Chapter 345
CHAPTER 345
FIRE (I)
A muddy road stretched through the ma.s.sive plains whose ends and beginnings were impossible to determine . The road pierced through tall gra.s.ses, small dips, wild gardens of flowers, and dens of various beasts and critters . Though spa.r.s.ely populated, if one looked from above and took in the entire road, it always had thousands of travelers bounding it, east or west .
On it, partway through the plains, a lightly-decorated wagon moved at a brisk pace, pulled by four beautiful, white manes . Curtains were pulled off its two windows, revealing the insides where two women were sitting opposite one another . One had starkly golden hair and a pair of beautiful, blue eyes, while the other had rather unruly-looking black hair and a pair of black eyes .
Lucky and Alison had departed from the City of the Thousand Lights a week ago, taking a carriage ride over the Cantanee Road bound for the Celeste Empire and its capital city, Do"r . Though they could have taken the teleportation array, or even a griffin ride, the two settled on making due the old-fas.h.i.+oned way .
Alison was currently reading a book with a quaint smile on her face while Lucky was going over some papers listing out materials Lino told her to keep an eye out . Though she"d managed to find most of the things from the list, she was still lacking a few . She wasn"t worried too much, as if all else fails, she could still ask Alison for help .
"Ah, this was a nice read . . . " as the sun began descending down the horizon, Alison closed her book and sighed in pleasure, smiling faintly .
"What"s it about?" Lucky asked .
"It"s a tale of the Seven Trolls of Wyndmare," Alison replied . "And their uprising against the Ogre Clans . It"s based on a rather popular myth, though no one has ever managed to prove the existence of either the Trolls or the Ogres . "
" . . . you sure do have some weird tastes . " Lucky commented, looking at Alison dubiously .
"Hey! You don"t see me commenting on your fas.h.i.+on sense, do you? So keep your opinions to yourself!" Alison pouted lightly in anger .
"What do I need a fas.h.i.+on sense for?" Lucky scoffed . "Do I look like one of the n.o.ble ladies to you?"
" . . . you would if you tried . "
"Pft, ha ha ha, aaah, it"s adorable you think that . "
"No, I"m serious!" Alison exclaimed, sitting over next to Lucky . "You have a pretty face, but you do your hair all wrong . You"re very tall, have a nice stature, and with a proper dress, you could steal many-a-breath away . "
" . . . " Lucky remained silent, inwardly wondering when was the last time she had this sort of a "girly" conversation involving dresses and hairstyles and makeup . She came to a very disturbing conclusion: not since she was thirteen and her mother prettied her up for a meeting about an arranged marriage .
"I know you don"t care what other people think of you, but don"t do it for them; do it for you!"
"Ha ha, I appreciate it," Lucky said, ruffling Alison"s hair gently for a moment . "But, that"s just not me . "
"How can you know if you never tried?" Alison asked, meekly lowering her head .
"Because," Lucky replied, taking a deep breath . "I"m at my prettiest when I"m shanking someone in their guts, or splicing open a line over their necks, or gouging their eyes out with a spoon, or--"
"I-I get it, I get it! Geez . . . you"re really weird . . . how can a girl say she"s at her pretties when she"s doing grizzly things like that?"
" . . . why not?" Lucky quizzed with a faint smile . "Isn"t there that old saying, we look our best when doing what we love?"
" . . . you love killing others?" Alison asked, her eyelashes quivering faintly .
" . . . sometimes," Lucky shrugged . "Other times," she looked outside the window, into the distant where she saw a flock of sheep . Alison spotted a flash of pain in the corner of those black eyes, her heart momentarily stilling . "I do it "cause it"s the right thing to do . "
"What kind of a weird sect asks people to kill against their will?! Humph! You better tell me so I can go and have a chat with the Sect"s Master!"
" . . . ha ha ha," Lucky laughed heartily, momentarily imagining Alison trying to withstand Lino"s barrage of explanations on that question . "Don"t worry, you"ll meet him soon enough . I have a feeling you"ll actually like him . "
"As if! There"s no way I can like someone so difficult on you!" Alison said with a trace of faint anger in her voice .
" . . . when did I say he was difficult on me?" Lucky asked .
" . . . isn"t he?"
" . . . no," she shook her head . "If anything, it"s the opposite . If there"s anyone he"s difficult on, it"s himself . Sometimes . . . I fear it might be his undoing in the end . "
" . . . you really care for him, don"t you?" Alison asked in a strange tone .
"I do," Lucky replied, her lips curling up into a wonderful smile . "I wouldn"t be where I am without him . But, if you ever tell him that, I will have to kill you . "
" . . . a-are you . . . in love with him?" Alison questioned, lowering her head into her bosom .
"In love?" Lucky grinned strangely for a moment before replying . "What makes you think that?"
.
" . . . it"s, uh . . . it"s just the way you look . . . when you talk about him . . . is all . . . "
"What"s it to you?" Lucky persisted with a playful grin .
