"I'm keeping you safe." The man whispered as he raced to open the door.
Brich, carrying Aletha-- rushed across the street and dashed to what looked like a shop in between buildings, trying to lose track of Drimi and the others.
At last, with a gust of relief, he saw a shop on his left-- in between two other markets. He strengthened his grip on Aletha, jolted to the building, shoved his silver key through the keyhole, and turned it to the right.
(Click)
He swung the door wide open, with the scent of the shop fluctuating by the sudden gust of wind.
Brich was always precarious with his valuables, but this moment somehow differed.
He discerned like Aletha was in danger when seeing Drimi, Sally, and Phthonus, thinking they were still working for The Queen.
Driven with misunderstanding, Brich struggled to carry Aletha. He realized that he wasn't as strong as he once was, and despite that, his persistence made him use all his strength.
"Come on!" Brich grunted as he tried desperately to not Aletha slip off his back.
(Ding)
The bell atop the front door jingled. Brich quickly scampered through the entrance. He felt uneasy while carrying Aletha, almost dizzy from her weight and scent.
Aletha's body weighed against him like a heavy sack of potatoes.
Thankfully, Brich pulled Aletha back up.
He turned backward, slammed the door shut, and clicked the locks to ensure no one could get in. He closed the blinds on the windows, raced through the countless shelves, and ran behind the counter.
He whispered to unconscious Aletha as he took deep, exasperated breaths.
"Why are you so heavy?"
Within the building, we're shelves stocked up with many items. Some were shields, others were swords, and many were bows.
It looked like a classic pawn shop-- made out of a hefty amount of lumber, With a few ceiling lights, a counter, and brewing stations dispersed decently across the northern wall.
Judging by the shop's design, Brich looked to be its owner.
As he rushed to open the back door while carrying the weight of Aletha, he heard footsteps sound from outside the building.
"STOP! Give Aletha back!"
Brich refused to listen to the voices and instead lifted Aletha up with his arms and placed her soundly against the wooden wall of the back room.
As he scrambled to flick the light switch, Brich faintly whispered to Aletha while grabbing his dagger and racing out the counter.
"You'll be safe… now. I wonder… what you were doing out there without your brother."
Aletha's eyelids were glued shut. Her chest slowly moved in and out, indicating that she was still breathing. Brich wiped the sweat of relief, grasped the doorknob, and slowly closed the door.
"Sleep well." He said as he slowly closed the door.
* * * * * * * *
Thirty minutes later…
Her soft eyelids timidly parted, she hoisted her arms and released a loud yawn-- expelling all the weight off her body.
She looked back and forth around the room. Suddenly, her breath grew uneasy as she realized that she wasn't in the village but rather a room. Her chest felt heavy, discovering that her brother wasn't with her.
With a trembling, quiet voice, Aletha muttered.
"Where… am I…? H-How long have I been unconscious? W-Where is Asahi?"
Aletha started hyperventilating with disjointed thoughts as her mind zips from one unrelated thought to the other. Cold sweat ran down her clammy hands, her heart started pounding out her chest, and her eyes widened in unease as she scrambled around the room to search for Asahi.
She searched through every corner, from the shelves to the boxes, brewing stations, desks, furniture, anything else in the room; Aletha scoured. After searching everywhere, she hunched to her knees, feeling hopeless-- realizing that she was separated from Asahi.
As adrenaline coursed through her body, Aletha screamed in panic.
"Asahi, where are you?!"
Nothing answered but the hums from the buzzing light. Then, Aletha heard loud footsteps from behind the closed door. Aletha scurried to it and pressed her ears against the surface, trying to listen to movements and voices; or any clear indication of where she was.
(Thump)
(Thump)
(Thump)
The footsteps sounded like boots pressing against creaking wooden planks. Aletha caught her breath and backed away from the door, accidentally bumping her head against a shelf.
"Oww--
Her eyes widened in fear, knowing that sound alerted the person outside the walls. So, she muffled her wails and pressed her back against the wall.
A few minutes later, Aletha stood back up and examined the items on the shelves. Her height was her enemy with this. Being unable to reach the tops of the frames, Aletha tried to jump up without making a noise. Her height was near 1.6 meters, making it difficult to reach the top.
As she jumped up, she was unfortunate and unlucky enough to topple one of the shelves down. The collapse followed with noises of jangling, dangling, and glass. Aletha gasped in shock and froze still, hoping that the noise didn't alert the man.
After a few moments of silence, Aletha wiped a sigh of relief and crawled toward the fallen shelves.
"Huh, what are these?"
There were items like a carved wooden shield, a lightly tattered wooden sword, and a chain mail headpiece near her smooth knees. Nothing surprising to Aletha; however, as she searched the pile of items, she found… four bizarre objects that looked like weapons.
Aletha picked up the ancient stone oval-shaped object. Just from taking it, Aletha could feel a surge of sadness and gloom bursting from the aura of this object. Hastily, Aletha dropped it, commenting.
