Can I have some cookies (power stones) please uwu
"Normal Dialogue"
'Inner thoughts'
[Year X786]
~ With Ultear ~
Meredy pulled back slightly, her hands gripping Ultear's arms as she began a rapid-fire assessment. "Are you hurt anywhere? How do you feel? Can you use your magic yet? Do you remember what happened? You've been asleep for hours and I was starting to think that maybe he'd done something permanent to you, even though he said you were just exhausted, but I wasn't sure if I could trust him after everything, and—"
"Meredy," Ultear cut in with a small, tired laugh, "breathe." She placed her hands on the younger woman's shoulders, steadying them both. "I'm fine. Just magically drained, that's all." Her eyes shifted again to the silent figure by the fire. "I see our... host... has been taking care of things."
Meredy followed her gaze and nodded, her expression a complex mixture of wariness and something that might have been reluctant respect.
"He hasn't said much," she explained, lowering her voice though they both knew the man could likely hear every word. "I woke up a few hours ago, and he was just sitting there, same as now. I tried asking him questions—who he was, why he didn't turn us in, what he wanted—but he barely responded."
Ultear raised an eyebrow. "Yet you don't seem afraid of him anymore."
Meredy shrugged, a gesture that reminded Ultear how much she had grown from the emotionally closed-off child she had once been. "I'm not sure we need to be. He had plenty of chances to hurt us if that's what he wanted."
She glanced at the man again, then continued in an awed whisper. "The strangest thing happened, though. About an hour ago, another person who looked exactly like him just... appeared out of nowhere. Handed him that bucket of fish and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. I've never seen magic like that before."
Ultear tensed at this new information. "A duplicate? Like a thought projection?"
"No, it was solid. Real. It carried the bucket, talked to him—well, not talked exactly, but nodded when he said something about 'good work'—and then just... poof." Meredy made an expanding gesture with her hands. "Gone in smoke."
Ultear filed this information away carefully. A solid duplicate that could perform physical tasks independently before being dismissed at will—such magic would be invaluable for surveillance, combat, or countless other applications. Yet another indication that this man possessed abilities far beyond the ordinary.
"After that," Meredy continued, "he started cooking the fish. When I needed to... you know..." she looked slightly embarrassed, "he pointed me toward a small lake not far from here. Told me not to take too long since you were still unconscious."
She hesitated, then added with a faint smile, "He actually made a joke, I think. Said that me being around when you woke upwould help convince you that he wasn't our enemy anymore." She paused, considering. "It was weird. One minute he was this unstoppable force knocking us around like we were nothing, and the next he's just... cooking fish and telling jokes."
Ultear absorbed this information, trying to reconcile the deadly opponent they had faced with the oddly considerate man now silently tending to his dinner. Nothing about the situation made sense. By all rights, they should be either dead or in custody. Instead, they were being treated almost like... guests.
"Did he say anything else?" Ultear asked, still watching their mysterious host.
Meredy shook her head. "Barely a word. Just sat there, tending the fire, watching the forest. If I didn't know better, I'd think he was waiting for something." She squeezed Ultear's arm. "Or someone."
The implication hung between them. Who was this man? What did he want with them? And more importantly—what would he do next?
As the weight of their situation settled over them, Ultear fixed her gaze on the man across the fire. The single most pressing question—the one that encompassed all others—escaped her lips in a quiet, measured tone.
"Why?"
That one word carried the burden of a dozen unasked questions. Why are we still alive? Why didn't you turn us in? Why help us after defeating us? Why bring us to this secluded clearing instead of leaving us where we fell?
The man met her gaze steadily, and for the first time, Ultear had the distinct impression that he was truly seeing her—not as an opponent or a threat, but as a person. He seemed to understand every unspoken question behind her single word.
"Because I can," he answered simply.
When neither woman responded, he continued, his voice calm and matter-of-fact. "I know who you are. Both of you." He gestured with the stick he was using to tend the fish. "You're wanted by the Rune Knights. I recognized your faces from the warnings posted all around Crocus."
