It took Velvet and Laphi another few days to reach the next town from Glayvend, smaller than Lastonbell but not small enough to be called a village. Despite how close Marlind was to any potential battle and the people being notably worried about it, Velvet had little issue entering the city. She earned some looks due to her unusual height, but no one minded her much; especially after she went and sold some of her provisions to the locals. Winter was coming, after all; the days grew shorter, colder, and more rainy.

What they quickly found Marlind to be was a town of scholars in the shadow of a giant tree; literacy, she learned from a chatty merchant, was higher here than even in Hyland's capital city. They had their own library, a prospect which lost her access to Laphi for most of few days they stayed. Velvet got herself a more accurate map of Hyland in those days and spent a lot of time talking to people; it felt oddly nice to just chat with strangers, she found again. A certain sense of curiousity about other people gnawed at Velvet, one that she thought lost.

From these conversations, she heard rumours and tales; some of them stood out; a dragon was thought to roost at the nearby mountain range, Rayfalke Spiritcrest. Travelers went missing regularly as they climbed it. She figured it made for as good a destination as any, and for a proper meal if the rumour was true.

The most curious tale she was told brought a laugh out of Laphi when she caught him for a minute to share it. Local folklore spoke of eight serpents 'who betrayed the seraphim and were banished into the underworld'. They both understood that someone misconstrued Innominat's eight heads and the events from a thousand years ago, though Laphi appeared more intrigued that word of him still remained in the world despite how much time passed.

Their time in Marlind was short but pleasant, yet it also held a surprise for them when they left. Just a minute out of town, a high-pitched shout drew their attention and made the siblings stop. Behind them bumbled a golden helmet, worn by a small, fuzzy creature. Humanoid but hardly reaching even Velvet's knee in height, their fur a dark, bluish grey except for their cream-coloured belly. The two gave the odd creature some time to reach them; once they did, they beamed up at Velvet and threw out their arms. "Wow, it's been ages since I saw you last! How have you been?"

She offered the little seraph a smile and crouched to talk to him. "It has been. What's a Normin doing out here?"

"Oh, you know, Normin things. I really didn't expect to see you again, Lord of Calamity! You have to tell me where you've been all those years!"

The siblings exchanged a glance which the Normin missed entirely as he cheered, both somewhere between amusement and confusion. Velvet then reached out to push his helmet back before it fell over his face. "Careful there, I don't really need people to know that. What's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Atakk and don't worry, I won't tell a soul!" The Normin looked between both Crowes before jumping and clapping his tiny hands. "I know! Do you want to see my collection? I lost a few pieces recently, but I'm sure they'll come back."

"Your collection?"

Atakk turned to Laphi with a smile as big as a creature that small could have. "Yes! I'm the local museum's guardian spirit and most of the stuff there is mine! Come on, it'll be great!"

Velvet knew she lost in that moment, seeing that not only did Atakk give them both puppy dog eyes, Laphi did the same with her in particular. "Can we, Velvet? Please?"

She just sighed, wondering why she was even surprised by this turn of events. "Alright."

"Hurray!"

Though now she was slightly surprised that only Atakk cheered openly.

Needless to say, Laphi loved every moment of their little excursion. He wore the brightest smile for the entire rest of the day, talking animatedly about all the things they saw and how they related to past history. Velvet indulged him by listening, though her thoughts strayed somewhat. They got nothing worthwhile about the present from Atakk, if one ignored the repeated promise of keeping quiet about Velvet's identity. This was a bit of a relief nonetheless; she could live without a passing shepherd hearing this and deciding she must be the Lord of Calamity behind the world's decline.

The Crowes moved on from Marlind and traveled through foresty areas then, following a more or less well maintained cobblestone road that led to Griflet Bridge, itself a massive stone construct; it could not be called the biggest bridge they had ever seen, as only the Great Camelot Bridge could claim that title now, but it was bigger than most. A water seraph by the name of Uno made his home in the large river flowing underneath that bridge, though they only met him briefly. The man ascended from the waves as they passed the bridge to warn them about the Spiritcrest to the north, which one fork of the road led to.

