The Finish: Diminished Faith

Introduction
The soft morning sunshine glowed over the forest region, shining on the aftermath of the fight between the mages, though the crater seemed to be empty. In the hidden grove, two bodies near a campfire could be seen as it was both Debo and Celeste, Debo sleeping against the wall while Celeste was covered in the blanket that they were both laying on originally, still sleeping as a light snore could be heard from her. The sound of a rock falling into the lake as it woke up Debo, making him rub his eyes as he stretched his arms over his head. He looked over to see Celeste still sleeping as he knew that she would wake up grumpy, and decided to do some meditation to try and sort out these feelings he had for her.

Standing up, he walked over to a different part of the grove, sitting in his usual meditative sitting position as he let the still water and sounds of nature get him into his calm and quiet state of mind.

Grumbling something about uncomfortable beds, Celeste awoke drowsy in her pick-nick cloth. Trying to shake the sleep away, she picked up her bottle of water and splashed it on her face before standing up and walking towards the lake. First taking a look around to check if anyone would be watching, she removed her clothing before diving in the lake for a swim as well as a bit of washing up.

Debo could hear the splashing as he looked at the small hall that lead right into the lake, he made sure that this place was hidden from any being. He thought about who could be swimming when an immediate thought came, making him nosebleed as he used his shirt to cover his nose. At this point, he knew that he was sitting on a powder keg ready to blow if he did one of two things, go out and see her or go out in general. He secretly wanted to go and try to take a peak, making his mask react as he shook the thoughts away. He loved her and didn't want her to think any less of him, so he decided to simply continue on his meditation while waiting for her to finish, occasionally having small nosebleeds when he could hear her move.

Finishing her swimming, she floated in the water for a few minutes while pondering how to continue after they found the well. Shrugging off thoughts of a life without the mask, she went to the shore again, putting her clothes on as she stepped out of the water with a tower around her hair before calling out to Debo, wherever the boy was at the moment. "If you can hear me Debo, the lake is all for you at the moment if you want to take some time swimming at the moment."

Debo quickly shook his head and went out of the spot he was in, which was further off than Celeste could see, as he stripped down to his boxers and jumped into the lake, swimming around for a while as he tried to think of what to do now that they were this close to their goal. ''How can I show her that I love her now? Will she reject me? Ugh man, I've never felt like this before with anyone, especially someone who's so similar to me, I don't know how to do this ''Debo thought in his mind as he went up for air and spent a bit of time on his back just floating and looking up at the ceiling of the grove, trying hard to come up with a solution.

Removing the remains of their food and drinks of the last night together with the cloth, she picked the map out of Debo's backpack to think of the best route to their destination before sitting down with a glass of wine. Since she didn't know how long Debo would take with swimming, she should make good use of the time right?

Surfacing to take a breath, he looked over to Celeste as she was reading the map that she got out of his bag as he went to where his clothes were and grabbed the towel that he swiped to dry himself off as he got redressed and walked over to her, his eyes wandering around her curves as he shook his head and sat against the wall, "How did you sleep last night?" He asked trying not to get her riled up, which would result from shattered glass in his face.

Shrugging at Debo's question, Celeste placed her glass of wine down before looking at him. "I've slept worse before, so nothing out of the ordinary for me." Tapping on her left arm a few moments before she rolled the map back up, she stored it away while picking up her glass to finish her drink. "The easiest way to get there is through those forests with a lot of poisonous animals, but through the mountains will let us encounter mostly vulcans and difficult terrain. So which one shall we take?"

"It's only been a day since we fought against that guy, like you told me he was still alive even after that explosion, I rather we take the easy path to rest and recover for a bit before we have to deal with him again" Debo said looking at her with a serious look. He made up his mind to show her his feelings towards her and wants to be with her, and decided to start showing it slowly before he made his big reveal when they reach the well. "I know you can pretty much defeat anything that comes your way, but I don't want you to risk yourself too much without being in tip-top shape".

He had too much faith in her if he thought she could defeat anything that came her way... "I just used too much energy while fighting that man, that is all. But if you insist, we can go towards the village near the forest to rest and all before going through the mountains."

"Sounds like a good idea" He said standing up but flinching a bit as he grabbed his shoulder as it was still sore from yesterday. "How about some breakfast, what do you feel like having?" Debo asked looking over to her and waiting for her response.