In truth, he had not recognized them at all when he first encountered them. Only when he had brought them back to his training site did he create a shadow clone of himself to investigate who the two unconscious women were.
Ultear felt Meredy tense beside her, but neither of them moved. There was little point in denying it. Their faces had been on wanted posters throughout Fiore for nearly two years now.
"Yet here we are," Ultear observed cautiously, "not in custody."
The man nodded. "Do you remember how our encounter begun?"
Ultear remembered the incident—two squads of Rune Knights had somehow found and subsequently chased after them, intending to take them into custody. She and Meredy had subdued them quickly and efficiently.
However, as they were checking to ensure that the Rune Knights sustained no major permanent injuries, the man had suddenly showed up. He had taken one look at the situation and made the immediate connection that they were criminals.
"You're obviously a skilled fighter," he gestured towards Ultear, "but you pulled your punches. Used just enough force to neutralize them. You could have killed them easily—something that most bad people would do—but you chose not to."
He flipped one of the fish skewers with a distant look in his eyes. "Good people can find themselves on the wrong side of the law for many reasons. I've learned not to judge solely by what the authorities claim."
Meredy glanced at Ultear, surprise evident in her expression. Neither of them was accustomed to being called "good people"—not after everything they had done.
"When you fought against me," he continued, "your strategy was not one that evil criminals would use. You tried to distract me, to render me unconscious if possible, but your attacks were clearly not designed to kill." A slight smile touched his lips. "Not that they could have, but the intent matters."
Ultear could not help the small frown that creased her brow. Even now, he spoke of their all-out assault as if it had been nothing more than a minor inconvenience. The gap in power between them was truly staggering.
"You miscalculated my strength," he said, voicing her thoughts with unsettling accuracy. "That's on you, though. Never underestimate your opponents."
He set aside the cooking stick and looked at them directly. "As for why you're here with me? Well, you both are in this condition because of my actions. So, it is my responsibility to see to it that you safely recover."
The straightforward logic of his explanation was disarming in its simplicity. No grand speeches about mercy or redemption, no hidden agenda he was trying to mask with pretty words—just a practical acknowledgment of cause and effect, and a decision based on his own sense of responsibility.
Yet something still did not add up. Ultear remembered his words from during their fight, spoken in that moment when he had finally decided to show a fraction of his true power: "You have shown me exactly what I needed to learn."
What had he meant by that? What could he possibly have learned from their outmatched battle? He had overpowered them with ease once he stopped holding back. What insight could their defeat have provided him?
The question burned in her mind, but she held it back for now. The immediate concern—whether they were in danger from this man—seemed to be answered. He intended them no harm, at least for the moment.
"I see," she said finally, though in truth, she was not sure she did. People did not simply help wanted criminals out of a sense of fair play or responsibility. Everyone had an angle, a hidden motive. This man was powerful enough that he did not need to lie or manipulate—which made his apparent honesty all the more puzzling.
Beside her, Meredy relaxed slightly, some of the wariness leaving her posture. She had always been quicker to trust than Ultear, more willing to see the good in others. In this case, Ultear hoped her intuition was correct.
The man returned to tending the fire, apparently satisfied that he had addressed their concerns.
Ultear exchanged a glance with Meredy. They were alive, unharmed, and apparently under the protection of someone who could have easily destroyed them but chose not to.
The question now was: what came next?
Ultear studied the stranger's face, searching for any signs of deception and finding none. Perhaps it was time for honesty on their part as well.
"I suppose you deserve to know more about the people you've decided to help." She said finally, her voice steady despite the weight of what she was about to share. She felt Meredy's questioning look but kept her eyes on the man across the fire.
He made no response beyond a slight tilt of his head, neither encouraging nor discouraging her confession.
"We weren't always who we are now," Ultear began, choosing her words carefully. "The crimes we're wanted for—they're real. Not exaggerated, not falsified."
She took a deep breath, steeling herself for the recounting. Despite all the time that had passed, speaking of her former life still felt like reopening a wound.
~ End of Chapter 14 ~
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