by Nicol Terra
The elf smiled. “Thank you, miss.”
He walked away as Duran shot her a glare.
“You are too nice.” Duran slurred.
“And I guess too mean around you two, right?” She asked. Duran and D.J said nothing and swung around their chairs.
"Answer my question!" Ariel asked. D.J and Duran turned to each other and nodded, they both knew if they said anything it could be used against them.
“Tell me about the most interesting thing about the city!” D.J asked.
The man pondered, floating in the air as his wing fluttered for a second.
“Well, there was one person. Had white wings, but feathers.” He said. He grabbed and rubbed his chin for a few seconds, then waved his free hand. “Nah, that ain‘t it!”
“Feathery Wings? Come on, dude!” D.J whined. “Tell me.”
The man giggled. “All right.” He sighed, giving himself a quick sigh. “Well, I have seen him here multiple times, he..seems off. He says he is a Faerie; I don‘t see it.”
"Feathery wings, could he be an angel?" Duran inquired to himself.
"Angels are extinct as far as we know." The barkeep added. "Well, maybe some live in the Meraci continent, but I wouldn't know, never been there."
"Meraci?" Ariel inquired.
"It is the westward most continent in the world." The barkeep said.
"Oh, right. The continent shrouded by an eternal cloud clover and a monstrous storm offshores." Duran said. "Great, well, I did know Angels existed." He said. He fought one a long time ago when the previous king before Eraz had two generals, one of them was an Angel disguised as a Human, a supposed envoy. He scoffed. "If that Angel played with our lives like he did, I wouldn't want to meet another, I might kill it."
"Well yeah, Angels don't live here. He could be an angel, but do you know Faeries with feathers?"
"No." D.J said.
"Then I don't know who he is." He smiled.
D.J groaned. Duran sighed, pulling out his holosphere for a moment, he pulled out a calendar app of his.
January 21st- Fix Nieth Portal
January 30th- Visit Nieth?
???
February 14th- Profit??
He was just drunk enough to release a Yellow aura and just sober enough to read it. He closed his eyes for a few seconds. In a week, he will fix the Nieth portal and take a week off doing whatever he pleased. Due to his alcohol consumption, scrying the future was near impossible. He stopped after the 7th day, as reading beyond was giving him a headache.
“My, that is some interesting Tech ya got there. What is ya doing with it?” He asked
Duran blinked twice. Ariel pulled out her Holosphere and pressed the button on the top.
“The Holosphere is a modern invention,” Ariel said.
Modern? Came out two-thousand and five hundred years ago.
“That produces images and connects you to a global net connected via light. It allows you to contact the entire world via light communication. Because of that, it is instantaneous." Ariel continued.
The Faerie rubbed his chin for a few seconds, his eyes intrigued as he nodded a few times.
“Interesting that you old worlders have such fascinating tech.” He said.
“Which reminds me,” Ariel said, snapping her fingers at Duran. He felt both the weed and alcohol hit him as he shot her a glare.
“Yes?” Duran asked.
“What did you see that made you scared?” Ariel asked.
Duran paused for a few moments, pressed the button on the top and pressed the news icon on his home screen. He slips it to the right, both Ariel and D.J’s holosphere beeping for a few seconds. Duran also motioned the barkeep for another shot. The barkeep took the glasses away and poured another shot into each glasses.
Duran turned to see Ariel put her hand on her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes. D.J had a vacant gaze as he laid his head down on his hands.
“That is horrible! If he does that, we might not have a home!” Ariel whined.
“Who may not have a home?” The barkeep said, slapping the three glasses toward them. Duran blinked once.
“One of our allies might sink our country.” He said. Duran looked at the clear glass, the liquid swishing around inside. "Wait, is he our ally?"
"Well, we never were enemies," Ariel said.
"Until today. Or recently." D.J added.
The smell of apples and cinnamon rushing his nose. His gaze melted inside the glass, the clear liquid giving him the perfect time to reflect. Inside his thoughts, he saw Mudath and Eraz, his two best friends, his former colleagues. He felt his soul melt away as he looked further inside- only drinking and smoking curbed his sanity.
