Chapter Twelve:
If All Roads Lead to Nowhere

Ventus

Swaddled in the woolen blanket of his bed, Ven shivered ever so as his eyes opened, a wisp of fog breathed out in front of him. Blinking, vibrant colors formed blurred shapes that came into focus. His crystalized vision showed him the large scroll attached to the wall, bearing the vistage of his knighted form.

The drawing didn't depict much armor, a breastplate and greaves, but there was a heavy cloak, forest green for courage, though it looked more like a flowing cape. Underneath a silver tunic could be seen with intricate designs whose overall meaning would take a sit down with a book of symbols to fully decipher–thankfully of which a scroll lay nearby hidden among his books for school. The image was complete with an ornate sword, larger than the figure by far, but in the drawing and in his imagination, Ven wielded it one-handed with ease.

Staring at the picture, furrowing his brow, Ventus noticed it was quiet in the house, even though the morning sun was already peeking through the window. He sat up, glancing around. Mom should have been hollering at him to get up hours ago, and the house was sweltering in the morning, no matter the season, as the kiln was already fired up ready for the day by the time he dragged himself down the stairs. That and the Agni household was never quiet.

Slipping out of bed and being careful not to step on the clay knights he had made–though four were somehow already broken–he paused after successfully escaping his blankets. Not only was the Agni house rarely silent, but Ventus was accustomed to hearing the early morning hustle and bustle of people on the streets setting up their wares for those early bird risers.

Yet, that was missing in the air too. Everything was still, both inside the house and outside it.

Ven gingerly made his way down the stairs. When he reached the landing below and turned the corner, something caught his foot and he found himself face first on the floor.

Lifting his head and looking behind him, he came face to face with his father's visage, Kubera Agni's lips pulled up into an impish grin even as blood dribbled down his lips. There was nothing else besides the head, yet it's jaw opened up and his father's voice, gurgling and disjointed, eked out.

"Real knights protect people–Why can't you do that?"

Whimpering and kicking the head as he backed away, it rolled toward a headless body which he just saw nearby, sitting in a pool of blood. When it reached the corpse, bumping against the stump of the neck, it swiveled around and the glassy, unseeing eyes of Uncle Killian faced him now.

"You were supposed to be an investment for the future," the older man's voice echoed out of those stiff, lifeless lips that remained barely parted after death. "Some investment."

Scrambling to his feet, Ventus bolted for the kitchen, heart pounding in his chest and ears, that pit of dread had overwhelmed and gripped him with icy fear. He noticed the familiar figure of his mother by the kiln.

"Mom!" he shrieked, stumbling toward her, grabbing and pulling her close into a hug. Yet when his ears rested against her chest as he buried his face into the folds of her cloth, he noticed the familiar thump of a heartbeat was absent. Leaning back, his breath caught in his throat as he saw glazed eyes looking down upon him. Her lips, which were normally a healthy pink, were an unearthly white.

That's when her body collapsed, as if the strings holding her up were cut, and Ventus struggled to keep hold of her, keep her upright. Though, the pressure of her body alleviated and shadowy strings wrapped around her joints and lifted her up. Behind her a shadowy figure stared at him, and though he couldn't make out the distinctive features, those dark blue eyes were unforgettable as they pierced through the dark.

"Don't talk about the eyes to anyone," murmured Ceres' voice though her lips did not move, reaching and grasping his shoulders with a cold and desperately hard grip. "You can't let them find out."

Her expression distorted, her face sagged inward as she began to wither before him, and once again her hand reached toward him, fingers outstretched grasping for his eyes, hand contorted like a vicious claw.

"Our blood–our blood isn't enough to change our eyes." Her voice gurgled as it started to merge with Eli's, who was continuing to mock him from the shadows, even now.

Quickly backing up, his mother made a swipe at him, her nails met and scraped against his skin, scratching, digging, gouging out skin from his cheek as he just managed to pull away from her. Ventus' head swum as he looked around and bolted out the door only to pause when his barefoot stepped in something sticky. It clung to his foot and the overwhelming scent of rusting iron invaded his senses.

His eyes found the crumbled form of his little sister laying right in front of him. Blood flowed from her open wounds that were everywhere, splintered bone tearing through flesh, as if a giant picked her up and crushed her between its hands into a ball before dropping her at their doorstep.

