Given that it was in the morning, the tavern wasn’t all that busy. There were a handful of patrons in the restaurant half having breakfast. A few haunted souls lurked at the bar, either were there all night or the rough times were catching up to them.
The staff was rather warm and inviting. A beast of a woman stood behind the bar greeted everyone who came in with a hearty hello. The waitresses were both Spirits and Humans alike wearing the same uniform.
Kindle opted to have everyone settle in the corner of the restaurant portion, close to the back exit and a clear view of the rest of the place. Not that they’d have any issues bailing out of the place after escaping the Imperial Knights in the capital.
“Why did I have to come along too?” Breyze pouted as she settled at the table. She didn’t want to miss any more developments with Aliya’s story.
“There’s not much else for you to do right now with those two asleep,” Pree snickered as he hopped from her head to her lap. “We might as well see what's going on here.”
“You’re quite attached to Aliya, aren’t you, Breyze?” Sigmis smiled, sitting next to her.
“Am I?” Breyze tilted her head thinking about it.
“I’d say so,” Pree nodded. “After all, you were willing to step out of your comfort zone and leave Gaylette for the first time because of her. You’ve stuck to her like glue since.”
“Her story is just so fascinating though!” Breyze lit up thinking about it. “I’ve learned so much following her around. Also, I want to know more about her abilities and if she really can stop this war.”
“Do you think she can?” Sigmis tilted his head towards the group as though to ask everyone more so than just Breyze.
“I don’t know,” Breyze placed a finger on her cheek. “She fought Volarius and lost, she faced you and got taken out pretty quick, so I don’t know if she’s strong enough to beat a Celestial.”
“Well she didn’t have us the first time!” Ter grinned with confidence.
“She was unprepared against Sigmis,” Bius crossed his arms and nodded fervently.
“Together we got this!!” Terbius was very confident in their little motley crew and faith in Aliya leading them. Whenever she had enough time to plan they could conquer anything and she always made great snap decisions thus far to get everyone out of danger. They trusted her.
“She wants to try and talk it out first,” Kindle rested her head in her hands. “Not that I think she’d command him with her voice after what Zephyr said, but if she did she really could get the Earth Legion to change their minds. If it boils down to a fight the odds are stacked against us, but if it were easy it wouldn't be any fun.”
“Sometimes the actions of the few can tilt the world on its head,” Sigmis leaned back.
“Lord Igneous used to say that all the time,” Kindle giggled.
“Sounds like a wise Celestial,” Sigmis laughed. He placed his hand on his chin contemplatively. “Or perhaps it's some knowledge Lady Titania grants us when we are reborn. I feel like that’s something I’ve always said.”
“I’m not sure where he got it from. Might be something to ask when we go meet him,” Kindle was growing curious. Many of Sigmis’s mannerisms and demeanor reminded her very much of Igneous. It was the main reason she felt so comfortable being around him. Sigmis didn’t seem to recognize his name whenever they discussed Igneous. She never recalled Igneous mentioning Sigmis either, perhaps it was just the nature of a Fire Celestial.
“Ah, it seems they are here,” Sigmis tilted his head towards the door with an amused smile. He could sense Zephyr’s mana just outside and a human following him pretty closely. “It didn’t take as long as I expected.”
Everyone looked over to the door and spotted Zephyr entering with a woman with butterscotch blonde hair carrying a bundle of paper rolls looking rather excited. Zephyr pointed her towards their colorful crew sitting at the large booth in the corner. She cheerfully skipped ahead of Zephyr.
“I thought Earth Fae were involved in fixing it! That happened last time the belfry fell too,” She beamed brightly at Terbius. “Wait, were you the ones that repaired it three years ago?!”
“No, we weren’t in Lambertine then,” Kindle waved her hand.
“Where were we then Sis’?” Terbius tilted their heads trying to remember.
“Pretty sure we were still in the Cibnask Kingdom,” Kindle looked up, trying to recall herself.
“Three years ago...” Zephyr recalled the rumor that Lios was around Lambertine then and he wouldn’t put it past Lios to secretly repair the town in the middle of the night. Especially since Lios adored the City of Craftsmen being a craftsman himself.
“Your brother, Lios, is an Earth Spirit isn’t he?” Kindle pointed at Zephyr. “Wasn’t he in Lambertine around then?”
“I was just thinking I could see him doing that,” Zephyr crossed his arms, “It would be quite the coincidence if it wasn’t, but unless we confirm it with Lios or Erinna, no way to know for sure.”
“It was him,” A Wind Spirit waitress confirmed from behind Zephyr, she was carrying a tray of drinks that Sigmis and the others ordered. “Forgive me for eavesdropping, an unfortunate habit of mine. I brought your drinks.” She started setting them down, a coffee for Kindle, rose tea for Sigmis, and mead for Terbius. She brought water for Breyze and Pree even though they didn’t order anything.
“Avis! You never told me you knew who it was!” Erissa whined. “You know I wanted to know!”
“I’m sorry, he wanted me to keep it a secret from humans when I found him that night,” Avis sighed, her blank face looking at Zephyr, “You’re Zephyr, right? You are just like he described.”
“I’m not sure I like the sound of that,” Zephyr could sense an air of amusement in her blank stare.
