The walk back to Stepanburg through the Magiaville Forest was smooth and safe with little to no encounters with magic beasts–the encounters were dealt with haste so as to not attract more, and by a few hours, they arrived back.
To be clear, the walk occurred in the afternoon. They all went back to the dormitory of the academy the moment they entered the campus.
Sanguinex and Zephyr jumped on the bed with pleasant sighs. "Oh, it's so good to be back home!" she snuggled her pillow, which was in the middle.
Sévir pulled the chair and sat on it. "You make it sound like we were gone for a long time." he folded his arms by reflex. "You two should dress up soon–you'll buy some flowers."
"Yes, yeeeesss, we will." said Sanguinex, who kicked her feet up and down with her face still buried in her pillow.
He stood up and opened the closet door, taking off his clothing one by one. Fortunately, Sanguinex couldn't be bothered to peek since she was so engrossed with her pillow, and after about 40 seconds, he got on his Little Gang Killer attire–a dark lavender hooded top with uneven naples, and on his waist, grey wrappings similar to bandages. His black pants were quite baggy, and beneath it were short leather boots–if most assassins wore grey or black, he wore dark lavender.
"Oh yeah, Brother–why do you wear a lavender top instead of something like black? Wouldn't it more stealthy?" Zephyr asked, curious.
"I found it in the dumps. The old man and woman were offering me some clothes, but I refused." he tugged his sleeve. "I've been wearing this for years, but I have no complaints." he put the hood on and walked to the window by the bed, opening it.
"You're leaving already?" Zephyr asked again.
He nodded. "I left coins in the drawer, buy bouquets of red roses, bellflowers, yellow hibiscuses, jasmines and green trick dianthuses. he raised a foot on the ledge. "Don't forget." and so he jumped off the window and levitated up with green auras around his shoes.
Zephyr sighed and stood up, closing the window after. She observed the sky before walking to the closet. "Nex, let's get dressed already–the flower store might close soon." Bouquets, huh? We didn't buy those in the past years. she opened the closet door and took off her cinch belt and school jacket.
.
Zephyr and Sanguinex descended the dormitory stairs, and just as they were about to leave..
"Zephyr?" Zephyr turned around to the direction of the voice–a brunette who wore the Stepan uniform that evoked a nostalgic feeling within her. She turned wide-eyed to see who it was.
"Ms. Meredith??" Zephyr called out to her in surprise.
Meredith inched closer with a smile. "Wow.. You've grown so much."
Sanguinex stood silent, her piercing gaze aimed at Meredith.
The latter rustled Zephyr's hair. "You used to be more on the cute side, but now you look quite pretty."
Zephyr smiled at the sudden compliment, which made her blush a little. "Oh, thank you.."
Sanguinex rolled her eyes. "Well if that's all, then do excuse me and Zeph." she replied with slight hostility and grabbed Zephyr's hand, pulling her away.
"Ah–where are you guys going?" the two stopped on their tracks when she popped the question.
"That's not–"
"We're going to the flower store." Sanguinex sent her piercing gaze to Zephyr when she cut her off and answered.
"Oh, really?" Meredith clasped her hands behind her. "What's the occasion?"
While Sanguinex was hesitant to tell, Zephyr wasn't–the sense of familiarity and fondness with Meredith encouraged her to speak up. "It's our family's death anniversary today." Sanguinex facepalmed.
"Death annivers..–" Meredith's eyebrows rose upon hearing that. "Oh, right! Can I come? I want to pay my respects to your family–you know, since I've known and been close with them before–"
"Yes! Absolutely!" Zephyr grabbed Meredith's arm and pulled her along, excited. "Let's go!"
At this point, Sanguinex gave up in resisting. Oh well, I won't be the one getting the scold by Sévir for bringing Meredith. she snickered.
,
It was late afternoon, the sun had begun to descend to give rise to the moon by the east. The cobblestone streets weren't as packed as the early hours, giving them leeway to walk without hassle.
To their left and right were tent shops selling a variety of items–gems, jewelry, clothing, food, flowers, et cetera.
"So, where exactly is this flower store?" Meredith asked. "There's a lot of flower stores here."
"It's nearby, and it's an absolute gem of a flower store."
"Ooh, that's intriguing."
.
At last, they arrived at the flower store–from the outside, it was a miniature house with white walls and pastel blue as a secondary color for the lines and pillars around it. Of course, there were pots of flowers outside.
They pushed the white wooden door open, which rang a bell.
"Welcome to the Floral Dreams!–" the store clerk's smile grew bigger when she saw Zephyr. "Oh, Ms. Zephyr!"
