"hah hah hah hah"
On a high hill, there stood a knight with blond hair and a girl with red hair and dragon horns towering above. They faced each other in a disheveled state.
The blond knight had lost his left hand, his armor was shattered, and one of his eyes was damaged. Similarly, the dragon girl's body was heavily scratched by swords. Half of her tail was cut off, and her right wrist was missing.
They gazed at each other with empty stares, both realizing that their fight ultimately had no meaning. The man then broke the silence.
"I, Hizoa Shorn, acknowledge that you are the strongest opponent."
His balance began to fade, his body fell leaning on the sword. He still kept himself from lying down in death, as it was an honor and the dream of every knight.
"I have lived longer than you, trained for 100 years... but you could defeat me. If only I were human like you, I would surely lose," the dragon girl whispered.
"My name is Finora Mijo..." The girl collapsed before she could finish her sentence.
Did the knight win? No, even his breath was barely audible. All he could do was wait for death to come, which would be soon. It didn't matter; perhaps the pain would soon fade away.
The wind blew strongly, the grass swayed in rhythm with it. The scene was very beautiful, especially under the bright full moon that night. But not so for the area around them, damaged by the impact of their battle.
Ten minutes had passed, and the knight could still breathe. Despite the ongoing pain, he tried to keep himself from falling.
"Hey, why did you fight?" The voice suddenly appeared.
"Hey... Can you hear me?"
The voice emerged, so close, yet there was no figure to be seen.
"It seems I'm hallucinating. That's good. My death is near," the knight said with a weak laugh.
"No, you're not hallucinating."
Suddenly after the voice, particles of light appeared spinning in front of the knight. Then emerged a beautiful girl, so lovely, with incredibly smooth skin. Her ears were long.
"An elf? I thought... that was just a fairy tale," the knight interjected.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm a Fairy. I'm quite surprised; you're on the brink of death, yet you can still answer my questions," praised the Fairy.
"Fairy, huh? Aren't you aware I'm dying? So why have you appeared before me?"
The knight's voice sounded feeble; even the Fairy could barely hear it.
"Your voice is barely audible, right? What else can I do?" The Fairy used her magic. The knight felt the pain in his body drastically diminish, although not entirely gone, as the Fairy seemed to do so deliberately.
The Fairy also gave additional energy so that the knight could converse with her. The Fairy then sat before the knight.
"Answer my earlier question. Why were you fighting?" The Fairy seemed very curious about what had happened, despite Fairies being known not to meddle in human affairs.
They were creatures inhabiting the second realm, an unseen world to humans. Their lifespans were very long; they typically died at over 10,000 years old.
"The king sent me to kill the Dragon, especially the Dragon over there." The knight pointed at the girl.
"She has caused havoc and killed many people."
The Fairy nodded slowly. "Is there a special reason why you accepted that order?"
"My hometown was destroyed by the Dragons' antics. My father died then, leaving my mother, my older sister, and me."
"My hatred didn't end there. I saw my mother toiling every day to support the two of us. We often endured hunger and wore tattered clothes. No one wanted to help us; everyone was going through the same hardships."
"Is that all?" asked the Fairy.
"That's not something to be taken lightly," the knight replied.
The Fairy then said, "All you do is perpetuate an endless chain of hatred. Why don't you try to understand each other?"
"What do you mean?" The knight didn't understand the Fairy's words.
"You must feel each other's pain to understand each other's feelings. That's why I'm here. I will reincarnate you both and change your fates."
"Are you trying to humor me? That's impossible."
"No, I'm not joking." The Fairy pulled out her wand from the air.
"........... ..... .... ....."
Whatever words came out of the Fairy's mouth, a glowing circle appeared and surrounded the three of them.
"Farewell to both of you."
The Fairy then tapped her wand on the ground, and suddenly what the man saw changed. His body felt cool; he saw fields and grasslands. Beside him was a well.
He was currently immersed in a large bucket, seeing his reflection in the water. His face looked like that of a child.
The gentle wind felt soothing and comfortable. What feeling was this? He then saw his hands, small again; his body had returned to that of a child.
"Hizoa, it's lunchtime," a woman's voice he didn't know called out to him.
"I don't know this place. Where am I?" thought the man, recalling what the Fairy had said.
"Hizoa, are you not finished yet?" The woman said again, but the man ignored her.
"It seems I've indeed swapped fates with that girl. Wait, though?" The man realized something was amiss and opened his pants, which were being immersed.
He breathed a sigh of relief; fortunately, he didn't swap genders too. No wonder the woman called him "Hizoa." But who was this woman?
Sfx=Gaspppp......
"Hizoa! What are you looking at?"
Hizoa was startled as the woman was already beside him; it turned out she saw the little boy opening his pants.
"Nothing!" Hizoa blurted out in panic.
The woman then glanced at Hizoa for a few moments. She was beautiful and dressed like a simple village girl. She then took a long breath.
"Come inside, lunch is ready. Mother has prepared it."
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