"Normal speech"
'Thought'
(Silent magic)
[Normal magic]
{Change of location, time or POV}
Hi dear readers, sorry for the slight delay. I have been gone for these last 3 days due to a sudden family matter. Everything is fine now.
Hope you enjoy the chapter! I bet you are not expecting what you will find!
If you wish to read the next 17 chapters some cool art!
- Chapter 63: Just Myself and nothing more
- Chapter 64: Recruitment
- Chapter 65: End of Vacation
- Chapter 66: Game of Masks
- Chapter 67: Falling into Place
- Intermission V: The Fool who fooled the World
- Chapter 68: Changing times
- Chapter 69: Passage of Time (Part 1)
- Chapter 70: Passage of Time (Part 2)
- Chapter 71: Passage of Time (Part 3)
- Chapter 72: Passage of Time (Part 4)
- Chapter 73: Passage of Time (Part 5)
- Chapter 74: The Eleventh Hour
- Chapter 75: At the Hands of Despair
- Chapter 76: Where are your Gods now?
- Chapter 77: The Three Pillars
- Intermission VI: Picking Sides
And many other things, consider joining the P atreon!
Link: p atreon (dott) com / zerosenpaiwriter
Beta Reader: Skarborr (This storyline was pretty well executed.)
Chapter 62: That Lie we call Reality
What the fuck was even his life anymore? He was supposed to die when he tried to face that monstrous caster. Yet he faced someone who preferred locking him away.
Then he thought he would die at the hand of the dwarves as retaliation for when his sneak attack condemned them. and yet, his path was again derailed by that same someone who interfered the first time.
Third time's the charm they said. He had believed he was done for when he faced against the black monster in a final act of defiance, intending to use his death as a symbol of the Quagoa most radical members' defeat. He was again spared from that fate by the same someone.
And now he was locked away to rot once more.
Why… why wouldn't she just let him die?!
He had tried everything! He even put on an act of betrayal in the most vicious way possible so that she would not intervene! And yet… yet she still got in the way!
For all he had nothing else to live for, he still wished to know why, to get closure and then die of starvation. He was sure the dwarves would not certainly force him to eat, and she will leave this place soon enough now that her business here was concluded.
So he waited, just one last encounter before he could finally die.
"Riyuro."
As if summoned by his thoughts, she appeared at the doorstep of his cell.
"Lakyus."
He growled out her name, his throat as dry as the stones of an arid tunnel.
"Even after all that has changed, I must say, this situation brings back memories."
He joked to himself not hiding his fangs as he grinned.
Apparently, his nonchalant attitude was not shared by the human who came to visit him.
"Why did you do it?"
She questioned. 'Right to the point, eh? You would have made a good Quagoa in another life' he thought in amusement as the young female asked him the same question he had in his mind since he woke up here.
"Tell me, how long has it been?"
He questioned without giving her the answer she sought. For all the senseless bullshit she put him through these last weeks, he would not satiate her curiosity so quickly.
"Three days."
The human said without hesitation.
"Has the peace talks started yet?"
He questioned again, much to the annoyance of his friend, not that she considered herself his friend anymore after what he did.
"They are about to start… your fate will be decided then…"
Good, that was good indeed, he might not need to starve himself to death after all. His execution might serve as the final symbol of peace they all needed to go past this.
"Now answer my question."
Lakyus said expectantly as she opened his cell and entered, like the first time they spoke more than a month ago.
"Why do you care? I betrayed you, I was just acting so that you and yours destroyed all my enemies for me only to take control once it was all over."
The lie came out easily and naturally from his mouth, like a well-practiced script.
"DON'T TRY THAT BULLSHIT WITH ME RIYURO!"
The human roared as she slammed her feet on the cell's floor, causing it to crack much to his amusement. He had nothing to fear right now, the worst thing she could do was kill him, and would that not be the greatest of outcomes for him?
"How do you know I am not-"
He didn't even get to finish his sentence that the young human bent down so that her face would be just in front of his, locking her eyes with his.
"I know you are lying because you are my friend, and I know you."
Absurd! Those words were the most deranged thing he had ever heard in his life! Know him? She barely spoke with him a couple dozen times! And what was all this shit about friends? What kind of mad individual would call a backstabber like him a friend?
