Chapter 47: Awoken

“Hooray!” Damien weakly yelled as he suddenly aroused from his slumber. “ Why did I just say that? Why does my neck hurt?”

The events of that night quickly came flooding in. Raven! He knocked Damien unconscious after he attacked… Dante! Trying to survey his situation, such as why he was still alive, Damien saw the others were on their nymphs riding alongside him. Even he was on Nightshade with Fierce was sleeping on my lap. A month from now, she definitely won’t be able to do this, she’ll just be far too big. Actually, with how she was growing, that might even be just a week.

More memories flooded in. Krista! What was the deal with her? She comes out and tells him that Dante knew who he was the whole time. Damien moved his hands to wipe his eyes but felt an extra weight fighting against him.

“Handcuffs, really?” said Damien to no one in particular.

“Your wattiez… can’t,” said a scrawny voice

“Ah! Oh, It’s just Phive,” He had so little presence that Damien hadn’t noticed him come near. “What are you talking about?”

On Damien’s arm, there was a thick bracelet made of metal and wood around his wrist. They looked a lot like Cleo’s, just bigger, along with his boasting some small red crystals instead of green.

“You’re a… wearing a restraining brace. This one is a design from Lorena and I, based off the ones found in Falling Starlight. The metal is made of an alloy of iron and carbon, so you probably can’t break it. The metal acts as a casing for the Grand Tree wood inside. Also, notice the crystals along the circumference of one are made of sapphire, and the other ruby. Since we don’t know the size of your vase, we found it prudent-”

“Where are Krista and Amelia?” interrupted Damien.

“Good to see that you’re awake Damien,” a voice called from behind them. Amelia’s voice. She tried to sound cheery even in a situation like this, but her smile betrayed her emotions.

“Good to see you too,” Damien responded. “How about Krista, where is she?”

Amelia pointed towards the front of the pack where Krista was speaking cheerfully with Dante and Cleo. Behind them, Raven sulked near Melody on his much smaller mule. He wasn’t sure what Raven did last night, but Dante was unconscious if he remembered correctly. Maybe Raven had something to do with that.

Damien was about to motion Nightshade to pick up the pace a bit when Animus appeared to his side, “Another step foretells your end.”

Damien didn’t need an interpreter to understand her words this time, “What, scared I might do something? Not much I can really do with the handcuffs on.”

“Mind your lounge. I will not block your road, but I will always be watching. If the smell of malice wafts off you, your end will come near.”

“Guess that’s fair, I did try to kill Dante, and I would have gotten away with it too if it wasn’t for Mr. tall, dark, and ugly, and his mangy mutt.”

Animus didn’t give Damien the pleasure of seeing her react to his words as she once again disappeared. Though she didn’t go without some parting words, “You only breathe because Dante allows it.”

Damien couldn’t even say she was wrong. All things considered; Damien was prepared to go out in a blaze of glory after ending Dante’s life. That wasn’t like him, Damien always fancied himself as the type to run away and get revenge later, it kept him alive until this point. Krista was right, something about being around Shining Twilight made him act unlike himself.

Damien’s worry must have shown on his face as Amelia spoke to him, “Hey, Krista filled me in on everything while you were asleep, how are you feeling?”

He was going to flex his arm to show he was doing just fine but an immense amount of stiffness stopped him from doing so, “Like crap! Just how long was I sleeping for?” She looked away as soon as he asked. “Amelia, how long?”

Finally, she relented, “F- Five days.”

“No wonder my body-” Damien initially shouted before calming down. “I don’t feel any of the other after affects of wither, so that isn’t the problem. Why was I out for so long?”

“Well, after your little… outburst, everyone felt uncomfortable around you. While you’re life was guaranteed, they decided that the restraining brace wasn’t enough protection from you. To be fair, you have proven yourself to be quite… unpredictable.”

“I pride myself on it.”

“Unfortunately, that left Krista and I in a very poor situation. Raven wanted to remove your legs, but Krista managed to persuade them into just keeping you unconscious.”

“So, she saved my life again…” Although Damien truly felt the words he said here were true, he couldn’t help but let a wash of disappointment come across his face. `

“You’re still angry with her, aren’t you?”

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“I’m not that easy to read, am I?” He looked towards Krista and felt a twinge in his heart before looking away. “I know I shouldn’t feel that way. I know that she must have had a reason to do what she did. Yet I just can’t bring myself to forgive her. Is that wrong?”

“She… still hasn’t told me why she did what she did. If anything, I think I’m the one who should be the angriest.”

