Cooler Trauss POV(first person point of view)

  "Sarah, it's time for lessons." I said as I took a book out of the bag I carried. I was sitting against a rge rock, surrounded by a vast, green forest.

  "NOOOO!!!" Sarah screamed in terror at the top of her lungs.

  It’s been a week since the start of our long journey toward Vitalia. And let me tell you-Goddess Vaasith told me to help with Sarah's education as we travel, even while we’re literally fighting for our lives along the way.

  She told me, and I quote: "Cooler! Won’t you be a dear and help teach Sarah along the way? This will also help improve your connection with children-remember how you used to be good with them? And yes, I do know kids don’t come to you like they do to Beadu and Sylvarius. Oh? How do I know? Sylvarius told me."

  Yep. That’s what she said. Apparently, helping Sarah learn will not only improve her education but also leave a good impression on the people of Vitalia. Dang it... she really does act like a mother, doesn’t she?

  “Cooler, I’m begging you! Please, PLEASE can we start studying tomorrow instead?!”

  “You said that yesterday. And the day before that. And st week too, Sarah.”

  Sarah groaned in protest. Yep, seems like I’m stuck convincing her again. Wait… I’ve got a pn.

  “Sarah,” I said, putting on my most serious and comforting voice. “What if… I make a dish?”

  Her ears perked up, and she immediately stopped whining. She stared at me, intently listening. Good-now I could keep talking.

  “If you study for one… no, two hours-I’ll make any dish you want today.”

  She looked at me with the most serious expression I’ve ever seen from a kid. “Cooler… I think I want to study. I want to improve my knowledge.”

  And just like that-one point for Cooler. Zero for Sarah.

  I smiled slowly. “Then let’s do it.”

  And so, Sarah studied under my guidance for a solid hour. She was smart-she absorbed the things I was teaching her with surprising ease.

  A voice spoke behind me. “Hmph… are human girls really this easy to convince?”

  I turned to see Sylvarius with a snarky grin. That’s right-Sylvarius of all people. The one with red and white hair, dragon horns on her head, and the person I get along with the least. Get this: Goddess Vaasith said Sylvarius was the perfect choice to join us on this journey because she’s stronger than me, uses her blessings better, and is slightly older and more experienced.

  Oh, and let's not forget-Goddess Vaasith also said Sylvarius could help guide Sarah on 'girl matters'. Whatever that means. It’s also apparently a chance for me and her to get along better. Like-come on! WHY HER?! Why not Beadu instead?!

  “Sylvarius, be nice. I was like that when I was young too,” I said.

  Sylvarius scoffed with a grin. “Well then, I guess that’s why you’re the one stuck doing her education, huh?”

  I rolled my eyes, just as I noticed Sylvarius holding three dead rabbits. Despite all the sass and snide remarks, I knew I could count on her hunting skills in a forest like this. She was way better at it than me. One day… I’ll catch up.

  Sarah’s eyes lit up with excitement. “YOU GOT FOOD!?”

  Sylvarius replied. “Yep. Three rabbits. Cooler’s gonna cook for us.”

  I sighed, but stood up and stretched before responding. “Alright, sure. I did say I’d make a good meal today-since Sarah worked hard on her learning.”

  Sylvarius crossed her arms with another mock scowl. “What about me? I worked hard too.”

  I rolled my eyes again. “Yes, yes… thank you too. I’ll make yours extra tasty.”

  “You better.”

  Sarah, noticing the tension between us, looked between us with a big grin. “Sooo… more talking, or cooking?”

  Both of us replied in perfect unison: “Cooking.”

  “YEAHH!!” Sarah cheered with delight.

  After a while, once the food was cooking and the fire crackled gently, I leaned back and took a breath of smoky forest air.

  Sarah, however, had her face three inches from the pot, her mouth open like she was trying to inhale dinner with pure willpower.

  “Sarah, sit back. It’s hot,” I warned.

  “But it smells like heaven-why must we wait for joy?!”

  “Because joy will burn your nose off if you get too close to the pot, you goblin.”

  “I am not a goblin!”

  “You literally tried to eat a pinecone yesterday.”

  “It looked edible!!” she shouted, now filing her arms in protest.

  “It was yellow.”