His hands clamped to his mouth to stifle his scream.

"Why do you only fight for you?"

Rini

The first good night sleep Rini had in what felt like years was interrupted with a piercing wail right in her ear. Eyes snapping open, Rini's hands flew to the side of her head, a string of curses following suit.

Turning to her brother, she opened her mouth to demand an explanation only for the words to die in her throat. Ven's entire body was glistening and his dirty clothes–the same ones they had been wearing since fleeing Castle Town–clung tightly to his frame. While once they fit perfectly, the rags swum on him now. He was shaking violently even though they had shelter from the bitter cold which still lingered outside.

"Ven?" Rini asked, her voice quivering as she put a hand on his shoulder. He turned and their eyes interlocked and her gut withered up and constricted around her heart when she saw the glistening of tears in his eyes–something which he hadn't done since their father died. Yet unlike back then, his sobs were silent gasps for air and for an uncomfortable moment, Rini was reminded of Mom.

The next thing Rini realized, she was being pulled into his embrace. Ventus was warm, but his body continued to shake as he cradled her, and Rini pushed a lump which formed in her throat down.

This wasn't like him. Ventus never cowered to anything, even if he should. Yet she recognized the expression on his face; Rini had seen it enough in Sakirven on everybody else–even herself when she looked into the mirror. Yet not on her big brother though. Never him.

Until now.

After a moment, she raised her arms and returned his embrace. Nuzzling into the folds of his clothes, she took comfort in the warmth he emitted. There weren't many things better than the heat of a fire, but her brother managed to pull ahead.

It took awhile for Ventus to calm down. Any attempts at Rini trying to coax out what had him upset were met with a shake of a head; ever since Mom died, her brother had become even more closed off and kept to himself about things. It was aggravating–didn't he know all they had now was each other?

The two made their way down the ladder and were suddenly accosted by the smell of food wafting through the air. For a moment, Rini expected to see Alicia tending to the hearth, trying to make the most of what little they had, and her stomach grumbled in response.

It was Nouka she found tending to a pot on the hearth. He looked up as they inched down the stairs and smiled.

"Good morning," he greeted them. "Please have a seat. The oatmeal will be ready soon."

Rini's stomach growled loudly, reminding her how hungry she was. It was like daggers stabbing into her gut, and with the promise of food so close, it was like twisting the knife in the wound.

Placing a hand over her side, suddenly feeling woozy, she didn't need to be told twice to take a seat. Ventus on the other hand seemed to be watching Nouka, his hazel eyes staring, searching for something. After a moment, he readjusted the sword on his back.

"Do you need any help?" he asked.

"No, no, take a seat," Nouka insisted, pulling one up for Ventus at the table. "There's not much left to do."

He turned back to the hearth and busied himself there. Ventus remained standing for a moment longer, however, before inching his way over to the table, eyes not leaving the older man's back for a second even as he slid into the spot next to Rini. Her brother always sat across from her when they ate back at home, but now he was right up close to her, their father's sword leaning against the table within arm's reach.

The caster soon turned back around, holding bowls of steaming oatmeal. His eyes lingered for a moment longer on Ven as he placed a bowl before him, a soft frown forming on his lips and a wrinkle of puzzlement on his brow. However, he moved on without a word, placing a bowl before Rini and then lastly himself. He poured them glasses of milk as well and set plates of eggs next to the bowls.

"Sorry, I wasn't sure if you both had a preference on how you liked your eggs cooked." A serene smile now smoothed across his features as he poured himself some tea and took a seat. "There's honey and cinnamon as well for the oatmeal."

"Thank you. Rini prefers them scrambled while I like em' sunny side up," her brother said, acting weird, like he was trying to imitate Mom or Dad when they were talking to other adults. His words were slow and his nose wrinkled in thought as he thought of each word, not shoving the porridge down his face like Rini was.

At the mention of honey and cinnamon, the young Hylian girl paused, her mouth filled with food.

"'ou 'v 'namon 'n hon'?" she asked, food dripping out of her mouth before she remembered her manners. Wiping her face with the back of her hand, she swallowed, repeating herself. "You have cinnamon and honey?"

