Walking back into town with Lucy’s hand in mine was an… interesting experience. In some ways, it wasn’t that different from when I’d traveled by myself. There were looks of shock and confusion, as if people didn’t really know what to make of our presence. There was also a lot more whispering, though, and no matter how much I tried to block it all out, I couldn’t help but hear words like ‘girlfriends’ and ‘lovers.’

“Do you want me to cast a privacy spell?” Lucy asked.

I shook my head. “No… It’s probably best if I get used to this.” I couldn’t correct misunderstandings that didn’t exist - I really was dating Lucy now, and it was likely only a matter of time before the world knew it.

Then again, considering the amount of time it took information to spread in a world without phones or internet… Well, perhaps I’d be dealing with shocked looks for quite a while yet.

“So we’re going to the guild, right?” Feyra asked, glancing at me and then quickly looking away again. Still uncomfortable after our earlier conversation, I suppose. “Have you figured out how much you want to tell them?”

“Well… Everything except Eena’s secrets, right?” Lucy replied, tilting her head a little. “I mean, why would I want to hide anything? People should know the monster movements are coming to an end!”

“Probably coming to an end,” Feyra countered. “It’s not like we know all the inner workings of that place. Something else could be going on, still.”

“Well, at the very least things should calm down compared to before,” I interceded, hoping to offset Feyra’s pessimism.

Perhaps I needn’t have bothered, though, as Lucy’s smile didn’t budge a whit. “I still want to tell the guild so that other people can check our work and make sure! It might end up with someone at the church trying to lecture me, though…”

“Lecture you?” I asked, arching an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t have thought there was anyone brave enough to face the Heroine’s potential ire.” My voice was teasing, but my curiosity was real. The way Lucy was treated by those we’d come across… Well, perhaps it was different in the church where everyone served the goddess?

“Well… most people don’t,” Lucy admitted, shattering my fragile hope that others treated her like a regular person. “They tend to talk to me really respectfully, but it doesn’t stop them from also sounding really disappointed in me sometimes… But it’s Father Tuffel who lives at the local church here, and he really will lecture me when he finds out!”

“Oh?” I smiled. “Is it odd I think that’s a good thing?”

“Nope!” Lucy cheerfully replied. “I think everyone needs someone in their life who cares enough to lecture them when they do something dangerous!”

“...I suppose for me that would be Abigail,” I confided, frowning a little. “Though… it somehow feels like a while since she’s given me a proper scolding. I suppose with me being on the road so much she hasn’t had a chance to give me more than the occasional exasperated glare.”

“Maybe you should go see her sometime?” Lucy suggested. “We could stay in town an extra day or two so you’d have time to visit!”

“I… suppose that might be a decent idea,” I admitted. “I’m surprised to hear you’re so enthusiastic about it, though. Have you already tired of my company?”

Though I meant it as a joke, the glare Lucy gave me was far too real - and quite startling, at that. “Don’t even joke about that! I’d never get tired of you, Eena! Never ever!”

“I… well… I didn’t mean to imply… it was merely an attempt at humor, Lucy,” I muttered, shrinking back a little.

“You say that, but I’m pretty sure you’d start to believe it if I’m not careful!” Lucy replied, frowning at me. “So I’m going to deliver a lecture on Abigail’s behalf and remind you that I do really like you! That I want to be with you! That I don’t want to ever stop being with you! And telling you to go spend time with Abigail is actually maybe a little scary, but also I care about you and I think it would lead to happier things for everyone if you did!”

“Yes, well…” My cheeks flushed bright red. “Perhaps I should avoid self-deprecating humor in the future.” At least in her presence. “For now, though, would an embrace perhaps serve to quell your anger?”

“I didn’t think you’d want me to hug you in public,” Lucy said, her ire disappearing as quickly as it came. “People are going to stare.”

“We’re already getting as many stares as we possibly can,” I replied, glancing at our fellow travelers who had slowed to a crawl in favor of gawking at us. “But even beyond that, I’m trying not to let the opinions of others get to me so much. At least in regards to how it affects my time with you…”

Lucy smiled, turning around on the street and wrapping her arms about me tightly for a long moment.

