Tensions were high the next morning.
Agnes was holding Felandria back as she desperately tried to attach herself to my side again when we left the inn. We got a lot of weird looks, as a nun restraining what appears to be a strange girl in a large hat would probably draw some attention.
Akil greeted us at the town gates, a large pack slung over his shoulder and a smile on his face.
"Ah, it's so good to see you beautiful people! What a lovely sunrise, no?" He gestured to the sun, lazily rising over the dunes.
"Yes, it's quite lovely." Agnes said, still holding Felandria close as she began struggling again.
Akil gave the two of them a confused look, but continued on, "so, why don't you tell me a little bit of what your capable of?"
"Well, I am but a humble servant of God," Agnes said, "and -stop moving!- I can perform many miracles, such as healing and other remedies."
"I am a Paladin." I said simply.
"And what is this fine young lady capable of?"
Felandria stopped struggling, not saying anything, and Agnes kept her pinned to her side. I just shrugged.
He tilted his head, confused, but shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I am a master sneak, silent and deadly, of course." He slipped a dagger out from under his sleeve and began flipping it in the air, before grabbing another from his belt, and several more from various other locations, juggling them in the air before gently balancing one on his nose.
He caught every single one of them, before sliding them all back in their respective hiding places. I clapped as he bowed.
"Thank you, thank you. Now then, shall we set off? I'd prefer to head out before everyone gets up for the day."
We walked through the gate, and I noticed several guards sleeping to the side. Akil grinned and skipped past them before jumping onto his hands and launching himself up in the air, landing on his feet around a yard away from where he jumped.
"Be quiet... we don't want to wake them..." he said, winking, "they've been working so hard after all..."
We stealthily moved past the guards, and left the capital.
"So... where are you all from? From your complexion I take it you aren't from around these parts?" Akil stretched, looking over at us. A half an hour had passed, and we were already sweating. Akil wasn't, though. He seemed in his element.
"I'm from the state of Pertruva..." Agnes said, struggling with Felandria, who was again trying to wriggle her way out of her grasp.
Akil's eyes widened a bit. "Long way from home, huh? What brings you out here?"
"Well... I had a vision, I think, from God. She told me to seek out the desert for my salvation... or something..." Agnes said.
"Mm. And you, my good fellow?" I didn't even notice Akil was now walking beside me, looking at me curiously. I noticed that even Felandria and Agnes had stopped struggling with each other and were also listening as well.
"Um... well..." should I tell them I've been reincarnated? Would that make sense?
"I'm from a far off nation, you've probably never heard of it."
"Try me." Akil grinned.
"Uh..." my mind raced.
"Don't think too hard on it," Akil laughed.
"I'm from a country called... Earth."
"Earth?" Akil tilted his head for a moment, thinking, "Hm... you're right. I haven't heard of it." He grinned, "but I suppose there are still places in the world that even the most esteemed of scholars have no clue exist. You learn something new everyday."
Agnes and Felandria had approached my other side, looking at me with curiosity.
"I've never heard of Earth either..." Agnes said, and Felandria nodded, before suddenly lurching forward, catching Agnes off-guard.
"Hey!" Felandria broke free from Agnes's grasp and leapt to my side, wrapping her arms and legs around my body. Despite the illusion, I once again felt her claws digging into my side.
"Mmm..." Felandria buried her head into my side, as Agnes grabbed her and began pulling her off.
Akil looked at me with a wide grin on his face. "Heh, I don't envy you..."
"Huh?" I looked over at him.
Felandria suddenly kicked backwards, and Agnes was knocked to the ground.
Two large slashes opened part of the front of Agnes's dress, and Akil averted his eyes immediately.
I caught a glimpse of what appeared to be white fabric against pale skin, and I turned with Akil, my face growing red.
Akil smirked at my expression, but looked back at Felandria for a second, confusion on his face.
I remembered that normal human feet probably wouldn't be able to tear Agnes's dress.
Felandria pressed her body back up against me, and Agnes got off the ground, her face bright red as she covered up the tears in her dress.
She clutched her holy symbol, which began glowing a dark blue. Felandria looked around, confused, before a loud bell rang around us, and Felandria screamed, clutching her ears and dropping to the ground.
Her hat was beginning to slip off, but miraculously got caught on one of her ears, keeping the illusion steady.
Agnes picked her up and slung her over her shoulder, readjusting Felandria's cap for her before looking over at me, a blush creeping over her face.
"Don't look at me!"
"Sorry!" I turned back, "but will she be-"
"She's fine." Agnes said.
Akil looked at me, eyes wide.
"So uh... pretty competitive, eh?" He murmured.
"What?"
He shook his head.
We continued walking, Felandria struggling against Agnes's grip, but Agnes was holding on even tighter this time.
