You cannot ignore us...
You cannot ignore what occurred...
You cannot ignore your-
"Shut up." Koma snapped in response to the whispers infuriating chatters. They had been going on and on since he came back from Perxodial, blabbering constantly about what happened in the that place between realms, how Shongo had interfered with their memories, and that the lands had been desecrated by evil forces.
Koma noticed that Stella couldn't hear them at all, otherwise she would have mentioned it considering that they kept him up all night and still hadn't shut up.
When he opened the door to talk to her just minutes ago he wanted to ask her for help, beg her even, hoping she could use her ability to maybe get them to be silent atleast for a few hours until they had to leave here, but when she said her and Usgard were going drinking, and noticing how excited she seemed by it, he decided to keep the pain to himself.
They had never been this way before, it's only in his beast state that they were this talkative and in his human form they would chat for a while but eventually go silent unless he used his magic then they would try to intrude on his consciousness and push his bloodlust.
But recently they've been having a much stronger hold on him, for instance back in Hafe when they took over and told Ferrus to make the spear that was now sitting ominously in the corner of the room. They couldn't do that before...or atleast they hadn't done that since that night in Elvaxion when they took her from him, and he had made a very strong mental note to ensure that they never did that again.
Unfortunately, it has failed. The smart thing would be to cast a sealing spell, lock the problem away, but no matter how many he tried on himself they all failed, the whispers couldn't be contained, and the wooden arm couldn't be hidden by any glamour spell.
Koma had tried all his life to deal with these issues through traditional means, but every time they reminded him that they were much more powerful than whatever he could throw at them.
A fury of frustration rose in Koma's chest and he prepped his fist to punch the door then realised Stella would definitely hear it and he would have to explain why he did that.
YOU SEEM TO BE HAVING TROUBLES.
"Oh fuck me." Koma drawled and Shongo chuckled at his misery.
I THINK THEY HAVE A RIGHT TO TALK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED, TREZOBAK. I THINK YOU WANT TO AS WELL.
"You already know everything but won't tell me." Koma snapped. "Because you're nothing but a fucking asshole."
IF YOU ARE CURIOUS THEN ALL YOU MUST DO IS ASK.
"For the price of relying on you." Koma assumed. "And in doing so the curse gains more ground."
YOU STATE THE OBVIOUS, BUT YOU CANNOT STATE WHAT HAPPENED IN THE FOREST. YOU CANNOT EXPLAIN WHAT YOU SAW IN THE UNDERGROUND ROOM, YOU ARE LOST AND THE WAY TO FIND OUT EVERYTHING IS THROUGH ME.
"I would know everything if you didn't interfere." Koma argued. "Having me ask for your help is nothing more than your terrible manipulation tactic."
YOU CAN REMAIN OBLIVIOUS OF YOUR DESTINY, TREZOBAK. OR YOU CAN LEARN OF IT...EITHER WAY, IT WILL NOT SAVE YOU FROM ME. NOTHING WILL.
Koma felt Shongo's presence disperse from his mind, it felt like dark thunder clouds vanishing from the sky, but because the Whispers were still there the sky had a grey tint to it as if to tell him that his problems were not going anywhere.
He glared at his spear, it clearly held an importance to them, but they didn't know what. He had realised that they didn't act memories, just impulses, or rather a mixture of both but it was mostly impulses. They knew the exact design of the spear, had informed him of its name, but knew nothing of its origin.
Koma guessed it was from wherever they were, that abandoned city.
He chuckled at how he had a chance to learn so much of himself, gain answers that has plagued him for all his life, only to have it snatched away by a psychotic god bent on an unexplained hunger for vengeance, or just chaos, or maybe both.
Koma sighed at the emptiness of the room he was standing in, he always hated loneliness, he understood it to be essential given what he was, but he hated how the thoughts were louder when nobody else was talking, even as he managed to muffle the noise the whispers were making in his head he could still feel them banging against his skull, demanding his attention, pushing him to break.
Sometimes he did. No matter how hard he fought against them, sometimes he lost, and those hunting him would become hunted, and Koma would be left with the taste of their blood the next day.
A light knock on his door dragged him out of the grim thoughts and he turned to it wondering whether it was Stella coming back to get him to come drink with her and Usgard, an offer he wouldn't refuse because despite not being able to get totally drunk for a reason unbeknownst to him he could get tipsy enough for the world around him to be silent.
