Attention

 

  "The Ethereal Elixir" is a story about a young Prince named Sairek Ceareste who leaves his sheltered life in his castle to explore the open world. He goes out on a journey to find out the true circumstances of his mother's illness, an illness which had killed her when he was still only a toddler.
...Or is he really? His own doubts leave him to believe that he is only making excuses for himself and is merely trying to escape the daunting responsibilities of needing to run a country—a responsibility he curses on a daily basis, a responsibility given to him by nothing more than being born in 'royal blood', in his eyes.

In his journey, he will meet and befriend a young girl from the countryside who will teach him how different one's life can be by just being born in different circumstances and who helps educate him much about not only the world, but what being ‘loyal’ means. Loyal, not in just a subject who will follow him for being born with the title he has, but someone who will teach him what the true meaning of friendship is and stays with him for who he is, rather than what he is.
Sairek will also meet another boy who is kind in heart... A demon; cursed by not only his birth for being born in the human world, but also cursed by being the type of demon he is, making his circumstances incredibly difficult in his environment - grasping the difficulties of struggling with what he is versus who he is. Sairek will realize just how cruel fate can be, not only from this demon he befriends, but eventually from his own circumstances as well. Although two completely different figures in the terms of society and even in biology, Sairek recognizes just how similar the both of them truly are to each other despite physically, being worlds apart.
Sairek will meet one more boy, a mercenary who struggles with his own identity in life and faces extreme hardships on a near daily basis as he tries to puzzle who he was before he had forgotten, but through that search, becomes enshrouded in an event that causes Sairek to question the purpose of nobility in general. Through him, Sairek struggles with decisions of what is considered “right” versus what is considered “good”, and must question what he defines “justice” to be.

He is a Prince, "shackled by the binds of nobility". He is fated to run a country by birth regardless of whether he likes it or not. Such grand responsibilities must eventually be faced, or they may come invading into his life; harming not only his subjects, but also ripping away from what he has grown to treasure most on his enlightening journey. Sairek, ignorant and sheltered from his time living in his protected castle, goes out on his journey and learns just how shady, cut-throat and unforgiving the world can truly be.

He must decide at his young age just how much his responsibilities and what is expected of him to his kingdom can test the bonds of his relationships with his friends, subjects and even himself. Should he surrender 'who he is' versus 'what he is' to appease his responsibility to his country, or does he throw it all away and doom his country selfishly for himself and his friends? Should he shake the foundations of the world order to appease the mass public, or toss it into disarray because it is the “right” thing to do?

 

 

 

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Please be warned, this story contains very mature themes that may not be suitable, or may be offensive to some readers. These themes do involve minors. Ethereal Elixir while being light-hearted at times and isn't dark and 'edgy' for the sake of just being 'dark and edgy', is nonetheless, a serious story about a boy and his friends who do experience extreme hardships, just like sometimes we may experience in real life. People do crimes, do disgusting things, have offensive values and abuse others. Children also makes mistakes, and sometimes have to learn the hard way from those mistakes. Just like in real life, life can be light-hearted and joyous at times and some events may lead to very dark or even criminal situations as well.

While I want to spoil as little as possible in the synopsis or this warning, as well in that these themes are not the main driving point of the story, the story still involves minors that are on the cusp of being teenagers in a fantasy world and will experience situations of:
Violence, death, scenes of sexual nature such as recognizing one's own sexuality, questioning one’s sexual orientation and learning what one’s body can do.
Other scenes contain abuse and contain topics and plots related to that of racial differences (albeit, with humans and demons).
Just like how we struggle with some problems in the real world and there are people that do truly horrible crimes, this fantasy world has its own problems and struggles that these characters must face, too.
This is not a story that everyone will be comfortable with and I understand that. If any of these themes may be offensive or triggering to you, then I would strongly suggest turning away, and I advise to remember that despite how uncomfortable or offensive some scenes may be, that this is fiction. It is not real and no real persons and locations are involved with my writing.

All views, opinions or otherwise that are written are, not written to express the authors' own views and opinions! They are written explicitly for each fictional characters' views and opinions themselves. The characters and the setting itself is written in such a way to be intentionally and critically flawed in many areas!

I strongly urge you be at least 18 or older to read the content that is written here. While the story isn't nowhere near completion at the time of writing this and may be subject to change, what content in the story that is currently there is written with an adult reader in mind and already includes some of the above themes.

Other than that, I hope you enjoy the story. This story is 100% free. I have not put up any ads or anything as I do not wish to monetize off of some of the heavier and taboo themes within the story (if there are any ads, that's Blogger's doing - not mine). I simply want to write and share my story that I am creating with the world.

No parts of this story may be republished, profited or posted anywhere else without the author's express permission.

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Current State:

It's been nearly two years, but Chapter 56 has been published at long last! Yaaaay!  \o/


My health problems are unfortunately still not remedied. More and more complications keep popping up, delaying other operations and surgeries that need to be done until those are handled first. For example, some stuff cannot be done while my blood pressure was a whopping 197 over 113 (that is very bad). My blood pressure over this time has lowered down to 166 over 93 (whilst not on medication for it), which is still not good, but it's not in the "near-imminent death" range, so... that's good! I like living, after all.

It's going to be a long process, too long - probably many years (aside from the first two that have passed from my hiatus). The financial problems are at least mostly alleviated for me though, for now. Most of the medical stuff is now confirmed to be covered, which is a huge weight off of my shoulders. For the stuff that isn't covered, having to deal with it will probably be years away anyway, so there's no need for me to fret about it now anyway.


During this hiatus, I had many thoughts about what to do with the story in regards to this blog. Google who currently owns blogger, has a habit of killing off many things, and I wouldn't be surprised if Blogger itself will be soon or at least an eventuality. And if not that, probably become inundated with lots of AI junk or scraping.
Because of that, I am thinking of migrating the story to AO3. AO3 has existed for a long time and is privately owned and the formatting there would probably be better suited for a story like this. My only concern is that AO3 drafts only last 1 month, and then they get deleted and as much as I wish I could, I certainly do not write that quickly; so I will more-than-likely need to save my drafts elsewhere.

For the current time being though, the blog will not be going anywhere and I will continue to post chapters here (as slow as they are). Even if I post the story onto AO3, I'll probably continue to post them here until further notice. It's not like I make money writing them here, so it should be fine.

Chapters up until chapter 66 have been in draft/story board mode during my hiatus, so I won't be writing these completely from scratch, but given my medical issues are still a problem still, I don't have an estimation when chapter 57 will be up, but it shouldn't be longer than a few months hopefully.

Chapter 56: Retreat

 

Once the four children had disembarked from the zeppelin, they had walked casually as they could manage until they were out of sight from any soldiers or passengers. However, once they were a couple blocks away, they began walking with much more urgent haste back to their apartment. They took alleyways for brief shortcuts and jogged where they could out of the eyes of people without trying to look too nervous or suspicious.

When they reached the apartment, Sairek was leading the way. Instinctively like they had done before, he reached out with his left hand to push the doors into the building open, but it didn’t give way and he fruitlessly walked right into the glass door. Recoiling, he stumbled back, shaking his head and holding his nose with his left hand which throbbed with pain from being smooshed. “What the—? Why won't it open!?” He demanded.

Varhi, glanced back at Sairek, appraised him for a moment, then glanced towards Cyial.“Where the heck is your bracer and Cyial's collar?”

“I… Why? I left it at the palace… It might still be right besides Regenar’s bed, even...” Sairek answered. "H-He said we could take it off there..."

Varhi face-palmed. “...The bracer works to identify a resident of the house if you pay for a rental…” He sighed. “Without one, the front door isn’t going to open for you unless someone with one sneaks you in. It’s to prevent keycard theft...”

“W-What!? How in the Flaming Lands was I supposed to know that!?” Sairek demanded. “Besides, it worked when I left with Cyial to go into the Zephyr District to investigate your house, did it not?!”

“That’s because the bracer was still inside the home, not several miles away, in the palace, where the dome cannot reach it, and thus, has no way to receive a signal...” Varhi answered him dryly. “That said, that’s only for the front door. I don’t think the door to the apartment itself has that security, so if we could get in somehow, the keycard should still work, but—”

“... … …”
Sairek glared at Varhi with his own dry expression, then glanced back and forth down the street on both sides. Seeing no one, he turned towards the door. “Fuck it, then."
Sairek raised his staff and swung it with both hands through the door, causing the glass barrier to cascade and shatter with little resistance.

“Geez! Stars and stones Sairek, what are you doing?!” Cyial yelped with a start, watching as the Prince shoved his hand and staff through the newly created opening and unlocked the door manually by slamming the weapon against the knob side of the door, until he could forcefully tug and force it open, ultimately ignoring Cyial’s outcry. With the door open again, Sairek glanced at them all. “Come on, hurry up. I probably triggered some silent alarm or something, knowing this damned city.”

They all stepped through and boarded the elevator, heading up towards their floor. Apprehensively watching through the glass windows as they rose higher for some official or someone to come rushing towards the building, but nobody came when the elevator doors opened, leading them to their hallway. Varhi walked past Sairek to the door and unlocked it with haste back to their apartment. They all poured themselves inside.

“All of my stuff is in Cyial and I's room. I can’t use the gem due to the stupid anti-magical dome thing, so we’re going to have to use bags.” Sairek reminded them.

“I bought some regular hiking bags just in case. Figured they’d be good to have in case your jewel was out of commission for any reason.” Nayleen said. "...Like in this city."

“Awesome, good job.”

Cyial let out a resigned sigh. “Well, we won’t be able to take all the food, but we can take everything else and a bit of food if we all carry one. We should also grab something that we can make quickly and eat along the way out for lunch since we’ll have to leave it anyway. Our food resources will be light, so we have to board these trains on full stomachs.”

Sairek nodded in agreement, then pointed at each one of them as he began to issue orders to them. “Varhi, grab the bags and put whatever supplies are in Nayleen’s room in those and carry everything to my room.
“Cyial, fill any flasks, skins and canteens you can with fresh water through the sinks here.
“Nayleen I want you to gather whatever food you think is good and if you can make something quick that we can eat on the on the way to the train station, then do it.
“I’ll start sorting the stuff in my room to get ready to throw into the bags and whatever other supplies that are in my room. Whenever you finish your task, join me upstairs to help store everything together. Once we’re done that, we’re leaving for the train. We don’t have very long before the top of the hour arrives or we’ll be waiting idle at the train station for an hour and I'm not risking that. So go! Go!”

