Under the Stars

"Kies!" Nina shouted as she ran up to Kies and hugged him. "Where did you go? I was searching for you for hours!"

"Sorry, it was a little crazy today. I'll explain so let's go in first," Kies told her. The two of them went inside the mansion and Nina went straight to her room to grab some clothes to change into and then went into the bath. After that, she quickly chowed down her dinner which was a bit cold from being out on the table for too long. She then went to the back of the mansion and joined Kies who was already there.

Nina sat down beside him and said, "Let's start with your story first. I want to hear what happened and where you went after I left." Kies laid down and looked at the sky while thinking about what to say. He had to choose his words carefully since he didn't want her to get worried. After all, he did just almost die. "Mom said that you looked like you went through a disaster when she first saw you."

"Er- I was running through the alleyways to get to you and I stumbled across a bunch of stray cats," Kies told her.

"Really?"

"Yes." It wasn't exactly a lie since he did run into a bunch of stray cats and got tangled up with them a little. He just couldn't tell Nina about his fight with the demons for both their sakes. He couldn't even begin to explain it with how little he knew about what actually happened and if he did then he would give Nina a fright with the story.

"I've always told you to stop going in there. It's dangerous," Nina nagged as she laid down on her back as well.

"By the way, I don't see any scratches on you. Weren't your clothes torn and bloodied?"

"..."

"Wait, don't tell me that the blood on your clothes was from the-"

"No! Of course not. I ran into a water mage after I got out of the alleys. He healed the wounds I got from the cats"

"Hm, that's pretty convenient." Nina sat up and leaned over Kies and then said, "I'm not buying it."

Kies turned to the side to avert her gaze. "Well, at the very least I'm safe."

Nina sighed and laid back down. "What happened at the explosion?"

"..."

"Staying quiet won't do you any good. I already knew that you went there to find me. So, tell me what happened since that place was a mess."

Kies hesitated for a bit and thought for a moment before deciding to tell Nina the truth. He really didn't like hiding things or lying to her. "There were two demons."

"What!?"

"A powerful ghost appeared and saved me," he continued. "Then it went on to fight the demons."

"Are you being honest this time?"

"Yes."

It was partially true. Kies couldn't explain to her that the ghost, or rather the spirit, which he had recently just learned what they were actually called, had flown into him and when he regained consciousness, the place had been destroyed. He barely remembered what had happened himself.

"That sounds even more unbelievable than the story you gave me before," Nina sighed again. "Did the ghost look like an animal?" she asked out of curiosity.

"An animal? What do you mean?"

"The demon that was killed had wounds that looked like it was made by an animal. Also, you said there were two demons, we only found one at the scene. What happened to the other one?"

"No, it didn't look like an animal," Kies said, answering her first question. "And I don't know what happened to the second demon. I wasn't conscious for most of the fight. So, what about you? Where did you go and what did you do?" he asked her.

"Oh nothing much, I just ran back and forth trying to find you," Nina told Kies about the terrible adventure she had trying to find him while they stared at the night sky. The flowers were in full bloom and illuminated the garden, but they really didn't care much about them. The stars and the moon seemed more attractive tonight.

After Nina finished her story she took something out of her pocket and dangled it over Kies' face. "Here. I was meaning to give this to you," she told him.

"Wait, this was for me?"

"Yes, who else could it have been for? My dad doesn't like these kinds of things and my mom already has a million of them."

"Maybe the maids?"

Nina dropped the necklace on Kies's stomach and told him, "None of them have birds as their favorite animal."

Kies picked the necklace off his stomach and brought it up to his face. "What kind of bird is this anyway? It looks goofy."

"Really? I think it's cute."

The wooden carving was of a bird with short legs, a big belly, and a small head. Kies had never seen the species of birds before. He wasn't sure if it even existed. It might've come from someone's imagination. Kies lifted his head and put on the necklace.

"I'm going outside tomorrow," Kies told Nina, suddenly remembering that he had something important to do tomorrow.

"What do you mean by outside?" she asked.

"Outside the city," Kies clarified.

"Why?"

The spirit that Kies met earlier today had told him to go outside the city tomorrow and meet it inside a forest. As sketchy as it sounded, the spirit had told him that if he wanted answers about who they were and why they were appearing in front of him and no one else, then he would have to go there. In addition, the spirit also promised Kies that if he complied then it would make him stronger. Although he was still hesitant, he had agreed since he wanted to get stronger so that he could protect Nina and the rest of his family if the time ever comes. Anyhow, Kies couldn't explain all of this to Nina.

"Umm, things."

"Very specific... You're not doing something dangerous again are you?"

"No, at least I hope not."

"You're not even sure what you're doing?"

Kies instantly regretted saying that. He should've ended the sentence at no.

"Whatever you're doing, I'm coming with you tomorrow."

"What? Why?"

"To make sure you don't do something stupid like you did today. I don't know what happened, but I can't let you go alone."

"But you can't." Kies spent the rest of the night trying to convince Nina to not go with him to the forest, but it was useless. She was too stubborn and in the end, Kies gave up and they went back to their rooms and slept. The next morning, Kies tried sneaking out of the mansion and found Nina at the gate, waiting for him.

She had her arms crossed and said to him while smirking, "You need to wake up earlier if you want to sneak out."

"Fine, let's just go already," Kies grudgingly said.

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