Written in Blood

XXXIV . A gambler and a cheat

"Hey what's wrong? Still mad at me for placing bets?"

For a second I don't know how to respond. Since I've made it to the Domain, I've had that dead-end meeting with Dohean and figured out I have a gambling friend. But honestly I'm not surprised, I'm a dirty cheat after all. Malon's the most saintly out of us three it seems, and she's the one who gave me a nosebleed still half asleep. What a lovely bunch.

An awkward one too.

As much as I'm annoyed with Edmund, nothing beats the guilt that's gnawing up my insides. I don't what I can say. No matter what words I choose to use, it'll sound awful. There's nothing tactful about having to tell your girlfriend you might actually love the princess you used to want nothing to do with instead and that you only saw her as a sort of distraction. Yeah, I'll be dead whatever way you slice it. Malon's going to be furious. And it's totally warranted.

I manage a smirk at him, "I don't even know why I'm surprised,"

Might as well just lean into my slight annoyance at him. It's better than being angry at myself. I try to het worked up, but I'm more amused than anything. Of course he'd do that. I should've expected it. He is the same person who forced me into that death match after all.

Ed starts to laugh with a mischievous grin. I can see Malon's annoyed face out of my periphery but some paranoid part of me has the crazy notion that somehow if I lock eyes with her she'll be able to figure everything out. Would it be that easy? I don't know how well I can hide things or if everyone and their mom can see right through me.

I like to think I can be stoic when I want to, but everything about my guilt feels so blatantly obvious. This whole thing is stupid.

It was my fault too. I don't even know what my largest infraction is. If I hadn't ignored and denied my unswayed and stubborn-as-a-Goron love for the princess, then I never would have started this with Malon. But in Ikana I was still in a relationship and yet I still had kissed the princess anyway. We're still as tied together as ever. Fate- and the goddesses- have not been kind to me. Or any Hylian for that matter. Hylia's already clocked out centuries ago I guess and right now we could use as much as help as we can get.

"Well, I earned a small fortune from my exploits... I'll have you know. There were so many bets you'd died, but I didn't believe it. You'd pull through anything. Somehow."

My laugh's full of mirth, "Speak for yourself, Mr. Gibdo."

Ed glares daggers at me and I can hear Malon start to laugh too. He did look like one of those mummified Redeads though, after his little fiasco with the bonfire.

Most of his bandages are gone now, but the remnants of fire are still marked on his body, blotchy scars. Parts of his skin are new, a rosy color, surrounded by still agitated red flesh. It gets worse in some places too, like with singed bits of his hair and his eyebrows. But he's intact. He'll survive.

"Heh. Real funny. We've got a comedian here. Fan-freaking-tastic." His voice is as dry as a bone. There isn't even a touch of a sarcastic level of enthusiasm. It's a total deadpan.

There's no one else around to hear our banter, outside under the sun with our feet in the water. Other than Jabu-Jabu, we're the only ones out here.

I'd wanted a place to cool my head and think. Unfortunately, they followed me. But I don't mind. I need to get back to even the small amount of normal my life was before Termina happened. Because getting stabbed in the same place more than three times seems like the cruel work of fate at this point. Some sort of divine intervention.

I aim my foot towards him and kick up some water. The trajectory wasn't as much as I wanted but I still land some wet splotches on the lower part of his pants.