Chương 6: Advice on Love & Memories of Decay

Galan dropped down from the branch and sat beside the boy, his forearms tucked into his cloak. The Bloody Twilight watched from the shadows, their senses linked to his, waiting with bated breath.

"Tough night, huh?" Galan asked.

"Yeah," Gaius muttered. He blinked, shaking off his daze.

"Wait, who are you?"

"Name's Galan. Don't think too much about it."

"Right…" He returned to his waking slumber.

"Sure." Galan reached out with his mindcast, sensing the source of the boy's anxiety.

"Oh," Galan said, a knowing grin spreading across his face.

"S o it's about her. Hey, listen, you just need to talk to her more often and bring her along to see some beautiful sights. It also helps if you have some pocket change for a good meal and snacks."

"Master, what are you doing?!" Lucius' mental voice screamed in his mind.

"Huh…" Gaius frowned, considering the advice.

"Is it really that simple?"

"Shush," Galan projected back to his crew.

"Yeah. Girls aren't as complicated as you think, Gaius. They want the same thing that we want—to be acknowledged and cared for by those around us."

"Are you really doing this?" Flavia's thought echoed, her exasperation palpable. She shook her head, arms crossed in the shadows.

"Shut up!" Aelia cut in, bright with amusement as she watched intently.

"Don't ruin the moment!" Flavia showed a look of disgust toward the dwarf, but Aelia ignored her, happily retrieving a pouch of fried beans and a flask of wine from her divine vault, the gem dangling erratically on her wrist.

"Well, he did tell us to enjoy the play," she projected, crunching on a bean.

"Tickets are on him. Why not just sit back for the show?" Meanwhile, Gaius had finished his thought." So… after we return to Aquae Sulis, I should approach her, say hello, ask how she's doing, invite her to spend the evening with me, buy food and desserts for us, escort her back to the winery, and talk with her until sunset, correct?"

"Yeah, you're a natural," Galan said.

"That's how most people bond until they realize whether or not they're meant to be together." Back on the wall, Tranio sat while examining the sharpness of one of his knives, the blade glinting in the moons' light, while his tail carved smooth arcs through the air behind him with the other knife.

"I can't believe this," he thought to the group.

"It is only worsening," Tiberius sent, alerting them to movement near the camp.

"Look ahead." Tranio leaned forward, placing a hand on his snout.

"Per deos…" He swore to the gods, for yet another person was approaching the broken gate, her light wand extinguished once she reached the broken-down gate. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

"Wait, so there's no guarantee that this will work?" Gaius asked, anxiety creeping back into his voice.

"I'm well aware of her. Don't worry," Galan reassured his crew mentally. To Gaius, he said, "No, you got me wrong. It does work, but in making them grow close enough to understand one another. The thing is, some people just have personality traits that clash instead of harmonize."

"Can you give an example of the kind of personality that would clash like that?"

"Well, do you like getting eavesdropped on?"

"What? No, why would you ask that?"

"Ugh… can we please move on already?!" Lucius groaned mentally, rubbing his temples.

"Just enjoy it. It won't take too long," Galan assured.

"You hear that?" he called out to the darkness.

"Why don't you come out and say hi? Don't make him dislike you now." The eavesdropper stepped out from behind the broken gate. She activated her light wand, slotted it into the holder on her shoulder, and walked toward them, staring at the ground.

"I'm sorry," Lucilla murmured.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop on your conversation."

"Lucilla?" Gaius stared, surprised.

"I sure hope you're not going back on what you said," sent Flavia as she sighed.

"Relax, they won't be harmed." Galan gestured to the spot beside him.

"Come here." Lucilla nodded and sat down.

"Now, Lucilla," Galan said.

"Yes?" He grinned.

"Anything you want to say to Gaius?" Lucilla and Gaius shared a brief gaze, but she quickly looked down, large pink spots appearing on her cheeks. Galan chuckled, looking between the two of them.

"Y'know… I think the two of you should share your feelings with each other before anything bad happens."

"What?!" the entire Bloody Twilight shouted in his mind.

"What?!" Gaius and Lucilla exclaimed in unison. The crew laughed quietly in the shadows, their sanity slowly draining away at their leader's antics.

"Stop laughing. This is serious." Galan's mental voice was sharp.

"Just do it," he said aloud.

"None of us will ever truly know if we'll live to see tomorrow." Gaius scratched the back of his head.

"Well, that was dark. But I suppose you're right. Some people leave their home only to return as a lifeless body."

"Yeah, that's true…" Lucilla said, her face falling.

"What is it, Lucilla?" Gaius asked. She tucked her legs in, wrapping her arms around them tightly.

"Well, it's…"

"You can tell us, Lucilla," Galan said gently.

"You'll feel better once you get it off your chest." She nodded.

"It's my father." She paused, her voice trembling.

"The village I grew up in was hunted by a werewolf… the local lord sent his best men, but everyone knew they wouldn't be enough. My father and his friends tried to join them but were refused. Stubbornly, they followed in secret." She remembered him kneeling to hug her, promising to be back before sunrise to gather flowers for her mother.

"I felt fear and anger as he walked away," she whispered, tears beginning to flow.

"But I loved and trusted him… when none of them came back…" Her voice caught.

"The villagers found them at dawn. Near the werewolf's lair." She described what the villagers told her: bodies everywhere, empty restorative vials littering the ground, and her father holding the head of the man who caused it all.

"When they brought them back… I ran to the carriage. I yanked the cloth away. And… he…" Her face contorted with pain.

"I was so young. I couldn't understand what I was seeing." She wiped her tears.

"My mother held me tight… it felt like the world just collapsed." She swallowed hard.

"Others came inside. Those fortunate poured whole bottles of restoratives on their still-breathing husbands, saving their lives."

"But the unfortunate ones…" She breathes in.

"They could only watch as the restoratives accelerated the decay of their bodies, turning their beloved husbands into nothing more than piles of rotten flesh." She sighed, a tremor running through her.

"But thankfully, my mother knew better than to try that. It's haunted me ever since. The fear of those monsters lurking out there, and the grim reality that sometimes… no matter how brave you are, you can still lose everything." She let out a deep sob, her heart shattering under the weight of her memories.