I sat by the fire, its warmth barely touching the cold ache in my chest. The flas flickered softly in the quiet night, but my mind felt heavier than the silence around us. I didn't get it. Why did Kaiser even want to help ? Why bother talking to soone like ?
I glanced at him quickly, then lowered my eyes back to my lap. My hands were clenched tight, my fingers digging into the fabric of my clothes. He could probably see how useless I was—how much of a burden I'd been.
He saved when I fell, made sure I had food to eat, and kept safe. I couldn't stop the thoughts from circling in my head, each one sharper than the last. Why is he thanking ? It doesn't make sense. It should be the other way around. Without him, I wouldn't even be alive.
"Kaiser..." I finally said, barely audible. My voice wavered as I stared at the ground, my fingers twisting together.
"I've done nothing to help you. I've only burdened you... burdened you with my injury. I don't understand why you're thanking ." My eyes dropped lower, my insecurities pulling deeper into a familiar pit.
"Without you, I wouldn't even be here."
My voice broke, and I quickly covered my eyes with one hand, hiding the tears that were about to fall. My other hand clutched at my lap. Why am I even saying this? He doesn't need to hear it. No one does.
From the other side of the fire, Kaiser's soft smile broke the tension. "You know," he said, his voice light but steady, "I can see you're broken." His words caught off guard, and I stiffened.
"You've been suffering for so long that you've lost all confidence and hope inside you."
He leaned forward slightly, his eyes eting mine. Then, as if sensing the weight of the mont, his tone shifted into sothing lighter.
"But hey, don't get too gloomy on now. I'm here if you ever need soone to talk to or just... soone to listen." His grin stretched across his face, playful but sincere.
I shook my head, my voice trembling as I spoke again. "Why... why would you help soone like ? Soone who's cursed... a witch. That's what they all call . A monster." My voice faltered, and I clenched my jaw to hold back a sob. I refused to let him see my tears, raising my hand slightly to block my face.
"Everyone wants gone. They hate . They think I should just disappear." My fingers dug into my lap, the sharp pain grounding . "I just... I want to give up already. I don't want to endure anymore. Ti isn't healing anything. It's only made the pain worse."
The night air felt colder now, the wind brushing past my hair as the moonlight illuminated the field. The silence hung heavy, and I wondered if I had said too much. But then Kaiser stood up, his movent catching my attention.
He stepped closer to the fire, his figure frad by the soft glow. His expression was calm but determined, and his crystal-blue eyes seed to pierce through the barriers I had built. Reaching out his hand slightly, he spoke, his voice filled with quiet strength.
"Ti doesn't take the pain away," he said softly. "It only teaches us how to live with it. How to move on and... be happy again."
His words struck sothing deep within , breaking through the numbness. How can soone like him... soone who doesn't even know , say that?
As he spoke, tiny flickers of light appeared around us. Fireflies. One landed gently on his outstretched hand, as if trusting him completely. He smiled down at it, his expression softening.
I couldn't help but wonder to myself, I've never seen fireflies before... and I've never seen one trust a human so easily.
"Isn't it beautiful to live?" he asked quietly, his voice soft but filled with awe. "To feel the wind on your face, the warmth of the sun, the colors in the sky? Even when things are dark, the world still has so much beauty. Don't give up on it. Because if you do... you'll never see what tomorrow might bring."
He stepped back slightly, his arms spreading wide as if to gesture at the world around us. The openness in his body language made feel sothing I hadn't in years—a faint glimr of trust. His words carried a warmth that reached through the cold void inside .
But I couldn't respond. My thoughts swirled, tangled between my fears and the strange sense of hope he had stirred. Why does he care so much? I clenched my hands together tightly, staring at them as I struggled to find the courage to speak.
I have no na, no purpose. No ho or family. What's the point? What's the point of continuing to live?
Before I could say anything, Kaiser's tone shifted again, playful and teasing. "You know," he said with a smirk, "you interrogated so much when we first t. I thought I was the one who'd need to answer all the questions tonight." He chuckled lightly.
