Kavella falls asleep on her bench after a bit, and Kael and I are left awake. We decide to walk over to the other side of the tracks to keep talking, because we don't want to disturb Kavella. We sit across the way and keep our eyes on her, to make sure she stays safe.
"What do you think about Kavella, Sigmund?"
The question takes me by surprise, and I look over to Kael with a curious look on my face. "What do you mean?" I ask. I think a lot of things about Kavella. Like…she's a good fighter, and she's got yellow hair, and she's moody…but when she wants to be nice, she's really nice. And she's great at cheering me up, I just figured that one out about half an hour ago.
"About her being here," he clarifies. "You and I have been best friends for our whole lives, so of course I'd go with you, especially for something like this. You'd do the same for me, right?"
"Of course," I laugh. How could he think otherwise? Kael and I have that unique bond where we'd do anything for each other, and help each other with anything.
"But what about her? Why is she so willing to stick her neck out for you? What do you think?"
"I don't know," I admit. "Maybe she feels responsible because she's the one who found me out there, next to Lance? I'll admit, if it was me who stumbled across a stranger like that, I'd probably have gone with them. This is something vitally important that only a few people can know about. Maybe she felt forced into going."
"It's interesting you'd think that, Sigmund. I have another view on the matter. You see, I think the real reason is because she's in love with you."
I glance over to Kavella's sleeping form. She certainly seems interested in me, but not in a loving way, or even an 'I want to be with you' way. I consider the way she looks at me more like a curiosity. I feel like she's fascinated by my level of determination, that's all. I would hardly say she's in love with me.
There have been times when her behavior could have been considered flirtatious, but then again I'm the only guy she's really ever dealt with. She was probably just practicing on me. Nine times out of ten, though, she seems to regard me as nothing more than a comrade.
She's pretty, and I'm the most handsome person I've ever seen…but I just don't see it. I feel like my relationship with Kavella is more complex than that, and simpler at the same time.
"I don't think that at all," I conclude. Kael looks from me to her and exhales deeply.
"Only she knows the full story," Kael smiles. "But there must be some personal or emotional reason she's become so attached to you. Ever since you two were partnered up the first time we went to the Arcon's Nest, she's been really attached to you. You can't deny that one."
"Well…I did save her life in there, Kael," I offer. "Maybe she just feels indebted to me."
"That makes sense," Kael says. He stops bringing up the subject at that point, and I'm glad. Even though I'm going to try and be happy, I don't know if I can mentally handle something like Kavella wanting to be with me. Right now, I have priorities. Dating isn't one of them.
I've never dated anyone, after all. It's not like this is something that I am familiar with. The whole notion makes me a bit uncomfortable, after all. I don't know how to flirt, or how to show someone affection. I guess I could pick up some females if I show them how cool my sword is…and by that I mean Crossed Heart.
Urgh. I don't want to think about that. On one of my days off, when I went to visit my mother, she asked me if I had found any cute girls that I was interested in. I had to say no, because that was the truth. I was way more preoccupied with my training than comparing how all the girls looked in their gray and purple uniforms.
"What about you?" I ask quietly.
"What about me?" Kael replies.
"Haven't you ever…thought about it? Being with someone?"
Kael looks up at me. I must have said something wrong, because he has tears in his eyes all of a sudden.
"You know…" he said, his voice cracking.
I put my hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. We don't have to talk about this. Forget I said anything. Let's talk about happy things, right? Positivity and all that?"
Kael and I talk some more, about all kinds of things, moving as far away from the relationship topic as we can. When Kael and I talk like this, we can go on for hours. We never seem to run out of things to discuss. He's really smart, and he teaches me all kinds of things, and then I try to learn them. After that, I share my opinions about things. Since I'm so much more opinionated than Kael, he's always got a lot to say about the way I see the world. It's an interesting experience, undoubtedly.
At eight, we wake Kavella up and take a trip over to the bank. After that, we're able to get a room at the…well it isn't a hotel. It's a motel. We pay for our night there, and we all take a much-needed rest.
Greenwald Village is only the next town over from us, but I've never been here before. It seems so different from the Arcona Village that I know and love. The buildings here are a bit taller, and everything is slightly bunched together in a convoluted mass. Still, it's a lot quicker to walk from one end of town to the other. That's probably because Arcona Village is moderately spread out. It seems like the people who built Greenwald Village had separation anxiety, and they needed to put every house so that it was touching another.
