Note: I just remembered that I forgot to put some music for the last few parts, my sincerest apologies!

I let out a small sneeze.

"Are you sure this is the right way Ryzel? I'm trying to tell you...a dog's nose never lies!" I barked as we walked through a fairly quiet forest, the trees almost fully stripped of their leaves as the snow gently fell from the sky while the scent of freshly cut grass mixed with pinecones was strangely heavy in the air. 

"I keep telling you my beauty, I'm certain!" Ryzel laughed. 

"Well...somewhat certain, I can pull some good guesses just by looking at the multiple markings around here." He continued, causing me to tilt my head before I started to look around. 

From shrubs being stepped on or half-eaten, to claw marks on trees and even a few eaten animals around the area! Their bones were completely stripped while some of them were merely blood stains on the snow. 

But, even still, all these signs could've just as easily been a new type of monster to potentially fight. 

Not that I was complaining! After all, about a week has passed since we had left the village during the night like a pair of assassins and so far? I was beginning to grow antsy with the need to do something other than walk around, take a moment to relax or attempt to try and ride Akuji!  

With winter beginning to come in more and more, I couldn't stop myself from thinking about how much I was beginning to miss the town as well as Ryzel’s tribe! Sure, it hadn’t been long but...even still, every now and again, I would have a strange sensation of guilt wash over me like an approaching storm. I left without telling anyone a single thing...only Ares and Cronos knew and that was it! My closer friends, Shiro, his siblings and mother, Torin and everyone else included? It felt like giving them a slap in the face, I trusted them but...I also didn’t trust them at the same time. 

After all, they would’ve been the first ones to try and stop me from leaving had I tried to tell them about my plans of joining this war.

If Ryzel had thrown such a fit about it, I didn’t even want to imagine with an entire town would do. 

“Mind telling me what’s going on through your head Eos?” Ryzel asked all of a sudden, causing me to shake my head a tad before I looked up to see him looking down at me with a snicker. 

“Nothing more than the usual, the town. I'm beginning to feel a bit of guilt for just leaving them like a dad leaves for milk.” I snickered, Ryzel letting out a sigh before he shot me a smile. 

“They’ll be fine, just think, they’ll be quite glad you did what you did when you return announcing the fact that the war is over. That you played a role in keeping not just the town and the tribe safe, but the rest of the world." Ryzel said. 

"A non-stop war always leads to ruin after all." Ryzel chuckled. 

"Not to mention, at the end hopefully, I hope to be able to drink and celebrate with the additional news of us expecting...?” Ryzel said with a hopeful hum. 

I couldn’t help but raise a brow, I didn’t like the idea of having kids when I was a teenager and I was still iffy about it even now! 

Although it was more so for the reasons that I didn't wish to have them in the middle of a bloody war, it was also due to the reason of...well, the time period.

“You’ll be hoping for quite some time then unfortunately, I’m iffy about having kids you know?” I admitted.

“Mind telling me why?” 

“Well, whether you understand or not, having kids isn’t a cake walk you know? Hell, it was hard having them even in my world! You know...the world where we actually understood the concept of vaccines?” I whined. 

“Having children can’t be that-” I immediately let out a low growl. 

Of course, it wasn’t that hard when you had the joy of being the one who wasn’t actually carrying the damn things! Kids, in my opinion at the very least, were a parasite that people just...chose or were forced to have. All they did was sit in your stomach, take the food you ate and make your stomach pop out after a Thanksgiving weekend! Sure, my figure didn’t exactly change too much aside from maturing a tad bit more but I was short! 

I had only grown an inch! Being short and having kids? 

The two didn’t mix well together! 

“You’ll have help from everyone around you!” Ryzel said. 

“Still doesn’t change the fact that, in nine months, Ill push something the size of a small football out from down south. I’d be more open about having kids if I knew that it wasn’t going to hurt like a bitch, not to mention, how many are we talking here?!”

“One or two is fine with me.” Ryzel chuckled.

I shrugged in slight agreement, at least the number count wasn’t too high. 

“After all, my cousins are known for having lots of offspring. Six or seven is common for them and...to be quite honest? I’m not too fond of having so many, it’ll steal my attention away from my darling mate.” Ryzel hummed, a scoff leaving me as I desperately tried to wipe the image of having six or seven kids out of mind. 

All those kids in one sitting...I’d look like nothing more than a saggy bag of flesh after that ordeal. 

“Still though, I can understand the hesitancy of having kids my love. It hurts.”

“Not to mention it’s risky as hell? There’s no hospital, no healthcare, no way to give me a booster if I suddenly have complications.” I stated bluntly, the continuous tilting of the Incubus’ head only furthering my worry. 

