~ Chapter 10 ~
One Ocean, One Sky
By the time Owain came awake the following morning, the sun was already approaching its zenith. When he saw how bright it was, he gasped, and immediately set to stirring Severa from her sleep. It proved surprisingly difficult to wake her.
"It'll be fine," Severa reassured him. She yawned loudly, then slowly forced herself upright. "The Solcryst seems to light up and go dark a couple hours after our sunrise and sunset, anyways."
"But the hour grows so late! Morgan should already have come by to rouse us from our slumber," Owain said worriedly. "Could our spell have afflicted her more direly than we intended?"
"No way. I'm sure Morgan's fine," Severa said, looking away furtively.
Nevertheless, the two of them changed quickly and gathered their belongings. Then, after entrusting Ophelia – who remained soundly asleep – to Marian's care once more, the couple made their way across the village only to find that Morgan, too, had overslept.
Unlike Severa, Morgan nearly went into a complete panic. In the space of about thirty seconds, she leapt from her bed, changed, collected her travelling pouch, and rushed through the door. "Come on!" she urged breathlessly. "If we don't hurry, they'll leave without us!"
"I highly doubt that," Severa said dryly, closing the door behind her as she followed Owain back outside. "The others have no idea what they're looking for, remember? Neither do Owain and I, for that matter. Are you planning to let us in on the rest of your plan anytime soon?"
"I have no idea what we're going to find, either," Morgan admitted. "But don't worry. I'll know it when I see it."
"Perfect," Severa groaned.
"Have faith! In the search for knowledge, failure is impossible!" Owain declared.
"What he said," Morgan agreed, and when she skipped on ahead, it was with a new spring in her step.
"Well done. You carried the spell out to perfection," Owain whispered to Severa.
Severa only shook her head and smiled, feeling too embarrassed to admit the truth.
Before long, Morgan, Severa, and Owain were gathered around the rift in Water's Edge once more, waiting for it to come fully alive. As the minutes slowly crawled by, Morgan's worries began resurfacing, and she began to fidget impatiently.
As they waited for the rift in Water's Edge to come fully alive, Morgan's worries began resurfacing, and she began to fidget impatiently.
"Relax, Morgan," Severa insisted. "Hel and the others aren't going anywhere without us."
"But what if they came searching for me?" Morgan pointed out anxiously. "They would have found my room empty. I didn't bother to mess up my bed or anything. They'll know right away that I didn't spend the night in my room, and then…"
Just then, the rift shimmered and became translucent, revealing three very confused individuals waiting on the other side: Helios, Trance, and Ferus.
"…stand there wondering where I had gone," Morgan finished with a gulp.
"Morgan?" Helios called out nervously, his eyes darting back and forth as he inspected the rift. "What is this… thing? What's going on?"
"You were going to have to show them Water's Edge sooner or later," Severa reminded her sister, relishing the rare sight of Morgan being at a loss for words. "We weren't about to spend our nights camping out in the open with those Nightmare wraith things all around us."
"True," Morgan conceded weakly. Emboldened by that reminder, she took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders, then stepped through the rift, readying herself for the inevitable barrage of questions.
Sneaking out of Leo's Rest proved easy enough; unlike the patrols in Sol Hearth, the guards watching over the gates hardly paid any attention to those entering or leaving the city, for the farmers were constantly traveling to and from their fields. A few of the Sun Guard patrols did occasionally move out to the very edge of the Solcryst's light, but they remained surprisingly lax and inattentive.
"No wonder your fellow Sun Guards drove you crazy," Morgan muttered.
"Half of them wouldn't even noticed a Nightmare crawling up to their side," Helios agreed darkly, though he kept his voice low so that no one else would overhear.
While the farthermost guards were engrossed in their own conversation, Morgan and Helios lead the way, slipping into the darkness and out of sight. Less than half an hour later, Helios spotted a handful of Nightmares swarming towards them, but after that, their journey became surprisingly uneventful. The landscape was much the same as Morgan remembered from her first journey across Monolith's barren wastes, and though they encountered the Nightmares quite frequently at first, the shadowy creatures seemed to become less common as they moved further away from Leo's Rest.
Hours later, Trance finally remarked on the strange phenomenon. "You know, this isn't half as bad as I expected it to be," he began conversationally.
"Don't jinx us," Ferus growled.
