Chapter XLV: Maniae

            Naiya was pacing indefinitely with her eyes set at the unforeseeable end of the road that could lead her to The Lower Kingdom, the place where she may be able to find her brother. It’s been so long since she had a clear goal in mind that she wasn’t even thinking of how drained she felt.

 

            “Miss Naiya?”, Crisostomo asks.

 

            “Yes?”

 

            “Can we slow down a bit perhaps?”

 

            Naiya looks back at him and the rest of the group who were exhausted from walking. It’s been hours since they went through the hidden passage underneath the house. After being briefed about their mission, they took a few supplies from the settlement that Crisostomo had found earlier. This included a first-aid kit, a canister of [1] lambanog, a basket of hand-picked apples, and two bedrolls.

 

            There was a very long brick hallway ahead of them lit up by mana torches which gave the straight road a warm blue glow. Tired and weary, Crisostomo sets up the two bed rolls beside the empty road; one for Naiya and another for Yvaine and Sticky to share.

 

            “I... I’m sorry for being inconsiderate of the circumstances”, Naiya apologizes to them while bowing her head.

 

            “Oh, really?” Yvaine acts up. “Did it really take you that long to realize how hard it is for me to walk like this?”

 

            “I apologize for not noticing... I was merely at the edge of my-“

 

            “You don’t need to apologize, Miss Naiya. Yvaine just likes to tease people”, Crisostomo says while finishing up the first bedroll. “Here, I got it all fixed up.”

 

            “Thank you.”

 

            Crisostomo goes over and fixes up the other one for Yvaine and Sticky.

 

            “Thanks a lot, Cris”, Yvaine says sarcastically while leaning onto Sticky to ease herself onto the bedroll. “Come on Sticky, lie down next to me.”

 

            “But I’m not tired.”

 

            “The last time you disobeyed, I got knives stuck through my thigh because of-“

 

            “Nap time!”

 

            He immediately falls to her side in fetal position.

 

            “What about you, Captain Crisostomo?”, Naiya asks as she lies on the roll.

 

            “I’ll keep watch, Miss Naiya. You, however, should be getting some rest, what with all the mana you expended on getting us back here.”

 

            His face was calm and sincere as he said this but in his head...

 

            Captain Crisostomo? Captain f*cking Crisostomo? That’s the first time anyone’s addressed me with my proper title! Thank you, Miss Naiya!

 

            But as we know Naiya, being both innocent and considerate, she gives Crisostomo an unnecessary suggestion.

 

            “There is still much space on this bedroll. We could share-“

 

            “Not happening!”, Maria exclaims.

 

            “Why?” Kat asks. “What’s wrong with that?”

 

            “This guys is that pervert I was telling you about”, Maria tells her.

 

            “Oh!” Kat’s ears perked up. “Then that’s wrong by all accounts!”

 

            “That’s right! Besides, we’ll be the one occupying whatever space is left! Right, Kat?”

 

            “Right”, she nods.

 

            In response, Crisostomo sighs and backs away. He walked a couple meters away and sat with his back against the wall with a canister of lambanog in his hand.

 

            “Is this far enough for you, Kitty?”, he asks Maria from afar.

 

            “That’ll do. But just to be safe...”

 

            Maria projects a highly charged electric force field around the two bed rolls to keep Crisostomo away.

 

            “There we go. Now we’re all safe.”

 

            Convinced that she’s kept him away, the Anima takes her place on the bedroll with her partner and her new energetic friend.

 

            “I thought you said you couldn’t use your powers while resting”, Kat whispers to Maria.

 

            “Don’t worry. He’s pretty stupid. He’ll never figure it out.”

 

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            Hours later, Crisostomo was still awake. He finished the entire canister of lambanog but the alcohol wasn’t very effective in putting him to sleep. These days, it seems, he hardly gets enough rest, let alone a bit of shut-eye. Things have been hectic for him when he was promoted to Guard Captain after they fired the last one for buying drugs from his prisoners in exchange for pardon letters.

