Chapter 4: The Strongest Man, The Half-Fiend and the Strongest Conversation

Foreword: Warning this chapter is mostly back and forth conversation, if you like that great there is a lot of it, if you're not a huge fan then sorry but I hope the writing is somewhat enjoyable even if that is the case!

Story Start: The next day came, the storm passed and the pair woke from a comfortable but nerve filled night of rest. Fremy after getting dressed and out of bed, now able to move around, made a modest breakfast in the kitchen. She was no master chief but she had some experience and could make basic to moderately difficult dishes.

Adlet stocked up for the trip ahead of them, re-arming himself with a variety of tools and weapons he had not had fully stocked since his time in the Land of Wailing Demons. He also found a large amount of beds in the basement, guarded by a dozen dangerous traps that could only have been set by his master, Adlet not seeing the point in risking his neck decided to forgo trying to free the trapped beds. Secretly he enjoyed his shared bed with Fremy and didn't want to change that and while he realised it was selfish not to give Fremy an option of another bed and to simply give up, he wanted to give himself this one, he felt like he had earned it, if Fremy truly wanted another bed to sleep in alone than he would oblige her, but until then he would not mention their existence.

Adlet then went to go and tend to the horses and check on the wagon that his master had for making large purchases and supply runs to the village, or for hulling the corpses of Fiends, his master found more than a few usages for using the wagon. Adlet also remembered the two horses, one was older and greyed like his master while another one was a light brown. These were used to train him in horse riding as there were various advantages to use them when hunting swift Fiends. The light brown one was the named Reliable, a strange name but it fit, the horse had never let him down and they were close when he was training, before Rolonia showed up and after every other pupil even the most talented or stubborn had left, Reliable had been there. The other, Hunter was used by his master, and while Reliable happily greeted Adlet, Hunter seemed kinda just to scoff and look away almost as to say, "look what trash has shown up." However Hunter did not say that, for he did not talk, he is a horse. An intelligent beast who probably meant what it looked like he meant, he could still not talk.

Adlet left the stables and ate breakfast, the sun was beginning to rise and it was getting time for them to head out on the journey to the village.

Adlet began making final preparations to leave and loading Fremy's wheelchair onto the wagon, there was plenty of room and she would be able to sit next to him or on his lap, he had also added in some fairly sturdy grips for her to hold onto incase the road got rough.

Atro appeared and gave Adlet a large sack of money, having seen his actual savings this was nothing, yet it was more than enough for the various materials they would need, Adlet looked at Atro and asked, "so what do you want me to do with the change?"

Atro simply walked away saying over his shoulder, "keep it."

Adlet was hesitant to keep the money but he knew that Atro probably had no ulterior motives and that he wasn't making much money himself at the moment. Surprisingly Adlet found saving the world to be more of a charity job.

After loading Fremy's wheelchair onto the wagon, the pair set off down the mountain. If Adlet wanted too they could cut the trip down by an hour if they went at a fast pace, but the two and a half hour trip there seemed like it would give them the perfect opportunity to talk.

So the pair traveled at a steady pace down the mountain. There was an awkward silence between the pair for twenty minutes until finally Adlet spoke up loudly, "Hey Fremy! I have a request!"

Fremy had up until this point had been sitting a little distant from Adlet at the front of the wagon with her head down staring off into space said, "What is it Adlet?"

Adlet looked up at the sky and said, "I have a request Fremy. I want you to talk with me more, I want you to be more vocal and to communicate more. I know you can do it! I should have asked this sooner but I was too wrapped up in the journey and my own thoughts and I didn't try very hard to start conversations and to learn more about you."

Fremy looked at Adlet, a slight blush on her face and she said slowly, "So…you want me to talk more so that you know more about me? I understand I need to be more expressive but you already know my story. I don't know what else there is to know?"

Adlet sighed and said, " I know your history but I don't honestly know a lot about you, the things you hate, the things you love, what you like to do, what you like to eat, your opinions on various topics, your plans for the future, I can go on. I know you but I don't and I want to know everything I can!"