She wasn't sure the last time they had something sweet. Alicia's food was good, sure, but there were only so many times you could eat things picked up off the forest floor before wanting something else.

Nouka's earth brown eyes switched over to Ventus again as he smiled warmly. "You're welcome, and I'll keep that in mind."

He leaned forward at the same time to nudge a little pot of honey and a pot of cinnamon toward Rini, who quickly grabbed them and proceeded to determine to ruin all nutritional value the oatmeal could have offered her.

She could feel Ventus' judgemental eyes on her, but she didn't care. After a moment, she could hear the slow slurps of her brother attempting not to eat like a caveman. Unlike her, who had basic table manners, Ventus continued to talk with his mouth full.

"So that thing we were talking about last night. With chores and shit."

Nouka blinked but otherwise showed no offense to the boy's crude language. He tilted his head curiously as he cupped his tea in his hands. "Yes?"

"What's gonna be up with that?"

Rini glanced at Ventus, sighed and swallowed. Allowing her brother to negotiate and talk was probably going to get them not only nowhere, but accidentally make these people angry.

"We're just wonderin' what sorta things we can do," Rini explained, scraping at her bowl, noticing Ventus had only gotten halfway through his. Her lips twitched downwards. If he was going to go the Mom route and pull the same 'I'm not hungry' bullshit, she would tie him to a chair and force feed him like the child he was.

Returning her attention back to Nouka, she continued selling their usefulness to him. "We're kids, but we can do some adult stuff."

"Oh, there will be plenty of time to address that later," Nouka assured them, blowing softly on his tea. "Like I said last night, we are not slave drivers here. You are welcome in this community, and though your contribution would be happily accepted, it is not something that is required. Though I think in time you would find your own place that suits you."

"Well, honestly, we probably won't stay here long."

Rini snapped her head to look at Ventus incredulously. Was he still thinking about going to Auntie Amaya and Uncle Tori's place even though they found a safe place with food?

"Our aunt and uncle live near Lake Hylia, so we were headed there. We'll stay here, regain our strength, help around a bit to earn our keep, and move on."

Goddesses, he was.

Nouka's tea cup stopped just as he raised it up to his lips. It lowered back down as he studied the boy across the table. After a long moment, he smiled gently. "I see."

"'Scuse us for a second," Rini smiled serenely at Nouka, before grabbing her brother by the wrist, dragging him off a ways toward the fire. The second they were nearby, she lowered her voice, barely breathing out her words knowing Ventus could hear her just fine.

"Are you stupid?" she hissed. "We have somewhere safe to stay! They can make food! Why are you being so stubborn about finding Auntie and Uncle when we don't even know they're even there! It's dangerous out there, and we're safe in here!"

"We don't know these people," Ventus murmured, glancing at Nouka, his lips pulling downward. "And we don't know if the Gerudo will be attacking again. They were killing casters and shit, right? This guy doesn't look like he can break someone with his voice like Auntie can. It's better we find 'em."

"Even if it's safer being with Auntie Amaya and Uncle Tori, they're probably not going to be by Lake Hylia! It's super close to the desert, and we haven't even been to their house before. We always played with Leita in Kakariko or when they visited us in Castle Town!" Rini shot back. "Also what about the poes? And wolves? And the Gerudo? There is probably gonna be a lot more Gerudo by, I 'unno, the Gerudo Desert."

"We'll stay until the spring thaw comes and it warms up, but after that, we're leaving," Ven growled, as if his word was final. And as if to prove it, he stomped back over to the table like the self centered brat he was.

Rini glowered at her brother, before turning away, running her fingers through her hair and stomping her foot. He made her so mad!

However, the thought didn't have a chance to linger on her mind as the dancing flames caught her attention, and she paused, dropping her hands. Some part of her wanted to expand it, make it grow bigger, until her brother's sharp voice broke her out of her revive.

"Rini!"

Jumping slightly, she turned to look at him, only to see him pour some of his oatmeal into her bowl and point to the seat next to him. She scowled and almost yelled she wasn't hungry before her stomach growled again. Snapping her mouth shut, Rini dragged her feet back over to the spot next to him.

Of course he would hear her stomach growl from all the way over there. Nothing got past his hearing.

