Part Eighteen

“Kuuuu.”

“Stop sulking. That was hours ago. Why are you still holding a grudge about it?”

“Kuu ku kyuu.”

“Uh-huh. Welp, he’s angry at me, that’s all I can really tell.”

“I’m surprised you can tell that much. It just sounds like regular animal noises to me.”

“There’s a certain nuance to the way he growls at times. Plus he’s very expressive with his tail and ears. Honestly, I think he may secretly be a dog with the way his tails wags when he’s happy.”

“Kuu? Ku.”

“And now he’s sulking again. See Alicia? This is what you’ve all condemned me to. A life of dealing with the world's first pouting fox pup.”

“I doubt he’s the first of whatever it was you just said. Besides, he’s cute. What more could you ask for in a pet?”

“Companionship? Loyalty? Not eating his body weight in meat every two hours?”

“He’s a growing boy! Leave poor Reggie alone. It’s not his fault he’s hungry.”

“……...Reggie? Did you really give my fox a cutesy nickname?”

“Ohoh? Your fox? Hehehe, I seem to remember that a certain someone didn’t want to watch the fox.”

“But I have. And I went to the trouble of picking a name-.”

“Kuu!”

“Sorry. We went to the trouble of picking a name out for him. So would you kindly use it instead of whatever it was you said? Besides, I don’t think he likes your nickname.”

“Yeah, you might be right about that. He only really seems to like you for some reason. Heck, he was practically running from Kalia earlier. I think that’s why she got so quiet tonight.”

“Because a silly little fox wouldn’t let her pet him? …..I just don’t get her sometimes.”

“Yes, yes. Because you’re a big old stoic who doesn’t understand what a little thing called feelings are. How you can sit there and ignore the fact that your fox has been begging to sit in your lap for the last hour, I can’t for the life of me understand. Poor thing.”

“Kuuu!”

“See? Even he agrees with me, and he won’t even look at me.”

“To be honest, I think that’s just cause you scared him the first time you met. You made a bad first impression, so he just dislikes you. He’s sorta fine with Gwyn after all.”

“Mn, again, not fair. I just want to snuggle him a little.”

“Kyuuuuuuu.”

“Aaaaand, that’s his answer. No snuggles for you.”

“Rude.”

I feel like it’s been a while since we’ve had one of these idiotic conversations. It feels nice after all the weirdness we’ve been through lately. And I’d also gladly let her snuggle the fox if it meant I could have a minute to my damn self!

Ever since we’d gotten back, the little jerk hadn’t left me alone for more than a minute, even though he’d been pouting the whole damn time. You ever have a sulky fox tearily glaring at you for hours? No? Well good for you. Because I have. And it isn’t as fun as it sounds. Not that it actually sounds fun.

“Kuu.”

“Oh shush. You’ve already been fed enough today. Any more and you’ll start to get fat. If you’re this hungry, go burn some calories by hunting something.”

“Kuuuuuuuuu?”

“I will throw you out the window fox, don’t think I won’t. Not that it would do much since we’re, you know, outside already.”

“Ku.”

“Okay, enough being mean to the fox. Let’s talk about something else. Like that staff you brought back! I saw you give it to Kalia, but I didn’t get why she didn’t want it. Was it worse than you thought?”

“No, the opposite. Kalia didn’t know what a Knelsham was, but she was able to tell me that its bones are highly conductive towards mana and magic, not that I didn’t already know that. But apparently, it’s not an ideal item for her, and I agree.”

“Heh? But why? If it’s such a good conductor, wouldn’t it be best for her to use it?”

“If she was a normal mage, then yes. But remember, Kalia uses mainly Healing Magic, which her Whitewood Staff exclusively boosts. However this one boosts all magic, and that drops the efficiency of the bonuses. According to her anyway, but that’s how it usually works in games, soo...”

“Okay. I can kinda see the logic in that. Then, should I use it?”

“Huh. I actually hadn’t thought about that. I’d say you could hold onto it for now, but you should still focus on what you’ve already been doing. I feel like that be much more interesting if you keep developing your Skills the way you’ve been doing. Besides, I feel like becoming a full-on mage would make you even squishier than you already are. I’d like you to stick around. For now at least.”

“That was really touching up until the end, Michael. Then you just had to ruin it.”

“Yep. Oh, but Kalia did say that there was a way to convert it over to Life Magic. We just need a Life-attributed focus of some sort, like the crystal already affixed to it.”

“Oh, so it’s like how switching the spell I Imbue into an arrow changes the effects, even if they’re the same kind of magic?”

“Uh, I guess? I don’t know. That’s a weirdly specific metaphor when I’m just repeating something I heard from Kalia. Ask her, she’s the magic nerd, not me.”

“Eh, I feel like I’d get a long lecture on the subject, and it’s too late for something like that. I just want to relax before we head out tomorrow.”

“Hah. Now that I can relate to. She’s probably in there still studying, too. She’s a little too zealous about that at times.”

“Sounds about right. I wonder if she was like this before we met here, or if it’s something relatively new?”

