Chapter 26: Lessons

“It’s time, Sairek.”

Sairek’s far and distant dreaming was interrupted by the cutting of Cyial’s voice in his head, who suddenly appeared in his dream, standing in front of him.

Time? Time for what?

“It’s time, Sairek!” Cyial repeated, more sterner this time, approaching him until he gripped his shoulders and began to shake him a little.


“Sheesh…” Cyial breathed out loud to himself as he stood back up from Sairek. How could a Prince be so lazy in the morning that he still refused to wake up even after being shaken? Taking more drastic measures, Cyial grabbed at the blankets and with a bit of tugging away from Sairek’s unconscious grip, pulled them off and down to his waist, leaving the Prince to grumble in objection in his sleep and to roll flat onto his back.

...Still nothing.

Cyial sighed. There were plenty of ways to wake the Prince up—not all of them were exactly appropriate or non-invasive.

Oh well...

He could repeat what he did yesterday, but that did seem to have annoyed the other boy a little. Thinking some more, he instead reached over Sairek’s slightly parted lips and sealed them with his own. Not applying pressure like a kiss but...
...Well, the reaction he got from him a few seconds later was the one he was waiting for.

“Mmph…??” Sairek let out in muffled confusion as he was jolted awake, opening his eyes and blinking a few times only to a scene that made him blush. He was allowed to breathe a couple seconds later when Cyial pulled away.

“I figured that would get you up finally.” The demon sighed, then changed his mood with a forced smile. “Good morning!” He greeted him.

“C-Cyial!” Sairek breathed. “Couldn’t you have shaken me or something?”

“...I did. You just mumbled in your sleep and rolled away.” Cyial frowned. “Also, you didn’t seem to appreciate what I did last time, so…”

“Well, that sure woke me up alright…” Sairek mumbled.

“Did you not appreciate that either?” Cyial asked, with a tilt of his head.

“That’s not what I said…” Sairek began.

“So you did appreciate it.”

“...That’s not what I said, either!”

Cyial let out a small laugh at that response. Sairek grumbled at him, face flushed and shifted where he half lay, half sat. The truth was he didn’t hate it at all, but it was still quite embarrassing nonetheless.

“Anyway, if you don’t get ready soon, you’ll be having more laps to do this morning than you already have to.” Cyial reminded him seriously.

“...Fine, alright, alright…” Sairek grumbled.

Cyial waited, though Sairek did not move from his spot on the bed.

“Sairek—”

“Give me a second to… compose myself…!” Sairek cut him off.

Cyial blinked, paused, then sighed. Turning away from Sairek, he moved himself into a corner of the room, closing his eyes with a small shake of his head…

“Quiet, you!’ Sairek blushed.

“I didn’t say anything.” Cyial spoke into the corner out loud to the Prince behind him as he heard the other boy hastily scrambling to dress himself. The corner was fortunate to hide the small wry smirk on his face.

“Not out loud, but you’re definitely thinking it in your head!” Sairek pressed him.

Well, that was definitely true, but he certainly wasn’t going to admit it.

* * *

“I’m… huah… d-done…” Sairek gasped, before collapsing onto his back in the grass next to Cyial, coated in sweat and heaving deeply. Cyial looked away from his book and seated it in his lap slowly. He looked down at Sairek, frowning at the almost pained expression on his face and the sorry state he looked to be in. He felt guilty, even though he knew it wasn’t his fault entirely.

“Good!” Fuyiki’s voice rang from behind them both, and Cyial looked up when Fuyiki’s shadow had casted over both of them when he approached. “Five minutes of rest and then we’ll do the usual schedule.”

“Five minutes?” Cyial protested for Sairek who couldn’t even really talk right now, too busy gasping for air. “Isn’t that pushing him a little bit too much?” He asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

“That’s how he’ll get stronger and build up stamina. Pushing himself.” Fuyiki answered. “After all, it’s not like your group will be staying here for much longer, right? It’s crunch time.”

“Leaving presumably according to Nayleen…” Cyial corrected him. “I just don’t want Sairek to be injured by being pushed too hard…” he mumbled, looking back at the heaving Prince.

“He’s young and stubborn. He’ll be fine.” Fuyiki reassured him.

Cyial looked back up at Fuyiki, furrowing his brows a little. He wasn’t wrong, but...
He glanced back to the side as he saw Sairek’s hand raise up, pointing at Fuyiki. “I hate you…” Sairek retorted at his teacher through his own gasps. Then the hand plopped back down. Cyial’s frown deepened, though this time in amusement.

“See? He’s fine.” Fuyiki answered, ending the conversation there as he turned around and stepped back away to leave the Prince to rest, at least for the few minutes he had, anyway.

Cyial glanced back watching him walk off, then looked down at Sairek once more. “...Are you okay?” He pressed.

“I think… I can survive a couple… more days of this…” Sairek panted out. “...Maybe.” He added after a short pause. "Nayleen better not be stuck in there for more than a week..."

“Thinking isn’t the same as knowing.”

