"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Riza had pulled her eyes from the runes carved into her bow and was now staring at the doctor. She wasn't sure if she heard him correctly but judging from the almost amused smile that rested on the older man's lips, she knew he was serious.
"If this is your bow, and I am reading this correctly, then you are The Gate."
"The Gate to what?" Roy asked.
"The Truth," Knox answered shortly.
There was a pause. Roy and Riza both hoped Knox would expand on what The Truth was, but no further explanation came. Riza glanced back to the runes, then to Roy, and then back to Knox. "You said the runes have to be recreated on The Gate," Riza started. "If I am The Gate, what does that mean?"
"Exactly what I said. The runes have to be written on you to be read."
"Okay." Riza sucked a breath in and braced herself for a question she wasn't sure she wanted to ask. "How, then? Marker?"
Knox's face became more sullen, and Riza was surprised that was even possible. He already looked pretty serious, but now he almost seemed saddened by her ignorance. Riza felt anxiety bubble in her stomach when she didn't receive an immediate answer.
The doctor traced his finger down to the fifth rune. It was by far the most intricate of all with many lines and shapes that all seemed to form a pointed ball of some sort. "Fire."
"What?" Roy asked before Riza could choke out a response of her own.
"Fire. The runes must be written on The Gate with fire." Knox looked up at the two shocked faces before him. "What? You're a fire mage, and your father taught him fire magick. You're really that surprised that a bloodline seeped in flame magery would have a prophecy passed down to them that involves fire?"
Silence fell over the table again. He was absolutely right, though, and Roy and Riza exchanged worried glances. "So, Roy has to burn me?" Riza asked in a quiet voice.
Knox detected the hesitation in her voice, but answered rather sharply, "Yes. But not now. Maybe not for a long time. You'll know when the time comes."
"That's cryptic," Roy pointed out. He wasn't quite sure if he believed this whole prophecy business. As far as he was concerned, the old doctor was full of shit. Knox simply nodded.
"Yes, but if prophecies were always forthcoming with their information, humans would learn nothing." Knox set the bow down on the table and stood. His chair loudly scrapped across the wooden floor. Roy opened his mouth to speak again, but Knox cut him off. "It's late and I need sleep after a full day's operation. Goodnight." And then he turned on his heel and walked up the stairs to the spare bedroom next to Pinako's.
The pair were left there staring at the bow and each other. Roy felt terrible and a little angry at what had been discussed. Riza stared at the bow as if looking at it for the first time. It looked so different, though it was the same as it had always been. All these years, her family displayed the bow in the living room and all these years it held such secrets. And she didn't believe her father had no idea about what was written on the bow, but she did believe he simply didn't tell her. Her father barely spoke to her when he was alive. Going into all that detail would be more conversation with him than Riza had with the man over the course of her whole life.
"Riza," Roy started, but when the woman matched his gaze, he forgot what he was going to say. There was a long pause before the mage gathered his thoughts. "I wouldn't listen to what that doctor thinks," he said. "Knox seems like a good doctor, but what are the odds he knows anything about prophecies and runes?"
Riza nodded, but then paused and shook her head. "I wouldn't dismiss him so easily," she replied and pursed her lips, saying nothing more. Roy wasn't used to Riza being so contrary, but she looked serious and he wasn't about to debate with her on this. So, he simply nodded and let silence fall over the table once again.
"We should get to bed," Riza finally said, not wanting to speak much about the bow or the runes and certainly not anymore about being burned by her most trusted friend. Roy nodded slowly and stood, following Riza back to the bedroom where she stored her bow and went to bed.
The next morning brought warm sunshine that brightened the house and its inhabitant's moods. Edward was still recovering from the surgery, but Pinako assured everyone that it went well. Better than expected, in fact, and there was a good possibility he would be awake and moving within the week.
Roy cast a little healing charm on the sleeping child since Knox had left early that morning before the sun rose. The doctor disappeared without another word to anyone, which Roy and Riza found strange, but Pinako noted that he always seemed to vanish. He was a very private person, after all.
Knox's words echoed in Riza's mind as she picked up her bow and began to practice. She spent a while just standing there, gazing at the carved runes. The feel of her bow, the curve of the base and the sharpness of the string all felt so different. It was like she was holding an entirely new weapon. She pulled the string back and rested her thumb under her shin. She stood ridged. Perfect. Just as she had been taught to stand. Riza breathed in, then out, then loosened her arrow but held her pose until she heard the thunk of the arrow hitting the tree. Dead center, as usual, but something still felt so different.
She practiced for a while longer, trying to find the difference. It wasn't in her stance, in the arrows, or in her aim. It was within the bow, she realized. As though the knowledge of what this tool was unlocked something within it. It wasn't bad and it didn't negatively affect her. It was simply different. A different, strange feeling that she would have to get used to in the same way she got used to the unnatural poses that make for great aim.
Riza was just getting into a grove when Roy came out the front door and called to her. "Hey, do you want to head to the market?" he asked as he approached. Riza let the arrow she was in the middle of aiming fly. Truly, no, she didn't want to go anywhere. Their fight with Lust had left her winded and the talk with Doctor Knox made her feel drained and confused. But, perhaps a little trip to the open air market would clear her mind. They also couldn't stop in their tracks and needed to keep gathering intel so they could continue their journey.
