A refreshing, gentle breeze passed through the grass and trees around, making them seem like they were dancing in the wind. On a narrow patch of turf surrounded by a light green thicket, lay Sebastian; a tan, slender, nineteen-year-old boy with long dark brown hair. At the moment, his clothes comprised a black button-up shirt with blue jeans while his shoes formed of a chestnut color leather. He lays there with his eyes closed, enjoying the fresh air around him. It’s been a while since he relaxed, no one really knows about this hiding…

“Hey, look sharp!” A silvery voice emerged from above him.

Before Sebastian had a chance to open his eyes, a handful of what could only be dirt hit his forehead. He quickly got up and spat out soil that had gotten into his mouth while clearing his face. “What the heck!?”

As Sebastian peered, he recognized a short chubby, girl with slanted eyes, tanner skin than his, and a flat nose with her thick, black hair tied up behind her in a ponytail. Her outfit seemed nice for warm weather like today; she wore a loose fitted sleeveless blouse that had blue flower patterns at the collar and its bottom. The baggy pants matched the same design as the blouse, allowing her to move freely. There was a small, polished bag hanging from her shoulder made of a strong fiber from the banana trees in the area.

“Nia? Why did you do that!? How did you even notice me here?” Sebastian perplexingly questioned, finishing clearing the earth off his face.

“What, this place? It’s not that difficult to find and you’re not that hard to follow with you stomping everywhere.” Nia laughed while trampling the ground, mocking him.

“Psh whatever, you kinda ruined my free time.” Sebastian ripped some grass next to him and flung it at her, looking kinda bummed but chuckling while doing so.

“That’s no way to talk to me, you’re one and only friend.” She put on a fake sad face, trying to contain her amusement as she sat next to him.

“Oh please, you’re not my only friend.” He pushed her playfully and laughed.

“Hey, now THAT hurt my feelings.” She snorted, shoving him back.

After the laughter had died, Sebastian detected from the corner of his eye a small white bird whose crest don a magnificent bright yellow. Its “cheeks” had a coral color and a short pink beak that drooped sat on a branch nearby. The feature that truly caught the eye were its wings; the tips of the feathers had a dazzling amber. Whenever it moved, the hue delayed for a second then followed the flow of origination, like a light afterimage pursuing its bulb. Nia noticed Sebastian distracted, looking at the bird, shifting in place and flapping its wings in unison to puff up.

“Those birds are one of my favorites, they’re called Anbatiels. I had one as a pet a long time ago, remember?” Nia looked up at it, watching it notice them below it.

“Ahh okay, I see them sometimes flying around, but I always forget to ask.” Sebastian smiles as it sees it fly away, the glow from the wings following behind it like a delay.

“Yeah, they're rarely seen traveling near our village because they usually live more into the woods, along with other types of animals.” She stood up and dusted off her pants from behind.

Sebastian did the same, exhaling as he did, “I’ve heard about that, but I haven’t really gone too deep since I don’t want to get killed, ya know?”

The sound of a muffled voice arose from one of Sebastian’s pockets, startling him for a second. He reached into it and pulled out a small, thin, wooden case with a darker, narrow knob in the middle of it. The wood itself had carvings on its multiple faces; the back is covered with a great dove with its wings spread while each side of the container had one large fern and some poinsettias at their bottom. Sebastian put it up to his ear to listen to what it was saying, then realized the volume dial on the left was on low.

He cranked it up to max and placed the device back near his right ear, “Uh, hello?”

“Hey! Why haven’t you answered my calls?!” a sweet but stentorian voice boomed into Sebastian’s ear. It caused him to pull away immediately, quickly turning down the amplification.

“Whoa, whoa hey I’m sorry! I was relaxing and didn’t notice you called Camila.” Sebastian rubbed his ear to make it stop ringing.

“I’ve been calling for ten minutes now! You should be more aware.” The voice from the other end sighed after finishing her sentence.

“I know, I know. If you’re calling about us meeting up in a bit, I haven’t forgotten.” Holding onto a branch, he fiddled with the smooth bark.

“Good, I’ll be at the town center waiting.” The sound cut off into low static.

“Love you too...” Sebastian rolled his eyes as he put the device back into his pocket.