“I’m definitely not going to miss watching you two lovebirds flirt,” Feyra grumbled from astride her horse. “Also, maybe you two don’t care about all the fucking stares, but they’re really getting to me. Could we maybe hurry it up a little?”

“Apologies,” I murmured, reluctantly parting from Lucy - though I still refused to relinquish her hand, of course.

“Wait!” Lucy exclaimed. “You’re not going to miss it? Does that mean you don’t want to join us for our next adventure?”

“Your adventure to dig into the fundamental truths of our religion and take on the whole world to end a two thousand year war?” Feyra replied, her voice lowered to a whisper. “Yeah, no, I think I’ll leave that for the absurdly powerful among us. Besides… I’ve got too much shit to sort through in my brain already, and something tells me hanging out with you two will only make it worse. Hit me up after you’ve saved the world, though, okay?”

“Aw! It’s not going to be the same without you,” Lucy said, frowning. “...Though maybe it wouldn’t be the worst time if I got to spend some one-on-one time with Eena, too? It has been a few days!”

“What? You planning to act even more lovesick in my absence?” Feyra asked before shaking her head. “You know what? Don’t tell me. I don’t need to know what you two, of all people, are getting up to in your alone time. Let’s just… get to the guild so we can say our goodbyes, alright?”

“I know I was just told not to even joke about this, but you’re making it sound like you truly have grown tired of us,” I remarked. A quick glance cast Lucy’s way didn’t reveal any fresh anger on her features, thankfully. Rather, she was coiling a few strands of hair around her fingers in what I was pretty sure was an anxious gesture.

“What? No!” Feyra denied, shaking her head. “I’m just not into big goodbyes. Plus, I’m sort of a third wheel around here, and… Look. It was… an experience traveling with you, alright? One that shook my whole worldview… multiple times. Maybe for the better, but I need some alone time to work through it, alright?”

“If that’s what you require,” I agreed, a soft smile touching my lips. “Then let us carry on, so that we may part ways.”

“Yeah…” Feyra agreed, narrowing her eyes at me in suspicion. “Sure…”

I waited until she’d ridden off a few steps before leaning in to whisper in Lucy’s ear. “We are going to have a goodbye dinner, at the very least, are we not?”

“Of course!”

My reception at the guild was perhaps to be expected. A lot of shocked looks, a lot of whispers, a lot of people moving out of my way in a hurry. Really, it wasn’t so different from the first time I’d entered. Just replace some of the fear with awe - the end results were more or less the same, regardless. Up to and including the secretary we visited freaking out, and the guild master himself descending to sort things.

Which was how I found myself standing in the man’s office once more. This time, however, the man had his head in his hands as he let out a sound that sounded somewhere between a strained laugh and a sigh. 

“So let me get this straight,” he said, not even bothering to raise his head. “You, the Heroine, formed a team with your girlfriend Lady Eena and your friend Feyra, before taking steps to solve issues with the monster movement… as part of Lady Eena’s rookie request?”

“That’s more or less the case, yes,” I agreed, as Lucy nodded happily alongside me.

“You do realize there wasn’t even an open request for that, right? Which means the adventurers guild can’t pay you for your efforts?”

“That’s fine!” Lucy replied with a beaming smile. “That’s why we brought back healberries, too! There’s a standing request for those, right? And since it’s a gathering request, it should work for Eena’s first rookie request, too!”

“That is… technically correct, yes,” Denden replied. “Though it’s really not the sort of request we recommend letting rookies in on, considering the monster movement.”

“Which we solved!” Lucy reminded him. 

“By killing a cockatrice in an abandoned building,” Denden said, his eyes finally lifting up to look at us. “One where religious fanatics experimented on monsters?”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t dare to doubt the Heroine on that, would you?” Feyra replied. Perhaps there was some history between the two of them, because she sounded almost sadistic when she said it. “Not like when you’re getting requests filled by someone cursed.”

