Preparations for the hunt

A new day began in the forest. The flowers stood, taking in the sunlight. The animals woke up looking for food or to mate. In the middle of the forest, in the demi human village, Lia was sitting with some improvised sewing equipment. She was sewing and weaving with great ability. She didn't have the best tools, or the best materials like in her workshop, but she was still doing a great job. She wanted to fulfill her part of the plan. Thanatos and Neo needed her help.

With great expertise and purpose, Lia continued to sew and weave until…

"How are you doing with the clothes? Do you need any help?" Neo interrupted her work by entering without any warning.

"AAAAHHHH… Please Neo, don't enter like that when I'm concentrating on the work. You scared me."

"Sorry, I was just checking on you since I'm going out again looking for more materials. Do you need anything else?"

"No, I have enough for the plan. Thank you. It must have been hard to ask for so many clothes from the other people in the village. For a plan they don't even know about."

"It's fine, they were all forced to help by the Chief already, so they can't complain," She said, unconcerned about her neighbors.

"Mmm… still, I'm thankful for their contribution. This plan needs to work, or everyone here would have to move out to other part of the forest. And we aren't counting the problem of the slavers. Luckily, they haven't attacked any tribe in the area in a while, so we can just concentrate on dealing with the Elemental Lion"

Neo stood quiet for a moment, thinking about Lia's words. "Why do you care about the slavers? You guys are going to pay your debt after helping me deal with this lion. You know you can go freely after that, right?"

"Yes, I know that, but you already heard from Thanatos. He wants to make a route of supplies so he can keep making potions with fresh ingredients. The easiest way is to work with this tribe. Which means that we are going to deal with the problem of slavers in the future."

"AAAAAHHHHHH…. No one is asking that monster to stay. I already want to kill this stupid lion so he can go far away!" Like a young child, Neo was rolling around in a pile of clothes while complaining.

"Ahaha, you really are trying to convince yourself that he is a bad person." Lia laughed at Neo's tantrum.

"I'm not convincing myself. I know for sure, he's a monster." Neo extend her arms in the pile and sighed. "Why someone like you hang around with that monster?"

"Me?"

"Yes, he's super strong, as monsters usually are, but you're kind of weak." Those words stabbed Lia in the back. "Actually, you're super weak, to tell you the truth. If you're alone in this forest, I don't think you can make it past two days" Neo didn't mean it with bad intentions, but her words were still stabbing Lia's confidence.

"Ah... Yes... I'm weak. I know there isn't much I can do in a fight, but I want to help you both. I'm tired of being useless when people put their lives on the line to save me. Even if there is not much, I want to find a way for me to help you." Lia was determined to make a contribution, even if it was just in these small clothes she was sewing. She went back to work with renewed vigor.

"Is that the reason you're with him? Did he save your life?" Neo seemed easily distracted, but she was very sharp in reading between the lines. Lia gave her a smile that answered her question. She could sense Lia's admiration and gratitude towards Thanatos.

"Mmm, you talk about him like a young girl. It's funny. It almost looks like you're in love with that monster."

"AAAHHHH" Lia screamed again. This time her hands were shaking nervously and her face turn red. "L-LOVE OF COURSE NOT, I DON'T LOVE THANATOS. WE´RE JUST FRIENDS"

Neo saw Lia's attempt to lie, and now she was sure of her feelings. "I- I can believe you are in love with that monster…. Do you… want to have his babies?"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PREPARATIONS!" Lia tried to change the subject, but Neo was too shocked by this revelation.

"Does he know? No, he can't possibly know he's too dumb" Lia couldn't even talk anymore. All her efforts were trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. She felt that it was about to explode out of her chest. At that moment, the realization hit Neo.

"Wait. Is that the reason you guys have been acting so awkward around each other? I thought you guys were more like business partners." She tried to think of all the interactions between them in the past couple of days. Thanatos defending Lia, Lia willing to throw her life away, how she didn't leave his side while he was recovering from the venom. It was starting to make sense in her head. I was so afraid of that monster that I didn't consider the possibility of love between them. My senses have become dull.

At that moment, Neo felt something grabbing her hands. It was Lia, about to cry, who spoke.

"Please... don't... tell anyone." She looked so sad and ashamed. Neo felt the guilty for revealing her secret so…

"I-I promise I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you, Neo. I'm planning to tell him, but I'm building my confidence little by little."

"Right, I understand... I'm going to go to look for more ingredients, okay. Good luck with the clothes." Neo left the awkward conversation as soon as she could. After taking a moment to regain her composure, Lia got back to work.

