A Wish To Forget

8 - Say more and I'll have you tied up.

    In the daytime, they ran, or rather, Eithria chased. She doesn't have any clue how he'd find riling her up enjoyable and he doesn't even look amused while doing so. When she catches up because he stopped, he's glaring at something within the forest, oozing killing intent and annoyance, or off to do his usual shenanigans which was either entering another monster's nest or directly touching lethally poisonous plants. It was strange that she always caught him in the middle of doing so, and even more stranger, she'd see faint traces of blood at the edges of his cloak sometimes.

     She'd watch him click his tongue and focus his attention on her after looking away from whatever it was in the forest once she came near, greeting her or teasing her about how she had taken too long to catch up. It's as if what he was doing then was of lesser importance. He'd distract her by running off again or saying playful words that left her bereft.

     “You bastard! Slow down!" Eithria yelled, gasping for breath as she leaned on the tree for support. “Stop running!"

     Sanciel, hearing her shouts, innocently blinked his eyes, a playful smile on his lips. "Bastard? Eithria, you're picking up bad words from me.”

     She glared at him, full of animosity, and reached out to unsheathe her sword, but he was quick to surrender. “No violence, angel."

     “Say more and I'll have you tied up.”

     “It's easy to break those ropes, if you're going to use the same ones,” Sanciel countered, grinning. “And how very evil of you! I can feel the holy image I had of angels breaking into pieces.”

    “We're not as good as you might think we are."

     He shook his head, laughing, “I knew that, though? It's your appearance that makes people assume you're holy, as white is often associated with purity, like how yellow is with joy or purple with royalty. I've seen angels kill ruthlessly and I've seen angels save people during a war… If anything, you're all quite scary with your loyalty to that… god.”

    She couldn't hold back her smile anymore, and asked. “You think I'm scary?”

     “No, it's just… You remind me of someone I knew..” Sanciel leaped off the branch, and took something from his pocket. “They’re long gone, though. Maybe a dozen centuries? Or is it from a few years ago? My memory isn't very reliable, you see; I may be forgetting something right now.”

     He offered her a waterskin, “Go ahead.”

     ‘How old is he really?’ Eithria wanted to ask although it would be rude, since his lifespan seemed to be longer than that of an elf's, which demons roughly shared a lifespan with. “Just… Let me catch my breath.”

    “Right… I’m sorry, truly. Should I walk beside you for the rest of the day?”

     “Yes, please.”

     It took almost a whole month for them to see the capital's walls. Sanciel once asked her why she didn't fly like she did back when they passed the capital when they first met and she replied by saying she was impulsive then. Doing it once can cause suspicion and doing it twice will incite investigations. Raziel and Gathriel have yet to sign a peace treaty, even though there were no longer any fights, and the latter could claim she was a scout. Her god would then be agitated and send a few dozen angels to deal with the massive armies if they were to declare the war to be continued, causing more death and destruction. And additionally, even if she was to use a concealment spell, it'd be too much of a waste. Divine mana was a precious resource gifted to apostles and divine beings by the gods. She'd rather use it in more dire situations, or when truly needed. Even summoning her wings while far away from her home, her god, will drain her so traveling on land would not only be a good experience but also one she can benefit from.

     The capital looked as great as it did from above, but this time, a lot more imposing. She underestimated its size as she always looked at it from above or from far away, unable to approach due to having better things to do. Angels weren't such a rare sight as almost everyone in the continent has seen one flying in the skies, even if they didn't perceive it as one. The stone walls were taller and taller as it approached the middle where royal palaces and high-ranking nobility's homes resided, with archer towers wisely included. The royal palace, could be clearly seen as it was on a higher elevation than other palaces. Distant lanterns lit with inferior mana stones–its only useful purpose–illuminated the buildings inside the high walls. Even from the far distance they were at, the buildings seemed quite large, increasing in height the nearer they got to the middle. The night sky was clear, and Eithria got went into a trance, eyes shining as she looked at the sea of stars and the moon.

     The two currently stood on a overhanging cliff, and Sanciel had to hop on a thick branch to see the capital from behind the thick foliage and the leaves of deciduous trees showing signs of autumn approaching.

     “We'll probably arrive tomorrow morning if we keep going. Eithria, are you tired?"

     She thought about it and decided to do so. It's not like going without a night's rest will kill her–it’ll need to be longer to have an effect. Her body relied on sleep to function when away from the World Tree so she often slept when they stopped. For someone who didn't have a wish, he's quite excited about this. ‘Is his excitement even related to the wish or is it just… him?’

     As she was lost in her musings, Sanciel went ahead of her.

     “Hey!" She ran after him but ah, not once has she succeeded in catching up to him with pure speed. His pace slowed down once they neared the capital, and he stopped near an oxbow lake. He splashed his face with the clear water, and looked up at her with a small smile while he kneeled by the edge of the lake, “Are you still sleepy?"

     “Eh?"

     “You were sluggish last night and slower than before." Many strands of his hair got wet so he brushed them back, uncomfortable with the sensation. The lake reflected the rising sun and cast a gentle glow on his face, the water droplets clinging to his hair and skin glistening. Birds with white feathers flew downwards and kisses the water's surface with their feet, as a passing wind blew past. "Should I have let you sleep? I feel like you didn't want to agree.”

     “It's fine,” she said, and it was true.

     “Should we stop here? I'll cook something for you.”

     "That sounds lovely." She couldn't refuse another chance to taste his heavenly food and pointed towards the lake. “Should we fish?”

     “Sure. We've been eating whatever the forest has to offer; fish would be nice.” He rummaged through his pocket, and took out fishing rods and bait. “Do you know how to fish?”

     “Can you teach me?"

     Sanciel seemed keen on doing so, and immediately accepted with a smile. “Alright! We'll be here for a while.”

     ‘He’s really so different,’ Eithria noted with a smile as she listened to him ramble on and on about fishing while picking up sticks from the ground to whittle down for them to use as skewers. ‘He’s surprisingly... soft-hearted.'