Of Fear And Will

It was a gut wrenching fear.

The hideous contorted maw that had split Thyvelia's face now curled into an ugly smile as Scola finally went limp.

Her legs twitched, once, twice, and then no longer.

When she dropped the centipede's massive body, the floor shook as Scola's sole moving forelimb stretched out towards me.

I was utterly frozen as all of this happened.

Thyvelia then turned towards me, her mouth now a fleshy gash tearing across her face, while her teeth had distorted into massive chunks of shattered bone. A long fleshy tongue now lolled out of this disgusting wound as she turned to face me.

I was practically choking on my own fear. There was nothing I could do. I had simply watched as Scola died.

My body no longer listened to me as my throat contracted, completely killing my ability to speak. I felt my stomach gurgle and flip, over and over as I felt as though I would vomit.

Thyvelia knelt in front of me, one gold stained hand reaching out to grasp my own. I began to hyperventilate as her warm bloodied fingers wrapped around my cut palm.

*BADUMP*

I squeezed my eyes shut as I hoped it would all disappear.

*BADUMP*

The ghastly mutilated body of Scola, the sickly sweet copper scent of death, I just wanted it all gone.

*BADUMP*

I just wanted to…

*BAdu..*

As I fell unconscious, a spectral green light poured out from my heart, running through my chest and down my left arm. The skin on my arm began to peel and flake into the air as fragments of light. The flesh on my hand burnt away down the bone as I reawakened, a ghostly green light now taking it's place. Tyvelia stood up, a curious expression now adorning her reformed face. I slowly walked over to the devastated corpse of Scola, placing my hand upon her blood stained carapace. I could feel her life leaving her body. I reopened my eyes, now aflame with the very same pale green glow.

"Don't leave me alone."

Blazing tears began to fall upon her body as my strength began to leave me and I began to fall.

As I fell, I felt someone catch me, my vision beginning to fade to black.

However, as all my thoughts began to disappear, I saw something that brought solace to my fading mind.

A slight movement, almost imperceptible. A twitch from one of Scola's shattered limbs.

…

______________

POV: Tyvelia

______________

I had only seen something like it once.

The ghostly green light of healing.

I had seen the dragon Matriarch of Nature performing it on me when my mother and father had been killed. It was the last time I saw anything. My eyes had been sealed away as they had been tainted by a curse.

However, if only for a moment, I had seen it.

The pale green glow that had once taken my eyes from me.

I blindly peered at the boy resting his head on my lap, a wavering image, like that of a cackling white flame began to form in my mind. I could vividly see him, laying there.

This was how I saw the world. A constantly shifting and flickering existence, without any form of absolutes.

And this form of sight bled into everything, seeping into my mind and thoughts as I took in the teachings of the Matriarchs who surrounded me. I could never truly trust anyone. They all changed and distorted as easily as the sands on Vildun's back.

However for a moment, all of that had changed.

I had seen him.

Not in the form of the vivid white flame, but the detailed memories I had before my parent's deaths.

In that moment, the cloth covering my eyes and warping my vision was repealed, revealing him to me.

Black messy hair, pale glowing green eyes, soft white skin. I seared all of it into my mind. The memory of his despairing face had replayed over and over in my head.

I looked over at where the body of Scola had once been.

The image of the centipede showed that it had now coiled up like a serpent, peering at me with empty eyes.

I did not have it in me to take her away from him again.

So I allowed the creature to live. However I have begun to wonder. In that single moment of clarity, I had seen it. A deep green emanating from his chest. There was indeed a chance that he was not the Irn I had so readily seized from the iron wood forest.

Perhaps I was simply grabbing onto this man like some sort of pet, when the thing I truly wanted was within him.

I…

I do not know what I would do if such a thing were true.

Would I be able to kill him when I finally knew?

…

____________

POV: Deus

____________

A faint blue light came into view as my vision swam. I felt extremely drained. As though I had exhausted all my strength tenfold.

I groaned, raising my head off my… pillow?

My eyes shot open, peering up into the dark cloth that covered Tyvelia's eyes.