Fremy stares at the ground for a little bit and then looks up at Adlet and says, "Okay, I will probably have difficulties but I can see a bit where I could have been more, talkative, I will try my best. On one condition. You must listen to my request as well."

Adlet looked at Fremy, smiled as he rubbed the back of his head and said, "sure name it!"

Fremy looked forward at the road and said softly, Adlet had to lean closer to hear her words. "I want...I want you to be honest with me."

Adlet looked at Fremy, a mixture of shock and confusion on his face and Adlet said, "What do you mean, I don't think I have lied?"

Fremy sighed, looked at Adlet and said, "It is your smile, I hate it."

Adlet, now very confused, just stared at Fremy and waited for her to continue, now concerned his smile had become unattractive.

Fremy seeing Adlet's concerned face smiled which furthered Adlet's confusion to its peak and said to him, "I like that face, you should make it more often."

Adlet desperately trying to comprehend the foreign logic Fremy was employing, said, "so you like seeing me distressed and confused?"

Fremy sighed, and said, "no you don't get it, let me try and explain. You're always smiling Adlet. If you're scared you smile, if you're annoyed you smile, if you're tired or sad or angry you somehow always turn it into a smile. I understand why, the idea that if you can smile through any pain you can be the strongest. And it works, it proves to those that do not know you that you are the strongest, yet for those that already understand that, it just hides your feelings. I already recognize you as the strongest man in the world, I don't need you to prove that to me, I don't need you to hide your emotions. Like you have so much you want to know about me for some reason I want to understand you, I want to know when you're sad, or angry or annoyed, I don't want you to hide behind your smile at least when around me."

Adlet just stared blankly for a moment then he knocked his head with his knuckles and said, "Now I understand what you meant, sorry I never really thought about that, I will do my best! I have to know though, do you really hate my smile, is it ugly, am I ugly, is it the scar?" Adlet touched a hand to the large claw scar that ran down his face that had once run so deep that not even the magic of the saints could stop it from scarring.

Fremy put her hand on Adlet's hand and face and said as kindly as she could, "no I don't hate how your smile looks, I hate that it hides your emotions but the smile itself is comforting and makes me feel safe, I don't think you are ugly either. Honestly I-I…" Fremy stuttered then stopped and turned her head away from Adlet.

Adlet smiled and said, "What is it, I won't laugh or mock you I promise!"

Fremy blushed, looking at her feet she said very quietly so that Adlet could barely hear her, "I-I think...I think your scare makes you more handsome and mature."

Adlet grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her close and said loudly, "thank you Fremy! You should be more honest like that, and you don't have to lower your voice, even guys like being complimented every once and awhile!"

Fremy nodded her head and said nothing.

A calm silence passed over the pair for a number of minutes until Adlet chose to break it again, this time with a question, "so Fremy, what do you want to do in the future, there has been plenty of time to think of it? I would be lying if I said I hadn't put much thought into what I would do after becoming a brave. I only ever thought about being a brave, defeating the Majin, saving the world, proving to everyone I am the strongest in the world. Never did I think about what I would do after it is almost like I thought that was the end goal like there wouldn't be anything after that. Guess I was expecting to die during it all or something. Anyway as for me I don't know what I will do, I have a couple things I could do, I can work a forge so taking up smithing could happen I know my way with various herbs and medicines, even if for less than healthy purposes, I could still spin that expertise into becoming a doctor. What about you Fremy, any ideas or plans?"

Fremy listened to Adlet and didn't take long to respond, "I am unsure. My life has been strange, at first I just wanted to stay home with my mother all my life, then suddenly all I could hope for was dying defeating the Majin. I had no grand plans. I didn't think my life would last long, like you I thought it would all end. Somehow that didn't happen and while we didn't do it unschated we survived that chaos. I had a lot of time to think about what happens next after that journey to get here." Fremy looked behind her at the wheeled chair that had been fastened to the bed of the wagon then continued. "Everything has changed, at first I thought the only thing I would be able to do was sow,I have more options since I can move now, even with some difficulty. I think I will try my hand at sowing anyway, and possibly pursue cooking if it is possible."

