The Rainlands: Grand Delusion

Chapter 27: Yea You Saved Me

"What did you do!" She yelled at him. But then thought better of it, waving. "Let's go! Before anyone else comes!" Levi was still in shock, but he followed mutely. As they walked by the guard's body, he smelled the same metallic smell which came from lightning strikes. I...I really did it. I have a Reincarnation!

"I did it." Levi murmured out loud, and Jasmine looked over her shoulder as they walked. She turned back to the waiting trees ahead as the sun set.

"Yea Levi. You saved me."

#

Levi still felt an instinctual wariness as he entered the dark trees. He remembered what the strange misshapen beast had done to him the last time he had been in the woods. I guess I don't have a good track record with the forest, huh? However, as they got deeper on the trail, he also bizarrely felt somewhat secure. Like the shadows under the branches were a cloak of darkness which he could hide under. Maybe we've been traveling for so long that I've started to like the woods?

"So..." Jasmine called back while walking.

"So?" Levi echoed.

"You have a Reincarnation."

"I guess?" He wasn't sure what she wanted. Jasmine fell silent for a bit. They weaved through the trees, Jasmine keeping her knife and stopping to listen for pursuit every now and then. The evening sky grew dark, and then the stars came out, the moon gleaming and eternal, queen of the night.

"Well, aren't you happy? Isn't this what you always wanted?" She asked, sounding puzzled. Am I happy? Levi frowned. Mulled it over as they walked.

"Yea, I am. Really happy. I've always wanted to have a Reincarnation. I guess it's kind of like this whole on the run thing. The man from earlier, at the hospital. I killed him. It's the first time I've killed someone. But I barely feel anything. Is that normal?" Levi said while sounding worried. Jasmine looked back at him before snorting.

"Normal? Hardly. But it's a good thing if not. Guilt is not fun and serves no purpose. We just have to keep on walking. Keep moving Levi, keep your head up. It's his fault for trying to kill us." She gazed up at the sky, admiring the stars. "You've really never done anything like this before? I find that hard to believe."

"What do you mean? You saw me when the foreigners first came. I was useless. Today's the first time I've ever done anything special." He sighed. Why doesn't it feel like I've done anything special? I've imagined this moment a thousand times. I'm traveling with a princess by the Raingods! And now I have a Reincarnation. This is crazy, it all feels like one of the stories Elder Shisshion used to tell me as a child. I miss Elder Shisshion. Why'd I have to let the foreigners...

He sniffed, tears coming to his eyes. Suddenly all the weight of everything came down at once. Jasmine heard, but she didn't pay any mind and continued to talk like she hadn't noticed.

"Levi, maybe you think you haven't done anything special. And I have to admit, at first glance you're..." She looked at him before returning her gaze to the stars, "You're well, somewhat average. When I first met you on that beach, I felt sorry for you. I wished you had a Reincarnation, that you could do something to save your village. I was angry over Anton, but I genuinely hoped you'd survive that night." She sighed.

"You did?" He murmured, his nostrils constricting as the salty burn of tears closed his sinuses. "You really did?"

"Yes. But I didn't expect you too. Men from the Deathless City were coming. You were trying to cross the Yura on a stormy night with nothing but a broken wagon. You should have died, a boy without a Reincarnation. And yet...here you are." She kept her eyes on the moon, her hands going up as if to pluck it out of the sky. "You're not who I thought I was when I met you. No one should have survived the things you did. That's why I'm wondering. Is this really the first time you've seen your Reincarnation? Maybe it helped you before but you didn't notice?"

"I...I don't think so." Levi followed her slender fingertips, the glint of her ever-present armguards in the moonlight. He wasn't entirely sure what she was getting at. "I thought I was going to die back then too. I almost did, more times than I can count. It's honestly a miracle I've made it this far at all. This Reincarnation thing...it's cra-" He was forced to stop as Jasmine turned around abruptly, walked over, and hugged him. Her arms were slender, even though he remembered them as strong. The heat from her body settled on his, and he noticed that she smelled exotic again, perhaps having cleaned up in the city. "What?"

"Shhh..." She shushed him, whispering in his ear. He felt her fingers link up between his back. "I'm just...it's just...that's just it, Levi. It really is a miracle you've made it this far. That you were even around to save me from that thing, or to get up after those injuries and take out those men. You're crazy, Levi, absolutely crazy. I'm sorry I said you were weak, or afraid. You're not. You're stronger than I am. I just didn't know it. All I saw was a Reincarnationless boy on that beach. But you've grown up." She continued to hug him for just a second more though he wished it could have gone on for longer. When she pulled away, he felt cold, though the night was just as warm as before. She's so much smaller than I thought.

"I...I...thanks." He mumbled and they lapsed into silence. The wind blew and Jasmine seemed embarrassed, though he couldn't tell through her mask. She started walking again.

"Let's go. We can't stay here long. They'll find that guard's body soon. And they'll know we're heading north. It's at least two weeks even if we travel fast to the next city. If we keep a good pace maybe we can outrun them before they get there." She sighed. "I'm glad you found your Reincarnation, Levi. We're going to need it."

Levi responded in some way. Maybe he grunted. He wasn't really sure. His mind was still too preoccupied with the hug and the words in his ears. "You're stronger than I am." He suddenly had new energy, tired as he was. When he laid down, he barely noticed how uncomfortable the hard ground was. And though his pack was lumpy with odd things inside, when he propped his back up against it, it felt amazing, so different from the hard tree trunks. I feel great. Not even a rumbling in the sky, a sign of another storm could down his spirits.

"Let's get the tarps out." Jasmine suggested and they unrolled them and set them up into makeshift tepees with the rods. When Levi was sure that the water would be diverted away from his body, he went back on the ground. Jasmine promised to keep watch and he fell asleep to the stars, the pattering of rain, and the sound of Jasmine's breathing close by, keeping watch.