...and soulless smile...

~

Deep in the cave...

"You're a 'collection of magic that's bonded to me'...?"

She nodded slowly.

"I'm gonna keep it absolutely real, I have no idea what that's supposed to mean."

Then came a groan. "I'll explain it later."

"You keep saying that! I can only wait so long, you know!!" My patience was growing thin and I'd honestly forgotten all the questions I had to ask since she'd put off so many and dodged so many answers. "I hate all the surface level BS you have going on over there. Just cut to the chase and explain it already."

"I will later. I promise," she stated very firmly. "I'm not ready to come clean about it yet, please just trust me on that."

I sighed dramatically. "Just promise me that this is the last time I have to hear 'I'll explain it later' from you."

She nodded and agreed.

"Alright then. What's our next plan of action since we can't find what we're looking for here?" I stood back up and shook my pants and cloak straight, the coins in just about every pocket on me jingling.

"I don't know, really. This was supposed to be my, or I suppose if you wanted, our, ticket out of here."

"No plan B? Sounds irresponsible."

"And just how long have you been wandering around here, mister?" She poked.

"Alright alright, point taken. So are we gonna sit here or just play it by ear and get moving?"

"I suppose that second option is the best we have, unless you know a way out."

"'And just how long have you been wandering' mehmehmehmeh" I mocked her.

"Point taken."

With both of our pockets stuffed and just about no closer to a way out than we entered this room with, we decided to move along with only one goal in mind: getting out.

It was right back to the same old for me, only this time I had some company, and I suppose it wasn't too bad. Kept me from screaming at the wall and smashing my fists in like I normally do when I get frustrated.

I wasn't worried about it. Another day another 50 thousand steps along in this hell.

Though I realized I must have inhuman endurance, a horrible sense of time, and definitely no need to sleep. The lady had told me she was stretching her sleep breaks as thinly as possible, and even then it still felt like she was stopping to rest quite frequently.

There was no escaping the fact that my transformation outside of Caiasiara's tomb has changed me in more than a few ways. I haven't decided if the sleep one is good or bad yet, but what I do know is sometimes I just wanna close my eyes and pass the time by.

I'm not physically tired, but my brain is. Coming from being used to shutting down every night for several hours to just being constantly up and running and never being even a little bit tired to dull my thoughts, it's been rough. The woman stopped questioning my sleeplessness, but judging by her reactions, it is more than definitely not normal for something like that to be a thing.

On one of our rests, we hit a part of the cave that was near a large stream of water, in fact there was even a fairly-sized waterfall. We had to help each other over a few ledges and through a few squeezes, but I guess the water took all the heat (that already wasn't there) right out of the cave.

It was absolutely freezing, and we had gone the longest we'd ever gone without any rest breaks for the woman.

So we had to do what we had to do, and that was get in my hammock, bundle up in any hides, articles of clothing, or anything that could even remotely provide heat, and stay in a position with our entire bodies touching just about all night. Or whatever time of day it was.

We pretty much clawed at each other for at least an hour, both complaining that the other took too much space or had an elbow or a knee jabbing, and eventually I got so fed up over it that I just let my entire body go limp and dealt with whatever pain.

It was seriously cold, even with all this bundling, and this was the only way the two of us would be able to get through it, so I suppose in the sake of self-preservation I shall let the matter be settled. But by God does it hurt me to do so.

Having her so close to me wasn't all comforting and soothing like everyone makes it out to be in books and movies. It was physically and emotionally miserable, 0/10 do not recommend to anyone for any reason.

Unless, well, you know, you're at the bottom of a cave and it's either that or die. And even dying is a valid option at that point.

She ended up getting a little sleep, and it was enough for us to eventually crawl out of the hammock with a cramp and bruise in just about every inch of our bodies, and get to somewhere that was a little warmer where we could survive being at least a few inches away from each other (or miles, by my preference, but that wasn't an option.)

We went along in the same old scenery. Same song and dance for me. There was more than a fair share of monsters, though. Enough that when we couldn't find plants to use for a fire, we just started burning crappy hides.

So we got our practice in.

The woman was a brilliant fighter, now that I'd had a chance to really see her in action when it wasn't truly life or death. And, while it takes everything and more in me to say it, she's far better than I am, and I would lose in mere seconds to her in a fight.

Not that I say that from experience or anything. Just... a guess... or something...

Honestly it was a work of art. At a certain point I really just sat back and enjoyed the show she put on. She would spin, twist, duck, dive, jump, bounce, and swing around every enemy like an acrobat. She saw every single monster as just a platform to kill the next monster off of.

I truly couldn't help but adore the sheer beauty of her fighting. It was so seamless. Everything she did just led to the next like it was all part of one big and elaborate plan that she'd had from the very start of her battles.

I couldn't gawk at her for very long because she would start yelling at me to come help, but either way, it left me awestruck.

I have the fighting skill, but not the prowess she does.

After a miserable fight with more of those hellhound thingies, I took some serious hits, and I had to lay down and heal up for a while. The woman went off to gather food while I rested, and I had a vision.

It was me in that crimson room again, sitting across a table with none other than Caiasiara.