"Hello Ms. Alicia." they walked to the counter.
"What could I get for you this time?"
"Red roses, bellflowers, yellow hibiscuses, jasmines and green trick dianthuses!" Meredith turned to Zephyr in surprise.
"Zephyr, do you know what you're saying? Some of those are rare!" Meredith turned to Ms. Alicia. "Do you have them?"
Ms. Alicia nodded, her smile turning to one of pride. "As the head florist of Floral Dreams, I say with pride that we sell flowers from the most common to the rarest!" her gaze landed on Meredith's. "So to your question–yes, we do." then turned back to Zephyr. "How many do you want for each?"
"Bouquets. That many."
Ms. Alicia nodded again and walked to the backdoor behind her. "Alright, I'll get you them!"
It took a while until Ms. Alicia returned with each flower–a bunch and wrapped in bouquets with ribbons according to their color.
She put them down on the counter. "Five hundred Argentus."
"It's weird, right?" Meredith asked, grabbing the attention of everyone.
"What's weird?" Zephyr replied.
"That I have so many coins in my coin bag?" she grabbed and put down exactly 50 Zinarius–50 golden coins. Their eyes widened in surprise from the sheer amount.
"Wait, wait, wait! Why are you paying??" Sanguinex asked.
Meredith smiled. "Consider this a reunion treat."
Zephyr hesitated. "But–"
Sanguinex covered her mouth and leaned to her ear. "Shh, let her pay," she whispered, "by the end of the day, we're the ones who still have money."
Zephyr drooped her shoulders in resignation. "Alright.."
.
They left the flower shop with the bouquets in their hands, now headed to their next destination.
"Seriously though, you didn't have to pay for this.." Zephyr gestured to the bouquets.
Sanguinex nudged her arm. "When an opportunity comes to have others pay for you, then take it!" she snickered. "It's their loss anyways."
"Something like that.. I guess?" Meredith replied.
,
Sévir turned the knob and pushed the door open. He stopped in his tracks upon seeing Demitrius sitting on Demeter's lap–their mouths merged to a kiss.
The two adults turned to face Sévir. Demitrius was wide-eyed in shock while Demeter glared at him with resentment.
Sévir cleared his throat and looked down. "..Continue." he closed the door.
After about 10 seconds..
"Come in!" said Demitrius, Sévir followed and opened the door.
Demitrius was facing the window–her ears burning red, Demeter clasped his hands and rested his elbows on the table–staring at Sévir.
"Welcome back, Sévir." said Demeter with the most straight voice. "What brings you here?"
He walked and sat on the nearest chair. "Are there any missions for me?"
"Not really. We replaced you with rookies in your supposed-to-be missions so they can harvest experience."
Sévir nodded in understanding.
"But, I'll have a mission for you–no, everyone in the WCO."
Sévir raised an eyebrow, folding his arms reflexively. "That is?"
Demeter glanced at Demitrius, who shook her head.
"We'll tell you eventually." he stood up, fixing his black suit.
"What's with the suit?" Sévir asked, curious.
"I'll be meeting a potential member and sign them in."
"Is he good?"
Demeter smiled. "Sure, you can say he's good." he walked over the table and left the room, leaving Sévir and Demitrius.
"It's your family's death anniversary, isn't it?" Demitrius asked; a hint of softness in her voice.
He nodded.
She sat down on Demeter's chair. "Send them my greetings, alright?"
He nodded again.
Afterwards, the room went dead silent.. Only until he stood up. "I'm off." she nodded in response, then he left.
.
As the minutes passed by, the sky grew darker, torches and lanterns were lit up to lighten the dark streets.
"We've been walking for a while, haven't we?" asked Meredith, who wiped a slight drop of sweat from her forehead.
"Tough it up; we're near." said Sanguinex.
After about 2 more minutes, they finally arrived. Meredith's jaw dropped–but not in a good way, as she saw the sign by the entrance–Meridiem Colles Cemetery. "..What? Why are we in the cemetery of the magicless!?" she exclaimed, as if being there was wrong.
"Ask those who buried them." Sanguinex scoffed.
"This.." she muttered as they crossed the entrance. "This is pure disrespect.. Did everyone hate your family that much?"
Zephyr nodded with a frown. "I guess so." she replied sadly.
.
They arrived at a steep descent that from afar was surrounded with steep inclines as well, and a wide and natural passageway on the west.
They took the only stairs down, then Meredith noticed how long it took for them to descend. "Wow, this place is deep."
"This place is about 110 feet deep." Sanguinex commented.
As they reached the bottom, their shoes splashed through and submerged in water. "Uh.. Why is there water?" asked Meredith, both surprised and curious.
