Celestial Partner

"I'm fine... I'm fine" Fae muttered, wiping the blood that came out of her mouth with her forearm, accepting the hand Yulia gave her for support as she slowly crouched down

"You destroyed it..." Yulia whispered in confusion with her eyes snapped open, conflicted at the scene that just appeared while Fae raised an eyebrow to look at the gem pieces all around her scattered on the ground, wincing at the slowly parting away headache that she was enduring

"Guess I did" Too busy making sure she's not a soon to be corpse, Fae took a deep breath in, giving up on fighting the exhaustion she felt as she sat down on the ground back against the pedestal while her hand went on to bring her pack of cigarettes shaking it once to bring the tip of one out of the packet for her lips to take

Yulia, raising an eyebrow saw fire come out of the object that Fae had in her arms to light the cigarette between her lips, and after pushing the smoke down her lungs she let out the smoke with a relieving exhale

The spirit was still there, weeping and crying on all fours over the blade on the ground

Even after fighting with her to almost the death Fae couldn't help but feel some sort of empathy towards the distraught woman

One thing however caught her eye, the previously linked to the gem string of energy, was now going right towards her, and before she realized it, Yulia did too

"Fae, what..." Both her and Yulia locked eyes that were filled with confusion and surprise

"What did you do?" She added on as the former only scoffed, taking another puff of her cigarette before pushing it down her lungs

"I have no idea" She answered, letting out the smoke as she got herself up on the ground to slowly approach the spirit with caution

"I wish to fight you... no more..." The spirit muttered between her shivering intakes of air, her bangs covering her eyes that were looking down at the broken blade

"I'm glad to hear that" Fae said with a slightly cocked head, knees slightly bent to be ready to pounce away from harm's way which she hoped dearly wouldn't come again

"Fae..." Yulia, behind her tried to dissuade her from getting close to the proven dangerous spirit, Fae looked over her shoulder for a second and at Yulia's worried face before giving her a slow nod

"Can you, see this?" She asked the spirit, who slowly raised her head to reveal tears going down her eyes, the eyes that snapped open with an open mouth as she noticed the link of energy between her and Fae

And then all of a second she disappeared, leaving Yulia to grab the handle of her sheathed sword

Her eyes widening as she saw Fae's body get embraced in a blue silhouette, the latter raised her hands to see that same blue silhouette around them before seeing the spirit walk out of her

"I'm not linked to this place anymore..." She then slowly turned to face Fae with eyes open in shock

"Please..." Falling to one knee, she looked down on the ground as she put one fist on that same stone floor to kneel down in front of her new

"Take me with you, help me get my revenge and I swear on my honour-" Cutting her own words, she pursed her lips for a second before looking up at Fae with her bright blue eyes

"No, I swear on my pride that my soul and blade will be eternally yours" putting a fist on her chest armor she finished talking

"Whatever it is that you want, I'll fight for it no matter what!" With the expression of determination the phantom begged Fae for help, only for her to stutter on her words as her eyes looked at her

"I'm sorry but... what year did you die in?" Fae asked her, looking at the skeletons that she assumed were her fallen comrades

"1164" The spirit replied to Fae, seeing her face twist in a way that seemed like she had terrible news to reply with

Fae looking at Yulia that didn't know what to say, only gave Fae a slow nod

"I don't think you can achieve your vengeance, it's been almost a century ever since you died" Seeing shock slowly widen the wraith's eyes, pursing her lips as she looked down

"Everybody who betrayed you is probably dead by now" Yulia added on, feeling empathy for the adversary that earlier almost took her own life

Both of the women could see the ethereal warrior tighten her hands into fists as she punched the ground with her right one, screaming at the top of lungs in anger

"GOD DAMN IT!" Taking in a shivering breath, she then looked up and right at Fae's eyes who felt struck by fear that touched her core

"Kill me" She told her, seeing Fae slowly back away with widened eyes while Yulia put her body first to protect her

"What?"

