Markus Fleming's Point of View
I lied to him….
Kaito's laughter, deep and thunderous, easily filled the small watch post we were in, in the second watch wagon tasked with looking after the well-being of all the people in our charge.
Beside me, Drake, after hearing another of Kaito's stories, was caught up in it and let out a laugh, one of those honest and carefree laughs I hadn't heard from him in the last few days.
Seeing him out of the corner of my eye, I felt a pang of guilt, for the lies I had told the friend of the failed love I had in my youth.
Even though I didn't tell any lies in my story, I still feel a strange guilt for what happened that night….
With those thoughts in my mind, I kept a smile on my face, playing along with Kaito's joke about why it wasn't a good idea to spy on girls.
It had been a few weeks since I had problems with Drake, but luckily, I had managed to strike a chord with him on that occasion, so since that night we had grown closer.
Turning to one side, my eyes fell on the Hourglass that indicated the end of my shift. Standing up, I stretched noisily to in a way draw their attention from the cheerful atmosphere.
"Well, gentlemen, my shift is over." I announced with a casual and cheerful tone.
With both their gazes on me, I looked directly at Drake. "Drake, I'm going down to see how Zoe is, if that's okay with you."
Drake, still in the mood from Kaito's jokes, nodded. "Sure, go ahead. She's probably awake by now."
I waved goodbye to Kaito and went down the stairs, as my worry about Zoe and the secret she kept returned to my mind.
What do you plan to do now, Zoe? I wondered. Drake already suspects, and you won't be able to hide the truth from him forever. I said in my mind, sure of my words because of the truth I knew about her.
When we met, we had gotten along very well, and after talking several times on the first trip we had, we managed to establish a great friendship. A friendship that was structured as we both realized that we carried regrets from the past. Hearing her tell her story, I noticed certain gaps and, above all, contradictions in the way she told it. With the ability to read people that I had developed over the years, I suspected there was something more. So, between casual questions and jokes to gauge her reaction, I slowly applied pressure. Until one night, she opened up and ended up telling me everything.
I know they're not a couple, and more importantly, I know they're not even siblings. And I know she would give anything for that last part not to be an impediment to being with Drake.
Reaching her room's door, I knocked a couple of times before hearing her voice from the other side of the door.
"Come in."
Upon entering, I found her lying on her bed, with an expression on her face that reflected the worry I had come to discuss with her. Leaning against some pillows, she gave me a small, tired smile when she saw it was me.
"Good to see you, Markus, I have some things to tell you."
Closing the door behind me, I observed her expression, which told me what was going on. That look... it's the same one she gets when she doesn't know what decision to make.
A smile formed on my face.
"Let me guess." I said, my tone casual and a bit mocking. "You're debating whether to tell Drake the truth that you're not siblings or to keep pretending nothing's wrong."
Zoe, surprised by my accuracy, puffed out her cheeks with an expression of pure frustration before grabbing the nearest pillow and throwing it at my head.
"Am I really that obvious?" She asked with a voice mixed between annoyance and amusement.
Dodging the pillow with ease, I let out a laugh. "To me, yes."
My eyes fell on the small coffee maker in a corner of the room, a standard feature in the luxury wagons. Walking towards it, I began to speak to calm Zoe down in a way.
"You know, you shouldn't overthink it." I said, my back to her as I started preparing two cups.
"Sooner or later, he'll have to know, that… and what you really feel for him."
The soft impact of another pillow on my back confirmed that I had touched a nerve.
"Ahh… you don't have to say it like that!" She responded, her voice sounding clearly embarrassed.
Smiling to myself, I turned with the two steaming cups in my hand and placed them on her nightstand. "Haha, here, to make our conversation go more smoothly."
After picking up the pillows from the floor and sitting in a nearby chair, I looked at her more seriously. "Look, if you want me to help you, I need you to tell me the truth about what happened yesterday, because Drake only told us that you fainted after finding something out. So speak now, because you had us quite worried."
Zoe's smile faded, replaced by a sad grimace as she lowered her gaze to the sheets covering her legs.
"Sorry… I didn't mean to worry you." She said before looking away as she remembered. "Truth is, I collapsed because I was being stupid, Markus. Over my own foolishness."
She looked at me, her expression now grave. "But what I'm about to tell you, no one else can know. Understood?"
I nodded, feeling my curiosity growing like fire hitting an explosive material.
"Yesterday, while we were trying to open a Runic Crystal, Drake…." "Wait, what? A Runic Crystal?" I interrupted, hearing the name of an object so rare that I only knew of it from the confidential books the royalty gave to the nobles.
"Uhh… yes, one we had…" "B-But how do you have an object like that!?" I asked, agitated, before calming down when I realized I had lost my composure.
"I'm sorry, what you said seemed unreal and I got a little worked up, please continue." I ended up saying, while my mind questioned the information I had on Zoe and Drake.
I need to find out more about Zoe's past, from before they arrived in Birton as children…. I emphasized in my mind.
"D-Don't worry, well, I was telling you that while we were trying to open a Runic Crystal, Drake revealed to me that he has two mana cores."
What the hell is going on, why do I feel like an ignoramus after investigating them for so long? The information hit me unexpectedly again, until after a while in silence, my logic put my thoughts back in order. Is that possible? Because the biology of the races doesn't work like that, not for any of them.
