Kaiser sat on the riverbank, his boots sinking slightly into the thick carpet of spun silk beneath him. Tiny spiders scuttled across his arms and legs, their delicate legs tracing ghostlike paths over his skin. They did not bite. They did not flee. They simply existed, as if he were no more than another branch in their tangled world. He clenched his fists, fighting the lingering unease coiling in his gut.

  Beyond the river of cobwebs, hidden within the canopy, the monsters watched. Shadowed figures loomed in the trees, their forms barely visible save for the occasional glint of a twisted limb or the slow, deliberate shifting of weight on bark. Before, they had crept closer, their movements predatory, their hunger palpable in the suffocating air. But now, they remained still. Silent.

  Because she was here.

  Aria sat with her knees pulled close to her chest, her pink hair falling like a curtain over her face. Her voice, raspy and weak after an hour filled with screams, finally broke the stillness.

  “I… I’m sorry…” she whispered, her words barely audible. Kaiser glanced at her, his expression softening. “There’s nothing to apologize for. You’ve been through hell.”

  Aria didn’t respond immediately. Her gaze was fixed on a small puddle of rainwater next to her, where her reflection wavered in the still puddle. It didn’t even look like her anymore—just a broken, distorted version of who she used to be.

  “I never wanted any of this,” she murmured, her voice trembling. “I never wanted to hurt anyone…”

  Kaiser leaned back, resting his arms on his knees. “I know,” he said, his tone calm but weighted with understanding. “I’ve hurt people too. People I cared about. Sometimes we’re thrown into fights we didn’t ask for. Fights we can’t walk away from.”

  Aria turned to him, her hollow eyes searching his face. She expected judgment, maybe pity, but found neither. Instead, there was something else—something she couldn’t quite name but felt like warmth.

  “Why?” she asked after a long pause. “Why did you help me?”

  Kaiser didn’t answer right away. His eyes drifted to the sky, the memories of his own battles flickering behind them. He exhaled slowly, then looked at her.

  “I saw myself in you,” he said quietly. “Lost. Hurt. Angry. But I also saw someone who still had the strength to fight. Not against the world, but against the darkness inside. You reminded me of why I keep going.”

  Her breath hitched, and she quickly looked away, blinking back tears. “You’re… you’re lying,” she muttered. “I’m a monster. I can feel it. Everyone else sees it.”

  Kaiser tilted his head, considering her words. “You’re not a monster. Monsters don’t cry over the people they’ve hurt, and they definitely don’t regret what they’ve done.”

  A bitter laugh escaped her lips. “You don’t know that. Maybe they just cry when no one’s looking.”

  Kaiser smirked faintly. “If so, then I guess I am a monster as well. I've cried many times when nobody was around. Actually, once someone did catch me, and they wouldn’t let me hear the end of it. Called me the ‘Blubbering Titan’ for weeks. You want that nickname? I’ll share it.”

  For the first time, a ghost of a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, though it quickly faded.

  The space of silence laid between them once more, but not so dense this time. The sound of the wind and the soft sighing of the trees surrounded the area, providing a type of serenity neither of them had experienced recently.

  Finally, the girl broke the silence. “My name… It’s Aria,” she said, her voice steadier now.

  Kaiser nodded, a small smile playing on his lips. “Kaiser Dios. But you can just call me Kaiser. No one really uses the whole ‘Dios’ part unless they’re trying to suck up to me.”

  Aria glanced at him, her curiosity flickering to life. “Why? Are you important?”

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  Kaiser chuckled, running a hand through his messy hair. “Well, I like to think so. But honestly, I’m just a man trying to keep it together. You know, saving the world one battle at a time.”

  Aria snorted softly, surprising herself. It wasn’t a laugh, not quite, but it was close. “Saving the world,” she echoed, shaking her head. “Good luck with that.”

  Kaiser grinned. “Thanks. I’ll need it. And maybe you can help me out, huh? You’re pretty scary when you’re not busy crying all over my clothes.”

  Her lips quivered again, this time she did not tell him to be quiet. On the other side, she took the initiative, and her little hand bumped against him. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  Kaiser looked down at her hand, then back at her. “We’ll get through this, Aria,” he said firmly. “One step at a time. And if anyone tries to stop us…” He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. “You’ll unleash the spiders.”

  Aria groaned, covering her face with her hands. “You’re really weird.”