"What's the point?! The desire for revenge kept my soul from going to the beyond, but..." Breathing from her mouth, the spirit got on her feet

"But I can't even have that! not even a silver lining!" Getting closer to them as Yulia unsheathed her sword, pointing it at the wraith

"You can visit your country! see your nation in this age!" Fae exclaimed behind her protector as it seemed what she said only set the ghost's anger ablaze

"My nation?! everything was pillaged by the invaders!" She yelled back as she put one closed fist on her chest to comfort herself

"My people executed! our cities razed! nothing was spared and I saw everything with my own eyes!" She screamed, breathing from her mouth as the one thing she could get back at her betrayers with, was taken away from her

"No redemption, no vengeance, no justice..." Yulia could see the ghost purse her lips as her blue eyes yet again started tearing up

"Nothing..." Feeling her legs give up she dropped on her knees and put her hands on her eyes

"And I have to live with that until eternity... it's not fair..." Biting her lower lip, she took a big inhale of air and decided to not say anything anymore, leaving Fae and Yulia with mixed feelings to look at each other

"Then how about seeing the outside world?" Fae said, Yulia gave her a sidelook that lasted for a less than a second as she wondered what her intentions were

"I'm sure your friends wouldn't want to see you like this" She added on, moving past Yulia and towards the phantom

"Especially on how you're given a second chance" The ghost pursing her lips, didn't even bother to raise her head at Fae that was looking down at her

"You don't know anything about what happened to them" Fae heard the spirit say through gritted teeth, making her gulp but not give up

"You're right, but for them to die next to you, I'm sure people valuing you that highly wouldn't want you to throw your second chance at seeing the world" Fae said, making the phantom purse her lips and finally lift her head to see Fae not standing, but crouching down as she looked at the spirit who could see the fear inside Fae's eyes, but she still was trying to comfort her

"I don't know if you would want to but..." Fae looked away momentarily before back at the ghost in front of her

"I can take you to the battlefield you died in, if that is your wish" Feeling her missing heart shiver, the wraith looked at Fae's fearful yet determined eyes before she tightened her lips into a thin line, looking away towards the broken sword that was next to her

And with quick consideration, she looked back at Fae

"Why would you go so far for me?" She asked her, seeing her nervously chuckle as she scratched the back of her head

"Well for starters you didn't kill me when you got back to your senses" The spirit followed Fae's eyes with a mesh of both confusion and curiosity

"And you don't look like a bad person, you look like somebody I can rely on in my travels, it's a win for the both of us" She added on, looking at the ghost with sharp eyes and slightly furrowed eyebrows alongside a small smile that formed a mix that emitted the honesty in her words

"What's your name?" Fae was asked, happily replying with a small smile

"Fae Walker, and this is Yulia" She replied with her hand towards Yulia

"What about you?" Asking the spirit with her head slightly tilted to the side

"Yuna, Naginata Yuna" She replied, seeing Fae's open hand being handed to her

"Ah" Fae realized as she shook hands with Yuna that the latter was still a spirit that couldn't come into physical contact with her, especially as she saw Yuna's hand phase inside her own

"Sorry" She added on, seeing Yuna pull her hand back to rub it with her other

"It's fine... I'll get used to it" Her eyes immediately turned away to look at the broken blade again

"Fae-san, would you mind carrying that blade over there in our travels?" Fae immediately noticed that it was the same blade that protected her life from Yuna

"Of course" She got up on her feet alongside Yuna before looking at her in the eyes

"Also, it's Fae, not Faesan" she added on as she walked towards the broken curved sword

"San is an honorific from my homeland" Yuna replied making her raise both eyebrows in surprise

"Ah, alright, though you can drop if you want to" Finished replying, Fae crouched down to pick up the broken sword from its handle while letting the blade rest on the palm of her open hand

"It's an Uchizachi, a short sword from my nation" Looking up at the eyes of Yuna that were locked with the blade, Fae could see a bit of regret coming out of her

"I'll keep it safe" Fae told her, seeing her close her eyes and slowly shake her head

"No, use it to keep yourself safe, brother would be happy to know his belongings are protecting another person" Smiling, Fae gave her a quick nod and saw Yulia toss something at her

"Ah, thank you" Catching the sheath of the Uchizachi she gently slid it inside before tying it to her lower back, the sheath slightly inclined and pointing at the ground