"Should we go back?" Ariel asked.
"Mudath and his Theater should be enough to take Alato if he was careful. That is if Eraz used his Avatar, that is."
“Don’t worry, Nicholas isn’t the kind to sink a continent just because.” Duran lied. In truth, he only met the aging king once. His ancient gaze and white hair were enough to scare Eraz and Mudath. Duran however, was not afraid. He felt the king deep down was a good person.
Unlike his king.
Duran's face turned white, with color flushing forward to his face. He then looked at D.J, his face serious and stern. He smiled, he trusted him in a weak sense. He was never serious, never one to make concise judgments, but he was confident.
Duran sighed. “I guess you are right.”
"Plus, I wanna get drunk!" D.J said. Ariel let out a small scoff as she slammed her palm to her face.
"Typical. Only thinking about gambling and booze." She said.
"You and I both know that Eraz is very careful and smart," Duran admitted. "Even he knows not to rush a war. If he did, I trust he would have some strategy in mind." Duran said. "For better or worse." He thought. "Because strategy for Eraz was keyword for manipulation, subterfuge, sleight of hand and political maneuvering.
The three knocked their glasses and took another drink.
Duran felt the world wobble around him, his eyes glazed and shaken. He felt a small sense of euphoria rush his body. He took another drag from his roll and exhaled. He gave a little giggle; the barkeeper was shaking his head, a smile covering his face.
Duran gave a quick scout around, everyone drinking he felt his brow raise. He glanced around left to right.
“Wait, there are no guards here.” He said.
The barkeep raised a brow. “Yup, there are only a few dozen guards that patrol the gate.”
“Why though?” Ariel slurred. “Aren’t you worried about being attacked?”
He shrugged. “Well, besides that occasional arsonist, we don’t see many threats to the city itself.”
“Arsonist?” Duran asked.
“Yeah, some person with a black coat sometimes fly in, lights a few houses on fire and leave.” He said, his wings fluttering briefly for a few seconds. “It is weird though, every time we send our guards after him, he disappears, just vanishes.”
D.J pulled Duran to the side. “Sounds like this guy is a danger to these people.”
“Seems like it.” He said
“We could ask that minister guy about this.” D.J said. Ariel nodded in agreement.
“Seems like a good idea.” Ariel added.
D.J was right, Duran knew nothing about the city. That was his best chance was to get information, and considering the Holosphere was a new invention to these people. It would be likely connecting to local Holonet Nodes is impossible.
He nodded. “Agreed.”
Duran turned back to the barkeeper, his face stern, his eyes drunken and in a stupor though. “Tell me something about this man and what you know about him.”
Duran threw him a gold coin, the barkeep catching it in an instant.
The man moved over to the wooden table, his body leaning on it. “Well, we don’t know his face. He wears a black coat, is probably six foot. It is said he can use Magic and Aura. He can at least use Darkness and L
ight. There is a theory in the city assume that if he knows those magick sets, he stops time when we get close to him, and he teleports away. He also released a cold chill around him before we caught him.” He said, leaning away, setting aside the last glass on the table as he let out a big sigh. “That is all I know.”
Duran rubbed his chin and gave a purple aura for a brief instant, only to see nothing. He gave a deep sigh.
“Ariel, thoughts?” Duran said. Ariel took a pause, looking at the shot glass for a moments, only for Duran to shake her.
“Huh, what?” She slurred, turning to him in an instant.
“You are drunk.” D.J spat
Ariel groaned. “Of course I am, how many shots did we take?”
Duran raised a brow. “I think this is our third.”
“Did you pay attention?” D.J asked.
“Something something blue light, was it pretty though?” Ariel slurred.
Duran facepalmed. “I guess we are too drunk to talk about this.”
“Let's get another shot in and call it a night.” D.J said. Duran let out a small giggle. When D.J said that, it usually meant one of them would get alcohol poisoning for the rest of the night.
Duran nodded in agreement.
The barkeep pulled another bottle from underneath the shelf, ripping off the cap and pouring three more shots.