"Long time no see," I greeted with a bit of anger. "I ought to rip you a new asshole for what you did to me."

He smiled softly. "I provided you with a means to a better life. Pain is to be expected in the pursuit of its absence."

"Yeah well you could have given me a warning at least. That was hell, pun intended."

"Hey," he shrugged. "I had no way of knowing how it would play out. I was just in the dark as you. But perhaps some thanks are in order?"

"I think it not," I mocked his posh choice of words. "Why am I here?"

"I'm not sure."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

I rolled my eyes, tired of his games. "Are you gonna break out some of that wine we had last time or..."

"I suppose I don't get guests." He did the same strange telekinesis display he did before, leaving me with a nice glass of a pearly red liquid.

I happily began to drink it while he took a small sip of his.

"Question for you," I said abruptly. "Are you responsible for this fairy chick?"

He chuckled. "I'm only responsible for being the one to save your life. Accuse me of nothing else."

"Then who is she? What exactly did you do to my soul? Who am I?"

I could no sooner finish my wine or my line of questions than be brought back to reality by the footsteps of the woman.

I'm glad to know I gained absolutely nothing from that conversation and will be craving that wine for a very long while. I guess it begs the question: why did I see him again at all? If he's being truthful, he probably didn't even bring me there in the first place.

The woman stomped back and threw a pebble at me, hitting me square in the forehead, and pissing me off.

I sprang to my feet, my wounds just about fully healed. "Do you have some sort of problem?"

"Yes! With the way you can't fight anything to literally save your own life. You're so stubborn and stupid and walk around all high and mighty like you can take on the world, but you take this much damage from just a few stupid hellhounds!!"

"Aww, you're that worried about me?" My knuckles were whiter than I thought my skin could possibly get, and smoke was just about coming out of my ears.

"No, damnit! I think you're a selfish, arrogant prick!"

This was a common theme after we'd spar with each other or get in large battles. I usually wound up taking damage and there she would be pointing her fingers at me and yelling. At some point, instead of yelling, she would start showing me a few things. Well, for a while it was both. She would yell and then explain, but either way, I was very slowly learning from her.

And by very slowly, I mean I was picking up on a few pointers here and there, but with the length of time between each group of monsters we'd find and slay, and how much she ridiculed afterwards, I wasn't getting much.

We built the biggest fire we'd had in a while, even found some comfy rocks to put by the fire to sit on for the night. It was her and I face to face before the flames, and I thought back to the time we had to bundle up in my hammock.

In a low whisper, after she'd decided she had enough sleep, but neither of us could stomach getting up out of the warmth we'd finally built up, we talked.

I asked her about the grave I saw with her name on it, and what it meant when it talked about the "Big Witch."

"That was a stupid name an old friend of mine used to call me. It's no surprise that she was the one to write on my tombstone. I lived my life at the edge of a small town and vowed, at least at first, to live a long and peaceful life that was free of hard work and stress.

I kept that promise for a while, but in the end, I had to step up and help some people that were close to me and fulfill an even older promise. And out of that came my tombstone. Can't say I lived much of a life."

I'd been thinking about that for a while - that was the first time she'd shared about herself.

"I think I'm finally ready to tell you everything," she decided while the gorgeous blaze went on at its peak. "Ask all your questions; I'm all ears now."

"Well I mean, who are you? Why are you here with me?" I began, a teensy bit excited to finally be getting some answers that I'd been so desperately waiting for all this time.

"I'm a fairy spirit. A fairy who passed away, but whose soul materialized as the magic around you. Specifically, a figment of your own magic. Really, I'm kind of just a sentient extension of the magical energy sitting within you that happens to have memories of past lives."

"So you're made of my magic?"

"Yes. I get the very distinct impression you didn't do that on purpose, but in the extremely rare occurrence that a fairy spirit is brought into this world, there's usually much bigger variables at play."

"Why the stabbing in the dragon's lair then?"

"To seal the bond. I was made of your magic, but it was kind of like your magic had broken off and formed a big puddle. I was rejoining the puddle with the ocean it came from."

So in other words, this woman who's been giving me hell for the entire duration of time we've spent down here by each other is a fairy spirit, and more specifically my fairy spirit.

"Okay so then what's this bond?" I questioned. "Benefits, lady, talk to me. What do I gain from this whole equation."

"I... am not really sure. A fairy spirit, no less one with memories, has never appeared in documented history. Spirits themselves are supposedly extremely powerful beings with otherwordly abilities and knowledge, but if that's true, I haven't tapped into any of that. If anything I've only felt weaker than I used to be."

"Being dead for... however long you've... being dead at all might do that for you," I said sarcastically. "But glad to see neither of us know how this arrangement is beneficial. So how do we get this cut off and you become independent?"

She nodded. "Excellent question. I have absolutely zero idea."

"So spirit questions are retired then. What's the beef with demons?"

"Like I told you. I don't hate demons. I've known, befriended, helped, and worked with countless demons in my time. But I also know that there is a staggering number of them who are evil, who do work for the Demon King, and who do want war, and that a lot of said demons come from this cave."

I nodded in understanding.