  “And round!”

  “Moldy!”

  “I THOUGHT IT WAS LEMON-FLAVORED!!”

  Sarah finally then sat down beside me with wide eyes. “Can you make the rabbit taste like cinnamon?”

  I blinked. “What? No? That’s not how rabbits work-wait. Do you want it to taste like dessert?!”

  “Yes.” She nodded like it was the most logical thing in the world.

  “I… we’re cooking meat, not cake, Sarah.”

  “Then make meat cake.”

  I stared at her. “...You are a culinary war crime waiting to happen, you know that?”

  Sylvarius burst into ughter behind us with a snicker. “Wow. You're raising her well, Cooler.”

  I shot her a look. “You’re not helping.”

  “I’m not trying to,” she said with a cocky grin.

  45 minutes ter....

  Sarah grabbed my arm and started shaking it violently. “COOOOLER! When’s it gonna be done?! I’M STARVING! I’M WASTING AWAY! I’LL DIE!”

  “You ate a lot this morning!”

  “I’M FRAGILE!”

  “You’re indestructible.”

  “I’M TOO YOUNG TO STARVE!”

  “You literally ate half of my food stash from this morning when I blinked.”

  She gasped dramatically. “THAT WAS COMMUNAL SNACKING!”

  I stared at her, deadpan. “You pushed me off a log to get to it.”

  She grinned unapologetically. “Tactical maneuver.”

  Sylvarius tilted her head and nodded. “She might actually be royalty after all.”

  Eventually, as the food cooked and the forest grew dimmer, a calm fell over us. Just for a moment.

  Then Sarah suddenly blurted, “Cooler, if I eat a bug on accident, does that count as protein?”

  Sylvarius choked on a ugh.

  I closed my eyes and sighed. “I don’t get paid enough for this.”

  “You don’t get paid at all.” Sylvarius quipped.

  “Do you really have to rub it in?”

  “Yes. I do,” Sylvarius said with a deadpan expression.

  The fire crackled, and the savory smell of roasted rabbit filled the air. I pted the food onto some makeshift wooden sbs we’d carved earlier-rough, but they did the job.

  “All right, food’s ready,” I called, setting the sbs down on a ft stone near the fire.

  Sarah zipped over first, eyes shining like she hadn’t eaten in three years. “I cim the juiciest one!”

  “You say that like you hunted it,” Sylvarius muttered as she sat down, snatching a piece herself.

  Sarah stuck out her tongue at her, then immediately took a huge bite. Her eyes widened.

  “MMMM-COOLER. YOU’RE A GENIUS.”

  I smirked proudly. “Told you I could cook.”

  She kept chewing and gave me a dramatic thumbs-up with both hands. “I’d study for three hours for this.”

  Sylvarius raised an eyebrow, chewing more slowly. “All right… I hate to admit it… but this is actually good.”

  I threw a hand to my chest, mock-gasping. “Praise? From you?”

  “Don’t get cocky,” she said, wiping her mouth. “It’s edible. That’s my standard.”

  Sarah leaned over to me and stage-whispered, “She means it’s amazing but she has major pride problems.”

  “I HEARD THAT,” Sylvarius snapped, but even she was smiling now.

  We ate in peace for a few moments, the forest calm around us.

  Then Sarah looked at her rabbit and said, “…Can we name the next one before we eat it?”

  I nearly choked. “No! That makes it worse! Why would you-”

  “Like… Mr. Bunbun the Second.”

  “Sarah, please.”

  Sylvarius snorted into her food.

  “Okay, okay!” Sarah grinned. “We won’t name it. This time.”

  I sighed, rubbing my forehead. “I swear this journey is going to kill me faster than any enemy.”

  Sylvarius chuckled. “Good thing you’ve got us, then.”

  I sighed again, silently contempting how I even ended up here.

  ??? Pov(Third person point of view)(unknown point of time)

  "What the hell do you mean you failed in containing the subject?!" Dr. Alter, a scientist with long white hair tied behind his back, shouted furiously at the injured and exhausted guards-those few who barely escaped the explosion that had reduced the hidden boratory to rubble.

