13 Long Journey

"We have the map, now what?"

'...'

"Why are you being so silent today? We got what you wanted, now what?"

'I...'

"I? Come on, spit it out already."

'W-we need to go to Tira. The old ruins of Tira.'

"Tira? Why do we have to go there? And what do you mean 'The Old Ruins of Tira' what happened?"

'A soldier that I assisted, before I came to you. I saw everything that happened, the civil war caused mass chaos in the nation, and soon enough, the entire place came crashing down on them.'

"You sound tired, is something wrong?"

'... it's nothing I can't handle."

Kuoka sat on a chair, he placed his arms over the top of the chair and planted his face in between them, he mumbled. "I can't have you being sick, go rest or something, I don't know what voices do."

'Thank you. I think I'll go take a nap. Be back with you soon.'

"Wait, you're actually going to sleep?" Kuoka lifted his head, and heard a door shut, followed by a yell. 'Yes I am! I need sleep too! I haven't slept in 2 days!'

"She... actually went to sleep."

Kuoka was now by himself, for the first time in a long time. "Guess I'll have a look at this map."

The map had a line, tracing from the same forest he was in, to the border of Tira. The part of the border where both nations collided. There would be many ruins, bodies, refugees, and slaves. The border probably had the most slaves in the entire nation.

"Seems like this nation has fully taken over Tira." Kuoka went outside the tent and looked down at all the bodies before him. "1... 2... 3... 4..." There were a total of four bodies, as well as many others that tried to flee earlier.

Kuoka sat on a wooden stool, beside a campfire that was still burning. He took a long stick, and poked it several times whilst staring at the sky. "Duck... tree... cloud..." He grunted when a flicker of fire touched his hand.

Kuoka took his hand near his mouth to examine the injury. "Just a small mark. Should be gone in an hour." He dropped the stick he was holding, and saw a nearby bag. He quickly walked over to the bag. "Food." He took a loaf of bread from it.

Kuoka sat back down at the campfire to eat his newly found food. "I haven't eaten much of anything in days..." He quickly stuffed to bread into his mouth, and finished the entire loaf within a minute. Afterwards he went back into the tent to sit down. He crossed his arms on top of a chair and planted his face into them again.

He peeked up from his arms, and continued staring at the wall. "I wonder when she's gonna come back..." Kuoka took off his armor, revealing his new, but also older body. "There's no water or mirror here... I can't see my face."

His armor was too heavy for him to run in it, even with his inhuman strength. "That other Kuoka made it look so light, that must be how much our strength differs from each other..."

"I guess she was right, there's no point in wondering if I'll win or not. Least not right now, seeing as there isn't anything else I can do other than listen to her instructions..."

He didn't feel very cooperative when it came to voices in his head. But Regalia had a unique presence, "she's pretty weird..." He mumbled whilst staring at the horizon. The camp stood atop a large hill, so the faraway fortress was visible. "Oh, the crows are flying away."

He nearly fell asleep until Regalia woke up. 'H-hey, I'm back.' Startled. Kuoka frantically stood, "who said that! Show yourself fiend!"

'Relax, I just woke up.'

"And I was just about to sleep. Can't we do this later? I'm tired..." he yawned whilst stretching his arms. 'Have you been staring at the sky for 5 hours? There's nothing there you know, it's already night.'

"It's night?" Kuoka rubbed his eyes and squinted them while looking at the sky. "Oh it is." Regalia went silent, she seemed to be laughing, when he heard a chuckle coming from his head. "I'm sleepy, let me sleep already. I'm going to sleep now, so you better go do something else."

'But I just woke up, what am I supposed to do other than watch you?'

"Well... just go do anything you want to do, you're just a voice, I'm sure you have something right? Anyway, I'll be going to sleep now, I hope you enjoy whatever you're doing I guess..." Kuoka pulled a thin blanket over himself. 'Are you really sleeping on the log? Isn't that uncomfortable?'

"Shut up, now go away." He mumbled.

'It'll be a long journey, at least for you. And probably for me as well... I'll be busy for the whole day tomorrow. Things are... getting busy, I'll see you in 2 days, try not to die.' With that, Regalia went silent.

"Why does she sound so sad... it's a little annoying, tch. Wondering about voices in another dimension isn't going to get me any answers. I'll just ask her when she comes back."

Kuoka dozed off to sleep. In his dream, he heard a voice. The same voice as Regalia. Was it the real Regalia? Most likely.

"What do you think of my moves?" A strange voice said to me.

"You were really close to me." My voice was weak and frail, alone and afraid. Everything I said made my voice shake, and I only, barely managed to keep control.

"I was?! Wow, you must've kept hidden very well! I applaud you for that, ma'am!" I felt insecure, like there was something clawing at my neck, telling me to stop what I'm doing and leave, but I couldn't move. "Y-yeah, I know I'm very skilled!" I jokingly raised my arms in the air. And the person infront of me tried to tickle me. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"Oh, sorry. I thought you wanted me to hug you." The other voice said. "I need to go home now, it's getting late. I'll see you later."

"Alright! Just come back tomorrow, we need to play more!"

"Y-yeah, tomorrow..."