"You are insane, you think you know me after we shared a handful of conversations? Don't make me laugh! I have fought alongside comrades for decades, and they do not even grasp half of who I am."
He felt annoyance for the first time since he woke up in this cell. Strange how a dead Quagoa could still feel such emotions as if he still had a reason to remain alive.
His harsh words should have made the human back down, but instead only seemed to embolden her.
"Maybe I am, you are not the first to say that. But insane or not I can recognize the eyes of a liar when I see them, did you know? Every time you lie, you do not look me in the eyes… your comrades may know you Pe-Riyuro, King of the Quagoa, but I am pretty sure I am one of the few who had the pleasure to know just Riyuro."
She said as she backed away from his face and sat down.
'Well, shit.' there was nothing else coming to his mind apart from those words, he had actually underestimated the girl's perceptiveness, she was spot on and the fact all of this came to be by mere chance was still something seemingly unbelievable to him.
He was already doomed, so if she really wanted to know, he could tell her, maybe she would learn something useful about the world from his words.
Riyuro inhaled a calming breath before releasing it to relax his muscles.
"Your plan would have never worked."
His initial statement already caused the girl to widen her eyes in disbelief, but she did not comment, waiting for him to elaborate.
"Under my rule, the Quagoa had lived by the law of might, I claimed my title as king using my strength and all of the ranks in our society were based on power… that would have been fine, if we had never come to peace with anyone."
He began explaining what she already knew, but these were the basics to understand his actions.
"The Quagoa would have never accepted to stand equal to those they have defeated, even more after they were drunk on confidence from their victory over the dragons, no matter that they had not struck the final blow… if I refused the large quantity of Quagoa calling for war, our race would have torn itself apart in civil war, making that dream of your unrealizable."
He tried to put the situation into as few words as he could, he had no need to explain how his culture would have seen a king who did not try to grasp for absolute victory, even if said victory was just a fool's dream.
"Then you-"
Lakyus tried to speak as her eyes widened even more in realization. She was not stupid, he knew she would understand, no matter how much she would not like it.
"Yes, I, the greatest Quagoa to ever live, just showed how futile any resistance from my kin's part would be, my death was meant to break the Quagoa's spirit and accept their position in this new alliance to come… I left instructions to my most valued comrade who would have taken charge of my race."
He explained his plan, there was no point in hiding it anymore, and Lakyus was well aware that none of this could come to light.
"But then you stopped the caster from finishing me, hell, I was surprised when I barely survived one of his spells… guess he was not even trying…"
He joked but immediately received a punch to his face for his effort at making fun of the situation.
He actually was about to protest when he saw the human standing over him, fresh tears gathering in her green eyes as she looked at him in what he could identify as a pained expression.
"YOU ARE AN IDIOT!"
She roared as her tears fell down her cheeks. Riyuro tensed, he had never heard such sorrow before coming from her… it was almost unnatural, he had never imagined the always joyful human to be capable of conveying such a thing through the power of only words.
He said nothing as he remained stunned.
"IF YOU THINK SO LITTLE OF YOUR LIFE THAT YOU WOULD THROW IT AWAY AT THE FIRST GOOD CHANCE… THEN I WILL BE TAKING IT FOR MYSELF!"
Usually, such words would be interpreted by him as foreshadowing for an imminent attack, but Lakyus just turned around and fled his cell, slamming the door shut behind her.
He had no idea what the hell she meant with those words, but knowing the human as he did, he was sure it was something crazy.
He just laid back against his cell's wall. He felt drained and his face still hurt from that pipsqueak's punch. But, worse of all, he felt like shit for making her cry like that.
'Fuck, since when did I become so soft?' he questioned no one in the silence of his mind. Well, maybe the fact he no longer had to play the role of king brought up some of those buried memories he repressed forcefully for the good of his kin.
He closed his eyes as he awaited what would happen next.
He had done his part, the great lie had become reality for all but a select few, now he could only wait with childish wonder for the outcome.
{Vulmitar's P.O.V.}
His father… dead.
Vulmitar never thought he would hear those words spoken during his lifetime. How such a concept seemed absurd only a few days ago, and yet this apparent lie had turned out to be nothing but reality.
He was slain in single combat by the magic caster who had taken an interest in him.
Even after his own family confirmed the information, he still did not accept it until he saw the corpse that by now had disappeared only the gods knew where.
