So… He’d learned a lot of things while being with Lidia. One thing he learned was that the girl really didn’t have any sense of self-preservation. “Frederick! Jack! …Sadie!?” The lady had a set of lungs on her, unaware of the world around him as she called out for her friends. Maybe it was just his new ears, but she had been so loud that it was killing him. He turned his ears away from her as he carried her bridal style.

It had been the only way she’d have been able to move without making the wound on her leg worse. At first, she had tried walking on it, even after she had so clearly told him just how serious the wound was. It took another ten minutes, and then the fact that they were taking too long, for her to finally consider him carrying her. He’d never had trouble trying to help someone before. Usually, he’d had a way bigger problem ignoring this kind of thing.

But he managed to convince her, especially after he reminded her that she couldn’t use her magic.

She had lost something called a “catalyst” which was apparently extremely important. Something about how outer magicians needed them to create their spells. Or something. He’d been dumbfounded at the idea that you’d basically be useless without one, but then she told him there were mages out there who focused on training their inner magic. He’d laughed, unsure why someone would want to use magic with a catalyst if they could just train on their insides.

He hadn’t expected her to turn red at that, though. He still remembered her outburst. “We ARE ESSENTIAL! Outer magic can devastate cities! Level kingdoms! With the proper training and catalyst, we could become properly unstoppable!” She had become completely disheveled after her tantrum, leaving him a bit more cautious around her. Destroying kingdoms. Yeah… that definitely didn’t sound crazy… Well, about an hour had gone past since he’d found her, and now they were here, with her shouting after her friends.

He wasn’t just walking in circles, though. His nose caught the scent of blood dropped by Lidia, and he’d been following it back to where she’d last been running. If they retraced her steps then they’d probably be able to find them, right? He’d have told her… but telling someone you could smell them was a sure-fire way to make enemies. He would know. He’d been going dry for a couple of seconds, though.

He’d almost asked her if this had been the place she’d been hit, but fortunately, she had beat him to it. “Wait… I know this place. It's just off the path to Heartlake… Take a right! We can make it to the road!” He nodded, suddenly excited over the new turn of events. “Ah, wait!” He took a step forward before being stopped. Lidia suddenly pushed on his chest with worry. “You can’t be seen! If they found out I was cohorting with a demon then…”

“I’m not a demon.”

“Yes… you keep saying that.”

“Because I’m not.”

“...”

“...”

And he was sticking with that.

“Well, either way, they’ll see you and panic. Your eyes and face are much too… demonic to get you inside safely.”

What? He touched his face, checking the contours n his skin. “Do I have markings or something on my face? How can they tell?” She smirked, shaking her head bemusedly. “No marks, you just give off the impression of a demon, is all. Your pale skin and sharp eyes… also, you look… very decent.” He blinked. Did she just call him handsome? “So, demons are just pale white people who are good-looking? …I can see that.” He had cursed the beauty others had in his past life as well.

She had focused on the wrong part, though. “I did not call you handsome! You just look decent by most people’s standards, demon! You were carved to tempt people so they could fall into your evil clutches! You quite literally evolved to best eat humans, that just happened to have made you… decent looking.” He grinned, this had been the second most he’d been complimented and insulted in a row.

“But I’m… decent looking, yeah?” She didn’t have her spear at the moment, so he could afford to tease her a bit. “That means the big bad demon gets to eat, yeah?” She punched him away just as his grin hinted at something more malicious. Even he hadn’t noticed until she had done so. “Uh, sorry. I was just making some fun while in the forest.” She didn’t look up, but he noticed her ears were red. Jesus, he must have really scared her.

“I’ll… let’s get to your friends, ok?” She looked up, a frustrated look in her eye. “I… I said before. You can’t! We need to cover your face, at least.” Cover? This money maker? Dammit, what was the point of a handsome face if he could never show it? …Maybe he’d find a nice demon lady, get settled… have a bunch of horrific little demon babies.

Nah.

He sighed, setting Lidia down. “What are… oh.“ Tearing one of the new shirts he’d just recently taken from the goblins into one, giant strip, he wrapped it around his face. He looked at her, showing off his handiwork. “So, do you think this is fine?” She nodded, “yes, but… look, come closer.” He did so, bending down when she reached for his new accessory. “It’s a bit loose around here… and you need to cover the ears, they’re a bit too… evil. …We could use a bit more to hide your jaw… your eyes… uh.”

It took her a couple of moments to realize she’d stopped wrapping his face completely and was just inspecting his face. “Ah! This is fine, now! Yes… you’re fine.” Even he was a bit skeeved out by the situation. What was there to see in a face almost completely covered in wrappings? “If… If anyone asks, tell them your wounds were cursed. That way they don’t ask to why you don’t heal yourself.” She turned away from him, tying the last bit of the cloth with such skill and precision that you’d think she’d have done this all her life. Wait, she was a healer, so she probably had…

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“I think that’s good enough for now. We… can get going now.” He nodded, reaching under her to pick her up. She flinched, and for a second a pang of guilt went through his heart. He’d so painstakingly gathered her trust, just to ruin it with a simple joke. They made it onto the path after a couple of awkward minutes that had felt excruciatingly long. The silence between the two was so much worse considering she was literally only a few inches away from him at all times.

