Her Fears

Shortly after reading the contents of Heavy Metal: Hallowed Be Thy Name, Lyrica's heightened senses allowed her to hear footsteps coming from the inside of the cave.

"You sure took your time leaving the hive."

"Huh? What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to stay put?"

Aran's voice resonated in reply as he finally exited the cave, the big wound in his shoulder had disappeared completely.

"Hey, what's with that pleased look?"

Lyrica asked the prinsepe of Reilaea what brought the blissed expression on his face? Aran wordlessly handed over a bottle full of Wither Bee honey. At that moment, it hit the girl.

Indeed, what else could have brought out feelings of pleasure and fulfillment other than the rich and sweet delicacy hiding inside the beehive?

"Hey," Lyrica lightly tapped Aran's breastplate with a fist, bringing him back to his senses. "Let me just make things clear here, the honey inside that cave are all mine."

"I-I know." Aran looked away, though his eyes would get dragged back towards Lyrica's chest as she stood right in front of him. "We should get going."

"You're right."

Right before Lyrica opened and chug the honey down her throat, a warning from Jazz Harmony reaching the end in five seconds halted.

"Hold this for a second."

"Y-Yes?"

Lyrica gave the bottle back to Aran as she braced herself for what was about to happen. More than a couple of seconds later, Lyrica's eyes shot up.

"Urgh...!"

Jazz Harmony at 100dB allowed the Listener to ignore exhaustion, mental fatigue, and pain at 100% for three minutes. But once the music stopped playing, everything would return to the Listener. Not only that, the exhaustion, mental fatigue, and pain that returned to her would be amplified by 100%. In other words, it returned two times worse.

"H-Hey!"

Lyrica dropped helplessly to the ground, the pain from her gut and her wrist wound felt as if her insides are being stirred up over and over again. She looked at Aran and said:

"Give it... to me," Lyrica exclaimed in agonizing pain. "Now!"

Aran wasn't sure what was going on, but it was clear she has no strength to even lean her head up. The prinsepe decided for himself that he was not handing over the bottle. Contrary to what Lyrica said, Aran knelt next to the girl as he opened the bottle himself.

"What are you..."

"Stop squirming."

The young man gently put his left hand underneath Lyrica's head as he carefully lift her head high enough so that the honey could go down her throat more easily.

"Open your mouth."

Aran saw the girl avert her gaze before following what the prinsepe instructed.

"Ah..."

With the bottle in his other hand, Aran poured the honey into Lyrica's mouth.

Gulp... Gulp... Gulp...

Before long, the last bit of honey trickled from the bottle and onto Lyrica's tongue. And with one last gulp, the tensed look on her face had vanished. Although she and Aran couldn't see it under her school uniform, she could feel the wound in her gut closing and healing up. The same could be said with her left wrist.

After that, the girl helped herself stand up, with Aran staying beside her just in case something happened and she dropped down like last time.

"Well... How are you feeling?" Aran questioned in concern.

Lyrica moved her formerly wounded arm up and down, her head side by side, the sound of cracking bones echoed.

"All right, grab on!" The now ever-so-energetic Lyrica extended her open hand at Aran.

"I'll take that answer as a yes, but why?"

Before giving the curious prinsepe an answer, the girl grabbed Aran's arm tight.

"H-Hey...!"

"We want to be fast, right? This is the fastest way back to the town!"

Without Aran realizing it, the air started gathering under the soles of her slip-on shoes until it slowly lifted her out of the ground. She looked up into the sky and...

"Wind Drum!"

"Huh... Hey, wai–!"

Ddum!

Like a catapult throwing a boulder at its designated target, Lyrica's Wind Drum sent her flying high into the sky along with Aran. Afterward, she used another Wind Drum and went even higher before taking a stop mid-air.

"Ah...!"

Aran looked down to see the whole town below him as he instinctively wrapped his hand around Lyrica's arm. An overwhelming sensation of fear and awe filled the prinsepe's eyes.

He recollected himself before speaking to the girl.

"A warning before dragging someone into something risky would have been in order, you know!"

The prinsepe of Reilaea received no reply from Lyrica. He glanced into her face and saw her seemingly admiring the sunset from the distance. His expression warped in concern and confusion.

"Don't you feel any fear at all?"

Lyrica looked into Aran's eyes with a serious gaze before turning back at the awe-inspiring view of the sunset.

"Of course, I am. I still can't believe what I did just now." Lyrica answered calmly.

"..."

Behind her poised demeanor lies an immeasurable fear that she can only express through her endlessly shaking arms and legs. Aran just did not see it earlier, perhaps because he was overwhelmed with fear that his death would be imminent if they lose their hard grip on each other's arms.

"I'm scared of a lot of things."

Indeed. Lyrica was afraid of the fact that she cannot save all of Kruule, and the idea of saving them would mean killing the Hari who's only doing it all because he was probably possessed. She's afraid of learning the reason behind the four heroes' summoning, and what comes next after this is all over. She's afraid of the moment she got what the person who brought her in Alteria wanted.

Hell, she's even afraid of herself, although she didn't mention the reason behind it to Aran.

"Right now, even I'm afraid that we are here up in the sky," Lyrica claimed. "One small mistake or if I happen to use up all my mana right here, our death will be more than certain. But... I refuse to let my emotions get the better of me again. I can't let it happen ever again."

Lyrica slowly pulled up Aran next to her and let his arm rest around her shoulder. And then, she allowed his right foot to stand on a Wind Drum next to her left.

"That is why, if my emotions dare to stare at me into submission, I'll stare back at it and not give a sh*t." Lyrica puts her left arm around Aran's back. "I ended up saying a lot again, sorry. Anyway, are you ready?"

The girl's face is incredibly close to his, but Aran doesn't feel embarrassed in the slightest. If anything, there's this strange feeling welling up inside Aran, something that came about because of what Lyrica said.

"Hey, are you listening? We're heading back down."

The girl turned to the prinsepe, but Aran had already looked away. It took a moment, but the prinsepe eventually answered Lyrica.

"Yeah. I'm ready."

"All right."

Without any further delay, the two made a free fall towards the town of Takkot. All while they both started screaming on top of their lungs.

"On second thought, I'm not ready!" Aran closed his eyes as he put both his arms around Lyrica, hugging her tight.

"I-I can't breathe! Get it together, you idiot!" Lyrica cursed as she tried to get one of Aran's arms off her.

You can never be too ready with anything, it's a scary part of reality. The two crash-landed right in front of the Reyna and her royal guards.

"What in the world happened to you two...?" Amaya's eyes sparkled while observing Lyrica and Aran in a position as if her son was pinning the girl down helplessly to the floor.

The two received some minor wounds but they are nothing to be concerned about. More importantly, their lives are still intact, and are ready to follow Kael in the capital.

"I'm gonna say this now... We're not doing that ever again." Aran stood back up before lending Lyrica a hand.

"Do what?!" Amaya's neurons fired up, following the words her son spouted.

"At least we landed in front of the right person." Lyrica accepted the prinsepe's kind offer and let the young man pull her up. "We would like to take two horses and a big bottle of mana potion right now."