His family laid defeated without its head, he could not blame his mother and the other wives for giving up after what they witnessed. He had already felt that unshakable sense of defeat overwhelm him before.
Vulmitar really had no idea what would become of them right now. Would they be forced to leave their nest? The mountain as a whole? For all he had not lived much by dragon standards, he had still grown attached to the place he had always known as home. The possibility of leaving, combined with the death of their leader, truly brought a sense of uncertainty about the future he never experienced before.
"Uhm excuse me?"
He was brought out from his thoughts by the human currently trying to catch his attention.
Said human was apparently a male, and one of those who have battled him alongside Lakyus.
Speaking of which, after she was done healing him he was allowed to return to his family, only for him to be informed of what transpired which brought him to spend his time wandering around aimlessly until he met the two humans he was currently with.
He inclined his head to hear what the human wanted.
"You are the same dragon we faced three days ago, right?"
The human clad in an exquisite blue robe questioned. To be completely honest, Vulmitar's dragon senses were already pushing him to steal said robe, but his logical mind refrained from doing anything foolish, even more considering who those two worked with.
"Yes, I am."
He decided to be cordial, there was no point in trying to antagonize those who held his family's fate in their hands.
"Lakyus told us you were… a very agreeable individual… so we were thinking… uhm…"
The human seemed to hesitate until the one clad in red just moved him aside to stand right in front of Vulmitar.
"What this idiot was trying to ask is if you could show us the library where you studied to learn magic."
The red one completed her partner's meek request, much to Vulmitar's surprise. He had never been asked to show someone the library as most of his siblings had never been interested in reading or even bothered to learn. To be honest, he himself only began when he understood brute force would have never brought him anywhere.
If he remembered right, these two were in fact magic casters, he could personally attest to their magical prowess as he had experienced it on his own skin, as a magic user himself their request to indulge in more magical knowledge was natural, but he still felt like he could get something out of this.
"I could do so, in exchange for that though… I would like a favor from the two of you…"
Vulmitar proposed as he tested the waters on what kind of individual he was dealing with.
"What are your demands?"
Asked carefully the female caster cloaked in red. The dragon's frosty breath tingled his teeth as he looked down upon the two.
"You two against me, a test on magical ability."
He demanded with the utmost seriousness. Vulmitar never had the possibility to test his magic against an opponent who was as magically capable as him before. These two held their own against his magic and he would cherish having the possibility of testing his limits in a safe spar.
The two humans didn't say anything for a few seconds.
"Is that all?"
Asked the blue one seemingly hesitant. Vulmitar just gave him a side glance as he nodded.
"Well, I mean… we spar and pretty much assist each other all the time, so I think it wouldn't be a problem?"
The male questioned as he just glanced at his human companion who just shrugged her shoulders.
"As long as we are careful to not cause each other harm, I see no problem with this arrangement."
She said while Vulmitar nodded eagerly. He had no intention of harming any of them for obvious reasons, and this was kind of a once in a lifetime chance to test how his magic would fare against other elements as there was no one he knew about capable of using lightning magic, let alone fire.
"Follow me then!"
He turned around energetically as he strolled away quickly.
"Hey wait!"
He immediately stopped as he glanced back at the two humans who were now running after him and still not managing to keep up. He almost felt like bashing his head against the wall for his late realization. In all his excitement, he still forgot the size difference between them… this was going to be a long and slow trip… unless…
As the thought entered his mind he immediately dismissed the part of his brain telling him how infuriated his father would be at the idea. His father was dead and gone, and he no longer cared for the approval of anyone in his family. Torangealit was always so proud and eager to please, and what did that brin him? An early decapitation at the hands of supposed inferior races.
Vulmitar lowered his body as the two humans caught up with him.
"Here, get on, we will spare time."
He said as the two of them stopped right in front of him. The blue one's eyes were practically sparkling in excitement, while the red one's were filled with caution but that alone was not able to mask her eagerness to accept his offer.
"R-really?"
Asked the blue one in a whisper, as if he could not believe what he was asking himself.
"It will be a far shorter trip if we could fly."
Vulmiatr just told it as it was. He did not see what the big deal was about this, but maybe it was just him being used to flying. Maybe races that had no such natural abilities would find his offer a once in a lifetime occasion.