Oh for the love of god... Grabbing his sore shoulder with her right hand and putting some pressure in it, she forced some of her magic in his body again to give him a quick look-over similar to a scan before shooting a small pulse in 4 waves of 3 pulses for each wave through his shoulder that way before removing her hand. "I am guessing you where the youngest at home with the way you handle your wounds? Didn't you had a big sister who taught you about taking care of your injuries?"

"Only child actually, and last time I checked, they didn't exactly give first aid lessons for an academic learning class" Debo replied jokingly as he sighed in relief while rolling his shoulder to feel the pain almost disappear in an instant, "But the way you can heal people, I may injury myself more often to see you" He said smiling before standing up and stretching his arms out over his head, "So, what are you in the mood for to eat?" He asked once more.

Blinking a few times at his rather cheesy choice of words, Celeste released a low sigh in exasperation. "You really need to work on your pick up lines if that was supposed to be one of those Debo." Walking in the direction of the village, she went past him before answering his question about the food while continuing to walk. The city was a good hour walking from where they where at the moment if they didn't ran with her own speed. "Lambs meat in combination with the proper fish would be nice for now, especially with a good glass of wine that fits with those two kinds of meat"

Debo walked a little closer to her as he kept the look out for anything out of the ordinary, "Maybe there's a restaurant in the village, they might have some good food to eat" He said looking back at her, "You know, I can honestly say I've never met someone as elegant as you, not many I've met would have a glass of wine first thing in the morning" He said with an honest smile on his face.

"Well, it keeps the headache away so that is a nice bonus to the wine i guess." Pulling out two pieces of bread, she gave one to Debo while starting herself on the other one. "Just think of it as breakfast. At least this way we have something to eat until we get there, not sure if they have restaurants open at this time of the day."

"You'd be surprised at what kind of stuff villages have open... For example..." He said pointing over to a small restaurant that had people in front of it early in the morning. The two made their walk towards the entrance, but were suddenly surprised by the opening of the door, revealing a woman with very large endowments, jumping right into Debo's path, knocking them both down as Debo was being smothered between the large breasts as the girl's eyes were spinning comedically.

Shaking the dizziness from that hit away, she looked at Debo to see how he was doing after that accident, or at least that was what it was she hoped. Seeing Debo smothered between the breasts of another woman ticked her off somehow, pulling the unknown women by her scruff before throwing her back where she came from and pulling Debo rather roughly up his two feet. "You know, you could've pushed her away yourself the moment she landed on you." While trying to hide it, her voice had a tint of irritation in them as she told him he could've handled it himself.

Debo was seen unconscious as he was shaken by Celeste, causing him to wake up as he held his head, "Yeah, I can't exactly tell where I am when my head is knocked on the ground, but I appreciate the concern" He said winking at her while the girl groaned as she stood up, causing her chest to jiggle a bit as she stood up and looked over to them.

"Ow, what did you do that for?" The young woman said as she rubbed her head.

"Good, you can still crack lame jokes so nothing is damaged in that head of yours as far as i can say at first sight." Turning to the one who bumped into them, Celeste raised her right eyebrow to how she was dressed and the question this woman asked. "I could ask you the same question, why did you bump into us in the first place? And just a thought of mine, but ever thought of wearing pants instead of a short skirt so that you don't risk flashing others by accident?"

"I have shorts underneath, at least with the skirt I have more mobility than most" She said patting it down as she looked back at the two. "I'm sorry about that, I was in a bit of a rush and I didn't see where I was going" She said bowing down, which caused her breasts to droop a bit as Debo looked away, not wanting to cause a nosebleed.

"It's no problem really, but if I may ask, why are you in such a rush?" He said looking back as she stood back up.

"I've been looking for someone for a while now and I had just gotten word he was seen around this region, but since I bumped into you, have you seen this man?" She asked pulling out a parchment that had the picture of the same guy the two had fought only yesterday.

Looking at the picture Leina showed them, she pulled Debo backwards so that the boy wouldn't see the picture. "I've seen him yes, but I don't know where he is at the moment." Getting ready to use some of the glass splinters she still had stored away in case she would need them, her face still kept a friendly appearance while her eyes had a grim look in them. "Why are you looking for that man in the first place? And mind telling us your name too?"

Debo had been with Celeste just long enough to notice when she would change her behavior, which he could tell when she pulled him back and kept herself in the middle from the photo, blocking his view. It made him feel a bit uneasy as he was prepared for whatever might happen.

