-Neith-

I experienced everything that Akuji had, even if she didn't want me to see them. I tried to respect her privacy, I skipped through the moments where she was changing, where she was filled with the most self-loathing, when she wrote in her journal, and when she had family time. I skipped the majority of the moments which wouldn't aid me in my quest to find out what was going on.

I felt the panic and fear which she felt, along with the joy and the curiosity. Her childhood wasn't a happy one, something that I didn't expect. She wasn't necessarily sad, but she just didn't have a lot of joy or excitement. It astounded me what she found interesting and how long it took before she went outside.

I left her mind after catching up to the present moment. She wasn't aware of anything out of the ordinary within Crimcut. Of course, she didn't know the place. Nothing would seem out of the ordinary for her. I was looking for intense feelings of fear, or intimidation. Most of those emotions circulated around Musa, which didn't surprise me. Yet, they were only the moments which she had in the house.

"We found one interesting thing," I said as I stretched. It was uncomfortable being in that position for so long. "Your murder wasn't just planned, but magic was involved."

My father scoffed and leant back in his chair. "Yes, but what about my spell?"

I had almost forgotten about that. I smirked a little and shook my head. "She didn't notice anything peculiar; you are just too strange for her."

My father scowled at us. "I do not give off five-year-old 'vibes', no matter what state I'm in." He crossed his arms over his chest, pouting like said five-year-old.

"Sure, you don't," I responded before turning back to look at Akuji.

Her eyes had darkened, and her shoulders were tense. She was staring at nothing. She shook a little, looking even weaker than she had when I first met her.

"Are you alright?" I asked her. I didn't get a response, so I put a hand on her shoulder. "Akuji?"

She flinched and her wide eyes turned to me. "Hmm?" she hummed.

I inhaled and closed my eyes for a moment. "I think that you should rest. Not down here though." I looked to my father and then back to her. "Come on, you can rest in my bed, and I'll get you some hot chocolate."

She shook her head, but I paid no mind to her protests as I helped her to her feet and marched her upstairs. My bedroom door was wide open, so it was easy enough to get her to sit on the bed.

She looked around with curiosity, it seemed that it was enough to distract her from the protests and what just happened.

"You're not going to get a lot of rest just sitting there," I commented as I left the room. The dinner, which was in the middle of being prepared, had been hurriedly discarded. I'd try to fix that in a minute. I sighed and put a pan on the fire, preparing the hot chocolate.

"What did you see?" my father asked from behind me.

I jumped at his voice, looking over my shoulder. He was leaning against the doorframe, a calmer expression on his face.

"A lot," I vaguely responded. I rubbed my eye with the first which held the wooden spoon. "Did you know that they're not allowed to go outside as children? They're just forced to stay in the house for years."

My father sighed and shook his head, moving forward and taking the spoon out of my hand. "Get three cups," he instructed.

There wasn't any point in arguing with him, so I did as I was told and grabbed three cups, the usual ones wouldn't do, as they were used solely for tea.

"I didn't know that. I don't know a lot about other cultures." He scraped the sides of the pan to make sure nothing stuck to the sides. "But what surprised you so much?"

"Everything," I responded. I bit my lip when my father sighed, and continued, knowing he was getting a little frustrated with me. "We know she was murdered, but she wasn't just murdered with a knife."

He raised an eyebrow and poured the liquid into the three cups.

"There was fog, luminous blue fog."

He paused and then coughed on the air he inhaled. "There was what?" he asked slowly and then resumed his actions, before loudly putting the pan down.

"The fog was luminous blue. There was magic involved," I explained further. "She didn't see anything other than her boyfriend, but he wasn't the same as what she remembered. She was confused and didn't know what was happening. But she didn't know that when she woke up. I felt her confusion." I wasn't about to tell him what she was doing when she thought back to her murder. "Dad, he had the same-coloured eyes as she does."

My father said nothing but handed me two cups of the hot chocolate.

