Leon didn't know how long he was laying in bed for, but before he knew it, Rey and Fay were walking back to the cottage closer than ever.

Leon was ecstatic, the protagonist was finally doing his job right. Now, all he has to do is wait for the right opportunity.

When Rey walked inside, he could see that Leon had not even bothered trying to move. In fact, it seemed like he didn't even move at all. Rey was sure he only put a spell on the surrounding area, not on Leon himself.

"Leon, get up. Stop being lazy,"

". . . I'm injured, so I'm resting,"

"It's my turn," Rey pulled Leon up by the arms and dragged him over to sit by the table.

"I should've known that picking herbs is all it takes to tire you out,"

Rey groaned. Leon was stressing him out day after day and he was mentally exhausted. Leon should count himself lucky, because if Leon wasn't his friend, he wouldn't even bother trying.

"Just shut up and stay put,"

Leon shrugged and looked out the window, admiring the pretty trees. Rey watched him for a few seconds before immediately falling asleep.

It was quiet.

The only sound being of Fay washing her herbs.

Leon sat incredibly still. His mind clouded with thoughts, but nothing showing on his face. He has a plan in motion, and if he just waits, it will work. He doesn't know how long he has to wait for, but he hopes it isn't long. He already gave up ten years of his life, plus a couple months. He doesn't want to reach eleven years.

He didn't know how long he was looking out the window for, but before he knew it, Fay had not only finished washing her herbs, but had also completed dinner.

"Leon,"

"Yes?" Leon continued to look into nowhere.

"Dinner is ready, please wake Rey-"

"-Just call out to him, he'll wake up,"

". . . ."

"No need," Rey sat up.

Fay could feel a murderous aura emanating from Rey, so she quietly went to eat by herself at the dinner table.

Rey was a light sleeper. He had already heard the conversation. But what ticked him off was that, for the past ten years, Leon had always woken him up in the most irritating ways. Splashing him with water, throwing him off the bed, or singing him awake. He acted as if Rey was someone who could not wake up.

It made him mad that Leon knew for the past ten years that he could easily wake up and didn't need all that torture to begin with.

But, it was also worrying that Leon was no longer doing that, which angered Rey even more.

Rey stood up from the bed and dragged Leon's deadweight to the dinner table.

As they ate, Leon eyed at Rey, signaling for him to start a conversation.

Rey rolled his eyes. What kind of deal is this? It's like Leon is trying to lose.

". . . Fay," Rey said, once again, with absolutely no clue what to say.

Sensing that Rey wanted to talk again, she inwardly groaned. Why does he keep striking a conversation, but with nothing to say?!

She smiled but it never reached her eyes, "I hope the food is to your liking, as it was for the last couple of days,"

Rey nodded and Leon kicked at his leg, telling him to say more. Rey glared back at him, telling him to back off.

"Rey is not the best at speaking," Leon laughed, "he's a pretty awkward guy!"

Fay chuckled, "I can tell,"

Rey glared at him harder.

"But he truly does want to be your friend, so please humor him,"

"Friend, hm?" She looked at Leon with a speculation, "Don't you want to be my friend too?"

With pride in his voice and an arm wrapping around an annoyed Rey, Leon replied, "I can only be your friend if you are friends with Rey! It's how it works around here!"

"Is that so?"

Leon nodded happily.

Fay glanced behind her, at the uneaten apple still sitting next to the bed, "But it seems to me that you both don't have the greatest of relationship right now,"

Leon chuckled nervously, "we just have a mild disagreement, it'll work in the end. It always does,"

Fay stared nonchalantly at Leon.

From the last couple days that she has known them, she confirmed that Leon is the strange human.

He's lifeless at one time, cheerful the next, and sometimes he emits a silent anger that looms the room. He also knows that fairies can make wishes, something not known to many. So, to Fay, Leon is a strange, complicated human who she needs to be wary of.

She isn't fond of humans to begin with.

They're greedy.

Rey, on the other hand, is definitely an awkward person. But she can tell that behind all his awkwardness, stubbornness, and stoic self, he is a kind-hearted individual. Not only with the fact that he's been gifted with a benevolent sword, but that he's also been blessed by a fairy's touch.

