“I can’t wait to get to town and get some new clothes,” Aliya adjusted the makeshift wrap top she made out of what remained of her jacket as they traveled down the mountain path. She looked at Kindle with a slight pout, “Remind me to stop wearing my favorite outfits when I fight Celestials, they always seem to get ruined.”
“What are you going to wear then? Rags, like you are now?” Kindle smirked pointing at her tattered outfit.
“I might as well, would fit my skill,” Aliya wrapped her arms around herself in a pout. She felt a warm cloth wrap around her shoulders, she looked up to her right to see Sigmis had draped his cloak around her with a warm smile. She didn’t even realize she was feeling a bit cold until just then. “Thank you, but you didn’t have to,” Aliya smiled, still accepting it and pulling the cloak around her more securely.
“Nonsense, it is the least I could do,” he cheerfully waved away her comment. “After all, it is my fault you are in such a state. I would offer to purchase your new clothes but I do not have any currency in my possession.”
“Don’t worry about it, we have plenty of coin among us,” Aliya smiled. After discussing the history he had missed that she knew of and him giving her more insight on the temple and the age that was once his home, she was starting to enjoy his company more. He seemed to be doing quite well for a being misplaced by time.
“So, it’s okay if he acts chummy towards your sister, but I can’t?” Erik whispered bitterly to Zephyr.
“He’s a Celestial, what can I do?” Zephyr growled under his breath. “I don’t think it’s the same anyways.” He leered at Erik suspiciously before melting into a smirk, “What are you jealous?”
“What? Why would I be jealous?” Erik scoffed and crossed his arms, looking away from Zephyr. “I just don’t think you are treating me fairly.”
“Since when do you treat anything fairly?” Zephyr nudged Erik’s shoulder with his elbow.
“Fair point,” Erik pointed at him. He paused and looked at Sigmis’s back as they walked. A bit of concern etched on his face as he raised his voice for everyone to hear, “I still think having a Celestial with us in Lambertine is going to attract too much attention from the Imperial Knights. We can’t exactly be discrete, especially since there are already more Knights than usual because of the war.”
“I don't think we need to worry about that,” Aliya shot an annoyed glance over her shoulder at Erik. “I can cast an illusion that everyone would think he's a regular Spirit.” She turned and smiled at Sigmis, “You might not be able to wander far from me in town, though.”
“You needn’t waste your mana on me, Aliya.” He closed his eyes and placed a hand on his chest. “As long as I maintain a minimal output of mana I can simply appear as a strong Fire Spirit, unable to entirely contain their true form.” He gestured to his horns. “The only distinguishing physical feature of a Celestial is their eyes. Considering I don't use my eyes to see, I can simply walk around with them closed.”
“Are you saying you're blind?” Ter raised his voice a bit surprised, since the way he moved suggested otherwise.
“The way you attacked us didn't seem like it,” Bius backed up his brother’s train of thought.
“My ability to sense mana is very intune due to my inability to use my eyes to see,” Sigmis explained. “It is so precise that it allows me to locate humans and Spirits near me, and see their shape. Furthermore, if I let out a small pulse of my own mana I can sense that which is without mana that is nearby, to a similar extent. I shall keep to a more limited range with the concern of limiting the power I emit.”
“Will it really work?” Kindle looked a tad suspicious of the concept.
“It should,” Aliya placed a finger on her chin as she thought about it. “When Zephyr and I traveled with Volarius and he wanted to lie low, all he did was change his eyes with an illusion. I suppose it isn’t entirely uncommon to see Spirits unable to contain their true form completely.”
“I doubt any human could really tell the difference between a Celestial and a powerful Spirit unless they were from The Order anyways,” Zephyr shrugged.
“I can,” Erik mumbled to himself in a bitter pout.
“You already know, though, you can’t unsee it,” Pree whispered to him with a slight snicker, from atop Breyze’s head just behind him.
“Whatever,” Erik shot Pree a glare. He rested his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. “You all should still be careful. The place was hit with a harsh earthquake a few weeks back. Darkness that lingers has been pretty thick in the town.”
“Might be good for Terbius to stick with me then,” Aliya looked over at the twins with a sweet smile. “I know it might be hard in the Artisan City to not get distracted with something.”
“Yeah, you boys better not go wandering off on your own this time!” Kindle turned around and pointed up at them.