"But it just hit —I forgot to ask for your na."
His question startled . I looked up, my breath hitching. His eyes were filled with genuine curiosity, not judgnt. For a mont, I couldn't bring myself to answer, my voice caught in my throat. Then, quietly, I thought of her—Lyla. My sister's voice echoed in my mind, the way she used to call "Lia." But the thought brought back the pain of everything I had lost, and I couldn't bring myself to say it aloud.
"I..." My voice trailed off. I looked away, unable to et his eyes. "I don't have a na."
Kaiser's expression softened, but he didn't press . Instead, he sat back down by the fire, his smile never fading. "Well," he said lightly, "that's sothing we can work on."
I blinked, confused, but he didn't explain further. Instead, he looked up at the sky, his eyes reflecting the moonlight. For the first ti in what felt like forever, I allowed myself to feel... curious. About him. About his words. About the faint hope flickering in the corner of my heart.
The fire crackled softly as the forest whispered around us, the night alive with distant chirps and the rustle of leaves in the gentle wind. I sat there, staring at the flas, but their warmth did little to comfort . My thoughts churned like a storm I couldn't escape, and the weight of my own inadequacy pressed down harder with each passing second.
Kaiser sat across from after, poking at the fire with a stick, his expression unusually calm. The flickering light highlighted the sharp angles of his face, but there was sothing softer in his eyes—a glimr of understanding I didn't fully trust.
"You know," he said softly, breaking the silence, "I'm almost just like you."
He looked down as he said it, his blue eyes filled with sadness. For a mont, it felt like he understood everything—my pain, my struggle. His voice was quiet, almost heavy. "I can feel it," he added, barely above a whisper. "How much it hurts."
I blinked, unsure of what he ant. His voice carried a strange mixture of seriousness and vulnerability, sothing I hadn't expected.
He leaned back, tossing the stick aside as if discarding the weight of his thoughts.
"A few years ago, my mother sent here, to Celestine. I don't know why. Maybe she hated . Maybe she thought I was too much of a burden." His voice wavered, bitterness laced with sothing deeper—hurt, confusion. His eyes drifted toward the horizon, unfocused, as if searching for answers he might never find. "But even then... I loved her. I would have done anything for her."
He paused, the silence heavy between us, his expression caught between longing and anger.
"Her last ssage to —just a single letter—said to take care of myself, that one day, it would all make sense." He laughed, but it was hollow, the sound of soone trying to mask the pain.
"I've always wondered why things turned out the way they did," he said, his voice soft but carrying a quiet ache. "Why I ended up here, why everything happened the way it did."
"There have been nights I've stared at her words, hoping they'd tell why she sent here, why she left alone in a place that never felt like mine." He paused, his gaze distant. "I guess, in a way, I'm holding on to it... because part of wants to believe there's so reason behind it all. That maybe she had a purpose, even if I can't see it."
I looked up at him, unsure of what to say. The way he spoke made it clear—he didn't believe it had made sense yet. I could see it in his eyes, the weight of unanswered questions still haunting him, just like they haunted .
Maybe that's why his words struck so deeply—because I understood that pain all too well. The feeling of searching for aning in a world that seed to offer none, trying to piece together a story that felt broken. It was like we were both stuck, caught between our pasts and the uncertainty of what was to co.
"I know I can't compare to you," he continued, his voice quieter now. "You've been through years of pain, alone, hunted, and hated. I've only had to deal with a fraction of that."
His words hit strangely. There was sothing in the way he said them—like he was used to expecting the worst from life. It wasn't just what he said but how he said it that made realize how deep his pessimism ran. I hesitated, unsure if I should speak.
"How long have you been here?" I finally asked, my voice soft. I had so many questions I wanted to ask him, but the words caught in my throat. It was hard to imagine anyone else being abandoned like .