Everyone bounded urgently to their assigned locations on Sairek’s orders, including Sairek himself. He and Varhi both sprinted towards the stairs and bounded up them together side-by-side, but separated when the stairs split to the ones that reached their assigned sides of the apartment. Sairek threw his bedroom door open and tossed his staff onto the bed as he desperately began scrambling things together where he had stored them here and there. He wasn’t sure how much of this stuff was required considering the plan was to take Varhi’s boat, but if they couldn’t take the boat for some reason, they needed stuff just in case for that scenario like tents, sleeping bags and all of that. Most of those kinds of supplies Nayleen had bought over the week, he had put into his room, and he was going to take all of it that he could.

Varhi emerged into the room only three minutes later, hauling one bag over his shoulder, and another two within his hands. He already looked a little winded. With a grunt, he settled them down. “I gave Nayleen a bag to fill with food. Don’t want the food being crushed by all the other stuff.”

“Good idea.” Sairek agreed. “Help me cram all of these items into the bags, please. Leave all of the medical stuff to Cyial, that’ll be what the last bag is for.”

Varhi wordlessly obeyed, he and Sairek tackling a separate bag each. Cyial soon joined them a couple minutes later as well, with Sairek ordering the demon to “fill that last bag with medicinal stuff.” Cyial quickly obeyed.

“Put your personal items, like your teacher’s book, into my satchel. It can carry it fine. It’ll buy us a little bit more space, too.” Varhi suggested, grabbing it from the pile of stuff and pressing it into said satchel. “We can sort all of this crap later. It just needs to get out of the dome, and then we can do whatever with it.”

“Varhi, are you okay?” Cyial asked.

“No. My head is still hurting so bad I can barely see straight. We don’t have time to worry about me. The distraction of the urgency of the situation is helping the pain - just mind your business and load stuff.” Varhi answered.

Wordlessly, Cyial pulled out a mortar and pestle from his robe and began grinding a couple herbs together and mixing them with water.

“Cyial, for fucks sakes, we don’t have time for this...” Varhi cursed and sighed.

“It’ll take just a few minutes! I won’t have time to brew it so it’ll taste even worse, but just take it when it’s done!” Cyial snapped. “I don’t want you passing out, or, if it comes to needing to fight our way out, you being in that condition.”

“He’s got a point. We might need you in as much top form as we can manage. It’s not like Cyial and I can cast magic here, Varhi...” Sairek said. "I can't even use my jewel here."

Varhi rolled his eyes and resigned himself from arguing. “...Alright then. What are you making me, exactly?”

“Just a simple painkiller. Most people take these after a hard night of drinking. Even taverns sell this stuff. Or, at least in Ceareste they do They're made of endysm leaves, the stuff I gave you a shot of in Karvadean forest, remember? Instead of using a syringe though, you can just drink this one.” Cyial replied, grinding away at the herbs with efficiency and haste, before beginning to mix and pouring a little bit more water into the bowl. After some quick stirring, he picked up the bowl and held it towards Varhi. “Drink.”

Varhi sighed, shoving whatever he was holding into the bag and held the bowl with both hands and just gulped it down. A mistake he regretted. He dropped the bowl safely on the bag, but covered his mouth with both of his gloved hands, eyes bulging as he gagged and wretched. “Ugh… g-gross…” he croaked after he struggled to swallow. “I… I think I’m gonna… vomit…”

“Wash it down with this.” Cyial offered, handing him the flask of water he’d been using to pour water for his medicine. Varhi took it and swallowed the water a few times, trying desperately to wash the horrible taste away with the still-cold sink water.

He let out a belch once it was all drained, making a miserable expression on his face. “Gross…” he croaked again, though sounding less shaky than last time.

“I’m gonna refill this, then go back to filling the bag. Sorry, Varhi.” Cyial apologized, taking the empty flask and marching his way to the bathroom.

“I don’t feel any better…” Varhi grumbled, slowly starting to fill bags back up as he tried to recover.

“Give it a bit of time. Medicine takes a while sometimes.” Sairek reminded him. “It isn’t an ethereal mix and he didn’t brew it, so it may take up to an hour before you even notice anything.”

“Ah, cool, great. Now I have a splitting headache and I feel sick at the same time. On top of realizing I was apparently resuscitated after death and was used as a human guinea pig, I’m having a fucking fantastic day…!”

Sairek looked at him sadly, but nodded. Cyial came back a moment later, working on the rest of his bag.

Sairek as he put things inside, grabbed the training clothes Fuyiki had given him and paused. He stood up, dropping them and quickly began removing his royal clothes all the way down to his underwear and his gloves with haste, undressing and record time. Cyial and Varhi watched him with questioning looks.

“What are you doing?” Cyial inquired.

“Making myself less recognizable.” Sairek simply replied as he quickly fastened the pants over his legs.

“Yeah, they’d definitely be looking for your conspicuous outfit, wouldn’t they...” Varhi agreed with a nod.

“Not much the rest of us can do, though…” Cyial muttered.

“That’s fine. You will blend in fairly well to be honest,” Varhi replied, “though make sure to hide your neck so people don’t know you don’t have a collar. Nayleen will blend in well, too. Honestly, I’m the odd one out this time, but I can’t risk removing my armor and equipment and I don't have a change of clothes anyway."

Sairek spoke as he lifted the shirt vest over his head and pulled it downward over his head, muffling his speech. “Ideally, there won’t be any fighting. I’m a lot more defenseless like this, but with the dome up, my enchantments aren’t exactly effective anyway.” He pushed his head past the neck opening, shaking it a little to toss the bangs of hair away from the front of his head and momentarily, reached up with his hands to fix his hair.
“I need people behind me when we walk to the train station. I don’t want to risk any pick-pockets getting any of the royal jewels, as low a chance of that happening in this district that may be.” Sairek cautioned them.
He finished, pulling his arms into the shirt and popping them out a few seconds later. He readjusted the fabric briskly so it was more comfortable, and then eyed the scarfs that were meant to go over his arms. “...Pass.” He grumbled, plopping them into the bag. It’s not like he was practicing movement with his hands or arms, and they’d just make him stand out more. He bundled his clothes except for his boots which were off his feet. He pushed them into the bag, then slipped his boots back on.

Five minutes later, each of them were climbing down the stairs with a respective pack on their backs. Sairek and Cyial were both grimacing from the weight, and cautiously stepped down the stairs, with Sairek carrying his staff in one hand and trying to hold his pack with the other. Varhi reached the bottom with much more ease than them.

“Almost finished. On the last one.” Nayleen said, holding a spatula with a bacon strip over it. Sairek glanced over to see she had made them sandwiches. A nice and safe option where she could put pretty much anything she wanted and needed. She made the sandwiches fairly big, using three slices of bread for top, middle and bottom to hold all of the contents.

“...How are we supposed to even bite into those?” Sairek asked.

Nayleen shot him an annoyed look. “Figure out a way. This is what you’re getting. The other food’s already packed.” She said, patting the hiking bag on the counter that was bulging. “I took stuff that would take the longest to perish first. The sandwiches have a bit of everything in them. Make sure it doesn’t fall apart as we walk.” She handed them each one after she finished cooking and placing the bacon a moment later, slipped her own pack over her shoulders and nestled the weight comfortably, before grabbing her own sandwich. “Are we forgetting anything important?”

“I’ve got my staff, the camping supplies and the money.” Sairek said.

“I’ve got my tome, the water and all of the medicine.” Cyial replied.

“I’ve got my gear, other personal belongings and all of the other miscellaneous items.” Varhi nodded.

“And I’ve got my bow, arrows, daggers and as much food as I can carry. Let’s get out of here then.” Nayleen gestured with a jerk of her head towards the door.

Sairek nodded, walking past all of them and led the way. “Keep an eye out to make sure nobody tries to nick things from our packs.” He said to her as he stepped through the door into the hallway. The other three were quick behind him and they all gathered into the elevator again. Sairek pressed the button for the ground level. He felt his stomach drop as the elevator smoothly began to descend down again.

“Still nobody is waiting for us… Good.” Cyial breathed out uneasily when the long window for the elevator shaft came into view once again.

“This is going to be nerve wracking…” Sairek agreed with a sigh of his own. He felt his heart’s pounding was accelerated, and his palms felt sweaty inside of his gloves.

While they descended, they began wolfing down the sandwiches Nayleen made, making the most of the time they’d have to be standing anyway as they could. When the elevator opened again, they were just finishing up their sandwiches. Sairek casually ignored the broken door and opened it, his boots crunching on the shards of glass as he did so. The others followed his “casualness” and stepped out with him.

“Uhm, where is the train station again?” Sairek wondered out loud, glancing at Varhi for answers.

“Down the street that way, then turn right. Basically keep walking away from the ocean and go primarily east for now.” Varhi answered. “It’ll be a fifteen minute walk, less if we go fast.”

“It was only thirteen minutes before it would be the top of the hour when we entered the elevator. We have to move quickly.” Cyial informed urgently.

“Damn. Book it then. Jog or run.” Varhi said, pushing on ahead. “Come on. Nobody will question a bunch of kids running late for the train. Makes it harder for someone to pick-pocket us, too.”

“R-Right.” Sairek stammered, and started off with a sprint, but slowed to a jog when he caught up to Varhi. Nayleen and Cyial did the same. They basically jogged in pairs. Sairek felt his stamina draining rapidly due to the weight on his back however, but he knew he didn’t have a choice. Cyial didn’t look like he was faring much better. The packs were nearly the size of each of them, especially Cyial, who was the smallest out of the four of them.

“Ugh… This is becoming too much already…” Sairek panted for breath after they passed a few blocks with a few people walking giving them a couple looks, but most just ignored them. He was breathing hard. It wasn’t just his palms sweating now, but all of him. The heat today wasn’t helping either, his mouth already felt dry.

“Almost there.” Varhi breathed. Winded, but not nearly as much as Sairek or Cyial. “Two more blocks. It should be a fairly empty line at around this time for this district, too.”

“I hope so…” Cyial said in an exasperated breath. “I can… barely keep up…!”

“Come on, keep those short legs of yours moving.” Varhi told him. “Push it a little more. It’s only for this bit.”

“Remind me to… to… kick your butt… when we’re… out of here…” Cyial wheezed.

Sairek and Cyial pushed harder either way at Varhi’s insistence, though. The hardest part was bounding up the large flight of stairs to the ticket booth. Sairek’s legs burned and felt like they were about to give out by the time they made it to the top, with Cyial lagging behind a good few seconds. Sairek gasped and wheezed, collapsing his hands onto his knees as he breathed out, Cyial mimicked him after he dragged himself up the rest of the way. “Did we…?” Sairek exhaled, the words barely managing to come out.

“Made it with a couple minutes to spare. I’ll do the honors.” Varhi offered, stepping up to the booth with Nayleen joining him. Sairek and Cyial dragged themselves behind them. “Cloud district for four, please.” Varhi requested the male demon at the counter, sliding over one hundred-fifty seru for all four of them.

