“The Fairy Labyrinth.”

Eventually we had all bathed and armored back up.

“We should refill our flask before we go, the closer to Sloth the less nature we’ll be seeing “.

Maelis says, taking their hair out of their bun and putting their hat back on.

“Hm, no this isn’t right.”

Emrys mutters, biting her thumb.

“What’s the matter?”

Jorvain asks.

“The map says we go straight, but straight is the stream, the waterfall, it’s a dead end?”

She says with furrowed brows.

“Let me see.”

Maelis says snatching it out of her hands.

“Careful!”

Emrys exclaims.

“The line Serena drew goes through the waterfall..?”

Maelis says, tilting their head in confusion.

Jorvain walks ahead, flask in hand, he walks over to the waterfall.

“Maybe we’re meant to go around it.”

He shouts as he refills his flask.

“But it clearly says to go straight.”

Emrys says, tracing her finger over the paper.

I look over at Jorvain, reaching his flask through the water, I notice a parting in the waterfall. Through the crack is a faint glow, surrounded by darkness.

“Um, guys?”

I say.

“Are you sure this is where Serena said to go? Maybe she just mismarked it.”

Dain suggests.

“Guys!”

I shout.

They all pause, turning to me.

“I think the waterfall is the path.”

I say pointing towards the split in the water.

“That..can’t be..”

Emrys mutters.

“The waterfall?”

Jorvain says, looking at the water.

“Well let’s find out.”

“Wait! Jorvain! “

Emrys shouts after him, but he’s already made his way through the water. Vanishing.

We all glance at each other in shock.

“J-Jorvain?”

Maelis calls out.

Dain sighs, puts on his helmet, and walks to the waterfall; he passes through without hesitation.

“W-wait! Dain!”

Maelis shouts

“Wait for me!”

They grab their staff and rush after him, stumbling over their own feet.

“W-wait Maelis! We need you to soothe Agnes, she won’t go through the water otherwise.”

Emrys shouts after them just as they reach the water, not yet passing through.

***

With a reluctant Maelis at our side, we passed through with our horse and wagon.

“All our stuff is gonna be soaked!”

Emrys cries, looking the wagon up and down with furrowed brows.

“Wow.”

Maelis exclaims in awe as we walk further into the opening, Jorvain and Dain waiting ahead for us.

I take in the environment, a damp dripping ceiling, the structure lined with mossy walls, sprouting with flowers and vines; and, in the air, faes float, illuminating the dark with their golden lights.

“It’s beautiful.”

I whisper, and my gaze falls from the ceiling to Jorvain whose staring right at me.

I almost flinch, caught off guard, it’s not long before he looks away.

“This is a fairy labyrinth!”

Emrys exclaims in awe, holding out her hands to catch the dust that falls from their flapping wings.

“Otherwise known as a fairy's home. Rumours say that in some fairy labyrinths, within the heart of the labyrinth lies a fairy queen, who grants wishes, and that the faes that float through the air are her daughters.”

Maelis adds.

“Well, no wonder the path was marked like this, through the waterfall was the path.”

Jorvain says with a small smile, as faes swarm and sing around him.

“Why are they attacking me?”

He says through a giggle

“Fae are attracted to people with a lot of love in their hearts, and when two people come together who have love in their hearts for each other, the fae will sing romantic songs and swarm them to get them to embrace one another!”

Emrys says sweetly, clutching her hands together.

We all spread out from each other, practically hugging the walls with our sides, Maelis glances at Dain who does the same.

“H-huh? Why’s everyone acting weird all of a sudden? Isn’t that sweet! “

Emrys says, glancing at all of us in confusion.

“And you know not all love is romantic, some is platonic or familial, it could stem from anything!”

She adds, scolding us

“Ahem, yeah well, we probably shouldn’t stay in here too long! The dust from the fae has various effects on humans, being made up of ador they can influence your state of being heavily!”

Maelis says sheepishly, holding the top of their hat and clutching their staff with nerves.

“I agree!”

Dain says almost too passionately.

“Fair “.

Emrys says with a sigh, grabbing Agnes's lead.

“But how will we find our way out of a fairy labyrinth? “

Jorvain asks, his hand on his hip, practically glowing from the faes around him.

“We might be here for a while, there’s no real method, many adventures die in unexpected places like these. But the most important thing is not getting lost, so I say we all stick together! Literally, by using a rope.”

Emrys suggests with a smile.

“Not too close together hopefully.”

Dain mutters.

“For personal space and whatnot.”

He adds.

“Uh huh..”

Emrys says unimpressed.

“How about this, we all hold onto this rope, and tug when someone is falling behind?”

Maelis says, holding a pile of rope from the wagon in their arms.

“Great idea Maelis!”

Jorvain says with a smile.

***

We all stand spread out, the rope spread amongst us, we all hold on tight. Maelis who stands near Emrys ties their bit of rope round their staff.

