Hope

"Holy!"

Helena sat there, a magical icicle spinning in her hand.

"It's no good." Corissa sighed, "I still can't use it."

"Hey, I'm sure you will be able to cast it with time." Helena said as she dismissed her ice spell, "And once you do, you'll be one hell of a mage. You might be the only one who can cast anti-magic in the world."

"Is that a good thing though?" Corissa frowned, "I don't need more attention..."

"You certainly have more than enough attention at your age." Kaguya chuckled as she made today's lunch, "You and Oto both."

"Hey, who do you think is more famous, Oto or Corissa?" Helena asked.

"Oto's more of a household name." Kaguya mused, "But I think Corissa has more fans."

"And she'll only get more famous once she masters this spell." Momo added.

"Uuu...I never wanted to be famous..." Corissa moaned.

"Shouldn't have become a princess then." Roko said, "At any rate, this holy spell is interesting. Normally there's a danger of casting your spell when you don't mean to when you just say the name. But holy doesn't seem to work that way."

"It's true." Corissa nodded, "I can say holy without triggering it. Cause I can't use the spell anyway..."

"I haven't read up on a lot of cases of natural spells." Kaguya said, "But I can't imagine you would learn a natural spell and then immediately forget it."

"My scan still says you know it too." Roko added, "So in all likelihood, it's some limitation or requirement on your spell. Does that sound right?"

"Hmmm..." Momo thought aloud, "It's unusual for certain, most spells don't have that much of a requirement to their casting which is why we so easily miscast spells. I don't know a lot of advanced spells or what they're like but I imagine there could be spells like holy."

"They never bothered to teach you the advanced stuff?"

"I mean we could if we asked." Helena shrugged, "But you know Edea. If we can't intentional cast our spells we're not ready to handle anything bigger than a simple lift spell."

"I mean she kind of has a point."

"Of course you would say that."

"Lunch is ready!" Kaguya interrupted, "Some spicy curry to help keep us warm from the chilly weather!"

"Umm..."

"Don't worry Momo, yours is mild."

"Oh thanks."

As everyone ate their lunch, small conversations between the party filled the air. Roko in particular just sat in silence, as none of them were directed at him. In this way, Roko isolated himself from the group in his mind, finding a small space of solitude in his mind. Solitude wasn't something he was lacking in this world, he had his own room back at Memoria Auspice he could always retreat to but that room wasn't here anymore. And the isolation from being in his room was not the same as this. Was not the same as being here in the middle of activity around him, unnoticed by the world. In this space, in this way, Roko felt at peace. Feeling the world running without the image of conflict in sight and his place apart from all that. The still, quiet solitude that he had lived in for so long back in his old world was comforting. But knowing the world he isolated himself from was flourishing without him. That gave him an almost spiritual sense of peace. But as always with this group, it wouldn't last long.

"Ah! Roko!" Momo called, "Should we determine the night watch schedule? Who's on duty?"

"I'll take the dawn shift." Roko replied, "You can decide on who's taking the midnight watch."

"You always take the dawn shift." Momo frowned, "That's always the roughest shift. You stay up for so long and when it's over it's right into the day afterward. You don't have to do it you know."

"It's true." Kaguya nodded, "I'm very used to early hours and late nights. I could do it."

"It's fine." Roko replied, not elaborating on it any further.

"Well, that's Roko for you." Helena smiled, "Always leaving the hardest part to himself."

"Umm..." Corissa raised her hand, "Can I take a shift?"

"You?" Momo said, surprised, "Why?"

"Well, the only reason we're doing night watches now is because we were attacked by me." Corissa looked down, "So...I feel like I should help out."

"You didn't attack us, the weird blob monsters did." Helena said, "It's not your fault."

"I know..." Corissa bit her lip, "But still..."

"Oh brother." Momo sighed, "It's all well and good if that's how you feel but the problem is that the one on guard needs to be able to protect themselves."

"They do?" Corissa looked up.

"Yeah. If we get attacked, it's their job not just to warn everyone else but establish our first line of defense. That's not even counting the times when we're just approached by random curious animals and have to shoo them away. You never know when one of those creatures aren't just curious but also hungry. Your job is to let us sleep until it's absolutely not an option anymore."

"O-Oh..." Corissa looked down.

"Well..." Helena interjected in her usual sly, playful manner, "We could just have someone keep watch with you."

"Two people on watch is kind of a waste when one would do the trick." Momo frowned.

"Well you heard Corissa. She wants to help out. So we just let her tag along on one of our watches and that'll be the end of it." Helena explained, "As for who will take that watch alongside her-"

"Me." Roland's hand shot up, "I volunteer as tribute."

"Roland, you've never wanted to take watch before." Kaguya smirked.

"First time for everything." Roland knocked on his chest plate proudly, "I'm ready for it."

"Roland, you're going to sleep whenever you like it or not."

"Oh so Kaguya can do the watch alone but I can't do the watch?!"