He smiled faintly, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Five years. Five years alone in Celestine. And in that ti, I've seen it all—death, bloodshed, false hope, and utter despair. I wanted to find my purpose... but all I found was sothing darker, sothing that made question everything. Humanity's so-called nobility—it's a lie. The truth? It's terrifying."
He paused, his eyes far off, like he was seeing sothing from the past. "I wanted to know... if there was really any value to this thing we call living. If any of it mattered. Or if we're all just waiting for the end."
I looked down at my lap, my fingers twisting the fabric of my skirt, a nervous habit I couldn't shake. Five years... He had survived so long, each day a battle fought alone, and yet he stood there, carrying it all with such cold strength.
I couldn't help but think to myself—I was just like him. But unlike him, I couldn't help anyone, not even myself. I ran from my problems, hid from them, hoping they'd go away. But he... he faced his, even when it seed impossible. And now, despite everything, he's trying to help . Why?
I had barely managed four years on my own, and even then, it felt like I was unraveling at the edges—each year leaving scars deeper than the last. His endurance, his ability to push forward despite everything, felt like sothing I could never reach. I wasn't strong enough. I wasn't built to withstand the weight of it all.
"I wish I was like you," I whispered, not realizing I had spoken aloud, the words slipping from my mouth before I could stop them. My heart thudded painfully in my chest, and for a mont, I felt exposed—like I was comparing my shattered self to soone who had managed to hold himself together, no matter how broken he might've been inside.
Kaiser's laughter broke the silence. He grinned at , his usual humor returning, his eyes twinkling with mischief.
"What, you seriously want to be like ?" He leaned in slightly, his grin widening. "Careful now, that's a big step. You sure you can handle all this charming?" He gestured to himself with a mock-serious look.
I felt my face heat up, and I shot to my feet, glaring at him. "No!" I shouted, my voice higher than I intended, crossing my arms defensively. "That's not what I ant! It just slipped out, okay?"
As his gaze lingered, a wave of embarrassnt washed over , and I quickly raised my hands to cover my blushing face. "I-I'm serious!" I stamred from behind my hands, peeking through my fingers for a second before turning my head away. "Don't get the wrong idea!" My voice trembled slightly, betraying how flustered I truly was.
He kept laughing, his grin widening. "You're adorable when you get flustered," he teased, leaning back like he'd won so unspoken ga.
I sat back down, scowling, but his laughter had softened sothing inside . Despite his teasing, I felt a little lighter, like the weight pressing down on my chest had eased—just a little.
The wind carried the scent of pine and earth as I dared to ask another question. "Why were you in the forest, anyway? If you weren't trying to hunt , what were you doing here?"
He hesitated, scratching the back of his neck, his eyes flickering away for a mont. "Uh... I was looking for a campsite," he said casually, though the pause in his voice gave him away. "Yeah, that's it." He cleared his throat, trying to sound nonchalant, but the tension in his words betrayed him, as if he was still searching for a way to cover the truth.
I raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. "Really?"
He sighed, giving in. "Fine. I was heading to a nearby village to restock, and that's when I saw so high-class adventurers. The villagers had hired them to hunt you." His expression darkened slightly. "They offered 500 gold coins for your dead body."
The words stung, even though I wasn't surprised. "So, you were going to hunt too?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. My hands tightened into fists, doubt clawing at again.
Kaiser smirked, his humor returning. "What if I was? Would you have fought off with your scary 'witch powers'?"
I glared at him, but his grin only widened. "You're insufferable," I muttered, though his sarcasm tugged at the corner of my lips despite myself.
He raised his hands defensively, still grinning. "Alright, alright. The truth is, I was curious. I heard all these stories about this 'Queen of Curses,' being reborned. This monster everyone was so terrified of. I wanted to see for myself if they were true."
I frowned, his words sinking in. He didn't trust what others told him—he needed to see things with his own eyes. That kind of paranoia... It explained a lot about him.
