A/N: And its up (finally)! Sorry that this took kinda long to upload. For some reason, it took longer to write than I expected (maybe because its the longest chapter yet?). This chapter really tested the limits of my patience, and I think that kinda manifested itself in Flynn's feelings at some points... Oh well. Anyways, as usual I'm sorry for any mistakes that I might make, and a huge thank you to the people who reviewed; Tales of Brothers, Lazy Gaga, and that random guest who commented. The fact that people are actually reading this makes me actually try to put in effort to make this good (whether I succeed at that or not is debatable though). I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and I'm sorry that I can't write decent chapter titles. I hate chapter titles...
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Chapter 4 – Elysia, Realm of the Angels
Ba'ul slowly flew up beside the gate and hovered in place so that Karol and Judith could drop the gangplank down. The gangplank landed with a loud thud upon the path leading up to the gate. Flynn was the first one to cross the gangplank, and he jogged forward towards the impressively large structure. He stared up at the gate, raising his arm to shield his eyes from the bright glare.
"Looks like we finally made it," Karol remarked, walking up beside Flynn. "The journey took longer than I thought it would."
"Well, it would be strange if it was easy to find this place," Rita said. "Otherwise more people would know about it outside of the legends."
"That's true..." Karol admitted.
Estellise walked up to the gate and peered curiously through the golden bars at the city up ahead.
"The city is really big," she commented. "It might be hard to find Yuri in such a huge city. I wouldn't know where to start looking."
Flynn frowned, knowing that she was right. It wouldn't be easy to try to find Yuri here, but that didn't mean that it was impossible. Besides, they had already come this far, and Flynn wasn't about to be intimidated by the prospect of searching such a large city.
"Well, we might as well get started," Flynn said, reaching up to push open the gate and immediately drawing his hand back with a yelp as it burned his skin.
"Flynn?! Are you alright?" Estellise exclaimed, hurrying over to his side and taking his hand.
She turned Flynn's hand over to examine it. The burn was slowly healing on its own, but she still cast a quick healing arte on it to ease the pain.
"I'm fine," Flynn insisted, smiling in a way that he hoped was reassuring. "It looks like getting in won't be as straightforward as I had hoped."
"How are we going to get in if we can't open the gate?" Karol asked.
"Couldn't Ba'ul fly us over?" Flynn asked.
"No," Judith said, shaking her head. "Ba'ul can't land on top of cities. This is the closest he can bring us, so it'll have to do."
"In that case, we can just blast it down," Rita said, beginning to cast a spell.
"R-Rita!" Estellise exclaimed, grabbing the mage's wrist in a firm grip to keep her from shooting fireballs at the gate. "You can't do that!"
"Why not?" Rita asked, frowning, but nevertheless seeming to calm down a little.
"I don't think the people here will like it if we knock it down," Estellise replied. "I'm sure there's another way in. If someone is nearby, we could ask them."
They looked around, but the surrounding area seemed deserted. Flynn walked over to the edge of the path to see if there was some way around the gate. He stopped abruptly in front of the ledge, looking down to see that it was a sharp drop into a sea of clouds. Flynn stumbled back hastily, not wanting to risk falling over the edge to what would certainly be his death. He let out a sigh of relief, placing his hand over his heart and feeling it beating wildly inside his chest.
"What is it Flynn?" Karol called, making his way over to the ledge where Flynn had been standing before. "Did you see something over here?"
"Karol wait!" Flynn called, realizing that Karol was standing dangerously close to the edge.
Karol turned to look curiously at Flynn and opened his mouth to say something, only to let out a startled yelp as his foot slipped and he lost his balance. The young guild leader made a desperate grab for the ledge as he fell, but didn't manage to hold on long enough to be helped by Flynn, who had rushed over to try to save him. Karol's gloved hand let go and Flynn found himself grabbing for thin air.
Flynn stared in horror as Karol fell, seeming to be frozen in midair for a split second before he disappeared beneath the clouds. The others hurried over to see what had happened. Estellise's hands flew to her mouth in shock, quickly turning away and burying her face into Rita's shoulder. The brown haired mage reached up and rubbed Estellise's back to try to comfort her, looking over at Flynn in disbelief. Repede padded over to Flynn's side, uttering a whine and nuzzling Flynn's hand. Even Raven hung his head solemnly, not uttering a word. Flynn felt incredibly guilty, knowing that it was his fault. He should have noticed sooner that Karol was too close to the edge. He should have been able to move faster and save him.
"I... I'm so sorry," Flynn said, gritting his teeth together and staring intently at the ground. "I didn't realize that he..."
Raven walked over and placed a hand on Flynn's shoulder. The blond turned to look at the ex-captain, seeing that there was no resentment in his gaze; only sympathy, which he didn't deserve.