“...I’ll talk to the secretaries about that,” Denden muttered while Feyra rolled her eyes. “And I’ll see about harsher punishment if they ever do it again, alright?”

Lucy looked like she wanted to protest - and I certainly knew how she felt - but a nod from Feyra and a glare in our direction put the matter to bed then and there. 

“Alright,” Denden continued after letting out a sigh of relief. “Then I guess the next step is your membership card, Lady Eena.”

“Membership?” I questioned. “I thought one had to complete two rookie requests to join? Not to mention earning the money for registration.”

“Yeah, well, you should have thought about that before you started dating the Heroine,” Denden replied before grimacing. “No offense, your ladyships, but there’s a certain degree of politics even in the adventuring world and letting the Heroine’s girlfriend stay a rookie would get me chewed out by the big wigs. Only the best and brightest for our Heroine, you know?”

“...Should you really be saying all that with her right here?” I questioned, glancing Lucy’s way.

“It actually took a lot of effort to get Denden to say what he really means in front of me!” Lucy answered, smiling brightly. “Though it’s true I don’t really like the reasons, it’s also true that you’re strong enough to be a real adventurer! So I don’t think there’s any problem with promoting you, at least.”

“Great,” Denden said, opening a drawer. “Because I already prepped all the paperwork. If I can just get you to sign this new card here, and put your print there…”

Saying so, he brought forth a small paper card, not too different from what I’d received after joining as a rookie. Except this card, when I held it, was far stiffer than the last. Though I made no serious attempt to bend it, I judged it to be as least as firm as cardboard despite its thinness.

“That’s ironwood,” Denden informed me. “Hard as iron, like the name implies. Pretty much flameproof, too. It’s rare stuff - and very hard to process, from what I’m told. Keeps most people from trying to copy membership cards, all willy-nilly.”

“I see…” I replied, following his instructions and signing the card before marking it with my thumbprint.

“Now if you’ll just hand over the rookie card…?” he asked, prompting me to reach into my bag and withdraw it. “Good.”

He then pulled out three golden saints and a few silver crosses, splitting them evenly between us. “And that’s for the healberries.”

“Thanks!” Lucy said, giving him a bright smile. “Now we have money for Feyra’s parting party!”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Feyra protested, even as Lucy began to pull me towards the door. “You aren’t serious, right? This is way too much money to blow on food! I don’t even know anywhere fancy enough to take any of these coins!”

“I know a few really expensive places,” Lucy replied. “Though… they aren’t really my style, usually… Maybe we could just all eat Eena’s food instead? It’s usually pretty good!”

“That’s because I have people to cook it for me,” I remarked, lowering my voice so that Denden wouldn’t hear. “But I might have a few things on hand…”

“On hand?” Lucy asked, turning to face me as we reached the end of the stairs and the end of the lobby. “Don’t you need to go back to… you know?”

“Well… about that…” I gave her a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of my head. “There’s something I should probably show you when we get where we’re going…”

The dinner with Eena and Feyra went well! Even if Feyra complained a lot, I’m pretty sure it was mostly just to hide how sad she was about us leaving… She never stopped eating even as she griped at us!

Afterwards, I made a point of hugging her - in the privacy of her own home, where nobody else could see, so she couldn’t complain that much! I think she maybe cried a little on my shoulder, too? But I thought it was nicer not to check, so I didn’t.

It was a happy dinner, for the most part! As for the walk back to the inn with Eena… well, it was a bit weird. Normally, when I walked away from Feyra’s house - or ‘Eff’s house’ I guess - I always felt a little down, and lonely. With Eena, though, it was a lot easier to keep my smile! It really felt that so long as her hand was in mine, I’d never feel lonely again…

“Hey, Eena?” I whispered, turning to my girlfriend. “Do you think you could fly me somewhere special?”

“Somewhere special?” she asked, tilting her head a little to the side. She was seriously cute! “So long as your privacy spell can stop anyone from noting our ascent, I wouldn’t mind. Where did you wish me to take you, though?”

