After Kavella/Kealie tells me her story, she lays down and tells me she needs some rest. I decide to leave her alone, then, and I get some sleep myself.
When I wake up, it is dark. Kael is nowhere around, and the rest of my companions are still resting. There's just one person awake that I know, and that is Noah.
I haven't spoken to Noah much, so I figure now might be a good time. I meander over to him, and he notices me quickly.
"What's up?" he says as he glances over to me.
"How are you feeling?"
"I've felt better, and I've also felt worse," he smiles. "My cuts weren't too deep and I'm all bandaged up here."
"The Spirit King hit you pretty hard, I didn't know if you'd survive." My voice is somber.
"As if a Spirit King could kill me," Noah laughs. "It takes a lot more than some worm monster to do me in." Noah pauses for a moment. "The key to recovering isn't lying in bed, it's exercise. Do you want to go out for a walk with me? I asked Kael, but he said I should stay here."
"A quick walk wouldn't hurt," I say. "I don't like being cooped up like this either. Gotta get the blood flowin', right?"
Noah flashes a sneaky grin. "Okay, but if I'm going with you, you have to do me a favor." He lifts his hand and I see someone has chained him to the bed. "Damn doctor did this," he says. "She didn't want me to leave before she could finish treating me."
"Where's the key?"
"It's on the table over there. Hurry up, before she gets back."
I unlock Noah and he springs up, more energetic than me. "Just…take it easy," I caution. "We're just going for a walk, okay?"
"I'll even leave my swords here," Noah smiles. "That's a big step for me." We begin to walk out of the makeshift clinic and Noah asks me a question. "So, Sigmund, you're from the same village as Kav and Kael, right? And you're a Spiritguard?"
"Yeah."
"You get paid to kill Spirits, right? That's…that's amazing. If it's not too much to ask…when you head back to Arcona Village, will you bring me with you?"
I'm surprised Noah would say that. I thought he was content with his life killing Spirits for the Alchemist.
"Don't you need to get back home?" I ask.
"I talked it over with Cabel and Laela," Noah fights. "They will both be staying in Pearl City, and they agreed to take shifts clearing out the Spirits I normally go up against at home. I just need to go to the Spiritguard place, and become a Spiritguard, and then I'll be set!"
"The training takes two years, Noah," I laugh. "You can't expect them to clear that out for you for two whole years."
"Two years my ass," Noah sneers. "I have more credentials than any of you. They'll probably present me with a diploma the minute I get there. Look, I'm going to Arcona Village with you, or without you. And since I don't know where it is…I'm guessing that I should go with you."
"I don't mind bringing you along, Noah."
"Great. Excellent. Fantastic, really," Noah smirks. "So what's on the agenda for the great and powerful Sigmund, now that he's chopped up all the big bad Spirit Lords?"
"I guess I'm going on active duty," I declare. "Patrolling high-activity areas around Arcona, killing Spirits…that sort of thing."
"Hmph," Noah turns away. "Are there really that many Spirits around Arcona Village?"
"Not that many, but every place still needs protection."
"Spirit Valley, that place right next to my house…I, uh…well, there's more Spirits there than I can kill by myself," Noah struggles to find appropriate words. "It wouldn't be all bad if I had a friend or two to help me clear out the crowd. And…you're good enough, I guess, to be my lackey. Kael too," he adds quickly.
"Lackey?" I laugh.
"Yeah! When I become a Spiritguard Captain, which I'll probably do in about a week, you two can come back home with me and be my Spirit hunting minions."
"I don't think so, Noah, but I guess it wouldn't be bad to go there to work. I mean, I like killing Spirits too. Arcona Village will be too boring for me. That's where Kael and Kavella want to stay, though."
Noah looks at me pensively. "I feel like those two would follow you wherever you go. Look, I guess I could squeeze in Kavella as a third lackey."
"They're both independent," I say. "I don't make their decisions for them."
"You're absolutely right there," Noah smirks. "It would be their decision, to follow you. They want to be with you, Sigmund. They're your friends, after all."
