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Description
It's one of those rare quiet nights in Maple world, where there are no monsters and nothing really going on.  I've been traveling with Aran and Mercedes, on a search for the missing fourth hero known only as Phantom, and had decided to rest for a while.

I'm sitting on the ground staring up into the night sky, staring up at the stars that are for once, unspoiled by city pollution and smog. Nearby, I hear Aran and Mercedes talking, no doubt Mercedes is at it again trying to make him remember all the good times they had in the past. Their current topic is Freud, and I look over at them curiously like I always do when he is mentioned.

Aran is actually responding and his tone isn't quite as severe as it normally is.  Mercedes is speaking to him with honest affection for an old friend, not taking any offense to Aran's taciturn nature.  There's none of that elven superiority that is usually present in her speech. Their barriers are down, something truly remarkable.

I should be lapping this up, as normally I live for moments like these. They remind me of home and a simpler time where all I knew was love and affection from my family and friends in Henesys; where conflict was dealt with in a loving, understanding manner. I miss them all so much, and I wish I could see them again, just to hug them all and make sure they still remember me as their son Evan, and not adopted Maple world's tendency to view me as simply being Freud's successor.

Here I go again, resenting someone who isn't even alive and never did anything to me.  It's not like me at all to resent others, I'm always the one who forgives no matter how many times people wrong me.  I'm the stupid one who always gives people a chance because he simply expects the best out of them.  Yet here I am getting jealous of someone I haven't even met.

Beside me, Mir stirs, body twitching slightly and it just adds to my unhappiness.  I can tell he's not having a good sleep.  Sometimes I wish for a moment that I wasn't bonded to him, because I know the heavy thoughts I'm carrying are what's causing his distress. I've learned that while Mir is intelligent, and has a solid grasp of basic human emotions, a lot of the more complex ones I've been feeling lately are hard for his spirit to digest. I pet the scaly back gently, hoping to soothe him at least somewhat, I don't like seeing him suffer so.

I pull my knees close to my chest, trying to relax and keep myself from crying.  What did you do to ease the affects of your emotions on Afrien, Freud? Or were you just that epic where you could always keep your emotions in check so they didn't disturb him?

What is it about you that everybody finds so great?  I'm not angry, I just honestly want to know what I have to do to be as revered as you were.  Just the echoes of your memory alone enables Aran and Mercedes to talk to each other without tearing each other's heads off.  I've been working for so long to try and connect with Aran in particular, but it's clear I've got a long way to go to get any respect from him.  Especially after screwing him over so badly.  I want to get to know Mercedes better too, she's so expressive for an elf queen.  I like how I know exactly where I stand with her.

I just wish I stood with her better.

It's like there's a great invisible wall between the Heroes and myself, one that will never go away. How would you handle situations like this, Freud?  Did you even feel like this at all?  I'm just Evan, a simple farmer's kid.  I'm not one of the original Heroes, and I never will be.  That's you, Freud.  If only you were still alive and fighting the Black Mage instead of me.  I'd be blissfully happy just living out a quiet life in Henesys, never feeling the alienation I experience now.

"Master!"

Mir's voice pulls me out of my thoughts just then, and I look over in the direction of his gaze.  Aran and Mercedes are staring at me, and I wonder just how long they had been.  I smile awkwardly, rubbing the back of my head nervously. If they thought I was Freud's pathetic excuse for a replacement before, I could only imagine their opinion of me now.

Aran speaks first.  "You okay kid?"

I nod.  He nods back, but continues to eye me, as if in doubt.

"Are you sure master?" asked Mir, as if confirming Aran's accurate assumption. "You seemed very sad!"

I blushed at being caught in an obvious lie and wished Mir would be quiet.  "I said I'm fine, Mir!"

Mercedes smiles then and walks over to us, reaching up to pet Mir's scaly head. "What a beautiful intelligent dragon!  Onyx, right?"

"Yep that's me!"

I look over at Mir.  He so liked his compliments.  It is then however that Mercedes chooses to speak.

"Um, Evan?  That is your name, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm Evan."

She looks at me, a thoughtful expression on her pretty face.  "I have a feeling we got off on the wrong foot and I apologize for that.  Can you tell me what I did wrong and how I can fix it?  I'd like to make things right."

I shake my head, determined not to trouble her, choosing instead to pet Mir, who was totally loving the attention. "It's something you can't fix, Mercedes. I really appreciate the sentiment though, it helps a lot."