 

            He was tired everyday from cleaning up after the crap his predecessor left behind, and it would have been just as he had planned if a certain someone hadn’t kept on stealing from the king’s royal pantry. Now that he’s in an escort mission outside Berial Magus, the time he has to finally slack-off is unnaturally bothering him.

 

            “It’s gonna take more than one bottle to put me to sleep, I guess.”

 

            He whispers to himself whilst reading the label on the bottle.

 

            “Tonilla: Black Label Exclusive... What the hell kind of name is that?”

 

            “It’s the name of the guild master from the Brewery Guild.”

 

            Crisostomo looks up to see Yvaine standing with her weight on the right leg.

 

            “Hey, careful! You could get-“

 

            “Shh!”

 

            “But what if you-“

 

            “Shh... Shut up”, she whispers with her index finger on her lip. “Sticky just fell asleep. If he wakes up now, he’ll be up all night trying to convince me to get some rest.”

 

            “That’s your fault.” Crisostomo tones down his voice. “Why are you still awake anyway?”

 

            “This place is too cold, the bed’s too small, and that damn antiseptic you put on my leg hurts like hell”, she says while sitting next to him. “You don’t mind if I sit next to you, right?”

 

            “Don’t be acting all touchy-feely with me. You’re still a wanted criminal in Berial Magus. The only reason I didn’t turn you in earlier is because Miss Naiya asked me not to, but if you make one wrong move, I swear, I will slice off both your god damn legs.”

 

            “I think we both know you’re too p*ssy for such a threat like that”, she says, stealing the canister from him.

 

            Within the blink of an eye, the container in her hand is sliced cleanly in two. The next moment, Crisostomo was already sheathing his blade.

 

            “I’m sorry. I’m reeeaally intoxicated right now meaning whatever insult you throw is gonna end up with me slashing you in the neck, so please shut the hell up. I haven’t had much time to rest, so do me a favor before things get messy.”

 

            That threatening remark almost made Yvaine think he was actually serious... until he belched loudly and started talking like some drunk college drop-out.

 

            “Are you... okay?”

 

            “Of course I am...” He says in a low, quiet voice. “Speaking of which, did you know you can compute for the tension/compression force on a specific joint using method of sections?”

 

            Um... What?

 

            “Um... What?”

 

            “What I’m saying is, you don’t have to start at the joint with at most two unknown forces just to analyze the entire god damn truss. All you gotta do is get the moment of forces considered in a section to get what you’re looking for.”

 

            “I have no idea what that is.”

 

            “Yeah... Of course you don’t, Violet”, he coos sarcastically. “But when it’s Elias’ turn to explain, every damn hypothesis is confirmed, isn’t it?”

 

            “Who’s Violet?”

 

            “You think you’re so cute with your tan skin and beautiful eyes... Too bad Elias just isn’t into you. We both know that guy’s got a f*cking sister complex.”

 

            He lunges on top of her...

 

            Wait, did I say that right... Damn, he really did lunge on top of her, and now she’s all tensed up.

 

            “Cris, calm down man”, she tries to push him off as quietly as possible. It’d be hard to explain this to them if they woke up.

 

            “Calm down? I’m totally calm, Violet. All I’m asking is why the hell did you pass off Elias as a Macro-mage while I ended up failing because I didn’t use the solution that you wanted?”

 

            “What are you talking about?”

 

            Yeah, what the hell are you talking about, Crisostomo?

 

            “Do you have any idea how it felt to have everything I’ve worked for gone to waste? All the sacrifices I made were deemed meaningless just because of some petty reason... It’s just not fair. I already felt like crap when I found out that I was my father’s b*****d. I did everything I could to get some dignity through education and now you got me stuck as a f*cking law enforcer under minimum wage...”

 

            He passes out on top of her.

 

            “Holy mother of... Get off!”

 

            Don’t ever drink alcohol that’s unfamiliar to you, kids.

 

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            “Edith!”

 

            With a loud cry, Naiya awoke from her nightmare. Her eyes were soaked as she quickly rose from the bedroll and started running. Directionless. Aimless. Disorderly. She just ran through that damn tunnel trying to get away from her own thoughts. She wanted to be somewhere else, somewhere she could feel safe, but ever since Edith died, nothing ever felt secure anymore.