I got the message, taking the cups upstairs and back to my room, where Akuji was still sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I told you to rest," I scolded lightly as I put the cups on the crowded nightstand. There wasn't a lot of free surface area in my room. "Come on. I don't want you fainting or anything."

"Can I even faint?" she asked dazily. "How am I even breathing? Walking? Talking? Thinking?"

I tried to stop myself forms sighing as I sat next to her. I took her hand in mine and turned it over. Her veins were blue, maybe a bit more so then a normal, living human, but still relatively unnoticeable.

"Akuji, you're alive. I know that it would be difficult to comprehend, after seeing what happened. After waking up in a town you don't know, surrounded by strangers. But your heart still beats, there's still blood rushing through your veins. It may have taken a while to start up again. But you're still alive."

She turned to me. Her blue eyes were fixed on my hands as I ran my thumb over her wrist, it was colder than my hands, but that wasn't anything new. My hands were always warm, everybody had joked about me having a fire inside of me when I was younger.

"Can I try something?" she whispered slowly. "Just...to try something?"

I didn't know what she wanted to try, but I found myself nodding in confirmation. I didn't see anything which she could do to harm me, or herself. I thought of a million things that she could possibly want to try, but not one of them was correct.

She leant forward and kissed me.

My mind was full of explosions. I was faintly aware of Dalila jumping off the bed and leaving the room. Akuji's lips were soft, yet still slightly cold. Her hand moved to rest on my shoulder, and my eyes automatically closed, with surprise, disbelief, and surrender.

Then she pulled away.

That moment was something I never thought would happen. I wasn't the kind of person to fancy anyone in this village, nobody caught my interest. Nobody here was interesting enough to get to know, we knew nearly everything about each other. It was difficult to escape the web of arranged marriages and childhood promises. Yet here Akuji was. She's a mysterious, kind, interesting girl who never ceased to surprise me.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. Her gaze moved to the floor. "I shouldn't have done that."

I was still in mild shock as I took her hand again. "Don't be sorry," I managed to mutter out. "But you're still in shock." That was the only explanation I could think of.

"I am?" she asked, more to herself than to me. "How do I know that?"

I reached behind me and grabbed one cup of hot chocolate, placing it in her free one. "Drink, and then have some sleep. Tea will be finished when you wake up," I told her, before grabbing my own cup and taking a sip.

I didn't know if I could trust what just happened, but I sure hope so.

We finished our hot chocolate in an awkward silence. I took the cups downstairs and started to wash them when I heard a banging on the door. I nearly dropped the cups with the sudden loud noise. I sighed a little and shook my head, the sound bringing me back to the night where I first met Akuji.

"Coming!" I yelled, even though there was no need.

The door slammed open, and a heavy-breathing Javed stormed into the room.

"Neith, you have to come quick!" he shouted as he pulled on my arm.

I staggered forward, he was far stronger than I had anticipated. "What's going on?" I asked as I grabbed my cloak. "Akuji, come down please!" I yelled up the stairs.

"It's your father," Javed said. "He's in danger but you have to come quick. I don't know what to do."

I stopped him by pulling him backwards. I placed my hands on his shoulders, bending down to look him in the eyes. "Javed, slowly. What's going on?"

He scrunched his eyes shut and inhaled deeply. "Your father came to the house a few minutes ago. It's going badly. Neith, I'm scared."

I pulled him in for a quick hug. Then I pulled away and stood up, moving him towards Akuji.

"Go in the living room," I ordered and put my cloak back on its hook.

"What? Aren't you going to do something? He's your father," Javed nearly screeched every word as he pulled on Akuji's arm, which was trying to lead him into the living room.

I ignored his questions and let Akuji drag him into the living room as I pondered my options. I moved back into the kitchen to finish cleaning as I thought over my options. I would usually do this in the living room, but I didn't really want to be interrupted.

If Musa was using magic against my father, I would be useless. I'm powerless against Musa when it comes to battle magic or anything of the sort. I may be an even match when it comes to wit, but not magical talents. That would cause an issue. It could also be a trap. I'm not sure how devoted Javed is to his master, but I wasn't going to rule that out.

