"GO BACK. YOU DO NOT BELONG HERE."
Hearing a god-like feminine voice behind me, I turn like a bolt, immediately gripping the dagger with two hands, ready to strike. But nobody. Only the shining weapon and the forest.
"I said to go back. Do you not hear me?!" I look left and right—nobody in sight. I turn again and face the door.
"Don't ignore me!!!" The voice suddenly changes to a normal one.
'Who is it that keeps screaming like that, I wonder. Must be another crazy woman. I have encountered a lot of them already, must be my bad luck.' I thought in my head.
"Who are you calling crazy, stupid kid?! I am right behind you!!!" Turning again, I almost jump back to the door. There is now a woman. She is somehow transparent, a ghost then. With everything I saw these last two days, I am not even afraid anymore.
The woman is tall, around 190 cm. She has a pretty face: beautiful gold eyes and shining blond hair, a small nose, and cherry blossom lips with a pink color. She is wearing a white headband with a piece of metal in front, big breasts are hidden behind a chest plate. The chest plate is white, with gold lines going from the middle of her breasts and dividing into smaller lines going everywhere in circles. Almost like a picture of some sort. Hips and thighs that match the top of the body. Quite the curved woman. She has a white skirt, covering half of her thighs. Beyond the knees, nothing, well, she is a ghost so… who might she be?
"You can talk to me in your head; I know your mouth is not functional."
"Hmm…Who are you?" How does she know that?
"You don't know me. Wow! Did time pass so much I was forgotten? Well, that a shame. Anyway, I am MARIA SAINT AXELANDRIA. The very first hero to come to SCHAMERIN and the one who drove the Longinus to extinction." She puffs out her chest and strikes it with her fist. "And you boy. Who might you be to end up here? And in such a state?"
" I am-"
"He is not welcome here!!"
Another voice, male this time, and quite powerful, coming from the tower. The voice is so powerful I am thrown to the ground. When I stand up, there is now a man next to Maria, the same height as her. Young, a somewhat squared face, a trimmed brown beard and brown hair, brown eyes, wearing a blue and grey robe. The same kind mom was wearing that night. No feet. Another ghost.
"He does not belong here. Send him back, nobody should be able to access this place, and you know it."
"Well, I am also here, you know."
"Then, you should go too."
"Oh...? Is that so? You would rather be all alone here, hm? And who will maintain the barrier?"
"Whose fault is it in the first place? And yeah, I would rather be alone than having you here."
"Oh-ho, you really think that? you sure? Even though you said-"
"I didn't say anything."
"Look at you, all shy and bashful now, how cute!"
"You..."
Was I forgotten just like that? Who is the weird dude coming out of nowhere and butting in people's conversation like nothing? And why are you two like that? No, I know those smiles, those looks, and this atmosphere. Mom and dad, mister Baran, and his wife. COUPLES. So those two know each other and are intimate. Well, that does not tell me anything important.
"So…You two are a couple?"
"WHAT!!!! WE ARE NOT YET!!" I get yelled at out of nowhere. That is quite the synchronization for a not-couple…yet. They are not a couple, and they are acting like that? No, in the first place, aren't they dead? They are ghosts.
"Hm hm. We are not a couple, kid."
"Yeah, being a couple would mean doing this and that, having kids and…" Maria's ghostly face turns completely red and she hides her face with her hands. I don't understand this and that, but it must be quite something for the FIRST HERO to be so embarrassed.
"Yes, we are not a couple. Being with this gorilla is too much for my brain."
" Ah!!!" she instantly changes from embarrassed to rage mode. "What ?! who got his ass saved by the gorilla woman instead of dying like a dog shit then?!! Hm?!!"
"Yeah, right. Like they could have done anything."
"The goddess came down to Schamerin for you. You think you could have handled it alone to the end?!!"
" I would have if it was not for you."
"Look at you talking now."
The conversation is going way too far and way too fast. The goddess came on Shcamerin? For him? When? Wait, wait, wait. There are too many questions, and my brain is too tired now.
"Hey, the lovebirds!"
"WE TOLD YOU WE ARE NOT A COUPLE!!"
"Where are we? Who are you, mister? Can you help me? Please answer those three questions."
"A man should present himself first if he wants to be answered and respected. Were you not teach manners, kid?"
"Well, you called me a kid, so…"
"Doesn't matter. The point is…"
"Pupupu." Maria is holding herself from laughing.
"Anyways, who are lad?"
"So it is lad now, eh..." The guy looks at me with a fierce and piercing cold stare, I can feel it cooling down my very blood.
"Don't pay attention to small details or to that gorilla. In fact, forget about her very existence; it is better for you." A cold, glacial look is launched at the guy. Maria wants to speak but restrains herself.
"I am Kevin Koersombre. Son of William and Rebecca Koersombre." I try to bow my head, but my back hurts; I only nod once. My vision is becoming more and more blurry.
"Well, Kevin, you are not welcomed here. you should go away." I stay unfazed at his words; I am too tired to react.
"Look at you. Aren't you ashamed to act like a brigand? With a kid no less? And a polite one at that. Do you know at much time it has been since somebody came here? Wait, nobody ever came here since."
"That is why this is weird. Something is wrong, and the more he stays here, the more problems could appear."
"Even so, to chase him out like that." Maria's face shows evident sadness.
"It is better for everyone."
"Always the rational one. At least, explain to him why then." They now both look at me.
"Kevin, you being here is something that should not be happening. We created a barrier as well as this forest to prevent people from coming here. We have to send you back quickly to make sure that nothing might happen or change."
I see. It is always like this; I am always rejected, mom, dad, Tatiana, even ghosts now don't even want to feel my presence. 'SUCH A PATHETIC CHILD.' I remember the voice of my dream earlier.
"Well, it is alright; I am used to it already. But instead of sending me back, do me a favor: KILL ME. I have nowhere to go back to now anyways."
"Sadly, we can't. Your body itself might be a problem if it stays here."
"So, you can't even kill me?"
"Oh, no. Don't cry; we are sorry. Look what you have done now." Maria interjects. I am crying? My vision is extremely blurry now, and I have more and more of a hard time distinguishing them both. I can't feel tears on my face at all. I touch my face and look. My fingers are wet indeed. But I don't even feel the wetness.