"Pyro," Ventus muttered under his breath, only to swear when she kicked him in the shins under the table, smirking when he swore.

Nouka was still carefully sipping his tea as if he was just sitting alone in his own home, seemingly unaware of their antics. However, he quickly refilled Ventus' now empty bowl. He offered more and more until they couldn't eat another bite.

Once they seemed satisfied, he wove his fingers together, resting them on the table, and inquired, "Would you both permit me to do a little examination? It will take but a moment, and it's just to catch any ailments you may have."

"Sure," Rini said almost immediately, not allowing her brother to get a word in edgewise in case he decided to be a butt for no good reason about this too. It was just a check-up, but Ventus was acting all suspicious over everything and deciding to be dumb, which, granted, wasn't anything out of the ordinary but still.

Nouka smiled, rose from his seat, and approached Rini at hers. He placed his hand lightly on her shoulder. His eyes closed as a ripple of calm blanketed his features, melting the smile from his lips which soon parted and uttered the words, "Kono karada to shite kōzan."

As Rini had witnessed before, when Auntie Amaya would conduct her own check ups on her and Ven, a soft blue light began to emit from Nouka, like a gentle aura enveloping him. Looking down at her own hands, the familiar blue light was also glowing around her. Knowing enough to sit still while Nouka did his work, she looked over at her brother, giving him a smug look. Ven frowned but said nothing.

Good.

That meant she won.

The light only stayed for a brief moment or two before fading away, and Nouka opened his eyes, his calm smile returning to his lips.

"Very good, well, as good as one could hope," said Nouka, withdrawing his hand from her shoulder as he smiled down at her. "Other than a little malnutrition, you have no serious injuries or illnesses to be concerned about, my dear."

Nouka titled his gaze back to Ventus. He shuffled a few steps toward him before pausing to offer out his hand to him. There he waited patiently, allowing Ventus to make his own decision. The boy looked at him for a second longer before glancing at Rini before finally sighing.

"Sure. Whatever."

The caster nodded. His eyes closed again and yet again he uttered the words he had spoken before. Though this time he merely kept his hand gestured toward Ventus, not touching him as he had Rini. The blue light engulfed them both for the brief period as before.

When it faded, Nouka opened his eyes again, a peaceful smile gracing his features as before. "The same as your sister. We'll have you both as well nourished as possible at every opportunity. So nothing to worry about there."

"Thank you. It will be nice to have some consistent good food in our tummies," Rini said, slowly turning to glare at her brother with each word. Ven scoffed in return. Sometimes it was easier to talk to have a conversation with a brick wall than change Ven's mind.

"On that note, I must insist you rest here for the day," the caster said with the same smile. "We can decide together what you would like to do after you both are properly rested."

Rini wasn't going to argue with that; taking a breath and just relaxing for once instead of looking over their shoulder to see if they were gonna be eaten by wolves or poes or whatever was a small luxury the two didn't have for what seemed forever.

Ven, of course, had to ruin things by picking up his sword.

"Well, if you don't want us workin' today, I'll just go train," he grunted. "Can't get rusty."

"Ah, but Ventus," began Nouka, brushing a few flecks of oatmeal off his robe, "the reason for that is because you need to rest before you're healthy enough for work, including training."

For once, Ventus seemed to pause at that and looked back at Nouka and herself. She could see the cogs slowly turn in his head before he slowly asked, "So what do you want us to do? Just sit around and do nothin? You said it yourself. We're healthy 'cept for being malfooded."

Nouka chuckled, his face wrinkling with delight, like the sun poking through the dark clouds of weariness that seemed to hang around his eyes. He sighed after a breath, lips still turned up by a smile. "Yes, and just because you finally had a suitable meal doesn't cure you of your ailment immediately. You must rest and allow your body to bathe in the nutrients of your meal."

He paused for a moment to take another sip of his tea. "While I may normally heal a body of an injury with mana, the true breath of life cannot be substituted for. Think of it this way, if your body was a little sick and I gave you medicine, it takes time for that medicine to have its full effect to fruition."

He lifted his brown eyes back to Ven. "Do you understand?"

