‘Tell me what did you mean by saying I was your chosen one?’
The girl’s voice finally broke the silence. Kigami hadn’t said a word to her since their argument. Kimoko looked at him slowly. She could still see guilt in his eyes, but she could see something else in them.
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Fear.
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She didn’t understand. Why would he be afraid of anything? Unless… he was hiding something from her.
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‘I…’ his voice was quiet, his gaze fixed on the floor. The man took a deep breath and continued with a trembling voice:
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‘You’re not a random victim. I chose you. I manipulated everything so that you would be the one sacrified.’
Kimoko stopped. Shock and anger were written all over her face. Kigami sighed.
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‘Why are you even trying to explain this? She wouldn’t understand anyway.”
‘Why? Why me?’ Her voice was quiet, but Kigami could hear the desperation and despair in it.
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He sighed, then grabbed her hand.
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‘I’ve been watching you for a long time. Something about you caught my attention. You’re different than the other residents…’
He slowly took a step back, his gaze still on her. Kimoko, however, didn’t resist and began to walk forward on her own.
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‘Does this mean I’ll never be free again?’’
She felt warm tears start to flow down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away. She didn’t want Kigami to see that she had figured out the meaning of his words.
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‘Is it still far to Amoria?’ she asked, trying to hide the trembling in her voice.
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Kigami nodded.
‘At this rate, we’ll get there in a minute or two.’
Kimoko felt his hand tighten around hers. She tugged hard, hoping he would let go. However, he didn’t react to her resistance.
’ I heard that Amoria is a beautiful place, full of life and love.’ he said calmly, looking her straight in the eyes.
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Finally, the girl felt his grip weaken. She quickly pulled her hand away and stopped.
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‘‘Is he trying to tell me that he… loves me? Is the fact that I’m different his way of letting me know that?”
Suddenly she began to laugh hysterically and fell to her knees. Kigami immediately crouched down next to her.
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“Kimoko, are you okay?”
She could hear the worry in his voice. She felt his hand rest on her shoulder, but she quickly shook it off and lifted her head.
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Their eyes met.
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Her anger and desperation.
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His pain and guilt.
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“If you love me, why did you kill me?” she whispered.
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She saw the shock on his face. He closed his eyes and turned away from her.
His voice was calm, but heavy with pain as he finally answered,
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“Did I have any other choice? If I showed up in your village, the hunters would try to kill me.”
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Kimoko saw tears start to flow down his cheeks. His voice trembled as he continued,
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“I’m a demon. Everyone fears me. But when I first saw you…you were different. I…had hope.”
He clenched his fists.
“I had I hope you… But I see that was a mistake. You are suffering because of me. So you can leave if that is what you want. Just like the others who came before you.’
Kimoko couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Instead of happiness that she could be free, she only felt pity for Kigami. She knew that the loneliness he had struggled with for hundreds of years was devastating to him. But despite that, she couldn’t forgive him for what he had done to her.
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She sighed quietly and gently touched his arm. Kigami looked at her, shocked.
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‘I will help you. That was our agreement. Besides… I don’t trust you enough to believe that if I leave now, you won’t try to kill me.’
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‘But I will never forgive you for what you did to me. Do we understand?’
Kigami nodded. They both stood up and continued walking in silence. Kimoko felt the air around them grow heavy. Her thoughts were haunting her.
‘‘If you hate him so much, why do you have so much empathy for him? You could have been free, but you still decided to help him with his sick game.”
‘‘Why? Is it him and his manipulations, or are you cursed by him? Remember, you can’t forget who you really are.’’
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‘Zonrumi was once one large continent,’ Kigami spoke up, his voice tearing her from her thoughts.
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‘But when the Vorthakai were born, everything changed. Zonrumi split into four parts, and each of them was subordinated to one of them. These countries are Amoria, the land of life and new beginnings, Nokta, the land of protection and night, Veridona, the land of law and justice, and Maladira, the land of chaos and change. So each of them has at least one of the crystals, which means we have to visit each of them.’’
Kimoko looked at him, noticing a small smile on his face.
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‘Just out of curiosity… Do you know anything about the ruler of Amoria?’’
Kigami laughed.
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‘Of course I do. She is the goddess of life, also known as the White Lady. She is the only woman among the Vorthakai. Her people rarely see her, which sometimes causes their faith in her to waver. As for her personality… well, it’s quite specific. People say she’s timid and a bit too… flirtatious with those she likes. And since she’s said to like everyone… well, you can figure out the rest yourself.’
His voice suddenly fell silent. Kimoko looked at him with disgust. This time, however, it was not directed at the demon, but at this goddess. She knew that it was not appropriate for her to judge the gods, but the only thing that came to her mind was to compare her to a companion girl.
Kigami clearly had similar thoughts, but he did not keep them to himself.
‘From this description, it follows that their goddess is simply a whore.’ he stated without a shadow of a doubt.
Kimoko looked at him in disbelief. She knew that he did not like any gods, but some of his thoughts were better kept to himself.
‘Are you serious?’
‘Hey, it is not my fault that she have developed such an image for herself. So please do not be angry at someone who only tells the truth.’ his voice was unruffled, and on his face was his terrifying smile, which Kimoko already knew well, she knew that the man took pleasure in insulting the gods.
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The girl opened her mouth, but before she could say a word Kigami pulled her towards him. One of his hands was on her shoulder in such a way that his hand was resting on her breast. And the other was stretched out in front of him. As if he wanted to show her something.
“What is he planning?”
Kimoko began to struggle frantically, hoping that the man would release her from his grip. She felt his face get closer to her ear, she felt his breath on her skin. And she closed her eyes. A shiver ran down her body.
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‘know that I’m not planning anything with you, I just wanted to show you Amoria, from this point you can already see it in the distance.’ he whispered.
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The man was right, in the distance she could see how tall trees towered over the area, their leaves shimmered in the sunlight as if they were made of silver. Kimoko felt Kigami’s hand slide from her body. Kimoko then waited until Kigami had moved far enough away from her that she was out of sight, and then began to wipe her clothes in disgust.
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- Three hours later
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“If I had known it was this far, I probably would have left immediately. Then I wouldn’t have even cared if you killed me.”
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Kigami turned to her, rolled his eyes, and sighed before speaking with obvious irony in his voice,
“Dear young lady, I hereby solemnly declare that you have made it to Amoria on your own two feet.”
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He bowed exaggeratedly, so deep that his ponytail almost touched the ground.
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Kimoko let out a short laugh.
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“Oh, you fool. Get up already and let’s get going. Your crystal won’t find itself.”
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She walked past him, heading for the entrance to Amoria. Kigami straightened up and for a moment simply looked at her. At her delicate face. At the smile that appeared on her lips and it was because of him.
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He didn’t know when was the last time someone had smiled at him like that.
He felt a strange warmth in his chest. As if something that had been dead for a long time had suddenly stirred. He put his hand on his heart.
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Its rhythm was calm, even, though a bit faster.
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‘‘Her smile is the only thing I want to see through to the very end…’’
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