Chapter 108: The crest (8)


    [W-what are you doing, O princess of nature?] The voice called out with a hint of shock in his usually calm voice.


    "Shut up, just watch." I replied annoyedly, trying to concentrate.


    I slowly inhaled and exhaled, controlling my breathing as I felt my mana flowing into the sword. C''mon, answer me.


    "Ioriell, I''ve seen, no, I''ve lived your experience, your memory," I whispered as I kept trying to pour my mana into the sword, which was refusing me pretty badly, "now, will you listen to mine?"


    "Urk!" I flinched again when I felt his mana started going awry, with spikes every now and then. It was as if his mana wanted to force its way into me.


    "I''ll make this fast, Ioriell. I won''t ask you to understand me, so please at least listen to me." I frowned as I stopped trying to force my mana into the sword, too, and focusing on defending myself.


    The more I dragged it out, the more I felt his obvious rage towards... Wait, towards who?


    "You''re angry, I can feel that," I continued, this time with a much more calmer voice, "I too, would be angry if I was in your position."


    The mana suddenly had a spike, and I felt like I was going to throw up. It was as if something foreign decided to mess with how your body works, and suddenly your body was going ''nope'' on you and decided to toy with you just for fun.


    "Tell me about your anger. I will listen to everything you have to say, but first..."


    ''BOOM!''


    "Sit down with me. We have plenty of time here." I grinned when I saw that the sword had finally stopped flowing its mana like crazy.


    Thank goodness Elena taught me how to counter mana flow. She had warned me about elves who were proficient with mana handling, who could fight using pure mana alone, and how I had to be able to manipte my mana to counter it. If the opponent created a sword using their mana, then make a mana shield. If they created a rope, then make something sharp to cut it off.


    So, when this thing went wild, I went ahead and created a cage, well, more like a hamster ball, actually. The only difference was that it contained a raging sword instead of a cute little hamster.


    "Hey," I called with a small voice, "do you hate me?"


    ''FWOOSH!''


    A gust of wind came from the cage, throwing my hair into the air. I had to squint a little so my eyes wouldn''t dry out.


    "Do you hate me, or do you hate those humans who robbed you of your life, your future?" I questioned further, still without raising my voice, "those humans who took advantage of you guys'' kindness, and took your sister''s trust for granted, don''t you hate them?"


    I frowned and continued to focus to strengthen my mana cage, making sure this sword wouldn''t suddenly burst out or something. But then, something quite unexpected happened. The wild spikes of mana calmed down a bit, although it was still wiggling around.


    And I also noticed that instead of it giving off a malicious feeling like before, somehow this time it was more... Sad.


    "You should hate them." I said as I put a hand on top of the cage, caressing it gently.


    The more mana I flowed around it, the more I felt his sadness as our mana gently intertwined. Although a bit messy, but I tried to adjust my mana flow ording to its flow.


    "If I was in your position, I would hate them, too," I calmly continued, "and not just because of that, but I would also hate them for robbing those children''s future. Those children you called family in that orphanage."


    My shoulders slumped when I felt the flow of his mana slowed down, as if it was losing energy, losing the drive it had earlier. And since I was starting to connect our mana together, I was also starting to feel a bit gloomy.


    "... Are you going to feel okay if you''re leaving just like this?" I asked, when suddenly, the mana started to spike again.


    "Hey, just to be clear here, I don''t n on sharing a body with you. Or a mana pool, I guess, so cut that out." I pouted while I bonked the cage.


    It tried a few times to poke the cage, but after seeing that its effort was going for naught, it finally calmed down again.


    "I wouldn''t be okay to just die without having my revenge, you know? I''m sure most people feel that way, too," I continued, sighing as I looked up to the bleak white ceiling on top of us, "we both know that you and I aren''t saints, and I know that you still have something you want to do. Am I wrong?"


    I nced back at the sword, which stayed silent, not even a spike of mana popped out.


    "Hehe, I''m spot on, right?" I giggled, "it''s okay. Be angry. Be vengeful." I said as I stared back into the ceiling while leaning back.


