~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~
she was your close friend.
a joyous existence that you never thought would end.
until calamity struck again,
and once more, reality began to warp and bend.
-R.
~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~
In the aftermath of that encounter with the dragon, Kairo and his group went back to the village.
Chadrhaad explained to them the result of his investigation. He told them about the village's excessive hunting during fall season to ease their situation this winter. This caused the dragon's lack of prey, awakening in its hibernation early due to an incomplete preparation.
They saw Grisia breathe a sigh of relief. Unbeknownst to them, he was relieved that Remi didn't seem to have anything to do with this situation. Though, he sensed her scurrying around, most probably to observe Kairo for herself. Another visit was in order to quell his suspicions.
Kairo thought about another scenario where they didn't hesitate to kill the dragon. Finding out that it was the one in trouble after all, he was glad that Grisia was there to be the voice of reason. Furthermore, he got to learn more about nature, and more importantly, fractions of Grisia's intentions regarding him and Aisia.
The hunters got reprimanded by Chadrhaad and respectfully asked the elder to do better in leading his village. The elder and the villagers were grateful for their swift assistance and guidance.
They started their trek home though it was uneventful. The whole time, Aisia was quiet, only responding in a dismissive manner whenever Kairo tried to start a conversation.
Chadrhaad parted ways with them at the city entrance, thanking them for their help in the emergency quest.
Night came and Grisia headed towards Remi's camp in the woods. Upon his arrival, he was greeted with a conniving smile, which he was already used to by this point. He handed her the precious leftovers that she graciously yearned for as they started their exchange.
"You were observing Kairo when I was training him?"
"I'd hardly call suddenly throwing children into a fight with a dragon 'training', but it proved to be fruitful," she said, digging into the container and munching on the goods.
"You say that, but you don't seem the least bit worried."
After chewing and swallowing her food, she replied. "You wouldn't let him suffer any terrible injuries."
"You seem to suggest that you know a lot about me. Now that I think about it, your whole demeanor lacks any unfamiliarity ever since we met."
"If you're thinking that I have the answer to your question, I do not, nor do I care about it."
"I see," from her answer, Grisia understood that she overheard his conversation with Kairo as well.
After a while of audible munching from Remi, she asked, "Anything you noticed about Kairo?"
"Quite arrogant of you to ask for what you want right after dismissing me like that."
Remi paid no heed to his comment and continued eating as if he didn't say anything worth replying to. Since he wanted to figure her out and he had nothing else better to do, he entertained her question.
"Apart from what you've already seen, nothing remarkable. He has an abnormal maturity for his age. That's it."
"Abnormal maturity, eh? Is that all?" she sighed.
"What do you even want to know? Just show yourself to him and observe him for yourself."
"Not yet the right time. I want to know more about the little details, even the smallest quirks you can tell me."
Not seeing any harm in it, he started listing what he knew.
"He reads a lot with my daughter at the library. His appetite is comparable to hers, though I suppose that's only because of the energy he spends when training. I've seen him sometimes wash his face and gargle with water after waking up—"
"Did you say he gargles and washes his face?!" it was the most interested she had been. Her eyes were completely wide and she stood up from hearing this, dropping the container. She was being uncharacteristically dynamic.
"Y...es? It reminded me of my master's habit, which was why it was notable to me."
"This... this is... no," she recomposed herself and sat back. "I'll let you off the hook for today, I have no further questions."
"Why? What about it?"
"It was just... surprising, is all."
They didn't talk much about anything after that. She became disinterested in talking any further.
"Just what did she glean from that?" Grisia was confused, normally she would continue to ask questions about Kairo, but for some reason unbeknownst to him, that minor piece of information was more than enough for her.
"I suppose Esmeralda might have a point. Maybe there is merit to being more secretive. So far, I've given her information she wanted while not figuring out much myself. It's time to be less loose with my mouth with this lass."
Grisia thought that since actively asking her had not worked out well, he thought that observing her whenever he gave her information would be better. But showing his cards without regard was proving to be disadvantageous when normally it wouldn't. Something about this young girl was odd and it's throwing him off.
"Quit holding out on me. If you won't give me something to chew on, I'll stop feeding you information," he said.
"That seems fair. You've been quite helpful, so you've put me in a generous mood. What would you like to know?"
"Something about you."
"How forward of you. Well, one thing I can say about myself is that to pass the time, I occasionally make poems."
"... and?"
"And what? That's it."
"I don't see how that's relevant or important."
"Fine," she leaned back to make herself comfortable. "Hmm, what can I say?" she pressed her cheek with her finger in a contemplative manner.
"There's nothing much interesting about me. I'll simply give you a warning then. Be careful of who you take under your wing," she said before muttering her next sentence. "Not that it's going to matter too much."
