Aethernea : Soulbound [Book 1]

Episode 130 - Life Story

Previously:

Elaru meets up with Kiel after finishing her practical exam in which she subdued a familiar crew of ex-pirates.

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Elaru finally finished her self-satisfied narration of how she passed her practical exam and turned to face Kiel's unamused deadpan expression.

It wasn't that he found her retelling boring, no, on the contrary, it was rather humorous. But he couldn't quite laugh when he compared it to his own 30 minutes of torture.

And also, the story had disturbing implications...

"Why is it that you are familiar with a crew of pirates?" Kiel unceremoniously homed in on the issue Elaru glossed over, giving her a penetrating look.

Episode 130 – Life Story

"That... is an interesting question." Elaru grinned. "Would you believe me if I said that I ended up boarding a pirate ship by mistake when I was young?"

"Did you?" Kiel raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Yes." She responded with a straight face.

"Then yes, yes, I would," Kiel responded with a face just as straight as hers.

Elaru was the first to discard the solemnity in favor of a chuckle. "Only because you can tell I'm not lying."

"And because at this point, nothing about you would surprise me." Kiel pointed out.

"And that." Elaru grinned sheepishly.

Kiel sighed and rubbed his temples. Elaru was... a special kind of troublemaker. She didn't actively search for trouble, but one way or another ended up in it.

He had a nagging feeling that she'd bring that trouble to his doorstep too. And the worst thing about it is that he had no idea what kind of trouble to expect. He was left in the dark with no idea about what she was up to; no idea of her background and goals.

Kiel sighed again, with a mix of frustration and helplessness. "Do you ever intend to let me into your closed off little world?"

Silence descended, slicing the cheerful mood like a sharp knife. Almost palpable tension rose in the air.

Kiel stared at Elaru's poker face for a while, before he got tired of waiting for a response.

She wouldn't give him any.

He averted his gaze towards the fluffy white clouds above them pondering what to do.

Elaru just didn't like talking about herself. That secretive nature of hers would probably not change anytime soon.

She... might be a bit similar to him after all... at least in their tendency to keep people at bay.

At first glance, one would peg her as an extremely outgoing and sociable person. She was charismatic, friendly, amusing, and cheerful – a person most people would enjoy befriending. Not only did she make people enjoy spending time with her, but she was also capable in many ways making her a powerful ally.

But when everything was said and done, did she truly have any close friends? Did she ever form any close ties, letting someone get truly close to her? To understand her?

She hid it quite well, but she was just as unwilling to let people get close to her as he was.

Elaru gave Kiel's impassive expression a side glance, and unbeknownst to him, a flash of sadness briefly touched her face.