    "Tell me, what is it that you want to do?" I questioned, "if you''re able to get out of here, where''s the first ce you want to go to? What food do you want to eat? Who do you want to meet?" I smiled, "or, who do you want to kill?"


    I waited and waited until his mana flow started to change a little. Before, it was very static and tense, as if on guard against anything. But now, it took the initiative to bend itself to adjust to my flow. Finally, he was willing to talk to me.


    I closed my eyes to better direct my focus towards intertwining our mana into a little dancing river of two very different mana. He wasn''t able to talk to me directly, like how I usually talk with other people who actually had mouths. Instead, I could only feel his emotions and his passion for things.


    He ryed to me how he loved and worried about the burnt forest, and how he wept so hard remembering his fallenrades. He also made me feel how empty and lonely it was to lose the majority of people who he cared about, and who cared for him. He even made me miss the feeling of my mother''s hug, even though my mother had never given me a warm hug before, not even once. But that was just how much he missed his ''mother'', and how crushed he was to lose that important figure in his life.


    But among all those, he also passed unto me the anger he felt towards those humans who wrecked his home, his family. The seething hatred that was never calmed, and never able to reach its target.


    Not to forget the revenge he wanted and worked for so badly, but couldn''t carry it out, leading to the self-doubt that blossomed due to him putting his self-worth on his revenge n since he failed to protect those he cared about. Previously, he put his self-worth on the well-being of his ''family'', but since he failed to do so, he desperately clung to the hope of revenge, and once he failed for the second time, his self-worth plummeted to the bottom of the ocean.


    ... This poor, lost prince. He really was suffering underneath that angry facade.


    The thing that shocked me the most, though, was when I felt his tremendous hate towards himself. He loathed his every action, every decision, his very being. Although he knew those humans were at fault, he took some of the me himself.


    I actually felt physical pain in my chest as I drowned myself in his suffocating emotions. I didn''t even realize that I was gasping for air until I started to feel my throat drying up.


    "You... You''ve been through a lot." I said in-between my heavy breathing.


    As expected, it didn''t say anything back because, well, no mouths, no talk, right?


    "You deserve a rest after all the sufferings you''ve gone through." I smiled and gave touched the sword gently, feeling his mana more intensely. The moment I caressed it, I could feel the flow of his mana getting calmer and calmer.


    "... But, don''t rest," I calmly said, "don''t rest after you''ve worked so hard for your revenge. Don''t just give up under the pretense of resting."


    As I said that, I noticed that its mana started to swirl in a weird motion, but I quickly adjusted my flow, too.


    "Let me ask you, do you hate me? Or do you hate those humans?" I repeated my question from before. But instead of a sudden gust of wind, I received nothing but a calm and gentle wave of mana.


    "I''m sorry," I whispered, "I''m sorry for not giving you a chance to tell your story. I can''t say I''m sorry for the things those humans did to you, since I wasn''t responsible for it."


    His mana flow, now as calm as a still pond, responded to me by joining our mana flow together gently andfortably.


    ''PANG!''


    I released the mana cage, and grabbed the hilt of the sword while pressing the tip of the de to my neck.


    "But don''t be like this. Don''t submit yourself to me." I stated with a stern voice.


    "Hate me. Doubt me. Be angry, be vengeful towards those who wronged you and get their owed apology, or destroy them just like how they destroyed you," I eximed loudly, "stay with me and hate me, doubt me, until either you''re able to forgive me, or you''re able to kill me."


    I took a deep breath before continuing, "don''t stop halfway. Pick your ending. Come with me and get your revenge on those humans."


    I pressed the tip harder to my neck, until I felt a drop of blood trickle down the side of my neck, "I''m not scared of you. Don''t change yourself and hate me if you want to. Get your revenge and kill me if you can."


    After hearing that, his mana rose again, this time more energetic and more ''him'' than the calm and tranquil flow from before.


    Feeling this, a huge grin appeared on my face,


    e with me, as an equal."


    ''SLASH!''