The fairy's touch, something that can only be seen by enchanted beings. It's a halo of sorts, a brand, a sigil, that tells every enchanted being that this person can be trusted. It can also only be given by a fairy who had fallen in love and was willing to grant a wish.

That was the main reason why she picked them up from the forest. Rey was someone who was loved by a fellow fairy, a fellow fairy who gave up their life to grant him a wish.

Rey was someone she could trust, she just doesn't know about his human companion.

Fay replaced her nonchalant expression with a smile, "Today, Rey was talking about you,"

Rey choked and gave her a exasperated expression.

"So, why don't you tell me more about Rey? I'm sure you're a better storyteller,"

Leon smirked cockily, "Well, you've come to the right person. I know everything there is to know about him,"

Rey scoffed and rolled his eyes not knowing that Leon does, in fact, know everything there is to know about Rey. Each and every detail.

"Well, what would you like to know? his happy stage? emo stage? maybe what he like-"

"-How about Evelyn? He briefly mentioned her today,"

". . . Evelyn?" Leon glanced at the protagonist, checking for an okay.

"Yes," Fay confirmed.

Seeing that Rey made no action, Leon took that as an okay, "Evelyn was our best friend and Rey's lover,"

"Was she a fairy?"

Leon laughed, knowing the exact reason why she asked, "No, she was a Northern Elf. But like a fairy, she was incredibly beautiful and benevolent, always trying her best to help others. She gifted Rey that sword,"

"Oh," Fay was crestfallen. She wanted to know who this fellow fairy of hers was, but it seems that she wasn't Rey's lover, "Where is she?"

With a nervous chuckle Leon replied, "Well-"

"-She was killed," Rey interrupted, "murdered by demons,"

Leon wasn't physically there when it happened as he was busy defeating cannon fodders, but he knows what happened from reading the book.

--- past ---

It was their third and final year of attending the Academy of Magic. Midway through the school year, they were off on winter break. Evelyn had invited them to her home, up at the Ice Forest.

They had met Evelyn's family and friends, they had partied, and were even being trained by Evelyn's teacher.

Everything was going great.

It wasn't until they learned that Evelyn had a fiancé. This fiancé was obviously a cannon fodder that was used as a stepping stone to further the romance between Rey and Evelyn.

And it did work, by the third night of their winter vacation, Rey and Evelyn had lost their virginity to each other. By that morning, Leon could still remember seeing the many red marks littered across her neck.

The protagonist truly had a skill for anything.

By that evening, Evelyn was punished and locked inside her own room. But no matter, Rey was able to sneak in anytime with the help of Leon's magnificent distracting skills.

By the seventh day of winter vacation, Rey was angered to the point of his eyes glowing red, revealing his half-demon nature. The fiancé had made a huge deal about it, causing ruckus and disaster, forcing Rey and Leon to be thrown out into the Ice Forest.

"You just had to sleep with Evelyn, didn't you?" Leon ridiculed.

Rey pinched his nose bridge, "This isn't about that,"

"But if you didn't, we wouldn't be walking around frozen in the snow!"

". . . Leon,"

"You could have slept with her after winter break or before, but you chose now?!"

"Leon!"

"It's cold out here!"

"LEON!" Rey shouted, his voice echoing through forest, "I'm half-demon,"

". . . oh,"

"Yea, it all makes sense now," he furrowed his eyebrows and stopped walking, "the black hair, my mana, my dark attributes, why I can see the in dark-"

"-stop bragging about yourself,"

"I'm not! I'm telling you that I'm half-demon!"

"Then your other half better be something worse!"

Rey was dumbfounded before stifling into a laugh. Then, calming down, he breathed a sigh of relief, ". . . Leon, you're so annoying,"

"You should thank this annoying person, because- LOOK!" Leon suddenly pointed, "A village!"

And like this, they traveled back to the Academy of Magic. About halfway there, more of Rey's demonic features began to show. It was like he was hitting puberty. His fangs were sharper, his pupils narrowed, he couldn't control his anger, it was quite worrying.

Every village they went to, they were met with fear and disdain. They couldn't get help from anyone nor did anyone want their help. It was hard to get around.

But somehow, they made it back to the Academy. Rey had thought the Academy would welcome him, since they allowed anyone of any race to attend, but he was wrong. Once the people at the academy had seen Rey's demonic features, they reprimanded him, telling him to go back to where he came from.

