"I still don't like it."

A nearby falcon watched Sorey talk to himself, or so it would appear to an outside observer.

"We should have stayed longer and made sure these people get to a safe spot!"

There were no humans in sight along the dirt path and merely the bird to watch. It could not fathom the oddity of a single person holding a conversation with what appeared to be nothing; its eyes did not see, or even if they held the power there would be nothing to behold. Yet to Sorey, other voices clearly answered: "Lukas was right, though; he and his men could take it from there. That's what you hired them for."

"I know, I know. It's just..."

Neither him nor Mikleo continued that conversation. It was Lailah who spoke up instead, a gentle warmth to her voice: "Is it that you are worried for Alisha still?"

"Yeah."

A sigh rang out within his mind, clearly from Mikleo. "I get that," he admitted a moment later. "It has been, what, two weeks now?"

"Two and a half," Edna chimed in flatly before falling silent again.

"Ah, right. Yes, two and a half weeks, but we haven't heard anything from her, or from Margaret." He paused and materialised next to Sorey, motioning for the path they were on; for the mountains far distant and the highlands around them. "We've just been out in the wilderness, walking."

Sorey sighed and hung his head a little; he was used to being bored while doing his various chores at home, but this had been a different experience. He nodded at his brother and changed the subject. "Are you sure Rolance is a good idea? There is still so much we could do here."

It was clear he had asked Lailah, who suggested their next destination. "I am sure," she confirmed with audible certainty. "Even if they can not really touch you due to your position, you did act against Hyland's interests. It would be better to let matters cool down for a while. So we better lay low in Hyland." She put enough emphasis on the pun to make everyone recognise it. Mikleo uttered a quiet groan and Sorey could not help but roll his eyes fondly. As annoying as Lailah's love for puns could be, it was also endearing to him. At the same time, just leaving Hyland behind felt like running away to him; Sorey did not like to flee, but he had been convinced in the end.

Edna chimed in next, audibly calm but still sounding the slightest bit annoyed: "If you're done bringing down conversation, you probably want to look up again. The land's not so high not to see the seraph coming our way, and I don't even have eyes right now."

"Aw, I know you love my puns!"

"I'd like them more if you put effort into them."

"Like you do?"

He ignored the women bantering in favour of watching the distant figure; there was indeed someone walking toward them. A glance went to Mikleo, who nodded; this confirmed what Edna just told them and knowing that made Sorey a little giddy. Both for something unusual happening and because he realised he had to talk to someone again. This time, he could at least prepare himself a little. However, his anticipation took a nosedive when the man got closer; Sorey recognised him. Tall, bare-chested and musclular. Wild, pale hair flew around his body; even without the details, it was clear who came at them.

Edna and Lailah fell silent as they, too, realised just who they were going to meet soon. Both materialised next to Sorey a moment later, for once sharing the same expression; calm, mouths pressed into thin lines. He could understand them, although their show of dislike only prompted a shake of the head from the other man; his cocky grin remained in place, clearly visible even at a distance. He stepped closer on the other side of the road, but his eyes were on them as much as theirs were on him, like a predator sizing up his prey. Sorey could not help but feel a little inadequate, confronted with such a picture of masculinity; he knew he was lacking on that end.

That thought was shaken off when Zaveid seemingly slid to their side of the road, blocking their way. He kept walking right at Sorey, wearing an almost feral grin as he spoke. "Boy, what a surprise to find you guys here! What's with the long face, shepsy? Did your girl run off or somethin'? You've got two more right there, just saying!" He chuckled, motioning for Lailah and Edna, only to be met with an actual scowl from the former and narrowed eyes from the latter. Sorey's hand remained on his sword, but none of that seemed to interest Zaveid. He simply swaggered closer until he basically loomed over Sorey, larger than life. Yet there was no motion of an attack.

Then he produced an evelope from nowhere, holding it out."Anyway, I was headed to these parts and some people decided to abuse me as a mailman. Figured you'd be somewhere on the way." Sorey blinked and took the envelope mechanically; of all the things he expected to happen, this was not among them. Zaveid clapped his shoulder once and made to walk past, but then paused. "Oh, right," he added. "You might wanna go around Glayvend Basin while they're fighting it out."

Then he did step past Sorey, who turned around to watch him; no three steps farther, Zaveid stopped again to loom over Edna. The girl seraph stared up and he grinned down, neither saying anything. This silence grew rather tense, at least until Sorey broke it to pieces: "Wait, Zaveid! Just what are you after? Why did you attack us last time?"

