CH 31: Alistair x Miquella P4

Miquella :"Are you good at staying calm in stressful situations?"

Alistair :"I'm not good at staying calm in relaxing situations."

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They finally made their way to the cave Alistair had mentioned. But considering how close it was and how Maliketh wasn't going to participate in the raid (A/N: SHADOW-), he stayed back in the cover of the Site of Grace rather than staying under the rain.

"Chipi-chipi, chapa-chapa

Dubi-dubi, daba-daba

Mágico mi dubi-dubi boom, boom, boom, boom"

Alistair sang quietly behind Miquella, making him chuckle :"You sing the most interesting songs I've ever heard."

Miquella had Torrent's reins, so Alistair was free to hug his waist from behind happily, his chin gently laying on his head as he snickered :"If this is interesting, wait till you hear some of the most ridiculous things that the people back in my world have made into songs."

"Hahaha well, the fact that you had such diverse types of music is a good thing, no? I am sure it was very entertaining."

"Oh, hahahaha entertaining is one way to put it! We had so many genres of music I don't even know all of them."

"That sounds fun. In the Lands Between, we don't exactly have a large variety of entertainment. For example, I'm jealous that you could have hundreds and thousands of music with you all at once and listen to them whenever you felt like it.

Here, the only way to listen to a famous musician's song is to be present at their performance. I'm a big fan of music too, so I'm actually jealous. Hmm, you know, you actually have a very pleasant voice. Can you sing some of the songs you know?"

"Of course!" Alistair smiled brightly, making Miquella smile fondly at his preciousness :'I can't lie, I feel like the childish Alistair is my favorite personality of his. He acts like his actual age. Hahaha it's adorable.'

"Oh, I know! I'll sing one of the most famous songs I know. It was honestly my favorite one too. Ahem ahem, alright, here it goes."

His hands retracted, dissatisfying Miquella before Alistair began the beat by slapping his thighs. His hums accompanying it and making him listen carefully.

"We're no strangers to love

You know the rules and so do I (do I)

A full commitment's what I'm thinking of

You wouldn't get this from any other guy"

(A/N: Hah, you just got Rick Rolled! Didn't expect that to happen, did you?!

By the way, if you want to know what Alistair sounds like, go and search Jujutsu Kaisen Russian Dub on YouTube, the one with 4m views. Because goddamn, that voice is immaculate.)

As the song continued, Miquella found himself gently dancing his shoulders. Even Torrent who was carrying them bobbed his head up and down. The song was just a masterpiece, and that was a fact in any universe and Multiverse.

When he was finished, Miquella clapped with a bright smile :"Bravo, bravo! Hahaha that was honestly better than I expected!" It was like it was his own personal performance by a professional.

Alistair chuckled, blushing lightly :"Happy to see that you enjoyed it. Well, it is a masterpiece, after all. I'm just glad I sang it right."

"Hahaha, Alistair, you could be a musician with how good your voice is when you sing." He smiled teasingly, gently poking the Tarnished's side :"And that was a very lovely song, my romantic consort~. I know very well how affectionate you are, but who would have expected you to be so romantic?"

"Hmmm, quit teasing me." He hugged the golden femboy again, blushing as he buried his face in his hair. Miquella chuckled fondly, a hand coming to stroke Alistair's dark hair :"What a cute consort I have. By the way, you know that song quite well. It really is your favorite, huh? You didn't stutter even once."

The noiret blushed gently, smiling against his hair :"Of course. I know that song by heart, you know?"

"Well, I am happy to find out my consort is a man of many talents, including singing. It's like I have my own master musician now. If it doesn't trouble you, I would love to hear your singing."

"Psh, as if it would trouble me. Just say the word and I'll perform a whole orchestra for you."

"Hahaha, thank you, my dear."

"You are very welcome. Oh, look. It's a Trina's Lily!" On top of the small hill, Alistair plucked a light purple water lily that was on the verge of wilting :"Lucky." He smiled, twirling it in his hand. Miquella, in his arms, looked at the flower sadly :"Trina..."

"You're still feeling guilty?"

Miquella nodded :"Hm. I don't know if I'll ever stop feeling guilty about it. What I did back then... it was more than horrible... I gave up more than just a part of myself. I gave up the part that made me who I am, and hurt it more than I hurt anybody else..."

"Are you afraid that she won't forgive you?"

"No, that's not it. It's the opposite, she would forgive me without a shadow of a doubt. She is my love, after all. The part that wanted to create a safe haven for all beings. I know in my heart of hearts that she didn't hate me even when I casted her aside. And it's that guilt that eats away at me.

If she hated me, I would understand, and I would do anything to make it up to her. To make her forgive me for what awfulness I did to her. But... she didn't hate me, and so I can only live with the guilt of knowing I cannot make it up to her..."

"Then why don't you apologize to her? I know you said she doesn't hate you, but still, not hating you doesn't mean she isn't sad. Why won't you let her out and tell her how sorry you are?"

