"Don't even bother." Ciel says to Kou, which wakes him up from a daydream. A nightmare's more like it.
Kou looks back into his ring. "Was it true? All the stuff about the genocide and..."
Ciel sighs. He puts down the fruits into the grass. "Yes, it was. As far as I know. But that doesn't matter now, does it? It's not your fault for wearing a divine ring."
"But I feel so much guilt... this feeling in my stomach... I haven't felt this since we left from my clan." Kou says, as he holds a hand over his stomach.
"I think you're just hungry. Guess what, I am too. So why don't you do me a favor and wash these fruits while I go and cook the fish you caught?" Ciel smirks, lightening up Kou's mood, or at least attempting to.
Kou rolls his eyes as sits up, creating a plate out of ice. He puts the fruits into the plate. "Great, I somehow managed to get the fruit duty all over again."
Ciel, with a grin on his face, skips rocks onto the other side of the river as he sits down on the rock to start cooking the fish.
As hours pass onward, Ciel and Kou are distant from each other. Ciel hunts more animals to eat while Kou picks up all sorts of fruits and vegetables to carry with themselves. However, in their shared duties, they never end up facing each other again, until night sets.
Both of them eat the meat and plants they caught, silently. Kou hesitates to talk further with Ciel, a bit of fear in him. Meanwhile, Ciel decides to keep his thoughts to himself, much like before... After eating though, while Kou sleeps, Ciel realizes that Kou's ring no longer glows. Falling silent, much like the two of them.
By dawn, Ciel quietly packs both of their stuffs and finally wakes Kou up. "Man, I'll never be able to get used to waking up so early in the morning..." Kou complains, barely keeping his eyes from closing.
"Go and wash your face, Icy Prince." Ciel shuts Kou down and packs his bed as well. He grabs the rest of their stuff before getting ready to head off.
As usual, they start walking. Kou follows Ciel without questions, and when he does ask questions, Ciel doesn't answer any of them. But Kou, this time around, isn't annoyed at the attitude. He is more so, discreetly glad that Ciel isn't mad at him.
Regardless, Kou still does ask questions. "You mentioned something about a Greek Mountain before, could you elaborate?" He asks.
Ciel groans at the further question. "Erinyes Mountain?" Ciel rubs his temples. He then stares up to the sky, blocking his vision with his hand while looking at the sun.
"Yeah, something about that. You also mentioned going inside a mountain. Are we gonna drill inside of it?" Kou hesitantly asked, wanting the answer to be a simple no.
"No, Kou. We are not going to drill inside the Frostfang Mountain. We're simply going to enter through an opening." Ciel answered. He rubbed his forehead while speaking, as if it was common knowledge...
Kou let out a sigh. "Okay, so where is this Frostfang Mountain? And why are we walking there?"
"It's north, obviously, as we are walking north." Ciel answered. "What do you mean why are we walking? Of course we would be walking. Unless you can fly us there?"
"I mean why aren't we using a vehicle? A chariot, a horse carriage?" Kou walked faster, as to talk to Ciel from the side instead of the back. "For gods' sakes, I've been asking this for a long time. Why do we have to walk?"
"Oh, would you rather have four horses carry us in a chariot, dear Prince?" Ciel was yelling now.
Kou responded with the same tone of voice. "Yes, obviously! Even if we can't find a horse around here, I'm sure we could find goats!"
"So you want four goats pull us in a chariot. Do you even have any idea as to how difficult it would be to train these goats? They probably wouldn't be fast enough either."
"Mountain goats, Ciel, not regular goats. Obviously regular goats can't carry us."
"Yeah, because you're so heavy. And that doesn't even answer my question! How do you plan to train these goats?!" Ciel raised his voice higher as they spoke.
"I'm... I'm sure we can figure out a way!" Kou tried to argue. Ciel, then responded: "Oh, I have a better idea. Why don't we train dragons to fly us wherever we want?!"
