Chapter 153 - A Path Best Taken Alone

"You really care about your older brother, don't you?"

Patting his hand against her surprisingly well-kempt hair in this environment, a tint of scarlet came over the girl's cheeks. 

"Of course I do!"

Aiko placed her hands over her flustered cheeks in an attempt to hide her blush--to no avail as the crimson spread its way to her ears. 

"Still though...Akitein sounds pretty amazing. You'll have to show me around once we're out of this place, Aiko."

"Promise it."

It was said so quietly and suddenly that Ren felt that he might have mistaken his ears, looking over at the girl as her blush remained as potent as ever. 

"Huh?"

"Promise me that you'll come with me to Akitein once this is all over!"

"Ah--alright then!"

Ren smiled, extending his pinky towards the girl as she gave him a confused look, switching her violet gaze between his hand and his eyes. 

"It's a little something we do back on my world. A "pinky promise"--here."

Showing her what it was, Ren reached for her hand, having her extend her pinky finger before he wrapped his around her own. 

"Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye! I'll go with you wherever you want within Akitein!"

As he repeated the idiom, Ren bounced their interlocked hands playfully before giving her a wide, almost childish smile that magnified her fluster even more. 

"...I'm holding you to it then."

"Of course! Is it alright if I bring some friends along with me?"

Asking her this with his beaming smile still present across his lips, the question caused her to puff her cheeks out a bit in a slight pout. Raising her voice more than usual sparked a twitch of Bifrons ears as the familiar still sank into slumber, temporarily garnering Ren's attention. 

"Ah...Is that a no?"

Ren asked with a nervous chuckle, scratching his own cheek as he felt as if he were poking a slumbering lioness when she was like this; wearing those heavy gauntlets, he wanted no part in the blunt force they packed. 

"It's fine! Bring whoever you want! It doesn't matter how many; I'll show them all how wonderful Akitein is! Our food puts all other kingdoms to shame!"

All of a sudden, the previously stoic, cold-shoulder-giving girl spoke so passionately. The only thing he could do was raise his hands up and nod his head. 

"Does it now? I bet it can't compare to the culinary prowess of Japan!"

Ren gloated playfully with a "Tsk, Tsk, Tsk"--swaying his finger. Expecting a quick rebuttal of his statement, he looked over to see that Aiko was looking at him as if attempting to say something only to be unable to find her words. 

"Japan...You said that's where you're from in your world, right?"

Asking this curiously, Aiko drew her blanket over her shoulders to retain as much warmth and comfort as possible. 

"Mm, that's right."

"You look like you're from Akitein--I've read in books that some scholars theorize that the world you otherworlders come from is similar to ours in a lot of ways. I bet Japan is like Akitein's sibling!"

Hearing this from the beige-haired girl, it somewhat confirmed a hypothesis Ren already had when he first arrived. Between the culture, kingdoms, and names--he knew there was some sort of connection that had to be there. 

"I think you're probably right about that."

Ren supported her statement, putting his hand on his chin and nodding as he thought it over a bit more. Talking with her like this, if only for a moment, allowed him to sway his mind away from the hellscape he was in, finding even the gloomy, desolate library they sat in to be a haven of its own. 

"Can you tell me about it?"

"About what?"

"Your world...Earth."

That boundless curiosity that sparkles in her eyes was nothing short of being fueled by childlike wonder; forcing a smile across his lips as he found himself victorious in his own, small way. 

"I'll tell you all you want, but first you have to tell me something."

Ren kept his arms folded against his chest, finding a slight chill coming over his body even with the thick cloth he wore. 

"...Yeah?"

"Why did you come here, Aiko?"

The question did away with that glimmer in her jewels, resting her head in her arms as she fell silent for a moment. 

"You'll think it's childish."

"I won't."

Ren assured her with his unchanging hazel irises, his quick, serious response affirming this trust in her heart before she raised her head back up. 

"My older brother...The truth is, he was supposed to be back within a couple of years--he promised me that. You see, my family is somewhat important in Akitein...My brother was supposed to become the next head of my family. Right now, my father is sick--that's why...I have to find my brother."

"I see...You're going to ask the gods of this place to find out where he is?"

Aiko nodded with Ren's confirming question, lowering her head back down against her knees. He hovered his hand above her head with the intent of giving her a comforting pat but retreated the notion. 

--Letting a kid like her take on this sort of responsibility...I'll have to give both her dad and her brother a wallop when I go to Akitein. 

It seemed all of this talking had drained the last bit of juice from her batteries, Ren watched as her eyelids began to close slightly. 

"I'll go stand guard now, alright?"

Ren gave her a quick ruffle of her hair before standing himself up, giving her a smile as she was clearly too tired not to put up any type of argument. 