  “Yep,” Kaiser continued with a smile, rising to his feet and extending his hand to her. “Come on, let’s get moving. We've got a bumpy road ahead and I've got some bad jokes to keep you busy."

  She hesitated, then slipped her hand into his and got up on her feet. Aria felt something she hadn’t in a long time.

  Hope.

  Aria walked silently next to Kaiser, Constantly checking up?on him, getting a good look at the person who had become her rather unexpected ally in a short time. And finally, a minute after they started their walk, her curiosity got the better of her.

  “It’s weird…” she?muttered, her voice interrupting the hush. “I have never met someone as strange as you.”

  Kaiser did not shift his?gaze from the road ahead, but a subtle smirk was pulling at the corner of his lips. “Strange in a good or a bad way?”

  Aria tilted her head?and her own mouth started to smile. “I’m not sure yet. But… you’re different. Most people would’ve killed me by now, for everything I put them trough, for making them relive their worst memories...”

  Kaiser looked her way,?and his features softened. “I’ve seen enough death to realize that not everyone who looks like a monster is one.”

  Aria’s eyes met his, something unspoken passing between them. Then, after a brief pause, she exhaled, her voice quieter this time. "I used to be afraid of this forest, you know. When I was little, I wouldn’t go near it. But now… it’s like it’s a part of me."

  Kaiser nodded and swept his eyes across the white trees. “It’s difficult to run away from the things we fear. Sometimes, we focus too much onto those thing, so much that they end up defining who we are.”

  Aria glanced down, her steps faltering a?bit. “I?believe… that’s what happened to me. This forest, the monsters,?the … the memories. They’re all because of me.”

  Kaiser stopped walking and turned to her, his expression serious. “It wasn’t your fault, Aria. What happened to your village… that was on the knights who came, not you.”

  She paused,?her gaze filled with shame. “But they were looking for someone like me… someone powerful. If I hadn’t been there—”

  Kaiser interrupted her, his voice firm but steady. “Then they would have hunted you somewhere else. A prophecy didn’t make them do this—their own choices did. If it wasn’t this village, it would’ve been another. Blaming yourself won’t change what they decided to do.”

  Aria?nodded slowly, but her face was conflicted. “Maybe. But it’s difficult not to feel like I’m to?blame.”

  Kaiser resumed walking, his tone softening. “Blame’s a heavy thing to carry. But it doesn’t change what’s already happened. What matters is what you do now.”

  Aria landed behind him, her footsteps more deliberate. “What I do now … ”?she repeated aloud, half to herself.

  Kaiser turned back to her, resuming his smirk. “For one, you might stop feeling guilty for every?bad thing that ever happened. Baby steps.”

  She rolled her eyes, though there was a faint hint of amusement in her expression. “You really don’t know how to stop talking, do you?”

  Kaiser smirked. "I could. But then who would keep your mind off things?"

  She shot him a look, but there was no real bite in it. "You're relentless."

  "And yet, you're walking next to me," he said, stepping over a gnarled root. "So either I’m not that unbearable, or you just enjoy suffering."

  Despite herself, Aria let out a soft chuckle. It was a fragile sound, but it carried a note of sincerity that hadn’t been there before.

  There ensued a silence for some time, the one in the air slowly dissolving into a softer something. The forest behind them looked less frightening, the shadows less menacing.

  Aria broke the quiet once more. "Kaiser… why did you bring me with you? Even if you chose to spare me, why let me walk next to you?"

  Kaiser didn’t answer immediately. He slowed his pace, his eyes scanning the trees as if searching for the right words. “Because you needed someone,” he finally said. “And, honestly? I think I did too.”

  Aria blinked, caught off guard by the honesty in his voice. “You?”

  He nodded, his expression unusually thoughtful. “Yeah. I’ve spent a lot of time fighting, trying to fix things I can’t. But with you… I felt like I could actually help. Like I could make something better, even if just a little.”

  Her steps faltered, and she stared at him, her emotions swirling too fast to process. “I… I don’t know what to say.” Kaiser stopped and turned to her, his smirk softening into a genuine smile. “You don’t have to say anything, Aria. Just keep walking. We’ve got a long way to go, and the forest isn’t going to get any less creepy.”

  Aria hesitated, then nodded, falling into step beside him. For the first time in what felt like forever, the weight on her shoulders felt just a little lighter.