The blue human immediately approached him and began to try and find a way to get on his body. It was kind of a weird sensation feeling someone grab on his scales and slowly using them to climb up his body.
The red one remained put, seemingly unsure on how to proceed.
"Need a hand?"
The blue one asked as he offered his hand to the red one who accepted with some hesitation before climbing on him.
Vulmitar spread his wings as he took flight toward the castle his family had used as a nest since he was a newborn.
{Renner's P.O.V.}
The princess felt the need to groan in frustration and yawn in tiredness at the same time, and yet her face remained still, her calm and collected expression plastered like a wax mask on her features.
The meeting between the dwarves, Quagoa, and dragons had been going on for the last five hours and they had yet to speak about Re-Estize's part in this whole thing. At this point, she would be satisfied with postponing it to the next day, but still… couldn't they just get it over with? She knew that if Satoru could have done it her way, by now no one would dare speak a word without sending her a written request first.
But nooo! They had to do it Lakyus' way! That naughty girl should consider herself lucky Renner appreciated her qualities as a body-pillow or else, by now, the princess would have kicked her out of their shared bed after all the troubles she caused.
She felt her eyelids begin to falter as the need to rest overwhelmed her. Damn this childish body of hers! She could not wait to grow up so that her stamina would not force more than six hours of sleep per day on her.
Putting those thoughts on the back of her mind, she focused once again on the discussion occurring in front of her.
And no, they were not apparently past that point yet.
Most of the points Renner came up with after speaking with the dwarves and Quagoa were agreed upon. What really gave them pause for the last two hours was the settling of their people. Dwarves desired to return to their former homes, the Quagoa had no intention of being pushed back in their former barren territory, and the dragons had no intention of moving… well, she was pretty sure they would run for their lives if she asked Satoru to push them out, but alas, this was not possible due to Lakyus being Lakyus.
Speaking of which, her only friend had been downcast ever since the business with Riyuro occurred. Renner actually felt like applauding the Quagoa's move, it really saved her and Satoru from further headaches, still it would have been better for him to die. Now his fate had become just another of the points the three races had to agree upon.
She glanced back at her supporters. Satoru stood immobile and silent, an obelisk of solidity and stability for her. Gazef, the loyal guard standing ready to act, her father's gift and show of affection, an affection born from her usefulness and nothing more.
Lastly Lakyus, the friend that brought to this exact situation in the first place. She was sporting a strange expression, for the first time Renner was actually unsure on how she was supposed to interpret such a strange expression she had never seen before on her friend's face.
Was that anger? Mixed with something else?
Now that she thought about it, Renner never saw Lakyus really angry about anything. Frustrated? Sure. Annoyed? That as well. But genuinely angry? Never.
Before she could do anything to stop her, Lakyus stepped forward walking directly in the middle of the room. She grabbed her sheathed blade and slammed its pommel on the ground, silencing the arguing parties due to the explosion-like sound that resonated from her strike. The guards in the room were put on edge but the fact no one had yet shown live steel stopped them from interfering further.
"ARE YOU DONE?!"
Lakyus' loud words echoed with a coldness Renner did not think her capable of. The princess was taken aback, her eyes widened as her brain caught up with her eyes. This Lakyus was not the boisterous girl with a fiery personality she knew of, no, she was cold fury incarnate, something far more similar to what she and Satoru looked like, not that she ever saw Satoru really angered, but she liked to imagine he would be on the same page on it.
"YOU HAVE BEEN SQUABBLING LIKE BRATS FOR TWO HOURS BY NOW!"
The three factions seemed taken aback far more than Renner was from the young knight's interference. The Quagoa visibly recoiled, the dragons just remained silent with their serpentine eyes fixed on her, while the dwarves seemed the only ones ready to double down on their stance.
"DON'T YOU EVEN START!"
The blonde sent a death glare toward the councilman who stood up from the dwarves' party. Lakyus then took a deep breath as the air in the room seemed to still.
"You all stand here arguing and arguing! And about what?! Territory that doesn't exist anymore! You have already accepted to join your forces in a united front! There is no more dwarven territory, Quagoa territory, or dragon territory! It is all one! And as a united country, your citizens have the right to live wherever they prefer as long as they abide by the laws!"
