THE BEGINNING OF IT ALL: First Path - CH34

Miriel had been searching for Don all over the city and couldn't find him until she reached the religious district and found him hidden in the darkness of a dead-end alley. She approached with slow steps and began:

"— Don?"

There was no response, so she kept approaching him.

Don was crouched, completely covered and hidden by the cloak his master had given him, but deep down, he was emitting an immense and sinister ether—totally unknown to Miriel—as if it weren't a normal one, as if it were a completely different flow. But with courage, she continued approaching, and though she called out to him, he didn't respond. When she finally stood in front of him, she stopped and pulled the hood off his head, revealing a completely normal Don but in a trance, with all parts of his eyes darkened in pure black—so pure it swallowed the very darkness around him—his head thrown back, kneeling and gazing at the sky, completely lost somewhere.

Miriel called his name about five times until she slapped him, which, for some reason, brought him back to his senses and worked. This made Don take a deep breath, as if he were drowning and running out of air, gripping the clothes Miriel was wearing tightly. Just at the moment he came to, that presence—which felt like ether but at the same time wasn't—vanished the second he awoke, leaving even more questions in her mind, doubts yet to be answered.

"— Are you okay now?"

"— Yes," Don replied, expecting a specific question, but it didn't come the way he imagined.

"— Let's go, it's getting late. We need to find an inn; I'm tired."

"…"

"— Come on, get up already; we have to go!"

Don stood up weakly, struggling to walk. Miriel helped him bear his weight, but as she did, she saw a vial fall to the ground with a blue liquid. She kept moving forward and ignored it, quickly guessing the contents of that empty vial that had slipped from Don. Of course, to get out of this mess, Don had drunk the last potion he had left to keep disguising himself as a human, but something happened to him along the way, and he ended up in that alley, lost in a dark world.

They crossed several districts, like the guild and commercial ones, until they reached the lodging district. They entered the first inn they found, which had only one room available—but with just one bed—so Don would sleep on the floor this time. Miriel didn't care much, even though he paid 2 gold coins for the lodging and food for both. After arriving, they took turns bathing and dressed in the clothes available in the inn's wardrobe. And, as if it were an unwritten rule, Miriel always monopolized the single bed.

Later, she abruptly interrupted Don's drowsiness just as he was piecing together the last fragment that would take him to another world full of peace.

"— You transformed, didn't you?"

"— What?" Don asked, trying to understand.

"— I saw it in the workshop. Your eyes changed color, your veins glowed, and a hard, huge lump grew behind your cloak… I saw what you really are—a real supaibi," she said, staring with interest, wanting to know more, even though she already knew.

"— What are you talking about?" Don asked, confused, but in an instant, he realized she was referring to him.

"— Don't play dumb. I had my suspicions you were a… Supaibi. Narsozas's seal didn't fail me; you're real. But I have more questions. I know your people's history quite well," she said, while Don couldn't find words to deny her claims. "— The protectors, from the Inocensy line, the source of ether, the chosen ones to protect—and my blood descends from yours, yet we're still inferior. That's what the books say… but you… in that alley, what were you doing?" she asked curiously.

"— I don't know what you're talking about… Miriel," he replied.

"— Come on, I'm your guide. You could trust me a little more, couldn't you?" she said, trying to manipulate him.

"— Trust you? Why? You belittle me, call me useless every chance you get. In four days of travel, you haven't stopped judging me. You're cruel, cold, arrogant, and fucking selfish. I have no reason to trust you."

"— Well, well… look, I don't mince words. I call you useless because you are. You're nothing but a naive asshole who helps everyone, and humans like you who think they're heroes piss me off. You don't even want to know what you are—a fucking indecisive bastard with no direction," she spat furiously, her words searing into his mind.

Don stared at her, knowing she was right, waiting for the slightest word to magically appear on the tip of his tongue to fire back a retort that would hurt just as much… but nothing came. Then, swallowing his pride, he responded, still visibly upset:

"— You're right," he said.

Miriel stared at him neutrally, glancing side to side. A silence stretched on so long that minutes passed. They lay down again, and hours went by… until Miriel recalled some words: "If you want to find happiness, work as a guide. Complete a thousand jobs until you feel happy, but remember… no one likes a person who doesn't smile… Miriel… give yourself, and they will give to you."

Annoyed at the thought of forcing herself to take the first step to mend things between them, she started:

"— If I apologize to you, will you answer my question?"

Don let out small laughs, incredulous at Miriel's attempt to fix their companionship.

"— Is that really your best shot?" he asked with a hint of irony.

"— Yes or no?"

Don scratched his head and gave in, shaking his head side to side, still hardly believing it.

"— Yes…"

"— I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that to you."

"— Well, it doesn't matter anymore… so what do you want to know?"

"— In that alley, you were giving off an unknown ether—colorless, totally dark—and I felt it pulling me toward you like an irresistible magnet. I couldn't even see your flow, but I knew it was there. Then it vanished instantly, and you went back to being the same useless idiot as always."

Annoyed, Don twisted his mouth to one side and replied:

"— You're hopeless. I don't know what you're talking about, but before you woke me up…"

He couldn't finish, fainting and collapsing to the floor, like a candle's flame slowly flickering out.

"— Don?" she called.

"— Don?" she called again.

"— Don?" she repeated over and over, trying to lift him.

But suddenly, he began trembling violently.

Then he stopped abruptly…

He opened his eyes… but just like before in that alley, they darkened completely. The candles went out—though the soft breezes couldn't even ripple the bedsheet—and the artificial lights of terralitos were snuffed out from nowhere, plunging the room into darkness.