Kou rubbed his chin in consideration... "That actually is not a bad idea."
Ciel palmed his face in frustration and got faster in his footsteps, avoiding to see Kou at all.
But at this point, Ciel realized it was impossible to avoid Kou. Since they were almost here, viewing the Frostfang Mountain now, as Ciel realized the temperature was significantly colder than a few minutes ago.
Kou, of course not noticing the temperature drop continued walking. "I'll tell you what, I'll create a slide of ice so we can use dogs to slide us to the mountain."
Ciel stopped Kou from walking or talking any further, holding him by the shoulder.
"No need, we're already here."
In front of them, lied an environment without any live grass. The entire place was frostbitten. The plants were dead, however Kou noticed a few trees that were still giving fruits even in the cold.
"So this is the Frostfang Mountain? I mean, yeah, frost is written in the name but I didn't expect... this." Kou turned around to face Ciel, with a questioning expression.
Ciel, merely shrugged and continued to walk. As they walked further, they were met with rusty iron and rotten planks of signs. The rust completely and utterly had made it impossible to read what the sign was saying. However, the wooden signs were more readable, although fragile.
The sign read "Welcome to Blightholm". The place was covered with mostly dead trees. Ciel kept walking anyway, in which, Kou had to follow.
"Before you ask, and I know you will, this place is some sort of ancient village. The village used to lead into the mountain, but it was separate from the mountain."
Kou walked significantly closer to Ciel than usual. "So... what's our business in this mountain anyway? You haven't told me yet..."
Ciel batted an eye at Kou getting closer than before. He then brushed through leaves and vines. "There's supposed to be a witch living in the mountain. We need her help. Remember the flame shards? She has one of them."
Kou, then got away from Ciel. "Wait, wait, wait, a WITCH?! Like an actual witch?!"
Ciel rolled his eyes. "Yes, an actual witch. Why? Are you scared she's gonna turn you into her lunch?"
"Ciel, this is serious business. How powerful is she to have one of the flame shards? You've been treating the flame shards more importantly than anything, so if she has one of them..."
Ciel looked at Kou with a much different expression, one of acceptance. "Yeah, you're right about that. We're gonna have to convince her somehow, I don't know how."
Kou scoffed. "I mean, if she has the flame shards, she probably won't give it to anyone else! That means we can just head out to the next one. Let's go, we've no business around here." Kou spoke, as he retreated farther.
However, while walking away, Kou steps on something. He then collapses behind himself, falling on top of something... metal. He then gets up to see what it was he fell on.
When Kou looks down, he's greeted with a human skeleton inside a rusted armor. Kou, then freaks out and screams, running towards Ciel.
Before any of them have a chance to react, they hear someone talking. Talking to them.
"Relax, kiddo. That guy's long gone, he's not going to do anything to you."
Kou shouts back at the voice. "YOU RELAX! Have you ever tripped on a dead body?!...Wait, you're a... cat?"
A black cat stands on top of a fallen tree trunk. The cat licks it's paws and looks back at the two in front of it. "Yes. I am a cat. Got a problem with that?"
Ciel narrows his eyebrows. "Well, obviously. You're a talking cat...?"
"You guys speak like you've never seen a talking cat before." The cat stretches on the tree trunk.
"Obviously, we have not! Talking cats don't even make sense!" Kou yells back at the cat.
"You guys wanna see the witch or not?! Stop wasting my time."
Ciel, then stops Kou from yelling more, holding him with both hands. "Yes, yes we do want to see the witch. Are you the witch's pet?"
"Don't call me a pet! Gods, you kids have no respect for anything, do you? Follow me."
The cat jumps off the tree trunk and starts to lead Ciel and Kou through the old village and through the woods. Although conflicted, they still follow the cat.
The cat leads them into an opening, seemingly a small cave in the mountain, just as Ciel told Kou. As the cat leads them deeper into the cave, the air grows thick with an unnatural stillness. Broken glass crunches beneath their feet, and the smell of dried herbs and something metallic - like old blood - permeates the space.