"For one, Kaguya can take care of herself. Have you seen her? She can probably skin a rabbit without blinking."

"I can." Kaguya confirmed as she ate her curry.

"Plus, if Kaguya's taking watch, there's no way Mikado isn't going to be with her." Helena continued, "And finally, this is just another ploy to spend time with Corissa alone."

"N-No it isn't." Roland tried to look nonchalant as he conspicuously took a drink from his glass of water.

"I don't see the problem." Corissa blinked, "What's wrong with leaving me alone with Roland?"

"Corissa." Helena covered Roland's mouth before he could begin shouting enthusiastically, "Think of every reason why you'd want to spend some time with Roko. Now think of the complete, exact opposite reasons."

"...Oh."

"Speaking of Roko, HEY! Rokooo..."

"No." Roko replied shortly.

"Roko...remember what I said..."

"..."

And that was how Roko ended up taking the dawn shift with Corissa. At around 2 A.M, Momo woke the two of them up and bid them a cheery good night before retiring herself. Roko was used to it enough that he was up and well awake a few seconds after being woken up while Corissa was doing her best to sit up and not nod back into sleep. As Corissa did her best to pull herself out of unconsciousness, Roko poked and prodded the campfire, keeping it active and contained as he stared at the flickering tongues. There was always something entrancing about the moving flames that allowed Roko to let go of time for a moment. He didn't know how much time had passed while he was watching the flickering lights dance but eventually Corissa spoke up,

"Everyone's asleep right?"

Roko looked up, "Yeah. Momo's mouth tends to move a bit when she's asleep."

"Oh wow, it's true!" Corissa sneaked over to Momo's side to check, "Do you think I can hear what she's saying?"

"Maybe you could try reading her lips but it's not quite as obvious as actual speech."

"You sure know a lot." Corissa giggled, "Oh, do I have any sleeping habits?!"

"You kind of curl up like you're used to hugging a hug pillow or a body pillow."

"N-no I don't..." Corissa looked away, abashed.

"It's fine if you do, I don't really care."

"Well...maybe I do a little." Corissa mumbled, "Gosh, this is actually kind of embarrassing."

"How do you think I feel? This kind of detail is stuff only a lover or a creepy stalker would know."

"It just goes to show how attentive you are to us."

"Still sounds creepy."

"I-I think it's fine." Corissa giggled, "Regardless, I-" Corissa paused as she yawned.

"You can go back to sleep if you want." Roko offered.

"N-No, I need to do this!" Corissa yelped, "Just keep talking to me! I'm sure I'll stay awake if we keep conversing!"

"For the entire night?"

"Yeah." Corissa blinked, "Isn't that normal for you?"

"Ever since coming here, I've spoken more than I've ever spoken in my entire life."

"What? What kind of life were you living in your old world?"

"You can say I was a hermit."

"So the same as you are now?"

"If you think I've been a hermit thus far, you've seen nothing yet."

"Really?" Corissa looked intrigued, "Oh, I know! Tell me more about your old world!"

Roko thought about it for a bit, "This will easier if you tell me what you want to know about it first."

"Tell me about the people you helped!"

"There aren't any."

"Eh?"

"I don't remember the last good deed I did for anyone minor or otherwise."

"But you're always involving yourself in other people's problems!"

"I don't know how to take that statement..." Roko frowned, "Regardless, the world I lived in was completely different. Tools are more readily available and problems are more personal. There aren't any monsters to fight that aren't in the shape of another human so our problems aren't fought with swords but with thoughts and words. Ideally anyway. People don't tend to ask other people for help with personal problems, something I think is still a thing in this world as well."

"Wooooooow." Corissa nodded, "That sounds like a pretty peaceful world."

"So as you can imagine, the world doesn't need someone like me."

"No way!" Corissa cried, "Of course you're needed! Of course you're wanted! I'm sure there are people who love you back home! Helping people isn't what matters! Just being there for others can be enough!"

"Well that just proves that I really don't belong anywhere." Roko muttered.

"Huh?"

"It's nothing." Roko sighed, "At any rate, we should probably quiet down now. If we keep talking we might wake somebody up. Conversations might also attract attention while distracting us and drowning out any hints of enemies sneaking up on us. Okay?"

"Okay..."

Corissa looked extremely sad as Roko forced the conversation to an end. The princess pulled her legs close to her chest, hugging them as she looked down at the ground. She sat there, fidgeting slightly as she made regular, anxious glances at Roko, desperate to start up conversation again. It was clear that Corissa wanted to continue talking but was too well mannered to disobey. Roko did his best to try and ignore her but Corissa continued to fidget and hint to the point that Roko genuinely began to wonder if all extroverts were as needy as this. After a solid minute of this shy pining, Roko sighed, "Anything else you want to know about my old world?"

"Tell me about your friends!" Corissa replied joyously.

"Didn't have any."

"Tell me about your parents?"