--Maybe it was when I first died, maybe it was when I first awakened my ability, just maybe it was when I put Goldheve down--but something changed. A flip switched; a screw came loose--I could feel it this entire time; something fundamentally was different about me. 

This type of anger was never something I experienced. I didn't want to believe it--I wanted to believe that I could hold it back. 

I can't. I'm sorry, Aiko...I can't let you see this. I thought your behavior was just the thorny armor that every here eventually grew, but it was something different, wasn't it? Despite what they did to you...you still trusted me, Aiko. 

Someone as kind as you--whoever hurt you has to pay. 

Waiting until he could hear her subtle, slumberous breathing, Ren quietly shut the doors behind him as he left the premises. 

"Bifrons."

Ren gave the cat on his shoulder a soft flick to force it out of its nap. 

"...It's getting quite bothersome to be rudely awakened so frequently-nya."

"Do you remember where you sensed those three keys?"

Ignoring the yawning cat's complaints, Ren pressed him for directions, climbing out of one of the hollow sides of the decrepit abode, stepping into the unnatural fields of evergreen. 

"That's correct-nya. You're not bringing your partner of yours with you-nya?"

"She doesn't need to see this. Someone her age shouldn't."

Turning back for a moment, he looked towards the moss-clad manor, feeling slightly anxious about leaving her alone there, but as she said--it was a seldom known area. He placed his trust in that very fact, turning his back towards the house as he moved forward. 

"Whether or not that is the usual case, she is a participant of Purgatory-nya. There isn't much you can do to shelter her from the harshness of this realm-nya."

"I'm not here to argue. Do you remember the location of that group or not?"

"I do-nya. A "please" would be greatly appreciated."

Waiting for a display of proper manners, Bifrons received nothing, releasing a small sigh as he stood himself up on Ren's shoulder, giving a slight smack to the young man's cheek with his fluffy tail. 

"Follow this trail until you reach a three-way divide; from there, take the rightmost path and follow the trail of bone-oak until you reach the quarry. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be resuming my nap."

Giving sufficient directions, Bifrons curled himself back up before closing his eyes. With an answer given and a clear destination in his sights, Ren gave a gentle pat to the feline's head before moving onward through the trail of green. 

"Thanks, Bifrons."

--It isn't completely right to say I'm doing this simply because of my own anger or out of worry for the others. When I sit around, when I rest--it just feels wrong. I need it. I need to fight, I need to dull the pain with something else; feeling my heart thump inside my ears, sparks formed from the clash of steel, feeling the vibrations in my bones. All of that lessens the ever-present pain.

It was a somewhat comforting environment; within the realm of stone and darkness, the stretch of natural green made him forget just for a moment that he was within the bowels of hell itself. Though the enigmatic flowers that embedded themselves in this soil took that illusion right away, displaying what looked like rows of teeth between their crimson petals. 

The trees themselves, while different, were serene in their own way; covered with silver, almost ashen leaves that clung to blackened oak which was lathered in sap. 

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. Stomp. 

Frantic, dense footsteps suddenly came into existence, Ren's ears guiding his gaze towards the side of the steep cliff that ran parallel to him, witnessing the large form of the approaching entity that was without a doubt hostile. 

It was a giant, similar to the one he found slumbering in the depths below; though its skin was tan, as if it were formed of rock itself, standing several times his own height as it wore the same type of rag over its head as its predecessor. 

Each enormous stride forward was followed by a bellowing grunt before it came close enough to the human that it leaped into the arrow, raising its muscular leg for a vicious stomp. 

"--You couldn't have picked a worse time. I'm in a bad mood."

With no haste in his movements, Ren muttered as he placed his hand on the handle of his trust blade--between the time it took him to unsheath it and commit to a complete swing was less than a blink, causing the colossal creature to crash against the ground as its leg was separated from its body. 

A perfect cut; from the thigh below, the appendage of the giant fell to the ethereal grass with a squelch, dying the green into a crimson. 

Witnessing the odds so clearly stacked against itself, the monster's malicious nature crumbled as it attempted to show its submissiveness by placing both palms upward with its head bowed down. Somehow seeing this only furthered Ren's contempt that clouded his mind, squeezing the hilt of Belus so tightly that he feared it may shatter. 

"Raise your head."

As he thought, the giant understood human speech--raising its head that was covered in a tattered, stained, brown rag. 

That moment of mercy that first bore those words into reality quickly dwindled as Ren still raised his sword above his head, bringing it down against the sturdy neck of the gargantuan creature as if it were nothing more than a dish ready to be diced. 

It was an outlet for his anger, yet it did nothing to quell that fire burning him up from within. Looking at the scarlet liquid that tainted Belus' pristine steel, Ren swiped the blade before continuing on his path. There was no diminishing this feeling scorching his heart until he paid the malicious group of adventurers a personal visit.