"Are we there yet?" It was recently brought to my attention of the existence of creatures with a stubbornness that far surpasses my own. I was awestruck, the woman's pestering and presence was grinding on my nerves.

On my nerves. I was supposed to be a beacon of stability and hope, standing strong in the wake of any waves of hardship. But something about this woman was particularly annoying. It wasn't in the way she talked or the occasional clumsy step, it was something less, something so minute and concealed I couldn't pinpoint it.

I guess she just caught me at a bad time.

"Hey! C'mon kid, just tell me where we're going." She would sometimes raise her voice without warning, either not understanding the purpose of moving stealthily in a hostile forest or simply not caring. "If you tell, I promise to give you a reward." Her voice had a slight seductive tone to it, and without turning around, I could tell she was slightly swaying her hips.

"I already told you, I'm looking for my grandmother and it'll take a while as she's a bit of a recluse." Without moving my mouth, I used sound magic to relay my answer to our right, making her head jerk in that direction. "And if you want to seduce someone, may I suggest a quick shower? I, for one, am not all that into the whole torture kink."

While all of her wounds were closed and her bruises now looked less severe, she was still covered in dirt, with patches of grass and twigs in her hair or through her clothes. She was missing a shoe, her elegant gloves now fingerless, and her nicely tied hair was left loose and wild.

"Can you just stop it with your cryptic old man talk? For goodness sakes, you don't seem to be older than five and here I am busting my ass trying to look out for you! Be grateful dammit!" She says as her short fuse only burns shorter.

"Your senses are pretty sharp. Most other people would have locked on to the voice and followed it until they starved to death." It was a genuine compliment. From faking voices with sound magic to conjuring mirrors of ice to throw off her vision, she was adamant in tailing me and never fell for my tricks for more that a few seconds.

"You son of a-" She was cut off by her grunts of pain, tripping over a suspiciously smooth, well placed earthen bump that made the woman fall face first into the ground, barely reacting in time to catch her fall.

Unrelated to me in any way, I envied the hardy lump of dirt in its ability to consistently do things my simple words could never hope to achieve.

For a few minutes, I enjoy a peaceful silence, embracing the warmth of the sun's rays weaving through leaves and foliage and illuminating my surroundings in a gentle orange hue. The lack of wind played into the quiet, the sound of busy leaves replaced by the occasional scraping of wood or lone howl.

My "elder sister" was still behind me, dusting dirt off her knees and keeping her thoughts to herself. Her quiet mouth was welcome, if not a bit unsettling from her shift in mood.

She walks up to me and places a hand on my shoulder as she takes a deep breath. Turning me around to face her before clearing her throat she says "Hello there little boy, my name is Trista Newflower, what's yours?"

With a kind smile on her face, she holds out her hand with her palms up, asking me to take it. This was it, this was everything I ever wanted. If I refuse her hand here she'll most likely leave me to myself and we'll go our separate ways. Though if I took her hand, it'd be an invitation to follow me, possibly having more success in getting answers out of me after showing me this new found respect.

Of course, there was the chance she would follow me regardless of my decision seeing as she has no way of navigating the Elshire forest herself.

I withdrew a coin from the pocket in my shorts, giving it a quick flip up into the air before catching it in my hands. I turn away from her, peeking into the cusps of my hands to ensure she couldn't take a peek.

Turning around to face her, I could see a slight twitching of her eyebrow, a vein on her forehead slightly pulsing in anger. My next actions weren't influenced in the slightest by the face of the coin, but seeing Trista barely swallowing back a scream was sweet, sweet payback.

"My name's Arthur Leywin, and on my back is my little sister Eleanor Leywin. I'm taking us to visit my grandmother who live deep in the forest?" I do the best impression of a naive little boy I could, which only seemed to piss her off even more. Without touching her's, I hold out my hand just above her fingers, before giving her my final warning.

Dropping my voice to a low hiss, I maintain my childish smile while letting my bloodlust out in short bursts. Her eyes widen in surprise and fear, the raw pressure likely gnawing at her from the inside out. From the moment she saw me use magic so proficiently at my young age to try and stop her pursuit, she should of understood my actions had more meaning to them than simple flaunting.

It was only now, now that she was gasping for air with a slight shake to her knees, did she realize how brashly she was playing with fire.

"If you promise to not tell a soul of the things you see or the people you meet, I would love to have big sis Trista look after me." I drop my small hand onto her slender one, waiting for her to either jerk her hand back in resignation or grip my hand, in stubborn willingness.

