AN: Alright, hello, everybody! I am back. I managed to squeeze in a story in the new Fandom contests at inkitt. It's called "Happiness at Last" and the fandom I wrote it for is Monty Oum's RWBY, so if you guys love RWBY, can find it and read it and it's to your liking, please leave me a heart so I can get some votes in the contest. Anyways, thanks to that one reviewer who greeted me a happy birthday like two months ago. That's also something I appreciated. I hope you guys enjoyed the last chapter and now I hope you guys enjoy this one as well.
To quote Vocaloid's "Seven Crimes and Punishments": Now, let's begin!
CHAPTER XXIV:
FLIGHT
The moment the mountain slidecar stopped on the first district, Leia and Jude immediately grabbed Chris from her seat and practically dragged her out of the slidecar. They were about to approach the door when…
"Nobody leaves me behind at a party."
…they came face to face with Presa.
"Presa, was it? If you've been Gaius' henchwoman all along then you've been after us ever since we escaped Fennmont." Milla stated.
"Al sold you back to His Highness way back in Nia Khera." She promptly informed them.
"He was on your side the whole time." Jude said in realization through gritted teeth as he let his hold of Chris go. His statement was met with a snort from the woman.
"Hardly. That man is no ally."
Jude's face clearly showed his confusion.
"I'll leave our relationship to your imagination." Presa said before she continued on. "All I'll say is this: Al drifts from one group to the next like a ship without a compass. Trying to plot his course is impossible. Serves you right for trusting him."
"It's obvious that the Lance of Kresnik is the greatest threat if war breaks out. Surely Maxwell realizes this." Wingul said from where he was standing.
"Your territorial squabbles are of no interest to me. My only concern is keeping that thing out of human hands and preventing a miserable end for us all." Milla retorted. Wingul responded by pulling his sword out.
"So high and mighty. It's time someone broke your arrogance."
Just as Milla was prepping herself up to attack, Rowen held his arm out.
"Enough. You didn't become a veteran of countless battles through meaningless bloodshed. Has your youth gotten the better of you?" He asked the young man as Milla stood down.
"Don't lecture me on age, Ilbert. Your ways are old. Therefore, you falter." Wingul gravely said as he raised his sword up. "And then you flee!"
And suddenly, Wingul was engulfed by white mist and his hairs turned white, became pointy and were all going towards one direction. His cloak became outstretched, making it similar to a wing.
"Wh-What just happened?" Leia asked as she continued her hold on Chris, not noticing that one of Chris' Lilium orbs had begun glowing. In fact, none of them noticed.
"A sudden burst of mana?" Milla exclaimed in shock.
"He has a booster!" Jude informed them.
"Why?" Elize asked. Wingul responded in a language that none of them knew.
"What?" Jude asked in confusion as they pulled their weapons out.
"Is that Long Dau?" The elderly gentleman wondered out loud. Again, Wingul said something that they couldn't understand and Leia was caught off guard when Chris separated from her, took her sword from Elize and staggered towards Rowen before putting a bloodied hand on his shoulder.
"He-He said…earl-earlier th-that Elize…should-should watch her t-tongue and respect her-her…elders. Now-"She was cut off when her body was racked with coughs and she clenched her teeth in pain. "Now…Now, he s-says he was pl-planning on capturing Mi-Milla earlier. But he thinks it-it'd be easier to ki-kill her."
Jude and Milla noticed that one of her Lilium orbs were glowing but neither of them knew what it meant. Milla felt that she should know since she was Maxwell and she created the Lilium Twins. But instead, she was drawing up a blank when she tried to search for an explanation. Jude, meanwhile, was more concerned about Milla; if Wingul wanted her dead, he'd have to go through him first. He would never let anything happen to Milla. Not as long as he was still breathing.
"Are the two of you really willing…to fight me…with them?" Chris asked as she tried to stand straight on her own two feet. She saw the flash of hesitance in Presa's eyes but Wingul remained stoic as ever.
"Presa?" She addressed the woman. Finally, she shook her head as she slowly inched away.
"No. I already stuck my neck out for you against your father earlier. I don't want to undo that myself. Wingul, you take care of this. Go easy on her though; we don't want our country heirless." The sultry woman said before walking away. That left Wingul to deal with them. Immediately, he rushed forward and tried to slash his sword at Chris but luckily, despite her weakness, she was able to at least pull a bit of her sword out to successfully block it. Wingul slapped her so hard in the face with the back of his hand that she flew backwards and wasn't able to get up. Afterwards, before he can do anything else, Jude launched forward to attack and landed a punch into Wingul's gut. Soon after, Leia retaliated with an arte.
"Darting Claw!"
The young nurse stabbed at Wingul with her spear three times, the last one missing its mark. However, due to that, Wingul was able to swipe his sword at her numerous times and she was sent to the ground. Milla slashed his sword at Wingul, hitting his shoulder before Elize took over and sent her light stars towards him then she finished her attack off with an arte.