Fremy looked at Adlet, a serious expression on her face, "my question, why have we not had sex yet?"

Adlet returned her seriousness and said "I didn't think either of us were ready for it. I don't know where you are comfortable, what you like and dislike when it comes to sex. You were always so nervous when we slept together. I was nervous as well, I thought if I slipped up, I would lose you. I didn't want to make any mistakes in the heat of passion and so I held it back. On the way back to the mountain we can talk about our expectations and if you want to, we can give it a try later."

Fremy looked down with a blush, Adlet now having a second to grasp everything he had said, also blushed fiercely and looked away.

There was a long silence once again this time both were reeling from the embarrassment of their words. They were both adults yet neither was used to such things and while they tried to be as mature as possible, their youth and immaturity still caused them to be flustered.

Fremy, still not looking at Adlet ,asked,"Adlet, do you want to have kids?"

Adlet also looking away said, "I don't know. I think if you wanted to start a family then I would do my best."

Fremy coldly replied,"I don't think you have thought this through. Creating a happy family where my kids can have a happy family with a father and mother present is a dream of mine. Yet I am a freak, a half-fiend, not to even mention my countless personal failings, if you had kids with me Adlet, they would likely have fiendish blood as well. I can't imagine anyone wanting to create a family of monsters. Having to deal with everyone thinking something is wrong with their children just because of their mother."

Adlet looked at Fremy and pulled her chin up so she could see the anger clear on his face as he said, "I have decided! I am going to blow away your doubt! I hate seeing you demean yourself so I have decided. I will become two things, the strongest husband in the world, so strong that the fact I love you will blow away any doubts you have about yourself or your own worth. I will also become the strongest father in the world! As the strongest I will make sure my kid has a happy life no matter what and I will blow away anyone that tries to call them a monster because of their amazing mother. That is a promise!"

Fremy blushed again and began to look away but Adlet kept her from turning away. Adlet looked at Fremy with a seriousness and a hint of desperation or fear that shocked Fremy. Adlet spoke to Fremy in a tone that she was unfamiliar with, a tone laced subtly with fear, there was no confidence there was no smile or bluster this was pure frankness.

Adlet said, "I have been afraid to ask this for a long time yet I need to know. If you could walk, what would you do? Would you leave? Until yesterday you have been cold and while I never was angry I did wish you were more open and expressive and cute as you were last night and today. However more than anything I was afraid you were cold because you only were with me because I was taking care of you, because you couldn't survive with your injuries on your own. I am afraid that now that you can move, you won't need me anymore, that you will leave to be alone again. Everything I know about you and everything you said doesn't at all lead me to believe you would leave yet I can't help this fear, I'm scared of that...terrified. I am terrified that I could lose the person that I value above everything else, and there would be nothing I could do about it." Adlet instinctively tried to smile yet he forced it down and his eyes began to water and his throat began to catch near the end.

This was the first time Fremy had ever seen Adlet on the brink of tears. Fremy looked Adlet in the eyes trying her hardest to remain serious and to fight back the sadness building up from Adlet's words that threatened to bring her to tears as well. Fremy said, "Adlet, if I could walk, if I could go anywhere, see anyone, do anything, I wouldn't leave. Forget the fact that I don't have anywhere to go, even if I did I would choose you Adlet. You have always believed in me, trusted me and been there for me, since we met and forever after. Even when I was a waste of space you cared for me and gave me a way to live. Like I said last night, I am truly deeply sorry Adlet. I took all your kindness without giving anything in return for so long, I am truly the worst. I have so many things I hate about myself and have failed in so many ways. I can say this though, I will never leave you Adlet, you are the man I fell in love with, the strongest man in the world Adlet Mayer. You have done so much for me, the least I can do is stay with you until this life ends."

Fremy wrapped her arms around Adlet as tightly as she could she closed her eyes and pressed her head to his chest as Adlet tried his best to stop the tears that flowed from his eyes.

A ten minute silence passed before Fremy asked another question, "so Adlet, what are the people of the village like, it isn't full of attractive young women is it?"