He opened the door expecting to meet Stella, but when he realised he was only seeing the top of somebody's brown haired head he looked down and saw Pheruss squinting up at him as she wiped her glasses against her shirt. "Where the fuck did Stella and Usgard go?"
"Drinking." Koma answered and moved aside. "Do you want to come in?"
Pheruss rose a brow at his request. "You don't want to join them?"
Koma looked in the direction of the ale house, he knew it by the smell of the liquor carried by the wind, he could also smell Usgard and Stella, and even though he did want to drink a bit he figured it would be better to talk.
"No." He said. "Unless you want to."
Pheruss reasoned it for a moment then realised that aside from group talks her and Koma hadn't had a personal conversation, which was weird because she they had given themselves that nickname of arm-buddy but barely knew anything about themselves other than the essentials.
"They'll be fine." Pheruss slipped into his room and sat on his bed. "Never fancied ale anyways, taste like despair."
Koma closed the door and sat on the floor opposite her, Pheruss gave him a confused look because she made sure there was space on the bed for him, but Koma didn't move because he was quite comfortable. "I once had ale from Jazapi, it was sweet, mixed with the scent of the sea."
"Have you ever been there?" Pheruss asked curiously. "Stella said you called yourself a traveller."
"No. I have been to every kingdom on the continent, spent most of my life split between Elvaxion and Deratio, but I've seen the forever blizzards of Kholod, and attended a festival in Le-Prad, but I've never gone out to sea. How about you?"
"Only Deratio." Pheruss told him. "Would love to see other places, maybe not Elvaxion because my father despises the place for some reason, but Le-Prad sounds nice and Kholod seems-."
"Cold." Koma completed. "Constantly, the only time it doesn't snow is during summer, aside from the mountain regions where the blizzards are always ravaging the lands, but it's also beautiful, I went to places and experienced their culture, but your father is right about Elvaxion."
"How so?" Pheruss questioned but he just shook his head in reply, he was in the mood to talk however that topic wasn't worth remembering.
"Just not a nice place." He assured.
"Still, it must have been nice to travel the continent." Pheruss smiled at the thought of her riding across the lands and learning so many things from different people, maybe meeting a cute girl across the way.
"I wasn't travelling for leisure." Koma explained. "I searching for answers. I mostly slept infront of or inside ancient temples, dungeons, libraries, hoping to gain some kind of reason for my existence."
There was a short silence after those words and I Koma noticed how Pheruss was now staring at him with a sad expression so he quickly adjusted his tone. "But it was also very nice, they were sceneries that couldn't be redone in painting even by the best artists, and I met so many kind people along the way who would feed me just because they wanted to."
Pheruss sighed. "Well, from the little time we've been together travelling is a bit more difficult than I thought."
"It'll get better." Koma told her, he didn't really believe that, but he wanted Pheruss to feel calm.
"I doubt." She said. "Considering the shit we're dealing with, but forget about that, we said we won't talk about the mission atleast till tomorrow, so I'm gonna bring up something more fun. Wanna know how I lost my arm?"
"How is that fun?" Koma asked back.
She smiled at him with a bit of craze in her eyes. "Depends on how you view it."
Koma guessed it would be bad considering he knows how it felt to get an arm ripped off, but Pheruss seemed eager to tell the story so he nodded and she started reciting the tale.
"Back when I was like thirteen Usgard came along Hafe, he wasn't all that back then so instead of high ranking missions he got solo-hunts for some dangerous monsters that were popping around Deratio. He came by and asked my father for weapons then convinced my father that I should come along after I begged him to take me with him, my dad agreed only that I wouldn't follow Usgard to the den and instead hang back until the hunt was over."
"You didn't stay put." Koma guessed and she laughed.
"I was curious, so no I didn't, instead when we got close enough to the cave I silently tracked Usgard there despite his orders, and when he was going toe-to-toe with the biggest fucking bear I've ever seen I watched from the entrance until he slipped on some of its shit and fell."
"Typical." Koma commented.
"Hey, I know you and him have some sort of rivalry going on but I've seen you two spar outside my window, he's good, really good. The bear shit was just an unlucky thing that happened during that fight."
Koma would never admit that despite knowing it to be very true. Usgard was one of the most efficient combatants he had ever seen, at first Koma believed his technique to be nothing but a reliant of strength but Usgard was skilled in fighting enough for Koma to not want to face him in a true battle because the outcome would be devastating on both sides.
"Continue." He said.
