Red, or rather Lin now, sat on her bed while staring at her hair as it rested between her oddly small and pale hands. Lin had never been the tannest person around, but it was worse now. Over the past week, she had heard several older beastmen ask about her health or well-being. Most knew who she was, either by name or reputation, but those that didn’t, always pitied her. They saw her as some sick kid. And could she blame them? She thought the same thing whenever she saw her reflection.

Her hand tightened around the grey fraying hair. The hair that she had defined herself by had changed into something that mocked her. Reminded her of how far she had fallen in the eyes of her family and herself. Of the hate and misery, her family had forced her to swallow. She clenched her hands into tight fists and yanked at her hair. Her head jerked forward at the painful tug. She managed to tear out some handfuls of hair, but it grew back almost instantly.

She sighed, opening her storage space, and tossing the hairs into a small trash bin that she had put inside. It was half full of hair at this point. Perhaps she should take a break like Mash was doing. Maybe try and confront her family. The very idea of it made her shudder. She could lie, and tell the others that she wasn’t afraid, but a part of her shook at the image of her father. And confronting her family meant confronting the secrets that she had glimpsed so long ago. She banished those thoughts, as she heard a soft knock at her door.

“Come in.”

She spoke softly, shutting her storage space quickly. Jill didn’t open the door conventionally. Instead, she just appeared in the room, a few paces away from her bed. Lin managed to keep her expression under control, but her heartbeat quickened at the sudden intrusion.

“You wanted to see me?”

Jill smiled as she spoke, her voice carrying a playfulness that felt fake now. More than just what Jill had revealed before, Lin fed off negative emotions like a parasite and knew when a person had them. Jill’s smiling face hid an exhausted and vengeful soul within.

“Can’t you just use the door?”

Unsure of what to say or do to help Jill, Lin wanted to ease into the conversation and tried to mimic Jill’s usual behavior. Rather than engage in the banter, Jill just pulled the conversation back on topic.

“It’s slow. What do you want anyways? I would like to get on with my night.”

Lin winced. Jill was not in the mood for conversation, and her tone was sharp as she cut off the conversation. Lin grimaced. If Jill wanted to have it this way, then fine, Lin could do it too. Lin rose to her feet and half shouted at Jill, trying her best to seem like anything but a sick child.

“Fine, what are you thinking? How many dungeons have you been to this week? When was the last time you actually slept?”

Jill was clearly not prepared for that line of questioning. Lin felt something snap, and Jill’s anger surged. Jill did not react as Lin expected her to; rather than retreat or try to explain herself, Jill stepped forward and pushed Lin back onto the bed. Despite being the stronger of the two, Lin felt a slight pain in her shoulder where Jill had nudged her.

Coming back to life was an odd thing. Before, Lin’s pain felt subdued, dimmed by her odd nature. Now, it was the opposite, her skin was more sensitive now, and even light pushes and hits would lead to visible bruises. The pain felt fake when her health said that she was completely fine. In fact, her odd situation with her health might be the reason behind the vulnerable nature of her body. Lin didn’t know and couldn’t change it. Jill’s next comment drew her attention away from the tingling pain. Her voice rose, till it filled the small room like a roar.

“Don’t you dare judge me! I’m gaining levels! What about you? How long are you going to sit around and mope? Don’t you want revenge? Aren’t you frustrated, seeing Mash and Luke prance about with kings while we sit around?”

Jill’s halo appeared over her head, as her gaze sharpened. The broken crown that hovered over her head radiated power and authority.

Lin’s tongue froze at her reply. Jill’s words had struck true, and the realization pushed away her argument. Her head dipped and her mouth felt surprisingly dry. Jill was right, she had been planning on stopping Jill, making her relax somehow. But it was more than that. She was right about everything.

Lin had done almost nothing to try and catch up to the others. In fact, she wasn’t even sure if it was a good idea to use her abilities at all. On top of being extremely cruel in nature, her skills had the risk of spreading.

It had already happened once, in the one battle that she had participated in during the war. She remembered how many people her one attack had killed. How much it had spread before people began taking their own lives. Worse still was how her attack had changed the battlefield; it quickly became a race to slaughter those that were infected before her plague could spread more. Both sides had started killing people in a desperate race to stop her attack from spreading. Her skill made people kill their own friends and allies. She hadn’t been allowed to fight after that, nor had she wanted to.

She ignored her feelings and thoughts, instead, she challenged Jill with an all too fake argument.