"And?" I asked, my voice quieter now, the weight of the mont pressing down on .
He t my eyes, his smile softening as he took a deep breath. "And then I t you." His words seed almost reluctant, as if saying them made him vulnerable. "You saved my life back there, warning about those Noctis. You knew I was just another hunter, but you still helped ."
He paused for a mont, his gaze drifting as if lost in thought. Then he added quietly, "Honestly, when I first heard the screams from the other hunters, I thought they were just ssing around. I didn't realize how dangerous it was." He shook his head with a bitter chuckle. "I thought I could handle anything, but those things... they ca out of nowhere."
His eyes narrowed, and for a brief mont, I saw sothing in them—fear. "I've faced a lot in this life," he said quietly, "but when those screams started, I wasn't sure I'd make it out. All I could think was, I hope I'm not the next one to scream for help." His voice faltered slightly, the weight of his words sinking in.
So far, I thought he was fearless but hearing him talk about the Noctis—how they shook him—was a side of him I hadn't seen before.
"I didn't even know what was lurking," he said, his voice lower now. "I've fought a lot, but those Noctis... they were sothing else. I wasn't sure I was prepared for that." He let out a nervous laugh, but it was hollow. "I guess I wasn't."
There was an eerie vulnerability in his words, a stark contrast to his usual cocky deanor. It reminded that, despite his tough exterior, Kaiser had his own fears, his own doubts. Just like .
"I wasn't expecting to get saved, especially not by soone I thought was out to kill ," he added, a wry smile returning to his lips, but there was still a hint of unease behind it.
"But you..." He paused, his gaze locking with mine. "If you'd stayed quiet, those Noctis would've caught . You knew that. You could've let die, just another hunter gone. You could've stayed back, listened to the screams of the others, let it feed your anger, your need for revenge. It probably would've felt good."
He leaned in slightly, his voice soft but firm. "But you didn't. You stepped in. You wanted to live, even though I was just another hunter, one of the ones who could've easily been your enemy."
His admission, that brief crack in his confident mask, made sothing stir in . When I first t him, he had that cocky attitude—always confident, always joking, never showing any hint of doubt. But hearing him speak like this, so raw and uncertain, made realize how much I had misunderstood. It was hard to imagine soone like him, who always seed unshakable, could feel fear like the rest of us.
I looked away, unsure of how to respond, my mind struggling to make sense of his words. They didn't make sense to .
"I didn't do anything special," I mumbled, my insecurities bubbling to the surface, a familiar self-doubt creeping in.
"That's where you're wrong," he said firmly, his voice carrying an intensity that caught off guard. "You felt sympathy for , even though I didn't deserve it. Even after everything, you didn't want to die. That's why I trust you." He looked at , his eyes soft but steady.
"No 'Queen of Curses' would ever act the way you did."
His voice softened even more as he looked at , a flicker of sothing vulnerable in his eyes.
"I don't know how to say it, but... because of you, I think I can finally see the beauty in this world again. You've given sothing I thought I'd lost forever."
He paused, his eyes holding mine, before adding quietly, "Thank you, Lia."
His words hit harder than I expected, and I found myself speechless, lost in the raw honesty of his eyes.
Tears welled up in my eyes, unbidden and relentless, as I thought about the na—Lia. It was the na my sister always called , the one that had slipped from my lips in my dreams.
Was he... the person she had been talking about? The one I was ant to find? The thought made my heart race, a mix of hope and fear, as if the pieces of sothing bigger were starting to fall into place. Hearing his words, I didn't even know how I felt—there was too much to process. It was overwhelming.
I hadn't realized it at first, but tears were streaming down my cheeks. Nobody had ever understood this well—not even my sister. But he did. Sohow, he saw the parts of I kept hidden from the world, and his words had reached a place no one else had ever touched.
These tears... they weren't because I was sad. No, they ca from sowhere else, a warmth I couldn't put into words. For the first ti in what felt like forever, I was crying because I was happy. Tears of happiness.