"Thank you, but it's fine," Velvet told him then. "We're just poking around, not picking a fight." He did not seem reassured, but made no issue of it and watched them head off toward the mountains. By herself, Velvet figured that if they could find the beast, they would definitely fight and eat it.

Their trek to the mountains would have ordinarily taken three days; due to Laphi's tendency of running off and his luck in finding a larger ruin to explore even here, they made it in six. Ascending the mountain, seeing that neither of them wanted to use their flight out of caution, took another few days. When asked why he refrained, Laphi told her he wanted to get the actual mountaineering experience instead of making it easy on himself. Now that the days grew really cold and their own careful ascent made them even colder, Velvet once again thanked her own daemonhood for not having to freeze. Laphi bundled up because he did feel it, though he also used the excuse to snuggle with her during breaks. Some things really never changed.

The air grew thinner, which curiously did not affect them much, if at all. Somewhere close to the higher plateau, the two took a proper break in a small cave to mend their clothes; the mountains were not kind to them, which Velvet really should have expected. Her new favourite tunic was starting to fray and grow thin from the abuse she put it through, so that had to be replaced soon.

That day and night spent in a cave marked the end of their first week on Rayfalke Spiritcrest. Laphi used the time of rest to set up another teleportation arte right there, in a separate cave further in so it could be hidden from view. After that, Velvet hugged her brother close once again as they dozed through the night.

When they woke up and took stock of their surroundings, flakes of white were quietly dancing before the cave; they settled on in a thin but growing layer. The siblings gave each other looks as this new, most clear announcement of Winter continued in front of them. Snow, the first one they had seen in this age. "Remember not to eat the snow," Velvet reminded her brother as they packed up and set out. Laphi just threw her a look and she could tell he was trying not to pout. "I know you want to."

No response, but she knew she was right.

Aside from that, the first hour or so of their walk was calm. The pristine white blanket crunched under their boots as they went, up a more straight path ahead; neither had complained about the many steep cliffs and walls, but being able to stroll forward normally was welcomed nonetheless. Laphi's head swerved this way and that to take in the sprawling mountains in the distance, their peaks lying even higher than the two Crowes currently were and dusted in snow.

The first and only sign of civilisation they found was an altar, or a shrine, carved out of the mountain's rock. It stood several metres wide and about two high at a wall formed by a large boulder, wearing a coat of white on its roof. "Odd for people to put something like that up here," Laphi commented. Then his eyes narrowed and he peered ahead on the path they were following. "Or not. There's an earthpulse point that way, so pilgrims might come here to pray."

"That would explain why it looks so tidy," Velvet added after wiping some snow off the shrine and finding it without any blemishes. "Though praying won't solve their little dragon problem."

"I mean..." Laphi gave her a sly look and pointed at himself. "Technically, what we're doing is divine intervention, so their praying to the gods technically solves the problem." He recevied a flat stare and chuckled. Velvet rolled her eyes; she did not feel like arguing about definitions, even though she could. After that however, her brother turned back to the little shrine. "Actually, now that I think about it." He leaned closer and ran his hands over the masterfully formed stone. "This might not have been made by humans. It's too smooth, too intricate."

"You think so?"

"Maybe? There are probably a few humans good enough to pull it off, but, well." He leaned down and wiped the snow around the base away. "Unless they had a seraphic friend to grow out the rock, they would have crafted this piece of art out of a natural bit of the mountain, on the first try. So I would bet on a seraph."

Velvet nodded; she understood his reasoning. Though it did make her a little curious: "Can every seraph do something like this?"

"Uhhh..."

Laphi turned back to her and held out his empty hands. "Not really? I can make some buildings just fine, but I'd have to study a while to make something half this pretty. Maybe an actual earth seraph could do this naturally, but I think even they have to practice a lot."

"Hm, I see." She took one last look at their find, then turned to carry on. "Let's get going."

"Coming!"

