10. Letter

Arganan wrote a letter to Calista while he was in bedrest. Might as well try, even if she never responded to it. Surely she'd want to know about the odd town she sent him to. She always entertained the idea of being outside the castle, and the least he could do was give her a taste of it.

He doubted a letter or two from him would help reconcile things between him and Calista alone. He doubted their rocky relationship could ever be reconciled.

But he could still try, right? At least extend some sort of olive branch and hope for the better? Perhaps everyone was so damn kind that this attempt of kindness was the end result of them rubbing off on him. But he wrote it anyway.

Dear Calista,

I hope you, and all of Lazulis, are well. I also extend my greetings to Zael.

Ever since I came here to Selphia, I've settled down a bit. I had to find employment quickly, due to the lack of Gold I had, but otherwise I've been fine. Recently, however, I did get into some trouble. I was attacked by a butterfly shaped monster while in Yokmir Woods, just outside Selphia, along with Dragon Knight Forte and Princess Frey of Selphia. We defeated the being, but it transformed into a girl named Amber.

The odd thing is, Amber doesn't remember anything about herself. I assume the trauma from that incident damaged her memory. I don't know how she turned into a monster or why she ended up that way. However, she's been easily accepted as one of the townsfolk here, just like I have been, and I'm glad about that.

As for myself, I'm currently stuck in bedrest after the attack during the writing of this letter. I should be getting well soon (and you'll likely be more than informed enough about the costs of repairing my prosthetics very soon, given the current arrangement of you paying for my medical treatments and rooming). However…

He paused. Should he mention the Outsider to her? She knew of it better than he did, in the end. (At least she was smart enough not to touch the damn rock, unlike him.)

I must inform you that I now have the Outsider's power. I have the same cross-shaped mark that Zael has on his hand, and I somehow defended Forte and Frey from the being Amber used to be during the battle, if only temporarily. I hope Dr. Jones gets those notes from Miss Mirania soon; perhaps they might help me find out what's going on with me.

If you need any help locating anything in the castle in Lazulis, or specifically where my office was (until it became yours), please feel free to ask. I have time on my hands to help.

He signed it, and the next time he got Nancy's attention, he asked if she could send it for him.

"A letter for your niece?"

"Yes." Arganan took a deep breath. "I'm not sure if she'll read it, though."

She offered him a soft grin. "I'm sure she'd be happy to hear from her uncle. I'll make sure to send this later today when I go out shopping."

"Thank you, Nancy." Staying with Nancy and Jones all this time so far was helpful. Not just because both were trained medically and because they were kind and all, but it was nice having company. Arganan didn't really have much of that, despite being the ruler of a whole island, back when he was Count. He always had to watch his back. He couldn't leave room to trust people. But here was drastically different.

Here was…peaceful.

And for once, he felt at peace.

Bedrest wasn't as long as he thought it would be. He managed to recover just fast enough, four days later, to officially be declared out of bedrest, but he was still waiting on his still-being-repaired metal leg. In the meantime, he could use a crutch or two to get around on his own, or even a wheelchair. He opted for the crutches, and made his way to the florist to visit Illuminata and Amber by the early afternoon.

"Hello!" Amber waved, having just put a bag of Greenifier on one of the shelves. "It's nice to see you!"

Arganan offered her a smile. "Good afternoon, Amber."

"You look a lot better today." Illuminata managed, grinning. There was a full, steaming pot of tea at the shop counter, and two cups filled for herself and presumably Amber, who was currently restocking some shelves. "Want a cup?"

Arganan looked down at the tea, then up towards her. "I appreciate that, Illuminata. Thank you."

She poured a cup for him, and carefully handed it to him after she got a chair for him to sit down with her. Putting his cane down, he took the tea and drank, enjoying both the scent and taste of it at once. He wasn't quite sure what made up the Relax Tea; there were a variety of herbs that had to be blended, collected from outside town or shipped in from elsewhere, but he didn't know the exact recipe. He'd learn someday. He had a feeling Nancy and Jones might like it.

