Lilia

"Yes, I'm Minos, it's nice to meet you." Minos said, taking a seat across from the young woman.

"Minos? Well I'm Lilia, it's nice to meet you." Lilia responded.

"Do you need something?" Minos asked directly, not fond of playing pointless games.

"Well I was just mesmerized by your music and I wanted to meet you. I'm an artist myself, and I love meeting others who share my passion." Lilia said, already becoming slightly excited.

Despite her attempts to maintain a superior attitude, it seemed her passion for art was too strong, immediately breaking the illusion.

"An artist? Well what's your art of choice." Minos asked, a little curious to meet a fellow artist.

"Oh everything! Though I'm especially fond of music and painting." Lilia said, her eyes glittering.

"Painting? That was the first art I ever got involved in, and I suppose it's fair to say it introduced me to this world." Minos replied with a gentle smile.

"Really! Looks like we have a lot in common. If you don't mind, how about we have a quick paint?" Lilia said gleefully.

"I'd never say no to the opportunity to paint." Minos replied, still wearing his smile.

"Great! Then how about this, we'll paint each other's faces." Lilia suggested, Minos nodding in agreement.

With Minos agreeing, Lilia pulled a few things out of a spatial ring, seemingly not caring at all about exposing such a valuable object.

Lilia's value in Minos's mind immediately rose as he became more clear of just how powerful her background was, causing him to raise his guard slightly.

Lilia seemed unaware of Minos's changes, still focused on preparing all the painting material, soon having it all set up.

"Here you are. Well, let's begin!" Lilia said, after handing Minos a full set of brushes and oil paints.

Since this young woman wasn't easy to mess with, he decided it was best to get on her good side, so he immediately got to work, putting all his heart into it.

Occasionally looking beyond the canvas, Minos would capture her image, slowly breathing life to her within the realm of his canvas.

Even though he had a photographic memory, how could that compare to seeing her with his own eyes?

Minute by minute, Minos's canvas slowly filled, a beautiful young woman slowly appearing in place of the white background.

After a few hours passed, they were both done, both seemingly satisfied with their own works.

While Minos was only doing it for fun, Lilia seemed to have a bit of a fighting spirit, interested in who's skills were more refined.

"Are you done?" Lilia asked from behind her canvas, excited to see his results.

"Ready. Shall we swap?"

"Of course, on three. One, two, three!" Lilia said, the two swapping portraits.

Minos took a look first, nodding heavily as he appreciated Lilia's fine artistic taste, her painting being a near replica of him, though it seemed she failed to capture his true essence.

Meanwhile, Lilia was shocked as she gazed upon Minos's work, her mouth slightly gaping as she stared at the canvas.

Naturally, the piece was perfect, being indistinguishable from her, but more than that, it had a sense of majesty, tinged with an underlying naivety and passion.

If Lilia just captured Minos's appearance, then Minos captured her entire being, truly showcasing an incredible talent that she couldn't help but be envious of.

"Amazing… It's rare that I meet an artist who crushes me so thoroughly, though it is a bit of a humbling experience." Lilia said with a sigh, not used to someone around her age beating her at something.

She was used to being the best of her generation, so this defeat filled her with a strange feeling, one that wasn't quite anger, but more desire, a desire to win and reclaim her throne.

"I can teach you if you'd like." Minos said, not minding to share his experience.

"Really? But aren't you afraid I'll beat you?" Lilia responded, curious about Minos's thought process.

"Beat me? Art isn't a competition, and I've never done it to win or lose, and besides, you could never beat me." Minos said with a slight laugh.

"Really now? Then teach me, but don't cry about your arrogance when I do win!" Lilia said with a harrumph.

"Hahaha, alright, come sit beside me." Minos replied, not minding Lilia's childish attitude.

"Your problem is you deal with art with a competitive mindset, but that intrinsically goes against the nature of art. Art is free and formless, but your style is aggressive, only grasping the physical, but failing to see beyond." Minos explained.

"Let me ask you, if you had to describe the air around us, how would you do it?" Minos suddenly asked.

"Umm, slightly cold and fierce?" Lilia answered, though still unaware of the question's purpose.

"See, you've only described the physical features of air, but there is more to it than that. Air is unconfined and free, it can also be aggressive and filled with rage, and sometimes peaceful, do you understand?" 

"I see! What you're saying is that I've only captured the body, not the soul?"

"Exactly, let's give it a try." Minos said, handing Lilia his brush.

"Your brushes are too firm, they need to be more delicate." Minos said, as he gently took Lilia's hand and guided it.

Feeling Minos's soft breath on the back of her neck and his roughed calloused hands taking her own, Lilia's heart couldn't help but begin pounding, a strange emotion filling her that she had never experienced before.

If someone was to just walk in at this moment, they would probably think they were two lover's enjoying a painting session, of course, Minos was completely unaware at the moment, focused on the art.

"That's better. Treat the canvas like its your best friend, not just an inanimate object." Minos said from behind her, as he let go and gave her full reign.

With Minos stepping back, Lilia felt both relieved and slightly empty, but she quickly removed those thoughts as she focused on painting.

With Minos's words to guide her, her skills rapidly evolved. It was clear that Lilia was incredibly talented, and all she needed was to be pointed in the right direction.

With another few hours passing, Lilia finished her recreated portrait, this one much more 'alive' then the last.

"Good job, you've made a lot of progress in just one go." Minos said with a smile, as he took the canvas in hand and inspected it.

"It's all thanks to you." Lilia said with a genuine smile, appreciating Minos's open heart and willingness to teach her.

Most artists kept their skills under tight key and lock, afraid that if someone managed to obtain them they would lose their business.

But Minos seemed to not mind, having an unfettered soul that was truly unconcerned with the material side of art, just enjoying the beauty of it.

"Well, it's getting late, I'd better go now." Minos said, as he looked out the carriage window and saw the sun beginning to set.

"How about you follow along with us? We still have a lot to talk about and I don't want to say goodbye so soon." Lilia suggested.

"Hmm, alright." Minos answered, thinking it would be a good idea to travel with such a powerful group.

The journey was only about half done by now, and not to mention the road was becoming more dense the closer he got to his destination.

While he hadn't stumbled into any big problems yet, it was likely things would get more dangerous as they got closer to the Ancient Desert Kingdom, so it was good to find a safety net.

"Great! I'll tell my men." Lilia said joyfully.

With everything settled, Minos got out of the carriage and remounted his horse that the guards had taken care of.

The group kept moving until the sky went completely dark, and only then did they finally stop and set up camp.

While Minos would prefer to sleep in the carriage, he naturally knew that was impossible, but at least now he could sleep more comfortably knowing he was safe.

"So, your name is Minos?" One guard asked as the group gathered around a small campfire.

"Mhm." Minos replied, taking a meat skewer off the flames.

"Your music reminded me of a childhood friend I once had…" Another guard said, before going silent, his helmet hiding his face.

"I apologize if I reopened any wounds." Minos said genuinely.

"It's fine, in fact, I want to thank you for reminding me of them." The guard replied with a slight laugh, though the sadness behind it was hard to mask.

"You're welcome." Minos responded with a gentle smile.

"Hey, let's not end the night so depressingly! Hey Minos, why not play a more upbeat song so we can end this night with a bang?" One guard said, causing the others to cheer in agreement.