“Snowflakes brushed past the window’s frosty white glass. The world outside the window was white. And it was also cold. Very cold. The room was cold too, just like the little girl sitting on the floor. Her nose was blue from the cold, her eyebrows had faint traces of frost, and she was shivering.

But a warm, orange light danced in her eyes. She was alone with nobody to talk to. Nobody to keep her company. The only thing she had was the candle burning beside her. The candle’s flame burned gently, flickering in the cold but never going out. As if it couldn’t bear to leave the little girl alone in the cold.

The wind outside grew fiercer, the window was plastered in white. The girl blew white mist from her mouth and folded her arms. She stared at the little candle burning in front of her. The orange flame flickered and danced on the candlewick, drawing long shadows on the walls.

You could see things in the shadows. Animals and plants, mountains and rivers, cities and forests. In the shadows that the little candle drew on the wall, was the world outside the window. The world that the girl had never seen before.

But the girl wasn’t interested in the shadows. All she cared about was the candle; her only source of warmth and light in this cold, dark room. She stared at the candle, and the candle stopped flickering, as if it was staring back at her.

The candlewick burned black before a tiny part of it broke and fell. The girl looked at the candle with alarm, afraid that it would go out and leave her all alone, but the orange flame danced on the candlewick, refusing to go out. Refusing to leave her alone.

A pool of clear liquid formed around the wick. The girl stared at the candle, worried again. The melted wax flowed down the candle’s side like a teardrop. The girl asked the candle if it was crying. Had she done something to make it sad?

The orange flame flickered and danced, casting shadows on the walls again. Shadows of people that she could meet outside the window, if she could just get through the blizzard outside.

But the girl didn’t care about the people living in the world outside the window. All she cared about was the little candle burning in front of her.

The frost on the window spread inside, covering the walls, and banishing the shadows.

It spread to the girl, whose teeth began chattering. She inched closer to the candle. The room was frozen except for a little circle around the candle. The girl was closer to the candle now. She felt the warmth of its flame on her skin. The love it bore for her and its reluctance to part with her, she felt all of it.

The walls were covered in ice and frost, so the shadows could only dance around on the floor. This time the shadows made no strange shapes or figures. This time, they drew the silhouette of the girl and the candle.

She stared at the candle again. She didn’t like the cold. She didn’t like the window. And she certainly didn’t like the world outside the window.

But she did like the candle and the gentle warmth it draped over her. Sitting on the floor beside the candle, enjoying its warmth and watching its flame flicker and dance, made her happy. She wouldn’t mind staying like this forever.

But then a powerful gust of wind burst through the window, bringing an unbearable chill with it. Snow swirled angrily around the room, turning the room as white as the world outside.

The girl shivered uncontrollably, and her eyes began to close. The wind buffeting the candle’s flame, making it flicker and dance in a frenzy.

But it didn’t go out.

The flame grew brighter, its gentle warmth fighting against the bitter cold. Tears fell off the sides of the candle, making a pool of white wax that somehow managed to stand out from the snow covering the rest of the room.

The candle burned brighter and brighter, its warmth washing over the girl, pushing back the chill in her body and refusing to let her succumb to the cold. But even as the girl’s eyes opened once more, the candle’s tears flowed down its cheeks as it got shorter and shorter.

The girl stared at it in alarm. She told it to stop, but the candle refused and burned even brighter, fighting back the cold, white layers of snow inside the room. It grew shorter and shorter, until it was only the size of a thumb. The unrelenting, chilly winds kept blowing at the candle’s flame, but even now, it refused to go out.

The girl stared at the candle, tears streaming down her cheeks just as they streamed down the candle’s sides. In the end the candle burned brighter than ever, before the last of its wick crumpled in the flames and burned to ashes, while the gentle, orange glow finally faded.

The cold winds blew savagely through the air, as if celebrating their victory. The girl sat there, staring at the puddles of wax that had once been her only companion in this cold, dark room.