"It's not your fault kid," Raven reassured him. "There was nothing you could have done."
Flynn glanced doubtfully over at Estellise, who was sobbing quietly, and at Repede, who was lying on the ground beside him and looking out at the horizon. He clenched his fists and shook his head.
"How can I believe that?" Flynn asked. "I should have reacted faster. If I had just been a little faster then I could have saved him."
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Raven said. "There's no sense dwelling over 'what if's. It was an accident. I don't blame you. None of us do, so you shouldn't blame yourself like this."
Flynn sighed and hung his head. Even though Raven reassured him that it wasn't his fault, Flynn wasn't convinced that it was true. As he raised his head, he noticed that Judith had walked over to the edge as well. He was about to call out to her to be careful when he noticed that Judith had a faint smile on her face. Flynn stared at her in confusion as she turned and smiled cheerfully at him.
"You don't have to worry Flynn," Judith said. "Everything is all right."
Flynn gaped at her in shock, wondering how she could be so cheerful in these circumstances. Suddenly, Repede jumped to his feet and began barking excitedly, rushing over to the edge beside Judith. Estellise turned, blinking tears out of her eyes and looking curiously at Judith, who waved them all over. Flynn walked over to Judith's side and peered down over the edge where she was pointing. Off in the distance, a winged figure was flying towards them.
"Karol!" Estellise cried, a relieved smile crossing her face.
Flynn squinted to try to see better. Since when did Karol have wings? It took a few moments for Flynn to realize that the wings belonged to a person who was carrying Karol, and that they were quickly flying back up towards them. The blond angel was holding on tightly to Karol, who appeared shaken but nevertheless unharmed as the angel slowly set him down on the ground beside them. He was immediately pulled into a tight hug by Estellise.
"Karol, are you all right?! I was so worried!" Estellise cried, refusing to let go of the brunette, even though he was squirming a bit. "I thought we'd lost you forever!"
"I'm fine Estelle," Karol insisted her, patting her uncertainly on the back. "Honestly, I though I was done for until Hanael saved me."
Estellise finally let go of Karol and turned to the angel, who had just landed beside Raven. The angel wore gold armor over a long white robe. There was a sword strapped to his belt, and he wore a long green cape attached to the back of his armor. Flynn's first impression was that the angel was some sort of guard. Estellise bowed respectfully to the angel, smiling gratefully at him.
"Thank you so much!" she said. "We are in your debt."
The angel, Hanael, shook his head and returned her smile.
"Think nothing of it," he said. "This is part of my job. Although admittedly, I don't usually find myself having to save people who fall over the edge. It's not often that we get human visitors here."
Karol grinned as he watched the two interact, though the grin was wiped off his face after Rita sneaked up behind him and hit him in the head with her book.
"Ow!" Karol exclaimed, rubbing the back of his head and glaring reproachfully at Rita. "What on earth was that for?"
"For falling off the edge like an idiot," Rita snapped. "You scared us all half to death!"
"S-sorry," Karol muttered sheepishly.
"You should be," Rita huffed, storming off.
Raven walked over to Karol's side and ruffled his hair affectionately.
"Looks like ya made her angry," Raven commented. "Though ya can't really blame her. You gave us all quite a fright."
"I know... I'm sorry," Karol said, shaking his head. "I guess I was pretty careless..."
Flynn smiled as he watched the two talk. The scene reminded him of the way he used to interact with his father. It was fairly heartwarming, in a way, and Flynn was glad that Karol had found a father figure in the middle aged guild member. When Flynn's father had died when he was only a young teen, he had been forced to grow up much faster than he should have. Of course, that was a fairly common occurrence among the children of knights. He had still been better off that Yuri, who had never known his parents at all and had been forced to grow up even sooner. It wasn't fair, but life was rarely so.
At the thought of Yuri, Flynn was reminded of the urgency of their quest. It had already taken a few days to travel to the angel realm, and he still didn't know why Yuri had been taken here. They had to hurry and find Yuri or who knew what would happen to him? Now that they had found one of the angels, perhaps they would finally be able to get inside the city.
"Excuse me Mr-" Flynn began.
"Just Hanael is fine."
"Hanael then," Flynn continued. "I was wondering if you might be able to let us into the city."
Hanael seemed to hesitate, looking up at the gate and seeming to contemplate the request. He turned back to Flynn and shrugged.
"I suppose so," he said. "I'll have to escort you though."
"That's all right," Judith said, walking up beside the angel and striking her usual seductive pose. "Having an escort will be helpful since we don't know our way around the city yet."
Hanael blushed and quickly hurried away to open the gates. He raised a hand and cast a spell and the gates parted inwards. They followed him inside as he led the way into the city. Flynn looked around at the city curiously. It was so clean, it was practically sparkling. Even the Royal Quarter couldn't compare to the dazzling city that surrounded them.
