CHAPTER 62: RITUAL

***

Noctis jerked awake after getting hit with the sudden flashback out of nowhere, his hands holding the left portion of his temple as if something had hit him on it.

Seeing Noctis suddenly move his hands up to his head and sweat covering his face in a split second, Cora was startled herself, as she took a step back to give him some air before asking anything.

Noctis managed to calm his rapid heartbeat, thinking and dissecting the memories calmly.

They were his experiences before he had regained his memories of previous life that somehow hadn’t occurred when he had first analysed his surroundings after just entering.

It looked like his mother wasn’t just cautious of possible altercation at some point, it had been a reality the moment he was left to grow up in the village.

"Noctis?"

Cora asked softly, worried for him.

"Oh... I’m sorry, I just thought of something. I’m fine, don’t worry."

Cora nodded but still had her brows a little furrowed.

Regina had come back once again, informing of her success at finding the tree and officially ending the goal of the mission.

They took a large piece of wood from the tree and headed towards the sailor that they had talked to.

The rest of the evening was spent with Noctis and Regina helping the sailor craft his oars and making preparations to leave the next morning.

With everything settled and prepared, Noctis fell back to sleep, with various thoughts going through his head.

***

The next morning, Noctis and the girls stood before the old sailor in front of his boat fastened along the river.

Before sitting and setting sail, the ferryman had some rituals to complete, which he said were the important part for a a safe voyage.

Sitting cross-legged in front of the river, he mumbled to himself some mantras while he had them stand close to him draped in clean white clothes.

Luckily the girls had a white shawl, and he himself had his cloak, so they were clear on that, who knows what the madmen would have done if they hadn’t been in this place.

"Do you know the chant of shores?"

The deep, gruff voice of the old man sounded suddenly.

"Yes, we do."

"No, I don’t."

Two juvenile voices sounded at the same time.

The sickly thin old man looked back with his half-closed eyes at Noctis, who didn’t know, with a detesting expression.

Cora hurriedly said,

"I can tell him, it won’t take long."

"Quick."

The old man averted his eyes like he couldn’t hold it anymore.

Noctis felt very buffed but said nothing.

Cora soon came close to him and said something in his ear.

It was just a couple lines in a foreign language, which he grasped with just a couple repeats.

Soon all the people present said in unison,

"Perdona li passi voltati,

"Perdona, li scii che noi facimu."

After chanting, the girls and Noctis bowed towards the sea while the old man stood up and sprinkled some water towards the three and the forest from a shell he had filled with freshwater and some dirt.

Noctis took a deep breath again as the muddy water landed on his nose but held it in.

It was given that he had to follow the old man’s rituals and traditions, given he was the only way out;

Also in Rome it’s better to do what the Romans do, but the unnecessary delay just kept annoying him after already wasting a day on getting wood for him.

"He’s almost done, just a little more."

Cora said in his ears, seeing his upturned face.

And fortunately she was right as the ritual ended and they finally left the accursed forest island.

***

The boat was to go a little upstream towards the more inland, further from the sea until they could reach a point from where they could call for help from their nearby fiefdoms.

Noctis had mapped out the rough area of his village which was close to the point where the two would end their voyage so he didn’t have much to worry for now.

Noctis and Cora sat together while Regina stood in front of them, the old man rowing standing up near the helm.

Cora and Noctis being closer to age, according to Regina, she had allowed them to converse while she took her time to enjoy the sail.

In the end it was less of a conversation and more of a conference as it was only Cora talking about stuff around her daily life and the city she had grown up in while Noctis mostly nodded and reacted.

Noctis didn’t have much to add, he wasn’t much of a talker when it came to his life, rather predicating of his life even in this life as all he did over the last couple years was just training and hunting.

While he was obviously not willing to divulge anything about his past life, even talking about his time in the enchanted forest and the void felt odd.

What if it wasn’t a common occurrence? What if he they got some unintended intel.

Of course it stemmed directly from his conditioning to never share true personal info, he could make stuff up to share like he had always done, but he decided not to.

Why would he even. He didn’t have any information to extract out of her, she wasn’t a target to snare or manipulate, heck she gave out info of her own will.

Not minding his little input in the least, she divulged stuff about the daily lives of noble scions and knight gentries, probably highly ranked too, like she was reading a cosmopolitan magazine from his previous lives.

He couldn’t figure out if it was because it was really such a trivial matter for her young mind or if she had just grown that comfortable around him.

’Does this mean we have truly become friends?’

Because of this possibility, he has come to think of something he wouldn’t have dared entertain ever before.

He had made his first friend.

Just as the thought came to mind, he heard a sharp whistle going off in his mind of a certain annoyed little critter.