"Oh my gods!" Auria yelled out, "You see here? My favorite singer is coming to Lameanr! Isn't that so cool?"
"Yeah, yeah, are you really okay letting Seven stay behind while we go out for the day?" Senwell asked.
"I mean, she offered to, I'm sure she can handle herself, but I wanna go to her performance, she's my idol!"
"Is that so…" Senwell commented, "Well, whatever, let's go,"
The two continued to walk for a while, they explored the sights of the city and Auria bought a bunch of souvenirs.
"You know what, Grenadier?" Auria asked, "This is pretty nostalgic, reminds me back when it was just us two, you remember that?"
"Yeah, I think I still have bite marks in my arm from how many times you tried to eat me," Senwell remarked, "Either way, the memories still haunt me…" Senwell murmured under his breath.
Auria snickered, "You know, Grenadier, some things don't really need to be said, I'm a firm believer in that, but I want to say, thanks for being there for me, for so long, it's… Refreshing, having someone look out for you, even when they don't have to,"
"Don't get all mushy on me just yet, Crane," Senwell said, "But, for what it's worth, it's nice having a dumb little sister like you,"
"Having a thick-headed, stubborn brother like you really rubs off on a girl, you know? Might just become even more stubborn than I am now," Auria teased, "But… There is a reason I brought that up, you know…"
"Oh? Why's that?"
"Well, I'm 'at that age,' whatever that means, where things about the world start making less sense, you know? For my part, being an Alchemist that holds the rank of Colonel while also fighting off homunculi at every twist and turn, well, need I say more?"
"Yeah, I guess not…" Senwell murmured.
Auria stopped walking, and just stood for a moment before opening her mouth to speak, "I just don't see the world making much sense anymore, it never did, and that scares me… I hate not knowing things, and the unknown is really scary for me,"
Auria inhaled deeply before letting her frustrations run loose, "It's also the case where… For my whole life, I was judged just solely based on the fact that I'm Ardenian, and that I never believed in the Ikarian gods, everywhere I go, I get stared at, and everytime I'd go to bed as a child, I'd cry myself to sleep asking 'Why am I so different?'"
By this point, Auria had clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles became white, "All I wanted to do was help people… But how do you help people that reject and deny your help at every opportunity? To me… Nothing should matter except the person you are… Not your ethnicity, gender, or religion…" Auria gritted her teeth, "Nobody should have to cry themselves to sleep…"
Senwell hadn't ever seen Auria like this, not in the five years he had known her, she never opened up like this once, so, out of respect for her, he stayed silent, letting her vent her frustrations and fears.
"Grenadier, being with you all… It's honestly been the most fun I've ever had, and it gave me something I didn't think I could ever have,"
"May I ask what it gave you?" Senwell asked.
"It gave me a sense of belonging, it gave me a family, and that's something I'll never forget, and that's why no matter what, I'll come to save the day time and time again, because I love you guys, and a world where I don't have any of you, well that's a world I don't want to live in," Auria said, then inhaling deeply, "And that's why I can't give up, not ever, I love all of you, and I love the things you all love, so I have to protect them! I have to protect the people of this country!"
"Crane… Auria, I'm glad you opened up to me like this," Senwell gave a smile and brought Auria in for a hug, "We'll support you, forever and ever, we support what you do, and we will always come to save you as well, you don't have to be scared, you have us,"
"When did you get so good at words, Grenadier?"
Senwell chuckled, "Well, when you're trying to help someone out, you tend to figure out what to say,"
"You know… When I think like this, I realize… I've been really harsh to people… I haven't been the most fair to witches, and some other people... and I feel like I should apologize, somehow…" Auria murmured into Senwell's chest.
"You'll get your chance to apologize, I'm sure you will, and I'll be there to support you, we all will,"
"Oh, you're gonna love her, she's so amazing!" Auria exclaimed, "I used to listen to her all the time on the radio!"
"Oh? I'll be keeping my hopes up then," Senwell replied, "Oh, I think it's about to start, let's sit over there,"
Senwell and Auria sat, they were close to the stage, but not quite there. The theatre was huge! It was the largest building Auria had ever been in, except maybe the military complexes, those were pretty big too.
Soon, the concert began. Auria slapped Senwell's wrist if he made a sound and just listened and watched. Hours must have passed because the sun that was at one point shining through the windows was beginning to set and the yellow light was replaced with a warm and soothing orange.
As the soothing orange became a cold darkness, the concert concluded, the singer went backstage and the patrons split into two, those who filed out quickly, and those who stuck around for a while longer, Auria filed into the latter, opting to remain, she wanted to speak to her idol!
"Grenadier, stay here a sec, I'm gonna go do something," Auria said before trotting off. Senwell opened his mouth to say something, but as she had already run off, he decided to hold his tongue.