Wordlessly, the demon took the money, counting it, then reached back, handing them four white tickets. “You’re late. Train’s leavin’ soon.” Was all he said in a very deep, gravely voice.

“We’ll board right away. Thanks.” Varhi said. “Come on. He urged them, tugging the other two boys along, following the white line that was on the ground to the proper compartment.

They had to walk all the way to the end of the train before they reached it. Doors already open for them as they stumbled in. Sairek, still panting for breath, looked around nervously. “It’s empty…” He noted out loud through exasperated gulps of air.

Varhi nodded. “Yeah, I expected as much. Most people would have left earlier by now, for work or whatever other business, and there’s not many people in this district either. It works out for us. We can talk without concerns of eavesdroppers once our tickets are checked for.” Varhi glanced around. “Let’s take a seat and breathe out. We’ve got a long ride ahead of us, and… I’m starting to feel kind of woozy. Head is still killin’ me…”

They all sat down on the other side of the compartment, away from the doors. Sairek and Cyial sitting together with Nayleen and Varhi just ahead of them. Sairek was relieved to have that heavy pack off of himself. They placed their bags up above them in a compartment space. Sairek’s legs felt raw, as the adrenaline that had been going through them thinned out.

Not even two minutes after they boarded, the doors to the train closed with a loud clunk and they all jerked forwards as it began the process of moving forward and beginning to accelerate a minute later. Before too long, they were moving at a more rapid pace.

“So… what do we do when we get off of this train?” Nayleen posed in question.

“Right…” Varhi sighed, leaning over to reach at his satchel to pull out the map. “Lean over to look, you two.” He gestured to Sairek and Cyial. They obeyed, watching as Varhi pointed at the map as he lay it on his lap. “The train station in the cloud district will deposit us here. I think it’s about six or… seven blocks or something like that, to the wharfs. My boat will be stored somewhere within it. If you remember the kind of dock that was at Cyvolta in Masirean, it’s kinda like that but much, much bigger. Also it’s got this giant metal roof… thing. I guess to give the workers shade from the sun or rain or... whatever.
“Anyway, it should be registered under either my name, or Sairek’s. Normally you say who you are, pay the money, and that’s that. Considering the contract was for us to be given the repairs for free, ideally they should just let us have the boat back.”

“What if they don’t give it back, because of Eseras orders, or whatever?” Sairek asked.

“The workers there are civilians, not part of the military or anything. So that shouldn’t happen. She’s just a Prime Minister. She’s not Queen. Yet.” Varhi reasoned. “What would more likely be the case is that Eseras sends soldiers over to confiscate the ship with some stupid made-up excuse, like we committed a grievous crime and are under investigation or whatever. You know, kind of like what Avotash tried to do except he used it to ambush us.” Varhi explained. “She can do it, because apparently the big boss of the entire investigations branch was with her in that meeting room she stuck me in. That’s why all of the investigations behind the missing people haven’t done anything. They’re just pretending.”

Cyial and Sairek sat back down in their seats, though Cyial still spoke up. “In other words, adding more scrying lenses weren’t to try and catch incidents of people going missing; they were put up as added security to make sure nobody finds their secret hide-out.” He growled.

“Exactly.”

“So… Their hideout is in the sewers, then.” Sairek stated more than asked.

“Most likely…” Varhi growled. “So close… But there’s nothing I can do about it. Not even an ounce of evidence we can bring to the neutral council either, other than Regenar’s testimony.”

“He might not even be alive by the time we get there, let alone by the time a trial would be held. Such accusations alone could spark a war between nations.” Sairek said through gritted teeth. “They plotted this thoroughly… That’s two countries that are abusing power, now…”

“Avotash is greed. Eseras is ambition. Better hope Malodia isn’t plotting shit or we’re going to have an all-out world war.” Varhi tsked, looking out the window, and pressing his head against the cool glass. It felt nice against the hot pain that was still reverberating around in his head.

“...You alright there, Varhi?” Nayleen asked. Varhi wordlessly raised a hand and waved dismissively at her without looking. That reply being unsatisfactory to her, she glanced back at Cyial. “What’s going on with him? Why does his head have these bouts of headache pains now?”

“There’s a few theories, but I’m not sure, nor could I explain any of the specifics…” Cyial frowned. “It could be because of trauma and stress at remembering. It could be because of shock, it could be the symptoms of his amnesia… as well as any combination of those.”

“I don’t remember any of the details they told me.” Varhi mumbled. “But the pain seems to happen when there’s at least truth to the details that I am being told or am reminiscing about, so what they told me probably isn’t a lie… as much as I wish it were.” He sighed, sounding weary.

“Do you remember having such pain before?” Nayleen asked.

“If you mean besides what we talked about before, no. Definitely not enough before to cause me to pass out. It’s taking everything in me to hold on this long…”

“I think you should just let it happen, Varhi. It seems to help the headaches before. We’ve got eight hours before we have to depart the train.” Cyial suggested. “Besides, the medicine I put in was a sleeping solution. It should make it easy for you to sleep deeply.”

“What—? That’s what you gave me…?” Varhi grumbled, turning around to glare at Cyial, or at least try to. It was obvious that said ‘solution’ was already taking effect, because the mercenary was looking a bit out of it. “You told me it was a painkiller like before…! You lied—? What if we got in a fight, dammit...!?”

“If that happened, the adrenaline would keep you awake. Besides, most of it was just a painkiller, but it induces sleep, too. The reason you’re feeling so sleepy now is proof that your adrenaline has faded. That’s why it took so long for it to work.” Cyial explained.

"You said it would be an hour!"

"Miscalculation on the fact we had to do that run. Causes it to work faster since your blood pumps more."

“Bah… Should have just told me...” Varhi grumbled, repositioning himself in the chair as he turned back to face forwards, leaning against the window again.

“If I did, you wouldn’t have drank it...!” Cyial grumbled, more to himself but audible for the other boy to hear.

Varhi grunted, a non-committed sound. He was practically sinking all of his weight against his seat and wall. Nayleen watched with interest, observing Varhi slowly slip more and more unconscious in real time even as he tried to resist it, until at last, the boy became completely limp. 
“...Wow. That hit him hard and fast.” Was all she offered. Varhi began to quietly snore. She reached over, sliding his helmet visor off of his head, and gently put it back into the satchel. She took the tickets from him as well, passing Sairek’s and Cyial’s over to them.

They fell back into hushed silence between them again, but it was short-lived for a few moments. The door to their compartment opened and a worker stepped over to them. “Tickets, please.” He requested.

They showed their tickets, with Nayleen showing Varhi’s, and gestured to the peacefully sleeping boy. The man offered a knowing smile seeing the sight, and nodded his head. “Thanks.” He said, and simply stepped out as quickly as he came in, leaving them in peace.

“Maybe we should all join him. It’s going to be a long night once we get off of this train.” Sairek mumbled.

“We just woke up, though. I’m not sleepy at all.” Nayleen pouted.

“Well, I already feel exhausted.” Sairek frowned. “Between the revelations that we’ve just had, and jogging with those overstuffed packs, I’m beat.”

“You know, you should wear that outfit more often. I think it looks good on you.” Nayleen offered, turning herself halfway to look at him.

Sairek gave her an inquisitive look. “I don’t like it though. Like, my arms are completely exposed. I’m used to having them completely covered, not the other way around.” Sairek grumbled. “For crying out loud, people can see my armpits if I raise them up...! Probably can smell them after that run, too…” He grumbled even quieter, his expression cringed.

“So?” Nayleen blinked at him.

“So? I don’t like it!” Sairek whined. “What other reason does there need to be, Nayleen?”

Nayleen rolled her eyes at him and turned around more to look at Cyial. “Does he not realize how many people would love to be a looker like he is?”

Cyial was looking straight ahead at Nayleen, but his garnet eyes flicked towards Sairek a few times before he gave an absent shrug. “It’s a work in progress, still,” was all he offered.

“You’re one to talk…” Sairek grumbled.

Now Cyial did turn to look at him. “I’ve been letting my tail out for weeks now. I’m not comfortable with it either, Sairek, but I think I dislike hiding it even more now. I can understand how you feel, though. It makes you feel more exposed and vulnerable if you’re not used to it.”

“Yeah, and—Wait, why are we talking about this right now?” The Prince asked, giving a questioning look at Nayleen.

“We got eight hours. Gotta kill time somehow, and I rather not kill that time by fretting over things we can’t change.” She grumbled, turning back around to look straight ahead as she slumped into her chair. That only lasted a moment though before she shifted again, and began repositioning Varhi’s body, so his back was to the wall and window of the train, and she hoisted the boy’s legs over her lap so he was laying down in a more proper, comfortable position that would strain his neck and back less. Varhi didn’t even show any signs of disturbance, completely limp, quietly snoring the entire time. “Damn, Cyial. That stuff is strong. He didn’t even notice at all.” She blinked. “What if he doesn’t wake up in time?”

“The amount I gave him was probably a little overkill.” Cyial admitted. “Given his body though, it might not even work for as long as I’d like it to. Either way, he should wake up before this train ride is over.”

“Nothing to do now then. Just sit back, relax, and hope~” Nayleen chirped nonchalantly, leaning back in her chair, interlacing her hands behind her head.

“Yeah, sure…” Sairek sighed with a shake of his head. He leaned to look between the seats to look at Varhi and shook his head slowly. “...We’ll fix it, Varhi. I don’t know how, and I don’t know when, but we will.”

“Sairek, I really don’t know if that’s possible…” Cyial muttered. “Don’t get me wrong, I really want to as well, but…” Cyial bit his bottom lip hard. “I feel… so powerless. I want to help… to make a difference… but what can we do…?”

“One step at a time…” Sairek sighed with a shake of his head. “When we get back home… Can you come move into the castle with me…?”

Cyial let out a sad, but amused laugh. “That’s going to be the first thing I’m going to try and do, Sairek… Some of the medicine I made would be sent to the castle anyhow. It would be easier if I just did what I do, but instead of going back to the monastery, I go to that cave and just go to the castle. It’s a little bit of a longer walk to and from, but it means nobody would have to go out and send supplies now and then. I just need to be hired by the castle.”

“Oh, is that so? Well then, you’re hired.” Sairek chided with a gentle prod to Cyial’s side. “I can’t give you special benefits of pay, though, not that I think it would matter. Of course, what happens depends on how this meeting with the neutral council goes. We don’t have anything on Eseras, but at least we have evidence on Avotash.”

“At this point, it would almost be good if Kior and Masirean got angry with each other, but it would be really bad if Avotash found all of those giant jewels down there. Or anyone, really...”