"So, he slipped, fell, knocked his head against a rock, and was dazed for a moment too long because the bear was ready to bit his whole fucking head off and then like the hero I am I rushed in and put my arm between the things jaws in an act to save Usgard's life."
"Why didn't you just poke its eyes?" Koma inquired.
"Because I was an idiot." She admitted. "And it was a kind of in the moment thing. Anyways, it took my arm in one bite."
"Excruciating?"
"Oh so excruciating." She agreed. "I almost passed out from that bite alone, but not before Usgard regained his senses and with my menial but still quite necessary aid we both cut that fucker up before I collapsed and was only a minute away from death. Fortunately, Usgard is very skilled in first aid so he cauterised the wound, wrapped it up, and brought me back to a very pissed off dwarf."
"Your father didn't take your injury lightly." Koma deduced knowing how protective Ferrus had been of her when she wanted to follow us to the caverns.
"He beat the absolute shit out of Usgard." Pheruss said as she pointed to several parts of her body. "He stabbed Usgard here, and here, and over here, it was a horrid sight mostly because Usgard had wanted to take all the blame for the injury, giving a lie that he had underestimated the creature and it escaped him for a moment, but I couldn't take being silent about what happened so I told my dad everything, and after like a three weeks of not being able to forge anything he finally gave me a new arm. The end."
"I'm going to believe you didn't learn a lesson." Koma assumed.
"Not one." She giggled. "But did you like the story?"
"I'm not sure." He answered honestly. Every story he heard had a lesson by the end of it, and even though Pheruss came out scarred she seemed fine right now, which was nice considering he knew how depressing life often was. "But you seem to, and that's nice."
Pheruss stared at him for a moment leading Koma to feel awkward even though his face didn't show it, he let it go on for a bit before finally asking; "What?"
"You don't smile." She told him. "At all. Like I know we barely know each other, and I'm guessing your grim view on existence is justified, but you've never smiled once. Is it that you're incapable, or is it a trauma thing? I mean if it's something too-."
"I don't want to sound...sad." He interrupted. "But the reason is because I believe I have a curse more cruel than immortality. Every time I smile something bad happens, I understand happiness, I long for it despite how I look and act, but I also understand that whenever I attain it misery follows soon after. Whether it's to me or those around me a tragedy will follow, and I don't want that to happen...because I enjoy being around you all."
Koma was surprised he uttered that last part, infact he was surprised by this whole conversation, the walls existed for a reason, not as an excuse to be antisocial but as a way to ensure the safety of others. Too many times has his existence brought pain upon others, and too many times has his immortality brought sorrow upon himself.
He just wanted to keep the ones he cared about safe...but somehow he always failed to.
And now he had something again, something to lose.
Pheruss got off the bed and sat beside Koma on the ground, she said nothing at first knowing that they had shared a moment together and he needed a moment to comes to terms with that, but she also knew that he would need to do that more often, especially with the woman that he saw as special.
"I enjoy being around you too." She chimed.
"Thank you." Koma replied.
"I think you should tell the Usgard and Stella things like this." Pheruss advised. "Open up a bit more so they don't see you as this forever brooding person...god..."
"Monster." Koma added.
"You're not a monster." Pheruss told him.
"In the literal sense, I am." He insisted and pulled his teeth up to show his fangs, that were incredibly sharp despite being in his human form. "I am a monster, you could try and say that in terms of my personality or my actions I'm not one but you'll be wrong there as well."
"Why?"
Koma didn't answer that question, instead he turned away and focused on the light entering the room. His lack of a reply was a clear sign that the topic wasn't one to be talked about so Pheruss let her curiosity slide and pick something else to discuss.
Something that she had been noticing for a while.
"Do you like Stella?"
"Yes." Koma answered without hesitation and Pheruss' eyes lit up with excitement, then she realised his tone was still flat and he hadn't even taken a moment to ponder on her question or even be flustered.
"Do you like me?"
"Yes." He replied in the same manner causing her to frown and him to be confused. "Do you not want me to like you?"
"That's not it." She muttered as she tried to figure out the best way to explain to him the levels of liking someone without sounding too complicated or too childish. As of now she wasn't even sure he's ever gotten the talk about emotions and sexual desires, and as much as she was enjoying how he was opening up she didn't want to delve into that side of his life.
"Then what is it?"
Pheruss brainstormed a better approach and then landed on one, it was a bit more crude however it would clear the air. "Are you attracted to Stella?"