I rolled off of her lap at breakneck speeds, hitting the floor and jumping up to stand. The image of Tyvelia's monstrous face having been seared into my mind. I tripped backwards, slamming into something tall and hard.

An excited chittering sounded from above me as I looked up. Tears began to form in the corner of my eyes as they met with the abyssal black eyes of Scola.

"YOUR ALIVE!"

Then it hit me. A tidal wave of memories came crashing down on my mind. The green light that had consumed my hand and healed Scola. The beating of my once more silent heart.

I felt something heavy wrap around me, pulling me up and out of the massive flood of memories.

Scola wrapped her forelimbs around me, resting her head atop my own.

I sighed, smiling slightly as I discarded thoughts of what had happened for now.

'Right now I'm just glad she's okay.'

"What is your name?"

A soft quiet voice spoke from in front of me. I turned back again to the still seated Tyvelia, who had neatly folded her gown beneath her as I had rested upon her thighs.

As she spoke, Scola tightened her grip on me. My smile faded as I placed a calm hand on her spear like forearm, causing her to loosen up a little.

Feeling that she was less agitated, I turned my attention back to the question, thinking on it for a moment.

'Should I lie?'

This felt like the logical choice but…

'I definitely will suffer horribly if she finds out or can sense lies.'

I sucked in a deep breath, deciding on my answer.

"I am Deus."

Tyvelia raised an eyebrow, seemingly watching me for a moment. Her blind gaze seemed to make my skin crawl as my hairs stood on edge.

"I had not asked for your name before, so I simply wished to know."

An awkward silence seemed to descend as I nor Tyvelia said anything. The only thing breaking this silence was the occasional click of one of Scola's chitinous feet on the stone floor.

I almost began to hold my breath when Tyvelia finally spoke again.

"I apologize for the scene earlier. I simply do not take well to people… damaging, my things."

My face twitched a little, though I said nothing. This possessiveness had reminded me of something that made me really hope she only saw me as an item to collect.

"I accept your apology."

'However I will never forget what happened here.'

As I thought this, a slight, imperceptible smile flashed across Tyvelia's face.

"I see, thank you."

I honestly just wanted her to leave. I really did not want to continue this conversation. I could feel the goose bumps on my skin running up and down my arms like a feeble rash.

Finally, after another bout of awkward silence, she spoke again.

"Where did you learn such powerful magic?"

My mind froze as I heard the question. I had no idea how to answer that. Would she even believe me if I said I had no idea how I had done what I did?

'Well it's better than making something up and then getting caught if she asks for me to do it again.'

"I didn't. I just felt overwhelmed, and used it."

'Wait that magic is considered powerful by a Matriarch?'

Though I had a lot of questions floating in my mind, I used my fear of Tyvelia to keep my thoughts focused on the deadly abomination in front of me.

"It was instinctual then…"

She muttered something beneath her breath as she began to stand, dusting herself off.

"Well then, if you're interested, perhaps I could teach you some magic."

My eyes widened as I heard what she said.

'I'll take every advantage I can get! I just need to know what the catch is first.'

"Alright, may I come back to you on that?"

A small smile appeared on her face for a moment before disappearing as she walked past me.

"Sure. For now, follow me."

I looked up at Scola, who followed Tyvelia's every movement with her beady little eyes. She then let go of me, skittering past me and after Tyvelia.

Understanding that I had even less choice than Scola, I immediately took off after the creeping creature.

I had never realized how attached I had become to the sole thing that had shown me kindness in this world.

'I had been truly alone before. Even if it had been for less than a day, I had been completely devoid of hope. I am not surprised I latched onto her so strongly.'

Then I suddenly remembered something. Didn't she hate it when I touched her before? If so, why had she been holding onto me so tightly?

…

We followed Tyvelia through the winding caves, with Scola having both lit and carried the lantern she had left behind the door.

It seems my mind hadn't registered everything that had happened earlier because I was now realizing how terrifying that entire situation was. Tyvelia had killed someone because she had hurt me. Not only that, Scola had hurt me unintentionally. No questions were even asked. At least not until later.

Wait.

She literally killed then asked questions later.

An uncomfortable smile formed on my face as I realized how many issues were piled onto my shoulders.

'I could literally die at any moment.'