Dain stands on the other side of Emrys, close to the wall, he wraps the rope around his free arm, seeing as his other arm is occupied by a dried chicken leg he’s anxiously eating.

Emrys is annoyed by the two childish shenanigans, holding Dains' helmet for him in one hand and leading Agnes along by her lead, she rolls her eyes.

Jorvain walks up ahead, smiling at each fae that lands on his finger.

I can’t take my eyes off of him. And I know I can’t just keep staring hoping for the best, I have to talk to him, but I’m scared to even set foot near him.

My heart is rapidly beating in my chest and its nauseaing

Maybe it’s the effect of the faes...

But the feeling doesn't stop and soon my head is aching heavily with thoughts.

What good does it do to go on wondering and wanting? I have to say something about last night I just have to.

Because the truth is he was right, wasn’t he? The things I said, to him to myself? Did I really believe it? Or did I tell myself it’d be better if I did? The moment it came time to say it to him, my reasons. Suddenly I wasn’t so sure I believed in them, but didn’t I already know that, hadn’t my aching heart tried to tell me so?

This whole time, my heart has been bitter towards me, not because it’s bad, but because I stopped seeing any good in it, and now I’ve pushed away the one person who did. My self-hate started with that slime..that moment felt like the world telling me what it felt like the world had told me my whole life—

” You can’t be a hero, you don’t have the heart for it.”

And I used to tell myself it wasn’t true..but after that, I stopped and I gave up on myself.

And when I met Jorvain, I guess all that self-hate found solace in knowing someone saw me differently, but I got so caught up in that solace, in not being hated by someone else, I decided that meant I wouldn’t have to stop hating myself.

But no one will ever hate me, or harm and pity me, the way I have for so long. And wasn’t that exactly what Jorvan's been trying to get me to see?

And it wasn’t just Jorvain, Dain saw it too, it showed up in my constant need to prove myself, in my greed for acknowledgment, in my inability to see my own worth.

I’m my enemy, I’m the negativity that’s affecting my ardor, I’m the one who gave up on myself, i’m the slime that stole my own spark. And it’s still sticking to me, even though it’s supposed to be gone.

Jorvain helped me see that what I wanted to be was someone who helped others as a hero would, through him helping me. And I admired him for it. But the slime that I am, I just took that and held it within until it became something else, something that manifested into greed.

But I wanna be a hero, I am a hero. Not for Jorvain, but because of Jorvain.

And I’m just remembering it now. Roba Reman’s reason for wanting to be a hero, it was always just to make things better, and help others. That’s why I tried to fix my village, why I tried to kill that slime.

And that’s why I need to make things better with Jorvain.

“Jorvain!”

I shout. My fist clenched at my side.

He freezes, and he’s not the only one, everyone stops, looking back at me. Emrys glares, I don’t bother to meet her gaze.

I take a deep breath and walk through them, keeping my eyes stern on him.

Suddenly, there’s something about him that looks so different. Maybe it’s all those fae glorifying him, or the glossy look in his green eyes, or how his damp hair clings to his face, a slight furrow in his brows, how I’m just noticing that mole near his left eye.

It feels like for the first time, I’m not looking at the full picture, but the details. I owe Jorvain an apology.

As I get closer and closer, I can’t help but notice the flock of faes that swarm me with each step, clinging to my armor and hair.

“We need to talk.”

I say sternly as I reach him.

He looks away.

“Do we?”

He says quietly.

“Yes, we do.”

I don’t budge, I hold my head high, I accept the beating in my heart instead of wishing it’d stop and I reach out my hand and place it on his shoulder.

I feel him flinch under my touch, as he turns his head back to face me.

“Please, Jorvain.”

I say gently.

He pauses for a moment, his gaze shaky against mine.

“That’s not fair..”

He mutters with a chuckle.

“I can’t really say no if you ask like that, now can I?”

He says with a small smile.

I pull my hand away with nerves, messing with the bangs of my hair to mask the sudden fluster.

He laughs.

“Hey, you guys go on ahead, me and Roba need to talk.”

He shouts back at them, signaling for them to move ahead.

“B-but Jorvain! What about the rope?”

Emrys shouts, her voice laced with panic.

“We’ll hold on to it, no worries. If you get to a point where the rope is tugging stop and wait for us to catch up okay?”

He says with a smile.

“B-but..”

She stutters, glancing between us with furrowed brows.

“Come on Em, let’s go, they won’t drop the rope.”

Maelis says, grabbing hold of Emrys’ hand, practically dragging her away.

We watch them go further and further, until they’ve turned the corner, leaving us alone.

“Now then, what is it we need to talk about, Roba?”

He says softly, as I turn back to face him, tucking a strand of damp hair behind his ear as a fae lands directly on his nose.

Suddenly, I’m not as confident as I was when I courageously marched over here..but it’s too late to back out.