"Huh, what's all this?" Vadei asked me as she looked through the bag she had packed. But, the mischievousness of it amused me enough to create a smile.
"I won't be needing a lot of it now, so, I thought I would give it to you." I tell her as she partially brings out the kimono I modified for her after the Inter-House.
"I'll be a one-of-a-kind girl..." she chuckles as the runs her prints across the freshly cleaned silk.
"You already are." I remind her as I hold out my gloved hand for her to take. It was about time we got on our way now that Vadei's tabletwork had been sorted. We were both now officially no longer students here. For me, however, it also offered a degree of freedom.
Because this delay my friends created pestered the bureaucracy of this place.
"So are you two off, now?" Liadanann asked as she stepped out of the dorm with the others.
"Yes, we might need to go a little farther but at the same time, I really want to try myself against the power of the city." I answer before I demonstrated the city's vast arcane power by letting my lightning flow towards it like a delicate wind. Then, I took control of it and resisted the pull. With only the slightest shiver remaining to indicate what would happen if I relented.
"I'd rather not be a casualty of your rising pride." Vadei huffs even if her tone betrays the confidence she had in me.
"Make sure she is at least well fed, then." Liadanann tells me as she hands over a pair of packed meals. And, I had to admit, I was curious as to who made the majority of it. Because it was clear both she and Omb had been at work up until now.
"Thank you, Liada." I teasingly said as I took this last opportunity to call her by that. To the disappointment of my joker's mindset, though. She took it in stride and just smiled at me this one time.
"Don't let us keep you." she reluctantly tells us as she slowly waves.
"One final hug?" I offer to everyone as I bring up my arms for them. And, before I even finished, the pair of us were swarmed with affection by those who cared enough.
"Do you not want in, Grumpy?" Omb remarked from his dominant position as the biggest of us.
"No, let them go home already." he told him with a slight twist of his head. But, when he saw me, he just nodded respectfully. Albeit, I was not in a position to respond well to his gesture. Nor did I go about it when the hug finally ended.
I just gave them all a general wave as Vadei took my hand as she has done so many times before.
"I hope I can see you all again!" I tell them all with a smile as I fight back the urge to get emotional in the wrong way. And, when I felt like that urge was about to break through, I started up the spell. Shooting up into the cloudless sky before we arced down into the clouds. Like a wagon that had suddenly landed, it was a rough transistion.
But, it was also near-instantly as well that I got the hang of it and we were just travelling. Like the spiral-trams leaving the mountain, we just glided along our strange tracks. And, because I wanted to add a little excitement to it, I aimed for the breaks in the clouds. Sending us out into the open as we were normally before I turned again.
With the power of a storm propelling us forward, I danced through the sky. Sometimes through the heart of parting clouds or their gathering brethren. Other times, I brought us below them and shot out multiple branches of ourselves. Seemingly replicating the art of swinging about before I landed us down on a plateau for a brief moment.
"You did take a map, right?" Vadei questioned as she tried to discern which of the many mountains behind us was where Thrurstradtur rested.
"Nope, none at all!" I announced to her excitedly before I dragged her off the mountain to renew our journey. I was going to bring her home, but, there was one stop I wanted to make before we went there. So, for what likely seemed to her as a brief moment, I shot us about close to the ground. Renewing my memories of the journey I once took along these paths before stopping.
"DAMN YOU!" Vadei screamed as we suddenly turned normal again just as I found a paved road. With a hearty laugh announcing our descent, I put out my magic to make it a safe drop. Seemingly sliding on lightning before I came to a running halt. And, once we were on the ground properly, she dropped out of my arms to scream.
"You should've expected it." I giggled as she threatened to claw out my eyes with exaggerated anger.
"Damn you and your stupid magic!" she spits with a huff before she crosses her arms just as armed men approached.
"Wise choice to stop out here on the road rather than in town." he announced as he holstered his weapon.
"Just to make sure, is Tryhpeltzweig along this road."
"Indeed, just around that forested corner there." the man answered as I began to recall details about this place. If my hunch was correct, the road we were now walking along was very close to where I saved Nin and Rose'lhia. It was also the road I chased the pair over when I mistook Nin for something else.
It made me laugh in retrospect and I also found myself yearning for that time once again. It was such a simple one in comparison to now. I had freshly arrived in this land at the town Mother told me to go to. And, I had made my first two friends in this land.