He broke eye contact with Edna in response and glanced at Sorey over his shoulder, shrugging. "Just making my way through life. You never know where you end up or how things turn out, kids. And goody two-shoes like you just piss me off." Then he snapped his fingers. "Speaking of..." A small parcel was pulled out of nowhere again, this time held out to Edna. "A little something from your secret admirer. Or perhaps not so secret," he added when he saw the girl's expression go slack. She, too, took it without complaint.

She looked down at it, then back up at Zaveid; Sorey figured he understood her feelings in that moment, being completely confused himself. The other man just shrugged again. "As I said, I'm being abused as a mailman. Then again, they asked nicely." He gave a small wave and swaggered off, not looking back once; on the other hand, four pairs of eyes were glued to his back until he was out of sight. Then they searched the others, trying to understand just what happened in these two minutes. Going by the slight headshakes and -tilts, no one managed. Neither did Sorey.

Once Zaveid was gone, he turned his attention to Edna. "What's in there?"

His newest companion studied the package in her hands; she quickly unwrapped the paper and revealed a metal box. In it, they found cookies. Dozens of them, neatly stacked and tastefully arrayed. A letter was stuck below the lid and fell out when Edna lifted it; she caught the parchment before it hit the ground, a small smile on her face. One she might not even realise she let them see, Sorey felt.

"Oh my, could that have been Laphicet?" Edna nodded toward Lailah, who chuckled and clapped her hands. "He is such a sweet boy, is he not?" Her cooing prompted no real response, though Edna's smile grew a fraction.

Mikleo chimed in there, drawing attention back to Sorey when he tapped his shoulder. "And what's this? Who is it from?" A finger pointed at the letter he still held. Sorey turned it around and brightened up; a lot more so than Edna had.

"It's from Alisha!" Nobody paid attention to the quiet crunch of a cookie meeting its crumbly fate, seeing how Mikleo and Lailah both crowded around Sorey; Edna stood to the side, but he figured she was listening as well. He carefully unfolded the letter and began to read it carefully. "It's pretty long," he muttered to the other two, who tried and failed to read upside down. "She says she's doing fine, that Margaret has some friends who got her out." His lips pulled up into a smile, one which his friends returned within moments. Sorey relaxed as a great weight was lifted from his shoulders; Alisha was free after all.

"What else does she say?"

Mikleo's impatient question made him go back to reading with a thoughtful noise. He went over it once and then again, just to make sure he got it all. "Looks like she's staying with Margaret for now, and she met some interesting people... she says. It doesn't say who, but I guess with Zaveid bringing this and the other package-" another crunch "-maybe it was Laphicet again?"

"That sounds like it fits." Lailah put a finger to her chin, but the smile remained in place even as she thought. "Not that it matters much, I am quite happy she is alright."

"Well, she sounds more than alright." Sorey waved the letter a little and handed it over so Lailah could read. "Maybe it's just me, but the way she wrote this makes it sound like she's happy."

The letter was long, if not detailed. As if Alisha had been bursting with things to tell him, jumping from subject to subject; she spoke of learning to cook, of learning to work with Margaret and Symonne, even of being taken to an incredible sight, one that defied any words she could use to describe it. She wrote several lines about how mesmerising a place it had been, which drew Sorey's curiousity; there was nothing about the kind of sight, only that it was radiant in some way. Perhaps, he reasoned, they took her to see some kind of ancient gemstone. A golden one, perhaps. Hidden somewhere in a ruin deep below.

Now he wanted to explore ruins again.

Sighing softly over not getting his wish, he gave his friends time to read the letter; Edna was still munching on her cookies, but she silently offered the box when she saw him looking. Sorey smiled and took one, finding it soft but crunchy and just a little bit sweet.

Lailah hummed and handed the letter back after finishing. "It is good to know she did not lose heart," she told them cheerfully.

When Edna received the letter, she had to put her treat aside to read it; the others covered most of this though, the only part no one mentioned yet was Alisha talking about how she would continue to strive for excellence. Empty words, or so her first thought was; then she remembered the young woman she had only been around for a few days. There was a quality about her, something quite different from Sorey yet similar.

The more interesting question was only asked after they decided to stop for the approaching night. Mikleo asked, just as he was setting up a fire: "I wonder how Laphicet knows Zaveid."

