The Wandering Witch VOL. 2 - The Witchfolk Genocide Arc

19.1| Sparking a Fire II

( 19 )

C H E L L

Nighttime had struck, and yet there there was still no sign of the Crow Thief.

As she stood there on the balcony of her room, doubts began to creep at the back of Chell's mind. By the then, the lights of the kingdom were already glittering before her view, and the late bustle of the people of the night were in motion. However, the scenery displayed was far from her attention. A grim air blanketed the atmosphere around the Snow Witch as she leaned over the railings. All that ran through her mind were thoughts of the previous days and the worry that gripped her at the idea that something might have happened to Noct, or worse... that he might have finally decided to leave her.

Throughout the day, her uneasiness had slowly been rising after realizing the possibility that this could have happened. After all she knew that both of them were, in the end, strangers brought about together by a series of circumstance. Their meeting, their truce, and even their agreement to stay with each other could all be summed up as coincidence. Though they had made an oath, Chell was unsure if it was enough to assure his loyalty. If there was something she knew about the thief in the days they had been spending together, it was that he was not someone to easily give up his freedom, and that he was quick to deceive and hide his intentions as he saw fit.

But even then, Chell had still decided to make him her companion. Not only was it because of the guidance of the dead, but because she felt that she needed to. There was a pull between them that she could not properly explain--something that told her not to part ways with the cunning thief despite his character. It was irrational and even reckless, especially for someone like her. At the back of her mind, Chell almost thought that this feeling might have been because Noct was the first one she met and talked to in Uldard. She wondered if she would be feeling the same way if someone else had approached her first instead.

She recalled his friendly guise from before, his polite gestures. Then, his hateful glare as she found out about his true personality. She still couldn't grasp what the thief was thinking most of the time. Chell wouldn't know if the smile he gave was genuine or calculated. Looking back on it, he had sacrificed his previous life in order to run away with her. No matter how serious the scenario might have been, she knew that this was a difficult price to pay for anyone.

'Use me as you will, order me as you wish. The oath we made still stands and I intend to see through it.'

She remembered the look in his eyes from earlier, the firmness of his touch as he held her hands in his own. She wanted to believe in his words.

Overhead the faint outline of the clouds covered the moon. Chell watched them drift by, the silence overbearing.

Other than the Crow Thief, there were too many things to worry about as well. The incident in Uldard had caused a huge scene and she knew it was only a matter of time before the capital heard of it. Even though she had been given freedom to travel anywhere by the First King, she had been advised not to cause any trouble and remain as neutral as possible. This was one of the reasons why Chell had not been using her name as a Vitte to gain favor from the places she had visited. Another was because she felt that the guidance of the dead was enough for her to get by--and it had. In the two years since her waking, no major trouble had happened... until now, that they had disappeared.

Ever since Uldard, she could sense an unease that seemed to follow her everywhere like a shadow that kept slipping from her field of view. Now that she was here in Gisnell, that ominous feeling was pronounced more than ever.

The attack on Yoko. The disappearance of Jul. The threat of the royal seat. Something sinister was looming over the horizon, and she knew it was only a matter of time before chaos ensued.

She looked down at her hands resting on the guardrail. The bandages, worn and dirtied, were firmly wrapped around her fingers. She clenched them, hoping yet again in that moment to have the opportunity to talk with the dead. Because they had disappeared, no one had been there to guide her anymore and tell her what choice to make. Everything she did seemed like a wrong decision and it slowly fed her doubts. She missed them and their comforting whispers, their gentle cold touch. But they were gone. She couldn't sense them anywhere near her.

Ah.

She recalled the dream she had from the other day, the figure of the little boy reaching out to her with a smile. A scene from so long ago that surfaced through the fragments of her scattered memories. Even though she could barely recall his face anymore, she would never be able to forget his words.

Be kind, Chell.

She did as she was told, because that was the only way she thought she could keep her humanity. The Snow Witch closed her eyes slowly and began to hum the tune of the song that Noct had sang for her. A quiet, airy breeze blew past as the night continued on.

Later that night, she woke up with the dead whispering in her ear.

---> thank you for reading!

(unedited)