Of course, there was Baltanthan too, but he was being carried about in a bag!
"What're you laughing about?" Vadei demanded to know, clearly offended by the lack of involvement.
"Sorry, I was just remenicing."
"About what? It's just some town in between the mountains." she comments with a shrug.
"So was the town we picked that special flower of yours."
"Tch." she lets out with a groan.
"It really is amazing how such simple places can mean so much to us, no?" I ask her as I thought about all the details of this town that I had experienced. I could even see the results of our actions in the way it had all changed. Despite being this small town, it had learned well from our departure.
It felt more like a fortress of civilisation. I was sure even that this road wasn't as paved as it was the last time we were here. Most importantly, however, was how much effort had gone into upgrading its defences. But, I suppose it was to be expected after Nin's...
Urgency.
"Hold up now." one of the guards said as he came out from a small building built into the wall.
"Hello." I greeted for some reason as if it were a casual affair. Amusingly enough, though, he waved back.
"What brings you here to our little town?" he asked us before we briefly caught a glance of a guard moving something about inside.
"I'm here to see someone." I decided to answer with as it might've been unbelievable that I was here to see Brewbrt? I don't know, I felt like they'd laugh at me.
"Just bolt us over you polite annoyance." Vadei comments through her teeth.
"No!" I tell her seriously as the guards were clearly on edge about the idea.
"Now, now, now! Is that who I think it is?" a familiar voice called out joyously as a powerful aura descended upon us. Along with a cloud of roadside dust and litter when they landed.
"Hello again, Brewbrt!" I greet after coughing and wheezing at all the mess he had created.
"Founding-Lord! Sir!" the guard let out before Brewbrt put his arm around me casually.
"Just open the gate here for my friend's daughter!" he snaps dismissively but not aggressively or angrily.
"H-How have you been?" I ask him as I suddenly found him pushing me along as if I was nothing. I could've sworn he wasn't this strong last time.
"I've been doing much better now that you are here! But, let's not get ahead of ourselves. At least come into my little town before we unpack everything!" he joyously tells me before he catches sight of Vadei, who he had left behind.
"That's my friend, Vadei, I'm taking her home to her village."
"You gonna want a bath...?" Brewbrt randomly asks her before I noticed how angered she was at the state of her tail.
"You are damn right I want one along with the finest brush you have you damn, reckless gust!" she snaps angrily as she stomps ahead of us while trying to ignore the mess. Yet, she could not hold herself back and was quickly picking away at all the dust and dead or loose plant life.
"Honestly, I said I was sorry!" Brewbrt comments as he lets go of me to gesture wildly.
"You actually didn't." I tell him with a coy smile.
"Don't you start." he fires back with before he laughs it off.
"So I see you have changed a lot since we were last here... Better yet, I am surprised you remember me this easily." I say with a mixture of regret, awe and surprise.
"What kind of man would I be if I forgot my old partner's daughter?" he asks back with.
"I guess. But... Sorry about the mess we caused." I say before I leaned close to him to whisper ever so quietly into his ear.
"Don't worry about it, I needed a reason to upgrade the place anyway." he whispers in response.
"W-We... Didn't cause too many issues, right...?" I asked him, somewhat dreading the results of our actions.
"Don't worry yourself over those things, Einervaene. Just come on into my home and make yourself comfortable again within its walls!" he declares as his magic sweeps up the stairs to slam the doors open.
Yet, this careless display had one issue, "I WILL CLAW EACH FINGER OFF!"
"N-No, Vadei, inside now, get it sorted now!" I quickly let out as I tried to diffuse the situation Brewbrt's careless casting had caused.
"S-Sorry..." I heard him sheepishly mutter as he tried to keep himself occupied with the smallest of whirling spells.
"Honestly, you need to be more careful." I tell him after Vadei had disappeared into the house. Likely to the confusion of his servants and guards.
"You are speaking to the same old man who tied himself to a major political crisis in Eusorochii to save his friend's daughter and let a special man charge out of his settlement after he blew up his own home as part of an act..." he started to explain fine at first before he got quieter and quieter.
"Idiot." was all I had to say as a sense of gratitude filled my body.
"Indeed." he chuckles as we enter his home. The doors then closed behind us once he got in and did it manually.
"I hope we didn't come at a bad time?"
"No, no! You came at a perfect time. I was getting a little bored and now I have guests over!" he let out with excitement as he hung up his coat.
