The Demon King And The Hero (Part One)

Chapter Three: Shion's Apprehension

  Chapter Three: Shion's Apprehension

   Gaitis and Guils departure was a quiet event at the edge of the village. A quick hug from each of them and a few parting words was good enough for her. When it came time for Felli's turn, she said little and bid Gaitis a safe journey. 

  Guil and her still did not get along even though it had been some time since they'd first met. In the end they treated each other with a shrewd approach. They no longer fought, but had not gotten any closer. Shion had hoped that the two would become friends, but it was obvious that it would not work out.

 Still, it had been some time since they'd last got into a fight, so she wondered if it wasn't as hopeless as it seemed. 

Once the two men finally left, Shion and Felli  had decided to return to their inn. Hood up, Felli trudged angrily back. While the town they were staying in wasn't very hateful to her kind, they weren't exactly progressive. They'd decided it was the easiest solution to hiding her black hair lest anything happen to her.

"That man," Felli paused as she stepped over a rock. "I still can't stand him. Poor Gaitis, having a jerk like that as a brother."

Shion grinned sheepishly towards the other girl. It was hard to find the right words to explain Guil.

"I understand where you're coming from, Felli." She laughed awkwardly. "But he isn't all that ba-" she stopped once she felt Felli's piercing glance. 

"Shion, he's an asshole to anyone like me. Don't tell me you're okay with that?"

Shion shook her head. "No, I definitely think its wrong. But I don't think thats why he..." She trailed off, embarrassed. She didn't want to tell Felli her suspicions.

Felli stopped walking and turned around to face Shion.

"What?" Felli asked, annoyed.

"Well, I..." she really, really didn't want to say it, but the glint in Felli's slade eyes made her worried. "I think he's jealous of you..."

Felli just stared incredulously at her.  

"Well... Guil has always been overprotective of Gaitis, you know?  He loves his brother a lot. And I think he feels threatened by you..." Shion hated leaking Guil's secrets, but he didn't want Felli to hate him anymore than she alreadly had.

After a second Felli giggled. "What, so he's jealous!?" 

Shion pursed her lips to keep from grinning. "Probably, he was the same way with me until he decided I wasn't trying to steal his brother from him." 

Shion's words sent Felli into a fit of laughter so hard that her hood fell off.  

"It... it makes... so much... sense. What an....idiot..." she said through her giggling.

Shion couldn't take it anymore, and for the first time in months she laughed. 

                              ~~~~~~~~~~~

"My Lord, it is time." Mao stood before him, arms laden with a heavy robe of pure black, his eyes full of anticipation and worry.

Taking it, he slowly but surely dressed himself, allowing Mao to tie a sash of deep purple around his waist and place his crown of bones upon his head. Nemis didn't need a mirror to tell him that he looked regal, Mao had chosen the best of the best to adorn him with. Nothing else would do.