Strangely enough, she wasn’t cold anymore. There was a gentle warmth inside her, protecting her from the cold. She didn’t take the candle’s remains with her, because this was the candle’s home and it had never wanted to leave. It had wanted her to go out and see the world outside the window, so she slowly stood up and climbed out the window.

The world outside the window was white. It was also cold. Very cold.

A little girl walked out into the world outside the window. Her only source of warmth, the memories of a gentle orange glow and a flickering, dancing flame. The memories of a candle burning brightly and warmly in the cold.

The memories of a friend.

Nine hundred years of sadness and loneliness; that’s what I went through after Yunni died. I left the shrine because it reminded me of her, and roamed the world instead.

I journeyed across the great desert of the Fire kingdom, crossed the plains and the plateau of the Light kingdom, and bathed in the lakes and the rivers of the Water kingdom. After my sisters finally reconciled their personal hatred, I even managed to soar up to the floating island of the Air kingdom, trekked across the Alderan wastes and the Twilight forest in the Dark kingdom, and climbed the lofty mountains of the Earth Kingdom.

But no matter what I did, I was still sad, I was still alone. The only people I talked to were my sisters.

My sisters were unusual but that was to be expected since they were goddesses. Fate had decreed that Solaron, the Light goddess, and Lunaris, the Dark goddess, would forever hate each other. Agua, the Water goddess, and I, the Fire goddess, were to support Solaron while Opal, the Earth goddess, and Breze, the Air goddess, were to support Lunaris.

Whenever we saw a goddess from the other faction, our hearts would be filled with anger and hostility whereas coming upon a Goddess from our own faction made us feel calm and safe.

But none of us wished to play Fate’s game, so we met on the Bridge of Babel and formed a pact, a pact to oppose Fate’s machinations.

Although we couldn’t stop our followers from fighting, we resolved to, at the very least, reduce unnecessary casualties as much as possible and increase cooperation between the Dusk Alliance in the North and the Holy Union in the South. We adopted a unified calendar that began from the day we were released from the Haze and named the months after ourselves. A little narcissistic, I admit.

Resisting Fate was difficult. I did not know what my sisters did to try to resist Fate, but I gave up long ago. Fate’s biggest curse to me was loneliness and I could find no cure for it. I dared not form bonds with any mortals, because their lives would be short like Yunni’s and they would be prone to untimely deaths, like Jeffi.

My relationship with my sisters was cold and artificial. The positive emotions that I felt when I saw Solaron or Agua repulsed me nearly as much as the negative emotions I felt for Lunaris, Opal and Breze.

Those emotions weren’t mine. They were what Fate wanted me to feel. The intrusiveness sickened me.

And Fate had its dirty hands in many other places too. There were wars, famines, droughts, and floods. There were times when the people of Erath felt hope, only to have it come crashing down around their feet.

The battles between the hero and the demon lord were the worst of all. If they encountered each other early on, the demon lord would make quick work of the hero and the damage would be minimal. But often, the hero would only fight the demon lord after they had grown to frightening levels.

When that happened, there was carnage, destruction, and death.

But then Lunaris began to act strangely, secluding herself in the Twilight Forest and rarely ever coming to our centennial meetings. Then, the demon lords stopped appearing.

Before that time, the hero and the demon lord would usually deal enough damage to each other that other warriors would be able to finish the job, ensuring that neither side could win. But after the demon lord stopped appearing, the hero could wreak havoc on the Dusk Alliance with virtually no consequences.

The bloodshed intensified and the Dusk Alliance was on the verge of collapsing. Strangely, my sisters, even those supporting the Dusk Alliance, were relieved since a victory for one side might finally remove the chains of Fate that bound us and end the senseless violence.

But somehow, the Alliance managed to pull through every time. The hero would be killed by poison or a well-coordinated strike, or something of that sort, and the demon lord’s castle would remain untouched.

Perhaps the geography of the dark kingdom made it harder for the hero to reach the demon lord’s castle. The only road to the demon lord’s castle ran between the Alderan wastes and the Twilight Forest, and since neither of those areas would allow for a large army to cross, ‘The Corridor’ saw many desperate battles and swallowed the lives of thousands of soldiers.