“As the diary said, it would change the world if a country found out, but with that much corrupt energy, they’re also too dangerous to remove.” Sairek mumbled. “Masirean is too ignorant, though, and that means so is Avotash. If the Cearestian soldiers he requested ever made it, I hope they can at least help quarantine the area and begin some sort of process of clearing.”

“To even do that though, they’d need to know the source. The only other cure would be way too much black magic to be reasonable. That much black magic to reduce the quantity of corrupt energy in itself could have its own catastrophe in the area.” Cyial said.

Sairek chuckled sadly and shook his head hard. “I can’t believe this… All of these events daisy-chained and happened because I decided to accept Jimmy’s plight. What a world…”

* * *

At around five hours into the train ride, which would be six in the evening, they were given their "dinner". Sairek, who had managed to fall into an uncomfortable sleep, was woken up by the arrival of their food. He reminisced the first time they rode the train and they were just given a grilled cheese sandwich. This time it was just a plain burger. The meat was not the highest quality. It was a little greasy and Sairek had an inkling that this was probably made with not the most appealing parts of an animal. Still, free food was free food and by then, the sandwiches they ate six hours ago had long run out of nutrients to sustain their tummies, and so they ate it. Nayleen saved Varhi’s, who was still sound asleep.
He wasn’t asleep for much longer though. Forty-five minutes later, he groaned and shifted in his position where he lay. Groggy at first, he moved to roll over, thinking he was in a bed, and feeling nothing on his left side, his hand suddenly flew out, clasping at the seat in front of him as he jerked upright. “What the—Ohhh...” He groaned, slowly moving his head left and right as he tries to right his senses. “...What the heck am I lying like this for?...”

“I allowed it.” Nayleen said, passing him his burger. “It’s a bit cold now, but dinner arrived for us.”

Varhi grunted, sliding his feet back over off of her lap as he positioned himself to sit on the seat again, taking the burger. He inspected it, pulling the top bun up and frowned. “So cheap… They don’t even season this crap.” He complained, biting into it anyway after doing so. Once he chewed and swallowed, he peeked out the window. “I’m guessing about an hour or two left.”

“Yep…” Cyial sighed, extremely bored. “A couple of passengers arrived now and then, but they also climbed off. Nobody’s tried to stop us or anything.”

Varhi grunted again. “Sailing out of here at night is going to be a little tricky. There can be a lot of ocean traffic. We’ll probably stick closer to the land, though. Most ships go to and from Masirean territory, and we obviously don’t want to get so far out that we reach Masirean territory again.”

They fell into a short silence while Varhi wolfed down his burger, despite grumbling about its taste, or lack thereof. Once he was done, Sairek spoke softly. “Um, Varhi?”

“Yeah?”

“Well first off, how’s your head feeling?”

“Oh. I still feel a bit of a numbness present there, but it’s better now.”

“Do… Do you think you can tell us what they told you in detail? I understand if you don’t want to talk about it right now, though…”

Varhi bit his lip. “What more do you need to know, Sairek…? I was an experiment. And apparently my parents were in on it as well. I was the victim of an accident, and they used me as a test subject in a desperate attempt to revive me, apparently. My fatal injury was to the head. Probably why I can’t remember shit. Probably why I get phantom pains directly in my head when I try to remember... They didn’t expect the experiments to work, but they did. That’s why they’re so interested in me. I’m an exception, so they want to study me more, and test my blood. Test me...”

“What did they do to you, though?” Sairek pressed uneasily.

“I don’t know—the same stuff they're doing to their King? You and Cyial saw first-hand, so you tell me, Sairek." Varhi scoffed. "Blood transfusion was certainly something they did, but that can’t be the only thing they did. It doesn’t explain my healing, m-my strength…” Varhi shook his head. “And here I thought that was just because of me training hard…”

“You wouldn’t have got this far without it.” Cyial tried to reassure him. “Training isn’t just physical. It’s mental, too.” He glanced at Sairek for a second before back to Varhi. “You got this far, because you trained yourself to be determined not to give up, despite the odds. Even if you were given a boon that other people don’t have, you honed and refined that boon to its fullest potential. You sacrificed and worked for the strength you have, Varhi, and the only reason the strength is what it is, is because you make it—”

“You’re no better than your damn boyfriend, you know that?” Varhi interrupted Cyial. “You both say cheesy things, you bastards.”

“You say that, but you’re smirking.” Nayleen pointed out.

“It’s out of pity.” Varhi refuted.

“Nu-uh. You know, receiving flattery ain’t a bad thing. You don’t have to be so humble.”

“I’m not being humble.”

“Pfft. ‘I guess my training did nothing’ you say. You’re the most badass out of this entire group!” Nayleen huffed, turning towards him. “You’ve fought monsters with no fear, you brushed off things that would crippled or outright kill a normal person. You stood up to people who should have completely outmatched you and you’ve even charged right into a group of soldiers and just outright plowed one off of their feet and right into a tree with your bare hands! Of course your training did stuff! It made you awesome!”

“...I guess her way of complimenting your efforts works too.” Cyial agreed with a shrug.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Varhi dismissed with a wave of his hand. “I’m not feeling down about it. I was kind of prepared for months that my past would probably suck. I mean, I never suspected the reason I was found by Jimmy the way that I had been was due to anything good, after all.” Varhi paused, glaring out the window, though with the sky turning from evening to dusk, he could make out his own reflection in the window. “I have something to live for now. That’s what I’ve been searching for, I guess... Now I’m going to see that goal to the end. I’m going to bring this entire corrupted empire down, bit by bit. I don't know how, but I'll find a way.” He claimed, turning away from the window and looking at the other three. “Besides, I always hated laws and corrupt governments. What better purpose could a boy like me ask for?”

* * *

Sairek shifted the weight of the pack as he settled it onto his back. He did not miss the weight of it. The other three were doing the same as the train pulled up to their final stop.

Two other passengers had boarded on the previous stop; a dating couple, and now they too were stepping out as well. They seemed friendly enough, making small talk, though the group haphazardly made up a story about how they were going on a fishing trip together with one of Nayleen’s relatives. Sairek wasn’t sure the couple believed them, considering how Varhi was dressed in armor, but they showed no signs if so. In any case, they didn’t seem to recognize Sairek, which at least informed him that his changing of his clothes to look a lot more casual and conspicuous may be working at making him unrecognizable at first glance. At the very least, he wasn't dressed as someone conspicuously important.

The four of them went and stepped off from the train. They trekked down a long stairway tunnel, just like the first time to deposit their tickets and be on their way. Varhi led the way until they neared the streets.

“I forgot how packed these got. It really isn’t better at night, is it?” Sairek murmured as they stopped at the end of an alleyway that led to the main roads.

“Yeah, the View District kind of spoils you in that regard.” Varhi agreed. It’s the only real peaceful and quiet district where you can be alone and actually walk around without being shoulder to shoulder to people half the time. The northern districts are way more crowded because it’s basically the actual real front door to the city. Not many people come and go from their front gates - there's nothing out there anymore.”

“That can work in our favor, though.” Nayleen chimed in. “Makes it a lot harder to see who’s coming in and out when there are this many people, right?”

“I suppose, yeah.” Varhi nodded. “Still, while I don’t expect the wharf itself to be super crowded at night, we may still have a problem getting on the ship itself without forcing our way. Only one way to find out though. We’re about twenty minutes away. Maybe a bit more if foot traffic gets in the way, but make sure not to get separated in the flood of people.” Varhi let go of one strap of his backpack to point across the street. “The alley we want to get to is that way. If you get separated, just try to get there. We don’t continue forward until everyone is across and together again. Hold hands in pairs and watch for pickpockets. Sairek and Cyial, Nayleen and I will watch you go first just to make sure. People are going to brush against you without a care as if they were basic golems, going to where they’re needed. It’s kind of creepy if you’re not used to it. Don’t let the wave of people overpower you. Push against them to go where you want to go. Don't be courteous and just let people go past you; you'll get swept up like a tide and go with the traffic. We don't want that.”

“A-Alright then.” Sairek swallowed, then held his left hand towards Cyial, who took it. He kept his staff close to his chest with his right hand. With a step, he and Cyial walked into the flood of people together, with Varhi and Nayleen hovering close behind.

“Agh,” Sairek let out as he felt himself pushed to the side now and then, re-tightening his grip on Cyial to make sure he didn’t get pulled away. He worked against the people walking past him to try and go where he wanted. It was the pack that was the problem as people kept brushing past him, which caused the weight on his back to swing his body back and forth, causing him to lose balance and stumble a couple of times. Cyial wasn’t doing much better due to his even smaller frame. As they continued, they pressed even closer together to help make themselves like a bigger single form, which helped brace them against the ‘current’ of people as they walked past.
When they neared the end of the road, someone grabbed at Sairek’s pack and pushed him out of the way, causing him to pivot around and he let out a soft, pained grunt, losing grip on Cyial’s arm by accident as he pedaled into the outer wall of a building. Thankfully they were in the alley, away from most foot traffic.

“Oi!” He heard Varhi shout, who snatched the person’s hand and dragged the person -- a woman, by the hand towards them. “Let me see the hand.” Varhi warned.

“Rude.” The woman hissed at him, opening her palm.

Varhi grunted. “Watch where you’re goin’ next time. That’s my contractor you just tossed, eh? Some people would see that as assault.” He warned her as he pointed at his helmet visor on his head, then let her go. She gave him a snide look, but continued on her way.

“...Sheesh. You weren’t exaggerating at all.” Sairek breathed out when Varhi and Nayleen approached him and Cyial. “This is way worse than the first day.”

Varhi nodded in agreement. “Yeah, the backpacks make it rough. Makes you a lot bigger and the weight of the packs make it harder to balance and weave through. I doubt anyone will be able to yoink anything from these things fast enough, but you never know. I’m going to stop anyone who puts a hand on it though. You don’t have anything in your pockets, right?”

“I have my tome with me, but that’s in the front of my robe. I’m watching it carefully, so don’t worry about that.” Cyial said.

“This outfit doesn’t even have pockets. Everything I have other than my staff is either in the back, or placed in your satchel.” Sairek said.

“Okay, good. I’ll just keep my eyes on your packs then. Nayleen, keep eyes on ours, please.” Varhi requested.

“Don’t worry. I’m already doing that.” Nayleen nodded.

“Great. Let’s keep going. There’s still half a dozen blocks to go, which means at least six more times we pass crappy roads like that.” Varhi said, stepping on ahead once again.

“Ugh, wonderful…” Sairek drawled.

It wasn’t long before they had to do it again, though on a much thinner pathway, making the process more brief to put up with. The alleyway for this was much longer, and Varhi decided to take a turn to avoid another road altogether, even if it would take them a little longer.

