The Shroud of Sacrifice was something fused to his very face and identity, representing one of the four core concepts that made up a being, Memory.

That said, he couldn’t simply dismiss it like an ordinary artifact. The only way the damned parasite would disappear was through his face, sinking into his flawless skin.

The thought of doing that in front of Willow, for some unknown reason, made him immensely uncomfortable.

"Just something my...father gave me. You can think of it as inheritance."

Technically, Sacrifice was the husband of Bloom. And Bloom, by chance, happened to be his Elemental Parent.

Willow, still slightly dazed at basically being seen naked, nodded, head bobbing up and down.

"I see...is he the same man you had a ’disagreement’ with?"

She remembers that? Well...I suppose it makes sense.

The scars on his back must have come as a surprise to her; it was quite sudden after all. A shiver went up his spine, his evaluation of Willow climbing higher. She had no idea how close to the mark she had hit.

Sacrifice wasn’t the one with whom he had a disagreement; no, the man who marked a maze of scars on his back was his very own father.

The so-called ’Modern Day War God.’

Pathetic excuse of a human.

He was nothing more than a trashy human and a deadbeat father, a man who took out his frustrations and failures on his child, a child who wasn’t even an adult.

Leonidas’s mood soured at the very thought of that man, but he pushed it down. He wasn’t here. There was no need to ruin his day on that pathetic man.

Before Willow could misunderstand, Leonidas spoke, his voice even.

"That’s a whole other story. These two people...they stand upon entirely different grounds. One is as significant as an ant, while the other is a roaring giant. Even thinking of comparing them insults the one who gave me this cursed mask."

Maybe she noticed his reluctance to talk more, or maybe she just didn’t want to pry into his matters more than she already had, but Willow didn’t ask more.

She just walked over and wrapped him in a hug, her arms wrapping around him, embracing him in warmth. She patted him softly, whispering in his ear.

"There there, no one will hurt you... at least not for the next ten seconds. After that, you’re not my problem."

Wh...huh...what the hell...?

His mind was short-circuiting from the unexpected kindness of the demonic woman. Was she possessed? Had the fall done damage to her brain?

Still, Leonidas didn’t pull away, snuggling softly in Willow’s firm embrace, like a child with his older sister. A realization softly made its way into his mind, causing him to chuckle softly.

"You lied." His voice was soft, so quiet that Willow didn’t even register he had spoken, only feeling his warm breath on her neck.

In a previous regression, she had told him there was a bag of poison in her chest. What a damned liar she was.

He had seen everything after all, but there was no bag, nor was there any poison.

He stayed there for a few seconds, worries melting away, then separated from her, his arm outstretched.

"Ahem...we should find some sort of shelter. Temperatures will soon drop to freezing cold, and as much as I hate fires, I hate the cold even more."

"Lead the way."

He just nodded and started walking in a random direction. As the saying went, "If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there."

They trudged through the dead forest, fallen branches cracking underneath their feet, faint traces of moonlight leaking through the canopy above.

Both Leonidas and Willow were lost in their thoughts, stuck at the moment they had just shared, and the budding seed of their relation. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Now that I think about it...what are we?

They were not strangers, nor were they exactly friends. Companions?

Both of us often refer to each other as companions, strangers who’ll never meet after this wild adventure is over.

But was that really true, because with each passing day, Leonidas was doubting it more and more. But if not all that, what was left?

They weren’t lovers; that was a statement too far-fetched. There was certainty in his belief that no matter what happened, his feeling for Willow would never be romantic...would never be anything more than platonic.

Leonidas stopped walking, then let out a self-deprecating chuckle.

Here I am, lying to myself again.

Leonidas sighed.

Let’s just not think about this...I’m not in the right state of mind.

All of a sudden, he halted, Willow almost crashing into him. His cerulean eyes scanned the horizon, staring at the entrance of a colossal cave.

It was slightly above the ground, an opening like the mouth of a beast. The cave led inwards, towards the bottom of the earth. But that wasn’t what made Leonidas stop; if anything, finding the cave was a good thing. It meant they could finally rest.

What stopped him was the crimson dust that filled the air. It was abundant, covering the ground like a layer of snow.

They were like drops of dew, fresh and screaming of nature...only that they weren’t. Just a short distance from his current location, Leonidas saw something that made him certain of his deductions.

There, half-stabbed into a tree, was a flower. It was large, much larger than a normal flower, with petals made of crimson crystals, holding a faintly divine feeling.

Just beside it, along the ground ran claw marks the size of a body, large and deep, reeking of blood.

The flowers, identical to the symbol of Bloom, the goddess of everything that was born, the Great Mother of Birth herself.

Willow’s eyes locked onto his back, drilling holes into his skull.

"How are they here...I’m certain we flew a far, far distance away."

His cerulean eyes stayed trained on the claw marks, a hateful feeling rising from the depths of his heart.

"Good news is that I know where we are...the bad news, however...is that I know where we are."

He had been here before, after all...right after a terrible swim at that.