I realized that being conscious of one's surroundings could be very bothersome. You start to experience tribulations; unfortunate events like kidnapping; and meeting people who will shoot you by mistake, particularly at your talocrural region which is commonly known as your ankle.
Now I was not pinpointing any dead pigtail woman. If someone knew a woman with these characteristics that I was mentioning, it would be just a mere coincidence. I knew no grudge in my core and did not even know what it would feel like.
Setting aside the dead pigtail woman buried under an innumerable number of rocks, being unconscious wouldn't lead someone into meeting a perverse old man in the appearance of a harmless chieftain.
You would prefer to sleep forever.
My morning started peacefully as it should be. The birds were tweeting, Squawkey was squawking, and I felt a warm and thin body sprawled on top of me.
Saint's breathing was more settled than before and he wasn't as pale. The medicine made him recover but I doubt that it came from any of the villagers. I held up the blue feather from before and twirled it between my fingertips.
Whoever gave it either had blue wings or had a bird with blue feathers. The problem was— I did not recall meeting anyone with any of those.
I waited for Saint to wake up despite the growing numbness of my limbs. This must be his first slumber wherein he didn't experience breathing difficulties or the sense of doom from nearly dying. It would be rude of me to disturb him.
Maybe I should take him away while he rested? He wouldn't be struggling or complaining if I borrowed him from the village for a while. I will return him once the villagers migrate to another flourishing area.
'That is considered as abduction, nephew…' the voice in my head pointed out.
"Define kidnapping, fine gentleman?"
'It is taking someone away by force,' he replied.
"It will not be considered as kidnapping if I ask him politely, no?"
'...'
Saint began to stir in his sleep. I found him opening his crimson-stained eyes that had the slightest slit in the middle. They widened in embarrassment.
"I-I-I-I-I'm sorry! I am sorry for sleeping on top of you! You must have felt great exhaustion when I should have served you with greater hospitality for what you have done for me!" he blurted out.
He sat on his knees with his hands curled on top of his thighs. His face was as red as his hair. I couldn't help but give in to the urge of patting him on his head. I hooked the blue feather to my crown in remembrance of the person who saved his life.
As I stroked his head, Saint visibly relaxed but the pinkness of his cheeks remained.
"You are in no condition to serve hospitality to anyone. What you should prioritize is your health and well-being. Do not mind me. I...have been pampered long enough."
He became teary-eyed; his shaky hands came up to cover his face.
"Why...are you so kind to someone like me? I am scared. I am not used to this."
I dropped my hand to my side; a flash of disappointment sprouted on his expression.
"I am doing this because being battered and ridiculed shouldn't be things to get used to," I answered.
His eyes shut tightly and as tightly as they were shut, his tears passed through.
"But...this is what I am given. This is where I was born. My fate is already written. It is inescapable."
I placed my hand over his trembling fist.
"If you are given something and you do not like it, why must you accept it? If the place you are given life in starts to harm you, why must you stay and let it threaten you? Fate can be rewritten; it can be changed. You just have to believe and make those changes yourself. That pen cannot write by itself. You cannot escape if you do not start running. If anyone can change your fate, it will be you, Saint."
He met with my gaze.
"But to reject a gift is ungratefulness. To leave one's home for a better one is selfishness. Fate cannot be rewritten if it is written by God. If I escape, where will I go? I am weak to make those changes. I cannot do it. I am sorry. I am not good enough. I was made to fail. I was made to be hated. I was made to be alone—"
"Stop," I silenced him.
My heartbeat sped; my head felt like it was placed over a fire.
"Do you know what your true weakness is?" I asked him. "Your weakness is having a strong belief and faith for those weaknesses. It's recognizing all your faults despite the good that you do. You take the side of your limitations and let your strengths go unnoticed. You use your weaknesses as an excuse to stop trying. You cower in the dark because... you fear the light," I scolded him with the last bits of my words trailing away.
Saint slammed his fists on the floor. He glared at me with those eyes filled with hurt.
"What do you know? How can you understand me? You were born with strength. You will never...never know how it feels!" he shouted at me.
He darted out of the shrine, leaving the birds to fill the jar of silence.
'Let him be a nephew. Give him time.'
"What if he...hurts himself? I need to protect him until he can stand on his own."
'Have Squawkey follow him. He will be your eye.'
I see.
Squawkey soared down, pecking my hand lightly.
"Will you follow him?" I asked.
Squawkey screeched and flew off to carry out the task that I had given him...probably.
"I forgot that the bird had no eye..." I deadpanned.