By now, the evening sun had set below the horizon, and street lights came on, with occasional, but dim lights in the alleyways. Everything suddenly became more spookier and gloomy with the sunlight quickly fading into poignantly gloomy shadows when they weren’t on the roads that were extremely bright, both with numerous street lights, and because of the lights from various buildings and advertisement signs, or establishments who were trying to grab attention through all of the busy visual noise. In the alleyways though, it was only just enough to see where you were going.

“Halfway there now.” Varhi said as they reached their third, but technically the fourth road on their journey to the wharf. “It’ll get a bit easier once we get close from here on out I think. This road is pretty wide though and we need to follow the crowd to the left. Just merge in and walk. I’ll tell you when to cut and go across.”

Sairek gulped and gazed at the river of people walking by. He began by looking left and right as people passed them by. Wordlessly, he reached out with his left hand for Cyial’s own hand again. Once they were interlaced compactly with each other, they waited patiently for a slight lull in the foot traffic on their side and merged in together. Sairek felt himself get pushed from behind and glanced back behind him to see a group of people sort of glare at them as if he just cut in front of them. “S-Sorry.” He apologized meekly in a soft mumble.

Varhi and Nayleen merged quickly after, doing their best to keep an eye on the pair in front of them. The sound of hundreds of footfalls walking on the concrete all at once was like a roaring echo to Sairek’s ears. He felt claustrophobic with this many people around him, even though they were just going with the flow. He heard a few other bits of chatter here and there echoing around him as well, but it was fairly quiet in that regard all things considered.

About a minute into following the flow of the masses, Sairek heard Varhi’s voice yell for them to cross. Re-affirming his grip on Cyial’s hands, he walked sideways, weaving through people as they went with the tide a bit, and then entered the other half of the road where people were going in the opposite direction. He felt himself getting tossed around again and he had to yank Cyial towards him. People murmured and grumbled as the two boys got in their way. He soon felt himself being pushed from behind, and glanced back to see Varhi and Nayleen had caught up to them and were moving with them together until eventually they popped out into the alleyways.

“Lands, that’s terrifying each time…!” Sairek gasped, still clinging onto Cyial’s hand desperately for reassurance.

“Be glad you aren’t wearing your noble clothes, it’d be even worse with that on.” Varhi told him. “If your cape got snared up, it’d be bad trouble. You don’t want to fall down on the road. Might get trampled on.”
Sairek shivered a little, uncomfortable with the thought.
“The next ones should be easier and easier though. Let’s keep going.” Varhi urged him, once more leading down the alleyway. The next road came quickly, and they repeated just like last time with a bit more ease, as Varhi said.
“Second last road. You want to go with the flow of traffic for a bit again with this one. I’ll call out when to cut across once more.” Varhi reminded them as they once again merged in just like they had last time. The road was much more narrow though, but despite that, it seemed people were a little more spread out this time, allowing them a bit more ease.

“Ugh, no wonder mechanical transportation is so popular here… Walking in this city is The Pits.” Sairek grumbled under the ambience of the crowds.

“There’s a reason it takes three days to walk from one side to the other. It isn’t just the size, apparently.” Cyial agreed in a grumble. “Oomph!”

Cyial was suddenly shoved hard as a huge bulking demon covered in brown fur shoved him aside with a large hand, slamming him into Sairek right into the incoming foot traffic. They both stumbled and were about to fall right into oncoming foot traffic. Cyial reacted, lashing his tail out and wrapping it around the large demon’s wrist to steady himself as well as reaching out with his free hand to grab a clump of fur. He pulled the Prince back out of the way of the traffic with a yank all at the same time, stumbling them back into the larger demon, but out of the way of being directly stepped on.

Feeling the tug, the large demon, almost looking like a mix between a boar and a fat wolf walking bipedally, turned around to them and snarled, fangs showing. Sairek gulped as it raised a clawed hand, starting to pull on Cyial’s tail and grip, but Cyial with surprising strength managed to hold the larger demon still. Sairek could see yellow eyes glaring at them, though Cyial let out his own snarl and exposed his own feral fangs. While he didn’t sound or look nearly as bestial and ferocious, it was nonetheless equally aggressive, if not more so. Cyial's garnet eyes glowed in the darkening evening illuminated by the lights from the city all the same. Sairek’s gaze trailed down the other demon’s arm and anger soon burned as he saw the demon’s hand was inside Cyial’s robe.

Cyial hissed, his tone uncharacteristically feral and scratchy. “Let go and get your hand out of my pocket, now!”

“Hrnh…” The demon huffed. Sairek couldn’t see if the demon let go, but Cyial pulled the arm out and released the demon with a shove of his own, watching him carefully with a glare. People murmured, whispering insults to the larger demon who stalked off, rubbing the arm that Cyial had gripped. Sairek glanced at Cyial’s expression, which took on a much more feline and feral appearance, fangs bared and his tail flicking behind him in agitation. His garnet eyes glowed with fiery anger in the night, his irises had become oval in shape and his pupils narrowed to slits. Cyial shoved his free hand inside of his robe and pulled Sairek along, resuming their walk, seemingly checking for his tome, or just holding it for comfort and to help soothe his emotions. It seemed to calm him down as Cyial’s eyes became more circular again and his pupils began to dilate back to their regular shape as they continued to walk; a slightly wider berth was given to them for the time being.

“Cross.” Varhi said behind them. Sairek, having been distracted by what happened, forgot they were supposed to turn until Varhi called it out. He gave Cyial a gentle tug as they weaved their way through the foot traffic. Some people seeing what happened and not wanting to mess with the other, smaller demon, gave them a bit more berth still, allowing their road crossing to be extremely simple.

“S-Sorry…” Cyial apologized with a few deep controlled breaths once they reached the alleyway together.

“Don’t be.” Nayleen reassured him.

“How come you didn’t help?” Sairek asked, looking at Varhi.

“Sometimes people take advantage of one situation to perform their own pickpocket. So I was still keeping a lookout.” Varhi explained. “If you’re too busy dealing with one guy, you may not notice another guy who will take advantage of the situation. It can end up being a nasty chain reaction of theft.”

“Are—Are you serious?” Sairek blanched. “What the heck is up with this place??”

Varhi shrugged. “Welcome to the less glamorous districts. There’s a reason living in the other districts costs practically an arm and a leg to the common folk. Come on, we can’t keep dawdling. It’s just one more road to go. Narrow, too."

They walked down the alleyway. Sairek could see the ocean now whenever there was a break in the buildings. Indeed, the next road was more like a small pathway, with just a few people. They just waited until there was a break before crossing.

“Cool, now we just walk into this alley until we are along the ocean and out of the foot paths until we reach the wharfs. Just make sure not to slip in the water. There’s railings anyways, but y’know.” Varhi said.

“How much further from here?” Sairek asked.

“About a five minute walk. We’ll emerge back on the roads to actually enter the place proper, but there aren’t going to be many people walking around here except workers for the most part. Also the space will be super wide, like The View district, so it should be fine.”

When they got out of the alley, Sairek looked to see the ink blue water which glimmered and shimmered due to all the city lights and ships that were moving along the water in the distance that had lights on them for navigation and signaling other ships of their presence. Despite Varhi saying “just don’t fall in” there was about thirty, forty or sometimes even fifty feet of pure concrete and flat space for them to walk along. There were plenty of other people too, but with so much space, the foot traffic was casual and leisurely, unlike the business-like march of the roads. There were some benches to sit down at; it was almost a bit like a park, as there were some trees in planters dotted around. Sairek allowed himself to relax and not be so tense. They could be a bit more at ease here.

They walked side by side the entire way, though Sairek and Cyial continued to hold hands regardless. Eventually there was a footpath leading back inward a bit, but the foot traffic remained relatively casual and open, aside from the aforementioned workers near the wharf which Varhi had said would be there. Varhi eventually stepped on ahead of them wordlessly, and the other three followed him as they stepped off the road and walked closer to the water and docking stations of a tall, almost shed-like structure. The roof overhead was nearly three-hundred feet above them; more than massive enough to fit even the taller ships in with much ease. Each docking area was giant too.

“Are… all of these giant ships owned by people?” Cyial wondered aloud as they passed by many vessels.

“Well, usually a group, company or merchants, but basically yeah. Very few people genuinely own a ship they can call just their own, like Jimmy and I.” Varhi explained. “Even then, the only reason we ‘own’ it is because Jimmy helped create the ‘MMA’ in Masirean in the first place, regardless of what Avotash tries to claim.”

“MMA… Masirean Mercenary Association, I take it?” Sairek questioned.

“Yep.” Varhi answered.

“So you guys are one of the few exceptions?” Cyial asked.

“Well, kind of. Very few people do what we did. Most people, if they want to own a ship, would just go with a smaller vessel for just a few people, or even just one. Most of what we did though was transport people to bounty hunts or jobs, not merchandise like merchant ships. So our ship isn’t for carrying things other than peoples’ equipment and some essentials. …And, well, people. That’s why there’s over a dozen bunks inside the ship for bare minimum living quarters. Given the nature, it’s also built more on speed than durability. People and their equipment weigh a lot less than lots of merchandise or entire shipments of materials for a company or trade deal.”

“I see.” Nayleen nodded. Then after a brief pause, she pointed out into the distance. “Hey, isn’t that the ship over there?”

“Yes!” Varhi chirped up immediately, breaking out into a jog on over towards it.

“H-Hey, wait for us.” Sairek said, pushing himself forward after Varhi. Cyial and Nayleen jogged with him. Varhi was inspecting the ship where he was at, walking from one side and then the other.

“Awesome, the hull’s been all fixed.” Varhi let out in relief. “I’m still not sure about the inside, but even if the repairs aren’t done, it can probably get us out of here. That’s all we need right now.”

“So… now what?” Sairek questioned. “There’s nobody here. Do we just take it?”

“No no no. That’d raise an alarm.” Varhi said. “There’s this bell thing… ah, here.” He moved over to where a large rope was, and pulled it down, then released it, then pulled it down again. “And now we wait. Someone will come by to this section shortly.”

“How does that work?” Sairek asked.

Varhi pointed, his index finger following along the rope attached to the bell that went up and up. “The rope connects to the main branch. Pull the rope here, it rings a bell for this section. Then someone comes down to deal with the customer.” He explained.

“And if you try to leave? What alarm?” Sairek continued to inquire.

“The ship itself will be attached to more ropes. If those move away, an alarm is triggered. Notice how big these docks are and more importantly, how long they are? By the time you could board a ship, fully unanchor out, and back out, a gate would pull down, which will seal the ship in, preventing it from leaving. So stealing it is a pretty bad idea. Of course, you can try ramming into the gate to try and break through if you want to make noise… But then that can attract a whole bunch of other attention, not to mention probably damage the ship, and those gates are pretty sturdy and there's no way even for an engine ship to build up enough momentum to do much if any damage to bust out. Especially when you would be forced to reverse.” Varhi explained. "By the time you could even hope to damage the gates, you'd have the Guardian Forces all over you."