"It's odd, though, isn't it?" Trance continued, undeterred. "It's been nearly an hour since the last time we've seen any Nightmares. It's almost like the farther we go, the fewer Nightmares there are. We ran into more of the beasts while…"
"It's not strange," Helios spoke up suddenly, before Trance could mention the numerous enemies they had encountered during Severa's absence the day before. "There's nothing out here really, aside from a few critters. If the Nightmares exist solely to hunt living creatures, there's really no reason for them to linger out here. Right, Morgan?"
"Probably," Morgan agreed with a shrug.
"Probably?" Ferus repeated dubiously.
"Hey, I said they exist in our world, not that they're common," Morgan said defensively. "I've only ever seen one of them before coming here to Monolith."
Suddenly, Owain raised his lantern ring. "Hold!" he warned. "The darkness takes shape before us, beckoning us to our fates!"
Severa raised her own ring, and Trance, who Morgan had lent her ring to, did the same. Just beyond the reach of their light, faint shadows blemished the otherwise even ground.
"What are they?" Helios wondered, drawing closer to the mysterious objects.
Owain, too, gradually advanced until his light began gleaming off the misshapen, wooden surfaces.
Then Morgan's patience ran out, and a fireball went spinning through the darkness, eliciting a chorus of startled cries. One of the wooden objects caught fire immediately, blazing the area in a haunting, golden light.
"What was that?" Ferus asked, a horrified look on his face as he rounded upon the young tactician.
"I… umm… may have been aiming a bit too low," Morgan apologized sheepishly.
"It lit the place up quite nicely, though," Helios remarked, his eyes sweeping the newly illuminated ruin. "Look. It's a village of some sort. Or at least, it looks like it might have been a village at some point."
The old cabin that Morgan had set flame to looked to have been on the verge of collapse, anyways. Two of the walls had already crumbled away, and the remaining two creaked and groaned as the flames spread. The rest of the disused buildings nearby looked to be in a similar state of neglect. The fire continued to spread, igniting the desiccated wood and haphazard heaps of straw until the lifeless village was fully alit with the swirling flames.
"Good thing no one was home," Severa said flippantly, trying and failing to hide her smile.
Then her smile faded, for many of the dancing shadows began detaching themselves from the burning buildings. Within seconds, nearly a score of Nightmares had emerged from the ruins.
Ferus shook his head in dismay. "I told you not to jinx us," he berated his brother.
"I wasn't the one who spontaneously learned to throw fire," Trance protested, glaring at Morgan.
"Speaking of which, you should probably hit them again, Morgan," Helios advised.
"Sure thing," Morgan agreed. She hurled a second fireball into the ruin, catching the nearest Nightmare and reducing it to cinders.
The remaining Nightmares answered with a series of bone chilling howls, then promptly charged.
Three quick strides brought Helios straight into the incoming swarm. His heart raced with exhilaration as the shadowy menaces closed in all around him, and almost unconsciously, his swords appeared in his hands and began their dizzying, deadly dance. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the light from Trance's lantern ring diminishing and realized that the two Seekers had both instinctively backed away. He smiled grimly, understanding that he no longer needed to fear accidentally striking one of his own allies.
Few of the Sun Guard had proven misfortunate enough to be forced into single combat against a Nightmare, but over the years, Helios had put himself into that exact situation countless times, and with good reason. By now, each of his enemies' subtle movements were comfortably familiar; the veteran Sun Guard had little trouble remaining a step ahead of his attackers, slapping at them repeatedly with his twin blades.
Even with several Nightmares closing in, Helios's confidence steadily grew as he fell deeper and deeper into his carefully rehearsed, rhythmic attack routines. It seemed as if none of his opponents could catch him off guard… at least until he spun to face one of the serpent-like Nightmares, expecting to find it vulnerable. When he found instead the shining point of Sun Guard glaive, mere inches from his face, he let out a startled yelp and scrambled away in alarm.
Across from Helios, Severa wrenched her glaive free from the defeated Nightmare, clamping her eyes tightly shut as she completed her spin. She felt her weapon hit its mark, and her polearm's head sinking deep into a second Nightmare's spongy, unnatural flesh. Both of the Nightmares promptly disintegrated, forcing both Severa and Helios back.
"The darkness cannot hide you forever!" Owain roared.
Severa had fought beside Owain long enough to know what he was up to, and she continued backing away with her eyes closed. Unfortunately, Helios was less familiar with the blond swordsman's antics. He looked up just as Owain beheaded the last of the nearby Nightmares, and promptly caught a face full of black grit.
