Chapter 7: My result of choices.
I drove the carriage absentmindedly as the light faded. Hours had paced since the incident. Ronalt and the others had cleared up the rest of the bandits and once we arrived in Greytree a more appropriate team would be sent to clean up. Due to the waste of time I had to push Pina faster but she chirped understandingly and continued easily.
We set up camp and I made the sandwiches for Marley. She was happy but her smiling face did little. Even as I ate with the Hero and the others, while I acted like nothing was wrong, I wondered when I would feel normal again. Tomorrow we would reach Greytree and I would have more work to do than today. More than ever before I wanted to live. I didn't want to have to deal with Faith again. I wanted it to be over. Even if I had to repeat it… I really might just leave them alone.
"Rain we need to talk," Taylor surprised me but my body refused to react and instead I faced her blankly.
"Do you see this?" I held Ronalt's armour. It had cuts and dents all over it. "I have this and everyone else's, including yours, equipment to deal with. I don't have time to talk."
She frowned, "It's an order."
My chest lurched and tension spread through my muscles, "So you're ordering me around as well?"
She ignored my glare and gestured outside of our camp, "Meet me by the large rock half an hour from now."
"Fine," I shrugged her off and got back to work. Taylor walked away slowly and joined the Hero and the others as they sat at the table. Whatever she wanted to talk about she didn't want anyone else to be suspicious. After we were separated and I was kidnapped we hadn't talked but I couldn't think of a reason for her attitude, if anything she should have been glad I put her life ahead of mine.
When the time came, the others aside from Ardent had all entered the carriage. I finished up what I was doing and walked nonchalantly to where Taylor wanted to meet. It was far out of earshot and hidden behind the nearby foliage. As soon as I touched the rock a shadow moved past me.
"So what is it?" I turned to see Taylor standing with folded arms.
Her eyes met mine, "Why did you do it?"
"Do what?" A slight panic entered my heart. Did she see me when I killed Faith?
"You made Pina run off with me still on the carriage," she glared at me. "I surrendered myself for you and you just up and made it worthless. They could have killed you right there."
"…." I was honestly surprised. "What are you even talking about? Weren't you the one who said you'd off me if it was worth it?"
"I-I wasn't being serious," she looked away.
"Really? Because honestly I thought you were really going to let me die back there."
For a moment Taylor paused unable to meet my eyes, "And to be honest with you I really did think about it. It was the smarter thing to do. With you dead I wouldn't have to hold back. I could disappear and kill them in the shadows…."
"Then why didn't you?" I was genuinely curious.
"Because I changed my mind," she met my gaze. "In that moment I really did think that it would be better to have you alive. Not just for what you do for us… I wanted you to live. So I gave myself up." She let out a soft smile. My heart clenched involuntarily, thankfully she glared at me soon after. "Which makes me all the more pissed off as to why after all my effort you made me ditch!"
"Like I could let that happen. Didn't you see their eyes? Those men were already thinking about all the things they would do to you. And besides," I huffed, "with two hostages my worth would go down the drain."
Neither of us said anything as we stared at each other. Before now I had always seen Taylor as an experienced adult, someone older than me, someone with more experience but right now… seeing her like this I realized that she wasn't any older than me or the Hero.
Finally I laughed, "This is all stupid."
Taylor smiled, "It really is. Thank you Rain. I'm still annoyed but thank you."
"Don't be getting soft on me," I teased.
"That's the thing," she placed a hand on her heart, "I think I am. The past few days with you all… it's honestly been the most fun I've had in a long time."
"Good," my lips loosened and I smiled back. It was strange, here she was saying how happy she was while for me the past few days, really weeks, had been the worse of my life. The thing was I couldn't refute her not one bit.
"Oh and one more thing," Taylor pointed at me. "You'll keep doing your training with Earnest and that's an order."
"What?" my jaw hung slack.
"Well we have a long journey ahead of us and I don't want you dying. Besides," she winked at me seductively and leaned over giving me a view of her chest, "I think men who can handle a sword are sexy." And there was the Taylor I was more used to.
"It's too bad then that I'm hands off… but sure I'll keep training with Earnest." Honestly if I could actually fight better it would have made things so much easier.