“It’s a surprise!” I replied, giving her my cheekiest grin. Which maybe wasn’t very cheeky? But I really tried!

“A surprise, then…” Eena chuckled for a moment before taking her hand off mine. Then she slid one hand behind my back and pushed the other against my knees, scooping me up in a princess carry.

Wait. Eena was a queen, wasn’t she? So maybe it was more of a queen carry? Or was it more about the person who got carried than the person who did the carrying?

It didn’t really matter. I think I was mostly trying to distract myself, honestly, even as I spoke the words of my holy privacy spell. Even as her wings sprouted, we ascended to the air, and I started giving her directions to our destination.

The truth is… I was actually a little scared to think about where we were going. It was somewhere I hadn’t been in a very long time. Somewhere I was always scared to go, to be honest.

Having Eena with me made me feel like I could handle it, though…

“We’re looking for a small village,” I told Eena, directing her flight first above the major roads, and then a well trodden side path, before finally shifting to what looked like little more than a game trail from the air, leading to a small village.

“Is this it?” Eena asked me, and I nodded, but then shook my head.

“It’s the right place, but it’s not where we’re going! It’s just my best landmark! The next part might actually take a bit, but… I think if we go left… We’re looking for a small clearing!”

Eena banked left, looking over the forest as I craned my own neck to look down a bit. I don’t know how long it took, but Eena was incredibly patient with me as we crossed over the trees again and again, until she finally found the right clearing. One I confirmed was right with a single look.

It wasn’t much to look at, really. Just a small clearing, with a little cottage in it, somewhere near the edge of the forest. A few hours walk from the village. I asked Eena to bring us down.

“Is this place somewhere important to you?” Eena asked, her brow furrowed with curiosity. Or maybe worry, considering how somber I was acting? Maybe both.

I nodded. “Could you take me down?”

“Of course,” she said, her worry still evident in her voice.

I wanted to comfort her, but… I couldn’t. Not this time. Actually, I could feel tears forming in my eyes as she set me down and I walked towards the door. The plain wooden door on the plain wooden cottage.

It was clearly falling apart. There were some holes in the roof, and I was pretty sure there’d be a draft if I went inside. Also dust, probably. Lots and lots of it.

“This is where I grew up,” I told Eena, placing a hand on the doorknob. “Until Mom died when I was thirteen…”

“Here?” Eena questioned, looking around. She was curious, I could tell, but also sort of confused? “I don’t imagine the church priests were very happy to make the trek here whenever they had to reach you…”

I shook my head. “The church didn’t know we were here. Mom… ran away to hide me here…”

“She fled?” Eena asked. “From the church?”

“From everyone,” I told her. “Father Tuffel told me she used to live on the local church’s grounds as a priestess, but on the night I was born monsters attacked the church… He thinks they must have been after me. And Mom didn’t feel safe anymore, so she took me here and hid me.”

“Does that fit with what your mother told you?” Eena asked. I could tell she was suspicious of the story - maybe because it came from the church? Or maybe because it was a bit of a big coincidence… I mean, everyone always said the Demon Queen must have sent the monsters, but she obviously hadn’t. Still…

“Mom never told me anything,” I told her. “Not about the church, not about my destiny. I didn’t even know I was the Heroine until after she died…”

“Was your strength not a clue?” Eena asked. “Or were you isolated here the entire time…?”

“I went into the village, sometimes!” I told her. “But Mom always just said I was stronger than the other kids and needed to be careful with them… I guess I kind of took it for granted? I mean, Mom was strong too, so I figured I must have gotten it from her… I guess she had actually been training really hard to get that strong, though?”

I smiled faintly, before turning my eyes to my hand on the door. It took more effort than it should have to make the door turn.

The inside was just like I expected - full of dust… but otherwise, the same as it had been when Father Tuffel and the others took me from this place. I could even see the wooden cup I used to drink from laying on the kitchen counter from where I was standing.

