Dawn- An age of Darkness

Alisa closed her eyes, collected her thoughts. "When I first approached you, I thought you were a demigod. I thought I'd be safe with you. Back then my father, Damsel, the God of ice, was on my track. But later I found out you weren't a God. I was scared and tried to run. But your friend, that girl stopped me. She treated me well. I told her everything. But she didn't throw me away: Mr. Denkaborkarere knew too. And then that happened."

Again with the geezer's name.

I stayed quiet. It was a lot to take in. All this time I cursed my own powerlessness. I thought it was all my fault. Even when Alisa said she was a demigod back in Alfeim, I still didn't fault her. 

"I've said this before and I'll say it again. I'm so sorry!" She bowed her head. 

I still remained silent. She stayed like that. The others didn't say anything either. What now? It was my fault. But- I didn't feel good about seeing a little kid bowing on the ground and crying. I knew she wasn't as little as I thought but it wasn't something I wanted. I didn't want it to be her fault. If that was case then all the emotions I've felt would have ended up being a lie. I didn't want that. I was selfish. "Raise your head. If you didn't have those damn ears I'd have already kicked you out of here. But since you do, I'll forgive you just this once." 

She stood up but looked at me with shock. The others were speechless as well. Honestly, I didn't have any excuse for forgiving. And secretly I still had a grudge despite thinking it was my fault. I really was selfish. But Brenda had told me to protect her and I wanted to. Besides, I kind of wanted to get over the past. 

Alisa covered her face and giggled. "You really do never change." Her eyes leaked and snot came out of her nose. Not a very lady-like display but, it relieved me.

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

"What the hell dude, at least try to come up with something better." Dick started his annoying laughter. The guy was really a pain.

Lianne giggled. Servesta and Ven both had a faint smile on their faces but they didn't laugh. I guess they had to maintain their character too. Not to mention both of them were pretty much the same. Ven was probably a little more talkative though, plus a little better looking.

"Hey, what the hell is that supposed to mean! I ain't making things up!" I started to protest. But it was all fake.

"Who says ain't these days!"

"Huh?"

Dick made a smug face. I made one too. And then we both laughed. Dinner was over just like that. Biteria just danced around and ate everything that was left. 

Oh, my little bunny-wunny.

***

Sometime around midnight, I woke up. The fire was almost gone. It needed new fuel. I got up and before I could head out, Dick came with wood. "Oh, you're awake."

I never slept in armor, so just typical clothes were making me shiver a little. I could finally understand why Lianne said stuff about us being monsters. 

"Well, I guess I am."

He chuckled and we restarted the fire. The others were probably asleep. Even Lianne was sleeping for once. Maybe she was just tired? She never showed any weaknesses. But at the end of the day, she was just like any other ordinary girl, trying her best to live in this cruel, unfair world: a very scary ordinary girl. 

"Now I have more things to be jealous of you, man. You just went and became a king. I know it's not all roses for you but still. I would have liked an adventure as well. Back home I was always alone and in my room." Halfway through, he started to sulk. The conversation went gloomy very fast.

"Actually that's the same for me. Even in college, I was like that." 

Well kind of.

"You're in college?"

"Freshman."

Did he think we were the same age or something?

"I see. So you're two years ahead. You know I really wanted to run away from home and then when I was summoned here, I was really thrilled. Even the fact that I got summoned by demons didn't scare me. But when most of us died, that's when reality kicked in. That's when I learned this wasn't a game or fantasy. It was real. So I trained. I trained harder than I ever did. And with an overpowered skill, I think I got pretty op. Then I got out and started to travel. " He chuckled.

The fact that he knew all that stuff was nothing more than just plain irony.

I guess you had your fair share of trouble too.

"Well, you're right. I think you're op AF. But honestly, I'm glad you didn't have to go through what I did. I'm confident you'd have done better but even so, I'm really glad you weren't in my shoes. So much death, so much suffering." I didn't even want to think about it. 

"Oh hold on! I'm the only one who gets to be jealous." He exhaled! "By the way, want some tea?" He brought out a bag of ground tea leaves with a smug face. 

"Where the hell did you get that?"

"Not in this continent that's for sure. I don't really know the name but in that place, people grow tea like these guys grow wheat."

We boiled some water and he poured some grounded tea leaves in. 

I was freezing, so a drink couldn't really hurt.

"This stuff's really rare. So, bought a lot and kept it on me all the time. Oh and if you want any, you'd have to turn into that beautiful lady again."

Seriously? 

The guy was literally a pervert through and through. But something about his approach was somewhat commendable. "Where are you keeping everything anyway?" I wondered it before too. Back when he was fighting alongside me, he brought out a sword that I never saw before. 