Upon hearing the telltale, whispery sound of the Nightmare crumbling away, Severa risked opening her eyes, and immediately realized what had happened. More of the Nightmares were already closing in, too, leaving Helios in a very precarious position. "Get back!" she ordered tersely, racing forward and roughly shoving Helios away from the frontline.
Watching from a relatively safe distance, Morgan marveled at Helios's awareness and composure. Even blinded, Helios had noticed Severa's approach, and had very nearly lashed out at her, staying his weapon just in time when he heard the warning. He allowed Severa to push him away without complaint, and managed to maintain his footing as he stumbled away from the melee.
Morgan continued watching for a moment longer, waiting until just after Helios fully recovered and rejoined the battle. This time, the rogue Sun Guard gave Owain a wide berth. Confident Severa, Owain, and Helios would not need her help, Morgan then turned her attention to the other battle raging nearby.
As Morgan had noticed during their previous journey, neither of the two Seekers could match Helios's agility or precision. They clearly lacked the years of fighting experience that Severa and Owain had, too. Regardless, the two of them seemed capable of reading each other's movements as easily as Helios read his enemies'. Trance and Ferus closed in upon each of their foes in tandem, circling carefully to maintain a perfect flank throughout. Every time Trance backed off, luring an enemy to give chase, Ferus was already pressing forward from behind, and every time Ferus moved in for an aggressive killing blow, Trance was already sliding past to cover him.
Again, Morgan held herself back from the fighting, urging herself to be patient. Though she was eager to help, she knew that even a single mistake could easily throw her allies into complete disarray. She was not about to take that risk without good reason.
That reason arrived a split second later when another half a dozen Nightmares extracted themselves from the burning ruins and surged towards the twins, resembling little more than a writhing wall of shadow.
"Ellie!" Morgan called. The silver butterfly reacted immediately, flittering out of the young tactician's hood and landing on the back of her hand. Morgan punched her arm forward, propelling Yuelle towards her incoming foes, then reached for her sword.
Yuelle recovered her balance immediately, before pinpointing the nearest Nightmare's head and swerving slightly to the right. Her jeweled wings glittered in the darkness, marking her path clearly for Morgan to follow.
Using her best friend to sight her attack, Morgan swiped Alondite through the air. A wave of energy soared neatly over Trance's head and past Yuelle before neatly decapitating one of the large, humanoid Nightmares.
The remaining five Nightmares proved easily distracted, turning to swipe at Yuelle as she flew past. The brutish, unthinking creatures could not hope to catch their fast-flying foe, though, and amidst their distraction, Morgan carefully circled past the twins. She slashed Alondite again, this time in the direction of a towering, avian Nightmare with an oversized beak. A quick fireball finished off the prone Nightmare.
The four remaining Nightmares turned and promptly charged at Morgan instead, closing the remaining distance with alarming speed.
Morgan knew she did not have long to act. Instead of running or attacking, she reached for her pouch instead, extracting a small, sparkling blue gem from her pouch and rolling it across the ground at her approaching attackers. The gemstone flashed once. Twice.
"Freeze!" Morgan commanded forcefully as the gemstone flashed for the third time. Then the gem promptly shattered with a soft, tinkling noise. A howling, freezing wind gushed outward in all directions. Morgan shivered at the chilling touch of her own spell, but her aim proved perfect – the four Nightmares, who had been standing over the gem as it exploded, had been instantaneously frozen solid.
Morgan shrugged away the cold and charged, cutting down three of the Nightmares while keeping her eyes firmly shut. Her spell faded quickly, but Yuelle had already reentered the fray, perching herself atop the last Nightmare's face. The serpentine creature raked its claws wildly at the annoying butterfly, but missed badly, tearing several deep gouges in its own face instead. Then Alondite's gleaming silver edge tore through the Nightmare's chest, and with a ghastly shudder, it went limp.
Yuelle soared gracefully back to Morgan's side, tucking herself back inside the young tactician's hood.
"Thanks, Ellie," Morgan remarked absently, looking away from the dying Nightmare as it exploded.
To Morgan's surprise, Severa, Owain, and Helios seemed to be struggling more than the twins. Trance and Ferus had already cleaned up their earlier battle, and were now slowly picking their way across the battlefield, luring away and destroying the Nightmares one at a time. In contrast, Severa and Owain had pulled away from Helios – or perhaps it was Helios that had pulled away from them. Either way, all three of them had wound up fully surrounded.
