"If you found it difficult to accept, you can consider it as a reward from the chief himself, for helping us kicking those butts,"
Expecting something in return was the whole idea of one social law, simply put it Law of Reciprocity. When doing someone a favor, giving one action, thus one should've been expecting the reaction... whether wishing for it or taking no fancy to it, the reaction would always found its way to accomplish the responsibility that had been determined long since the beginning they made a contact, as reciprocity already been there. No matter if one freely gave a favorable action without expecting something in return, and never expecting them who received such a kindliness to reciprocate. That was because they were keeping a mental tally, and they have very good merry memories played repeatedly in their mind of how such a creature known supposedly for its vileness - emphasized on the word supposedly, for they saw already the misleading impression they clung onto.
At least such an exception, for now, only could be applied to the peculiar devil whose horn remained only one... swathing inside her white garment, seemingly became a reward from a simple wholesome community on a remote Plain of Jaderural after what the one-horned devil did for them. Hence so, Law of Reciprocity had found its influence over this unforeseen movement,
This powerful psychological principle, granting the recipient of an obligatory sense to give something in return for such a kindliness, moreover it was their life and home that had been saved by the one-horned devil. Only strengthen their feelings as they would feel compelled to return the kind of favor... couldn't care less about the born nature of their savior, seeing her as one of their own despite what creature she was. Because they'd feel that they owe something to the devil.
"Because I've been told that owing something to the devil is not really a good thing."
Therefore the little boy used this kind of reality to urge his and the residents satisfaction of returning the favor. Because he perceived that one-horned would seemingly reluctant accepting their favor, and because there was an old saying that if one owed something to the devil, the end result would be an unfavorable instead.
"Right, that's an old saying. And it seems to this day is still believed by many of your kind." the one-horned devil smirked upon hearing it, noticing the intention of that little boy saying such a phrase, "Frankly speaking, my favor doesn't come cheap, neither does the payment. Therefore I demand the payment of a soul to make it mine for I devour."
Since this type of giving was ingenuous however, as each party experienced the benefit in it - for the greater good of the two of them - the one-horned devil seemingly became too attached to her kind of acting,
"Well, that's how usually it is... or is it? But still, since there is also exist an old saying that goes something like this 'clothes are the soul of the wearer for it reflects one's aspiration and motivation,' I think by accepting this attire as my reward, can be considered as the soul payment, can't it? After all, I already wear it and already like it, and seems to fit me perfectly."
Somehow the little boy was seemed about to breath a relief one upon listening the further answer and confirmation being said by that one-horned devil... reducing his fallacious presumption about that payment of a soul, since no matter how generous Erynew - that one-horned devil - might be, she was still one kind of the demon kin. Hence a bit worrying he was, despite in the end... he still put a lot of trust on his newly found non-human friend.
"Hhhaaaa... thought we should prepare some actual souls to pay it," sighed the little boy, feeling the muscle of his upper neck became loose as well as his head became lighter upon listening to the one-horned devil. It wasn't a bad sign but the opposite instead, as he felt so much relief that he lowered his head along with the alleviated sigh that came out through his little mouth, before eventually laughing it off, "Hahahaha... since I thought you were a devil, I was afraid that... your dark side would eventually reveal with your hidden evil intention for saving our village. But once again, I knew I was right - always."
"W-were... you say? I am still a devil, you know, and still will be." seemed to object to his word, correcting the little boy's incorrect claim despite how trivial it might be.
"I doubt it actually, since how kind you are. But your appearance and how you booted those butts with such powerful magic, it seems to prove it, because the devils supposed to be very powerful beings... that's what Maya said," smiled the little boy, staring at her with more joy that came, "But still, it doesn't really matter anyway. What matter to me that those jerk humans won't visit our village anymore, and for that we have our thanks to you, Erynew."
