“Everything happened so fast Zinnia, one-minute Pinoki was escaping with us, next,

Only his arm made it out…” Apollo regretfully informs

“That is un—fortun —ate”

Zinnia tries to reply, stoic and calmly, but her voice cracks giving away her true feelings

….

“You know you don’t have to act strong around us Zinnia,” Karina hugs the girl

“I may not have of been as close to Pinoki as you were, but we all grew up with each other,

You can cry if you want,”

“Except for Kage,” Lyra puts in

“Unnecessary taunt,” I attempt to give Lyra a hard poke for once, but she anticipates it shoving me away

“Hands off Kage,

Just because our challenge rings don’t work anymore does not mean you are exempt from a beating”

“…….”

“So, from what you told me about Furlheim, does that mean you’re back here for good then?” Zinnia smiles faintly regaining her ‘Queenly’ composure

“Not exactly,” Apollo hurriedly disputes that thought

“We left all our things back in Sweepstake,

The only reason we are back is for more supplies so that we can set out to find Bakufu,

It was the mayor’s last wish,”

Zinnia frowns, not too pleased with the idea of us putting ourselves in potentially more danger,

“But from what you said about Furlheim being taken over,

Shouldn’t we be fortifying the kingdom’s defenses?”..........

………...

*****

“So, this is Soterra?” Amelia says as she looks over the city in awe, from a balcony in the city hall,

The city has changed quite a bit since I last saw it,

Unlike Sweepstake, which was kind of an unnatural clash of different cultures and people,

Soterra oozes but one culture,

The streets are lined with tall posts with magic crystals at the top of them that act like a sort of wireless power grid, which sends magic to all the houses and buildings,

But functionality aside,

The sight of the glowing colors of the magic gems, simply looks aesthetically pleasing.

Despite the fact that Murdoc is but a relic of the past now, his forced teachings, I cannot deny, did some good for this city,

The people are all still welcoming and friendly, as before so much so that Amelia and Claude were incredibly surprised by the way people walked around greeting other like it was nothing,

Even I was surprised as I’d already gotten used to the crowds of the ‘Sweep’ that would ignore you, going about their business,

In Sweepstake, to get magic power in your own house you would have to buy your own crystal,

Whereas here there is a whole system to ensure everyone gets power,

“You all lucky to still have a home to go back to,” Amelia says

“Well firstly,” I reply,

“This isn’t my home, and I promise, Soterra wasn’t always like this,”

“hmmm,” Amelia mumbles, before it gets awkwardly quiet,

……

(This is what happens when you leave two non-talkers alone together)

“….

Sooo, uh—”

“—Hey Kage,” Claude approaches,

“Are you making moves on my sister bro….”

………

****

“Hhhhh” Apollo sighs giving his sword a swing,

“You know you don’t have to act all grumpy just because you’re here,” Lyra lectures,

“That is my job actually”

“You know how I feel about this place Lyra,”

“So do I,

But it’s not like we’re going to be here for a long time”

……

“Waw,” I comment walking up to the two,

“I never thought I’d see the day where Lyra was being the rational one,”

“Kage my good friend,” Lyra smiles,

(Much to my alarm)

“Have you come for our spar?”

“Eh-hem, eh-hem,” I fake cough

“My leg is still wounded from Ginobelucci, I am not one hundred percent right now,”

“Since when?

Didn’t Amelia heal you?”………

……….

*****

“Strange,” Karina says pleasantly surprised,

“I am usually the one to go to your room Kage

What brings you to mine?”

“I want to talk”

“About?” she motions for me to sit next to her

“I don’t know how to feel,

Pinoki died and, I’m not sure if I am sad, or maybe I don’t care at all,

In addition to that there’s something deep in my mind that’s telling me to forget about Sweepstake,

It’s not my business to avenge it,”

“So, your innermost thoughts?”

(I don’t think that’s what it is)

“You could call it that I guess,”

“Kage, I have to ask,

Are you sure you don’t know where you came from,

Or even your own age?”

“Yes, I’ve said this so many times already,”

“I know, but you act so, I don’t know, young, yet old,

You don’t even understand your own emotions, yet—

Hhhhhh

You’re something else Kage,” Karina stops herself

“Well, I guess I’ll be taking my leav—"

“No, you’re not Kage,” Karina pulls me back

“You are staying the night.”……...

……….

*****

“Be safe out there,” Zinnia sees us off as we climb into a magic carriage,

“We’ll be fine,” Apollo assures,

“Plus, we have this special map, that always shows our location,”

“Umm, Queen Zinnia,” Amelia speaks up

“Soterra is a nice kingdom, I hope to visit here again under normal circumstances,”

“You saying that makes me happy,” Zinnia smiles,

“Can we go now?” Lyra says impatiently,

“Right away,” Apollo agrees setting the carriage into motion,

……

“We will be alright Zinnia, remember to focus on yourself!” Karina shouts back,

The magic vehicle swiftly makes its way out of Soterra bumping along cheerfully,

Gazing out the window, I watch as all the tress and houses slowly blend into the background one by one,

Then,

I don’t know if I was imaging things at that moment or maybe it was real,

But for a split second my eyes locked with something,

Something I think, no,

I know wasn’t human,

Its eyes were elliptical, looking at it felt akin to staring into an empty void,

I squint my eyes trying to get a good look,

But then, it stared back…

Before disappearing into the background with everything else……