“So that’s definitely a last resort then…” Sairek sighed.

“One that we probably won’t win, but I’d still try.” Varhi said. “Here comes someone.” He announced, turning around.

An overweight, balding man power walked their way towards them holding a clipboard in one hand. Seeing just a bunch of kids, he gave an unamused look. “Okay, who’re you four?” He grumbled.

“The owners of the ship.” Varhi stated with an equally mildly annoyed tone. “The Horizon ship was here about seven or eight months ago. Registered by Jimmy Eskog and Varhi— Varhi is me, by the way. The re-registration was for Varhi, Sairek Ceareste, Cyial Rylai and Nayleen Lachiel just last week, docked in via an SOS call. It was contracted for repairs by the Prime Minister herself and would have been finalized by the King himself only a few hours ago if the orders have gone through yet.” Varhi claimed with confidence.

The worker stared at him, blinking at the word salad Varhi just delivered to him. Wordlessly, he lifted up his clipboard and flipped through a couple of papers before stopping, reading. “Damn.” He remarked, sounding impressed. “I guess that settles that, then. Repairs finished just an hour ago. Are you sure you four kids want to disembark now, at this hour?”

“Duty calls.” Varhi nodded. “Don’t worry. I know how to pilot the ship. It’s custom designed for a one-man operation rather than a crew.”

“I’ll clear it with the boys then. There’ll be a signal when you can leave. Don’t try to move the ship before then, but you can board and settle in as you wish. She’s all yers.” The man said, and began walking back the way he came.

“...Uh, wow. You made that look easy. I was expecting a lot more resistance.” Sairek said, impressed once the man was out of earshot. "I'm surprised he didn't ask for identification papers or anything. I mean, we all have ours except you, but still."

“It helps when you’ve done it before, I guess.” Varhi nodded, then glanced at Sairek. “It’s ours again. And your gut instinct was right. Regenar’s making sure we can get out with as little resistance as possible it seems. If Eseras had her way, the ship would have been seized for an investigation or something; basically any excuse to keep it here. It might still happen if we don’t hurry, so let’s get ready to embark as soon as we get the go ahead. I'm sure you'd appreciate getting your pack off, anyway.”

Sairek nodded, feeling bittersweet. He wished he could have talked with the Kiorian King more. …He hoped he’d get another chance, if the man hadn’t expired before then, but the chances of that were seeming very slim…

“Are you okay?” Varhi questioned him, seeing his downed expression.

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine. I just wish I could thank him.” Sairek said, and shook his head. “Forget it. Let’s get on the boat.”

“Watch your step, climbing up the plank can be tricky with these packs. There’s no railings.” Varhi cautioned, stepping to the right side of the ship where the boarding plank had already been put down. Varhi actually went down to his hands and knees and “climbed” up it almost like he was climbing a ladder, except one that was mostly parallel. Sairek copied him, as did Cyial behind him, and Nayleen behind Cyial.

Once they were back on deck, Sairek felt a small bit of nostalgia being back on here. It was only a week, but it felt like it had been longer than that. This in a way, was kind of his home away from home at this point. Varhi slid the pack off of his back and let out a groan of relief. “Shit, dropping weight after carrying so much feels so good.” He stretched and wiggled some of his limbs. “Okay, I’m going to go downstairs and check the state of things to make sure everything is in proper order. I also need to warm the engines up and get them running as well as get some of the lights on in the ship so we can see what we’re doing in there. Keep a watch if you don’t mind.” Varhi said, walking down briskly through the door leading into the inside.

“We’re almost free.” Sairek sighed. “I’m getting extremely nervous again, like something could go wrong at any moment. This feels almost too easy... Hopefully they lose sight of us once we're out of here, because with the speed of those ships last time, we won't be able outrun them.”

“Once we get that signal, we’ll be out of here in probably less than twenty minutes. Look over the side.” Nayleen pointed with a finger as she walked to the edge of the deck. Sairek and Cyial joined her as she pointed again. “You can see the edge of the dome. If I remember correctly, we just sailed right through it, right? It’s probably the same way for leaving.”

“That’s still several miles out, but I suppose this thing can go fast. We have to be careful of other ships, though.” Sairek mused out loud. He stepped back, and settled down his backpack next to Varhi’s as well. Cyial and Nayleen joined him.

The clatter of gears moving underneath them soon could be felt as the engine stirred to life. The trio on top looked at each other and grinned. “I guess it’s working.” Cyial said.

“So far so good.” Sairek agreed. “Let’s put these packs inside. I need to change out of my clothes.”

“Aww, I was starting to like your new look.” Nayleen pouted.

“Why? I don’t.” Sairek complained, dragging the bag along the wooden deck.

“You’re starting to get some muscle in your arms!” Nayleen appraised him. “It’s proof that you’ve been working hard.”

“Geez... and here I remember last month you were saying how you didn’t care about hitting on me! Do you just have a fetish for muscles?” Sairek demanded, without heat.

“I mean, they look nice.” Nayleen grinned.

“Oh, brother…” Sairek groaned. “Your flattery is going to get you nowhere with me. I can’t believe you made jokes about me being overweight to hitting on me, right in front of Cyial!”

“I’m not hitting on you, I’m complimenting you on your hard work. Really, I’m proud of you~”

“Now I can’t even tell if you’re being serious or just making fun of me.”

“I’m doing both.” Nayleen admitted.

“That doesn’t help!”

Cyial smiled and shook his head, grabbing a bag with his right hand, and pulling another behind him with his left hand and tail towards the doorway, having a bit of distance behind both Sairek and Nayleen. They walked single-file down the hallway until they reached the end and reached the captain's area. They dragged all the bags into a corner for now, and Sairek reached into his to pull out his royal clothes. He began to undress, but paused when his shirt was halfway up his midriff where he paused and he stared hard at Nayleen. She gave an innocent grin.

“Shoo.” He said with a jerk of his head towards the door.

“Awwww~” Nayleen let out teasingly.

“You already saw too much a couple weeks ago, no way are you seeing it again. Besides, Varhi said to keep a lookout. So get. Shoo. Buh-bye.”

She raised her hands up in surrender but left the room and closed the door behind her -- cackling as she did.

“Wow, you’re right. She is thirsty.” Cyial blinked.

“Yeah, well, one of the very first things she said to me when we first met was asking me if I was thinking naughty thoughts about her; so in a way, I’m not sure why I am even surprised she’s like this now.” Sairek sighed, shaking his head. He lifted his shirt up, using it to hide the amused smile that he wore on his face that he was trying to force down. “Can you help me get some of the stuff on? It’s always faster with an extra pair of hands.

Wordlessly, Cyial moved over to help him, and a couple of minutes later, he was back fully dressed in his usual attire. He looked down at himself though and frowned, then looked at Cyial.

“...What?” Cyial asked him with a tilt of his head. “Did I do something wrong?”

“...Do I look better in the other outfit?” Sairek asked.

“Oh, she’s got you questioning yourself now—”

“Shhh! What if she hears?” Sairek hushed him in a whisper. Cyial rolled his eyes at him. “Well?”

“You look good in both. I like them both, but for different reasons.” Cyial answered.

“Like… what reasons?” Sairek asked cautiously.

Cyial snorted, a smirk on his face. He stepped closer to him, and gently tugged on Sairek’s collar of his light blue shirt. “This one makes you look handsome and majestic.” He said, then nudged his head down towards the outfit discarded on the floor still. “That one shows off your strength and determination. How far you’ve come so far.” Cyial bent down to pick up the outfit, curling it up and pushing it inside the bag. “And the more strength you get and the more determined you become, the better you’ll look in it.” Cyial said with a wink as he turned back to face the Prince.

Sairek’s face flushed slightly, but he eyed the outfit, processing a thought. Then he looked back at Cyial with a questioning look. “So in other words you’re saying I look more attractive with more skin being shown.”

“Well, not what I was getting at, but that’s not not a negative either...”

“Ooohkay then. I’ll… consider it on some days then, if we get time. Just for you.” Sairek mumbled.

“Variety is the spice of life, so they say.” Cyial smiled, but his face turned a bit serious. “Actually, I would have thought you would have liked to get rid of those clothes, considering how much you hate being a Prince.”

“Well, yeah, some casual clothes would be nice now and then, but they do look good and… um…”

“You actually just like them.” Cyial laughed. “I guess sometimes it’s just that simple.”

“Capes are neat.”

"Varhi would certainly agree with you."

"One of the few things we will agree on." Sairek sniffed.

“Well you are both correct, especially when the person wearing them is cool and handsome.” Cyial grinned, taking Sairek’s left hand. “Come on, the other two are probably waiting for us by now. Hopefully we can idle chat soon without fearing anything. We have just a little bit more to go.”

“Woah, woah, hold on. At least let me leave my staff here. I don’t want to risk it accidentally going into the ocean, no matter how low the risk is.” He laughed, allowing Cyial to guide him out of the room after he put his staff on the bed and allowed the demon to open the door for him. They stepped out, working back to the deck where indeed, both Varhi and Nayleen were waiting for them. Just as they stepped out, green lights began flashing up above and around them. “Uh, what’s happening?” Sairek asked, concern etched in his voice.

“That’s the signal that we can leave.” Varhi explained, instantly calming Sairek with relief. “Which means it’s time to get out of here.”
Stepping over to the levers and steering wheel, Varhi pulled on the levers in a couple series of motions. He began backing the ship out carefully and very slowly. The speed was almost excruciating for Sairek who just wanted to get out of this anti-magical dome that hads suppressed him for the past a week. Still, it wouldn’t do them any good if they got this far only to slam right against the walls of the wharf on their way out.

His impatience led him to go to the railing and watch, eyeing down the sides of the ship. “I’m not close to hitting the sides, am I?” Varhi asked.

“You’re good on this side.” Sairek called out.

A few seconds later, Nayleen called out as well. “You’re good here too, keep going.”

Varhi continued to inch them along until finally, the front of the boat was clear from the docks, and Varhi accelerated backwards a little to make some distance, then slowly he began to swivel the ship around, turning it. Once he got Sairek’s side of the boat to face the wharf, he stalled the reverse, letting them drift for a little bit as they continued to slowly pivot around. When the backside neared the edge of the hold, he swiveled the steering wheel back around and began accelerating forward, turning the ship more, and slowly leading them out in a three-point-turn.

