Cinders
Duskshipping, Some Proxshipping. Romance/Tragedy.
Part II
Chapter Four – Proximity
The smells of familiar mountain spices slowly reminded Felix of the world around him. His sister's cooking downstairs, the small room around him, the chirps and whirrs of the birds in the light mountain air. The sun was beginning to set behind the peaks. All of it was so familiar, and yet he felt as though something was missing.
He could hear his mother calling from downstairs. She must have returned home while he had been daydreaming.
"Felix! Come downstairs dear, your sister's prepared a meal for us."
He stood, gathering himself and heading downstairs to meet his family. His mother and father sat at the large table in the center of the room, while his sister lifted a steaming iron pot onto the table. She quickly removed the lid with a girlish flick of her hand and a wide smile across her face.
"Ta-da!" Jenna bounced about with glee and smiled at everyone. She only ever acted this way when she was proud of her cooking.
Felix leaned over the table and looked into the pot. The meal looked delicious, the blend of herbs and spices created an inviting aroma, if he hadn't known better, he would have thought it to be the work of a fine chef.
Dinner was uneventful; he remained silent as his sister spoke loudly about how Isaac said she could have been the towns best cook, and how she was hired to work as a chef at the Inn at the end of the season.
His time in New Vale was always this way. Jenna always said he wasn't getting out enough, and that he should go meet a nice girl to while away the long mountain hours with. It wasn't that he couldn't find one outside Vale; he was "The Hero who saved the world" after all, but in New Vale people viewed his actions a little differently, although he couldn't really blame them.
It's not like he was interested in any women anyway, at least not anymore.
"Hey, Felix! Quit daydreaming, your food's getting cold!"
Felix snapped to as his sister smacked his wrist with a spoon.
"Ouch! – Hey, quit it, Jenna!"
"Wake up, Felix! All you ever do now is daydream! What are you even thinking about, anyway?"
Felix sighed. "Nothing…"
He wished he could tell her what exactly he was thinking about. He wished she could somehow understand things the way he did… But that was impossible; Jenna could never understand what he felt.
"Yeah, right," She said, rolling her eyes at him. "You're thinking about some girl, aren't you? Don't try to hide it, Felix, I can read you like a book."
"Shit – Does she know?" He thought, "No, she couldn't… I haven't told anyone…"
Felix didn't notice just how red his face had turned, but Jenna certainly did. She was grinning at him non-stop until he finally got up and began to leave the table, picking up his silverware and placing it over by the sink as he left.
Jenna stopped him on his way up the stairs. He glanced at her and continued on up, but she grabbed his shoulder, adamant on stopping him in his tracks.
"Hey, Felix. If she's really troubling you so much, why don't you go and talk to her? All you do is sit up in your room…"
She didn't understand. How could she? He just wanted her to leave him alone.
"And if you sit up there all day, nothings ever gonna happen between you two, you know…"
Why couldn't she just mind her own damn business?
"Just go and talk to her…"
He turned to look at her, and shook her hand off his shoulder. She stood there with her hands on her hips, dark-red eyes boring into his, and refused to budge.
"… I can't talk to her, Jenna. You wouldn't understand."
"Felix, don't be an idiot. Just go talk to her already!"
"I can't!"
"And why the hell not?"
"Because the dead don't talk!"
Felix yelled into her face and turned away, storming up to the door and slamming it behind him. He didn't bother to look back and see Jenna sobbing into her dress, or his parent's looks of confusion and concern. He couldn't care less about that.
Felix stepped over by the bed and undressed. It was late, the sun had set and he was abnormally tired that evening. He climbed into bed and covered himself with the sheets. The room began to fade from his view, but sleep eluded him. The invisible holes drilled into the wood above his head covered every space on the ceiling; he had had a lot of practice making them after his adventures across the world had finally come to an end. He felt himself slipping back into the world that he missed, the world that had brought him happiness…
When the group approached the outskirts of the small winter town called Prox, Felix and the others were taken directly to see the village chieftain, a man Saturos called "Puelle". Felix would much rather have been taken directly to a warm bed and a hot meal, but he knew better than to complain. He hadn't expected several hours of trudging through snow half as deep as he was tall after disembarking from Menardi's ship. Saturos and Menardi were probably used to it, but Felix felt like he'd rather die than take another step.