"So, what brings you all the way here?" Hanael asked, glancing back at them.
"We're looking for a friend of ours," Estellise replied.
"A friend?" Hanael, looking curiously at them. "Another human?"
"Yes, that's right," Estellise replied. "Have you seen him?"
Hanael shook his head.
"No, I'm sorry," he said, smiling sympathetically. "I don't remember seeing any other humans here."
"Are you sure?" Estellise asked, her face falling.
"Well... He could have come in while I was off duty," Hanael admitted. "I should have thought I'd hear about it though. A human coming here is a pretty big deal since it almost never happens. Everyone gets really curious, so you usually hear it on the grapevine within a few hours."
As Flynn continued to look around, he spotted several people looking out of their windows at them. It felt a little strange to be stared at so intently, but that didn't really matter much. He didn't plan on staying long anyways, even if it was a very beautiful city.
Estellise was still chatting with Hanael excitedly, but Flynn tuned her out, concentrating instead on where they should begin looking. Beside him, Rita was brooding about something or other. About to ask what was wrong, Flynn's attention was instead drawn to Karol, who had walked up beside him and gently tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey Flynn..." Karol whispered. "Do you have any idea where Hanael is taking us?"
"I'm not sure," Flynn replied, frowning slightly. "It doesn't seem like we're going anywhere in particular. Perhaps we should ask."
"Ah, good idea," Karol said, moving behind Flynn and pushing him forward a little. "Go on and ask."
"Why me? Can't you do it yourself?"
Karol smiled sheepishly, and for the first time Flynn noticed that he seemed a little nervous. It seemed strange that the usually confidant teen would be so nervous about talking to the angel. Flynn looked over at Hanael again, and an idea occurred to him. Perhaps Karol was intimidated by the fact that Hanael had wings. After all, the fact that angels existed was still fairly new to all of them, excepting Judith. Even if Karol had accomplished a great many things for his age, he was still pretty young.
"I could, but you're better at talking to people than I am," Karol replied.
"Are you nervous because he has wings?" Flynn asked.
"That's not it," Karol said, shaking his head vigorously. "I... I can do it. This is all just pretty new to me. Though I guess it's new to you too."
"Yes, but if you're nervous, I can do it."
Flynn had no problem with talking to the angel, even if he didn't know anything about the proper formalities that he would be expected to use. However, instead of being reassured, Karol seemed a little insulted. It was rather odd, since Karol was the one who had told him to do it in the first place. Then again, there were a lot of things that Flynn didn't know about the young guild leader.
"I'll do it," Karol said, more determined than ever to prove himself. "I'm not a kid."
Karol hurried off towards Hanael and Flynn watched him go in surprise. He chuckled a little to himself, recalling stories that Yuri had told him about Karol and how he was always so determined to prove himself to others. Apparently, he had gotten better at relying on others when he needed to, but Karol would surely be reluctant to rely on people all the time, as he very well should be. Independence was an admirable quality in a leader after all. At that thought, Flynn was once again plagued by doubts. Was he relying too much on Yuri? Was he being unreasonably possessive of his friend? Flynn shook his head, remembering the reason that he had given for going on this journey in the first place. He wanted to know why Yuri had disappeared so suddenly and make sure that Yuri was all right. Something like that couldn't be seen as being clingy, right?
He was driven out of this negative train of though when Judith placed a hand on his shoulder and wrapped her other arm about Rita's shoulders.
"What are you two brooding for?" Judith asked.
"I'm not brooding," Flynn and Rita answered simultaneously, Rita with a little more resentment in her tone than Flynn.
"Sure you're not," Judith said. She giggled, earning herself one of Rita's signature death glares. "Come on and lighten up. It won't be long until we find Yuri, I can tell."
"Good," Rita said, folding her arms across her chest. "Then I'll be able to kick his ass for making us come all the way out here."
"You'll have to stand in line for that," Flynn said.
Judith smirked in amusement at his statement and Rita merely rolled her eyes.
"Ya should probably wait to hear his reason before beating him up," Raven commented.
Rita glanced over her shoulder at him and frowned.
"I don't need a reason to beat someone up," she replied, jabbing Raven in the stomach with her elbow.
Raven let out a yelp and clutched at his stomach, though Flynn knew that it probably didn't hurt nearly as bad as Raven pretended that it did.
"Ow... Glad ta see yer as violent as ever," Raven said.
Rita scoffed at this, but she couldn't keep a slight smile from her expression. Flynn didn't really understand why she seemed to derive pleasure from hurting Raven, although the others in the group seemed fairly used to it so Flynn didn't comment upon it.
Judith linked her arm with Flynn's, startling him slightly. She had a slightly mysterious smile on her face, as she usually did, and her gaze flickered briefly to Rita before returning to Flynn.