I exited the shrine and went to the village after deciding to give Saint some space. By now they would be suspicious of me as a thief who stole from the chieftain. I should admit my crimes before they beat me to it.
"Sir Lucian, where have you been?" Vincenzo questioned as soon as he spotted me entering the village. The village seemed to be on high alert.
"I...have been scouting the area. I saw suspicious people wandering about and decided to follow them."
'How honest you are. I cannot believe my ears.'
This honesty will get me in trouble.
The chieftain scowled. I was certain that he wouldn't buy it; however, even fate believed me.
"Were they in the shapes of two innocent children and a hairy gorilla?"
There was shuffling in the bushes. I suddenly remembered those three.
"Yes, their names would be Kox, Ziru, and Crowley."
'What?!'
"We must raise our defenses then. Those scoundrels will not escape. By the way, the direction you came in is—"
"I am parched. Will you care to make me some tea and massage my back?"
The chieftain paused and was lost for a moment. He gave out a dazed look with a trail of blood coming out from his nose. Two hands grabbed my shoulders and I was hurriedly pushed to a tent.
"Of course! I shall do it with much pleasure!"
'What have you gotten yourself into?' The voice exasperatedly sighed.
"HOOOOOLD IT!" Crowley howled, leaping out of the bushes.
He was wearing a wide leaf skirt with his clothes tattered and torn. He hit his chest vigorously and blew steam through his nose.
"I, Gorilla King, thief of the night! I steal bananas..." he trailed off.
He brought out a banana from who knew where and began peeling.
"I eat bananas!" he exclaimed and shoved the whole banana in his mouth.
Was I seeing and hearing things correctly?
Had he gone mad? Or was it me all along?
'I like to believe that you came to that predicament first, nephew.'
Thunder erupted. It hit the tent that we were heading to before it traveled to me. Instead of feeling and smelling burnt, it felt like I was reawakened from a long and deep thought. I was situated right back at the shrine.
Did I...Did I fall asleep while standing?
I shook my head and started walking towards the village. Instead of entering it as I planned to, I sneaked my way to the bush and found four figures crouching.
"Are you sure he's going to come here?" Crowley asked.
He was wearing that ridiculous skirt.
"I am certain. I've sent a message," Kox replied.
"This village is creepy," Ziru murmured.
"It's twisted," Rui spat.
"Your message is well received. I was contemplating if I should go forward and see Crowley claim his throne of being the Gorilla King, but it would cause too much scandal," I deadpanned.
The four of them turned around and Ziru was the first one to throw himself at me. "Onii, you're okay!"
I cradled him in my arms. He cuddled happily.
"Glad to see you in one piece, Highness," Crowley greeted.
"It was a pleasant foresight, won't you agree?" Kox asked.
"Indeed," I approved.
"Care to share something with the group?" the Hanuman questioned and huffed.
I turned my head to Rui, inclining my head. "Hello, it is—"
"The boss sent me here. He says that I should watch over you."
"I see. I have some business with you too. Buck will be glad to see you alive."
With the mention of Buck, Rui's guarded expression became defenseless.
"Is he safe?" was his first question.
"He is alive and is still hopeful that you will come back to them someday," I replied.
Rui grinned sadly. His back slouched.
"I don't...deserve to be by his side."
"I feel like we're missing out on a lot of things. We should head back to where you stay and catch up," Crowley said.
"I agree and besides, this village will conduct a very disturbing ritual. It's best to keep out of this one," Kox mentioned.
"You're not going to tell us what it is, aren't you?" Crowley sighed.
"All I know is that it is perturbing. How would an innocent child like me know of it?" Kox defended.
"Innocent my hairy ass..." Crowley grumbled.
We returned to the shrine but stayed behind it in case someone from the village visited. Squawkey and Saint weren't back yet.
"When our group was divided we ended up sneaking around the Capital of the Vosredal Empire," Crowley told me.
"I don't know where that is," I deadpanned.
"It's the main city of vampires," Kox simplified.
Crowley took a big chomp on his steak sandwich before proceeding.
"Fairies are being wiped out because of the sacrifices the right-handlers are making to please Akros."
I pointed to my chin, glancing up.
"Acorns?"
"It is the God who the vampires are worshiping. Akros is very hot-tempered but I don't think he is evil."
Crowley scoffed and hauled Kox with his arm. "Like you would know what a God is like."
"Um...I just remembered, where is the wolf you're always with?" Ziru asked.
"I left him sleeping," I replied.
"Perhaps he woke up panicking before fainting back into oblivion, no?" Kox commented.
That would have likely happened to him. I could picture the scene in my imagination.
