Lucius felt the stares of his friend and his new allies on his back as he lead the way to the village that requested assistance with the bear monster. He also felt an uncomfortable intensity coming from the three adult women that were saved.
He could not really explain it, but when he heard them screaming for help, something told him they weren't worth it. This was far cry from when his father took him into the woods to observe the trials. It was also different from the anger he felt during his own trial when he saw other Marked Ones being treated like beasts. But something since then…just has not clicked.
There were marks on a few of the bodies in the wreckage of the carts that they had examined after the fight was over, but even then, there was nothing. So, he was able to determine it was not a prejudice against unmarked people…so what was it?
He felt an itch at the base of his skull momentarily, as if something was nagging at him to realize something. There was a small hint of guilt? But then it was replaced again by apathy, then hatred…what is this…
Suddenly, he vomited. Memories of the fight he just had rushed into his mind. He replayed every second of it, piece by piece. Images of blood and torn flesh filled his vision as he remembered the bodies of the fallen villagers and the look of surprise and fear on the face of the bandit he personally killed.
Rena and Lethen ran over to him while Paul took over watching for enemies and Jen stayed, comforting the women. They were saying something to him but his ears could not pick up anything. The only sound that filled his ears was that of his own heart pumping, increasing louder and louder. His vision faded away again and filled with darkness…this was the first time he killed someone. Why did it not bother him?
Wait…no…it wasn't…he killed before. In the woods, he killed two boys at least, Vik and Peter. They were Rena's cousins who tried to kill them weren't they?
More visions flooded his mind as he remembered tendrils of darkness pulling the children closer and closer. They screamed, begged, called for their parents to save them, but Lucius did not hold back. He remembered their bright red hair, how it darkened with blood before the shadows themselves seemed to swallow them whole.
"Lucius…what's wrong?! Speak to me dammit!"
Rena's voice finally reached his ears. So, he responded with a simple, "I'm fine. I'm fine."
The dead calm in his voice startled even him. It felt like something else was controlling his emotions again. Every time he started to feel sick, remembering what he had done…calm washed over him and brushed the feelings aside.
"When we get to the village, Rena. We need to talk." He whispered to his friend.
"Understood."
Lethen watched the two whispering back and forth, but simply shrugged and assumed everything was fine. It was clear something was up with Lucius for him to be behaving so strange and inconsistent, but it was also common for adventurers to have things going on that they did not talk about. Some had pasts they ran from, some had strange curses or illnesses, some had even stranger things going on, but one thing was shared among them all: live and let live. Basically, don't bother or judge.
The village was still several hours away by the time night began to fall and traveling with the extra baggage was slowing them down even more. In the end they decided to camp out to rest everyone up for the final leg of the trip. With Lucius' strange behavior, they tasked him to do his watch with assistance.
Jen volunteered to do the watch with him. Her reasoning was 'Don't want him to get distracted by the alternative.', which confused him and annoyed Rena for some reason. He had no complaints though since Jen was an accomplished warrior.
The party started a small fire, enough to give off a little heat and light. The villagers huddled together close to it while the adventurers settled into a ring around them. It was colder for them, but overall saver for the civilians and the infant. When Jen felt that everyone had finally settled down to rest, she turned to Lucius to talk.
"What the hell kid?"
"Huh?"
"First you don't want to rescue villagers in trouble, then you mercilously behead a bandit without a care, then you vomit for no reason, then you turn ice cold against your best friend right after…Too much at once, Lucius." Jen whined.
"I'm sorry. I don't really know what is going on, but I have some ideas…and questions…all things I can only talk about with Rena." Lucius stated.
"Why only her? I've seen a lot, Lucius. I know more than I let on."
"I know…but we did our trial together and have been together for five years, or soon to be when the autumn hits."
"Trial? Oh, that's that thing the Petra domain does. The one where all the villages send wannabe warriors and mages into the woods to survive and escape?"
"That and all Marked Ones. Since we have to be warriors eventually anyways…but yeah, that's right. I take it you aren't from here then?"
"No, I'm not. I'm actually from the Wisteria Compact. Small, nameless village. Came here after serving in the military for a few years, liked the scenery here better. What happened to you two?"
"Long story short?"
"Sure, that works I guess."
"We fought an Alpha Deer that had a grudge out on me for taking it's horn a few months before the trial. Got our kill stolen from us by a handful of her cousins. I murdered two of those same cousins, then as punishment after, her father sentenced my father to death and beheaded him in front of me."
Jen sat in stunned silence for several minutes before finally breaking it. "That's rough buddy."