"..." Roko sat there quietly for a moment, "So how's your relationship with Varis? Learn anything new?"

"Oh well..." Corissa sighed, "You know him, Varis never speaks so I can't get any information out of him. I've tried asking around if anybody knew him before we reunited. I know he was a sort of mercenary traveling the world doing jobs before I found him but between Cordis, Galia and Memoria, I haven't been able to find any stories about him with or without armor. I asked Edea about the armor as well but all she could say was that it was definitely magical in nature. But not like enchanted, more like the armor's alive in a sense. I asked if the armor might be taking over Varis' mind or body but Edea didn't seem to think so and Varis shook his head when I asked him. I really have no idea what to do now. I don't have any leads or answers."

"Have you tried asking Zadkiel?"

"She just smiled and told me not to worry about it."

"Sounds like her." Roko agreed, "But if there isn't anything we can do, there's no point in worrying about it now. Varis seems fine and perfectly capable of protecting you so you don't have to rush learning more about him."

"Yeah..." Corissa replied, "Normally, I would be worried about Varis getting into dangerous fights and dying but ever since I met you I've been more worried about whenever you're going to end up dying instead."

"Well Varis is probably the strongest person I've met still so worrying about him is pretty silly." Roko frowned, "But you don't need to worry about me either."

"Roko, you're persistent but you're not resilient." Corissa laughed, "It's honestly a miracle when you come out of any scuffle without a scratch."

"That happens a lot more than you'd think. At least nowadays."

"Yes, you've become very strong but you're still very squishy. And with you putting yourself in the most danger all the time, it's honestly a surprise that I get to talk with you at all. Why do you keep putting yourself in the most danger all the time anyway? I mean, putting yourself in danger is one thing but leaving the most dangerous task to yourself is another. So why?"

"What do you expect me to say?" Roko frowned, "I'm lucky to even have anybody fight with me, much less follow my haphazard plans. I couldn't possibly ask them to put themselves in any more danger when I could do it myself."

"But we want to fight with you!" Corissa cried, "We each have things we can do so you don't have to put all the burden on yourself!"

"You know I'm not adverse to using your abilities when I have to. If I need someone with a certain spell, then I'll be sure to ask for your help. That doesn't mean I have to put you in direct danger though."

"We just want you to make plans that doesn't involve you losing a gallon of blood every time!" Corissa laughed, "We want you to take care of yourself as well."

"I'm fine. Worry about yourselves."

"You can't tell us to worry about ourselves when you don't worry about yourself either!"

Roko and Corissa's conversations carried on for over an hour before Corissa finally became too tired to stay awake. Roko gently convinced her to take a small midnight nap as he continued his vigil. When Corissa woke back up, the dawn was in the beginning stages of breaking and Roko was nowhere to be found. Corissa noticed a small blanket that had been wrapped around her and a mug of milk tea keeping warm by the fire. The princess quietly shrugged off the blanket and sneaked past her still sleeping party, heading back towards the road with her mug in hand.

Sure enough, Roko was standing there in the middle of the road, his own mug of milk tea in hand as he watched the sun rise over the distant horizon. Corissa smiled softly as she walked up besides Roko and quietly joined him in watching the sunrise. At least at first. Slowly Corissa's eyes drew away from the slowly approaching light and to Roko who seemed utterly at peace just standing there watching the day start from the very beginning.

"Is this why you always take the dawn shift?" Corissa asked as she sipped her drink.

"...It's a feature." Roko replied as he took a sip of his own drink.

"You're surprisingly more spiritual than I would have expected." Corissa giggled.

Roko stayed quiet for a while, never turning around to address Corissa directly, keeping his eyes on the daybreak, "Have you ever lived through a disaster?"

"A disaster? No I..." Corissa paused, "Yes. Yes I have."

"There was a piece of advice back in my world about keeping hope after disasters. Do you know it?"

"Hm? No?"

" 'Look for the helpers. There's always people trying to help.' "

Corissa ruminated on Roko words, thinking back in her own life and imagining herself after the destruction of her own village and the people who were there trying to help them.

"I see." Corissa smiled, "That's good advice."

"It's interesting." Roko replied, "It's interesting how people find hope in the world. It's not an easy task, even if your world is relatively peaceful. Hope especially becomes harder to find the more adversity and trauma you face. But it never becomes less valuable. That's why it's important for the person at the center of all the blood and battles to be able to find peace. Not from people that may not be there. But from themselves. From the ineffable world around them. Someone like that...would be the ideal person to return from the depths of the madness of battle and retain their humanity."

"..."

Roko took the final sip of his drink as he sighed and turned around, "Well, that's what I think anyway. Anyway, we better go back to the camp and wake everybody up. We're almost at the next town soon."

Corissa nodded and began to follow Roko back towards the camp before she turned around and looked at the sun that had broken free from the distant horizon and began rising over the trees. She smiled softly and began to follow Roko back again.