“I need to turn the beacons on to signal other ships that we’re here so nobody accidentally rams right into us.” Varhi said, as the gears of the ship began getting a little louder as their speed began to increase up a few knots, but Varhi didn’t go over this gentle speed for the sake of maintaining finesse in his steering. The mercenary did a few maneuvers with the lever, and Sairek glanced up at the mast of the ship to see a light suddenly burn up to life, glowing and pulsing softly with its signal. It was an amber color which pulsed to life, before dimming, and then pulsing again. Looking back down, Sairek saw the ropes that were tied to the ship simply snap as they became too taut to hold, doing little to restrain the ship. He figured that normally one is supposed to untie the ship, but they were trying to get out of here as soon as possible.

Varhi kept them cruising along, but picked up a little more speed. Sairek felt a breeze beginning to hit his face and cause his cape to lift up behind his back as he looked out and they moved. He glanced back at Kior. The wharf was getting smaller, but the city still completely dwarfed them. His heart was starting to pound out of his chest in apprehension. Even if someone tried to stop them now, they’d probably be able to make a break for it... right? Though the Kiorian military ships he remembered, were able to go faster than even this one, so maybe not. Still, there was no sign of any kind of military presence in sight, and Regenar had cleared them successfully. So there shouldn’t be any problems. It’s not like Eseras had any dirt on them either; surely they were home free…

Five knots became ten, then ten became fifteen. Varhi leaned them towards the northeast. Sairek really couldn’t see much as they moved away from the lights of the city. It was almost pitch black in the water, and it was obvious why Varhi was moving at only one-third of the speed they could go. As they got closer and closer to the edge of the dome though, Varhi picked up a little bit more speed. The breeze on Sairek’s face became a gentle wind now, with his cape starting to flap softly behind him as he waited with bated breath.

After many minutes, the edge of the dome became closer and closer… until they were there. Sairek closed his eyes as he felt a terrible tingling sensation wash over him that caused him to shudder in discomfort. It was like thousands of pins and needles were scraping the pores of his skin; something he hadn’t felt as they had gone inside. Even Varhi let out an “eurgh,” at the sensation. Sairek opened his eyes afterwards though and looked back, to see the dome now behind them, then gasped as he felt his enchantments suddenly stir to life and it almost felt like he just got punched in the chest as they abruptly began taking their toll on him. He let out an exerted grunt, and doubled over against the railing of the ship, buckling down onto one knee. It was a weight he had gotten used to over the month of traveling before, but after being absent for a week, that toll felt heavy again. He knew he’d get used to it over time, though.

“I can feel it! I can feel you!” Cyial cheered, running over to Sairek and giving him a sudden squeeze of a hug which winded the Prince again, but it was something to which Sairek gladly reciprocated.

“I... can feel you, too.” He said happily, his voice cracking through the strain he felt on the enchantments, but that didn't stop him from showing his relief and affection. His intimacy with Cyial had only grown even more over the week, but he missed feeling the true consciousness; the absolute confirmation that his friend was there right next to him, even when he could clearly see Cyial, it was a sort of closeness; warmth and reassurance, that had been missing the entire week.

“You haven’t been able to cast a single spell in a week… We are going to have to shave off the rust with a bit of meditation training.” Cyial said with a smirk.

Sairek eyed him with mock suspicion. “You just want to peer into my head again.”

“I’ll let you see mine if I can see yours~” Cyial smirked.

“Nothing’s changed in the past week, other than I love you even more.”

“Exactly!”

“Oi…” Sairek sighed with a smile. “We’ll have time soon, maybe. Once we get some distance. We’re still in Kiorian territory after all. We still have to discuss what to do next, too.”

“What to do next…? That’s a good question.” Varhi posed. “We have the boat back, but the problem is that we just left the only place we can reliably dock in all of the country and make sure the boat is safe.” Varhi frowned. “There’s nothing between here and Ceareste, but if we go back to Ceareste now, we’ll be passing by the Neutral Council.”

“Isn’t there somewhere we can hide the boat? Jimmy did that when he went looking for me.” Sairek suggested.

“I can try. No point looking now though. We’re not close, and it’s night making it too difficult to see much.” Varhi mused. “We’ll probably just cruise like this until daylight, if you don’t mind steering, Cyial. I can hardly see. Once I get far enough away from land, it’s going to just look like pitch black for me. Do you remember how to stop the ship just in case?”

“I can do that… And yeah, I remember.” Cyial said, sounding a bit disappointed. He clearly wanted to spend time with Sairek.

“I’ll stay out here with you. I did sleep on the train, after all.” He whispered to Cyial. That seemed to help improve Cyial’s disappointment, and he went to hug Sairek again.

“Well, how about I whip up some celebratory food? You got anything to cook with on this thing?” Nayleen asked.

“We have a portable cooker. It’s a tiny thing, though. Meant for a fire where you can’t normally have a fire.” Varhi said. “It should be down in the storage area next to the engines if it wasn’t destroyed or somebody hasn’t nicked it from the ship,” he grumbled, gesturing for her to follow. Nayleen glanced at Sairek and Cyial, who moved towards the steering wheel as Cyial manned it in Varhi’s stead, then she went to follow after Varhi, leaving the two of them alone once again.

Sairek wrapped his arms around Cyial’s waist, holding him from behind and resting his head on the other boy’s left shoulder. Cyial giggled, but leaned back into Sairek’s touch, humming contently, almost purring.
That caused Sairek to laugh. “You’re like a feline sometimes. Purring when happy, and hissing when angry.”

Cyial chuckled. “Unironically, when I imagine ‘the beast’ inside of me, I do imagine a big cat… like a big black cat.” Cyial said. “A lot of demons have characteristics of animals from the Overworld, it’s kind of strange, huh?”

“I guess it depends how you look at it… I find it more strange that some share a lot of characteristics like humans, personally. You and I… really aren’t that different when you think about it. Physically, I mean.”

“Well, we do have all the same parts… I just have a bit more.” Cyial teased, his tail loosely wrapping around Sairek’s own waist for emphasis on what he meant. He let go of the Prince a moment later. “We’re… We’re almost done with our adventure though, aren’t we?”

“One heck of a ride it’s been… I thought it was almost over weeks ago Cyial, right when we were nearing the Kiorian border on foot.”

“Hmf… Still not looking forward to the aftermath once we get back… Do you think your Father is having people looking out for your return, or…?”

“Depends if Avotash said anything or not. He could very well just be doing his regular business.” Sairek replied.

“What is his regular business, anyway?”

“Making sure all the villages and less fortunate towns have what they need. As much as I complain about my Father, he does have some good qualities. He certainly cares for the people… It’s just… he cares about them and his image more than me; or so it feels like… but I also understand now that it’s not… quite that black and white. I guess I’m more selfish than he is.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m choosing you over my people. Like I said, they’re going to be pissed. I am not going to be a popular Prince of the line of Cearestes, that’s for sure.”

“A-Ah… Well, I’ll give you enough popularity by myself if I must in order to make up the difference.”

Sairek chuckled again at that, then spoke low into his ear in a teasing tone. “I’ll hold you to that~'' Before kissing him on the cheek. Cyial turned and returned the gesture back, then made a strange face as he glanced occasionally to the front of the boat to watch where he was steering it. “...Y’know, I’ve noticed we get very flirty when we just get out of danger.” Sairek noted absentmindedly. "...Or even when we are in danger."

“That’s an actual thing, you know.” Cyial nodded.

“...Wait, seriously?”

“Uh-huh.” Cyial nodded.

“...Huh.”

“Why? Are you feeling antsy?” Cyial questioned him genuinely.

“No, but I am feeling very… affectionate. I guess it helps me calm down. You know, like when you’re a very little kid, and get scared by a bad dream, so you have your guardian give you a hug and tuck you in and stuff? Kinda like that, except… this.” Sairek let out a small laugh. “...What am I saying right now?”

“I kind of get what you mean. It’s a reassurance thing. People like being told everything will be alright, and soothed... Kids, even more so. I think everyone is like that, even when they grow up into adulthood, they just don’t like to admit it sometimes. It can make them appear weak and not very independant.” Cyial glanced back at Sairek. “It’s why we’re so comfortable sleeping together. We’re both scared. Not just this, but what comes… next.”

“Well, if all goes well… Hopefully it shouldn’t be more than a week or two before we can see each other again, but… there’s a possibility it could be months…” Sairek murmured, squeezing Cyial a little tighter. “Still, it won’t be forever.”

“When does a King lose control of the Prince. I mean like, when can he not just… force you to stay in the castle anymore?”

“Thirteenth birthday, but there are technicalities around that. If you mean full immunity though, then sixteenth.”

“Oh, I can’t wait that long. You’ll basically be a fully grown man by then!” Cyial laughed. "I'll probably have my horns growing by then, but I probably won't look that much older otherwise..."

“That’s a weird thought to think about…” Sairek murmurred.

“By then I’ll be supposedly seventeen… but I probably will only look thirteen or fourteen in human years. Maybe older if I go through that whole process faster than most, but I doubt it. I mean, I look like I’m only ten now.” Cyial sighed.

“Nah, you look a bit older than that.” Sairek said, then tugged on the collar of Cyial’s robe. “This thing makes you look very mature~” He teased.

“If I didn’t love you so much, I’d thwap you with my tail right now.”

“Varhi’s right, you are violent.”

“I haven’t had to get violent yet, thankfully. I’ve only had to warn and threaten people.” Cyial sniffed.

“Please don’t do something that would get yourself hurt. I am proud of you for how you stood up to Eseras though.” Sairek said sincerely. “You’ve come a very long way since Balgira.”

“We both have. I… uh, am not sure about Nayleen though. She’s kind of still the same.” Cyial shrugged.

“I like that she’s still the same. Still just her upbeat self. Most of the time. I think some of the stuff is starting to wear down on her, though.” Sairek frowned.

“I think it has only made her more thirsty.” Cyial remarked.

“Err… Or that…” Sairek allowed as he chuckled.

“How old is she anyway?”

“Thirteen. I don’t know when her birthday is though… I wonder if it’s soon.”

“We should ask her later.”



Sairek and Cyial just continued to talk and talk like this, enjoying each other’s company immensely, covering all sorts of topics about themselves, Nayleen and Varhi, their current situation, home and all sorts of random things. Fifteen minutes turned into thirty, then forty-five, and then eventually an hour. Cyial steered the ship the entire time, following along the main continent but keeping a wide berth to avoid any rocks or clumps of land and giving a wide berth to the glowing lights that signalled another vessel in the distance.

“You can tell we’re out of the civilization area now.” Cyial noted with a jerk of his head to their right, which was southward. “It’s nothing but desert wasteland on the mainland over there now, and I suppose a few ruins of long past villages. Some really extremely nasty monsters exist out there. I’m glad we didn’t have to walk through it either to or from Kior. Both times would have been awful.”

