Chapter 3: Fated Vision
After the close-miss at the Rotelro Bridge, Guy and Cassa continued eastward, having decided to go first to Engeve to gather information, then towards St. Binah and Kaitzur. Along the way, the two of them checked their inventory, seeing if anything needed to be thrown out or replaced.
"Ugh," Cassa groaned as she pulled out a bit of meat from her small bag. "The food's almost all no good. The sea-water got into a lot of it."
"We can replace a lot of it in Engeve," he replied, "how about the non-replacable stuff?"
That made her turn pale.
"Wh-what? What'd I say?"
Cassa said nothing and started checking in not only her pockets, but also in sections of the item bag. A moment later, she pulled out a folded piece of paper.
"Oh great," she groaned, "It's ruined."
"What is?"
"It's some paper...with part of an Arte on it."
"Well, you can make a new copy, can't you?"
"Yeah...thank goodness I memorized it."
Then Guy blinked. "Why is it so important to have a written copy if you know what it says?"
"Well...like I said, the contents are half of an Arte."
"What do you mean, half an Arte?"
"Exactly that. The paper only has the second, fourth and last lines. I need a copy because," she replied, taking a breath, "If I ever find the other half, I'll be able to use it."
"Okay," he said, "as soon as we get to Engeve, we'll get some paper and pen for you."
"Thanks."
"Cassa, what are the lines that are on the paper?"
She replied, "'Combining the lightning of heaven with the flowing winds of time', 'Salvation or destruction, tell the tale here', and what I think is the Arte's name."
"Okay. How about your weapon? You still have it?"
"Yes, thank goodness."
"Okay, then. We'd better get going, towards Engeve."
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The duo's progress had been halted twice on the way to the grocer's hamlet, and by the time that they had arrived, it was already close to sunset. Cassa had been about to suggest going into the town when she saw something...a very large something.
It was a landship, the very same one that they had seen at Rotelro Bridge.
"Guy," she said, "Why don't we camp out here tonight? With that landship here, I don't think there is going to be room at the inn."
"But, what about that paper?"
"Don't worry about it."
He sighed, then said, "Okay. I'll get some food from the town while you set up camp. You do know how to, don't you?"
She shook her head.
"Okay then, I'll set up camp while you get the food," he amended, "As well as writing stuff."
"Writing stuff?"
"We might have to camp out here, but that paper's important, right? You'd better get that done."
"You're right," she said softly, "Thanks."
"Hey, it's no problem," he replied, "But..."
"What is it?"
"Can you find out why that landship's here? I mean, they'd more easily tell a fellow Malkuthian than they would me."
"I'm not traveling as Lady of House Reiner, remember?"
"You've still got a Malkuth accent, while mine would give me away."
"All too true. Okay, I'll see what I can do."
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By the time that Cassa had returned, the camp had been set up, and Guy was trying to start a fire.
The woman winced and set her things, which were in a bag, down on the ground, then took a deep breath and murmured something before pointing at the stack of wood.
The wood caught fire, causing Guy to jump back, making a startled sound.
"C-Cassa! You should've warned me you were gonna do that!"
"Sorry, I just wanted to help with the fire. It's all I can do..." she replied, a bit sad, then asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm lucky I didn't burn my hand. Cassa, if you're going to be traveling around like this, you've seriously got to learn how to make camp."
"Yes. I doubt this will be the first time we'll be camping out. Maybe tomorrow you can teach me?"
"Sure," he replied, "But for now...what did you find out?"
"Nothing, I'm afraid," she replied, "The villagers are clueless as to the landship's occupants...and the elder's as tight-lipped as I am with state secrets."
"Whoa...I know how tight-lipped you are when it comes to matters of state."
She continued, "I did get food, paper and pen, though, so I'll copy what I have of the Arte before I cook."
"Cook? You cook?"
"Yes, I do know how to cook," she shot back, "Unlike a certain spoiled brat we both know, I am able to do that."
"Hey now, I know you don't get along with Luke, but that's no reason to badmouth him like that."
"Guy, I'm just telling the truth. He is a spoiled brat. The only thing good I can see about the mess he's in is that maybe he's giving the intruder more than a single headache."
He chuckled nervously at that thought.
She sat down on the ground and took a hard, square item out of the item bag, the put the paper on it. Guy looked around as she started writing.
"Any idea where you might be able to find the other half of that?"
"Well," she replied thoughtfully, "My grandmother gave me that paper and told me that every generation, the words on it, the half-Arte, are copied, and the old one is destroyed."
Guy remained silent, listening.
"She also mentioned that an ancient family has the other half, also passed down through the generations. I don't remember the name of the family, not really...just that part of it sounds like a number."