Grisia fell silent and froze. After a while, he bid his farewell and left Remi alone at her camp.
Weeks passed by, Kairo and Aisia's training continued to have a remarkable progression. Kairo got better at handling his ki as well as using chakra techniques. He tried casting Earth: Land Upheaval but nothing happened.
Grisia told him that he needed to get better at Earth: Stone Ascent first before trying out the improved version. When Kairo tried out Earth: Stone Ascent, he could only summon a short stony spike from the ground. When he stood beside it, it only went up to his ankle. It was a helpful technique to have, but he knew he had a long way to go before reaching Grisia's level.
Meanwhile, Aisia was steadily getting better at using chakra, but she was having trouble with her ki. Grisia tried talking to her about it one-on-one, but she refused to. Kairo saw this and some days later, they were reading together at the library again.
Out of the blue, Aisia started, "Kairo, what type of girls do you like?"
"W-What kind of question is that? Why do you even want to know?" he deflected, flustered.
"Nothing, I was just curious."
"Well... I guess someone who's... kind?"
"Bah, what a bland answer."
"Well, excuuuse me, princess. I haven't really thought much about it," he pouted.
"Then, are there any girls you like?"
When he heard Aisia's question, he immediately had an image of Esmeralda smiling softly in his mind. He shook his head as if to try and erase the image of her deep, green eyes, her pleasant and mature, bespectacled face from his head.
"N-No?!" he frantically said.
"Oh. Alright."
Kairo felt like it was his turn to ask her, "What about you?" she flinched at his question before hearing its continuation. "Do you have any worries on your mind? You're having trouble with your ki and you don't seem like you want to talk about it with Grisia."
A bit disappointed that he moved the conversation to that topic, she replied with a short "No."
Sensing that she was not entirely being truthful, he pressed on. "You sure?"
"Yes."
"You're really sure? Because this is the last time I'll ask and if you really don't want to talk about it or if there's really nothing wrong and you're just having a bad day, then so be it."
"YES."
There was silence. After a short while, he took a peek at her and saw her troubled face. She was fidgeting on her chair.
"Alright, fine. I'll tell you," she finally caved in.
"Wow."
"Shut up!" she put her book on the table and sighed. "The reason I didn't wanna talk about it is... mainly because it's about my pops."
"Oh."
Kairo thought that maybe it really was because of what Grisia told him when they thought Aisia was sleeping.
"At first, I truly was simply bummed out about not being able to eat meat, even during early spring. It's just so tasty, how else can you live without it after tasting it? Then, while thinking about that, my mind drifted to why I was even so bummed out about food. I was reminded about my past, you know, those things he told you. In the past, when he revealed to me the reason he adopt me, I didn't think too much of it. Maybe I was too young to understand. But now that the thing that's been on the back of my mind has resurfaced, it feels like it's eating me up inside, you know?"
Kairo didn't know. How could Kairo ever empathize with her? She lived longer with Grisia and formed a deeper familial bond than Kairo could ever imagine having with him. He was reminded that she was only nine years old, yet she was already thinking deeply about her bonds.
"Even if he did say that he sees me as his own daughter, even if he's treated me more than enough, there was just something that didn't sit right with me. An experiment... and I don't even remember if he's ever told me that he loves me, like a normal parent would, you know?"
"Maybe he's just being shy or he's not the type of person to say things like that?" Kairo shot a suggestion.
"Yeah, but still... the fact that he's never said it..."
Kairo didn't know what to say, he couldn't find the right words to console her.
As Aisia continued to be somber, she continued, "While we're talking about my past, I remembered about a book that Grisia wanted to read with me. Back then, I still thought reading was a pain. So, he told me that when I felt like it, I should look for my name in that book about meanings of names at least once in my lifetime. I might know more about my parents and their feelings about me."
"Oh, I'll look for it then. It should only take a moment."
Indeed, it only took a few minutes to find the book thanks to Grisia's management of the library.
"Here it is. A book about name symbolisms by otherworlders. Those otherworlders sure are a bountiful source of information. Let's see, A, A, A. Aisia. A-i..."
As they browsed the book, they noticed that each name either only had a sentence of explanation or a long paragraph detailing its origin and history. When they found Aisia's name, they saw a single sentence that read, "Alive and well."
She paused for a while before speaking.
"I see. So, that's what my parents wanted. I don't even remember their name anymore. But I'm thankful that they loved me enough to name me something meaningful. But was this all?" that was when she thought of the idea. "What about Sia? It's the nickname that pops gave me after... I don't really know when he started it, but it just kinda stuck."
"Your nickname, huh? Let's try it. S... S... S-i..." Kairo flipped the pages, looking for her name. Even he was curious to see what meaning it would have.
When they found her name, there was only one word next to it.