"Ciel, this place is ominous... Please, let's just go before it's too late..." Ciel pushes Kou off his shoulders and gives him an angry look, before continuing to follow the cat.
"You wanted to see the witch, you'll see the witch. If I were you, I would try to maintain a rather polite and respectful tone of voice with her."
Ciel scoffs. "I'm not taking advice from a talking cat. Is she here or not?"
"Oh, she's here alright." the cat mutters, its tail swishing with an almost impatient energy, as it stares into Ciel's eyes with a displeased look.
Suddenly, a whisper cuts through the silence. Not from the cat, not from Kou or Ciel, but from somewhere deeper in the shadows. A woman's voice, soft yet carrying an edge sharp as a blade.
"Visitors. How... unexpected."
Behind a heavy, dark linen drape, a silhouette emerges. Steam rises, creating a ghostly outline of a woman's figure. Her shape is lean, with sharp angles that suggest both grace and danger. Water cascades, creating soft rippling sounds against what seems to be a natural rock basin.
Her feet - pale and delicate - are visible through the narrow gap between the drape's bottom and the cave floor. They're perfectly still, barely causing a ripple in the water's surface. Each toe is precisely positioned.
The silhouette shifts. Shoulders move. An arm reaches out, causing the drape to flutter slightly, revealing more of her shadowed form - a hint of shoulder, the curve of a neck.
Kou swallows hard and backs out, almost at the exit of the cave. Ciel also takes a step back, a drop of sweat runs down his cheek. "We're not here to disturb anyone. We're here to ask something from you, Lohky." Ciel hesitates to speak more, as the figure gets closer.
"Ah, to ask something from me. And you have the audacity to speak my name?" Lohky pushes the drape behind her, walking out of the hot water, steam flows out from behind her.
Lohky stands almost fully naked, with only a small towel covering her from her thighs to her chest. Her green eyes pierce through the two of them. "Arthur, why did you allow these two boys inside?"
Lohky then continues to walk without waiting for a response. She throws aside her towel, but the second her towel falls from it's place, Lohky stands, the steam quickly giving way to a meticulously crafted outfit. A deep emerald green silk undershirt with a mandarin collar peeks beneath a structured purple leather jacket. The jacket sits asymmetrically, with a diagonal silver zipper and subtle green piping along the seams. Her fitted green leather pants blend seamlessly with mid-calf boots that gradient from deep purple to emerald green. Her outfit reveals just enough of her skin to be seducing.
A thin silver chain adorned with a small emerald pendant rests against her neck. On her right hand, a simple silver ring - an elegant accessory without any magical pretense.
"Was I not supposed to speak your name?" Ciel takes another step backwards, observing the woman in front of him.
Lohky scoffs. "Your ignorance is unmatched even by your wisdom, Ciel Voldrald."
"How do you... I'm not even going to question that." Ciel starts to get closer to Kou, which he thinks is behind him, but Kou is not present.
"I'm sorry if I was being rude, Lady Lohky. We're only here to retrieve the Eternal Flame Shard."
"The Eternal Flame Shard, huh?" Lohky flicks her hand around and inside her palm, appears an emerald green flame burning bright enough to light up the cave. "What do you have to give to me in return?"
Ciel stands silent for a second, as he sees Kou right next to Lohky. He seems to be... admiring Lohky, as if hypnotised. Ciel rubs his forehead in frustration.
"Lady Lohky, I... I'm sorry to say I cannot offer anything return. I'm asking you a favor, in this way."
Lohky lets out a sharp laugh. Her laugh pierces through Ciel's ear drums, he clings to his ears as if in pain. The black cat pushes his paws against his ears as a reaction, keeping his ears safe.
"A favor, you say? How amusing." Lohky steps closer to Ciel, her boots clicking on the stone floor of the cave. "If you are asking a favor from me, you must be able to make it worth my time then."