"What were you up to before we got here, then?" I asked him as I followed him up the likely rebuilt central staircase. Only to stop when I found a particular art piece on his wall once you got past the grim history lesson he had there last time.
"Oh! Right, I had this made some time after you lot departed as a memento!" he explained as I started to recognise those within the piece.
"Is... Is that..." I began to say as I blushed at the seemingly fresh memory.
"I found it quite the laughing matter when I found out." he sniggered before I turned to face him with a volt-covered hand.
"Take it down while Vadei is here." I threatened as my hand loomed over him.
"No." he answered as his grin grew before my blush took my features over.
"No!" I started to whine, "If she sees that, she won't ever let me forget it!"
"You look like you never forgot it yourself, Windowbreaker." he cackled as I tried to withhold the embarrassment.
"You cruel man..." I whined as I started to foresee the laughter from Vadei. I would hear never-ending laughter from her as she learned the tale of how I decided to crash through a window... Because I somehow thought Nin was the lord of this town.
"Would a cruel man offer a lady a chair? Would a cruel man be getting his chef on standby to make his adorable guest delicious food?" he asked me with a put-out lip for some reason.
"I suppose you could apologize by making me my favourite..." I begin to say with a knowing smile. But, I kept the answer out of sight to see if he could remember it.
"Of course, Einervaene." he says with a smile before he disappears likely to get it sorted. But, while I appreciated the kindness. I did need to make sure Vadei was doing fine in this large place. While our dorm of a couple of years was a big building, it paled in comparison.
"Vadei? Where'd you go?" I called out only to get quieter when I passed by any of Brewbrt's staff. Thankfully, however, I found my friend quickly as she seemed to be looking for me as well.
"Where's the bathroom!?" she demanded to know as she continued to pick out the mess from her tail. And, what was likely out of spite, she dumped it all over Brewbrt's carpets.
"Which one?" I asked back as I laughed quietly at her reaction.
"The closest one, then!" she went on to correct as she began to flick her tail's tip at my face.
"Through there! Through there!" I guessed at random just to get her to stop. But, it was too late and I ended up squeaking out a sneeze. And I turned red as she started to howl in laughter. She even mocked me by copying the noise.
But, I still guided her to where I thought a bathroom was and we found ourselves in a smaller guest room. Interestingly enough, while I had no way of telling if this was the same one. It looked much like the room Nin, Rose'lhia and I stayed in all those years ago. For a moment as well, I forgot about my revenge against Vadei and just recalled everything.
How me and Rose'lhia made our kimonos in a room like this after she opened up to me. It was in a room like this where our friendship began... And even the kind of room where I shared my first bed with another man... Even if I don't love him, the thought still heated my face up.
"It's just a pair of beds." Vadei remarked before she went into the bathroom on our left. And her excited laughter dragged me out of the nostalgia trip I was taking in that brief moment.
"You have everything you need?" I ask her as she made quick work of stripping down and getting the bath ready.
"I don't even know... There are just so many things... Bath bombs, bubble-making liquids... I could leave here smelling like an orchard!" she exclaimed without an ounce of shame.
"Vadei... Your..." I try to say as I turned away so I did not have to look at her confidently-held body.
"Oh, come on now! You've seen it all before." she laughs before she kneels down in front of the bath to take in deep breaths of the oils and fragrances.
"I have..." I say as I notice a bucket and her increasingly distracted mind. So, I carefully moved towards the bucket and slowly turned on a cold water tap. A smile grew on my face as it filled up. And she continued to be oblivious to it.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" she screamed after I threw the cold water onto her bare back. Even better as well, she ended up diving straight into the still hot bath. And she squealed in response to that but chose to stay inside the bath.
"We'll be waiting for you in the main dining hall. Up the central staircase at the entrance." I tell her before I laugh on my way out. Yet, once I was out of the room, I found myself trembling. I knew why but I also found it weird. It was something that hadn't happened in a while.
But, I was just as quick to remember that I was still geared up entirely in my new outfit. All this blood-runed copper about me could've easily recreated my problem. And, it would probably be a lot worse given my friend was in the water... And Nin was-
"No... Stop thinking about him." I snap to myself before I sighed at the seeming impossibility of it. This was the place it all started, after all. And where I planned on heading out to, it was the sight of one our greatest trials as friends.
