Rest and Bittersweet Memories

Alara took a bite of the mushrooms first and “Oh my. These are so good! How have I never eaten these things before?!”

Thalia smiled, eating her own portion. “These are pretty much limited to the dungeon. Mushrooms were considered too dangerous to eat to be exported to the surface.”

The next dish to try was the green onion and lilly root stuffed fish. Alara took a regrettable big bite then panted and waved air at her tongue. The inside of her mouth burned as she took another huge bite. “Thalia! Marry me!? This fish is divine! I think it's the lily root!”

Thalia laughed. “What a strange expression. Must come from the surface. But thank you. I've only had centuries to learn how to cook.”

Despite Alara's haste, Thalia was still able to finish all her food before the princess. Thalia let out a long sigh and laid on the bare wooden floor. 

“What a meal! There's still plenty of time before sundown. What do you want to do now?”

“Can you tell me about Elias? You told me I could see the lab and your little house. I just want to get to know you better and since he is important to you, I want to hear about him.”

Thalia hesitated before that gentle smile on Alara's face melted away any doubts that she still had. “Ok then princess, but it's much easier if I just SHOW you.”

Alara's expression turned to one of confusion as she tried to make sense of what Thalia had just proposed. That confused expression amused Thalia so she smiled widely and led Alara by the hand towards her former home. 

“Don't think too hard about it Alara. Follow me and you will understand.”

The pair arrived at the small one room house which Thalia and Elias once called their home. There was a kitchen, a table to sit at and two small beds in the corner of the room. Simple and uncluttered despite the small size. A series of small hyper realistic paintings on the wall beside the beds caught Alara's attention.

“Elias painted those when he was 11. He was a prodigy in almost all things.”

“Woah so this is what he looked like?” A young boy with green eyes, and slicked back blonde hair stood in the painting. He looked exactly like her grandfather as a child.

“Woah. The family resemblance is uncanny.”

“Yeah, that's one of the reasons I knew who you were the moment our battle began.”

“You said you would show me Elias?”

“Yes, do you trust me?”

“Hmmm… yeah?”

“That wasn’t very convincing princess.” Thalia gave Alara a sarcastic smile.

“Sorry, I was just thrown off by the question. Yes I trust you.”

“Ok then. Give me your hand.” Thalia dragged Alara to one of the beds and pushed her down onto the straw mattress. 

Alara was visibly flustered and landed in a rather risque position with a hand near her mouth and her legs splayed. 

“Oh man, she can’t keep acting like this or I won’t be able to resist temptation.” Thalia thought to herself before plopping herself next to Alara, then turned her on her side and pressed her forehead to the blonde haired beauty’s. 

“My mother taught me how to do this, but to normal people it may be alarming. It requires the utmost trust for this to work. Close your eyes and relax your body. Soon you will see what I was talking about.”

Alara closed her eyes and relaxed into Thalia in a split second, her head was filled with images of someone holding a crying baby, then a lifetime of that child growing up: him taking his first steps, learning to use magic, painting, hugging someone that couldn’t be seen, growing old, becoming king, having children, and eventually dying. She could feel all the different emotions of the person observing the boy, and woke suddenly, clinging to her chest as she experienced the pain of losing the boy. After a few seconds, Alara came to the realization that the person looking at the boy was Thalia, and the boy was Elias. Feeling the intensity of that pain was the worst that she ever felt, and finally she understood why Thalia was so hesitant to let anyone in. 

Tears streamed down Alara’s face as she was overwhelmed with sympathy for her new lover. Thalia gently wiped the tears away from Alara’s face. “You ok? You don’t need to be sad. It was a long time ago.”

Sniffling, Alara responded, “I just feel so bad for you. That kind of pain must be so hard to overcome. I’m so sorry Thalia. I wish that I could take away some of your pain.” 

The two looked into each other’s eyes and slowly moved towards each other sharing a gentle kiss.

“Can I do the same thing with you? Like show you something that I want you to see?”

“I don’t know, maybe. You seem to have a special affinity for sensing mana. Maybe you can sync yours to mine and see what happens? What do you want me to see?”

Alara smiled, “I want you to see my first love. It’s why I didn’t hesitate to pursue you.”

 Thalia smiled back and closed her eyes, “Ok let’s try it. Just do your best to convey your messages to me and the rest should just happen on its own.”

Alara focused and soon Thalia was seeing a young woman in a maid outfit giggling and toying with Alara, the pair kissed behind curtains, and all over the castle in secret. One day they were caught by an angry looking older maid, and the girl was hauled off away from the castle suddenly. They never got the chance to tell each other how they felt. The overwhelming sense of regret was enough to make even Thalia’s chest ache. She understood Alara a little better after seeing that.

“You see, I never told her how I felt. That was the daughter of the head maid. The two of us grew up together, losing her was the biggest regret I have faced. After that I vowed never to hesitate again. Speaking of which, I want you. All of you, in every way.” 

At this point, Thalia hadn’t realized how close the two were to each other. Somehow she wound up straddling the princess, with their foreheads pressed together. Their fingers intertwined, and their chests pressed into each other. She wasn’t even thinking about where her leg was when she felt her composure slowly slipping away. Thalia tried to roll away, but Alara held her firmly in place. 

“Why are you trying to leave Thalia? We are both consenting adults. There isn’t anyone around to walk in on us, what’s stopping this from happening right now?”

Thalia gulped. Alara was right, why was she trying to leave when everything had fallen into place so nicely? Thalia wasn’t 100 percent sure, she had a feeling it was because this was uncharted territory for her, and despite her age had never done this with anyone before. In short, the usually calm and collected priestess was nervous. 

“Um… I've never done this before Alara. I have no idea what I'm doing.”

Alara's face went red, “Actually, I haven't either.”

“But I thought…”

“No, we did pretty much everything but THAT. So why don't we learn together?”

“How do you know that I want you?”

“I can feel your knee rubbing against me Thalia. That's not really something you do naturally with a friend."

Alara was right. She did want her. Once they did this there was no going back, but at this point Thalia didn't care anymore. It was time to live in the now. She pulled Alara in for a tight embrace, one thing led to another and the two wound up naked sleeping next to each other.

As they were sleeping those special marks on their hands appeared. What the couple didn't realize yet was that this new bond would lead to a fierce battle in level a few floors lower than where they were currently resting.