My sister, Solaron of the Light, became concerned and asked me to train her heroes.

At first I refused, since my self-imposed isolation forbade me from interacting with humans. But as the blood continued to flow and the fighting grew more bitter, I finally agreed to her request and the final plan for the severance of the chains of Fate, began.

I came to the Light kingdom’s royal palace and entered the throne room when Solaron gave me the signal. Inside, the current king sat on his throne, addressing a little girl who looked around fifteen years old.

Fading tear-lines scarred her face. She’d been crying. I met her eyes and saw the pain, the sorrow, and the anger within them. I couldn’t help but embrace her.

–

I taught her everything I could, but a month was not enough to teach her everything she needed to know. But, since I would be accompanying her on her journey and she was an impressively quick learner, I was sure that she would be able to perform her role properly.

However, I could see the unwillingness in her eyes. How could I not? I had seen many eyes like those because of Fate’s interference.

“What? You can’t find the hero?” said a voice from the hallway.

“Search for her immediately! She tried to run away when she first arrived so she may have left the palace already! And go inform the King!” replied another voice.

She left?

I opened the window of my room and blasted off just as the door opened.

–

Fate reared its annoying head yet again as I found myself unable to find her. The goddesses couldn’t locate the hero or the demon lord, nor could they inform others of their identity.

Luckily there were only so many ways down the plateau and I happened to find a short, black haired figure on a dirt road. I recognized her immediately and shot towards her.

“Found you!” I shouted after finally finding her. She was the first person I had formed a bond with in a very long time and her absence made me anxious as I feared for her safety. A wave of relief washed over me as I confirmed that she was indeed, Lily Grayscale the hero, and I ran over to embrace her.

But I soon sensed another presence in the vicinity; a dark-skinned youth standing under the sunlight. I had been so relieved at finally finding Lily that I hadn’t noticed him at all. I saw his status and bit my lips. He was the demon lord. The first person she met outside the palace was the demon lord. Was this Fate’s idea of a joke?

I needed to get Lily away from him but I couldn’t tell her he was the demon lord. I tried to frighten him off but he wasn’t scared at all. And when Lily began to explain their plan to find a way home, a bitter taste crawled up my throat.

The goddesses did not know how to send their summoned champions back to their own world. After all, that was the realm of Fate. The demon lord was lying to her, but why? Why didn’t he attack her like the other demon lords would have?

I stared at the Demon Lord, Runir Candela, and tried to assess his personality. His eyes glittered with intelligence and his smile was chilling and malevolent. He was surely up to no good.

But I could not forcibly take her away from there because the goddesses could not interfere with the battles between the demon lord and the hero.  And this was a battle as well, a battle of wits. This demon lord was cunning, intelligent and almost certainly had a plan to deal with Lily.

Of course, Lily was smart too, in her own way. I had learned that she was resourceful and possessed a remarkably resilient mind. Perhaps she could ruin this nefarious demon lord’s evil plan and achieve victory with her ‘street smarts,’ as she liked to call it.

But I needed to be sure, so I accepted the demon lord’s offer to join him. With that, it was certain that he did not know that I was the Fire goddess. Of course, he could also have been aware of the restrictions of the goddesses and deemed that I was not a threat to his plans.

But I was nine-hundred and ninety-eight years old, and my experience and wisdom would surely help Lily on her journey. I absolutely had to go with her. But I hesitated when he asked my name.

I wasn’t sure if he knew the names of the goddesses, because even though they had been long since forgotten by most of the populace, some ancient documents may still have recorded them. So I gave him a fake name; Amy Genis.

But then we heard a strange sound. It was something that I, who didn’t need to sleep, hadn’t heard since that night in the forest with Jeffi and Yunni all those years ago. Somebody was snoring. We followed the voice and then we met him.

A strange purple robed, glasses wearing, dark haired boy lay sleeping under a tree among the bushes. I stared at his unkempt appearance and wondered what a boy like that was doing out alone in the forest.

And then I appraised him just as he woke up. But I didn’t hear what he was saying because my heart had skipped a beat and my mind froze in shock.