"Alright," she answered. She leaned her bow against the tree nearest her and walked to the other tall oak she was using as target practice. Slowly, she removed her arrows and checked to ensure the tips were still sharp. Once every one of them was removed and inspected, she gathered her archery stuff and brought it inside.
In another few moments, Riza was out of the house in her usual borrowed clothes and her hair down. She had recently taken to clipping up her hair onto the back of her head, but she had decided to let it down today to look more civilian. Roy watched her for a long moment before quickly turning his head to look down the dirt road that led to the village market. She looked very pretty, he decided.
The pair began walking silently. It was a very agreeable day. The weather was warm and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Late spring had never looked so good, Riza decided. Sure, the city was nice and grand, but with all the brick and stone, no one was able to appreciate how green the grass could get or how blue the sky could look. There was something about that change of pace that Riza was particularly liking. If the country wasn't on the brink of collapsing, she might stay and live here. Maybe when this was all over. If, of course, they made it out alive.
"It's really nice here," Roy said, as though he could read her thoughts. Riza was broken from her rivalry and glanced sideways at him.
"Yes sir," she replied. "It really is." Her voice was lower than she meant for it to be, as though the beauty of the world forced her to respectfully soften her tone.
"You don't have to call me that," Roy frowned. It wasn't like she was his subordinate anymore. You kind of needed to have a position to have a subordinate.
"Call you what?" Riza asked, her brows knitting together. She worried she had offended him in some way but had no idea he was hinting at the formality that was instinctive in her speaking patterns now.
"'Sir.' We're not, you know, in the military anymore. We don't need those formalities. You're my friend."
"Yes, of course. I apologize." Riza stumbled over her words for a brief moment, about to add the formality to the end of her sentence, but caught herself just in time. This would be a harder habit to break than she thought.
Roy waved her off, not wanting to accept her apology. "It really is beautiful here, though," he started, deciding to change the subject.
"These people here are lucky, the kids too. It looks like a great place to grow up," Riza responded, but Roy didn't seem to believe that much.
"It's nice and the kids seem happy, but Central has the best schools and job opportunities. The people here are nice but poor."
Riza just shrugged. "My family lived near Central and we were always poor," she replied and looked at him with a judgemental stare. "And you should know most of all that not everyone in Central has money to feed themselves. Didn't you grow up an orphan there? That can't have been easy."
The man was taken aback and an affronted look swept over his face. He didn't think about his past very often. He had gotten so far away from the poor street rat he once was, it was like his past life belonged to someone else entirely. "I mean, yeah, but because I lived there, I had the chance to meet your father and join the military!"
"And, look how far that's gotten us," Riza pointed out. "And you were one of the lucky ones. At least the poor here are poor and happy. The community comes together and helps people out. How many times when we were staying with Pinako did she offer food or housing to someone in need? No one would do that in Central."
She was absolutely right, Roy knew. He watched her as they moved onto a cobbled path. They were getting closer to the market, and the smell of bread from the bakeries on the outskirts of the town drifted over them.
"You're amazing, you know that?" Roy asked her, the thought slipping through his lips before he could hold it back. She looked at him, questioningly, but didn't verbally ask what he meant by that. For the first time in a long time, Roy became flustered. "What I mean is that," he started quickly, then paused, trying to figure out what he could mean. "You're kind," he decided, "You care about other people."
"You do too, otherwise you wouldn't have started this journey."
"I couldn't have gotten this far without you. And you're the one that wanted to help those boys-"
"You weren't seriously thinking about leaving them out there?" Riza asked, shocked that anyone could consider such a thing.
"Well, no, but you immediately went to help. I just bumbled around a bit." This seemed to satisfy the woman, who turned her attention to the stalls they were about to start walking by. Roy watched as she did so, her golden hair bathed in the bright sunlight.
I can sense a lot of love between you two. Pinako's voice echoed in Roy's head as he looked at her. She was right. He did love her. Was this something he should share? Did she feel the same? His ego would never recover if she turned him down, but something about this moment felt so right. There, in between the market stalls in this adorable little village near the house they'd found a home in.
"Riza, I need to tell you something," Roy started.
"Hmm?" She turned to him.
"I'm not quite sure how to say this, but I think you should know," he started, turning the fabric of his shirt between his fingers. "This whole time, this whole journey, you've been great. You've really helped me find what's important. I think we'll be alright, but I can't wait until this is all over to tell you that I-"
Boom! A loud explosion suddenly rocked the marketplace and the pair snapped their attention to where a large cloud of smoke rose over the small town center.
"Come on!" Riza shouted, grabbing Roy's wrist and running between the scattering people to where the action was.
Apologies for how long this took me to post-I promise I've not lost inspiration for this story, but I just got really busy and had a March from hell! Wrecked car, signed lease, quit job, started job, had to fly out to see family... phew. I'm SO glad it's over! Let me just assure you lovely readers that I will finish this story, but it might take some time as I adjust to a new schedule! Thank for as always for reading!