"Negative Gate!"
A black hole opened up on the ground and shadowy hands engulfed Wingul, injuring him in nearly every part of his body. While he was distracted, Rowen attacked with his own arte.
"Blue Sphere!"
A large bubble of water appeared and dropped to the ground, drenching Wingul and bringing him even more pain. Again, he delivered an arte.
"Rising Phoenix!"
Wingul backflipped towards the air before rushing forward towards Rowen, fiery feathers trailing behind him as he swung his sword and hit Rowen in the leg. Jude immediately rushed to attack with an arte.
"Aqua Sweep!"
Jude dropped to the ground and swept his leg, water trailing behind it and hit Wingul in the leg. Milla slashed her sword towards him but he was able to block her attack. Milla smirked before holding her hand out.
"Fireball!"
An explosion engulfed Wingul all of a suddenly and Milla immediately linked with Jude and performed a link arte.
"Flame Sphere!"
Another dome of fire appeared and another explosion happened, forcing Wingul to the ground. Before he can get up, Elize made her arte.
"Pow Hammer!"
A small hammer fell on Wingul and finally fed up, Wingul used his own arte on Elize.
"Severing Wind!"
He slashed his sword once, hitting her before following up by doing a spiral on her, launching her in the air and she fell down on the ground. Suddenly, they noticed a bright glow beside them. They turned and realized that Chris was struggling to get up, her Lilium Orb glowing brighter. Suddenly, some sort of misty essence flowed out of the orb, eventually taking shape as a familiar young boy.
"What?" Jude breathed out in confusion. Even Milla was confused; what's going on? How was he here?
"Ethan?" Chris called for him. The boy looked at her and offered his hand. Reluctantly, Chris took it. And much to her shock and awe; it was tangible. He hoisted her up and tilted his head towards Wingul. Chris nodded as she pulled her sword out.
"Yeah, let's get him." She said as she nodded her head. Together, they rushed to attack. For once, Chris was able link with him; she felt it. She slashed her sword towards Wingul despite the difficulty and injured him in the chest before performing a linked arte.
"Armageddon!"
Chris jumped in the air and kicked Wingul just as Ethan held his hand out and an explosion happens as flames erupted from the ground where Wingul was. It seems he was too weak to get back up. Ethan eventually faded away and Chris dropped her sword and collapsed on the floor with her wounds still the same. Like he didn't even bother healing her. Rowen and Leia immediately helped her up as Wingul tried to stand up.
"What now?" He asked as Presa approached them. The woman simply stood beside Wingul with a hand on her hip. Milla drew her sword yet again.
"Still want to play, do you?" Presa asked and before Milla can attack, Jude held his hand out.
"Wait!"
"Don't try to stop me." She said.
"Look." Jude said. And indeed, Auj Oule soldiers were starting to approach them.
"I suppose our time is up." Milla declared before they all turned around and made their way towards the door.
"Running away again, Ilbert?" Wingul questioned the old gentleman. Rowen abruptly stopped in his tracks as the others ran past him.
"It's because you ran away last time that King Nachtigal ended up the way he did!" The younger man yelled out in an accusing tone. Rowen, however, said nothing and simply followed after his companions into the snow.
The party ran as far as they could and as fast as they can away from Kanbalar. They were somewhere in the Mon Highlands but they shouldn't be so far from Xian Du now.
"We have to hurry to Xian Du." Jude stated as he and Leia worked together to bring Chris. Every movement they made was met with a whimper from the newly revealed Princess and it worried them immensely. They were barely sustaining her with gels and they were running low on them as well…
"Why isn't Ethan healing you, Chris?" Leia asked in confusion.
"He-He's keeping h-h-h-his word. Wh-When we-we-we were k-k-kids, he said that i-if I desert the tr-tribe and I eventually get c-c-caught, he-he-he won't help me out." Chris managed to answer through chattering teeth.
"I see the entrance to Xian Du. Won't be long now. We're almost there." Milla said as they continued on. Eventually, they arrived back in Xian Du and just their luck, they spotted Isla and Yurgen.
"Yurgen! Isla!" Jude called out for them. Before he could walk towards them, Rowen put a hand on his shoulder.
"Careful. Word of our altercation may have preceded us." The older man gently warned him as Yurgen and Isla approached.
"How was your audience with the King?" Yurgen asked with a gentle smile. However, it immediately fell off when he saw Chris. Even Isla was shocked by how the young girl looked.
"What happened to her?" She asked as she gently lifted Chris' head to examine her.
"I knew this would happen sooner or later the moment she arrived in the city." Yurgen gravely said as he took the young girl from Leia.
"Take her to the inn so I can examine her, please." Isla requested. Immediately, they set off for the inn to treat Chris.
