Karelos's boot gave a faint squish sound with every step he took, some remains of the demon he'd stepped on were still stuck to it, although the crack of the dirt was doing a good job at hiding it.
"Don't you wanna go to a river to wash off all that... stuff?"
"Nah, I'm fine like this, either way, we can go when we're done escorting Nopuozhr."
"I'll be alright if we slow down for a lil'."
Hyde stopped and looked back at Karelos and Xena who had been closely following him from behind. He still had A'cci's corpse in his arms, as still as ever.
"You really don't mind if we slow you down?"
Xena took a step closer to Hyde, she was too considerate of others to accidentally waste someone's time.
"Nah, either way, there's a river near. My legs have grown quite tired."
Without being asked to, Hyde led the way to the river, Karelos and Xena followed his tracks.
"My legs have been holding up surprisingly well."
"Well, when you have monster remains cushioning your every step, its only natural."
"Do you need to constantly remind me that I stepped on that demon?"
Karelos's voice tone raised as his neck snapped to look back at Xena
"I'm just saying that could've been done much more cleanly!"
"Eh, your brother's right. Those pesky monsters always get their innards everywhere."
Both Xena and Karelos looked at Hyde whose eyes were focused on the path ahead. Xena's mouth opened in shock at Nopuozhr's words. "You've killed monsters!?"
"Back in my village, the monsters come at us all night. Can't fetch firewood without some protection."
"Am I the only one that's never killed anything in their life?"
Karelos and Hyde stopped for a brief moment to look back at Xena and mutter "Yes." In unison before regaining their stride.
They kept on walking without saying a word, the silence filled by the crunch of dirt in every step. I've been too focused on building this persona to ask these two about themselves.
"Ay. So, you two. Where you from?"
"We're from Kortaria, specifically the Mazhak Ham'n region." We can't be going around saying we're the prince and princess of Kortaria, we should act like regular citizens. Xena and Karelos thought in sync.
They're from the capital...? What are they even doing here? Why did they find me in specific? How did they find me? Hyde panicked in silence before regaining enough composure to reply. "Ahh, the capital. Its mighty far ain't it? What are you two doing here?"
Xena and Karelos fell into temporary silence. "Well we're just-" Karelos interrupted Xena. "We're university students, tasked with researching about the rural parts of Kortaria."
"Hmm, which career?"
"Social studies."
"They had you travel from the capital all the way southeast..." Karelos and Xena thought their lies had been completely see-through, that Nopuozhr was gonna find something odd about them at that instant. "Must be a pretty expensive university." Nopuozhr gave a soft laugh as he looked back at the path before them.
The two siblings couldn't help but give an inaudible sigh of relief, their lies had been good enough to not raise too much suspicion.
"Life in the capital must be completely different than the life I've been living."
"What is life like, In Xuarron?" Xena softened her voice to ask that personal question.
"Well, from the little I know about the life in the capital. Its hard. But it really makes you grateful of living to see every day."
"Hmm, is that so... Could you tell us a little more?"
Nopuozhr laughed a bit. "Man, you really are university students."
So you were doubting us.
"If the crops don't yield enough, a part of the village must starve. Water isn't guaranteed. I've never seen the sea. Monster knock at our walls at night. Winters are hell... But, family, friends, neighbors... we're all so close."
"I see..." Xena brought her hand to her mouth, losing herself in thought.
"You've never seen the sea?"
"Nah, never in my life." Hyde admitted, looking back at Karelos.
He put his hand on Hyde's shoulder. "Tell you what, once we find a spot for your buddy, we'll go to the beach at the capital."
Hyde gave a soft smile at Karelos. "That sounds nice." Nopuozhr muttered.
The soft sounds of the river reached the trio's ears, the white noise composed of gurgling and splashing that tickled the depths of their ears.
"We're gonna get that grime off your boot in to time, Karelos!"
- - -
Karelos was scraping the demon remains off his boot using his bare hand as Nopuozhr and Xena sat by the river, occasionally glancing at him.
"So how's life in the capital?" Hyde asked, looking at Xena with his mismatched eyes.
"Hmm... Its good, I'd say, unless you're someone that hates crowds. Living in the capital means seeing countless of people passing by every second you're outside. Even at night... The city's night culture is thriving."
"Sounds exhausting... I much prefer my village life, not many people, much calmer."
"Although, its nice to see so many people from all cultures coexisting in the same space. From Rodan to Galyscia to Undeb Dehulm, all citizens from all origins gather at Kortaria's capital."
The mention of Undeb Dehulm made Hyde feel a little weird. He knew about the horrible conditions of it's citizens under the new-defunct Geortarian crown.
"Undeb Dehulm... I've heard the people there don't live well, is that so?"
"They used to, their oppressor up north has disbanded, so now they're rebuilding their government and independence."
Even if I killed hundreds... I helped thousands of people. Hyde smiled, proud at himself. "Well, that's good, isn't it?"
"For the Undebians, its a miracle... But I don't think the means justify the ends."
Hyde's smile vanished at that instant, turning into a more curious, cautious look. "Hm?"
"A massacre had to take place for the Undebians to get their freedom."
Xena's body language turned more open, she moved her hands as she talked and opened her legs slightly. "I just don't think murdering your oppressors is the correct way to reach freedom. Diplomacy exists for a reason, peace is always the option."
"Well... Like you said, it had to take place... So was there really another option?"
"My boot's all cleaned up." Karelos interrupted, turning the active conversation into silence.
Nopuozhr stood up in a single movement, surprising as he was still carrying a limp corpse in his arms. "Let's go, we're close."
Xena stood last, following the two men along their path.
She knows about the Geortarian massacre.
My prime suspect is walking two steps in front of me.
- - -
At some point the trees stopped, pulling back from a circular patch of earth. The canopy extended inward over the edges of the circle, letting through the thin columns of the evening's light.
The ground was a soft dark soul, damper than the path they'd traveled, covered in a low, even growth of moss.
Nopuozhr stopped at the circle's edge. "Here." He stepped inside before taking a moment to look at the moss and stones.
Xena and Karelos followed without speaking, the moss absorbed the footsteps entirely, nothing but the calm white noise of the forest was audible at the moment.
Nopuozhr crossed to the rightmost edge and carefully lowered himself to one knee, settling A'cci onto the moss, adjusting her hands and face in the dim light.
He stayed kneeling. Xena glanced at Karelos who was absentmindedly looking at some tree branches.
Hyde was still for a long moment, then he leaned forward, centimeters away from A'cci's ear.
"They'll be next, don't worry."