In her mind she thought that it would be a great surprise weapon to use both due to it's shortness of size and the cloak Ulfgan gave her was long enough for her to conceal a couple of things to use if the case arise, though she hoped it would never

"Well then, since it's all settled let's leave" Yulia told the two of them, Yuna gave Fae a slow nod before vanishing away

"Alright then, do you think you can walk?" Fae asked Yulia, who raised an eyebrow as she stared into the other's brown eyes before letting out a scoff

"I'm not that weak come on now" Fae chuckled under her breath as she looked down at the walking away Yulia, her missing limb replaced with one made by pure mana, she smiled as she thought it was nice to see her battle her disability with teeth and nail and most importantly, succeeding in doing so

"Coming!" Jogging towards her friend, Fae widened her eyes as she felt as if the whole world around her swayed from left and right, immediately feeling afterwards her arm being pulled up to deny her from falling down

"Do you think you can walk?" Looking at Yulia's smirk, Fae scoffed at the mocking tone she was given to her before forming a small smile on her face as Yulia was the one that gave her a helping shoulder this time

....

Finally gazing at the exit made both of the women smile as they could finally leave the dungeon that held them stuck in its claws

"Ah, them again" Fae muttered, seeing the pack of wolves they saw previously inside the dungeon prowling outside it, Yulia narrowed her eyes thinking of whether to fight them head on or to try and make them leave, but it was all unneeded

"I'll handle this" Yuna left Fae's body like it was drained out of it's soul, unsheathing her blue ethereal blade out as one of the three wolves noticed the dim blue light she was giving off

Grabbing the handle with both of her hands and pointing it towards them, one of the three dashed towards her at the blink of an eye before pouncing at her when she was inside his range

Yuna sidestepped away before slashing the air so fast that Fae's eyes barely kept the blade under their gaze while the wolf whimpered and collapsed on the ground

Realizing who was the most dangerous, the two other wolves dashed right by Yuna and went on for the other two, the wraith vanished immediately while Yulia gently dropped Fae on the ground and struck a fight stance with her already at hand Rapier

Yuna came out of Fae's body yet again as both her and Yulia stepped forward taking each one of the wolves that charged

Crouching as it pounced, Yulia put her hand on the stomach of the wolf that was mid-air before slamming the beast on the ground and thrusting her rapier into it's throat, while Yuna on the other hand stabbed the other wolf as it leaped right into it's eye

Feeling unnecessary, Fae could only let out a sigh at what happened

One of the duo vanished, while the other sliced the air down with her rapier to get off as much blood off her blade before sheathing it back

"Hopefully that's the last surprise for tonight" Yulia muttered, walking back towards Fae and giving her a helping shoulder again that she gladly accepted as the duo went on to walk back home

"And you should get some rest, the bags under your eyes are worsening" She added on then to Fae, who merely gave her a weak smile and a nervous chuckle

"Yeah you're right, I'll get a good night of sleep tonight" She replied, Yulia looked at her for a couple of seconds before looking away

"Actually I was thinking of having you spend the night at my house" Fae with slightly widened eyes looked at Yulia with surprise at the offer that she just gave her, she then formed a sly smile and looked at her closely with narrowed eyes

"I'm sensing somebody is regretting being such a mean person" Fae told the Yulia that looked away from her cunning gaze

"Haha, well..." Yulia stumbled on the words she wanted to give to her temporary companion

"I can get much better sleep if I'm in your care" She added on to Yulia, who slowly looked at Fae's infectious smile that got the best of her own face

"F-Fae!" a familiar voice called out to her as it attracted the duo's attention, looking to their right the one being called could see a familiar face coming out of the shadows the tree gave to shelter away from the moonlight

Yulia immediately saw Fae's expression turn sour as she noticed who it was, with her eyebrows furrowing angrily and her teeth gritting against each other just to not snap away

"Thank god you're okay!" Gunther looked completely out of breath and the little he had was a wheezing shallow breathing that made him put his hands on his knees just to recover

"Ah, so we've finally found her" Appearing behind him were three more adventurers look alike, one tall man with brown short hair and a light beard equipped with a a shield and donned in leather armor, while another male shorter than the first held a staff in his hand and wore long black robes with it's hood covering his face, and the third member of what Fae assumed was a party was a woman the height of the first man, an eyepatch covering her left eye that was itself hidden behind the black bangs of her short hair, in her hand was a longsword that she carried from the blade