Hours later, Isla, Jude and Leia walked out of the inn's room where Chris was being treated. There were small traces of blood in each of their hands.
"Whoa, that was intense. Not even the Doc would let me handle stuff like that if he ever had to." Leia stated in shock.
"We weren't even supposed to learn that until the last parts of the year." Jude responded as they approached Milla and the others.
"Well, how is she, Isla?" Yurgen asked his fiancée.
"She's out of the woods. We had to set back her ribs so we can apply Healer on it. She's fine now, though. Just a few wounds and bruises. You can see her now but do take it easy on her." She quietly responded.
"I see. Thank you, Isla. You have our gratitude." Milla said before they all headed upstairs. They entered the room and saw Chris lying on the bed with nothing but bandages covering her torso. Most of the injuries were situated around her head and her ribs so it was no surprise if there were bandages there. Her lip was still somewhat split and no doubt it would result in another scar. Same goes for the top of her left eyebrow. Her right eye wasn't swollen anymore but it was somewhat obvious that there was a bruise there. Milla gently put her hand a top of Chris' head and she cracked her eyes open a bit.
"Milla?" She weakly moaned out.
"How are you feeling, young Miss?" Rowen gently asked her.
"Like a million Gald. Nah, I'm kidding; I feel like a herd of mares ran me over." She lightheartedly said with a small chuckle. Chris winced at the sharp pain it brought her ribs. Immediately, Teepo chomped her face while Elize hugged her.
"My face hurts. Please get him off me." Chris requested through gritted teeth and Rowen immediately pried Teepo off of her. Elize, however, refused to let go of her.
"Kid, anymore and you'll break my ribs again." She told the little girl with a tone of humor in it as she stroked Elize's head.
"We were so scared, Chris!" Teepo yelled out as he floated towards Elize's side. It was only then that Chris realized that Elize was crying.
"Come on, stop crying." Chris weakly chided her.
"Sorry. I just…I don't want to lose a friend like I lost mother and father." The little girl said as she wiped her tears away. Again, Chris chuckled despite the pain.
"Never gonna happen, kid. That's a promise." She assured Elize.
"Miss Elize, I suggest we let Miss Chris rest for now. I'm sure she'll be up and about in the morning." Rowen told the little girl, who simply nodded before standing up and following Rowen out of the room.
"Get some rest, Chris. We leave tomorrow." Milla said before making a move to leave.
"Milla."
She stopped in her tracks and turned around to face Chris.
"Thanks for standing up for me against my dad earlier." She said with a grateful tone. Milla gave her small smile and a nod before leaving the room while Chris closed her eyes yet again.
When Chris woke up again, the sun was barely rising over Xian Du. Looking around, she saw that her companions were asleep in their respective beds. Grabbing her shirt and her jacket (which Elize had finally shed), she carefully put them on, hissing in pain every once in a while as pain flared in some parts of her body before bending down to put her boots on. Then she carefully walked out of the room and left the inn. She limped over to the bridge and leaned on the railing, mind her own business as the people rose and slowly started opening their businesses.
"How are the injuries?" A familiar voice asked. Isla's face slowly came into view in the water as she leaned on the railing as well beside the young princess.
"Painful at times. But that's to be expected. Nothing that won't heal in a few days." She answered with a cough and a wince.
"You seem so sure." Isla said with a small smile.
"You seem to forget I was a doctor too." Chris retorted, never taking her eyes off the water. "Have you told Yurgen yet?"
Isla remained quiet as she continued looking at the water.
"You have to tell him some time." Chris reminded her.
"Tell me what?" A deeper voice said behind them. They both perked up and turned around, seeing Yurgen behind them.
"Well…cat's out of the bag. Get crackin'. If you don't do it, I will." Chris said before limping away. However, she stayed nearby, watching everything unfold before her very eyes. She knew that Isla was telling Yurgen the truth about what she did before they met and what she did to Elize. Yurgen appeared hurt and he was clenching his fists so much that it worried Chris. Slowly, she attempted to make her way towards them to prevent Yurgen from hurting Isla. But at the last minute, he unclenched his fists and embraced her. Isla cried in his arms as they embraced but despite that, Isla managed to glance her way and gave her a small, teary smile as she mouthed out the words 'Thank you' towards her. The young princess returned the smile with a nod before turning around and walking back to the inn but before she can, she spotted her companions running out of the inn, Leia and Jude scrambling after one another. They stopped, however, when they saw her standing a few inches before them. Chris gave them a look that clearly stated she was uncomfortable by what she was seeing and walked the opposite direction, hearing her friends running after her yet again.
"Chris! How are you feeling?" Jude asked her as he stopped in front of her. The others stopped behind her immediately.
"As good as a person who got the ever loving snot beaten out of them can be." Chris answered as she rubbed the back of her neck. Before anyone could say anything else, however, Yurgen approached them.
"How are you feeling, Chris?" He asked her.
