Call From Outside

"Give me a moment." Kazi had never accepted a call so fast. "Ms. Sun-young!"

"Kazi! You're alive! Thank god!" Her voice broke out a sigh of relief. "I thought…is William with you!?"

"He is. He's fine, I think."

Unconscious but alive wouldn't be the best comfort, he thought. Better to keep it vague.

"I thought both of you were dead. You disappeared from the party and now you're back! What happened?"

"It's a long story. Well, not long, but insane. We'll definitely need a barbecue for it."

Sun-young laughed. He wasn't sure if he had ever heard her laugh so openly. An infectious mirth of wonder and delight. He wondered what her expression was like.

"And you?" Kazi asked.

"Yeah, it's an insane story." Her enthusiasm winded down. "Super insane."

"We can talk when I get back. It was nice to hear your voice." Beside him, William groaned. Kaloomte' Yuritzi tensed up. "Okay, yeah, William is waking up. I'll be back later. Text a rendezvous point."

"Got it."

The call ended. He and the Kaloomte' waited for the bloodied blond to open his eyes. The humble blueness had returned with no sign of the void. William rubbed his eyes, accidentally wiping himself with blood, and did a double-take.

"Kazi?" William stared at the blood in his hands, then him. "What happened?"

"You tell me." Kazi could piece together much of what happened. "You ran into Nash's goons and what? Fought them?"

William didn't meet his gaze. "...yeah. Sorry."

"You must have had a good reason," Kazi said. "What was it? Just what happened?"

"You must have saved me again, eh?" William sighed and hung his head in defeat. "It was just normal insults. Shit about my mom. I know I shouldn't have gotten riled up but I couldn't help. Those types of guys are the worst."

"And then?"

"And then…" His brows furrowed. "I…don't remember. I fought them and I think I fell. I-I think I fell into a pool of blood. I must have." The blood in his hair, hands, and clothes seemed to be convincing him. Was that the truth though? "After that, I'm drawing a blank."

Kaloomte' Yuritzi opened her mouth. Kazi talked over her.

"Don't worry about it. I got into contact with Ms. Sun-young. From the sound of it, she and Marta got into a big scuffle too."

William remarked, half-joking, "With each other?"

"No." Pause. "At least I don't think so."

"You never know with Sun-young," William joked. His nostrils flared up from the excess blood clinging to his clothes. "We should go. I REALLY need to change," William muttered.

"Right." Kazi turned to the Kaloomte' and the two of them couldn't help but exchange smiles. "So, will you stay here?"

"We were sworn to stay in this land, to protect it till the end. However, our gods have granted us the mission to leave. Just like you, we will relocate and let the gods decide the fate of their places of worship."

"Good. It can't be good to be alone with just your sisters," Kazi joked.

"They are fine, kind-hearted women. I raised them as best I could." The Kaloomte's gaze softened. "That reminds me, my sisters and I prepared you a gift."

From her pouch, she carefully laid out a belt across the palms of her hands. It was the same belt she had been wearing, or rather should have been wearing. Finely braided with quetzal feathers and ornate jade beads, yet shimmering with light it did not previously possess.

"This is a Kaloomte's belt, enchanted and blessed further by Kukulcán. For slaying the creature of the underworld, we as well as the gods wish to thank you."

Denying such an offering would be disrespectful. Kazi accepted. "Kalmoote' Yuritzi. It is an honour." He placed a hand over his heart and lowered his head.

She mirrored him, respect oozing from her. "The honour was all mine, Kazi Hossain," she said, handing the belt over. "As warrior to warrior, perhaps we will cross swords one day."

"One day."

[ Receive:

1x Kukulcán's Champion Belt ]

He didn't know what would happen to her after the Gate. Her existence might fade or maybe continue to exist as an enemy to players. Regardless, what mattered to Kazi was that he did his best; that through his hardest efforts, witches were able to live and get their happy ending.

***

Their meeting point was right outside the Nulgupjisin Grill House. Black and blonde hair were already there, Sun–young and Marta, the former of which searched her surroundings with a subtle hunch and a strong edge. Not that it mattered. Kazi jogged up to them with a big wave.

The first thing Marta did when she saw him was hug him.

"Oh. Er…"

Hugging women wasn't really a thing for him, so he awkwardly patted her head.

He heard hiccups and sobbing. Kazi peered down and went wide eyed. 'Is she…crying?'

She was, and staining his black garbs with her tears while she was at it. He looked to Sun-young for help. She pretended nothing was happening. No, it seemed almost like she was too occupied to care.

Kazi wasn't the type to care about what people thought, but this was different. Way, way different. A girl crying into his chest? The stares he was receiving from his Muslim brethren were not good.

He gently pushed Marta away and said, "Next time, warn me. I might not look like it but I am not the hugging type."

She took off her glasses and wiped her tears. "M-my bad."

Dammit, when she made an expression like that, how could he not feel guilty? Rules were rules, however, and so were outward appearances. "Let's go inside," he hurriedly suggested.

"Where's William?" Sun-young asked.

"He's, well…" A sigh breezed through his nose. "Let's go inside and I'll explain."

Marta promptly did, the chime of the door going off. Sun-young didn't. Sweating profusely, her legs almost refused to move.

A hand to the door, Kazi looked over his shoulder. "Sun-young?"

Her lips trembled. "I-I'm okay."

"You're not..." Kazi trailed off, as his eyes scanned her. She had lost several pounds of weight and her complexion was ghostly white. Sun-young had always been lithe and through the Heavenly Games she had been unintentionally building muscle in the arm and shoulder areas. "What happened to you?"

All that progress was gone. All the muscle, all the strength, all the confidence she had built up was gone. Veins of red reached into the sides of her eyes. Somehow, she was worse-off than William.

"Ha…" She wiped the sweat coming down her temple and powered inside the store, her palm hovering over her stomach. The blue garb was a tinge darker in that area. Blood? No, something darker. "I'm okay!"

Kazi was taken aback. Sun-young didn't ever raise her voice. Never. She was as cool as a cucumber.

"I'm okay," she muttered as if to convince herself. "I'm okay…"

Five days of rest. Five days of healing, and yet Sun-young was still hurting. The Game System should have healed her. Marta should have been able to heal her.

What in the world happened?