Stay with Kiara and Amelia

[Kiara point-of-view]

The moment that one guy in the chainmail releases the yellow smoke, I realize he was a mage casting a plague spell. Plague is the kind of magic element that gets formed when you combine the element of air with the element of ****. I don’t know what plague he sends out at us, but I don’t feel like finding out. I prepare a way to stop the smoke from getting to me, but then Darx casts an air spell of his own. I get that he does it to keep himself safe. But the air current he creates displaces the air inside the underground workshop in such a way that he indirectly fuels the yellow smoke being pushed towards both Amelia and myself. As soon as I inhale the smoke, I develop a headache and my body starts feeling cold. Dammit, this must be [Fever Plague]. I place both hands on my head and hold the painful parts. Argh, this is going to suck.

Then I notice both the trespassers running along the edge of the room into my direction. I can’t let them get to me. Imagine they use me as a hostage. I start moving away from them, towards Amelia, and let them pass. Darx first throws a water spell at one of them and then chases after them both. Without thinking, I follow them only to watch the ground close above the stairway, locking me and Amelia inside the workshop.

“Amelia!” I heard Darx yell.

That sounds like Darx is going to put effort in getting me out. I am grateful for that, but he is also letting the culprits escape. I use my [Shadow Manipulation] to create a large cone between my hands, place the large part on the ground above me and then speak into the tip.

“Go after them!”

Gah, my voice makes my own head hurt

“Is that you, Kiara!?” I hear Darx say to me from above the ground.

“The one guy is a plague mage!” I inform him. “He’s the one who caused the diseases! He gave me and Amelia a fever! Go after him! But don’t take any unnecessary risks! We can get ourselves out!”

“Alright! I’ll get them!” Darx yells at me one more time.

Alright, hopefully he doesn’t get himself hurt. It shouldn’t be too bad because those guys were more interested in escaping than making a stand. It’s time I start helping myself. So, how do you get rid of [Plague Fever] again? Ugh, my head is killing me. Ah right, it’s a magical effect. You can use [Dispel] to remove it.

I get up and stumble my way back towards Amelia. My entire body is shivering from the cold while my forehead is dropping with sweat. I find her still lying in the same position as when she fell. The yellow smoke has already dissipated and is no longer around. I kneel next to her and tell her to use [Dispel] in a soft enough voice that it won’t hurt my head. Amelia casts the spell and quickly feel better again.

“The thieves!” Amelia yells, hurting my head in the process. “Where are they?! Where is Darx?!”

“[Dispel] me first, please.” I beg Amelia with many groans.

Amelia casts another [Dispel] on me and I too am freed from the effects of the [Fever Plague].

“Darx followed them to the surface, but they closed it before I could make it out.” I inform Amelia. “I guess the guy in the chainmail is a B rank with access to plague magic, while the other guy is C rank or lower with access to earth magic. Darx should be able to handle them on his own.”

As I tell her all of this, I also cast the [Illuminate] spell, which causes the room we are in to light up so we can see normally.

“But what if he needs our help. We need to get outside.”

Amelia tries to stand and leave, but I stop her by grabbing her at the wrist. “I have seen Darx train before the tournament. He is a skilled fighter and he knows how to combine his water spells with his swordplay. He also won the B-rank tournament so he can hold his ground to a strong opponent.”

Amelia calms down and says, “Yeah, I guess. He is also an A rank now. I shouldn’t forget about that. But we should still get out, right?”

I stand up and look around the room. There is a lot of stuff here that we can investigate. Also, there is something I’ve been meaning to ask Amelia. Now that we are trapped here, we actually have the perfect private moment.

“In due time.” I say. “But before that, can I ask you a question?”

Amelia stands up as well and replies, “Sure, ask anything you want.”

I look into Amelia’s eyes and bluntly say; “Are you trying to steal Darx from me?”

Amelia is taken aback by my question and blinks a few times before she responds with, “I … w-wha … excuse me?”

“Darx told me all about what happened between you and Kase and how it drove Darx and you apart.” I calmly explain to her. “Now that Kase is no longer bothering you, and the rift between you and Darx is being healed, I can see you would try and be his girlfriend again.”

Amelia looks away from me in disappointment. “I told him that in confidence. That was supposed to be between him and me. No one else was supposed to know.”

I ignore Amelia’s complaint and simply say, “You still haven’t answered my question.”

Amelia faces me again and look into my eyes. “Well, I’m sorry to make you worry.” Then she looks away while brushing some hair behind her ear and continues, “I have n-no intention of seducing Darx. A-all I want is to have my best friend back.”

I study Amelia as she makes that statement. I remember Darx saying that Amelia is a bad liar. Based on her behavior, I’d say she may in fact have shown me three tells indicating that she has just told a lie. So, I cock my head and accuse her of doing so.

