The Soul Keeper

"But according to the game's lore, the demons came about a century ago." I protested. "It doesn't add up."

She nodded and, with a thoughtful expression, continued talking. "If the knowledge in Ereth libraries is right, then demons invaded this world about a century ago, destroying the Ereth's 'Divine Pillars' and taking over most of their lands." She shook her head. "But if the mural and other information I found in similar ruins is right, then the demons have been here for much longer. For such a long time that an invasion from a different world happened at some point, and enough time passed that not many traces of that remained."

A thought gnawed at the back of my mind. I felt my heartbeat quicken. "What if," I mumbled as I reluctantly entertained the thought. "The traces are all around us, but we just don't realise?"

She tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"Well," I said hesitantly. "We don't know what the world looked like before. You're guessing that no traces remain because you consider the current state of this world 'normal'. But what if it's not? What if something is very wrong about this place, but we just can't notice it?" It was a difficult thought to try and explain, though Rina seemed to get my point.

"I'd agree with you, but you're forgetting something. This is a game. It makes no sense for them to put an unsolvable mystery in a game."

I flinched. "True," I mumbled as another thought gnawed at the back of my mind. That one though, I refused to entertain.

"But I wouldn't dismiss what you just said," She said with a serious expression. "I think you're on to something, but we need more information." She hesitated, then shook her head. "Let's go back, before the others worry."

I nodded. "Oh, can I ask a favour?" I asked before she could leave. "Would you mind keeping what I told you a secret? I don't want Erik and the others to worry and-"

"You don't trust that they will treat you the same after they hear all that." Rina said. Her accuracy was frightening. I nodded. "Just say so from the beginning, Kai. Do you mind if I tell Alex?"

"No. I know she won't hold it against me." I said with a smile as I hid my wings again. Rina watched me with a thoughtful expression as they disappeared in a black-ember mist. We returned to the camp soon after.

The sun had started to set. The lively camp reminded me of the first day we came here. It was almost a little nostalgic. "I wish we had a crystal here." Erik mumbled as we all sat around the small firepit. "I'd feel much better about camping if we were better protected."

I chuckled. "It's fine, we're strong enough to take out anything that comes at us."

"You say that," Joshua chimed in with a wicked grin. "But we couldn't handle the phoenix, remember-"

Alina punched him in the gut, effectively shattering his smile and putting a stop to his words. He bent over himself as he cried out in pain.

"Read the mood, you idiot." Vincent said with a sigh as Alina turned her attention to Samantha. They started whispering to each other as if the rest of us weren't even there.

"Anyways, what happened to the phoenix, Kai?" Erik asked. A silence filled with their expectations followed. I brushed my hair back.

"Well, I killed it." It wasn't a lie. It was my scythe that killed the monster. I had delivered the killing blow. "I got lucky," I added as I saw their doubtful expressions. "It was already badly wounded, so once it dropped me and landed, I just waited for a good opportunity to strike." I gestured as if I was swinging my scythe.

"It was healing though," Joshua mumbled. "How was it still wounded by the time you flew all this way?"

"Rina's magic and Alex's weapon inflicted wounds that it couldn't heal immediately." I explained carefully. They had no way of knowing that I had gotten help from demons. Rina knew, of course, but I knew she wasn't going to expose my lie. "Like I said, I was really lucky." I forced a smile, then glanced at the sky. I could see a few stars shining already.

They seemed to have accepted my explanation. I breathed out a sigh of relief as their low conversations filled the silence. I wasn't a good liar in the real world, though it seemed much easier to lie here. Was it because of my avatar?

"You should get some rest." Rina quietly said to me before bidding a good night to everyone and heading off to her tent. Alex waved at her but remained outside. "I'll stand watch first." She declared with a smile.

"Thanks, Alex." Samantha gave her a quick hug before excusing herself. Joshua and Vincent soon followed, dragging Erik with them. Though the paladin didn't seem to be sleepy, he relented as soon as Joshua whispered something into his ear.

"Kai," Alina's voice sounded. I flinched; I had gotten lost in thought as I watched the others. "Are you sure you don't want to use my tent?" She sat next to me as she asked. I nodded.

"You don't have to worry about me so much, Alina." I forced a smile as I turned my gaze towards the distant stars.

"I can't help it." She quietly said. "You're always going off on your own. How do you expect me and everyone else to feel when you do that?" Her shaky voice prompted me to look at her. I hadn't noticed she was so shaken up about this. As soon as our gazes met, she turned the other way. She mumbled something, but her voice was too low for me to hear properly.

"Uh, did you say something?" I hesitantly asked. She shook her head and quickly got up. "No, nothing." She quickly said before brushing past me and running into her tent.

Dumbfounded, I stared after her until Alex approached me. "Are you an idiot, perhaps?" She asked with her arms folded under her breasts. "Or are you enjoying this?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked hesitantly as I stared at her tail. She seemed prepared to hit me with it.

"Oh, I wonder what?" Her threatening voice sent a chill down my spine as I slowly and carefully retreated. "Alex, what's going on?"

She met my gaze and for a short moment, we were locked in a staring contest. After a solid ten seconds, she sighed and gave up. "You're hopeless."

Despite my confusion, I breathed out in relief. I didn't think I could do much if she decided to beat me up with that tail of hers. Back when we killed the oversized eagle, I had seen just how much stronger than me she and Rina were.

"Oh, Kai." Her voice sounded. I glanced at her with a slightly fearful expression. She grinned when she saw my face. She was clearly messing with me. "There was something Rina and I were planning on doing. She thinks there are some demonic ruins not too far from here. She was intending to ask you; do you want to come with?"