They left the shrine behind, both siblings somewhat covered in snow at this point. Laphi then shook his head and created something like an umbrella out of mana which he angled over them, then brushed off what had not yet melted. Velvet did similarly, quietly amused that he apparently forgot about it until that moment. Looking back after a few minutes, the two found what was almost a road winding itself up the mountain on a different side than they were moving in from. They felt a little silly about having made it hard on themselves then, but shrugged it off; they had fun nonetheless.

It was shortly after the snowfall ceased half an hour later that they were once again interrupted; this time however, it was because the mountain suddenly and violently grew spikes in front of them.

"What now," Laphi asked out loud, sounding faintly amused as he turned to the side. "More bandits?"

Velvet turned with him and found a girl standing but a dozen metres distant. Not a woman, a slip of a girl staring at them more or less blankly out of big, blue eyes. Her first thought was that this short, cream-coloured dress could not be warm enough for the climate. Then she took note of the umbrella the other one held onto casually, traces of snow still atop it; a miniature-Normin plush doll hung from it upside-down. The girl's hair was short and of an earthy ochre hue, with a small sidetail bound by a green ribbon.

The colours reminded her of something, as did the girl in general. Instead of trying to figure it out however, Velvet made to answer her brother with a faint smile: "Don't you think this one's a little too cute for a bandit?"

Her brother gave her a side-eyed glance, his expression remaining more or less neutral. "No, no, that's how they get you," he deadpanned.

The girl remained unamused as well, just staring at them without a word. When she did not respond, Velvet carried on: "I'd say the only things she steals are hearts."

"That would require us to not be heartless, so we are safe."

Laphi's final comment made the girl's lips twitch and Velvet began to grin a moment before she did. "You're quite behind," the other seraph told them in a dry tone, "hearts fell out of favour with modern seraphim centuries ago. Taking peoples' calm is all the rage these days."

Velvet huffed at that and reached over to ruffle her brother's hair, accepting the little game she found herself in. "Looks like you're doing well then, but you're not enough of a brat to compare to this one." Then, as if in thought, she glanced between the two seraphim. "But maybe that's because you're a girl."

He stayed quiet and only threw her a bit of a glare, which Velvet simply ignored. The girl seraph contemplated both of them curiously, one hand in a black, far too big glove stroking her chin in thought. Velvet idly noted that only this hand was gloved when it began to point at her brother. "Are you sure that's a boy? She looks like a girl to me." Both of them blinked while the retort registered, then Velvet snorted, one hand pressed to her mouth as she fought for composure. The stranger adopted a more pronounced smirk and oozed smugness; she leaned forward a little as if to look at him more closely, taking a few steps toward them.

Laphi just pouted at them both and pulled on a strand of his blond curls, which were a little bit longer than hers. "Is it the hair?"

His comment prompted the girl to step closer again, her grin still in place. "The hair, the voice, and you act pretty much like a girl, getting embarassed like that. Isn't it cute?" Her tone adopted a note of amusement at that point without losing its dry note, eyes focussed on Laphi. "Now you only need a proper dress and to blush like a maiden." Laphi sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, which prompted fake cooing from the girl. "Oh, did I break her? Maybe she doesn't do well with compliments?" She put extra inflection on the gender pronouns and waited for a reaction.

And a reaction she got; Laphi stepped forward, reaching out to pet the dumbfounded girl's head. He smiled at her, both of them roughly of equal height. "There there, you don't have to envy me for my looks. I know I'm the most beautiful girl around."

Velvet broke. Her giggles no longer allowing to be suppressed, she laughed into her hand and bent forward a bit in her mirth to get it all out. This was hilarious in an odd way!

When she caught herself a few moments later, the girl was still staring dumbly at Laphi. Her grin returned a moment later and she stepped back, rolling that umbrella on her shoulder. "Look at that, the pup has some bark after all. What about your bite?"

Laphi shrugged at that. "I'm afraid I only have the frostbite of my cold heart. Does that count?" He then held out his hand.