 

            So she runs through the blue flares lighting her way. Maybe she’ll find peace somewhere if she got herself lost. That’s what Ivaldi did when he was starting to lose his way. It made her think that there are so many things to be discovered in getting yourself lost, even discovering a part of yourself.

 

            But as she traversed the road, she found something in front of her that she thought she’d never see again.

 

            She saw her younger herself.

 

            Her eyes widened from seeing the scene again.

 

            When she and Edith were captured in Fortuna’s Citadel, she accidentally activated a portion of power from the shock of seeing her other companions decapitated in front of her. Naiya was so afraid that day that the mana inside her started to leak into something more volatile.

 

            You see, dear reader, mana is a source of energy, but if it exceeds the capacitance of the vessel without being used for a specific spell, it turns into a deadly acid for Humans. For Elementals, the mana leaking out cannot kill them, but it causes extreme pain to the Human component of their body.

 

            The stitches on her chest came undone. A burst of destructive mana erupted from her Matrix, spraying acid all around her.

 

            She fell to her knees as the acid came dripping from her Matrix down to her abdomen. When she realized what happened, she opened her eyes and saw Edith...

 

            Her step mother was screaming in pain as the acid melted her skin and tore through her flesh. Her eyes fell off their sockets. Her lips dripped off bloodied from her mouth. Every square-inch of her was eaten away by the substance until what’s left is the faceless husk of Naiya’s beloved mother.

 

            “How quaint... I wanted to kill her in front of you, but this is much, much more interesting, don’t you think, little girl?”

 

            She looked at him. Her eyes lost all their emotions in an instant. Since that day, she’s been as numb as she could ever be.

 

            She never wanted something like that to happen again.

 

            She got rid of her emotions.

 

            But now, they’re back.

 

            “It’s nice to meet you. My name is Geno, and you’re coming with me. We’re going to have so much fun together.”

 

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            Naiya’s eyes opened.

 

            She just subconsciously replayed her worst nightmare, but she didn’t scream, or cry, or show any trace of contempt. All she did was sit up from her bedroll staring into her own hands.

 

            “I’m the one that killed her... But why...

 

            “Why must I feel this way? These emotions are supposed to be locked away somewhere, yet they keep re-appearing. I... I must finish my mission and erase these feelings before they grow any larger...”

 

            Looking in front of her, she sees something a little too unusual for her taste. It seems she woke up to Crisostomo passing out on top of...

 

            “Miss Yvaine... Are you and Captain Crisostomo copulating?”

 

            “Um... Yeah, of course, we are”, Yvaine answers sarcastically.

 

            “Are you wearing protection?”

 

            “You do realize that I was being sarcastic, right?”

 

            “Why would you make an expression of intercourse so nonchalantly?”

 

            “Well... You know, that’s actually a good point.”

 

            “’Sex is sacred.’ Did you not know that?”

 

            “I don’t really give a damn”, she says, trying to push off Crisostomo’s piss-drunk face off her chest. “Well, don’t just sit there. Help me out here.”

 

            Naiya gets up and helps her get Crisostomo out of her way and onto the bedroll next to Sticky.

 

            “Is he going to be okay?”, Naiya questions.

 

            “He’s a big boy now. Aside from the hangover coming up, I think he can handle having to hurl out his guts by tomorrow.”

 

            “That sounds terrible. Maybe I can help him.”

 

            “How?”

 

            “I can use my powers to suck out the alcohol from his system.”

 

            “You can do that?”

 

            “Yes. All I need to do is find an opening.”

 

            “...I know I’m going to regret asking this but... what do you mean by opening?”

 

            “The place where I can suck it out of him. For example, I can do it from his lips, or maybe-“

 

            “Stop right there!” Yvaine explicitly orders. “I’ll be honest with you, I wasn’t expecting something as sleazy as...”

 

            Yvaine couldn’t continue talking as Naiya began giggling like a little girl, an expression the criminal thought she’d never see from this little girl.

 

            “What’s so funny?”

 

            “I was just joking”, she says as her laughter dies down.

 

            “Oh, that’s... weird.”

