Nombre Olvidado

I felt the heaviness in the room—an unspoken miasma that smelled like silence.

We were back at our rickety inn after we finished dealing with the aftermath of White Swamp's raid. Tsukino was sitting on one of our beds, a bandage wrapped around her head. She seemed sullen, but I couldn't tell how different it was compared to her usual mood.

Then a pixie emerged from my trench coat's collar.

"Oh, you're awake?" I told Trixie.

"Mm! I'm all better now." She buzzed towards the moonlit windowsill and peered outside. "It's time for me to go."

"Wait!" Tsukino leapt out of bed. "You don't have to leave now. Maybe it can wait until tomorrow? Recover more?"

I couldn't tell what was going through this little pixie's mind. She just continued gazing out into the night.

"What happened today was big news," Trixie said. "Even I know Chief will be needing our help spreading the story. That's why I gotta leave now."

I stayed cross-armed, listening as a neutral mediator.

"But . . . Your body," Tsukino said, worried. "You're still hurt."

"I'm okay. I didn't transform into an elephant or whale, so it's no problem."

"Hold on," I said. "That's what I've been wondering about—why did Trixie ask for permission before turning into a rhino?"

Both girls looked at me and then at each other, as if wondering who'd explain. Then Tsukino sighed.

"Pixies can't handle transforming into animals that are way heavier than them," she said. "It's dangerous—their organs aren't adjusted for the stress of becoming really large and then small again. It's basically whiplash."

So is that why . . . ? It all made sense now. I remembered the sight of Trixie coughing up blood in my hands even with seemingly no injuries. If just morphing into a rhino could damage her that much, I could only imagine what turning into an elephant would do.

Tsukino continued. "A horse is about the weight limit of what I'd let her transform into without permission. Though even horses are heavy enough for concern."

"You just worry too much, big sis!" Trixie on the windowsill said. "And it's fun getting big sometimes!"

"Sorry." With her palms, Tsukino scooped the little pixie and brought her up for a cheek rub. "I just don't want you getting hurt again."

"Hehe, your cheek is warm. But I've gotten hurt before? When?"

"E-Erm . . ." Tsukino's face panicked like she said something taboo. "It's been a while since then. You've probably forgotten."

"If you say so."

Though I was still curious about the circumstances, I loosened my tie and let the subject die. "Anyways, any idea what we're gonna do tomorrow?"

"Don't know." Tsukino sat on the bed and carried Trixie to her lap. "With everything that happened today, it's gonna be a whole new world waiting for us."

"Are there going to be societal shifts because of Count Duval?"

She shook her head. "He's alive, but entered a coma. Healers can't heal him well since he's a native-born person, so real doctors are doing what they can."

"Still makes me mad we got in his way so much. He saved our lives more than once."

"Duval isn't the only person who saved us yesterday . . ."

The heavy silence from earlier returned. No one in the room wanted to finish her thought, because we all knew what it hinted. It'd be a painful reminder of someone we'd lost and could never see again.

"Cowboy," I said in a somber tone. "Can't we at least write an article about him? Maybe an obituary?"

"I'll see what Chief says. For now though, I've already written an article detailing the cathedral incident. That'll be what we send back to headquarters."

Well it's better than gossip at least. I grasped my chin to think. "Does this job publish opinion pieces?"

"No?"

"Huh. I was just wondering—wouldn't us voicing opinions at all about what occurred today make the church mad? Though I'd guess it depends on how you wrote the article."

She looked at me like I asked something dumb. "Editors will filter out anything problematic. Even you should know that."

"Yeah. I'm just not sure how politics work in this world yet."

"If you're worried about me," Trixie said as she flew to my shoulder, "don't worry! They wouldn't hurt the messenger, hehe."

I pet her little head. "Glad to hear that."

We all spent the next few minutes preparing Trixie for her journey. On the windowsill, she morphed into a falcon while we strapped her a black pouch. Inside were papers Tsukino wrote, along with my Memory Stone I'd taken photos with today. Some snacks too.

"It's not too heavy?" Tsukino said.

"Nope! I'm a strong bird, hehe! Screeeeeeech!"

Though I was still worried about her body, I knew I couldn't change her mind. Then I opened the window. "Make sure you take breaks if you need them on the way to headquarters."

