Half and Half

Heading towards the Chablis continent.

Now what to do with this situation.

Iris and Loralei are both sitting beside me. Grayson is driving the carriage. Evelyn is sleeping on the other side while Martin is just inspecting his weapon.

The two beside me aren’t saying anything, but the silence is so loud.

Plus, there’s space in the carriage to fit 10 people.

But they really chose to sit where I am.

It's just like last time with Iris.

Just stay calm.

I shouldn’t let this faze me.

I am a God, and I will not fall prey to these awkward situations.

I shift a bit. As if taking the opportunity, the two shift closer.

Okay. Someone please intervene.

“Just like that, we’re allies?”

Martin scoffs. Thank you.

“Attacking us was a direct order, they can’t just refuse it”

He points at Loralei and Evelyn.

“I still can’t trust those two. And she almost broke my weapon!”

“Really? You aren’t mad about being thrown and stabbed?”

“Who cares about that? I can always be healed. My rifle on the other hand, can’t be repaired”

Dwarves are really something else.

“Maybe I should tell you then. Your father made a prototype of your rifle. We can use that to replace the bolt assembly”

Martin falls silent. He then laughs.

“You’re joking right? That was good, pretty good”

“I’m not joking. Noah made a temporary base in the Epheron continent before he went to face the demon lord”

“And how would you know that? He’s been dead for centuries”

Loralei speaks up.

“You dwarves are very smart when it comes to tech, but I’m surprised you’re bad at figuring things out.”

“What does that even mean? Are you telling me he’s some sort of immortal? Are you?”

Martin and Loralei turn their gaze towards me.

“Does it matter? Would you believe me if I told you I’m the god Aelius?”

“I’d believe you”

Both Loralei and Iris say that sentence at the same time.

Iris suddenly grabs my arm. What.

Martin suddenly falls deep in thought.

“Can I ask why you’re…”

He eyes me up and down.

“…you. I feel underwhelmed”

Tsk. Hearing that from a dwarf somehow ticks me off more than a human saying it.

“I summoned myself by accident”

“Is that why you’re…”

“Yes.”

“Alright. If that’s true, then why don’t you just…”

“I’m mortal as of the moment.”

“Alright”

He thinks about it a bit more. I bet he’s already thinking about the prototype.

Iris lets go of my arm.

“Aelius, do you want to rest? It’s been a long day”

I guess that wouldn’t hurt.

Uh. The two of them are sitting right beside me. Am I supposed to sleep sitting up?

Iris looks at Loralei.

“If you don’t mind, could you move over a little? Aelius needs to lie down”

I can feel the tension in the air.

Loralei stares at her for a moment.

“Sure.”

She moves over to the side, giving me space to lie down.

That was unexpected.

But why was I expecting something in the first place?

I’ve observed too many otherworlders.

Iris places my head on her lap.

…

I wake up.

It seems to be around evening.

“You’re awake.”

Ah. I’m lying on Loralei’s lap.

I immediately stand up.

“Sorry about that, where’s Iris?”

“She went out a while ago. Don’t apologize.”

“Okay. Where are we?”

She stands up as well.

“The Knight said we crossed into Chablis about an hour ago.”

“Alright thanks. His name is Grayson by the way”

I try to exit the carriage.

She holds my hand.

“I know his name”

“Oh, that’s good then-”

“I want to thank you. Let’s talk a little longer.”

She sits down. I do the same.

“When our father was still alive, he would often tell us about Aelius and how he and Amaris were the ones who watched over the world, keeping it from evil. Evil is a vague concept don’t you agree? Humans would often point to the Demons as evil, but it’s the same for them. Humans do all sorts of evil things, hypocrites all of them. What’s worse is they do it of their free will. As you know, the demons have no choice but to attack the humans. It’s all that God’s fault.”

She looks at me.

“But you’re different. You are against all that is evil in this world. You will end this sham once and for all, won’t you?”

I suddenly feel guilty.

What she’s saying is dead wrong.

She continues talking.

