— Miko, listen to me. You don't need...

— Is Miss Daena right? — Miko took a few steps back. — She called you Unpronounceable...

— You didn't know, luziwurm?! This idiot is the devil that is cursing this land!

— Daena! Enough!

Darka stood up suddenly, massaging his temple and taking a deep breath. At first he didn't care much about being recognized by Miko, but after traveling together for a few days he felt a certain sense of companionship and protection, which led him to keep who he was a secret. Now he was angry with himself for forgetting that Daena could ruin this.

Miko took advantage of Darka's apparent distraction and ran towards the two, putting themself between them.

— You won't hurt her, Darka!

He watched the scene, confused. Daena also looked surprised.

— Miko, do I look like I'm going to hurt her?

— No but...

— It's not even me who is armed here!

— But she's armed to defend herself!

Daena stood up, still staggering, without stopping pointing the dagger at Darka.

— You really are an insensitive bastard! You manipulated an innocent person to be your minion!

— Okay, look, that's enough. You two. I don't care if you believe me or not. I came here to help, to do something cool, here you come making all this drama and I even told you my real name! You know what? I don't have time for that anymore.

Darka picked up his bag, dodged the two to pick up his cloak from the ground and headed towards the trail.

"I'm so stupid, I thought it woould be a good idea to help by taking Daena back and clearing Darka's name and now I'm here almost back to where I started. Even if they keep saying that I'm the apocalypse in person, Amara won't care. So why worry? People just believe what they want. It's not that different from real life here. Lauren or Darka, it doesn't make any difference, it's just like real life."

His thoughts were interrupted by something grabbing his cloak.

— Miko? What...

— Are you really the Unpronounceable?

Darka sighed. It was never a good experience to talk to people he had hurt, and Lauren had heard before that she had no tact for such things.

— Yes, Miko, it's me. Didn't you hear what Daena said?

— But... You didn't even turn me into a tomato!

— Oh, wait. — Darka crushed some raspberries that were still in his hand and rubbed the red pulp on Miko's face. — There, red as a tomato. Do you believe me now?

— ... — Miko seemed to be in an internal conflict, as if they were going to start crying at any moment.

— Look, it's a complicated story. I know I don't look like the best of people and almost everything you've heard about the things I've done is true, but the reasons aren't. I don't intend to do anything they say, I just want to find someone I care about, as I already told you.

Footsteps caught Darka's attention, and he saw Daena coming towards him. She had her head down and, unlike before, she didn't seem to want to turn him into a sieve.

— Is it true? What you said.

— Even if I told you it was, you wouldn't believe it. — Darka turned to leave. — Miko, don't forget to take her home.

This time it was a sudden hug that made him stop again, already impatient.

— Miko, let me go!

When he turned around, he saw that it was Daena who was clinging to his waist. Her face was buried in the cloak, drowning out whatever she was muttering. Darka stood still, not knowing exactly what to do.

— D-Daena?

— I knew it. I always knew! — She lifted her face, now almost as red as her hair. She looked like she was trying not to cry, but a few tears in the corner of her eye gave it away. — You are not like her, you will stop her!

— What are you talking about? What happened to you?

Darka didn't want to let his guard down with Daena due to her history of attempted murders, but had to hold her again when she fainted shortly afterwards. He looked at Miko for some answer, but only received the same confused look in return.

✰★✰★✰

The city of Talphen was already busy in the morning, with travelers and merchants coming and going through the streets and alleys. From the window of one of the tallest buildings in the city, the governor anxiously watched the movement, clinging to some thread of hope that his daughter would be running there as she had done since she was a child. Since the destruction of the cathedral about two months ago, Daena had become very aggressive when it came to The Unpronounceable to the point where she constantly wanted to go after him with Katarina, who always denied her niece's requests. The one time she allowed it, Daena disappeared.

— Don't worry, my brother. All available guards are looking for her. Every stone in the province of Oenith will be turned over until we find Daena.

— Aurea, I appreciate your efforts. I know you blame yourself for the situation, but I ask you not to be so hard on yourself.

— There is no way to! I should have accompanied her back to Talphen when I last saw her, it was careless on my part!

— No, it was my carelessness in allowing her to go with you. But we can't keep looking for culprits any longer, it's better to get back to the search.

Katarina nodded and walked away, leaving her brother alone. She felt the weight of her failure to protect her niece, and swore to herself to destroy the one who dared to kidnap her.

A guard approached, nervous.

— Madam, we have news! There are suspicions that The Unpronounceable is on the road to the village of Zieg! A merchant said he took a suspicious man to a lonely spot on the road near where Lady Daena was last seen!

— Road to Zieg? There is a great chance that it will be him! Gather the guards and spread them across the road! We will intercept him if he makes a dirty move on that path.