'Am I... is this... kindness that I have been doing?' Time seemingly stopped for a moment in there for Erynew, that one-horned devil, to do a short little monologue only she could hear... amongst the gently blowing breeze... because there was a keyword that somehow worked like a magic word it was. Wrought something inside her consciousness that brought something to her thought, 'So this kind of peculiarity in me that my sisters were talking about... heeee... if it were them, surely they would demand more than a soul to satisfy their reciprocity. Maybe I am indeed different from them, no doubt about it again.'
"But it makes no difference actually."
Few seconds had passed and the little boy's voice startled the one-horned devil to come back from her tangled thought and stop contemplating something that didn't happen but only supposition.
It was his muffled whisper that woke her up, resonating with so much concern, it was a heavy feeling the little boy felt in his chest, like heavy pressure deep at the bottom of the dark ocean - another discordant gaiety apparently, yet this time, with a dim light of dusk staring at the white gravestone before himself, shading the white gravestone with her own shadow therefore fading away its whiteness.
"Is there something wrong, Gizado?" Erynew noticed the pattern of his deep black stare, the most hidden meaning behind that layer of smiling face the little boy showed. Therefore she might fancied to find herself lending him a hand to at least knowing something that bothering his mind even though in this consonance condition.
"I always visit her, my older sister... stopping by before the sun behind us hiding itself, because she loved the sunset view from here, because it gets that perfect scenery when Eterna Nieve turns into orange snow despite for a moment."
It was a golden hue to be exact upon turning her head to witness the miracle of nature with her own pair of yellow eyes. A completely different scenery that Erynew once relished when she was still enjoyed her time within the stream burbles, when still white snow that mountain ranges were. But just like that little boy had told, golden or orange color, it was just a matter of one's preference distinguishing colors when its core was relatively the same - it was beautiful... a sufficient reason for the burial place overlooking such a beautiful sight.
And apparently it wasn't just because of those mountains ranges, as she perceived something more than a mountain scenery,
"Tell me, Erynew... did you kill that damned monster?"
A query came in the middle of her time enjoying the present moment, but as she thought, it wasn't the right time to... not yet, because one query had come along with the subtle breeze that carried it from the little boy's mouth. One simple query for which she must found quite a fitting answer, even though she didn't really know how to.
"I did what had to be done." it was quite a simple answer that Erynew was able to provide, at least for now... because the more words to bridge the essence of this implicit message, the harder it would be to be spoken by leaving no trace of misconception in between.
"I see," smiled the little boy while listening to the given answer and without taking his pair of deep black eyes off the mourning gravestone before himself, "As I thought, should've felt happy to hear that, since the boss of the bad guys has been dealt with... yeah... should have... because I somehow feel--- I... I really have no idea actually. I do feel very grateful that the peaceful moment has returned to our village, that's why I visit Sis Gisalda today to bring such good news for the first time. Yes... I should've felt happy for bringing such news after long the seasons have passed. But I can't. Doesn't mean that I feel sad... no... I feel no sadness."
Gritted his teeth, Erynew almost hardly to notice the changing expression on that little boy's face still staring at the mourning monument.
It wasn't a sorrow, because everyone around him had showed their smile upon this gaiety for which they yearned, nor it was a hateful expression, for had been paid of his little revenge through the one-horned devil herself delivering his hateful feeling above the white peak that now turned into golden orange.
Therefore remained silent the one-horned devil still, and the little boy carried on pouring his seemingly complicated feelings - difficult to understand and hard to be expressed by words.
"Is it because I couldn't see you killing off that damned monster with my own eyes? Or it wasn't my own hands that did it? Or maybe because I can't really tell such happy news directly to her, and then hear her happy answer."
Through a whisper, the little boy asked the wonderment as if to lend his utterances an added entanglement in his feelings which only led to yet again the divergent interpretations because of the confusion, lack of experience on how to handle with this kind of emotion. Ambivalent emotions. A tidal wave of contradictory emotion. Quite an arduous journey to grasp its ambiguous meaning because of its equivocal nature, likewise the response wasn't easy to come by but a silent word still.
