"Hm? Do you know me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not exactly…" he replied, pausing to consider his words.
"To be more precise, I know Simon."
At the mention of the name, her eyes widened slightly. A moment later she spoke with sudden urgency.
"Simon? Where is he? Is he okay?"
Kris, surprised by her reaction, lowered his gaze to the small fire burning between them, its flames dancing softly in the dark.
They must be very close. Depending on what I say, I might end up losing her trust… but I don't want to lie to her either.
After a few moments, he lifted his eyes back to hers before speaking reluctantly.
"When I met him, he was already in a rather precarious state. I'm sorry."
"A-ah." she stammered, lowering her gaze to her hands as they clasped each other nervously.
"I see."
After that, the two of them remained silent for a while, watching the fire.
Kris, somewhat uneasy, cast a few furtive glances in her direction.
Was I too blunt?
However, as if sensing his doubt, Marceline lifted her gaze back to him, seemingly composed again.
"So… how do you know Simon?"
"Oh, how I met him?" With the tension easing a little, he brought a hand to his chin, trying to remember as much as he could.
"Well, before the war I was a fan of his work—"
Before he could finish, Marceline cut him off, her eyes widening in surprise.
"Before the war?! Shouldn't you be some old geezer? You look about my age!"
"Hm? And how old are you?"
"I turned fifteen this year."
"Then you were born before the war too, dummy."
She let out a light chuckle, while Kris simply deadpanned.
"By the way, are you really okay with believing me so easily?"
Hearing his question, she stopped laughing for a moment before giving him a faint, melancholic smile.
"It's fine. When you go years without anyone 'decent' to talk to, you tend to get lonely."
With a sigh, he replied, closing his eyes.
"I understand perfectly."
But in his mind, he grumbled at Simon.
Simon, you lied to me.
However, with curiosity burning in him, he opened his eyes and looked toward her. She was now adjusting the strings of her bass.
"How did you spend the years after you and Simon separated?"
A grumpy expression crossed her face, and she pulled one of the strings a little too hard, making it whine in protest.
"Oh, the usual. Like everyone else."
"The usual…?" he asked, noticing the clear shift in her demeanor.
"The usual, you know?" she continued, tightening the string more and more.
"Being welcomed back by your idiot demon dad who doesn't care about anyone's feelings — not even his own daughter's — only cares about sucking the soul out of anyone who crosses his path, and can't even read the mood of a place—"
She was cut off when the string snapped, nearly slicing her hand.
"Whoops. That's the second one this week."
Meanwhile, Kris simply listened to everything with a poker face.
Damn.
But his curiosity quickly returned.
"Demon dad?"
Marceline, who had gone to retrieve another string from a small pouch she carried with her, returned while giving a small wave.
"Yeah, I'm half-demon."
"Half-demon, huh?"
Would anyone in their right mind even have that kind of relationship with a demon?
Before he could ask anything else, she started speaking while fixing the new string onto her bass.
"My turn."
He fell silent, waiting, his eyes fixed on the instrument.
Is that an axe?
She began to hum softly while thinking about what to ask first, until she looked into his eyes.
"Alright, what are you?"
"That sounded rude, you know."
She merely shrugged, finishing fixing the string and setting the bass down beside her.
"Hmm… I don't really know what I am either. I guess you could say I'm a radioactive humanoid… or something like that."
"A radioactive… humanoid?" She asked, crossing her arms and tilting her head.
"Actually, it's more like a radioactive mass that can reshape itself, so I can take forms other than a humanoid—"
He stopped when he noticed her expression.
"Are you following?"
"Nah, you lost me."
He simply stared at her with a slight frown, then reshaped his hand in front of her.
"Basically, I'm a blob."
She snapped her fingers with a grin.
"Oh, got it now."
Reshaping his hand back to normal, he turned toward her.
"My turn, then?"
She merely shrugged as she settled into a more comfortable position.
"Sure, go ahead."
"Hmm…"
"Alright, what are you aiming for?"
She raised an eyebrow in confusion, one of her hands moving to the back of her neck.
"What do you mean?"
"I didn't phrase that well. What's your reason for traveling?"
"Oh," she said in understanding, before breaking into a smile and resting her hands on her knees.
"Actually, I'm hunting vampires."
Kris's eyes widened slightly as he recalled his recent encounter.
"Vampires?"
"Yeah. My dad used to tell a lot of stories about them—how they only care about draining the blood of any creature they see, especially humans."
But then her expression darkened as she crossed her arms.
"He'd even talk about it with a bit of pride."
"I see…" he replied, narrowing his eyes slightly, one hand resting on his chin.
"But why?"
She simply looked back at him, giving another shrug.