All four adventurers however immediately tensed as they could see who was helping Fae

"Friends?" Yulia asked Fae who had her eyes locked with Gunther, Yulia could expect Fae's answer from the sheer expression she had on her face

"No, complete strangers" Fae voiced out loud enough for the four other adventurers to hear, the answer didn't seem to surprise Gunther but was enough to make him look down at the ground with a disheartened gaze, but as Fae pushed Yulia for them to get going, a voice was heard

"With all my due respect miss" The tall woman interfered, obviously aiming her respect towards Yulia

"We've spent hours trying to find you just for you to dismiss Gunther" Her eyes narrowed as they kept Fae under their gaze

"Don't you think you're being a little too haughty?" She asked Fae, who Yulia could see gritting her teeth as hard as she could just for her to not snap in a fit of rage

"You're helping him without knowing why?" Fae asked her back, receiving a slow nod in return

"He explained everything himself when he asked for our help, we looked for you everywhere for hours, Isn't that enough for you?" She answered Fae with a calm tone

"Or would you have him rather stupidly die for you?" Only furthering in angering Fae, the woman made her finally snap

"I would have wanted him to try! That's what!" She screamed, Yulia could see that Gunther had nothing to say for himself, only guilt and regret while Fae on the other hand had a pale face drenched in sweat, even her lips had no color, the woman however had no intention to let Fae off the hook

"Try to-"

"Enough!" Yulia butted in, much to Fae's surprise as she looked at her with widened eyes

"Fae has been through a lot because of what has happened" Even though unknowing of what happened before meeting with Fae Yulia decided not to pry any further

"Yet she's alive, I'm sure that's enough of an outcome for all of us" She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the four other adventurers that tensed up just by being under Yulia's serious gaze

"You're right, I apologize for dragging on the conversation" The woman did a slight bow of apology that Fae knew was more directed towards Yulia than herself

"Anyway" The tall man clapped his hands once before he gave both Fae and Yulia a small smile

"As an apology we'll escort you both, is that okay with you Miss?" He asked them, Yulia gave them a slow nod

"I'm appreciative of your kindness" Yulia answered before she turned to give Fae a comforting smile, Fae even though twisted by anger immediately smiled back, and without long the new merged temporary party went ahead to walk back towards their town

Fae could feel such a fire inside of her, it was one that only worsened her condition and made her only feel even bitter and sour

It was hatred, each step she took alongside Yulia with the man who left her to die so close to her made her want to do things that she never even thought about

But it didn't feel right, all of this anger and hatred towards somebody who betrayed her felt like it wasn't her own, It felt strange, alien, unfamiliar, yet so overwhelming that it took control of Fae's own thoughts

"Uhm, if you don't mind miss..." Getting Fae off her daydreaming, the man in robes attracted both Yulia and Fae's attention as he walked alongside their pace

"I could try and relieve some of your pain with my healing" He added on, although distrusting anybody with a relation to Gunther, seeing Yulia give the young man a small smile was enough to convince her that it was honesty at work

"If you would be so kind" Fae answered him as he seemed to be overjoyed with the permission she gave him as he took on a big smile on his face

Putting his hand in front of her chest and murmuring in a language unfamiliar with her, Fae could suddenly see a ray of green light engulfing the small cuts she had over her arms and face, immediately closing in in what seemed like a miracle

Her logical brain that she carried on with her from her original world wanted to freak out at the sight, only stopped by the embarrassment she would get by doing so in front of so many people

"Ow..." Letting out a grunt of pain, Fae felt her right hand burning all of a sudden, looking at it she could see it embraced by a faint green light that made her squint her eyes while Yulia was thanking the enchanter

"Fae?" Feeling grabbed by her arm, Yulia turned to see that Fae was the one grabbing her, she then could see all the superficial cuts she had slowly closing in

"Hah! you know healing magic as well? why didn't you say so?!" The enchanted chuckled at the sight, but Yulia sensed something strange as she could see that Fae was more confused, locking eyes with her before giving her a slow nod accompanied by a smile

"We'll talk about it in private" Yulia muttered, while Fae could but only nod

....

