Ka’oa couldn’t say he wasn’t a little disturbed by the stranger’s nonchalant attitude- not even trained soldiers could stay completely calm when held at bladepoint. She didn’t seem like she wanted to start a fight either- she didn’t even glance at the club she’d dropped, and kept her eyes completely trained upon Ka’oa. Whatever her intent was, it didn’t seem like she was a threat.

But just to be safe, he kept his blade near her throat.

“Who are you?” He asked, finally breaking the silence. She glanced at his blade with what sort of looked like amusement in her eyes, and slowly pulled back the turban which draped over her forehead, revealing a purple line between her eyebrows, that curved towards her forehead and then branched off into two smaller lines. It…vaguely resembled a river.

And then it hit him.

He’d finally reached his destination.

He lowered his blade and let out a long sigh;after all he’d been through he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to relax again. Unsure if he’d ever be able to get a good night’s sleep without pouncing to his feet after hearing the slightest noise.

He wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to free himself of the constant fear which pumped through his veins and tensed his muscles.

But now he felt like he could pass out at any moment.

“Are you Basta?” Pepi broke in; apparently he’d tied up the soldier while Ka’oa was interrogating the stranger.

“No. I was her apprentice,” The stranger replied. “She died a few days ago. She told me you would seek her out.”

So she was dead; Ka'ao couldn’t say he was devastated by the news, but it was disappointing nonetheless. He’d hoped to find some sort of closure in seeking out his mother’s old friend and teacher. But if this mysterious, self proclaimed “apprentice” of her’s was half as effective as Basta (or what he’d heard about Basta anyways), then he hadn’t the slightest concern.

“So I'm guessing you know why we’re here, then.” Pepi said.

“Of course. I know all about your escape from the Palace- and I intend to help you to the best of my abilities. It’s what my master would have wanted, after all.” She sighed. “But for now- let’s do something about all those bodies, hm?”

She waved a hand at the corpses flung around the alleyway with a smile.

-

After a few minutes of discussing how they’d dispose of the bodies, Basta’s disciple had eventually decided that they would take the bodies back to her apothecary, formerly Basta’s, and she would handle the concealment and disposal of the corpses. Luckily for them, her apothecary wasn’t too far away from the alleyway; but unluckily for them, they probably had about a few hours before the disappearance of the soldiers were noticed. So they’d settled upon resting temporarily at her apothecary while she disposed of the body, and then they would travel over to the next town over, to one of Basta’s old apothecaries; apparently she had multiple apothecaries set up across the kingdom as a precaution.

So she had shown them to the nearest apothecary, an unassuming building fighting for space amongst a row of other houses which looked the exact same, a running theme he was starting to notice in Zau. Inside, however, it was a completely different story- it looked as if someone had taken a temple and stuffed it inside the interior of the house . Bottles upon bottles of herbs and mixture spilled over tables and counters, and mounds of pottery and miniature religious states were present in every corner.

And there were a lot of corners.

Not that the unsuspecting size of the apothecary was even comparable to the palace, let alone his room. But as far as commoner homes went, it was something to behold. After showing them around the building, she promptly headed into the embalming room, which was in the basement, to dispose of the bodies as quickly as she could; though Ka'ao had a feeling that she probably wasn’t just going to burn the bodies and call it a day.

“What do you think, Pepi?” Ka'ao had asked after she’d left; as far as he was concerned, he was convinced she was Basra’s apprentice, but Pepi seemed a little reluctant, though he always looked kind of hesitant.

“She’s probably who she says she is. The tattoo of the Zeru River says it all.” Pepi muttered, frowning at a bottle that contained what looked like a pickled eye.

“Do you think it’s a fake?” Ka'ao asked- he doubted that, honestly. The symbol of the Zeru River was an infamous one, associated with the Zeru Embalmers, a group of religious offshoots that strayed from the teachings of the Kurigazu Temple; but according to his mother, they didn’t so much stray from the teachings of the Kurigazu Temple as they did expand on those teachings. Whatever that meant, the truth was that those who openly wore that symbol put themselves at high risk; and he’d already asked her earlier if he could touch it to confirm for himself. The intricate, subtle details were just like that of his mothers- and when he’d tried to rub it away, it remained unsmudged and perfect.

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“There’s a chance. Even a Zeru Embalmer like herself might be swayed to betray her own prince with the right prize.” Pepi said, glancing out the narrow window behind him; the woman was covering the corpses in cloaks and tying them up one by one, the rhythm of her work not even slightly affected by the fact she might be spotted. “But that’s not what I’m worried about here.”

“So then what’s eating at you?” Ka'ao asked.

Pepi’s eyes sank ever so slightly.

“Is this really what you want to do?” Pepi asked. “Do you really think you can retake your kingdom this way?”

So that was what this was about.

“Is there any other option left for me?” Ka'ao replied sharply.

