As the sun sets, Laura heads back to her room and lies down on her bed. The first day of training ended without her making much progress. She feels completely drained mentally and physically.
"I gotta do the same thing tomorrow too."
She starts drifting off to sleep.
She find herself in her room back in her home in the forest village only the house is on fire. She jumps out her bed and runs out of her room looking for her mother.
"Mom where are you!?"
However, she doesn't see her mom anywhere. She searches frantically as the flame engulf the whole house.
"MOM!"
The house starts to collapse around her until there's nothing left. She sees the whole village surrounding her with torches in the their hands with her mother tied up in front of them.
"Mom?!"
Laura tries to move but she can't, she sees her mother look at her with tears in her eyes before a version of herself without horns walks up to her.
"You did this you know? It's all your fault. You couldn't be normal so mom had to die."
"No... please no! It's not my fault!"
"You don't get it do you? Everything is your fault. The villagers didn't want anything to do with you because demons are hated and mom had to die because of you. It's all your fault."
It's all your fault. It's all your fault. It's all your fault. It's all your fault. It's all your fault. It's all your fault. It's all your fault. It's all your fault.
"It's all my fault?"
Laura wakes up with a start. He body feels sore and she's sweating profusely.
"Just a dream?"
She sits up and looks around her room.
"Oh god, it's still dark outside."
It was still the middle of the night, she'd been asleep for a while. Her head felt like it was going to explode. She pulls the blanket over her and curls up in a ball under the covers.
"Gotta get up in a few hours."
But she can't go back to sleep, so she decides to take a walk to clear her mind. Even though her limbs still ache a little bit, she heads toward the training grounds. Nobody is present there since it's the middle of the night. The moon is full and at it's apex so lighting isn't problem even though Laura can see in the pitch black darkness.
She walks to the middle of the arena and takes a deep breath.
"I'm weak. I'm useless. I'm worthless."
Her thoughts wander to her mom.
"If only I was stronger then mom wouldn't have died."
She remembers the moment she saw her mother save her and tell her to run. She had no choice and as a result her mother was taken from her. The guilt eats away at her.
"I'm gonna train every damn day to become strong enough."
Laura stands in the center of the training ground and thinks of nothing else.
"Is that satisfactory mister stalker?"
She turns around and sees Groel standing behind her.
"Oh my, calling me a stalker is kind of rude don't you think?"
"S-sorry." Laura stammers out an apology. Now that she thinks about it calling Groel a stalker is rude. "So why are you here mister Groel?"
Groel chuckles.
"I come here often to train when everyone else is asleep. I like the arena when there's nobody else here, it's nice and quiet."
"Yea, I guess you're right."
"You trained with Eleonora today right?"
"Yeah I asked her to help me train."
"Did you learn anything new?"
"I learned that I have a lot to learn."
Groel chuckles.
"So what are you doing out here this late?"
"I had a nightmare so I thought I'd take a walk to clear my head."
"A nightmare huh? That's rough. What happened?"
"I was back at my village the day It was discovered that I was a demon, my home burned down and my mother was captured and she was about to be killed. Then another version of myself appeared blaming me for everything."
"That must have been terrifying."
"Yes it was. Everyone who was always so kind to me turned from faces of joy to faces of anger and hatred. My mother was the only one who still loved me."
Groel rubs his long white beard.
"Throughout my life I've seen many atrocities committed by humans. People will turn into savages if it's justifiable by saying it's to protect something precious to them. They saw you as a threat Laura and they took measures to make sure that threat wasn't a threat anymore."
"Are you trying to justify their actions to me?"
"I'm just telling you the truth. From your perspective they're the ones at fault, but from their perspective you were a potential problem that needed to be taken care of as soon as possible. It's easy to point fingers after the fact. You could try to blame yourself for being born a demon, or you could just accept things as they are and move forward."
"I'll never accept that."
"Then you'll be stuck in place forever."
"What do you mean?"
"While I do understand your grief, you have to focus on moving forward. If you keep dwelling on the past you'll never improve."
"That's a pretty harsh way to put it mister Groel."
"You're right it is. But there's nothing wrong with being brutally honest. Life is hard and brutal. There's no point in sugar coating things."
Laura sighs.
"I'm not saying to forget about your mother or anything like that, but you should let go of the mentality of blaming yourself for it otherwise you'll never live like your mother wanted you to."
"What do you know about what my mother wanted for me?!"
Groel smiles at Laura as she yells at him.
"From the way you're torn up about it I'm sure your mother loved you very much. So it's not a huge leap in logic to think that she wants you to live the best life you possibly can. I think it's safe to assume that she didn't want you to live in despair and regret."
"Do you really think so?"
"Of course I do."
Laura stares at the moon for a few moments and lets out a heavy sigh before turning back to Groel.
"Thanks for the advice mister Groel."
Groel grins at Laura.
"Don't mention it. I may be blunt but I'm not heartless."
"Hey mister Groel."
"Hm?"
"I heard you taught Royce how to use magic, do you think I could get some lessons from you sometime?"
Groel laughs.
"You seriously want to learn magic?"
"Yes I do."
"Well I see no reason why I shouldn't teach you."
"Thank you."
"However you seem tired, go back to sleep. Once you get used to Eleonora's training I'll start teaching you magic. Deal?"
"Deal."
Laura bows her head toward Groel and walks out of the arena.
"That girl is something else isn't she?"