"And there's one more thing," Taylor stepped back. "I wasn't going to teach you this but considering I just spilled out a bit too much of myself to you I'll make an exception."
"What, you going to teach me how to pick a lock?" It would actually be quite handy.
She shook her head, "No, I'm going to teach you how to use magic."
I looked at her dubiously, "'You' teach 'me' magic? Even Ardent and the Hero can't do that."
"That's because they actually have talent. You and I are different. Though I'm nowhere as bad as you, I'm fifty/fifty. Half talented and half inversely talented in mana manipulation."
I was surprised. It was actually a lot worse than it sounded. To produce magic you needed to convert mana to different forms, being inversely talented basically meant you couldn't touch any magic that needed that particular mana to function.
"A person I used to know taught this to me when I was a kid and since then I've been trying to master it," she breathed out and in the next moment she was gone, or at least kind of. She was still in front of me in plain sight but at the same time it felt like there was nothing there, that my eyes were lying to me. It was the same thing she had done to the bandits but at the time I thought it was my eyes playing tricks on me. I had never seen magic like this before. It wasn't flashy at all and I couldn't feel any signs of mana.
"How?" I stared at her in wonder.
Her presence came back and she smiled, "Only people like us can do it. Instead of using mana you can use, try use the ones you can't. By shifting and converting between them it creates a contradiction and instead of mana being drawn in or pushed out it becomes stagnant and effectively you disappear. Or at least that's how it was described to me." She shrugged. "You try it."
"You say that but I've never manipulated mana before," I said exasperated.
"Then let me help you," she reached out towards me. "Go on take off your shirt."
"…. Is this a ploy?"
She laughed, "No I'm seriously trying to help I swear. Though if it leads to something else I wouldn't mind."
"Let's keep this platonic." I took off my shirt.
"You know you're surprisingly muscular," she blatantly admired my body.
"Just get on with it." I was beginning to become embarrassed. When it really came down to it, Taylor had years of experience up on me. In Axel there was no one my age let alone another girl.
She placed her hands on my skin without warning. I flinched on reflex which only made her smile even more. Her hands were surprisingly not cold, they were warm even.
"Here we go," she focused and a moment later a ripple spread through my body. The energy within me was being turned against my will as if my body was no longer my own. It was invasion of privacy like none I had ever felt. Then came the pain. Like a swarm of needles my insides started to prick.
"Gah!" blood dripped from my mouth.
Taylor stopped immediately, "Are you okay!? I swear I didn't mean to hurt you."
"I'm fine," I whipped my chin. "Ah sorry I got some on you." I pulled out a cloth from my pocket and handed it to her as the pain receded.
"It's my fault," she took the cloth and wiped her front. "I underestimated just how much of a failure you were."
"Thank you for putting it kindly," I replied with clear sarcasm.
"Anyway did you get the feeling?" she stared at me seriously again.
"I think so…." I definitely felt the mana within me. The problem was I was pretty sure if I tried to manipulate it like Taylor did I would probably spit out blood again. Well there was no time to try like now. I concentrated and recalled what Taylor had done inside me. As soon as I began my body began to reject it and the pain returned.
"It's- you're doing it!" Taylor exclaimed in surprise. Once again I felt the blood rise but this time I managed to stop it from spitting out.
"R-really?" I asked as I nursed myself.
"Yes. Ugh, this is frustrating" she sighed. "It took me years to even start using it. You really are talented in everything." I felt like calling it talent was wrong, more like being so bad at something it was the only thing I could do.
"Maybe, but does your body feel like its dying when you use it?"
"No…."
"There you go," I sighed but then smiled. "Besides my teacher was a good one."
It took a moment for her to realise what I was saying before she grinned, "Of course."
"Well I've still got work to do. Thank you Taylor, I'll try practice later. I'd rather not spit out any more blood tonight." I waved to her and began to walk off.
"Rain," she called out suddenly. "Thank you and… don't die. I don't want any of us to die, even Ronalt. It would be nice if we could all end this happily."
I gave her the thumbs up but didn't turn around. It was too late for that and at the same time it wasn't. Regardless I'd do my best to keep living and if that involved keeping Taylor and everyone else alive as well, all the better.