“Banking your life on the teachings of ancient beliefs- this isn’t like you, my prince..” Pepi murmured. “Do you really think she can help you take back your kingdom? Cast a spell and whip up a ritual, and magically return everything which you lost?”

“That’s heresy.” Ka'ao said warningly; though he saw where Pepi was coming from. He believed in his mother’s teachings, and he believed in the beliefs of his people; to an extent. He knew very well that whether or not gods or demons truly did exist, there wasn’t much chance of them suddenly swooping down to help him now. And any help they could give him would be easily tramped by the might of his father’s army.

He knew that.

He knew it better than anyone else.

“The last request of my mother were to seek out the might of the gods, and use their powers to avenge her.” He murmured. “You heard. Do you intend to make me relieve that nightmare?”

Pepi opened his mouth- but Ka'ao silenced him with a glare. Pepi was his only friend left, but he could only be so patient.

“I apologize, sire.” Pepi bowed his head slightly.

“I already forgave you.” Ka'ao whipped around; he really couldn’t stand to be mad at Pepi for too long. Something about his constant deadpan expression made Ka'ao feel extra guilty whenever he chewed Pepi out- but now he felt even more stupid. An exiled prince yelling at the only guard who stayed to protect him despite his fall from grace.

How unsightly.

“Thank you, sire-“ Pepsi’s voice broke off suddenly, and he cleared his throat. “I’m just concerned; my number one priority is your safety, after all. Always has been.”

That was another thing; why did Pepi rescue him that night?

He could still remember Pepi shaking him almost violently in the middle of the night, shouting something at him while he struggled to understand what was going on. At the time, he’d been tempted to shove Pepi off him and call for the guards- but he saw the fear in Pepi’s eyes, and that was all he needed to know to get going.

If Pepi hadn’t gone to wake him up then, he’d be killed by his father’s soldiers, which had burst into his room moments after they’d fled the palace.

He owed his life to Pepi.

“Pepi; why did you save me that night? Why did you join me in exile?” Ka'ao asked; he hadn’t really stopped to consider why Pepi had risked his life to help him until now. Much less realized how ungrateful he’d been for Pepi’s help.

Pepi didn’t answer at first; his eyes bore intently into Ka'ao’s as he considered the question. For as long as Ka'ao remembered, Pepi had always considered nuanced questions in this exact manner; he was never quick to answer. He always took a step back and calmly broke down what the other person was asking in his head before formulating the best possible answer; it was probably why they’d got along so well.

Unlike his older siblings, and the guards that had been individually assigned to them, he and Pepi didn’t have much banter going on at first. Ka'ao could still remember when Pepi had first been assigned to him as his personal guard; they were both children at the time, and equally awkward. At first, Ka'ao kind of hated how Pepi could never hold a truly deep and meaningful conversation unlike the other guards.

But as they grew older, the serenity and quiet that came with Pepi’s presence became soothing, as his life grew busier and busier.

And before he knew it, he went from being annoyed with Pepi to finding his presence almost healing.

In all honesty…he was glad Pepi had followed him into exile.

He met eyes with Pepi, who was still seemingly pondering the situation, and smiled; Pepi smiled too, or at least, his mouth made an effort at smiling.

“You don’t have to tell me. I’m just glad you’re here.” Ka'ao muttered; he couldn’t bring himself to say everything he’d thought just now. He had to retain at least some of his pride. Pepi nodded slightly, his smile vanishing, and his face turning; unreadable. Well, his face was already pretty unreadable, but even Ka'ao couldn’t figure out what Pepi was feeling. Weird.

Before Ka'ao could say anything else, the door downstairs swung open, and shortly after, Basta’s apprentice ascended up the stairs, her silky, short black hair glittering with droplets of sweat.

“Sorry. I needed some material and the corpses you guys provided happened to have exactly what I was looking for. So thanks for that.” She smiled brightly at Ka'ao.

…Mildly unsettling, but he didn’t have the time or interest to ask her about what kind of “material” she’d been looking for.

“I‘m going to get straight to business. My kingdom’s been taken from me, my family is dead, my prayers have been ignored, and I have but a single soldier supporting me in my cause.” Ka'ao said, pacing around while trying not to step on any spilled bottles. “I must know; how can I obtain the power I need to take my kingdom back?”

“I can’t offer you any advice in the way of battle tactics, as I’m sure you know.” She replied. “But if you’ve come here seeking the power of the divine, then I can help you. Under one condition.”

A condition?

So there was something she wanted from him after all; she wasn’t just helping them out of the goodness of her heart. The embalmer, quickly noticing the flicker of suspicion in his eyes, laughed softly.

“Don’t worry, it’s not something I need from you,” She explained. “It’s a requirement.”

“Out with it.” Ka'ao said, crossing his arms.

“To invoke the powers of the Gods, you’ll have to die first.”