"She seems to have cheered up a little," Judith commented. "That's good. Jealously is a hard thing to deal with after all."
"Jealously?" Flynn asked, uncertain about what Judith was referring to.
"Never mind," Judith said, waving a hand dismissively. "Anyways, what about you? You still look like you're on edge, even though we're fairly close to finding Yuri now."
"Ah, do I?" Flynn asked, tearing his gaze away from Judith's piercing one. "I suppose I'm just worried about him. I don't know why he's here, or if he's hurt or something like that."
"He's fine," Judith insisted. "I know he is."
"How?"
Judith smirked slightly and shook her head.
"Woman's intuition."
Flynn smiled, but he wasn't all that reassured. Judith seemed to know what she was doing, perhaps even more than she was letting on. Then again, she apparently always seemed that way according to Yuri, whether she knew what was going on or not. It was hard to tell what was on her mind.
"I see. But are you sure that he's even here?"
"I'm surprised that you're even asking that question at this point," Judith said, raising her eyebrows skeptically.
"It just seems strange that Yuri would be in a place like this."
"Well, we won't know until we look will we?"
Flynn opened his mouth to respond when he was interrupted by Karol calling out to them from a few feet ahead where he stood beside Estellise and Hanael.
"Guys! Hanael is going to take us to the castle!"
Flynn turned and gave Judith a puzzled look. Why were they going to the castle? It wasn't as if they were sightseeing. Surely they should be asking around if anyone had seen or heard about a human being brought here instead.
"That sounds like a good idea to me," Judith said upon noticing Flynn's confusion. "After all, the castle is at the center of the city. If anyone here knows where Yuri is, it would be the people there, don't you think? Starting our search there would be best."
"Oh, that... makes sense," Flynn responded, wondering why on earth that hadn't occurred to him.
Repede barked eagerly and bounded off ahead to walk beside Karol. The dog seemed fairly eager now that they had a particular destination in mind. Flynn continued to walk at the same pace, wondering what it must be like for Repede to have lost Yuri in the manner that he had. Repede was always fairly independent and of course he still had Flynn, who would always make time to play with the dog a little whenever Yuri brought him along on one of his visits. At the same time, it had always seemed that Yuri was closer to Repede and understood him better than anyone else, including Flynn. What would happen if they didn't manage to find Yuri? Flynn shook his head. No, he didn't want to think about that. Not now that they were so close to finding him.
"Flynn?" Judith asked. "Are you all right?"
"Y-yes I'm fine," Flynn replied, a little startled. "I was just thinking."
Judith smiled sympathetically at Flynn, and the blond wondered if his inner turmoil showed in his expression. He hoped not, since that would probably only end up worrying everyone. Judith tugged gently on his arm, intent on keeping him from dwelling too much on his worries about Yuri.
"Come on," she said. "We're almost there."
They followed Hanael up to the castle, stopping at the castle gates where two other angels were guarding the entrance. They glanced at each other briefly, then looked slightly suspiciously at the group. Considering how apparently rare it was to see humans, they had good reason for being suspicious. Flynn himself wasn't particularly sure if he could really trust the angels either. After all, they had taken Yuri here for some reason. Even if Yuri had gone willingly, which would explain the mysterious goodbye, Flynn didn't know what they intended to do with him. At the moment, he could really only come up with bad things; although what reason the angels would have for hurting Yuri in some way, Flynn couldn't really say. Perhaps it was best if he give them the benefit of the doubt, although from the way they were glaring at them, it didn't seem that the guards would be giving him the same courtesy any time soon.
"What business do you have here humans?"
Flynn flinched slightly at the hostility in the guard's tone. He wasn't about to be intimidated though, and he walked to the front of the group to stand face to face with the guard who had asked the question.
"We are looking for a friend of ours who was brought here," Flynn said, using the most authoritative tone he could muster. Although most people were usually affected by his commanding voice, the guards didn't seem at all impressed.
"And why should we trust what you say? We had heard no word of your arrival. For all we know, you could have some underhanded motive for coming here."
Hanael moved forward to stand beside Flynn. The guards appeared briefly surprised, but only for a moment before resuming their original stoic expression.
"Don't be like that guys," Hanael said. "I'm the one who brought them here."
"And I will be sure to inform your captain of your clear defiance of protocol," the guard replied. "You know very well that humans are not allowed here except when specified otherwise by the archangels."
Hanael hung his head sheepishly, seeming to shrink back slightly. Judith took this as her cue to step forward and try her hand at convincing the guards to let them in.
"We have come an awfully long way," she said. "Surely you wouldn't make us turn back now."
The guards exchanged a glance before turning their attention to Judith.
"One of you is a Krytian?" asked the guard on Flynn's right. "That changes things."
"Really? You mean we can go inside?" Karol asked, looking surprised.