Felandria eventually got an idea, and began whispering things to Agnes as we walked. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but Agnes seemed to be getting pretty flustered, from what I could tell.
Akil and I didn't turn around, afraid we were gonna get hit by something if we looked in Agnes's general direction. However we did pause when we heard Agnes screamed "NO!" And threw Felandria to the ground.
Felandria barely caught herself, flapping her wings and leaping up in the air. Well, I would say flapping her wings if she wasn't wearing the hat. Instead it looked like she was just flapping her arms wildly to try and fly, and it was working.
Akil's eyes widened again, and he looked over at me. "What the-"
"Um..." I was once again lost for words.
Akil regarded Felandria's hat for a second.
"Hm." Akil walked over to Felandria, who tried to fly towards me. He caught her by the arm, and his eyes narrowed in thought. He then swiftly knocked her hat off.
The illusion flickered, and then vanished, revealing Felandria in her full, bat-like glory.
"Interesting." Akil let go of Felandria's wing, and she flew straight at me, once again hooking onto my sides. "Very interesting. Now what do we have here, my compatriots?"
"Listen, I can explain-"
"No need." Akil shook his head, smiling at Felandria's cowering form, "I just find it fascinating that a Paladin is traveling with a monster..."
I moved my hand to my sword, and Akil made a placating gesture.
"Not to worry, my friend. I'm not going to harm her... but it's fascinating. I've never seen a monster this close and personal before, at least, not in combat, and not to mention one docile enough to travel with an adventurer with little issue..." he got closer to Felandria, who squeezed my body.
"I've done a bit of reading in my life," he began, "including a few things I probably shouldn't have... my father would be so mad if he found out the stuff I've read..." Akil winked at me, before turning back to Felandria. "I've read that back in the old days, monsters like Lamia were able to sometimes overcome their hunger and desires and actually fall in love with a human. If the Order found out I possessed a book even mentioning that, I may get hanged, hehe. Maybe monsters are more morally gray then we think, hm? I mean, this one surely hasn't tried to kill you. Yet, of course."
Felandria pressed up against my body tighter, "I would never hurt Anon."
She said that with such conviction, and was so adorable while saying it, that without thinking I put my hand on her head. Her ears twitched a bit in surprise, and I quickly took my hand off.
Agnes huffed and walked past us, but made no attempt to remove Felandria from my side.
Akil looked back at her, then at me. "Well, I suppose we should continue going, no?"
Agnes was a bit ahead of us for a while. The sun was blistering, but it was bearable. At around noon it would get worse.
Felandria looked up at me as I walked. She was clinging to my side like a bat on a cave wall, and any attempt to shake her off only made her claws dig in deeper.
"So... can we talk about last night?" I muttered to her.
She looked up at me.
"So... um... to summarize my thoughts process... what in the world happened then?"
Felandria's face flushed, and she looked down. "I just wanted to show you how much I really care..."
Aw, that's sweet...
No. That does not excuse what happened last night!
But how do I say this? How do I let someone down easy? I've never done this before.
"Listen... I think you're great..." off to a good start.
"Really?" Felandria's eyes sparkled from behind her bangs. My gut twisted. Why was this so difficult?
"Yeah... but I also think we need to set some boundaries."
"Oh..." Felandria's eyes dropped to the ground again.
"You can't just come into my room naked whenever you want, not to mention, you can't strip me down and sleep with me."
"Why not?" Felandria looked up at me, her eyes wide.
"What was that I just heard?" Akil looked back at us. I ignored him.
"Because... we aren't like that."
Felandria was now sniffling as I felt her claws dig deeper into me. "W-we aren't?"
"Holy shit..." Akil muttered under his breath. My face flushed red.
"W-well," good god I've made a girl cry. This feels awful. I feel like the absolute scum of the earth. "We just met only a few days ago, and-"
Felandria's eyes were watery, and I felt her burrow her face into my clothes. "I-I just w-want you to l-like me and maybe even... m-m-marry me and then we could have b-babies and-"
Oh my God.
"I don't even know you that well, not to mention you've attacked me several times..."
She looked up at me, "so if you get to know me better, you'll marry me?"
"Um..." how the hell am I supposed to respond to that? "M-maybe?"
I heard Agnes audibly sigh, I imagine listening to this would be painful for anyone to hear, Akil was visibly uncomfortable with the situation as well, but Felandra's ears perked back up.
"Really?" She smiled, pushing her bangs aside to reveal her pupil-less eyes.
"I don't know!" I managed to splutter out, "just... we'll see how things go..."
"Yay!" Felandria nuzzled my side as she clung on, wiping her tears on my shirt.
Akil looked over at me with an expression full of pity, like he just witnessed the most painful exchange in history. Agnes had once again moved to the front of the group, marching on without hesitation.
Well... I imagined this going a bit different...
