An hour later, the two of them were lying in a hole that John had carved out of a tree, ready for the night. He had been forced to help her get dressed, but now it should be fine in the future.

The lair was a lot less intricate than the last one, but it was only made to cover them from the rain and the view of most beasts. John planned to start his travel through the plains the day after.

‘I can’t believe the first human I meet is this enigma of a girl… I had to carry her down here, so I don’t think she has any essence. But how could that be? How would she get to that tree in the first place, then? And what’s with the antlers?!’

He looked over at her as she lay there beside him, closing her eyes. Her head was resting on the antlers, making it impossible to lean it all the way back. It looked uncomfortable, but he figured she was used to it. Judging by her appearance, she couldn’t be much more than eighteen years old. And short, at that.

A tear quietly fell from her eye while he watched, and her face turned to one of sadness. John was surprised by the sudden show of emotion.

‘So you’re not as composed as you seem, then? Well, it does make you seem more human, at least.’

She opened her eyes, somehow sensing his stare, and looked back at him with her normal, emotionless expression. If it hadn’t been for the wet line going down her cheek, he might have thought he had been imagining things.

Due to the antlers, she could not turn her head much, but the meaning of her expression was clear: what?

“No, it was nothing. I’m just trying to figure out what you are… You should get some rest; tomorrow will probably be a long day.”

She kept looking at him without giving any indication that she understood him, so he leaned back and closed his eyes again. He had no idea how to explain his words without language.

‘Unless… Sage Full Blue could send information through words. Or rather, words that normally contain less information. Does that only work if the other part knows the language already? It seems like it should work either way…’

He thought back to the mysterious sage, riding the demon like it was a pet. It pained him that he didn’t have more valuable information to trade, but he was still very satisfied with what he had learned.

‘Oh, was the strange thing he spoke about that was happening to the planet related to the forest suddenly falling into space? That seems unusual, for sure. And– wait…

How did he recognize me as human before I told him about Earth…?’

The sudden realization made him inhale sharply. He searched his memories to make sure he was recalling them correctly. But there was no mistake; the sage’s first words were about John being human.

‘... What does that mean? Are humans common in the universe? I feel like they would have told me if we had explored space in the past…’

He covered his face with his hands, exhausted by all the mysteries. There were too many to even keep track of.

‘What did Serah know about what was going to happen? Why does she have a golden fate-string? Why did the planet decide to change as soon as we entered the portal? What is the sage doing here, and who are the Loreholders? And on top of it all, who am I? Are my memories real? Is my world real? And what’s up with this deer-girl?!’

After another deep sigh, he started imagining himself being back home, lying in his childhood bedroom. There were so few things to worry about back then. Only stuff like homework and feeding chickens. And Serah.

And then he drifted to sleep.

----------------------------------------

The next day started well. John felt better after a night of sleep and was looking forward to starting his journey through the plains. But there were some issues.

“How do you want to be carried? On my back? In my hands? Over my shoulder?” He gestured hopefully as he asked, but the girl did not react, only staring at him.

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He wanted to use Larang to fly instead of traveling by foot, but he would need to carry the girl somehow. She would not be strong enough to hold on to it on her own.

“I really need to find a name for you. Deer-girl is kind of… not right,” John said, looking at her bored expression. “How about… Rain?”

She didn’t seem very excited about it, but neither did she seem to mind. And John didn’t care much about how she felt, since he would be the only one using it either way.

He pointed at her, prompting her to study his finger. “Rain.”

Then he pointed at himself, to drive the point home. “John. You Rain, me John. Understand?”

Still no reaction, but she was looking at him at least.

John sighed, sensing the frustration build in his head. Now, despite not being confident he could make it on his own, he would have to worry about keeping her safe as well during their journey. At this point, he was responsible for her, and he would feel terrible if she was hurt—despite her completely careless attitude.

He approached her, turned around, and crouched down, gesturing for her to get on his back. It was the easiest way to carry her without making her too uncomfortable—or at least he hoped.

Seeing her still standing in place angered him a bit. He stood back up, walked over to her, and took hold of her arms, pulling them around his neck while turning his back to her. A light sound of surprise escaped her throat.

“Oh, so you do have vocal cords! Try using them once in a while, will you?”

John leaned forward, lifting her off the ground with his height, and took hold of her feet, securing her to his back. She wasn’t as developed in certain areas as most girls, so he didn’t feel too distracted. But whether that was due to her age or simply genetics, he didn’t know.

He walked out of the tree and onto Larang, using his solid essence to attach himself to the sword before flying up. As they ascended, John felt Rain's grip tighten slightly. In the corner of his eyes, he could see her looking around as they passed the leaves, giving them a good view of the surrounding area.

John’s first priority was checking for the black bird, but it was nowhere to be seen. The giant crater where he had fallen down was very visible, only showing a dark void. A mere kilometer in the other direction, the forest shifted to vast open plains, with cracks splitting it into smaller chunks of land.

“That’s where we’re headed, Rain. The same direction you pointed, right?”

She responded by leaning her face against his left ear, causing him to twitch a bit at first. But it was a normal position to be in while on a piggyback, he thought, so it was no big deal. If anything, it just meant she was getting closer to him, and that was a good thing. She would need to trust him if they were going to cooperate.

John kept the speed at a reasonable pace, using most of the reverse gravity to hold the two of them in the air. With added weight, the max speed would be lower either way, but she would have to be twice his weight to make it impossible to fly—and she was barely half.

‘In case of an attack, I’ll have to land somewhere quickly. I haven’t gotten to train in using the gravity enchantment in combat yet, so Larang might be better used as a transport vessel right now… The plains don’t leave much room for quick maneuvering like the trees, so it might be a big advantage.’

Below them, the fractured plains stretched out like a broken mirror. The cracks between land masses were deep and dark, occasionally releasing puffs of steam or dust. The strange purplish-green grass swayed in patterns that didn't quite match the wind John felt.

‘This place better be less bothersome than the forest. But how could it not be? There are nearly no places to hide here, especially for big beasts like demons.’

As they flew, John couldn't help but question his decision to bring Rain along. 'Am I being reckless? I can barely keep myself alive out here, let alone protect someone else. But leaving her behind... that wasn't an option either…’

He looked back at her, seeing her disinterested eyes looking back at him as she tilted her head. He got the feeling that she would have been fine without him, but he couldn’t make any sense of why he felt that way. Unless she was hiding something.

If he had to choose between them, he would definitely save himself. He would feel terrible, though, and would do what he could to prevent it.

“Hey, Rain? Could you promise me that I won’t regret bringing you along if I keep you safe? I think that’s a reasonable request.”

With the continuing lack of reaction, it felt like he was talking to himself, but he felt slightly better after speaking to her anyway. If he was being honest, he had been rather lonely in the forest.

The hand holding his neck suddenly pointed to the crack in the earth in front of them. John slowed down, trusting that it had some meaning he just wasn’t understanding.

“What is it, Rain? Do you want to look at it? Or is ther–”

Before his sentence finished, a giant brown centipede appeared from the crack, heading straight for the two of them floating in the sky. It was easily twenty meters long and had two thin and agile arms at the end.

“Fffuck!” John yelled, trying to evade the incoming attack.

‘That’s definitely another demon!’