I pat her head and lightly ruffled her hair.
"Sounds like a plan. I'll give you a hand." I offhandedly promised, taking myself slightly aback.
Since when have I been the kind of person to do that?
"NO! You don't understand how dangerous my father is. He's really strong, plus he's a king of a huge kingdom." She tried to ward me off.
I smiled sweetly. Well, I was already certain of her identity at this point, as well as who her father was. Honestly, he was someone I kinda wanted to kill too. More like needed to kill, but after hearing Luna's story I wanted to kill him as well.
"I never said I'd fight him for you, I'll just help you out. I'm not gonna kill steal. Plus you're helping me out with my own personal revenge right now, so I should at least repay the favour." I justified my reaction, more to myself than to her.
"... Thanks."
"No problem. I might not be some saint, but I'm at least good to those I like and those who are good to me. Plus you're my maid now, princess. You're one of my people." I continued to list off reasons, even thought she already accepted my help.
"You know, for an asshole who has no misgivings about watching me murder people and who ruins someone's life just for being a bitch. You're a pretty good guy."
"What can I say, merciful to my allies but ruthless to my enemies. Or something like that… Plus, that bitch totally deserves this."
"True, she made fun of your dead mom, I'd have amputated all four limbs on the spot and made her a nugget if she did that to me."
"I honestly thought about that for a moment, but there were too many eyes, plus it'd be obvious it was me or you, and I didn't wanna deal with that flack. Also I think destroying her emotionally is more fun anyway. Plus, we can always do that later."
"Fufufufufu. I like the way you think. Anyway, where was I in my story?" Luna laughed with a devilish smile.
"I thought you were done." I said.
I quickly realized my mistake.
"I was half dead with a dragon still chasing me. Did you really think that was the end?"
"I don't know, maybe you killed the dragon?"
"I was 15, and barely a master swordswoman. You think I could kill a dragon?"
"... Yes?"
"No!"
She chopped my shoulder and grumbled something I couldn't understand before continuing.
"As I left my mother's body to rot in the forest I ran with everything I had while clutching onto that ring for dear life. Not 30 seconds after I had started running the dragon had caught up. It was toying with us from the start so instead of going for the kill it cut off my path and started charging up its breath. I could feel the heat rising in the air around me before it had even opened its maw to burn me alive..."
She paused for dramatic effect.
"...But then, what I can only describe as a miracle happened. Black and red lightning rained down from the sky as someone appeared. He moved too fast for me to see with an aura that coated him in tendrils of lightning. He suddenly arrived in front of the dragon and kicked it in the cheek. The dragon's breath released sideways and scorched the forest. The land 1 km long and 300 meters wide was instantly razed, it just became ashes in a fraction of a second..."
Her story was interrupted by a giggle.
"...Then, the man scolded the dragon. He fucking scolded it for 'picking on a little girl'. Hahahaha! ...haaa, funniest thing I've ever seen. But it was also at that time that I realized that this person I that thought of as a huge herculean man was actually a boy. He sounded around my age. What a monster right? This guy was like 14-16 and was a grandmaster swordsman. Plus his aura was insane, I don't even know if I could beat him now that I have my own personal aura. Anyway, after he kicked the dragon and scolded it he started to beat the dragon until it was out of my sight. I can only assume that it was killed by the kid because he came back practically unscathed and complained to me about how his sword had melted..."
She smiled and shook her head in disbelief at her own story.
"...After all that he spent 4 days nursing me back to health. When I could finally walk long distance again I insisted on going to find my mother's corpse. So he took me there, but she was already buried. He had already made a beautiful grave and left flowers on it. I broke down crying for hours but he didn't complain and only waited for me to come to my senses while comforting me. I told him I was lost and he led me to the nearest kingdom, which happened to be this one, the kingdom of Nix. He saved my life, nursed me back to health, dug my mother a grave, helped me out of the forest and when we arrived here he gave me an old necklace he had and told me to sell it for money. That was when I started my training to get truly strong. He had become something akin to a role model, a hero, a knight in shining armour. I wanted to attain the strength he showed me that day, and that was also the day I resolved to kill my father, for what he did to my mother. I still hope to meet him again someday, properly thank him. But more importantly, I just wanna see him again. I miss him, he was a bit of a goofball, but still the most reliable person I have ever met. He was actually a lot like you."
I whistled in admiration. "Sounds like a hell of a kid. I'd love to meet him too."
"Yeah, he was. But I'll never see him again. I'm not foolish enough to believe that I'd ever actually meet him. The odds are astronomical."
"...Well you never know." I shrugged.
"I guess."
"I think I finally understood something though."
"Really? What?"
"Your aura. The purple flames really confused me for a while."
"They confuse me too? Why do you think I have them?"
"The dragon. It seems like you got the darkness from your past of sneaking around and hiding. As well as maybe an inherited thing. But the flames and the darkness are too stark and contradictory. But now it makes sense. You said you wanted power, to be strong. That was your desire after seeing that boy fight right?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Well that is what drove you to train and master your aura. You chased after the strength you didn't have. And what was the strongest thing you have ever seen? That dragon's breath. You said it obliterated an area of forest 1 km long and 300 meters wide. I've actually heard about that, it happened north of the Renforth dukedom. It was deep in the forest, but I've heard how devastating it was from the people who visited after it happened. It was no doubt insanely strong. The whole kingdom still shivers in fear knowing that the dragon could attack at any moment and probably raze our entire country. No one would be able to stop it."
"Wait. I get that and all, but then wouldn't I have lightning, not fire. That kid was way stronger than the dragon right? Also the kingdom has nothing to fear, he slayed the dragon." She questioned my evaluation.
"Did he? Didn't you say he went somewhere else to fight it? Did he really slay the dragon? Did you see him kill the dragon? Did you see his 'strong' attacks? Did anyone else see him kill the dragon?"
"Well… no."
"Then how do you know the dragon is dead? Or that he was stronger than it."
"Because he came back unscathed and he said something about… no, you're right. I just assumed. He never even told me weather or not he killed it."
"Right now when you think of the strongest, most terrifying thing you have ever seen. What is it?"
She shut her eyes and imagined it.
"I see the dragon standing over me, and vividly feel the heat rising, I feel the fear of death, the dread that I won't live to see tomorrow, then I suddenly see the dragon get kicked by a lightning clad warrior, black and red bolts flow all around him, it's impressive, but not fear revoking like the dragon. Then, I see the dragon's breath miss me and enter the forest, total devastation. I fall to my knees as my legs can't stop shaking and the large wound on my chest aches. This is true power, this is terrifying, the fire continues to scorch the earth around me and I can't move, frozen in fear, as my hero fights the dragon in front of me."
I nodded along with her.
"And? What is it? What's stronger? The boy or the dragon?"
"Haaa, you're right, it's the dragon, that breath of fire was terrifying. Plus I didn't even get to see the real fight. I still have no clue how strong the boy is."
As Luna finished, we arrived at an old run down building off the main road and near an alleyway. I smiled and pat her head softly.