That actually got a laugh out of Damien, who could pretty easily tell that Amelia was trying to lie here to spare his feelings, but he played along, “You’re probably right. Alright, no more stupid things from me. From now on, I promise to be on my best behavior.”

Amelia padded him on the back, “If you ever stopped doing stupid things, I’d be more worried than anything.”

“How did I function before meeting you?”

“Poorly, I’d assume.”

“Dmitri you take care of this one. I got to say you’re a real lucky guy. Amelia is quite the catch!”

Amelia immediately started throwing punches at me, while Dmitri quickly covered his head.

“Ye-yes she is quite the fabulous mind,” Dmitri mumbled. “Most intriguing. I feel that the time I’ve spent with her has been the most enjoyable.”

His words stopped Amelia from punching Damien as she covered her own face, “Y-You!”

Looking around further, Damien noticed that they were missing someone, “Where’s Matilda? You’d think she’d be right there with Krista and Dante. Trying to explore their status as anomalous users, but I don’t see her.”

Amelia shrugged, “I know as much about that as you do. When I woke up, she was already not with us. They most likely just left her at some point. I do hope she’s fine. I don’t know how close the nearest village was to her, but with her skills and abilities, I do believe she’ll be fine.”

“Usually, I’d be elated to know that she was gone,” Damien responded. “Unfortunately, around now is when she might have been the most useful to us. Either way, I bet she’s just fine somewhere, angrily yelling about how she can’t research those two.”

“That’s true… You should probably go talk to her Damien.”

“You think? But what could I even say to her at this point? I know that I’m probably more in the wrong, but I just can’t forgive you for what you did five nights ago.”

“Yes, probably. At least try to get a dialogue started, so you- we can both learn why she did what she did.”

Damien smiled at his friend, “Thanks Teach! What do you think Nightshade, should I really go talk with Krista?” He neighed and started moving forward at a faster pace. “Well, you know best buddy.”

As Nightshade continued forward, Shix and Jikan decided to block his way, “Where do you think you’re going asshole?” Surprisingly it was Jikan who said this to Damien.

“Is this going to be a recurring theme?” Damien sighed. “I just need to go speak to Krista. I also need to… thank, ouch that hurt, Dante for letting me live. I’m not so blind that I can’t see that I’m only alive because of him.”

“Damn straight, but I can’t help but be a little happy to see Raven sulking like that,” Jikan laughed. “I’d high five you if I didn’t feel like gutting you.”

Shix moved her horse next to Damien. Her body language showed that she was in some way conflicted, “I need to know something, and I need to hear these words from your mouth. Did you lead the armies of Acumenos against Shining Twilight?”

Damien figured Shining Twilight finding out about his involvement was inevitable, so he didn’t lie, “What can I say, I fought to protect my home. You were the invaders, and you worked to destroy my home. Funny thing is, I still don’t know why, and I honestly don’t care.”

Shix sighed as she heard his response, “Dante has a plan, a plan that I think will work, but he has to go to extremes for it. Your home…Acumenos was definitely one of those extremes. Just like everyone else, I want to hurt you, I really do. Regardless of who was in the wrong, my fellow soldiers died because of you.”

“Don’t worry, the feelings mutual.”

“When I look at you, I’m only reminded of the people I’ve lost, but I can’t bring myself to hate you. I’m not sure if that’s because of Krista, or if it’s because I think you’re right, and we were the invaders. That doesn’t matter right now; Dante is my leader and I will follow him to the end. So, you’d better be a good boy, or else trouble will follow.”

Shix made a fist and slapped in her other palm for effect. She also looked noticeably brighter having vented at Damien. Having said her piece, Shix moved forward on her small fire nymph towards Dante, Cleo, and Krista.

Damien turned towards Jikan who he figured had something to say, but only found him playing rock paper scissors with one of his clones. They kept drawing, “J-Jikan, you got something you need to tell me?”

Jikan turned towards Damien, but his clone kept playing, “No, they told me I had to help watch you. That’s the only reason I’m here. Unlike the rest of these guys, I’m not very involved with the military aspect of Shining Twilight. I’m better suited for more… menial task. I did hear that you were kicking Raven’s ass for a long time. Come on, what’s your secret, you got to tell me.”

Jikan moved in very close so that he couldn’t be overheard, leaving Damien to crack a smile, “Jikan, you’re a real tenacious guy. I wish you the best after Raven pummels you.”

He looked confused then turned the other way. His attempt to not be overheard fell on keen ears. “R-Raven, how’s it going buddy… anything? Now listen here-”

Raven grabbed onto Jikan’s face and started applying pressure, “Excuse me.”