——————————————————-
They were outside of the alley, walking through the kingdom, finding a place to stay for a night, obviously so they could figure out what to do with Kisei.
Kisei twitched its head, looking all around and biting its nails nervously. People were watching it; everyone was looking at it.
Kisei could hear it now, what they were saying, the word Kisei hated so much, that name… that label… parasite.
It always agitated Kisei, but now it was in broad daylight where everyone could see him. Kisei now understood why Slace told them to wear a cloak.
The chatter only increased; even the Fire Kingdom, filled with nice people, had looks of fear, intimidation, and even disgust, insulting Kisei and labelling them as a parasite.
Kisei naturally got mad, but Slace took a firm grip of Kisei's arm before they could do anything.
"You make a scene, and you ruin everything, dumbass."
Kisei's mood calmed; it didn't particularly understand Slace, but it found Solace in Slace for some reason, even if it was a small feeling. Kisei nodded, its head twitching.
"We should get to an inn or hotel soon, then find him a cloak." Vira suggested the best course of action was to keep Kisei inside until they found them a cloak.
Slace nodded, not even letting Kisei have a say. It wasn't like Kisei could really understand what they were saying anyways; they understood some things but not all because of their mental and physical state.
———-
They arrived at an inn, paying for a room for three people and walking into their room.
Right as they arrived, both Slace and Vira left as quickly, Slace demanding that Kisei stay in this room.
As both Vira and Slace left to get the cloak for Kisei, they were all left alone now, seemingly talking to themselves, but actually they were talking to the other inhabitant of their body.
The eye in the clumps of flesh on Kisei's face looked at them, its eye giving way to a mocking smirk even if the thing didn't have a mouth.
Kisei could hear it in their head, the constant mocking of the parasite, always belittling Kisei and mocking them, making their life miserable. It was obvious why Kisei wanted to get rid of it.
("You think that boy is going to help you? Everyone who has tried has died or abandoned you! Admit it, you're nothing but a vessel.")
("A vessel for me, for me to please the parasite god… Richard, my creator.")
("You're nothing but a pawn, a body to be used, and I'll stick with you until you lose all control…")
The parasite laughed, a degrading laugh that lowered Kisei down to their lowest form, nothing but a puppet.
Kisei had trouble understanding talk, but there was an expectation with the parasite because it was always directly talking to Kisei through their mind.
Kisei yelled out loud, stressed and sweating profusely, his hands pressed at both sides of his head, one pressing into the clumps of flesh.
"SHUT UP!"
Luckily there were no neighbours today, or else Kisei would have been lectured. Actually no, they would be too scared.
The parasite stopped laughing in Kisei's head, speaking with a tone that told Kisei it had a sarcastic grin plastered on its face.
("Oh golly, I can tell from your thoughts you really do think you can get rid of me! It's not going to be that easy, buddy… by the name of Leafy, you truly are pathetic.")
It seemed Leafy still reigned supreme in some way for the Endlands, but it was unclear still as to if he was still the strongest there or lower.
The parasite continued on playing everything as if it was a joke or show to just humiliate Kisei.
("You know I leeched on to you and fused myself with you when you were a kid because my creator told me you would become a strong vessel.")
("But who knew you would be such an idiot?! It's rather funny to see you continue to fail, though.")
Kisei just stayed quiet; they were completely depressed and out of it. They didn't know what to do. What if Slace couldn't help? What then… Kisei thought about it and was devastated with the thought of what might happen.
Kisei thought about Slace, though... Their last hope, a light at the end of the tunnel, Kisei clenched their fist, not giving up yet.
The parasite responded, its tone telling Kisei it would be waving its head with a shrug and smile as if to say, "I don't know why you keep trying."
("You really are an idiot, but hey, go ahead and try; at the very least it'll be entertaining.")
——
Meanwhile, Vira and Slace got Kisei a cloak. The sun started to set. The Fire Kingdom had hot days but very cold nights, which is why no one there went out during the night.
Well, walking back to the inn, Slace seemed distracted by one of the stories of ancient dragons being told to some children; he was watching from slightly away.
Although Slace had arrived quite late, it seemed like it was already coming to an end.
A woman sitting down near a puppet show of sorts narrated the story well, playing the puppets.
"As the story goes, ancient dragons are said to be some of the first species to ever originate in our world, the first species created by the Gods and Goddesses."
(To clarify, Zero created the ancient dragons and everything else except the Endlands. The god and goddess don't exist, but the people of this world believe they exist.)
"After the gods and goddesses were defeated by the Endlands, the ancient dragons vowed to protect our lands, helping us whenever."
"Now that they are going extinct, it is our responsibility to protect them, believing in the will of the ancient dragons to use our fire properly."
The kids seemed genuinely interested and happy, like they actually liked the story, and they did, a lot.
She stopped with the puppets, looking at the kids with a smile.
"If you go to the Fire King's castle, he'll gladly let you in and meet the ancient dragons for yourself; if you've been good, they might even talk to you!"
The kids' smiles were wiped and gapped; now filled with excitement, they ran off to the castle, forgetting about the puppet show entirely.
No parents were there also, so you could tell the Fire Kingdom was a very safe kingdom.
Slace grumbled, walking away as the puppet master started packing up her stuff.
"That's what I have to do to meet the dragons?" Slace murmured to himself irritably.
It made sense why he didn't want to do that; after all, he didn't want to meet one of the kings who destroyed his clan again.
Vira followed behind, asking Slace a question because she heard him.
"Are we going to do it?"
"Guess we have no choice." Slace said hesitantly, still not fully set on the idea.
He did in fact have a choice, but he couldn't just not take Drmin's advice and throw it out in the trash.
——-
They arrived back to see Kisei just sitting down doing nothing; they weren't even resting or sleeping. It was odd; they weren't even lying down.
But they did seem tense; no, they were always tense all the time, never giving way to relaxation or ease of mind.
Kisei noticed Slace and Vira walking in with a cloak that somewhat matched their size, enough to cover their face and body at least.
Slace tossed it over to Kisei, who caught it and put it on; it was effective.
"Good, that'll make things easier."
Slace said.
Slace looked at Kisei before plopping onto his bed, keeping his sword at his side. Did he sleep with his blade too? That was weird.
"I'm going to bed; don't wake me up, or else I'll kill you both."
Slace warned before sleeping, and although Kisei didn't understand, they did sense the warning.
Vira went to sit down on her bed, ready to sleep, until she noticed Kisei not getting into their bed. She asked Kisei a question, curious.
"How come you're not going to bed? Are you a late sleeper?"
Kisei shook their head repeatedly, almost snapping it, before saying something.
"Can't sleep… parasite stops…"
Vira understood what Kisei meant, faintly feeling bad for them before also heading to bed.
Kisei couldn't sleep, because the parasite never let them sleep.
And…
That's how it's been for years.
So as the fire in the lamps burned out for the night, Kisei was left in complete darkness alone with the parasite.