"I... I'm afraid, Alistair. Afraid of facing her. The guilt and fear together make me unable to talk to her face to face..."

"Haaah, you dummy. You're just hurting her more this way then." His hands moved up to pinch and pull on his sad cheeks. Hearing his confused sound, he explained :"You're pushing her away, Miquella. I understand how you feel, but this way, you're just trying to ignore her existence.

Tell me, isn't this exactly the same thing you did to her in the Realm of Shadow? You casted her away to the Stone Coffin Fissure back then, and are casting her away to a corner of your mind now.

You're hurting her the same way you hurt her then. But I bet she hurts more now, because she was away from you and ignored then, but now, she's as close as possible to you, yet is being ignored."

He felt Miquella's thin body tremble in his arms, as if he had just realized it. No, he knew it from the very start. But it was something he wanted to ignore. As long as he ignored it, it couldn't pain him any further.

But Alistair brought it to light. It was no longer something he could ignore. One hand came to the hands that had returned to his waist, trembling as he lowered his head, his voice shaky and nearly breaking :"Do you... do you think she would forgive me? If I told her how sorry I am, how guilty I am, how sad I have been all this time without her?"

"I'm sure she would, Miquella. I'm sure she would." Alistair smiled, hugging him tighter as he began to tremble, desperately holding back tears :"She is your love. The love that wanted to make the world a better place. One that would be filled with love and happiness, one that would welcome any being.

Did you know that in the game, she encouraged, pleaded with the Tarnished to stop you. Not because she was mad, not because she hated you, but because she didn't want you to suffer in godhood when she knew that you yourself were aware of only being a shadow of your real self. She was already aware of how sad you were, Miquella. She knew how much guilt you felt. And she didn't want you to live in a divine cage of agony."

"Yeah- *hick* s-she would. *Sob* She definitely would..." Miquella cried in his arms. Head hung low from shame, guilt, sadness. Alistair didn't stop him. Just like how Miquella wanted to help him, he needed him to pour everything bottled up in his heart as well. He could only hug him tighter and support him throughout.

The road wasn't long. Only around half an hour or something before they finally saw the Earthbore Cave and entered it. After activating the Site of Grace, Alistair smiled at Miquella :"Alright, you go back to my mind and leave the rest to me. This won't take long."

"Alright, understood." The golden beauty nodded, voice soft and eyes still red from his crying. He looked more at ease, but his sadness was still there. Alistair smiled fondly, a hand coming up to his cheek to wipe the tear marks :"Don't beat yourself about it too much, alright?

I'm not urging you to meet her. But I want you to know, I will be there for you when you make up your mind to meet her again, alright? And besides, I think she should already know that now you want to meet her again.

Considering her personality, I'm sure she's waiting patiently for you to steel yourself. Because she is as confident as me, or maybe even more so, that once you make up your mind, you will definitely do it one way or another. She knows you already have and just need time. So she will give you as much time as you need."

"Hm." He nodded, relieved from his consort's reassurance :"Alright then, I will just wait in your mind until you are finished here. I will also provide assistance and advice whenever I can."

Alistair nodded, but surprisingly, Miquella grabbed his collar and gently pulled him down for a gentle kiss. There was a charming blush on his beautiful face as he pulled back, but instead of shying away, he smiled fondly :"And as always, be careful, my dear consort."

Before Alistair could do anything, he was already back in his mind. Good choice, because he was seconds away from hugging that tight waist of his and kissing him until his brain was all mushy.

But he supposed he could wait for later. Now, with his lover's wish for luck, he couldn't be more ready :"Alright, then let's finish this quick and go back."

He took out his mighty club and torch to see in the cave before he made his way inside. Just as he walked deeper, he saw a chest against the wall :'Hm? Was there always a chest in this cave? Oh well, I hope it's something good-'

But just a step away from it the floor crumbled. Making him deadpan as he landed in front of a few large mouses, with one huge one :'Right, it's this one. Now I remember.'

He rolled to the side as the large one leaped at him before he swung his club. There was a loud crunch before the skull of the large mouse was crushed under his strength. He grinned after the surprise of it falling in one hit :"Man, I love lore accurate strength."

The shrieks of the smaller mouses came before he stepped to the side, dodging their attacks before he attacked. As he crushed another one's back, his torch burned into another one's skull.

"(Be careful of the other two.)" Miquella's warning came before he rolled again, dodging two more mouses before he stomped the ground, activating his Ash of War to create a small tornado around him. With the enemies staggered, he switched his weapon to his axe in one swift move before decapitating the other two in one swing.

Yet another awesome thing he had learned. He wasn't limited to one Ash of War per weapon. As long as it was one he had acquired himself, he could use it whenever he wanted.

[Runes: 6,019 -> 6,288

Golden Rune 1]

"Alright, let's continue."