“I think Mom was going to tell me, eventually,” I added after a moment. “Maybe even when I turned thirteen? She did say she had something big to tell me, but… Well, she never got the chance, I guess…” 

I started to walk inside, only to stop when Eena wrapped her arms against me. Her warm chest pressed into my back, her arms gently wrapped under my own, I leaned back against her to just appreciate her warmth.

When I looked up at her, though, I was surprised to find that my vision was blurry. I was crying. 

“I just… after going to the Tower, and hearing that maybe Mom kept even more secrets from me than I thought… it’s really hard to hear… If she knew the Demon Queen, then shouldn’t she have told me? Shouldn’t she have helped me prepare? If she knew my destiny, then I could have been learning to fight all along… then maybe I’d have been able to… to protect her…”

But I wouldn’t have been able to, and I knew it. For one thing, she’d asked me to stay home that night. She’d been shopping for my birthday, after all, but… it was hard to let go of the thought…

“I think your mother wanted you to have a normal childhood,” Eena said after a moment. “Or as normal as you could have… I doubt she intended to hide everything from you forever, at the very least.”

I nodded. I knew what she was saying was probably true. My Mom loved me, after all, so she probably didn’t like the idea of me having to fight in a war… especially if she knew that the Demon Queens weren’t evil… but still…

“It still hurts, sometimes… knowing everything she kept from me…”

“I can’t imagine,” Eena whispered, tightening her arms around me. I leaned against her, just enjoying her warmth for a while. “Would it help if I promised not to keep anything from you?”

I shook my head. “That’s not realistic, Eena… Everyone has secret,. and that’s okay! But… maybe… if it’s something that affects me, try not to hide it from me then?”

“Then I suppose I should tell you something, right now…” Eena whispered, releasing me so that she could instead grip my side and gently turn me towards her.

“Something you should tell me?” I asked, looking up at her with teary eyes.

She nodded. “I’m not sure it’s the right time… or if the urge is even coming from the right place… but seeing you like this? I… really want to kiss you.”

I… laughed. I couldn’t help it. I mean, it was so badly timed! We were standing in my old home, talking about my old memories, and I was crying… and vulnerable… and all Eena wanted to do was kiss me.

To comfort me.

“I think I’d like that,” I whispered.

Even though Eena was probably the toughest, strongest person on the planet, all I could think when her lips touched mine was… ‘Soft…’

It was late at night when we finally came home. In the end, I’d ended up giving Eena a tour of my old cottage. I’d shown her where I’d slept, and where Mom had been… and I’d maybe sneakily looked to see if there were any letters she’d left for me, but if there were I didn’t find any. That was fine, though! Or at least it would be fine? Because I had Eena with me, and that made me feel like I could get through anything!

…It was still a relief to leave, though. Despite also being sad? Like I was waving goodbye to my childhood innocence all over again… but the world needed me and Eena! We couldn’t just stay in the past like that…

Well, even though I say that, it’s not like I wasn’t still thinking about it. It’s just that I was also thinking about the future! Which was why, despite how late it was, I still ended up asking the clerk at the desk if there was a letter for me. I felt kind of bad about it, since he was obviously hoping to nap at the desk again once we left, but he did get it for me all the same!

It was from the church, of course, and in it was hopefully the answer to Eena’s depetrification problems. Which is why I took a deep breath before pulling the envelope open and pulling the letter out.

But when I read it… “They… want to meet you?”

 

~~~

Author's Notes

 

So, this almost ended up as two chapters - one to end the last arc, one to start the new... but it would have been two very short chapters, with the second not even breaking 2,000 words. So, I decided to combine them! A decision I hopefully won't come to regret when I'm hurrying to make another chapter before next Weds....

In other news, Lucy now knows about the 'empty bag'! And we now know what makes Lucy so different than the other Heroines... Or rather, why her views differ so dramatically from others in general. She wasn't given quite the same religious upbringing as other Heroines have.

We'll be getting more info on Devilla's take on that kiss next chapter, by the way~!

PS: There might be another one  week break coming up... I'm gonna try and avoid it, but depression is kicking my ass and I've only got Patreon up to chapter 53.