Mixing and distilling Thanatos was working in the tent of the doctor of the village. The equipment was crude and archaic, but thanks to the help of the black book's guide, he could manage to make this place a small laboratory of alchemy. He was working to make a bunch of potions before the battle against the Elemental Lion. Since he didn't have any experience against this foe, he had to depend on the information that Neo told him.

Apparently, the Elemental Lion was exactly as the name implied. A lion with the ability to cast elemental spells of some kind. They were lonely hunters, so they only had to deal with one. They were nocturnal animals, so the battle would take place in the middle of the day. Besides those facts, there wasn't anything else for them to plan. Thanatos concluded that the best thing would be to use all the ingredients they have to make some potions. In fear of not having enough, he asked Neo to go gather even more.

"Uf... uff.. uffff... That's it. I gathered everything around the area. You can make potions with this, right?" Neo entered the tent, dropping two bags full of ingredients.

"Yes, that's perfect. Thank you, Neo. I'm planning to make some interesting potions with all this." Thanatos was delighted to see so much material for alchemy.

"Man, the fact that you also know to mix plants and herbs is too convenient. You're really a monster." At this point, Neo's insults didn't bother him at all.

"By the way, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"What is it? I'm a bit busy, so make it quick."

"Hey, don't try to play hard. When this whole business with the Lion is settled, you can go back to your town or whatever. You don't have any more business here, is that clear?" Neo demanded.

"Oh really… I believe that is for the Chief to decide. I'm looking for some partners that would help me collect ingredients for my syndicate. You guys have a very good position in this forest. I was thinking of forming a partnership, you know. Some ingredients for gold and protection. Doesn't that sound like a good deal?"

"NO GET OUT OF HERE AND LEAVE US ALONE!" Neo tried more pointless demands, all in vain.

"Is that bad? I thought you were getting along with Lia nicely?"

"She's not the problem, stupid. You are! I can see the real you, a monster hiding waiting to kill and destroy." She spoke without holding back.

"Kill and destroy? Well, I admit that I have done those things, but in our first meeting you tried to kill me without even asking me my name. That should put us around even.

"No, that's because I can sense you're dangerous. I don't want to take any chances"

"You must feel I am some kind of demon." She isn't completely wrong, though.

"Yeah, a demon is more like it. How can Lia be in l-" She stopped herself before saying any more. Thanatos looked at her with interest. "Be... be with someone so weird like you"

"I see. Haha, she's a very kind girl. She has helped me so much with various things. When she talks about how useless she feels, I want to tell her I couldn't make it this far without her."

"Then why don't you just tell her directly? That seems easier."

"I- because I…" He couldn't tell her about his real feelings for Lia. He had put her in so much danger. He was too cowardly to break off their relationship. He wanted to be around Lia, even though that could end her life. Such selfishness, all because of his feelings for her.

I took Neo a moment to notice, this reaction was similar to the one she saw earlier today. It was similar to Lia.

"You... you're joking right. ARE YOU IN LOVE WITH LIA?" She screamed in astonishment, discovering another secret. Quickly, Thanatos jumped at her and covered her mouth.

"SSSShhhh... Don't scream, you idiot. You're correct, I have feelings for Lia."

Neo couldn't say anything, but her face was still full of surprise. How did she walk into discovering secrets so easily?

"Please, I beg you, don't tell her, or anyone else for that matter." He finally let her mouth free.

"Ah... ah... What if I asked for a condition?"

"A condition? Which one?"

"You won't stay around this village after killing the lion. If you promise that you won't do any more business here, I won't tell her." It was dirty and underhanded. But she knew it was a futile attempt. A monster like him won't back down from such a simple threat.

"I understand. Then I promise I will not do any more business with your tribe. Is that enough?"

"HUH WHAT? You're accepting my demands for only that, keeping your love secret?"

"I don't have time to fight with you. We need to work together when we face the elemental lion. Let's leave like that, so I can return to work on the potions okay."

Neo couldn't believe what was happening. Thanatos was back to working on the potions as if the conversation hadn't happened. She walked out to get some fresh air after this whole deal.

An hour later, the trio was in front of the territory of the Elemental Lion.

"Okay, this is the place where you found the body of one of the warriors, right?" Thanatos asked Neo.

"Yeah around here. More to the south, the beast must be sleeping in his nest"

"We got the clothes ready and here are the potions. I managed to make 2 healing potions, 2 speed potions, and 2 strength potions. And of course, our secret weapon." Thanatos pulled out another vial different from the rest. "Are we ready?"

"Yes" Lia responded, with no doubt.

"Neo…?" Both look at her. She was standing in the back looking at them with something on her mind.

"Mmm ugh… I can't take it anymore. There is something else I can do with the spirits."

She didn't know why, but she felt compelled to reveal her own secret to them. Was it guilt or something else...?