Sorey made an agreeing noise and lowered his head to think; Lailah was off gathering sticks from the few trees in the distance, leaving the three of them. Seeing that no one else offered anything, she voiced her own thoughts in her usual deadpan: "Maybe he tried to hit on his sister and she hit him in the face."

"Would she do that?" Mikleo eyed her curiously, though also a little worried. "I didn't think she was violent from what I heard so far."

She needed a moment to realise what he made of this; it was her mistake, though taunting him remained tempting. Edna shook her head. "She isn't, at least not much." It was more a jab at Zaveid anyway, she did not really understand why Mikleo took that so seriously. "If you want to know, you should ask Laphi sometime."

A moment passed and Edna blinked, then turned away on her perch on a small hill. Her umbrella was lowered to hide her face and the slight blush; she did not even realise she used his nickname until a moment later. Hopefully, no one else took notice. Having turned her back, she was unaware that neither of the men gave her statement more thought than they needed to agree with it.

Once she calmed her expression and settled down again, eyes roaming the countryside but finding nothing of interest, Edna sighed and closed them. Then she folded her umbrella and lay down on her back. Digging in her preserved memories, she brought up one of Eizen's letters and began to read. The one Laphi sent her had just been a short message about him being well and looking forward to seeing her again... which did make her a little happy, admittedly. Just a little.

The last few cookies were munched on and swallowed as she read. Sorey went off to hunt, or so she heard; Mikleo left for one reason or other and Lailah returned, tending to a softly crackling fire. No one bothered Edna, thankfully. She was immersed and read letter by letter, sinking back into the past a little bit.

After a time however, she paused. There, right there in her preserved memory, a name was written. 'Velvet'. Just after they spoke of a Velvet earlier, the thought fresh in Edna's mind; it drew her curiousity. Eizen was reminiscing of a woman by the same name and while his sister did not recall specifics, she retained enough to know this one was important. Only, her memories were sorted chronologically and in no other way. Edna would have to go through every letter before that one to find what she needed.

No longer indulging in the past, three more letters were scanned in such a way; which was when the earth seraph got fed up with doing this. She began to jump between memories at random to find one that mentioned this Velvet. Time passed as she investigated, flying by without much notice.

When Edna did find a mention of her, she briefly wished she had not. For this first letter led her to another, where she found a proper description; a description of Velvet Crowe. Of a Malak boy called Laphicet. Of a second Malak by the same name, who fit Laphi's description perfectly. Now she knew why those two felt familiar when she first laid eyes on them.

One of Edna's eyelids slid open, squinting under the sunshine for a moment. She observed her surroundings, took note of Sorey and Mikleo returning, but then closed the eye again. Edna shifted her umbrella with practiced motions, hiding her face and any expression she might show. Then she began to read again, this time not just skimming but properly studying each letter. She needed to know everything, regardless of how it made the pit in her stomach open wider, grow deeper.

By the time she finished and became aware of her surroundings again, night had long since fallen. Sorey was sprawled over his bedroll, fast asleep; Mikleo vanished, likely resting as well. Only Lailah remained, settled right in front of Edna and calmly folding a slip of paper into a bird; the earth seraph watched the graceful and well-practiced motions for a moment, which gave her companion the time to speak first: "Are you alright?"

Silence hung between them for a long, long moment; Edna had two choices, to tell or to stay silent. To choose. It may have been the most agonising second in her life.

"Yes."

Lailah searched her face for the lie, well aware of Edna's inability to control it. She found what she was looking for and inclined her head ever so slightly, voice tender. "Edna, please. Tell me what bothers you."

"Nothing bothers me," she lied again, without hesitation this time. "I just spent some time reminiscing."

They held each other's gaze, the moment broken by a loud crack from the fire. Lailah gave no indication that she saw through the second lie, she even reached out and drew Edna into a loving embrace; the earth seraph allowed it, having had ample time to shy away. With just the two of them awake, she could accept the gesture; she even appreciated it and squeezed Lailah back, if for a different reason than her companion thought.

After separating, the two of them dissolved and returned to Sorey. All the while, Edna's mind continued to circle around a singular thought: they could not know.

Innominat walked amongst men. The first Calamity had arisen. Zaveid was involved with them both, and so were Margaret and Symonne. Which meant that they also had Alisha with them, be it a willing and unaware supporter, a hostage, or perhaps even a new convert to whatever their cause was.