Kaiser furrowed his brow, a deep concern settling on his face. "Did I say sothing wrong?" he asked, his voice soft and hesitant, as if searching for reassurance.
"I heard you say that na while you were asleep, and I just... I thought it was yours. I didn't an to assu, and I'm sorry if I overstepped."
His eyes softened further, regret glimring in his eyes as he waited for to say sothing, clearly worried that he had made a mistake.
I shook my head left and right, signaling to him that I was okay, though the slight smile on my lips might not have fully convinced him. I didn't want him to worry, not when his own burden seed so heavy.
He raised his hands, showing his palms in a calm, open gesture, as if trying to assure he ant no harm. The uncertainty in his eyes mirrored his words, his body language softer now, trying to read , to understand what I was feeling.
I felt a lump in my throat, but I didn't want to speak. My thoughts raced. No one had ever seen like this. No one except my sister. Everyone else only saw the witch, the monster. But he... Kaiser, he looked past all of that. He wasn't afraid to trust , to see the person beneath the scars and the rumors. He was seeing for who I really was, and that made feel sothing I hadn't felt in years—hope.
Kaiser hesitated, his usual confidence faltering for a mont. He moved closer, gently placing a hand on my shoulder, his touch tentative but warm. "Hey, it's okay," he said quietly, his voice soft with sothing I couldn't quite place—genuine care.
"You don't have to keep it in. I'm here now, and I swear I'll do everything I can to make sure you never have to feel this alone again." His words were slow, heavy with sincerity, as if trying to pull from the storm inside myself.
His hand moved hesitantly, brushing away so of the tears from my cheek with a tenderness I hadn't expected. For a mont, I just let him. His kindness felt strange, yet genuine, and for once, I didn't feel judged, didn't feel like I was broken beyond repair.
To lighten the mood, Kaiser flashed a mischievous grin and raised his arms dramatically, striking a mock-heroic pose. "And then, just as I was cornered by a wild monster the size of a small mountain," he began, his voice dropping to an exaggerated whisper, "I did the only thing any sane person would do."
He paused for effect, leaning in closer with a conspiratorial wink, and then, without warning, flung himself backward, pretending to dodge an imaginary beast. "I ran like the wind! And by 'ran,' I an I tripped over a rock and rolled down a hill for ten minutes!" He collapsed back onto the ground with a dramatic sigh, making a show of catching his breath.
I couldn't help but laugh at his antics, the tension in my chest easing just a little. He smiled at , eyes sparkling with mischief, and launched into another ridiculous tale, full of wild exaggerations and his signature humor. "And then there was the ti I fought off an entire pack of grey wolves—while blindfolded!" He winked. "Okay, maybe it wasn't a pack, and maybe I wasn't blindfolded, but still, heroic, right?"
As Kaiser leaned back, fully in storyteller mode, he continued, his voice dropping to a mock-serious tone.
"So," he began, leaning back slightly as if preparing for a grand performance, "there was this one ti, after a long quest clearing monsters near the desert. I'm starving, right? I'm thirsty too—parched, dry throat, the whole deal. I walk into this bar, and there's these two guys munching away like they're trying to devour the entire place."
"They're sitting there at the bar, stuffing their faces with food like there's no tomorrow. I'm talking tons of food, just piled high, and they're talking between mouthfuls, sounding like a bunch of lunatics. It was like watching a feeding frenzy, but here's the kicker—what they were saying? It wasn't even real words! It was this weird gibberish, just slurring through their mouths with food flying everywhere, and I swear, I didn't understand a single thing."
Kaiser tilted his head, pretending to eavesdrop on an imaginary conversation between the two.
"One of them says sothing like, 'Grrrmph gubba, shoolah rahrah!' and the other one responds with 'Gggglllk ghhaahh!' It was honestly so strange, I thought I was losing my mind."