"It will do." She took it, boy and girl shaking amicably. "What do you want here?"

"We're traveling," Velvet interjected with a smile for their new acquaintance. "And we found a mountain, so we climbed it." She then paused and scrutinised the area, remembering what else brought them here. "Though we heard there is a dragon somewhere up here; do you know anything about that?"

She almost missed it, but there was a single moment of the girl's brows furrowing. Her frown faded quickly, together with her grin. "I do."

Something about this felt odd, something about her felt familiar. Velvet found that thought bothering her once more when she looked the girl over, now noticing her boots for the first time; boots several sizes too big, and familiar. On a hunch, she tapped her forehead. "Oh, silly me, I completely forgot! I'm Velvet, this is Laphicet."

"Edna," she gave her name in response while Laphi waved from Velvet's side.

There she had it. How she could even miss it was a mystery all its own; just from the face, she was almost a female version of Eizen. Those were his boots she wore, and his glove. Velvet had even seen the girl herself one time, even if it was just her back and an illusion on top of it. Yet she only recalled that in hindsight.

Which would make the dragon...

Casting a careful glance at Edna again, Velvet changed the subject: "Say, Edna, can you show us around a bit? You must know all the best spots up here, right?"

The girl measured her up in turn, idly rolling her umbrella. "It's a hassle, but I guess I can make an exception this time. Not like I get many visitors up here." Velvet could guess at least one other, but did not comment. She just followed when Edna turned around and started walking.

"You're in luck," the earth seraph offered with a note of humour in her voice, "this time of year you can see a whole new sight." She then pointed at a nearby rock. "To your left, you see rocks. To your right, you see more rocks. But up ahead, you can see rock with snow." Her deadpan remained throughout and Velvet had to chuckle despite herself. Laphi smiled, too; neither could tell if Edna did, seeing how the umbrella hid everything above her waist from view.

This continued, in a way; Edna stopped introducing every rock to them after a few minutes, leading the siblings over more narrow passes and through small caverns to find ponds or mountainside lakes, as well as some vantage points.

Seeing that their guide remained mostly quiet, Velvet nudged her brother along the way. "What had you so docile with her at the start?" she inquired. Velvet could not be sure, but thought that Edna's stance shifted a little when she heard them speak.

Laphi glanced up at her with a shrug. "I blame you and Arthur. You taught me to be nice to girls for as long as I can remember."

"And suddenly you remember your manners?"

He grinned and raised a finger as if to lecture her. "Velvet, you're my sister. Don't you know anything? I am supposed to make your life hell!"

That did it. "Oh, you little brat!"

Velvet's arm surged forward and ruffled her brother's hair again, even though she laughed with him.

Edna's expression remained unseen, hidden behind her umbrella.

They spent the entire morning and afternoon following the local seraph around; she showed them to several scenic spots, some of which allowed to look out over the entirety of Glayvend Basin and others which gave them a view until Ladylake in the distance. They found small trees and other untouched parts of nature, including the aforementioned lake deep below amidst the mountains. It was a blessed kind of silence that enveloped them for most of the time; Edna spoke little, but she did answer whenever spoken to. The snow masked the sounds of nature around them, leaving an odd sort of tranquility for most of the day.

This tranquility was violently shattered toward the evening, when a bestial roar made the very air shudder. The mountains shook as a cloud of Malevolence broke over distant peaks, immediately followed by him.

All three of them held their balance during the small quake; Velvet absently noticed several rockslides being triggered in other parts, but her eyes were on the dragon that swooped over and past them without taking notice. A truly incredible wave of Malevolence followed the large creature, easily twice the size of any other quadruped she had ever seen. With exception of Eumacia, that was.

What was left of her old companion flew a tight spiral as he ascended, then flapped his wings a few times to stay in place as if to behold his domain. Again, he took no notice of the three standing half a kilometre below him. Velvet's heart ached, her stomach turned to knots at the sight. She stood right next to Edna as all three of them beheld the dragon, saw how her face was frozen in its blankness.

