Ringing.

It was all Aria heard as she slowly gained consciousness. It was so loud that Aria almost couldn’t hear it, and she was pretty convinced that she was deaf. The disorienting ringing was so bad that she could hardly focus on anything or get her thoughts straight.

Ughh… Was that magic? Where… I can't...

"-ia!"

A vague voice could be heard through the ringing.

"-ria!"

Soon she felt a dull sensation of someone picking her up before she faded out of consciousness once again.

~ ??? hours later ~

"Aria!!"

A concerned voice rang through her confusion. Slowly, she opened her eyes and recognized a blurry Wendel, her light blue hair was easily distinguishable. She tried to blink the blurring away to no avail.

"Miss..," she tried to speak but was still too disoriented. She felt fine physically, maybe a bit numb, but the confusion from the disorientation was lingering.

"O' My Benevolent Goddess, I Beseech Thee: Bestow Upon Her a Blessing of Recovery!" Wendel chanted in prayer. Her hands clasped together as she chanted and only parted after she finished.

Wendel started to emit a glowing green aura which gathered and travelled down her arms towards her hands which pointed at Aria. She gasped however, as she noticed that the green aura was way more potent than the blessings she usually received when praying to her Goddess.

As the glow transferred to Aria who lay on the ground, Aria heard the voice of a young woman come with it.

"Hmm!" The voice giggled. "Interesting… very very interesting. I'd have never thought an opportunity like this would happen. Especially through a prayer! I guess this can be useful sometimes. Heehee, I had a favor I needed to repay to a special someone, but I don't think they'll mind if I repay it by helping you. I'll give you a small present or two and with this, we'll be even. Hehe good luck!~"

Who..

It faded away towards the end and the green glow that enveloped Aria seemed to drift away with the wind.

Aria's muddled mind instantly cleared as the voice faded. A moment later she opened her eyes with a couple blinks.

"Aria! Are you okay?" asked Wendel.

“Y-Yes I think so… what happened? And..” replied Aria.

She felt physically fine, in fact, she felt completely rejuvenated. She no longer felt that sluggish feeling she was growing accustomed to when she first fixed her movement with her magic. Instead… everything felt crisp. As if she could control her body exactly how she wanted to. She sat up to experiment and explore her body-- wiggling her toes and fingers --before looking at Wendel.

“I.. um... I heard a voice,” said Aria, looking for any clues as to who it was. “A lady’s voice...”

“A lady’s voice?” asked Wendel. A look of confusion swept over her face before realization suddenly seemed to dawn on her. “And it wasn’t mine?”

“Mm,” Aria nodded in affirmation.

"Could it be..?" she muttered. She seemed to get lost in thought until Leo stepped into the conversation.

Speaking of voices.. Guide you have been quiet for a while--

“In any case, I’m glad you’re okay missy,” he said. Leo sat down on the ground next to her in a relaxed motion as he leaned against a tree.

Aria looked around her, realizing that they weren’t anywhere near where they encountered the Xilisk. Or rather, Xilisks. Instead, they were in a more peaceful and quiet area. Even the birds and insects were silent.

“What happened to the other one?” she asked.

“Other one? Do you mean the mother Xilisk?” replied Leo. “After the blast, we ran and managed to escape. The Xilisk didn’t seem too keen on chasing us and instead went back to its young that we defeated. We got lucky… it was close.”

Wendel, coming back to reality, sighed.

“It was really close alright,” said Wendel. “Too close.”

Aria gazed up into the vibrant blue sky as the three of them relaxed for a while. Suddenly, Leo spoke up, disrupting the silence.

“Well, we rested enough I think, we should quickly return to our camp and make our way back to the city. It’s only about noon still so we should be able to make good progress today.”

They traveled through the forest, thankfully not running into the Xilisks. No other monsters seemed to be around.

“There are very little monsters in this forest aren’t there?” muttered Aria.

