There were six people in the camping party, and they had prepared three tents.
The three girls were supposed to share one, Thops would have another to himself, and Skyl would share the third with his roommate, Doniel.
Doniel was particular about where he slept, and apparently, he was just as particular about who slept beside him. According to him, he always slept wonderfully when Skyl was nearby.
Millicent had changed out of her sorcerer's robes and was now wearing a simple, close-fitting shirt. When she found Skyl, she told him without the slightest hesitation that she wanted to share his tent.
He feigned astonishment.
"Wow, we're moving this fast already? What's next, fighting over the bed?"
Although Millicent could tell he was joking again, her cheeks predictably turned bright red.
It wasn't embarrassment. A trembling sensation had spread throughout her body, and the blood pumping from her heart seemed to fill every last capillary.
Her sparkling eyes remained fixed on Skyl, without the slightest attempt to avert her gaze.
A gentle woman who dared to love and hate wholeheartedly was always remarkably straightforward.
Millicent never bothered beating around the bush.
"It's just that... whenever I think about having you beside me, I feel like I'm floating. Skyl, when I close my eyes, every wave that rises within my Shehai is connected to you. I want to curl up beside you and fall asleep. I want to breathe in your scent."
"Then I'd better take a really good bath and make sure I smell nice!"
Skyl burst out laughing.
When his laughter subsided, he tilted his head back and gazed at the stars scattered across the night sky.
He raised his left arm.
Millicent thoughtfully stepped into the space beneath it, allowing him to wrap his arm around her shoulders. She tilted her head back as well, and the two stood side by side, gazing into the heavens as the volcanic night wind washed over them, carrying its acidic, sulfurous scent.
"What do you see?" Skyl asked softly.
"None of those stars are as powerful as you. Someone who shines more brilliantly than the stars themselves is standing right beside me. I always feel so fortunate, Skyl."
Every word Millicent spoke trembled gently.
With his forearm resting against her back, Skyl could feel the extraordinary warmth radiating from her body.
Holding her was like embracing a flame that could never burn him, or a soft, heavy hot-water bottle.
Yet Skyl shook his head.
"Then what do you see?" Millicent asked in return.
She seemed almost ready to melt.
Her cheek was already resting against his shoulder, and she breathed in the scent of his clothes with something approaching infatuation.
The air escaping her nostrils slipped through the tiny gaps in the weave of his shirt and brushed across his shoulder blade and chest, like a cool current flowing downward.
"My childhood."
"The stars in the Lands Between are different from the ones on Earth."
"But the person looking at them is the same."
"Would you mind telling me about your past?"
"Of course not. Actually, I rather envy Miquella's abilities. He can practically conjure up a childhood sweetheart out of thin air. If I'd had a wonderful girl like you beside me when I was little, I'd probably have spent all these years with my heart breaking from missing you!"
Millicent pressed her forehead against his shoulder, hiding her beaming face.
Even so, little giggles escaped her lips, sounding like silver bells chiming beneath a porch as the wind passed through.
Skyl had witnessed ten thousand different expressions of Millicent through prophecy.
Yet every single one of them, every single time, still filled him with happiness and affection.
"My childhood wasn't exactly something out of Maxim Gorky's My Childhood. I was actually pretty happy growing up. My family wasn't particularly well-off, but we always had enough food and everything we needed. Later, our old family home was purchased for redevelopment, and the compensation made things much easier. We could even afford to send me abroad to study."
He paused.
"My only regret back then was that I didn't spend more time with my mother when I was little. If life has four seasons, then everything before my mother's death was spring."
Millicent's smile vanished completely.
She raised her head in astonishment and saw that Skyl was still smiling as he spoke.
It wasn't the familiar mischievous grin he wore whenever he was playing a prank, nor was it the warm, friendly smile he offered when greeting someone.
It was a faint smile that spoke of someone who had finally made peace with life.
"Surprised? I actually had a mother, you know. I wasn't born out of a rock."
"Skyl, you don't have to tell me these things."
"No, I want to hear them. I just don't want you to feel sad. If you so much as furrow your brow, I won't be able to sleep for the next two months."
Skyl deliberately contorted his face into an expression of exaggerated anguish, furrowing his brow so dramatically that Millicent couldn't help laughing.
"Go on, then."
"My mother... Ah, how did talking about my childhood turn into talking about her?"
He sighed.
"Anyway, she was a very amateur astronomy enthusiast. The few stars I know, Altair, Vega, Deneb, Arcturus, and Sirius, are all ones she taught me about.