Severa and Owain were holding their ground, but only just. Standing back to back, they only barely managed to keep the Nightmares around them at bay. A short distance away, Helios, too, was thoroughly entangled in the chaotic melee. Unlike Severa and Owain, the robed swordsman never once seemed to stop moving, darting and weaving through his foes and striking at every opening he could find. Nevertheless, he, too, seemed incapable of finishing off any of his opponents.
"Fire or ice?" Morgan considered aloud. The question answered itself almost immediately, for the young tactician quickly realized that there was no way she could hurl one of her stronger spells into the midst of the battle without the risk of hitting her allies, too. With a sigh, Morgan reluctantly drew a second of the sparkling blue gemstones and rolled it towards the swarm of Nightmares.
And just like that, the raging skirmish came to a sudden end.
"Watch where you're aiming next time," Severa grumbled, wrapping herself more tightly in the blanket Morgan had given her.
Morgan, who had already apologized no less than five times, decided it was a lost cause and turned to Helios instead. "How did you know to jump at that exact moment, Hel?" she asked curiously. Though she hadn't offered any warning, just as her spell went off, the veteran Sun Guard had managed to leap clear of the freezing explosion, slaying one of the frozen Nightmares in his ensuing descent.
"You made the same rolling motion earlier before freezing those other four Nightmares," Helios replied.
"You were watching when I did that?" Morgan asked, amazed.
"I caught a glimpse of them as they were charging you," Helios said, shrugging modestly. "The next time I looked, they had all been frozen solid, so when you started rolling something towards me, I figured it was time to get out of the way."
"What sort of spell was that, anyways?" Severa scowled.
Morgan pulled another of the blue gemstones from her pouch and held it up for the others to see. "It's something Dad and I invented a few years ago. We never gave them a real name. They're great for putting out accidental fires, though," she said.
"No name?" Owain asked, wearing a horrified look that seemed terribly silly given the thick blanket wrapped around him. "The nefarious forces of namelessness cannot be allowed such a terrible victory!"
"Go on, then," Morgan eagerly prompted, to her older sister's dismay.
"Don't encourage him!" Severa scolded impatiently, but she was far too late.
"A Seed of Frost!" Owain offered immediately. "No, wait… too monotonous. Harbinger of Winter? Freezing Scourge?"
Helios and Trance seemed quite amused by it all, but after a glance at Severa's deepening scowl, Morgan decided it best not to try her sister's patience for too long. "Come on, let's search this village while Owain's thinking," she said. Ferus, who seemed unnerved by Owain's eccentricity, quickly took point beside Morgan, and the two of them led the way through the ruins.
Half an hour later, they had discovered almost nothing of interest, and Owain had seemingly run out of names.
"This place is completely empty," Ferus griped. "There aren't even any bodies here."
"Were you hoping there'd be?" Severa grumbled, sounding equally unhappy.
"This place has to be hundreds of years old by now," Morgan reasoned.
"And with that many Nightmares hanging around, it's probably been uninhabitable the entire time," Helios agreed. "Even if the villagers did die here, there wouldn't be anything left of them but dust by now."
"Do we keep heading towards the border, then?" Trance asked.
Morgan shook her head. "It's getting late… I think. It's hard to tell, really. Let's head over to Water's Edge and get some rest," she offered. She waved her hand, activating her pearl ring, and a rift began to form.
Trance gulped. "Are you sure it'll be alright? For us to stay in another world?" he asked, torn between amazement and apprehension.
"Sure it will. Why wouldn't it be?" Morgan asked quizzically. "It'll be safer there, and if it's clear tonight, you'll get to see the moon and stars, too. You can even watch the sun rise tomorrow before we leave."
"The sun?" Ferus mumbled.
"Well, our sun," Morgan clarified. "But it sounds like the sun from your stories looks the same as ours, so it's probably not too different."
"Eye of the Nohrian Blizzard!" Owain interrupted suddenly, startling everyone.
"For the gem?" Morgan understood a moment later. "Ooh, I like that one."
"No, you don't," Severa grumbled irritably. "And that's enough names for now, Owain," she added, staring pointedly at her husband. Owain quailed beneath that dangerous look, keeping quiet until the rift to Water's Edge finally took shape.
The sky over Water's Edge was indeed clear as Morgan had hoped. Helios, Trance, and Ferus were immediately and completely taken by the sight of the luminescent moon and stars. None of the three accepted Morgan's invitation to stay with her in her cabin, and they remained instead by the rift, enjoying the comfortably warm breeze and soaking in the sight that, to them, had been only a legend for so long. Over the course of an hour, they dozed off one at a time, comforted by Morgan's parting assurances that they'd be safe throughout the night.
