Chapter 443: Protector: Part 3

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little intrigued about this wife of yours. I know you're telling the truth but I can't help but feel like you're overexaggerating..." Sandy wasn't aware of Enyo's exploits or nature so this beast of a woman was simply incomprehensible to her.

Ares shrugged. "Your funeral. You're the one that's going to have to deal with her, not me... Although when I return I'm definitely also going to have to deal with her then..." Ares shivered in his seat momentarily before regaining complete control over himself. "Anyway, that's all I have to say on the matter so let's not dwell on it anymore. The change in topic might be a bit sudden but there was something else I've been meaning to ask you about."

Sandy nodded as she leant back in her seat. "Go on."

"Have you ever seen anyone with the ability to tame or control western monsters specifically?"

"No? That sounds highly implausible and I'd definitely be aware of it if such a thing had happened before. We fellahin take hunting these monsters very serious and buy up any and all information, even rumours, about them that we can. We have no other real use for the money we rake in, and we take this job seriously, so we have a treasure trove of information on Xascan monsters that would make even the greatest libraries in the universe drool. Something like 'taming western monsters' would have been known to us by now if it was truly possible."

"I won't ask you to pay me for this information but I have some that you might be interested in, then. Diggers, during his raid on the Oasis sect earlier, somehow managed to control a western monster. I didn't get a chance to ask for the specifics, so I might be missing something, but apparently he waved some kind of rod around and the monster bust into the sect and attacked everyone but him allowing him to get away. I'm asking because Sevorus, the guy we talked about earlier, is probably responsible for a lot of these monster's mutations and evolutions. It wouldn't surprise me if he left tech behind in the Riddlemyd that could control his experiments out here in the desert... I figured if anyone had come across such a device it would more likely be you given how easy it must be for you to traverse the Riddlemyd, riddles themself aside. If Diggers lucked out and found a hidden area though, and has a rod truly capable doing what we think it does, it would be kinda problematic."

"That is worrisome but perhaps also not. If it was capable of controlling any and all monsters freely he would have already made himself king of the desert because even I couldn't stop a stampede of western monsters if I tried. He is by no means a patient man at all and would have used such a trump card ages ago, the second he found the rod, so I don't think it's as bad as you might assume. Bringing one monster only to the raid as well pretty much confirms there's a limit to what he can do with the rod, or maybe he's still figuring things out, so as long as the matter involving him is dealt with sooner rather than later we ought to be fine on that front... Although, I wouldn't mind stealing that rod off his corpse and leaving a monster or two behind for the elders to control just for safety measures while I'm gone... Let's see how things go for now when we return the favour and raid the scavengers back ourselves." A fair suggestion meant this conversation had come to a close and, as a result, now there was an awkward silence in the air because of everything they discussed prior. This distraction talk about the rod was great and all but it couldn't last forever! "... Is it me or is it cold in here?" Sandy was embarrassed to admit it but in her drunken stupor earlier she accidentally removed one too many pieces of clothing given how frigid the weather was tonight. Even inside the Roving Elliot there was a slight chill. Granted there was a radiator in this treasure but Ares didn't know of it yet because he hadn't fully explored every nook and cranny and located all the conveniences on offer.

Sandy lifted her upper body up off the couch so that she could go get something else to put on but Ares held something out to her instead, halting her in her tracks. "Here. Take this, it's really comfy. It's also quite bulky so you'll feel right at home in it." Ares was offering Sandy the Scaled Insulator as it was perfect for adjusting her temperature until she was satisfied and could sleep in peace. Plus Ares was right in that it was a parka and would feel nice and heavy compared to any single other item of clothing from Sandy's bundle. Furthermore the Insulator didn't use up too much mana so sleeping throughout the night with it on and working was very possible, Ares wouldn't even have to supply it with mana as it was basically topped up and sitting around in his Primordial Blade doing nothing. Most desert animals and monsters had some manner of heat resistance innately, so using it against them was pointless, and Ares preferred not to be out at night in the desert if he could avoid it anyway so he didn't really need it to warm himself up either. Sandy put the Insulator on and, while Ares was thinking about his to do list for Xasca, she leaned her head on his legs and forced him to give her a lap pillow to sleep on. Ares was stunned! He'd just gotten her off him not too long ago and she'd already come crawling back like some kind of parasitic slug! Did everything he said to her before go in one ear and out the other!? Before he could file a complaint Sandy beat him to the punch and intercepted his doubts and misgivings.

