It didn't take them long to finish their breakfast. Bell had kept it light, knowing they still had to move extensively after this.
A moment later, he reclined back further, his back coming to rest on the tree behind him. He gently let his palms drop onto his thighs.
Alfia remained beside him, hands clasped in her lap, her black dress brushing against grass.
Silence settled between them.
A gentle breeze pushed through the shade, rustling leaves above. Faint swishes of water flowing from that stream they had passed by earlier carried all the way here.
Bell's mouth stretched open as a yawn escaped out of him.
Haah... We still have... Evilus to...
The tree kept him shaded, the breeze felt cool on his skin. Usually, he'd be scanning any nearby foliage or listening for footsteps. But Alfia was right there. If anything came close, she'd notice. So, he didn't bother looking around, he just let his back sink deeper against wood.
His eyelids felt heavier, getting harder to keep open. Evilus slipped out of his head, replaced by a steady hum of water, the slight shuffling of leaves, until there was nothing left to think about at all.
Bell's chin sank to his chest. He caught himself. His head jerked back up, eyes half-closed, everything blurring into vague outlines of green and brown. A breath later, his chin dropped again.
This time, he didn't catch it.
His head tilted, drifted sideways until it found something warm. Alfia's shoulder.
She didn't shift away, just stayed still, like she hadn't even noticed.
He could feel Alfia's breathing now, falling in rhythm with water and shuffling leaves around them.
His breathing fell in step with her unconsciously. Her shoulder still felt warm. And then nothing.
...
Alfia stayed awake.
She sat still as that tree behind him, hands still clasped in her lap, breathing so calm it blended with wind. Her eyes, though—they moved, steadily sweeping their surroundings.
A bird monster landed on a branch a few yards away. Alfia watched it. It watched her back, then flew off.
Nothing else moved.
Below her shoulder, Bell's breathing had gone deep and even. His weight leaned into her, trusting and vulnerable.
She looked down at him for a moment, glanced at his white hair spilling across her shoulder. Alfia's expression remained placid, but her other hand rose up, catching a tuft of his hair between her fingers.
Her gaze remained locked on that tuft for two breaths. Then, turned to her own hair.
Tuft. Her hair. Tuft. Her hair.
Alfia nodded imperceptibly.
And let go of the tuft. It fell back against her shoulder.
...
He didn't know how much time had passed.
Light from the ceiling had shifted. Its intensity on his eyelids was warmer now, more yellow than white. A few shades of some nearby trees stretched wider than before.
His body felt heavy, neck stiff, cheek pressed against something soft—cloth, and beneath it, the subtle shape of a shoulder.
Alfia's shoulder.
He was still leaning on her.
That stream was still running. Those leaves were still rustling. Nothing had changed.
Bell remained like that and didn't open his eyes fully. Just stayed there, blinking slowly.
A few more seconds... wouldn't hurt.
It took some time for him to snap back into awareness.
The first thing he felt was a tickling sensation on his cheek. When his vision focused, strands of white hair filled his view—hers, not his—brushing against his skin.
He looked up and froze.
Heterochromatic eyes looked down at him. One green. One grey.
"Done?" She asked.
A realization seemed to hit him all at once. His body stiffened, and he pulled back sharply.
"—Sorry about that Aunt, I didn't know when I fell asleep."
Bell stared at her, trying to project calm, inwardly though...
Please tell me no one saw that.
Alfia said nothing at first. She simply looked at him, then the corner of her mouth moved. Barely.
"You needed it."
His lips tugged upward at those words. He rolled his shoulder once—and his gaze moved away, toward the mound.
Weapons jutted out from it, hilts fine despite disuse. The breakfast he'd set beside them had long gone cold.
He kept looking at it, brows furrowing, feeling conflicted about something that had been on his mind for some time.
A drop of water from a leaf above fell onto his brows, and his furrow smoothed away.
"Haah..."
Bell rose to his feet with a sigh.
Alfia rose with him, her black dress falling back into place around her legs like it had never been disturbed. She brushed a single leaf from her sleeve and kept her focus on him.
He walked toward the mound and stopped before it.
Under Alfia's eyes, his arm rose, reaching for a sword at its very center, fingers wrapping around the hilt.
"I'm sorry for disturbing your rest," Bell murmured.
He tightened his grip.
"But I need your help."
Crimson flames climbed from his heels.
It swept upward—legs, torso, arms. Where it touched his hair, white bled into red. Tips first. Then roots.
Alfia's eyebrows rose.
Red. That same shade. That same hue of a girl who had stood against her to protect Orario.
Those flames reached his fingers wrapped around its hilt—and the sword answered. Red-gold embers ignited along its crossguard.
Bell pulled.
The sword came free like it had been waiting.
A rose-gold flame bloomed along its blade, soft and warm, burning without heat. It threw faint color across weapons still buried—the ones left behind, resting.
He settled it across his shoulder.
Crimson Order.
The sword of Alise Lovell.
His hair was red now.
"You're about to summon her?" Alfia asked from behind.
"Yes," His eyes stayed forward.
"I need her. I need everyone I can get for the upcoming War Game."
He took one last glance at the other weapons. Then turned.
Alfia fell into step beside him.
A breeze picked up again, cool against his neck. Somewhere behind them, a bird called out—probably the same one that had been watching her earlier.
Neither of them looked back.
After a while, Bell spoke.
"Hey, Aunt."
His spine was straight.
"...Thanks. For letting me rest."
Alfia's eyes stayed forward.
"Don't make it a habit."
Bell chuckled.
"I won't."
...
..
.
***
[300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[8 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
[Authors Thoughts]
I generally write high speed fight with momentum that keeps escalating with every moment. But this time, I wanted to try doing its opposite, slow down momentum until everything crawls, everything feels safe and soothing.
I could've kept it escalating from here to deeper floors and Evilus, but then I thought that if I put relaxation in between, the next action scenes will hit ten times harder.
And besides, this does double work as relaxation and Bell-Alfia bonding.
So... How was it?