"What… is this?"
She then grabbed another peculiar weapon. It was rectangular, filled with yellow star symbols scattered up and behind the item. It looked to be some sort of tablet, and when pressed, it would transform to a long, celestial twilight blue bow.
Aletha gasped, feeling wisdom and knowledge flow from the surface of the magical glow to her skin. She traced words from her lips with a seemingly… unidentifiable voice.
"The universe is an infinite spectacle of an ever-expanding aura, one that attributes and compliments the defining ideologies of one's own destiny. I soon discovered and analyzed that the bewitching testament, the anomaly that served as the counterpart to the universe, is…."
Instantly, Aletha dropped the bow. She jumped in shock, having unfamiliarity with the words she was saying. Of course, these words didn't come from her but rather from the magic of the Twilight Bow. She quickly mumbled.
"Did… I say that? I sounded so… intellectual. Something beyond the boundaries of my vocabulary."
Aletha discarded her streaming thoughts and placed the Twilight Bow next to The Stone Oval. She started to realize that these objects were beyond what she expected.
"Okay…"
The third object she picked up was a gleaming dark black, purple heart-shaped catalyst, with traces of magenta encircling the edges. The moment Aletha's hands touched it, she felt uncontrollable pain consume her body.
A suffocating gas fumed from the object, choking her lungs and forcing her to gasp for air. As Aletha's vision flickered, she saw an encroaching purple gas fume from the tingling luminance of the heart-shaped object.
Quickly, she dropped it and coughed on the floor, spewing out a dark lavender goop from her mouth. She couldn't believe what came from the harmful object and could see flashing images of a crystal purple meadow flash in her eyes while she held it.
"W… Why? What is in that thing? I couldn't breathe. What was that place I saw? Who does this belong to?"
Aletha tried to take deep breaths and calm herself down. She was surprised that the man didn't burst out the door after the noise. It almost made Aletha suspicious.
Lastly, Aletha disregarded the warning and grabbed the last strange object from the pile of empty flasks. The surface felt to her like an obsidian, bedrock texture, one that felt unbreakable. Aletha lifted the item to the light to see it more clearly.
"What the--"
Aletha gasped in shock. The object looked like a torn tablet, with ancient writing and scripture dispersed all over its contents. A green luminance emerged from the book and forced Aletha to hear endless echoes of cries and screams.
She immediately dropped the tablet and saw it transform into an obsidian shield with three green lines imbued onto its surface. It looked nothing like the other objects.
As Aletha peered and gazed at the shield, suddenly, loud footsteps sounded behind the walls, growing closer to the room. Aletha was so shocked she couldn't move.
"H-Huh?"
The door swung wide open without consideration, revealing a person Aletha would never have expected.
"Aletha, you're awake?!"
Her eyes trembled in shock, seeing the lightning symbol-covered sleeves, the beard, his necklace and bracelet, and his brown hair. She couldn't believe her eyes, realizing that the man in front of her was…
"BRICH?!" Aletha screamed shockingly.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH THOSE?!"
He screamed in panic.
Aletha couldn't process the sudden burst of emotions rising. She was stunned about discovering these eccentric weapons and couldn't believe that Brich, out of all people, was the man who owned this shop. It quickly raised suspicions in Aletha.
"W-What are you doing here?"
Brich slowly tilted away, hiding his face away from Aletha. He was shocked and even stunned that she would act this way after his heroic act of saving her— almost nervous of the potential attacks she could release. Hastily, his hands sweat, he raced to snatch the four peculiar items and answered Aletha.
"Aletha, y-you know those weapons are dangerous…. J-Just give them back to me."
With the empty ambiance of the room surrounding her, Aletha sneered her eyes at Brich and interrupted him with a tone of suspicion.
"Wait… now that I think of it, these weapons match the descriptions Belial, Sally, Drimi, and Akwan gave me…."
Brich's breath grew uneasy. Aletha continued as she stepped forward.
"Not only that, it seems to me that you are the OWNER of this store. Wait a minute, Brich— are YOU THE ONE WHO STOLE THEIR WEAPONS?"
"…"
An unnerving silence broke out. Aletha and Brich stared indefinitely like sloths— with their bodies paralyzed still and their eyes peering deep through their souls.
Aletha realized that what made her and Asahi go through this convoluting effort and adventure through Dreamtoe Forest, Milmoor, and the beasts that they have encountered; were all at the fault of Brich— who was the one and the very first person that helped The Wanderers on their travels.
Aletha felt betrayed, tossed out, and spat on by Brich— whom she thought was a lovely man. But unfortunately, to her eyes, that was not the case… or at least, for now.
. . .
After two minutes of silence….
Quickly, Aletha scampered her feet and rushed toward the door— but was immediately stopped by Brich, who pushed her down to the floor and blocked her path.
"Oof."
As Aletha tried to push him out the way, Brich whispered.
