The heat of the desert was intense, and also something that none of the Shepherds had experimented before. With just 2 hours traveling under the sun, most of them felt like if they were about to melt.
Morgan was admiring the desertic passage that Plegia offered. The color of the sand was light, it made him think like if he was in an infinite beach. He could only wonder what kind of secrets a land of this type could hide.
"Oh goddess, here is so hot. I don't understand how you can be so cool, Morgan" Inigo caught the attention of the tactician.
Morgan retrieved his gaze from the desert and looked at his partner, who was sitting in front of him. Inigo's skin was kind of reddish and he was handling a bottle of water.
"I don't know. I just don't feel anything" Morgan said.
A certain young mage, who has the co-driver of the carriage, heard the conversation.
"It must be your cloak. Plegians use a special thermostatic fabric for their clothes" Laurent mentioned.
"A thermostatic cloak? How do you get that? With magic?" a curious Owain asked.
"Yes, the magic of science. There is a study that proves that Plegia has its own specie of silkworms that provides a special silk. This silk provides the thermostatic quality to clothes. And that means that Morgan will be cool during the heath of the day, and warm during the cold nights" Laurent explained.
"Cool. We need some of those clothes. We'll get them once we arrived to the Capital" Inigo said.
They continued talking about their thoughts about Plegia, even Owain thought about a joke.
"Hey, Brady" the white-haired prince called the driver of the carriage.
"What?" asked Brady, not so happy of being distracted.
"Do you know what is Plegian's favorite shod?" Owain asked while trying to hide his laughter.
Brady rolled his eyes, "No, what is?" he asked.
"Sandals!" answered Owain and then he busted out laughing.
Brady's face showed deception, and the driver didn't answer anything. The travelers who heard the joke didn't talk as well.
"Don't you get it? Sandals! Because they got a lot of sand!" Owain said, still laughing.
"Sorry, I don't think it's funny" Noire apologized.
"I am not an expert in terms of humor, but if you have to explain your joke, that does not mean that your joke is bad?" Lauren wondered.
Suddenly, Inigo started laughing. "Oh god! Sandals! I understand now! You are a genius, Owain!" he said between chuckles. Inigo's retarded reaction made Morgan and Noire laugh.
"I know" said Owain, proud of himself.
Meanwhile, Gerome and Cynthia descended from the sky.
"It will get dark soon, we should stop here" Gerome shouted while flying close to the ground.
Severa looked at Anna and told her "Anna, I think we are going camp here, would you like to join us?"
"That's so nice of you. I think I will" answered Anna.
"Great" emitted Severa. Then, she guided everyone off the road. Not so far, they found a paramo where they could camp.
Everyone started to unpack everything from the carriage. After that, they divided the tasks. Gerome and Brady were in charge of lighting the fire. Noire and Severa were preparing the ingredients for the stew that they would have for dinner. And the rest of the group were setting up the tents.
After an hour, it was already dark, all tents were perfectly placed, the fire was warming the campers, and the stew was ready to be eaten. It was Noire who was serving the food in wooden bowls.
When Inigo tasted the stew, he immediately looked at Severa and Noire and praised them. "This is delicious, good job, girls" he said.
"I'm glad that you liked" a flattered Noire answered.
Severa didn't say a thing, she just was looking at her bowl. Inigo wasn't oblivious at her attitude, so he decided to tease her.
"What's wrong, Severa? The weather of the desert doesn't fit you?" he asked.
Severa just got up and walked towards her tent with her food on her hand. Just the people who were paying attention to the situation got stunned, but at the same time they continued eating.
"Did you really see that? What's her problem now?" asked an astonished Inigo.
Morgan thought about for a moment and then said, "I think I know what the problem is."
"Really? Please tell me" Inigo asked, focusing his attention to Morgan, who has sitting beside him.
"Well, I kind of told Kjelle that you were flirting with a girl in the pub. And then she realized that you did that with every girl that you met, except for Severa. So, now Severa thinks that you didn't flirt with her because she is ugly." Morgan explained.
"Oh, man, what a problem" Inigo muttered while placing his palm on his forehead.
"Do you really think that she is ugly?" Morgan asked with curiosity.
"Of course not!" Inigo denied abruptly. "But I can't tell her that" he added, his gaze was focusing on the fire now.
"Why not?" Morgan questioned.