And at least, from my warped perspective, as a potential lover...
Yet, it made me angry trying to think of that. I never loved him, I cared for him as a friend. But everything beyond that was just a manipulation. A dream I wish I never had to wake up from again...
"I'll forget about it all, eventually." I then remarked before I quietly returned to the dining room. And I returned the wave that Brewbrt sent my way as he got up from his chair to pull me out one.
"Making sure your friend found her way?"
"Yeah, I made sure she got there." I told him before silently thanking him as I sat down.
"So, what brings you back this way?" he asks as he takes a sip from his drink. It would've made me smile seeing him drink at this time of day. But, his question confused me.
"I already said that I was taking my friend home." I reminded him as he ran a hand along the top of his head. Flattening his silver-green hair in the process as he did so. Yet, I could also see in his eyes that there was a different intent even if he looked calm and relaxed.
"No other friends, then?"
"We said goodbye to them before we left."
"No, I mean for you." and when he said that, I turned away and sighed.
"They can't help me..." I quietly muttered.
"I do recall quite clearly telling that boy to keep an eye on you." he commented flatly.
"And he has... But..." I started to say before his bloodied, frenzied body filled my vision. I even heard a ghostly echo of his roar.
"What happened?" he asked me as he got up and moved closer.
"I... I don't know..." I tearfully admit as his pushy behaviour made me come to terms with the fact I was on my own again.
"Einervaene..." he let out quietly as his hand reached out for my knee.
"If you really want to know why we are here... It is so I can ask you for help. I think I have found a way to help my mother but I have no idea how dangerous it might be and..."
"Sure." he answers as he rolls his clicking neck about.
"B-But you don't even..."
"My old friend whose daughter I took in is asking me for help. Now, I wouldn't be much of a friend if I turned her away just as she comes upon the cusp of freeing her, now, would I?"
And his words made me smile, at least for a moment, "Thank you..."
"Now, I am sorry for pushing you as I did. But, know, if you want to talk about it, I am right here."
"And why would you leave your own home?" I question as I wipe away the remaining tears. Smiling a little more at my bad attempt at a joke while he sat back down with a smile of his own.
"I can think of several reasons why I might want to dust off the old coat and go on one final adventure." he grins excitedly as he began to flex his trembling hands.
"I am sorry I won't be able to explain exactly what it is I have planned..." I mutter as I try to think it over. But how could I explain something as peculiar as a storm wanting to be left alone? He was a wind-magic user, he had no connection to this kind of stuff!
"Wouldn't be much of an adventure if you could!" he tells me as a careless attitude possesses him.
"I'd rather not get you needlessly hurt..."
"Don't worry about me, now. All you got to concern yourself with is yourself and your mother. I might be finely aged. But, I am no polished dullard." he tells me as he takes another sip from his drink.
"I guess we could talk about that then, when Vadei gets back from her bath."
"What, all my old adventures? Perhaps even how I met your mother?"
"Oh, that would be interesting!" I say as Mother never did tell me much about what she did when she was younger. Maybe it would even give me the hints I needed to find my father... The man who could be seen as the one at fault for all of this. But, I didn't want to blame a man I did not even know for a problem that came about because of myself...
It had to have been a self-inflicted problem... It had to be! People weaker than me had golden lightning when they cast their spells and incite their magic! Yet, I...
I sparked a bright blue...
"Well, anyway, I best start thinking of something because your friend just finally willed herself out of the bath." Brewbrt idly commented before he started to tap the base.
"E-Excuse me!?" I let out after hearing that.
"Oh, that, get used to it now because as you grow as a witch, you'll be finding it very easy to sense what others are up to." Brewbrt idly commented as he went back to his pondering.
"When you become so powerful, you have trouble stopping yourself from doing something so simple?"
"No, I just keep my senses active about my house as a security measure. It was how I also found that boy, by the way, when he snuck back into my house for your combined luggage."
"Yes, I recall..." I, unfortunately, found myself saying as the memories flickered in my mind.
"Ah... That was nice..." Vadei let out with a relaxed and booming sigh as she came into the dining room. And, she was decked out in what must've been the dressing gown I had ever seen. I think it was fair to say that when she nearly melted into the chair that she was comfortable.
"We have some food on the way up, so, while I have you as my guest, why not tell me who you are?"