 

            “Hmm?” Naiya looks at her. “What’s so strange?”

 

            “Well, I didn’t think you’d ever smile, let alone laugh like that.”

 

            The smile on Naiya’s face started turning upside down from Yvaine’s comment.

 

            “I suppose it is... quite strange for me to act like this. Truthfully, I am just as surprised as you are.”

 

            “Wow. You’re really... something, aren’t you?”

 

            “I agree.” Naiya returns back to her expressionless look. “I must keep this all in check. These feelings are a hindrance to my real goal. That is why I would like to apologize for almost choking the life out of you. These sudden outbursts are what caused me to do those outrageous things. I was only lucky to find something to quell the rage this time.”

 

            “That’s stupid”, Yvaine ripostes.

 

            “Is... Is that supposed to be an insult?”

 

            “No, it’s the truth.” Yvaine sighs. “Listen, I don’t know how you were raised but isn’t it just sad to have no feelings at all?”

 

            “Why?”

 

            “That’s... Well... How do I say this... Human beings have to have feelings, right? According to the Scriptures.”

 

            “But we’re not Human beings.”

 

            Amused, Yvaine centers her vision onto the confused girl’s eyes.

 

            “Wow. I thought for sure you’d be a lot smarter than me, but it looks like you’re just as dumb as a school-girl trying to act all mature.”

 

            “I don’t appreciate the insults.”

 

            “Oh, these aren’t insults. It’s the truth, you dumb kid”, Yvaine gives her a cold mocking smile.

 

            “Cease this infernal mockery.”

 

            She quietly threatens Yvaine with her hands charging up a ball of fire.

 

            “That thing you’re doing right there...” Yvaine chuckles and points at her. “It proves that you’re just as Human as Crisostomo, Sticky, and me.”

 

            With that statement, Naiya’s flame dies down.

 

            “You’re... right... I apologize for what I almost said”, she bows.

 

            “Dude, you don’t have to bow to me. We’re the same age.”

 

            “Even so, I have offended you. I sincerely apologize for being so-“

 

            “God-damn-it, girl! You’re so polite, it’s disgusting! Let loose, for Chris-sake! You’re supposed to be... Wait, are you crying?”

 

            “I’m sorry... I can’t take it anymore... I’m sorry but... I can barely even hold onto my emotions... I thought I had it under control but...”

 

            “So it’s finally broken you, huh?” Yvaine sighs. “You don’t have to apologize. It’s okay.”

 

            “...Wh-What?”

 

            “I said, it’s okay.”

 

            “Even after the many times I almost killed you with my scorn... All you have to say is ‘It’s okay’?”

 

            “Well, evidently, most of it was my fault so I should be the one apologizing.” With a lot of effort, Yvaine stands up to face Naiya and bows humbly. “I’m... uh... sort of indebted to you since you saved my life, not to mention Sticky’s... That’s why... umm... My bad for being a total prick. I take back what I said back in Berial Magus.”

 

            Yvaine raises her head and is greeted by a warm embrace from Naiya.

 

            “Well, this is... This a little too close-“

 

            “Thank you...”

 

            “Okay... This is taking awkwardly long. You can let go now.”

 

            “Just a little longer.”

 

            “My leg’s starting to hurt.”

 

            “You can lean on me.”

 

            “That’s not the problem here...”

 

            She was hugging Yvaine for quite a while. Strangely enough, it felt like when Sticky first hugged her, except this time she wasn’t the one crying. When Osiris left her, the only person who consoled her was Sticky and as long as they were together, she never felt alone.

 

            It’s amazing, though, how these simple gestures can drive away someone’s loneliness.

 

            ...

 

            Now then...

 

            It’s about time we get back to our main character so-

 

            *ELDER DRAGON ROAR*

 

            Well, f*ck...

 

            I forgot about that dragon.

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1. Coconut wine from the Philippines

Reviews

[❀Subaru_Nyaa!
..]

lambanog (coconut wine) = I recommend putting it as bold with a number and put what it is in the bottom as it will break the flow a bit.

cute with you tan skin and beautiful eyes. = forgot the R for "your"