“This meeting isn’t a coincidence, is it?” she had asked.
It was an odd thing to say to a stranger, but she was right, of course. Aricin and Aileen had much in store for them, and they knew it. The path may not have been clear, but it was certain. Wherever they had to go and whatever they had to face, they needed each other to do it. At this point, they knew little else but where they needed to be.
“Elzia,” Aileen said as they walked towards their destination. “I’ve heard a lot about it but I’ve never been there myself. Have you?”
“Yes,” Aricin responded, never seeming to want to say more than what was necessary.
That was something Aileen wanted to change about him. “What was it like?”
The demon man shifted slightly, still uncomfortable with talking so much, but this time, Aileen’s questioning paid off. “I was still rather young at the time. My father once told me that Elzia never changes. It has been exactly the same for many millennia and I can safely assume it remains the same to this day. The world itself is impossible to describe; it is something that must be seen with your own eyes.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“Why is that? We have a mission to fulfill. There is little time to go sightseeing.”
The young girl just smiled. “There’s always time. We’ll never get anywhere if we don’t take the time to look at what’s around us.”
Aricin was unsure how to respond, and the words that came from his mouth surprised both of them. “That smile suits you.”
She cocked her head thoughtfully. “I would like to say the same for you, but it doesn’t look like you smile much.”
“Because I don’t.”
“Why not?”
“I’ve never had reason to.” Aricin wasn’t lying. The concept of emotion had been lost to him entirely. Even his ability to see the emotions of others was no replacement for that of his own.
Still determined, to open Aricin up a bit more, Aileen continued to question him gently. “Can a person really have that much to hide?”
The idea never dawned on Aricin before. As a matter of fact, he had never contemplated his past before; all he ever focused on was what the future held. Did he truly have that much to hide? Unconsciously, Aricin’s hand ran up and down his forearm bracer. Aileen took note of this habit of his, paying close attention to him as his fingertips ran over the spikes forged into the armor. They were too blunt to cause damage, and she thought that maybe they were made for intimidation. However, Aileen knew Aricin had a lot on his mind and she knew better than to ignore even the smallest details.
Without warning, a searing pain tore through Aricin’s veins, causing his breath to catch in his chest and his knees to buckle. Within moments, he felt his vision flicker and he knew what was happening. “Fool!” a booming voice yelled in his mind. “Did you honestly believe that you could deceive me?”
Aileen jumped back at the sudden disruption and the black cloud rapidly encompassing Aricin. He didn’t have the strength to warn her, but his worries were dispelled when Ty and Kia suddenly dropped from the sky.
“We have to get out of here,” Kia hissed under her breath. She grabbed Aileen by the shoulder and took off. Ty stayed for a moment longer, looking at his fallen friend. With a solemn nod, he chased after Kia and Aileen.
As his consciousness began to fade, Aricin thought of his comrades and the lengths they would go for him. Aileen also seemed to show the same kindness to him despite having just met him. When Aricin finally lost consciousness to Gwydion’s wrath, his vision didn’t go black.
All he could see was light.