“I completely agree…”

Cyial reached into his robe, pulling out a flask he decided to grab and fill up earlier for Sairek and hoisting Sairek back up into a sitting position. He opened it for him and poured it down his mouth for him as well. Sairek gulped greedily, a small stream of water trickling down his chin, yet he gave no regard for it, only wiping it away when Cyial pulled the flask back.

“Thanks… water sure has never tasted more delicious in my life before than these past few days...” Sairek mumbled.

“I don’t know why, but I get upset seeing you struggle so hard like this…” Cyial admitted.

“Upset?” Sairek asked.

Cyial gave a dismissive shrug as he put the now empty flask back into his robe. “Maybe upset isn’t the right word. Concerned, might be better? I just don’t want you to get hurt, Sairek. That's all.”

“I trust that Fuyiki knows what he’s doing; as much as I hate to admit it…” Sairek mumbled with a sidelong glance to see where the man had wandered off to, though he couldn’t find him, so he looked back towards Cyial and continued. “I haven’t been hurt so far, have I?”

Cyial looked at him appraisingly, then blinked with his eyes twice.

“My wounded pride does not count.” Sairek interjected at Cyial’s glare.

That caused Cyial to crack a faint smile, a bit more reassured. “No, I suppose you haven’t. Just don’t push yourself too hard, okay?”

“Oi, you two, get over here!” Fuyiki called out to them from a distance away.

“Deal.” Sairek said as if they hadn’t been interrupted. Cyial closed his book in his lap and stood up and pulled Sairek up along with him. They both walked together towards where Fuyiki was waiting for them. When Sairek got in front of him, he began going down onto his hands and knees.

“What are you doing?” Fuyiki asked him.

“...Getting ready for the push-ups?” Sairek answered in a confused tone. That was the usual schedule they’ve been doing so far, after all.

“No, we’re not doing that today.” The older man answered him.

Sairek pushed himself back onto his feet with a frown on his face. “Didn’t you say we would be going back to the regular sche—”

“Changed my mind.” Fuyiki interrupted Sairek.

“...This concerns me greatly.”

Fuyiki rolled his eyes at him as Cyial muffled a chortle. “I probably already know the answer to this, but do you know how to swim?”

“Er… no.” Sairek answered. “I mean, I’ve heard of what to do to swim, but I never actually put it into practice.”

“What about climbing a tree?” Fuyiki continued.

Sairek shook his head.

“Yeah, that’s what I figured. We’ll start with the tree then.” Fuyiki answered.

“I’m just… supposed to climb trees? For how long?” Sairek asked. “And why?”

“If you think just doing sit ups, push-ups and pull ups everyday will help work all the muscles in your body… Well, you’d be mostly right. BUT—” Fuyiki started with emphasis, holding up a finger close to Sairek’s lips when he opened his mouth to interrupt. “—it is good to do other activities every now and then as well. Vary the exercises.” Fuyiki continued, moving his hand to point with his thumb at the tree behind him. “Climbing trees will really focus on your hands and arms as well as your legs. If you don’t have endurance, you will run out of energy and fall down.”

“Wonderful…” Sairek drawled.

“So go ahead and start climbing.” Fuyiki pointed at the tree he was next to.

Sairek looked up from the base of the tree. It… well, it was just an ordinary tree. A smaller one actually. He supposed Fuyiki was taking it a bit easy on him since he never climbed one before. Well… how hard could it be? Though, there was still the added challenge he was absolutely winded from his marathon from only a few minutes ago. He was still breathing fairly heavy and his legs weren’t supporting his full weight like normal.

He studied the top of the tree before the branches began to spread out. Even if he fell from that height and Fuyiki failed to catch him, he doubted it would even be that much of a painful spill. He might even be able to land it, though that might have been pushing it. With a sigh of resignation, Sairek stepped up to the base of the tree and moved to grip the base with both hands and then… then...

“Err… how do I do this?” Sairek mumbled.

“Oh for the—” Fuyiki sighed. “Rich kids, I swear.”

“Well, excuse me for never being taught?” Sairek retorted. “You asked me if I had ever climbed a tree before and I said no!”

“You just—climb it! Dig your fingers in, try to grip it hard, dig your boots into the bark for friction, try to find wherever you have the most grip—I don’t know what you want me to say boy. You’re nearly a teenager, it can’t be that hard to figure out on your own.”

Sairek grumbled and tried to do what Fuyiki was failing to explain to him. He reached up high as he could with one hand, keeping his left closer to his head and then reached up with his right foot, trying to find an angle where his foot had the most grip. When he thought he had found it, he pressed his foot in as much as he could, gripped the tree as tightly as he could with his hands, and tried to pull himself up. He realized immediately while he pulled himself up and pressed his other foot to the tree why this was going to be difficult and tiring.

“There you go, see? Not that difficult to figure out.” Fuyiki said.

Sairek ignored his passive-aggressive encouragement, detecting the sarcasm in his voice. He continued to slowly work up the tree, though already he was feeling his limbs starting to wane again, especially his legs. He decided to try and pick up the pace a little instead despite that.

Three minutes later, and very much struggling to hold on, he weakly managed to make it up towards the branches. He reached out to grasp one of them for leverage and then tried to use it to support most of his weight.