"You really aren't a thing like Freud at all, are you?"

I looked up at her then, irritated at the snotty tone of her voice.  "Of course not!" I respond hotly before I could even stop myself.  "It's clear the way you talk about him that he was clearly ten times more awesome than I ever will be, and I'll never be able to set things right and gain respect from you and Aran!"

There is a brief moment of silence, and out of the corner of my eye, I can see Aran watching the whole scene silently like some sort of sentinel. Mercedes does not seem to be surprised at my outburst but instead reaches over and pats my head, smiling mischeivously.  "I thought that was the case. I just need to be sure, so I thank you for your honesty! I do not like making assumptions you know."

"What the..."

"Hear me out please, Evan." she said impatiently.

I sit back and look at her, still smarting at the fact she exposed my true feelings so easily.  Was I really that easy to manipulate?

"Freud was a mystery." said Mercedes.  "I liked him a lot, but he was hard to get to know, much like Aran over there."  She pointed her thumb in the dark man's direction, Aran scowling in response.  She paid him no heed but continued.  "They were loyal and always had my back when I needed them.  However, I often felt that I was not being given the respect an Elf queen deserves, and I hated being ignored.  They had kind of an unspoken bond between them, and often left me on the outside looking in.  I couldn't stand it at times."

"How did you bear it...you've known them for so much longer than I have." asked Evan, mesmerized by her story.

"By doing what you do, which is doing the best I can."

I looked at her, refusing this time to play into her trap.  "Whatever gave you that idea?"

She smiles, sitting back on her haunches.  "Aran told me all about you, that's how I know."

Aran glared at her annoyed. "I did not.  You asked me about Evan, and I told you his history, that's all.  You're taking this out of context."

"And you're just being stubborn as usual, you old mule.  Admit it, you think Evan has a lot of potential."

"..."

"I thought so." said Mercedes.  "Point is Evan, just keep doing what you are doing.  Your kindness is a strength, not weakness.  You don't need to be an egotistical smarmy hotshot to be a great Dragon Master either, I'm sure Mir likes you just how you are now."

I hesitate then.  I feel a little better at her words, especially since it was clear Mir agreed with her, but there is one last thing I really wanted to know. "...do you?"

The elf queen smiles.  "I do."

Description
It's one of those rare quiet nights in Maple world, where there are no monsters and nothing really going on.  I've been traveling with Aran and Mercedes, on a search for the missing fourth hero known only as Phantom, and had decided to rest for a while.

I'm sitting on the ground staring up into the night sky, staring up at the stars that are for once, unspoiled by city pollution and smog. Nearby, I hear Aran and Mercedes talking, no doubt Mercedes is at it again trying to make him remember all the good times they had in the past. Their current topic is Freud, and I look over at them curiously like I always do when he is mentioned.

Aran is actually responding and his tone isn't quite as severe as it normally is.  Mercedes is speaking to him with honest affection for an old friend, not taking any offense to Aran's taciturn nature.  There's none of that elven superiority that is usually present in her speech. Their barriers are down, something truly remarkable.

I should be lapping this up, as normally I live for moments like these. They remind me of home and a simpler time where all I knew was love and affection from my family and friends in Henesys; where conflict was dealt with in a loving, understanding manner. I miss them all so much, and I wish I could see them again, just to hug them all and make sure they still remember me as their son Evan, and not adopted Maple world's tendency to view me as simply being Freud's successor.

Here I go again, resenting someone who isn't even alive and never did anything to me.  It's not like me at all to resent others, I'm always the one who forgives no matter how many times people wrong me.  I'm the stupid one who always gives people a chance because he simply expects the best out of them.  Yet here I am getting jealous of someone I haven't even met.

Beside me, Mir stirs, body twitching slightly and it just adds to my unhappiness.  I can tell he's not having a good sleep.  Sometimes I wish for a moment that I wasn't bonded to him, because I know the heavy thoughts I'm carrying are what's causing his distress. I've learned that while Mir is intelligent, and has a solid grasp of basic human emotions, a lot of the more complex ones I've been feeling lately are hard for his spirit to digest. I pet the scaly back gently, hoping to soothe him at least somewhat, I don't like seeing him suffer so.

I pull my knees close to my chest, trying to relax and keep myself from crying.  What did you do to ease the affects of your emotions on Afrien, Freud? Or were you just that epic where you could always keep your emotions in check so they didn't disturb him?

