Fajr

Chapter 7: Insert Clever Title Here

Imp above ^ *just imagine her with red skin and tiny horns

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SUN POV

In the last chapter, I mentioned the witches Imp knew... We never went to see them. Imp had offhandedly mentioned that her witch friends wouldn't be the best company around three gods-turned-animals, which was fine cuz Zero apparently got some good info while in the backroom with Nocturna.

At the current moment we're on a steam-powered tin can called a bus, it's supposed to take us to a park in the woods, where we'll take a trail to the entrance of a cave where Dark is supposed to be hiding.

"When are we gonna get there?"

"We'll get there when we get there."

The ride is supposed to take a few hours, since it's so far, so I've settled in the very back with Moon and Earth. We've been trying to nap, but the bus floor is hella hard and everyone else on the bus can't shut up. If I could perform spells, I'd cast a Bubble of Silence around us. Then again, if I could cast spells we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.

"...Are we there yet?"

"Earth, shut up. I don't know, okay? I'm not the one driving the bus. Go pester Imp, maybe she'll have an answer."

Earth and Moon have been arguing across me since we started moving. Earth stood up and walked to Imp's seat, climbing up and sitting next to her, mouth open before he'd even finished sitting down.

I sighed, closing my eyes(?) for a moment. The white noise of the bus rattling down the road was calming in a way.

"Sun, do you think we'll be able to stop Dark?" The soft voice of Moon filtered past the bus' chatter. I opened my eyes and turned my head to her. She sounded so small. Her muzzle was laid on her paws while she leaned into me, eyes gazing at the floor contemplatively.

"I can't say for sure, but we know his methods and we have the mortals, but..." I trailed off. I wasn't sure at all that we could stop Darkness. Sure we had the mortals who could fight and cast spells, but I didn't know if even they could defeat Darkness.

"...I think the odds will be in our favor. As far as we know, we have the advantage. We have Vane, who can heal and cast spells; Imp who can probably pull some witchy shit and claw Dark's face off with a Howler; and we have Zero, who is the leader-type and will think of a plan should ours fail."

"You do have a plan, right?"

"..."

I didn't have a plan.

--a timeskip dedicated to GuardianOfTheLoaf on AO3 who writes fucking amazing fics-- 

I still don't have a plan. It's been four hours, we've arrived and are standing outside the cave, and I still don't have a plan.

We've entered the creepy dark cave that smells like old stones and metal, led by Vane who cast a magelight spell, Earth who won't stop talking to Imp, Moon who can't help but sniff everything, and I still don't have a plan.

We've walked into four different wrong chambers so far, but I can tell we're getting close as I can feel the faint energy that my virtue gives off. It's hard to describe the feeling of my virtue, aside from the fact that it felt weird but that could be easily attributed to the fact that it wasn't with me, but I think the closest I can get is... Walking into an underground stone-nature-water library that hasn't seen anyone in eons. It's an ancient thing that emanates years upon years of knowledge, heavy knowledge.

I'm startled from my inner Virtue ramblings by the sound of Moon and Earth taking off into the gloom.

"OI! Where the fuck-"