Chapter 267 Your Words, Not Mine
'She's quiet. Didn't talk at all...' Mark thought as he stretched his back. 'Did she sleep on the branches with Krista?'
It was still dark, but dawn was approaching.
"Ready to get going?" The white-scaled Monster asked.
Elisa hopped off the branch she was seated on and nodded silently.
She started walking.
Mark scratched his head.
'At least she trusted me enough not to slash my hand. She definitely has the speed for that... Still, now that I think about it,' An image of the night before popped into his mind. 'Why did I do that for? In the first place, it wasn't that big a deal. It's not like I tried to...' Mark shook his head. 'Anyways, we're on our way. I'll give her space if that's what she wants. Though I do think I give her plenty of that...'
The white-scaled Monster's mind kept racing as he followed Elisa who took the lead and walked in front.
A Moonlit Feline ran by his side, caught up to Elisa, and jumped into her arms.
"What?" Her eyes narrowed. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Krista raised and lowered her eyebrows repeatedly.
The Princess suddenly and dismissively opened her arms, letting the Moonlit Feline fall to the ground.
The latter, feeling obstinate, kept walking by Elisa's side while keeping the same facial expression.
"You can be real annoying sometimes, you know that?"
'I wonder if all Monsters have trust issues...' Mark wondered as he stared at the two walking side by side.
...
Hours of walking and fighting what stood in their way passed, and it was night again.
'We'll probably arrive at the border in two days. Maybe three. Wonder what that will look like. Mm... Still, what's really occupying my mind is the fact that...'
Mark took a seat under a tree and let his back rest against its trunk.
'She didn't speak all day. Well, she practically didn't.'
He moved his gaze to his left, towards her, and found her staring at him.
Mark maintained that gaze for a bit before looking away.
Elisa was, once again, seated on a tree's branch, away from the ground where he was.
'The border... The border...' The white-scaled Monster tried thinking about something else but, 'She's really staring hard. Usually she just... She just...' Mark scratched his cheek. 'She doesn't usually look at me much. I guess that makes sense with the way I look.' He chuckled. 'Even when we're talking, she would only look for a bit before looking at the ground or just... Looking away.'
Badump- Badump- Badump-
'Ugh...'
Once more, Mark became suddenly aware of his heart beating.
'Why is she looking now then? Tsk. It's making me-'
"Those dark wings..."
"Mm?" Mark turned his gaze towards her.
Her face winced slightly as he turned, but Elisa took back control of her facial expression before he could notice.
"Where did they go?"
"Where? I just... They're just... Temporarily gone, I guess?"
"So you can... Make them sprout again?"
"I think so."
"You think?"
"More like..." Mark looked away, unwilling to maintain eye contact for too long. "I feel like I can."
"So you can just... Make things sprout? Feel like you can make something else sprout?"
"Huh?" He turned back towards her, a puzzled expression on his face.
Mark was confused by the question.
After all, there was something he wanted to make sprout. Too bad his Titles didn't agree.
"I-" Her eyelids suddenly rose, and Elisa finally looked away. "Nevermind. That's not what I meant."
"What's that?"
"Shut up."
Mark chuckled. She didn't.
He stared at her for a bit before lowering his gaze towards his palms without having a real reason for doing so.
"Now that I think about it, I did the same with the... Spider legs? Yeah, let's call them that."
"Spider legs?" She turned back towards him. "I don't think I've seen those."
"Oh, yeah." He pushed himself off the tree. "They're pretty useful. Let me show-"
"No thanks." Elisa answered coldly. "Sounds gross."
Mark let his back fall back against the tree trunk.
"I guess it is."
"Why do you do it then? If you think it's gross too?"
Mark raised an eyebrow.
"I was just agreeing." He clicked his tongue. "I don't actually think it's that gross."
"Oh, really? Then how gross do you think it is?"
Mark felt both disbelief and confusion, though his facial muscles couldn't translate those feelings properly.
"Mm?" Elisa's tone seemed to demand an answer.
The white-scaled Monster felt a drop of anger.
"I know we've grown close and all, but I'm not about to accept getting lectured by you."
"Why not?"
Mark sighed as he brought a hand to his tired eyes.
"Because I'll do what I want."
Elisa hopped off the branch and, before Mark could even move his hand away from his eyes or notice her,
"What about what I want?"
The white-scaled Monster opened its eyes, and there she was.
Closer than ever.
Her knees were on the ground and on either side of his legs.
With her hands on his shoulders,
"What about what I want, Mark?" Elisa repeated as she stared into the Monster's eyes.
She was closer than ever, yet he didn't shiver or flinch.
"What do you want?" He asked as he stared.
"You're..." Elisa looked down for a second as she placed a lock of hair back behind her ear. "You're all I have, Mark." She continued and her gaze went back to him. "I spent... So much time alone. So much time that I could have gone crazy. I might have, if you hadn't found me..." Mark suddenly felt as if a hand had grasped his beating heart. "You saved me, Mark. I couldn't have... Made it out, or survived, or even..." Elisa let out a chuckle as she hid her face with a hand. "At the worst point of my life, you came and... You made me laugh. And you made me smile." A tear went gently went down her face and the Monster, somewhat instinctively, wiped that tear away with a finger. "Despite... Everything that I had gone through. And god knows I wanted to smile. I wanted to smile. Desperately. You even..." She chuckled again before placing her hand back on Mark's shoulder, revealing a smile and teary eyes. "Made me play tag with Krista and the others. Ridiculous. How ridiculous was that? So ridiculous but..." She let her shoulders drop. "I really needed that. And I never thanked you for it."
At a loss for words, the Monster didn't interrupt.
"I saw them, Mark. My people. I saw them, their suffering, the effect that the Corruption had on them." The Monster felt the pressure around his beating heart increase. "For who knows how long, I saw them change, slowly but surely, they changed. Until I couldn't recognize them. Until they couldn't recognize me."
Mark wanted to look away.
But the instant his head moved to the side, Elisa took hold of his chin and didn't allow him to look away.
"How much can you change? Why do you do it? How... How can I trust you if, from one day to the next, you're completely different? What if I wake up tomorrow and find a Monster with red scaled instead of white? What if I find a Monster with a white pelt instead of white scales? How can I... How can I trust that? How can I trust you? Really trust you? If you can... Change that easily?"
Mark's lips parted, but an answer, he couldn't find easily.
"How will I know, if it's you or another?"
"I'll call your name."
Elisa pressed her lips together and curled up the hands that lay on his shoulders.
"Is that supposed to be a smartass' answer?"
"What are you asking me, Elisa?"
"I'm asking... If you're willing not to change."
"Not to change...?" Mark muttered as he thought for a bit. "I am sorry but," He looked away. "I'm not willing to do that."
Despite the refusal, Elisa smiled.
"How about changing?"
His eyebrow twitched at the question.
"Why are you asking?"
"Because..." Elisa moved her pressed lips around, looking for the right words. "You saved me and... I want to express..." Her gaze ran away from his. "My gratitude. My... Feelings, I guess? But don't get the wrong idea, it's mostly gratitude. It's just... Hard when-"
"When I look like this?"
"Right."
Mark looked away for a moment.
"I-"
"How about..." Elisa interrupted, guessing the answer he was about to give. "How about these horns? You don't really need them, do you?"
"My horns...?" Mark brought a hand to those horns. It was true, they were rarely useful. Still, he felt something. Something inside of him was against losing them.
"Yes..."
"If I looked differently, this would have been a lot easier, huh?"
The question caught her off guard, and she couldn't hide it.
The blushing Princess scratched her head and looked away.
"Your words, not mine."