Therefore temporarily lowering her stature by knelt. Tossing her skirt aside and relying on her knees to hold her body weight, Erynew approached the adorned grave with a few colorful flowers that seemingly thrived from this everlasting resting place... mainly approached the white gravestone with ingenuous intentions of flourishing the simple burial ground with a flower of her own, plucked from a definite location which made it very rare to some connoisseur's eyes of the beauty of the flowers.
Even for the untrained eyes to value the beauty detail of the flowers - such as Gizado, the little boy - could pretty much tell that the flower wasn't an unusual one. An unusual flower that manifested out of the blue, like a magic, from the hand of the devil, and gently put this unusually beautiful flower leaning against the white gravestone. An unusual flower with an even numbers of white petals... bringing about the fragrance of the fresh winter through its its white petals shrouded in thin frosty mist, resembling that of the winter breeze blowing away the sorrow out of mourning of whoever gazing upon its clear hue and fragrant blooms.
It felt like a spring in the middle of a winter,
"I accidentally found it, amid the harsh breeze of frozen air. Beautiful, isn't it?" Erynew eventually began to move her rosy lips, expressing the empathy with her own words right after placing that snow flower adorning the simple grave, "Even though they grow in the middle of an unlikely place. Even though their struggle seems futile. No matter what might happen however, they will always thrive their beauty, believing someday that it might bring something once someone finds it. And that someone... is your sister, as she has found that beauty."
"W-what does that mean, Erynew? I... I don't understand?"
Expressing his perplexity over such a statement that was seemingly inscrutable for the likes of him, hence the little boy asked hoping to gain a further explanation... at least to grasp the implied message at the end of her remark. Such an explanation however, wasn't something that was meant to be spoken by words but something that must to be shown by the unspeakable words.
Erynew grasped such an idea, therefore she wouldn't provide an explanation nor an answer for the little boy but a magical door that would lead him and let him found the answer by himself.
She then stood up and turned towards him, "Why, can't you see it for yourself? The beauty that your sister has found," smiling warmly, Erynew lifted her forearm in front of her belly, seemingly pointing something with an open palm... especially something that already existed behind that little boy.
Noticing the implied gesture that one-horned devil showed... to see the answer which, in reality, had already been provided for as long as this land existed and unforgotten... Gizado turned around, entirely changing his course. No longer did he gaze at the mourning monument every time he had a chance to visit with that pair of sorrowful eyes, and for paying too much attention to his grief more than it deserved... the attention for his surrounding becoming less and less, as a result of the long term. He completely forgot that this burial ground was located much higher than the ground on where the village was established... the very beauty that was found by her sister.
A broad view of lively scenery the little boy saw, nestled between him and the distant mountains... bathing under the orange light of the last day for today, both the village and the distant mountains alike, turning them into this golden tint of tenderness... from the cold white into the warm orange, and lively village into more lovely life they lived. From up here where the wind caressing one's hair less subtle, he was more than capable of experiencing something that was once missing... gazing at something that was supposed to be visible with all of its variety of beauty.
From up here, through his deep black stare, several houses were seen, and could be counted using every fingers available on his hands - if there weren't too many fingers left that were unused. Gathering around on a small bit of chunk where the fertile soil was located, building a few small farms that were sufficient to grow food for the entire inhabitants on this remote land who were quite small in number yet sharing the same importance as a whole community, thus they worked as a team for the welfare of all... especially at a time like this, after successfully hammering the storm which they thought at first was impossible albeit the struggle. But when the gods didn't seem to have abandoned them by sending an unfortunate yet valiant savior and an unexpected hand... it was deemed a blessing.