“Yes Sis’!” Terbius voiced cheerfully in unison.
It wasn’t much longer before Lambertine came into view once the forest gave way to the expansive grasslands of the valley. The city had a charm to it, with the tall stonework buildings and bustling narrow streets lined with stalls of weapons and wares of all the fine local craftsmen. The smoke from all the blacksmith forges around the city billowed into the sky to join the clouds.
Upon entering town the party split up. Erik had peeled off rather quickly. Figuring his face would instantly be recognized by any Knight already, he decided to make himself scarce. Everyone agreed it would be best to stay the night in the city so Zephyr went to secure them a stay at one of the inns. Breyze took to the rooftops with Pree to take notes on the town and its people, not wanting to be stuck in the crowd. Aliya wandered the shops with Kindle, Terbius and Sigmis tagging along with her.
As they wandered they noticed many buildings had some form of scaffolding or boarded up windows as they were getting repaired but some places already had been fully repaired. A large portion of the center of town was blocked off from the collapse of the well known belfry tower that took multiple buildings along with its collapse. Reconstruction of the belfry had already started but wasn’t very far along.
“What a shame, I didn’t get to see the belfry all finished,” Aliya crossed her arms in a pout. “I was kind of looking forward to it.”
“They just finished it last year didn’t they?” Kindle looked over the construction site noticing a few spiteful glares getting tossed at her brothers from some of the workers.
“We didn’t get to see it up close,” Bius recalled a while back when they had passed the outer edge of town. “It looked way cool though.”
“The sound of the bells was pretty, even from a distance,” Ter chimed happily. Neither of the twins noticed nor cared that there were such bitter glances thrown their way from townsfolk.
“That’s right. It was like a song the way they all chimed,” Kindle placed a hand on her chin as she recalled the time they were mentioning.
“That sounds marvelous,” Sigmis sighed contentedly as he imagined it, crossing his arms. “It is indeed a shame, I would greatly enjoy hearing music once again.”
“Aliya has quite the singing voice!” Ter bounced with excitement.
“Perhaps she could sing for all of us again!” Bius shared in his brother’s excited anticipation.
“Do you really?” Sigmis tilted his head in her direction with a warm smile.
“Y-you like music, Sigmis?” Aliya stammered a bit as she spoke. She suddenly felt nervous, if she was capable of blushing she felt like she would.
“Undoubtedly, it is one of the few forms of entertainment I can truly enjoy after all.” Sigmis rested his hand on his chest as he lit up with passion. “Music in any age is timeless, it can tell a story or simply just touch your heart with a melody. I would love to hear you sing sometime, Aliya.”
“Perhaps some other time,” Aliya gave a weak smile even though only Kindle and Terbius could see it. “I just don’t have the passion for it anymore.”
“It can wait,” Sigmis bowed his head slightly. “I would much rather it be of your own accord.”
“That’s sweet of you,” Aliya smiled thankfully. She looked up at the sky for a moment with a tenser expression on her face. Aliya could feel the Darkness in the air unmistakably. “That thief mentioned the Darkness was bad but I didn’t expect it to be this thick here.”
“It is quite concentrated here but I have experienced far worse,” Sigmis took a deep breath. The air was a bit more stifling the closer to the center of the town they got. “It does appear densest around this part of the city.”
“As far as I can tell it’s just lingering in the air,” Kindle noted as she looked up towards the sky. “It doesn’t feel like it has a definitive source.”
“Probably from all the negativity from the humans in regards to the war. Can’t say I blame them though.” Aliya was a little concerned about it but there wasn’t much they could do to try and get rid of it if there wasn’t a demon at the center of it. She took a deep breath and shook her head to stray away from the thoughts. “Let’s get back to the shops!” Aliya said, overly cheerful as she started off back the way they came. “Still need to find some new clothes and who knows what else! This is the city of artisans!”
"I do like all the weapon craftsmanship around, I wouldn't mind looking over some," Kindle smiled a little. She didn't particularly want a new weapon but she still enjoyed looking at all sorts of weapons as a reminder of her human lifetime and her time spent with Igneous.
"Yeah! There's so much cool stuff around!" Terbius excitedly looked over the shops they passed.
"Is there anything you would like to get while we are in town, Sigmis?" Aliya curiously looked over her shoulder at him.