"Our friends," I correct.
Noah seems to like that notion. He's lived alone with his father for his whole life, so I imagine he hasn't had many 'friends'.
"What's it like there?" Noah asks. "In Arcona Village? Compared to here, anyway."
"Well, compared to where you live, it's not very pretty. But…I grew up there, and I always found it charming. It's much warmer over that way. We don't get too cold during the winters. Most of the land is flat and stretches out. There's lots of farmland, and fields…lots of forests."
"Boring," Noah yawns. "So what you're telling me is, my place is a million times better. I guess it's decided. You are all coming back with me once I get my Spiritguard certification! Natalia can be a fourth minion if she wants, but I'm drawing the line at four!"
"Wait a minute!" I plea. "Kael and I still have families in Arcona Village, you know!"
"They can visit," Noah says standoffishly. "Anyway…" Noah bites his lip. "Kael, is he, uh…?"
"Is he wha—" I look over to Noah. He raises an eyebrow.
"Are you picking up what I'm putting down?" Noah asks with a devilish grin.
I think I am. "Maybe?" I say. "Are you referring to…"
"Uh-huh." Noah winks.
"Well," I reply, "I'm not sure if we're on the same page, but if we are, I'm sure Kael would love to have you come back to Arcona with us."
Noah chuckles. "We're on the same page, I'm sure. I want to go to Arcona Village no matter what…but, ah…that does make it a little more tempting."
I spend a great deal of time talking to Noah, about his life and also about mine. He doesn't seem to have much interests besides hunting Spirits (and Kael, apparently), but I hope I can help him broaden his horizons once he gets to Arcona Village. I can see he has a lot of dedication and intelligence that hasn't yet been tapped into. He knows all sorts of information about Spirits, stuff I don't even know, and he gathered it all just from observing them. That's some talent, there.
I notice that his walking has slowed down a little bit, so I swing back around town and bring Noah back to the haphazard infirmary. I don't want him to overdo it. Some exercise and fresh air is excellent, but it should be limited when you're injured. When we get back, Kael is still missing, and I decide to go back to sleep.
I wake up and Kael is here, but he is resting. He'll be happy to hear about the conversation I just had with Noah, for sure. I see Laela is checking up on Kavella. Laela is another person whom I have had very limited interactions with, and I want to drop in and say hello to her as well.
"Heya, Laela," I grin. The woman turns to me and smiles.
"Well this is a surprise," she laughs. "How are you? You've been sleeping so much that I almost had the doctor take a look at you, too!"
"I'm fine, just exhausted. And you?"
Laela looks from Kavella to me. "I'm doing all right, thank you."
"Can you…can you tell me more about that man we saw in the cavern? Teumi?" I have two reasons for asking this question. The main reason is to find out more about the mysterious man. I also want to know about Laela as well.
"Of course, Sigmund, I think I owe you an explanation…considering what happened." She leads me over to a chair in the corner of the room, and I sit down. She sits in the chair next to me and begins to speak.
"Before I became dedicated to my faith and the church, I was a Vitarine employee. I was one of the top executives; one of three nationwide administrators. Teumi was also one. I met him while I was working there, and I gradually found myself falling in love with him. He romanced me, and I was too young and too foolish to stay away.
"He and I were eventually married, and a few years after things began to change with him. He started to lose his smile and his passion. He became stressed, and he took everything seriously. That's about when he started dealing with others in the Company. Others that…shouldn't have been trusted.
"They introduced him to the idea of creating a Spirit Army, one that would obey the Vitarine Company, and to take over the nation. The President of Vitarine Inc. knew nothing about this plan, but those below him were conspiring.
"Teumi brought the idea to me, and I told him it was an awful idea. Our Company should stay as it is, I said. We don't need to run the nation. We are a lucrative business that provides a product that helps people, and that's all we should ever strive to be. He started to…hate me, when I said that, and our love quickly fell apart. At least for him it did. You may think I am foolish, but I still love him.