"And you didn't kn-?"
"No, I didn't know." She cut me off, anticipating my question. "I found out yesterday too." "I see… A-and was that what made you collapse?"
Upon hearing my question, the air of sadness and anger that had been fading returned. "No. It wasn't the fact that he had another core. It was r-really the mana he released with it. Because it… i-it was identical, Markus. Identical to the demon's that killed my parents."
A heavy silence filled the room. The story of her parents was one I knew in part, as she didn't like to talk about that topic, but I knew from the way she told me that it was a wound that had never closed.
"I was a fool." She continued, her voice choked as she covered her face with both hands, ashamed. "He didn't deserve for me to react like that. He didn't deserve my screams or my fear. He didn't deserve any of it."
Leaning forward, I took one of the tissues from a small box on the table and offered it to her.
"Hey, don't say that." I said in a low voice. "You weren't a fool, what happened to you… anyone who had lived through that same trauma as a child would have reacted the same way. It was a shock, something natural."
Zoe slowly lowered her hands, taking the tissue and drying the tears that had started to fall from her face. She nodded, accepting my words, and some of the tension in her shoulders seemed to disappear.
Calmer now, she stared at a fixed point on the wall for a long time, until she finally looked at me, with her eyes full of the doubt I knew so well.
"Markus… be honest, should I tell him the truth?" She asked. "About us… about not being siblings… and about what I feel…."
I leaned back in the chair, feeling the true weight of the conversation begin to settle upon us. I took a moment before answering, breaking the silence with a voice that stood out clearly in the strange silence that enveloped us, despite being in a moving wagon.
"If you want there to be something more between you two in the future, you'll have to tell him, one way or another." I said, being as direct as possible. "But, even if you do, there's no guarantee of anything, since you can't know entirely how he will accept it." I paused. "Now, whether it's worth risking everything for something you want… I'd say only you can weigh that for yourself."
"Weigh it? What do you mean?" She asked, confused.
"It's simple." I explained, in a more serious and analytical voice. "When I have to make a difficult decision, I put the options on a scale to see what weighs more."
"Look, on one side of the scale, you have the truth. You tell him everything, you risk being with Drake as a real couple. But that side also carries the weight of rejection. The risk that he'll say no and, possibly, losing the connection you have right now."
"On the other hand." I continued. "You keep the lie. You pretend to be his sister forever, keeping his affection and his closeness, but you condemn yourself to watch the man you love, sooner or later, make his life with someone else."
Zoe began to think about it, until she started to speak with the same doubt despite my words. "I… I can't make that decision."
Sighing, I moved closer to her, sitting on the edge of her bed as I looked into her eyes. "You have to, because the third option, doing nothing and waiting to tell him in the future, will only make the lie bigger, making it much harder for Drake to accept what you feel."
Seeing the storm in her eyes, I calmed myself, changing my tone to a softer, more intimate one.
"Zoe, listen to me, I'm telling you this as the friend that I am. Take advantage of this journey you're on, because for now, on this road, you only have each other. You don't know who you'll meet later on or who you'll run into again. This moment, this closeness you have now, is an opportunity that might not come again."
She remained thoughtful, not knowing what to say. The silence filled the room again.
Letting out a sigh at not seeing a clear expression on her face, I stood up.
"Think about it, Zoe, and remember to be more natural with him, just like you are with me, that might help you make a decision." I said, before turning around and leaving the room, leaving her alone with her thoughts.
…
After that conversation, a strange and silent routine settled into our group. Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. The journey was monotonous, an endless succession of slowly changing landscapes, with occasional monster attacks that were at first a source of adrenaline for Drake and me, but which became predictable, even though Drake, with his new rune, tested its potential and limits, always careful not to use it near Zoe.
In truth, my real source of interest in this whole journey was in our own wagon, watching Zoe try to follow my advice. She often sought moments to talk to Drake more naturally, but I saw her hesitate at the last second, retreating into the safety of her role as a sister. On the other hand, I watched Drake, completely oblivious to Zoe's internal storm, simply happy that the tension between them had lessened.
They're a disaster. I often thought. A pair of fools who don't know how to talk.
Upon arriving in the city of Skiple, our relay point led to a conversation where we all agreed to travel together to Skipton, as we wanted to see the famous Festival of the Storm, an event that only occurred every ten years. After a brief discussion, the decision was unanimous: we would continue together as guards in the next caravan. For the others, it was a unique opportunity. For me, it was a perfect excuse to keep observing.
As we approached the coast of Skipton, the landscape began to change. The lonely road filled with other caravans, merchants with overloaded carts, and families of tourists. The air began to smell of salt and that strange electricity that precedes a large crowd.
When we finally arrived at the outskirts of the city, we were greeted by an overflowing festive atmosphere. The locals greeted all the newcomers with smiles and flowers, and a gigantic wooden sign, painted with bright colors, stood over the entrance: "Welcome to the Festival of the Storm!"
We've arrived…. I thought, tired from the journey, observing the cheerful chaos from our watch post as we entered Skipton, the city hanging from a cliff overlooking the sea. This place will be perfect for a good time, but I fear it will also… be a place for problems to arise.