The question hit her harder than I expected. Her shoulders gave a tiny tremble. "It’s just that... I haven’t been entirely honest with you about sothing. In fact, I—"
A sharp squeak sliced through the air before she could finish. Beelzebub shot down from the sky like a falling star, landing on my shoulder with a proud thump. He stretched out one tiny leg, pointing insistently toward the trees ahead.
"Good job," I whispered, giving his head a quick pat. Then I turned back to Elira. "You were saying?"
But she only shook her head with a bright smile that hid more than it revealed. Her eyes glead like sunlight bouncing off snow. "It’s nothing important. Co on, I want to know where we are too."
Before I could question her further, she hopped ahead in playful little steps, practically bouncing in the direction Beelzebub had indicated.
I stayed in place for a mont, staring after her. Sothing twisted quietly inside my chest. Whatever she wanted to say... she had stopped herself on purpose.
And my mind was already spiraling through a hundred possibilities as I followed behind her.
"Wait for . Why are you rushing off so fast?" I called out, breaking into a run after Elira. For the first ti in my life, it felt like the world was not completely hostile. I had soone beside . A friend. Even if another part of wanted to see her as sothing else entirely.
Warm wind brushed across my skin as we moved through the open space, lifting my hair and carrying the clean scent of the mountain. The sun guided us forward, bright and gentle. Before long, we reached a small spring tucked into the slope.
The water glittered like sothing pulled straight from a fairy tale. Clear as glass, calm as still air. I could see every stone at the bottom without effort. The grass around the spring looked impossibly green, almost glowing, as if the land itself had blessed it.
Elira knelt beside the water, her fingers brushing the taller blades of grass. "Is this it, Beatrice? Are we in the holy lands?"
Beelzebub seed convinced already. He had thrown himself into the grass, rolling around like he owned the place.
"Give a mont," I said, barely containing the excitent rising in my chest. I dropped to my knees and scooped a handful of the cold spring water. It flowed backward, toward the mountain instead of away from it, just as the book had described.
The mont the water left the surface, it turned into molten gold. It dripped through my fingers in slow, shimring trails, falling back into the spring and becoming crystal clear again. But the water still held in my palms glowed like a handful of liquid sunlight.
"Wow!" Elira shot upright, then quickly crouched beside again, her shoulder brushing mine. She leaned closer, eyes wide and sparkling. "What is that?"
The excitent in her voice was impossible to miss. This water was sothing only this land possessed, sothing sacred and unmistakable. And now she was seeing it through my eyes, just as I always imagined soone would.
I grinned, unable to hide how light I felt. In my hands, I was holding a miracle. "This is holy water. Richer than anything you could ever drink. It carries healing, purification, and—"
The glow in my palms twisted suddenly. The molten gold darkened into a deep, rotting purple that spread like ink. My smile faltered. Of course. I should have expected this.
"What happened?!" Elira gasped, leaning closer.
"You should drink it. For you, it will always stay gold," I said quietly. "For ... this water is poison. It rejects anything touched by a demonic aura. It turns purple when soone like tries to claim it."
"That isn’t fair to you..." Her voice rose with emotion, as if she were defending from soone who had just insulted . "You are not a bad person, Beatrice. You are nothing like the demons people fear."
Her words stung in a strange way, warm and painful at the sa ti. I lowered my gaze to the ruined water swirling between my fingers.
"It’s alright. Go on and drink it. I want to see what it does for you."
"But—"
"I promise, it’s fine." I forced a smile I did not feel. "I don’t mind never trying it myself."
The lie tasted bitter in my mouth. I had wanted to try this water for as long as I could rember. People said it tasted sweeter than fruit, smoother than silk, like a blessing made drinkable. And now it was right here, glowing gold in soone else’s hands while turning rotten in mine.
Inside, I was crying. Outside, I pretended I didn’t care.
"A-alright..." Her voice lost its earlier brightness, but she still cupped her hands and scooped the water. The mont it touched her skin, it brightened even more, turning into a radiant gold that shimred like liquid sunlight. It must have been responding to her affinity for water, because it glowed with a beauty I had never seen before.
When her lips finally brushed the surface, her eyes flew wide as if the taste hit her all at once. She closed them again, lifted her chin toward the sky, and let out a breath that sounded almost blissful.
"It’s so sweet!" she gasped, her cheeks turning a delicate shade of pink as she pressed a hand against her face like a princess savoring her favorite dessert.
Of course it was sweet. The rumors said holy water from this land carried a taste so pure it felt like a blessing lting on the tongue. It healed, purified, and filled the stomach like a full al. They said it made the skin soft and fair, as if kissed by sunlight every morning.
People here did not need at. They lived entirely on this water, their bodies nurtured and perfected by it. That was why everyone from these lands was beautiful. That was why these territories were protected so fiercely.
And that was why demons like were never ant to drink it.
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