Honestly, my lack of sleep was catching up to me despite having spent an uncomfortable amount of time unconscious.

It was truly beginning to take a toll on me.

"The reason I had been wondering where you had learnt magic is because this is not the first time you have used it."

The light voice pierced through my bubble of contemplation, causing me to instantly turn my attention back to Tyvelia.

"When I grabbed you from the iron wood forest, after you had fallen unconscious, yet you had healed yourself as well. It was surprising because you both smelled and tasted of a newborn."

…

WhAt?

"I smelled and tasted like a newborn?"

"Yes. You tasted and smelled like a young child. Yet despite that you had used magic. That is why I had suspected you to be an Isekaijin. However, actually being an Isekaijin slightly offsets my concerns. I think I now understand what has happened here."

I was not questioning that part though. It seemed my ability to heal was based of either being hurt, or copious amounts of fear. I was more concerned by the insinuation that she had been eating babies.

She then stopped abruptly, causing Scola to do the same. The lantern swung on Scola's forelimb, causing Tyvelia disappear and reappear from the shadows, over and over again.

Then Scola steadied her lantern, properly holding it in place.

However, Tyvelia was gone.

We had reach a massive cavernous room, not unlike that which housed Tyvelia's hoard of silver.

The only difference being, this one had nothing in it. The air down here was completely stale and unmoving. The faint smell of rot pervaded the room, reaching my nose as my eyes narrowed.

Something was seriously wrong around here. Taking a step forward, I then felt something wet underfoot.

I didn't dare to move, beckoning Scola over instead. The centipede slowly crawled over, the light of her lantern illuminating a pool of liquid.

It was blood. A massive pool of blood.

A thin veil of iridescence seemed to float on top of it, showing its age. Though still liquid, it had been rotting here for a while. I gulped, shuddering as I exhaled. Closing my eyes, I decided to face the situation as best I could.

"Scola, raise the lantern higher."

I reopened my eyes to a sight that I would never forget.

Rotting flesh and organs lay strewn across the cavern floor. It was like some form of disgusting slaughterhouse. I felt my throat burn as vomit made its way up from my stomach. Covering my mouth, I closed back my eyes and forced it down.

Something told me I may have to get used to stuff like this.

Opening my eyes back I searched for Tyvelia, who was nowhere to be found.

Though I had managed to gather my bearings in this place without losing my lunch, I had no intention of calling out for her.

So we waited.

I of course had Scola lower the lantern so I wouldn't have to stare at the disgusting scene anymore, but the memory was already a fixture in my mind.

Then, I smelled it. A familiar, horrid stench. A putrid acidic scent that filled my nose.

I felt Scola's claw slowly hook onto the back of my shirt as she urged me to come back. She didn't need to tell me twice. We both slowly backed out of the room of blood and decay, watching for any sign of the Dark Matriarch.

Then, within the shadows, a dark form swung down the ceiling, slowly being lowered to the floor.

It was then finally dropped with a heavy thud.

I could hear what sounded like the tearing of thick wet gel. However I knew it wasn't gel.

Then, slowly but surely, the sounds of tearing and swallowing disappeared from around us. Neither me nor Scola had taken a step forward or back, knowing either could be a fatal mistake.

After what felt like a few gut wrenching hours, the sounds finally stopped. Tyvelia then appeared with a massive bloody piece of flesh in her hands.

For the second time today, she was splattered from head to toe with blood.

It took all my mettle to not run away the moment I saw her.

"I brought you food. You must feel exhausted after using so much mana."

Though I almost vomited on the spot, I held it in. Instead, I asked a question that had been bothering me from the moment I had seen its massive shadow.

"What is that?"

"Iron skin boar. The flesh is nice and fatty."

Her normally light calm voice had a tinge of enthusiasm that concerned me beyond belief.

But I couldn't afford to be picky. I hadn't thought about it before, but I hadn't eaten in a while. And though I had been unbothered due my blood now permanently consisting of 50% adrenalin and 50% an unknown substance, I was slowly reaching all of my limits, both physically and mentally.

So while steeling myself, I sucked in my breath, and made the tough choice.

"Do you have anything I can use to cook?"