Adlet laughed, "the general people are fine and nice, the village is large and is closer to a small town, it probably grew even more with people fleeing towards this side of the content trying to get as far away from the Land of Wailing Demons as possible. There are a few folk of note but other than that most of them are pretty average. Also for the record it isn't full of attractive young women it wouldn't matter Fremy, after all you are quite literally the woman of my dreams." Adlet smiled at his statement.

Fremy confused said, "explain."

Adlet rubbed the back of his head, as he said, "I thought I had already told you this story? Anyway when I was training with my master it was incredibly difficult, at times I had friends, those who also attempted the training and even some that lasted a while. Hell Axton made it two and a half years before quitting and Rolonia was there for two years as well though she didn't undertake all the training master offered. I digress, during that difficult time I had a very hard time powering myself through it, yet I would always dream of a beautiful girl and those dreams stirred me on and motivated me through those times. I understand now but when we first met I was shocked by you Fremy, because you were the spitting image of the girl in my dreams, one for one. You even had the same voice. I get now it was planted by that Fiend yet I am grateful for it all the same. Suffice to say you are the girl I have always dreamed of Fremy, when I think of someone attractive or beautiful, you are what I compare them to, you are my image of a perfect girl, weird as that sounds, I don't think I will ever think of any other girl being more beautiful than you."

Fremy was set into a daze, she was uncertain whether to be utterly embarrassed, flattered, happy, she didn't know. Yet one thought had surfaced in her mind above all, Adlet had done it once again, had blown away her doubts, he had utterly flattered her and sent incredible feelings of happiness and warmth into her chest. Adlet needed to know what he had done somehow, she had to express her feelings, she racked her brain for some way to repay Adlet. Finally after what seemed like an eternity even though not but thiry seconds had passed, Fremy made her decision and acted.

Adlet watched Fremy lower her flushed face in concentration. Adlet was trying to figure out whether what he had said was too creepy or strange or if maybe she thought her feelings were still ungenuine since he had mentioned the time when his life and emotions were controlled by a certain fiend. All of the sudden a soft sensation invaded his senses as Fremy rapidly raised her head and kissed Adlet on the lips. After a few moments they separated and until they neared the village nearly thirty minutes later, neither would be able talk nor would their faces change their shade of red.

To be continued in Chapter 5: The Strongest Man, The Half-Fiend and the Strongest Village

Afterword: Woah that was a lot of blushing. I wonder if I over did it but in my defense I feel two characters one of which is bad with women and the other that is bad with people in general, are going to be bad at hiding their embarrassment and be fairly susceptible to teasing. When the conversation is more passionate than teasing I think it would cause lots of blushing but I could be wrong.

Do we get the first night with Fremy and Adlet? Probably not, I don't honestly have any problem with that content whereas I just don't think I could write it well enough for me to want to post something like that and I doubt many would really care for it. If it really was something people asked for I would probably make it a 18+ one-shot after this story is over.

Village time next chapter! I will likely have to split the contents of the village arc up but I am excited to finally get to it, I mentioned back in the afterword for chapter two that I would reference characters from the Drama CD in the next chapter. Well I originally planned to somehow cover all the events of chapter 3p1, 3p2, 4 and 5(+5p2 possibly +5p3) in just chapter 3, I don't know how I thought that would work but I also added alot of detail as I went into writing each chapter and hopefully it made them a little better. I do plan to actually reference some of the Drama CDs' in chapter 5 somewhere.

Original Characters: I don't personally like the idea of injecting original characters into a pre-established story, I understand in a sense this is my story but I still feel a duty to play the characters as closely as possible to the source material while still developing their characters as much as I can. I am not particularly great at playing off of the original material so I apologise if the characters feel wrong or if I don't use the setting well and the village ends up feeling closer to a village out of medieval fantasy and not mesoamerican fantasy, I am far more familiar with the former than the latter. Sadly the story largely takes place in a small area so there are few pre-established characters I can pull in to take minor roles and so I have to make my own.

Regardless I hope it still ends up to be somewhat enjoyable.

Until Next time!