"Interesting eyes…" Fishy muttered to himself staring deep into her crimson eyes.
"What about her eyes?" Clara slid in as if they saw two completely different things.
"Nothing… it must just be normal for this world…" He muttered as he carefully approached the blonde girl as if she was a lost puppy.
Fishy approached as she flinched back in caution, he looked at her like he was trying to communicate without words and only his slight smiling expression.
She covered her head with the sleeves from her baggy, quickly made, clothes. And retreated under the covers of Ziu's bed.
"Well? What do we do?" Fishy turned around to ask the others who wanted nothing to do with it and all left, only leaving the village executives.
They all turned to look at the girl who's smooth face was hidden. She expressed a shy and adorable aura that would make anyone melt with happiness. It seemed as if she knew no wrongs of the world.
"If I may, my lord." Ziu spoke, "I believe we should quickly discuss this as soon as possible."
"Good idea. Glad to see you've recovered."
"As with you. It's my deepest regret that I failed you that day. If only I was stronger."
Fishy quietly laughed at Ziu's joke that he found uncomfortable. He was certain that the only reason he was alive at this moment was because of a simple fluke, and has lost most of his memories from the battle.
# # #
"Alright!" Sitting in the meeting hall, surrounded by the executives and the few villagers that were allowed to sit in for educational purposes, in hopes one day they will join the lineup.
Fishy screamed to get everyone's attention. They all looked at him as if he was someone who had gone insane after seeing his drastic change in mood since he woke up.
The last everyone saw of Fishy, he was battling a creature that caused him great pain, creating magic that shook the world. Now, he was covered in scars on his body and as energetic as before.
"So, first, how long was I out for?" He said, slumping down as he didn't know how to begin.
"Two weeks," Clara responded.
"TWO WEEKS!"
Fishy darted up after hearing that. Jumping out of his charge as he was uncertain how the village survived without him being there. He was certain that if he left for that long they'd all kill themselves.
"Strangely," Clara continued, "When you woke up, so did the girl."
"I see… and what do we do about the girl?"
"I think…" Tin slowly stood up as she began to speak, "We should try and get her to speak. We could ask her about her parents and where she came from."
"Alright. For now, we all continue with training, building, harvesting. All will continue like normal. I'll try and talk to the girl. You are all dismissed."
Fishy watched as the others left to carry on. Most went with Ziu to carry on their training but the elder stayed behind in his seat and looked at Fishy who was collapsed on the dark wooden table.
"Recovered? Have we?" The elder asked with a faint breath.
"I guess."
"Has your anger calmed down?"
"Anger…" Fishy muttered to himself. "Strange… I never considered myself to be someone who gets angry."
The elder smirked as he slowly pulled his chair out and moved closer to Fishy.
"It was merely a side effect of your magic." He said.
"My magic…? What is my magic?"
"It's called plagiarise." The elder spoke as Fishy's eyes awoke. "It allows you to use magic you've seen. You can even create new magic easily. It should all come naturally to you..."
Fishy looked down at his hands as it made sense for that to be the case. Even if it created a mountain of questions for him, he was more satisfied with this answer than he was before.
"How do you know?" Fishy asked.
"... Beauty told me…"
The elder responded slowly. He pulled his chair back again and stood up whilst preparing to walk away, leaning against his walking stick. As if he was done with the conversation.
"There's more to it than just that, isn't there?" Fishy questioned the elder who stood with his back hunch towards him.
"Perhaps… but now isn't the time for that…"
The elder carried on walking, slowly making it out of the building.
But before he was out the building, Fishy said,
"What am I? The marionette called me a monster. What was that crystal that was infused with me?"
The elder stopped with his hand or the door handle. His shaky arm gently pulled it back as the light beamed through into the dimly lit room, illuminating the chairs and that surrounded Fishy, leaving him to be the only chair still sheltered by darkness.
"So many questions… I can assure you… that you are no monster. So long as you follow your heart."
The elder left and shut the door, leaving Fishy by himself.
"What a cringy line…"