"But I'm not sick," Ven pointed out, and Rini sighed, knowing this was getting nowhere. Luckily for her own sanity, she knew what would get her brother to do the smart thing and rest for a while.

"Well if you aren't sick, can you fix my clothes?" she whined. "You promised you would when we got a chance."

"They are objectively awful," Ventus agreed, slinging the sword over his back as he approached her, circling her as he studied her thoughtfully. "I'll need some new fabric though. Not much I can do with this. I mean I'm good, but not a miracle worker."

"Do you have some fabric we could borrow?" Rini asked, looking up at Nouka, her eyes flickering between her brother and the older man, praying to the goddesses that he would take the hint that this was the only way her brother would be distracted from destroying his body with his single-minded obsession of becoming like their father.

Nouka seemed observant enough to notice she was making a look, but if he got her message was uncertain. Even as he said, "Of course, I think I can arrange for some supplies to be sent here."

Was he just responding to her question or did he follow her lead?

"Also going to need some paper to draw up some sketches," Ven continued, taking a step back and nodding his head. "Going to need to make everything from scratch. There isn't much I can reuse, although maybe I could fix our boots …"

Ven went back to talking to himself, rattling off different materials which would be good, and by now Rini learned to tune him out. Her eyes wandered back to the fire, watching the embers dance and crackle and she wondered what it would be like to hold it. Her hands twitched and she began to walk toward the fireplace.

A slender hand cupped her at the elbow, pulling her back from her dance with the fire. Nouka's observant eyes had followed her it seemed, as her gaze reached up to his. The caster tilted his head. "Are you cold, darling?"

"I, uhm," Rini stammered, not sure what to say as her heart skipped a beat. Part of her knew she wasn't a Goron and it would burn her if she touched the flames, but the larger part didn't care. Yet Ventus already judged her for her fancy of flames, and she didn't want to be on constant watch either.

"She's just obsessed with fire." Rini turned to glare at her brother for ratting her out. "Don't worry about it; I'll keep an eye on her, so she doesn't burn anything down."

Nouka arched a brow at Ventus' statement. "Is that so?"

His hand remained at her elbow. "You like fire?"

"It's pretty," she replied sullenly, glowering still at her brother. "I'm not going to hurt anybody or anythin'."

The pretty caster man smiled at her, not the way her parents had smiled at her obsession with flames. They smiled like she was a silly baby. The green haired caster smiled with warmth and understanding.

"And you've always liked fire, for as long as you can remember?" he asked.

A slow nod, as she turned to look up at Nouka. The last person who seemed to understand and not judge her was Uncle Killian. He had made her promise she wouldn't set things on fire without him there, but he was gone now. The urges, however, weren't.

"Hmm," the caster hummed to himself, his lips pressed together thoughtfully. "I would like to do another examination for you, my dear, but it's a bit of a different one than before."

"Uh… is it going to hurt?" Rini asked nervously, Ven arching his eyebrow.

"Not at all." He patted her elbow. "Hold on just a moment."

Nouka stood up and gathered a candlestick over to the table, lighting the wick and gesturing for Rini to join him at the table. She padded closer, Ventus not too far behind and looked up at Nouka, not understanding what was going on.

"Hold your hands like this," he gestured, holding both his palms to face the flame in the center. He drew his own hands back and waited for her to mimic him. Rini did so, feeling a bit stupid, but she looked up at the caster all the same.

"Kay... now what?"

He smiled, his face aglow from the flame's orange light. "Now, I want you to focus on the flame and, inside, ask your soul to make the flame taller."

That sounded like the stupidest thing she ever heard, but she supposed she would amuse him. Taking a deep breath, she stared at the flame and willed it to become brighter and taller than it was currently.

The flame in between her hands responded by reaching higher into the air than it had been before, making itself thinner in its reach. Nouka's smile glowed with the light as Ventus jumped back with a surprised yelp.

"See that, my dear?" he whispered to her over the candle. "That is the fire responding to the call of your spirit field's will. It's just a glimmer of what your mana can do, but it's obvious enough that you have a gift for fire magic."

"I have a gift for what?" Rini demanded, shocked, dropping her hands as she turned toward Nouka.

