************Ron POV************

Ron didn’t particularly enjoy eating meat of any kind, but he knew people like Emily did. He worked on making dinner for her for when she got back, but then he heard a knock on the door. When he answered it, he was surprised to find Fliour standing there with her hands on her hips.

“Explain. Who the hell is that girl?” Fliour didn’t even ask to come in, but simply walked past Ron and sat down at the table. Ron sighed as he watched her sit.

Ron knew Fliour loved him, but he couldn’t return the feelings. She was easily made jealous, so whenever anyone but Analicia talked to him and she found out about it, she was always at his house the same day to confront him about it.

“Fliour, it’s complicated. Anyways, what does it matter to you? Could you at least be kind to her?” Ron asked as he sat down on the opposite end of the table. Fliour glared at him before purposefully bending over so her cleavage was practically spilling out onto the tabletop. It wasn’t hard to look the other way.

“You know how I feel about it. It’s like a slap in the face that not only are you talking to someone who’s younger than me, but you’re also sleeping in the same house as her!” Ron could sense Emily was sitting outside of the cottage door by this time listening to the conversation while Fliour yelled at him. He didn’t want her hurt, but he also had to calm down the woman in front of him.

“Fliour, what she is to me is not of your concern. What happened was I caught her stealing and I am making her work for me for four years. If you would please exit, I have things to do,” Ron said calmly. He watched as her face grew even more red when he gave her the time period.

Fliour growled and stood up the same moment Emily stepped into the house and quickly ran to her bedroom. Fliour jumped at the sight of her but watched as the door shut just as fast as Emily ran in. She glared at the door Emily had just closed before she turned and left. Ron let out a sigh of relief as she disappeared.

“Who is she, and did I do something wrong?” Emily asked hesitantly. Ron turned to the door to see it cracked and her eyes peering out into the kitchen area.

Ron couldn’t help but grin at how silly she looked. From how Emily had fought beforehand, he assumed she had to be at least as strong as Fliour, but Fliour had no magic. If she knew about it, she would know she shouldn’t have to hide like she did.

“Emily, you have no reason to fear her. She is just jealous of you, that’s all,” Ron said simply while he sat down at the table. The word jealous only made Emily look more afraid.

“A jealous woman is a strong foe. Ron, if she does attack me, please don’t be angry if I defend myself,” Emily suddenly said.

The expression change on Emily’s face shocked Ron. She had gone from the shy, adorable woman Ron knew to a strong hearted one. She even had held herself differently from seconds before. Her back was straight and she had a deadly look in her eyes. He recognized the look as one that all excruciatingly trained warriors had, and it clicked in his head that this woman wasn’t all she made out to be.

Ron nodded and went back to his tea while he stared out the window. He started thinking of ways to get Emily to work without her running into Fliour. Ron and Fliour had a odd relationship that had branched off from when they used to be a couple years several years ago. He had no feelings towards her but he did care about her wellbeing.

Emily sat down at the table with him and stared at the floor. She seemed shaken up to him but he couldn’t understand why. He finally gave up trying to read her and instead took her hand and dragged her to her feet. Emily blushed but let him lead her outside.

“Another thing I want you to do is clean the cabin, but I myself grow a garden out next to the area where I chop wood for winter. I want you to tend to it everyday,” Ron explained when they got to where he had been taking her.

A row of tomato plants were spotted with the beautiful bright red fruit it had grown already, while watermelon were still sprouting as if it had just been planted. Squash were planted in a different patch near the other vegetable plants and already were budding.

“Emily, watch yourself if you travel alone,” Ron suddenly warned. Emily glanced at him but turned back to the plants before nodding in agreement.

“Am I allowed to go to the village at any time?” Emily asked.

“Yes, but tell me where it is you are going before you leave the cabin,” Ron said. Emily grinned and walked over to the tomato plants before raising her hands above it.

Ron watched in interest as her eyes closed and small black beads of magic rose to her palms. She allowed the dark magic to thread itself through the branches of the plants before the color of the beads changed to a pearly white. The dark magic had transformed into a hybrid of light instead, something Ron had never seen accomplished. The pulsations of darkness were still there but the light type had taken over the color and seemed to make the tomatoes grow into a healthier, darker green color that Ron himself didn’t realize they could become.