Gripping my hand with the force of a stallion, she gives me the most serious face she could muster before saying, "I promise to get Arthur Leywin and his sister to their beloved grandma, just to see what all the talk is about." She gives me an inappropriately timed smug smile. "I also promise to keep my mouth shut, on the condition you give me some of the food you have in that pouch."

Does this person not understand the universal language of 'I'm threatening you, so please do as I say or off with your head?'

Slapping her hand out of mine, I continue my journey into the forest in my search for the person who may be key in twisting my cursed fate.

"Your a healthy, young lady aren't you? Go hunt your own game."

◈◈◈◈◈◈◈

With my memories a bit clouded, I could only rely on general directions, instead allowing my instinct to take control and guide me to my destination. When I first met her, she said she warded off anyone who came to close, making sure her dwelling was never found.

I was on full alert. For as much as I wanted to see her again, I am not the only one who would be looking for her at this point in time.

Remembering the vile face of the Scythe, I felt my muscles tense, only to quickly calm back down as I sense a few mana beasts approach the three of us. I shaked off the thoughts, knowing I couldn't kill him so soon again, even if I wanted to.

The B ranked Steel Deers raise their silver antlers towards us, huffing up puffs of breath into the air.

"Finally! Some good meat to catch! I won't have to starve for another three days." Trista had small tears forming in her eyes as she stared daggers at me. Her gaze was accusatory, as if I had made her watch me eat full course meals as she sat on the cold ground with drool falling from her mouth.

Ouch. Such a serious accusation hurt a bit.

She pulled her dual daggers from the metal sheaths on her back, prepping herself for battle. Yet, right as she began to charge in, I let low growl slip from my lips. I was able to almost see the chills run down the spine of the beasts, who stood at least two meters taller than me.

"Ah... b-but what about m-my food?" Trista falls to her knees, looking up to the sky with a defeated expression.

"Here, you deserve at least this much." I hand her a large chunk of honey roasted ham, which she quickly swiped and just as quickly began ripping off mouthfuls.

Aside from the slight pity I felt for her, I knew I was getting closer to my destination and knew I couldn't present myself as such an uncaring little brother.

Grandma was using a crude version of her telepathy to send basic commands to the mana beasts in the area. Unable to differentiate the difference between their own thoughts and her commands, the mana beasts are sent out to confront any people entering her area of influence.

As we reach closer to the cluster of rocks that decorate the entrance to her hideout, she sends wave after wave of stronger and more numerous mana beasts. Most of them ran away after hearing me growl, but some the stronger ones would require a loud roar to scare away, making sound I couldn't afford.

Taking care of a pair AA-class mana beasts, we stop to rest at a nearby stream. I dip my legs into the water knee high, while my companion decided to strip down bare naked before jumping into the flowing water.

I sit on the edge of a boulder, feeding Ellie an assortment of soft foods and warm milk. She was very well behaved and absolutely the cutest thing on this planet.

'You both seem to be enjoying yourselves. Perhaps either of you would care to tell me what you're doing so deep into these woods?'

Trista slipped on the riverbed from the shock of suddenly hearing a voice in her head. She nearly drowns herself, before gaining her footing and reaching for her two daggers, without bothering to dress herself.

Once again hearing her silky, smooth and dignified voice in my mind brought me to the verge of tears. But I sucked it up and saved it for later, knowing I'd rather cry into her arms than next to some woman I met a few days ago.

'I've come looking for you. I made a promise to someone, a promise to live my own life, embracing the color of this world, rising above the shadows casted on me.' With Ellie still in my arms, I kneel down onto one knee in the direction her telepathic magic was coming from.

'Slyvia, I know you have no one to trust and how it's only a matter of time before you either die or get captured. I know you have no reason to trust me, but please, let me come see you, you can decide what to do after that.'

After a moment of hesitation, Slyvia attempts to invade my mind to implant the directions to her person. I allow her to do so, knowing Slyvia would only be more cautious if she had been unable to invade the mind of someone she assumed to be a normal human boy.

Before she could finish her message, I dash towards her, the memories of when I first treaded this path rushing back to me, blinding my eyes with tears. Racing through the woods, I arrive at cluster of boulders that I quickly scale.

Reaching the top and seeing the crevice in the ground, my smile is illuminated by the soft glow of the plants growing on the walls of the cave.

Jumping down and swiftly land on my feet, my back was facing Sylvia. My body was shaking in anxiety and anticipation.

Slowly turning my head, I'm met with the calf of the giant figure. Bringing my head up to meet her gaze, my lips quiver before I blurt out in wasted sobs.

"I haven't seen you in a while, Grandma."