Zephyr chuckled nervously. "This whole place is a lake–for the whole Half-year of Goddesses, this place is submerged."
"That's..–"
"Sucks, right?" Sanguinex folded her arms–they could see her breath due to the cold as she sighed in disappointment. "In Stepan tradition, the hills always signify the highest, and the lowest signify the lowest of low.. Criminals and all those. It's even worse here–a literal magicless cemetery."
"Meaning even the mage Dorens deserve to rest with the magicless criminals, huh?"
Sanguinex nodded. "That's how they see it."
Meredith noticed a lantern glowing brighter as they got close, and the figure of a person.
The person turned to them. "You guys took long enough." it was Sévir. He looked farther and noticed Meredith.
As surprised as he was, he dismissed it right after. "Did you guys bring the flowers?"
Zephyr nodded and placed the bouquet of roses at the grave on the left, near the middle, then the bouquet of bellflowers on the middle. Sanguinex put the bouquet of jasmines on the very left, then Meredith put the bouquet of yellow hibiscuses on the right, near to the middle, then the green trick dianthuses on the very right.
With Sévir's lantern, she read the texts on the blocky tombstones from right to left:
Zigo Dario van Doren IV
[March] Nasimus 3, 479 AMD - [December] Alarus 11, 493 AMD - 14
Zigo Orion van Doren III
[May] Norus 19, 477 AMD - Alarus 11, 493 AMD - 16
Zigo Rudo van Doren II
[October] Cabrakus 7, 475 AMD - Alarus 11, 493 AMD - 18
Ivene Irene van Doren I
[August] Roxanus 23, 452 AMD - Alarus 11. 493 AMD - 41
Lucio Zigo van Doren I
[June] Athelus 1, 450 AMD - Alarus 11, 493 AMD - 43
"They all died so young.." said Meredith, whose voice was filled with sympathy.
Sévir shut his eyes and kneeled down. Zephyr and Sanguinex did the same.
Meredith followed suit. Uncle Zigo, Auntie Irene, Brother Rudo, Brother Orion, Brother Dario.. It's me, Meredith. Do you guys remember me? Because I remember you all.
It's unfortunate how you guys had to die so early.. I wanted you all to live on to see me and Sévir's wedding–but even he forgot about it and kicked me out of his life. she frowned in sadness. I wish I knew sooner of what happened–I..
I probably could've done something..
.
After a moment of silence, with only the meek flowing of water resonating around them, the girls stood up as they sent their internal messages. "Brother, we'll be going up already. Are you coming?"
He shook his head. "Leave me alone with them." he passed the lantern to Zephyr.
"But then, you won't have any light." said Meredith.
He grabbed a match and slid it on a rough rock beside Dario's tombstone, which lit up–he grabbed the candle beside the rock and lit it as well. "I'll be fine, see?"
Meredith nodded–assured, then left with the rest.
.
He moved over to the middle and let out a deep sigh, now that he was alone with them.
"Mommy.. Father, Brothers.." he spoke with softness. "How are you all doing up there? If there's even..–" he shook his head. "I.. Got into Stepan Capital Academy by accident–I was supposed to enroll there earlier, right? If only the coup d'état didn't happen." he turned to his mother's tombstone. "Mommy, do you remember your best friend, Ms. Ardell? She was the one who enrolled us.. Technically." he submerged his left hand in water and pulled it back up–watching the water drain.
"I.. Miss you guys..–I want to see you guys again." his voice shook then he sniffled as he fought against the tears that so desperately wanted to burst out. He crawled closer and leaned his head on Rudo's tombstone. "It's okay..–it's okay if I don't hold back here, right? Just for a bit? Something I can't do in front of everyone else.." he shivered and watched his cold breath as the tears slowly dropped. "I'm–I'm sorry, and I'll always be sorry.. I couldn't do anything when Bernard breached in with everyone else–I could only stand there and watch..!" the flow of the water grew stronger and louder, as if resonating with Sévir's feelings.
He clenched his fists. "You–you all will forgive me, right?" he relaxed his fists then wiped off his tears. "If you guys can.. Then that means you can forgive me for what I will do."
He sniffled again then blew the fire and stood up. "Forgive me–for I will continue to bring hell to those who've sinned against us." the softness in his voice disappeared into thin air, returning the cold and closed off voice he always had.
"That's been my goal since the beginning anyways." he turned to his right–north. "I'm sure what's going on in that underground Magiaville is linked to the nobility." I'm going to go there not for Minerva, nor for Zephyr–but to find the roots.
Light as bright as a torch glowed from the tip of his index, and so he walked away.