"He's my uncle and I haven't seen him in nearly 5 years and he would usually come visit every one year, but he hadn't so I decided to look for him. My name is Leina, very nice to meet you both" She said with a kind smile on her face, making Celeste a bit surprised by her kind reaction.

"Well, go look in those mountains behind us and you might find him there. And nice to meet you Leina, i am Celeste and the one behind me is Debo." When Leina stored the picture away, Celeste took a step to the side so that Debo could look Leina in the eyes again if he chose to talk to her.

Debo looked over to Celeste, looking at her expression, seeing that she had calmed down which brought relief to him as he smiled. "Nice to meet you Leina, good luck with finding your uncle" He said to her as she nodded and went past them, running towards the mountain side. "I'm glad to see that this didn't end in another fight, she'd be dead within the second you got your hands on her" He said smiling at her as they both entered the restaurant and looked at the menu's placed in front of both of them.

"If that would be correct, then it couldn't be called a fight in the first place Debo." Before picking up her menu card, Celeste asked for a map of the village together with a few leaflets of what the village had to offer. Getting the promise that she would get those within 10 minutes, she opened her menu card to make her choice. "I believe they call such a thing a massacre right? "

Debo wasn't looking at Celeste or the menu card, he was looking all around the restaurant trying to find one person that was looking at him, no one who was yelling or screaming about how he was a monster or how hideous he was because of the mask. "It's incredible..... I mean it was only a week ago that I was wearing my cloak in a place, but now... Nobody's laughing or scared of me... I actually feel normal..." He said with a shakily voice as he looked back to Celeste, putting a hand on her's.

"Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you..." Was all he could say as he continued to look into her eyes.

"Your welcome. If you keep up that form long enough, it'll probably be ingrained in your subconscious like mine did. On the downside of having something like that ingrained is the fact that you have less magic to use for other things, but on the upside you can mingle with others as long as you don't exhaust your magic too much." Motioning the waitress to their table, she gave her own menu card while giving her order to the waitress before looking back at Debo. "So, what it'll be for you Debo?"

"Some chicken with rice please" He said passing it over to the waitress as she smiled and went to go have their orders begun to cook. After a while, Debo looked back to Celeste who was looking outside their window with the glass of wine in hand as she was looking at the clouds that were passing by. "So Celeste, I've been meaning to ask you, if this thing does work and we have these masks removed, what's your next plan?" He said hoping to get some idea if she wanted to be together with him.

Finishing the sip she took, she actually waited a bit longer with answering the question than necessary while keeping her face to outside of the window. Not because she didn't want to tell him, or something like that. No, it was more like she didn't even want to think about the possibility. "Not sure what my plans are for when this plan works, i don't really think a lot about those things. Getting hope because of rumors, only to have them smashed when the rumors turn out to be false can be rather dangerous with these things after all..."

Debo looked at her for a bit, he was a bit saddened by the fact that she didn't really give thought about her future or if it even involved him, but then he thought that it wasn't like her to think more about her plans. The topic didn't give Debo much idea if she cared for him more, but decided to drop it as the waitress came back with the food, placing them both in front of the two before bowing and telling them to enjoy their meal.

"Wow, this really looks good" Debo said smiling at the food, grabbing the fork as he took up and ate some, smiling as the taste was out of this world.

Hitting Debo's hands with her ruler, Celeste pointed to a different fork and knife even though they appeared identical on first sight. "You can't eat like that in a restaurant Debo, at least not if you don't want others to ask you to dine somewhere else." Picking her own knife and fork after looking at them for a moment, she started to eat with the same grace as she showed back at her home three days ago while keeping an eye on Debo to correct him when needed.

Debo picked up the other two as Celeste nodded, which made him a bit happy on the inside as he then started to dig into his meal. The waitress returned to the table, handing over the leaflets to Celeste as she took them and placed them on the table. "So what exactly are these things?" Debo said picking one up and looking at it, he wasn't the type to stay in a town for too long or explore it due to his original situation, but now decided to see what Celeste was up to.

Returning her knife and fork to their proper place, she looked at a few of them quickly before storing the map that was included of the village. "Those are leaflets, although you can see them as a possible cover for why we are staying here in case anyone asks us."