As the sun sets, Laura heads back to her room and lies down on her bed. The first day of training ended without her making much progress. She feels completely drained mentally and physically.
"I gotta do the same thing tomorrow too."
She starts drifting off to sleep.
She find herself in her room back in her home in the forest village only the house is on fire. She jumps out her bed and runs out of her room looking for her mother.
"Mom where are you!?"
However, she doesn't see her mom anywhere. She searches frantically as the flame engulf the whole house.
"MOM!"
The house starts to collapse around her until there's nothing left. She sees the whole village surrounding her with torches in the their hands with her mother tied up in front of them.
"Mom?!"
Laura tries to move but she can't, she sees her mother look at her with tears in her eyes before a version of herself without horns walks up to her.
"You did this you know? It's all your fault. You couldn't be normal so mom had to die."
"No... please no! It's not my fault!"
"You don't get it do you? Everything is your fault. The villagers didn't want anything to do with you because demons are hated and mom had to die because of you. It's all your fault."
It's all your fault. It's all your fault. It's all your fault. It's all your fault. It's all your fault. It's all your fault. It's all your fault. It's all your fault.
"It's all my fault?"
Laura wakes up with a start. He body feels sore and she's sweating profusely.
"Just a dream?"
She sits up and looks around her room.
"Oh god, it's still dark outside."
It was still the middle of the night, she'd been asleep for a while. Her head felt like it was going to explode. She pulls the blanket over her and curls up in a ball under the covers.
"Gotta get up in a few hours."
But she can't go back to sleep, so she decides to take a walk to clear her mind. Even though her limbs still ache a little bit, she heads toward the training grounds. Nobody is present there since it's the middle of the night. The moon is full and at it's apex so lighting isn't problem even though Laura can see in the pitch black darkness.
She walks to the middle of the arena and takes a deep breath.
"I'm weak. I'm useless. I'm worthless."
Her thoughts wander to her mom.
"If only I was stronger then mom wouldn't have died."
She remembers the moment she saw her mother save her and tell her to run. She had no choice and as a result her mother was taken from her. The guilt eats away at her.
"I'm gonna train every damn day to become strong enough."
Laura stands in the center of the training ground and thinks of nothing else.
"Is that satisfactory mister stalker?"
She turns around and sees Groel standing behind her.
"Oh my, calling me a stalker is kind of rude don't you think?"
"S-sorry." Laura stammers out an apology. Now that she thinks about it calling Groel a stalker is rude. "So why are you here mister Groel?"
Groel chuckles.
"I come here often to train when everyone else is asleep. I like the arena when there's nobody else here, it's nice and quiet."
"Yea, I guess you're right."
"You trained with Eleonora today right?"
"Yeah I asked her to help me train."
"Did you learn anything new?"
"I learned that I have a lot to learn."
Groel chuckles.
"So what are you doing out here this late?"
"I had a nightmare so I thought I'd take a walk to clear my head."
"A nightmare huh? That's rough. What happened?"
"I was back at my village the day It was discovered that I was a demon, my home burned down and my mother was captured and she was about to be killed. Then another version of myself appeared blaming me for everything."
"That must have been terrifying."
"Yes it was. Everyone who was always so kind to me turned from faces of joy to faces of anger and hatred. My mother was the only one who still loved me."
Groel rubs his long white beard.
"Throughout my life I've seen many atrocities committed by humans. People will turn into savages if it's justifiable by saying it's to protect something precious to them. They saw you as a threat Laura and they took measures to make sure that threat wasn't a threat anymore."
"Are you trying to justify their actions to me?"
"I'm just telling you the truth. From your perspective they're the ones at fault, but from their perspective you were a potential problem that needed to be taken care of as soon as possible. It's easy to point fingers after the fact. You could try to blame yourself for being born a demon, or you could just accept things as they are and move forward."
"I'll never accept that."
"Then you'll be stuck in place forever."
"What do you mean?"
"While I do understand your grief, you have to focus on moving forward. If you keep dwelling on the past you'll never improve."
"That's a pretty harsh way to put it mister Groel."
"You're right it is. But there's nothing wrong with being brutally honest. Life is hard and brutal. There's no point in sugar coating things."
Laura sighs.
"I'm not saying to forget about your mother or anything like that, but you should let go of the mentality of blaming yourself for it otherwise you'll never live like your mother wanted you to."
"What do you know about what my mother wanted for me?!"
Groel smiles at Laura as she yells at him.
"From the way you're torn up about it I'm sure your mother loved you very much. So it's not a huge leap in logic to think that she wants you to live the best life you possibly can. I think it's safe to assume that she didn't want you to live in despair and regret."
"Do you really think so?"
"Of course I do."
Laura stares at the moon for a few moments and lets out a heavy sigh before turning back to Groel.
"Thanks for the advice mister Groel."
Groel grins at Laura.
"Don't mention it. I may be blunt but I'm not heartless."
"Hey mister Groel."
"Hm?"
"I heard you taught Royce how to use magic, do you think I could get some lessons from you sometime?"
Groel laughs.
"You seriously want to learn magic?"
"Yes I do."
"Well I see no reason why I shouldn't teach you."
"Thank you."
"However you seem tired, go back to sleep. Once you get used to Eleonora's training I'll start teaching you magic. Deal?"
"Deal."
Laura bows her head toward Groel and walks out of the arena.
"That girl is something else isn't she?"