Puelle stood at the entrance to the village near what looked like the town Inn; two guards wearing battle armor similar to Saturos's on either side of him. The men did not draw their weapons, but kept their eyes fixed on Felix and the others as Saturos spoke to the chieftain. Puelle was garbed in red, and a purple robe was draped over his shoulders. The clothing was tattered and overused - the elders of Vale wore much finer garments than this man - but Puelle was a powerful individual, perhaps even stronger than Saturos.
His skin was green and scaled, and extremely rugged. He was older than Saturos or Menardi, and as he began to question Saturos, he spoke in a far gentler tone than what Felix had expected. He kept his eyes on the chieftain; despite the glaring looks the guards gave him.
"What news, Saturos? Do you have the Stars? Where are the rest of our soldiers?"
Saturos looked uneasy, he didn't look the Elder in the eye when he spoke.
"The Valians wanted nothing to do with us. The elders refused to hear us out… So… We broke into the Sanctum and tried to steal the Stars. But the Sanctum held a trap created to protect them… It summoned a storm, and only Menardi and I made it out alive."
Felix stared at Saturos in disbelief. "They caused the storm? They broke into Sol Sanctum? They were the reason his home was destroyed, and his whole family was nearly killed?
"I see… That is a great loss. The Stars may have to wait for another time, then."
"You know as well as I, Chieftain, that we don't have the luxury of time. Coincidentally, we've brought a group of Valians that we'd rescued from the storm. Perhaps the Valian Elders would be more keen to listen to us if they spoke to one of their own."
"Hostages? This was uncalled for, Saturos! These people have done us no wrong."
"They may be of further use to us as well, Chieftain. Three of them are Venus adepts, and the boy looks especially promising."
Felix didn't understand what Saturos had meant.
"Me? What does this have to do with me…?"
"I see… You may be right. But I will so no harm come to these people, understood?"
"Of course, Chieftain."
"Find these people a warm place to stay until I can arrange a former home for them. Treat them as though they were our own."
The Chieftain's party dispersed. Saturos led Felix and the others to a small house on the outskirts of town. The town of Prox was small; the houses were built in the same fashion as those in Vale, but were made from a darker northern wood, the dark colors against the pure white show-covered roofs, the grey sky and the snow covered ground made the little town seem almost serene, and yet it was cold and near inhospitable at the same time.
By the time they reached the house outside of town where they were to stay, Felix could barely keep up the pace. His legs had become almost completely numb, and the sharp sensation in his fingers became more and more unbearable by the second.
The house was similar to the rest of the houses in Prox. It was small, but cozy. The house was poorly built, cracks in the wood and broken glass windows made evident the poverty of the town; or perhaps the Proxians simply chose the oldest and most unkempt home for them to stay in. A small table and a few chairs sat in the middle of the room, and there was a small fireplace with piles of tinder set aside for use. The one fireplace was the only source of heat for the entire home. Even inside, Felix could see his breath freeze in the air.
His mother and father stood by the small fireplace and started to place the tinder inside. His mother conjured a small flame from her fingertips to ignite the cold wood. They way she tended to it reminded Felix of how Menardi had done it on the ship; or perhaps it was Menardi who had reminded him of his mother.
The flames began to burn brightly, but the air still felt as though it was frozen solid.
After guiding them to the house, Saturos left without another word. Menardi had already disappeared shortly after their encounter with the village Elder. Frankly, Felix couldn't care less where they had gone.
"They're the whole reason any of this is happening…" Felix grumbled, "If they hadn't tried to steal the Elemental Stars from our Sanctum, we'd still be home, and I wouldn't be freezing my ass off."
To his surprise, Kyle, who had remained almost completely silent since he had been with them, put his hand on Felix's shoulder.
"They are indeed responsible, but I believe they had no ill intentions. The Elder has promised us an explanation, and we will have it in the morning."
Felix was surprised at the forgiveness Kyle was showing the Proxians. The man had always been kind-hearted, but forgiveness was the last thing on Felix's mind.
"But… Isaac was there too, what if he was hurt, and it was their fault?"
"Isaac is a strong boy, Dora will take good care of him."
Felix didn't have a clue how Kyle could be so calm, but it relaxed him.
"This explanation had better be good."
He laid himself down in a bed near the fire and made himself as comfortable as he could. Fatigue overtook him, and he let himself melt into the hard cold mattress that felt to him like a bed fit for a king.
Chapter 4 - END. Chapter 5 - In editing progress. ;3
