10 Gwendolyn

"You dare?" asked Aka, alarm evident in her voice.

"Why wouldn't I?" Jin answered calmly. His androgynous features were more striking. Calm and resolute. Weak and yet strong. A contrast of not only features and demeanor but also of spirit.

Aka and Vex looked at Xen who was laying on the ground, then at Jin who was at the brink of death. No matter how much they wanted to find out who Jin really was. Death is already knocking.

And they dared not answer.

Vex walked towards Jin and Aka, the sisters then began chanting incantations. "djúpur svefn, djúpur svefn, öróf... að losna."[1]

They looked grave as they chanted. And soon, color came back to Jin. But his presence seemed to have slipped away, as if he was just a shell without a soul...

As they finished they could not help but look into one another's eyes. "I feel like we should kill him. Regardless of this weak state. You saw the power he used against Lucien. A deity in a mortal's shell. Yes, for now he may be able to fool the humans. But for him to choose our enemies over us, his own kind, is making him an enemy as well. Should we risk this?" Vex said sternly. Aka kept quiet, contemplating everything Vex said. "We know nothing, our own kind first, before any action..."

Xen finally woke up, she saw that her two sisters were tense. "What happened?" she couldn't help but ask.

Aka continued, "Dormancy... Vex, how could he just choose dormancy? Regardless of the danger, we've never heard of a deity walk right beside death. He could either live or die. Death is capricious. Kill when he sleeps.. kill when he wakes? I need to know something first before we make any move." Aka had all sorts of emotions coming out as she explained her thoughts to Vex, she then looked at Jin's body.

Vex looked at Aka, both seemed to not have heard Xen. She replied seriously, seeming to not have gotten over the turns of events earlier and whispered, "Dying physically, dying spiritually, and dying mentally. It's all a matter of time. This is his only choice. But I would rather choose death. Some things are better left forgotten... to choose something far horrible than death like Dormancy... What if he knows of a way to survive this? Then the spirit he owns will grow exponentially, killing him when he wakes up won't be easy. Look, his body is already healing from its injury and his soul and body are starting to have peace with each other. This... mortal... deity... When he called the leviathan so casually, I feared him. I don't..."

Xen's pupil constricted, she couldn't hear most of what Vex said. But after listening to their conversation, she couldn't help but ask a few octave higher than usual, "What? Dormancy? Who had chosen dormancy?"

Aka and Vex were startled with Xen's shout. They looked at her and sighed. They spoked at the same time, "You're awake."

"It's good that you woke up." Vex said as she returned to her sister's side.

Xen looked at Vex and Aka suspiciously.

~At a Meadow, Early in the morning~

"Gwendolyn!" A young girl's cheerful voice cried out in the meadow. The child looked quite remarkable and her dark complexion was striking and elegant. She was wearing a black arabic bedlah as she ran like a young leopard cub in the forest. The rays of light shone upon her like she was an illustrious child deity running about in her own creation and her hazy gray eyes made her demeanor very soft and charming.

There was a child older than the little girl by 3 years, she stood miles apart from the little girl, she turned her head as she gazed at the running chocolate bunny. She was wearing a simple Salwar Kameez. Her Salwar had a beautiful brown hue and it also had a rich green and snowy white embroidery at the neckline. Her Kameez were simply white. She was a young girl at the verge of womanhood. Her face was fair as pure jade, having downturned, emerald eyes. Her celestial nose had a hint of redness as she must've been working before the girl called her out. She was quite the beauty regardless of her simple taste on clothings.

As the little girl continuously ran towards the girl named Gwendolyn. One could not help but sigh at the free spirit the child held, so wild and dazzling, free from the shackles and sins of the world.

"Stop running! You know, just because you guys are travelling performers, you shouldn't push your luck, Prime! What if you got into an accident?" Nagged Gwendolyn as Prime stood in front of her inhaling and exhaling deeply.

[1] djúpur svefn, djúpur svefn, öróf... að losna (Deep sleep, deep sleep, of time immemorable... breaking away.): This spell helps the person, regardless of immortality or mortality, to enter a deep sleep state. But, this spell, though it can help souls that choose dormancy... there is a high probability of death. A 99.7% of death to be quite exact.