Helios didn't rest for long, however. After only a few hours, he woke again to find the moon still looming peacefully overhead. At first, he rolled himself over and tried to return to his slumber, but the alluring light proved too distracting. Unable to sleep, he checked briefly on Trance and Ferus, then stepped away from the camp. He wandered through the surrounding copse of trees for some time, marveling at the starlit world around him, before coming across a small cliff jutting out to the south. There, he found a thick log lying in the ground, pressed firmly into the soft soil.
Without really thinking about it,
Helios didn't rest for long, however, stirring after only a few hours to find the moon still looming peacefully overhead. Unable to sleep, he checked briefly on his two companions before stepping away from the camp and leaving the surrounding copse of trees. Just a short distance away, he found a small cliff jutting out to the south. There was a thick log lying there, a conveniently placed seat with nearly a full view of the horizon.
Entranced by the perfect view of the horizon, Helios sat down on the log, gazing contentedly towards the night's lucent moon. He hadn't really noticed it before, but the moon did not look like the simple, silvery orb Monolith's legends spoke of. Instead, it was the same, elegantly curved shape he and Crescent had found drawn on a book in Sol Hearth's library.
Helios remained there, hardly aware of the passage of time, and it wasn't until someone sat down beside him that he realized just how inattentive the sight had left him. "Morgan?" he gasped.
The small, currently blue-haired girl made a shushing gesture. "The others are still sleeping," she reminded quietly.
"Right. Sorry," Helios said apologetically, lowering his voice. "What are you doing out here, though?"
"This is my spot. Why do you think dragged this log all the way out here?" Morgan asked indignantly. "But I don't mind sharing," she added quickly, when Helios began to rise. "What do you think?"
Helios managed a shaky smile. "It's beautiful," he said reverently. He gestured towards the moon. "Especially that. This all feels like a dream… I never thought I'd see such a thing."
"It is quite pretty," Morgan agreed serenely. "I like the stars, too. If you look at them long enough, you can see all sorts of weird shapes among them, and there's dozens of old stories about those shapes."
"Stories?" Helios said.
"Most of them aren't real," Morgan admitted. "But they're still fun to think about. You like reading, too, don't you?"
"Sure do," Helios nodded. "It's refreshing to take your mind off of your life for a few moments, you know? Well, maybe it's different for you, growing up here in such a peaceful place instead."
Morgan smiled sadly. "Not as different as you'd imagine," she said. Then, as if to change the subject, she gestured towards the moon. "Hel? Do your legends mention the moon's shapes at all?"
"Our legends barely mention the moon," Helios replied. "They speak only of a silver orb, resembling a lesser sun. I've seen this shape before, though. There's a book in Sol Hearth's library with a picture of the sun and moon on the cover. I've always wondered why the artist drew the moon to look like an arc instead."
"Well, the moon looks a little bit different each night. Sometimes, it does look like a circle, but sometimes it looks like this," Morgan said. A mischievous grin crossed her lips. "Do you know what we call this particular shape?"
"What?" Helios asked.
"We call it a crescent moon," Morgan replied, her smile widening at Helios's look of surprise. "Fitting, isn't it?"
"Very funny," Helios said, rolling his eyes.
"I mean it! I'm totally serious," Morgan insisted. She narrowed her eyes and set her jaw, straining not to blink. "See? These are the eyes of a totally serious woman."
Helios took one look, then, to Morgan's consternation, he began to laugh.
"Hel!"
"It's alright. I believe you," Helios chuckled. He looked up at the moon again. "Crescent, huh? I bet she'd love to see this…"
"We could bring her here someday," Morgan offered, somewhat mollified. "You two could even move here to Water's Edge, if you'd like."
"That's an interesting thought," Helios mused. Then his expression grew somber. "Say, Morgan? Why are you helping us?"
Morgan tilted her head curiously. "Is there something wrong with wanting to help?" she asked coyly.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but you seem a bit young to be traveling on your own," Helios said carefully. "I've been wondering about this since the night we met. Even in Monolith, we make sure kids who lose their families have homes to return to. At first, I thought you were traveling with your sister and Owain, but it's the other way around, isn't it?"
Morgan shrugged. "What makes you say that?"