He looked through some of them, reading what events were in the village as he placed his utensil's down, only to receive another smack by Celeste as she motioned with the ruler to where the proper spots were. He moved them back to their proper spots and looked through some of the stuff. "Huh, some of this stuff seems pretty interesting, it could be fun" Debo replied before handing them back to her and grabbing the utensil's once more. In his heart, he was a bit hurt that she would rather have a cover up than admit they were traveling together. Though he knew she had her reasons, he decided to keep his pain bottled until he would let it all out when admitting his feelings for her.

"So what do you want to do first?" He said looking over to her before sipping his drink to wash down some of the food.

"Well, there is a possibility for a tea ceremony, but there are also a few wrestling matches if you'd prefer to go to those. Then there is also a small fair at the petting zoo, and if you are religious then we could also go to the church around here." Picking her glass up to finish her wine, her look went to the outside again towards the sky. "And if nothing is interesting, we could also just enjoy some peace in one of the meadows around here."

The meadows peaked Debo's interest, it would give him the opportunity to really be alone with her and relax, but he knew she would then be more focused on staring up at the clouds than with him so he decided on the lesser activities before heading to the meadows. "Well how bout we do some of this stuff first and leave the peace enjoying for last, figured it would be an interesting to check out the village" He replied before finishing his meal and putting the utensil's back in their proper spot.

The waitress came back with their bill as Debo took out some of his money and paid her, also giving her a tip as she smiled and thank him very much before she went on her way.

"Works for me. Lets go to the market first then to restock before all our supply's are exhausted. While i might have stored a lot in my storage space, it is not inexhaustible after all." Standing up, she placed the leaflets in her storage space before going towards the market to restock on bread, fish, meat and good wine. The last one not really because she was running low on it, but when restocking on the other things, wine can't be excluded.

Debo and Celeste walked through the market as Celeste began to look through the markets, choosing only the best supplies to store in her requip for later use as Debo made sure to pay for all of it, eventually nearly depleting his funds he had amassed over the period of time he traveled alone. After gathering their supplies, Celeste was seen sitting down eating a treat Debo bought her as he had told her to wait for him right there. She eventually saw Debo coming towards her with a small silver pipe in his hand as he handed it to her.

Pulling out a glazed apple, Celeste handed the apple to Debo as she got the pipe. Looking it over to see if it was for smoking or for decoration, she got a small smile on her face. "Nice kiseru, the Gankubi has a few nice decorations while the Guikuchi is pretty smooth, even with the sun etched in it." Looking at the stem made her raise her eyebrows for just a moment before turning her eyes back to Debo. "Not sure if making the Rau from silver would change the taste, most are made from bamboo after all."

"The guy told me that the silver he made it from is on top of the mountains, they have unique properties and can enhance the flavor when you smoked. I figure I give you something to say thanks for everything and something to remember me by" He said while taking a bite out of the apple, smiling as he found the taste to be very sweet. "Well, if we got our supplies, which one of the activities do you wanna tackle first?" He asked looking next to him as she continued to look at the pipe while he ate the apple.

Storing it like she did with the rest of their supply's, she started to think which one they would do first. "Hmm, the church is the closest by, while the rest is farther away so what about visiting one first?" From what she had heard of the churches around there, the architecture for it was in the shape of a large circle with a cross-like building style inside the circle.

Debo smiled and agreed as the two got up and began their walk towards the church that was located in the other part of the village. During the walk, Debo kept sneaking peeks at her only moving his eyes as she kept her focus on the walkway. He knew that this outing would be just the thing the two needed, especially with both of their history being the way they are thanks to the masks. He slowly moved his right hand to gently grab her left, trying to do it slowly as to not completely freak her out until the two were holding each other's hands while walking side by side.

Stopping in front of the church, Celeste got a wry smile on her face as she looked at the building and the symbols in front of it. "Kinda ironic that the church is supposed to be protected against demons, while also giving people protection against them, and two demons are right on the doorstep without anything to force us away or strike us down by some divine punishment..."

"The only real demons are these masks that have been forced into our faces" Debo said looking over to her as he held her hand. "What the masks do and have inside of them is what makes them demons, what we do is what defines us as honest people, and that's something I always make sure to keep to heart" He said with a sincere tone as he held her hand, tightening it a bit as the two made their way inside.

"While that may be partially true, those masks where not forced upon us..." Once inside, Celeste released her hand from Debo's to go to a lavabo to wash her hands by good customs -or good traditions, whichever one would pick- and dried her hands. "You say that what we do defines us as honest people, but isn't that incorrect? When a thief is stealing, would that define the thief as an honest person or as an dishonest one?"

