...So I Was Caught Off Guard

The prairies that stretch on for miles in every direction really puts everything into perspective. It takes a massive open space like this to make you realize just how small you are. The mountains in the far distance don't seem to be getting any closer, despite having walked for several hours already.

A soft wind blows past, and I raise my hand to shade my eyes from the sun as I look further ahead.

To anyone else, being out at this time of day, walking for miles in the summer sun… they'd probably die from heatstroke. But I'm in my element when it comes to high temperatures. I can't overheat, so I don't sweat, either. I never could wrap my mind around how miserable the farmers would look on days like these, with their shirts soaked through and their arms all red and peeling. Maybe that's why they tried to enlist me into doing farm work for them on the really hot days. Emphasis on 'tried.' I'm not one for doing other peoples' work.

I begin to whistle to myself, but I don't know any songs by heart so I just whistle the same note over and over again.

'Must be getting pretty close, right?' I think to myself. 'I'm at least closing in on the country border, right…?'

I continue to pace in relative silence for another few minutes or so.

'I should've been able to at least see the capital by now, right?' I think, narrowing my eyes.

Remembering back to the maps I used to look at as a kid, it seemed like the capital city was really close. Just a little field away after passing these weird squiggly things. Not sure what they were, but they couldn't be all that big of an obstacle.

I push onwards, whistling again to pass the time.

'…This isn't working anymore,' I think with a distasteful look. 'Oh… How about…'

I stop in place and hold out my hand. A crack splits the long prairie grass underneath me, and my sword flies up into my hand. The rift closes up moments later.

"Alright grass, prepare to die," I say.

I begin forward again, this time swinging my sword to cut the grass in front of me. I don't really need to do this. I can navigate just fine without it. But it keeps my mind occupied as I continue down the virgin trail.

Onward I travel throughout the day and into the evening, over rocks and across rivulets, admiring the view as I go. I never really cared for scenery back when it always looked the same, but seeing it for the first time from another perspective is refreshing. The hills roll all around me, the mountains tall and blue in the forever-away distance.

Even the light of a setting sun, one I've seen every day of my entire life, feels like a totally new experience.

And as the sun dips down past the horizon… it feels like I'm floating in a sea of stars.

As I lay resting my head against my bedroll, softened by the matted grasses underneath me while I stare up at the night sky, I let out a deep breath in quiet reflection. My worries from earlier today don't seem nearly as bad. It's nice.

Now I begin to drift off, comforted by the sound of crickets all around me. And without delay, I silently fall into a deep sleep.

Visions of a world on fire invade my mind. Even though I shouldn't be able to, I can smell the ash and feel a burning sensation in my lungs with each breath. Screams echo all around me. Shriveled figures frozen in poses of agony line a flowing river of lava. A black obelisk rises in the distance, spouting a column of ghostly green light into the plumes of ash clouds far above.

I don't think I have a body in these visions. I'm transmitted throughout the scene, peering down at the smoldering lands as if I'm looking for something.

My gaze centers on the green column of light. A terrible screeching noise comes from somewhere very close, like a monster on the hunt. All of a sudden, my bodiless self disregards everything else and races off towards the column. Something approaches from behind, gathering speed faster than I can travel. The moment is brief, but the panic seems real enough, as if my life is truly in danger.

My eyes flutter open, as if awakening from a pleasant dream. Not that I can remember what it was about.

As I let out a long yawn and attempt to stretch, I'm stopped by something. It suddenly occurs to me that I don't have any use of my arms.

"U-Um…" I mutter, looking down to see that I've been tied up. By my own rope, no less. I come to the conclusion that the rope is cursed and tried to strangle me in my sleep.

It seems like such a sound argument too, until I finally notice a presence just to my left.

Even though the sun has yet to crest the far hill, I can make out the outline of a figure that sits not too far away from me. I have no idea who it is, though.

"They probably have yet to notice. But I noticed right away," they say, a young female voice.

I tilt my head to the side in an attempt to better understand the situation. But when nothing comes to mind, I sigh and lower my head with a furrowed brow, crossing my legs and beginning to bounce my left knee.

"Hmm… Umm…" I raise my head. "Ah—! So you're from the village! Weird… I don't really recognize your voice…"

"That's only natural. In all this time, we've never spoken," she replies.

This girl is weird. She sounds pretty young, possibly even younger than me. But she talks different; She doesn't use the same vocabulary most of the villagers do. And to begin with… was there ever another girl her age…?

