21.

I can barely open my eyes, I don't remember when I fell asleep, I rub my eyes and look at the time, 11:49am, I'm shocked, that would mean I only got 4 hours of sleep, but could the time here be different? Maybe it moves slower. I stretch my body and feel a leg, I look over to see Kalas passed out beside me; still not awake. I knew that last night was the best night I've experienced, even if we never did it fully. I lean over and kiss Kalas on the cheek and get up from bed brush my teeth, a good mint taste was all I needed.

I look at myself in the mirror and notice my hair tie broke, probably from last night. My hair was down when I had tied it up, but its no big deal. I look in the drawer to see if Xelha had any in there, even though her hair is too short for her to be wearing elastics.

Thank goodness there's one. I tie my hair back into a bun and re-enter the room to see no one in sight. My mouth dropped. I walk over to the bed and feel the sheets and there's no one on the bed. I look back at the room door and it's open.

Kalas left. No surprise, but he couldn't even tell me good morning? Or a simple "Hi"? Typical.

We had an amazing night last night and it's almost like he one-night-standed me.

I leave my room and start walking downstairs. I smell something delicious cooking downstairs, thank goodness I haven't eaten since I got here. Going downstairs is much faster than going up, there are about 30 stairs. To my right I see Luther in the kitchen engulfed in a light white smoke.

I walk in to the peachy kitchen and wave while rubbing my eyes.

"Good morning, Luther." I take a deep breath to inhale the goodness that is approaching my nose.

Luther smiles at me while cooking one of the secret recipes we probably got in our adventures.

"Good morning, Miss Elysa, How was your resting?"

I sit down at the table, "It was all right. Thanks for asking."

I look down at the table to see my feet from the transparency. No matter how long I stay in Xelha's house, I'll always be amazed.

"That's good to hear." Luther brings a plate of fresh rice and sea bream filet. It smells too good to be true, my mouth starts to water.

"Are you hungry Miss?" he asks me.

Am I?

"Beyond, I smelt that from upstairs, I've been ready," I say while grabbing my cutlery. "I'm sure you are an excellent cook!"

Luther smiles as he walks to the table to put the plate down in front of me.

"I would consider so myself." Luther walks around the table and sits in front of me, "Surprisingly you are one of the first ones down."

I look up at him from my plate, "Really? I don't remember when I fell asleep… by the way, does the time move slow in this world?"

Luther puts his hand on his chin in his thinking stance.

"Slower?" he asked.

It occurred to me that they may not know how fast or slow our clocks go.

"Our clock changes every 60 seconds."

"Oh I see, our changes every 200 seconds."

"That makes sense, I didn't even get my full hours of sleep.."

I smell the plate and its just making my mouth water, I grab my fork and start cutting into the sea bream fillet. When it goes into my mouth, I almost melted, it tasted much better than any food that's been in my mouth.

"Luther, oh my god." I say while chewing, "You need to come down to my world!"

Luther laughs, "I'm glad you liked it."

I look around the room, "So you haven't seen Kalas or Xelha?" I find it strange that they both disappear.

He shakes his head, "I'm sorry to say I haven't. They should be here any moment now."

I shrug it off and continue to eat.

"So I'm curious to what that story is about… that you said you were going to tell me the last night."

His eyes widen, "You really want to hear it, don't you?"

I nod. "I'm all ears, you can talk, and I'll listen while eating this delicious food." I say while fishing for another bite.

"Well, back long ago when I was your age, young and handsome I was, believe it or not.. I fell in love with this beautiful woman. Once I met her I said to myself that I'm never going to love another woman on this planet."

"How did you both meet?" I ask with food stuffed in my mouth.

"I was serving as a knight back in Sadal Suud, she was the Lords maid.. Oh, I remember when I first saw here, she was a sight for all eyes I can tell you."

He continues, "I had to depart away from the lords mansion for a mission, and we had a connection like no other, and I know she felt it too… Though if I knew the worst would happen when I got away, I wish I wouldn't have left."

I swallow the bit of food in my mouth. "What happened?"

"I came back and she was gone… She had found somebody else…It was her and my good friend I met when I was a knight. and to this day, there hasn't been a day that I haven't thought about her. I have a wife who I love, but first loves never vanish from the soul."

I am speechless, I know he said this story would relate to me, I was kind of seeing why.