They kept moving forward, that's how Gizado felt from up here despite all of the traumatic incidents they had experienced, likewise himself... losing a figure he loved... of a loved one. He surely knew that this heavy feeling they shared together, he and the others, he and his father. But under this showering light of the orange sun, before the sunset occurred and the moonrise emerged, they began to plow the soil in preparation of planting tomorrow's seeds, and with a smile this time, and no fear nor anxiety across those faces flooded with unseen sweat.
"That's the beauty your sister has found,"
Erynew began to speak a word, after the solitude seemingly reigning for a while between her and the little boy who showed his back as his gaze endlessly gazing below the hill, for he just found the beauty often being talked about yet rarely found... if only one indeed fought for it.
"And I think it's also the answer you've been always looking for. But... I'm not really sure if it's the happy answ---"
"It's the happy answer, definitely. I'm sure of it!" an abrupt remark cut Erynew's, from the little boy who expressed quite a sudden delightful expression. Although indirectly staring upon the happy change, a gleeful smile she could perceive on his hidden face seemingly hiding the traces of tears after his hand reached for his face and wiped away the sweat of an eye, "Damn this water in my eyes, makes me difficult to enjoy this beautiful scenery... this beauty that Sis Gisalda wanted to protect."
Turned his face and the entire of his body once more, staring at the one-horned devil who had shown him the answer his sister gave, while in reality, the happy answer itself already presented before himself, only how to find it that mattered. And now that he already found it, he ventured himself to reveal the genuine smile at last, "Hahaha, and here I am, thinking that I'm always right when I simply can't see the obvious answer Sis Gisalda has give me... trusting this beauty on me to continue what she has fought for... and dying for."
Hearing the determination of a little boy, surely was capable of watering this withered soul of anyone... even for a creature such as herself, Erynew strangely could sense the content feeling which led her into another whispering thought for herself only,
'It's good to see him finally smiling cheerfully, despite the emptiness that he just felt. And at such a young age, he already experienced such an emotion. With my current ability, resurrecting someone from clutches of the Death is quite an easy task, and I will gladly do if it meant making things better. Because Gisalda... Gisalda Everbloom... she... she didn't - doesn't deserve it at all... the sacrifice that could've been avoided,'
Remembering something she didn't desire to remember and tell, an unexpected claim from the perpetrator of all this... Erynew frozen in time at a moment while her mind trying to pull the tangled red threads and grasp the resolution as well as the lesson within the two, because how little time she had spent in this world currently, and assuredly there were bound to be more... especially with the on-going threats for this world, that she had to deal with. More time and lessons would soon she learn, as well as the consternation out of unexpected events - off scripted scenarios she must handle with the utmost care.
"Erynew... please take me to be your disciple!"
A remark full of determination and a strong desire in every word... a desire to cherish the place and protect its people. Regardless of the age from which quite a loud voice came, assuredly would startle anyone hearing it, particularly her who seemingly had lost within her own thought that worried.
"Eh?" perplexed by this unforeseen outcome, only gawking at that serious look on the little boy's face. Erynew asked to confirm what she just heard, "I did hear that right, didn't I?"
"You heard right, Erynew." Gizado quickly responded, gazing at her more deeply to show his pure will, "Just like Sis Gisalda, I need power to protect this village, this beauty she left for me. I know that you are a very strong mage. And after witnessing your battle, I have found to whom I must learn now. Erynew, please teach me magic!"
Widened that pair of yellow eyes, grasping the dimmer light from the darkness. An unknown became known from simply a sheer will to protect... seemingly at a random pattern, Erynew realized something that perhaps would become her preferred answer over the risky alternative because there was seemed to be nothing to worry about anymore.
"Now? Ah, I see... you decided to become the Devil's Disciple now, eh,"
Answered softly, Erynew was then smiled without further words that were seemed about to be spoken and with no a definite decision from her yet as she began to take a step forward, approaching the little boy who seemed excitedly waiting for the devil's approval. And when the devil's hands reaching the area where she could land a gentle pat on the little boy's head, would soon he receive the devil's final decision contained only one word,
"No."