He grinned as he went on. "I'm just standing there, hungry as hell, staring at these two idiots going back and forth in what sounded like a mix of a wolf's growl and a cal that's been run over. Like, how the hell were they communicating with each other?"
I laughed, imagining the scene.
Kaiser threw his hands up in mock confusion, exaggerating his bewildernt. "And they're talking like it's the most normal thing in the world! anwhile, I'm sitting there trying to figure out whether they're planning an ambush or summoning a demon. I'm just... how are they even understanding each other?"
He shook his head dramatically, his voice rising in frustration. "It was like so secret language only the truly starving could speak."
He looked over at with a smirk. "And let tell you, by the end of that conversation, I was ready to start speaking gibberish myself, just to see if they'd invite to their little food party."
"And I'm sitting there, absolutely starving, ready to throw myself at them for just a crumb of whatever they're eating. So, I finally gather the courage, wave the bartender down, and ask for sothing—anything—to eat or drink. You know what they told ?" He leaned in closer, eyes wide for dramatic effect.
I raised an eyebrow, bracing myself for whatever absurd punchline was coming.
"They said, 'Sorry, we're out.'"
I blinked. "Out of food? In a bar?"
Kaiser nodded dramatically. "Out of food, out of drink, out of everything. It was like the universe conspired to torture . So, there I was, starving and thirsty, sitting between these two gibbering idiots who didn't seem to care at all. They just kept munching away like it was the greatest feast ever."
Kaiser leaned in, eyes wide with mock seriousness. "So, what did I do? Naturally, I got desperate. I stood up, walked right up to them, and—" He paused dramatically, giving a mischievous grin. "I started speaking gibberish myself. Just throwing out the wildest sounds I could think of: 'Blorrrr tish togrin zoppo!' You know, that kind of stuff. Thought I'd fit right in."
I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it.
Kaiser snickered, continuing, "And of course, they thought I was mocking them. Big mistake. They whistled, and suddenly, out of nowhere, seven of their buddies appeared. They looked like they just crawled out of a desert storm, but there they were—ready to defend their honor or whatever it was. I'm thinking, 'Great, now I'm the one in trouble.'"
He paused for a mont, shaking his head. "So, I did what any sane person would do—I ran." He raised his hands in mock surrender, "I was in the desert, no water, no shade, and still, they just wouldn't stop chasing . I swear, they were like a pack of angry birds or sothing. By the ti I lost them, I could barely stand, but hey, at least I wasn't food for the vultures, right?"
Kaiser grinned widely at the mory, clearly entertained by the chaos of it all.
He paused, looking down at his lap with a sigh before continuing. "I felt like dying, honestly. If I could have, I would have probably drank poison and called it a night. But guess what? I was too poor to even afford the poison. All I had was a couple of copper coins and a grumbling stomach."
I burst out laughing, despite the weight of everything that had just been said. It was hard not to find the humor in his misery, especially with the way he told it, his voice full of sarcasm and self-deprecation.
Kaiser leaned back, looking pleased with himself as he saw my reaction. "Yeah, it's always the best stories, right? When you're about to starve to death, and there's not even a chance to escape your misery. That's the true adventure."
I couldn't help but smile at the absurdity of it all.
He just wanted to make smile, to stop from crying anymore. I had only suffered pain and hatred all my life, but he wanted to change that. He promised that he would make sure I wouldn't cry again. I had to live up to that. I couldn't let him down, not when soone was finally trying to make things better.
He looked at , his usual grin softening just a little. "You know," he said, his tone a bit lighter now, "I like it when you smile. It suits you." He paused for a mont, his eyes studying as if weighing his words. "We'll figure out a proper na for you soon. I can't keep calling you the 'Queen of Curses,' can I?"
There was a teasing warmth to his voice that made feel just a little less alone.
I laughed, quieter this ti, but it felt real—like a part of was waking up after so long in the dark. For the first ti in years, I felt like I wasn't entirely alone, and the thought, for once, didn't scare .
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