"Hey, wakey wakey, sleepy head."
Talon groaned slightly as he heard an incredibly pleasant voice speak to him in his sleep. Even though waking up from such a deep slumber would annoy anyone, being awakened by such an angelic voice certainly made that brief experience far more pleasing than annoying.
Slowly opening his eyes, he rose up as he rubbed his face. "It's already time?" He said in a heavy voice.
"A few minutes off the mark, but yeah, it is time," Acrypha said as she sat next to him in bed. "You slept like a toddler." She added with a smile.
"Believe it or not, I still want to sleep for a few more hours. But, work is calling." He replied. "Also, what was that 'Wakey wakey, sleepy head'? Where did you even learn that from?" He asked as he shook his head.
It took him a few seconds to register what Acyrpha said with how weird it was. This was certainly not a part of her usual vocabulary.
"I read that in one of the books on earth. Isn't that how you humans wake each other up?"
"... If you're a 5-year-old, yeah." He replied with a deadpan expression.
"Oh my, I was contemplating saying it for a while now. But, I guess it fits perfectly." She replied.
"You!" Talon stared at her with a stunned look.
Acrypha took a few seconds of silence before she finally broke out laughing. "You really set yourself up perfectly there."
"..."
"I'm slowly learning your antics, and soon enough, you won't be able to beat me with words." She added with a proud look on her face as she puffed her chest forward.
It took Talon sometime before he turned away. "Tsk, you just got lucky that I was still feeling sleepy and my brain is still not fully functional yet."
"Am I hearing excuses? Admit defeat so we can finally move on and get to work." She shrugged.
"Dream on... It doesn't count." He murmured as he pursed his lips. He looked like a child who was wronged by their parents and was acting sad.
At that moment, Acrypha was feeling euphoric witnessing the sulking look on his face. To see Talon who was usually cocky and very cheeky even with his replies turn into a sad kid was a beautiful sight.
'Surprisingly, this side of him is too adorable.' She thought to herself secretly.
"Oh well, I'm now completely demotivated. I shall go back to sleep." Saying that, Talon threw himself on the bed again as he closed his eyes.
"Huh?" Acrypha was completely taken by surprise seeing his sudden reaction. "What do you mean? You need to wake up. You have a long day ahead of you."
"... To be honest, I don't have any right to say whether you're right or wrong. My entire life revolved around revenge for as long as I can remember. We both have the same mindset when it comes to such things." She sighed as she closed her eyes.
Talon nodded his head faintly in agreement. He knew that Acrypha's goal had revenge within it. While it may not be the ultimate goal, it was important enough to push her out of her way to seek his help. As for him, well, he was the closest to that he could be without actually having anyone to take revenge from.
Perhaps his biggest revenge was against the Core Dimension and its tyranny that led to what happened to him and his people. But then again, if this didn't happen, he would've never met Acrypha, Hyun-Jae, Sophie, Chin-Hwa, and all the others that he grew to consider friends and companions.
He had lost a lot and gained a lot. So in general, it was a pretty balanced experience, as crude as that might sound.
"I do not believe revenge can ruin a person. Hatred does. You can take revenge without letting it consume you and the opposite is possible too. In the end, it depends on the kid himself and what he wants to do. He can either seek those who killed his brother or simply seek to exterminate humans from the face of this planet. It can go either way."
Staring into Acrypha's beautiful crimson eyes for a moment, Talon absorbed all the things she said before he exhaled a breath.
"You are right. I will try to guide him out of doing anything reckless. The rest is on his shoulders."
"Well said. Now, are you going to wake up or should I kick you so hard that you fly out of the ceiling?" Acrypha asked with a dangerous smile on her face.
"... Spare me please." Laughing it off, Talon finally rose from the bed and started preparing himself.
Meanwhile, Acrypha remained on the bed, watching him with silent eyes. Admiring every single part of him secretly while thinking about the words he said. 'He is right. But... Isn't he aware of the hatred he is carrying within him?'
Talon might think he was normal, but the effects of his mother's death were still there, as prominent as ever if not more. He was certainly harboring hatred, towards what or who is still a question to be asked.
'At least, the fact that he knows getting consumed by hatred would only bring him disaster, I'm not too worried.'
As long as Talon can execute what he needs to do with a clear mind and clear conscience, Acrypha isn't going to stop him. He was still in a deep grieving state, and she was there for him till he finally shed it and came out fine again.
Till that day comes, she was going to look over him with careful eyes, as she always did. Even if it took her her entire life.
***
For the next hour or so, Talon made sure to prepare himself. He took a shower downstairs, ate some small snacks he had with him, and then finally left the room. He didn't wake up Arryn since the boy was so exhausted.
While it might've been dangerous to leave him alone, Talon wasn't going to move that far away from the inn and Acrypha was always there to alert him if something bad happened so he wasn't too worried.
"So, what are you going to do first?" Acrypha asked.
"Hmm, I want to explore the city a little. Find out if there are any interesting places here and then I'm going to practice some of the things I learned recently." He said as he stretched his body. "I'm leaving that blue monstrosity for later."
A//N: If you enjoyed reading, don't forget to support the book with GT and PS. Thank you!