"No," the guard said, shaking his head. "Humans are not allowed inside the castle without permission from an archangel. But we can allow the Krytian woman inside."
Judith turned to the others, waiting for them to come to a decision. They exchanged doubtful glances, but there weren't any other options left to them.
"Do you mind going on your own Judith?" Flynn asked.
Not at all," Judith said, shaking her head. "I'll see what I can find and get back as soon as possible."
She walked forward and the guards opened the gate for her to pass through before closing it again with a loud clang. She glanced back over her shoulder and waved to them before continuing towards the large castle doors and disappearing inside.
"Be careful," Estellise called after her. Estellise turned to Flynn, looking uncertain. "Will she be all right on her own?"
"I'm sure she'll be fine," Flynn assured her.
"Yeah, Judy's tough," Karol added, grinning confidently. "In the meantime, we should probably ask around and see what else we can find out by asking around the city."
"For once, I agree with Karol," Rita said, glancing at the guards who were still watching them intently. "There's no sense in just waiting around when we could be doing something productive."
"Are you still going to be escorting us Hanael?" Estellise asked, turning to look at Hanael.
Hanael glanced at the guards, looking for confirmation for what he should do.
"Now that you brought them inside, they're your responsibility," one of the guards said. "You'd better keep a close eye on them and make sure they don't cause any trouble."
Hanael chuckled nervously, fidgeting under the intense glares of the guards.
"Alright," he said, turning back to Estellise. "Looks like I will be your guide for a while longer."
Estellise nodded, seeming happy. Glancing at Rita, Flynn noticed that the mage did not seem all that happy about the arrangement. He wasn't sure why she seemed to be in such a foul mood, but he was rather reluctant to ask for fear that she'd turn her anger on him instead.
"Let's head out then," Raven said. "We'll check back here in a little while to see if Judith has made any progress with her investigation here."
Repede barked in agreement and they all followed Hanael as he walked away, leaving the guards and their suspicious glares behind. They wandered through the streets, but didn't spot anyone else in the area until they reached what appeared to be the city center. In the middle of the large plaza stood a fountain with an impressively detailed sculpture of two angels. There were several market stalls set up around the square, and angels were milling around. There was an excited buzz of conversation which fell into silence as Hanael led the group towards the square. Once again, Flynn became aware of many curious stares being directed at them.
Eventually, one of the angels seemed to gather enough courage to approach them. This angel was a woman with dirty blonde hair. She was dressed in a long, light pink dress and had tied her hair back in a high ponytail with a silver hair ornament. The angel smiled cheerfully at them as she approached, and it was clear that she was excited to see them.
"Hello there!" she greeted.
"Sophia!" Hanael exclaimed, immediately brightening up upon recognizing her. "I wasn't expecting to meet you here."
"I wasn't expecting to see you here either. I thought you'd be on duty," Sophia responded, turning to look curiously at the rest of the group. "Who are your friends?"
Estellise quickly bowed to Sophia in greeting, smiling shyly and receiving a bright grin in return.
"Good afternoon Sophia," Estellise greeted. "My name is Estellise, but most people call me Estelle. And these are my friends; Rita, Flynn, Karol, and Raven. It is very nice to meet you."
"Likewise," Sophia responded, giggling cutely. "I've never seen a human before, so this is very exciting for me."
"Its pretty exciting for us too," Estellise said. "We traveled a long way to get here."
"I'm sure you did," Sophia said, nodding. "What is it that brings you all the way out here?"
"We're searching for a friend of ours," Estellise replied. "We found an angel feather, and it led us here. They wouldn't let us in to the castle though, so we're hoping to find some more clues by asking around the city."
"The guards wouldn't let you in? That sounds like them," Sophia said, sighing and shaking her head. "But they're just doing their job. They're really very nice when they're off duty."
"I don't think so. I think they're jerks all the time," Hanael said, frowning. "Not to mention they're extremely stubborn and work obsessed."
Sophia laughed and wrapped her arm around Hanael's, smirking playfully.
"Are you jealous?" Sophia teased. "Don't worry. I still like you best."
Hanael sputtered and blushed in response. Estellise looked curiously from one to the other, a wide smile spreading across her face as she regarded them.
"A-anyways," Hanael said, averting his gaze. "Shall we start asking around about that friend of yours?"
"Yeah," Rita said, nodding. "There are plenty of people here. I'm sure someone nearby is bound to know something about him."
"Who should we ask first though?" Karol asked, looking around at the angels who were regarding them with a cautious sort of curiosity.
"Well, I haven't heard about a human coming here before now, but I'm sure that if anyone will know about your friend, it'll be Diana," Sophia said. "She always seems to know about everything that goes on in this city."
"Oh yeah. That's a good idea," Hanael said, nodding in agreement.
"Where can we find her?" Flynn asked.
