162 Lost and found

A large piece of rectangular rock had just been shattered into pieces after being pierced by a large piece of diamond in the shape of a sword colored in red.

As the fragments continued to fall into the grassy terrain a woman dressed in a red robe and carrying two pairs of flaming wings on her back stared deeply into the destroyed object with a blank expression on her face.

"Empty again..." she whispered.

[But hey, at least you tried... And in the end... Isn't trying just as important as succeeding?]

"..."

Mia undid her transformation and returned to her usual form of a twelve-year-old girl. She then began to analyze her surroundings as she gazed at all the circle of destroyed pieces of rock she tore apart in an attempt to look for the sealed demons.

"This doesn't make sense... According to the information provided by both North and East... The demons should be somewhere around here... But even after destroying every last stone, I couldn't find any of them!"

[Maybe the true demons were the friends we made along the way...]

"Should I go back and ask East again...? Ugh... But I have no idea where she is by now... I could try using the geo-radar to see if I can sense some kind of presence... Maybe they are hidden under the ground several levels below me..."

[Don't you mean below us? I'm still here, you know... Don't forget about me after all the work you did to make us become best friends!]

Mia began to hold her head feeling like she was about to get a headache every time Evlin tried to speak to her.

"Whyyyyyy can't you just go awaaaaaaay!!!!!???" Mia cried.

[... ... ... Oh! I'm sorry! Were you talking to me? Could you repeat that last part, I was texting a friend and wasn't paying attention...] Evlin replied.

Mia looked at her own hands and noticed that she was slightly shaking for some reason. Even though she shouldn't be able to feel anything, her body was still reacting to Evlin's constant mockery and was starting to feel irritated.

"How is this possible?? How are you doing this??"

[...]

"Evlin!!!"

[I'm not talking to you right now... I'm mad because you forgot about my birthday... Hmpf!]

"This can't be happening to me..." Mia mumbled.

"Hey!! Who are you!!??" shouted someone who was gazing at Mia while she stood in the middle of the demolished Stonehedge.

"Eh...?" Mia replied as she turned around to watch with disinterest at the person.

It appeared to be some kind of tourist from the way he was dressed with a big hat to cover himself from the sun, a backpack on his back, a bottle of water in one hand and a smartphone on the other.

"What happened here???" the tourist asked.

"Great... Another annoying voice to give me headaches..." she muttered.

[Mia, wait!!!]

"Wait...? Why...?"

[You were about to take over that guy as well right?]

"Yes... What about it...?"

The man kept staring at Mia who was looking like a crazy person right now while talking to herself.

[Well, every time you try to see if you feel something from possessing someone, you never get anything right? What if instead, you tried to talk to him?]

"What...?? Why would I do that??"

[Why not? What do you have to lose?]

"..."

Mia looked at the confused tourist and pondered about Evlin's suggestion. She wasn't sure of what exactly the voice in her head was trying to accomplish, but she assumed the woman would start speaking about nonsense again if she refused, so she decided to go ahead with it to keep her quiet.

"Fine, whatever..." she said.

Mia approached the man and crossed her arms while showing her usual disinterested look to him, making the individual wonder if he had done something to upset her.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Oh... Uuhhh... I just wanted to know what happened with this place..." he replied.

"I'm trying to find a group of demons that represent six of the seven deadly sins that were imprisoned somewhere around here and was smashing these rocks to confirm if they were sealed inside any of them... Happy?"

"Uuhhh..."

[That's good, that's good... You're socializing... Feel anything?]

"Yes, I'm feeling like a goddamn moron... Now would you let me get back to work?"

"Sooo..." the man interjected, making both Evlin and Mia surprised, "Are you some kind of archeologist or something...?"

The girl and the voice in her head both looked at the lad who clearly had no idea of what kind of situation he was in.

"Yeah, sure, why not... I'm a twelve-year-old archeologist who is looking for traces of some ancient demon civilization around this area... Have you seen any?"

"Well... Maybe not around here, but you might have a bit more luck on Avebury village..." the man explained.

Mia just tilted her head in confusion, "The what village...?"

