Buzz.

The humming of the cicadas was almost deafening. The very sound of it resounded through the forests. Mingling with the strong sun rays breaking through the canopy of the forest we traveled through, the scenery captured the very essence of summer. It was nostalgic of older days.

After several days of travel back through wastelands, I had made it back.

These were the very forests I journeyed through many times those years ago with Uncle Ersham, Tavarius, and Lucia. My first tastes of adventure as Luqa. And not too far from here would be the comfy village of Wehrau. Or, rather, what remained of it.

“If my eyes are not lain upon them, they exist not… they exist not… they exist not…” If it weren’t for Shara’s half-panicked self-assurances to alleviate what I would guess was an irrational phobia of insects, I would be in a reflective, melancholy mood. As we walked, she trembled, covering her face with her hands. How was she afraid of insects? Didn’t she live for centuries in the wild, monster-rampant Northern Forests?

“There, there, you’ll be fine. Just pretend they’re birds or something else,” I said, patting her shoulder as I tried to hold in a chuckle with a forced smile.

“Please. Please engage in conversation with me. Let your words distract me from these horrifying creatures,” she said. Her words were slightly muffled by her hands. Was she… crying?

“Oh, sure. Fine by me,” I said through a smug smile. Her fear, I could use it to finally squeeze out much-needed information. During the previous days, she had avoided talking about something quite important. Maybe withholding it was a form of her playful teasing. Or maybe it was the fickle beginnings of malicious intent to betray me in the future during my weakest moment, leading me to lose everything I deem precious. Hopefully, the former. “If you’re so eager for conversation, then tell me what you spoke about with that ‘Phoebus’ person. I’ve been a bit curious for a while. And by a bit curious, I mean desperately and dyingly so.”

“Hoh, that. I suppose that it is proper for you to be ‘a bit’ curious about it, as you say.” She took her hands from her head. Suddenly, fear had completely vanished from her, replaced with her usual confidence. “I can tell you if your desire is so cripplingly desperate. But, truly, it is nothing so grandiose as your imaginative mind might expect. You heard most of the matter while prostrate on the ground, right?”

“Yes, but, what can I say? My instinct tells me that that little part you’re withholding is important. Maybe even the most important piece of information,” I said as I cut through shrubs to open our path to the steeply sloping hill in front of us. Leading forward, I offered my right hand to Shara.

“Goodness, are you so eager to hear,” she said as she took my hand. Slowly, we began scaling up the hill. I used my mother’s staff held in my left hand to stabilize the steps of our ascent. “It may just be that I may suffer embarrassment from revealing what you seek. Would you be such a horrid brute and defile such wishes of a proper, noble-hearted lady?” I didn’t need to turn around to see her pout with which she said her words.

“Sorry, but I can handle being a brute, by your definition. Now spill it, lion girl… please?” I pulled off the most boyish, cute smile I could at her. “Agh!” Unfortunately, my backwards-directed attention made me hit my forehead on a branch I didn’t see.

“Hehe, sure enough, then, clumsy Mr. ‘Brute’,” Shara giggled. “Let this mean I may ask something of similar weight to you later, then, alright?” Quickly glancing back, her signature grin was in display. Her hand lightly squeezed my own as our eyes met.

“Works for me, I’m not exactly quite secretive to you,” I said as my eyes redirected themselves forward, eager to not hurt myself again via unseen obstacles. We were almost halfway up the hill.

“Don’t be disappointed by the insignificance of what I said then! Here’s the grand reveal: I simply recounted to him what you told me of yourself.” Her frank response compelled me to turn my eyes toward her again. There was no playfulness nor slyness apparent on her face. Simply honest neutrality.

“Could you be less vague? What exactly did you recount?”

“Well, the spiel you recited about who you are. Here’s a less vague recounting, as you asked for. I told him that you were indeed the Demon King. But I said you were an anguished soul, reformed from the past tyrant!” Suddenly, her neutral expression turned into a melodramatic, theatrical frown, as if a princess in a tower watching an errant knight fight a savage beast. Her free hand lay itself over her chest. “Haunted by his past, and seeking change, but given second chance to life, I told of the tale of a tragic figure seeking to right his wrongs. But, first, this figure must gather his soul, fragmented by cruel fate, pieces of power wandering the world, privy to be wrongly wielded by others. Only this unlikely hero can carry out this task. Nay, he must be the one to right this wrong, to bear this heavy sin!”