"I'll show you the way," Sophia replied. "It's not far from here."
Flynn nodded, but he wasn't too confident that they would really find anything out. It seemed that no matter where they went, they simply encountered more obstacles, and this new lead was probably going to result in another dead end. Still, they hadn't been searching long enough to say this for certain. Perhaps this woman really would have some information on Yuri's whereabouts. Flynn was probably just being overly pessimistic about everything.
Sophia began to lead the way down a side street and away from the crowd of curious angel onlookers. Flynn followed in silence, his hands clenched into fists. His unfamiliar surroundings were really beginning to set him on edge. Everything in the city was really similar to the way it was back home, and yet at the same time it was entirely different.
"How much farther do we have to go?" Flynn asked.
"Its not much farther now," Sophia answered, glancing over her shoulder at him. "You're a rather impatient person aren't you?"
"Only when it involves someone important to me," Flynn replied looking away.
"I see," Sophia said, smiling faintly. "I'm sure that your friend is fine though."
"That's what everyone says," Flynn muttered. "I can't believe that until I see him myself."
Sophia shrugged and turned down an alleyway. Although it was cleaner than any alley that Flynn had ever been in, the tall buildings on either side cast a shadow over the narrow road. They walked single file down the dark alley. There was a chill in the air, and Flynn shivered, wrapping his arms around himself and directing a suspicious glare at Sophia. Where was this woman leading them? It could be some kind of trap. After all, Flynn starting to doubt that he could really trust the angels, and he would probably never be certain that he could fully trust them until he found out what it was that they wanted with Yuri.
Estellise tapped Flynn on the shoulder and he glanced over at her to see that she was frowning in concern. It was clear that he was causing her to worry.
"Flynn, what's wrong?" she asked.
"It's nothing Lady Estellise," Flynn said, shaking his head. "I'm just a little worried."
"I understand that, but your expression looks like you're about to murder someone. Please calm down. You're setting everybody on edge."
Flynn gaped at Estellise in surprise. He must have been glaring really intently if Estellise of all people had decided to call him out on it. Flynn took a deep breath and did his best to regain his composure. It didn't make any sense to bother other people simply because he was getting stressed out. He had always been able to keep his cool in difficult situations, so this should not have been any exception.
"We're here," Sophia said, gesturing to a large wooden door.
"Where is 'here' exactly?" Rita asked, pushing her way to the front of the group.
"This is Diana's house," Sophia replied, turning and knocking loudly on the door. "She'll almost certainly be able to tell where in the city your friend is."
"That's great," Raven said, clasping Flynn on the back. "I don't think Flynn here can bear ta wait much longer than this."
"I... I'm sorry..." Flynn said, smiling sheepishly at the group.
"Don't worry about it Flynn," Karol said, shaking his head. "We all really want to find Yuri."
As Karol spoke, the door slowly swung open to reveal a room that was even darker than the alleyway they had just walked through.
"Well, go on inside," Hanael said. "We'll wait out here for you."
Karol nodded and hurried inside. Rita, on the other hand, looked a little wary of simply walking inside, but eventually headed in with Estellise tailing closely behind her. Repede barked, looking up at Flynn before walking inside. Flynn wasn't sure how he felt about the fact that Sophia and Hanael waiting outside, suspecting that it could be a trap of some sort, but nevertheless followed Repede inside. His eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness. Raven closed the door behind them and someone who sounded like Estellise let out a small squeak of surprise. Flynn attempted to move about the room, but after a few steps he bumped into a table and decided to wait until he could see better.
"Is there anyone here?" Karol asked.
In response to his question, someone struck a match and the faint light of the flame pierced through the gloom. The light revealed that the person who had lit the match was a beautiful woman with pale skin and light gray hair. The woman had some sort of blindfold tied around her eyes, and her overall appearance was quite striking. At first, Flynn thought that this woman was a ghost, but he soon dismissed that thought when the woman moved to light a candle on the table and he caught sight of her large white wings. It seemed that she was an angel as well, which was only to be expected. Rita, who was clinging to Estellise's arm, glared at the woman.
"Who are you?" Rita demanded.
The woman turned in Rita's direction, a faint smile crossing her face.
"I thought that you would already know who I was since you took the trouble of coming to see me," she commented. "I'm Diana. You have come seeking my help have with something have you not?"
"Yes, that's right," Estellise said quickly, cutting off what was likely to be a sarcastic response from Rita. "How did you know that?"
"Everyone comes here for my help," Diana replied. "What is it that you wish to ask of me?"
"We believe a friend of ours was taken here," Estellise replied. "Sophia said that you might know where we can find him."
"Hm... well, finding people is my specialty," Diana said, nodding. "This friend of yours... is he a human as well?"
"Yes," Estellise said. "Can you really find him?"