"Because if I tell her that, then she would ask more questions and then she would get to know… things…" Inigo said with a mysterious aura.
"What kind of things?" Morgan continued his questionary.
"Things that are not your business, sir" fortunately, Inigo's tune was more playful than aggressive.
"You have to tell me something! You can leave it like that!" Morgan complained.
"No, you are not the only one who is allowed to keep secrets" with those words, Morgan knew that he shouldn't insist in the subject.
"Do you really won't try to mend things with Severa?" was Morgan final question.
"No, I won't" answered Inigo.
"In that case, I know what I should do" Owain muttered. He had been listening the entire conversation, but he was pretending to be focused on eating his bowl of stew.
"Did you say something, Owain?" asked Laurent, who was sitting next to him.
"Nothing at all" answered Owain.
It didn't take long for the Shepherds to finish their dinner. After that, everyone went to sleep in their respective tent.
Morgan was lying on his sleeping bag. He was reading again the sorcerer's diary.
"After my sister died, I couldn't help but wishing to see her again. Ironically, the day when I saw her again, I was terrified. I still remember it. One day I was just in my house sewing a new tablecloth, then I heard her, calling my name. I turned and saw her in the entrance of my room. She was just standing there. Her face didn't express a thing, I felt petrified. I really wanted to see her again, but in the afterlife, not she coming back as a ghost! I blinked, and one second later she was gone. But it was just the beginning…"
Morgan stopped his reading because he was getting anxious, not just for the content of the diary, but the sound of the wind was kind of tenebrous too.
"It seems that I'm not sleeping tonight" Morgan thought. Then he took a book about tactics. He would read until his eyes closed by themselves.
When the first sun rays landed in the desert, some of the Shepherds started to wake up. The first one that got out of its tent was Gerome, who went to check if his Wyvern, called Minerva, and Cynthia's pegasus were okay.
Then, Laurent, Brady, Kjelle, Owain, and Anna went out to enjoy the morning outside. Severa also got out of her tent, but she walked away of the campsite. Owain noticed that and followed her.
"Severa!" he called her, before she went anywhere far. Severa stopped and faced Owain, with her arms crossed. It was clear that she didn't want to talk. Owain walked a few more steps to stand in front of her.
"What do you want, Owain?" she asked annoyed.
"I know that you are sad because in some way Inigo made you feel ugly" Owain went straight to the point.
"I'm not sad! And I don't care what that idiot thinks of me!" Severa contradicted.
"And I also know why he never flirted with you" Owain added.
Severa's menacing mood changed for one of curiosity. "Really? Why?" she asked.
"Because of me."
"What? How can that be?"
"It was long time ago, back when we were children. I once heard Inigo practicing his lines to confess his love to you. Then, I told him that if he ever tells you something like that, I wouldn't talk to him ever again. So, I guess he decided not to tell you his feelings in order to maintain my friendship with him."
"Why would you do that!?"
"Because I thought that I wouldn't have a chance against a guy like him. But that was stupid, with Inigo or without Inigo, I wouldn't have a chance with a girl like you because I'm just a dorky creepy weirdo."
"Owain, I didn't have any idea…" Severa didn't know what else she could say.
"It doesn't matter. Just, please don't be angry with Inigo. He appreciates you like you have no idea, and of course, he thinks you are pretty. I mean, who wouldn't? And that's it" as soon as Owain finished that phrase, he left Severa alone.
Severa turned and continued her previous path. Now she had a more important thing to think about, and she would like to think far from everyone.
Back to the camp. Inigo got up and joined the people who were outside, some were enjoying the sunlight, and some others were having breakfast, like bread or fruits.
All of them were interrupted by Noire, who started screaming and abruptly got out of her tent.
"Noire, what's the matter?" asked an alarmed Inigo.
"There is a monster in my tent!" she exclaimed in panic while pointing to the place.
"That sounds weird, which class of monster would sneak into a girl's tent?" asked Kjelle.
"I would say Inigo, but he is standing right here" Gerome spoke.
"Guys! I'm serious. There's something in my tent, I saw my purse moving by itself" Noire caught their attention.
"Okay, lemme solve this" said Brady and then he entered Noire's tent.
"Odd, I do not recall a tale about a monster with these characteristics in Plegia's folklore" Laurent mentioned while adjusting his glasses.