We decided to only take one room, to save our funds. Kael is sleeping on one of the beds, and Kavella is on the other. I told Kael that he could have the bed, because I was perfectly comfortable sleeping in the sofa chair that is in the room. Of course, now that I am in that sofa chair, I am absolutely regretting that decision. They are both fast asleep, so it's not like I can beg one of them to switch with me.
After a while of tossing and turning on the lumpy chair, I take a deep sigh and crawl up at the foot of Kael's bed. I'm sure he won't mind, but I feel somehow…well…
Like a dog, I guess. These beds aren't very big, and I'm curled up in a ball next to Kael's feet. It's demoralizing, to say the least. Whatever. At least it is soft. I close my eyes and I feel my consciousness fading away. I look back to the events of this morning. Everything that happened since we came to Greenwald Village has honestly made me happy. Kavella has cheered us all up more than I could ever describe, and I feel like the bond between the three of us has grown even more. If I can just keep these two safe and by my side, I'm confident that my anger and my lust for revenge won't consume me. Keeping that in mind, I slowly fall asleep. I have no dreams.
When I wake up, I notice Kael and Kavella are still asleep. That's good, neither of them saw me curled up at Kael's feet like a puppy.
I look out the window and I see it is the middle of the day. The happy little village is packed with people. I decide to take a walk around and experience some of the village for myself. Kael and Kavella have already given me my portion of the money given to us by Ms. Borden, and I leave the motel room with my pockets stuffed full of money.
The first thing I should probably do while I am out is buy new clothing. The Spiritguard Sigmund is supposed to be a missing person, so it doesn't do me any good if I am still in these clothes. Kael and Kavella both don't feel the need to change their outfits, because neither Merava nor the Vitarine people know them, but they have insisted that I change mine. You never know, right? The Imp Queen Merava and the Vitarine people are supposed to look out for a young man with black hair and blue eyes who is a member of the Spiritguards. I can't do anything about my hair or eyes, but I can certainly change my outfit.
I go to the clothing store in Greenwald inconspicuously and start to walk around, looking at everything that is available. There's a lot, but I'm a bit sad about this whole situation. I always thought the uniform I'm wearing was the coolest thing ever, and I couldn't wait to have one of my own. Now, just a few months after getting it, I have to give it up.
I go into the back with some clothes that I think will work out nicely. I try to stay away from the colors light blue and weight, but I can't stay away from blue entirely. First up, I get myself a pair of black pants. The pants are similar to the ones I was wearing as part of my uniform, but maybe they're a little less tight. I follow up with a pair of navy blue shoes and a jacket, but…
But as I look at myself in the mirror, I feel like a dark blob. The black and navy didn't go as well as I thought they would. I sigh and change back into my normal clothes to return those to the rack, and I keep my search up.
Life is so difficult when you can't wear blue…I can't wear white, either, because it'll be too damn…well…
Similar.
"What am I supposed to do…?" I murmur.
I end up leaving the store with an outfit I can be comfortable with. It's a lot different from anything I've ever worn before, but it's charming in its own way. I have found myself a black vest with matching pants, the same pants from earlier. The vest is a tight fit but it is comfortable in its own way. It is padded, so I know I'll stay warm. Since it is September, the temperature is dropping.
I don't want my arms to get too cold, because the vest has no sleeves, so I get a nice, deep blue jacket to wear over it. The jacket has cuffs on the sleeves and looks a bit regal. To tie the outfit together, I get a pair of shoes that are blue and black, the same shade blue as my jacket. I invest in some gloves as well, because I find they're pretty useful.
The jacket has accents of white on it, which brings the entire look together nicely. I can wear the jacket open or closed, but for now I think it looks best half-buttoned up. While I am in the store, I also get a black bag to carry along with me. I store my Spiritguard uniform in there, so that when this is all said and done I can still have it. Also…I guess I can wear it to sleep in, because I have nothing else.
The bag will also be useful to store anything I might collect as we adventure. I need something like this in order to survive, to store food, water…you name it.
With that out of the way, I leave the clothing store. I hear yelling and I see a man run out of his house, muttering something unintelligible. My curiosity is piqued, and I go to see what is happening.