Bringing out her keys from her backpocket, Yulia quickly unlocked the backdoor of the guild before entering and holding the door for Fae who joined her inside with an appreciative nod

"Wouldn't have thought that you'd be living in the guild's building" Fae remarked, following Yulia within the dimly lit corridor as she heard the latter's chuckle

"It makes it easy for me to deal with any problem that might occur" She answered her, bringing a small smile out of her

"How thoughtful, now if only you'd bring that kindness out a bit" Fae said, smirking at the end while Yulia laughed as she looked over her shoulder to lock eyes with Fae

"You're not gonna let go of that huh?" She asked her, only receiving a shrug in reply that made her sigh and look forward

"Right, that's my room" Pointing at a wooden door, Fae followed Yulia as she opened the door and got inside her lodging

"Make yourself at home" Yulia said after closing the door behind Fae, who looked around to see a much less spectacular room than she thought a guild master would have

Apart from the wooden table and four chairs around it, there was a small wooden countertop to prepare food on but seeing on how dusty it's surface was, Fae doubted it was used recently

Apart from that she could also notice three other doors leading to more rooms, It wasn't pretty but it sure was big

"I'll go change my clothes, be with you in a bit" Yulia headed to one of the other rooms, leaving Fae who gave her a nod to take off her cloak and sit down on the chair

Yuna slowly appeared in front of Fae standing straight as she looked down at Fae with a sour expression that barely could be read from her emotionless façade

"I could feel your hatred for that man" She told Fae, who only sighed and rested her cheek on the palm of her hand with her elbow on the edge of the wooden table

"What do you want me to say..." Seeing Yuna so fixated on how she felt for that man, Fae wondered if the hatred she felt wasn't amplified by Yuna who was now living rent-free inside her own body

"I'm back" She heard Yulia behind her say who then sat down next to Fae

"You two look gloomy" She added on, gazing at Yuna for a short while before turning her eyes to meet Fae's

"What happened with that man?" She went on to ask Fae about it, who seemed reluctant to answer the question as she looked away

"Well..." Yulia smiled and got back up

"I'll bring something to lift the spirits" Going on to enter a different room, Yulia left Fae and Yuna by their lonesome again

"You don't have to tell anybody of what happened, me included" Yuna told Fae as she crossed her arms, making Fae smile weakly

"I appreciate your thoughtfulness" Fae replied, slowly looking away as she felt like the air around grew more and more uncomfortable

"Here you guys go" Putting one glass in front of Fae, another one in front of Yuna and one last one where Yulia was sat down, she proceeded then to pour what seemed to Fae like quite the fancy wine to the two women and herself

"I'm flattered by your kindness Yulia-san, but I can't even lift the glass, let alone drink" Yuna's grim remark made Yulia's eyes widen as she stopped pouring the liquid for what would have been her glass

"Ah... I'm sorry" Disheartened, Yulia sat back on her chair while Fae took a sip of the wine, it was a bit bitter but right up Fae's alley

"It's fine" Yuna said as she broke eye contact with Yulia to look away, but as Fae looked at Yuna's expression she realized that it was really paining her not to be normal again, but she knew she had to get used to it

"Right, you were asking about what happened yeah?" Fae put one arm around her chair as she spoke, receiving a nod from Yulia who gently put her glass down

"Well, since you didn't let me become an adventurer, I had to make money one way or another" Fae's words reminded Yulia of her bitter attitude that she gave her this morning, it made her feel remorseful and Fae could clearly see it in her eyes

"So Gunther gave me a deal where I would help him in his contract and he would split the rewards with me, and well, I don't really have any way of gaining money, so I accepted" Looking from Yulia to Yuna, Fae could see how the both of them were latched on to her words and attentive to anything she said

"The contract was going very smoothly, until something showed up, it was a fuckin' huge lion" Fae added, taking a sip from her drink at hand before resuming

"It had a goat like, merged with it's back, and it's tail was literally a snake" As she spoke those words Yulia's fears were true, bringing her to rub her chin and look away momentarily