"This." He showed me a cup. "It works like that ring. But has roughly one-tenth of its size. It's still pretty neat though."

And the guy still made Servesta carry large bags. What a jerk!

"Yeah." I fingered my ring. It was definitely convenient. "Why didn't you go back with them?"

The tea was ready. He poured me some. We both took sips. I didn't use the bracelet and he didn't force me to either. He did look a little sad though.

Finally, some caffeine. It wasn't all that good and there wasn't much sugar. But it was definitely something I'd punch Dick for. 

"I hate that place. I wish I'd never have to go back." Dick made a fist. 

"So where are you going?" I was under the impression that he had different opinions about Demonica. But he was just like me.

"Well, we're heading to the Dwarven lands like you. But we'll part at the border. I heard there's a piece of the legendary weapons there. You know what I mean."

"Yeah." I figured he was looking for them. After all, I was looking for them as well. I never made any attempts to search for them though. My mystic blade was just a product of fate and betrayal.

"Why are you going there?" He asked. 

"Well, one of my companions told me to head over there for no reason and look for a person. I didn't really have anything better to do either. So here we are."

But I guess it wasn't because I had a whim. I trusted the geezer and if he said a guy in Dracona could help me, then I had no reason to doubt that. 

Dick chuckled. "I know what you mean. I'd done that too." He took another sip. "What if we found the thing but you happened to arrive at that time as well. And we ended up quarreling over it?"

He was serious. 

"I'd turn into a woman and seduce you. Although I'd prefer killing you, it would be very inconvenient later on if I did so."

He chuckled even harder. "Guess we'll have to find it no matter what then."

He didn't get that I was actually joking. Or perhaps he did, but pretended not to notice. But he did have a point. 

"So what about others? I have a feeling they all have different opinions about the demons?" I asked.

"Oh? You're not too far off the mark. Most of them didn't really like the demons but there is one who thinks of men and demons as equals. Well, now there's only three of us left, four if we count you."

"Actually, the way she was talking about the demons, it seemed that she cared more about the demons than humans."

Dick knew what I meant, so he nodded. "So you've already talked with Susan. You see, she's actually in love with the emperor."

Wait, her actual name was also Susan!?

It came as a shock but I concealed my emotions. "Does he know?"

"I have no idea. Haven't been in Demonica for over two months now. She's overpowered in a very different sense compared to me." He paused, looked a little irritated. "And didn't I tell you I've never met the dude?"

"Fair enough." I chuckled and finished my cup. "What are her powers anyway?"

"She can copy an ally's ability and then amplify it. Probably the most broken skill there is. Even more broken than your regeneration or my instant master." He paused. "Moreover, when she really means business." He became a bit too serious. "She can summon stuff like that bird you saw that night."

So, technically she was some sort of a summoner, herself. 

  "You call it instant master?" I barely controlled my chuckle.

  "Yup!"

I couldn't stop laughing anymore. Dick frowned but didn't really say anything. 

"But even if it's broken it has a lot of risks, doesn't it?" I had a feeling such great powers wouldn't come cheap.

"Yeah. First, you have to have an ally. Second, your ally has to let you use their abilities." He paused. "Alone, she can't do anything. But she was always alone. Even after being summoned, she locked herself up in the library. She spent too much time in Demonica. She has no idea about how the world works. But if someone like me or you lend her our powers for a short time she'd probably be able to annihilate the whole demon race."

I laughed hard. It's been a while since I laughed this loud. "She'd never do that though."

"Yeah, it's a pity."

"How did you contact her anyway?"

For a second there I thought I'd noticed someone and just looked sideways. Apparently, Ven was there, leaning against the wall and looking at us. How the hell had I not noticed him before?

"This." Dick pulled out a small crystal ball. "This works as a communication device. It's pretty primitive so you can't play games or-"

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. How'd you get one?" I was probably being a bit naggy at this point. 

"Secret," he winked. It pissed me off.

"Tell me?" I grinded my teeth.

Dick looked kind of uncomfortable: he glanced back and forth between me and Ven. I guess he noticed him too. "Well, that's where our fourth player comes in." Dick came close and whispered. "He can make stuff like this. We actually got a blueprint from the ruins west of Destoa. I think the king of Destoa still has two or three of these too."

"He in Demonica?'

"No. He at the dwarves' place." Dick giggled uncontrollably for a second. I regretted not adding a verb. "We came together to this continent. But left him there cause he was stoked to see dwarven technology." He didn't let me question him any further. "Anyway, it's getting late. Go to sleep. I still have another hour or so, before my shift ends."

"You guys are on shifts?"

  Hey, no one told me anything about that!

"Well you're injured so we thought you didn't need any shifts tonight."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

They were really considerate. I guess I should have given them more credit than I did. I went to bed.

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