"Shouldn't you introduce yourself, first?" Vadei snapped back at him as she slowly slid down the chair. All the way until she had to scrunch up her chin just to look our way.
"I suppose that is fair," Brewbrt laughed before he sent a little bit of magic at Vadei's face, "I am the Founding-Lord Brewbrt, and this is my ravineer town of Tryhpeltzweig."
"Vadei of Agaudi..." she mutters right back as she cleans up the freshly made mess.
"Agaudi... You're decently south, aren't you?"
"I don't know, I never paid much attention to the geography of it." she says with a shrug.
"Well, I can say I am looking forward to heading that way again. Especially if we arrive during the famous bitch-off." he laughs out, much to Vadei's annoyance.
"Hey! Don't make such a wonderful event seem so crass..."
"But that is what it is, no? The women all fight over who can cook better."
"Yes, and it is the best." Vadei huffs before she sits upright.
"But, yeah, I do honestly like the idea of seeing an oxfuinei village again. It's been a while, in fact, since I have seen anything but a human."
"Aelenvari not come this way?" Vadei asks as she brings her tail up in front of her.
"They used too before I founded this town way back. However, we went on to dominate the entire junction so they started taking a new route as war was off the table with me here."
"You're strong enough to deter a war?" I asked as it was a new concept to me.
"A very small one. I mean, it's a flower vs a town, not much of a difference with how many people are there."
"So... Did you stop it by actually being strong or by..." Vadei began to ask suggestively as he started to fill with laughter.
"V-Vadei!" I let out knowing what she was on about. My friendship in Rose'lhia had given me some insight into how these 'flowers' worked. But I had never seen it firsthand.
"No, those meetings were purely man-on-man." Brewbrt clarified as he continued to laugh before he played with my current reaction.
"Don't!" I complained with a whine after he gave me a particular wink.
"Though, actually, on the topic on that sort of stuff. As I did say not long ago, Einervaene, I'd talk about my old adventures. One of the things we used to do on the road and something a lot still do is present themselves to a flower. Even if you cannot get into where the petals are, you can still work it around a bit."
"I don't think Aahtha encourages decadence like that." Vadei huffs.
"You did it for the supplies, really, not for the thrill of the bedcover-bound adventure. I mean, sure, the younger lot out there probably do go there for that sort of stuff. But me and my lot just used them as mobile shops, really. An intermediary between the 'legal' settlements and us ravineers."
"Yeah right, you walk into a flower of son-crazed women and you keep them on? Don't make me laugh." Vadei scoffs between bouts of playing with the cutlery and other stuff.
"It's the fact it is so easy that turns a lot of adventurers off as they grow more powerful. Especially for likes of people like Tornado Valley Tyohr or Ravine Carver Jeckels. It's more of something you did as you were growing and the fame rushed to your head." he explained further.
"I think I remember hearing people talking about them back in Suhurlodst..." I mutter as the names sound familiar. But, they weren't prevalent enough in my memories to mean much.
"Some of the top free witches on the continent right now. Adventurers, mercenaries, whatever term you think is appropriate."
"So... What name did you go by, Brewbrt?"
"My old guild name? Oh, that takes me back... The terror of Sky-Bomber Brewbrt!" he reminisced with a wide smile.
"Wait, guild name?"
"You register yourself up into a greater, hands-off organisation."
"Oh, like Ni-" Vadei began to say before she suddenly recalled that I was here.
"Nin! That was it, the boy went and joined the Free Witches Guild? How come?" Brewbrt began to say full of excitement before he saw my depressed expression. He then went quiet and the only noise that followed was his staff coming in with food and drink.
"Well timed..." Vadei let out quietly as she quickly went to the food and picked at it.
"I need to get some air..." I sighed out before I got up to leave.
"Would you like me to set you aside a plate? It's your favourite, no?" Brewbrt asked me with an apologetic tone as he briefly gave chase.
"Yes, please." I told him with a stiff tone before I closed the balcony door behind me. Then, once I had some privacy up here above this garden square. I tightened my grip on the balcony guards and tapped one of my heels. I shouldn't be getting frustrated like this, but, I was starting to think along the lines of 'how could I not!?'
And it was true! We were just talking about Brewbrt's past when he was younger. A while before I was even born! And somehow, somehow!
It went back to Nin... The discussion somehow became about him.
"Gods damn it..." I let out quietly before I looked above and behind, "But, not him... Don't damn him."