Koma was visibly taken aback by her words, and even though he didn't blush he was clearly flustered because he quickly turned away from Pheruss and gave no answer whatsoever.
"Oh my gods you are!" Pheruss laughed at his silence. "Well, well, well, isn't this fucking hilarious."
"I didn't say anything." Koma hissed.
"Oh but that's the reason why I know you are attracted to her." Pheruss chuckled as she poked his face, a dangerous move because his glare clearly meant wasn't fond of it, yet she continued because she knew he wouldn't do anything. "I also know because this is the first ever time we've really spoken because you're always talking to her instead, the only reason you're doing this is because Stella has been making you more and more friendly, you've probably told her a secret or two, and maybe you've stopped yourself from leaning in to kiss-."
"Not doing this." Koma rose from the floor and speed walked out of the room to escape the conversation, unfortunately for him Pheruss quickly caught up and was now walking backwards so she could keep looking at him while he on the other hand looked directly above her in order to not make eye contact.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of." She teased.
"I never answered you, Pheruss." He grumbled.
"To be honest, Stella is quite beautiful."
"Can we go back to talking about how I'm a monster?" Koma pleaded.
"And so incredibly sexy, like I'm quite jealous whenever I see her getting undre-." Koma clamped his wooden hand over her mouth to stop her from saying anything else.
"Shut it." He sneered. "Stop talking about her, or I'll carry you back to Hafe myself and hand you back to your father."
Pheruss pulled his fingers away from her lips to show the bright smile she was wearing. "Aww, our first friendship threat."
Koma realised it was pointless to stop her so he continued walking away while she followed behind him in hopes of getting him to crack.
"So when did you realise it?"
No answer.
"Was it love at first sight?"
No reply.
"Second sight?"
He mumbled a curse.
"Was it at Hafe in the caverns when you saw that you almost lost her? Or back at my house the next day?"
"I'm not entertaining this conversation." He declared and pushed the inn's door open so that they could step outside. "Stella's a friend."
"But you want something more." Pheruss figured as she wriggled her eyebrows causing Koma to stop his aimless walking that had led them out here and finally look down at her.
"Why do you even think I like Stella?" Koma demanded.
"Because you stare at her whenever we're travelling or sitting by the campfire, you always talk to her alone without ever including me or Usgard, you pay a lot of attention to what she says, and even though we've only had one true group fight I noticed you were really protecting Stella even though I'm the one lacking combat experience and needed more protection than her." Pheruss listed. "Oh, and don't think I don't notice the little flowers that pop up around your feet whenever she smiles at you."
Koma's eyes widened a bit. "What?!"
"Okay, that last part is a lie." She confessed. "But it might as well be true. You like like her."
Koma sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose while trying to think of a way to completely escape this topic or end it forever. He knew he couldn't do the former due to Pheruss' persistence, but he also didn't want to do the latter because that would require him to face emotions which he himself hasn't fully come to terms with.
Everything she said was true, he was attracted to Stella, both by physical nature and the by the bond they've been building over the course of this journey.
At first when he saw her horse buckle and throw her into the snow outside of Luro he didn't want to aid her, he was heading to Nevcram forest to wait out another full moon, then he would continue going to whatever temple that he happened to have heard or read about on the way, but as he walked away from Stella he could hear heartbeat slowing down as she talked to herself and his feet betrayed him.
He intervened, he helped her, and he thought nothing of it, just another traveller down on their luck, and he even gave her a bit of advice before leaving.
He thought he'd never see her again only for her to appear in the forest accompanied by a knight, and even though he was hungry, even though the whispers were pushing him to devour her, he controlled himself in hopes that she would leave and never come back, but everything else happened and at first he was angry at her, he silently blamed her for getting Shongo's curse, then slowly that hate became nothing and he soon started talking to her.
He started enjoying her company, her curiosity towards him, her boldness, her fighting skills, her calmness around him. When with her he didn't feel so out of place, instead he felt...nice.
Then there was how extremely extraordinary she looked, how her eyes always seem to sparkle even on the darkest nights, how her melanin skin felt so soft whenever he got the chance to hold her, how her body looked so spectacular that he would stare at every curve unconsciously until being snapped out of the trance by anyone calling his name.
And her laughs made him feel a bit warm inside.
But there was the issue with what he was, the nature of this mission, and the messed up thing that was his mind. He didn't trust himself around her, the whispers or Shongo could take control at any moment and harm her in one way or the other.