"If we happen across a blade akin to one's from the age I hail from, I would much appreciate an armament for while I am in this form," Sigmis crossed his arms in his sleeves. "It needn't be anything too extravagant so long as it is well balanced."
"We'll keep an eye out then!" Aliya beamed. She was hoping to come across a piece with a sizable Water Rune for herself and getting ideas for new ice weapons never hurt.
As the late afternoon began to set in, Breyze realized that she had been in the same spot on a rooftop in Lambertine for too long and she stretched away the ache that set in. She took a pause from all her note taking and sketches to look out at the orange glow of the sunset cast over the city.
“The sunset looks so different here than in Gaylette,” Breyze quietly voiced to Pree who was curled up atop her oversized messenger bag.
“Are you missing home?” Pree raised his head and looked at her.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t,” Breyze smiled wistfully as she tucked her quill behind her ear. “I don’t regret leaving though. It’s a ton of fun following Aliya around. I feel like I’ve learned so much already.” She stood up and spread her arms with a wide smile, “Seeing all these different places and new sunsets, I can’t help but look forward to more!”
“I told you adventuring would be fun!” Pree bounced to his feet.
“I should have listened!” She beamed down at Pree. “I don’t know why I was so nervous about leaving Gaylette. I’ve been missing out on so much all this time.”
“Fate is tricky, sometimes, perhaps you weren’t meant to leave until now,” Pree jumped off her bag and sat on the rooftop instead. His tail calmly flicked back and forth.
“I don’t really get what you mean by that,” Breyze tilted her head in confusion. “You talk about fate and stuff all the time, Master, and even though you’ve explained the concept to me I can’t wrap my head around it.”
“Maybe you will one day,” the corner of Pree’s mouth turned upward.
“Hey, lil’ bit!” Zephyr’s voice called to them from the street below. “What are you two doing up there?”
“I like being up high,” Breyze shrugged. “Don’t you?”
“You can join us if you’d like,” Pree peered over the edge. “We are just chatting.”
“Not a bad idea,” he smirked. He disappeared into an updraft of wind. Pree blinked a few times, a bit surprised he practically vanished. His ears twitched and he turned back towards Breyze and Zephyr was standing next to her looking out at the city. “This is a pretty nice view.”
“Was that the Wind Step magic arte?” Pree lit up, he’d only ever heard about it before but never actually seen it in action.
“You have a good eye, little man,” Zephyr pointed at him. “I lost my wings a long time ago and not every Wind Spirit can levitate like this one.” He sat down next to Breyze who hadn’t realized she was floating until he mentioned it. “Windy Step is the closest I get to flying these days.”
“What exactly is the arte anyway?” Breyze plopped down and opened her notebook ready to write down the details.
“Windy Step is one of those artes only Wind Spirits can use,” Zephyr gladly explained to the curious girl. “You dissolve the mana in your body into the wind and move somewhere else as a gust of wind. You can only do it in short bursts otherwise you might not be able to regain your body at all or even lose a part of yourself.”
“Is that how you lost your wings?” Breyze raised an eyebrow and looked at him out of the corner of her eye.
“No, no,” He laughed and waved the notion off. “I haven’t lost anything to Windy Step.” He paused, realizing that wasn’t entirely true. “Well, more like any part of my body. I’ve become a little more choosy with my clothing and possessions since I use it often enough.” He looked at Breyze as she was scribbling down notes with a smile on her face. He chuckled, “It’s not easy but I feel like you would get the hang of it easily if you tried it.”
“Really?” Breyze perked up at the thought of learning a magic arte exclusive to Wind Spirits.
“Considering you levitate without a second thought, I imagine controlling Wind Mana is no problem for you.” He smiled, tilting his head to the side as he praised her.
“While that’s true, her focus could use some work,” Pree snickered. “It might be awhile before she can do it.”
“Hey! I’m plenty focused!” Breyze puffed up in a pout.
“Maybe I’ll teach it to you,” Zephyr chuckled. “Maybe a few other magic artes too.”
“Yes! I’m so down!” Breyze perked up a bit.
“If you don’t mind me asking, how did you lose your wings?” Pree asked with a cautious curiosity.