✰★✰★✰

— Will she be okay?

— Yes, relax. She should wake up soon and very hungry. She also has a lot to explain. — Darka paused. — And she needs a shower, but don't tell her I said that.

The two walked along the trail back to the road, with a still sleeping Daena being carried on Darka's back. Since she passed out the night before, she hadn't woken up once and it made them both nervous. They decided to return with her as soon as dawn broke, so as not to waste time.

— Sir... Darka?

— What now, Miko? — Darka continued forward without looking at them. — If it's anything else about me being Yrina's son, I won't answer.

— No no! I... I just wanted to say sorry.

— Why? You just reacted your way, you have nothing to apologize for.

— Yes, I do. I couldn't sleep well thinking about everything that happened, then I realized that you've never done anything bad since we met. I shouldn't have doubted.

— It's over, relax. I'm not even mad, I'm used to it. I didn't tell you out of selfishness, since I didn't want to travel alone, but on second thought it ended up putting you in danger. If someone found out about me, it could end up being dangerous for you too, so in reality I'm the one who should apologize to you.

Daena moved on Darka's back and they stopped, already close to the road. He carefully placed her sitting on the floor while Miko immediately rummaged through their things to get something for her to eat.

— Daena? How are you feeling?

Miko took out a canteen and an apple from their bag. Little by little she woke up and realized where she was, getting scared when she remembered the situation.

— H-How long did I sleep?

— Some hours. You still haven't said what happened, how did it end up like this?

Daena was relieved the question wasn't about the last thing she said before blacking out. She felt ashamed for having lost her composure at that moment in front of the two, and when she realized how hungry she was, she began to devour what they gave her.

— Your fan club found me stuck on the road, they beat me on the head and tied me to a tree to be eaten by mosquitoes. —She spoke with her mouth full.

— What do you mean, fan club? And wait, were you still stuck? That was days ago, have you been here since that day??

— They were two idiots wearing hoods and masks, saying they were your guides and from what I understand they were helping you. I imagined that you had sent them and at some point you would come back here to check if I had already died, so after I managed to free myself I waited for you to show up to kill you. But you took your time...

Darka was silent trying to process what she said. Absolutely nothing about two masked people acting on his behalf was even mentioned in the game, even though it was something so important to the story. Maybe it was something that would be revealed in a future update that would never arrive now that the game is closed.

— Did they have names?

— Oh, yes they did, they said they were called Dia and Noite and they said they were helping you bring Yrina back. They said it was their guides or something like that. — She lowered her head, making a pout. — I... I'm sorry for misjudging you. And for trying to shoot you. And for trying to stab you. And for the kicks. Oh, and for the punch too.

— It's ok. — Darka crossed his arms, trying to look more angry. — I mean, no, it's not okay because now everyone, especially your father and Katarina, think I was the one who kidnapped you. I accept your apology, but now you're going to have to sort it out.

— Okay... But I don't know what to do either. — Daena removed a small piece of apple stuck to her face. — It's not like I can clear your streak like that.

— By the way, Daena... What did you mean at that time by "I knew it"?

Daena turned her face away, extremely embarrassed. She didn't want to admit that since she was little she had always hoped that Yrina's son wouldn't follow in his mother's footsteps. At first, she just wanted this to be an example for her father to see that she didn't need to inherit the responsibilities of the province's ruler, but over time and many books later, Daena really believed in the fantasy where the hero would break the cycle and save everyone who didn't expect it. It was a youthful fantasy, she knew, but she still wanted to believe that not everything was as predictable as that. When she saw with her own eyes Talphen's clock tower destroyed by her "hero", her heart was filled with hurt and feelings of revenge towards Darka, making her swear that she would stop him.

After a long sigh, she decided to be honest with him.

— It's just that I believed in you. I wish you weren't like Yrina, that you were someone good.

— And you think I am now? — Darka gave Daena an excited smile, happy with what she said.

— No. — Daena saw Darka's smile diminish after hearing the answer, before completing it. — You always were.

This time it was Darka who was embarrassed, trying to cover it with a laugh. He got up and started to collect his things, while Daena smiled at his reaction.

— We better go quickly, your father is turning whole province of Oenith upside down. The road is right there in front.

The three continued following the trail, with Daena and Miko telling each other how they met Darka. He just pretended not to hear, but sometimes he found himself joining in on the conversation. When they reached the road, he stopped and turned to them, smiling.

— From now on I can believe that we will be friends, right?

As soon as Darka stepped out of the dense bushes on the side of the road, a familiar hiss rang in his ears, followed by immense pain.

An arrow fired by Katarina was stuck in the side of his abdomen.