Aeden came back from the ship. Without wasting a single second, he said "This. We've come to deliver you this!" He said all the while trying to catch his breathe.
"The Hundred Thousands"
Xiao Xuan muttered, shocked with what in Aeden's hand.
"What?" Reyzel asked Xiao Xuan. "This--this symbols signifies something very important in my culture." Xiao Xuan replied with a heavy tone. "Here, a letter that came with the box" Aeden said, frankly. Xiao Xuan examined the content of the letter carefully and said "If the what this letter is true then the empire is in great peril" Xiao Xuan said, with a heavier tone. "Come, follow me" he added, evermore serious.
*****
"Hey....doesn't this mean the delivery is complete and we can go now?" Reyzel asked. "What do you mean we can go... Master Xiao Xuan wants us to go to his place, or palace or something. So, we should follow him, I have no doubt this place has all the fun stuff that we always liked." Aeden replied with a smile while packing his bags. "Stuff that we always liked, huh?" Reyzel thoughts to himself, pondering what those words mean.
***
Aeden and Reyzel was greeted with a tremoring weak old man as soon as they left the ship. "Who are you and do all old people shakes like you do?" Aeden asked brazenly. "Young Master told me to escort the both of you to your staying residence." said the old man, slightly bowing.
"Shou--Shouldn't you at least introduce yourself first?" Asked Reyzel, politely. "Ah, my name is Wei Jiu Bei but the Young Master just called me Uncle Wei" he said, slightly shaking. "As for the tremoring, I am sorry small young master but I cannot help it" He continues. He finished up his words with ".... It because of your vessel, you see. I thought that you have come to bring disaster to this empire and that made me a little bit scared, please forgive me" He bowed slightly.
"Haaa....so I was right, hahaha" Reyzel thoughts to himself, flustered.
"hurmmm....so it was like that. Well, you don't have to worry. We are both good people, especially that guy over there" she points to his captain. His voice was cheerful and innocent, lightening the old man worries heart.
*****
The room they are staying at were big and magnanimous. There are two queen sizes bed for each of them. Aeden was fast on his feet. As soon as they arrived, she's already busying himself with the soft pillow and warm blanket. Reyzel on the other hand was thinking of something, immersing himself the new world around him. It was by Uncle Wei voice that the both of them brought back from their extreme focus.
"I--if you are done settling down, please follow me to the discussion hall." said in the most polite voice. "But I haven't...." Reyzel trying to interject, But Uncle Wei cut him short by saying "It would be kind of you if you would follow me right now". Reyzel could only agrees with the polite old man.
***
They were left in a hall, the size of which comparable to their bedroom. In the middle of the room were a large round table and seven chairs surrounding it. They were told to wait there for the Xiao Xuan. Aeden was looking around the room, and a certain object caught his eyes. It was a clear crystal orb on the table. He was looking at it from any angle and when that doesn't satisfy his curiosity, he decided to touch it.
.... And nothing happened. no flashing light, no explosion, nothing. It appeared the orb was nothing but a decoration for the room. Aeden really thought the orb is of something significant so he decided to open his mouth and said, "Hey boss, don't you feel like this thing feels very mysterious and interesting?"
"Reyzel's mind was occupied still, his mind began thinking the moment he saw the 'heart' of Xuan empire, the bustling street, the tall buildings with architecture reminiscence of a place he once knew. Aeden talking in the background, something something orb but Reyzel was to much in thought to listen, and then he decided. "Let's go to the other side".
***
The both of them leave Xiao grand residence and headed somewhere. One was leaving with a purpose, while the other one was only following.
"Where are we going, boss? Uncle Wei told us to for Master Xiao Xuan, shouldn't we?" Aeden said, worried. "You know, when it is night and I can clearly see all the buildings and street, I really felt like I know this place." Reyzel simply said, ignoring Aeden's question. Aeden's reply those word with a dumbfounded expression.
"Let's run, we'll arrived faster that way." Reyzel said.
"Where are going?" He replied.
"To the ship" Reyzel replied.
"But--but the adventure is in there~~" Aeden replied obviously reluctant to go with his boss.
Reyzel started running even before Aeden finished talking. He was excited, really excited. His pace was at first slow and steady and then it becomes fast and unsteady, and then even faster. Aeden who was running right beside him fall behind albeit a little bit.
a few minutes later, they arrived. more specifically, Reyzel arrived first then moments later, Aeden did as well. Without a moments rest, Reyzel entered the ship and Aeden followed suit.
***
Reyzel was already sitting on the chair on the right side. Aeden came inside the room a bit later, evidently tired from the running earlier. Reyzel was smiling at him as soon as Aeden entered the commanding station. "Come come, sit" Reyzel said, smiling while gently tapping the chair next to him. Aeden sits on the chair in the middle, still suspicious of Reyzel 's Behaviour.
"Fly the ship" the captain of the ship commanded.
"Where are we going?" asked the third mate.
"Didn't I tell you earlier? To the other side." He replied.
***
The ship's thrusters begin to glowing a blue-ish hue, and slowly the ship started to elevate off the ground. Ship's upward movement stops. The ship is now ready for lift off. Without waiting for the captain command, Aeden quickly thrust the ship upward. In a matter of seconds, the ship was already above the planet atmosphere, and from there Aeden fly the ship forward to the other side.
It was the roughly the other side of the planet from where they were before. Reyzel told Aeden to land the ship and he obliged. The ship was still in the air, but Reyzel who cannot wait already headed for the exit door. Waiting for the ship to fully descend, he walked back and forth impatiently. Then It finally opened, Reyzel sprinted to meet the vast land. Unfortunately, It was a sight that didn't meet his expectation. He continues on looking left and right in great sorrow. The ship landed on a hill and near that hill is a city, it sizes comparable to Xuan City. Reyzel, cannot accept the reality that's lay flat to him began running to the city. He ran fast, so fast that as if it was a giant boulder was moving through the grass creating enormous wind.
Not long after, he arrived at the city. He immediately greets the nearest person asked "What is the name of this city?". Truthfully, he doesn't care about the city or why it was built so close to a volcano. No, what he wanted to know was how that person looks like. As the person was talking, Reyzel finally accepted the truth. The truth that this planet is not Earth nor it ever was. "I should've known better, since the very start, since the two suns in the sky, since the purple sky....I ju--just that I could see home one more time" He was missing home, at that moment he felt as if he was the loneliest man in the universe. A man without a home, without memories, withou-- "Hey, what are doing standing here all dumb looking? Hey, can you hear me?" It was Aeden waving his hand in front of Reyzel's face. Aeden actions brought Reyzel back to reality. "So, what doing here? let me guess, it has something to do with that volcano over there? Are we going lava swimming?" Aeden's eyes lights up and so did Reyzel's.
Reyzel clears his mind, setting aside his longing for home. Perhaps seeing a familiar face made him felt less alone, or perhaps seeing the carefree attitude of Aeden made him relax a bit or perhaps both. "Let's go back, Master Xiao Xuan is waiting for us." He smiled.