I couldn’t see his status.

My sisters and I had long since reached the pinnacle of strength in this world. We were unparalleled existences in Erath and we had never encountered someone we couldn’t appraise. We could even see each other’s’ status and no skills or items could help their users hide their status from us.

So when I couldn’t see this boy’s status, it threw everything I thought I knew about my world out the window. I woke up from my shock and heard him say with a smile, “…call me Kai.”

–

I was on guard all day as descended the plateau. I shot glances at the demon lord but he was no longer my greatest concern. The one who really made me wary was the purple robed boy humming an odd tune – Kai.

He was completely unreadable. And that was frightening.

“We should probably make camp for the night,” said Kai.

Sleep? Well, at least he is human.

We set about making camp as he pulled out materials from thin air. The space inside his Storage skill was surprising, it seemed almost comparable to the Inventories that the demon lords and heroes possessed.

I cleared the ground as the demon lord set up a sleeping area outside the tent. For some reason, I felt like we wouldn’t be using either of those at all.

Soon, Lily, Kai and I were standing around the fire, preparing dinner. Or rather, Lily helped Kai cook while I stared blankly and passed the ingredients. I had never learned to cook since goddesses didn’t need to eat.

Lily seemed like an experienced cook but Kai was astonishingly good and the ingredients he pulled out of his Storage made even me gasp in surprise.

By the time they were done, I couldn’t help but grab a plate and start gulping down mouthfuls of steaming red curry. I had tried eating food before, but the cuisine of our world hadn’t really developed that much. The only other time I had enjoyed a dish was when I ate something Solaron had made after learning the recipe from a former hero.

However, this was on a completely different level. I asked for seconds as the sun went down over the horizon.

–

I didn’t need to sleep so I leaned against a tree and pretended to rest while keeping my guard up. From my position, I could see the Demon Lord tossing about in his sleeping bag and Lily lying curled up in hers. The tent stood completely ignored in the corner of the clearing since all of us had preferred to sleep under the open sky.

I could also see Kai, who was supposed to be on watch, lying down beside the campfire with his eyes closed.

Just what is he thinking? What if he fell asleep and some beast attacked Lily? I could never forgive such a mistake!

However, I realized that he was aware of his surroundings when he called out to the demon lord who was leaving for some reason. Although I felt tempted to follow him and see what he was planning, it was more important to stay there and guard Lily.

Just as I was debating whether to follow the Demon Lord, I heard a voice say, “Hey, I know you can’t fall asleep either so how about listening to a story? I promise it’ll be good. I’m very good at telling stories, trust me.”

Neither I nor Lily responded but his lips still stretched into a small smile.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

–

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I fought to stop myself from sobbing. I hid my eyes with my arm and looked up at the sky, trying to forget the story I had just heard. My head was flooded with emotions, but most of all, I felt sad.

The story had been beautiful. It had been heartwarming enough to melt my heart but what flowed in the end were tears. It had made me cry for the first since Yunni’s death.

And it was a story about a candle…

I’d always known how important it was to stay calm and collected, so I never let anything surprise me. Even back on Earth, nothing could break my poker face. Frank Stone could attest to that.

But that day shattered my poker face so badly I couldn’t piece it back together again.

After leaving the Dark Kingdom, I finally managed to make my way to the Southern Continent by joining a merchant caravan. The caravan went all the way to the capital of the Light Kingdom, Cerena.

When the glittering white city slowly emerged from the horizon, I praised its masterfully designed outer wall, and the long spires and tall towers of the King’s Castle that rose into the clouds.

Of course, I only praised it inside my head. Something of this scale couldn’t faze me at all. The city looked almost exactly like it did in the game, which was surprising because that meant the game developer’s initial design had lasted for nearly a thousand years.

The first thing that surprised me that day was an accident. I was leaving the market after buying some food when I bumped into a hooded figure wearing brown robes. Although my level had risen to 463 by then, this hooded figure managed to push me back!

I quickly checked their status and was instantly flabbergasted. Just what kind of a coincidence was this? Was this what Azoth called Fate? I walked into an alley outside the entrance to the market and waited. When she finally came out, I checked her status once more to be sure.