“I was often interested in father’s stories when I was a child. Not of his exploits. I couldn’t accept that demons would always be the evil ones. Take my mother for example. Father loved her, and she loved him. Thanks to her draconic lineage, she had a choice. She wasn’t bound by the blessing like the other demons.”

I keep silent.

“Only a God could remove that curse – is what he said to me. He also told me that Aelius would one day do that for us. And here we are.”

She walks over and sits beside me.

“Once again, I’m sorry I attacked you. And thanks for saving me and my sister. Thank you, Aelius”

Great. Another girl who likes me. She probably looked up to me like some sort of hero as her father told her about me. Now I freed her just like in her father’s stories. She’s mistaking her feelings for me as love.

The guilty feeling inside my chest is getting heavier.

She stands up.

“And about Iris. Does she often leave the group at night?”

Iris?

“I think so. Maybe she’s out for a walk”

“If you say so. I’ll go check on my sister. Thanks for talking with me Aelius”

She manages a smile. It’s a little forced.

It’s like she hasn’t smiled in a while.

She heads out the carriage.

I look at the night sky. It’s a little cloudy tonight.

I head out. We’re in the middle of a forest.

The three carriages are arranged in a triangle. There’s a campfire in the middle.

Almost everyone is there. Hanging around, talking. Elizabeth, Jace, and Hannah seem to be preparing dinner. Toshikasu is talking with Julie and Elen beside the fire. Mercedes and Renz seem to be exchanging tips on Martial Arts and Magic.

“Did you do something?”

I turn around. It’s Aidan. He’s leaning on a tree behind me.

“What do you mean?”

“I meant nothing by it. But with the way you reacted, you did do something”

I let out a sigh.

“Just feeling a bit under the weather”

He looks at me with suspicion. He then walks to the other carriage.

“Okay then. I hope you feel better soon”

I need some quiet. I head out into the woods.

The path is a little dark since the clouds are blocking the light of the moons. I continue walking despite the darkness. I think about what Loralei said. She was a bit confusing, but I get what she was trying to say. It’s not the demons’ fault, it’s not the humans either. She thinks it was Oberon’s fault since he’s making the demons attack the humans. And I’m here to stop him.

I walk a little faster.

It’s not like that. It’s not just Oberon. I’m to blame as well.

I start running.

For as long as anyone in this world can remember, the demons were always at war with the humans. And as far as I remember, we Gods were always the ones making it happen.

I run faster.

All of it, it was just a game for us. Me, Oberon, Amaris, Oriana, it never mattered to us what happens to the world. Humans die, demons die, we wouldn’t bat an eye even as we watch them kill each other by the millions.

I stop.

And now I know what it feels like to be one. To be mortal. To be tossed in a battle no one wants to fight. I can’t even begin to imagine what everyone else feels like. They’ve definitely had it worse.

“Silence”

Even though I’m out of breath, I manage to let out a scream.

I scream out as loud as I can.

Not a single sound can be heard.

No one will hear me.

The silence seems to go on forever.

Release.

I can’t let these thoughts distract me. It will not wash away the blame, but I can at least do this. Once I’m back to my old self, I’ll stop these meaningless things. If Oberon wants the crown so badly, I’ll let him have it. It’s not worth another second of war in this world.

The question is, will I actually follow through with it when I return? I am aware that this human body is causing all these feelings to surge within me. I don’t know anything anymore.

It’s best to stop thinking about it for now. I have to head back to camp.

Now where is the way back?

Everything looks the same around here.

I don’t have my book, so I’d rather not waste any more of my mana.

I head in a random direction.

The path starts to light up as the moons emerge from the clouds.

It’s still quite dark though.

I keep walking forward.

*tack* *tack* *tack*

Footsteps?

I immediately cast a cloaking spell on myself. Someone’s here.

I head towards the direction of the sound.

As I walk closer, I suddenly step on something.

What the heck?

I seem to have stepped on a demon. Thankfully he seems to be dead.

But how did the demons get this close to us?

I examine the corpse.

His armor is ripped open and his guts have been pulled out.

There are also other bodies here. Looks like a fight happened, and they lost badly.

I should get back.

*crunch* *snap*

Crap, I stepped on a bow.