*SNAP*

Sairek’s heart sank when he heard that noise and he tossed the branch away but the sudden shift of his weight coming back was too much and he yelled out as his hand and shoes gave away and he plummeted back towards the ground. The impact was painless as he landed onto something soft that bounced him up into the air twice before he settled with a wobble and became still. He opened his eyes and turned his head around himself to see he landed on a mattress. No doubt Fuyiki’s doing.

“We’ll give you two minutes of rest, and then you’ll try again.” Fuyiki said.

“Can’t it be a little bit longer? My hands burn from that, even with the gloves…” Sairek grumbled.

“Too bad.”

Sairek sighed.

* * *

“There, this should make them feel better.” Cyial reassured Sairek as he helped him kneel down in front of a small lake bed. Sairek dipped his hands into the water and breathed a sigh of relief from the cool water coming into contact with his sore hands.

“Yeah, that feels much better already…” He breathed. “I’m half tempted to go for a dip myself, I feel sore all over. It’s too cold, though.”

Cyial glanced over at Sairek with a frown. “Fuyiki did ask me to teach you how to swim.”

“Oh, right.”

“Not feeling up to it today, though?”

“I don’t know. I kind of feel like it, but I am pretty tired. At the same time I want to learn more and practice the meditation thing.” Sairek answered. “I just don’t think I’d be able to do it well like this, though. I might fall asleep trying to meditate at this rate.”

“Well, let’s worry about helping your hands first. I’m still annoyed he pushed you that far.” Cyial muttered.

“It’s fine, Cyial. It doesn’t hurt any more than my muscles ache. Besides, this little bit of pain will help prevent a lot more potential pain in the future. It’s not like the country is safe in the wilderness and I have very little actual experience when it comes to this kind of thing… I...” Sairek paused, glancing back at the water. “I feel kind of stupid with how little I know really. When I first left the castle the first time, I guess it was kind of just out of reaction but… well, I really don’t know anything to protect myself; or you guys. I’m definitely not in the shape to do that either.”

“Nayleen knows a lot though. I do too… well, to some extent.” Cyial answered.

“I thought some of the monsters ignored you?” Sairek asked.

“They did. It’s not the monsters I had to worry about, though. I felt safer outside the city than inside half the time.”

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

Cyial shook his head and smiled faintly. “Well, you are better with dealing with people if it comes to that, I guess.”

“I wish. I didn’t exactly do well in Lamen. I foolishly accepted a duel against a cheater and then got kidnapped like a moron and was nearly made to do… things. Things that still scare me to think about, to be honest. The only thing I managed to do right was get Lavian to help us. I hope I can only improve from here on.”

“You helped me get out of there.” Cyial interjected.

“I thought you liked it there?” Sairek asked in a hint of surprise.

Cyial shook his head. “The other monastery members... ‘tolerated’ me, I suppose. I was never treated badly by them but… well, they certainly didn’t like me. They never really wanted to talk to me and conversations were generally strictly business. It was only Father Abbot that was the enjoyable thing and the only one who treated me with actual genuine kindness. I miss him of course, but honestly, this is far much better. I feel… a lot more relieved. Especially being with you. You accept me for what I am, and you enjoy who I am.”

Sairek nearly frowned but he forced the need to express his emotion away. The fact that Cyial found this much better than how he had it before was in a way, sad. At the same time though, he found this better than living in the castle too. Just for a completely different reason. For him, this was… liberating. He was not bogged down by responsibilities. With his friends, he could express himself how he wanted. He didn’t have to hide his emotions, pretend to be someone different of whom he was very much not. He could joke, tease, or heck, even be made fun of and his friends would not care if he was acting professional or not.

“In a weird way, it’s kind of fun and thrilling, isn’t it?” Sairek asked after a lengthy pause. Then he frowned. “Well, not… this.” He reaffirmed, gesturing with a shake of his hands with a frown. “Just… pretty much everything else. The journey itself.”

“It certainly is.” Cyial agreed with a nod, shifting from his kneeling position to sitting down next to Sairek. “Even though I’m uh, quite shy, we’ve certainly already met a few interesting folks too, haven’t we? Everyone and everywhere is so different… I wonder how much different it will be in Kior?”

“Well, we haven’t exactly heard the most revving critique about how Kior is so far. It has made me a bit anxious.” Sairek admitted. “It’s kind of weird, you’d think a gigantic metropolis that is such a city would have a bit less mystique surrounding it, yet a lot of what you hear is just rumors and speculation.”

“I haven’t seen it myself of course, but I’ve heard that Kior’s city is quite unlike anything else in the continent at all. A massive city, where even up in the sky on one of the city’s airships, it’s like a forest of buildings. Large, tall, metallic and stone structures, as far as the eye can see, even from up in the sky." Cyial murmured. “Apparently a large portion of it is also split off by water coming in from the ocean, that gradually splits off into a riverbend that streaks its way through the city which is where they get most of their water from. There’s a number of bridges which connect the two sides of the city, but still, apparently it would take even days to walk from one end of the city to another even in a straight line. Thankfully, they have lots of methods of transportation, like those airships.”