"…Yeah, I'm not falling for that," I decide. "I've heard of cons like that— someone claims to know you only to take all your stuff. But I'm smarter than that."

"…I just said you shouldn't know me."

"Y-Yeah, well… Um… Shut up," I mutter. "If you really are from the village, then how come I've never seen you? And… Who the hell are you, anyways?"

"I was… strongly encouraged by my parents to remain inside," she says. I can see her turn away briefly. "…Disturbed is what some had called me."

Well, she did tie me up in my sleep. I should probably feel a bit more afraid. I'll get working on that.

"U-Um— Anyways…" I begin.

But before I can finish, she starts to crawl towards me on her hands and knees. For some reason that I can't describe, a chill runs down my spine. Maybe it's the erratic movements in her arms and legs as she crawls. But as my eyes start to adjust…

"…Sera—?!" I exclaim.

Only… that's not quite right. The girl I see in front of me looks kinda like her, only her blond hair is on the shorter side and a bit wavier, while her eyes are a very slightly different blue color. And looking closer at her eyes… there's something there that unnerves me, like the sparkle that's in Sera's eyes are nowhere to be seen. Like she's looking at me, but almost completely through me as well.

"That would be the name of my sister," she says. "It's understandable. We do look fairly similar. However…"

She grabs me by the ropes and slowly draws near, so near that our noses almost touch. But the look on her face with her vacant eyes open wide, and the way her head is tilted at an odd angle almost makes tears well up in my eyes.

"…I would insist that you never again make such a sinful error, on pain of eternal damnation."

Scary scary scary scary scary…!

As I try to back away from her, eyes watering from a primal sort of fear, she only holds on tighter to my bindings. She starts to lean to the side, brushing past my face and nearing my ear. I subconsciously shut my eyes tight in anticipation for whatever she intends to do.

"…Lyra," she whispers into my ear, causing me to shiver.

"H-Huh… ?" I say, hesitantly opening one eye.

She backs up a little and takes a seat on her knees.

"Lyra Rorsk," she says. "That is my name."

I'm a little caught off guard.

"O…Okay," I say in a pitifully small voice. "…H…Hey, uh… Lyra, can you… untie me? Please…?"

"No."

"W-What? Why the hell not…?"

"I can't allow you to run away from me like you did yesterday," she says.

"Now hold on a minute… I didn't run from anyone! And for that matter… I never even knew you existed!"

"Then why did you leave?" she says. She again leans towards me. "Answer or suffer eternal damnation."

What she says screams murder, but the way she says it is almost casual. For some reason, I don't think her words are empty threats.

"…I… I left the village because… There's nothing there for me anymore, alright?" I huff. "W-What about you? You claim to be Sera's sister… Didn't you go to her wedding?"

"Of course not. I was off chasing a fly," she says.

"Oh… Did you catch it?" I ask. I stop, then look down at myself. I furrow my brow. "Wait…"

"Like you, there is nothing left for me in the village anymore," she says. "And now that I have found you, I will not let you run again."

"L-Like I said, I wasn't ru—"

She snaps forward, now balancing on her toes, again looking me in the eye with that terrifying expression.

"You did this to me," she says. "So take responsibility."

"I… I did…?" I mutter.

"After a life of fearing it, I finally realized that I yearned for hellfire," she says. "But this hellfire that I seek is something only you can give me."

"H…Hellfire…" I repeat. I look away briefly, but I can't keep my eyes away from hers for long, like I'm being sucked into them. Can someone related to Sera really be this scary?

After a moment of quiet, she finally rolls back onto her knees again, resting her hands in her lap.

"So where are you trying to get to?" she casually asks, as if she didn't just threaten to single-handedly cast me into the pits of hell.

"…Nowhere," I mutter, turning away a bit. I'd prefer that she didn't follow me there.

"Don't lie to me," she says. "Liars will suffer eternal dam—"

"Alright, alright, eternal damnation, yeah yeah… I'm going to Gale," I say, sighing. "Can you really not untie me? These ropes are kinda starting to chafe… and I've got an itch in my groin."

"Gale…?" she questions. "…Why there?"

"Just gonna ignore the second part, are you?" I sigh. "…Because that's the goal I set for myself when I left. I'm going to a city known as Mares where I can find a place called an 'Adventurers Guild.' That's where I'm going to start over from square one."

She's quiet for a second, but it doesn't change the way she stares at me.

"I can't let you do that," she finally says.

"Huh…?" I mutter. I narrow my eyes. "…What do you mean by that…?"

