The Haunting: Destiny (FF)

Chapter 55

Armen's POV:

The air is cold as my feet kick the ground, I keep my arms crossed whilst walking away from the cave.

"Armen I-"

"You can't stop me."

"Well fine then! Go on! Go sulk around just- please get back before... dark..." Mia yells at me, voice quietening as I get out of view.

Sulking, that's totally what I'm doing. It's not like I'm trying to figure out all these god damn thoughts that keep plaguing my mind, it's not like I'm the only one trying to make an actual plan! Huffing, I trudge across the wet grass, the smell aggravating my throat.

All we've been doing is cave hopping with no idea of where we are or if there'll be a another cave. Hell, we're out in the open so much I'm surprised we haven't been caught yet...

"What would be the better outcome?" I mutter as I finally find a decent tree to rest beside, "The empire won't kill us, at first but with him anything could happen... "

"Honestly? You'll probably 'ave better luck with Hero." A feminine voice with a familiarly weird accent speaks up.

"Hello Amber." I greet, above me I see her dangling by a branch, their necklace sliding down their neck.

"Hello to you too Mr. Grumpy." She drops down from the tree, landing in front of me, "So you finally remembered me!"

"Sure." I make it obvious it's not a good thing, "What do you want?"

"Sheesh, Mr. Grumpy is an understatement. Am I not allowed to drop in on my favourite little guy?" Glaring at her she sheepishly turns away.

"You've been pretty absent, you could've helped to avoid this result- oh wait! You wanted this to happen, you wanted Drake to be isolated and beaten down until he broke and your 'boss' could resume his killing spree."  Amber doesn't look back at me.

'Mr. Grumpy' am I not allowed to feel annoyed? I remembered important information that could've helped us save Drake, but by the time I knew it was all over- and now I'm stuck here with injuries that makes the slightest of movement a hellish pain all because I couldn't use magic properly, all because of some stupid mana gauge, all because they saved me.

"This is why you weren't ready." She mumbles, staring at me with... worry? I can't tell.

"I am." I claim sternly.

"Oh really? So being fine is secluding yourself from your only friends as you bea' yourself up every waking momen'? That's 'fine'?"

Pushing myself away from the tree I start to walk away, "If you're gonna give me a lecture, I'll give you some space." a sudden flash of orange forces me to halt.

"I didn't come to lecture you, geez, I wanted to check up on you." They explain, blinking my eye has finally adjusted to the sight of her blocking my path.

"So you can keep your 'promise'?" As if that's true, did she really know Collin? I don't believe it, I don't believe her. I don't believe a word they're saying as they're a demon, one of the higher-ups who work directly from Hero and yet she's here acting like she cares.

With unwanted rage I take deep breaths as I take a good look at her, she's wearing a pastel purple top with black outlines that pad the shoulder, a light pink scarf is wrapped around her waist. Bellow that is ragged blue trousers that are too short for her. That eye-shaped necklace hangs round her neck... wait a second-

"Why do you have my backpack?!" I nearly yell in surprise.

"Oh? Oh yeah! Just a little fetch and return quest, nothing special, you don't need to worry 'bout it." Grabbing the straps she bobs up and down, refusing to make eye contact.

"You- you have that mind twisting book, don't you?"

"It's called the Cult Book, and you guys don't need it anymore."

"What do you mean by that?" I question as I slowly approach her, every step I take, she takes one back.

"Irrelevant- I'm placing it back on its shelf. You don' need to worry 'bout it" their tone is confident with obvious lies weaved within it.

Neither of us say a thing as I suddenly jump towards her, with my good arm I try to grab the backpack's straps she vanishes, teleporting behind me, swerving around I reach out only for her to kick my ankle. Clashing with the ground I stifle a scream as I land on my left arm, wrist pulsating with fury.

"I didn't come here to taunt you... I thought you could use this." Is that a genuine comment?

Landing besides me I see a small purple tainted booklet, the cover is ragged with red lacing along the spine, cautiously opening it the pages are stained. On the blank page, writing starts to dance around, drawing into place. Words that I vaguely understand cover the page whilst pictures accommodate it.

"⍑ᒷᔑ╎ꖎ╎リ⊣" I mutter, slowly sitting up. "Isn't that-"

"The gift you lost? Yeah, technically 'hat's supposed to be going towards the celebratory bonfire- 'owever, one bit of kindling won't be missed." With a cheeky smile, they disappear, not giving me the chance to ask more questions.

I look down at the book, the pages change to one depicting meditation. "'It'll give you the spell you need'. " I lightly repeat.

That girl from the village library! Geez, with everything that's happened I forgot about that place, well- forgot about everything but this. I untuck the gem I've kept underneath my shirt, clasping it in my hand I stare into it's reflections. The mere sight of it makes my head hurt, as the whole world seems to stop, letting my mind blank out as my eyes fail to remove themselves from the item, the more I look the more angry- no, that's not right, it's betrayal, this overwhelming feeling of betrayal plagues my mind... gripping tighter I close my eyes and tuck it back into my shirt- that's enough of that.

Slowly propping myself up, I find my balance before taking a deep breath in. A slow exhale out helps me to calm down as I slip the booklet into my pocket. I should head back, it's getting late and I don't feel like being confronted by the Nightmares quite yet... well, I'll have to eventually, they're probably angry about our deal.

Giving out a deflated chuckle I look up at the sky giving it a week smile.

"Can things get any worse?"