Another Step Forward (3)

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After about an hour of slow roasting, the meal was finally done.

I was now on my fifth shot of the drink Myra called a “Mysticap”, but this time my hands were also occupied by a plate full of marine flesh. This Steel Jaw thing was surprisingly good, it was neither too tough nor too chewy, so my stomach was experiencing a sense of elation at the moment.

“Awww! No,no,no,no,noooooo!!!!”

I heard a squeal from across the campfire, one that I couldn’t help but investigate. It was of course, Jytte, who was currently on her knees and frantically scraping at the fragments of her dissipating scroll.

“Jytte...is that...?” Oliver questioned with a stark look on his face

“Its my dimension cache, its breaking apart and I've only used it once. This thing costs three gold coins - I can’t lose it like this!”

She rummaged through the fading scraps of parchment with an even greater intensity, I had no idea what a dimension cache even was, but judging by the despair in her voice it must have been pretty important.

“Give it up.” Flynn mumbled as he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Once these things start dissipating it's all over.”

She stood up to reveal the profound look of sorrow in her glossy eyes, the fact that her ears and tail could also droop in sync with her dejection was making it almost impossible to not feel sorry for her.

“I’ll get you a new one as soon as we reach the capital Jytte, it's the least I could do.” Oliver cut in with a determined tone, setting the girls beady eyes aflame once more.

“Thanks a lot Oliver!” she yelled in elation.

“Next time....” Flynn interrupted as he stooped to pick up the final piece of the disintegrating scroll.

“...Try not to buy any more dimension caches that come in the form of scrolls or things like that. Your much better off just getting the ring-shaped ones that can only hold your essentials like potions and stuff. The scrolls have more storage capacity, but they’re a lot more expensive and they can only be used once.”

She stared at him in awe like a curious child – If I didn't know any better, I would have guessed that this must have been the first time she was hearing all of this.

Flynn shook his head and let out a sigh that soon turned into a chuckle.

“Well, you know, just stick to buying the cheaper ring or bracelet shaped ones from now on alright? This is a scam.” He finished by dangling the disintegrating piece of parchment in front of her face.

“G-Got it” She answered rather attentively.

“Sorry, you used that scroll for me, didn’t you?” I mumbled through a yawn; this body clearly wasn’t taking my overnight activities very well.

“You don’t have to worry about that Liam, I used it because I wanted to, alright?” She smiled with a gentle tilt of her head.

“Not a big deal huh?” Myra interrupted with a smug grin

My gaze flickered between the two of them before the revelation snapped in my mind.

“Is that true, Myra?”

She looked down at me and smiled before waving me off and saying “It’s not something you need to worry about kid.”

How odd.

Despite appearances, she did know when to dial back her usual bravado.

The two of them had gotten into another dramatic quarrel, this time over their current financial status, but I wasn’t very interested in that. There was something else I’d much rather get the answer to.

“Uhm...lady Myra-”

“Just Myra is fine, there’s no need to be so overly polite anymore, even I'm not that prickly.”

That was a rather abrupt change of heart, but a welcome one nonetheless.

“Then, Myra...how exactly do Faeries see through lies?”

That was a question I never thought I’d have to ask, but given my current situation, it might be best to just go back to the basics.

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Myra Hazel

I always had a feeling that Oliver’s son would turn out to be the overly curious type, and as fate would have it, I wasn’t very far off the mark.

People say that children are easy to impress, but it's the first time I've ever seen anyone actually chug down five of those Mysticaps in a row. I only gave it to him because I wanted to see him make some funny faces, but at some point, he’d actually started to enjoy it.

Most people get tired of that little enchantment by the fourth sip—but this boy? It’s my first time seeing anyone look so happy drinking something so cheap. It was basically just enchanted water, but just seeing that look of satisfaction on his little round face was starting to make me think that he wasn’t used to tasting very much at all.

Druids definitely had their preferences when it came to flavor, especially in Julia’s case, so I couldn’t help but wonder - Just what exactly had she been feeding this kid?

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In a way, I wanted to know the answer to that question and at the same time, I didn’t. The important thing right now, though, was the question the boy had just asked me.

“Then, Myra...how exactly do Faeries see through lies?”

My mind instantly began filtering out all the useless words I didn't need, so it had only taken a few seconds for me to condense all of this down to something a child could understand.

“That’s a strange question. Why do you want to know something like that Liam?” I remarked sarcastically, peering down into his deep red eyes.

The boy lightly swirled the drink in his right hand before taking another sip that forced his expression into a grimace. He quickly shrugged off the bitterness and smiled his way into his next reply

“I want to see if I can do it too.”

“You want...to do it?”

He nodded without a hint of hesitation on his face.

“Pfft!Puhahahaha!!”

My body barreled into a laughing fit as I rolled around in the air, even though he was just a child, he was actually being dead serious about this.