“That big, huh? How many days are we talking?” Sairek asked.

“Three, maybe four days?”

“Seriously, the size of the city spans a greater distance between Marid and Lamen?” Sairek blinked.

“And they’re still building and expanding.” Cyial nodded.

“Lands. No wonder pollution is a problem. People aren’t necessarily the most responsible when it comes to keeping where they live clean. That’s why we hire other people to handle that stuff for us, like in the castle.”

“It’s not so much as ‘garbage’ as it is the way of life there.” Cyial commented. “Many chemicals, gasses and things to run all of the machinery... It's not too unlike how pollution with magic works over here when you think about it. Of course, they also use a combination of both technology and magic to run some machines, too. We do have a lot more monsters than the other countries, after all, it's just we're also responsible in getting rid of them. As far as monsters go, Kior’s city is completely clean of them as well, so I suppose you can argue that despite its size, it’s more clean in some ways than even our villages.”

“I do wonder how they keep a city that large clean of accidents with magic from happening. In the rare cases even over here, energies can clash together to conjure up a monster even inside the walls of any town or city.”

“Probably more of their technology at work. The real problem is the crime rate, though…” Cyial mused.

“I guess it’s a good thing I got my jewel attached to my clothes then. No way to pickpocket that.”

Cyial frowned. “Erm… that jewel will draw more attention than you think, Sairek. You are the Prince of Ceareste, though. I’m sure there will be more than a few people escorting you.”

“Ah, I kind of wanted to just… sneak in unofficially.”

“Um…? Why?”

“To not have attention in the first place. I got kidnapped in Lamen because I kind of drew attention to myself. If that happened in Lamen, I don’t even want to think of the manner of things that could happen in a city like Kior. At the very least, Lamen taught me to be a little more subtle for cities. If I’m just some kid like probably any of the thousands in the city then who would care?”

“...Haven’t you announced yourself or been recognized in literally every place we’ve visited since Lamen?”

“I’m...  working on it…! It’s a learning process and takes time to break habits, you know?”

Cyial shook his head. “We need Nayleen for this. Besides, if you’re allowed in officially, then like I said, there will be escorts. I doubt anyone will even try to approach you and if they did, you’d be more than well protected.”

“Agreed.” Sairek nodded. “And a map of the city.”

“I’m sure we’ll find one. A place of that size surely has many of them.” Cyial said, shifting his seating position, changing his tone to speak more firmly. “Now, since you seem to have some 'sass' left in you, I guess I am teaching you how to swim properly today.”

Sairek blinked. “Aww, come on. The water is way too cold. We don’t even have a towel.”

“No complaints Sairek. What would you do if for whatever reason, you fell into a deep body of water and couldn’t keep yourself afloat?” Cyial asked.

“Isn’t there some magic spell that can just keep me afloat anyway?” Sairek answered with his own question.

Cyial just looked at him sternly.

“...Fine.” Sairek resigned with a sigh. “At least it’s with you. Geez… How did you guys drag me into all of this again?”

“Come on, quit stalling.”

Sairek grunted as he stood up. He removed the belt of his pants, while Cyial removed his robe. They kept undressing until both were only down to their underwear, then stepped his feet into the first inches of the lake, gasping at the coldness he felt. Honestly, with the summer heat and the morning sun beaming on him, it didn’t feel that bad. It was colder than he would have liked still, but it was a relief from the heat. Today was going to be quite hot in the afternoon it would seem. However, he still felt anxiety beginning to build up into him a little bit. Cyial stepped up next to him, taking Sairek’s hand into his own gently as if he were able to read Sairek’s apprehension. “We’ll go in together and when it starts becoming too deep for you, just let me know. Then we’ll begin. I won’t let you sink.”

“‘Kay…”

Sairek inhaled and exhaled with a deep breath, then he slowly began stepping forward into the water. It started off with a fairly gentle decline, but quickly dropped off much steeper. Sairek was practically tip-toeing himself forward for fear of losing balance and falling into the lake before he was ready to commit to not having his feet holding him up anymore in the first place. The grip his feet had wasn’t exactly stable. The texture of the ground felt in a way, alien. Soggy and muddy which was sinking between his toes. He never really felt that on his bare feet before. There had always been the ocean next to the castle, and even the beach where he had first met Nayleen. A couple of times he had been there of course, but he never really did anything with it. Just stared at the ocean view during those late nights where he just had to get away for a while, or during the times when arguments with his father had reached their worst.

He shuddered when he felt the water beginning to soak into his underwear. It really was cold. Still, he continued, Cyial reassuringly squeezing his hand whenever he paused to encourage him to continue. The demon was being exceptionally patient with him, he must have been taking an age. It sure felt like it.

At last, Sairek kept going further and further until the water was lapping over his shoulders, he breathed in small pants, straining his neck to look upwards a little so what little waves the lake had wouldn’t splash over his face, even though they weren’t at all rough. “I can’t go any further…” Sairek muttered. “And I am bloody cold.”

Cyial let out a chuckle. “I’m gonna let go of your hand now, okay?”