“I’ve been helping with the beastmen, you know the thing we promised Luke we would help with. Instead, of running off for some stupid levels.”

Lin couldn’t even sound confident, and her words came out sounding like the vain rebuttal of a child. She couldn’t meet Jill’s eyes after those words and turned her head to look just beyond the other girl. The hallway was blessedly empty. Pushing down the feeling of shame, Lin pushed out her words.

“What’s your plan anyways? Get to level 200? You know it’s not that easy, you can’t just kill your way there. Mash and Luke got lucky with their advancements. Even if you did advance, you don’t know how to find or kill the god.”

Still enraged, Jill answered without thinking.

“I’ll figure it out then. I bet Mash could do something if it came down to it.”

“If you’re just going to ask Mash, then why are you bothering with all of this now?”

Lin snapped back, her voice rising to match Jill’s. She paused after speaking.

“Because it’s better than doing nothing!”

Lin heard the words, but her focus had moved inward, not because of the argument, but because of how emotional Jill looked. Lin could make out the starting of tears in Jill’s vision and was reminded of why she had wanted to talk to Jill in the first place.

Lin didn’t want to hurt Jill. She didn’t want a shouting match. If anything, she had wanted the opposite. She had been worried and wanted Jill to rest. That was the only thing she wanted to say. Instead, she had matched Jill’s mood and chastised her instead.

“Your right, I’m sorry.”

Apologizing like that was awkward, and Lin’s attempt to reign in her voice had only half worked. Her voice abruptly went from a loud shout to a quiet whisper. It was jarring for her, and even more so for Jill, who took a step back.

“What? After all that your just gonna back down?”

Jill sounded angry, but now her voice was tinged with confusion. Shaking her head slowly, Lin responded with as much honesty as she could muster.

“I never meant to shout at you, I just wanted to help, and make sure you got some rest. I know I don’t show it a lot, but I do care.”

Lin’s unnaturally pale skin made the rising blush that touched her cheeks extremely visible. Lin couldn’t hide her embarrassment, and she wondered why she had even said that. Even though she had said the words, she couldn’t believe it. The truth behind them surprised Lin more than she would like to admit, and Jill must have noticed that.

Jill’s expression softened and she took a seat beside Lin. She spoke gently, her voice dropping to a whisper.

“What’s up? You know that I’m able to protect myself. You’re not this worried about Mash, who, I would say, has a far worse track record than me.”

Jill smiled a little, and Lin did her best to do the same. Neither of them managed to make it look very genuine, but it helped break the tension. Lin didn’t know why, but she felt like this was the time to be honest.

“I don’t know. When I think about Mash or Luke, I just get the feeling that they will be fine. But Jill, you’re… Look I don’t know how to explain it, but I’m worried about you.”

The words came from her heart, which was currently beating so quickly that she wondered if she was having a heart attack, not that it could kill her. Lin had the sneaking suspicion that her immortality was far more potent than the others thought, although it was something she didn’t want to test.

Jill reached out and placed a comforting hand on Lin’s shoulder, turning slightly to meet her gaze. The stars that filled Jill’s eyes seemed a bit brighter and clearer. Lin thought that she saw understanding in that starry gaze.

“I’m going to assume that wasn’t meant to sound like an insult, and I get it. I really do. But I am not going to stop. I don’t want to.”

“So, you’re just going to leave me behind?”

The words came out before Lin could even think about them. Lin shut her eyes, wishing to take the words away. But that was impossible.

“Then come with me! That way you don’t need to be worried, and you won’t fall behind. I’ll happily help you learn to use your skills.”

Lin’s eyes opened with Jill’s eager voice. Jill had spoken without doubt, and with an earnestness that Lin found hard to deny. Even still, a part of her told her that it was impossible, that it was too dangerous to use her gift. There was something about the way Jill looked at her that made Lin want to believe, and she nodded reluctantly.

‘I’ll try, but you have to sleep for a few hours first.”

Lin might’ve been pushing it, but she couldn’t shake the worry from her mind. Jill reluctantly agreed.

“Fine, but only for a bit.”

Before Lin could say anything, else Jill disappeared. Lin stared at the depression in her bed where Jill had been sitting for a few moments. She couldn’t know if Jill really went to sleep, but she wanted to trust her friend. Plus, her heart was still thrumming quickly, and she wasn’t sure she could handle another conversation like that.