Even the friends he had made there didn't acknowledge him, in fact, they feared him. It seemed that everything was finally falling into place in their minds.

'Everything makes sense now,'

'It was because he was a demon,'

'So he was a demon after all,'

Unable to control his emotions, Rey attacked the school with immense magic. Half the school was in ruins and many students were injured.

It was then that Rey was on the run.

Leon had stayed behind to stop those who tried to follow him, but outnumbered, he was soon exhausted and thrown into the dungeon of the school.

Rey went back to the Ice Forest, wanting to see Evelyn once more.

Rey and Evelyn secretly met behind close doors, Evelyn still truly in love with Rey no matter what form he took. They spent a night together, not knowing that would be their very last night.

That morning, Rey hid in her chambers as Evelyn went to do her normal activities to show that there was nothing suspicious going on. At the same time, Val Valtine entered the Elven Palace.

That midday, a large attack exploded from the Elven Palace. Then, a horde of demons swarmed the place. Everyone was scattered and in distress. But even through all the chaos, Rey sneakily roamed the place, frantically looking for Evelyn.

And he found her, in a garden of ice and snow, standing across Val Valtine.

"Do you remember me?" Val Valtine said with smile upon his face, "Do you remember me?"

Evelyn only replied with a speculating look.

Val Valtine stepped closer, "It's me, it's Val. We made a promise under the-"

"-willow tree next to the creek at Ilana forest," Evelyn finished and frowned, "I remember,"

"I made it, I'm back! We can be together once more!" Val went in for a hug, but Evelyn evaded it.

"You invade my home, you killed my mother, and you expect me to be with you?"

". . . We made a promised, I won't let anything stop me like before,"

Evelyn frowned, "Val, we were children. I'm in love with someone else now,"

Rey attacked him from afar, wanting to distance the two. He doesn't know what happened in the past, but he doesn't like their closeness. It must be the demon part inside of him. Possessiveness.

And everything went downhill from there. With just a few taunts from Val Valtine, Rey was unable to control his emotions, and went on a full-blown fight. Evelyn tried to stop the two, but in the end the fight had left the Northern Elves' Kingdom in ruins.

Both Rey and Val Valtine were badly injured, but Evelyn had only tended Rey's wounds. This caused Val Valtine to go mad with rage.

With the last of his energy, he struck Evelyn with a large arrow made of dark energy.

"If I can't have her, then no one can,"

And Val Valtine disappeared.

In the center of the once beautiful garden, blood stained the pure snow.

Rey, conscious and sane once more, held his one true love, trying to stop the bleeding despite already knowing that that one strike had left her with not even a breath left.

There were no last words, no goodbyes, nothing.

If there was, he doesn't remember.

Still, even as he held her lifeless body, he did not shed a tear. Believing, building a self-delusion that she was still there. Alive and warm.

He didn't know how long he was kneeling there, holding her body. But the teacher that he had briefly trained under appeared before him. He raised a sword high above his head. Rey stared at the sword, awaiting death.

But there was nothing.

"She loved you," the teacher cried, "she loved you,"

Rey only stared nonchalantly back.

The teacher sobbed, but quickly picked himself back together.

"Everlasting Light," the teacher struck the sword into the ground in front of Rey, "She never liked fighting, but this was her sword, Everlasting Light. It took her years to make it, it'll kill anything deemed evil, take it. She wanted you to have it,"

And then, the teacher walked away.

Rey was there for another who knows how long, but before he knew it, this time it was Leon who was standing before him.

"Hello Rey," Leon smiled sadly, "It's time to go,"

". . . Evelyn is still sleeping," Rey whispered.

"Is that right?"

Rey nodded.

"I guess we could wait then,"

Rey nodded again.

Leon glanced up. Behind Rey stood an army of enemies, waiting to kill him.

"I'll be back soon, just gotta clean up the place a little. You know how Evelyn gets when things are dirty,"

It was this scene that made Leon a master of the swords. He fought with every inch of his power, protecting his best friend's back.

It was also this scene that made the readers fall in love with the annoying best friend.

It was also this scene that made Leon truly want to go home, this was way too much work. Succeed or die, no in-between.