"Because I have you right where I want you. If you made it to another city, you could be drawn in by someone else. So I won't let you leave." She briefly looks to the side. "There is an abandoned farmhouse not far from here, where no one can disturb me. I will bring you there, and there will you remain."

"That's… not gonna cut it," I say.

"As much as it pains me, I cannot consider your personal feelings in the matter. You will not go to Gale. This is as far as you will ever reach."

"That so?"

I realize I'm not afraid of her anymore. I'm just angry. After I made all the effort to start over, she came through and wants to trample over my resolve.

"So… you want to keep me from my goal?" I murmur.

"You have no need for it," she replies.

I hold out my hand from behind me. The ground below us rumbles, and a rift forms underneath. My sword rockets up into the air, slicing my bindings as it hurtles into the air. Lyra's eyes widen and she starts to retreat backwards.

I stand up, allowing the bindings to fall loose around my feet, their edges singed from the blade's fire. The sword begins to fall back down, and I grab it with one hand before it can land. I point it at her as she looks up at me with a startled expression.

"I don't know what you want. And to be honest, I don't really give a shit," I say. "I've got my own goals to reach. Whatever it is you want from me, I won't be a part of it."

As the sun begins to crest the furthest hills, it shines a yellowish light down on us. And as soon as I really get a look at her, something dawns on me.

She's curled up on the ground with a scared expression on her face. What's more is she has tears running down her cheeks. When I see this, my anger slowly begins to dissipate. I lower my sword. I'm starting to feel bad for raising it in the first place.

"…A second ago, you said that I did this to you," I say. "What'd you mean?"

She stays quiet for a few more seconds. She then moves her gaze away from me.

"…I saw fire, and… writhing bodies…" she murmurs. "I couldn't run. It… drew me closer. It… It…"

She stops herself and timidly tucks her legs to her chest. I watch her for a few seconds. But when she doesn't move after, I bend backwards as far as I can go, pulling as much air into my lungs as they can possibly hold. Then I let it all out in sheer exasperation. I drop my sword back into the rift, and it promptly closes up again with an echoed thumping sound cut off.

"Alright, let's go. I'm taking you back to your family," I say.

"Wh— What?!" she gasps.

"I'm sure they're worried about you," I mutter. "You said before there's nothing there for you, either. But that's wrong. Long as you've got a family, then—"

"There were only four similarly aged adolescents in the entire village!" she exclaims, suddenly jolting upright. "From the very beginning, it was expected that they paired off! But now that you left… the closest-aged boy is four years old! Practically a toddler…!"

"Th-That's… none of my concern," I mutter. "Wait… what do you mean by…"

"You never saw it, but my sister was always with that boy… Whenever you were not with her, there they were," she says. "Before I even saw you the way I do now… I would hear the villagers speak of a next generation, how my sister and the Marden boy were a perfect match… And they spoke of us as well. A firm, dedicated, yet lonesome boy to be a comforting presence to a disturbed young girl…"

"I-I don't know what we're talking about anymore," I mutter. "But you talking about those two pisses me off, so you'd better—"

She begins to crawl towards me.

"—And then as I grew, a deep… something, began to well up within me. As a child, I feared you above all else. But eventually… I began to believe what the villagers spoke of. I couldn't control my yearning for fire… but perhaps there was one who could. Do you understand?"

I tilt my head in thought. The pieces all seem to be there… but they're not clicking together.

As she watches me, her face seems to grow red. She tucks her chin into her chest and puffs up her cheeks.

"T… T—T-T…" she sputters, but she can't seem to bring herself to say whatever it was she wanted to. She finally exhales.

"…To put it simply… you figured that you and I would end up a couple, just like those two, right…?"

"So you did know—!" she exclaims. But almost immediately after, she covers her face with her hands out of embarrassment.

A couple… It's kinda like the villagers expected us to pair off, huh? Or rather… that's exactly what they expected. I was so caught up in the fantasy that I never saw what was going on behind the scenes. I guess even they didn't think Sera was a good match for me. And yet I never even knew Lyra existed. Kinda sketchy of them, playing with a bunch of kids' feelings like that.

"Lyra," I mutter. "What'd you mean by 'hellfire?' That's the one thing that's tripping me up."

"There are… two," she mutters.

"Huh…?"

"…Th-There are two…" she repeats.

"Yeah, saying it again isn't helping."

Lyra hesitates. Again, she tucks her legs to her chest.

"…I-I can tell you…" she murmurs. "I… I can tell you. But I have to start… from when you first came out of the ground."