Why would she ever want to be with someone like him?
Besides, with everything going on, with the constant risk of death at every turn, believing anything could happen between them was idiotic and reckless.
"Whatever feeling I have towards Stella are irrelevant." He decided.
"You don't know that." Pheruss argued.
Koma sighed and activated his god eye, the golden gleam caused Pheruss to shudder a bit but she still stood still when he stepped forward to loom over her. "You don't understand. You're mortal, the relationships you build in life are precious because that life eventually ends, I do not have that blessing. Anyone I meet will eventually die, leaving me for an afterlife I can never reach. So why would I form any sort of attachment when everything ends except me?"
Pheruss couldn't give an immediate answer because unfortunately his points were valid. He wasn't like them, they could grow old, gain quality memories with one another, and then fulfilled when it's time for their eternal rest.
But Koma's situation was much more complicated, and he had a past that caused him to him smiling was some sort of bad omen, for him life was a never ending curse and having feelings in such a life felt pointless.
Yet, Pheruss felt that living like that was wrong.
"I can't say I understand everything that you're going through, Koma." Pheruss started. "Fate is cruel, but you're immortal so you should try to live life to the fullest, or else you'll be stuck with regrets for eternity. You deserve to be happy."
She patted his wooden arm with her prosthetic one and smiled at him but rather than smile back Koma turned off the god eye and looked away. Her words made sense, he shouldn't have to live this way, but then there was everything else that had happened before he met her, before he met Stella...he wasn't sure.
And despite ignoring the feeling within he knew he was scared.
"I'm going for a walk." He announced and turned towards the town's gate, not looking back at the friend who was truly worried about him.
****************************************
Koma didn't have a destination in mind, left to him he'd wander off until he regained his composure and head back eventually, but he wasn't sure how long that would take so instead he did the next best thing, he found a vantage.
It must have been the dragon part of him that moved him to this often, he always found the skyline to be a calming scenery, so he would climb up to somewhere and sit down.
This time it was a tree, a tall one with branches that could hold his weight so he went to the highest one and sat down facing the sun.
"You deserve to be happy." He recited the words like they were of a different language but he knew exactly what she meant, and he knew she was right. All he's been through, the constant pushes towards insanity, it wasn't fair at all, and he deserved to smile.
He deserved to lo-
A jolt suddenly ran through Koma's left arm and he winced at the pain, he didn't understand why it had happened until he felt that presence creep up on him again. Only this time...the storm clouds in his mind let out a calm rumble.
"SORRY FOR THE LITTLE VOLT. I WANTED TO MAKE MYSELF MORE A BIT MORE HERE THAN IN YOUR HEAD."
Koma turned to his left and saw a solid silhouette of a man with dark lavender eyes levitating in the air beside him. He knew it was Shongo's form, he had seen it that time when Stella infiltrated his mind, but this time it looked much more solid, almost like it was actually there.
He had defining features now, wild spiky hair that fell from its head and well past his waist flickering with purple lightning like an actual storm cloud, and a muscular frame, not the lanky figure he had seen previously, but instead a rigid body.
"You're growing stronger." Koma deduced.
"YES." Shongo observed his form. "BIT BY BIT. INCH BY INCH. BUT THAT IS NOT WHY I FORMED MYSELF."
"So have you come to boast?" Koma huffed and crossed his arms.
Shongo didn't answer him, his eyes stared out into the distance, not breaking away from the snowy horizon. "YOUR FRIEND IS RIGHT. AMONG ALL OF YOU SHE SEEMS TO BE THE ONE WHO IS MOST STABLE. I GUESS BECAUSE SHE HAS NOT GONE THROUGH WHAT WE HAVE."
"What we have?" Koma repeated.
"YOU THINK MY WANT FOR REVENGE IS UNWARRANTED, YOU BELIEVE THAT I WISH ONLY FOR CHAOS." Shongo chuckled. "BUT YOU MISUNDERSTAND, MY RAGE IS JUSTIFIED."
"Enough to take my soul?"
"YOUR SOUL WAS MINE, TREZOBAK. WON FAIRLY IN A DEAL, YOU MAY NOT HAVE BEEN THERE BUT THE PERSON WHO GAVE ME YOUR SOUL WAS ONLY ABLE TO BECAUSE HE WAS POWERFUL ENOUGH TO."
"He..." Koma frowned. The Alltale could help answer what he is and why he's here, but the other question of who gave his soul up to this god was also bother to him.
