Chapter 79: Ch 78 – Kay

An almost dust swirled around in front of me as a shape began to emerge. Blueish skin and bright orange black striped hair. Two little horns poked through the hair slightly curved to the back on either side.

I was honestly surprised. I had fully expected Kay to return to me looking like she had in life, how she had appeared in her dream what was only two days ago? Why did it feel like it had been weeks?

Her eyes opened and looked around finding me and glancing to the side to see Devin and Gerl. Her eyes, of course, fixed on Devin and she took a sharp breath her eyes going wide and her breaths quickening.

Devin glanced at me a moment before I wrapped my arms around Kay pulling her into me and hugging her tightly. “Kay, it's alright.”

I could feel her tense muscles relaxing in my grip and after a few moments, she asked, “Meryl? No... Anna? This is you?”

I pulled back after a moment smiling at her, “Just one of my many personas.”

She nodded weakly and looked down at her hands, “Oh… I still look like this…”

“Is this how you looked… before?” I asked glancing at Kosue, “Do we have something for her to wear? Or at least cover herself with?”

Kosue considered, then started looking through packs.

Kay on the other hand nodded.

Devin who was looking incredibly awkward spoke up, “Umm… I’m sorry for… Uh… what happened.” He spoke mostly glancing away from Kay, even though I was blocking most of her.

I found his attempts to not look at her somewhat amusing. Yet I appreciated the sentiment I would definitely have said something if he just ogled her.

Kay glanced over at him and though she still seemed unsure on some level she tried to give him a smile though she too seemed a bit awkward, “Me too… I regret what happened. I… I blame myself.” She said firmly.

“If I’d been stronger, or faster though…” Devin tried.

Kay shook her head, “If I was in your position and my sister had been the one being attacked. I’d have done the same.”

Devin took a few breaths and nodded, “Alright. Well, no hard feelings then?”

Kay nodded though I could tell she was forcing this more than a little. I didn’t quite know what she was going through but I could tell she was trying.

Kosue produced one of the ponchos we had made for the goblins and I gave it to Kay who pulled it on, it was a bit small but it covered her small breasts at least. Then she handed me a pelt. To which I just frowned.

Kay took it from me, and set it in her lap giving a small shrug, “It's fine…"

I squeezed Kay’s shoulder before stepping back to give her some space, “Maybe we should get my other dress, or you could wear this one…” I considered.

“It's fine… You want to talk, right?” Kay replied as she folded in front of herself.

I nodded and sat down next to her a bit to the side. Not sure where or how to begin I gestured to Devin, “Devin here is my knight.”

Devin of course blushed slightly at that even if he did look proud, “It's nice to actually meet you.”

Gesturing to Gerl I continued, “My other man over there is Gerl, he's shy but a pretty nice guy.”

Gerl gave her a nod, “Nice… to meet you.”

“And that's Kosue.” I pointed to the goblin woman in the corner who was watching curiously.

Kosue waved her four-fingered hand back.

“And finally behind you is my tribe of goblins, led by Scout.” I pointed.

Scout glanced back at us briefly giving the barest nod of his head as the only sign that he even cared. The rest seemed too focused on something else they were doing.

“I’ve seen most of them… they showed up to rescue you.” Kay said realizing the truth.

“Gerl is a recent recruit, and Kosue didn’t go into the battle with the others. But yeah, they are my friends and family.” I explained.

Kay sniffed.

I understood and reached out my hand setting it on hers, on her leg. “If you need a hug, or a shoulder to cry on. I’m here for you Kay.”

She nodded but shook her head, “Thanks, I’m alright… I think.”

“The offer is always open.” I insist.

She could only nod in reply.

Not sure what else to do I tell her my story. Or at least the part of it since I had first awoken in this world. It was the first time Gerl had heard it as well so I saved a bit of time. I didn’t get too mired in the weeds and just gave the overview. I just wanted her to understand who I was, and what had happened. I ended up spending most of the time talking about what had happened since she died, to catch her up.

“So you… tried to kill the dungeon for me?” She asked at that point.

I considered. On one hand, I could see how she thought that. But I didn’t want to give her the wrong impression, “I did it because I wanted to ensure that something like what happened didn’t happen again. I admit you were something of a wake-up call, but more than anything it made me realize that I had a responsibility I was ignoring.” I stated with the same resolution I’d formed days ago.

I could feel Naan’s mind rumbling within.

“Do you disagree?” I asked my personal dungeon.

“I still don’t entirely understand your reasons. But we’ve already agreed to focus on working together.”

“Then why the response?” I ask.

“What response?” Naan asked.

“Uhh… the rumbling?” I offer back since I honestly didn’t know how else to explain it.

“I didn’t realize you were aware of that." Naan admitted.

