Chapter 114

Companionship (III)

“Ew, what’s that thing?!” Senna exclaimed as she pulled back slightly, pointing at a fairly strange-looking creature sitting on top of a table-sized boulder. Cain leaned over and took one glance at it before replying.

“I’m pretty sure that’s just something’s, y’know, excrement.”

“Excrement?”

“Shit.”

“EWW!!”

“... what are you ‘ewwing’ for?” Cain grinned as he asked. “Aren’t you the always-cool-and-collected sort?”

“...” Senna shot him a dirty look before she moved ahead of him.

The two were walking through a set of narrow pathways in-between the seemingly countless pools of lava. Jets of smoke formed a strange, mist-like curtain around them, blocking out the view past barely a hundred yards. They were at it for half an hour now, with Senna curiously examining her surroundings while Cain followed along, amused by this side of her.

Should be another mile or so? He pondered inwardly, stroking his chin. Others should have entered the Zone by now as well. I hope their luck is good.

“Hey,” Senna suddenly called out to him, pulling him out. “Can I ask you a question?”

“No.”

“...” her expression dropped as she stared at him angrily for a moment.

“Sorry--I was told I tend to screw around too much,” he said, smiling faintly. “I’m working on it. Please, ask. Anything.”

“Will you show me,” she said. “You going all-out? Just... just once?”

“Why?” Cain quizzed.

“I wanna see,” she replied. “What I’m missing.”

“You’re not missing anything. Well, except a few screws, but we all miss a few as well.”

“I’m serious,” she ignored his joke and sighed.

“... as am I,” Cain said. “You won’t learn anything from watching me. At best, you’ll become too self-conscious.”

“Yeah, like you’re that good.”

“And we’ll lose these bonding moments that we share.”

“You wish!!”

“I really don’t.” Cain grinned.

“Then at least tell me how to improve.” she persisted.

“You’re already at a skill level well past everyone else,” he greased her wheels for a moment. “It’s not your skill that you need to work on.”

“What is it, then?”

“Growing up.”

“H-huh?!”

“You’re sixteen, Senna,” Cain quickly elaborated. “And however badass and mature you are, there’s still a limit.”

“What am I lacking, then? Huh?!” she walked up to him and leaned into his face. “What? If anything, I’m way more mature than you are!”

“To be fair, everyone is.”

“You shouldn’t admit that so easily!!” she chided.

“... when I ask you ‘What’s wrong’, what is your usual answer?”

“...” she frowned for a moment, uncertain as to where he was going.

“On the rare occasion that you do open up to us, it comes with so many disclaimers I’d swear you were an ad for some sort of a pill.”

“Pfft...”

“That’s all I meant,” Cain added, patting her head gently. “Take your sweet time. Nobody’s running away.”

“... tsk, like you’re an example of honesty,” she scoffed.

“I’m not?”

“Of course not!” she exclaimed. “There are so many questions I could ask that you would outright refuse to answer!”

“Wrong,” Cain said. “Ask me anything.”

“Anything?!”

“Anything.”

"How come you always know so much about this place?" she braced herself and asked, her heart beating like a drum.

“... ‘cause I’ve been here once before.” Cain replied after a momentary silence, his eyes shining in stillness.

“H-huh? What... what do you mean?”

“For the rest of the world,” he explained. “This is the first time. For me... it’s the second.”

“... you... you’d done this before?!!”

“Hm,” he nodded. “For twenty-five years.”

“... ha ha ha, good one--holy shit, you’re not joking!!” Senna exclaimed when she noted the distinct lack of a playful grin on Cain’s face. “W-what the hell?!!”

“Yeah, tell me about it! And you--you shouldn’t be cursing in front of me. I’m aiming to become your daddy, after all.”

“Ugh...”

“Sorry...”

“... you... you are serious,” she said, somewhat stumped yet... at the same time, eerily calm. On some level, she knew -- she believed everyone knew. They just never asked because they believed Cain would just reply jokingly. “You’re dumb for trusting me this much, though. I could sell you out and earn millions--no, billions!”

“... but you won’t.”

“What makes you so sure, huh?!”

“Oh, look who’s ready to open the doors to some introspection, huh?”

“Wait--no, that’s not what I meant!!” Senna exclaimed as her cheeks flushed red.

