Chapter 10
"Where did you find these?" Thaddaeus asked as he stared in awe.
"Have you never encountered the risastor?" Ignis called down from atop the giant herd animal. "They are quite common here, they run wild all over the plains of the north. The difficult part is getting these harnesses connected. This way we will be able to ride them," he grunted as he tried his best to clip the belts together through all the fur.
The animal groaned and tried to shift Ignis from its back. "It doesn't seem to like you," Thaddaeus called back as he chuckled at Ignis' predicament. "How did you guys manage to catch four of these...what did you call it?"
"They are risastor!" Ignis yelled in frustration still fighting to saddle it. "They are very easy to capture. You basically just let it see you, and it will follow you. It would seem as though they are so big they are unafraid of most things they encounter! Aha, I did it!" He exclaimed when the belts snapped together.
He jumped down from its back landing next to Thaddaeus. "That was not so difficult!" He proclaimed merrily looking up and petting one of its enormous, fur covered legs. Then, he walked away, "Now tell your friends to cooperate!" He yelled over his shoulder as he made his way over to saddle the others.
The group began their journey through the plains heading westward. Thaddaeus and Ignis were on their own risastor. Since the trip was so long, Thaddaeus had plenty of time to himself to think about everything that had happened. He was still really surprised about the fact that his traveling companions weren't human. They hadn't been extremely open to questions on that topic either. Lux told him that he would explain when the threat had passed, but at the moment it was too dangerous. Even though he knew something was different about them all this time, he hadn't begun to think of this as a possibility. His mind swarmed with questions, but he understood that for now they were unable to tell him everything. However, he did know that they had his best interest in mind and that he could trust them. Other than that, all they had told him about their purpose is that they were on a journey to find something and they believed it to be located in the west. From what he could tell, they had been on this quest for years.
Thaddaeus slowed his risastor so he could come alongside Lux and Telu. "So this place that we're going is really dangerous? Is that why you guys had to train me before we could leave?"
Lux considered his question for a moment, then he looked over at Thaddaeus. "It is not quite so precise. I am unsure whether this particular place will be guarded. However, the closer we get to our answer, we will be surrounded by increasing amounts of danger. We are under constant barrages at the hands of Damna as well. We needed you to be prepared for all of this."
Thaddaeus smiled at Lux' response. He realized that Lux took the responsibility of leadership very seriously. He wondered if perhaps that is the reason he had trusted him so easily from the beginning. Even though, as far as he was concerned, Lux could've easily explained the reason for all the crazy training at the start. As Thaddaeus was deep in thought about the mission and all the possibilities he faced, he heard a voice call out his name.
"Thaddaeus! Tell Solis I could defeat him with one of my arms restrained!" Luna yelled from the back of the risastor that held her and Solis. Solis whipped his head around with a look of indignation on his face.
Thaddaeus was trying to respond, but he couldn't stop laughing. Before he could voice his clever remark, Solis countered. "No, we have already concluded this matter. I defeated you honorably in our battle some time ago." He was clearly unhappy of the claims being made, but a slight smile crept onto his face anyway.
Luna just shook her head, "I remember nothing of the sort."
"This is nonsense!" Solis shouted to the others. "She refuses to even fight honorably, then when I am victorious she claims to not remember!" At this point, they all found it amusing that Luna could so easily frustrate him.
"You believe that it was not honorable for me to attack you when your back was turned. I disagree, I believe you should have seen my attack." Luna said calmly.
"I did see you, I was unconvinced you would really attack. Also, I see that you suddenly have possession of your memories!" Solis proclaimed accusingly.
"Now, you are simply not making sense." She said, knowing that this would be enough to send him over the edge.
He wanted to point out all the flaws in her arguments, but he had reached the height of frustration. He could no longer form valid thoughts, but instead, he burst into laughter at the charming wit Luna had employed. As frustrated as he was, he couldn't help but recognize the humor in her unreasonable argument. He knew well the lengths she would go to in order to get him to laugh.
Luna really enjoyed making Solis laugh, and since she knew him extremely well, she always knew just how to do it. She knew that he thought it was funny when she pretended to be unreasonable, especially if she could sneak it up on him. She also knew the things she couldn't joke about, and when it was more important to support him than make him laugh. It was simple principles like these that enabled such trust between each Life Socis as well as the group in general. They all understood that no one was perfect, but they did their best to take care of one another.
They began to slow down, directly before them was a fork in the path. One road kept leading straight ahead and the other led more toward the north and went into the mountains.
"Thaddaeus," Lux began, "Which path would you travel? If you were alone, and it was necessary to choose. Which would you be inclined to choose?" Lux looked at him waiting for his answer.
Thaddaeus furrowed his eyebrows, he had no idea why it would matter which path he wanted to travel. "Hm, I suppose if I just went with my gut, I would choose to go straight. Why?"
Lux nodded his head and lifted his hand to his chin. "Solis, am I correct in assuming they are waiting for us there?"
Solis smiled, "They are indeed. There are five of them, and they seem to be awaiting our arrival." The group fell silent for a few moments.
"That could become unfortunate for us," Lux said. "However, I believe it will be necessary to journey in that direction." He leaned his head down in order to formulate a strategy.
Then Thaddaeus broke the silence, "Uh, Lux, I'm sorry to interrupt your thought process, but why on Atlas did you ask me to pick a path when Solis could already see which way to go?"
Lux looked up at the confused young warrior, "Oh yes, it has been a minor curiosity of mine for some time. I believe you can sense the presence of heavy energies. We believed it impossible, but it appears that some humans are capable of faintly detecting extremely heavy energy. Most likely, that is why you followed us the first day you saw us."
Thaddaeus' eyes grew wide, "Are you sure about that Lux? I just don't know about that. I suppose I did feel drawn to you guys in some sense. I've never felt the presence of Damna though, I certainly don't know when they're around."
"No, It is unlikely that they would possess enough energy for you to feel their weight." Lux said.
"But...," Thaddaeus moved his eyes back and forth as if searching for answers, "What about the ones on this path? Isn't that why you asked? You thought I would sense them?"
Lux responded with a look of concern. "Thaddaeus, the five on this path are not Damna...they are Imperials."