“So nothing else to say?”

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“Just thinking. I find your reasoning baffling, yet I understand the intensity with which you speak it. Perhaps my biggest mistake was underestimating your resolve.” Naan explained.

I wasn’t sure how to reply to that. But before I could say anything else Kay’s voice pulled me back to my surroundings, “Are you alright? You just… sort of stared off into the corner… then started making faces.”

“She does that.” Devin agreed.

“What? More weird faces?” I asked.

Devin chuckled, “She's back.”

“I never left. Just because I’m speaking with Naan doesn't mean I’m not paying attention to my surroundings.”

“So because of what you did you and it is just… always together inside you?” Kay asked.

I nodded, “Yeah. We’ve mostly just agreed to work together since we have no choice in the matter. Hopefully, over time we’ll better understand each other.”

“That would be nice…” Kay agreed.

“We’re probably a ways off. But we seem to at least be making small steps from time to time.”

Kay nodded.

“So I guess I should finally ask you the question I’ve been not quite sure how to brooch. Kay, what do you want to do?” I asked.

“What do I want to do?” She repeated perplexed.

“I guess the two simple options… You can stay with me, with us. Or you can…” Why was I even asking this?

“You're asking me if I still want my second chance?” She asked.

“Just as the first step… I don’t expect you to say no. But, I figure I’d rather ask than assume?” I explained.

“I told you before. I was willing to do whatever the dungeon asked for this.” Kay explained. “That hasn’t changed.”

I nodded noting her tone, it was much more tangible to me now. Perhaps that was because it wasn’t a dream. “Alright. So you’ll be coming with me, and we are planning on heading to the capital.”

“A human city?” She asked.

I nodded.

“I guess we aren't actually beast kin anymore are we?” She asked as if realizing something.

“I think we technically count as demons?” I replied.

She nodded, “I’ve just spent my whole life hearing our… my tribe. It was our way to be wary of humans. When they captured us… I was certain that all of their worries were true, that all the bad things they had said were true.”

Devin grimaced, “Was there a lot of hate for us?”

Kay considered, “It wasn’t really like we sat around every day talking about it. But when people talked about leaving or trading. I usually came up. ‘Don’t trust them.’ was a common enough sentiment.”

“I guess we did let the elves do whatever they wanted in the end. So maybe we deserve it.” Devin shrugged.

“Don’t you dare look down on us!” Kay suddenly shouted.

Devin blinked, “What?”

Kay took a breath and lowered her volume, “My people fought with their lives. We didn’t ask you for help, so don’t look down on us.”

Devin considered that and nodded, “That’s fair. I guess I let what Dragon Smith said get to me. For some reason, I thought that maybe we had some obligation to look after you. But your right, you and the other beast kin aren't citizens of the kingdom. You just live here.”

Kay nodded. “I don’t think I can really help that much looking like this.”

“I don’t know. What sort of skills do you have?” I asked.

“I know most of what a good wife in my tribe should. Cooking, clothing, and working with clay and fibers. I can make small traps. There’s more too… The men of our tribe were too busy trying to stab each other usually.”

I chuckled.

She shrugged, “I say that… but they protected us from the massive beasts that roam around the wilderness, and from the goblin tribes that lived nearby. As well as the other beast kin tribes.”

“Was there a lot of fighting?” I asked somewhat shocked to hear that it seemed to be such a massive facet of their reality.

“Yeah. There was almost always someone who was injured and needed to recover. But before the elves, we did pretty well for ourselves.”

I nodded, and she mostly just let it hang there. “Alright, well back on topic. As for blending in. Naan told me that we gave your body the same abilities as mine. But you don’t really have a feel for them.”

“Yeah… the dungeon told me that I could shape-shift. But I couldn’t quite figure it out. I got my finger to change color one time, but… that's about it.”

“Well, it's not like you can walk around town in any case. Since your body is made of mana it will break down outside anyway. So it's probably not a big concern. When we get to the capital I imagine we’ll probably build some form of home for ourselves. But you’d need to stay inside. I’m not sure what you would do, but it's all I’ve really got so far.”

“I’ll figure something else out. If needed I can learn new things. I’m a fast learner. If I do say so myself.” Kay said trying to smile.

I nodded, “Alright. I’ll be relying on you then. Umm… did you want to talk about anything else? I guess this has been pretty serious…” I offered.

“It's alright. It feels sort of weird to think that you are the same person I thought was my sister. Or the same woman I knew in the prison.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

She paused thinking for a while then continued, “Maybe it's just how I look at you. When I really think back on it, I start to see it was you all along.”

I guess I could understand that. We chatted for a bit longer and in the end, I left Kay to her thoughts as I went to bed snuggled up in Devin’s arms.

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