“There’s nothing wrong with not being special.”

Those were the words my parents gave me when I was little.

A blessing and a curse.

I would go on to use them to shield myself from any ill or criticism that came my way as I grew.

I didn’t have a green enough thumb to be a farmer.

Nor was I academically inclined to be a scholar.

My lack of motivation, even then, masked itself behind those words.

The only thing I wasn’t able to hide from was the national law which stated that all able bodied men who weren’t either farmers, doctors or teachers were to enlist.

I was drafted and, immediately upon becoming of age, sent to the front lines during the climax of the Great War.

A time when the skies were blackened by smog and rivers ran with the bodies of the Dead.

Some became heroes, others died in obscurity and I…

I was somewhere in the middle.

Unlike the heroes I fought alongside, I wasn’t born with any unique abilities or any supposed divine blessings like those that were said to have been inherited by the Great General Anatrofí and his family.

I was just a man, armed with nothing but a spear as I charged into the mouth of terror.

While I was barely motivated to do anything before my inscription, my will to even exist weakened after a horde of demons burnt my hometown to Ashes.

Things got even worse when all of my comrades died and by the time I stood face to face with Lilith, I was a husk.

Operating on survival instinct and a flimsy sense of justice.

That’s why I hadn’t done anything with the nine hundred years I was given.

What was the point?

I opened my eyes to see that it was still dark out.

I then sat up and chuckled at my ceaseless self pitying.

I had made a decision, right?

To do right just before the end.

To try at the very least.

I imagined this was what people felt just before the died only I was experiencing it ten years in advance.

All of a sudden everything mattered and I didn’t want to waste a single moment and I-

My heart had begun to race.

I was clearly freaking out although I chose not to express it outwardly.

Instead, I got out of bed, made my way downstairs and stepped onto my garden which was still a bit of a mess after my little contest with a certain someone.

It was a moonless night so I sunk comfortably into the darkness.

The rustling leaves and whistling winds did wonders for my racing mind.

I closed my eyes to take it all in and-

“Why are you standing there all creepy like?”

I let out a low groan but chose to ignore her even as she approached.

“It sounded like your heart was about to pop for a second. What? Did our brave Spearman have a nightmare?” Lilith teased but I kept my eyes closed.

She giggled at my efforts before gently wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her head on my shoulder.

“There, there. Whatever’s got you down will surely pass.” She whispered and while I was sure she was being sincere, I was also tired of her antics so I stepped away from her and finally opened my eyes to see Lilith in a black morning gown.

Her eyes burnt clearly in the dark of night.

“Sorry but could you leave me alone for a bit. I’m not in the mood for any of your everything right now.” I pleaded as nicely as I could but tilted her head to the side a little in response.

“And then what? Leave you here to mope for the rest of the night?”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“My moping is my business and I don’t see why you should care!” I snapped.

“Hey, I’m just trying to help-“

“You still haven’t said why? You’re a demon! The Demon! You keep going on and on about how you wouldn’t mind dying so why don’t you go on a rampage so we can stop this silly dance and kill you already!”

Lilith finally frowned.

“If you really feel that way then why didn’t you kill me back then?” She snapped back making my face contorted with anger and… frustration.

I knew, even then, what the expression she made meant.

That look in her eyes told me that she had nothing left to live for and while I said that I spared her so that she could face justice, I spared her…

“Because I felt the same.” I breathed while turning away.

“I have felt the same since the beginning and I was forced to live with this feeling for nine hundred years.”

My heart began to ache terribly.

“I hid again. Only this time it was behind things like justice and the punishment you were due for but I was just as ready to die as you and I wouldn’t allow you to go before me!”

Tears had begun to well in my eyes but I couldn’t bear to show my face to anyone.

I bit my teeth as Lilith approached and unlike before, her steps were slow, almost cautious.

She stopped bit away from me and, after taking a deep breath, I turned to face her to find that she was smiling warmly.

“You really are an I idiot, you know that?”

“I thought you came out here to cheer me up not insult me.” I messily wiped away the single tear that had fallen from my left eye.

“What else am I supposed to say to an emotionally stunted Spearman?”

I rolled my eyes and stepped forward to walk back inside but Lilith stopped me with her next words.

“If you weren’t such an idiot, you’d have seen that it was you who entwined our fates all that time ago and you’d be able to see now that the one thing we have I common may very well help is move on with our lives because we are both still stuck there. In that place. In that time.”

“I… Mmm…” I was expecting her to say something annoying but her words reached a part of me that didn’t know how to respond.