“Avis, right?” Kindle leaned forward on the table. “Do you know where Lios went after leaving Lambertine?” She knew Aliya would want to know since she was looking for him.
“Oh, yes, I overheard him speaking with his sister on their way out of town,” Avis nodded. “He was going to The Order’s headquarters in Winmev. He mentioned something about getting protection for Miss Erinna there. She didn’t seem too pleased about the idea.”
“He must have gone to our brother Ash then…” Zephyr thought aloud.
“You two were talking about him before, just how many siblings do you have anyways?” Kindle raised an eyebrow at him.
“Ash and Cinder are the last ones, don't worry,” Zephyr laughed.
“I wonder why Aliya didn’t mention finding them before?” Ter tilted his head thinking about it.
“If Ash’s with The Order couldn’t he help us?” Bius crossed his arms.
“They both have proper jobs so we try not to bother them too much. Ash has a duty of watching over The Order with a particular family.” Zephyr explained. “They are one of the many ways The Second Order balanced the power among them so the Arch-Druid didn’t have too much power like the first. Since it’s so important we typically leave him out of our problems and just visit him every once in a while.” Zephyr shook his head and placed his hand on Erissa’s shoulder, “Sorry we’re getting side tracked here. Erissa, you and Terbius are here to chat.”
“No worries!” Erissa shook her head. “A little insight on our town’s last friendly Earth Fae is intriguing to me so I was letting you go on.” She placed one of the rolls of her belfry schematics on the table. “You two actually helped me out greatly I hope you know! The new belfry is supposed to have a unique mechanism inside instead of just bells. It’s functionally similar to a piano but rather a keyboard. It has interchangeable cylinders much like a music box. Dividing it between two would allow for a greater range of notes to be incorporated.”
“The complex machinery like that reminds me of Lost Continent technology,” Zephyr rubbed his chin as he looked over the plans.
“My Father used to be a part of an Imperial Research team that was looking into that technology. He left it behind a few years ago but never said why.” Erissa seemed at a complete loss as to why he left. Kindle thought back to what they found in the capital, she was glad someone had a chance to abandon that project. Erissa continued in her cheery tone and Kindle thought she was better off not knowing. “He started incorporating that knowledge into crafts and taught me how to make complex machines like this too. I’ve been wondering, though, you two couldn’t have known that this mechanism was more complex originally so why were you making two towers instead of one.”
“Well two is better than one,” Ter shrugged with a smirk.
“Just like us!” Bius snickered.
“In other words they did it because they are twins and thought it would be cool,” Kindle pointed at them with an annoyed expression because it wasn’t the first time it happened.
“Really?” Erissa started laughing. “That’s wonderful. I don’t know what I was expecting but it works in our favor. I didn’t think it was even possible to fit two towers into the lot and not be crowded but you guys pulled it off quite well.” She started rolling up the plans she had set down on the table. “Thanks to you two I feel so inspired and this city can get one step closer to the cheerful place it once was. If you would like to assist us further while you are here, please don’t hesitate! Oh, but don’t feel obligated you’ve already done more than enough.”
“I mean we might be here for a few days at the very least. It wouldn’t hurt to have something to do,” Zephyr pointed out before Kindle could object. “I for one am very interested in this mechanism.”
“Aliya and Sigmis wanted to hear the belfry,” Ter jumped up.
“If we help out then we’ll be that much closer right?” Bius cheered.
“You would really think of me in such a way?” Sigmis was surprised to hear that Terbius was so eager to build the belfry partly because of him.
“Of course we would!” Bius blinked.
“You’re our friend!” Terbius grinned at him.
Sigmis was stunned, he didn’t know what to say. They had only been in each other’s company for such a short time. It warmed his heart to hear them say that.
“Hard to argue with that,” Kindle shrugged, knowing she couldn’t stop them if she wanted to. She was amused by how flabbergasted Sigmis looked. Terbius was always quick to consider someone a friend but she agreed, Sigmis was fitting in well with their strange little group even after their rocky start.
“Mama Mona please put anything they get on my tab please!” Erissa called over to the large woman behind the bar. “At least for the rest of their stay here.”
“You sure about that?” Mama Mona asked, looking them over. She could tell just by looking at them they could put away anything.
“Yeah that’s not something to do lightly,” Kindle snickered.
“I’ve inherited plenty from my father and I still get quite the payout from the city for this project,” Erissa beamed. “Besides, it’s the least I can do for all the help you’ve given!”
“Alright then, consider it done,” Mama Mona smiled and nodded at them approvingly.
“Okay! I need to head to Iron Heart to try and work out the new schematics!” Erissa was bouncing with excitement.
“I’ll come with,” Zephyr smiled at her. “I may not be Lios but I’ve learned a few things from him about both crafting and Magic Technology that I might be able to help at least a little.”
Breyze looked up from her book. She thought if there was anywhere to learn something new right now it would be with Zephyr. He was also the next best thing to the target of her fascination, hoping to get more insight on Aliya’s past.
“Would you like to come too, Breyze?” Zephyr noticed her eyes were on him. “You can learn a thing or two I’m sure.”
“Yes!” Breyze jumped up and floated over.
“I did promise you I’d teach you some Magic Artes too, but that might be a bit later today,” Zephyr laughed, seeing how excited she seemed.
“I’m always ready to learn!” Breyze smiled, clutching her notebook to her chest.