The cart's wheels were squeaking loudly.

Nez was relieved to be finally out of Colisburg. All those people around him were getting on his nerves. Being able to enjoy some peace and quiet in the countryside helped him relax a little bit.

He was laying on his back, looking at the sky, and painfully aware of the sneaky looks Phisena gave him from time to time. Even Delilah would turn to check on him from the passenger seat once in a while.

Just leave me alone.

Nez found it difficult to talk to them. He felt anxious around them, a tension he never felt before. Was he behaving correctly? Did he make a weird expression? Did he move too abruptly?

What where they thinking when they looked at him?

There were too many thoughts in Nez's head, and they were preventing him to act normally. He was constantly wondering if he was doing something wrong.

He almost didn't even sleep the two previous nights. After leaving Lord Orzhio's mansion he was a wreck, and he barely improved.

Nothing could take away the fact that his friends knew his secret, and he couldn't expect things to stay the same. Delilah, Bortheus, and Phisena were acting nice... Well, maybe not Bortheus but it was nothing new. And yet Nez could feel a distance formed between them.

He wiggled to try and find a more comfortable position.

What is happening to me?

Nez never cared what others thought about him. But with the three he was traveling with it was different.

Bortheus stopped the cart at a crossroad. “We have to decide what route to take”.

Nez sat up.

“Between here and Smitsburg, where the traveling merchant currently is, there's Willow Swamp. We can go safely around it, but it's going to take us at least two extra days of travel. Or we go through it, which is risky”.

Phisena closed the book she was reading. “We don't know how long the traveling merchant will stay in Smitsburg. If we take too long they might leave”.

“But the Willow Swamp is known to be very dangerous” Bortheus said. “Travelers get often attacked by hostile creatures, and our cart might not be able to navigate the swampy terrain”.

“Hmm”. Delilah became pensive. “What do you think, Nez?”.

“It's the same, for me” he meekly replied with a shrug, keeping his eyes low.

Bortheus scoffed. “Great contribution”.

Nez lied down again. “I'm fine with whatever you want to do”. It wasn't his place to make decisions.

Delilah sighed in frustration. “Let's set up camp here, the sun will go down soon. We can think about it tomorrow”.

They pulled the cart out of the road and went just outside of a nearby thicket. Lord Orzhio didn't give them a better vehicle, but was generous with food supplies. Dinner was not an issue.

“I'll go get some wood”. Nez walked away as soon as he got down from the cart.

“Wait” Phisena called him, to no avail.

Nez didn't stop.

Once he was finally beyond the tree line and got out of sight, he let out a groan of relief. Now that he was alone, he felt less pressure. Even breathing was easier. It shouldn't have been like that.

I have no right to complain.

He deserved much worse than what he was given. The least he could do is to shut up and bear his problems in silence.

But...

Nez kicked a small rock, sending it flying against a tree. The another one.

Then his foot got caught in a root, and Nez fell face first in the dirt.

“Serves me right” he muttered to himself, having cooled down. He spit out a few blades of grass, then he kept moving further in the thicket to gather wood.

After finding a few fallen branches that were perfect, he came across a pond. The water looked clean, so Nez took the opportunity to wash his face. He set the wood down and bent over the pond, but after rinsing his face he stopped to look at his own reflection.

Its so different from three years ago...

Back when he was The Hollow, there was almost no trace of emotion in his expression. Only an underlying hint of rancor, hate, and anger.

Now he looked more... complex.

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Taking away what made him The Hollow left only Nez, and he didn't really know what he was outside of being a Devil Touched.

A twig snapped behind him.

Nez jumped to his feet, his gun already pointed and ready to shoot.

“It's me!” Phisena shouted immediately.

“Don't sneak up on me” Nez grumbled, lowering his weapon. “I could have shot you”.

She sunk her head in her shoulders. “Sorry”.

Nez wiped his face with a sleeve. “I'm almost done. There was no need to come look for me” he said in a dry voice.

“We need to talk”.

“I'd rather not”.

Phisena planted herself in front of him. She had no intention of letting it go. “You have to stop acting like this”.

“I'm not acting like anything” Nez replied in a poor attempt to look natural.

“I understand you must feel anxious, but don't shut us out”. Phisena took a step closer. “The last thing you need is to isolate yourself”.

Nez's shoulders dropped. “You talk to me like I'm a small time delinquent... I killed people for a living”.

“Nobody is saying what you did doesn't matter, or that you should just forget about it”. Phisena pushed her glasses up her nose. “Honestly, thinking about your past gives me goosebumps... But I see you're not that person anymore. Delilah too, and even Bortheus... probably”.

“Phisena...”.

“We always imagined you had a violent past. It was clear as day, and you never tried to make a mystery if it. It's just a little worse than we thought”.