At first, I felt a strong urge to jump out and kill her but I restrained myself. After all, this was an opportunity! If I played my cards right, I could use the hero to achieve my own goals. I followed her as she left the city.

–

I made sure to stay hidden while following her down the rocky plateau. Although the difference in our levels should have made it impossible for her to notice anyway. Along the way, I began to formulate a grand strategy that would win me back my Kingdom.

I wasn’t strong enough to defeat Azoth and his followers on my own and finding a lot of powerful allies would be nigh impossible. Therefore, I needed to play this game a little differently. I needed to plan, to manipulate, to work the rules of this world in my favor.

A loud roar interrupted my thoughts. I stopped and hid behind a tree and began watching the Hero confront a Light Ogre. Based on her movements, I determined that she was already very adept at using her power. Even though she was only level 235 and the ogre was several levels above her at 273, she still managed to dodge its attacks while retreating. This made my urge to kill her even stronger.

I can slice off her neck while she’s distracted by the ogre. It’d be so easy. No! The plan, remember the plan Runir!

While I was arguing with myself, she fled backwards. Or rather, she started coming towards me. Did she find me? How was that possible? My stalking skills were unparalleled! I was surprised for the second time that day. A personal record.

“Hello Ms. Hero,” I said. I stepped out to save the hero and began the first stage of my grand strategy. I made it evident that I was far stronger than her and shocked her by revealing that I knew she was the hero.

“Hey uh, are you sure you aren’t confusing me with someone else?”

It would be easy to manipulate her, I concluded, so I tried to approach her, but her gaze flitted down to a very… vulnerable place. I halted in place. She was more dangerous than I thought.

“No, Ms. Lilith Grayscale. You are most definitely the Hero.” I kept calm and mentioned her name to unsettle her, and got a satisfying reaction. Then I tried to steer the conversation to where I wanted it to go.

But…

“…you creepy stalker!”

I was stunned, not only by the horrible accusation but also by the fact that she knew I had been following her for quite some time. This time, my expression changed and my poker face was thoroughly broken. This hero was really something.

“…bye!”

She capitalized on my weakness and tried to shame me into leaving. Or at least that’s what I thought she was doing.

I immediately turned the tables on her by telling her some fake story about going back to Earth. Her breathing stopped for a moment as she processed the information I had revealed and soon, she started dancing in the palm of my hand. Although she did give me a threatening glare when she began suspecting that I was the demon lord.

The goddesses probably wouldn’t tell us how to go home, but they would give us their blessings.

In the game, the hero and the demon lord were essentially champions representing two factions of eternally antagonistic goddesses who summoned their respective champion to fight on their behalf. The goddesses themselves wouldn’t interfere with the battle between the hero and the demon lord, and couldn’t harm or help locate either of them.

This made sense in the story because if the demon lord knew where the hero was early in the game, they’d be able to kill them very easily. This insane attention to detail and filling in of plot-holes was one of the reasons why Choices was my favorite video game of all time. It was also very well balanced. It was almost as easy to win as the demon lord as it was to win as the hero and there were a multitude of ways to win the game.

However, the hero and the demon lord had the same main quest: to visit all the goddesses’ shrines and receive their blessings. Each blessing gave the character a large power boost while also increasing their mastery of the type of magic the goddess governed.

I’d learned from the documents in the demon lord’s castle, although the previous demon lords and heroes had learned their power would increase after they received a goddess’ blessing, none of them had tried to receive all the goddesses’ blessings.

Which meant they thought the goddesses from the other faction wouldn’t bless them. Which in turn meant that they hadn’t played the game because in the game, the goddess would bless the hero or the demon lord regardless of which faction they supported.

I had my back to her as we talked. Her glare died down as I convinced her that I was not the demon lord. The rest of our conversation went smoothly after that. Soon, she agreed to go to the fire goddess’ shrine with me, just as planned.

I smirked at her and said, “My name is-” But I was interrupted by a loud shout.