"Avebury! It's a couple of hours away from here if you go on foot but if you go by car it should take you around forty minutes... There is no entrance fee and there are even more rocks like the ones that used to be around here... You might find your demons if you search over there."

"..."

[...]

Both Mia and evlin had no idea how to react.

"That's... Actually very helpful... I'm going to check in there..." Mia stated as she began to check on her phone the direction towards Avebury and started to walk towards the village.

[Mia... Don't you have anything to say? This guy just gave you a big help!] Evlin reminded her.

"Why does it even matter?? I'm probably never going to see him again after today..."

[That doesn't change the fact he did you a favor... And in return, you should express your gratitude. Say 'thank you'!]

Mia halted her walk and began to question Evlin's behavior, "Ok... What is the deal with you?? Why are you so... So..."

[So... So...?]

"So calm!!!???" Mia shouted.

[...]

"I took everything from you!! I Destroyed your house! I kidnapped your family!! I beat up your niece! I released two dragons on top of your school and a storm of spirits on your city!!"

[...]

"Why arent you mad?? Why aren't you angry with me?? Why aren't you crying in despair and calling me names, and begging me to let you out?? And why do you keep joking, and playing, and singing 'Taste the feeling' from freaking Avicii???" Mia screamed while waving her arms up and down uncontrollably.

[It's a good song! Everyone loves Avicii!!] Evlin shrugged.

"Answer the goddamn question!!!" Mia yelled, sounding even louder than before.

[...]

Evlin started to wonder about her situation herself. Right before having her body stolen by Mia, she was constantly finding herself about to explode with anger and lash out on anyone nearby. She felt like she had spent the last week in a constant state of being about to blow up at any second.

All of that was of course done because of Mia and her actions. Constantly thinking about her kidnapped family, her endangered city, her ruined social life, and of course, her constant debate over being forced to eventually have to take a life or not.

She herself was honestly surprised that she wasn't as agitated as Mia was expecting. But for some reason, after she fused with Mia and became entrapped on her mind and learning about her past, a strange sense of peace started to appear inside of her.

[I'm not sure, to be honest... I just... Don't feel so angry anymore...] Evlin admitted.

"Why!!?? Why aren't you angry???"

[Well... I just keep thinking...]

"..."

[What good would that do...?]

"..."

[I kinda already lost pretty much everything by this point... And most of it was because I kept jumping into things without properly thinking about it... Which... Honestly is not a recent problem, I've been like that ever since I was a kid... Always stressed out, always worried, always wanted to solve everything in a hurry...]

"..."

[But I never really tried to change any of that because I never really had to face many consequences for it... Even during times where I lost my temper, I always managed to solve everything somehow by relying on either my magic or my friends... But this time... I couldn't rely on either... And as a result... I almost lost my mother... And even tried to kill a kid...]

"For the last time, I'M NOT A GODDAMN KID!!!" Mia screamed while stomping on the ground.

[I know, I know... But the thing is... I think I almost really lost myself this time... And I feel I don't want to repeat that ever again... I wanna try to be better... So... Instead of just letting my anger and frustration take over me due to my recent failures... I wanna try to... You know...]

"What!?"

[Try to understand you more...]

"..."

"Hey!"

Mia was so lost in her mental debate with Evlin that she didn't notice the tourist from before approaching her and calling her attention.

"Oh, you... What do you want?" she asked.

"Nothing... It's just that... You suddenly froze out of nowhere... I was wondering if you were ok."

"I'm fine... I'm always ok..." Mia replied as she turned around and started to walk away again.

[...]

Mia then stopped for one second and decided to surrender to Evlin's suggestion.

"Also... Thanks for your-" she was about to reply to the man's gesture of kindness, "What the...!?", but the moment she did so, the individual was no longer there.

Mia turned her head around in every direction to see if she could spot him, but there were no traces of the vacationist anywhere.

At this moment, Evlin began to wonder just how strangely convenient it was that someone would come out just as Mia was about to go nowhere with her search for the demons, and then give her another tip to help her restart her quest, all while not looking all that perplexed that a little girl just admitted to be looking for cursed beings after breaking down every rock in Stonehenge.

[Who was that guy, exactly...?]