" . . . I . . . I just think you can do better . . . "
"Ha ha ha, well of course I can," Lucky laughed freely for a moment, patting Alison"s back . "G.o.d, I pity that poor girl that"s stuck with him . "
" . . . you"re mean, you know that?" Alison mumbled with a pout, sitting over on the opposite side again .
"And you"re adorable . Are we done stating the obvious?"
" . . . humph . "
"He he . . . "
Lucky quietly gazed at the mildly-mannered girl she"d gotten to know quite well over the past couple of months the two had spent together . She was the strange sort, Lucky mused inwardly, with a natural capacity to disarm all those who spoke to her . It was a part of her natural charm, her smile that simply melts away all defenses and walls one puts up with her . She"s quite similar to Lino in that regard, Lucky realized; both had the sort of charisma that was difficult to replicate, cast the sort of light that was difficult to snuff out . The difference lay in the intensity; whereas Lino was the haggard, loud, bright sort, Alison was the mellow, gentle and warm kind .
She was a rather strange choice for a Bearer, Lucky mused; after all, every Bearer she met thus far was quite . . . difficult, for want of a better word . Lino, Hannah, Eos . . . all three had the ability and capacity to overwhelm the world around them through their mere presence . Alison, on the other hand, seemed to lack that initiative, that fire . She more resembled a Princess of a Kingdom than a Bearer of a Writ, one of Immortality no less . When she though about how both her and Lino were body cultivators who throw themselves head-on into the inferno, she really couldn"t reconcile to the two; Lino, with every fiber of his being, looked like he belonged there, in those flames . Alison, on the other hand . . . Lucky couldn"t even imagine .
After all, she saw nothing in Alison that would suggest that madness lived inside of her, madness practically required for one to use their body as a weapon . Lino, however playful he may appear, Lucky had come to realize is always like a beast on alert; if one were to carefully inspect him at any point, they"d realize he gave no openings, even if he was just innocently taking a nap . Air around him was always akin to a beast guarding its den . Alison, however, was full of openings all the time; even now, Lucky was almost entirely certain, she would be able to kill the young girl without much trouble .
However, after musing for a moment, she realized why the difference was so stark . For instance, even Hannah lacked the same edge Lino possessed, as did even Eos . Though the two did have the certain imposition Lucky only ever felt from them, when it came to the presence itself, both paled in comparison to Lino . The reason was simple, however: their lives . Lino never had security of a Holy Ground, never had an army of Elders behind his back to support him and defend him, never had a safe place to retreat to when things got ugly . He"d spent most of his life on a road with a target on his back . Eos, Hannah and Alison . . . didn"t .
It was similar to the difference between Felix and her; even when the former was several realms above her, he was never able to defeat her .
"What are you thinking about?" Alison asked, spotting a rather painful look in Lucky"s eyes .
" . . . did I tell you I used to be engaged?" Lucky asked, smiling frankly .
"E-eh? Really?!" Alison exclaimed with surprise .
"Sheesh, you don"t have to sound so surprising . There are some dudes out there who dig the whole "she looks like she"s gonna rip my nuts off while I"m sleeping" spiel, you know?"
" . . . I-I"m sorry . . . I didn"t mean it that way . . . "
" . . . pfft . . . "
"You are so mean!! Stop teasing me!"
"Ha ha ha . . . fine, fine . . . "
" . . . what happened?" Alison asked .
" . . . he was killed . " Lucky replied . "Right in front of my eyes . And all I could do was stand there, watching it happen . "
" . . . "
"He was a whole lot like you," Lucky added, glancing at Alison"s now-teary eyes . "Quite frankly, it p.i.s.sed me off that he was a more of a woman in our relations.h.i.+p from time to time . . . but, it was also quite sweet . Every morning when we lived together, he"d wake me up with a breakfast . And every morning, he"d make it more and more elaborate . He"d also blush and bury his face in his chest when I teased him, he"d also tell me I didn"t have to go around killing for another . . . staying with you in the past few months has been quite nostalgic . . . "
" . . . do you miss him?" Alison asked .
" . . . every day . "
" . . . did . . . did you avenge him?" Alison asked with a faint tremor in her voice .
"I was too weak to do it," Lucky replied . "However, he was avenged . "
" . . . by your Sect Master?"
"Hm," she nodded, her lips curling up into a faint smile . "I think you"ll understand when you meet him, Ally, why I do the things I do for him . He"s a lot like you, in ways Felix was not . He has the capacity to make everyone around him feel as though absolutely nothing can go wrong . . . that even if the sky were to fall down onto us, he"d hold it up all by his lonesome . Whenever I"d hit bottom . . . he"d be there to lift me up . I"d lay down my life for him, anytime, no questions asked . "
" . . . don"t sell your life so cheaply," Alison said . "It"s not so worthless . "
"Cheaply?" Lucky grinned . "Never . . . "