“That’s a lie.” I say while keeping my calm.

“No-no it isn’t.” Amelia quickly replies. “I-I swear. Y-you can keep D-Darx.”

I cross my arms in front of my chest and say, “Darx told me you were a bad liar. He even told me how I can tell you are lying.”

This makes Amelia become visibly nervous as she tries to walk away from me. “I-I-I-I d-don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You knew Darx long before I did.” I tell Amelia while I follow her. “You were his girl next door. He was your closest friend and a boy. When the both of you became teenagers, he became a handsome boy and you fell in love with him. If it hadn’t been for Kase he would have become your boyfriend. You had it all planned out but then Kase came around and messed it all up. Now that you and Darx are back on speaking terms, you feel like you can fix your mistake an make him yours like he was always supposed to be. You knew him first after all? You have dibs on him. Except he is with me now. In order for you to get back to the way things were, I need to be taken out of the picture.”

I follow Amelia as she tries to avoid me by walking around the tables but I follow her, increasing the tone in my voice while going down my list.

“When you asked him to join for this quest, you intended for it to be just you and him! You didn’t plan on me joining in! You even bought a brand-new sexy outfit! You wanted to bring him to this abandoned mansion so it would be just you and him so you could seduce him! Don’t tell me I’m wrong!! I know I’m right!! Because if I were in your position, I would do the same thing!!!”

I keep raising my voice until by the end I am yelling my accusations at her. Then Amelia finally gives me the reaction I’ve been waiting for. She faces me with anger on her face and starts yelling back at me.

“Alright! Fine! You’re right! Darx was my best friend ever since we were 5 years old! I have known him my entire life! I fell in love with him way before you ever did!! And if Kase had never set his eye on me, Darx would be with me now, not you!!!”

The more Amelia yells at me, the more her voice starts to crack. But then her demeanor changes from loud anger to fragile sadness.

“I was supposed to go adventuring with him. Be in the same guild as he is. Make love to him whenever we felt like it. And when we retired, we would have gone back to our village to raise a family.”

As Amelia starts talking about what should have been, tears start welling up in her eyes and her lower lip starts quivering. She then places her back against the workshop’s metal wall and slides down until she is sitting on the ground and tears start flowing.

“We were supposed to have 3 children. A son and two daughters. Keep our village safe from monsters and bandits. We would have been teachers. Darx could teach martial arts and I could teach magic. We would have had such a beautiful life.”

I take in everything Amelia says. From Kase’s perspective, all he was doing was getting a pretty girl to fall in love with him. But he failed and now Amelia is left as a broken mess. It reminds me of that time I told Darx the allegory of carrying unnecessary baggage on the road of life. Amelia is apparently carrying a much heavier weight.

“I tried to get over Darx.” Amelia continues, now with less crying. “I tried to have this future with someone else. I really did. He was a nice guy too.”

Amelia raises her head and look up, as if imagining the time she spent with the other guy.

“We went adventuring together. He took me on a few dates. He was a gentle kisser.”

Then Amelia lowers her head in shame. “But every time we went on adventure, all I could think of is how it would have been if it was Darx instead. Whenever he did something romantic, like holding hands, I wanted to be holding hands with Darx instead. Every time he kissed me, I wanted to be kissed by Darx. He soon felt that I wasn’t into him and he dumped me. Can’t say that I blame him. I never had him on my mind. He deserved to be with someone better.

I get to one knee next to Amelia and look at her face. Here eyes are red and her cheeks are wet from crying. She looks at me with renewed anger and continues her story.

“For months, I thought that beautiful future I had envisioned was gone forever. That I would grow up as an old maid. No husband, no children, no family, and eventually die alone. But you’re right. Now that darx is speaking to me again, that future is once again possible. And I want it. I want it so bad I am willing to take him from you. I NEED Darx in a way you can’t understand. But I will have you know, it is not because I am a horrible woman. It's because I am a **** woman. And there is a big difference between those two.”

There you have it. The full truth. Finally revealed. I can work with that.

I keep my calm demeanor and tell Amelia, “Thank you for being honest with me. I appreciate that. You’re right, though. Desperation is quite different from selfishness. But it is not a flaw that should be looked down on. I see it as a wound that needs to be cured. I feel you have been damaged, in a similar way like Darx was a damaged. He still is in some regard, because he has never quite gotten over you. Whenever he talks about his past, he always brings you up. Almost every happy memory he has has you involved in some way. That is how much a part of his life you are. But every time he brings you up, he also becomes sad. I want him to be able to think of you and not have it followed by sadness. But I fear I am not able to get that to stop.”

Amelia, now with a little bit of hope in here eyes, asks me, “So, what? You’re willing to let him go?”

Now there’s a thought. Me breaking off my relationship with Darx so he and Amelia can get together and fix each other. She would certainly owe me all the favors for the rest of her life.