Deserved Praise

."Yes I do."

Seli knew that answer was coming but it still hurt.

"I figured as much."

"I've disliked you quite a bit since the time we met but with time you grew on me, I hate you though for not telling me once you found out we were the same. However overall I think of you as my friend now and enjoy your company. Finding out there's someone out there like me though is just...a hard thing to take in and accept."

Listening to Xilo talk some more Seli felt relief fill her body as she eased up the tensions in her body. Feeling a lot more free she smiled less forcefully now as she felt Xilo grab at her. Taking a hold of her sword that was still covered in his blood he ran his hand along it. Similar to his it had pink edges with the rest being pitch black with specs of red dots throughout it. It felt a bit weaker than his but he assumed it was because Seli was holding back. She clearly had a lot more control over it then he did even now.

"So you're just like me then, I'm going to guess and say this is why you felt so confident in helping me out. You already knew how to do everything since you experienced it yourself."

"Yeah, I was taught by one of my friends long ago before she passed away. After that I went searching around the world hoping to find others like me. So far I've only managed to find you though. It was a lot tougher than I thought it would be initially and if I didn't get stupidly lucky maybe I never would have found you either. Besides a few weird traits that we both carry, we aren't that much different from regular humans after all."

"So there's more of us out there...Well that's a bit shocking to find out. Other kids were forced to suffer what I went through with no idea where to go...or maybe they've turned into bloodthirsty killers by this point. Though why did you try to hide all of this from me, Why not just come out with it at the start?"

Now that he knew there were more people out there like him, XIlo felt a little lost. If there were others running around like him surely there should be more information on them. Were they just simply a new species of Astral Beast or was it something much more complicated than that. "I just don't know enough yet." Running circles in his head, he tried to put aside all of that as he looked up at Seli. Right now she was in front of him and living proof that needed his attention.

"I thought the same as well so I figured I'd try to save the ones that needed it. It was the least I could do after all the help I received. So when I found you I leaped at my chance to try but I was scared to tell you. You seemed to hate that side of you so much it made me afraid that you'd also hate me in the process. That I'd become just another monster that was manipulating you. I was...conflicted and even almost ran away. I'm quite pathetic."

"I wouldn't say that Seli, I don't hate you though, So I don't really know how you would have jumped to that conclusion."

"But I saw that hatred you had before when you first saw my blades! That wasn't just your power taking over. That was you and only you. I know I'm not wrong about that."

"Haa..."

Sitting up a little bit his chest had healed enough to move around now. Grabbing Seli, he began to hold her arms as he hugged her. She wasn't the one comforting him anymore, instead it was his turn. Rubbing her silky hair he gently spoke like he was talking to a child. It was something he was strangely used to though, almost like he had experienced it before a lot of times. "Yilel...." That name flashed through his head again as he attempted to calm down Seli. This was no time to think about another woman.

"You aren't wrong, I definitely felt some hate there but I wasn't hating you. I hated that power inside of you and the things it might have done to you and even myself. I was just selfishly pushing feelings and emotions onto you. However to me, you and that power are two different things. I'm sorry I scared you like that Seli, I didn't really mean to. Seeing someone like me though made my thoughts run wild..."

"It's okay Xilo, I get it. Thank you."

Holding her like this he thought back to one moment from before.

"Haha. Good job Seli."

"...?"

"Nothing, nothing. I do have some more questions I want to ask you but I suppose we should let the other girls join in for that so we can all talk about it together. Sounds good to you?"

"Hu-uh? Oh, yeah that's fine."

Getting her approval he shouted at the girls that had been eavesdropping on them this whole time to come in. Within seconds Xelfia walked in with a confident smile stuck to her face while the other two at least seemed embarrassed about it. Shaking his head at their reactions he let it go. They were people he cared about so he didn't really mind if they listened in. With all of them here though now and Seli finally calming down Xilo started to ask some questions he had. This was his chance to finally learn some more things about this power and others who had it. This could be a massive discovery if he was lucky enough.

For the next few hours all of them chatted about it as they learned new and old information while growing closer. He might have considered Seli a mere friend before but now she was a lot more then that. She was someone who shared the same power as him and had grown a lot more closer to him then he would have thought. Even the others were treating her a lot different suddenly, like they had all grown even closer now. "More people just like me...where though?" Getting lost in thought he continued to learn from Seli as a smile surfaced.

"What Is it that I exactly want to do?"

Thinking back to Telan's question from before Xilo finally found the answer he was looking for and could share.