"When I was little, she'd take me to my grandparents' place in the countryside for a few days every summer vacation, then return to the city to work."
Without either of them noticing, Skyl's memories began to spread through the air around them.
Millicent could now see the scenes he was describing instead of merely listening to his words.
It was a simpler, less comfortable era.
Skyl was still at the age when his nose seemed to run constantly. Although he was old enough to dress himself properly, he still loved drinking Capri Sun and Yoo-hoo.
He followed his mother onto a rattling, swaying bus that carried them to his grandparents' house.
He spent every summer vacation in the countryside.
The night skies there were clear, and the stars shone far more brightly than they did in the city. It was the perfect place to point out constellations with an outstretched finger.
As a child, however, Skyl had absolutely no patience for stargazing.
There were simply too many mosquitoes on summer nights!
They bit him from head to toe, leaving his body covered in swollen red bumps until he looked like some kind of human-sized toad.
Nothing about those ordinary scenes offered the slightest indication of what Skyl would eventually become.
The pasts of people who traveled between worlds were often remarkably mundane. A handful of simple words could summarize their entire childhoods because most people capable of understanding those descriptions had experienced much the same things themselves.
"The summer after my sixth-grade exams was probably the most relaxing one I ever had. My mother stayed with me for a few extra days.
"I didn't know she had cancer at the time.
"All I remember is that she went out early every morning and came back late every evening.
"Then one day, she asked me if I wanted some ice cream.
"You couldn't get anything that nice in the countryside. The only little convenience store nearby had already gone out of business because it wasn't making enough money.
"You can probably imagine how tempting the prospect of ice cream was to a kid barely into his teens."
He let out a quiet sigh.
"Ah... I don't want to talk about it anymore. Let's stop here, all right?"
Millicent wrapped both arms around his waist.
She gently patted his back and even began humming a lullaby.
"What are you doing?" Skyl asked helplessly.
"Comforting you, baby Skyl."
"I don't need a second mother. Still, you're a wonderful girl, and I'm sure you'll make a wonderful mother someday."
Millicent's body, which had grown cool with sadness, suddenly became burning hot again.
Skyl buried his nose in her hair and began humming softly.
"What's that song called?" she asked.
"It doesn't have a name. Just a few scattered fragments of melody strung together."
He paused.
"Millicent."
"Hm?"
"Just wanted to say your name."
"All right."
"Millicent?"
"Hm?"
"Just checking again."
"Okay."
"Am I being a little boring?"
"This is fine. Just like this. This is all I need."
"I don't like things being predetermined. Sometimes, I find myself remembering..."
He paused.
"Do you like ice cream?"
"No."
"That's a shame. Ice cream is delicious. We never got to eat any that day. My mother forgot to bring her wallet."
Millicent found herself caught between laughter and tears.
"What exactly are you trying to tell me?"
"Sorry for ruining the mood. I've always had a talent for that."
"No. You haven't ruined anything. Quite the opposite, actually."
Millicent looked up at him.
"I'm very happy that I got to see your past. You're no longer a ghost floating somewhere beyond my reach. I don't have to struggle with all my strength just to catch hold of a single loose thread."
Her voice softened.
"I want to have you for myself. Is it presumptuous of me to say something like that to a god?"
"Let me think..."
Skyl pretended to consider the question seriously.
"Hmm. Yes, it is rather presumptuous. But I've decided to forgive you."
He smiled.
"From this moment until forever, Millicent, whatever choices you make in the future, you never need to take my opinion into consideration."
"Then right now, I want to go to sleep."
"Lights out, coming right up."
Skyl swept Millicent into his arms, carrying her bridal-style.
She felt softer and lighter than a bird's feather.
After the two of them left the hillside, Melina, dressed in her long robes, stepped out beneath the stars and approached the place where they had stood together.
She paid no attention to the forlorn stars overhead.
Instead, she gazed intently at the footprints they had left behind.
The emptiness within her heart was more desolate than the volcano itself.
She closed her eyes and stood in the wind for a while.
Eventually, her nose began to grow stuffy.
But before the tears could reduce her to a sniffling child, the voice of the young apprentice, Moli, suddenly called out and startled her from her thoughts.
"Melina? Melina, where are you?"
The woman who had once been the Kindling Maiden hurriedly turned and walked away.
Her footsteps were so light that the impressions she left behind could not hold even a single teardrop.
May everyone find happiness.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 30 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810