"Back to the vampires now, long story short: we found out that the Right-handlers offered thousands of refugees to the vampires for multiplication purposes. They made the adults breed with the help of an aphrodisiac and they turned their newborns into vampires," Crowley explained.
"What's breeding?" Rui and Ziru asked.
"Yes Crowley, what is breeding? Enlighten our innocent minds," Kox blankly teased.
Crowley became flustered and embarrassed before pointing accusingly at Kox.
"I doubt that you're even a child! I'm tired, let His Highness ex—"
I cleared my throat and nodded. This was my expertise.
"Yes, the breed can be sweet and salty depending on the batter made."
'I never knew that you...oh my.'
"Hey, you're not seriously going to go into full detail are you?" Crowley asked nervously.
"It can go in different forms and sizes and it is best eaten when it's hot."
"Hey hey hey!" Crowley panicked.
"Once you bite don't forget to suck the cream out and lick the mess you created—"
He covered my mouth and I tilted my head in question.
"That. Is. Too. Much!" He exasperatedly snapped.
"That is a nice description of what bread is. It left our gorilla hanging," Kox mocked.
I peeled Crowley's hand off my mouth.
"It's just bread, Crowley. Did you have anything else in mind?"
His spirit seemed to have left his body. The rest of us enjoyed the meal.
I saved food for Saint in case he comes back. I didn't know what Squawkey eats so I'll save a peach for him.
Crowley, Ziru, and Rui took a nap inside of the shrine. I was left alone with Kox.
"The boy you're waiting for is quite busy and will be even busier tonight," Kox stated as we took a walk through the forest.
"What do you know?" I asked.
"The book doesn't tell me anything yet, but things will get exciting from here on out," he vaguely replied.
The both of us stopped in our tracks and I waited for Kox to say something. He was shrouded in mystery.
"Power cannot rule without a wielder and the wielder cannot hold power without the body of a killer. Prince...you don't know what you got yourself into, don't you?"
I let out a "hmph" before looking at the bright sky. "Just like it always has been. This is better than being involved in nothing."
He hummed with an amused smirk, turning around to return to the shrine. I went to search for Saint. He didn't run into the village so maybe he was at the stream further ahead. Having my senses sensitive to the elements proved to be useful.
As I was nearing the stream, I perceived the tall and dark figure from before I met Saint. He disappeared so suddenly that I didn't get to see him better. He was wearing those tattered black clothes from before. His legs and forearms were wrapped in bandages. Black feathers were attached to the side of his head and trailed down to his ankles like long flowing hair. He was wearing a pointed beak-like mask. The excessive amount of metallic jewelry hanging around his neck made numerous clangs from a single movement.
"Domo," I greeted him with a bow as soon as he noticed my presence.
He fully turned to me in a sluggish walk leaving deep footprints that seemed to be burnt from the scorching heat.
He stopped in front of my form. He placed his hand on my chest. His black painted nails were as sharp as talons.
"I Sk...Sk...Akwa...Skwak," he stuttered out.
"I Skwak. I Skwak. I am Skwak," he mentioned again which then finally hit me.
"Ah, your name is Skwak," I clarified.
Skwak nodded and then pointed at me.
"You...are...you are...Luc...Lucian."
I could not help but feel some sort of pride for him and a feeling of satisfaction from hearing his voice.
'You aren't going to ask how he managed to know your name?'
"There's no need to interrogate precious creatures like this one."
'Nephew, you should take precau—'
"Yes, that's correct, very good. You have a nice voice," I praised him blankly, clapping my hands. I brought out a peach from my pocket and offered it to him.
Skwak pointed at the fruit and waited for me to say something about it.
"This is peach. Peach taste good. Have you had one?"
"Pea...Cha...Cha..." He managed.
I gave him a small smile. Skwak paused for a moment before removing his mask.
His eyes were closed. There was a long scar over where his eyes were, as if the mark was the one preventing them from opening. Half of his face was deformed like melted wax.
He took the peach from my hold. He lifted it to his strong nose before sniffing it.
"Wha—what do?"
"You eat it," I instructed him.
"Skw—Skwak do–don't know."
I gently took the peach from him, peeling the skin off. Once it was ready to be eaten, I took a nibble from it to show him how it was done.
He was hesitant at first, bringing out his tongue to taste it. I noticed how his expression was suddenly enlightened by the taste. He ate the peach while I held it for him.
"Don't eat the seed," I told him once the edible part was gone.
Skwak licked the juices from my hand and gripped my forearm tightly. Once he was satisfied, he turned to me and smiled.
"Skwak likes peacha..."
I nodded at him in approval.
"I like peaches too."