“Ya sure I won't die from this?” Ariel shivered
“Ariel, we are alcoholics,” Duran said. "Plus, I never heard of an Aura user overdosing on Alcohol." He said. Aura users tend to rely on their physical condition for their ability, and it was incredibly hard to die from alcohol poisoning if you can use it even as a beginner. Unless you drank a barrel of Vodka, you couldn't die from Alcohol poisoning. Still doesn't prevent being drunk and hangovers though, which Duran loved the first and hated the second.
“Unless you drink a barrel.” D.J giggled
“Good point.” Duran said.
Both Ariel and Duran gave off a deep green Aura just in case, as the three clinked their shot glasses together.
“We have our friendship!” Duran slurred
“We hab our loyalti!” Ariel slurred further
“And we have our lub!” D.J slurred
The three took a shot. Duran couldn’t remember anything else further from that night, everything in between was a vague blur. He remembered the trip to the hotel, then him jumping to his bed. Duran then pulled out his Holosphere for a few seconds, stared at it once or twice. He went to bed, holding his blanket and cuddling a pillow.
In the back of his head, he realized he didn’t finish his drinking oath. The one Ariel and D.J made for him. He recited it once inside his head before going into a pitch black slumber.
Cheers!!
For Adventure?
For Adventure!
King may be wise
But the people wiser
Next shot in, we will party
We will drink!
We will celebrate!
We will party!
We have our friendship!
We have our loyalty!
And we have our love!”
Back to Back
Sword to Sword
The world is ours to explore!”
Rachel awoke to a light on the ceiling. She tilted her head to the side, only to see a fresh vase of flowers right next to her bedside. Rachel felt her body stretch apart as she turned around to look at the window. She was asleep for what felt like for twelve hours. Her crystal started to shine stronger than it did before, almost as if it grew twice as strong as it was before. “How convenient.” She thought. Rachel gave a wry smile and rose from her bed. The door swung open as Illevetar padded in, then she turned to Rachel, her expression eyes gloomy for a second, then a smile rushing her face.
"Rachel!" Illevetar said, her sunken eyes seemed to turn bright and full once. Rachel felt a frown inch across her face, she must have lost a lot of sleep taking care of her. She then looked next to the vase, a crunched bag of trash ranging from food and drink. Illevetar must have camped here keeping watch over her for a week.
"Hey." Rachel squeaked, her throat was full. She felt a sting across her pride. Great, you trained for years. You know what lives in this world, you know how to pilot an airsail, use Water, Air and Electricity and you can't even keep yourself out of a friends thoughts. Rachel by default had few friends, a price for her 'independence'.
“Welcome back, I heard from Yas you got up yesterday.” She said.
Rachel nodded and sighed for a moment. “I did.” She said. She then felt Illevetar rush a hug to her, her body leaning heavily on Rachel’s. Rachel blinked, taken aback and surprised. "I guess independence is overrated." She thought to herself.
‘I am so glad you are safe! You had me worried, with you sleeping for five days!” She grumbled to herself, a single tear dropping on the blanket. Illevetar wiped her tired tears away as she forced a smile. Rachel giggled, trying to hide her blush.
“Hey, I thought we were done crying.” She said.
Illevetar snorted, jolting her body back. “You act like you weren’t on death’s door for five days!"
“Yeah, I knocked five times, death didn’t answer, so I said fuck it and came back.” Rachel said. She felt a wry smile rub across her face.
Illevetar sighed for a moment. “At least you are okay.” She said.
Rachel grabbed on to her crystal, her eyes glaring intensely at it. She felt a sudden part of her, still broken, yet complete. She can use her crystal, and it was stronger than it was before, yet she didn’t feel right using it. She went into a fight without prior knowledge, and it cost her.
“How…did you know Aura shatters crystals?” Rachel inquired.
Illevetar blinked for a moment. “What do you mean?”
“I didn’t know Aura shatters Crystals. You did.” Rachel said.
Illevetar's face was lost in confusion, and then a laugh bellowed out. Rachel jolted her head up in attention, her cheeks puffed and her nose red.