We had to come up with a safer way of approaching this. Musa seemed interested in Akuji, interested enough not to kill her like he would me. I didn't want to resort to that.

I shook my head and put the cups away, returning to the living room.

I had heard Javed's entire recollection of the events which caused him to become panicked, which didn't help me concentrate on my thoughts, but it helped. It helped secure a concrete thought which had me feeling cold and chained.

He would kill me immediately if I went there.

The only reason he seemed to want my father alive is because they were blood brothers. Musa didn't like to get his hands dirty, and so, my father's blood would be second best.

"So?" Javed asked me, running to hug my legs. "Have you figured something out? Will Nairn be alright? Is Musa evil? I always thought he was, but I was never sure."

I shook my head and ruffled his hair. "I think I've got a plan," I said slowly. "But I can't go to your house. From what you said, I don't think he would like it."

Javed paled, if that were possible at this stage. "No, no. You can't go. He'll kill you, just like he killed-" He clamped his mouth shut.

I narrowed my eyes at him and crouched down, pulling him closer. "Who did he kill?" I asked slowly.

He was shaking, but I didn't care.

"Javed, did you just lie to Akuji?" I asked.

He nodded his head, tears coming to his eyes.

"What did you lie about?"

He shook his head, a cry escaping his lips.

"What did you see?" I tried to soften my voice, just to make him feel more comfortable. But he fell into my arms and started to sob.

I sighed and shook my head. I wouldn't be able to do telepathy again, it had taken a lot of energy out of me, and it would take too long.

"Akuji," I said. "I think that you'll need to be the one to go to Musa's house."

"Me?" she stuttered. "Why me? I don't know anything about magic. I don't know what's going on here."

"Exactly." I nodded. "You can ask him for help about your situation. It means that we won't be dragging Javed into this, and you'll be able to learn what he did to my father." I stood up, Javed still holding onto one of my legs, and shuffled over to her. I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Akuji, you're our only hope of stopping him. You won't be in danger. He wouldn't hurt you."

She inhaled sharply and closed her eyes. "Okay," she whispered. "Just tell me what I have to do."

"That doesn't sound easy," Akuji said once I was finished explaining my plan to her. "I don't think that I can act. I don't think he'd believe me. Neith he will see right through me."

I shrugged my shoulders and crossed my arms. "You're a very good actress, I know. I've seen it in your head." I pointed at her accusingly. "You'll do fine. Just be your regular, terrified self around him and he'll believe you."

"I'm not always terrified," she argued.

"Around master you were," Javed pointed out. "Even I could tell that you were shivering in fear."

Akuji's face turned red. "Okay, and you want me to do what? Beg him for help? Beg him to kill me?"

I shook my head. "Beg him to tell you what happened. Get on your hands and knees and beg for the magic to be taken out of you. Be naive. Pretend you don't have a single clue about magic and that is why you need him. Because I refuse to research necromancy."

"But I do know nothing about magic, and you do refuse to research necromancy." Her eyebrows furrowed and her shoulders slumped.

"Precisely why you're going to be great at this," I said with a smile. "We'll be right behind you, but you won't know it."

She nodded slowly and gulped. "Where is the house again?" she asked Javed.

"It's in the forest, go South-west until you get to a small stream and then follow it to the house." Javed used his fingers to demonstrate a walking motion." then you should be there. It's not like, hidden by magic or anything."

I snorted a little. "That seems like something Musa would do," I commented. "You'll be alright. If you need me, you know what to do." I gestured to the small noisemaker that she held in her hand.

"Just pull on the strong?" she asked for the fourth time.

I nodded.

"I suppose I should go now," she said after a moment of silence. "Wish me luck."

"Don't die again," Javed said merrily as he held up both of his thumbs.

I stood up and placed my hands on Akuji's shoulders. "Good luck." I leant in and gave her a short kiss. My heart fluttered, but I could only concentrate on the fact that I was willingly putting her in harm's way. "We'll be there for you."