After the truth

[My name is Termina... I'm my mother's living magic...]

The words from the woman who from time to time would whisper words inside my head started to linger in my mind.

After we finished our dinner and exited the store and being faced with the moonless night sky while being stuck on a random side of the road, we sneaked into the backside of the building and dropped some of our leftovers inside my shadow so that Eclipse would have something to eat. I can't imagine that after running around the city so much with mom chasing after is he wouldn't have gotten hungry.

But right as I proceeded to do so, my little resident started to talk to me again.

[There is no need to do that... He can feed himself on the shadows around him...]

"Really...?" I mumbled.

[Really.]

"But... He can still eat this stuff, right?"

[Well... I suppose there is no harm...]

"The let him have it... I'm sure french fries taste much better than shadows or piles of darkness... He worked hard for us, and deserves a reward."

[If you say so...]

Termina stopped talking and I just proceeded to throw the rest of my food into a black spot on the ground from which Eclipse's jaws could be seen emerging from. From a distance, it probably looked like I was disposing of some trash on a garbage can.

Now that I heard Termina's voice again, I began to think back to what she told me a while ago... About how she was aunt Evlin's living magic or something...

A couple of questions started to form in my head around this new piece of information, but while I pondered about it, I noticed that Marcia had her eyes glued at me with a face of discomfort.

"What...?" I asked.

"You were talking to yourself just now..." she replied.

"Ah... That..." I forgot that other people can't hear Termina's voice. I wondered how I should try to explain my situation to her. Even considering everything that happened, I'm pretty sure my situation still would sound really weird to her, "I... I kinda have something to tell you... "

"Ah! Are you facing some kind of internal struggle and need to talk about your feelings to someone!" she guessed with sparks in her eyes, almost as if she was hoping that was the case.

"Wha...?"

"Helping people with their personal struggles is gonna be part of my job as well, so this would be a great chance to see how well I can perform!!"

"Is everything you do related to your future job...?"

"... Yes...?" she answered with a face that said 'Isn't it obvious?'

For whatever reason Marcia's job seemed to mean a lot to her, "Ah... Anyway... Before we talk, we should look for a place to sleep for tonight..."

"Agreed... We are gonna have much to do tomorrow."

I hear that comment and start to ponder about just how far ahead she probably has already planned, "Such as...?"

Marcia raises her fist and begins to list our duties with her fingers, "First, we need to find out more about this curse and how it works so we can find a way to break it. Then, we need to warn your mother and the rest of our family about the dragon attack and discuss what he must be planning. We also need to train your abilities and skills so you will be better prepared in case we get attacked again, and finally...

I must fulfill my mission and bring you safely to your father..."

"..."

Yeah, like always, this girl is more well prepared than me.

"So... You're going to teach me magic...?" I wonder.

"I can't... I shared all I know about magic with you back at your home... I'm pretty much a novice who knows the very basics of basics... But I can at least be your sparring partner to help you get some fighting experience!"

Oh... I don't like the sound of that...

"How... How long do you think it will take to get rid of this curse...?"

She rests her chin on her fist before answering, "Hard to say... Without finding the culprit of all this, we have no clues on how to properly remove this..."

The culprit... So we need to find Kurt again. And the last time we saw him was at the school, but he was running away from us once he completed his goal. Who knows where he is now...

If there was a way to find out where he went...

[There is a dragon nearby...]

"There is a dragon nearby..." I mumble without realizing it.

"What?" Marcia gasps.

"What?" I do the same, "What did... What did I just say??"

"You said there is a dragon close to us??"

"I... I did..."

"How do you know that?" she asked while holding a small suspicious glare.

That's actually a good question. Termina? A little help?

[I can detect dragons... Dragons are the natural enemies of my race, so I developed ways of always knowing where one might be.]

Natural enemies?? You mean like cats and dogs?? Also... Race?? There is an entire population of living magics somewhere living inside people's heads or something?

[The dragon is getting farther away... He might have clues to help your situation... Will you chase it?]

"Ah..." I return to reality and start gazing at Marcia again, "I'll explain later! The dragon is getting away! Should we follow it?"

She continues to hold her suspicious look over me for a little longer but finally starts focusing on something else after taking our situation into consideration.

"Chasing a dragon... Right now... I'm not sure we are fully rested enough to pick another fight... But still... This might be our only chance..."

It seems like she is unsure. Now that I think about it, I might have been relying on her a bit too much. I should try to help out as well at least when making decisions like this. I am older than her after all...

"Termina... If we go after it... Can we beat it?" I whisper while Marcia continues to ponder to herself.

