-Break-

The next day

I haven’t had a single day of true rest since the day my country was burned to the ground. Everything, everywhere around me has been terrifying, it was all so scary that I felt like I was going to die by simply being here.

So to survive I had to become something even more terrifying, I didn’t want to be hurt so I decided to be the one who hurt, the one who created fear, because if I did I would be able to be peaceful.

But it still didn’t come, the terror never subsided so my sleep never truly came back. But today I have learned at least one thing, that maybe I at the very least don’t have to be scared of the two in the room beside me.

Getting up, I look at the boy beside me and the second one over in his section of the room, and say, “This nap was quite nice today.”

Suddenly Nero jumps up with a look of terror, then starts to vomit over to his left.

When I see this I shriek and say, “What’s going?”

Charles getting up beside me, says, “Sometimes when Nero wakes up from a bad dream, he vomits.”

“Does this happen often!?”

“It used to happen a lot but now it only happens every now and then. Sometimes he can wake up in the middle of the night screaming.”

Giving me a thumbs up, Nero says, “Sorry in advance if I wake you up in the middle of the night.”

With an annoyed expression, I say, “Looks like my peace has still left.”

-Break-

Location: A few meters away from the River Lúide

Dropping the brick to the floor, I say, “How the hell do they expect a delicate flower like me to do this.”

Nero in front of me snickers and says, “Delicate flower?”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means, all the times you either threatened to or actually did cut me, you beast. If you’re a flower your one of the ones from Íogair.”

Giving him a stare full of murderous intent, I say, “Apologise or die.”

“YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN.”

From the distance, we hear a beastkin scream at us, which causes Nero to say, “Hurry up, unless you want to get beat.”

“Then help me lift them.”

“Hell no.”

“Why not, you did it all the time before?”

“Because I don’t really care if you like me or not anymore, so come on do your beast I will be cheering for you.”

“Bastard, after I didn’t kill you, this is how you treat me. I swear you're just like Lucca who always, was ignoring people who asked for his help. That reminds me of the time Paloma and Lucca got swept up in the ocean, it is actually quite a good story.”

Φ Picking up the brick, Mariana starts walking while talking away, and as she does I turn to Charles and say, “She talks a lot.”

“Yep, and you can almost never get a word in when she gets like that.”

“So then were most of your conversations-."

“Yes, it was just her talking with me saying a word every now and then. When she does that it makes a feeling well up inside my shakes my head.”

Rubbing Charles's head I say, “It is called being annoyed. Congratulations on the awakening of your new emotion.”

Throwing his brick in the air, Charles does a backflip and catches it. “Good job for me.”

“Good job for you.”

Behind us, I hear, “I warned you, dirty humans.”

Then moments later both me and Charles are hit into the ground. But as the beastkin walks away I look at Charles and just laugh as he smiles back at me.

Walking over to us without a brick in hand, Mariana says, “Hey why are you guys over here you're supposed to be listening to my story?”

“Because it goes on for too long, you talk too much?”

“That’s only natural for girl because we have a lot to say. My brain is bigger than yours.”

“I know girls, and Claudia wasn’t anything like this!”

“Then what was she like!?”

“She was quiet and always nice to me. She would ignore others but listen to anything I say, and whenever she saw me a giant smile would appear on her face. Claudia always used to ask for big hugs whenever she saw me and when I wasn’t paying attention to her she would get sad.

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She was like a little sister to me but would get angry anytime I said that. Truly a wonderful girl.”

Looking in front of me I see Mariana making a face of disgust, then walking up to me she looks at me with eyes of anger and says, “You’re the enemy of all women across the world.”

As she walks past me, I say, “I don’t understand women.”

Sticking his finger up towards me, Charles says, “Good job.”

-Break-

The next day

Location: Íogair grassland

Chatting away as we all skilfully pick seeds, Mariana says, “So that’s how Pedro proposed to Ana. It was a mess of emotions and sensations I swear I even cried a little, but it all worked out.”

“Umm.”

“Still this story reminds me of that time, when my father Mateo taught me how to dance, oh how chaotic of a story that is, but before we even get to that there are three other tales of backstory we need to get to so let’s start with the story of Pedro’s birth.”

-Break-

The next day

Location: Fíodóirí house

Whispering, Mariana says “So after thirty-two hours of labour, Pedro was finally born and what a cutie he was. Always nibbling on my fingers and such.”

“Umm.”

“As he got older Pedro kept that habit and one day he even picked my finger enough to make blood come out, but that reminds me of the time I got bitten by a bat that had poison in it, my god wasn’t that a whole debacle. So where do I begin, oh yeah when Joaquin's horse got loose.”

-Break-

The next day

Location: Campsite

“So riding on the back of his horse Joaquin had to run away from a storm of the wonderbeast, Caballos de flores. He moved as fast as he could until he reached a Clift, and when he did he jumped off of it with his horse.”

“Umm.”

“I know what you want to ask how did they survive, well his horse was a lot more skilled than your normal steed, so he was able to use the imperfections in the hill like a goat and climb down.

Like a goat? Oh yeah, that reminds me of-.”