Suddenly, I regretted asking her to speak. Even worse, she continued on with increasing enthusiasm.

“And who else to watch over this sinner seeking the path of forgiveness, as his close companion, other than this maidenly princess. She shall be one who will make sure he never becomes a straggler to path he has decided upon, but one who will also make the path less lonesome for his solitary soul! Oh, now how could this masked intruder become a burden on these fated two? How could he let his grudge blind himself? The past must let itself be buried as the past for a brighter future to blossom from the soil of the present.” Tears, somehow, someway, had begun slowly running down her cheek. Begrudgingly, I had to admit, she was a natural at this. “And that’s that gist of it!” Suddenly, her theatrics disappeared in favor of her usual grin.

A weighty sigh left me. How was I supposed to respond to this?

“Is… is that so?” I finally said.

“Of course, that encapsulates it all. I just happened to have composed my information with the floweriness it deserved,” she said calmly.

“I see.”

“Hehe!” She giggled as she strode on ahead. Now she was in front of me, pulling me up the hill. “The look on your face is quite precious, I say. Calm yourself, brute. I mean it when I said that I simply told him of your intentions. Think of it as every essential word about yourself revealed to me, revealed to him similarly. Now, that Lord Phoebus, he is a true brute. Hearing my words, he did but one thing. He sought to use you under pretense of offering allyship. And upon my firm refusal on your behalf, he simply left dissatisfied, without elaboration. Could you believe such rudeness?” Her voice carried amusement.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

But the news she delivered did not deliver the same amusement she had. In truth, it was something significant. And she had withheld it for so long from me. Why?

“Allies with the Dragon and his subordinates…” My words trailed off as my thoughts continued. “I… that might have been a good idea, though. The demons have never had allies. That could have made quite the difference.”

“Hmph, no, my decision was wiser. His silver tongue would have convinced you towards an outcome you never desired. Trust my wisdom.”

Unconsciously, I began clenching my jaw in growing irritation. Was she serious?

“What? How can I trust you on that when I don’t even know what you’re saying is true? Maybe, you should’ve waited until I was conscious? Maybe then, I could have decided myself. And maybe, someone like him, or the Dragon himself, would’ve been the demons’ ally.” My voice had become louder, with each sentence ascending in increasing harshness.

Hearing my tone, silently, her head turned towards me, regarding me with a critical expression.

“Don’t delude yourself, please, Luqa.” Melancholy eyes bore into me. “I meant it when I said he simply sought to use you. Lay no trust in the words of recklessly powerful immortals such as him. And being allies is simply an alias to veil the true nature of the relationship. Every one who purports themself as your ally simply seeks to benefit from you.” Her neutral expression had returned. The way she spoke as if she couldn’t be wrong… it rubbed off on me in the wrong way.

“What a cynical worldview. You’re really, really twisted and delusional, sometimes. And not only keeping secrets but choosing to decide for me when I’m unconscious? Great! Thanks a lot, li–” I closed my mouth as her eyes turned dark. Whatever the proper response was, what I said wasn’t it. I was… better than that. “Sorry. Sorry for yelling. And, um, well… despite what I said, you helped me out. I mean it. But, I can’t help but feel that that offer was a missed opportunity.”

She broke eye contact and looked forwards once more before responding.

“Hmph, if that’s how you feel, then make your own offer in the future. Propose it in your terms, when you are sitting in a better position, with more strength and will behind your stature. Do it in the way you would. Without me, if you so desire.” Her voice was lowered and carried a biting edge.

“...True, you’re right, that’s also an option,” I said scratching my head. I strode forwards with wide steps to gain on her. We began walking side-by-side, but at the same moment, she had her face sidewards, away from me. “Sorry, uh, hello? I’m sorry, really.”

Only the song of the cicadas around us answered me.

