'They fell asleep...'
Zzzz-
Snore-
Elisa let her back slowly go to the floor.
'Might as well sleep too...'
She closed her eyes.
Turn-
Turn-
Scratch-
Turn-
Sigh-
Elisa sat up.
'Can't sleep. Well, obviously. I can't sleep after... Not after...'
Scratch-
Scratch-
'Tsk.' She clicked her tongue.
You're getting more and more useless-
'Dick.' Elisa swore internally as she glanced at the sleeping Monster. 'But I won't be able to... Do what I have to do like this. I need to get my strength back. Get my strength back...'
Elisa bent her knees and spread them apart slightly.
Her left hand passed through the opening and a finger lay on the ground.
'How do I get my strength back... Get my strength back...' She tapped the ground again and again. 'Get my strength back...' Her finger froze. 'What for?'
Gulp-
Elisa's back fell back to the ground.
'Raven... Killed my father...'
She lay silently, as tears slowly started going down the sides of her face.
'All this time I was thinking about going back to the Elven Forest... But I didn't think about my father. Because deep down, I knew he was gone. That's right, it happened in front of me. And I grieved him for a long time, accepted his death, then...'
A tense hand moved towards the side of her forehead, hiding her left eye.
'How... Could I...' Elisa's body shuddered with anger as veins appeared on her hand and neck. 'Forget about my own...'
Her nails kissed her skin, and she pressed them a bit further.
'How... Could I...' She repeated to herself internally.
The sun had started rising.
More light was illuminating the field of grass on which they stood.
'How...' Light, which was reflected by Elisa's clenched teeth. Especially, the two sharp and -longer than the rest- canines.
Her trembling moved to her chest.
Elisa grabbed the Elven Necklace.
A couple of seconds later,
"Unequip." She whispered.
The Necklace was pulled away.
She extended her hand towards the sky, and stared at the pendant while holding it with her thumb and index finger.
'I'm guessing this was also taken from us...' Elisa thought. ' Still, it's weird-'
Yaaaawn-
"Ugh..." Without opening his eyes, Mark pushed the Moonlit Feline away with a hand.
The latter refused to budge or moved away willingly.
Elisa lowered the arm holding the Elven necklace and extended the other instead.
The Wind started dancing and spiraling in front of her palm but,
'Tsk.'
She suddenly clenched her fist, and the Wind escaped as fast as it could.
'The Necklace increases my Affinity. Artificially... Increases it. For a bit, it felt like I was getting it back, but it's the opposite.' Elisa took a deep breath in. 'Vampiric... Mutation. Feels like it lessens the Effects of the Corruption, but my Affinity with the Wind is... Tsk. Just great. Now...' Images of those two appeared in her mind. 'I've been tainted by both that white-haired fucker and the Vampire.'
Sigh-
Elisa slowly pushed herself off the ground.
Her eyes felt dry.
She was extremely sleepy, yet couldn't sleep.
'I'll have to get him to take more Corruption. To take all of it. And then...'
Scratch-
'I'll kill Raven. I'll avenge my father. And my people...'
Scratch-
'If that's the goal then...' She glanced at them. 'Why would we go to the Elven Forest?'
Scratch-
'Why would I go there, when my father is dead, when my people are dead? What am I going to find there? Are there still Elves remaining there? Or will I only find... I can't go there. I can't go there when it's not clear whether I'll find anything or not. No. I need to avenge them. I need to... But what if there are Elves remaining? What if there are Elves waiting? What then? How can I leave them... When I'm their... Their Princess?'
The Elven Princess wondered and wondered as she walked in circles.
'Killing Raven... Going to the Elven Forest... Killing Raven... Going back...'
Scratch-
She stopped and lowered her gaze towards the sleeping Monster and Moonlit Feline.
'If what I want is revenge... If my plan is to kill Raven... If that's what I want to do then...'
Elisa's hand moved towards the side of her neck.
Scratch-
'I can't drag them further. No... I can't drag them into revenge.'
She winced and raised her gaze towards the sky which was turning more and more clear.