"Do you need any help in the shop? I think I'm well enough to take over a cash register."

"No need to, today." Illuminata managed, taking a sip from her own cup. He noticed Amber also get her own cup of tea to drink as Illuminata kept speaking. "Business has been kinda slow, lately. Been hearing rumors abut cursed voices or something on top of that, too, so…"

"Voices?" How come he didn't know about this? Was this something he missed in bedrest so far? "How soon did they start?"

A shudder came from his left, and he turned to see Amber sit down, reaching for her cup of tea. "They're scary…a lot of us can hear them every night, for the past few days. Meg went to go see Venti with Blossom and Arthur about them, earlier this morning."

He hadn't heard the voices. Maybe he was too deep a sleeper to not notice. He had a feeling he should ask Frey for more details about it, especially if the townsfolk already asked Ventuswill.

"Arganan?" He blinked, realizing Amber stared him in the eye. "You okay? You looked a little glassy just now."

"Uh…I'm fine." He managed. "Just intimidated by the voices." He cleared his throat, before quickly sipping his tea. "I hope you've been adjusting well to town, Amber?"

"Yeah!" Amber broke into a grin, and Arganan was thankful that she switched subjects easily. "Everyone's so nice! The juice Porcoline serves is really good, too!"

"Juice?" He looked towards Illuminata, who chuckled and sipped her tea again.

"Juice is her favourite drink." Illuminata managed, winking at Arganan. "We gotta remember that for her birthday, later."

"I'll do my best." He had a feeling people really liked celebrating others' birthdays in this town; he once saw Frey try preparing Pancakes for Ventuswill (and failed), and everyone else had, at the time, brought their own gifts for the resident dragon. And then there was "Speaking of birthdays, when is yours?"

"Uh, Spring 23." Illuminata grinned ear to ear. "And now that you know, it makes me wonder what kind of gift you might get me. It's a mystery!"

Arganan figured he should drop by and see Frey today, to let her know that he was alive and (mostly) well. After all, it wouldn't do the ruler of Selphia well to worry about him so much, and he hoped his presence would ease said worries, if she had any.

Frey was happy to see him. She'd just finished up putting some Turnips in the little shipping box in the corner of the field when he came to visit, and the two immediately went on a walk around town after she put her farming supplies away in her room. Arganan felt a bit achy still, and still being on crutches didn't help, but he figured he could manage…up until he couldn't take it anymore and the two had to sit on a park bench to take a break. "Have you learned anything about Amber, while I've been stuck in bedrest? I did visit her and Illuminata a little earlier, but they were occupied talking about those voices from outside town."

"Not quite." Frey pushed a few bangs out of her face. "All I know is that Amber…she remembered falling asleep, before I met her. She said, thanks to me, she managed to wake back up. She also mentioned that before she woke up, she was living in the forest, but when she woke up, everything was gone."

Arganan frowned. "It sounds like she's been asleep for a very long time." He wondered how long she used to be in that monster form of hers. Part of him didn't want to know. "Do you know why she was a monster in the first place? Or, how she became that way?"

"No, unfortunately." Frey sighed. "I'm pretty sure Venti might have an idea. After all, she said that she's a Native Dragon. A god. Gods have to know a lot of things, right?"

Arganan stared. "What!?" Ventuswill, a god? Sure, she was a dragon, and definitely respected enough by nobles such as Arthur (how else would she have the ability to give Frey respective power over the town after Arthur requested it happen?). However, he had no idea they were actually worshipped. Not until now.

Frey nodded. "That's why she's so formal to almost everyone else. She said, 'how is a god supposed to keep her dignity when she's getting so close to humans?' Apparently most Native Dragons have difficult personalities, so people don't rely on them too much."