"Cielo Verde isn't far. I'll be there in a few hours."

"And ask Chief for grapes," Tsukino said. "That's how he pays you after all."

"K'! I love grapes!"

Feathers spread through the room as Trixie tested her wings. Satisfied, she gave us her best attempt at a bird smile.

"Thanks! Bye-bye! I'll get going now."

"Stay safe," me and Tsukino said at the same time. We both blushed, but still gave Trixie a waving send off when she soared out the window.

Gone.

Neither of us realized how quiet it could get without our pixie around. The dark room became silent, still. It was the first night we'd spent alone together since leaving Cielo Verde—that first day we met.

I felt inclined to do some small chatting, but Tsukino sat on the bed, fatigued.

"She'll spend the night over there and come back tomorrow," she said. "Delivering our articles to headquarters is Trixie's main job. It's something she's used to, but it still just makes me worry."

"Yeah. You mentioned nighttime trips aren't normal either."

"It can't be helped," she sulked. "So much occurred today that we can't neglect reporting. Breaking big news before other publications do is important, and I know everyone is gonna be scrambling right now."

This job isn't gonna be easy that's for sure. I hung my trench coat on a rack before coming back to the beds. Tsukino on the other bed didn't seem concerned at all about sleeping alone with a man. Well, her old partner was male too.

We sat in silence, each of us just mulling our thoughts. I didn't know how to comfort her, or if she even wanted to be. Her personality still felt alien, distant, like someone I'd have a hard time reaching. The only thing I knew for sure was that—

"Say," she told me, "do you really think you're suited for this job?"

"I don't see why not."

"We might get placed in dangerous situations again. And Heroes won't always show up to save us."

"Then we'll just save ourselves then."

Her eyes sparked with intrigue, curious. "Hmmm . . . You really don't know, do you?"

"Know what?"

"Where demons like White Swamp come from."

The abruptness of the question made me raise a brow. "From the demon continent, right?"

"Yes," she said. "But it's rare for high-ranking demons to break the ceasefire, even if they're unaffiliated. That's because each demon has their own goals and aspirations; they're not much different from us."

I stared up towards the ceiling, trying to remember White's handsome face. "Yeah. Demons don't look much different from us either. I thought they'd have horns at least."

Silence. Tsukino's face went stern again, as if I'd upset her. Her eyes refused to look at me, until gazing straight at me.

"The truth is—there is no such thing as demons. There are only humans, and humans who call other humans demons."

"Wait, what?"

She waltzed from her bed over to mine before sitting right beside me. "I'm serious. Listen—When the Nameless Goddess judged you, what did she say?"

"Nothing much? Just that I'd been assigned a role."

"That 'role' wasn't just your class. It also signaled her decision to either reincarnate you here in Sin Nombre, or on the demon continent: Nombre Olvidado."

A gust blew in through the window when she said that name. It delivered a cold sting that made me gulp.

"Every demon you'll ever see is just someone that got reborn from Earth, no different from you. The only difference is 'demons' get sent to Nombre Olvidado, while 'adventurers' get sent here."

White Swamp's dying words echoed in my head:

'A-Adventurers! Nobles! Y-You all think you're special? Just for being born on this side of our ocean? Huh? You're all nothing! NOTHING!'

The revelations had me trembling. No matter how I calculated, there was a chance Angel could've reincarnated me on Nombre Olvidado. How different would life be? And was that where sinners went?

Tsukino read the worry in my eyes. But she didn't try consoling me. Instead, she just returned to her bed before stretching.

"This world is dark," she said, taking off her glasses. "We don't know much about the demon continent or their goddess. Everyone over there is probably fed propaganda so they think we're the bad guys. It just begs the question: how do we know we're not the ones being brainwashed?"

"You know, you're scary when you try to be."

But she didn't say another word as she slipped under the bed covers. There was a pause while she gathered her thoughts to say one last remark.

"We'll be moving fast from here, so be ready for anything. And remember that it won't always be easy telling who's a demon and who's not."

I chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. Sleep well."

Then her face disappeared beneath the blankets.

I became alone in the quiet night that let me hear crickets outside. Even my bed's soft creaking sounded larger than life as I laid down and tried closing my eyes. But I knew thoughts would keep me awake all night.