"Good. For someone who just got beaten the crap out of them." She answered with crossed arms. "How is Isla?"
"Good. She took a walk to clear her head. Thank you for asking her to tell me. What happened in Kanbalar?" Yurgen asked for clarification. Milla spoke up immediately, remembering that Gaius was probably still after them.
"I'm sorry. We'll have to talk later. Can we depart right away?" She requested.
"Well, I guess that's possible. You in some kind of hurry? Is Chris on the run from her dad again?" Yurgen lightheartedly asked them.
"Yeah, that's one part of it." The young princess answered him. Yurgen sighed in response before another familiar voice joined in.
"No need to rush off."
They all turned around and saw the familiar gruff mercenary in a brown coat standing there.
"Alvin!?" Jude exclaimed in surprise.
"They're on a wild goose chase in the mountains right about now." Alvin informed them.
"You threw them off our scent? Is this some kind of peace offering?" Milla asked with suspicion in her tone.
"Peace offering, my ass." Chris mumbled under her breath.
"What? It's only natural I helped you. We're friends, aren't we?" The mercenary said.
"No, we are not." Chris said out loud this time. The others opted to stay silent and simply looked at him with suspicion.
"Oh, don't be like that, princess. Come on, you don't believe me? I know you've put your trust in me before. Would it kill you to give me another shot?" Alvin asked as he walked towards Jude and Chris and slung both of his arms on both of them.
"It probably would this time around." Was the young woman's only response.
"I-I guess not." Jude sullenly said.
"Oh, come on! Do you really want to trust this guy again?" Chris asked him.
"Attaboy, Jude. Chris, you should take a page off his book. Forgive and forget, right?"
"Those words aren't easy to find in my vocabulary. If they were, my life would be so much easier." She responded.
"And I haven't forgiven or forgotten." Jude said somewhat coldly which Alvin simply laughed off.
"Welcome back. I'm glad that you're safe." Elize said with an obviously fake sincerity, something Alvin caught on to.
"Heh, thanks. You almost sound sincere." He said.
"If nothing else, it seems Alvin has bought us some time." Rowen said.
"I'd press and ask what's going on but I don't think I want to know anymore. You people sure have a lot of drama in your lives." Yurgen told them. "I'll be in front of the wyverns. Come see me when you're ready to fly. Chris, you have the flute; so you should call Iris on your own."
After that, he walked away.
"It's finally time." Milla said as she looked at the blue skies of Auj Oule.
"We'll saddle up as soon as we're ready." Jude said.
"Let's stock up on supplies first." Chris said as she went ahead of them. As they walked, she overhead Jude, Leia and Rowen's discussion about the Chimeriad. She heard about the Shrade Island incident from word of mouth when she was a freshman in Talim Med. A hundred and twenty soldiers were wiped out by four people. Among the casualties were also two officers; the sons of the noble Travis family of Rashugal. She never really cared for what happened back then but she did suspect that Jiao, Wingul and Presa were one of those four. They headed up to the nearest supply shop and bought a couple of more gels and a new Mythril Sword for Chris since she lost hers in their escape in Kanbalar, before heading back down and approaching the inn.
"Wait." Jude called for Alvin.
"Still having doubts about me, huh?" Alvin asked him as he turned around. "And it looks like you're not the only one. Fine, fine. Remember the first time the four of us went to Nia Khera and I went off by myself?"
"The time I came out of my shrine and only Jude was there?" Milla asked as she crossed her arms.
"That's the one. I was off meeting with Wingul." Alvin said.
"So you had a secret arrangement with them? To hand Milla over if she became a problem?" Rowen asked him.
"But wasn't Chris with you at the time?" Jude asked him.
"He was. Until I lost track of him in the Spiritway when I got preoccupied with some monsters. Imagine my surprise when I realized I beat him back to the village." She responded with crossed arms.
"How could you? Stabbing Milla and Jude in the back like that?" Leia exclaimed with her hands on her hips.
"Hold it." Alvin told her before continuing on. "Yeah, I was working a few different angles at the time but this time, I was just using that to our advantage. You know, the only reason we were given permission to use the wyverns is because I arranged that with them ahead of time."
"Wait…so when you betrayed us in front of Gaius…" Elize said before trailing off.
"Yep. If I hadn't pretended to betray you there, they never would have let us ride the wyverns. That's why I lied and told them you ran in the opposite direction of Xian Du." He explained to them.
"I want to believe you. But I can't. Not yet." Jude said through gritted teeth.
"That reminds me; that Presa woman we met at the Kijara Seafalls. It seems like you already knew her." Milla said. At those words, Alvin stayed silent for a second as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"What do you want to know?" He asked them.
"Who is she? Really?" Jude asked him. But then, Alvin didn't answer and Jude exploded. "How are we supposed to trust you if you keep hiding information from us?"
"Hey, all right. Calm down. No need to get snappy." He responded.