Her tone may have lowered by the intensity and dead seriousness in it did not decrease in the slightest.
To be honest, Renner agreed on that statement, but she also understood that it was far simpler said than done. The grievances each race had against the other was not something so easily solved.
"At this point in history you all could have been a continental powerhouse! You had all you needed from the start! The dwarves have always been magnificent crafters and engineers! The Quagoa are incredible miners and equally fierce warriors! Frost dragons, with their long lifespan and power are insightful and capable of judgment focused on long term stability and growth rather than greedy in the moment decisions!"
Her friend continued her speech as her tone slowly transformed from cold rage into passionate fire as she called out each race one by one.
"You all could have united and made your country one of the brightest and most powerful entities in the continent! A pioneer country in engineering, crafting, and defense! But no! Your personal greed has always prevailed, and you all only ever brought misery to each other! Starvation, slavery, death, and war! That is all you have brought to these lands you so much argue about right now!"
Lakyus continued her speech. That was the Lakyus Renner knew, she could recognize that passion anywhere, those brightening green eyes who always see the best in the world, even to the point of mistaking a lie for reality.
"Do not lose yourselves in your past! All those lives that have been lost, all that suffering your races endured, all of it have brought you all to this table today! Here you have a chance to put an end to all this misery and death! And yet, you are still here arguing about what is of whom?! You should be all ashamed of spitting in the face of all those who came before you!"
Lakyus seemed to conclude with a fierce glare directed toward all parties involved, daring them to say anything.
Silence descended onto the council room, Renner waited to see what the reaction to this would be, at least something would move from this stalemate, whatever it was for the best or the worse.
A slow, methodic clap filled the silence as everyone focused on the only person who could change the course of the meeting.
Satoru clapped with the dignity expected from someone of his caliber, it was probably the first time he moved since the beginning of this session.
"Truer words were never spoken Lakyus, such a spirit of change is remarkable even in one so young such as yourself, I imagine no one here was not moved by your words."
His deep tone remained calm and collected as he spoke for the first time since the start of the meeting.
Renner could almost not resist smiling. The way he spoke and the true meaning behind his words was not lost on anyone who possessed the barest hint on how politics worked. But the way he went for the maximum effect was the true difference between an amateur and a master.
There were few things that managed to surprise the third princess by now, and the fact her Satoru patiently waited five whole hours to strike at the right moment he knew would come, was certainly one of them.
As the representative of the Re-Estize party, Renner could not be seen condoning such actions, that would all but scream foul play on her part. But Satoru playing that card? And turning the indignation around him into fear… only someone such as him could ever hope to achieve that with a mere sentence.
The princess had to cover the lower part of her face with the papers she held in her hands to hide the smile spreading on her features. It just would not do to show such an intimate gesture to anyone that wasn't her Satoru.
The Quagoa currently acting as Riyuro's replacement, Yozu if she was not mistaken, raised from his chair.
"We are ready to oblige the wise words of this young one… at one condition!"
He spoke with an edge in his tone, as if he knew he was walking on thin ice, as it should be every time someone dared to step in front of her Satoru. Renner saw the rest of the Clan Lords present look at their peer with expressions ranging from astonishment to barely concealed rage. In response the Quagoa in question growled lowly making all the others back down.
"We will cohabit civilly with the dwarven race and the frost dragons, we will abide by the laws and hold accountable any of our kin who goes against them, we will join this alliance… but in exchange we want Pe-Riyuro's life."
'Well, that isn't good' as if to answer Renner's thoughts the hall exploded into a myriad of raging voices coming from the dwarven party. It took almost a couple minutes for the Cabinet Secretary to set everyone back in order.
The Quagoa were playing a dangerous game here. Renner could not understand why they would risk it all and throw it away for someone who clearly had given everything for this meeting to happen as it was. Sentimentalism? Such a thing had no place when it came to politics.
"This is preposterous! We, as representatives of the Dwarven Kingdom, refuse to ally with any party who includes Pe-Riyuro among their peers, let alone acting as their leader! That individual did not only lead an endless assault against our kingdom, but he also intended to exterminate our race, and last but not least betrayed our initial military alliance at the first chance he got! We refuse to enter any kind of alliance with him!"
The Cabinet Secretary spoke with finality, to show this was not a point they had any intention to negotiate on any degree. The rest of the council showed their support and approval by nodding to his words.