Shongo had never disclosed who, keeping them a secret as he did everything else, so that Koma would give in.
This conversation right now was angering him.
"You're treating me as a puppet for your own mission, and withholding me from accomplishing my own." Koma snapped. "You cursed me with your mark only adding to the vast amount of bullshit that I already go through, and you think your vengeance justified. If it truly was then you would do it alone, without roping my soul into it."
"YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN THIS WAS NOT OF MY DOING." Shongo explained. "A DEAL WAS STRUCK, WITH YOUR LIFE BEING OFFERED AS A PART OF IT. AND I CANNOT DO THIS WITHOUT A BODY, ANY BODY FROM ANY RACE WOULD HAVE SUFFICED, YOURS JUST HAPPENS TO BE PERFECT. DESPITE ITS CHALLENGES."
Koma was about snap at him again but Shongo continued talking.
"LISTEN TO YOUR FRIEND. SHE MAY NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND WHY YOU ARE AS YOU ARE BUT I DO. IT SHOULD NOT STOP YOU FROM HAPPINESS, THESE PEOPLE ARE GOOD FOR YOU. THE PRINCESS IS GOOD FOR YOU. BE HAPPY."
Koma was taken aback from this advice, Shongo had not torn his gaze from the horizon once but Koma could sense the god was looking at something far beyond it, as if reminiscing of a beautiful sight.
"Are you happy?" Koma asked.
"NO."
"But you're always laughing."
"BECAUSE I AM MAD. EONS WOULD DO THAT TO YOU. AT FIRST IT WAS RAGE, THEN SLOWLY I DESCENDED INTO OBLIVION, NOW ALL I AM IS THE STORM."
"And what did the gods do to you that led to all this?"
Shongo remained silent for a moment then finally turned to Koma, and even though it was only the eyes on that face Koma sensed something that he was familiar with.
Regret.
"THEY TOOK HER FROM ME...FOR ALL ETERNITY."
Shongo's words caused memories of Koma's own failure to flash through his mind. He hated that he could understand the storm god, he hated that he felt sympathy, but the fact that someone else could relate to him on something of that magnitude made him feel slightly better.
Even though it was the god that owned his soul.
"So I should Stella how I feel." Koma summed up.
"BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE." Shongo added.
"Is that a threat?"
"NO." Shongo told him. "AN ULTIMATUM. BECAUSE I WILL COVER THIS REALM IN STORM AND RAIN BLOOD AND THUNDER THE CRIES OF MY ENEMIES THROUGHOUT THE HEAVENS. I WILL HAVE MY VENGEANCE, WHETHER YOU MAKE THE MOST OF WHAT YOU HAVE OR NOT, I WILL DO WHAT I MUST."
Koma realised he had let the god's regret get the better of him, the shadow levitating beside him was nothing was a god enraged and heartless...and if he continued down the path of being alone Koma feared he might become this.
"I will defeat you." Koma declared.
"YOU WILL TRY." Shongo agreed. "BUT OUR BATTLE WOULD ONLY BE A SIMPLE DOT IN WHAT IS TO COME FOR THE REALMS."
Koma knew that had a much deeper meaning, Shongo had told Stella that Koma and Usgard were connected to something nore, but despite knowing Shongo would not give a straight answer Koma had to ask.
"What is coming?"
"IT IS ALREADY HERE, A WAR THAT HAS SPANNED ON FOR EONS. A WAR THAT INCLUDES YOU, TREZOBAK." Shongo answered. "BUT EVEN THOUGH I FEEL ITS END FINALLY DRAWS NEAR, I INTEND TO BE DONE WITH THE REALMS BEFORE IT CAN START AGAIN. STILL, I MUST HURRY, THE FORCES AT PLAY ARE EVEN MORE POWERFUL THAN I RECALL. GOODBYE, KOMA."
Shongo's shadow figure turned to wisps and vanished, leaving Koma to realise that was the first time the god had used his name rather than the strange title of "Trezobak."
He decided to think nothing of it and instead focused on the ale house, people had been pouring into the building as the sound of singing slowly rose within it, he could hear Usgard's voice amongst them, but not Stella's.
He wanted to go there right now and sit beside her, maybe talk about how beautiful the sky looked or how gracious she was with the blade, but he didn't know whether he had it in him, so he stayed on the tree staring at the building and figured he would go when he was ready.
Which would hopefully be today.