"It depends on what the thief needs it for, this world isn't always black and white, sometimes the good can often be the bad and vice-verca" Debo said following Celeste's lead as he washed his hands in the water. The two made their walk to the pedestal as they looked at some of the paintings that the church had. "I gotta admit, it's nice to be in a place like this, despite what they believe in, the art is really fascinating" He said looking back to her as she too was looking at the pictures.

"So, with that logic, demons can also be good and honest people? Then again, could one call stealing or killing an honest action?" Stopping in front of a latin cross, she traced the shape while determining the material before walking further as she ignored the pure silver cross. While nice against lycan users or mythical creatures with a weakness to silver, it would do nothing for her.

"It all comes down to the person themselves to make the right choice" Debo replied as he followed her, smiling as he managed to snake his hand with her's as the two walked up the stairs to reach the bell tower. After arriving there, the duo saw the silver bell as it hung in all it's glory, Debo looked out the opening as he could see not only the village, but the entire mountain region. "Wow, it's amazing how these views really exist in these parts" He said with a smile.

Sitting on the railing of the bell tower, Celeste crossed her arms as she looked towards the mountains with the familiar smile Debo had gotten used to whenever Celeste seemingly appeared to relax completely. "The view is indeed nice up here, you can even see every shop in the town from here."

"Yeah, the view really is something else...." Were Debo's only words as his eyes wandered onto her as he saw her perfect body and was mesmerized  by Celeste's beauty. "So shall we check out the rest of the stuff?" Debo asked as Celeste looked back and nodded with her smile.

Road of Hardship
After enjoying the entire day, going to the petting zoo, the tea ceremony, and being in that meadow with the two simply looking up at the stars while they held hands, they turned into one of the nearby inns and got a room that had two separate beds. In their room, the small light of the rising sun crept past the curtains as it hit Debo's face first, making him stir as he got up and rubbed his head, looking over to see his partner still sleeping.

He smiled and got up slowly, doing his best not to wake her up as he went to the bathroom, looking over his shoulder as he removed the wrapping, seeing that the wound had healed, but left behind a bite pattern scar on his shoulder, making him chuckle as he began to brush his teeth, hearing the sounds of moving as Celeste had woken up a few moments ago.

Seeing Debo in the bathroom, Celeste started with making a light breakfast of bread, fish, 2 apples, a banana and orange juice for Debo while she filled her own glass with wine and got an apple for herself, even placing new wrappings for his shoulder next to his plate. When she was done, she simply waited for Debo to finish up in the bathroom and get to his breakfast while enjoying the silence at the same time.

After washing his face and brushing his teeth, Debo walked out of the bathroom as he went over to the kitchen, seeing the food placed out on the table, "Wow, this looks great" He said as she turned to him who sat down and looked at the food before putting his hands together and thanking her for the food as he grabbed the proper utensil's for eating his food. "How did you sleep last night?" He asked taking a sip of the juice that he grabbed.

"Reasonable, although i prefer to sleep in the open instead of these inn's." Finishing her apple, she picked up her glass while pointing to the wrappings next to his plate. "Don't forget to wrap up that shoulder of yours, or else i'll use a more painful way of healing you the next time you need to be healed."

"Haha, I wouldn't mind it" He said smiling as he ate one of the fish before taking another drink of his juice, then going to work on the second fish. "So, looks like today will be the day we finally see if this so-called well will get rid of these things" He said with a serious tone as he began to start adding the wrapping to his shoulder, looking over to Celeste. "Any thoughts you want to share?" He asked looking over to her.

Ignoring the joke Debo made about the healing, she placed her glass down while storing the plates and the food that was left over. "If we go at your pace, we won't get there today, the soonest would be tomorrow evening that way. "

Releasing a lock on her left arm, she glanced outward before continuing. "Not really, as long as i can live like i managed to do so far, i don't have anything to share at the moment."

"Well that sounds good to me" He said with a smile before standing up to grab his bag, in his heart, Debo hoped and believed that his tactics for winning Celeste was getting better. Not only did she let him hold her hand, but the two were starting to connect more, despite their opposite views at times. He looked over to her and smiled, "Well, we better get going if we want to reach a nearby campsite before night fall" Debo told her.