  "But sir, the intruders were str-"

  "You think I care?! Do you realize how far we went just to capture that girl from Vitalia?! One of the top Nine of the Organization carried out that abduction-quietly, fwlessly, without leaving a single trace!"

  His voice echoed violently across the high-ceilinged chamber, ced with synthetic blue lighting and a wall of darkened monitors. He turned to gnce at the tall, hulking demon who stood silently beside him, hidden in deep shadow. In front of them, nine massive screens dispyed shadowed silhouettes-leaders of the Organization, their identities completely obscured.

  Dr. Alter’s fists clenched. “I told you. One of you was to remain and guard the subject. Now look what’s happened! Everything we've built-all of it-reduced to nothing!”

  A soft, pyful voice oozed from one of the monitors. “Aww, is the little itsy-bitsy human scientist crying?”

  Dr. Alter snarled. “This isn’t funny, Vemmora!”

  Laughter echoed from the feminine silhouette, while Dr. Alter's face twisted in frustration. As the two bickered, a long sigh hummed through the audio channel-one that immediately silenced the room.

  “It seems… this failure was mine.”

  Everyone paused. The voice was calm, grave, and deeply composed.

  “My apologies, Dr. Alter. I should have insisted we relocate the artifact. Combining it with the subject in one site was a miscalcution. We underestimated the reach of Goddess Vaasith. I warned it might be sensed-even through divine cloaking.”

  Dr. Alter lowered his gaze, a grim understanding in his eyes. “No, no… this isn’t your fault, Zharakul. You did warn us. We were arrogant-believing our technology could mask the divine signature. We thought ourselves invincible. How foolish. If only we had more time to relocate it as well.”

  “Still...” another voice from the screens began, deeper and harder to read. “this failure is instructive. We now know more about the enemy’s limits... and ours.”

  Mutters of agreement rippled among the Nine.

  “So, what now?” Dr. Alter exhaled and rubbed his brow. “From the footage we salvaged, it seems the one who rescued the girl was a male lizardfolk. He was accompanied by two people-one of dragon origin, the other lizardkin. From observation, the male was the only one who chose to rescue the girl. The others... seemed more interested in the artifact.”

  “I agree.” Zharakul responded. “The behavior suggests that none of them knew the girl’s identity. Likely, it was instinct-perhaps compassion-that drove the male Lizardfolk to act. You can see his hesitation in the corridor camera feed. His body nguage-surprise, confusion. He didn’t know who she was.”

  “And that is good,” murmured another silhouette. “It means they still don’t know what she is.”

  “Correct.” Zharakul continued. “They may suspect or eventually know she is from Vitalia with the help of Vaasith. They will believe it’s because she carries the blood of the star lineage that we kidnapped her. But they don’t know what lies within her. Not even her own family knows. Even our... leader couldn’t sense it. And if he could not detect it, then not even the divine can.”

  More murmurs of assent followed, quiet but firm.

  “Then the secret remains intact.”

  “Indeed. And Vaasith, cautious as she is, will likely attempt to return the girl to Vitalia discreetly-to avoid coming in contact with us. She may use it as a way to strengthen ties between her kingdom and Vitalia. But that gives us a chance. While the girl is on the move... vulnerable, exposed... that is when we strike.”

  “We will track them.” Zharakul said softly. “We will find the moment.”

  The monitors went still. A hush bnketed the room.

  Then, a deep voice-rich, low, unshakable-resounded through every speaker, quieting even the shadows themselves.

  “Your orders are simple...”

  Silence.

  All Nine turned toward the center screen. There was no visual. Only presence.

  The voice did not shout. It did not threaten. And yet, every being in the chamber stood still, as if the universe itself had paused to listen.

  “Have one of us go and retrieve the girl. You may kill the ones that accompany her or even leave them behind. But...loose ends tend to strike at us. I prefer if you killed them instead.”

  Not a single objection. Not even a breath dared to challenge the decree.

  The voice continued.

  "Do it quietly and not too messily. Otherwise we will attract unwanted attention. Are we clear?"

  Dr. Alter and all the silhouettes bowed in unison.

  "Yes. It shall be done."

  Also here's a poll. You dont have to participate, but I am rather interested in which characters do you like so far. Just for my curioisty and all that. Plus, I would also be happy to know right down in the comments on what you like about the character.