Looking Mariana in the eyes, I say, “Yeah, you need to leave.”

“What!”

“Get out, now. I can’t live like this.”

“What do you mean, we were just having a conversation.”

“How the hell was that even a conversation, I didn’t say anything I just barely was able to squeeze in a umm every now and again over the last three days. The level of peace I have felt today as you have been doing different work, has been unparalleled so now I need you to leave.”

“This is all part of a girl's charm.”

“My mother barely used to talk, but when she did her words would change my life, so I would always wait for her to speak. Her words were valuable they had weight!”

“The reason I simply talk so much is because I have a lot to say, god wanted me to share that with everyone.”

“Using god as a reason is just an excuse.”

“Sounds like you just lack god.”

“You need, to leave, right now.”

“You can just say you weren’t listening to my stories instead of complaining they are too long.”

“My issue is that I was listening. I know your height; 151 cm, your birthday; Aries twenty-first, I know your full name; Mariana Ángela Girasol Ramos. The name of your dog; Viola. The day it died; Taurus the fourth.

The amount of times you have thrown up it your life; seven, the amount of times you have been given gifts; seventy- three. The amount of times your mom has tricked you into eating beans; forty-one. The amount of times your cousin Carlos has tricked you into eating flowers; four. The number of times you have dropped a baby; two.

The full names of all your family members, Your dad Mateo, your mom Sofia. Your first aunt and aunty, Tomás and Carman, and their children Pedro, Blanca, and Manuel. Not to mention your four sets of grandparents, your other seven sets of aunties and uncles, and all of their kids, not to mention your cousin's kids. I know their fucking names, birthdays, hair colours, heights, it's too much fucking information how the hell am I supposed to keep up with that.”

Giving me a weird look she says, “You listened to all of that.”

“Yes and I wish to remove this information more than I wish to be free.”

“DIE!”

“I will eventually, but you need to leave now!”

With a false frightened look, she says, “Even after you promised to not hurt me, here you are going back on your word. Coward.”

“I promised never to hurt you not take copious amounts of poison for you.”

“HOW RUDE. You do realize I am older than you, in my culture all the mini ones like you must obey the older ones no questions asked.”

“That’s incorrect, you're younger than me. From your story you're exact, ten months, four hours, twenty-three minutes, and seven no nine seconds older than me.”

Shocked she walks back and says, “What?”

Walking forward with a smile, I say, “Didn’t you just say in your culture young ones like you have to obey older people like me.”

Quickly she grabs Charles and runs behind the line, then says, “Look at this cruel adult trying to hurt kids.”

As she rubs her cheeks against Charles, he says, “Bad Nero.”

“Hey stop manipulating him with your girl magic.”

“It's not manipulation it’s understanding, something that you lack.”

“I doubt there is anything I don’t know about you after your ramblings.”

Walking up to me she rubs her cheek against mine, which causes a plurality of things in my body to happen, but the most noticeable one is the uncontrollable blush I have on my face. But soon that is overtaken by the soft sensation of her cheek against mine.

Filled with this sensation I fall to the ground, and as I do I look at Charles and say, “Sorry, I would betray me too if it meant I got to feel that.”

“It looks like I won.”

“How, how are you that soft, I hugged Claudia before because she was never that soft.”

“The flowers from Floración can be used to make countless medicines that enhance the body, and my mom used to make an ointment for my skin, so now it is as soft as heaven itself.”

“More, I must have more,” I say while stretching my hand out.

Slapping it away, she says, “Too bad, for you then.”

I need to experience that one more time. Slamming my hands into the ground, I say, “I withdraw all my complaints.”

“Accepted. But one day I will make sure to give you some flowers from Floración to let you experience this.”

Charles says, “But how would that happen, we will never leave here.”

As Charles says this is an uneasy reality falls upon, the room and yet again I a reminded that we are all slaves.

Mariana moving closer to Charles says, “Of course we will when all three of us break out.”

Hearing this I say, “Quite down. Are you crazy, you do realize what you just said?”

“Of course I do, I said all three of us are going to leave.”

“That’s insane.”

“You know what’s insane a lion trying to be a duck, lions were born to be lions, ducks were born to be ducks, and the same applies to all of us, we were born to be humans, not slaves. So the fact that you so quietly accept that is what is truly insane.”

“Don’t you understand how impossible it is to do that, and sorry but I have no intention of allowing you to put our lives on the line for such a stupid thing.”

“I intend to do nothing of the sort, I am not a dense idiot like somebody. But as long as we are here we will work till we die, and I don’t believe the happiness that can be found in that is valuable at all, so simply we have to get out.”

“It’s impossible to es-.”

“No it isn’t,” Mariana says with eyes similar to my father's.

“Well do whatever you want just don’t drag Charles into it.”

“So that means I can drag you into it?”

Turning around to lie down I say, “As long as it is nothing too hard idiot.”

“Good to have you aboard.”

Charles says, “Does this mean I will get to see Floración one day?”

Mariana says, “On the pride of my nation, I promise it.”

As they chat away behind me a thought pops into my head, maybe a little life around here isn’t so bad.