A Path of Bone and Poison 119 I.T. 22 The other woman

"What do we do with him?" - Leisha

There was silence for a moment before I mentally responded. "We keep him tied up. We can release him after we kill the giant mushroom he was talking about."

Again, there was silence, but then girl who responded was not Hylia as I expected, but Bailey. "We have to kill it anyways, but how do we know that what he said is actually true? Maybe we should explore further in, even if he is not lying it has been 4 years since he came to this place. Things could have changed."

Finally, Hylia responded. "Bailey you, Sierra, and Leisha can go investigate. Your perception will be the most useful, Sierra and Leisha will be able to protect you. I will stay here and guard these two. Lucifer will also stay. Between the two of us we should be able to handle anything that comes our way."

The girls looked at her for a moment. What she wanted was obvious. They spent a moment to gather their things, before heading out. They gave the 5 mushrooms a lot of room as they moved past, not daring to get too close.

When they were finally out of view Hylia let out a sigh of relief. She moved next to me and sat down, taking my hand in her own.

"How are you feeling?"

"Exhausted. I could not even move if I wanted to. Thankfully, I have you guys to rely on."

She sighed. "You're always doing this you know? putting yourself at risk, getting hurt. Even after 6 years it has not changed. I thought maybe you would have changed during the academy like the rest of us. Strict training from youth will have that effect."

I nodded and thought for a moment before confessing. "I remembered everything. Maybe it is because I am a visitor, but all of my thoughts and memories stayed intact. I could only watch on as the rest of you became youths. How could I even hope to interact? I don't even know what a normal 10-year-old does."

Her eyes went wide, an embarrassed look appeared on her face, but it was soon replaced by mild anger. "So, you saw everything? and just let it happen? You saw my relationship with her grow and blossom, and you did nothing?"

I shrugged. "You made it pretty clear on the second floor your feelings about me. And Every day you spent with her you looked genuinely happy. You smiled more in a day with her then you had in the entire month before we got here. I thought you deserved that. You deserved to be happy. Even if it was only for the briefest of moments. Besides what could I do? Violently approach and beat her up? claim that you were my woman?"

I laughed as I said that. "I did that, in the beginning I tried to anyways. she only laughed, as her and her squad pummeled me half to death. I did not have the face to approach you after that. Even when I tried her cronies would only stop me."

I looked at her for a moment as I saw the confusion on her face. "Don't worry about it. I know you love her, and you deserve to be happy 6 years is a long time to get over someone."

of course, I was lying. I loved her with everything that I was. The happiest memories of my two lives were with her, and that is nothing that a person can simply let go of. I hoped that she would come back to me, but that was not something for me to decide.

I did not speak after that, and neither did she. She let go of my hand and began to walk around the camp with her bow in her hands. She did not look at me again for an awfully long time.

It took almost a day for the rest of the party to return. They confirmed what Hunter had already said. There were no enemies between here and the bottom of the cavern. There was a portal at the base, but it was surrounded by a large group of sandworms. Each of them had a mushroom growing from their bodies. Our only hope was to defeat the Giant mushroom that had been sealed in the circle before us.

We decided we would rest here for a total of 5 days. This would give me plenty of time to recover. All our plans were made mentally, to limit he chance that they would be overheard.

During these days Hylia approached me once again. She again sat next to me, but instead of holding my hand as she had before, she laid down like she used to. She draped her arm and leg over me and looked me in the eyes.

"What I did is unforgivable, even with my memory wiped I could still feel my connection with you. What I had with Lidia was nothing. We never even kissed or held hands. She was truly nothing more than a best friend in that regard. But I know that it hurt you, and that my actions before we entered the tower hurt you as well..."

Tears started to form in her eyes as she spoke, but she still looked me in the eyes "I was worried. The more information I found out about the Necromancer king the more terrified I became. I tried everything I could to prevent it, but I never put any trust in you. For that I apologize. I love you Yuri. You, and only you. Forever."

She kissed me on the cheek and then just laid there with me, until eventually we both fell asleep.

Chapter end