“‘Kay…” Sairek mumbled again.

“Don’t worry, I am still here Sairek.” Cyial assured him. Slowly he released the Prince’s hand, who instinctively, slowly, moved to spread his arms out to balance himself as the movement of the water threatened to cause him to tip over this way and that.

“Okay Sairek, now I want you to just begin to lean backwards into me. Don’t worry, I still got you. Do it with one leg, then lean back and hold that other leg out in front of you as you lean back until you lose balance, then hold that other leg out. I won’t let you sink, I promise.”

Sairek gulped, but nodded slowly, his arms still spread out, he followed Cyial’s instructions. He felt the demon’s hands move to brace against the back of his hips while he began to lean, relinquishing the balance of his left foot, he raised it up. With his arms spread and one leg raised like this, he felt like he was some sort of ballet dancer. The thought amused him to help take his mind from what he was doing as he leaned back more, until he lost his balance due to his uneven weight and his other leg kicked out from underneath him. He inhaled in a gasp sharply from instinct, splashing and kicking water up, swearing he was about to sink under the water and he held his breath instinctively. However, Cyial was good on his promise, holding the Prince’s back with one arm and catching his chest with his other to steady him and keeping him afloat as he stayed above the water, looking straight up into the sky and Cyial’s face looking down at him.

“Lands, that’s scary…” Sairek said after a moment when the realization that Cyial had stopped him as the other boy had promised began to settle in.

“Yeah, I know. How do you think I felt when I was less than half your age when Father Abbot taught me?” Cyial chuckled, then he paused, looking down at Sairek with a smirk. “Also, I must say, this is a pretty precious view.”

Sairek blushed. “That better not have been your motive.”

“Of course not. I know, the underwear wasn’t designed to get wet like this. I’m more impressed you didn’t protest because of that.”

“Not anything you haven’t seen at this point.”

“I wouldn’t have guessed based on your reaction of not wanting to be seen this morning.”

“O-Oi! Will you get on with your swimming lesson already!” Sairek huffed. “Seriously, I thought you were on my side against Nayleen. I’m starting to feel betrayed now!”

“My apologies. I guess it is ‘more’ embarrassing when there’s just ‘more’ of it in general, after all.”

“I am going to splash you.”

Cyial laughed harder this time. “Sorry, it’s just too amusing to resist. Anyway, I’m going to let you go now, alright?”

“W-What–?”

He didn’t get much time to protest as Cyial’s hands underneath and around his chest let go slowly, and he stiffened and inhaled deep instinctively to hold his breath, though was surprised he did not sink much at all. Instead, he just lay in the water, spread out as he was.

“That’s good, just relax Sairek. I’m still here.” Cyial reassured him.

Sairek slowly eased the exhaled breath back out. “Is it seriously this easy?” He asked, a bit of nervousness was still in his voice.

“Well, it’s much easier when you’re not wearing any clothes and are still a kid. It will be much different once you start filling up on weight as you grow up or have those clothes on if you ever for whatever reason did get knocked into the water. Thankfully, you’re pretty light and small.”

“...Not sure if that’s a compliment or not.” Sairek retorted. “I guess it’s better than Nayleen hinting that I’m fat due to my clothes.”

“Ahaha…” Cyial chuckled softly. “Well, this is hardly ‘swimming’, either. I’m just letting you get used to the sensation of floating at first. Swimming won’t help if you’re panicking.”

“Thanks for taking it slow with me.”

“Of course. Why don’t you try closing your eyes?”

“‘Kay…”

Sairek slowly fluttered his eyes closed, taking in a deep breath. He tried to concentrate on the sensation of the water around him. The warm morning sun beaming down as his skin peeked out from the waves on his front felt nice, but the cold of the water was still pretty distracting to him. As the minutes passed, Sairek felt himself becoming less apprehensive, trusting his ability to indeed be able to float more and more.

“Okay… I think I’m comfortable now.” Sairek sighed after a time, and waited.

“...Cyial?” Sairek asked, opening his eyes and turning his head after hearing no response.

Cyial blinked twice as Sairek turned his head to look back at him. “Sorry, I was just… letting my mind wander. So, uh, we’ve mastered the technique of floating on one’s back.”

“Yay…?” Sairek let out with mock, but confused enthusiasm.

Cyial smiled in amusement. “Now to actually teach you how to swim proper.”

“...Yay.” Sairek repeated, with a much more dry tone.

“Alright, I want you to move as if you were going to sit up. When you do, just begin kicking your arms and legs with a rhythm. I won’t let you sink, remember.”

“If you insist…” Sairek began, apprehension once more in his voice. He moved his weight downwards, causing his legs to sink back under the water as he righted himself while he floated. He began to sink, and he instinctively began kicking his legs rapidly and hard, as well as his arms, which stopped his descent from going under.

“Ah, not really graceful movements I was hoping for,” Cyial flinched as Sairek was splashing him now and again. “But see? It works. You said you were taught the motions, so just start doing those now. And do them slower than this. Again, I won’t let you sink.” Cyial reassured him, moving his hands to Sairek’s hips and held them there. He made no real grip, or effort to hold the Prince up, but if by chance he did start going under, he would be ready to help him stay above the surface.

