Chapter 198 - Meeting Up With The Crew I
Sally calmly puts her clothes back on, and I equip mine. Using the wings for covering us was rather smart, but sadly. She has started her period, talk about bad timing. I look at her and see the sheer embarrassment on her face. There is nothing to be embarrassed about. It's just how the human body works. "It's okay, Sally. I understand that it's embarrassing for you, but I don't think anything of it. It's a natural process, and we have to abide by it." She looks at me with a red face and slightly puffy cheeks. I could never fully understand what happens during the menstrual process, but being supportive is what I know how to do. She turns away from me as she puts the last of her clothes on, and I crack a tiny smile. Her reaction was cute. I shouldn't say that, though.
I keep my wings out, and now that we don't have a way to burn the time, we have a lot of free time before we meet up with the guys. "I'm sorry that happened..." She talks very quietly, almost inaudible. I walk up behind her and hug her. It's the only thing I can think of doing. She buries her face in my forearm and stays quiet. I rest my head on top of hers and hold her. She raises her face out of my forearm and looks off in the distance. "One of my only times of peace when I was a slave was when I started my period. I wasn't used as much. Nobles and merchants don't like getting blood on them. Some preferred it though." I close my eyes a pang of pain echos in my heart. Sally has been through so much, and this happening probably brought up bad memories.
I let her go and stand at her side. "I'll never let anything like that ever happen to you, Sally. You have power and skill, enough to kill anyone who would try something like that. You can stop anything like that too, and I know that if your mother could see the woman that you have become. She would cry tears of joy." If a parent couldn't be proud of a person like Sally, they aren't a real parent. Sally locks her fingers with mine and leans on my shoulder. "I would've loved to meet your mother. The strength she demonstrated shows up in you." I see her chin start to quiver, and her eyes begin to water. I didn't mean to make her cry, but I think she needs to hear this. She turns her face and buries it in my shoulder as I feel her tears soak through my sleeve.
I let her cry and lean on me. I bring her in front of me and wrap my arms around her. She wraps her around mine and continues to cry into my chest. I stare off into the distance as we stand on the building, and my desire to help her get revenge grows every time I hear her voice wail in pain. She can cry and hug me for as long as she wants. My father once told me that if a woman trusts you and loves you, she will lean on you in her weakest moments. A man will stay strong in these moments. I never thought I'd get a chance to be that man for a woman, but now that I am. I can say with certainty I love being that man for Sally. I don't know what that means in the long run or what it means now. I should say one more thing that she needs to hear.
I hug her a little tighter, and I take a small breath. "I love you, Sally." I feel her squeeze me hard after I say those words. I never thought I'd see that day when I would say those words to anyone other than my family. I spread my wings, and I pick her up in my arms. She keeps her face buried, and I launch us off the ground and into the air. I take us deep into the forest and away from the city of Bellvia. Once I see a comfortable-looking spot, I bring us down and land. The privacy of the forest will do much better than a rooftop. The rest of the crew is fine. Once nightfall comes, they'll leave the city, and we'll all meet up at the location. Right now, it's Sally's time. She has stopped crying, but I can tell she is still in pain. I let her go for a minute at most so I can set up the tent.
Once I do so, I hold the entrance of it open so she can crawl in. She does, and I toggle my wings off and follow her inside. We lay down on the soft furs and relax on the pillows. She snuggles once fully settled in. "I love you too, Zern..." She responds, and I smile. We lay in silence for a while, and after a little bit, Sally is asleep. Everyone feels tired after highly emotional stress. When I was a kid, I would sleep after crying for a bit. The only times I cried were when I got hurt and only when it was bad. I find myself falling asleep too. I've gone more than 20 hours without sleep. I can afford to take a small nap right now. I close my eyes and fall asleep a minute after. The time passes slowly, and I get a lot of deep rest, and after about 6 hours of sleep, I wake up.
I look out the tent, and the sun is just starting to set. I look at Sally, and she is still sleeping deeply. I lay my head back down. Still, about an hour before we meet up with the crew, I almost forgot to do something. I open my player interface, and I deactivate my title and make it hidden again. Now that I don't need it, I don't see the point in keeping it active. I see some of the special active skills I got from the title disappear from the section they reside in. It's nice to know that something like that exists for me. Powerful healing skills and other things granted by a title. The thought of my stagnation in leveling and skills creeps into my mind. I look at my skills and level again to see where everything is.
[Slayer (Zern) Lvl.90]
[Exp: 1/100%]
[Title: The Son of Arch-Angel Michael (Hidden),+3 more]
[Stats]
[Strength - 2095][Endurance - 2045][Dexterity - 2215][Speed - 2240][Focus - 14,660]
[Mana aura control: 5/100%]
[Health: 16,560,000,000/16,560,000,000][Mana: 146,600,000,000/146,600,000,000]
[Stat Points: 0][Armor rating: 500]
[Inventory]
[Passive Perks]
[Inheritor of the Sword] [Son of Heaven] [Slayer of Evil] [Holy Willow Trees Savior] [Finder of Legends] [The Divine who has Legend] [Destined for Greatness] [Dungeon Diver] [An Overachiever]
[Active Skills]
[Heavens light Lvl.9 325/900] [Protected by Heaven Lvl.9 225/900] [Slash Lvl.22 4600/13000] [Parry Lvl.3 80/300] [Double Strike N/A] [Kingslayer N/A] [Raging Machine N/A] [Winged Glory] [Angelic Flight] [Divine Pressure Exertion] [Divinity Pulse] [Controled Fun]
My best skills are so close to leveling up. Most of the power I have is thanks to all the achievements I have gotten. Being the first to do certain things has caused my stats to blow past the norm, and now my health and mana are untouchable compared to normal people and players. I look to my side, and I see The Witness just sitting there. My greatest weapon. I stole this from Pesticide. He was the one to get it originally. Doubt he is alive too. I'll never get the chance to meet them and apologize for taking their destinies and making them my own. "What time is it..." Sally shifts as I'm brought out of my thoughts. I watch her lean her head up and rub the gunk out of her eyes.
I look at her slight bed head and crack a smile. "It's not time to go yet. I'll wake you up before we have to leave. You should try and keep sleeping." She looks at me with one eye and plops back down. She snuggles back in, and I enjoy the feeling of having her next to me. All the power and knowledge I took for myself, both great evil and good, have come from it. The one I treasure the most is Sally. One day, I'll have to tell the truth to someone. I don't know what kind of repercussions I'll have to deal with once the truth is known. I won't run away from them as J&X have. They are still out their too, probably living in hiding with their families.
The same goes for the world leaders that have come to Gaia. Who knows what all these secretive people and schemers are doing if they ever show their faces. A lot of people are going to demand blood. Billions of people have died and lost their loved ones. That puts a special kind of hate in someone's heart, and it's not an easy one to get rid of. All I can do is cross those bridges when I get to them.