"He left me and he left his job. I didn't know why he left, but I knew he was up to no good. I was a wreck, though. He took me down with him, and I got fired from my job. He…even tried to have me killed, because he was afraid I would leak his information.
"I didn't have anywhere to go. I was jobless, and homeless…he'd taken all of my money, everything away from me. He even took our child, Sigmund. I have no idea what happened to our little girl. She'd be about eight or nine, by now. I imagine he gave her up for adoption somewhere, he wouldn't have hurt her. He just didn't want me to have any happiness.
"I tried to follow him, and discover where he went. I was frantic, and I never found him. One day, I stumbled upon Pearl City. I had nothing, but a church official there found me and gave me something—faith. Ever since then, I have been a devoted Priestess to the church. All I may have is my faith, but that is enough for me now. I'd given up on ever finding Teumi, but when I saw him in that cave, I put two and two together…he's plotting something. Something to do with the Spirits, just like he was. I don't know what it is that he's doing, but it's wrong."
"So all you know is that he wanted to start a 'Spirit Army'?"
"He also said he knew a way to make Spirits control people, not just through possession," she says. "But there's a way to insert something into a human that makes them susceptible to being controlled. At the time, I was shooting down his absurd ideas and not giving much thought to them. I just thought he was deranged and idealistic. I didn't think this could become a reality."
On those words, Laela and I talk a little longer. I tell her about my past, and she shares a few details about herself in exchange.
"When all is said and done, Sigmund," she says at the end of her thoughts, "We stopped Merava and the Spirit King. That is what is most important. We can go on, now, and whatever Teumi was planning is undoubtedly thwarted. I don't think he will be a problem for us any longer."
"I hope so, Laela," I smile. "I'd love it if everything could just go back to normal."
"I'm going to finish checking on the others," Laela says. "It was lovely speaking with you, Sigmund. Thank you for listening."
"It was my pleasure," I say. "We're friends."
The next morning, everyone seems to be ready and in order. We decide that now is the time to begin our journey home, to return to where we belong. We leave Whitewind via a carriage, since everyone is ready and able enough to mobilize. It is a rescue carriage, sent by the people of Pearl City. They are evacuating Whitewind, to get the people out that have no place to go. There are precious few of them. I don't know what's going to happen to this town, now that three-fourths of it is reduced to ash. I want to help, but there's nothing I can do.
On our voyage, I notice the wagon rolls past the Alchemist's house. I look to Noah when this happens. He looks out at his home with some sadness in his eyes. I know he wants to go say goodbye to his father, but he's made up his mind to come with us to Arcona Village. His sadness is short lived. He must realize that Laela and Cabel will go to his father soon enough and tell him the news. His father won't have to worry for long.
When we arrive in Pearl City, Laela is quick to take off. She says she has a very urgent matter to address at the church, and I believe it is about Teumi. Something about that situation…she left out a detail, I think. She purposely didn't inform me of something important, but she needs to tell the Deacon. I don't blame her. She only needed to tell me what she was comfortable with.
Cabel walks us to the train and bids us farewell there. To our luck, the next train to Greenwald is arriving in about twenty minutes. It isn't a long wait, and Cabel takes off before it gets there. He must also have some business to take care of.
We board the train, the five of us. Natalia, Kavella, Noah, Kael, and of course me. We're headed to Arcona Village, but it will still take some time for us to get there.
The train passes through a small village and makes a stop there. We don't get off yet. We have to wait until our stop at Greenwald. When we finally make it there, it is already late in the day. I'm not surprised. We've traveled all the way from Whitewind to Greenwald in a single day. That involves several hours of riding in a carriage, followed by several hours of a train. I don't know what time it is, but it is surely past noon. We pay for a final carriage ride to Arcona Village, and we are on our way.
I don't know what we will find there, but I hope for one thing. That my life will be normal again.
With Merava behind me, I let the air fill my lungs and take me away to Arcona Village.