She needed time to consider her options. Moreover and more importantly, she needed to calm her aching heart; he never told her and it hurt that he had not. Even though Edna logically understood such a secret took more than just friendship to reveal, she had dared to hope he would be candid with her. At least about something so important. How could she be hurting without having a solid body? And why did it hurt so much? No, she knew why it hurt, Edna could not lie to herself like that; what eluded her was a way to make it stop hurting. She refused to think of Laphi as an enemy, or as a threat.

Those thoughts would keep plaguing her for days as Sorey journeyed onward; she pondered day after day, but found no solution beyond talking to him as soon as she could. Yet, even though she was staying within her vessel and lost in thought, she still took notice of the fact he followed Zaveid's advice. Sorey's path changed and began to lead through the woodland around Glayvend Basin; he did it only grudgingly, maybe just because Lailah kept arguing he needed to stay neutral.

One day, just after breakfast was had, Sorey managed to break into her thoughts. "I was thinking, maybe we could speed it up with you three's powers somehow? Symonne could use her water to glide around, that's what gave me the idea."

His proposal interrupted Edna and drew her attention; she considered it for a moment, but soon realised it was possible. At the same time however, he gave her a perfect opening, so she snapped back in her best deadpan: "So you would make your poor seraphim work to get places faster?"

Sadly, Mikleo interrupted before she could lead into likening their race to racers. "To be fair, Sorey carries us around most of the time."

Edna's immaterial mouth clicked shut and she was glad he could not see her. "Spoilsport," she muttered quietly into the mental space they shared. Lailah chuckled in response.

"It is a good idea," the firekeeper declared cheerfully; one could just imagine her clapping her hands. "We do have some time at hand and little else to do, so we may as well practice." A pause was left there as she considered the situation, then she cautioned them: "Although I doubt that Mikleo will be able to copy Symonne's application anytime soon, especially in combat. Such a fine control and focus speak of decades of practice and experience."

"And Mibu, being the baby he is, obviously wouldn't know anything like that." Edna almost snickered when she heard her fellow seraph spluttering, however one could do so while formless. She could anticipate his words even without paying attention to them and allowed the grin she felt to spread into her voice. "See, the baby is wailing."

Another spluttering sound followed, preceded by a sigh from Sorey; the shepherd put a hand on his forehead and talked over them, his voice calm but firm: "Okay, we got it. Could you stop bullying Mikleo for a bit?"

Edna stopped. Had she had eyes, she would have blinked at them slowly. "Is this bullying?" Only silence answered her. "Oh." All of a sudden, she had other problems to think about; Edna never meant to actually bully anyone. Should she apologise? But if she did, what would the others think of her then? Minutes passed as she considered the situation, wondering whether she should be nicer or hold back. Not to mention the tried and true method of keeping her mouth shut before she made things worse.

She was so absorbed in her pondering that she missed the awkward silence she left behind, broken only when Mikleo sighed and spoke up."It's fine," he admitted hesitantly. "I'm used to your snark by now. Just, just tone it down when we're talking about something important, alright?"

Edna listened intently, but found no issue with his proposal; nonetheless, her response was merely a quiet "Okay", as she still felt chastised from Sorey's earlier reprimand. Lailah seized the opportunity her silence left to return to their earlier subject: "I am afraid there is no direct application of fire that will be useful to traveling, well, unless you were thinking of burning down a forest to traverse it faster. Naturally, I can not advocate such a thing." She chuckled and ignored how no one joined in, then added another consideration as an afterthought: "Seraphim of wind are the most suited to this kind of task."

"I agree," Edna chimed in there, though she added her own commentary as well: "But it's still possible with some clever thinking. Fire just doesn't work well near your teammates in general."

Sorey had been listening carefully and produced a thoughtful noise as he tapped his chin. "That reminds me," he began, "you guys can cast artes that aren't of your own element, right? Couldn't you adopt some wind artes?" He appeared honestly unaware, despite the fact he grew up around seraphim; it baffled Edna, though she hid her confusion and explained the matter.

"Of course we can, but they are a good bit weaker than if we had the corresponding element. It works better to adjust the effect we want to our own. Let's take making a river for example; I can just change the soil to form a trench, but Mibu could probably do it faster and easier by digging with water instead of affecting the earth."

