*TWELVE YEARS LATER*
________________________________________________
***
The still waters of the Cryst river became turbulent as a massive tidal wave washed towards the shores. As the waves receeded back to the river, an object was left behind by it. That object was a slightly big brown chest.
CREAK
The door of the chest creaked open and a young man, probably in his late teens, crept his way out of it. Even in his haggard and unkempt state, one could still make out some of his notable features. His blond hair was sullied with mud and his golden eyes were wavy with tiredness as he trudged on, his right side stained with blood from the shoulder down.
"Huff… Huff… Huff…"
Came his short, quick breaths as his eyes became dizzy. His mind, spinning from the loss of too much blood, wondered what would become of him if he were to die here and now. Well, at least he had managed get this far. He thought as his knees gave way and he slumped on the floor. "Sir Lance… I failed…" He whispered, a small teardrop dropping from his left eye as his consciousness slowly left him.
Darkness…
***
THUD! THUD! THUD!
The sound of footsteps could be heard from a distance. From the horizon, a creature, covered in fur, came into sight. It's appearance was rather hard to describe. It looked like a strange mixture of a bull and an anteater and It's powerful hooves trudged the sandy shores as it pulled a small cart behind it.
"Are we there yet?"
Came a tired feminine voice from inside the cart, a slight yawn escaping her lips as she stretched her lithe figure. Crossing both of her slender arms in front of her chest, she concentrated the gaze of her bright emerald eyes on the young man, slightly older than her, wielding the saddle. The young man couldn't help but roll his eyes in frustration. Just how many times was she going to ask him that? He wondered.
"Aria, you've been asking that question for the past half an hour. And what do I keep telling you each time?"
"Well, we'd have been there. But you just HAD to take a detour, didn't you?" The girl, identified as Aria, shot back. The young man, Elvinn by name, was well aware of the tone she used. It was her "I told you so" tone. Whenever she used that, it meant she was brewing for an argument. He had had it with her antics; they were cute at times, but annoying most of the time. He had told himself he'd try his best to pacify her. That was the "adult" thing to do.
"Aria, I've told you before, from what I've heard recently, the route of the Barren Gulf was far too dangerous. We're better off passing the forest by the Cryst riverside. I'm trusting my instincts on this one."
He gave his explanation, half satisfied with himself. Now, if she was mature enough, she'd understand, and she seemed to as she remained quiet, reclining on the cart as they rode on. Victory! He thought. He had successfully–
"Well, I bet your "instincts" could tell us when we'd get to Lein village."
Came Aria's voice once again from the back. The young man froze, stiffening in frustration at her constant nagging.
"This detour's just gonna take us a couple of days y'know. Why're you so impatient?"
"Impatient?" Aria asked "I'm not"
"You are" Her brother shot back
"Maik back me up here would ya?"
She had brought Maik, the creature they rode on, into the argument as she was sure that it would side with her. However…
GROWL
"Oh c'mon, You're siding with HIM!" Aria exclaimed, her voice carrying surprise. Maik had almost never taken Elvinn's side in anything. Now she really felt like she was the unreasonable one now. "Wow, thanks for the HELP Maik" She continued, her voice carrying a hint of sarcasm.
Growl?
Sensing her frustration, Maik gave a low growl while tilting it's head, indicating it's confusion. Why did she include it in this argument if she was going to take offense at it's opinion? It wondered. Humans were strange creatures after all. It concluded as it continued on its path, refusing to make eye contact with Aria.
"Hmph." Aria scoffed, recoiling into the back of the cart sulking. She hated it when things didn't go her way.
"Eh, don't mind her Maik. She'll come around eventually." Elvinn said
"No, I won't!" Aria protested from inside the cart.
"She would." Elvinn said, patting Maik reassuringly as the furry creature rode on. Knowing Aria, it wouldn't take long before she was back to her old, cheerful self. Still sulking in the back, Aria closed her eyes, humming a tune which she learned from her mother. She needed something to take her mind off of the argument she just had with her brother, and the song seemed to do little to help. Nonchalantly, she casually waved her hand back and forth, observing through the cart window how the grass seemed to bend to her hand movement. Then an idea struck her. Focusing her spirit energy, she tried to attune it with her surroundings, hoping to get the plants to bend to her will. It worked…
too well even...
WHOOSH! CRACKLE! SIZZLE! WHACK!
ROAR!
"WHAT THE HELL!?"
Her spell worked too well, causing not only the grass but the entire vegetation to bend to her, tree after tree, shrub after shrub, lunged towards their general direction. Some of them struck Maik, causing it to nearly lose balance as it let out a painful roar. It took Elvinn steering it to prevent the creature from falling off. Immediately, Elvinn knew what caused this unnatural event. Bringing the wounded creature to a halt, he turned around to face his now remorseful sister, who could only but chuckle nervously. A slight anger welled up in him.
"What the hell were you thinking?" He seethed, his frustration mounting with each passing second, threatening to swallow the young girl in front of him whole.
"Umm… sorry?" The girl nervously apologized, trying her best to avoid eye contact with her brother. Knowing her brother, she wasn't going to get out of this without an earful. But in her defense, she was only using the innate abilities she was born with.
