The spirit world is broken and in desperate need of a restoration. True heroes and ancient beasts that once walked are now a thing of the past. Between the empty spaces of forgotten treasure halls there are whispers of one who has returned. One lege...
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Anari hoped that Bodhi got her message.
When the monk showed up at her paper space, they greeted her with, "Hey, you kind of suck at drawing maps. You know that?"
Sweet immortal peaches, it was nice to hear Bodhi's voice again. Not that they would know, but after spending so many seasons on edge at New Dimension, Anari welcomed the monk's familiar presence.
"I didn't think you were going to come."
"Yeah I can tell." Bodhi walked around the space. "You don't really clean up for guests, huh?"
The monk seemed intrigued by Anari's high ceiling and freakishly tall windows. The width of the space was actually narrow, taking on the interior of a small studio apartment. The kitchen merged with the bedroom. There was a single piece of furniture, a wooden bunk bed with an oversized futon on the bottom. Thanks to the piles of laundry and other personal clutter, there was really nowhere to sit.
There wasn't much room for Anari to run either, but she managed to sidestep the monk when they tried getting closer.
"What? Do I stink or something?" Bodhi asked as they craned their neck to scrutinize a lump of amethyst hanging from the deep ceiling.
Anari drew her hands up to her chest, cracking the fine bones in her knuckles. "No, but my boss might be wondering why I smell like humanae later on. So you'd better keep your distance."
Bodhi shot her a look that said how lame of an excuse they thought that was.
"What's he got against humans?"
Anari wished the monk would just drop it. "Nothing, but. My boss... he's very dangerous, Bodhi. If possible, you have to pull out of the tournament."
Bodhi snorted. "Can't do that. Ritsu's doing it for me. It would be like a slap in the face at this point."
Anari figured Bodhi would say something like that, but she had to try anyway. A dying sun blared its light rays through the window panes, throwing dark sunset notes across Bodhi's features.
"You seem different," Anari said, noting the clarity in Bodhi's eyes and lack of swagger in their movements. She finally shook out enough nerves to get down to making some tea for them like a proper host.
"That's because I'm as dry as a bone." They didn't sound all that happy about it.
Anari turned her back to them so she could put the kettle on. "Are you going to stay that way?"
"You know that's the last thing you should ask an alcoholic, right?"
The spider reached for a cup in her cupboard. "Wet or dry, you're still a bald pain in the ass."
Bodhi laughed pretty hard. "Don't look so proud of yourself, Legs. That was mean."
Anari could hear the monk trying to approach her again. She dodged them a second time, guilt knotting her gut because she'd thought they'd be over her by now. She called Bodhi here to warn them, not to continue whatever it was they had back at on the ferry crossing the Heavenly River.