"It's just one night. Let me just stay like this for one night and recharge years worth of energy. This much shouldn't change anything about the prophecy, I think there's plenty off leeway, and I understand boundaries anyway."

"Clearly not!"

"Hmph. Maybe you just don't know when to lower yours a bit?"

"... Fine..." Ares shook his head and gave up because it looked like she was going to be more obstinate about this than he was. If he was going to relent at some point he might as well do it now and not start a losing argument jsut for the sake of squabbling this late at night. Ares stared down at Sandy, who's cheeks flushed as she tried burying her face deeper in his legs, and his face slowly changed into that of a frown... He realised there was a serious question he needed to ask her, actually, and he felt like the answer was important! He didn't personally care, about what he was going to ask, but Sandy ought to and he might have been getting something very personal to her extremely wrong up until this point! "Sandy?"

"Hm?"

"... Or should I call you Delila?" She'd painstakingly given him her name and he was still calling her this dumb nickname pun crap! There was a non-insignificant chance Ares had been a bit of a bastard here! Thankfully it seemed relatively inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, as Sandy wasn't bothered regardless of whatever preference she may have, but Ares still would have been a bit glum if he was repeatedly offending her this whole time by not calling her Delila now that he knew!

Seemingly deep in thought, Sandy didn't respond or make any motions whatsoever for a good few seconds. "... No. I don't want to be Delila. I don't hate the name.... I just prefer Sandy. It still makes me smile when I hear it.. Even if it is a bit dumb it has its charms. That being said, I think I want to keep Redhome. Rather, I'm going to pretend the name skipped a generation and came back through me. My parents chose Delila, so I can throw than name away without any qualms, but Redhome belonged to ancestors who were respectable and commendable for the values they upheld. It's not their fault my parents betrayed the 'home' and tried to stain it red with my blood. I really like Redhome so I guess that makes me Sandy Redhome now? It has a nice ring to it... Delila Redhome. Fellahin Juggernaut. Sandy. Sandy Redhome... I have a feeling I won't have to change my name ever again. That's nice. For once I don't actually want to..." Sandy's voice trailed off as she closed her eyes and started going to sleep.

"Sandy..." Ares spoke in a low voice. He wanted to say one more thing to her before she went to sleep but he didn't want to keep her too awake either so he found a nice middle ground volume so as not to disturb her or remain unheard by her. "I want to fix all your problems and not just the inability to leave Red Sun. This is selfish but no matter what I promise to correct your stolen talent. I know you hated what happened to you as a result of your talent but your parents are gone now and it's high time for you to become the person you always deserved to be. I want to give you a better fine grind and I want to heal your meridians. I don't yet know how I'll do the latter, although my brother's fiancé is a fantastic alchemists so we can start there after I hunt down some ingredients, but I want to at least try and fix the fine grind issue before I leave Xasca. Either a treasure that can restructure your body from the east, if I'm lucky enough to find such a thing, or my own disintegration magic to remove the garbage fine grind your parents force fed you, that's the plan. I know you might have reservations but like I said. This is selfish. I want to see you thrive and I know part of you, deep down, wants to as well. You did say you wanted to be a cultivator, right? I spare no effort for my family and I already consider you as such. Right now you are my priority. You can go to sleep and keep living your life normally as you have done and I will work on solutions to your problems in the meantime. Leave it all to me. Goodnight Sandy."

Sniffle

"Goodnight Ares..." Sandy mumbled in a small voice before fiddling about on Ares' lap to find a more comfortable spot to hide her face in. Ares closed his own eyes shortly after and leant his head back because this sitting position was as good as it was going to get for him with this emotional rhino on his lap... Still, if anyone heard him complain even inwardly about having a sleeping beauty on his lap then everyone's inevitable rage towards him would be entirely justified. He was a cultivator, even! he didn't even have to sleep! Sitting still like a statue for a few hours was nothing to him! He could even cultivate if he wanted to pass the time! Actually... Ares realised that last option was a pretty good idea! He wouldn't make it to the next stage tonight but it would give him plenty of leeway to get there tomorrow before the black market showdown at least... Although one could argue a good night's rest would also help keep his mind clear in preparation for the fight as well. Sleep wasn't necessary but that didn't mean it wasn't also still useful in some situations like this... Just a little bit, then... Ares decided to do a mix of both and compromise. As such he spent about three hours cultivating before calling it quits and hitting the hay. He was very nearly asleep soon after too but he felt Sandy stirring on his lap and looked down at her to see some tears streaming down her cheeks.