"I can find anyone in the city," Diana said, taking a jug of water that stood on the table and pouring it's contents into a large bowl. "It is a special talent of mine. I can sense where any particular person is, and humans have an especially unique presence. It shouldn't be difficult to locate him."
Diana placed her fingers upon the surface of the water and closed her eyes. A faint warmth spread throughout the room and the water seemed to take on a faintly golden hue. Flynn watched in surprise as Diana cast some sort of spell. The type of magic that the angel used was remarkably similar to the kind used by Estellise. Glancing to one side, he noticed that Rita seemed to be studying Diana's movements intently. She probably noticed the similarities as well.
"Hm..." Diana hummed, her brow creasing in concentration. After a moment, she lifted her fingers out of the water and the light faded. "Are you sure he's in this city?"
"Why do you ask? Can't you find him?" Rita asked.
"As far as I can tell, you five are the only humans in the city," Diana said, sighing and shaking her head. "Unless there is something interfering with my powers, he isn't here."
There was an uncomfortable silence amongst the group. Flynn grit his teeth together angrily. So they were in the wrong place after all. They were wasting time in searching this place.
"Thank you for your help," Flynn said. "We'll have to leave and continue our search elsewhere."
"Wait Flynn," Estellise insisted. She went over to Diane's side. "Um... Are you absolutely sure that he isn't here? We came all this way, it'd be a shame if we had to turn back now."
"There may still be a chance that your friend is here..." Diane said cautiously. "But as I said, there would have to be something interfering with my powers, and there aren't many things that can do that."
"We shouldn't give up just yet," Estellise said, turning to the others. "The clues led us here in the first place, so I can't believe that this is a dead end. Let's search a little longer."
"I'm with Estelle," Rita said, crossing her arms. "It doesn't make sense to just turn back now."
"It couldn't hurt," Raven agreed.
"But we might be wasting time," Flynn objected. "We don't know where Yuri is. For all we know, someone could have kidnapped him and he's in trouble right now!"
"I don't think someone could have captured Yuri that easily though," Karol replied. "At least, not without you noticing. I'm for looking around here a little longer."
"You've been out voted Flynn," Rita said, smirking.
Flynn sighed. He didn't really have much of a choice. It wasn't as if he could really leave this place without their help. And really, they had a point. The angel feather was his only clue, and so it was probable that an angel was responsible for Yuri's disappearance. Whether that angel was here or not was uncertain, but there was still a chance that someone here knew something about Yuri's whereabouts. Besides, Flynn didn't have any ideas for where else they should start looking.
"Alright. I suppose we have to meet back up with Judith to see what she has found out in any case," Flynn said. "Thank you for your help Diane."
"I am only sorry that I could not be of a greater assistance," Diane said, smiling. "If you should ever need my help again, don't hesitate to call on me."
"Of course," Raven said, flashing a brilliant grin that turned into a grimace as Rita stomped on his foot. "Ouch! I didn't even do anything that time Rita!"
Rita merely rolled her eyes and walked out, followed by the others. Sophia and Hanael were outside chatting when they came out, and quickly turned to face them.
"Well?" Sophia asked. "Did you find out where your friend is?"
"No. It was a dead end," Rita replied.
Sophia's face fell, clearly disappointed to hear that they hadn't had any luck.
"Oh... I'm sorry," she said. "I thought for sure that Diane would be able to help."
"Don't worry about it," Flynn said. "We did learn that he probably isn't anywhere in this city."
"At least, not anywhere obvious," Estellise said. "Judith might have had better luck than us at the castle though, so we should head back there."
"Good idea," Hanael said. "I'll escort you guys back."
"I still have to finish some errands," Sophia said, smiling wistfully. "It was very nice meeting you all. I do hope that we will get a chance to meet again."
Sophia waved to them before spreading her wings and taking off into the sky. They watched her go, slightly awestruck by the action.
"Wow. That's so cool," Karol commented.
"Is it? I guess it would be for humans," Hanael said, shrugging.
Karol frowned slightly at the remark, but said nothing. They followed Hanael as he led the way through the streets and back towards the castle. They reached the gate just as Judith was walking out.
"Judith!" Estellise called, waving to her enthusiastically as she approached.
"Hello," Judith greeted, smiling in her usual, secretive manner.
"I sure hope you found something out, because we sure didn't," Rita said.
"As a matter of fact, I did," Judith said, her smile broadening slightly.
Flynn was relieved to hear this. So their journey here wasn't a waste of time after all. If Judith had found out something about Yuri's whereabouts, then all the aggravation Flynn had been feeling since they arrived here was worth it.
"Well? What did you find out?" Rita asked. "Did you find out where he is?"
"Oh yes," Judith said, nodding. "In fact, he says he says that he'll meet up with us as soon as he finishes what he's doing."