“I can’t see all of that, Cyial.” Sairek smiled.

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

“Didn’t you want to get some black magic vials from Kior originally?” Sairek questioned.

“Well, maybe it still would have been good to get one, but it's not like we had any opportunity to grab one.” Cyial frowned. “This is probably for the best, and we're very fortunate to have at least come here on this boat instead of through the wasteland. Some of the monsters out there are… really rough. Do you know what a Bone Suckler is?”

“...Ah… Well, um, judging from the name? It doesn’t sound pleasant.” Sairek drawled.

“Er, okay, well it doesn’t actually suck bones like that, but it does dissolve its victims to nothing but a liquid over time… and then sucks that up. Including the bones - hence the name.”

“Let me guess, they’re out in that wasteland?”

“Exactly. Creepy looking, too, according to the description in my tome. They technically exist in any extremely polluted area, but Kior is obviously the worst for that. Apparently they’re what sometimes happens when a magical phenomenon happens to a human directly... or one of the things, anyway...”

“...So the Bone Sucklers used to be human?” Sairek shuddered. It gave him Karvadean vibes.

“Perhaps. It’s not confirmed yet. Nobody really wants to voluntarily study them, for good reason. Or be a willing test subject of such an experiment.”

“Eurgh…”


Still talking about various topics, Sairek and Cyial kept going for another fifteen minutes before Sairek finally asked “I wonder where Varhi and Nayleen went? Weren’t they going to make dinner? It’s almost midnight now. I'm starting to get very hungry. We only had that burger since the sandwich.”

“I don’t know. Want to go check downstairs?” Cyial asked, then mused for a pause. “Maybe they’re having trouble. Perhaps Nayleen could give you more lessons. You have all night to talk to me if you want to after all. I’m still worried about Varhi, too.”

“Sure. You’ll be okay up here by yourself for a bit?”

“Better than I would be in that city at any time. My curiosity of the city has been piqued and I don’t know if I ever want to visit it again, Eseras or not.” Cyial snorted.

“Heh, I can’t blame you. Alright, keep a sharp eye out, okay?” Sairek said, giving Cyial one last hug.

“I will.” Cyial said, returning the hug, and whispering into Sairek’s ear. “And don’t let Nayleen flirt on you anymore. That’s my job.” He smirked.

“Well, I’ll try. She’s making it difficult.” Sairek grinned, releasing Cyial, and the demon did the same. Sairek departed at last, giving Cyial one last glance when he reached the door before entering inside.

He forgot how noisy the ship was. It was going less than half the normal speed so it wasn’t as loud as he knew it could be, but after the peace and quiet over the past week of the apartment, he wondered if he could get used to sleeping in here again. He made his way down to the end of the hall to the spiraling stairs. He didn’t have to get halfway to see Varhi and Nayleen sitting on the floor, both on opposite sides of some contraption which looked like a burner of a stove on a stand, with a blue yellow flame underneath it being spewed out by some spherical cylinder with a pot on it.. “Are you two alright?” Sairek questioned. “You’ve been down here for over an hour. Almost two.”

Varhi and Nayleen glanced up at him. “Sorry it’s taking so long. This thing isn’t as strong as I hoped it was.” Varhi apologized, rubbing the back of his head.

“Eh, a slow cook isn't a bad thing. Gives it more flavor, makes it more tender." Nayleen expressed to Varhi before looking up at Sairek. "It just finished now, actually. It’s not much but well, you can’t go wrong with a hearty beef stew, right?”

“I suppose not. Something like that warming and filling my stomach sounds extremely appealing right now.” Sairek agreed. “Would help calm my nerves too, I think.”

“You’re still worried? You said we've been down here for over an hour now. Nothing’s happened up above, right?” Varhi asked.

“No, nothing so far. I’m not so nervous about that anymore. I’m pretty sure we’re home free by this point, but what I’m nervous about is what’s to come next after this.” Sairek clarified. “It’s really stressful. Cyial and I tried to relax as best as we could in Kior, and it helped, but… As we draw closer, my nerves are just getting worse. I'm dreading about the Neutral Council visit, and then going back home afterwards...”

“I think you’re worrying too much. Besides, that’s still probably at least another couple of weeks out; maybe three. Also, we still don’t know what we should do about the boat. Varhi and I have been talking, though.” Nayleen tried to reassure him.

“Oh yeah. What are we going do about that?”

“Well… it's unfortunately complicated. I simply cannot afford to leave it out in the open.” Varhi began. “Even if we dock as close as possible, according to Nayleen, just walking to her place would take around two days, maybe three; and we might want to stay there for a few days, especially so Nayleen can catch up with her folks.” Varhi frowned. “Walking to Yggdrasil would be another couple of days more at least, and then walking in the cave of Yggdrasil would be yet another day or two. Then we’d have to retrace our steps perfectly to get back to the ship, and that’s not counting how long business at the neutral council may possibly take. Either way, it would be as long as three weeks of the ship just being left on its own with absolutely nobody watching over it. Even if I hide it very well, that’s not a reasonable timeframe for the ship to just be left on its own to the elements, and that’s not mentioning the very real possibility that anyone could just find its hiding spot and steal it, plunder it, or whatever else.”
Sairek nodded his understanding. Varhi continued. “Leaving someone here alone to watch over it is out of the question as well. I’m not worried about some random joe walking up and doing whatever with it -- but a group of them. I’d not feel confident about that, and that in itself would put whoever is left behind in danger, having to manage supplies by themselves and we only have three days or so worth of food left at best. Even so, all four of us are likely needed for that meeting with the neutral council, so that’s a bust, too. So that leaves only one final option...”

Sairek’s face fell in realization. “You’re thinking of docking it within Ceareste, aren’t you? I… I want to go back, but not yet—We still have things we have to do, Varhi.” Sairek shook his head. “Once I cross back over that border again, my Father is going to forcefully take me in I'd bet. He can't come over me and make me, but the moment I pass over, he will have jurisdiction of me all over again. I doubt I can argue the contract I won over very effectively.”

“You’re correct, Sairek, but aren’t you forgetting? That’s if you cross over the border - but not us. He can’t do shit about any of us.” Varhi reminded him.

“W…What?” Sairek asked, then his eyes widened in realization, then apprehension. “Wait… So you want me to… be dropped off on this side... but you want to enter Ceareste’s borders through official capacity… and then exit Ceareste’s borders again on foot…? Is that your plan?”

“You’ve got it.” Varhi nodded. “Of course I won’t leave you just completely alone. Cyial will stay with you.”

“B-But wait… How the heck are you going to find me again?” Sairek questioned.

“I’m going to drop you off as close to the border as I can without risk of anyone noticing. Then I’ll park the ship at the closest town I can, which I believe is Thalnar. Nayleen and I will enter Ceareste in official capacity, refill our stocks of supplies for our journey there and to Yggdrasil and back. We’ll then leave to the Kiorian border in official capacity, and then just go north until we find the shore again. Eventually we will run back into you guys, which we'll leave you camped out at the shore.” Varhi shrugged. “It might take a day or three, but that solves the ship problem. Then once we’re done, we just leave right back through the normal way again once business is concluded. We all step over to the border, you get dragged away by your father or we just walk you back home, and we can all go our separate ways from there.”

“...Are you sure they’ll allow that?” Sairek asked.

“Wasn’t a problem the first time when I went to deliver that letter.” Varhi shrugged again. “Why would they deny me? My passport stuff is all good, and as far as I know, so is Nayleen's.”

“I guess that’s fair enough…” Sairek surrendered.

Nayleen took the opportunity to chide in. “I’ve been teaching you and a bit to Cyial about survival training and knowledge the entire time. Do you think you’ll be okay with just him?”

“I don’t know. We still don’t really know how to hunt, or use anything to hunt with. What should we do about that?” Sairek asked.

“We’ll leave most of the food and stuff with you, I mean, you’ve got the gem and all.” Nayleen nodded. “The two of us can carry more supplies back from Thalnar using two of those packs. I know Cyial doesn’t eat much, but there’s only about three or four days worth of food in that pack for one person, let alone all of us unless we ration it. There's a bit more on the ship here, but we're going to need our own food to eat on the trip there, too. We’re going to need more food to make it to my place from the shore where we’ll be dropping you off anyway. Plus you remember how good the food from Thalnar was, right?” She smirked.

“Oh, that would be nice…” Sairek murmured, but then shook his head. “It’ll spoil by the time you come back, though.”

"...Maybe, if it’s only a day or two it might be fine. We’ll be hustling back as quickly as we can, after all.” Nayleen reassured him. “It won’t taste the freshest but it’ll be fine if we store it properly. Some of the stuff we can salt as well. I’ll prioritize those first to stock up on.”

“Okay… I guess that’s the plan, then.” Sairek agreed a little reluctantly. He wasn’t much for the idea of splitting the group up into two, but if it was only for a couple of days, then it shouldn’t be too bad. Even if things did go badly, he was positive he and Cyial could always trek towards the border in an absolute emergency. Besides, since they’d be near the border, there wouldn’t be the same threat of monsters like in the desert wasteland. They’d still have vegetation and such to use. Sairek sighed. “Yeah… The more I think about it, the more logical it sounds. That’s the plan I guess, then.”

“You already said that.” Varhi pointed out.

“I— I know. I’m just saying it to myself more convincingly.” Sairek frowned.

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.” Varhi offered. "We can try to think up something else."

“No, it’s fine, really. Nayleen taught me what I need to know. You have done so some too. With Cyial, I should be able to put it all into practice and execution. The whole point of teaching me all of this was to help make me independent anyway. I think I'm ready to do that, especially for just a few days at most.” Sairek tried to reassure them—and himself. "This won't be like the dire situation in Masirean."

“We’ll make sure you guys are nice and comfortable before we set off.” Varhi agreed. “It’s not like we’re just going to dump you there and leave you to fend for yourself without making sure you’ll be okay.” Varhi’s face turned into a smirk. “To be honest, I would have thought you would have been more accepting of the idea of being alone with your boyfriend on a beach for a couple of days, y’know.”

Sairek gave him an unamused stare. “Oh yeah, and you being with the lady who’s been hitting on you for the past couple of weeks isn’t any different?”

“I’ll have to be driving the boat.” Varhi refuted.

“Not the entire way.”

“Yeah, and then we’ll hire a carriage, if we can. It’ll be faster and easier.” Varhi continued. "Walking that distance completely with those packs will kill our backs."

“Hmmm… Fine.” Sairek relented. “So, may I have some of that stew, please? I’m hungry.”

“Be my guest,” Nayleen smiled, shimmying her position as Sairek finally descended the rest of the way down the stairs and sat down to join them.