'I'm sure I could drag them into it though. Yes... Mark... He took Levi, Light, and the others from you, didn't he? If I wanted to, I'm sure...' Elisa lowered her gaze back towards the white-scaled sleeping Monster. 'I could get you to join in.'
The Princess sat back on the ground.
Her eyes didn't leave the Monster, and her thoughts didn't stop racing.
A couple of minutes passed, and Elisa brought her center of gravity forward.
'You would join me, wouldn't you?'
Her palms lay flat on the ground in front of her as she moved her legs.
'It's not entirely selfish, since you hate him too.'
Slowly and quietly, Elisa moved forward.
'We have a common enemy. So it wouldn't really be a selfish request, right?'
Slowly and quietly, the Princess crawled on the ground.
'You're my Knight, aren't you? So it would be fine, right?'
The Princess crawled until she was inches away from the sleeping Monster.
'You would help me if I asked, wouldn't you?'
Elisa stared silently at the Monster's hideous face for a bit.
"You'll help, right?" She whispered, without meaning to.
Suddenly, the Monster straightened its upper body.
"I'm up."
"Sleep. It's not even been an hour."
"No... No... I'm awaaaake." Mark said as he yawned.
"You can barely talk. And your eyes aren't even fully open."
A slight frown.
It was strange.
The words were coming from...
Mark turned his face to the side.
He found Elisa, with her palms and knees against the ground, inches away from him.
"What were you doing?"
"An assassination mission."
"That's not funny. You really should-"
"Ugh, alright." Elisa said as she pulled back. "Why is it whenever I'm having fun, it's wrong?"
"It's not something to joke-"
"So you don't trust me?"
Yawn-
"You should sleep too." Mark muttered as his back hit the ground. He turned to lay on his side, his back towards Elisa. "We still have a long way to go. And we're going as soon as..." He yawned again. "As soon as we wake up."
"You want to get rid of me that much?"
"Yes."
"Mm."
"I'm joking."
"Thanks for clarifying."
"Go to sleep."
"Yeah, yeah." Elisa answered, though she didn't go to sleep.
Minutes passed.
Elisa's backside lay on the ground.
On her bent right knee, was her elbow.
With a lightly curled fist, she gently tapped her pressed lips repeatedly as thoughts came and went.
'I should have asked when the Mist was still...'
Elisa shook her head.
She bent her left knee and lay her left elbow on it.
'It feels wrong. I owe it to my people to go to them, even if the probability of finding them is low... But...'
Elisa let her head fall forward.
'I didn't run. Even when a Demon Lord looked for you, I didn't run. So you won't run, right? You'll answer me if I ask, right?'
She crossed her arms and placed her hands on her shoulders.
'You won't leave me, right?'
Elisa lay her chin on her wrist.
Thanks for standing in front of her-
Thanks for always being there for her when I'm not-
Thanks for always thinking about her-
'It's always about her, isn't it?'
Elisa was reminded of the words Mark had uttered back when they were still surrounded by the blizzard.
When they realized that an Olga was under them.
When they were about to get separated.
When Elisa held Krista in her arms as all hell broke loose.
Don't let go-
'Don't let go... It's always about Krista with you. I don't mind that. I love Krista. I really do. But... Still, I can't help but wonder...'
Scratch-
Scratch-
'If you care about me beyond that-'
Realizing the thought that had just crossed her mind, Elisa's head shot up.
'If he... What the hell...? What the hell?'
She shook her head and let her body fall to the side.
'Let's sleep. Sleep. Just sleep. It'll be easier to figure out things after getting some sleep. Yes. Yes.'
Elisa curled herself up and closed her eyes.
She closed her eyes, and held the Elven Necklace to her heart.
...
Hours later,
Yawn-
Yawn-
"Wow..." Mark rubbed his eyes. "That was a great nap."
The Moonlit Feline by his side nodded.
The next second,
"I'M UP!" Elisa shouted as she sat upright.
"Huh..."
Both Mark and Krista stared at her suspiciously.
It was obvious, from the bags under her eyes and the swaying of her head.
"You didn't sleep at all, did you?"
"I SAID I'M UP, ALRIGHT?"