Velvet did not say anything, she just put a hand on the other girl's shoulder. There was no response, but Edna did not shake her off, either. Neither did she ask for how Velvet could guess at her state once Eizen swooped out of sight, which was a small blessing. She really did not want to explain.

What this told her, though, was that this dragon would remain alive for the foreseeable future. She could effortlessly drag Eizen out of the sky and kill him if only she wanted to, but she just did not want to; seeing this lost girl just stand and watch what her brother had become tugged at Velvet's heart. It might have been what made her proceed as she did. The rest of the evening following this encounter was more subdued than she liked, so she decided to do something about it.

Half an hour after Eizen flew out of view, she crossed her arms and nodded to herself. "Alright, we're stopping here for today." This brought her looks from both seraphim, but Velvet paid them no mind and pointed to a cave she spied nearby. "Get yourselves in there, it's time to make dinner." Edna stood still for several moments when Laphi already started to move, but then she strolled after him without complaint. It occurred to Velvet that their 'host' would not be eating all that often up here, if at all. She quickly followed after them, mentally recounting what she needed.

Once inside and out of the cool wind, she took stock of what they had at hand with a thoughtful noise, then directed the other two. "Can you make me a stand for the pot here, Edna? Something I can put a fire under. Laphi, you're chopping onions." Her brother went to turning one side of the cave into a smooth surface and then sprayed it clean with water, though Edna kept throwing her these looks Velvet could not place.

"How big is that pot?"

She paused and motioned for the seraph girl to wait a moment, then reached into her bag and pulled it out. "About this big." It went airborne and was caught easily; Edna looked over the well-made iron with a soft nod, then placed it down for a moment to put her umbrella aside. Mana flowed through her and formed an arte circle when she picked the pot back up, thin strands of rock more flowing than growing out of the earth. Laphi stopped what he was doing to watch Edna work, as did Velvet; within a minute, they had a gently curving stand which circled twice around the pot Edna placed inside, its bottom held by four interlocking stone tendrils. The two grips at the top were placed on corresponding tips of the encircling rock snakes.

Once she was done admiring the elegant stonework, Velvet could not help but smile. "You're definitely more useful than Laphi already."

"I heard that, you know?"

Neither of them paid the grumbling boy any mind as they grinned at each other. Edna channeled some more mana into an arte atop the pot, which released a stream of water into it. Velvet watched and told her when to cut it off.

It continued like this, with stands for a second pot and a pan following. Velvet almost convinced herself to also make pudding for dessert and ask for a bigger setup, but curbed her enthusiasm to focus on the intended meal instead. Edna silently went to help Laphi with the preparations once she was no longer needed; meanwhile, Velvet dove into her backpack for the other ingredients and seasoning she needed.

As she was still up to her shoulders in the pack, she heard her brother speak up: "So I was wondering, what do you do up here?"

A momentary pause followed, interrupted by chopping noises. Then: "I live here."

Velvet cringed for her brother; Edna's tone had not changed from its usual deadpan, so she could not make anything of it. Laphi kept quiet and Velvet had to wonder just how they would even approach any kind of personal questions; how did one ask a hermit on a mountain what she did with her free time?

A contemplative but ultimately silent while later, they were all watching a pot full of noodles boil while some spicy sauce and slowly roasting beef filled the cave with a mouth-watering aroma. Velvet nodded at herself and tested one of the noodles, only to find they still needed a minute or two. Then she smiled and beckoned Edna while producing a spoon.

The girl followed without hesitation, eyeing Velvet and then the food. "What is it?"

She then watched Velvet scoop up a bit of the sauce onto that spoon and hold it out to her. "You're my taste-tester for today. Tell me how it is."

That little surprise broke Edna's stoic expression for a few moments as she peered at the spoon, then up at Velvet. "Why don't you do it yourself?" She did not even wait for a response before chomping down.

"I can't really taste anything, so I need someone else for it."

This only brought her a slight tilt of the head and an understanding noise; Edna pulled back from the now-clear spoon. "It's alright. But that lack of taste explains your choice of clothes, too."