Suddenly a figure dashes towards my direction.

I fall on the ground as metal claws swipe just above me.

The figure hits a tree behind me, making deep cuts in the wood.

“Oh? I thought someone was still alive… Must be my imagination~”

*tack* *tack* *tack*

The sound of their footsteps fills the silence.

The moonlight begins to glow brighter, revealing the area.

It’s Iris.

She’s not wearing her maid uniform. She’s wearing casual clothes… under a metal exoskeleton. Under her feet, the metal extends around half a foot into some sort of- I can’t describe it, a tube over a metal plate? Whatever it is, it’s making that distinct stepping sound.

Iris seems to be a lot faster with it as well. She’s wearing metal claws on her fingertips. And that smile, it’s the smile I remember seeing that night. Under the light, she seems oddly beautiful and surreal at the same time. There’s blood and pieces of flesh all over her clothes.

“Aelius?”

Oh no.

It’s Loralei. She seems to be looking for me.

“Aelius? …Iris.”

Iris doesn’t even flinch that she’s been seen like that.

“Oh hello~ What are you doing here?”

“You made a mess out of these demons. So you’re the one who’s been decimating the scout patrols”

I stand up quietly. Patrols? You mean she’s been taking out multiple units without our knowing?

“Impressed? Do you think Aelius would like what I did here?”

“I’m not, but I’ll turn a blind eye since they are our enemies after all. And I’m sure Aelius wouldn’t like this.”

Loralei turns around and starts to head back.

A metal bolt suddenly flies towards her head. Loralei catches it with her hand.

“Oops~”

Iris then tries to slash Loralei with both of her claws. Loralei grabs both her arms. Her eyes widen a little as the metal suit slowly overpowers her.

“Amazing, isn’t it? Hydraulics was it called? With this, I can continue helping Aelius kill more and more scum like you~”

The claws stop just inches away from Loralei’s neck.

“You attacked me first.”

“Hm?”

She jumps and kicks Iris with both legs, sending her flying through the trees.

Loralei walks towards Iris.

“I’ll have sister heal you back at the camp. Stay still”

Iris stands up. She smiles. Loralei looks surprised.

“Not bad Half-demon! I’m not as strong as you, but an attack like that is nothing to me~”

“You heal faster than a demon. Surprising.”

A magic circle appears beside her. She pulls out her scythe.

“Let’s see if you can heal from this.”

Alright I have to intervene.

I stand between the two and dispel the cloaking spell.

“You two stop this, please”

Loralei lets go of her scythe.

“You were here this whole time.”

Iris is visibly shocked.

“A-Aelius!? What are you doing here?”

She’s clearly not stable in her head. I need to calm her down.

“I was looking for you Iris”

Iris freezes up for a moment. She’s frightened that I saw her.

Up close, I can see her clearly. Wires from the suit are embedded into her skin, powering the suit. She’s not human. But I can’t tell her that. She was keeping it a secret for a reason.

“I-I…”

She slowly backs away.

“No Iris, it’s okay. Calm down. Let’s just talk”

“Y-you… s-saw me…”

Iris suddenly launches a metal bolt from her suit. Crap.

Loralei catches it before it hits me. She’s pissed.

“He said it was okay. What’s wrong with you?”

Iris freezes up again.

“I d-didn’t mean to- he…I…”

She falls down. I’ve been casting knockout spells on her multiple times now.

A magic circle appears on top of her.

The wires on her suit suddenly detach from her and the suit itself glows and disappears inside the magic circle.

“Her suit has similar enchantments to my scythe”

Loralei picks her up. She looks at me.

“You could have stopped her earlier. Were you interested on me fighting her?”

“I was just shocked for a moment”

“Hm. Okay. Let’s head back.”

She walks in the direction she came from. I stop for a moment.

“Thanks, Loralei, you saved my life back there”

She stops as well.

“It’s the least I can do for you… I mean it’s to be expected”

She heads back.

I look around. There are at least 30 bodies here. Iris decimated an entire unit by herself.

And Loralei shrugged off her attacks like it was child’s play.

Both of them are strong. Too strong.

I head back as well.