Nia reached down to give Sebastian a hand to get up, while sarcastically saying, “She seems to be in a good mood today…”

As both of them walked down a narrow dirt road near to where they were previously, Sebastian saw the households of the village he lived in come to sight. The houses were created out of smooth clay with a thick, glowing dark blue wire near the top of each wall. A few homes available had porches made of bamboo, along with small huts formed completely out of the same material. The roofs of the buildings were flat with some hollowed-out bamboo sticking out towards the streets meant for rainy days. On the other hand, the huts people owned had ceilings composed of woven palm tree leaves. Every dwelling had a variation of this style, but each of them made the tiny village of Pueblanto look colorful and beautiful despite their lack of wealth. Many families here have never left the area, therefore lots of older-looking structures were dispersed throughout, giving the town a more antique appearance.

It took a few minutes to get to the center by walking casually. Once they turned a corner that led to the center, a large water fountain greeted them with two bowl-like tiers, differentiating in sizes. Each fountain tier was beautifully decorated with white flowers all around inside diamonesk shapes ranging from yellow, green, and blue. The big water basin at the bottom was also adorned but with circles, contrasting the gem format. The tiles on its rim were cobalt colored with a marble-like texture, making it give off the feel of waves in the ocean.

Near the fountain was a small market made of stalls where people sold a variety of foods, tools, toys, and other necessities. Sebastian took in the scene and noticed a swarm of individuals, all packed as they bought their items while some ate snacks from nearby vendors. Tarps of multiple colors hung from poles, creating a ceiling to block off some sun and rain. The town environment gave Sebastian a sense of comfort, it seemed like everyone in the village was family.

While Sebastian was gazing at the center, a hand from behind grabbed both their shoulders and turned them around suddenly, only to encounter a girl standing there. Her long cinnamon hair was hanging below her collarbone as her piercing dark brown eyes were staring down at both of them. Her powerful physique intimidated Sebastian a little because he could only imagine what she might do if aggravated.

Although it looks like she trains hard, her clothing usually matches her sweet voice. Today she’s looking as gorgeous as ever with a red blouse with yellow patterns along the dipped collar. The bottom portion of her outfit was dark blue jeans that fitted to show off her curve. One oddity that was a bit out of place were her two daggers that hung from each hip. From what Sebastian saw, since they were in their scabbard, their handles were black with silver as their pummel.

“It seems that every time I meet up with you, Sebastian, you’re always with Nia, why is that?” Camila put one of her hands on her hips with a frown on her face.

“It’s okay Camilla, she only followed me to where I was relaxing and that’s when I got your call.” Sebastian held his palms up in defence, looking terrified.

“Besides, he and I are only friends.” Nia looked straight up at Camila since she was taller than her.

Camila stared down at Nia as if she was trying to determine if she was lying or not. “Well, I still don’t want you to think about it.” She said in a low tone.

“Camila, calm down, please?” Sebastian put a hand on her shoulder.

Camila sighed and held her nose bridge. “Okay, fine. It’s just, you know how I feel. Anyway-” She turned around, then pointed to a small stall a few yards away from them- “I hear that stall makes superb ice cream. You guys wanna go buy some? It’s pretty hot today.”

“Sure, but-” Sebastian laughed nervously as he looked in his pockets for change- “I don’t have money.”

“Don’t worry, I got you.” Camila took out two silver coins from one of her front pockets to show Sebastian.

All three went to the stall Camila suggested and bought ice cream. Nia had to buy her own since she insisted on getting it herself, Camila didn’t argue there. The group walked to the edge of the fountains with their ice creams; Camila got cookie dough, Nia decided upon plain old vanilla, and Sebastian ordered coffee with chocolate java chips. They relaxed and took a minute to enjoy their sweet desserts. A light breeze hit them, cooling them down a little from the heat.

“So, has your dad gotten back from his trip, Sebastian?” Camila asked while taking a small bite from her treat.

“Not yet, but I think he’ll be back in a few days. His workshop was looking kinda barren on materials, so he had to leave a bit in a hurry. The usual merchant hasn’t arrived, so he had to go to the nearest town for supplies.” Sebastian licked the side of the cone that dripped. “Speaking of, how’s your dad doing Nia? Has he gotten a little better?”

“Not really. From what the doctors say, the illness is in check, but not cured. It’s been like this for a few months now.” Nia let out a brief sigh as she stared at her dessert.

“I hope he gets better soon.” Camila looked at Nia with a hint of sadness.

“Thank you.” With that, Nia took a minor bite from her snack.