"Why not? I don't want humans to go extinct—and from the stories my dad told, they're pretty despicable."
He simply nodded, knowing it was true.
"Now it's my turn."
"Go ahead."
Then she began to stroke an imaginary mustache thoughtfully.
"I've got it." she suddenly exclaimed.
"What's your reason for traveling?"
The question made Kris freeze.
His gaze dropped to the fire, his eyes narrowing slightly as he crossed his arms.
What is my reason…?
When I woke up, I just wandered aimlessly until I found Simon. After his request, I wandered in search of Marceline.
He lifted his eyes back to her. She was waiting patiently, one hand resting on her chin as she leaned it against her knee.
But now I've already found her… so what's my reason now…?
"I—"
"If you don't have an answer, you don't have to say anything."
She cut in with a small smile.
His gaze shifted back to her, confused.
Then he pressed his lips into a thin line as he thought.
"Actually—"
Marceline lifted her head slightly, her long ears twitching up just a bit.
"I… don't really have a reason for traveling."
She remained silent, so he continued, lowering his gaze back to the fire.
"So… would I be a bother if I helped you?"
At the sudden request, her eyebrows lifted in surprise.
But then, bringing a hand to her mouth, she considered it.
"I'll think about it—but can you fight? I'll probably be spending the next few years killing vampires."
Nodding, he replied,
"I have some experience. Before coming here, I killed six vampires."
"Six?!"
She exclaimed, eyes wide, while Kris merely raised his eyebrows, surprised by her reaction.
"What? Is that a lot?"
"Is that a lot? Do you have any idea how strong vampires are?"
He simply crossed his arms, tilting his head slightly.
"Well… they're pretty fast, and their regeneration is annoying. But I didn't find them that terrifying—though they are pretty arrogant."
Marceline scratched the back of her head a little before replying,
"Sounds like they were just minions. Killing six is still impressive, but they're nothing compared to the high-ranking ones."
His curiosity piqued at that.
"High-ranking?"
She simply nodded, picking up a stick to draw on the ground.
"Vampires have a pretty simple hierarchy. At the first level, you've got the minions."
She explained as she sketched a base.
"Even though they're strong compared to other creatures, within the vampire lineage, they're the weakest."
"Got it… so they're like pawns—weak on their own, but strong together?"
She simply nodded, then drew a step above the base.
"And then, above the minions, you've got the high-ranking ones."
Inside the step, she drew four lines.
"There are only four of them right now, but they're ridiculously strong."
"On top of that, high-ranking vampires have supernatural abilities."
Kris listened in silence, nodding for her to continue.
Then, drawing a point above the step, she sketched a crown in the middle.
"And finally… the Vampire King."
Kris broke the silence, his serious eyes meeting hers.
"If he's the original, then he's even stronger. Right?"
She laughed, raising her thumbs and index fingers at him.
"You bet."
Bringing a hand to his mouth as he took it all in, he lifted his head toward her.
"Is there anything else?"
She then rested her hand under her chin, listing it off.
"A few things—like their names and the history of vampires."
"Oh, I'd like to hear that."
"Alright, then," she said, waving her hand dismissively.
"Basically, vampires have existed since before humans. After the Ice Age began, they buried themselves underground to hibernate. The war is what woke them up."
Kris, understanding the situation, asked,
"So they're immortal?"
She simply nodded, then began drawing a few squares on the ground, writing inside them.
"Now, names. First, we have the weakest one: The Fool."
Kris lifted his head at the title.
"The Fool? Why is he called that?"
Marceline just laughed.
"Because he's a lunatic."
"Got it."
Then she moved on to the next square.
"Now, The Empress."
"She isn't directly stronger than The Fool, but she's the main informant and recruiter of the vampires, which means…"
"When we run into her, we'll have to deal with an army."
"Exactly."
Moving on to the next square, she drew a moon inside it.
"And now, we have The Moon."
"The Vampire King has a thing for tarot, huh?"
"Looks like it," she confirmed with a laugh.
"Anyway, I'm not exactly sure what her role is in the court, but she's definitely far above The Fool and The Empress."
Kris simply nodded in silence, his eyes fixed on the fire, now fading into its last embers.
"And then, last but not least…"
She wrote in the final square.
"The Hierophant."
"Hierophant? Is he some kind of traditionalist?"
"Maybe? My dad didn't give many details."
As the last embers of the fire finally died out, the sun began to rise over the horizon.
Noticing the dawn, the two of them finally stood.
"Alright then… The Fool is our first target?"
"Yep. We'll gather information first."
And at last, extending their hands toward each other, they sealed their agreement.
"I'll trust you with my back."
"Same here."