“How is the goblin? Did we make any progress today?” The adults outside are talking again, and though they speak quietly to maintain an air of secrecy, their voices reach the boy nonetheless.
However, he has no idea what they’re talking about. Whenever they talk, they use so many words that he is unfamiliar with. The books don’t help with that. He feels like they’re talking about him.
“I wonder what they’re talking about.” The innocent child asks himself as he returns to the book he holds.
He doesn’t know why they would, though. They never met each other.
He never saw those people whose voices resounded within his small, wooden room. He wondered where they were, but he couldn’t see them anywhere. They were not here, so... does that mean they’re outside? Outside of... here?
He ponders what that could mean. He cannot imagine what the outside looks like, for he only knows the inside of this room.
The room he never left.
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And just like that, Alpheus woke up. At first, he barely registers his surroundings and is moments away from falling asleep again. After a while, his consciousness catches up. He feels terribly cold, yet a pleasant heat envelops him, offering relief. But he still struggles to open his eyes.
Open
Close
Open
Close
After a short battle with his own fatigue, he finally manages to keep his eyes open.
Readjusting
Readjusting
He feels delirious and doesn’t feel like he is in control of his body. Even simply turning his head takes a lot of effort, and his vision has not caught up to him either.
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“Where am I? What... happened?” He closes his eyes, struggling to organize his thoughts and searching his memories. But the headache splitting his head impedes him. The pain is unbearable, and he begins to shake his head violently.
However, he is interrupted by a hand landing on his forehead. At first, it startles him, but he leans into the touch the next moment. The palm of that hand keeps resting on his face, blocking his eyes, as he hears a gentle voice offering solace from the pain.
“Shhhhh.”
“It’s alright.”
“Take it slow.”
“Close your eyes and rest.”
The words envelop him, and he heeds them. He rests his head on the ground and lets the comforting touch calm him down.
After a while, the headache subsides, and he can think clearly again. Reluctantly, he opens his eyes, revealing a frowning face.
“Miss... Marianne?” He whispered and noticed how raspy his voice was.
Marianne looked at him with an indecipherable expression, yet no matter the intention behind it, the scowl on her face was intimidating. It was dark outside the cave, so the light provided even to be able to see her came from the campfire she apparently made while he was asleep.
Seeing how concerned Alpheus looked, she took a deep breath and attempted to soften her expression.
“First of all, how do you feel.” She asks, examining his face as she waits for his answer.
“I... feel fine now. I'm a bit lightheaded, but... fine,” he says, very unsure of himself. He isn’t fully fit, but at least he feels like he has regained some control of his own body. Yet his fatigue still impedes him from moving much.
Seeing him try to get up from the ground, she pushed him back down by the shoulder.
“No. Tonight, you will not be moving around. It is dusk, and you still need to recover.” She commanded him firmly, so he obliged, although reluctantly and equally intimidated.
Satisfied to see him settle down, she nods at him and turns around to grab something.
“Miss Marianne is so quiet right now...” He thinks to himself absentmindedly.
She turned around and held something in her hand. It was some container...? The shape was certainly strange.
She hands him the container and continues. “First of all, you need to drink something. I drew this water from the river. Make sure to drink all of it.”
And so he does. He feels refreshed and significantly better. Satisfied, she takes the container from him.
For some reason, the air felt very heavy now, and the tension between them felt suffocating. At this point, he became aware of a smell reaching his nose. The peculiar smell came from behind Marianne, where the campfire was located. It was a familiar smell, yet he grew to hate it.
But despite that, he couldn’t stop his mouth from salivating, just like he couldn’t suppress his guilt over his body reacting that way.
Marianne looked towards him, noticing his inner conflict, and grabbed something from behind her.
“Alpheus, I wanted to ask you a question. I have my answer already, but I want you to respond anyway.” She looks towards him with a purely neutral expression. He felt... scared.
“You can only eat meat, can’t you?”