"Interesting." He mused. He recalled the first time he met Ventuswill, how she stood with a certain pride, like a noble…unless she was talking with Frey and him by themselves. "She seems very approachable, for a supposed god."

"True. Maybe she's the least difficult."

He shrugged. "She probably is, especially if she's being nice to everyone. Letting them inhabit the land around her, and the fact that they respect her in turn is good. It may be a formal relationship she shares with the people, but it's of mutual respect. Less difficulty of getting along by being approachable enough, the better things go."

Silence fell between them. Frey paused, then looked towards Arganan, a hum leaving her lips before she spoke. "Speaking of approachability and the Native Dragons…Venti did fill me in on the other three."

He stared at her for a moment. "There are other dragons?"

"Seems so. Terrable, the dragon god of the earth, who presides over resurrection. Fiersome, dragon god of fire, presides over destruction. Aquaticus, the dragon god of water, presides over transformation. And then there's Venti, god of the wind, who rules the abyss of time."

The names sounded so obvious. Almost too much so. Terrable? Fiersome? Aquaticus? He had a feeling that Ventuswill got the best name out of all of them. At least it didn't completely give away the idea of what their powers were. Right?

"And about those voices," Frey added, "Venti said that they're from the ruins, southeast of town."

Arganan stared at her. Is she seriously…? "You're planning to investigate them, aren't you? Not by yourself, I hope."

She nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I have to. Venti asked me, and she can't leave the town because she has to protect the people there. And," Frey gave him a pointed look, "You are not following me this time, especially in your current condition. Okay?"

"I—" He started, but then she glared at him. He swallowed. "I understand. I won't follow. But if you're gone from town for at least over a day, I'll alert Forte and Volkanon and let them handle it. The last thing any of us wants is you being dead. Can we agree on that?"

He wished he'd done this with Calista; negotiate how long she could be out, rather than keeping her locked up in the castle. It would've made her future escape attempts from the castle feel less like her running away from good, and reassure him that she'd come back at some point. How ironic, he thought, that she can't leave Lazulis too soon due to being its Countess and working out things with the Gurak, and yet I'm here.

"Good." A sigh escaped Frey as she shook her head. "I still can't believe you ran after me like that. And it's because of that you're injured now…I feel kind of bad about it, you know."

"I've never been the best at combat." Arganan confessed. He almost laughed, but then winced at the pain in his ribs. "I admit my decision at the time was hasty. But it's not your fault."

"I guess my decision was, too. Going alone for so long, that is." Frey offered him a soft grin. "I can bring Forte with me this time. Maybe Margaret, but I'm not quite sure about her battle skills."

The former Count thought of all the townspeople. Sure, Ventuswill was the most powerful and probably would be best to bring along, but if her presence was required at Selphia at all times, the second-most-powerful person for combat, he guessed, would be Forte. However, he also doubted that the rest of the other townspeople just holed up in town for their lives, day in and day out. "I'm sure most of them went outside town for at least a short while. They probably know some amount of self-defense. Wouldn't be surprised if Forte taught them."

He doubted that for someone like, say, Blossom, but surely people like Bado or Forte would have a better hand in battle. And he was more than sure that Blossom wasn't anywhere near healthy enough to fight monsters right now. But Forte? Margaret? Those two sounded reliable. He knew Forte had the training. Margaret might have some skills. Either way, both were better than him.

"Maybe I can take you." Frey spoke, and he stared at her.

"You mean that? Weren't you just telling me to not follow you?"

"I mean after you get better, of course." A soft chuckle escaped her as she looked him in the eye. "I mean, you did defend me and Forte pretty well back there, with that power of yours. I had no idea you had those kind of powers before!"

"You think so?" He blinked. He thought back to using the Outsider's power, and he winced. "I never meant to put up the shield, Frey. I just yelled to get its attention, because I thought if I distracted it enough, you and Forte would have enough time to recover and strike it down. The shield appeared on its own…as well as my right hand glowing."