Sairek exhaled to help try to force himself to calm down. His arms and legs became less like frantic flailing as he remembered the lessons he was lectured on, though they were a couple of years ago. His frantic flails with his arms slowed, as he practiced more refined wading movements with his arms and legs simultaneously, exerting far less energy than he was using before.

“There you go, much better.” Cyial grinned, pushing himself more into the water to join Sairek proper “See? It’s not hard. You’re doing just fine Sairek. You can learn when you put your mind to it.”

“I never had any doubts. Well, not really anyway. I just… I don’t know. The unknown and trying new things can just be scary sometimes.” Sairek shrugged.

“Of course, I know it can be. It didn’t stop you from leaving the castle though, did it?”

“That… was a bit different. I had a few different motives pushing me forward in that. Not to mention I just hated it at the castle.”

“Well, how much more of those swimming movements were you taught?”

“Umm…” Sairek let out as he pondered. Experimentally, he shifted his weight backwards, beginning to paddle slightly and slowly backwards, then leaned himself forward.

“This is like trying to watch someone remembering how to walk.” Cyial noted dryly.

“I said I knew how in theory. I just haven’t put what I was taught in practice before.”

“Starting to feel a lot more confident now, then?” Cyial asked.

“I, I suppose.”

“Let’s try swimming to the other side of the lake, then. I’ll stay with you.”

Sairek nodded. He had gained more confidence in his ability since he began floating and though he would not be winning any swimming contests based on how slow he was moving, he edged himself through the water, with Cyial swimming behind him and off to his side. He began picking up more speed near the end by the time they reached the other side of the lake. The lake wasn’t large by any means, about only a hundred-fifty yards or so, Sairek guessed roughly. Almost like a big pond, really.

When they reached the other side of the lake and climbed up halfway out of it, seating themselves on land, though their legs still mostly submerged in water, Sairek took a moment to rest. “Swimming is pretty exhausting, or maybe I’m still winded from that marathon.”

“Probably both.” Cyial answered. “Swimming is great exercise though. Not only can it be fun, but it works every single muscle in your body. Just don’t push yourself too much when swimming. Last thing that needs to happen is you wear yourself out in the middle of the water and drown. Stay near the edge, so if something happens, you can just climb out.”

“How often did you swim then? You seem to be pretty good at it.”

Cyial shook his head. “I’ve only done it a couple of times. Father Abbot taught me that too.” He answered, looking down at himself through the water. “But, well, you know how it is already.” He looked back up to turn towards Sairek, he was looking away from him. “So… is there anything you want for your birthday?”

“Eh?” Sairek let out, turning back to face him. “Um, I don’t know. I… kind of came to resent my birthday, remember?”

“Yeah, but...”

“Birthdays meant another year I grew older. Each time my age goes up, I would get handed even more responsibilities thrust upon me. More stuff I’d have to learn, less time for myself and the closer I go to having to become King someday. If I wasn’t at the castle right now, I’d be expected to start seeking out a mate who would be queen and run the country with me already. Sairek answered, shaking his head. “It just… it feels so shallow. My father and mother were lucky, mother worked at the castle already and they just got along really well. There’s nobody at all my age at the castle though, and even then that wouldn’t mean we were compatible. And now, I… don’t think I ever could just pretend. It would be so wrong.”

“Well, you’re not at the castle now. You’re here.”

“Well, a day off from torturing my body would be nice.” Sairek chuckled.

Cyial rolled his eyes and gave Sairek a playful poke against his shoulder.

“It’s a shame that Nayleen will probably miss it. She’s going to feel guilty and I don’t want her to make a big deal out of it, but she probably will.” Sairek said solemnly.

“Yeah…” Cyial agreed. “I guess she was sticking up for me indirectly, but she didn’t have to get herself in this kind of trouble just for that. I don’t want that, but that’s what makes her such a good friend… the both of you.” Cyial looked down again, wrapping his arms around himself as if he were too cold.

Sairek moved himself closer to Cyial, wrapping one arm around his back and pulled him closer towards him in a gesture to reassure and comfort him. “It’ll get better. Somehow.”

“Haah… You don’t need to tell me that, you know. You already have done so much. I just wish I could return the favor somehow…”

“You already have.”

“Not as much as you’re helping me.”

“That’s okay. This is all I’ve asked for. And I guess that’s all I want for my birthday.”

“Are you sure?” Cyial questioned.

“What is this now? Are you doubting me?” Sairek teased, moving to prod a finger in Cyial’s ribs, hoping to change the tone of the conversation.

“Nooo,” Cyial grinned, stifling a giggle. The motion was ticklish to him, and to get back at the Prince, he pulled away and attacked with two fingers instead of one.

Sairek yelped as the fingers attacked his sides, water splashing around them as they both soon erupted into a fit of giggling and laughter and began to attack each other with assaults of tickling and prodding, splashing water to fend each other off. Both boys were grinning the entire time, rolling in the shallow water as they soon fell into what was becoming a habit of wrestling each other.