That was putting it lightly.

“But we also saw that you are not a bad person. Just a troubled one. You were marked by a devil... Your life was ruined before you were even born”.

Nez felt the need to run away, but he resisted it. “It's not an excuse”.

She nodded. “You're right. There's no justification for your actions. But as Delilah said, you have the chance to do some good. The choice to change was yours, after all”.

That little animated doll could be so straightforward... she was almost bothersome.

But it's a good kind of bothersome.

Before Nez could say anything, Phisena put a hand on his chest. “The other day, at lord Orzhio's mansion, you said you wouldn't let anyone and anything keep me away from you. Remember?” she asked.

“Of course I do”.

“I asked you even if my master would stand in the way, and you said yes. I asked even if I was a little weird, and you said yes. But you didn't let me finish my third question, so I'll ask now”.

Nez felt his heart beating faster. It was like drums in his ears.

“Even if you are afraid of the future?” she finally asked her final question.

That was the kind of warmth Nez never thought he could find. Devil Touched didn't have friends, or people that cared about them in general. He really was afraid in front of something so magnificent and unknown.

Slowly, Nez raised his arms and hugged Phisena tightly. “Yes”. He couldn't go back to how things were before. It would have crushed him.

“I wish you didn't have to bear the mark of a devil” Phisena whispered.

Nez made a melancholic smile and buried his face in her hair. “Sounds nice...”.

They stayed like that for a while.

“If we don't go back soon, the others will think I kidnapped you” Nez finally said.

“I'll help you with the wood” Phisena replied.

Those couple of sentences felt so normal, they almost made Nez's head spin. But the anxiety that was eating him inside since the previous evening was gone.

I could get used to this.

They picked up the wood Nez already gathered, and then found some more before heading back to camp. Nez gradually relaxed enough to chat casually with her.

“You really broke in the royal castle?”. Phisena was incredulous.

“Oh yes” Nez confirmed. “But only once. I needed to hide, and that was the most secure place I could find”.

“Don't tell Bortheus, or he'll freak out”.

Nez laughed lightly, balancing the branches in his arms. “His reactions can be...”.

A sudden feeling struck him, one that luckily he didn't feel very often. It was a creeping sensation that crawled down his spine. He immediately stopped and looked around.

“What is it?”. Phisena became alarmed.

“There is something around here” Nez replied, trying to focus on the presence he felt. “A demon”.

Phisena gasped. “How can you tell?”.

“I was contaminated by a devil. Devils are just superior demons, and they both come from the same place”. He dropped the wood and took out his weapons. “A creature from hell can always tell when another one is near”.

Even if she didn't have her staff with her, Phisena was ready for a fight.

The sound of thunder echoed in the thicket. It came from the direction of their camp.

Nez looked up. There sun was shining brightly through the treetops.

Without the need so say a word, they both sprinted as fast as they could.

As they got out of the thicket, their camp came into view. Delilah and Bortheus where in the middle of a fight with two unworldly creatures floating five feet above the ground.

They were two disembodied purple faces, with horns and many sharp teeth, ringed by a circle on which there were spheres and protrusions that emanated electricity.

“Lightning Wheels!”. Nez dashed ahead, knowing the princess and her knight couldn't make it on their own.

He instinctively tapped in his devilish blood and felt the rush of blood lust, but his mind was clear and focused.

“Terra!” Phisena shouted. Rock spikes came out of the ground beneath both Lightning Wheels, managing to hit them.

Delilah and Bortheus made a joint attack on one of the demons, taking it down.

The other one shot three lightning bolts. It struck Delilah and Bortheus, but the approaching Nez dodged.

The Devil Touched shot two bullets at the Lightning Wheel, one to to startle it and the second to catch it right in the forehead as it recoiled. He then jumped on the side of the cart and leaped forward, driving his dagger in the demon's face with force.

The thing fell motionless, no more electricity coming out of it.

Nez rolled on the ground and nimbly stood up in a single motion. He turned to look at Delilah and Bortheus, who were badly roughed up. “I can't turn my back for two seconds” he told them with a playful smile.

He was incredibly relieved they were alright.

“You sure took your sweet time” Bortheus grunted, glancing both at Nez and Phisena. He was panting heavily.

“Sorry” Phisena apologized timidly.

Delilah wiped the sweat and dirt off her face. “Glad to see you resolved your inner conflict”. She walked with unstable feet to Nez and gave him her hand. “Are you back with us?”.

Nez shook it. “I won't waste my second chance” he promised.

“I was sure about it” Delilah replied with a mysterious smile. “Now please, go grab the wood so we can cook for dinner. I need to patch up Bortheus and myself”.

As Nez gathered the wood for the bonfire, he felt a little spark of happiness.

Yes, things were going well.