"In every fight so far, I've seen you lingering on the sidelines, watching and waiting. You're never afraid to join in the fighting, but when you do, you always fight alone," Helios remarked. "You're not used to fighting alongside others, are you? If I had to guess, I'd say you've been on your own for quite some time, and your sister and Owain only recently joined you."
"You got all that just from watching me fight?" Morgan marveled. "That's amazing!"
"Not really," Helios said modestly. "You can learn a lot about someone just by knowing how and where to look. It'll be a nice skill for you to pick up, too, if you intend to keep swinging that sword of yours."
"Can you teach me?" Morgan asked eagerly.
"Sure, when we find the time," Helios agreed. "But you still haven't answered my question. What brought you to leave your home behind and travel all the way to Monolith? And why put yourself in so much danger for our sake?"
"You sound just like my sister," Morgan teased.
"Well, of course. Most people, including sisters and friends, tend to worry when they find a twelve-year-old girl running around on her own," Helios commented dryly.
"I'm thirteen, almost fourteen," Morgan said petulantly.
"And yet you fight better than most people twice your age. In fact, you fight better than I did when I was your age," Helios said. "That in itself is a cause for concern. It bothers me that someone so young was forced to take up a sword, and it bothers me even more that we're now burdening you with our world's troubles."
"I wasn't forced to do anything," Morgan insisted. "I started practicing my swordplay years ago, hoping to be more like my father."
"Your father was a swordsman?"
"Dad's a tactician," Morgan corrected. "One of the best, and a capable swordsman and mage, too. I've always wanted to be just like him. I began studying with him in his library almost as soon as I learned how to read. Then, once I was big enough to hold a sword steady, I started training with Severa's best friend."
"You must have really looked up to your father," Helios observed.
Morgan nodded sadly. "That's… that's why I'm out here," she sighed. "Our world has always had its share of troubles. My parents and their friends fought very hard to bring peace to our home. They took many risks so that my sister and friends and I could live happily safe and sound. Even though I grew up reading books about adventures, wars, and heroes, I never thought any of it would really happen to me."
"You thought wrong," Helios guessed.
"I wasn't ready at all," Morgan admitted. "I kept thinking that all the trouble in the world had already been taken care of. I just kept dreaming and dreaming. Meanwhile, my best friend was suffering, and I didn't even notice. We would talk about going on adventures together and saving the world, but she was the one who needed help. All along, she was the one who needed saving, but I didn't realize it until it was already too late."
Helios grimaced, rightly assuming the worst. "It couldn't have been your fault," he reasoned. "You must have been so young at the time. I'm sure you're sick of hearing it by now, but you're still a child, Morgan. If no one else noticed your friend suffering, how could you have known better, especially if your world's been at peace like you say?"
"I know it wasn't my fault," Morgan said. "But afterwards… I wanted to help, but really, I only made everything worse. I searched for the man who killed my friend. I searched for the man who killed Yuelle and wound up placing one of Dad's old friends into danger… and in the end, it was all for nothing. Yuelle was still dead. Then, since I wasn't ready to let her go, I ended up arguing with Dad, too.
"I've been on my own ever since. I've been searching for people who need protecting, trying to help them however I can. I keep telling myself that… if I can just get things right for once, I can go back home, and Mom and Dad would be proud of me. So I keep trying, but I'm always too late. This island is home to dozens of people who lost their homes – and often their families – before I could reach them. I've seen so many caravans destroyed… so many villages razed to the ground… in the end, all I could do was give the survivors a new home here."
Helios shook his head in disbelief. "You really have no idea how silly you sound right now, do you?" he asked.
"H-hey!" Morgan protested. "That's not nice!"
"Well, I meant it in the nicest way possible," Helios said reassuringly. "You know, you and I are more alike than I thought. Out in the Reaches, no one ever really talks much about the people we lose. It just happens too often, and to just about everyone. When I lost my parents, I couldn't stop thinking about them, but I had to keep it all bottled up. In the end, I joined the Sun Guard, thinking that they'd be proud if they could see me trying to help our people the way my father used to."
"So you do know what it's like," Morgan said quietly, staring down into her lap. "You know exactly how it feels to never be quite sure what they would think of you. To hear their voices each and every time you close your eyes, as if they were standing beside you… but to know that none of its real."
"Yes and no," Helios said slowly. "I know what it's like, but one day, Morgan, you'll think back and realize that your parents were never half as hard on you as you are upon yourself."
"But…" Morgan tried to interrupt.