“…Huh. You know, we don’t really know that much about her, do we? She hasn’t even told us where she’s from or what her family does.”

“I don’t think just hasn’t come up before, though. I mean, we’re all a little touchy when it comes to that, aren’t we? It’s not like she’s actively avoiding the topic, right?”

“Maybe. This is one of those times when I wish Cameron was still around. He’d have an answer for this. He had answers for just about everything.”

Alicia’s face fell, reminded of the friend who’d left us behind.

“…Here, pet the fox. I’ll hold him down so he can’t run away.”

“Huh?” “Kuuu!?”

“I don’t like seeing you like that. So pet the damn fox. He’s fluffy, if nothing else.”

“……Hehehe, thanks Michael.”

“Ku Kuuuuu!”

***

[Kalia’s POV]

“What do you think they’re doing out there?”

“Odds are fifty-fifty between flirtin' or fightin'. Or flirtin' while fightin'. Either way, those two just need to get it done and over with. Watchin’ ‘em piss around like this just pisses me off.”

“Hm, see, that’s where I think you’re wrong. To me, the two of them merely seem like very good friends.”

“Yeah? Well, you’re a dumbass, so your opinion doesn’t matter here. Besides, the airhead agrees me with me. Don’t ’cha airhead!?”

“Hm!? Uh, are you talking to me?”

“Yeah. Get your head out of those books and talk to someone. I swear, I’ve known you less than a week and you’ve spent half that time readin'.”

“Gwen. Shouldn’t you have learned some manners by now? Kalia works hard so that any time someone is hurt, she can be there to patch them back up. There’s nothing wrong with dedicating yourself to something like that.”

“I, I ain’t sayin' that! I just don’t think she needs to be pushin’ herself to the point where she’s nearly fallin' asleep!”

It was true. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have missed when the topic of conversation drifted to people she knew. But today, or really, right now, she had. All due to the simple fact that she was about to pass out from exhaustion. Unlike the others, who’d all taken naps this morning after they’d dealt with the Kobold nest, Kalia had stayed awake the entire time, and it was catching up to her.

As for why she’d do this, well not even she knew. Something had felt off recently, as if the air here was tainted in some way, though she didn’t know how. It was even worse that no one else seemed to feel it. There hadn’t been any ill effects, but she was happy they were leaving soon. Another day here would’ve burned her out.

Maybe she’s right, I should get to bed. This can wait until tomorrow, or even later. Besides, I still have yet to decide what to do regarding that staff Michael found. I could find a way to use it more effectively now, I’d just need to learn more than just Life Magics. No, I’m not doing this now. It’s time for sleep Kalia. Stop thinking.

***

Morning came all too soon, and after a quick breakfast, it was time to be on our way. We’d spent the last hour ensuring that we’d packed everything up.

As we’d decided earlier, our plan was to head northwest towards Bristol, though we weren’t heading there directly. We were going to take a roundabout way there, stopping at various towns on the way, all for the purpose of checking just how far the shadow's influence went.

“How much gas do we have? I’d like to have a stockpile before we head out.”

“Mn, an almost full tank and about….twenty gallons? That should be enough for now. We can always siphon more if we need it.”

“Ah, that’s good. Then we’ll be fine for a few days. Now, should we head directly northwest, or start to the north?”

“Northwest to start. Let’s not get any closer to London than we already have.”

“Kalia, are you okay? You look, not all there.”

“…Hm? Oh. Yeah, I’m okay. Just had a pretty bad nightmare last night. I think I’ll take a nap on the way there. Hwaaaaah. Yeah, a nap sounds good.”

Wow, it must’ve been a pretty bad dream to do this to her. She looks like she’s gone without sleep for a week. Hopefully she gets some rest tonight, or it could affect things to come.

“Alright, then you can take one of the window seats. By the way, did we ever decide who was driving first?”

“Kuuuu~!”

“”””No.””””

“Kuu!? Kuuuu.”

Why the heck does he think he can drive? He’s a fox! Foxes can’t drive cars. Also, I think it’s crazy how everyone but Kalia responded at exactly the same exact time there. It was just a nice little moment where everyone was weirdly in sync. Though I guess it was at poor Regis’s expense. Little guy's crying his eyes out right now-. Oh, he’s just trying to get me to give him food, isn’t he? Blasted glutton.

I chose to ignore the fox’s crocodile tears. He might be cute, but anyone who’d seen him tear into a piece of jerky knew just how dangerous his teeth really were.

“Guess I’ll do it. I’d prefer not to be crammed into the backseat this early in the day.”

“Ah, then I call shotgun!”

The second I volunteered, Alicia spoke up as if she’d been waiting for that exact moment. Which, she may have been considering the way she seemed to be snickering to herself after she’d called it.

With all our preparations complete, we finally loaded ourselves into the car and prepared to set out.

***

It was still watching.

It would never stop watching.

For it would never be satisfied. Not by the meager souls of insects and birds, nor by the twisted remains of those that had already died. No, it could only be satisfied when the burning rage that had created it was quenched. For it was just that kind of being.

Though…even it was unable to notice that it was being watched in turn, and by something even more vile than itself.