Sandy was getting more and more restless by the moment and was starting to shiver and make small noises. She looked scared of something and deeply traumatised so, now that she'd wriggled her way up Ares' body a bit, he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a hug. He had a feeling he knew what she was dreaming about. She didn't have her clothes on, the big bundle, and had talked about her childhood recently... She seemed to have very vivid memories of that day, of being torn into pieces, so it wasn't a surprise she'd have nightmares whenever she she slept without clothes. Rather, now that Ares thought about it, Sandy was a genius. There was no real reason she should have still needed to wear bundles of clothes because one's ability to control their sand elemental form perfectly essentially boiled down to confidence and talent. The elders were able to do it because they built up confidence and cultivation over many years but someone as powerful as Sandy shouldn't still need training wheels at this stage given her prowess. Her confidence, however, must have been shattered into teeny tiny piece near enough permanently by the memories that scarred her and, as such, was holding her back from achieving true greatness with her elemental form. She might even never reach the point of not needing clothes to help keep her elemental form in check at this rate which Ares was obviously not going to let happen. He did find it funny that both Enyo and Sandy, the latter of whom resembled the former in more ways than one, had clothing related issues! One couldn't take it off but wanted to while the other one could take it off but didn't want to! It was the exact opposite but it was definitely a coincidence such a similar issue happened twice and plagued both of them! Regardless, Ares wasn't going to let this stand. He wasn't trying to brag but, if he was being honest, only he could really fix this and nobody else came close. Him or Bala, actually, but she hadn't managed it in all these years so it was going to be down to Ares as he was an important person in Sandy's life now and needed to say the right things to her to calm her down once and for all. He'd been pretty thorough with his actions to comfort her but he was realising now he actually needed to say something after all and that his relatively weak and unsubstantial response to her story earlier needed to be corrected here and now.

Sigh

Ares thought long and hard about this because he wanted to respond to Sandy properly. Not just regarding this issue but to summarise his thoughts on everything he'd discussed with her today. Maybe what came next was corny, or maybe it was poetic but, either way, it was what Ares felt so he lowered his head and whispered into Sandy's ear, "I will never let you scatter." Ares hugged her closer and she seemed to stop shaking as much but Ares wasn't quite done yet. "... And even if you do, even if you became a million different pieces, I would pick each and every single one up with my bare hands by myself, one by one, if I had to because..." Ares took a moment to himself because he'd never said anything this embarrassing before but it needed to be said and Sandy deserved to hear it even if she was asleep. "... Every grain of you is precious."

...

Maybe they were the magic words needed, or maybe Sandy had finally settled down of her own accord, but either way her shaking, like that of a deer in the headlights, had finally come to a stop and there was a serene and beautiful smile on her face that put Ares' mind at ease. Perhaps she would still need more comfort to move on from all this in the future, as she wouldn't remember an of this when she woke up, but, for now at least, she was placated and slumbering in peace. Ares didn't have the guts to say something so sentimental with a straight face to someone who was awake, he would die of shame, but if she was asleep that made it easier as no one was around to hear it and bury it into their memories. Even still his face was red and he felt like crawling into a dune somewhere to hide for a few years. This might be the first time in all of Ares' life he'd truly experienced embarrassment. He was a scoundrel more often than not and shame was not a word in his dictionary but this had been pretty bad, even for someone like him! The only other event hat came even remotely close was tripping on ice when hew as younger but that still paled in comparison to this... What happens in Xasca, stays in Xasca! Ares seriously wanted to hide this memory from Enyo later when she demanded them all. If he didn't she, and Bellona, might demand Ares say something equally personal to both of them and this had been bad enough as is! Once was enough... There was no point dwelling such a topic now, though, and so Ares went to sleep for real this time with Sandy still residing in his arms like a baby bird hiding in its nest during winter. Unbeknownst to Ares, though, after he fell asleep, Sandy opened one eye and glanced up at him with a cheeky smile on her face before going back to sleep herself in a great mood, happier than she'd ever been before.

