25 The Queen's Journey, pt. 5.5

After the latest encounter with the Griffins, the group continued their journey.

With three days left before they could reach the capital, they stumbled upon a bit of good luck.

Jin glanced out through the open cart side and rubbed his eyes. He had to have been seeing things. There were palm trees with strange fruits hanging high. The carriage rolled underneath, bathing in the shade they provided.

The air got slightly more humid than it had been in the Diamond Plains, and before long, Jin felt as though he'd returned to the forest he'd promised to escape.

"Nova is known for its weird landscape." Theresa said beside him.

"Yeah, no kidding." Jin replied.

"One second, you're struggling to find any water at all, the next…" She subtly told Jin to peek out the cart. When he did, his jaw dropped. "… all you see is blue."

She wasn't joking. The land to the left of the road appeared to have almost disappeared, and now, all Jin could see was water.

One large body of water flowing between valleys and mountains, all leading to a blue expanse that left Jin speechless.

From in front of him, he saw Mariana curiously tilt her head in the same direction and soon enough, she was sharing Jin's amazement.

He didn't see it coming, but Ker'Tallen and Decena both had the same reaction when they saw it.

As Jin returned his attention to the inside of the cart, for a moment, he felt sad that the woman he had never met but knew as his mother was not given the chance to see this.

Well, that's why he's here, he figured.

Eventually, the cart came to a stop. Jin hopped out and had to actively contain his urge to go watch the water to their left.

Olyneces stepped out of the queen's cart.

"The queen has demanded that we take a moment to gather our bearings." Olyneces paused for a moment. He opened his mouth to continue but before he did, Jin saw him shake his head, cover his eyes and mutter something.

Tracing his line of sight, he turned and found Theresa had taken her shirt off, showcasing elegant, milk skin cut into a combination of two breasts and rock-hard abs.

"Decency. What's that?" Decena said, shaking her head.

The pale-skinned elf grinned at them.

"If you need me, I'll be at the lake." She turned to leave, but not before catching Jin staring at her. When their eyes met, she winked at him. Uh, okay? Jin tilted his head. For some reason though, the sight made him feel… Warm.

Mariana looked down at her own black shirt and grabbed it by the edge, likely about to repeat Theresa's example, which caused Decena to leap towards her.

"No! No, no no." She shook her head vehemently. "Don't let that idiot influence you."

Jin heard Ker'Tallen sigh beside him.

"Well, no need to waste our own time. Jin, would you like to train for a moment?"

Jin nodded and quickly went to grab his sword, wanting to do something with this apparent extra time.

Decena's POV

The redhead walked through a bed of fallen leaves, following a stream of light that stabbed through the palm trees giving this place its shade.

A sound had caught her attention. The others hadn't heard it, but she had.

Deciding that it wasn't likely to be important enough to tell the others about it, she navigated the forest to find it.

Eventually, she discovered the object of her curiosity. It was a small silhouette hunched over a small hill.

Dark grey hair glazed amethyst eyes cast down at the grass beneath them. Even in sadness, the princess looked regal.

Decena approached her.

"Kind of quiet out here?" Great opener there, Decena. She scolded herself. Why don't you tell her how cool the weather looks while you're at it?

"What?" Eliara raised her head, clearly not expecting any company. "Uh, yeah. Sure."

Decena raised an eyebrow, before walking up to her. Why am I even doing this? She asked herself.

"Come on. What's wrong?" She asked.

"Why do you care?" Eliara quickly replied. If Decena had heard the same response a month ago, she'd have just stood up and left.

"Because if you go out in the field, as you insist on doing, with a lot weighing on you, you'll mess up. Trust me, having a clear head does wonders. So, come on. What's up?"

Eliara looked at her for a second, before turning in the other direction. This time, Decena was about to stand and leave, but Eliara gave a solemn exhale.

"I don't get it." She simply said.

"What?"

"I don't get it." Eliara reaffirmed. "I know I'm good. I've been studying Light Magic since I was a kid."

Decena pinched herself when she felt compelled to answer, 'you still are a kid, though.' Even though they were around the same age, if she remembered correctly, her being eighteen and Eliara being fifteen.

"Not just that," Eliara continued, "but, it's been my dream for a long time to be out there, helping people. And the one time I get to show myself off, I cost a lot of people their lives." Eliara's voice trembled at the end.

Decena leaned back and gazed up at the cloudy sky.

"Listen," She started, "your only mistake was thinking you were going to be great from the start. Regular people aren't like that. Those prodigies just don't come around anymore. You're going to lose a lot more often than you win, that's just how things are. If you want to be out there on the field, you have to be used to that."

Decena shrugged and Eliara began fidgeting with her fingers.

"So, you think I should just stay in the cart with my mother?" Eliara hissed out.