“Well, I honestly don’t remember,” Zephyr leaned back and looked at the fire colored sky with a rather neutral expression. “It happened during the Age of Bloom. Like most Spirits from that time, I have a huge memory gap. I had my wings one day and then I woke up years later with them gone. I was pretty mad at first but I was more angry about what happened to Aliya during that time.”
“What happened to Aliya?” Breyze wanted to know more about that time period but it was such a sensitive subject for Aliya, Pree advised her not to dig too much into the specifics from her.
“Well, if she hasn’t told you yet then I don’t think it’s my place to say,” Zephyr sighed. He didn’t want to be the one to tell her friends if she didn’t want them to know.
“I’m surprised you aren't hanging out with her right now,” Pree made a quick shift in the subject to get the disappointed Breyze out of her nosey ways. “You two have been apart for a while, haven't you?”
“We have, but I don’t want to overwhelm her,” Zephyr shrugged with a sentimental smile. “She’s been without me for so long and a lot can change in over a century. She’s much stronger now, so it’s not like she needs me to be her protective older brother anymore.”
“You miss it still, don’t you?” Pree understood the way he felt. Pree already saw himself heading in that direction with Breyze.
“Of course I do,” Zephyr leaned forward and rested his hand on his chin. “But I can still be here to support her. Even though she has such a great crew already.”
“Do you think she can stop this war?” Breyze asked, figuring if anyone knew if it were possible it would be Zephyr.
“I think she can, with our help,” He leaned back and tousled Breyze’s hair.
“Our help?” Breyze was always watching so she never really considered herself a participant. She did help before when Pree told her to. She was entertaining the thought of being in the story and not just writing it, as she had been. “Yeah…” A slow smile lit up her face as the sparkle of adventure shone in her eyes, “Our help!”
“So, lil’ bit, you want to head back to the inn with me?” Zephyr stood up. “I doubt everyone will be out for too much longer.”
“I think that’s a fine idea,” Pree looked up at Breyze for confirmation. “What do you say, Breyze?”
“Yeah!” Breyze scooped up her bag and skipped along after him.
The night began to creep in. The Darkness that was being generated by humans began to lessen, trading out for the natural darkness of the night. Mana street lamps dimly lit the corners of Lambertine. The stars quietly shone on the city as a pale moonlight reflected off the cool surface of the stone buildings that Erik ran his fingers across as he walked along the alleyways.
Erik had mostly been avoiding the knights in town all day. Every once and a while he had caught a glimpse of the others having a relatively enjoyable time shopping or just chatting. While part of him wanted to join, he didn’t feel like getting rejected so he remained in his own solitude most of the day.
Erik found himself wandering just outside the back side of the inn they were staying the night at. It was a nice little garden square that had a few tables and chairs and a couple of benches. The mana lamps illuminating the trees and floral bushes were even dimmer than the street lamps. It was barely bright enough to see where he was going and not trip over the furniture or the branches that reached over the narrow stone path he was on.
Erik settled on one of the benches, having rested his sword against it. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, enjoying the cool night air against his skin. He remained still a while, eventually opening his eyes to look at the stars through the leaves of the trees.
He couldn’t help but wonder why he didn’t run when he had the chance. He had been running almost nonstop the past few years of his life, yet, when it came to being around this group of strange Spirits, he didn’t feel the need to run. There was something nagging at him, telling him to stay just a while longer.
A sound of a window being opened pulled him out of his thoughts. He slowly glanced at the source and caught a glimpse of Aliya’s pale hair despite the bush that crept along the frame of the window obscuring his line of sight in. Erik stood up and crept closer to catch a better glimpse of what she was doing as she turned away from the window she had just cracked.
Curiously leering in, Erik saw she was alone in the small room. Her new set of clothes were laid out on the bed. Regulus was set on the small bedside table next to the mana lantern. She seemed to waver a bit as she pulled Sigmis’s cloak off her shoulders as she wearily sat on the bed. She looked far paler than usual and completely drained. Erik quietly watched in concern as her trembling hand pulled her dagger from its sheath. Every inch of it was covered in dimly glowing cracks and fractures that ran from blade to hilt.
“No, it’s too soon,” Aliya’s heavy breathed words carried their way to Erik as he noticed the glowing rapidly becoming brighter. She held it away from her and let it go. In a bright burst of blue light the dagger was obliterated.
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