"Do you even know what you're putting us through?" Jude questioned him.
"Better answer him, Alvin, or I will and I'll make you look bad in front of everybody here." Chris threatened him as she crossed her arms.
"I met her when I was working for Rashugal's intelligence service." Alvin answered. Chris raised an eyebrow; so she was right as to who Alvin was to Presa. She recalls Presa telling them a story one time but that's to be discussed for another day.
"At the time, she was an Auj Oule secret agent working undercover in Fennmont." He added.
"And?" Jude pressed on.
"After that, we became personally involved. You probably don't want to know the specifics."
"Okay, I believe you. But I still don't trust you."
"Heh, you're so cute when you're upset." Alvin teased, prompting Chris to roll her eyes.
"Stop that. I'm still angry at you." The young man snapped at him.
"Alright, alright."
"Alvin, can I ask you one last thing?" Milla requested.
"Of course."
"Tell us why you're helping us. What's in it for you?"
"You're asking that now. Because I love the hell out of you guys, of course!" Alvin answered. They all groaned at the answer.
"More lies!" Teepo accused him.
"How could you even think that? I'm hurt!" Alvin exclaimed (1).
"Ugh, let's just go. Settle your businesses here so we can get a move on." Chris said as she anxiously rubbed her arms. They were already held back a day and anymore delays only raises the probability of the Auj Oule army finding them.
Much to Chris' chagrin, Leia practically strong armed Jude into introducing her to Karla Outway so while Milla, Rowen and Elize were off wandering the town, she was suckered in with Jude, Leia and Alvin to meeting the woman. However, she somewhat managed to get off easy since she already met the woman once so she stayed in the ground floor of the inn and didn't pay attention to the conversation happening directly above her until they started talking about King Gaius and the Battle of Fezebel.
"During that battle, Gaius led a battalion of Long Dau soldiers, even though he was a member of a different tribe himself. At just twelve years old (2), he led his troops to victory against an entire regiment of the Rashugal army. He was also the first to sense the oncoming arrival of the giant tsunami. He advised the Long Dau to retreat, but the chief couldn't bring himself to give the order. The tsunami ended up swallowing both armies and wiped out Gaius' entire battalion." Karla explained to them.
"So, that's how he became the ornery fellow we all know and love." Alvin said. Chris nearly laughed out loud at how they were both thinking the same thing.
"Gotta hand it to him, though. It is true that most folk want a strong leader to guide them. And he's certainly won the trust of his people." The mercenary remarked.
"Gosh, Karla, you really do know about History!" Leia praised the woman. Again, Chris nearly laughed so hard.
'Oh, if only you knew Leia…' She thought to herself.
"Well, at least when it comes to King Gaius." She responded.
"Is there a reason for that?" Alvin asked her.
"There just might be. See you later, everyone." Karla said before she left. Chris immediately pretended to be interested in building's architecture so Karla wouldn't catch sight of her and talk to her and blow her cover in front of everyone, loathe as she is to do it. When she was sure Karla has left the inn, she let out a breath she hadn't even realized she was holding in and calmed down as the others finally approached her yet again. Quietly, they exited the inn and started walking.
"Plenty of heat between Karla and Gaius, huh?" Alvin teasingly asked Jude.
"You make it sound so illicit." The young man responded.
"And poor sweet Jude is left out in the cold." He said. Chris sent him a glare that he didn't notice. She didn't appreciate the way Alvin was talking about her aunt.
"Come on! You know that's not why I'm looking for Karla!" Jude said with a small blush that made Chris frown a bit. A blush usually implies that you like a specific person and she didn't like that one bit. Besides, doesn't the kid have the hots for Milla or something? Immediately, Chris tuned out the conversation and they continued on towards the coliseum.
"Why are we here?" Chris asked them.
"We're looking for Karla. We wanna ask her more about King Gaius." Leia answered. Chris sighed and nodded in response before they went on ahead. She spotted Karla near the coliseum entrance so when her friends were making their way towards her, she just stayed in the middle of the staircase, listening to the conversation.
"Karla, if you don't mind us asking, what's your relation to King Gaius?" She heard Jude ask. Chris' eyes widened. If Karla tells them the truth, she'd knock them out and make sure they forget the conversation ever happened.
"Now, I sure wasn't expecting that." Karla responded.
"Come on. I bet it's a great story!" Leia cajoled her.
"I appreciate your interest but I get the sense that Jude isn't asking out of idle curiosity." The young historian said.
'Please don't say anything. Please don't say anything. Please don't say anything.' Chris prayed in her mind as she continued sitting on the staircase.
"Around the time of the Battle of Fezebel, I was betrothed to a man from the Long Dau tribe. It was an arranged marriage but nevertheless we fell in love with each other at first sight." Karla said in order to indulge their curiosity.
'That's actually pretty cute. Wait, she was engaged?' Chris thought in her mind. Her aunt never said anything about her being engaged at one point.