How could she have fire magic? Mom and Dad didn't have magic, and she had lived in Castle Town for so long, which had so many casters, the fact nobody said she had a talent for it prior made the reveal now hard to believe.

Ventus, however, had no such qualms about accepting the news and excitedly grabbed her shoulders and shook her as he laughed.

"Rini! That's amazing! You're amazing!" he exclaimed, beaming widely. "You're like Auntie Amaya!" His eyes lit up as he seemed to fall into his own little world of make-believe. "Oh! Oh! Maybe you can do that screamy thing too!"

"Amaya, you say?" Nouka pinched the flame out of the wick, glancing at Ventus. "Amaya Serwen?"

Ventus turned and nodded his head. Rini blinked in surprise at Nouka knowing their aunt. She knew somewhat that Aunt Amaya was well known like Dad was, but the caster barely reacted to their last name, so she assumed he was someone who didn't really know people who were well known in Castle Town.

"Yeah. Do you know her?"

The caster smiled wistfully. "Yes, we were peers at the academy in Castle Town. Amaya was always the talk of the school, even before she was known as the Banshee in the war."

"Huh," Ven said, and Rini felt like there wasn't much that could be added to it. She, of course, had some knowledge that their aunt and uncle fought in the war like Dad did, and that like Dad, Aunt Amaya had become well known. Unlike Ventus though, Rini was never really interested in war stories and only knew the basics because Ventus wouldn't shut up about it and always demanded to hear them again and again and again. "Did you fight in the war then too?"

Nouka sighed and nodded. "Yes."

He let them sit in silence for a brief moment before saying, "But that 'screaming thing' that she does is accomplished by air magic, not fire magic. Though, there's also a chance Rini could have air as a secondary."

"How would I know?" Rini asked, the fact she apparently had fire magic still causing her head to swim.

"For the secondary, I'm afraid you would need an actual priest to determine that right now. I know only a few basic tests. I certainly am more of a caster than a spiritualist," explained Nouka. "Your core type will be the most obvious manifestation for your connection with fire is likely to be the strongest. It's the dominant type of your soul. That makes it the easiest to detect. It gets more difficult to suss out the second and third types through the core's."

If anything the caster said was understood by the two siblings, it certainly didn't show on their faces–even with Ventus nodding, going 'mhm, mhm' and 'that makes sense, yup.' Rini, however, didn't care about looking "smart" and understanding something when she didn't. She thought what Ven did was stupid–one of these days he was going to make a fool out of himself due to his pride.

"What does being a priest have to do with magic?" she asked.

"Quite a lot actually, but it's a specialization of its own," he answered. "The soul is what generates mana when mana is found within a person."

"So what is it about a soul that makes me have magic and my parents didn't?" Rini asked. If she was being honest, if anyone was going to have magic, she would have expected it to be her brother. He was the one who knew things before they got close enough for her to feel the heat radiating from their bodies.

"That's one of Farore's mysteries," said Nouka. "I'm certain scholars and theologists both have their explanations about how these gifts are passed on or come to be in individuals of the various tribes. However, these are just things we can guess at, nothing anyone can be certain of."

She nodded slowly. That made sense, though it didn't exactly appease her. She looked up at him, opening and closing her hands. Even if this gift was hard to wrap her head around, it was something to learn and grow. Fire magic would have come in useful so many times in the past, if only she would have known.

A snake squeezed her insides, and a wave of nausea overcame her suddenly.

If she had known, maybe less people would have had to die.

"So … I know you can do forest magic, but can you do fire magic as well?"

Nouka shook his head. "I'm afraid not."

"Oh." Rini's voice was small. "Do... Do you know someone who does?"

It was Ven, however, who answered her, putting a hand on her shoulder gently.

"Rini, I'm sure Aunt Amaya can do it. She's a mage, remember? She can do all the magic. That's what Dad said anyway."

"Well, Rini," continued Nouka, "you're still very young so I could help you start to learn the basics: visualization, meditation to heighten your ability to focus, help grow the germinated seed as it were."

Rini nodded, somewhat appeased, but suddenly understanding Ventus' need to get stronger fast. Her brother was the only family she had left, and if she could protect him against the Gerudo, she would. In the past, it was just saving him from his own self destructive behaviors, but with this, she could do more than that.

"Okay."