Chapter 42 - An Argument

Mila, Silinth and Hanna were in the dining room, sitting around the table. They had woken up Galtron to fix up something to eat while they decided on how to proceed.

“What does it say?” Hanna finally asked. She was downing one of her strange mixes, which she had pulled out of nowhere.

Mila was holding the paper in her hands, mulling over the content, while Silinth was looming over her, reading it.

“Just that they require your help and an address where we can leave our message for contacting them,” Mila explained while handing the paper to Hanna. “They want to talk.”

“That’s not far from here.” Hanna read it while finishing her vial. “A small public flower garden. It’s open all around it. Hard to hide anywhere.” She recounted. “There is a guard station on a street that leads to it. It is a safe spot.”

Mila nodded, and when Galtron brought them scrambled eggs, she spoke to the man. “Would you wake up Andrew? I need his bird to scout a spot.” She hesitated before adding. “And Isabel, too.”

Despite Mila’s misgivings, she couldn’t leave Isabel out of this. Her girl was already dissatisfied enough with the fact that she got excluded from the Temple raid.

They had finished their early breakfast when the duo arrived. The housekeeper brought a portion of food for Andrew and Isabel as well.

While Mila was explaining what had occurred, she had to weather an increasingly annoyed glare from Isabel and an apprehensive one from Andrew.

They were eating in silence, and when Mila finally finished and asked Andrew and his bird for assistance, Isabel huffed and pointedly averted her gaze from Mila.

Mila moved closer to Isabel, who ignored her. “Isabel?” She tried to start while Andrew left to get Mr Crow, and Hanna took Silinth to her workroom for a daily dose of medicine.

When Andrew left the room, and they were momentarily alone, Isabel finally looked at Mila.

“I am going with you.” She announced. There was a hardness in her voice, disallowing arguments against her words.

Mila tried anyway. “Isabel, that’s not a wise idea.” She felt somewhat helpless. “Besides, we still have to decide who will go. It doesn’t have to be any of us.”

“Oh?” Isabel crossed her hands in front of her. “Then who will it be.” She narrowed her eyes.

There was a pause while Mila hesitated. She wanted to say it would be someone else, but…

It couldn’t be Silinth. The man was not reliable anymore. The only reason he was involved with the temple raid was because Mila had ideas of her own.

Perhaps Hanna? That didn’t sound bad, but Mila didn’t trust her to make an impartial conversation with the other party. With her family involved, she would be an easy target to force into something unfavourable.

The same could be said about Harry, and Andrew was too soft.

In the end, it had to be her. Mila opened her mouth-

“No.” Isabel hissed. “I am going with you!” She raised her voice.

“But-”

“Mila!” Isabel suddenly jabbed her finger at her. “Shut up. I am angry right now. I am going with you, and that is final.”

“W-Why?” Mila suddenly felt very weak.

“Why indeed?” Isabel stabbed her finger at her again, poking against her collarbone. “Perhaps it was something you forgot to tell me? Hmm?” She repeated the stab. “Wouldn’t that be about something dangerous?” Her voice rose again. “Was it not something worth telling ME?”

“Oh,” Mila realised.

“OH?” Isabel repeated. “You went out and fought someone you deemed stronger than you, and all you can say is - ‘OH’?”

“Ah, no, I meant-”

Mr Crow cawed, interrupting their argument. “What’s with the shouting?” Andrew hesitantly poked his head inside the room.

Isabel got up from her seat. “This conversation is not over.” She headed to the door, then turned around. “And if you leave without me, there will be consequences. Now! I need a moment to calm down!” Isabel pushed past Andrew, making Mr Crow chirp in discontent.

Mila was reeling from the threat, not knowing what to do. She couldn’t just take Isabel with her, could she?

“What did you do?” Andrew sat down at the table and resumed eating. “You know, besides murdering an innocent man?” There was venom in his words. “Was that why Isabel was screaming? Because you killed someone?”

“It’s not the time, Andrew.” Mila’s voice was feeble.

“It’s never the time.” Andrew stabbed the scrambled eggs with too much force. “I wonder how you can live with yourself.”

Mila kept looking towards the doors. “I- I need to go and find Isabel.” She finally got up.

Andrew grunted something, but Mila was preoccupied. She left the dining room and started to search. Isabel wouldn’t have gone far.

But despite Mila’s resolve, her legs didn’t have strength in them. What would she say to Isabel once she found her?

Apologise?

Yes, Mila had to do that.

Promise to not repeat the mistake?

She would.

But to let Isabel head into danger?

Mila didn’t want that. Wasn’t she doing this to keep Isabel away from the murky side of the world?

If Isabel learned how Mila dealt with problems…

No, Isabel already knew. Mila had not hidden it from her.

It was already a miracle a girl who had led a simple life on Earth was so accepting of Mila.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad? Silinth would guard Mila during the contact. She was confident in her senses. The ability to sense how much mana the other party had would mean she would not talk with someone far out of her league.

But that was also not the issue.

No, if Mila allowed it once, then…

But what could Mila do? She wouldn’t lie to Isabel, nor would she cage her.

And the world was not forgiving.

Mila gritted her teeth. If anything happened to Isabel, she would likely snap. Consequences be damned - she would reveal the forbidden name to the world to get her revenge.

Even if she didn’t know what it would do, it would make an impact.

