Chapter 99: 99-Remain at his side
"You’re a devil," Fior cursed.
His golden eyes stared at the serpent whose soul seemed darker than any devil’s, and he found himself at a loss for words.
He didn’t know where to begin or where to end. Nothing he did seemed capable of getting rid of the serpent. More than anything, he longed to return to his normal life. A life completely unrelated to Ssirel.
"A devil? Me?" Ssirel asked. He had never seen himself as a devil. Everything he did was simply to satisfy his own heart. Since when had actions done in the name of the heart become associated with devils?
"Fior, why are you hurting my feelings by insulting me like this?" he asked as red tears rolled down his cheeks.
"Don’t even try to fool me with your poisonous tears. Since when has a devil ever felt pain?" Fior asked, refusing to believe that Ssirel was capable of having his feelings hurt or shedding genuine tears.
"Between the two of us, who’s the devil now?" Ssirel stepped closer. "I’m standing here crying and showing you that your words and actions hurt me, yet you keep hurting me with your words."
"Why are you getting closer to me?" Fior stepped backwards to avoid him.
Ssirel stopped where he was.
Inside, he felt strangely at peace simply because Fior was near him, and Aeltharion had not assigned him any missions at the moment, so Fior was free to spend time with him. He felt even better when he looked into those golden eyes.
Fior, his golden dragon, simply didn’t understand how much he touched Ssirel’s heart merely by existing, by standing there, breathing, and continuing to live. That alone was enough to make Ssirel feel overwhelmingly full of love.
Even more so when Fior did everything possible to avoid him. It only made him want to be closer to the dragon.
"Why are you quiet now? What terrible thing are you thinking about this time?" Fior asked nervously, fearful of whatever plans Ssirel might have involving him.
"I’m warning you, Ssirel!" He stepped back again. "Don’t try anything with me. I’ll forget you’re Sseraphis’s brother and hurt you."
"You? Hurt me?" Even as a joke, it sounded ridiculous. Not because Fior lacked strength, but because Fior fought by rules, while Ssirel followed none.
"Tell me. How exactly are you going to hurt me?"
Fior clenched his jaw and narrowed his eyes. He was furious.
He knew very well that whether he fought Ssirel with fists or words, he would be the one who suffered in the end because he possessed a heart that cared about others. Ssirel was a serpent. He shed the skin around his heart just as easily as he shed the skin of his body.
"I don’t want to continue talking to you anymore. I’m leaving."
With those words, he decided to remove himself from both the argument and Sseraphis’s underwater palace.
Now that his boss, Aeltharion, had already departed, he saw no reason to remain.
"Where are you going? I’ll escort you."
"That won’t be necessary."
"It’s not a matter of necessity. It’s a matter of me wanting to escort you. Tell me, where are you going?"
"I don’t want your kindness. Please, let’s both go our separate ways and leave each other alone."
He turned and walked away immediately, carrying his belongings. But who was Ssirel to do what Fior wanted?
Without a trace of shame, he followed after the dragon. When it came to the clothes Fior was carrying, Ssirel had already decided he would wear them whether he was given permission or not so there was no need for him to pack his own clothes.
"That’s not the way out of the palace," Ssirel reminded him when he noticed Fior heading in the wrong direction.
Fior continued on, passing through several doors along the hallway before descending a staircase and heading toward the lower chambers.
"I’m telling you, you’re lost," Ssirel said, though he continued following him.
"I’m going to say goodbye to Tivnir and Yiwa. I don’t know when I’ll see them again."
"Hmph." Ssirel let out an annoyed breath. "You’re wasting your energy. Yiwa is still inside a cocoon, and Tivnir lost consciousness after the session Jura put them through before leaving to join Sseraphis’s ranks."
"What?" Fior stopped. He had desperately wanted to bid farewell to his new friends and hadn’t realized neither of them was in any condition to fulfill that wish.
"Friends are rarely separated forever. The day will come when we meet again. May the Creator protect them until that day arrives," he prayed softly.
Ssirel frowned. The habits of good-hearted people baffled him.
Tivnir and Yiwa were continuing with their lives. If their treatment succeeded, they would move forward just fine. Yet here was Fior feeling sad because he hadn’t been able to see them one last time before leaving.
Ssirel shook his head. He could never see himself reach a point where he prayed for beasts to be protected by the Creator until they met again.
His life philosophy was simple. If they met again, they met again. If they didn’t, they didn’t.
If he wanted to see someone, he would simply go find them. If he decided he no longer wanted to see them, then even if that person searched for him, they would never cross paths.
"Fine. You’ve prayed for them. Can we go now?"
"Why are you rushing me as if this journey belongs to the two of us? I’ll say this one last time, and I hope you’ll actually listen," Fior said sternly.
Ssirel nodded. But both of them knew perfectly well that he had no intention of doing what Fior wanted.
"Go your way, and I’ll go mine."
Ssirel wiped away his tears.
"That sounds fine, but unfortunately I’m heading everywhere you’re heading."
Fior’s jaw dropped. He couldn’t believe how shameless Ssirel was.
All this time, he had done and said everything he could think of to stop Ssirel from following him, yet the serpent had somehow decided that he would accompany Fior everywhere he went.
"Why have you dedicated yourself to annoying me?"
"And why have you dedicated yourself to wasting our time? We’re going to be late for where we’re going," Ssirel replied.
He turned Fior around and started leading him back up the stairs.
Fior was exhausted. He had already used every method he could think of to get Ssirel away from him, but the serpent clung to him as if someone had paid him to remain at his side forever.
Eventually, they left the palace and headed toward the surface.
When they arrived, the sight before them made their blood run cold. Beasts of every kind, from every corner of the region, lay scattered across the sand, completely paralyzed.
Not a single one of them appeared capable of explaining what had happened.
"What happened here?" Fior asked in shock.
"You’re asking me?" Ssirel replied. "I’ve been with you the entire time. We arrived here together. How would I know what happened if you haven’t told me?"
"Forget I asked, then," Fior said, ending the discussion.
Arguing with Ssirel was a battle he had no hope of winning. "Let’s find Aeltharion and Sseraphis. Creator, please don’t let them be paralyzed too."
He offered a quick prayer for their safety before the two of them continued onward.
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