "I'd rather have you hunting me down then have you killing us all! You still have to fight The Fallen first"
Satasha trying to break free from his grip "How noble of you to sacrifice yourself for the greater good! Jokes on you I found a loophole in your immense defense"
Keno intrigued "Oh yeah? What is it?"
Satasha smirked then immediately made a port gate beneath them that made them fall from the sky.
Keno cried "Are you crazy?" as he fell down holding her tight.
Satasha used her legs to push him away from her and so they were now falling separately, she made another port gate beneath them and they fell right through it diving in a lake.
Keno resurfaced gasping " I swear to God that I'd be the one to end you!"
Satasha who was already sitting on a rock "You can try!"
Keno lost his temper, he dragged her back to the lake to choke her, she giggled evilly as he tried to reach her neck. He kept following her as she swam away.
After he cooled down a bit he asked "Where are we?"
Satasha shrugged "I don't think I chose specific location"
Keno got out of the lake and so did she "So we might be at enemy's territory?"
Satasha "Perhaps"
"Brilliant!" infuriated "How lovely!"
Satasha "That's what you get for trying to Shackle me" she walked away for quite distance before losing her footing and falling on her back.
"Well fuckin deserved for being a little twat!" he rejoiced
Satasha sensed the ground that she fell on a felt it's tenderness, she backed away immediately to Keno, she tried to transmit both of them out of habit but forgot that it doesn't work on him.
"Seriously?" he asked
Satasha shushing "Something is there! Let's go now!"
Keno mocked "Yeah right! Like that would work on me"
But before he could scold her the terrain ahead of them began rumbling and shifting, before either of them took grasp of what was happening, they stood beneath a giant Cyclops.
They froze in their place not believing what stood in front of them.
The Cyclops stared at them as well for some time.
Satasha whispered "Do you think he spotted us?"
Keno shushed "Let's move back as quietly as we can"
And they both did so, they took few steps before the Cyclops spoke "Is that you mother?"
They froze, Satasha completely forgot that Cyclopses are Gaia's offspring, she glanced at Keno who seemed terrified, but before he could say anything Satasha was grabbed by the Cyclops.
The Cyclops grabbed her closer to have a better look at her. His grip was so tight that she felt few ribs got crushed, she bit her lips hard trying to not wince.
The Cyclops "You have mother's core but you don't look like her" he gripped her tighter "Imposter!" he got furious and threw her away toward the trees.
Satasha couldn't resist nor stop her fall, before she could react she was already hitting few tree trunks breaking them from the impact till she hit her head hard on a thick tree trunk knocking her out.
Keno immediately sprinted trying to help Satasha but was stopped by the Cyclops who grabbed him by the leg and lift him to have a better look, but before he did, Keno immediately hit his eye hard with a rock that he grabbed while the Cyclops lifted him blinding him.
The Cyclops cried, his cries were deafening. Keno wasted no time, immediately used his ability to control the earth to pin him on the ground. The Cyclops tried to break free, he managed few times before being immobilized. After that Keno immediately controlled the air to create an airless sphere while also strangling him with tree roots. The Cyclops kept fighting to break free but his neck was snapped and he dropped dead.
Keno huffed, overwhelmed with this encounter, he felt pity by killing him in such cruel way, then he remembered.
"Satasha!" he called as loud as he could.
He followed the trail of broken trees while calling her name over and over again, he began to feel restless that she wasn't answering for some time, then he heard it.
"I am here! I just need few minutes to recover"
It was her voice coming from left, he immediately went there to check on her, he knelt near her asking "Are you alright? Can you recognized who I am?"
Satasha "Yes, yes! Can you help me heal faster so we leave as fast as possible?"
Keno sighed as he used his healing abilities "You are the one who got us here in the first place!"
Satasha rolled her eyes "If it weren't for your arrogance we might have been taking a stroll in the market"
Keno warned "Don't piss off your healer or they might make you meet your maker"
After he heal her injuries she tried to get up but couldn't.
"Like a struggling beetle!" he mocked
Satasha gave up after few tries "You are a shitty healer mocking your patients in front of them"
Keno "Well this one deserves it!" he offered his hand so she can help herself up.
Satasha gripping it tightly to sit but was met with excruciating pain, she immediately let it go wincing.
Concerned he immediately knelt next to her "What wrong?"
Satasha curled on her side using all of her power to locate and heal whatever made her in such distress, she spoke with her teeth gritted "I can't get up or sit!" she began panting trying to muffle her screams.
Keno gently wrapped her arms around his neck and carried her on his back "Do you feel pain if I carry you like this?"
Satasha biting her arm "No!"
"Can you tolerate the pain?" he asked
Satasha "I can tolerate any pain if I am unconscious"
Keno placed her back on the ground gently.
"Just make a port gate and drag me through it!" she suggested
"That would worsen your current state" he reasoned "I just used my healing abilities on you and adding the port gate's power would interfere with your healing process"
Satasha waved "Superstitions!"