"You must be wondering why I'm telling you all this… Elysa, I'm not blind, I can sense that connection you and Kalas carry… I know the both of you care deeply for each other… But Xelha cares for him too, so try not to hurt anyone, miss Elysa."

Speechless. I cannot believe he read me.

"The love the both of you have will probably be eternal, but try not to hurt any feelings, you were a guide to all of them at one point."

I put down my fork, I lost my appetite. "I… understand. And I haven't, believe me on that one, but the feeling I have for this kid-"

I hear someone coming down the stairs and I catch my words before they pour out.

"Someone's coming." I whisper.

I get up and put my plate in the sink and start washing them by impulse. I feel really awkward, and for some reason I feel guilty. I kissed my good friend's long hoping love.

The old man walks over to me and crosses his hands.

"Miss Elysa, you didn't have to wash the plates, that is after all my job." Luther chuckles.

I look over my shoulder and see Meemai, "Hey Meemai, how was your sleep little one?" I say.

"Squeeeeeeeeeaaaak! Squee-Squeeek"

I smile and bend down to pet his soft squishy head. While petting her head I see pale feet. I look up to see Xelha smiling down on me. "Good morning, Elysa. How was your first night here?"

Wow, she seems fine, thank goodness.. She doesn't know or hear anything.

"It was great, thanks Xelha." I tell her.

For some reason I can't look at her for long, I know I never liked her at times, but she's so kind hearted, I think she needs to know my feelings at least for Kalas…

"Xelha, I.." I pause, I hear more footsteps approaching down the stairs, that has to be Kalas.

I get up from the floor and see Kalas coming into the kitchen. Luther stands up straight and tall ready to greet him.

"Good morning to you both Madame Xelha and Sir Kalas."

"Good morning Luther," Xelha greets with a welcoming smile.

"What's up Luther." Kalas says while coming in moments after Xelha, "Morning sleepyheads!"

I quiver when I see him, I just feel extremely awkward and can't stop thinking about what happened last night.

"Morning you two!" I say cheerfully.

Xelha leans on the counter and stretches with her arms in the air.

"I had a wonderful sleep! Right Meemai?" she says while looking down at Meemai.

"Squeak!" Meemai jumps up and squeaks, he's so cute.

Xelha laughs and picks Meemai up. "By the way Kalas, what was going on last night? I woke up many times and I thought I heard your voice in the hallway."

"He was with me," I blurt out, "I was up most the night, and since he couldn't sleep, we chatted for a while.. He ended up falling asleep on my bed." I giggle.

Kalas looks over at me, "Yeah.." he clues in, "That's right."

Xelha puts Meemai down and he jumps over to his bowl of breakfast, "Oh, I was just curious! That's fine." Xelha picks up her serving of Sea Bream Fillet and sits down. "This smells fantastic, Luther. You did a great job!"

"Thank you, Madame Xelha, That means the world to me." Luther says.

"Yea… I was wondering what that smell was, I'm starving, let me at it!" Kalas hurries to his plate and picks it up. "You're not hungry, Elysa?" he asks me.

I get startled at his voice, then I look down, "Nope. You two enjoy." I was feeling many emotions at the moment that needed to be progressed. I'm glad to know Kalas has feelings for me, now I'm going to need to figure out how to tell Xelha.

"I'm going for a walk." I say. I walk out the room and felt all 6 eyes on me… well 8 if you include Meemai, and definitely not the pictures on the wall's eyes. I needed to contact home to let my mom know I'm okay, its been a day since I haven't been in sight, maybe more because the time moves slower. I also need time for myself to think about my feelings to process things.

22.

I walk outside the front door and cringe at the loud sound the door makes. I see two guards outside guarding Xelha's manor.

"Good morning to you, Ma'am." They both say to me.

I smile at the both of them, "Good morning to you both." I walk down further and notice the village in sight, Balcancoire.

The village that Kalas grew up in, Balcancoire, capital of Mira. The village hasn't changed much from a year- that I know of, just that Polly the whale is gone. The further I went into the village, the more awkward stares I received. No one knew who I was or what I was wearing. I needed to get new clothes, the clothes Xelha gave me were covered in blood, and it wasn't my taste in clothes anyway. I see children running around, villagers trying to sell items; nothing has changed. The cool winds whispered across me and the smell of fresh bread from the restaurant near by, it was a welcoming environment. I sit on the ledge of the water front and pull out my cell phone, I notice that I have no service. Typical, I put my phone on airplane mode and put it back in my leggings elastic. I guess the only way to get a message to someone is a letter. Well...that would be useful if i could mail between worlds. I guess I have to hope for the best.

