Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I want to scream. I collapse down to my knees, sobbing silently. Through tears, I see Will coming down to see what’s wrong. “Whoa! What’s wrong? Figsons aren’t that violent, are they?” Will asks. I can’t believe it, Rayonetta went with us on our trip, Rayonetta fought the element dragon, Lamia. She did all that...just to get me over to their side, just have an advantage against the other tribes. Will wiped the tears from my face. We look into each other's eyes. I stop sniffling for just a moment. He won’t kiss me will he? He leans into me. However, before anything happens, the figson crawls up onto my face, and licks my nose. I laugh, wiping the tears away from my face. He pulls me up to my feet. “I’m sorry, for that I didn’t mean-” Will starts. I cut him off, “It’s um ok, that figson sure is a troublemaker though.” I say, rubbing the tiny creature behind it’s ears. “Ok, well let’s get into the air, you can tell me what’s wrong then.” He smiles and I don’t see any frustration or anger anymore, I see happiness and joy in his eyes. 

After telling him everything I heard, he grimaces. “We may only have a few hours before Rayonetta hunts you down. We need to find Corrin, or else we’re all in danger.” Will says. I check the figson is still in my pouch, it is and I can feel the rumbling of it munching on some leaves. “So, what are you going to name your figson?” Will asks me. I take the figson out into my claws and examine it thoroughly. I remember back when I was little, we went to the zoo and saw a hippo named Mavi. Back then, I loved hippos. I had hippo stuffed animals, hippo posters, hippo mugs, and even hippo pajamas (Which my mom made out of simple baby blue pajamas) I thought that Mavi was the coolest name ever, so I decided to name my over-sized hippo Mavi. I still think it’s a cool name “I think I’ll name it Mavi.” I say cheerfully. “Nice, so um Byleth? I haven’t been completely honest with you about who I am.” Will stops in the air, and I can tell he’s nervous. “Will, you can tell me anything, it’s ok.” I say, trying to sound reassuring. “I’m kind of an element dragon. And I didn’t tell you because, well I guess I just thought you would think I’m one of those power-hungry people.” Will stammers. Wow, he actually admitted it. How could he think I think that about him? “To be honest, I’ve known this whole time.” I come clean. “Really?” Will asks. “Yeah, I guess I just thought that it was weird that you weren’t affected by the power drain, like me.” I share. “Ok, well I spilled the beans then.” I can tell he’s relieved. “Will, you would never be power-hungry like Lamia. I believe in you, you are strong, kind, smart, and caring. Lamia probably has none of those traits which makes you non power-hungry. You hear me?” I say. “Yeah, I guess. I just- I don’t know. I feel like these past few days that I’ve been drawn toward power. Like, just the other day when we went to Megan’s house, I wanted to hear more and force her to tell us more. I wanted to have the power of that evil guy.” Will worries. I’m silent. I haven’t been feeling anything like that, just the occasional ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if I could do that?’ that’s all. What if Lamia is in his head? What if she’s doing a whole mind control thing? I bite my lip, trying to keep myself back from thinking of the worst.

Lush green grass and trees grow below us, begging us for a nice break in the black shade. No, we can’t though and I know it because we need to get somewhere safe. “The daylight tribe is at the end of the unknown territory so we should be there soon. Their queen, Mataya will be nice and caring to us if we tell her our situation. Hopefully, Rayonetta is still searching through the forest, trying to find us. We get an excellent lead on her if she doesn’t know where we are.” Will schemes. Wait a minute, did he just say queen? “I thought the tribes only have tribal leaders, why is there a queen?” I ask Will, curious. “Well, the daylight tribe is more of a fashionable tribe. I guess you would call it, so that tribal leader considers herself a queen instead of a tribal leader. Though she’s kind and caring, prepare to be hit with some fashion critiques. I’ve met her before and that mud on your face would not look pretty to her."