While they battled each other playfully, the beast in Cyial’s mind that had been hungering since last night, lurking at the back of his mind, waiting, had begun to fall back. That viscous hunger inside of him pacified sufficiently for the genuine love the demon had for his friend worked to sedate it some, at least for now.

Sooner or later however, it would need sustenance…

* * *

Sairek lay flat on his back, staring up at the sky breathing hard while the noon sun began drying both of their forms and putting much needed warmth back into his body.

“Running marathons, doing push ups and sit ups, climbing trees, swimming—there’s no need for all of that... You give me more than enough of a workout as it is.” The Prince panted, closing his eyes.

“Good. I guess I can make sure you don’t slack off any then.” Cyial smirked, his head laying on top of Sairek’s chest, but his body lay off to the side adjacent to him. He was breathing hard too, but not nearly as tired as the Prince.


They were back on the original side of the lake they had entered now and were laying next to their clothes, having walked rather than swam back after they had tired each other out. Their playful energy sufficiently spent for now, they had just been laying together, bathing in the sun’s rays.

“What’s next after we depart from here?” Sairek asked after a couple moments of peace between them.

“Not much. You know, we’re actually getting close to the border. This town is probably the last stopping point for us until the checkpoint.” Cyial answered him. “There might be an inn along the way or two but I can’t say for certain.”

“It still feels like a short time to me.” Sairek answered. “Though, I guess it’s not like Marid is way off on the opposite end of the border from Kior.”

“Don’t hold your breath, we’re still probably a good four or five days walk away, albeit that ride we bought from earlier helped. We could likely do that again. Would make the journey a lot easier.”

“Mm, I’ll think about it. I’m still apprehensive about going through the border officially, but I guess being caught sneaking in would be worse.”

“After you visit Yggdrasil, what else are you going to do?” Cyial asked.

“Go to the city to try and find a solution for you, of course.” Sairek answered.

Cyial was silent for a long moment, looking up at the sky in thought. “I’ve… got to be honest. I’ve been starting to doubt all of that.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Sairek asked, craning his head from where he lay to appraise Cyial.

“A drug to feed demons… it just sounds too good to be true to me. Even if it did exist, such a drug would be banned here or anywhere else. And for good reason. I know you trust me Sairek, but demons who would become empowered like that can be incredibly dangerous. All it would be is just a short term solution at best and I don’t want to rely on something like that forever... though of course I'd take anything right now.”

“But—” Sairek began in protest.

“Sairek, please.” Cyial sighed. “You saw how dangerous my type can be in Lamen first-hand. It still pains me and makes me angry what they tried to do to you, but just imagine if they weren’t at their weakest.”

“It was their hunger that made them that desperate though, wasn’t it?” Sairek asked.

“I would assume so.”

“If they weren’t hungry, then maybe they wouldn’t have gone to such measures in the first place.”

“Sairek, they were banished from the Underworld. Unless they were framed, which them going out of their way to kidnap you speaks to me otherwise, then they were awful demons. You obviously have a good heart; it’s one of the best things about you. You want to give anyone, no matter human or demon, a chance at redemption, but let’s say you take that risk and they still end up being awful demons and you get put in the same situation and this time they are at full power… What would have happened to you?” Cyial sighed, rolling his head to turn towards Sairek’s face. “Did they ever bite you at any point?” He asked.

“On the neck, yes. It… made my body feel… well, yeah.”

“On the neck? Oh, they were going easy on you then.”

“I—I beg your pardon?”

Cyial rolled his head back. “It’s not actually any bite or anything like that which makes you... feel like that, It’s the saliva. A Succubi and Incubi’s saliva can have venomous properties. It can sink through the skin a little bit, but the best way for us to… ‘seduce’ a victim is just making them ingest the saliva. You know, like through a kiss.”

“O...kay…?”

“...My point is that they were actually being easy on you and it still made you react quite a bit. Imagine if they were actually trying and they were at full strength.”

Sairek indeed thought about that and Cyial could feel him shudder seconds later. “But… when you and I—”

“Of course not. My hunger hasn’t taken over and I don't want to do that to you.”

“R-Regardless, I’m not getting the drug for them. I’m doing it for you. Even if it eases your hunger a little bit, it’s still worth it to me, until we can find a permanent solution.”

“Sairek, can you live off of only eating vitimins?”

“No—”

“Neither can I. You have to understand, sooner or later I will have to eat. I appreciate you wanting to help me this much, I really do, and I won’t stop you if that’s what you truly wish to do… just, I want you to understand for sure why you are doing this, you know? I don’t want you to do it because you feel you have to, or because it will ‘fix’ me. It’s just my biology Sairek. I... I hate it too, but there is no avoiding it forever and trying to pretend I am not an Incubus when I am. It’s… just how we have to eat, sooner or later, no matter how much we try to delay it.”

Sairek sighed, dropping his head back to look up at the sky again and closing his eyes. “Yeah, I know…”

Cyial smiled gently, moving his hand to gently clasp it around one of Sairek’s own that lay outstretched to his side and gave it a comforting squeeze. “It’ll be okay. If I ever get to that point where I am consistently struggling hard, I will give you fair warning.”