“What is so funny?” Rachel blushed. She felt her heart race for the first time in a while as her pride was shattered for a moment.
“You!” Illevetar cackled, wiping a tear from her face. She continued to laugh for a few seconds, only for it to peter out into a small giggle and then a wide grin. Rachel didn’t care to ask again anyway. Ignorance was bliss, it seems.
“How did we leave, anyway?” Rachel asked.
“Because Aura loses to Magic, and I use Magic.” Illevetar rolled her eyes.
Rachel blinked. “Well, I knew Crystals beat Magic, but I didn’t know Crystals lose to Aura.”
Illevetar nodded. “That is the general rule. I heard Yas wanted to tell you more.”
Rachel turned her head to the side in embarrassment, her face flushed red. Was everyone aware of this but her?
Illevetar patted her on the shoulder and then tilted her head up to Illevetar. “Don’t worry about it. I will probably knock him around a few times for you.” She said. The thought of Illevetar beating up Xin was comedic to her.
“Assuming I don’t beat you too it.” Rachel sneered.
Illevetar nodded as she backed away, pulling out a book from her green jacket. Rachel raised a brow, she was wearing different clothes than before. Illevetar wore a green cloth jacket and light brown pants. She lost her royal hood.
"You changed clothes." Rachel said.
Illevetar nodded, spinning around as she pinched her jacket, a little shimmer from the silk sheen shining upon Rachel's brown eyes.
"Like it?" Illevetar winked. "How about I get you some next time?"
Rachel nodded. "You want to go clothes shopping? Sure. I like my current clothes." She said, still surprised that her clothes were intact, other than a small hole near her stomach, everything was patched up. Then, she let out a small blush.
"Who sewed my-" Rachel started.
"The seamstress." Illevetar smiled. "Don't worry no one saw you naked."
"That isn't the
issue!" Rachel flared crimson across her nose.
"Oh hush, get over it. We have worse things to worry about." Illevetar added. Rachel blinked and sighed as she rolled out of bed and stretched in place. She didn't notice yesterday her clothes were fixed, but beggars can't be choosers.
“Yas wants to see you regarding yesterday. I was told you got the skinny.”
Rachel nodded and smirked. “Well, us two versus five hundred? I will have to do homework then if I need to work with that number.”
Illevetar shook her head. “Three.”
Rachel got up from her bed, stretching and clasping her hands together, only to twirl around to look at Illevetar in the face. “Three?”
“You haven’t met Ahn.” Illevetar smiled.
“Who is Ahn?” Rachel blinked.
“An adorable boy.” She rolled her eyes. "Like, he is charming!"
"Define cute?" Rachel inquired
"Innocent." She smirked and then rolled her a glare. "Like, he is so nice and caring! You will love him!" Illevetar said. Rachel sighed.
"Well, whatever. The more, the merrier." She said. She never did expect to fight an army. When Daniel said. "Hey, become a Forward so you and I can spend more time together!". Rachel did not expect to once fight an army. The application for the job never once said: "You waive your rights to complain if an army stares you down ready to imprison you, kill you or worse" She sighed. "Never thought I would say this, but I hate my job."
“He will be with us, we can meet after you are done with Yas if you want.” Illevetar continued, Rachel shot up. Her mind must have drifted
Rachel nodded and shooed. “Seems fine, where at?”
“How about at the Monastery? You got a Holosphere? Illevetar asked.
“Nope. Tried to make one too, they are missing a Holodisks." Rachel said.
Illevetar blinked a few times and then raised her eyebrow. “Did you… leave it in the Airsail?”
“Yeah?” Rachel said.
“How are we supposed to call for help?” Illevetar asked.
“I mean, do we need it?” Rachel asked. Illevetar sighed, shaking her head and smacking her hand to her head.
"Alright," Illevetar said, pulling out her Holosphere. "This is a Holosphere."
"Yup." Rachel followed.
"Holospheres are a communication device granted to every forward or military officer assuming you were not poor enough to afford one yourself." She said.
