Through dangerous forests where Rank 5 monsters lived, along the unpopulated border of the kingdom, a beast ran, carrying a woman on its back. A month had passed since they’d left Claydale.
“That’s enough for today, Nero,” the woman said.
“...Proceed...”
“You want to keep going? Really, you should be more mindful of your elders.”
Though she spoke as though she were an old woman, Cere’zhula was only about thirty in dark elf years, which matched her youthful appearance. Had she been living among other dark elves, or even humans around the same life stage, she wouldn’t have felt so much older than everyone else. But, having watched the few humans she’d interacted with grow older, Cere’zhula didn’t feel her age.
Much had happened in her life. The pushy human woman who had declared herself Cere’zhula’s apprentice over a decade ago had been a headache, what with her strange delusions, but even so, the dark elf hadn’t disliked having the foolish girl around. But then she’d disappeared suddenly.
Two years later, an odd girl named Alia had showed up, claiming that she’d been attacked by Cere’zhula’s former apprentice and forced to kill her.
Exasperated, saddened, but not surprised by the foolish woman’s demise, Cere’zhula had understood that Alia hadn’t been at fault. She’d taken the strange girl as her new apprentice and passed down her fighting techniques—hoping to at least keep the girl alive.
Life with Alia had brought with it new emotions.
The girl had absurd power for a child and was brave to boot. But inside, she was still young. Not only that, her sense of modesty had been twisted by that foolish apprentice’s actions. She knew things no child should know and didn’t know things any child should have known. Alia understood the weight of taking a life at only seven years old but didn’t understand how to trust adults to take care of her.
So while Cere’zhula had been a strict teacher, she’d still treated Alia as an adult would treat a child. The girl, skittish as an abused stray cat, had gradually opened up, and Cere’zhula had begun to feel like she’d found the daughter she’d given up on ever having.
Neither of the two had ever said anything, but a familial bond had formed between them.
And what would a mother do for her daughter?
“...Advance...”
“You want to keep going despite your condition? Just stop for the day, stubborn beast.”
Cere’zhula and Nero had gotten almost no rest, having proceeded at a grueling pace to get through the monster habitat. Nero had been running nonstop, had fought Rank 5 griffins and goblin lords, and was evidently injured.
The coeurl called Alia “Moon.” For a beast who had spent its life in solitude, Alia must’ve seemed like a light in the darkness. But could beings as distinct as mythical beasts and humans, whose ways of life had nothing in common, truly communicate?
Though Cere’zhula and Nero were currently cooperating, the dark elf was wary of the coeurl and the danger it posed to the girl she thought of as a daughter. Nero, in turn, wouldn’t truly open its heart to anyone but Alia.
Still, Nero didn’t seem intent on ignoring Cere’zhula’s input. It understood she was family to Alia, and so it evaluated its own condition and conceded that it needed to rest.
They ate separately. Cere’zhula caught a wild bird and roasted it over a fire, while Nero hunted and devoured a young doe. The pair didn’t typically converse unless it was necessary, but perhaps having a proper meal and resting for the first time in a while had somewhat eased their mutual wariness.
“Why do you go to such lengths for Alia?” Cere’zhula asked casually.
Nero, who had been resting after its meal, opened its eyes slightly. “...Not...Clear...”
“You don’t know? Is that what you’re saying? You don’t know why you’re doing it?”
“...No...Meaning...”
“Oh, so you don’t understand why I’m asking?”
“Yes...Moon...Natural...”
“You’d naturally do it for Alia? I’m asking why that is.”
“...You...Foolish...”
“Hey now!”
“...Moon...I...Same...”
“You think you and Alia are the same? I didn’t raise her to be a beast!”
“...Not...Daughter...”
“You’re not even remotely the same species as her. Don’t act like you know her!”
“...Know...All...”
“What?! You know all there is to know about her?! Preposterous!”
“...Foolish...”
Woman and beast both slowly stood, glaring at each other in the dim firelight.
“I suppose we’d best settle this, then.”
“...Agree...”
✦ ✦ ✦
Cere’zhula and Nero went on to engage in a heated debate over how much each of them knew about Alia. This went on until dawn, when fatigue finally won out and the two fell asleep, piled on each other.
It delayed their departure by about a full day.
What a strange thing...
Having left the demon army and lived in hiding in a human nation she’d been so hostile to, Cere’zhula had gone on to take human disciples. One had died for foolish reasons, and the other looked to her as a parent. Now here she was, traveling with a mythical beast to rescue her apprentice—her daughter—and heading straight into the demon territory she’d been fleeing from.
The image of her unsociable disciple, whom she’d watched grow, overlapped in her mind with that of another girl.
Aishe...
Her much younger sister and only blood relative.
After the two lost their parents, Cere’zhula had joined the demon army to support Aishe. She’d raced across countless battlefields, grown to recognize a few of her opponents, and eventually lost sight of what it meant to fight. She had left her sister with a couple they knew, faked her death in battle, and defected from the demon army.
Cere’zhula had worried that, should Aishe have stayed with her, the girl would’ve followed in her footsteps and joined the army too. From infancy, Aishe had admired her older sister—the infamous Fiend.
How was she now? Had she fully grown up?
It was Cere’zhula’s earnest wish that her sister was living a life away from battle.