A giant, flaming meteor was flying straight towards us. That was the fourth surprise of the day!

We ran as fast as we could but the meteor kept gaining on us. Just as I resolved to pick up the hero and run at full speed, the meteor went over our heads and crashed into the ground in front of us. What happened next was the fifth surprise of the day.

A beautiful girl ran out of the dust cloud and hugged the hero. She talked to her while completely ignoring my presence. But what surprised me even more – number six for those still counting – was what she said when she realized I was there.

She was on guard and incredibly suspicious of me. It was nearly a miracle she didn’t attack me. I tried checking her status but I couldn’t see it!

She was stronger than me, but judging by the fact that she didn’t attack me nor tell the hero to run, I determined that she wasn’t strong enough to see that I was the demon lord. After all, Obscure would hide more of your status depending on your relative strength compared to the person using Appraisal. It was possible that all she could see was my name.

The hero began explaining our plan to her but the newcomer was still skeptical. But she didn’t oppose it so I politely introduced myself.

“Runir Candela, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” I gave her a charming smile too.

I would have preferred giving a fake name to the hero, in case she came across the name of the current demon lord, but this new girl threw that plan out of the water.

After some reproachful words from the hero, she finally introduced herself as Amy Genis. Although I harbored some doubts about her name and identity, I decided to set them aside for now. This day had been a very surprising one, and I could do with some boring old walking.

But then I was surprised for the seventh time. I heard something strange, was someone… snoring?

The others noticed it too and we gave each other perplexed looks before following the noise. We pushed aside some bushes and found someone sleeping behind a tree just a few feet away from where Lily fought the ogre and where Amy had fallen from the sky as a giant meteor.

Just who could have slept through all of that? I mused.

We moved closer to the snoring figure. It was a boy, probably around my age, wearing weird, purple robes. His face was quite ordinary, and he was wearing very unfashionable glasses, so he would probably not stand out in a crowd back on Earth.

“Hey! Wake up!” said the hero, Lily.

The boy kept snoring. Lily frowned and went over to him.

“I told you to wake up!” she said, reaching for the boy.

“Wait! Something’s not right here,” I shouted, feeling uneasy.

“Of course something isn’t right here! It’s rude to wake someone up like this,” the boy said as he got up, almost as if he hadn’t been sleeping at all.

I blinked in surprise but it wasn’t too startling. What was surprising, however, was the fact that I couldn’t see his status either!

Fuck! Shouldn’t the hero and the demon lord be the strongest people in this world? Just who the fuck is he?

The boy glanced at all of us before smiling. An innocent smile that would fill anyone’s heart with warmth and coziness.

“Finally, I was starting to think no one was going to come here. I got lost in the forest ages ago and couldn’t find my way back. Thankfully, I’ve met you guys now! Say, would you mind taking me along to the next city? Please?” he asked, facing Lily.

Lily stared at him wide-eyed, and nodded unconsciously. The boy smiled and thanked us for our assistance. I met Amy’s gaze and saw the surprise in her eyes, mixed with a bit of fear.

She can’t see his status either? So he must be even stronger than her. Why would someone like that be taking a nap in the middle of the forest? Besides, if he was lost, all he had to do was follow the road in one direction and he’d come to a city eventually.

This guy… I don’t like him. Not one bit.

“Oh right! I forgot to introduce myself,” he said, fixing his glasses. “My name is Kairo Mezai, but you can call me Kai.” He smiled.

–

We continued to the city of Fohil but the atmosphere around our group was strange. Lily and Amy walked together; Lily trying to think of some way to break the ice and Amy trying to keep herself between Kai and Lily while glancing at me, occasionally.

Kai hummed a familiar tune while walking in a carefree manner while I tried to wrap my head around everything that had happened so far.

I’d started the day with what seemed like a stroke of good fortune but now I was stuck with a hero that could get under my skin and make me lose my cool, a frighteningly strong girl that was always on guard around me, and a terrifying powerful guy who was humming what sounded like the Happy Birthday song!