“This woman...she’s something else,” Ron thought to himself as he turned and walked back to the cabin to meditate.

************Emily POV************

Her calves were slightly burning. She had stood up for too long and was feeling the effects of it. Emily had finished tending to the plants and was sitting on the ground rubbing the back of her calves and started to think about how she was going to make it back to the cabin, or even explain what was wrong with her.

“What the hell is wrong with you, girl?” Emily jolted in her sitting position and turned her head to see the woman who Ron had been talking to earlier. Emily herself had used quite a bit of magic working with the plants so sleepiness had overtaken her, but when she saw the woman she felt awake almost instantly.

“Nothing’s wrong, I’m fine. Anyways, did I do anything to anger you?” Emily asked curiously. Fliour didn’t expect such a question, and her expression clearly defined that.

“Y-yes, yes you did! You took Ron away from me, he’s supposed to be mine!” She growled when she got her senses back. Emily only looked at her before shrugging and turning away to go back to massaging her calves.

“Go ahead, but it’s his decision on whoever he loves, not ours,” Emily said matter-of-factly. Fliour was silent, out of all things she had expected the girl to at least shoot back at her and try and claim Ron as her own, but instead she threw that out the window.

“So...so you are not sleeping with him?” Fliour finally asked. The memory of being curled up against Ron’s chest flashed into Emily’s mind but she immediately pushed it away.

“No, I’m not sleeping with him. I haven’t known him for that long, so whether I liked him or not I wouldn’t do anything of the sort,” Emily sighed. She carefully stood to her feet and faced Fliour while she fought to ignore the pain that raced through her body.

Fliour seemed to be examining her before crossing her arms and smiling in satisfaction. Without saying another word, Fliour turned and left the area. Emily watched as she left and decided to do everything in her power not to anger that woman. She could feel the power in the air when she was near, and the intimidation was enough for her to know just how serious Fliour was.

Emily slowly started to walk back to the cabin with more thoughts racing through her mind. Each step felt like needles shooting through her legs, and before she had managed to get to the cabin she realized she was going to collapse. Emily frantically looked around until she noticed a tree nearby.

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She mustered up as much energy she could before taking the last few steps her body would let her use, then collapsed into the dirt. Emily gasped out as her hands hit the ground and caught her before her face hit the dirt. She groaned in pain as she used her upper body strength to pull herself over to the tree and laid her back against the trunk.

Emily didn’t know how long she sat there for. She was mentally cursing herself over and over again until she realized it had grown dark. Emily estimated it had been several hours that she had been sitting against that tree. After moving her legs a bit and feeling the sharp ache shoot through her, she made the executive decision to stay where she was.

“Emily! Emily where are you?” Ron was yelling. She could feel the pulsations of his footsteps as he ran through the underbrush to find her. Emily could only smile weakly at the tone of worry in his voice.

“Where the hell...Emily, what happened?” Ron gasped when he found her.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize how long it had been but I forgot to tell you about it…” Emily muttered under her breath.

Ron growled in annoyance and leaned down to help her up. The moment he touched her calves she cried out and bit her lip. Ron took his hands away in terror at the sound she made, then finally knelt down and looked her in the eyes.

“What’s wrong with your body?” He finally asked.

“I have a...a physical problem with my body. I normally forget about it but if I stand up too long then it completely messes with me,” Emily finally said. Ron crossed his arms and sat down next to her.

“And? What is this problem? How did you get it?” Emily’s fists clenched as the memory of being covered in her mother’s blood came to mind. The difference was, this memory wouldn’t go away.

It was like the question had thrown her into a sea of blood. All she could see was the goblins, ugly creatures with strength that didn’t seem possible tearing apart her parents. Her getting dragged out from hiding and laughter as a man cut open her tendons up to her calves while Emily screamed for her parents.

“Emily, come back, I’m right here it’s ok you’re safe! Please!” Ron shaking her dragged her out of the memory.

“They died, they died and it’s my fault they died! It should have been me,” Emily repeated. Ron could only stare at her as she curled up into a dirty ball and shook all over.

