Cermin opened his eyes, feeling a bit groggy. But before he could fully sit up, someone pushed him back down roughly.
"Stay in bed and rest, Your Highness." Ronin told him.
"But the Daemons—"
"There are no Daemons now. You have killed them all. We are safe." Ronin wore a fake smile as he sat by his side. "And it's all thanks to you."
Cermin felt a sense of familiarity from this suddenly overbearing kindness and niceness of Ronin. He had always had this impression, but it was much stronger now.
"You sometimes remind me of her….." Cermin said.
"Who?" Ronin asked, his smile disappearing as he felt dread from what Cermin was about to say.
"Nothing, it's just….. There's a very nice girl in my life once who accompanied me through so many troubles. She was like a little sister to me…. no, a reliable older sister but sounds cuter."
Ronin: ... ..... .... ...
"She kind of served me like a master, if you think about it. But I'd like to believe that we were friends. But one day, she just... Vanished. She was gone just like that."
Ronin: .... ...… ..... …..
Then, Cermin whispered to himself softly. "I really wonder where my System-chan went…."
Kai couldn't take it anymore and cackled loudly. "Hahahahahaha!"
It held its stomach, laughing and laughing non-stop. Ronin glared at it, but the little kid just kept laughing and wiped its eye.
"Sorry, I just remembered…. Hahahaha….. I remembered something funny." Kai went to leave the room. "Hehe…. I'll just go to breathe some air for now…. Ah, my stomach hurts."
Ronin rolled his eyes, then turned to Cermin.
"This girl you mentioned…. It's best if you forget about her. It's not worth mentioning someone who would leave your life just like that." Ronin said.
'And I also really want to forget my past of being misunderstood as a girl system…' Ronin grimaced internally.
Cermin shook his head. "I can't just forget her after all the times she helped me. Even if she did abandon me in the end…. I will hold on to the memories."
He then rasped. "But Ronin….."
"What is it?" Ronin said, as he brought out a bowl.
"You won't leave me like that, right….. Oh, what is this?" Cermin said as Ronin set the bowl in front of him.
"Some food. I made use of what I could find." Ronin said. "You think I might leave you someday?"
"Well, maybe not on purpose. I worry that you might really die one of these days and I'll be alone again….." Cermin chuckled nervously.
He then said with an audible ache. "It's not fun to be alone."
"It really isn't." Ronin said. "But sometimes, it's preferable to be alone so you won't get used to relying on someone else."
"That's true, but….. Can we really live without relying on anyone? Isn't life worth living when we have someone to rely on, to be our reason to keep living?"
Ronin did not answer, and just stirred the soup.
"And if say, like that girl who abandoned you, that someone who was your reason to live would betray you….. what then? Was it worth it to trust in the first place?"
Cermin frowned. He does have a point.
"I'd like to believe that not everyone is like that. But it's true, things rarely last forever. Even the best friendships, even the best people." Cermin bowed his head.
"That's impermanence for you. The state of constant change." Ronin said. "Maybe the friends you made turn into enemies, the enemies turn into friends. Maybe one day you're at the top…."
"The next thing you know, you hit rock bottom. It's up to you if you would give up or rise up again."
He turned to Cermin and asked. "Are you the type to give up when you have fallen, or the type to stand back up?"
Cermin considered this. "I feel like I'm the type to go into a downward spiral as soon as I hit the ground. Always whining and complaining about things."
"But if there was something to serve as my reason, I will stand up again. If I can't, I'll crawl. No matter how pathetic, just so I could reach that end I wanted."
"That End…." Ronin pondered.
What really was the End? Would Cermin's end be The End?
---------------------------------------------------
Ronin was not able to convince Cermin to rest longer. The following day after he woke up, he left the bed and insisted they keep going.
"We need to move fast even when there's no Daemons. There's still the Lord of Darkness, and it's better to strike when his forces are weakened." Cermin said.
There was a new ferocity to him, like a cub slowly growing into a real lion. It's not a complete growth, but it was getting there.