She fell silent, figuring that the point had been made. In addition however, she realised something else she could contribute; so while Sorey nodded a few times, the seraph girl materialised herself with a sly grin. "As for getting around quickly, I can throw you on stone slabs." She almost laughed over his panicked expression, but caught herself and decided to stop teasing. "But I also have a boring method. Watch."

After ascertaining that he paid attention, Edna took control of the ground right beneath her; the soil rose up and contorted around a small platform of stone her feet were placed on, turning to fine sand. She gave her powers a moment to work the earth as she desired before willing the stone forward, constantly converting everything ahead of her into sand as it entered her influence. So mobile, Edna rode a few loops around Sorey without even once changing her posture. When she came to a halt, he clapped for her. Edna smirked and tapped the stone with her shoe as she explained: "I can only use that for an hour or so, but it can go fast." In the end, she had decided that offering this to the group was alright; an olive branch after her earlier misstep.

Mikleo manifested next to them, peering at the path she tore and the rock she still stood on. Then he pointed down at the disrupted soil. "What if you only have to push the stone?"

It was an odd question, Edna had to admit; she could not make that work and failed to see which angle he had in mind. Nonetheless, she took a moment to give the thought due consideration before speaking: "Almost indefinitely, the difficult part is constantly changing the soil so I can slide over it without getting stuck."

Her analysis prompted Mikleo to study the ground again, then her rock platform. He frowned in concentration and Edna felt mana flow through her fellow seraph; it was expressed outward and into a basic arte, adding a liquid layer under her rock. She glanced down and crouched to examine his work, much the same as Mikleo did.

"Try it now."

She did as told, with Sorey and Lailah watching their exercise from the side. Edna willed the rock forward and found no friction at all; as a side effect however, her usual speed became much faster. In addition, she failed to notice that the liquid area was stationary. So when she left it, her platform dropped off and she fell forward, tearing a small trench through the ground with her face. Her momentary expression of wonder became a grimace and she kept lying where she fell, faintly aware of Mikleo's profuse apologises; it was not even that she doubted him being sorry. At the same time, it felt too much like karmic retribution to just wave off, so Edna sighed. "I guess I deserved that. We're even now, Mibu." She muttered the words into the soil before getting up and shaking off loose dirt, hiding her beet red face behind her umbrella.

Despite all that, her thoughts were circling around the combination of artes. "But the idea has merit." It was potentially something she could replicate herself, even. She merely needed a few decades of work in learning a useful water-arte, then another century to fuse both together.

Sorey chimed in once again at this point, distracting them both: "But if we keep sliding on a stone slab, wouldn't it get eroded eventually? That problem doesn't come up if you only use it for a time and walk normally afterward, but if this makes it easier to use longer... you know?"

He had a point there, Edna admitted as much when she turned around a moment later, her face finally under control and calm. No efficient solution presented itself, either; just switching rocks felt inefficient. Looking back at her beached platform however, she realised another issue that had to be mentioned. "Just so we are clear on that: fighting hellions will be difficult if we do this for too long. I won't have the mana to spare."

"Likewise," Mikleo agreed.

Sorey pondered this for a moment, his gaze wandering over the vast emptiness they had to traverse; the lands surrounding Glayvend Basin saw no more than the occasional traveler making the journey from one realm to another. "Well," he proposed after a while, "then we can divide tasks. You two are in charge of transportation, Lailah and I keep us safe. How does that sound?"

No one had any objections. Lailah clapped her hands excitedly and thus they ceased to move forward that day. Instead, Edna and Mikleo spent the remaining hours of sunlight practicing together; she was not too keen on having her alone time interrupted like this, but it ended up being not so bad. Mikleo was quite dedicated if he focussed, though perhaps the difference lay in her not needling him much that day. No matter the cause, they ultimately managed to anchor a water arte to the bottom of her platform without adding much complexity to it. Sorey and Lailah spent that time roaming the countryside and cleansing as many hellions as they could find; they did so the following day as well, and the day after.

Once Edna and Mikleo completed their practice however, they were all antsy to keep going ahead. Edna set up a platform to put Sorey on, then added an ornate throne on top just for her own amusement; when the boys threw her odd looks, she grinned at them. "Shepherd express should be suitably impressive," Edna reasoned, to an indulgent chuckle from Lailah.

Sorey kept being weird about sitting in that seat, but he did not complain. All the seraphim settled within and, after a moment of checking their preparations, Edna began to move them.

Soon after, the shepherd was traveling at speed greater than any normal horse could match.