What is it about you that everybody finds so great?  I'm not angry, I just honestly want to know what I have to do to be as revered as you were.  Just the echoes of your memory alone enables Aran and Mercedes to talk to each other without tearing each other's heads off.  I've been working for so long to try and connect with Aran in particular, but it's clear I've got a long way to go to get any respect from him.  Especially after screwing him over so badly.  I want to get to know Mercedes better too, she's so expressive for an elf queen.  I like how I know exactly where I stand with her.

I just wish I stood with her better.

It's like there's a great invisible wall between the Heroes and myself, one that will never go away. How would you handle situations like this, Freud?  Did you even feel like this at all?  I'm just Evan, a simple farmer's kid.  I'm not one of the original Heroes, and I never will be.  That's you, Freud.  If only you were still alive and fighting the Black Mage instead of me.  I'd be blissfully happy just living out a quiet life in Henesys, never feeling the alienation I experience now.

"Master!"

Mir's voice pulls me out of my thoughts just then, and I look over in the direction of his gaze.  Aran and Mercedes are staring at me, and I wonder just how long they had been.  I smile awkwardly, rubbing the back of my head nervously. If they thought I was Freud's pathetic excuse for a replacement before, I could only imagine their opinion of me now.

Aran speaks first.  "You okay kid?"

I nod.  He nods back, but continues to eye me, as if in doubt.

"Are you sure master?" asked Mir, as if confirming Aran's accurate assumption. "You seemed very sad!"

I blushed at being caught in an obvious lie and wished Mir would be quiet.  "I said I'm fine, Mir!"

Mercedes smiles then and walks over to us, reaching up to pet Mir's scaly head. "What a beautiful intelligent dragon!  Onyx, right?"

"Yep that's me!"

I look over at Mir.  He so liked his compliments.  It is then however that Mercedes chooses to speak.

"Um, Evan?  That is your name, right?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm Evan."

She looks at me, a thoughtful expression on her pretty face.  "I have a feeling we got off on the wrong foot and I apologize for that.  Can you tell me what I did wrong and how I can fix it?  I'd like to make things right."

I shake my head, determined not to trouble her, choosing instead to pet Mir, who was totally loving the attention. "It's something you can't fix, Mercedes. I really appreciate the sentiment though, it helps a lot."

"You really aren't a thing like Freud at all, are you?"

I looked up at her then, irritated at the snotty tone of her voice.  "Of course not!" I respond hotly before I could even stop myself.  "It's clear the way you talk about him that he was clearly ten times more awesome than I ever will be, and I'll never be able to set things right and gain respect from you and Aran!"

There is a brief moment of silence, and out of the corner of my eye, I can see Aran watching the whole scene silently like some sort of sentinel. Mercedes does not seem to be surprised at my outburst but instead reaches over and pats my head, smiling mischeivously.  "I thought that was the case. I just need to be sure, so I thank you for your honesty! I do not like making assumptions you know."

"What the..."

"Hear me out please, Evan." she said impatiently.

I sit back and look at her, still smarting at the fact she exposed my true feelings so easily.  Was I really that easy to manipulate?

"Freud was a mystery." said Mercedes.  "I liked him a lot, but he was hard to get to know, much like Aran over there."  She pointed her thumb in the dark man's direction, Aran scowling in response.  She paid him no heed but continued.  "They were loyal and always had my back when I needed them.  However, I often felt that I was not being given the respect an Elf queen deserves, and I hated being ignored.  They had kind of an unspoken bond between them, and often left me on the outside looking in.  I couldn't stand it at times."

"How did you bear it...you've known them for so much longer than I have." asked Evan, mesmerized by her story.

"By doing what you do, which is doing the best I can."

I looked at her, refusing this time to play into her trap.  "Whatever gave you that idea?"

She smiles, sitting back on her haunches.  "Aran told me all about you, that's how I know."

Aran glared at her annoyed. "I did not.  You asked me about Evan, and I told you his history, that's all.  You're taking this out of context."

"And you're just being stubborn as usual, you old mule.  Admit it, you think Evan has a lot of potential."

"..."

"I thought so." said Mercedes.  "Point is Evan, just keep doing what you are doing.  Your kindness is a strength, not weakness.  You don't need to be an egotistical smarmy hotshot to be a great Dragon Master either, I'm sure Mir likes you just how you are now."

I hesitate then.  I feel a little better at her words, especially since it was clear Mir agreed with her, but there is one last thing I really wanted to know. "...do you?"

The elf queen smiles.  "I do."