My head throbbed in pain as I tried to make sense of it all. I finally calmed down when I realized that my grand strategy was still feasible. Kai would leave when we reached Fohil and perhaps Amy could serve as a useful bodyguard for Lily while she grew.

The sun dipped over the horizon. The sky was awash with a beautiful crimson glow.

“We should probably make camp for the night,” said Kai.

We began preparing the camp. Lily collected firewood while Amy cleared the ground with her sword. Kai pulled out a tent from thin air, probably using the Storage skill, and I started setting it up while Kai pulled out some pots and pans. Lily returned with a bunch of sticks and branches began making a fire with Kai’s help.

We work surprisingly well together don’t we? I thought, feeling slightly strange as I finished setting up the tent.

Kai and the girls were making dinner so I set up a few security measures in the meantime. By the time I was done, a delicious scent was wafting through the air.

I walked over to them, losing my composure yet again as I started drooling. Kai looked at me, and grinned while passing me a plate of steaming, red curry. Amy and Lily were already wolfing down mouthfuls of curry with bread that Kai pulled out of his Storage.

This isn’t so bad, I thought.

I finished my plate of curry and asked for seconds.

–

I couldn’t sleep. The fire crackled behind me as I tossed and turned in my sleeping bag – a gift from Kai. I’d never been this restless before in my life, but then again, I’d never lost my composure so many times in a single day. And to top it off, I felt a strange warmth in my chest. It made me calmer than my poker face ever had, and gave me a weird sense of contentment.

Am I happy? No, my strategy requires ruthlessness! I can’t be tied down by these emotions!

I sat up in my sleeping bag and looked around. Kai had offered to take the first watch, claiming that he’d already taken a long enough nap. But even though he was supposed to be on watch, he lay on the ground by the fire with his eyes closed. Amy sat against a tree, pretending to sleep. She obviously didn’t trust us yet and quite frankly, I didn’t blame her. Lily’s breathing was shallow, so I surmised that she was also having trouble going to sleep.

Well, at least I wasn’t the only one. I stood up and started walking out into the forest.

“You shouldn’t go out alone at night, you know,” said a voice from behind.

“Mind your own business, Kai,” I said, frowning. I walked away from the clearing and started collecting my thoughts.

I want to defeat Azoth and his followers and take control of the Dark kingdom again. To do that, I need to get stronger and find powerful allies. Couldn’t these three be strong allies? Although their loyalties are questionable, perhaps I can draw closer to them and use them to achieve my own ends.

But Lily is the hero, and Fate will force her to fight me as soon as she finds out. Amy will obviously side with her over me. And Kai… well, I’m not sure.

Should I leave them and go on my own? No, I don’t think I’ll be strong enough in time to execute my grand strategy. Should I kill the Hero so she doesn’t pose a threat? No, I need her for now.

What about that Amy? Can I arrange for her death or lose her somehow? Probably not, she’s too strong and I don’t want her to be even more wary of me. I need to slowly win her trust.

And should I convince Kai to come with us to the Fire goddess’ shrine? He doesn’t seem like a bad person, perhaps he’ll agree to helping us find a way back home? But then again, I still don’t know who he is or what he wants. I should probably try to gather more information on him first. Although, judging by his actions, he either doesn’t know that I’m the Demon Lord or he doesn’t care.

Right! No use worrying about this for now. I can think about this in the morning. Fohil is still quite far away, after all.

I took a deep breath and walked back to the camp. A soft, orange glow flickered behind the trees. I froze as my eyes grew wide in shock and my mind went blank with disbelief. What I was looking at was the most surprising thing that had happened all day.

Amy still sat against a tree, but she held an arm over her eyes while tilting her head towards the sky. The flickering flame of the campfire reflected in the silvery streams running down her face.

Lily’s face was buried in her sleeping bag, with faint sobs and sniffles escaping the cloth while it shuddered as if it had a cold.

And Kai still lay by the campfire, his eyes closed and a sad smile on his face. I stared at the scene in front of me but couldn’t understand it at all.

“What did you do?” I asked, barely managing to get the words out of my mouth.

He smiled but he still didn’t open his eyes as he said, “I told them a story.”