"What?" Frey's jaw dropped. "So, that power…"

"Wasn't meant to happen." He finished. "I don't know how it didn't come up until now."

Her brow furrowed. "U-until…now?"

He internally cursed, but he knew he couldn't hide the truth from Frey. He had to tell her. There wasn't much point in hiding it from her, anyway, especially given how she clearly saw him using it. "Remember when I told you that," He pushed bangs out of his face, averting his gaze from hers and then looked towards her again, "I ended up losing my health from the war? Hence why I was here in Selphia to recover peacefully? Well…during that time, I directly contacted something called the Outsider. Up until then, I did use its power to assist me and my forces in that war, but I never went into direct physical contact with it up until then, because the cannon I powered with the Outsider wasn't working properly at the time. The attempt nearly killed me, for a lack of better words. Looking back on that, I think it might've transferred some of its power to me at the time."

"Really?"

He took off his right glove, showing her the cross-shaped mark. It glowed a soft blue, and he took a deep breath. "Yes. This mark is proof of the Outsider's power. But it never appeared at all until I defended you and Forte. I didn't even know I had any trace of its power in the first place, until then."

Frey stared down at the mark, then up at him. "How do you know it's proof of its power in you, then?"

"I knew someone that gained its power before then. My niece's now-husband Zael, actually."

Frey's jaw dropped. "You both can use that power? Were there others, or just the two of you?"

He swallowed. "There were others. But they're gone, now. One of them was an enemy. The other was a traitor to all of us who we…had no choice but to put down, as far as I heard from Zael." He didn't really want to talk about Dagran or Zangurak right now. Hopefully that was enough to make her change the subject.

"I see…" Frey paused, before speaking again. "Speaking of power, Venti also told me why some people might be transforming from monsters to humans."

"Really? Why?"

"Because of my power as an Earthmate. It does something to them when I defeat them in battle. I don't know all the details, but…I guess if it's helping transform people back to normal, that's good?"

He noticed the upward lilt in her voice, the small, doubtful frown on her face. He doubted she knew much about being an Earthmate. Hell, she only got here less than two weeks ago, around the same time as him. How was she supposed to know everything about how her Earthmate abilities worked?

In a way, he realized, he and her were in the same predicament. Newcomers in a distant town, trying to figure things and learning new things along the way. If there was anything she needed right now, it was reassurance. Reassurance that this would not end badly, because losing hope wasn't going to help her. He took a moment to form a couple words, because he didn't want to mess this up, before speaking.

"If it helps," He finally managed, "Amber's happy. She seemed fine when I visited her and Illuminata earlier. And if the power helped her get back to the person she was, despite the whole memory-loss issue, I think it's a good thing." He offered her a hand on her shoulder, just gently but firmly as he looked her in the eye. "That power of yours is unique. It's not anything I've seen before, not even like Zael's power. And having this power, combined with being Princess of Selphia, will be very helpful to you. Learn as much as you can about that power, Frey. That's the only way you can figure out how to use it well. Being afraid of it isn't going to help."

He didn't want her making the same mistakes he did, when he had the Outsider under his control. There was knowledge about it that he knew, like it being capable of draining the land of life, but he ignored it until it was too late. Had it not been for Zael, Calista, and others' efforts, Lazulis might not have any life within it, right now. He doubted Frey's power had that much of a devastating effect to it, but it was probably in her (and all of Selphia's) best interest to make sure she knew what she was getting into.

Frey looked towards his hand on her shoulder, then up at him, nodding once. "I understand. I…I'll definitely keep that in mind." She paused, then smiled. "You know, Arganan…I think you're a good person."

He did his best not to snort at that. "I'm anything but that, to be honest. You've only known me for less than two weeks."

"You didn't hesitate to chat with me when we first met," She pointed out. "You went after me when you got worried about my safety. And now you're even giving me advice on the whole kingdom-running thing and my powers! You've been nothing but nice to me."