"Not at all. I just think, maybe, you should lower your expectations a little. Then, maybe once you've had a few fights under your belt, you'll be the person you've known you could be." Eliara looked up at Decena with glittering eyes. An act that made Decena's cheeks turn red. "A-Anyway, let's go back to the camp. Her grace is probably worried sick about you."

Mariana's POV

Otro día ha pasado con estas personas extrañas. Pero, por otro día, sigo viva. No se cuanta más falta para que se acabe esta aventura, pero seguiré tratando, y te prometo que volveré con el dinero que necesitamos, madre.

Mariana closed the notebook, one she had stolen from the Midland Village, and set it aside. The daylight was starting to turn scarce. Soon, she'd be in her element.

It was only in the darkness, ironically, where she felt safe.

The others were all talking amongst each other, having happy conversations like this were just any other potentially life-ending journey they were on.

She scoffed at their stupidity. She scoffed at her own stupidity. For a moment, she almost regretted coming here, but then she remembered the kind face of the woman she went on this journey for, and all hesitation flew by like a soft wind.

The simple fact was, she wasn't here for herself. It didn't matter whether she liked this.

Though, it didn't make it easier when one of the objects of your contempt show up in front of you.

She glared up, seeing the tan-skinned idiota approaching her. His yellow eyes probing at her patience like only they could.

She still remembered it like it was yesterday, the feeling of being picked up like a child and thrown into a horde of flesh-eating bestias.

So of course, as the guy awkwardly scratched his head, Mariana gave him no comfort.

"Uh, yeah. So, I never did apologize for, uh, throwing you." Jin said. Mariana hadn't expected this. She tried to remain firm, but she couldn't suppress the shock that appeared on her face.

Timidly, she looked down at her feet.

"I…" She didn't know what to say. On one hand, she didn't feel like forgiving Jin quite at all, but on the other, she was nowhere near as angry about it as she had been.

So, with no other recourse, she simply waved her hand in the air. Jin sighed, nodded with a shy smile and walked away.

Jin's POV

Nighttime had arrived but Jin wasn't too tired. The earlier training session with Ker'Tallen had been productive, but not exhausting.

Currently, he sat with his back to a tree, staring at a slowly fizzing out campfire in the center of the area.

The landscape had been beautiful in the daylight and it was no different at night.

The sky was decorated with some sort of green light that shot through the black sheet like a liquid stain. The moon gave off a purplish light that reached all the way down to the large body of water in the distance.

He breathed, inhaling the cold into his lungs.

This was by far and away his favorite time of the day.

However, his contemplative rest was interrupted by a sound that startled him.

It was like some sort of breathing but vocalized differently. It was coming from between the trees, up ahead where Theresa had gone earlier. Come to think of it, Jin hadn't seen Theresa in a while.

With nothing else to do, he went to investigate.

Maneuvering through several trees, he came out to the pond where Theresa had been.

Or, rather, where Theresa currently was.

Still naked, the moonlight shone off her wet body. As soon as he arrived, Jin realized the sounds were coming from her.

"Ohhhh my goodness." She moaned.

Jin couldn't quite see too well, but it looked like Theresa was reaching for something underneath the water.

"Ah, ah!" Suddenly, her breathing turned strained. It sounded like she was in some sort of pain.

Uh… What do I do? Jin asked himself.

Shrugging, he walked forwards.

"Are you alright?" Jin asked.

Theresa stood, gasped, turned, and extended her hand like she was going to cast a spell, all in the span of a second.

When she saw Jin looking back at her, her shoulders fell, and she laughed.

"Have you no shame?" She asked, shaking her head. Jin raised an eyebrow.

"You okay?" Jin asked again. Just then, he noticed how Theresa's body, when uncovered, looked weirdly pleasing. He shook his head.

"Better than okay." Theresa replied, her breath slightly hoarse. "Sigh Oh, it's been too long." She said, more to herself than to Jin. She looked up at Jin and tilted her head. "I guess it's been long for you as well?"

Jin furrowed his brows, confused. Then, he felt something push against his pants. From the inside.

He looked down, and his eyes shot up.

"What. The. Fuck?" He was completely dumbfounded. He'd suddenly developed a stick between his legs.

"Oh? Is this unusual for you?" Theresa asked with a sly smile.

"Uh, it usually just happens in the morning." Jin muttered.

"Ah, so am I the cause of this… Development? I'm flattered!" Theresa took a few steps forward, coming out of the water fully.

She approached Jin, and in a moment their bodies were just a few inches apart.

She was warm. Really warm.

"Well, my dear student. I can help relieve you, if you'll let me." Theresa said.

"Really? Thanks, you're a lifesaver." Jin gave a grateful smile.

"Truly. Now, close your eyes and try not to scream." He closed his eyes, but wondered what she meant with that last part.

"Why would I-"

Something humid and soft smothered his erection, and all of a sudden that same breathy, loud moan escaped his own lips.