"If you're father deserves even half the respect you hold for him, he'd be proud of you just the way you are," Helios insisted. "If you don't believe me, go and ask some of the others you've brought here to this island. How many of them truly resent you for being unable to save their homes and families, I wonder? My guess is, most – if not all – of them are simply grateful for everything you've given them already."
"Because that's all they have left," Morgan reasoned sadly.
"Which is more than they could have expected from anyone, let alone a little girl plagued with her own troubles like yourself," Helios insisted.
Morgan still seemed uncertain, and only shrugged timidly. She thought of how she had promised to return home beside her sister. Somehow, despite both Severa and Helios's assurances, Morgan felt more uneasy than ever, as if it was her own rising hopes she feared.
"Sleep on it a bit," Helios offered, rising from his seat with a yawn. "I ought to get back to bed, too."
"Oh, it's too late for that," Morgan said, her customary playful and knowing smile returning. She gestured towards the eastern sky. "Watch," she instructed slyly.
Obediently Helios turned towards the eastern horizon. He stared silently at the stars, wondering what exactly he was watching for. Then, just when he was on the verge of asking Morgan what was happening, dawn's first light crept up into the sky. Scintillating rays brighter than anything Helios could have ever imagined shined outwards, burying the stars in their brilliance.
With a surprised grunt, Helios averted his eyes.
"Oh, sorry. You don't really want to stare at it too long," Morgan apologized sheepishly.
"T-that's the sun?" Helios stammered.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Morgan said cheerfully. "Honestly, I think the moon and stars are prettier, but the sun is just so much brighter."
"Too bright. It hurts to look at," Helios said, regaining his composure.
"If you decide to stay here, you'll get used to it pretty quickly," Morgan assured him. "Well, I should go see if Severa and Owain are ready to go. See you back at the rift?"
"See you soon," Helios agreed.
Owain awoke to a loud crash, followed immediately by a series of angry curses. He sat up, rubbing his eyes blearily, then quickly found the source of the commotion. "What ails you, my love?" he asked Severa, who appeared to be in the middle of upending her traveling bag.
"It's gone!" Severa fumed.
"What's gone?" Owain asked blankly.
"My diary! It's not here anymore!" Severa said. Frustrated, she cast aside her now empty bag and surveyed her many weathered belongings.
"You keep a diary?" Owain asked, more confused than ever.
"You keep a journal filled entirely with names for anything you might come across that needs naming, and you're questioning me keeping a diary?" Severa huffed, crossing her arms.
"O-of course not," Owain said, shaking his head quickly. "I just didn't know you had… I mean… what kind of diary is it?"
"It's my diary," Severa scowled. "Have you seen it anywhere? Because if I find out you took it…"
"I didn't even know you had a diary until just now," Owain protested.
"Oh. Right," Severa said, calming down slightly. She glanced over at Ophelia, and was to relieved to see she hadn't accidentally awakened the sleeping baby.
Owain crawled out of bed and began dressing, nearly tripping over a small scrimshaw in the purpose. "When did you see your diary last?" he asked, eyeing the many assorted objects that his wife had unceremoniously dumped to the floor.
"I don't know," Severa admitted unhappily. She sat down unhappily on the edge of her bed. "I was looking for my favorite comb when I noticed it was missing."
"Maybe it got mixed up into my belongings," Owain suggested, and he hastened to begin combing through his own possessions.
Just then, the door creaked open, and Morgan poked her head through. "Are you two awake yet?" she asked, before seeing the mess on the ground. "Whoa! What happened here?" she gasped.
"One of your sister's prized possession, a receptacle for the secrets of her heart, has mysteriously disappeared," Owain explained. He set his own bag aside shortly after, disappointed.
Morgan looked quite bewildered at first, but a smile spread across her face as she understood. "A diary?" she asked gleefully. "You keep a diary, Sis?"
"Yes, and it's missing!" Severa complained.
"When you find it, can I read it?" Morgan asked hopefully.
"What!? Of course not! That's exactly the opposite of what a diary is for!" Severa snapped.
"Aww, come on," Morgan begged, pouting slightly.
"What mortal can resist such a siren call?" Owain asked with a slight smirk.
"I can," Severa said, glowering at both of them. She knew her husband well enough to know he was only trying to cheer her up, though, and the corners of her lips quirked up into a half smile. "Never mind the diary," she decided, rising to clean up the mess she had made. "I probably just threw it out and forgot about it. Whatever. It's not like I was about to let anyone else read it, anyways."