"A chimera..." She told Fae before looking back at her

"You're lucky to be alive then" Slightly raising her glass in the air, Fae smiled and gently hit it with her own before the both of them took a sip

"Anyway, after that I blinded it with this" Bringing out her flashlight to show it to the both of them, Fae could see both their eyes widen as she turned it on to shine around the room that was only lit through scarce candles

"Is this a magical tool?" Yuna asked, receiving a slow shake of her head from Fae

"And so blinding the beast let us escape from it, but when we were running I stumbled down and fell down in a deep hole, though I did hold on to the edge" She then sighed and took a gulp

"Gunther looked back at me and decided to run with his tail between his legs, rather than to help me" She finished her words with finishing her drink

"A coward" Yuna gave her own opinion about it as she crossed her arms, Fae chuckled and felt better off with pouring herself another drink

"Don't worry, I'll make it known that he leaves his party members to die" Yulia added to the conversation before taking a sip of her drink

"Ah, no no, I'd rather you not do that" Fae's words made the other two raise an eyebrow as Yulia rested her drink back on the table to look at her right in her eyes

"You sure? it'd be a fitting punishment" Yulia answered, Fae chuckled and dismissed it with a wave of her hand

"I'd rather forget about it"

"Right... understood" Finishing her drink, Yulia took a big intake of air through her mouth as she stared at the empty bottom of her glass, she then looked at Fae

"Sorry, if I acted like a proper guild master none of this would've happened" Seeing her so remorseful about a few bad words said made Fae smile widely

"Don't worry about it, I see it as a net positive" She said, only making Yulia raising an eyebrow in confusion

"And how so?" She questioned her as she received a smile first, and words second

"Well, for starters I know that Gunther isn't reliable, I'm friends with the guild master, and now I actually have a trustworthy person like Yuna to count on" Her words made Yuna nod slowly, while Yulia smiled

"Well then I'm glad to hear that" Taking a slow sip with closed eyes, she rested her cup on the table and then looked at Fae again

"But who said we were friends?" Yulia asked, Fae almost choking on her drink put it back clumsily as she furrowed her eyebrows

"I saved your life!" She exclaimed, Yulia shrugged

"I don't ever recount that happening" Hearing Yulia's words made Fae chug her glass in one go before she put her hand on Yulia's face and pushed her down to the ground

"I'm pretty sure blunt impact will make you remember!" Laughing as they wrestled, Yuna could but only sigh before vanishing away

....

Coming back to her room past midnight, Yulia gently closed the door behind her as she let out a frosted breath, rubbing her hands against each other to warm up

Entering her bedroom, she could see Fae sleeping soundly just like a little baby clutching her given blanket, chuckling to her own she approached the sleeping woman and crouched down, Yulia started staring hard at her face

Snow white skin with no scars, perfectly clear alongside short silky smooth hair

With those rare traits to find in a commoner, Yulia gave away the probability that she might just be a runaway noble

Smiling to herself, she decided to leave it to Fae to open up, noble or not Yulia took Fae as a friend, and nothing would change that

Cocking her head to the side in curiosity, she could see a scar run down from the top of Fae's chest through the blouse that was barely buttoned

Pulling the blouse down with her index finger Yulia could see the scar was much longer than what seemed as it went down between Fae's breasts

Realizing what she was doing she immediately fixed Fae's blouse, slightly furrowing her eyebrows as she looked at the peacefully sleeping woman on her bed

Deciding that it wouldn't do much to confront her about it, she just walked to the other side of the bed to have a much needed good night

....

Waking up with a grunt, Fae held her pillow in a hug before nuzzling it and making the decision to skip on the morning classes she could handle studying outside after all

Feeling her heart sink, she immediately got up to sit straight on the bed with a hand on her chest

"Ah..." Looking around she realized that she forgot for a split second that she wasn't home anymore, there were no classes to attend and no exams to prepare for

Letting out a sigh, she rubbed her eyes as she looked around to spot a little piece of paper next to her nightstand

Reaching for it and grabbing it, Fae squinted her eyes to read the written words

Smiling, she put it back down and got up and went back to where they had drinks last night and as she entered the little room she could see a plate on the table with what seemed like fried eggs and a tankard filled with wine