“Aww, come on,” Cain pestered. “I just told you my absolute deepest secret, a world-shattering one -- literally! You can’t share something as well?” the two never stopped moving while they talked, having made their way past the pools and onto a slight dip that led into an open, dead plain.

“...”

“Whatever it is,” he added, tossing his arm over her shoulder and startling her. “I bet it ain’t scarier than ‘so, yeah, I technically came from the future. How about that?!’. Hit me, kiddo.”

“...” Senna glanced up and met a pair of stupidly-honest green eyes. She’d long since warmed up to the even dumber grin, and the shifty and inconsistent personality. In many ways, however, now the puzzle fit; as though a rain of answers fell on top of her, all he was began to make sense. It was precisely because of that, though, that she was scared, her heartbeat, quicker than when Cain shared his secret, reflecting the inner fears. “I...”

“Go on.” he nudged her with a smile.

“... you already know, don’t you?” she asked, smiling helplessly.

“Whaaat? No, I know nuthin, I’m telling you! Nothing!”

“... jackass... how’d you figure it out?” she asked, biting her lower lip and lowering her head.

“... I didn’t,” Cain said. “Emma did.”

“H-huh?”

"What? Of the two of us, who do you think has a keener eye for those things? Em' or me?"

“... yup, definitely her.”

“Well,” Cain added, looking up toward the front where a river of lava split two lands, bridged together by a stack of rocks. “You have about thirty seconds to say it.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Because, in about thirty seconds, we’re gonna meet a really, really, really strong boss.”

“WHAT?!! I--I NEED TO PRE--”

“Twenty-seven seconds...”

“DUDE!! LET--LET GO!!”

“Twenty-four seconds... come on, you can do it.”

“N-no, stop! We have to prepare!”

“Twenty seconds...”

“Fine, I like girls! There, you happy?!!” she exclaimed with reddened cheeks. “Now let go and let me prepare!!”

“See? Now, was that so hard?”

“YES!!” she screamed angrily at him, hiding her face away.

“Not nearly as hard as this boss is gonna be for you.” Cain said, slowing down and taking out a cigarette, lighting it up.

“Then why did--wait... did...”

“Yup.”

“No...” she mumbled, her lips trembling.

“I’ll be watching over you, sweetie!” he gave her a thumbs up, smiling.

“...”

“You said you wanted to get better,” he added. “Here’s your chance. Go all out,” he gave her an encouraging smile. “Leave it all on the table. I’m right here.”

“... what good are you, anyway? Asshole...” she mumbled, biting her lower lip to hide a surfacing smile.

“By the way, I’m never quite good with timing these things,” he added suddenly. “But how long do I have to wait before I can start making fun of you?”

“...” her expression chilled immediately as she glared back, her eyes shining in disgust.

“... geez, you can just say ‘never’. No need to be so dramatic.”

“You’re doing it again.” she pointed out.

“And you should be paying attention to the front, butterfly.”

“Butter--”

“ROAAAARRR!!!!” Senna jumped back, startled, her eyes veering over to the front.

She watched the bridge of rocks split open into an upward rain of pebbles and fire, a pillar jetting out in the midst, hiding a silhouette inside. The roar was so loud that she had to use Mana to suppress the bleeding in her ears, and was even forced to charge some into her feet so she doesn’t stumble and fall.

Looking up, she saw a face peer past the liquid lava, its maw wide and bony, fires bellowing out. A pair of star-like, crimson eyes shone even amidst the light of the flames, angular and narrow, irises vertical. A pair of wings abruptly blew out of the pillar of lava, black and misty, good sixty feet across altogether, thick claws at their ends.

“D-DRAGON?!! YOU WANT ME TO FIGHT A FUCKING DRAGON?!!!” Senna exclaimed in horror.

“E-eh? A Dragon?” Cain stuttered. “S-Sweetie... it’s... it’s just a big bird. A Dragon? Are you joking? One of those things is enough to collapse this entire goddamn floor by just farting in its general directions. Sheesh, you sure do think highly of yourself...” Senna’s cheeks flushed red in embarrassment as she roared and summoned out an army of her weapons, ready to toss the embarrassment into anger and focus it on the ‘bird’ in front of her.