Mae kept moving at a blistering pace, desperately trying to put as much physical distance between herself and her twin sister as possible. *Stupid, stupid! Why did you come? Why didn't you just listen to me? Why do I have to keep talking to you like that!?* she screamed internally. She was actively trying to blame Zee for the agonizing encounter—a mental defense mechanism that she knew was deeply stupid at best, and incredibly hypocritical at worst.
"By the Emperor, just slow down!" Li called out, wheezing heavily. He had literally been forced into a full-on sprint just to finally catch up to her elven strides.
Panting for breath, he jogged up beside her. "Alright, okay, just... what was that? Who was that, exactly? I get that she was obviously your twin, but what in the world happened between you two?" he asked, his voice laced with genuine bewilderment.
Mae abruptly stopped and turned, leveling a completely venomous glare at the guide. "Are you always this nosy about other people's personal business?" she snapped, her voice like cracking ice.
Li let out a long, exhausted sigh and shook his head, refusing to back down entirely. "Usually? No. But I'll be completely honest with you: with how terrifyingly short your fuse is, I feel like I have to know the context. Just so I don't accidentally say the wrong thing later and you, I don't know, slap a tooth right out of my head."
Mae clicked her tongue in sharp irritation. "Tch. Don't try to pry, because I'll actually do exactly that if you keep pushing," she warned darkly.
Li just gave her a flat, assessing look before casually raising his hands in surrender. "Okay, whatever I suppose. I won't force it."
Mae blinked, momentarily caught off guard by how easily he had just dropped the subject. She didn't dwell on it, however, quickly refocusing her raw, nervous energy and pushing forward once more. With Li breathlessly calling out the correct turns from behind her, it didn't take them long to navigate the winding streets and finally arrive at the other stables where Drack had secured their horses.
As they approached the wooden stalls, they spotted Drack casually leaning against a support post, patiently waiting for them. He opened his mouth, about to call out a greeting, but the words died in his throat the absolute second he registered the look on Mae's face. He immediately straightened up, his relaxed posture evaporating into sharp alertness.
"Did something happen?" he asked seriously.
Mae let out a heavy, ragged sigh, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. "He's not here anymore. He's headed to some stupid mountain on mounts. We have to leave quickly," she stated with clipped, forced efficiency.
Drack didn't move to saddle the horses. Instead, he stared intently into her fractured, emotional eyes, easily seeing past her rough exterior. "There's something else that happened. What was it, Miss Mae?" he pressed gently.
Mae closed her eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath, her defenses finally crumbling just enough to admit the painful truth. "Zee... she's here. She's traveling with the old man and... whoever the hell that magic-using man was that helped us fight the Demon King."
Beside them, Li blinked in utter, world-shattering confusion. "Excuse me, what?"
His absolute shock was promptly ignored.
"That was to be expected," Drack mused aloud, rubbing his chin in thought. "She wouldn't have just let this go, even with the harsh words you left her with a month ago. What is truly unexpected, however, is that man traveling with them. Why would he be here?"
Mae shook her head aggressively, violently dismissing the entire train of thought. "We don't have the time to think about it. Just get the horses. We're going to that whatever mountain right now," she ordered.
The large half-orc gave a quick nod, immediately turning on his heel and heading deep into the stalls to fetch their mounts.
"Seriously, could you please explain what you just said about the Demon King?" Li pressed again, his voice cracking slightly as he stared at the elf in disbelief.
Mae turned to face him, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. "It's exactly what it sounds like. We fought the Demon King, and the man that was standing with Zee back there—the younger-looking one—helped us do it. That's it," she explained bluntly, delivering the world-shattering information as casually as if she were discussing the weather.
Li looked utterly, profoundly baffled, his jaw practically hitting the dirt. Before he could even attempt to form a coherent response to that insane revelation, the heavy clop of hooves echoed across the dirt as Drack emerged from the shadows.
"Here they are," the half-orc called out, leading their fully saddled horses forward.
Mae gave a curt nod and snatched the leather reins of her mount, before she threw a sharp, demanding glare at their stunned guide. "You. While we're heading there, you are going to tell me absolutely everything you know about these 'crying mountains' and the man who lives on top of them."
Li physically shook his head, forcefully dragging himself out of his paralyzing bewilderment to focus on their immediate, suicidal task.
"Uh, right. Yeah, okay, I guess I have to," he stammered. "First of all, it's the Weeping Mountains. And the man who lives there is The Grand Lotus, Joshua Ambrose... one of the absolute worst criminals in all of Aetheria."