Autor here. There is some self-harm in this chapter. If you are easily triggered by that, then I would advise you to skip this one.
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Brian and Leonor both stood out in the open facing each other. Despite the cold, both were wearing clothes that revealed as much skin as possible. There was only one fire in the middle of that could provide them with warmth.
They each held an identical knife that they held in the fire until it was glowing hot.
Leonor smiled at Brian that was staring at the metal with some doubt in his eyes. "Remember, if you want to quit. Go for it. the only thing is that it will be an automatic win for me. but hey, you will keep that smooth skin of yours."
I had no doubt in my mind that unless he backed out now, she would do it. Everywhere except her face and hands was covered in scars.
I used to think that mine was bad. But she was covered in scars. She had proven her will so many times before this in this way.
"Don't worry," she said, still grinning like a maniac. "It won't bleed… much. The blade will scorch the flesh. You won't pull back? alright let's start!"
She brought the glowing blade to her arm and made a long cut running from her shoulder all the way to her elbow. I could hear the sound of flesh and skin ripping under the glowing blade. The scent of burned skin slowly filled the air and indeed only a little blood escaped the cut. Brian hesitated, for a little. Then he did the same to his arm on the exact same spot.
I could see how his expression shifted under the pain of what he was doing to himself.
I found it disgusting. I had suffered a lot due to the mark on my chest, which was a scar. And they brought scars onto themselves just to prove a point.
"You are insane!" he furiously hissed trough his teeth. But the people bearing witness to this event couldn't possibly hear it.
Leonor tilted her head. "what did you say? If you give up, you should speak a little louder."
"I am not giving up. But you are sick! How can you do this to yourself so many times over?"
He shrugged and played with the knife like it was a toy. "I will tell you when we are done. Now it is your turn."
Brian slowly brought his knife to his left knee. There he swiftly made a thin cut.
"Man, this is really the first time you do this! If you don't play it like you're supposed to, then let's end this as soon as possible."
She brought the knife to her neck. but before the blade could tough her skin, I infiltrated her mind to stop her.
"Listen human. I don't care what you do to yourself or others as long as I get out of this what I want. So, I hope you understand that I will do anything that wouldn't outweigh the benefits too keep you alive. And that knife of yours came dangerously close to a certain vain that you wouldn't want to cut when I am trying to keep you alive."
I let her go of my control and she in turn cut her shoulder instead. "I am sorry Rubedo. I will take more care next time."
Brian now also started to cut his shoulder. I noticed how he slowly started to succumb to the pain. Before he could finish the cut, he dropped the knife on the ground.
"Fine, you win! I won't play your stupid game anymore."
Leonor smiled. "Good. If you had passed out before you gave up, I would have to wait until you woke up again to tell you why I like to do it this way."
She walked over to him and whispered in his ear. "I do it this way to show men like you that I do have worth. That I don't need any of you by my side to show that I am tougher that you. And a bonus is that most of you completely ruin your bodies in the proses. Men like you have taken my love from me and this is how I am paying all of you back."
She took a step back and smiled. "Now that you won't doubt my decisions again. You might want to go see a healer."
She walked back to her tent to put her normal clothes back on. I entered the tent as soon as I noticed that she was finished.
"You know. If revenge is what you want. There are better ways to do it."
She sighed and sat down by the table with the map. "I know. But in truth, I believe that I deserve it too."
"look, I don't know what happened. But you can't do things like this. These scars will stay with you forever and will make it harder to forgive yourself every time you look at yourself."
"I-I know it is wrong. But please… can we please talk about something else? "
I knew that issues like this would take verry long to get solved. And I was certain that I couldn't stay in this world for that long. Besides, I might even make things worse by making her feel more guilty about herself. "fine, but only if you promise to look for actual help when this is over. I know a lot of humans are disgusting, but there are some good ones to. Go and find those that would look more after you than you do yourself. Now I believe you wanted to discuss with me what you could give to me as a reward."
She nodded. "indeed."
"then I would like you to tell me what you know about the creatures that live in the place in between worlds."
"I am sorry. I do not know about a place between worlds. Much less creatures that live there."
"That's fine. The information that humans from here do not know about it is also useful to me. Now do you perhaps know a way for me, a fire demon. To learn magic involving water?"
Her face lit up. "I may not be able to use magic myself, but I do know things that might help you with that."