Travel home.

The walk next morning is both silent and tense. Your mind has been racing ever since the meeting. After the slaying of the Demon King, you thought for sure things would get at least a little bit easier, but your life has only become more complicated than before. Now you've been roped into a game with other powerful beings of darkness, and the only reason you're even included is because you've been wrongly accused! You had no intention of being a Demon King yourself, and you've yet to do anything that really warrants such a title, but at least you have your friends and a place to live.

You sit down on a fallen tree halfway through the day and take a break. It won't be too much longer until you near the mountainside, and then by sometime tomorrow you'll be back in your bed.

A bumblebee lands on the blades of grass near your feet. You stare long at it, saying very little, until your attention is caught by Niki and Eva making their way over to sit beside you--one on either side, plopping down on the log as well.

"Hey, uhm... are you all right?" asks Eva.

"I'm fine," you reply. "It's just--"

"You wish you could have smacked that elf in the face. Right?" Niki pounds her fist into her palm. "But you're better than I am. I feel like things wouldn't have gone so well if we all attacked."

"Plus we wouldn't have learned anything," Eva adds.

You shrug. "Yeah, I guess. If William's prodding wasn't going anywhere, I don't think it would have mattered what else I said. I don't even know what I want to know anymore. I'm already aware why I was brought here, and I thought that would be satisfying, but I still feel... used. Their plans aren't over. I doubt they're done with me."

Niki slaps her hand down on your shoulder. "It doesn't really matter though, right? You snapped out of your funk before, and if they physically try to take you away, I'll break their arms."

"That's right. They won't take any of us away." Eva wraps her arms around you and squeezes tight.

After that, you can't help but smile. Things aren't so bad after all. Once in awhile, you need a gentle reminder. This world has chewed you up and spat you out several times over, but you've also met such interesting people, and the experiences you've had you'll never forget. There's another moment of silence, but this one is different. You enjoy the sound of the breeze and the scent of the flowers. Your eyes lower back down to the bee in the grass, and it has a little friend. There's another bee over its back and they're going wild on each other.

You stare deadpanned for a moment before looking back up, and you decide to take that as a sign to keep moving.