‘I wouldn’t say that I’m in a hurry, it’s just that I like my travel plans all planned out,’ Freya said when Elaine questioned her.

Sailors were—peculiar creatures who lived on the sea, people who chose to stay on the shaky seas instead of stable lands; staying far away from towns and cities, residing in the endless blue. So fond were they of sea, that most of their kind would profess that their lover was the sea and only the sea alone. Laws couldn’t reach and separate them from their lover, bad weathers were something that they conquer with their vessel, and sea monsters weren’t enough threat for them to cease sailing. To be separated from the sea was as if living without limbs, or so they would say.

Yet, there they were, aimlessly wandering around the harbor of Lune with a bottle of fire wine in their grip, staring longingly at the sea, their lovers. Separated from their lover, all they could do was to get themselves the strongest alcohol they could find and burn their pain away. This, they found success, save for one ship captain who was being bothered by a violet-haired young lady, who insisted on going to Malegonia.

‘Lis’n, lass, there ain’t no ship goin’ anywhere east,’ said the half-drunk captain with hint of irritation. ‘Is not ‘bout the money. Ya can offer em a treasure ship, no men of sea will take.’

The young lady took the words without resistance. She closed her eyes. That brief moment she used for thinking. She opened her eyes. Those amethyst eyes had more resolve in them now.

With a harmless smile, she said: ‘You’re someone who lives on sea, yet you find comfort staying on land. Makes me wonder if you’re truly a captain.’

‘What do ya landlubbers know of the sea?’ the captain snapped and raised his voice. His eyes were wide open, staring at the young lady and her companion. One could see his blood vessels surfacing on his forehead. ‘Yer just a lass who knows nothin’! Nothin’!’

‘I know that you’re scared.’ The young lady still smiled.

‘Freya!’ her lady companion said.

The captain threw his bottle of fire wine to the young lady, only to miss and almost hitting her companion. ‘Do ya think that I’m scared of the ragin’ sea? I’ve sailed the fiercest of sea and conquered without a scratch!’

‘And yet here you are. On land.’ Her companion was pulling her away.

Having lost it, the sailor stood up from where he sat; his hands clenched into fists, believing that the lady deserved to be hit. But as he took his first step, he fell down to the ground. Not because the fire wine made him dizzy, but because his feet were already so used to the shaky seas that he found the land unstable. When he looked up, wanting to shout and call the other sailors and making the violet-haired young lady regret her words, she and her companion were gone. They were now at a distance, running away from the harbor.

So, he let out countless curses at his frustration. Mostly to the young lady who just insulted him; some to the damned skystorm which separated him from the sea.

***

‘Is it alright?’ Dunnford asked Ray as they walked through the streets of Lune. ‘Not helping Freya in finding ship for our travel?’

‘It’s not like we’ll find any,’ Ray dismissed the question. ‘She may be in a hurry, but there’s nothing we could do. Rather than worrying about our travel, I’d rather that we use our time instead of wasting it. You sure we’re on the right track to this sanctum of yours?’

Dunnford looked around, Lune was different from how he last remembered it. This street they were treading on used to be a shoddy; unkept road full of mischief. It was neglected and abandoned, a place for the rejects of society and a road that no one sane would walk through. Now it was cared for. Now the street was no longer full of cracks and holes. Now they have guards posted at parts of the street, eliminating mischief, ensuring passersby’s safety.

‘A lot has changed, Master Ray. But I know these streets by heart.’ These streets are impossible to forget.

***

Through one of the many streets of Lune, Elaine ran behind Freya. Partly because she didn’t want to let Freya disappear from her sight, mostly because she wasn’t fast at running.

Only when Freya deemed that they had run far enough from the harbor, did she slow down to a stop. Even after that running, Freya remained calm and composed, there wasn’t a drop of sweat on her and she did not seem to show any exhaustion. Elaine on the other hand was short on breath; and was silently glad that Freya had stopped running.

When they stopped, Elaine placed her hands on her knees; then took air in to replace the lost ones. Without waiting much to calm her ragged breathing, she let out her anger, ‘What—were you thinking??’ she said with a raised tone. She glared at Freya, she wanted to see if she showed any expression of remorse, but sweat coursing through her eyes blurred her vision. ‘He was a captain!’ she continued. ‘If he didn’t—fall down, he would’ve—called his sailors. And it would’ve been a mess!’

‘They’re just sailors, Elaine,’ Freya said lightly, she placed a hand on her shoulder. A habit she picked up somewhere.

‘We would’ve gotten—into trouble!’

‘Nothing we couldn’t get out of.’

Nothing we couldn’t get out of? Elaine wanted to let her thoughts out: how wrong Freya was for underestimating trouble, how reckless she was, and a whole lot more. Alas, her breathing was still unstable to voice them all out clearly. She wiped the sweat in her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. When her vision was vivid as it should be, she saw that Freya was looking back at the now faraway harbor they just ran from.

When Elaine caught that sight of Freya, all her pent-up emotion was washed away. More so than irritated or mad, she was curious.

‘Why did you… do that?’

‘Do what?’

‘The captain. Why did you provoke him?’

‘It was nothing.’

‘It wasn’t nothing.’ Elaine had seen how Freya closed her eyes and think before provoking the captain. What she had done had reasons backing it up. It wasn’t nothing. ‘Why did you provoke him?’ Elaine pursued.

‘… When you taunt people, often you’ll get them do what you expect. I thought taunting the captain might make him set sail. It didn’t. This skystorm must be something then.’

The last statement made Elaine blink twice. ‘Have you never seen the skystorm before?’

‘Can’t say I have.’ Freya shrugged. ‘If I have, I’ve already forgotten.’

‘If you have, you wouldn’t have forgotten.’

‘I forget many things.’

You—forget...? Elaine thought. Her mind then wandered to the past.

What had followed after Freya’s sudden change of behavior were rumors by the residents of her manor. Some servants speculated that Freya had procured amnesia; while that theory was plausible, Freya had suffered no head wounds. Elaine had pursued the matter a little by asking Laguna, to which she said that it was just a mood swing and that there was nothing to worry about. Just to be extra safe, Elaine had conducted a check for the presence of foul magic, only to find nothing. –But what if it’s a magic I can’t detect?

‘You didn’t lose your memories, did you?’ Elaine asked.

Freya laughed softly. ‘What makes you think that?’

That’s not a solid answer. ‘What’s your father’s name?’

‘Laertes.’

‘Your full name?’ You didn’t mention your family name when you faced Dunnford before, Elaine thought, believing that she was onto something.

‘Freya Frostwell.’

… This is something she could research herself. ‘Why aren’t you able to use your Special Magic? Have you perhaps forgotten?’

‘I’d like to know myself. Would be nice if I could heal everyone’s wounds. I would forget at this rate.’

Elaine felt that she was onto something, but perhaps she had jumped to conclusion too fast. Had she lost her memories, why would she want to hide it? Her procuring amnesia is far-fetched. That—or there’s something deeper to it.

‘Let’s try searching other parts of the harbor for a ship that’ll get us to Malegonia,’ Freya proposed. ‘Maybe we’ll have better luck.’

‘Those sailors stay on land for a reason, Freya.’

‘You’ll never know if there’s a ship that could pierce the storm, Elaine.’