Ryzel...usually he understood what I meant, in some way or another, when it came to talking about my old world or making jokes about it? He understood more or less! I always thought of him simply taking context clues or just ignoring my jokes completely but...vaccines and shampoo? 

He may have understood that but the fact he didn't understand hospitals and healthcare? While it was understandable and expected, it didn't do much of anything to cease my worrying!

Kids were fine, personally? I was a fan of the idea of having a girl! But...how embarrassing would it be to go through so much? Risk tooth and nail in every fight and still come out alive! Yet...the second I had a kid? 

I kicked the bucket all because of that, I didn’t know who I’d yell at first besides myself in the afterlife. 

“Let’s stop talking about this eh? We haven’t even set up the right mood for us to get out of our little Mateless Mates thingy eh?” I chuckled before I picked up my pace to a trot, causing Ryzel to urge Akuji to speed up into a more quickened walk.

“Ah...you’re right, but who knows? Maybe the army will be so gracious to allow some time to ourselves?” J

ust before I could roll my eyes and tell him off, my ears suddenly perked to the sight of a bunch of prints in the distance, the scent of heavy sourness alongside metal and foods beginning to rise up from the tracks before they lead deeper into the forest. 

I couldn’t help but grin to myself. “They must be close!” I barked as I quickly walked up to the tracks and sniffed at them.

I wasn’t crazy enough to just randomly go up to a Beast and sniff at them to remember their scent but...I had enough of a good memory to know what the air around them smelled like! Sour, whether it was natural or coming from unwashed clothes, metal from the weapons they carried as well as any dried on them and a strange type of sweetness that somehow balanced the entire smell out! Countless paw prints led deeper into the forest just as the snow started to get a mind to fall heavier, but...as soon as Ryzel dug his heel into Akuji’s side to make him begin to run off, I didn’t think twice before running after the two. 

I was surprised, truly I was! In all honesty? I hadn’t expected us to catch up the army until they reached a portal or something, anything that would’ve forced the army to slow down or come to a complete stop! But...being able to find the army so soon? So early on after just leaving the town about a week ago? It left my brain racing with how to properly greet the army. It was already clear; they didn’t like me and would never find a reason to like me unless I suddenly announced I was going to leave and stop interfering with their fight.

I was the enemy, well...a piece of the enemy. I was mortal and that was bad enough in their eyes. Whether I helped the Queen or not, I'd forever be seen as an outcast and I had made my amends with that! I wasn’t looking to make friends, merely help out and stop this stupid war once and for all. However, to properly do that? To properly have no one interfere with my goals by suddenly sending someone to try and eat me or Ryzel? I needed to show them that I was friendly! Not a threat and just an ally who could help! After all, even though they saw Guardians on the same level, maybe a tad bit higher than normal mortals. 

The word ‘Guardian’ alone should’ve given them some sort of reason to keep their mouths closed and their weapons sheathed. 

Suddenly although, just as I was beginning to keep at an equal pace with Akuji, it wasn’t long before Akuji and I skidded to a harsh stop by the sight of a Lion rushing out of the bushes with a ferocious roar. A yelp escaped me as I skidded, leaving me landing on my belly before I started to snarl at the feline.

 ‘At least I’m at an equal playing field now.’ I thought to myself, a series of barks leaving me as the corner of my eye caught Ryzel taking out his spear.

“Eos! Stand-” 

“Eos?” The lion suddenly gasped, my brow cocking a little at the voice before I narrowed my eyes. 

I’d recognize that shy, hesitant voice anywhere. 

“Lucien!” I barked, the feeling of my tail starting to whip against the air only increasing my happiness before Lucien pressed head against my head with a low purr reverberating in her chest. 

“Y-You’ve gotten taller.” Lucien meowed as he walked around me, his head slightly cocked to the side before I snickered. 

“I suppose the rumors were true...you are the new Guardian.” 

“Forgive me for not hearing the rumors about you losing your glasses then.” I snorted, causing me to raise a brow to poke at the bridge of his nose momentarily before he leapt back a little. 

“I-I switched them out!” He said defensively. 

“I-It’d wouldn’t suit me well...e-especially in the U-Under-Realm.” He continued as he finally stood in front of me once more. 

“Why not?” Ryzel hummed. 

“I’ve seen some Daemoniums wear glasses down there, a Lion wouldn’t be anything new.” Ryzel chuckled. 

Lucien chuckled nervously. "The army is growing more hostile and aggressive nowadays I suppose...they don't any sort of failure, I suppose they see my glasses as a potential risk." 

'More hostile and agressive'? Those words alone made me shuffle a bit in my place, after all, I didn't want to risk dying before I even had a chance to plead my case to these people.