Keno "Then why don't you transmit?"
Satasha mumbled "I am concentrating on healing whatever is making me feel pain"
Keno sighed "Then forgive me for knocking you out!" he pressed her forehead
Satasha "Don't worry about me, worry about how you'll protect the both of us"
Keno smirked and used his power of hypnosis to put her into deep sleep, once he made sure she was unresponsive and sleeping, he carried her on his back and walked toward the east.
After a mile he started to recognize the terrain. It seemed like they weren't far from the Capitol, it takes a week journey to reach his residence on foot, but with him carrying extra weight it would take longer.
The moment he reached a village he went to where his spies usually be; the brothels.
They stayed for a night there, he had one of his physicians that he scattered across the east examine her, unfortunately the physician couldn't precisely determine her injury since that her core was rather chaotic at the moment.
Keno took money and a carriage with a comfortable bed in it the next day and set out to travel.
It took her day and half to wake up, but the moment she tried to move and have a better look around her back ached again. This time it was tolerable but she didn't want to push her luck by moving.
"I am hungry!" she stated
Keno was driving the carriage "Too bad I just finished breakfast!" he grabbed apple and threw it at her, it landed on her nose.
"Careful!" she cried
"My bad princess!" he mocked "Are you feeling better?"
Satasha munching the apple "It's tolerable but still needs some healing"
"Would it be healed in a week?" he asked
Satasha evaluating "More or less than a week depending on my nutrition and continuous sleeping"
Keno "Good because we'd be in the Capitol within a week. Concentrate on healing!"
...
And so it was, they spent most of their time in that carriage either talk or eat, they also shared the same bed. Some days Satasha would be sleeping and some awaken, what seemed a week journey was now a month.
Keno would stay at village's skirts in the carriage guarding her as she rested and when the supplies were short, he'd set a protective barrier around the carriage and go to shop for supplies.
He notified Haru about the current situation, this delay came out handy to ward off the prying eyes and spies that heard the news of her staying in his residence. Moreover, he thought that if Typheous was indeed hovering around his residence he might have the same reaction as the Cyclops that hurt her.
Satasha's current state was highly unstable and any new impacts would place her in grave danger.
He pondered at how naive she was for trusting a man with her unconscious self, he knew now why she was constantly betrayed, she trusts strangers easily.
As they camped near the Capitol for three days, Keno thought it would be better if they didn't enter at all, so in the morning he took a detour to the eastern temple. He figured that if anyone can help her heal faster, it would be Yu.
...
After fortnight they arrived near the temple's gate.
Keno gently nudged her "Satasha"
After he called her few times, Satasha slightly opened her eyes "Hmm?"
Keno shuffled her hair "I'll be carrying you to the temple. It would take a while to get up there so bare with it, okay?"
Satasha nodded then went back to sleep.
Keno carried her on his back and secured her with a belt.
The eastern temple had many steps, they called it 'The thousand steps to Heaven'.
All who seeks immortality or enlightenment must walk these steps to test their will.
Usually, Keno would walk through the portal gate at the east cliff skipping the steps, but this time he has to climb them while carrying her on his back.
It was indeed a test of willpower for him and for his patience, during which he thought if he'd leave her alone or stay with her till she wakes up. Even if he trust the temple with his safety, he can't say the same about hers, so he decided to stay till she regains consciousness.
After four hours, Keno reached the last step barely with shaky legs and hyper ventilating. The guards that were stationed at the temple's gate immediately took Satasha off him to lighten the burden; he collapsed on the last step gasping for air.
"She needs healing" he panted
The guards immediately took her to the healers.
After few minutes of resting, Keno followed them inside. He met Yu in the healer's wing where she was being examined.
Yu concerned "You look awful"
Keno "I just realized how humbling your stairs are"
Yu mocked "You used to race Fuji and win when you were kid"
Keno scoffed "I guess I lost my touch"
Yu corrected "You rely greatly on your powers that you forgot to train these muscles of yours"
Keno "Well it seems like that is what I'd be doing till she wakes up"
One of the healers reported "Her spine took great damage from the impact making two vertebrae completely crushed, it seems like she restored the rest as she hibernates and would take her month or two till she completely recovers" then he left.
Yu ordered the servants to clean the north wing for them to rest in. The north wing was the furthest and quietest, it was isolated from the rest of the temple and the safest. The wing was guarded by the black tortoise; one of the formidable four guardians of the eastern temple.
Even with formidable guardian, Keno didn't trust her safety to anyone. He took advantage of the black tortoise presence to spar with him and train his muscles during her recovery.
For Satasha it didn't matter how long she slept, her body was failing her by each minute she delayed the consumption of Gaia's core, something in her told her not to do that but she'd lose herself completely unless she does so.
On a fateful evening...
Satasha opened her eyes to scan the room that she was resting in.
