through the fire

As they sauntered through the desert hills, sand crunching beneath their feet, misty fog breezing through their face,

"Hey, how do you know so much about this world?" Lotus couldn't help but ask. As a matter of fact, he had been very curious and sceptical of the person beside him, however, he believed that 'it was better to act like a fool and gain a wise man's trust than to act like a wise man and be deceived' so naturally, he acted nonsensically until he felt he could trust her.

"Ok I'll tell you, only if you tell me about your ability to teleport and how you managed to survive being in the fire without being in pain," She asked inquisitively. "Well ok, but I don't know how I'm able to do it, it's just really a feeling, I just visualise and then…" in the blink of an eye he instantly was walking on the other side of Ariel "I'm just here, feels kinda natural to me now". Ariel looked stupefied and it was probably the case that her awe for his ability would never fade away. "Hold on how did you end up here? don't tell me you're bonded as-well"she said rather intensely

"I don't think so, it must've been with this power, at least I'm guessing, it seems to have a mind of its own and brought me here" He shrugged neutrally, he was the last person to know how he got here. Lotus' eyes darted around Ariel, she seemed to be in deep thought, but he already seemed to have an idea of what she was thinking about, "hey, shouldn't you be able to go back, if it's the power that brought you here",

Lotus nodded his head in agreement "I should be able to shouldn't I, but it must not be so simple, since I have tried a couple of times before to teleport back, but to no avail"

"shame" she lamented

"hmph!" Lotus crossed his arms and puffed his cheeks up and continued, "in regards to the fire, I mean it does hurt, but being honest it feels not that bad for me, growing up…" he paused looking down almost remorsefully, Ariel staring at him inquisitively "well growing up, especially younger, I was treated poorly and so, I would play with flames, nothing serious, just any candle I could find or open flame, I would run my hands or fingers very, very slowly over it and so I've kinda got used to the fire"

"oh… I understand that pain all too well" she whispered to herself

"huh what did you say"

"Nothing, anyways, I'm very sorry to hear that, you don't seem like the type to have felt such emotional pain"

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

"Well to answer your question, I've been here for maybe a week or so, the Goddess's underling told me a-bit about this land when I arrived and about how mana works, After I was left alone", Lotus interrupted "mana how does it work?", she gave an arrogant expression "I'll explain later, anyways, I took some time looking around and digging for answers for a way to free myself, which brought me to the cave" she shivered at the remembrance of that dreaded beast and how Lotus viciously destroyed it, as if he was a beast himself, ergo the sceptical expression she was giving Lotus at the current moment, 'he's completely different then when fighting' she thought internally

"I see, in any case, when are we getting somewhere,because I'm dying of thirst and I need to clean up"

"don't worry I know just the place…I hope"

Lotus raised his eyebrow, the uncertainty of his current situation was exactly the reason he detested relying on anyone but himself.

but what else could he do right now, he had no choice but to rely on this mysterious character who seemed to be reluctant to give out all the information he felt necessary. As Ariel began to slow her steps in-front of Lotus, the last dwies of the misty sand began to fade, revealing a gorgeous bright peach ravine, Ariel jumped gleefully into the lake, bouncing and splashing the water "Hehe finally, I found this lake before I entered the desert, and look" she cupped her hands and took a sip of the peach water

"it's drinkable" she continued sipping and watching as Lotus' eyes gaped in awe with a hint of bewilderment showing. "Are you coming or not? slowpoke hehe"

stepping into the peach ravine Lotus felt, for the first time in his life quite euphoric. Even with the combination of hunger and emotional exhaustion, he has seen and experienced more in the past 24 hrs then he ever did with his life on earth. With the deep blood-orange star in the sky shining exceptionally on the water, allowing it to glisten, Lotus cupped his hands and took a mistrusting sip which lead to an incredulous gasp.

"hehe see, it's good right," Ariel said actively. "Mmm quite nice ah!" taking bigger sips, one after the other he felt something deep inside him replenishing, but he had no way of understanding what it was that was being replenished. "kneel before your queen Lotus, hehe" it was then that Lotus looked at her tempestuously and unconsciously he released a tyrannical aura, one that dimmed the colours of the atmosphere, similar to what the dragon had but darker, space around her felt drastic and heavier to the point she stopped being able to breathe, noticing her struggle for air Lotus snapped out of his stare and the pressure immediately lifted, "gosh, I'm sorry," he said while rubbing her back "It was the kneeling part, I hate being told to kneel to someone, I'm sorry, I didn't even know what that was"

"It's fine! please don't speak anymore" she said slapping his arm away, "Let's just wash up and then we'll head for the city". her tone expressing annoyance with a slight hint of fear, Lotus had no choice but to nod his head submissively. They both got themselves cleaned up…separately of course, with one of them peaking from time to time.