>>6130985>>6131015>>6131023With Yuriy’s attention elsewhere, you seized the moment to pull Lucia by her sleeve. You lead her around the dwelling and sneaked together through an open entrance into a … barn. Dense bales of hay surrounded you like walls, the stacked fodder offering little space to squeeze between them.
Lucia gazed about, then pressed her hand through the straw; subtle and faint wisps of her magic trickled forth—elusive enough were she to deny them. She laid herself upon the hay, arms lifted and face nestled against it. She began to scale the cured ramparts, but truly, it was the enchanted straw that lifted her as if she laid upon a furled carpet, though she pretended to struggle to make it seem it was her own effort. Once atop, she pulled herself up and took a seat on the edge, her head inches away from hitting the trusses.
“Young Niklos, are you joining me?” she asked, her body concealed in the shadows.
“I don’t think I’m as ‘agile’ as you,” you said, looking up at her before resting your back against the dry, sharp bundle of hay, uncomfortable though it was. “Cuthbert … is that not the Old King name? Had the demons not rid of him?”
Lucia swung her legs over the edge, her skirt hiking up to her ankles. “No; the man fled, and the Demon King made no effort to pursue or to search for him,” she pondered. “That’s-that’s what I heard, at least, rumours from the villagers.”
“So he still hides somewhere, and it doesn’t seem he thinks the war’s over yet.”
“Yes, isn’t that interesting?”
She smiled, glancing aside as if to ponder.
You sighed; in truth, you cared little. From what you’ve seen of the Demon Generals and the King himself, no human army could hope to defeat them. What you -were- bothered with was how to broach the matter of Lucia being a demon. How were you to begin? And you should, before you could address the plight of the ones she’d put to sleep.
> Push on the fact that she looks as youthful as she was in your childhood, and no sap or salve can do that. Insist that her departure, and her absence, was because she wasn’t expecting to meet you again, as farmers seldom venture beyound their villages in their lifetimes. That explains it all, she’s a demon, but unlike others, she’s acting strange.> Tell her that, again, you have just seen her using her magic. She should’ve been careful, but since she was not, you know that she’s a demon. She shouldn’t underestimate you!> Tell her the whole truth, of today’s prophecy, of Demon General Miranna, and that you’re fully aware she’s the Arboreal Witch. Tell her that in the prophecy, you are foretold to kill her, but make it clear you do not wish to.> [Write In] 