Morgan seemed mildly disappointed, but she scrambled to help clear the mess away. Before long, they departed for the rift, pausing only for Severa and Owain to say their goodbyes to their oblivious, sleeping daughter.
The six wanderers found the second day of their journey to be as uneventful as the first. They came across two more sets of ruins, neither of which held anything of interest, and as Trance had noted the day before, the Nightmares became increasingly uncommon as they went.
The pattern seemed to hold throughout the morning of the third day, too. Morgan knew they would be coming across the border soon, and did her best to remain vigilant, but she and her friends marched on for several hours without encountering a single enemy. Instead, the first oddity the young tactician noticed was an unusual, yet intimately familiar scent.
"Hang on," Morgan interrupted, and her friends all turned to her curiously. "Do any of you smell that?"
"Smell what?" Ferus asked, after experimentally sniffing the air a few times. "I don't smell anything."
"I do, but it's not very strong," Helios said. He frowned, but with none of the lantern rings pointed his way, no one else noticed. "It's the same scent I noticed in Water's Edge, I think."
"It's the smell of brine," Morgan confirmed.
"Are you sure?" Severa asked, for she hadn't noticed any scent.
"I'm positive, but why would the air here have a…" Morgan mumbled, before her voice abruptly died.
"What is it, Morgan?" Trance prodded.
"An island," Morgan whispered. "Monolith is an island. It's surrounded by an ocean. That's what the border on the map was for."
"An ocean?" Helios wondered. "Does that mean there's nothing out there, after all?"
Morgan immediately shook her head, then looked to Trance. "Could I have my ring back for a moment?" she requested.
"Sure," Trance agreed, taking off the ring and handing it over. "But…"
Before he could finish his question, Morgan took off running, holding the ring out before her to illuminate her path. "This way!" she called, charging off into the darkness.
"Morgan, slow down!" Severa panted, trying in vain to keep up with her younger sister. She looked back towards the others, who were similarly struggling with the rough and rocky terrain. "Where does she find all that energy?" she grumbled quietly to herself, her voice drowned out by the rhythmic crashing of the ocean's waves.
Then, to Severa's relief, the small prick of light coming from Morgan's ring stopped moving. With one last burst of strength, she sprinted ahead of the others only to find the ground sinking beneath her weight.
"What!?" she gasped.
"It's just sand," Morgan's voice called out from somewhere ahead.
With a groan, Severa stopped and waited for the others to catch up to her. Then, the five of them slowly trudged across the sandy beach until they finally arrived at Morgan's side and saw that they had reached the ocean's shore.
Morgan hardly acknowledged the others approaching her, and continued to stare out towards the shifting dark waters. Beside her, the rift to Water's Edge was already halfway complete.
"Were you really in such a big hurry to see the ocean again?" Helios asked wryly.
"Nothing but water," Ferus grumbled. "This was all just a waste of time, I guess."
"No," Morgan answered softly.
"It wasn't?" Owain asked, puzzled.
Morgan shook her head. "I need to try something once the rift is finished. Just wait here, okay?" she said.
"What's going on, Morgan?" Severa demanded impatiently.
"You'll see in a few minutes," Morgan insisted, and to her sister's consternation, she refused to say anything more. The rift finished shortly after, and the young tactician rushed through, though she did not stop to close the rift behind her. The others stared at the rift, wondering if they should follow. Eventually, they chose to remain where they were, scattering around the immediate area and inspecting the beach for anything of interest.
They were still searching when Morgan finally returned twenty minutes later, clutching a large scroll, an oddly shaped torch, a dusty tome, and several other metallic implements.
"What's all this stuff for?" Trance asked, impressed by Morgan's exotic looking equipment.
"This device is a magical beacon," Morgan explained as she firmly pressed the torch into the sand until it stood vertically without any support. Once her hands were free, she dismissed the rift behind her, then raised her tome. A spark shot out from her hands, lighting the torch with a soothing, viridian flame. At the same time, she pulled an hourglass from inside the rolled up scroll, flipped it so that the sands could begin falling, and set it down beside the torch.
A few minutes later, the torch pulsed brightly, then went out. Morgan's lips went thin, and she seemed to be quivering with anger.
"What does it mean?" Severa asked worriedly.
"It means he lied to me," Morgan said stiffly.
"Who lied to you?" Owain asked, glancing at the others who seemed equally puzzled.
"The Fireman! He actually lied to me!" Morgan said, shaking her head in disbelief. "This place… Monolith… it isn't in another world at all!"