Auria hopped up on the stage and disappeared behind the curtains. There was a thin and dark hallway to her right that she quickly raced through, and there it was, the back area, where her idol was!
There were numerous doors in yet another hallway. Auria peaked through a few of them, but saw nobody she cared about.
She raced around for a while, peeking through doors she could open and trying to find her, and at last, she found the last door she could find, opened it, and there she was!
"Auntie Maia! Auntie Maia, look, it's me, Auria!" Auria exclaimed as she ran to give a hug to Maia.
Maia, who had been standing in front of a mirror just moments before, turned just in time for Auria to ram her head right into her stomach.
"Hey," Maia grimaced, "How are you doing, little rabbit? I missed you, it's been so long and you've grown so much!"
"It's nice to see someone's noticed!" Auria remarked, folding her arms and smirking, "I've grown a full three inches since the last time you came to visit!"
"Really? I could've sworn it was at least five! You're almost getting to my height!" Maia exclaimed, "Seriously, I've missed seeing you around, Auria, it's nice to see you again,"
"Auntie Maia, I did my trials to become a Master Alchemist recently! I passed, it was super easy!" Auria proudly proclaimed, "And now everyone knows who I am!"
Auria picked up her hat and put it back on her head, "And, I dunno if you noticed, I got way cuter since last time,"
Auria perked up, "Oh! I gotta introduce you to someone! We've been friends for a real long time!" She exclaimed as she took Maia's hand and led her back to Senwell.
They walked for a while, Auria got lost at some points, but eventually they made their way back, and Auria let go of Maia's hand and ran up to Senwell.
"Grenadier, Grenadier, look, I found her!" Auria yelled out as she leaped into Senwell's arms, forcing the two of them to fall to the ground.
"And then, I poured two drinks, put Jester Powder in one and swished them around, I set one in front of him, and one in front of me, and told him to choose one to drink from,"
"Which did he choose?" Senwell asked.
"Oh, he chose the one in front of him!" Auria snickered, "That was a really fun game in all honesty,"
"I'm assuming that his was the poisoned one, he chose wrong?" Senwell asked again.
"Nah, he didn't choose wrong, they were both poisoned, but man did he giggle like an idiot, don't worry though, I helped him out, I had the antidote on hand!"
"How did you not get hurt from it then?" Maia asked.
"As much as I'd like to say it's because of a natural born gift, it's really just because I worked to build an immunity to it… Well, immunity is a bad word, I built a tolerance to it, I can ingest more of it than an average person… Though there is a certain limit that nobody can ingest,"
"Wait, when were you building an immunity to it?" Senwell asked, "I've never heard of any of this!"
"I used to put a bit of it in my drink in the morning, it was really hard to judge how much I should put in at first, so I used to keep an antidote on me at all times, just in case… What, did you think I didn't want you taking my food because I was mean?"
"Kinda…"
Auria faked a dramatic gasp, "Grenadier! Why, I never! What kinda person do you take me for anyway? Honestly, I think you should apologize to me,"
"Yeah, I'll pass on that one," Senwell replied.
Maia snickered, "Oh, Auria dear, come over here for a moment please," She said as she motioned for Auria to sit on a stool next to her.
"Oh, yeah, okay! Coming!" Auria said as she trotted over and sat next to Maia, "What's up, need somethin' from me?"
"Oh, I just can't get over how big you've gotten! Come here, give me a hug!" Maia exclaimed as she reached out her hands for a hug.
Auria looked to Maia curiously before falling into Maia's arms and giving her a hug. As Auria was pulled closer to Maia, Maia whispered into her ear, "Don't worry, I'll protect you,"
The hug itself lasted quite a while, it felt longer than it really ever should have. Though eventually, Maia let Auria go. As if the dampness on Auria's shoulder wasn't indication enough, one single glance to Maia showed that the entire time, she had been crying, though for what, Auria wasn't sure.
"Auntie Maia… Are you… Okay?" Auria asked. Her voice was surprisingly meek, and Auria herself was on the verge of tears just looking at Maia.
"Oh, Auria dear… I just…" She sniffled, "Looking at how you've grown, and knowing what your father is doing it just… I'm sorry,"
"What? What's my father doing? Where is he? What's going on?" Auria rapid fired questions, "Why hasn't he come back yet?"
Maia put a hand over her mouth before dropping it, heaving a sigh, and patting Auria's head, "Oh, Auria dear… Have you ever heard of the Chalice of Rebirth?"
Auria's blood ran cold, every hair on her body stood at attention and her eyes widened. The very mention of the Chalice meant only one thing, human transmutation.
"I-I have to go check something!" Auria shouted as she quickly ran out of the door and into the streets, completely losing Senwell and Maia in the darkness of the night.