“Damn, um… sorry for making you mad… Did I make you mad?” Sweat began beading on my forehead. I was still holding hands with her, and her grip had gone tighter. What was this sinking feeling? What in the name of the gods did I get myself into?

After a few moments, she turned her face towards me again. She… was sticking out her tongue at me.

“Absolutely livid you’ve made me, yes! Beware my anger!” The playful grin had returned. A breath of relief escaped me. Was I safe now? “I heard you. I understand your childish words, and I apologize for deciding on your behalf. But, understand, it was the difference between him abducting you or not. It was the best solution to drive off someone so troublesome. So forgive me when I’m quite upset for the lack of gratitude and understanding for my toil, hmph!” She retracted her hand and folded her arms in front of her chest.

“Oh, then, you should’ve just said that then! But… I guess I should be sorry, too…”

“Hmph, you guess?” She turned away from me again.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry for yelling at you… I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Sufficient enough for this small matter, I guess,” she responded, while slowly facing me and uncrossing her arms. “You’re forgiven, rejoice!”

“But! And an important ‘but’! Please don’t withhold information like that from me. Give me reason to trust you by being more upfront, okay? This might be paranoid of me, but I want you to tell me such important things related to me.”

“…I suppose that’s a reasonable request. I’ll have to drop my taste for holding secrets to myself. Excuse my unreasonable love for them, but there just is something delicious about knowing more than you!” Her grin curved upwards impishly. “And, sorry for withholding it. I simply thought it would be better if you didn’t have to worry yourself about that troublesome man and his agenda,” she whispered.

“I gotcha,” I said easily, satisfied at her words. “But taste for holding secrets? There’s that twistedness, again,” I sighed. “As long you tone that ‘unreasonable love’ down.” I walked ahead of her again, avoiding the wraggly tree roots on the ground. The crest of the hill was only a few steps ahead. “Also, some of your words chilled me. You said I shouldn’t trust someone who claims themselves as an ally, right? Means I shouldn’t trust you, right?”

“Well… I suppose I have made myself difficult to trust with certain matters. But, I’m not your ally!” she exclaimed. “I’m your companion. After all, what could I have to benefit from you? Absolutely nothing.”

“Yeouch. If I were as fragile as you, I’d be crying right now.”

“Oh, dear Lulachi, your provocations are as piercing as a babe’s mewling.”

“Agh, I said don’t call me that! And it’s not my fault I’m not as naturally infuriating as you with your words.” With one final step, we had made it to the peak of the hill.

“Mm, that last statement was a marginal improvement over the previous, I’ll give you that.” With a hop she paced beside me. “Oooh, what a delightful sight.”

Tracts of rolling hills for miles on end extended under the now evening sun. A clear, blue river snaked through the hills. It was a sight of lively bright green, one I had missed. It was in stark contrast to the Northern Forests I had grown accustomed to, which was dark, heavily wooded with trees that never lost their leaves, with harsh black miasma to top it off. This here was gentle nature, if there ever was such a thing.

Here, the spring signaled the blossoming of colorful flowers. The following summer heat could be tempered by the river’s coolness. During the autumn, the leaves turned dream-like shades of red and brown. And in the winter, the comfy village, only minutes away from here, hibernated into a warm sleep.

“We’re close to my home village,” I said absentmindedly as I stared at the view in front of me. More and more of my childhood memories played itself in my head. Anxiety swirled in my stomach.

What happened to my village? What would I find? Were those houses still there, standing at the very same places?

Could I handle seeing the village’s remains, empty of its life, due to… me?

A pleasant sensation took me out of my thoughts. It was Shara gently ruffling my hair. It had become a habit of hers, for some reason. I couldn’t complain, could I?

“Well, what’s wrong, Luqa? We’re close. Let us continue on.”

“...You’re right. Let’s go.”

“Also,” her voice trembled, “could we keep talking? The cicadas. My foolish self remembered their terrifying presence once more. All around us. Endlessly. In countless numbers. With their creepy eyes. Their folded legs. And th–”

“Again, just think of them as really, really strange kinds of birds. You’ll be fine.”