"Sounds like a number, huh? Well, we'd better keep it in mind. It'd be great if you were able to use an ancient Arte like that."
"Hmm."
A few minutes passed while Cassa finished writing the lines, then she set the paper aside to let it dry.
"By the way, that landship..."
"What about it?"
"You looked as though for a moment, you recognized it."
"Not really," she replied honestly, "I had heard that my homeland had made a new land dreadnought, named the Tartarus."
"Oh really? Wonder what a ship like that would be doing chasing down a coach?"
"I don't know. That's what seems wrong about this, I guess."
He thought to himself for a bit while she got up and picked out some vegetables.
"What're you going to make?"
"Vegetable soup."
He shook his head in a surprised way, then asked, "How come a Malkuthian noblelady like you knows how to cook?"
"My grandmother taught me. She kept saying things like, 'Just because you're a noble of our pround country doesn't mean that you can't do things for yourself, like cook or sew.' Father didn't look too kindly on my learning some things, but...he couldn't go against grandmother on it."
"Too bad she didn't teach you how to make camp."
"I told you that I'd start learning that tomorrow!" she retorted and started to get up.
"Sorry, sorry," he replied. "Well, once we eat, we'd better get some sleep."
"Before we do, I'd like to do something in the morning."
"What's that?"
"Ask around about that landship."
He blinked, surprised.
"What? How come?"
"Because...well..."
"Cassa, is this another state secret?"
"Partly."
He groaned and said, "You and your state secrets..."
She simply glared at him.
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Cassa found herself in the center of blackness. Although she could see nothing, she could hear, almost in the distance, the sound of wind...and the sound of a heartbeat.
"Hm? What the...?"
Cassi--
She gasped at the half-word.
"What in the...? What's going on?"
Cassio...
The voice was vaguely familiar, older and female.
"Who are you?"
Cassiopaeia...
She felt the motion as she shook her head.
"No, that's not who you are."
Cassiopaeia...it has begun...
"What's begun?"
The beginning of everything...the end of everything.
"You're making no sense!"
You must follow the path...
"What path?"
You will see. You will learn. Begin with what you know.
"You know, whoever you are...if I'm going to be doing whatever it is...you need to make sense!"
There was a moment of relative silence...then the strange voice spoke again.
Landship...follow the landship. The path begins with the landship.
That was when an oval of light appeared before her, followed by a figure.
Cassa had an arm over her eyes for a few moments, as the sudden light had blinded her. Once her eyes adjusted, she could discern some features of the person. The only things she could tell about the figure was brown hair as well as tinges of teal and silver.
"Who the hell is that?" she asked, becoming irritated enough that she had actually cursed.
A new voice appeared in the blackness, and this one was male.
Once you go after the landship, you cannot turn back. One step leads to the next, one encounter to the next. To follow the landship is to...
That was when she felt something poking in her side.
"...ey! ...assa! ...ake up!"
This voice that spoke urgently was a lot more familiar.
"That's Guy!"
The light-shone figure began fading away, as did the voices.
"That's right...I'm sleeping, aren't I?"
Not everything in sleep is unreal. The warnings and this moment is real. Remember, it will all begin with that...
She felt the poking more and more as she fought towards wakefulness.
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Cassa's eyes snapped open, her expression one of surprise.
Guy had been sitting somewhat close, poking at the woman's side with a stick.
As she sat up, she heard him say, "Whew! You're finally awake," as he dropped the stick.
"What do you mean, finally?"
"Well...it's been a few hours since sunrise. I've been trying to wake you up since the ship took off--"
"Wait a minute, what do you mean, the ship?"
"That landship from yesterday, remember? It took off an hour ago, heading to some woods in the north."
At the mention of that, she gazed off into the direction of Engeve.
"The path begins...with the..." she murmured.
"Huh? Cassa, what's going on?"
She scrambled out of her sleeping bag and without a word, she started rolling it up...or trying to.
"That camping lesson's going to wait."
"Wha--?"
Her tone became serious as she said, "We pack up and go towards those woods."
"Hold it, Cassa. You're acting strangely. What're we going there for?"
"We're going after that landship."
"Wait a minute. What about Luke?"
"That can wait."
"Cassa!"
"If you don't want to go that way, wait for me in Engeve," she replied, tone becoming a bit cold and most certainly determined, "I'm going after it."
He blinked, then sighed as he said, "I can't dissuade you to forget that ship, can I?"
"No."
He sighed again and said, "You're just as stubborn as Luke."
"Excuse me? Did I hear you say something?"
"N-no...just give me time to pack the camp up before we go to the woods, okay?"
"Fine."
Guy shook his head and asked, "What's gotten into her...?"