"Oh, I found it. It's horrible!" Brady exclaimed inside the tent.
"Oh, no" Noire muttered with fear.
"Is this your monster, Noire?" Brady asked while coming out with a puppy on his hands. The puppy waggled his tail at seeing so many people.
"A dog?" Noire questioned with confusion but at the same time she was relieved.
"I think it was eating some cookies that were in your purse" Brady mentioned.
"Amazing! A dog! Is a she or a he?" Inigo asked excited.
Brady checked the dog with care. "Oh, is a he" he assured.
"This is even weirder, what is a dog doing in the middle of nowhere?" Kjelle wondered.
"I don't know, but we can't leave him. We will take care of him until we find a safe place" Inigo ordered while petting the little dog.
"Well, it's kind of cute" Kjelle commented.
Then, Brady handed the dog to Noire. "It was in your tent, now it's your responsibility" he told her.
"Oh, but I can't!" Noire complained, but it was too late, everyone left her with the dog. Noire looked at the dog's eyes, he looked happy. "Hi" she told to the animal with nervous.
"Okay, everyone. Let's start packing, we have to hurry if we want to arrive to the capital on time. Laurent, please wake Cynthia and Morgan. And Kjelle, please find Severa. The rest, let's start with other chores" Inigo ordered.
And they did so. In one hour, everything was prepared and they were about to depart again. Just for one minor detail, Severa asked Cynthia if she can travel with her on her pegasus, Cynthia gladly accepted. Inigo took Severa's horse. Kjelle continued traveling in the same horse. That left Morgan, Noire, Owain, Brady, Laurent, and Anna on the carriage. And of course, Gerome continued flying on his wyvern.
In the carriage, they were talking about the dog. They decided to call him Jake, because he was such a happy dog. Meanwhile, in the sky, Severa and Cynthia had a little conversation.
"Hey, Cynthia, I would like you to give me some advice" Severa asked ashamed.
"Severa asking for help? Wow, how knew this desert would change lives?" Cynthia teased.
"I knew this was a bad idea, forget it" Severa answered in frustration.
"No, please. I'm joking. I really want to help you" Cynthia insisted.
Severa sighed, it wasn't easy for her to talk about these topics. "Okay. It's about boys."
"Oh, my Naga! Tell me everything. This is so exciting!" Cynthia cried.
"Ugh, well, it happens that two guys, who I am close to them, kind of love me. And I'm afraid that whoever I choose, the other one it is going to get hurt, and I don't want that." Severa started to explain that in an annoyed tune, but at the end she sounded worried.
"Well, that's inevitable. If you want one of those two guys, the other has to accept it and get over it. It's not like the guy would kill himself just because your choice."
"I guess that's true."
"In other instance. If you don't choose, the three of you will suffer, and I think that's worse."
"I don't want that neither."
"Exactly, I think that you and the guy you love deserve to be happy. And if this other guy is a good person, he will understand."
"Yes, he is a good person. And well, he had overcome a lot of obstacles, he can get pass this." Severa said that with a smile. She was confident about her friend, but deep inside, she was still afraid of him.
"So, are you going to confess to the guy that you like?"
"Yes, I will" assured Severa with illusion.
"And who is that? Inigo or Owain?" Cynthia asked.
"What? No, is not one of them!" Severa tried to dissimulate.
"Of course is not" said Cynthia with sarcasm.
"Let's talk about other thing. How about, how are you going to convince Gerome to buy us nice things in the capital?" Severa changed the issue.
Cynthia just laughed at how evasive her friend was. But she was glad that she had helped, and of course she was dying to know how things would end. But that's something that it would be resolved later. But Cynthia knew well that the greatest stories needed some time.
Thanks for reading!
Special thanks to:
Mysterious guest: Yes, Chrom wouldn't let his son be a ladiesman, so it was a hard talk. Henry best dad forever 3 I also added the sand joke, it was the best thing that I could think of, so I hope you liked.
YellowHello1: I'm sorry if I kept you waiting for so long, but you know, vacations. Of course there will be confrontations, but not like you are thinking. And Validar is dead, he was killed after Grima's awakening. Thanks for your comments, I love them.
Vic: Yes, Lucina knows that Morgan is her half-sibling. But she doesn't know about Grima's mark. You were referring to that secret, right?
Mal: Thanks for notifying, I'm glad that 's management solved the problem.