“Hm? Ah yeah, this forest used to be abundant with dangerous threats and monsters. But they have long since been subdued in the past few decades thanks to the continuous response of the Adventurer’s Guild,” responded Leo.”The Adventurer’s Guild sends people out here often to subdue any monsters that arise. As a result, the overall amount of monsters that reside here have fallen drastically and it has become quite tame. Even so, it’s still dangerous as weaker monsters are abundant and would easily prey on a weak, vulnerable child. Plus, Wendel detected ominous amounts of matom just the other day.--”

Is he talking about me?

“--So you can tell it was definitely a surprise to find you in this forest… why were you here? Did something happen?”

“...” Aria remained silent, unsure of how to respond.

“It’s okay, you can be honest. We’ll be understanding and try our best to help you out,” said Wendel.

“I was born in this forest a couple days ago from an egg looking thing,” said Aria.

"..."

Wendel stared with a blank face but Leo’s disbelief was too obvious. An awkward silence ensued for what Aria felt was too long.

“I am lost, I don’t know how I got here but I can’t remember anything,” she finally said, breaking the silence.

“Amnesia?” muttered Wendel.

“Lost huh,” said Leo. “Well, worry not missy, I'll keep you safe! And I'm a man of my word. I don't break my promises. It's against my very being!”

He flashed a grin and gave her a thumbs up. Wendel giggled and smirked at Leo.

“Well well, if it isn’t the magnificent White Knight.”

“What, you wanted me to say something else?” asked Leo.

“Nope~” said Wendel with a playful tone. “You were cool.”

“Of course it was! I’m the one who said it..,” said Leo. “In any case, if we’re all rested, let’s get going. We already won’t make it back by today.”

Aria felt a warm, relaxing feeling wash over her like a blanket. She felt a feeling of content that was greater than any other feeling at the moment. Her lips formed a smile.

~ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ~

They returned to their camp, packed up, and left the forest all in a couple of hours. Now, they were on a dirt path that two wagons could fit on side by side. At first, Aria dreaded the idea of walking long distance, but she soon realized it was easier than she thought. Her body hardly felt fatigue even after traveling through the whole day. Wendel and Leo glanced at her a few times wondering if they needed to rest or not. They even asked, but Aria said she was completely fine so they continued forward.

“Darn kids and their unlimited supply of energy,” muttered Leo under his breath. He lay down tiredly as they finally stopped for the night and got their camping equipment out. “Though, I don’t even think I had that much energy as a kid. Ugh.”

The night passed without a hitch and when they woke up they continued their journey again. It was about early afternoon when they saw the city gates. They were still some distance away but the hill they were on offered an amazing view of the city. It was immensely large and seemed to go as far as the eye could see.

“I-Is that where we’re going?” asked Aria.

“Yup! That’s the capital city of Uroth, called.. Uroth,” replied Leo who shrugged at the end. “It’s where Wendel and I live, along with thousands upon thousands of other people.”

“It’s.. amazing. Are there more places like this?” asked Aria. “More cities?”

She stared wide-eyed at the city that shied behind large walls that seemingly dared anyone to try and penetrate its defense. Their vantage point allowed her to get a glimpse of the rows of buildings that populated the districts near the walls. Plains covered the expanse outside of these walls and went beyond even where Aria was standing. The grass swayed to the wind in a wave that caught her attention.

A whole gathering of people. Thousands! Tens of thousands! Amazing…

Her heart raced at the thought of it as a primal urge from within her grew restless. As they walked closer and closer her breathing grew heavier. It was still a distance away but the anticipation was nearly unbearable and started to make her nervous as butterflies formed in her stomach.

“D’you need to rest?” asked Leo. “You look a little tired. We’re close but we can still take a break here if you’d like.”

Aria looked at Leo before calming down and relaxing.

What just happened to me? That was weird.

“N-No, it’s okay,” she replied. “I guess I’m a little tired, but it’s nothing. I’m just excited, it’s my first time coming to a city like this!”

“Hopefully you’ll like it!” said Wendel. She smiled warmly at Aria.