After forcing herself to breathe, Mila calmed down. She explored the premises, finally noticing Isabel sitting on a bench at the far side of the courtyard. She slowly walked closer, making sure Isabel saw her.

“Can I sit next to you?” Mila hesitantly asked.

“Be my guest.” Isabel shuffled to the side, leaving ample room for Mila.

“I-, uh, wanted to apologise.” Mila sat down, leaving a bit of space between them to not spook Isabel.

“For?”

“For not telling you about my plans for the night.” Mila hung her head in shame.

“And?”

“And for putting myself in danger.” Mila continued.

“Not that!” Isabel snapped.

Mila blinked. “I- I thought-”

“Yes, that too!” Isabel huffed. “That was stupid, and I am angry about that part as well.” She spoke with annoyance.

Mila waited for Isabel to continue.

“Mila, how strong do you think I am?” Isabel suddenly asked.

“Strong,” Mila answered with confidence. “But not strong enough. And your skills-”

“Yes, I get it!” Isabel stopped Mila. “I am not subtle by any means. We already talked about this.” She paused. “No, what I meant - you or me. Who is stronger.”

“That’s-” Mila didn’t want to admit it. “You are.” She mumbled, not liking where the conversation was going.

“With or without my ability?” Isabel pressed.

“In both cases.” Mila was honest. Even if she was ahead in skill, Isabel was faster and more powerful. She also was an annoying opponent for Mila, who relied on precision, and a shield did a lot to reduce her ability to strike vulnerable places.

If Isabel used her ability, Mila stood no chance.

“And who is more durable?”

It wasn’t even a competition. With how Isabel used her mana, she was extremely hard to take down without making the blows decisive.

“You are,” Mila whispered.

“I see, I see.” Isabel nodded. “So I am more durable, stronger and faster than you. Which makes me the perfect choice to stand by your side while you negotiate with some assholes.”

“Not-” Mila pushed words over her teeth.”-wrong.”

“I will go with you, Mila.” Isabel pushed on. “I get you leaving me out of sneaky shit. I get it. But this is not it. I can protect you.”

“I-” Mila tried to find a rebuttal.

“Mila,” Isabel let her voice fall. “You are all I have.” There was fear in her voice. “I cannot lose you.”

“I won’t let that happen.” Mila tried to reassure Isabel.

“Yeah, you say you won’t, but look at you.” Isabel sniffed. “You are too confident in yourself.” She pointed out. “It’s good, I like that part of you, but-” her voice trembled. “Don’t leave me alone.” She suddenly wrapped her arms around Mila and squeezed her tight against her chest.

“I won’t.” Mila felt her own voice be overcome with emotions. She returned the hug, letting the following moments calm them both.

“Anyway!” Isabel moved back and cleaned her eyes. “You can’t go alone this time.”

“Only this time?” Mila asked wryly.

“I am not stupid. I know when I will be a bother. This is not one of those times.”

“Having more people involved has its downsides.” Mila sighed and continued before Isabel could berate her once more. “But I get it. You can come.” She surrendered.

“Good.” Isabel puffed her chest. “That’s what I thought.”

“I am not happy about it,” Mila added.

“Oh, you can grumble all you want.” Isabel did not show any sympathy. “But after your last night's stunt, I am going to ignore it.”

Mila flinched. “Okay, that is fair, I guess? But I can’t promise I won’t raise this topic again. Although, I do promise to be more open about my plans.”

“I am sure you’ll try.” Isabel was not convinced.

“I-”

“Yeah, let’s not forget you have still not told me about a few things.” Isabel pointed out. “I noticed you skipped over a couple of points about your life and dreams.”

That earned a sigh from Mila. “It’s-”

“Complicated?” Isabel finished the sentence. “I am not pushing for answers. This world is shitty. I get you can’t tell me everything. So yeah, you’ll try to tell me about your plans, but I don’t think you’ll always be able to.”

“Not unless we grow stronger.” Mila agreed.

“Then we just have to do that.”

“Yeah.”

“Hey, Mila?” Isabel suddenly asked.

“Hmm?”

“What are you working towards?”

Mila looked towards the sky. They were slowly growing brighter as the sun started to rise somewhere on the horizon. “Towards getting along with you and growing stronger.”

“And you said I need to find proper goals.” Isabel shook her head. “Then what about you?”

Had she said that? Mila tried to recall. She had. Isabel was too focused on her, but wasn’t the same said about Mila? Wasn’t she too focused on Isabel?

Besides spending time with Isabel, Mila wanted to solve the issue with the being in her head. Grow stronger. Get rid of the pursuers and simply live. She wanted-

“- I want memories,” Mila whispered.

Isabel looked at her as if she was saying something weird. “Don’t you have enough of those?”

“No, what I want is - I want memories I can call my own.” Mila shook her head.

“Oh…”

“I don’t have many of those, so-” Mila looked towards Isabel. She reached out and put her hand on Isabel’s.

The contact made Mila’s skin tingle and warm her palm. She felt Isabel’s hand heat up.

Mila turned Isabel’s palm and intertwined fingers, making them inseparable. She let her head press against her love’s shoulder.

“So I want to make them with you,” Mila nuzzled against Isabel. It felt safe. It felt like she belonged there.

Isabel’s hand trembled, and her fingers gently wrapped around Mila’s palm.

For a while, they spent time sitting, holding hands and looking up at the sky that slowly grew brighter.