Hours later, at the crack of dawn, Ares woke up to find he was free! The rhino on his lap had migrated and he could feel his legs again! Hallelujah! He looked around and saw her putting the pile of clothes into her spatial ring piece by piece. "Good morning."

Sandy stopped what she was doing and looked at Ares with an affectionate gaze. "Good morning." Ares didn't quite understand the reason for her current attitude but he wasn't going to question it either. He simply assumed she was still going over the whirlwind that was yesterday's discussion and coming to terms with everything. Regardless he wasn't going to pry... Although he was missing a small detail in the scene before him that was somewhat unusual. He'd realise it soon but for now he saw nothing wrong with this whole picture. Sandy went back to what she was doing and asked him a question. "By the way. I never did ask you, but why didn't you want to fight the stepper brood mother, or any other powerful monsters, yesterday? I'm guessing you've got something else to do today that you need your energy for but what? I'm curious."

"Ah that..." Ares hadn't wanted to worry Sandy about this matter but it seemed he was going to have to be upfront. "Here..." Ares had gotten better at sharing memories, thanks to his practice with the Nyxian Prowler as of late, and so he could do it without the enabler perfectly fine. He'd wanted to learn Past-Present Polymerization at some point anyway so getting it done now nice and early was great for him. His practice had paid off and so, although not as fluidly as Enyo, he was able to weave his memories into a small ball of light and pass it to Sandy who readily accepted it... And frowned immediately after. The frown grew worse and worse until she was outright scowling at the things she'd seen. Her mood shifted and pulled a quick 180 and there was an aura of anger surrounding her right now that caused Ares to sigh.

"It's terrible, I know. I'll deal with it today and that will be the end of it. Before you ask me why I didn't tell you about it, I was considering it. I would have in the end too but the situation has changed now and I don't think it's wise for you to go in your current muddled state of mind. Not because you're angry, anyone would be seeing those memories, but because there's a lot to sort out after yesterday. You're tangled in emotional baggage and that's nobodies fault but throwing anger on top of an already complex network of feelings isn't going to help. I'll be fine and that stepper will die one way or another."

"I..." Sandy was still upset, and about to start yelling in frustration even, but Ares had stood up and sealed her mouth with a quick kiss before she could start raging about this horrible stepper and her resolution to fight it to the death if need be.

"Consider that payment for backing down, please?" Ares knew words weren't going to work on her and that he needed to shock her out of her current state to make her see reason. There was a small blush on her cheeks and Sandy's anger had faded so his plan worked a charm... Emphasis on 'charm'. Still, the fact that Sandy swapped between emotional states so fast gave her whiplash and she realised Ares was right. She was a bit of a wreck right now and was in no position to fight a difficult life or death battle at all. If she and Ares fought side by side, and he suffered an injury, no matter how minor, she would become unpredictable and a liability due to her feelings for him having just fully bloomed. The strange concoction of anger, love, and trauma bubbling away was too problematic to let her tag along even though she was fully capable as a cultivator and Ares would be relived to have her fight beside him. Funnily enough, this reason was the exact opposite of why Ares didn't let Aejaz come along... She was strong but not in the right place mentally whereas Aejaz was not experienced enough even though he was raring to go. Long story short, it was for the best if she didn't do anything too complicated for the next few days and just relaxed. Thankfully Sandy wasn't unreasonable and so she just nodded her head before walking towards the exit of the caravan. She was about halfway through the door when Ares called out to her, having just now noticed something was off! "Hey! Don't you need your clothes on?" Sandy was about to walk out into the somewhat windy desert without her bundle of clothes! She'd been putting them in her spatial ring earlier but on her body which was strange as she needed the protection they offered her. 

Sandy halted in her steps and half turned around to face Ares with a pure and radiant smile on her face. "I don't need it anymore. Besides, if anything happens to me... You'll be there to pick up every piece of me." Without any further explanation, not that any was needed, Sandy, with a small skip in her step, left the caravan... And a frozen-in-place Ares who was now realising he'd been played! This woman had been awake last night when he poured his heart out!... The shame was truly unbearable... Ares buried his burning face in the couch and decided to just hide in this treasure for the foreseeable future...