"What?! You mean he's here?!" Karol exclaimed, staring open mouthed at Judith.
Similar expressions of shock could be seen on the rest of the group. Judith's smile suddenly appeared very smug to Flynn. But if what Judith was saying was true, why hadn't Diane managed to find Yuri with her spell?
"That doesn't make any sense," Rita said, frowning. "We were just told that he wasn't here!"
"Hm... Well, I don't know why you were told that," Judith said, shrugging. "But I know for a fact that he is here. I spoke to him myself."
"You spoke to him? So that means... that Yuri is all right?" Flynn asked.
"Yes. Yuri is fine," Judith replied.
Flynn sighed, feeling as if a great weight had just been lifted off his shoulders. This feeling was soon replaced by an urge to punch something. Preferably Yuri's face, which he intended to do as soon as he saw his friend again.
"Where is he going meet us?" Estellise asked.
"He said that he'll meet us by the goddess statue in the park since there won't be too many people there and we can talk privately," Judith replied.
"Works for me," Rita said, smirking. "I don't care where I beat him up so long as I get a chance to."
"R-Rita! You don't know Yuri's side of the story yet!" Estellise objected. "At least let him explain before you hit him."
"Hmph. That's more than he deserves," Rita muttered. "But I guess if you want me to, I can wait a little longer before beating him up."
"Well then. Shall I lead the way?" Judith asked.
"Yes. Let's go," Flynn said, nodding.
Judith led the group down a street past the castle and up a hill. At a certain point, they reached a small path that led up a grassy hill. Squinting, Flynn could just barely make out what appeared to be a statue at the top. They followed the path until they reached the statue. There were several benches nearby, and Rita, Raven and Karol quickly went to sit down upon them.
"I'm glad we get ta rest a bit," Raven said, letting out a sigh. "You kids are tiring me out with all this walking around in circles."
"Shut up," Rita muttered, throwing Raven an annoyed glare. "We weren't even walking around all that much. You're just lazy."
Estellise sat down beside Rita, looking up at the statue of a goddess that stood in the center of the park. A faintly nostalgic look crossed her face at the sight.
"That statue reminds me of the ones back in Zaphias," Estellise remarked.
Flynn looked up at the statue, noticing that it was remarkably similar to some of the statues he had seen back at the castle.
"I see what you mean," he said. "I wonder why they're so similar?"
"Who knows," Rita said, yawning. "When is Yuri going to get here anyways? Is he going to make us wait around all day for him?"
"We haven't been waiting that long," Karol pointed out.
"Shut up," Rita muttered, pulling out her book and throwing it at Karol, who swiftly ducked.
"He should be here any minute now," Judith said. "Just be patient."
Rita sighed, but nevertheless settled down to wait along with everyone else. Judith retrieved her book for her and she began reading it as the others began to chat quietly amongst themselves. Flynn went back to examining the statue. He began to wonder what on earth Yuri was doing in such a place. It seemed like his earlier theory that Yuri had been kidnapped was out, which only left the possibility that Yuri had gone willingly. But what on earth could the angels want with Yuri? Sure, Yuri had become a great hero and saved the world, but that was years ago and he had since settled down to run Brave Vesperia with Karol and occasionally go adventuring with Estellise. And if Yuri had known he would be taken away by angels, why didn't he say anything? Yuri almost never kept secrets from him. At least, not when he had a choice in the matter.
Speculating wasn't getting Flynn anywhere, so he gave up trying to figure things out. Yuri would be there soon enough, and then he would be able to demand an explanation. Flynn walked over to sit down beside Judith, who was staring up at the sky.
"Did Yuri tell you why he was brought here?" Flynn asked.
Judith looked over at Flynn, slightly surprised. Smiling, she shook her head.
"No, but I have a pretty good idea why he's here," Judith said.
"Really? What is it?" Flynn asked.
The Krytian woman looked back up at the sky, smiling mysteriously once again.
"I think Yuri would be able to explain better than I can," Judith replied. "He'll be here momentarily, and you can ask him then."
As Flynn opened his mouth to reply that he couldn't wait much longer than this, an angel suddenly landed on the ground in front of him, startling him out of his train of thought. The angel was dressed in a dark purple robe reaching about mid-thigh in length. By his side hung a sword that was attached to a thick, dark brown belt around his narrow waist. The angel's long black hair was braided and draped casually over one shoulder. Flynn looked up at the angel's face and was met with a familiar smirk.
"Hey Flynn," the angel greeted.
"Y-Yuri?!"
[***]
End Note: Did I make that plot twist too obvious? I did, didn't I? *crawls into corner to hide* Well, the plot should pick up from this point, so hopefully I'll finally get a chance to start writing some of the romance scenes in the next chapter. Ha... I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and haven't completely give up on me yet. Thanks for reading.