"We need to get to the Edge." Ronin said. "Then we can take my Hounds again."
"Er…. Can't we just take Griffons?" Cermin asked. "Your Hounds are from the Lord of Darkness, I don't trust them."
Ronin smirked. "Just say that you are scared of dogs, Your Highness."
"W-Who, me? I-I'm not….." Cermin denied unconvincingly.
"If we want to take Griffons, we first need to look for someone who lends them." Kai said. "And 95% of the shops here in Sephyrine are destroyed."
As they walked on the street, they passed by a large group that were carrying statues.
(Are they making a procession?) Cermin thought. (I have found Buddhists carrying imagery and little portable temples before during festivals, or Christians carrying statues of saints.)
But they would soon learn that this event had nothing to do with religion, even when it was being led by a familiar Monk.
"We must place everyone that had been petrified in a safer place until we find a way to undo the curse." Councillor Rozenaur said.
Ronin's eyes gleamed with interest upon seeing him. He knows what was going on from Espinella. This man had unintentionally formed a revolution all on his own…..
And had also served as the greatest asset against the forces of Darkness.
His power to banish evil really was commendable, and Ronin lusted for that power. It may even be enough to make him finally reach Level 100…..
And turn into Graphite.
Then, once he was a Graphite, he would be ripe for transformation into an Obsidian.
With the help of the Flame of a certain someone's heart, of course.
Cermin went to approach them. "What happened here?"
Councillor Rozenaur's eyes brightened as he saw him, while he carried a stone statue of a man himself. "You….."
"You look familiar, sir. Do you happen to be related to Marigold Rozenaur?" Cermin asked.
One of the upper members of the revolution approached the Councillor and asked. "Who is this boy?"
"This is our true savior." Councillor Rozenaur quickly said. "And…."
He turned to the two friends behind him, and immediately hid Cermin behind him.
"What are you doing with a Daemon and a Ghost?" He asked, aiming his branding iron at Ronin and Kai.
Kai just blinked. "I'm a ghost?"
Cermin shook his head. "Please don't worry! Those two are my friends, they won't harm any of you."
"The Darkness acts benign, but is never genuine." Councillor Rozenaur told him. "If they were really your friends, then they should have left you for your own sake."
"But I don't want them to leave me!" Cermin argued. "I need to keep going! We're going to search for the Lord of Darkness' weapon and defeat him once and for all."
Ronin looked at the statues. "They won't listen to emotional appeals, Cermin. They need proof."
He took out his whip...
CRACK!
And hit a nearby petrified victim of Lachesis!
The crowd panicked, and quickly tried to hide these statues away from the destruction of their whip…..
But to their surprise, the one he whipped suddenly had real life flesh appear underneath the crack.
Ronin kept going, until the person inside was uncovered. It was a young woman, who had pink skin like Rabuka and was targetted.
"My daughter! You brought her back!" An elderly couple immediately went to embrace this girl, and they shed some tears.
Everyone was stunned, and then….
"Bring back my lover too!"
"And my son!"
"Please, save us!"
The people's minds changed as quickly as the wind. Hurt them, and you become their enemy. Help them, and they become your allies.
Ronin turned to the stunned Cermin. "See? Impermanence."
Councillor Marigold was also dumbfounded, and eventually clenched his fist. But he was not angered…..
He was feeling guilt, as this incident reminded him of something that happened years ago.
Something that had also had to do with how quickly your relationship with someone can change, with just the crack of a whip.
Or in his case, a burning of a mark with an iron.
He bowed his head, and approached Ronin after he freed all the petrified people.
"I'm sorry for judging your character simply from what you are." He said, admitting his mistakes. "Please…. If you could continue to help us, it does not matter if you were transformed."
"We need as much help as we can to defeat the Lord of Darkness, and I can see that you are very valuable to the Champion. Can you continue helping him find the Dark Lord?"
Ronin smiled. "Of course."
'He's standing in front of you all right now, performing miracles.'
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