"Wine in the morning eh" Chuckling to herself she sat down on the chair and grabbed the fork and knife that was on each side of the plate

"What an alcoholic" Choking on the mouthful of eggs that she swallowed, Fae started coughing while Yuna walked past her

"I apologize" She told Fae, who immediately waved a hand away as she cleared her throat

"It's fine its fine" Taking a breath from her mouth, Fae put another filled fork inside her mouth

"Your friend was very interested in your scar when you were asleep" Yuna told her as she had her arms crossed and her gaze laid down on Fae who raised her eyes to meet the other's

Staring at Yuna for a couple of seconds, Fae sighed and looked back at her plate not before buttoning up her blouse all the way up

"Actually since we have some alone time, I wanted to ask you a couple of things" Fae exclaimed before eating another forkful of her plate

"Please, feel free"

"Where are you from?" She asked as she raised her eyes to meet the blue ones of Yuna

"I was born in Wazyu, the capital of the empire of blades, and I was one of its rulers" She carried on her words, much to the surprise of Fae

"Oh, so you were like a queen?" She asked her, receiving a slow nod

"I never bore that name, most called me lady, or Yurashi" Yuna replied

"And you also said you were one of it's rulers, so was it like a council?" She asked her again

"No, only me and my brother were the supreme rulers, none of us wanted the reign but since it was a responsibility both of us took it together" Fae smiled widely as she looked at Yuna

"You and your brother must have been very close huh?" Staring back for a few seconds, Yuna let out a bittersweet smile

"Very much so"

Fae looked away, her mind realizing that the world she was in now had so many resemblances to her original world, Aralia resembled old Germany while Flora had the architecture of medieval France, she wasn't surprise in the least to realize that Yuna was from a kingdom that had eastern Asian vibes, so far from earth yet it feels so close

....

Gulping hard, Fae walked within the hallway of the guild as a certain door took her interest, hoping dearly it was the right one she knocked twice

"It's open" Smiling at the familiar voice Fae turned the knob before entering

"Hello" She briefly said to Yulia who was sitting down behind her desk a smile on her face as she noticed who entered her office, a quill pen between her two fingers and a letter on her desk that she decided to leave for later

"So how was your sleep?" Crossing her arms before resting them on the edge of her desk, Yulia gave the now sitting in front of her Fae a small smile

"Really nice, haven't slept like this in a while" Returning back her smile, Fae gave her a slow nod to accompany it

"That's relieving to hear" Yulia replied, leaving the room silent for a split second

"Thank you" Smiling, Fae continued her gratitude with more words

"Anyway, you wanted to see me right?" Fae inquired

"Yeah, just wanted to ask a couple of questions if you're fine with that" Yulia could see a smile yet sly smile grow on her face

"If you're fine with me asking you questions" Crossing her arms Fae cocked her head and smiled at the guild master, who could only sigh

"Sure" To then smile and look directly at Fae's eyes

"Alright, to begin with, where are you from?" Yulia smiled as she knew it was a question Fae wasn't excited to answer to say the least

"Ah, uhm..." Looking away for a couple of seconds, she bit her lower lip before letting out an exhale and gazing back at Yulia

"I actually I'm not from this world, at all..." She looked at Yulia's unchanging expression as her brain processed the words Fae let out, to only smile

"That makes sense" Yulia said, making Fae widen her eyes in confusion

"I-it does?" Yulia let out a sigh as she held her head, before smiling and looking back at her

"Your clothes are weird, you look around things like this is the first day of you being alive, you didn't even know magic was a thing, and you look like a noble yet you claim that you are not" Each statement was like a stab that Fae felt right through her heart, she didn't think she looked that oblivious to the people around her

"Besides, magic can make anything possible" Yulia added as she looked at Fae's eyes with a sly smile

"Your turn" concluding her words

"Well, I wanted to know this ever since I knew so, what happened to your leg?" Fae asked, making Yulia chuckle

"Of course that's the first thing you ask" Yulia continued

"Well, I was born and raised in this town, and after I became an adult me and three of my childhood friends decided to band up and form a party together" She smiled as nostalgic feelings embraced her