“M-Myra what’s so funny!? He just wants to know!” Jytte cursed at me before stooping to the boy’s level to comfort him. That’s what she wanted it to look like anyway.

“Listen up Liam, you too Jytte...” I said after calming down

“Seeing through lies isn’t something you can just ‘do’ like that, it's not that simple. Lies aren’t even physical in the first place, you need a spiritual connection in order to perceive them.”

“A spiritual connection? “

“Exactly.” I answered, floating down on his hand.

“I know when people are lying because I can see their anima, it’s that simple.”

Confusion was starting to creep across their faces, a blatant mix of skepticism, ignorance and curiosity. It didn’t take much for me to anticipate their next question, so, a bit to my own credit, I beat them to the punch.

“You’re wondering what ‘anima’ is, right?”

They both nodded vigorously.

Jytte was surprisingly into this for some reason, but despite her initial enthusiasm I wasn’t expecting her to remember much of this for long. Outside of combat, there was hardly ever much she actively paid attention to.

“Well, let's see, how do I put this...” I mused, glancing over to my right only to see Flynn and Oliver clashing about who deserved the Steel Jaw’s eyeball.

Julia – who was now acting as their mediator - waved me off with silent hand signals that meant something to the extent of “everything’s fine, don’t worry”, so their lack of interjections at the moment wasn’t very concerning.

“Anima is an emanation of will and desire. Simply put, it’s an extension of yourself, kind of like an aura that mages give off when they’re leaking mana.”

“Will and desire huh? I think.......I understand, but what does any of that have to do with lying?” He quizzed intently.

I highly doubt he actually knew what I was talking about, but seeing him try so hard to figure this out was refreshing, and honestly, it was kind of cute.

“Well...” I said, clearing my throat earnestly.

“Since your ‘anima’ is an extension of who you are it also means that it covers all your core aspects, like your beliefs and what not. Even things you don’t know about yourself can supposedly be read from your own anima. That’s why, when you lie for example, you’re doing something that’s going against what you actually believe or want, so it causes a distortion in the field of anima surrounding your body. I can see that distortion, so I know when people are lying, that’s all it is.”

“OOH! I think I kind of get it now.....sort of...er...go over that last part again?”

“Right, right. I’ll do that some other time Jytte.”

She laughed off the embarrassment for a while, but stopped after peering down at the boy in deep thought by her side.

He really was taking this seriously.

‘Liam, its fine if you don’t get it you know. Stuff like this is really complicated so you might have to wai-”

“I understand it well enough; I just need some way to practice it.” He mumbled through a smile.

“Huuh!? For real? You actually understand all that stuff?”

“Mhm. Pretty much.” Liam nodded contently; a mischievous spark of some sort had now been set ablaze in his eyes.

As overly dramatic as Jytte was being, this was one of the few times where I could actually agree with her. This kid was smarter than he looked.

“Myra... is there any way for me to learn how to see anima like you?”

“E-Eh? Well, no not that I know of.”

That determined look in his eyes had startled me for some reason, to the point where I’d unconsciously found myself fluttering backwards a bit.

“Faeries are – well, we were ‘blessed’ by a certain deity a long time ago, so that’s why we’re able to see anima. I don’t think there’s any other way for a normal person to gain spiritual insight like we have....”

I tried my best to hide it but, sadly, I couldn’t fully contain the ire lurking in my tone.

“I see. Can I ask you one last thing before I go back over to my mother?” His gaze was unnaturally serious.

“What is it?” I replied curtly, it wasn’t their fault but, that last question now had me inadvertently wishing for the end of this conversation.

“Can you see souls?”

“Souls...no; of course not.... There’s no way I can do something like that.” His question left me stunned, my broken sentence came out in startled bits and pieces.

“Is that so? Thank you for answering my questions, I learned a lot.” He turned away with a smile as he walked towards his feasting parents who had just called out to him.

I couldn’t shake the feeling of unease building up on my chest as I watched him walk away like that, so in spite of my own frustration, I felt compelled to stop him.

“Wait!” I shouted; my voice brought the boy to a halt.

“M-Myra what’s up?” Jytte asked sincerely, if only she could understand the implication behind his question just now then this would have been a lot easier to explain.

He turned around, revealing an expression that betrayed his confusion. However, his overall features had in fact returned to their usual childlike wonder.

“W-why did you ask me that? The question about seeing souls, I mean.....”

His lips curled up slightly as he began moving in the direction of his mother’s incessant calls, but his answer came before his face had faded from our view.

“Oh that? It’s because I can.” He replied nonchalantly, as if throwing those words into the wind.

I felt my face twisting in astonishment.

The corners of my jaws were losing strength by the second, all because of what this boy had said just now. That wasn’t the scary part though, what had actually left me at a loss for words was the scene unfolding right in front of me.

I watched as his anima flowed gracefully around his body, cool and undisturbed.

He.....wasn’t lying.