And so I stood there for like a solid minute before letting out a deep sigh.

“So the reason why you’ve been on my ass is because you’re trying to move on?” I raised a brow but Lilith shrugged in response.

“What? Do you think we’d have gotten anywhere if I played the meek and timid maiden? Fuck no, you’re too stubborn for that so I had to bring out the big guns “ She grinned while pushing out her chest.

Had she thought all this through?

I doubted that Alexter put her up to this.

Huh…

“Let’s go inside.” I sighed again while leading her to the kitchen where I made us some tea.

I gave her a cup and, as expected, she didn’t like it.

“So when did you realize that we could… you know… work things out?” I asked with a nervous eye.

“To be honest, I didn’t have much of a plan until after I met you. I expected you to have grown into some macho super human warrior who had achieved inner peace but I cannot tell you how funny it was to see that you hadn’t changed at all.” Lilith’s smile, for some reason, got warmer.

“And so I decided, in that moment, that we could make it work.”

Wow.

I usually had a lot to say about everything but I genuinely didn’t know how to respond.

“Teasing you has also been fun, so there’s that too.”

I didn’t even feel like rolling my eyes anymore.

“Yeah, yeah. So now what?”

“What do you mean.” Lilith asked.

“Now what do we do?”

“Don’t ask me. I hadn’t thought that far ahead. Just keep being honest with yourself and everything should be fine. I’ll adapt as I always do and hopefully, when all is said and done, we’ll be able to die feeling, at least somewhat, content.”

I nodded in understanding.

I then glanced out of one of the windows to see the sky was steadily turning grey.

“Staying outside would have been more refreshing than the tea you made.”

“Can go back to when we wanted to kill each other?” I winced only for Lilith to shake her head.

“Not happening! I acted way too unlady like for you to back away now.” She nodded to herself after crossing her arms and while I wanted to argue otherwise my face turned to a bashful smile and I found myself softly chucking, much to Lilith’s confusion.

“What?”

“If you say it like that, it makes us sound like some old bickering couple.”

Lilith’s eyes widened and it wasn’t until after seeing her reaction that the weight of my words registered in my mind.

We stared at each other and I waited for an awkward eternity for her to speak but after seeing that she wasn’t, I let out a fake cough and made a serious face.

“Err… it’s still early. You should get some more rest before the day begins in earnest.”

“But I want to stay with you! I mean… I’m already awake so… yeah” Lilith blurted out and I immediately changed my mind wishing she’d stop talking.

I watched as her face steadily grew redder but I wasn’t any better since my heart was beating so hard that I could feel it on the tips of my ears.

Why was she being so weird now of all times.

I guess we both let our guards down.

This was the first time I expressed not only my innermost thoughts, I also broke ground within myself and it was all her fault.

Countless others had tried before. Men and women alike.

They opened their hearts to me, told me all kinds of hugs but, for the longest time, I turned them away, as cruel as that might have been.

But I couldn’t ignore her.

I wondered what she was thinking-

“Wait a minute. Do Demons even need to sleep?” I frowned a little as the thought occurred to me.

“Not really. Resting helps us regain our energy aster though.” Lilith answered in a straightforward manner.

This was good.

Now I just needed to keep the ball rolling but I couldn’t think of anything!

Beyond her teasing and our usual snarky exchanges, we didn’t have much to say to each there.

Or perhaps I hadn’t tried to say anything else.

“So would you say that you’re well rested right now? My conditional immortality means that I sleep more so out of habit than a need.” I babbled as the sun rose.

“Oh, no need to worry, I can go for days!” Lilith gave me a thumbs up and at this point she was as red as strawberry jam.

I crumpled onto the table with a sigh and pointed an accusatory finger at her.

“You’re doing it on purpose now!” My voice may have been muffled by my arm but my fluster was loud and clear.

“I mean… kinda… you’ve been reaction so adorably that it’s hard to resist although I must admit that this is a first for me.

I barely heard last part as she fiddled with her fingers.

“I call bullshit! You’re like a couple of millennia older than I am. Surely you hit it off with at least one demon before.”

“First off, all first gen Demons are my children so, eww. Secondly, the last human who tried to win me over got his head cleaved in two by that brat Anatrofí.”

“Oh.”

“Try not to look so disappointed. I am a pure maiden.” She smirked.

“Sure. The blood on your hands just accidentally got there.”

“And how much maiden blood have you spilled, mmm? I guess that Spear of yours-“

“Lets have some more tea!”