She noticed that her clothes were changed, her hair and body bathed, and the door opened.
She barely got out of the bed to see where she was staying all this time, but most importantly to close the door; she felt coldness surging through her.
Once she reached the door she saw Keno sitting alone in the garden shed drinking as he stared at the full moon drifting away in his thoughts.
She thought about joining him but she was too weak to walk any further, the moment she pushed the door she fell as she lost balance.
Her fragility sickened her, a needle puncture could kill her in this state, and what made her more ashamed is that Keno of all people witnessed all of this.
The moment he heard a loud thud, he rushed thinking that she was attacked, but he found her leaning on one arm trying to get up.
"What happened?" he inquired as he knelt beside her to help her up.
Satasha shook her head "I can do it myself" pushing his hand away as she barely sat.
Keno ignored her prideful moment and carried her to bed.
"I said I can do it!" she was pissed
He sat her on the bed gently completely ignoring her "You should be more careful, you're not healing like you used to" his hands accidentally touched hers and flinched from how cold they were. He searched for another robe to warm her, and when he found one he covered her with it then placed the blanket over her limbs "Are you warm now?"
Satasha shook her head trembling, she didn't know why she felt sudden cold. Without hesitation, Keno immediately wrapped his arms around her pulling her closer so she could warm up. He remembered after the battle when she suffered the same and began to worry.
"You should consume the core" he suggested
Satasha crouched to warm herself but kept trembling "No!"
Keno "What are so afraid of? Don't be stubborn and do as I say"
Satasha wanted to argue but the coldness reached her core making her huffs condense as a snow, her lashes and brows began freezing and her limbs turned blue.
Aghast, Keno urged "Satasha you are losing control! Consume it now!"
Satasha knew that she was seconds away from losing control and blasting everything, yet she hesitated. She tried to calm her core and transmit to Helheim but the chaos in her core made it impossible to concentrate on transmission, reluctantly she pressed the core in her hand releasing its essence.
A golden brown halo emitted from her hand and encircled her body warming it up. She closed her eyes to bind Gaia's essence with her core, but when the process was completely, a sudden backlash made her vomit blood. She continued vomiting blood till she collapsed.
––
When Keno saw the golden brown halo encircling her, he backed away and set a barrier preventing anyone from sensing Gaia's essence. He waited for her to complete the process so he could lift the barrier, but her sudden backlash made him panic.
He rushed to check on why she failed and found her core rejecting the foreign essence. He didn't know what to do in this situation, he had never dealt with such chaotic core before.
"Satasha?!" he cradled her head trying to keep her responsive, she took one glance at him before collapsing unresponsive in his arms.
"Satasha!" he cried as he held her head gently against his.
He checked her vitals and found it were weak as her core completely dimmed.
He lifted the barrier calling for aid "Healer!" he cried "Bring a healer!"
He laid her gently on the bed as he kept calling for her name and completely panicking when her vitals began to get weaker by each minute.
Then...
Keno felt it, the complete stillness in her core and her vitals ceased. He couldn't believe his eyes, she was gone. He nudged her gently without saying anything, nothing happened. He nudged her again harder, nothing happened.
He shook her hard this time calling loudly her name.
For a solid five minutes nothing happened.
Keno waited for any reaction, a flinch or light breath, but nothing happened.
Suddenly when the healer rushed in to check on her...
Satasha opened her eyes widely and sat up gasping.
Everyone in the room backed away startled, she stared at her hands for a moment before looking around terrified, and when her eyes met the frightened look on Keno's face she calmed down.
The healer approached her carefully to examine her. She was shaking terribly.
"How is she? Keno asked
The healer confused "She seems perfectly fine unlike how she was days ago! Other than mental distress, she's healthy"
Satasha couldn't get herself to stop shaking, she crouched hugging her legs trying to make it less apparent.
Keno thanked the healer and walked him out, after few minutes he rushed next to her asking "What happened? You stopped breathing for a while and your core was so chaotic! I thought you were dead!"
"I..." she hesitated "I don't know what happened either"
Keno sat at the bed's edge caressing her head "You can tell me later, but right now you need to rest" he pat her back then got up to leave but his sleeve caught on something, when he turned around he found Satasha holding it with her trembling hand.
Keno immediately sat down worriedly holding her trembling hand "What is it?"
Satasha who was at the brink of crying, her chin quivered as her lips sealed tightly, she was fighting the tears from falling. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths trying to calm herself but few tears escaped.
"Stay!" that was what she could say after fighting the urge to disclose everything to him.
Keno understood that she must've seen something or found out about something she couldn't say at the moment, so he pulled her closer to him and embraced her.
Satasha held his clothes still trembling, she hid her face in his shoulder trying to conceal what she was feeling at the moment.
Her eyes were wide open glaring at the bed sheets horrified while an eager smile beamed.
Satasha was not shaking from fear, Satasha was barely containing her excitement.