“If you don’t wake up, I’ll make you,” Ron finally growled. Emily didn’t seem to hear him, so Ron picked her up and walked with her in his arms back to the cabin. Dirt covered his body from her clothing but he ignored it as he used his own magic to create a human-like creature made from a tree he decided to change to his liking.

The tree glowed a dull green as it started to shrink. It’s large branches shrunk to an incredibly small point before it suddenly started to completely change shape. The roots were dragged out of the ground as feet started to take form. The tree branches that were thick with leaves changed to look almost like hair on the head that had finished changing.

The creature’s face was expressionless as the final touches were created. The tree’s texture started the same, but it wasn’t much of a tree at that point. Ron was satisfied with it, then had it open his cabin door since his own hands were full. He walked with Emily still shivering in his arms with her eyes wide open.

“Just relax, I’ll go get the clinical nurse from the village,” Ron said as he laid Emily down on the table.When he turned to leave, Emily suddenly reached out and grabbed his shirt with a strength Ron didn’t know she had in her.

“S-stay with me...it will pass...please, please don’t leave me alone,” Emily whimpered. Ron didn’t truly understand what was wrong, but Emily seemed to know.

She was fighting the shivers from her body. This would happen whenever her mind dragged her back to the past even though she knew she was safe. If she thought about her parents in the sense of their death, she would be dragged into the memory of the event and would unconsciously start to panic.

Emily knew what was happening. She was trained to catch it now, but it was worse when she was younger. Now, she fought it as hard as she could. Emily watched Ron intently as he walked around the kitchen in her attempt to distract herself from what was happening in her mind.

“Are you feeling any better?” Ron finally asked after a few minutes. Emily nodded while she checked her heart rate.

“I’m fine now.” Ron smiled warmly at her when she spoke, but then forced himself to get a stern expression.

“Well, whatever that was, it seems it happens often enough for you,” he concluded. He crossed his arms as he looked over body before shaking his head.

“It’s a different version of what human’s call ‘PTSD’. Specific creatures get it differently, but I myself get it in flashbacks and panic attacks all at once, as well as my nightmares,” Emily explained.

“PTSD? I’ve heard it spoken throughout the village with certain people, but I’ve never experienced it myself. Is there some kind of cure?” Ron asked hopefully. There were people who have been having problems because of what happened all those years ago before Ron has rescued them, so the thought of them being cured of it was great to him.

“No, not technically. Just time,” Emily said. Ron looked disappointed, but then glanced back at Emily.

“Then I will help you heal the best I can. But for now, you need to bathe,” Ron said with a slight snicker.

Emily glanced down at her body before realizing just how dirty she was. Without thinking about it, she slid down off the table. The moment her feet touched the floor, pain spiked through her body and caused her to cry out before falling on her knees.

“Alright, fine. I’ll help you get there,” Ron said as he caught her around the waist. He lifted her up and threw her up and over his shoulder. Emily immediately blushed at the mental image that came to mind.

“Y-you won’t be coming with me, right?” Emily stammered. Ron laughed and shook his head no as he walked outside and to the area where he goes to retrieve fresh water.

Ron carefully set Emily down on the ground next to it before turning to walk away. The moment he was out of sight, Emily raised her hand and muttered a few words. A small ball of light burst forward from her palm and drifted over to the middle of the pool of water. The darkness was coated in the beautiful light as Emily carefully stripped down and slipped into the pool.

The water helped Emily in the sense that it soothed the ache in her feet. She didn’t have any soap with her, but she knew special kinds of spells that would help with that. When she had finished washing herself, she held her hand out once more and pulled the light towards her more. It casually hovered above her head as Emily rested against a rock.

She didn’t notice any other creatures in the water except her, so when something brushed against her leg the only thing she could do was calmly pull herself up higher on the rock and sent her senses out around the pool of water.

When she saw the woman’s face, the shock made Emily black out and fall straight into the water. She had been completely prepared to attack, but when she saw her mother looking back at her from the depths of the pool she had lost all sense. The last thing she saw was a black hand reach down for her as the light went out.