“...So, where are we heading?” He asked. The path wasn’t forked, but he had gone in from the side. One headed towards Heartlake. The other… didn’t, most likely. While he was considering how ridiculous a road that did nothing but go out and back to an area with no other destination would be he didn’t catch the conflicted words of Lidia. “Did we… Had I run to the left or right? I think I definitely had gone to the right… so does that mean we head left? …no.”

She finally made up her mind by the time Elliot’s head was filled with nothing but the amusing thought of a bunch of cars honking at the traffic in front of them, not knowing they were on a giant, circular road that headed nowhere. “We head over… hello? Elliot?” The sound of his name brought him back from that weird daydream. “Huh? What? Yeah, let’s go.” He turned to walk before Lidia pulled his ear. “I said, the other direction, Elliot.” He grinned, happy to see she was back to normal.

Even if her ‘normal’ was a bit violent. “Watch the wrappings, if you move them too much they’ll fall off.” She scoffed, as if he said something ridiculous. “Do you know how long I’ve been a healer? I’ve wrapped bandages for years before I started using magic.” She pulled on the cloth, yanking his head forward roughly along. “These things aren’t going anywhere.” He sighed as Lidia gave a proud smile. She could have been a bit gentler in her explanation…

At least her friends would have to deal with her soon, take her off his hands. “...speaking of which, how old are you, Elliot?” His head snapped to her at the sudden question. That was… complicated. How old were demons usually? How old was this body? Maybe he could just say his age prior to being summoned? “How old do you think I am?” It was a bit slimy having to use such roundabout words… but he’d done worse.

She narrowed her eyes, first he thought it was with suspicion, but her eyes widened with a smile. “Maybe… a month! You haven’t seen a human yet, even though you live so close to settlements. You don’t even use magic yet, you must have just appeared not too long ago… Though… whoever must have summoned you must have been pretty strong… to not have survived the process….” She kept speaking until she realized the brutality of her words.

Even Elliot was surprised, not at what she said, but at how accurate she had been. “Yeah… he was… he was. Can demons only be summoned? I thought they could, uh… be born normally.” She seemed to be feeling awkward, but fortunately, she still answered his question. “Yes… they can. But they’re usually quite hard to find in an area like this without the help of a dark summoner… they’ve become quite a problem around here. It was why I was scared of you at first. You seem to be much more intelligent than the normal demon, though. Much less violent, too.”

Yeah… well, it was because he wasn’t a demon. At least, not before this whole mess. “So… was I right? How old are you?” She seemed a bit apprehensive to ask, but it was good she was comfortable enough with him too. Didn’t mean he’d answer, though. “It's rude to ask a demon their age. Like asking a girl about their weight.”

She frowned, hitting him on his shoulder. “I don’t weigh that much! And I never heard anything about demons and their age other than they’re immature and petty when they’re young.” He put on a mockingly proud face.”It's a good thing I’m not a demon, then.” She pouted hitting a few more times before deciding to stop. “...you know it's not nice to be hitting people, right? Especially someone with a wound on their arm.”

That seemed to really get her. She looked at the place she had stabbed him, which had been wrapped just as tightly as her leg. “How is… are you ok, carrying me like this? I can walk if you want…” Oh goddammit, he made her all worried again. how was he so bad at talking to people? “No, It's ok! Your leg is too hurt to walk. Besides, I’m a demon so I can take it…” His wound was completely healed by now, but he wouldn’t tell her that. Her sudden laughter caught his attention, “So, you admit you’re a demon?”

“...No.”

“But you just-”

“Agh, my arm… it hurts so bad. I’m dying.”

“...fine.”

She finally relented, settling closer to him so he didn’t have to spend so much energy carrying her. It wasn’t until another ten minutes before Lidia spoke up again. “...You must know a few things before we meet my brother and the group. They can be a bit… overprotective of me.” …What the hell did that mean.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“...Just that. So please don’t tell them about what happened. They might blame themselves if they find out I was split apart...” He nodded, remembering just how terrifying brothers could be when their sisters became involved… Jesus, would he be able to take a punch from the big one even in this demon form? “Yeah, don’t worry. The moment you meet your friends I’ll be on the other side of town.” He smiled, thinking about how nice the reunion would be like. He was so caught up in the thought he almost didn’t notice the confusion on her face.

“You… You’re leaving?” Ah, shit. “Yeah… I don’t want to be burned on a stake or anything. I’m buying a map and some tools and then I’m going… why?” No, why the hell did he ask why!? “I was… hoping to celebrate with the group. I wanted you to be there. But.. your right… I almost forgot that they would not see you in the best light… but if we-”

“LIDIA!” From the side of the forest, two trees split apart as a massive blade ran through them. wooden splinters came at them, and Elliot turned just in time to protect Lidia. He looked back to shout ‘what the hell!?’ before the biggest man he’d ever seen climbed through the wreckage. If the brother he’d met in his last life was superhuman, then this one was just unnatural. “Lidia! Your… Your alive! …Praise be to god!” He ran forward, the ground thumping underneath him as he lumbered forward.

Elliot almost jumped to the side in fear.

Lidia seemed just as surprised as the giant human. “Frederick! Why are you still out here!? Where are the others!?”

It took a moment, but as Elliot looked at the giant man’s tattered armor and torn clothes… plus the disheveled hair. “...Lidia. How long have you guys been separated?” She looked at him confusedly. “A couple of days, why?” He laughed, suddenly a lot more relieved he had managed to stop the brothers in his last life. These people were insane when it came to family.

“I… I don’t think he ever stopped looking.”