“So… it’s something you are very conscious of?” Sairek asked.

“In… a way. I looked at the hunger more like another personality in a way. Maybe half of one, but at this point I think I am so infatuated with you that even if I do lose myself to the hunger, it still won’t want to harm you. If I ever do get to that point though… just remember that it won’t be the real ‘me’. Just... a different part of me.”

“You make it sound like you’ll be a different person.” Sairek said with a hint of concern.

“I... I might be. This is still kind of new to me and it’s kind of scary to be honest. I don’t know what will happen if I give in to it. There are times when it tries hard and it gets difficult to ignore. I guess it is kind of like a headache that doesn’t go away, with a pain you can’t ignore. It started calming down today, though. I can still feel it ever present, but when distracted, like when playing with you, I forget it’s even there completely some times.”

Sairek took a moment to think for a moment. “Do you think if we… meditated together again, that I could connect to it?”

“...Sairek?”

“I want to better understand and I think I would understand it best while it’s calm. Really the last time was so brief, I couldn’t make out much of anything. I just felt a lot of… you. It was so surprising and all that, as well.”

Cyial closed his eyes in thought. “I don’t know…” he replied apprehensively.

“Come on, you can’t just keep saying no to everything I try to do here. That’s not really fair.” Sairek protested with a frown.

“I know, but to be honest, connecting the first time is also kind of what sparked the growing... ‘interest’.” Cyial groaned, letting go of Sairek’s hand to cover his own face with his hands, even though the Prince wasn’t looking. He felt a bit embarrassed and at the same time, ashamed.

“You don’t have to answer me right away. Just think about it.” Sairek replied, moving the hand Cyial let go of to ruffle the demon’s damp hair gently in an effort to help reassure him again. “I’m all out of puff to try today anyway.”

Cyial pulled his hands down and nodded slowly. A motion Sairek couldn’t see directly, but could feel on his chest. After taking a deep breath, Cyial spoke again. “I guess we should head back for now then. Fuyiki might be wondering where we are. We’re already a bit late for lunch.”

“I’ll happily skip lunch to stay here with you for a little while longer.”

Cyial moved to lift himself up into a sitting position to look down at Sairek. “You’ll get burnt by the sun laying there like that for too long.”

“Fine, we can move to a shady area then.”

“You’re such a lazy, carefree Prince.”

Sairek smirked. “You wouldn’t have said that if you saw me a couple weeks ago.”

“Would I have called you a spoiled delinquent instead?”

“Hey…! I wasn’t that bad. Mischievous at best. You would be too with how boring and dull it was with responsibilities breathing down your neck constantly.”

“If you had no responsibilities, you would just sleep in bed until noon everyday.”

“Maybe if I was still at the castle. My dreams were the only real escape I had from the walls in there.” Sairek said as he pushed himself to sit as well, and then moved to stand. Cyial moved to begin brushing off whatever was still stuck to his back. “Heh, just listen to me. I make it sound like I was trapped in a prison. I guess it wasn’t that bad I just… don’t like it, though.”

“I understand. I guess it wasn’t too different to me. Though I have liked making medicine to help people, even though most would think I poisoned it or something with how some people react to me.”

With his back brushed off, Sairek turned Cyial around to start doing the same to him. “Well, I will change that somehow. I’m sure people will be angry with me for it, but I’m not going to have it. 'Good' has never been the same as 'right'.”

“You should be careful with that. It’s not good to project your views onto others forcefully.” Cyial cautioned him. “I obviously don’t like it, but I think the freedom to be able to think for yourself is very important. It’s why you left the castle, right?”

Sairek hesitated at that. “Yeah… I guess you’re right.” He admitted half-heartedly. “You’d make a much better King than me. Being born into royalty is stupid. I’m not King material.”

“I guess that’s not for me to judge. But you’re amazing to me no matter what. Don’t sell yourself so short.”

“Aww, thanks.”

Cyial chuckled a little, reaching down to grab both of their clothes, as he passed Sairek’s onto him. “Come on, let’s get going. We can play some more in the water at Fuyiki’s place.” He said with a sly wink.

“Please, I can’t handle another day of marathon running again.” Sairek groaned while slipping his pants back on.

“You say you can’t make it all the time, yet you still do it and can anyway. You really do sell yourself short. You’re not that sore are you?” Cyial asked underneath his robe he was slipping on.

“I guess the water helped some, but I just don’t have the energy.”

“Let’s make a bet then.”

Sairek blinked. This was a bit uncharacteristic of Cyial. “A bet? For what?”

Cyial’s head popped out from the neck of his robe and he moved to comb his hair back into place with his fingers while he looked Sairek over briefly. “If you can run Fuyiki’s punishment tomorrow, then I will let you connect to my mind again to talk to my ‘hunger’. And if you—”

“Deal.” Sairek answered without hesitation and before Cyial could finish.

Now it was Cyial’s turn to blink, but he soon smiled. “I guess that’s that then. Let’s hurry up so we can go play some more, then!”

“I’m gonna win this time.” Sairek grinned.