"Naturally, my betrothed had to go to war with the rest of his tribe. But he never came back."
'Oh, that's pretty freakin' sad. No wonder she never said nothing.' The young woman thought.
"Because of the tsunami?" Jude asked for clarification.
"No."
"It wasn't Gaius, was it?" Alvin asked in confusion.
"My betrothed was one of the Long Dau chief's aides. He wanted to make a name for himself before we got married. He must've thought that's what I wanted. So when Gaius told the Long Dau chief about the incoming tsunami, my betrothed told the chief that Gaius was out of his mind and swore that a retreat wouldn't be necessary." She revealed.
"And Gaius went after him for that?" The young man asked her.
"The few people who survived the tsunami said that my betrothed was still alive after it had passed. And that Gaius was with him."
"I can't believe it." Jude said.
"All I know for sure is that he never came back. They never even found his body. I don't know for sure if Gaius did something to him. When I asked the King about it, he refused to answer. After the battle, my father died from an illness and I never saw my brother Erston again. I've been alone ever since." Karla explained further.
"After all that, you'd be nuts not to hate the guy." Alvin stated.
"Come on, Alvin." Jude exclaimed.
"And I bet your hatred for King Gaius is pretty much the only thing keeping you going at this point." He cajoled her. At this point, Alvin is starting to sound like a villain, trying to cultivate someone's hatred for another person.
"You may be right about that." She responded.
"I'm sorry."
"Now, it's time for me to leave Xian Du for a while."
"Where are you going?" Jude asked in curiosity.
"Somewhere in Auj Oule." She cryptically said. "See you all around."
And with that, Karla walked away. She headed down the staircase where Chris was sitting at and as she approached the younger woman, she patted her head. Chris looked up at her in surprise and for a brief second, Karla's face showed the shock she felt upon seeing the bruises on her face and then, as quickly as it came, it vanished. She knew that it was going to happen the moment she saw Chris in the inn, anyway.
"You heard all that, didn't you?" She asked and Chris nodded. She knew her dad would do anything for his country and his people but she never pegged him to be a murderer. Besides, there was no substantial proof that her dad killed her…for a lack of a better word…should've-been uncle. So unless, she heard it come out of his mouth, she'd hold judgment until then.
"Believe what you think is right, Christina." Karla said before she kissed her forehead and patting her cheek.
"What do you believe?" She asked her but Karla simply shook her head before turning around and she walked away.
"Aunt Karla." She called for her. Karla turned to her immediately.
"I'll get you an answer. I promise." Chris said with a determined voice. Karla smiled at her before she completely walked away. After a few more minutes, Jude and the others finally approached her.
"Alright, kids. Let's go." Alvin teased them and they all headed back to the city.
"Hey…don't you guys wanna go to Hamil?" Jude asked them as they stepped off the boat. Everyone turned to look at him with weird looks on their faces.
"Whatever for?" Milla asked with a tilt of her head.
"It's just…I wanna see if what Presa said really is true. That everyone from Hamil is gone…" He said as he sheepishly scratched his cheek.
"I honestly don't see why not. I mean, I'd like to see if there's any evidence of a great spirit left behind." Chris interjected.
"In that case, might we inquire as to how we can return to Hamil?" Rowen suggested as he stroked his beard
"Great idea." Leia praised him.
"No need to worry about that." Chris spoke up as she pointed to the small boat dock just past the bridge. "That boat is said to take you upriver to the Xagut Floodmeadow, which in turn would lead to Nia Khera and the Kijara Seafalls if my geography is correct."
"Spoken like a true Xian Du native." Alvin quipped as he put his hands behind his head.
"Let's get going then." Milla decided and they all agreed, walking across the bridge and hopping on the small boat.
xxx
After a few hours of trekking, the party finally made it to Hamil. As they half-expected, the place was completely deserted and there were signs of a fight but much to Chris' disappointment, a lack of evidence on this Great Spirit. Rowen and Alvin stayed behind by the Porange trees while the rest of them continued onwards.
"Everyone's gone…" Jude stated as he walked to the middle of the road where Elize stood.
"And now more of my memories are gone with them." The little girl stated as she looked to the ground in sadness. Chris couldn't do anything but pat her head in sympathy.
"But they weren't very good memories, were they?" Milla asked her as she put a hand on her hip. Chris can agree with her; Elize's memories of Hamil consisted mainly of two things: being locked in a shed and being treated like something closer to dirt by the villagers. In both cases, she was treated less of a human being and more of a stray mutt no one can really force out.
"No, but they're still better than having nothing at all." Elize protested. A moment of silence occurred amongst them until Leia spoke again.
"Hey, come on. The fruit trees are still here, the mountains are still here…" She said in an attempt to comfort the girl. Unfortunately, it seemed to frustrate her even more.
