The bed I was given was too small… Something I never thought I'd have to worry about in the land of giants… I lifted my head to see my splinted leg and raised my right hand to see three splinted fingers and a cast around my arm. Herb-soaked bandages wrapped around my neck and right shoulder, and for better or for worse, the wings and tail were all just gone somehow. 'I've been hurt worse…' I lifted my left hand to look at the large claws and shimmering scales. 'This isn't permanent either, I hope… Wait, actually… No, even getting dressed would be hard with a hand bigger than my shoulder.'
I grabbed my sword and used it as a krutch, helping me to stand and walk. By the time I made it to the main deck, it had somehow been spliced back together, which was good sense since we were still floating, I guess. Everyone I passed saluted me, making me feel a bit awkward until I finally saw a familiar face in my brother, who, true to himself, acted as if my appearance was perfectly normal…
"Good to see you're feeling better, but are you sure you shouldn't be resting?"
"It can wait. I have to finish things here first…" I said softly, having only a little bit left in my voice.
"Fine, then let me carry you."
'For once, it's not a bad idea…' I groaned as he lifted me onto his back and carried me across the deck. As we weaved past a bit of construction, we eventually came into clear view of the main open area. There sat the demon's carcass, and atop it stood Rafi… But it wasn't any of the ones that I knew… Black mist radiated from her body and dripped like blood from her robes. Her eyeballs were black as well, with silver moonlight pupils that shone with an ominous aura, frost radiating from her familiar hat, keeping the soft icy blue glow to it. Massive, jagged black crystals stuck out from the entire left half of her body, and her right arm was completely blue as though it had been frozen and died long ago.
'Siya, come here, quickly'
"Hurry Airsidh…"
He ran, covering the distance as fast as he could, and Rafi floated down from the demon's corpse, landing so softly it was as if she never touched the ground. "Do you remember our promise?"
"I do… Airsidh, put me down…"
He took a step back. "Are you sure?"
"Having second thoughts?" I smirked, finally catching him hesitant to do something and pinching his ear. "Put me down already."
He sighed, complying. After I got my balance, I hoped to get closer and lifted my arms out. "Just… Watch the spikes, please…"
She didn't move an inch, just started to cry, trails of black tar sliding down her face against her frozen skin. 'In the end, she really is still just a little girl crying to the wind…' I sighed, hoping closer still and carefully hugging her, trying not to hurt myself. "So, is it warmer?" I asked after a moment. "If you want, I can try and breathe fire on you. But I think I'm all out."
I felt her body jerk slightly with every breath as she laughed between tears. "Sorry, but I think I need to help you this time…"
A surge of dark magic shot through me, and the same black crystals started shooting out from the parts of my body not covered in scales until an explosion of force reverted me back to my smaller form. She carefully caught me and gently laid me on the ground, then everything receded, and I was back to normal… Normal… For me, at least… Everything still ached, but as far as I could tell, I was fully human again. Weirder still, my bones weren't broken anymore. 'Guess it's not permanent then. That's nice, I guess…' "So what now?"
She raised her eyes and stared off at the sea. "My soul is tired now… Thank you for keeping your promises…" She tugged on the brim of her hat and took two steps away, vanishing mid-stride as she faded into glimmers of moonlight.
'Of course she'd be tired too… She's been feeling that way for thousands of years… Makes me feel kind of guilty for complaining…'
"Siya…" My brother said sternly. "I hope you know I am expecting an explanation for all that…"
I sighed, throwing an arm up over my head as I rested on the ground. "Oh, that was the god of the abyss, me and her were like super tight, she taught me how to slay demons and use dark magic and stuff."
He growled for what felt like the first time, his eyes becoming stern as he stared holes through me.
'I-is he actually being serious right now? Him, of all people? He's not mad… Right?'
His face suddenly relaxed as if afraid of the worry in my eyes. "It's a good enough excuse for now, at least… Anyway, you need to fulfill your role as general or king or whatever you are now, so let's go find Lu. She's meeting with the others in the war room."
'Lu is?' "Alright… Sure." I slowly sat up and lifted my arms out to him. "Please carry me, big brother, I need your help."
He blankly stared at me for a moment, blinking as if frozen in place. 'I thought this is how I had to ask him for help if I wanted it… Did he change his mind?' Suddenly feeling embarrassed, I slowly pulled my arms back to my chest. "U-uh… Airsidh?"
He cleared his throat before picking me up like a little kid. "I'll help you out. After this, though, we should probably get your head checked…"
"I will bite you…"
"And she's back."
I growled, reaching up to hug his neck and choke him half heartedly before quickly relaxing. 'Still though… In that fight, he was more reliable than anyone… And he's somehow always there when I need him…' "Hey Air…" I muttered. He simply continued walking, waiting for me to finish, not even bothering to respond. It almost made me question whether or not he heard me, but I was so close to his ear I knew there was no way he didn't. Lifting myself up, I kissed him on the cheek before relaxing again, my voice hurting too much to bother talking anymore.
His stride suddenly stopped, but his face remained unchanged. 'Are we here already?' I turned to look, but we were still in a hallway, certainly not in the war room. "Why did you stop?"
He cleared his throat and continued on his way again. "It's nothing… Just making sure I didn't lose my balance… The waves out at sea and all…"
"O-oh…" 'Yeah, if he fell while holding me, I might break something else too… Wait, is he that hurt that he can't keep his balance? Why is he carrying me then?'
"Anyway, here is the current situation. The demon is dead, and its blood naturally terrifies monsters into staying far away, so if we leave its corpse in the sea at the right location, our original plan will still work. However, the boat is in terrible shape. We aren't in a good enough condition to travel through the monster-infested waters after dumping the corpse."
'That should be solved easily enough…'
"I'm sure you'll think of something… Even if that something is you suddenly growing a tail and using it to launch yourself out of a ballista…"
I tried to nervously let out a small chuckle, barely managing to smile instead. "Maybe… We don't tell mom about this one…" I muttered.
He sighed as we came up to the war room door and discreetly adjusted my oversized clothes for me before going in... not that they really needed it…
I just sighed, rolling my eyes at him since I was pretty much unable to move anything else. 'Right… Back to fighting a war…'