"I've made a lot of mistakes." He swallowed. Her smile reminded him of Calista, and he looked away from her briefly, inhaling slowly. "Frey, there is a lot you don't know about me. And I'm not comfortable sharing that yet. As far as I know, it's this: You are a very kind and considerate person, and though you haven't ruled Selphia long, I can tell that you're doing a good job of it so far. The people like you. You literally do your best to talk with anyone and everyone, and you're always filling out requests for them. I do think you are a wonderful person and you're making the best of your situation, given the amnesia and Earthmate-related things you're involved in. One day, maybe I'll tell you all the details about me. But not now."

"Oh." Her voice went soft, and he looked up to see her nod a little. "Okay."

"Just…" A few bangs fell in front of his face, and he quickly clipped them back before finishing, "Just don't make me out as some saint. I don't want you to have high expectations of me as a person. No one is perfect. Especially not me."

"Thank you." Her smile came back. "Thanks…for letting me know. Still doesn't deter me from thinking you're good, though."

He couldn't help but chuckle a little at that. If she only knew…

But he would tell her all about himself, another time.

He returned to the Clinic, ready to get some rest, hoping to be ready to work tomorrow.

"Arganan?" Jones approached him, holding his clipboard as usual.

The former Count turned to face him. "Yes?"

"There's a letter for you." Jones took it out and handed it to him. Arganan blinked, then looked down at it. The handwriting was unmistakable on the envelope.

It was from Calista.

"She wrote a letter to me?" He looked up at Jones. "When did this come in?"

"Just early this morning." Jones offered him a smile. "I'm sure you'd like to read it."

Arganan wasted no time opening the envelope, unfolding the letter to read.

Dear Uncle,

I never expected you to send me a letter, but I'm glad to that you're settling down well in Selphia. I'm sorry to hear that you didn't have an adequate amount of Gold upon arrival for all the other necessities, but I am glad to hear that you are getting along with the town and its people, and that you're occupying yourself.

I heard about the rumors of sightings of mysterious butterflies at Yokmir Forest, but I had no idea you were drawn into the investigation until I read your letter. I'm glad you survived the encounter, but I am concerned for you deliberately putting yourself into such dangerous situations. Please be careful, should something like this happen again.

Speaking of your state, I've sent Sir Therius to come check on you. He should be arriving in the next week, as he's making his way to Selphia from the Empire's mainland. I've secured lodging for him at the Bell Hotel. He'll be staying in Selphia for the week, once he arrives, to also further discuss things with you in regards to your power and the incident you mentioned in your letter. Though I did send you here to recover well, your safety still remains a priority.

Lazulis Castle is well. We're still in the middle of some repairs, and Zael has done a fantastic job of organizing all the castle staff to get it done. Progress is going better than expected. Meanwhile, I've been in the middle of peace treaty talks with the Gurak. Though the war has ended, we hope to put together the treaty as fast as possible to avoid future potential conflict.

I wish you well.

-Calista

Arganan folded up the letter, closed his good eye.

She wrote to me. She actually wrote to me. The contents of the letter sunk deeper into his mind, and he swallowed.

Therius is coming. I let Calista know about Amber and my power.

Shit. What have I done?

He opened his eye, looked at the clock. The night was still young, and he knew what he had to do.

"Sorry, Jones, but I'll have to eat dinner later." He started, moving to head out of the Clinic.

"So soon?" Jones raised a brow. "You just got back."

"I know. And I do apologize for missing dinner. Please let Nancy know that it's probably delicious and I would love to eat with both of you, but I have to attend to something. It's…urgent. I promise to be back by later tonight."

Arganan didn't hesitate to half-run out the door (despite carrying himself on crutches) before Jones could protest.

I have to tell Frey. Amber, too. And the castle staff, and potentially Arthur and Ventuswill…

All he could hope is that he didn't just put all of Selphia in trouble just because of a letter.