"I stopped caring about your demon-ness almost instantly. I just think you're annoying and that's why I hate you."

"Well at least I'm doing my job," I half smiled, half wanted to throw a rock at her for the insult. "And why were you down here anyways?" I changed the topic.

"To make a long story short, I was sent on a suicide mission by some people I trusted. And they knew it was suicide."

I kind of froze.

"In other words, I was betrayed. Sent here by people with a lot of power over me that held a false sense of trust over my nose like a carrot on a stick and told me to come down to this cave to complete an impossible mission, knowing full well I would die. It was their intention for me to die."

That hits deep and close to home, right front and center for me.

"And I could say the same to you. What are you doing down here? I know you're trying to leave and it's obvious you're not serving the Demon King. And what's your name, anyways?"

She had her eyebrows raised like she'd stricken a golden question.

"A name? I don't have one."

"What's that supposed to mean? And what about my other questions?"

I froze again, thinking about what she said about a bond. I can say for certain that at least for the time being, we are absolutely stuck together. She knows all too well the feeling of being betrayed by people she trusts, and that alone brings my trust in her up tenfold.

"Are you even listening to me?" She demanded.

I held up my finger. "If I'm going to answer your questions, then I need to tell you about who I am and exactly where I come from. Especially if you're a collection of my magic and we're going to be around each other for at least a little while, it's probably for the best that we come clean with each other."

The fairy leaned forward, a little bit intrigued. "Alright then."

"Well, I haven't always had the horns atop my head," I began, then, with a nervous laugh, "Nor much of a head at all, if I'll be honest."

"Oh I'll say," she jabbed, to which I shot her an angry glare, then continued on with my story and told her about everything. About being on Earth, some sloppy higher power mixing up my soul and letting it wind up in someone else's body, gaining those memories, my time here, everything in the cave so far.

She seemed legitimately interested in my story, and I could tell she felt for me when I told her about being betrayed, too. In fact, it felt a little like she was mad at the people that did the betraying.

"I'm glad to know I'm not the only one," she took a breath of relief. "Listen, there's really no other way to say this than to say that I am your fairy spirit, for better or worse, and I want to help you at least get out of here so you can be on with righting the wrongs done to you."

"I think we have mutual interests here, then."

"Beyond that I can't say I know where it goes. I really don't care if we part ways once we get out of here, but I think we can agree that helping one another gain the foothold to forging our own lives is beneficial."

"In other words, fuck the people that put us here, it's time to live life on our own terms, if I'm hearing that correctly?" I grew a sly smile.

"That is one way of saying it, yes."

We started cooking up dinner, and the adventurous part of me was getting excited, like I suddenly had this whole path ahead of me that I didn't before. The revegeant, bloodthirsty part of me was drooling at being another inch closer to wreaking havoc on a few certain people.

"What can I call you, if you don't have a name? 'Hey you' isn't gonna work," she broke the comfortable silence.

I gave her a very lazy shrug. "Make something up or call me all the nasty names you call me all the time anyways."

"If I make something up, it's gonna be an actual name."

"Whatever floatsh your bvoat," I muttered out through a big bite of food.

"And the same goes for you, too!" She demanded. "You can't just keep saying 'hey you' all the time either."

"Sure I can."

"I wasn't asking."

"You are absolutely no fun."

"Maybe, but I'm no fun with no name and I would like one of those things to be fixed."

"Ugggh fine," I reluctantly agreed. "I'll call you Sefal."

She tilted her head.

"After a character in a story I used to write. A witch to be more precise. I think it's fitting."

Sefal gave me a cheeky smile. "That's kinda cute. I don't mind it. As for you, Sorra, I shall call you after the hero of a very old legend I was told a long time ago."

"I'm not some hero."

"Oh I know. I'll tell you the legend sometime. If I did now then there wouldn't be anything left for me to talk about during our trek. Even though I ran out forever ago."

I could only chuckle and shake my head. "In the spirit of putting my middle finger up to the world, I want a last name."

The cultural implications of that were just a little ironic, but I rolled with it anyways.

"That's a tough one," she thought, and we both sat back while we tried to come up with something fun.

"Loxinous," I stated.

"What after?"

I shrugged. "Just sounds cool, idunno."

She laughed out loud. "Everything about this is sure to turn some heads."

"Good. We have made our own last name, and we are the only ones who shall ever bear it. As a symbol of revenge, of standing above the people that put us both here. I don't make promises I can't keep, and my being here and fighting alongside you is my own promise to never betray you. Our last name is a testament to that."

Making one's own last name on a whim is something next to illegal. In some places it actually is. People in our circumstances would usually abandon their former last names and never take a new one.

But this is the greatest middle finger of them all, for me. I don't care about customs. From either of my two pasts.

I've spent my whole life as a side character to someone else's story. A disposable plot point for comedic value at best, but today, that changes. I'm nobody's side character, and I'm not a main character either. This isn't me "forging my own destiny" or whatever you wanna call it. I'm a character in my own story and nobody else's.

This is a one-man show with no audience, no stage, and I'm the only actor. And I plan to keep it that way for a very long time.