"I don't have memories of fruit!" She exclaimed in a mixture of sadness and anger.
"I do! I remember having fruit curry for dinner once a week!" Teepo exclaimed, making Elize look up in stunned realization.
"Oh yeah…the mayor always put napples in it. It was her favorite thing to make. Although it was a little too sweet for me." She said with a small smile in her face. The rest of her companions, however, were baffled by what the puppet said.
"Teepo…" Chris muttered in surprise.
"Hey, wait a minute. Teepo can talk about things Elize isn't even consciously aware of?" The young nurse asked.
"I guess so?" The little girl replied.
"Then maybe, Teepo can help you remember the things you've forgotten." She suggested. "Didn't you say Xian Du looked familiar? If you use Teepo there, maybe you can remember something."
"That's very perceptive." Milla praised her.
"If this works, Elize may even remember something about her parents." Jude added with a hopeful tone in his voice.
"That's a really smart idea! Especially coming from you, Leia!" Teepo said, vaguely insulting her.
"Why thank-hey!"
"Well, it's good to see Elize excited again. Well done." The former Lord of Spirits praised her.
"In Leia's case, I think that was probably half inspiration and half blind luck." The dark haired man said as he held his arms out in a shrug.
"After seeing what happened on the ship out of Leronde, I'm inclined to think it's the latter." Chris added as she stroked her chin in contemplation. "Back to Xian Du, then?" She followed up.
"Yes, let's." Milla replied. Jude and Elize walked back the direction they came from ahead of them while the three women lingered behind.
"Well, Chris, what could possibly have caused Teepo remembering things Elize can't?" The blonde asked her. Chris hummed in contemplation before answering.
"Well…you know what they say…'the subconscious mind never forgets'. When we say we forget something, we've never really forgotten them…they're just locked deep in our subconscious that it takes a long time to come back to the forefront of our mind if it does at all. It's also the reason why you suddenly remember something that you think you've completely forgetten; like lyrics to a song, a distant memory of your childhood, where you placed something a long time ago. Since Teepo has only ever spoken out due to Elize's inner thoughts and feelings, it's quite possible he managed to draw on her subconscious even if she herself can't." She explained as they all walked towards the rest. "Anyhow, it's just a working theory. I wouldn't put too much stock in it if I were you." She added as they finally approached the others. With their party complete, they returned to Xian Du.
xxx
Upon their return, they made their way to the bridge with Elize. Again, Rowen and Alvin separated from them to buy supplies for the upcoming journey. As they made it to the middle of the bridge, Elize looked around, hoping to see something that would make Teepo remember her memories.
"Well, here we are in Xian Du! Do you remember anything?" Leia asked in curiosity as Chris sat on the railing of the bridge.
"Well…when you ask it like that…" The little girl trailed off, leaving the doll to finish her sentence for her.
"It's way too much pressure!"
"Don't feel like you need to force it, Elize." Jude said in a comforting tone. Elize continued to look around. The young doctor suddenly remembered something.
"Hey, didn't Wingul use a booster too?" He asked as he scratched his temple. "Maybe he has some connection to Teepo."
"That's possible, although his booster seems to be a different type. Do you know anything about him, Elize?" Milla asked her.
"Only that Wingul scares me." She said with a shudder. Suddenly, the doll's eyes widened in realization.
"Wait! I think I know him." He exclaimed, causing everyone to turn to him.
"You do?" Elize asked him. The doll closed his eyes as if he was in deep contemplation. He probably was considering he was digging deep into Elize's memories. Out of nowhere, he opened his eyes, surprise written on them.
"I got it! Wingul was in the laboratory!" He informed them.
"He was? I don't remember him being there…" The young mage said as she tried to wrack her brain if she ever saw Wingul there.
"He used to be waaay thinner." The doll attempted to remind her. "He was the guy who was always in pain from the prototype's side effects or something."
"You mean…Test Subject Number 1?"
"Sounds like we're getting somewhere."
"Wingul must have volunteered to be a booster test subject." Milla speculated. Then Leia turned to Chris, who had a distant faraway look in her eyes as if she too was recalling something.
"Hey, Chris, you knew Wingul back then, didn't you? Do you know something about this?" She asked, snapping the young princess out of her reverie.
"Um…not really. Well, there was a time where Wingul disappeared for months. He was the first of the Chimeriad to join my father so dad used to send him to check up on us every now and again if we weren't being sent to Kanbalar. The time he disappeared was the same time we met Jiao and his visits kept up for months. When Wingul came back, he looked no different than the last time we saw him." She replied. It was certainly suspicious and falls on the right time frame.
"The people at the laboratory also said that they could never have made Teepo without him." Elize added.
"Could that mean that Wingul is…" Leia trailed off.
"My father!?" The doll asked, earning an eye roll from Chris.