[You three used a lot of energy in your fight and in your escape. A full-on confrontation might not be advisable, but a well-planned sneak attack or at the very least a small tailing to see where it is headed in order to attack it later when better prepared might carry no harm...]

"... If we do end up fighting... Can I count on you to help us again..."

[Of course... But keep in mind... Each time you rely on my power, you are also putting a lot of stress on your body. If I lend my strength one more time, you will be unable to move for an entire day in order to properly recover...]

...

A full day without being able to move... While being chased by my mother and trying to find the dragon that cursed us... I would be a complete dead weight bringing Marcia down if we got attacked again.

But if we play it smart... We might gain a lot. Was the risk worth it?

"Marcia..." I call her attention and finally get her to look at me again.

"Eh...?"

I raise my fist and tell her some words to make her feel more at ease, "We can handle this!"

"You sure...? Do You know what kind of dragon it is? How strong, how powerful, or how dangerous it can be?"

"No... But I know you will have my back, and I will have yours! Isn't that enough?"

She starts to blush and proceeds to smile at me while raising her fist as well, "It's enough for me!"

Our fists connect and at that moment, images start to flow into my mind. I find myself at my old house, the one I used to live in with my parents, and playing with Eclipse and two girls while my parents, my uncles, and my aunts watched us from not too far.

Aunt Evlin is there with her niece, but I also see other adults, people whose faces I slightly recognized but hadn't seen in a long time. Two of them shared a few facial similarities with Marcia, so I assumed they were related to her.

I considered that they were her parents but they seemed way too young for that, so maybe they're her brother and sister.

By my mother's side, I see a bearded man with brown hair and with the same pair of eyes I see anytime I look in the mirror.

"Dad..."

The two girls pull my hand and drag me away to play tag with my lion. One looked just like Marcia, with black hair, amber eyes, and dressed in purple, but she looked like she was three years old.

I gaze at myself and realize that I was looking like I was five.

There was also the other girl. She had chocolate skin like Marcia, but her eyes were blue like a pair of sapphires, and her short hair that barely went below her ear had a strong tone of silver, almost as if it was made of metal.

The image faded and I returned to reality.

"What... What just..."

"Lance...? Lance? Where is the dragon??"

Ah right, the dragon!! Termina?

[Turn to your left and keep moving forward. You will need to run or you will never catch him.]

Understood.

"Marcia, follow me!"

We distance ourselves from the store and start to sprint according to Termina's directions. We crossed the street and started to navigate deep into the woods as we began to barely spot some kind of figure moving in the distance between the trees.

The sudden image that I saw almost made me forget about our mission. But still... I was strange... The moment I touched Marcia, it was like a part of me that was missing had returned.

The scene with my parents, my uncles, and those two girls... That was definitely a memory from my childhood in the other world.

But why could I not remember it until now? Was I just too young to remember? Or could it have been something else...?

It seemed that I would never be truly able to escape this constant sense of being lost...

[Left...]

"This way!"

[Right...]

"Over here!"

[He's getting closer...]

"We're almost there!"

While I kept thinking about my memory, Termina thankfully kept her attention on our matter and guided us through the forest after the dragon that she claimed to be near.

Sometimes we could see a large figure running not too far ahead, but it appeared to have sensed us and tried to hide inside the seas of leaves.

[Stop!!]

"Stop!!" I repeat while raising my hand by reflex.

"What is it?" Marcia asks. Even after running so much, she's still not out of breath. This girl must be a robot or something...

[He's watching us...] Termina warns me.

"The dragon is observing us..." I pass the information ahead.

Right now, we are lost in the middle of a forest with barely any idea which direction we came from or how to return.

"It knows we are here?" Marcia whispered.

"I do..."

A chilling voice echoed from inside the bushes, but we couldn't make it out which direction it had come from.

The two of us placed our backs against each other. I pulled out my wooden sword while focusing on charging shadow magic and Marcia raised her hands, preparing to make a golden construct at any moment.

I considered summoning Eclipse, but I wanted to leave the element of surprise hidden until it was needed.

"Why must you disturb me...?" the voice reverberated again. We could tell its position had changed. The beast was probably circling us while hiding in the dark of the night.

"We have questions for you... And you better give us some answers!!" Marcia declares.

"And what if I don't...?"

"Then... We will force it out of you!" I declare.

"Oho...?"

The voice finally stops moving and from a bush situated on my right, leaves start to move, and soon the figure we were chasing after begins to reveal itself.

It looked like a komodo dragon of the size of a car, but instead of having a head above its neck, a man with long black hair connected to it by his waist could be seen instead.

He cracked his bones and began to smile at us.

"This will be fun!"