"Aletha, you don't understand— I'm not trying to sell them."
Her eyebrows raised as she lifted herself away from the pile of objects.
"Eh?"
"I'm trying to keep their weapons away from The Queen. I'm essentially hiding them for the safety of Belial, Sally, Akwan, and Drimi. Yes, I have eavesdropped on them during the royal meeting, and I'm here to confirm that they planned their betrayal to The Queen days ago. I knew that if there were to be an ambush, I had to keep them and hide them somewhere safe. Didn't they tell you? Or did they forget?"
Aletha was speechless.
"Uhh…"
Brich gave his signature chuckle, projecting his usual friendly attitude.
The moment he did that, Brich felt a little more trustworthy to Aletha.
She released a relieved sigh and pulled herself up, wiping dust off from her dark attire and discarding the problems happening before. Aletha took a deep breath and nodded her head, saying…
"Well, I-I dearly apologize, Brich."
Brich nervously scratched his head then hastily raced to the pile of items. He simply couldn't allow his shop to be trashed.
Brich jolted to his broom, swept up glass fragments, and picked up the fallen objects in a blink of an eye. He lifted up the fallen shelf and placed the four strange items atop it, ensuring it was a height inaccessible to Aletha. Brich grabbed the remaining bottles and continued sweeping the junk.
As Brich was busy tidying up his shop, Aletha wiped her eyes and released another yawn. She still had no idea where she was and panicked for her brother.
"Hmff..."
Aletha peeked her head from the corner to ensure Brich wasn't looking, then swiftly lifted her legs and…
(Creak)
Her warm fingers wrapped around the knob, with the door slowly creaking open. Aletha felt a stifling aroma tingle and brush up on her nose. The smell of fresh wood and dust.
Her first thought was to scramble to the windows to finally see where she was. However, upon further inspection…
(Clank)
Aletha tapped her fingers on the extending metal bar. She discovered that the windows were sealed shut, with padlocks scattered and locked on each window.
"The windows are locked…?" Aletha mumbled confusingly.
. . .
She released a deep sigh and scratched her head, falling into disbelief that Brich even had a shop.
She was so filled with anticipation to view what was outside the building; that she raced to the door, pulled out a stool, and pressed her face against the cold surface of the keyhole.
Though much was enclosed into the relatively tiny hole, Aletha could recognize that she was located in some sort of town or city from the blurry silhouette.
Aletha's eyebrows raised, her heart thumped rapidly, adrenaline struck inside-- realizing that there was a possibility that they were separated.
"W-Where is the village? Where is everyone?" Aletha mumbled tremblingly as she pressed her face against the cold surface of the door.
"Am I in Pladtioa City?!"
Footsteps sounded behind her. Aletha saw Brich, whose eyes were filled with shallowness, approach her with a green potion caressed on his hands. A cold feeling struck Aletha.
"I-I… I…" She bantered.
Brich scratched his head and chuckled nervously. He wasn't planning to do anything to Aletha.
"D-Don't worry, I'm just the potion on the shelf." Brich expressed nervously.
Aletha nodded her head suspiciously and replied quietly.
"O…kay…"
It was clear to Aletha that Brich was anxious and paranoid of the possibility of being caught. Now she realized that if it wasn't for Brich, she would be captured by The Queen.
She had no choice but to put her trust in him.
(Tap)
(Tap)
(Tap)
Footsteps, followed by muffled voices, suddenly sounded from behind the walls. Brich leaned toward Aletha and whispered faintly.
"Aletha, you really don't understand, do you? The guards could be here. The Queen might be standing right outside my door, and we would have no idea. I say we should stay put until nightfall. It isn't guaranteed, but there is a small chance we can wander the streets by nightfall."
"Nightfall?! Why? I want to find Asahi… H-HE'S MY BROTHER!" Aletha screamed frustratingly.
Without thinking appropriately, Brich blurted out his brief answer.
"He's captured by The Queen--"
Aletha's heart stopped, her eyes widened, and she backed away toward the door, producing more noise for the people to hear.
"What?!" Aletha shrieked with anger.
"It's a long story," Brich replied quietly. "Just trust me. There is a sole reason WHY I opened this shop. Please… calm down." He ended while gently pulling Aletha away from the front door.
Aletha roughly pushed Brich away from her and stomped her foot on the ground, gritting her teeth.
She was enraged, even upset that everyone failed to protect them. When she first returned to her world, she didn't have a single smidge of trust in anyone.
Nonetheless, as time grew on her, Aletha managed to finally deem some people trustworthy and as friends. Proven by their failure to protect her and Asahi, all of that trust she had for the people was banished.
However, outside these walls…
Drimi, Sally, and Phthonus all upped their pace, scouring across the broadening streets thickened with a heavy mist.
They were inclined and distraught when they lost Asahi, but what made their thoughts worse was how easily they allowed Aletha to get captured.
They could feel the wanderers' trust slipping away from their hands each second they remain missing...