"Wingul said that the experiments were humane, but can we really trust him?" Jude wondered out loud. The test subjects were children like Elize, probably orphaned and had nowhere else to go. They were taught a lot of things in Talim Med, one of them being about the ethics of human experimentation. Human experimentation was unethical without consent or under duress to give consent. The question now is; what category did these kids fall into?
"If nothing else, at least we know the experiments had a purpose beyond mere cruelty." Milla said.
"I think we can continue our discussion when Elize finds more familiar places in the future. For now, let's get to the pens." Chris suggested, earning a nod from her companions.
Once Alvin and Rowen met up with them on the bridge, they went on with their initial plan and moved on to the wyvern pens.
"Are you ready to depart for Fennmont?" Yurgen asked them and they all nodded.
"You can't possibly land right on Rashugal's capital. Like Chris said the other day, you'll probably have to touchdown on a highroad nearby or find some other suitable spot." Yurgen warned them. "Well, I'll do some last minute preparations with the wyverns while Chris beckons her own." He added before walking off. Chris pulled the flute out and started performing the melody that Ethan composed once she was done, Iris and Maximus flew towards her. Thankfully, they were already saddled up and the others were ready to fly.
"Hey, Iris, think you can fly me to Fennmont? Yeah?" She asked the wyvern who shrieked in response, which Chris took as a positive answer.
"You stick close to us, Maximus." She said as she started to board Iris. Before she could, however, Iris took off.
"Whoa, Chris!" Leia called for her. Iris rounded back and revealed Chris standing on the saddle in lieu of sitting on it.
"Come on, guys, this is pretty fun!" She cajoled them before completely taking off with Maximus behind them.
"Kid is pretty badass to be standing on a wyvern." Alvin remarked as he and Elize got on a wyvern. The moment everyone got on their respective wyverns, they all took off and became very hard to control. The wyverns were so fast that they overtook Chris.
"Hoo boy. Let's go, Iris." She said as they shot after them. Thankfully, she managed to catch up to them.
"Stop this wyvern! I wanna get off!" She heard Leia yell.
"This is quite difficult." Rowen remarked as he tried to get their wyvern under control.
"Yank the reins!" Chris tried to instruct them.
"Try to steer better, please!" Elize pleaded with Alvin.
"Help! I think I'm going to barf!" Teepo yelled out.
"Teepo! Shut it!" The mercenary scolded him. Chris immediately moved to check on Milla and Jude. Her eyes widened considerably when she saw the younger man tightly clutching on the older woman's waist.
'Well, quite the opportunist, ain't he?' She thought to herself with a grin.
"Are we there yet?" Jude asked in a panic.
"No. Not yet." Milla responded. After a couple of more twists and turns and dive-bombs by the wyverns, they were finally under control and flew above the clouds. The others awed at the sight.
"Whoa…never been this high up before. You guys been hiding this view from me?" Chris asked Iris as she marveled at the sight. Maximus started squawking all of a sudden and before Chris could ask him what his problem was, a huge, green scaled beast emerged from beneath the clouds.
"Oh shit!" Chris yelled out as it started chasing after them. Well…so much for not cursing…
"It's right on our six!" Leia yelled out.
"Yes, Leia! We appreciate the obvious statement!" Chris retorted from her wyvern.
"Everyone, dive!" Jude instructed them. Immediately, their wyverns dove straight down. Miraculously, Chris managed to stay standing on the saddle as they wove through the clouds and dodged the beast's fireballs.
"I see Sharilton already! Maybe we can lure it to a highroad!" Chris yelled out. Unfortunately, their luck was bound to run out. It became clear when Jude and Milla's wyvern was hit in the wing, sending them spiraling down towards the town.
"Jude!" Leia yelled out in worry.
"Jude! Milla!" Chris called for them as she watched them crash land towards the city. They can only hope that they were still in one piece afterwards.
AN: Hello, everybody! I know. I know. I tried so hard to squeeze this chapter out before 2015 ended but unfortunately, between getting sick and family reunions, I wasn't able to do so and for that I deeply apologize. Instead, let this be the first chapter for 2016.
Anyways, wow, it's already 2016. 2015 was such a rollercoaster for me; depression, anxiety, good times, bad times, etc. I had so many highs and lows last year but despite all that, 2015 was still a good year for me and I hope it was a good year for you guys as well. Let us hold on to hope that 2016 will be a better year for us all.
Anyways, you guys know the drill; please leave a review, favorite or follow. Polls are still open. And that is it. Allow me to greet everyone, despite its lateness, a Happy New Year.
06/11/18 EDIT: Hello, if you all notice I edited this chapter to add the one part quest "Reawakened Memories", pertaining to Elize's subconscious memories being remembered by Teepo. I completely forgot to add this before and now I feel compelled to do so because I really feel that it adds to Elize's character so here we are; made an already long chapter even longer. Anyway, keep a look out for the next chapter; it's gonna come out soon and it's gonna be pretty lit.
Firework out!