"There's time and place to practice that stuff y'know?"
"I already said I was sorry" Aria murmured as her brother went on and on
"Why'd you always have to be so irresponsible?"
"Well you'd never let me practice it anyway" Aria, finally tired of her brother's constant tantrums, shot back defiantly, it wasn't the first time they were having arguments like this, and it certainly wasn't going to be the last.
"You don't get my point do you?" Elvinn retorted, surprised at her defiance.
"Oh I get your point loud and clear. Your basically saying that I shouldn't use the abilities I was born with-"
"Magic is dangerous." Elvinn cut in, trying make his sister see reason. "Especially if it's beyond your control"
"You don't understand me." Aria replied. "Or rather, you can't understand. YOU weren't born with magic in the first place"
That statement struck Elvinn "I get it…" he muttered slowly, solemnly " you're special. But even at that, you have to be really careful. You know what the consequences would be if people found out about you, about what you could do."
"I'm aware of all that, you repeat it every single time–"
"--For your own good!"
"Over and over and over again? That "smothering" attitude of your's gets a little annoying sometimes y'know."
"Oh well I'm SOO sorry for ACTUALLY giving a damn about my younger sister's well being" Came Elvinn's reply, his voice carrying a trace of sarcasm. Glaring at Aria one last time, he stormed off into the nearby shrubs, leaving her alone with with the poor, ignored, wounded Maik.
"Hmph!"
Aria let out an exasperated sigh as she sank to her knees, a mix of frustration and guilt swept through her. She knew her brother meant well, but sometimes his overprotective nature grated on her nerves. Turing her attention to Maik, she reached out her hand to stroke it's fur.
"Sorry Maik" She whispered softly, trying to soothe the wounded creature's frayed nerves. She hadn't meant for anyone to get hurt. Reaching her hand to the wounded area, she closed her eyes, mumbling some words as her palm glowed with a bright green hue over the wounded area, causing the wounds to close up. The formerly wounded creature, on noticing it's healed sounds, nestled it's furry head into Aria, giving a low purr as it brushed it's tongue at her affectionately
"Hehe…" Aria gave a slight chuckle at the creature's actions. "You're welcome" she said, stroking it's fur as the creature purred on. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Maybe I went a little overboard back there." She replied, apparently to the creature's purrs. "You think I should apologize to Elvinn?... Yeah, maybe I should… I should find him at least." She said, rising from her sitting position. "Thanks Maik" she muttered before taking off into the bushes after her brother
***
Leaning his back against a nearby tree , Elvinn stared blankly into the vastness of the Cryst river, concentrating on nothing in particular. He had chose this spot as it granted an arial view of the Cryst river. It was truly a sight to behold, but that wasn't his focus right now. "That girl…" He pondered, multiple thoughts racing through his mind. He was at a loss for what to do regarding the young girl's growing rebelliousness. Feeling the pendant on his chest, his gaze lowered down to the silver ornament. "Mom, what would you do?" He muttered softly, his hand clutching the pendant firmly.
"I thought I'd find you here." A feminine voice came from behind him. "Speak of the devil." He thought as he spotted Aria coming towards him from behind. "Hmph" He scoffed, turning his back to her. On noticing his behavior, Aria chuckled slightly
"C'mon, are you still mad at me?" She asked playfully, slipping her slender arms around his shoulders from behind. Elvinn knew her like a book, she normally did this whenever she needed to get him to do something, in this case to forgive her. "Y'know I didn't mean all that" she continued, running her fingers through his hair.
"I'm just trying to watch out for you" Elvinn calmly replied, trying his best to maintain a straight face inspite of her actions. Deep down, he was already swooned, " This girl…" He thought. "This world… it's not friendly at all… and I just… I don't want you to get hurt " He said, a hint of emotion noticeable in his voice.
"Getting emotional doesn't suit you y'know…" Aria jokingly replied, eliciting a slight scoff from Elvinn "...Aaaannddd… I'm sorry." She continued. Elvinn stared at her in surprise. Aria almost never apologized. So when she did, she truly meant it. "I may have gone a little overboard back there. And I said things i shouldn't have. Soo…" She continued, expecting him to say something.
Elvinn chuckled. "This girl…" He thought. "Well… I wasn't mad at you… well I wasn't THAT mad." He began "but you've learned your lesson, and I'm glad about that. I'm sorry too, I guess I overreacted a little back there" He concluded, a warm feeling welling up in his heart.
"A little?" Aria scoffed, playfully nudging him on the shoulder. "That was more than a little y'know". "Yeah yeah," Elvinn replied "But you can be pretty annoying at times y'know. It's almost sunset by the way, and Maik is injured. What say we camp around here tonight?". "Yeah we could" Aria replied, happy to have patched things up with her brother.
""Looks like the tides are coming in heavy this time" Elvinn pointed out as he took one final glance at the Cryst river current. Squinting his eyes further, he could make out a black object washed ashore by the currents "What's… that?" He wondered aloud, drawing Aria's attention. "Something came out of it." Aria observed, noticing something come out of the black object, move for a short distance and then slump on the floor. For a second it looked like—
"Was that a… person?"