The Quagoa did not seem to back down either as the Clan Lords stood up at once, clearly ready to throw down with the dwarves.
The situation was quickly spiraling out of control, the only ones seemingly untouched by this whole matter seemed to be the frost dragons who remained silent the whole time.
Renner glared at her blonde friend. 'Damn it, Lakyus, why did you have to interfere back then?... This would be so much easier if that Quagoa actually died…' she lamented as said girl met her glaring eyes before giving her a nod.
That made Renner blink and stop her glaring. What did that nod mean? Was she about to do something else? Did she actually have a plan?
For all the princess was able to read everyone around her and predict pretty much everything anyone would do, she had to admit that Lakyus had a way to always blurt the most unexpected stuff out of her mouth. Not that she was not predictable most of the time, but Renner had to give credit when it was due and admit the swordswoman had surprised her time and time again ever since they departed months ago.
As the situation seemed to actually be about to turn violent, Lakyus again slammed the pommel of her blade on the ground with far more strength than before causing spider-like cracks to appear all around the point of impact.
The room was silenced once again as the two, about to turn violent, parties focused their attention on the younger girl once again.
"The fate of Pe-Riyuro has already been decided."
Lakyus declared much to the shock of everyone who was arguing about the former King of the Quagoa all but a second ago.
"Due to his crimes and conspiracy against the council ruling this newborn nation, he will be exiled never to return on penance of death… I, myself, will serve as his guard to ensure his compliance with this sentence."
'Oh, now she has done it' Renner thought in amusement at her friend's antics. She had no idea if Lakyus had done it with such a purpose in mind, but this was actually the perfect middle ground no one would be able to argue against. The Quagoa could not ask more of them than this, there was no way Riyuro would have ever been allowed in a position of power after his actions. The dwarves on the other hand could not complain either as, if Riyuro was exiled and never to return, it would be no difference from having him killed… they of course could push the point, but doing so would make them seem as bloodthirsty fools who would throw away peace for just a shot at a petty revenge.
The princess never took her friend for much of a politician, but after today's speech and takes, she might have to reevaluate her previous assessment.
Renner could see the dissatisfaction on both parties' members and how most of them were biting their tongues not to say anything. All apart from Yozu who seemed to be scowling only to hide his growing grin.
'Well then, I will be a good friend and lend you a hand now' the blonde princess said to no one as she clapped loudly to catch everyone's attention.
"As the third princess and current representative of Re-Estize, I would second Lady Lakyus' declaration… we will be glad to take such a difficult individual out of your hands and ensure his definitive departure from this newly created nation."
She noticed the dissatisfaction on everyone's face morph into begrudging acceptance at her words. After all, there was nothing they could do now that she had spoken, trying something might make them enter into Satoru's line of fire, and no one wished for that after his last show of power.
"As previously stated, this responsibility will be given to Lady Lakyus, as she already shown her capability to defeat such a foe… to add peace to your minds on the matter, in case Lakyus fails in her duty for some reason, Marquis Satoru himself will take care of the threat once and for all."
She finished as the begrudging acceptance turned again into eager agreement, after all, saying something now would mean questioning Satoru's ability to take care of such a foe, and no one wished to even imply that.
"Now shall we discuss the last points before signing the Declaration of Unification of the first ever created Azerlisia Coalition?"
Renner continued in a pleasant tone while tapping said document they have had ready for the last day and a half.
She was tired, and she could not wait to snuggle in Satoru's lap for a well deserved rest.
{The next day}
{Lakyus' P.O.V.}
"And that was pretty much it."
The young knight said as she stretched her arms and legs that were starting to get sore after hours of sitting on the floor of a cell.
The former Quagoa King just remained silent, he had already finished the lunch she brought when she visited him. She would have come sooner but Renner did not allow her to leave the bed until late in the morning. Retribution she called it, for putting her through all these troubles.
Lakyus almost snorted, couldn't she just admit she wanted to share a hug? By now there was no point in finding some weird excuse. She knew her best friend was kind of a little weird, but she would have not given her up for anything else in the world.
"So that was it, the end of the eternal war between Quagoa and dwarves… I lived long enough to see it through at least."
The words of the Quagoa just made her snort.