"Very-" She interrupted herself and gave Edna a look, who grinned up at her. "I see, you're a brat just like Laphi. Looks like the two of you will be the best of friends."

She could have said worse, tried to argue, but Edna did look young and Velvet preferred not to have an argument right now. Ignoring the suddenly thoughtful seraph girl, she went back to her work, stirring the noodles and sauce again. Then she turned the beef around, poked it with a fork, and told Laphi to turn down his fire arte beneath the smaller pot and the pan. "We're only waiting for the pasta now, it should be done any moment."

She had to grin when Edna turned away to poke her backpack, likely curious about the storage-arte they hinted at having by pulling out all those things. Whether the girl knew it or not, they were just finishing up with pasta in the exact way Eizen always wanted it prepared for himself. It would not do much for her, but perhaps offer a little comfort. Checking the noodles again, Velvet found them good to go and snuffed out the final fire arte herself. "Alright, now we just need to set everything up. Be dears and fix the... a table?"

The younger-looking two gave her almost the same blank look; without a single word but a rumble, a rectangular plate of stone grew out of the ground, followed by three smaller, rocky chairs. Edna blasted the surface with a stream of water, Laphi dried it with a wave of heat.

Velvet chuckled and placed bowls and pan on the new table while her brother fixed the plates. "You're such obedient little ones," she told them cheerfully before putting food onto those plates.

A quiet "how did it come to this" escaped Edna, but Laphi merely ushered her to her seat.

"You get used to it. Velvet is unstoppable in the kitchen."

"That, I am." She struck a short pose and pushed a filled plate to her brother, then fixed Edna's; Velvet made sure that their new friend got the biggest, juiciest portion of beef she made. "And Edna, let's call this thanks for showing us around," she told the girl with a gentle smile. "Now dig in, children!"

Their meal passed in silence after that, but Velvet could rest assured that her effort went appreciated; she had given Edna a bigger portion than either Laphi or herself, but the plate came back completely empty. After the girl took seconds. And thirds.

It was a good thing she made lots.

Similar events took place the following morning, though a good bit less elaborate. Velvet and Laphi said their goodbyes with smiles, though Edna remained stoic as she told them not to break their necks on the descent. Only once she turned around, had her face unseen and hidden by her umbrella on top of it, would one have found the faintest smile on her.

Half an hour into their march to the mountain's foot, Velvet turned to her brother curiously. "Well, what do you think of Eizen's sister?" He did not react at first, brow furrowed and deep in thought. Velvet had to nudge him to get a reaction, which made her start to grin. "Could it be that she's the kind of girl you like?"

She was teasing, but also a little curious. Perhaps unfortunately, Laphi sighed and made to shake his head. "That's not it, Velvet." He then paused and slumped a little. "Or, I can't really say? I think she's cute, but that doesn't mean I like her that way, does it?"

"Aww, my little Laphi is starting to think about girls!" Velvet cooed at her annoyed brother, only barely stopping herself from giggling. "And it's the snarky cute girls, not the earnest and overeager town girls!"

"Margaret is cute, too."

"You're not helping your case, Laphi~" He groaned and she laughed, deciding to let off him at that point. It was fun to tease a bit, but she did not want to make too much of it at the moment. "But alright. What were you thinking about?"

"Hm?" He blinked at her, then turned his gaze toward the snowy ground. "Oh. I was just thinking, it must be awfully lonely to live that far up on a mountain with no one but a dragon for company."

"Yeah. Maybe it's what she wants, though." She glanced back up to where they last saw Edna. "Do you think she needs a friend?" He just shrugged and she left it at that, though they both knew Velvet might have a point. Her brother would keep thinking about this for a while, she could tell that much.

By herself however, Velvet still wondered whether Laphi and Edna would make a cute couple. And how mad Eizen would get if he could see them together. Then she realised she got carried far, far ahead of any reasonable thoughts and pushed the matter aside. They had places to be.

So they marched on.