I'm curious to what Mira looks like now, even though I've already been in the Paranesse, and Its not like I can leave Mira to see the others without a ship. I just don't know what to do, my feelings are so confused.

I look around the village and see they've embedded a new clothing store by their local Magnus shop.

"Perfect, I need some clothing," I say to myself.

23.

Kalas finishes the last of the Sea Bream's interior cleaning out every single drop, and leaving it's skeleton behind.

"Thanks Luther, that was great!" Kalas says while licking the remains of the salts on his fingertips.

Luther walks over to the counter to pick up Kalas' plate filled with bones.

"Thank you, Sir Kalas, it's been a pleasure serving you all." he says while walking over to the sink.

Xelha giggles, "Any time!" She says, "… By the way, any idea where Elysa has gone?"

Kalas scopes the room, "She said she'd be on a walk, I thought she'd be back by now.. I'll go look for her." he volunteers, getting up and heading for the door.

Luther stands in front of Kalas blocking his path. "Master Kalas, A word may I have with you?"

Kalas looks back at him, "Hm… Hmm?

Luther walks ahead into the next room, "Follow me."

Luther and Kalas walk into the dining room, which is the opposite side of the foyer. There was 6 chairs with a glass table. Nameless flowers surrounded the room which filled its essence with a calming mood.

"What's on your mind?" Kalas asks.

They both sit down in a dining room chair, opposite from each other.

"Kalas, I can't help but notice what's going on between you and your former guardian spirit, Elysa."

Kalas fiddles with his fingers. "Yeah, what about her?"

"I spoke to her many times when she first came into this manor," Luther explains, "And I know you two have deep history for each other…"

Kalas remains silent. "She really cares for you, and I'm sure its not only in a friendly way… and I'm sure you do too." Luther explains.

Kalas gets up from his seat sliding his chair back, "Can we talk outside? It's kinda stuffy in here."

Luther nods in agreement and they go out the front door. Kalas and Luther walk to the village in front of Trill's parents store. They lean on the stone wall where below was the river where Polly the whale was, having the warm ocean current whisper on their faces between their hair as bright green trees of Balcancoire dance with the wind.

"Sorry," Kalas says, "I… This is new to me… and I needed some fresh air."

"That's alright, Master Kalas." Luther smiles, and straighten his gear, "I'm all ears."

"…My former guardian..." Kalas starts, "I've been feeling like something's missing since she left.. When she cameback, I felt that feeling was gone. We spoke about it last night." Kalas sits up on the ledge, taking a deep breath. "Anyway, I haven't felt this kind of way before.. I just don't want to screw it up, or hurt Xelha."

Luther sits and nods his head listening to what Kalas had to say. "Why do you care anyway?" Kalas broadly asks, "Not trying to be rude or anything, just curious."

"I see something in that young girl, your former guardian. I was in the same situation she was in many years ago." The old man explains, "I think that you've been waiting for this woman for a long time, some how, some way, hoping she'd return to you one day once it all ended."

Kalas bows his head down, "Your right... now that you put it that way." His face expression changes, "I… really care for her." Kalas rests his face on his fist, "...like I'm really going to have the guts to say something like that."

Luther's eyebrow raised. He leaned against the stone wall and for a moment stay in silence.

"Kalas, I know what you are going through, but please remember these words. Follow your heart."

Kalas moves his blue hair out his face, "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." He slides off the ledge.

"…Your welcome Kalas." Luther starts walking back to the manor, when suddenly.

"Luther?" Kalas calls out.

Luther turns back around to Kalas' direction and walks closer.

"Something… happened, last night, and I feel terrible about it, weirdly enough." Kalas says, "what should I do?"

"….You need to decide, Kalas." Luther tells him, and walks away, "Remember what I said to you!"

Kalas looks over at the water, "Oh man…" he says to himself, "I just don't want to hurt Xelha's feelings… But then there's Elysa.. I never actually thought I'd see her again."

The words repeated to Kalas, but what was he to do?

While looking out to the waters, he sees someone he thinks he recognizes coming out of a local store. He squints his eyes.

"Is that… Elysa?" He says to himself.