"You take me for an idiot? I spent the last countless days learning about your races and history. I will eat my boots before I believe this is the end of the struggle… and what's with that self-deprecating speech? It sounds like you are going to die, while in reality I saved your ungrateful arse!"
She rebutted, annoyed by her friend acting like some old fart reacting to some slightly interesting news.
Riyuro gave her a feral grin before barking out a loud laugh as if she just uttered the greatest joke in the entire world.
"Should I get on my claws and knees for you, master?"
He asked with far more seriousness that she thought he could muster.
"You are an ass."
She pettily rebutted while pouting.
"Well, I will be under your care from now on, so how should I call you?"
He questioned seemingly disinterested in the whole affair as if he was just discussing the weather.
"Just Lakyus, like you always did, that is what friends address each other."
Silence descended in the cell after her remark. Both of them contemplating what the future would hold for them both now that their fate was tied together. Or, at least, she liked to think he was actually contemplating it and not just shrugging it off like nothing happened.
"So, you actually understand what happened in that room or do I have to spell it out for you."
Ah, so that was what he was thinking about? Lakyus could not help but bite her lower lip at his words. She knew, for all many thought her oblivious, she actually grew so much more than she ever thought she could in just a few months. And it was not like she did not have Renner explain it to her over and over again before they even reached the capital.
"Yes."
She muttered, dissatisfied and not wishing to elaborate on the matter. Though, her wish seemed to be disregarded all too easily by the demi-human in front of her.
"That peace you spoke so much of, how does it feel to know it is all just a lie… a peace brought by fear… fear of what would happen if a certain individual was displeased with the outcome of the meeting."
She gritted her teeth at his words.
"Shut up."
She could not contain the words filled with bitterness from leaving her mouth.
"What, is your ego too frail to bear hearing reality spoken aloud?"
He baited her, she knew it, but she could not resist it.
"Shut up! WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF HOW IT FEELS?!"
She roared as she felt tears prickle her eyes. Their gaze met, and she wished she had never uttered those words, not even in her mind, let alone shouting them.
"Oh, I know that feeling far too well… you made me feel it over and over, since the first day we met, till this very last exchange… you took my ego, my ideals, even my dream and tore it all apart to make space for yours… in the end, I couldn't even die without your permission."
She felt her boiling rage evaporate in an instant as those words entered her ears. And she could not deny it, because every last of them was true.
For all she despised, she put on the practice of forcing someone to do as one's wanted… she was pretty comfortable in doing it her way and even finding excuses for it, or worthless differences that would not change the outcome of her actions.
She stood to leave the cell. She could not bear to see those eyes any longer for today.
"Lakyus."
She froze as she felt her name being called. She did not turn, she had no wish to see what hid in those eyes. Contempt, anger, even hate maybe.
"Thank you."
The softness of the tone took her aback as she never heard such from him before, hell, she didn't think he was capable of such a tone.
"For everything, for saving all those lives, for trying to make everyone better, for stopping slaughter and mindless violence… for saving my life… even if the end result was a lie, all that came before was real, the lives that will go on and not be extinguished in a battlefield are real, the dreams of a better future are real."
As Riyuro spoke those words, Lakyus felt an incredibly heavy weight being lifted from her stomach, a weight she wasn't even aware of till it was gone.
"If it is you, I truly believe you will be capable of turning a lie into reality one day."
Lakyus felt tears roll down her cheeks as she stood there, at the doorstep of a dirty cell, and for the first time in those last days she truly smiled.
The world might be full of beautiful lies, but she will make them all into reality one day, that, she swore on her life.
A.N.
Oh, what is this! Some character development finally coming around! It's been a long cooking session but I hope the first dish of this meal was worth it!
Must say, it took me a few tries to get that final POV like I wanted it. Lakyus is a character I have been having a blast with. I usually despise righteous characters that take morality to another level and are always set up to be able to do the right thing in every situation and beat the "bad guy" or "bad moral". So, I am giving a try at building a hero character that actually has to face a world where there is no right or wrong way, but just mixes of the two. You know, like actual real life!
But enough of my ramblings for today.
We are pretty much at the end of the arc and just need an epilogue. Hope you all did not forget what Satoru promised Lin for her aid against the dragons…
Let me know your thoughts with a comment/review.
Have a nice day and stay safe!