"One day we went into that dungeon and well, let's just say we bit more than we can chew" Resting her back against her chair, she sighed and looked at Fae

"I got my leg cut off by an ogre when I tried to protect one of my friends" Fae felt her heart sink just thinking about the same happening to her

"But I couldn't even do that, he died and I was out of combat" Fae had her ears open as she listened attentively to what Yulia was saying

"That left three of us, one of them decided to buy time for the remaining both of us to escape" She then concluded as she saw Fae cut in with her own words to say

"How selfless" Fae said, bringing Yulia to a soft nostalgic chuckle

"She was always like a little sister to me, never thought she'd be the one protecting me one day" Crossing her arms again to look away, Yulia inhaled from her mouth

"But well, life is unpredictable" Looking at Fae again, she then smiled

"So since it's my turn, what are you planning to do from here on out" Resting her cheek on the palm of her hand as curiosity got the best of her, Yulia looked at Fae attentively

"Ah, I had something to deliver to the capital, but first I'll have to go to the battlefield that Yuna fell in" Yulia slowly nodded

"That's mighty kind of you, I'm sure she's very appreciative of that" She replied to Fae with a small smile, then carried on

"But I thought that you'd want to go back to your own world"

Fae chuckled nervously as she looked away

"That didn't leave my mind don't worry..." Taking a deep breath in, she looked back at Yulia

"I have no idea where to start looking or even how to do so, But I'm sure I'll find a path to take in my journey"

Yulia smiled

"That's the spirit, I'm sure you'll do just fine and if you need anything my door is always open" Fae returned the bright smile with a slow appreciative nod

"Thank you very much"

She then continued with her turn of questioning

"What exactly were you doing in that dungeon when I found you?" She asked Yulia, who had a raised eyebrow of curiosity

"I was trying to find a way to destroy it" Yulia replied

"I've spent more than 12 hours before you find me exploring it, to no avail" Fae widened her eyes as merely imagining fighting for that long was too much for her

"Wait, is that dungeon the one you lost your leg in?" Fae inquired with raised eyebrows, receiving a slow nod

"Makes sense why you got paranoid when it came active again huh?" Fae said with an uncertain smile at whether Yulia would take her attempt at softening the mood well or not

But her chuckle proved otherwise

"Paranoid doesn't even cut it, and the death toll didn't help either" Letting out a sigh, she looked away from Fae's gaze

"I still have conflicted feelings about you destroying it though..."

Gulping, Fae could understand where she's coming from, Yulia felt as if it was her battle and her responsibility

For somebody unfamiliar and alien to these lands to do it left a sour taste in her mouth

"Sorry" Fae meekly exclaimed before Yulia looked back at her with a smile

"Ah don't worry I'm just being a bit selfish, you did the right thing and it eases my mind to know we have one less threat near us" Yulia said with a comforting smile that received a reply in the form of a thankful nod

"Anyway, with all these things aside, I wanted to ask you if you really think becoming an adventurer is your line of work" With slightly furrowed eyebrows and a serious tone Fae could feel the comfortable mood that was around them just now vanish away

"I thought so, but with Yuna with me I'm certain that I'm cut out for this" Replying with as much of a professional tone she could muster, Fae brought Yulia to break her seriousness with a smile as she got up from her chair

"Alrighty then, no matter how much I hate yielding" She stepped up to Fae to give her a small smile

"Thanks for making me open my eyes" Handing her a hand, Fae smiled and got up before shaking it tightly

"I don't feel like I did much though" She said with a chuckle that made Yulia scoff

"You did, our little misadventure made me realize that overcontrolling things was my flaw all along" Smiling, she continued

"I shouldn't tell people how to live their lives, I should guide them to realize what life they want to live themselves" Fae chuckled at the words she heard, hiding her mouth behind the back of her hand as she laughed

"You sound like a fairy tail's hero" Yulia clicked her tongue and put one hand on her waist

"There goes my attempt at being emotional, oh well" Talking to herself as she headed for her door, Yulia then exclaimed

"Hurry up or your inscription papers might just disappear!" She said out loud as she exited her office

"Hey that's not fair!" Yelling back, Fae ran right back behind her