I placed the flower before the ruined entrance of the tower. "I'm sorry." I whispered in demonic as I looked upon the ruined building. I closed my eyes and listened a while.
When I returned to Aoife and the others, they didn't speak up. Delthur was the only person to speak. "Is she there?" He asked. I nodded. "Yes. She's sleeping, probably eternally."
"No pain?" He asked. I shook my head. "Good." He closed his eyes and whispered sothing under his breath before glancing at Vixia. She smiled. It was a kind, genuine smile.
It was then Fetheion who cast the spell to take us to the valley of starsnatchers.
"What was that?" Aoife asked after we arrived, as we began walking towards the marked cliff – the portal that would lead us ho. "Did soone die here?"
I nodded. "Long before I arrived though. Delthur's sister was killed by Aelith here." The mory of her death was still fresh in my mind. "I only learned what happened a while later."
My mind was cast back into last night. When the Demon Lord restored my powers, he had given back the souls Uriithe had taken from . Those, along with the power I was borrowing from the Keeper had brought to a level of power I hadn't achieved before.
But that also ant the endless cold in my chest had returned, as the souls rested within. I didn't know how there could be two Keepers now, but if the Demon Lord was to be believed, I was nothing but an extension of the Keeper. Of the actual, real one.
It was a disturbing concept.
"Then, why did you bring flowers?" Aoife asked, pulling out of the ss that were my thoughts.
"I did get the chance to et her. Her soul, of course," I added. "I saw how she died, so it seed appropriate." I fiddled with the chain of my cloak. "Sorry, I know you'd rather go ho as fast as possible, but I really felt like I needed to do this."
Aoife shook her head. "I don't mind waiting. It…" She hesitated. "It's actually interesting, seeing all these new places. Everything is so much more fantastical and… natural." She chuckled. "I can't exactly put it into words."
I laughed. I knew exactly what she ant. "I felt the sa way when I first set foot in this world. I always had trouble believing this was a ga. I always doubted it, everything was simply too real." I chuckled. "Turns out it was actually real."
Aoife fell silent. It was a while later when she spoke. "How can you confuse this for a ga?" She asked, pointing at the flowers, slowly swaying in the wind.
I looked away. "When you've got interfaces for everything, and other people around you who are convinced this is a ga, it's not too difficult."
"But how, Kai? Look at this!" She pointed at the distant mountains. "How can you not notice this isn't a fake world?"
I took a sharp breath. "Because I'm not supposed to be able to do this!" I replied with a hiss. I raised my hand to my chest right as I let my flas out. They danced on my skin, black and purple, with a hint of crimson in them. "How was I supposed to not think it was a ga when I can control fire?"
Aoife's eyes widened. "You'll hurt yourself!" She exclaid.
"No, I won't. Look at ." I glared at her. "I can control flas. I can sense people's presence. How am I supposed to think this is real?"
Aoife couldn't find anything to say to that. I sighed, let my flas die out and showed her my hand. "And you don't need to worry about so much." I forced a smile. "I can take care of myself now."
"Considering you almost died yesterday, that's a little hard to believe." Inspector John chid in. "I think the Ereth wants to speak with you Kai. He keeps looking at you," He added in a low enough voice that only the three of us could hear.
I clenched my fist. "Right." I mumbled, glancing at Fetheion. He was indeed glancing at constantly. Watching , trying to figure out why I had suddenly begun acting differently.
I took a deep breath. "I should probably take care of that before we get back ho." I slowed my steps. "You guys go ahead."
While both Aoife and Inspector John seed curious, they didn't pry any more. As I slowly began falling behind, Fetheion soon joined .
"Are you tired?" He asked with a worried tone. "Should we take a break?"
I shook my head. "No."
He raised his eyebrows as he noticed the language I picked to speak. "Is there sothing wrong?"
I chuckled. "No, I'm just noticing how stupid I'd been this whole ti." I glanced at him. The sun reflecting off of his crimson hair made it seem like it was on fire. "So, when were you going to tell ?"
"Tell you what?" He asked with a confused expression. "I don't think I follow, Kai."
"I never told Fetheion, the Exiled Divine, the na of my sister. I never told him what she looked like – and that's important, because we don't look alike." I pointed at Aoife. She was taller than . Her facial features were nothing like mine. She had a graceful beauty, while I and my whole family looked more stoic and… well, not as good.
"She looks nothing like , actually." I added. "So, how co did Fetheion the Exiled Divine know who she was? How did he know she was my sister?"
I could see his face grow paler with every word I spoke.
"I never had that spell cast on . Only Aoife and Inspector John have that spell on them." I added after a mont. "You shouldn't be able to understand right now. I'm not speaking in Ereth, or Demonic. I'm speaking English, and you just understood every word I spoke."
I glared at him. His steps slowed to a halt as he scrambled to find sothing to say.
"So, tell ." I said, clenching my fists. "Why did you lie to all that ti?"
His expression was enough proof that I was wrong.
"I should have understood the mont I saw your reaction to my na." I scoffed at him. "You've got a lot of explaining to do Feth- no. Eion."
Reviews
All reviews (0)