A few seconds of silence passed, then a muffled sound developed from Nias’ bag. She took out her small transmitter and stepped away for a minute. Sebastian couldn’t really pick up what she was saying, but from the manner of Nias’ face, she seemed surprised and deep. After she finished her call, she returned to where they were and hurryingly told them she had to go. Sebastian hugged her and sat back down with Camila as Nia hurried away from their sight.

“I hope everything is okay. She sounded serious.” Sebastian hunched a little, finishing up his ice cream.

“I may not like her that much, but I hope so too. Family is important and from what she has gone through, it’s not been easy.” Camila ate the remains of the dessert, so she rested her hands on the edges of the fountain and slumped a bit. “You told me that her biological parents died from the same virus?”

“Yeah, when she was a kid. She later lived in an orphanage for a while until they adopted her. Nia really does care a lot for them.” Sebastian dipped one of his hands’ fingers inside of the cool water behind him.

Just as Camila was about to respond, both of them picked up a cry for help near the stalls. A guy had stolen some meat that was dripping out of his bag he clenched in his hand as he was dashing through people like a madman. Camila got up, took one of her daggers out swiftly, and threw it straight at the guy’s leg. The dagger buried itself into his calf as he fell, screaming from the devastating pain. As the seconds passed by, he slowly grew quiet as his body stopped moving, leaving only his eyes open to search in fear all around him. A small crowd formed in the vicinity, confused about what was going on. Camila pushed herself through to the man on the ground, frozen as he held his limb. She squatted down to him to stare at him dead in his terrified eyes.

“You won’t be moving for a while so make yourself comfortable… well, as comfortable as you can get.” Camila reached over to her weapon and removed it in one pull.

Sebastian drove his way to Camila as the people’s voices all around dispersed. “How did you do that?” he looked at her, later at the paralyzed man on the floor where he made out streams of tears coming down his cheeks.

Camila wiped the blood off her reflective, curved dagger with a dirty cloth she took out. “Recently I got my daggers enchanted, see?” she turned it so the other side was facing.

Sebastian immediately noticed a green symbol dead-center of her blade. The rune looked like a sharp “s” with two circles around it and a snake that coiled over them. As Camila finished cleaning the steel, she put it back in her scabbard. She stood up as a frail, old woman walked towards her. She seemed to be covered with stains on her white apron, which Sebastian imagined was dry blood.

“Thank you so much, young lady. He had been pestering me for a while, asking me if he could have meat. I kept insisting no since my family really needs gold.” The old lady took the small, black bag that was lying on the floor next to the man.

“I don’t think he’ll be able to do that for a while now.” Camila looked down at him with a scowl.

Two men wearing shiny, metal chest, helmet, and shin pieces with a symbol of a bear standing approached them as the people around stared back at the scene. “Hey, you with the fancy daggers. You aren’t allowed to apprehend anyone, let alone throw a weapon at them. I’m going to have to ask you to come with us.”

“Oh come now, she helped an old woman like me from a robbery. You think taking her in would be fair? Shame on you two!” The aged lady yelled at them and suddenly the crowd around followed her lead, shouting insults and profanity as they told them to go away.

The pair of men studied each other, wondering what to do. One guard just left while the other looked back at Camila with narrow eyes, following his friend. “We’ll let it slide this time.”

Sebastian let out a sigh of relief as they left, feeling his muscles untense. “That was close. Thank you lady, we owe you one.”

The elderly turned towards them and waved her hand as she smiled. “Nonsense, it’s the least I could do.”

Camila thanked the old lady before she and Sebastian left the center. It's been nice being with her alone since most of the time Nia was accompanying them. He understood that Camila disliked her for it too since it cut a part of relationship space from them. Sebastian really wished there was a way for both of them to be closer. Both of them mean a load to him, each in their own ways. Unfortunately, Camila isn’t the easiest to befriend.

As they both walked on the dirt road that led to Camilas’ house, Sebastian started hearing a dull, tapping sound coming from his transmitter in his pocket. He turned the dial to the respective channel and softly called out, “Hello?” in fear of what was to come.

“Hey, where are you?! La comida ya esta lista!” A woman’s accented voice shouted from the speaker.

“Wait, it’s time already?! I’m so sorry mom! I’ll run right over for dinner, let me just drop Camila off, okay?” Sebastian’s face flushed as he watched Camila laughing a little next to him.

“You better, o te voy a peger con la chancla!” There was a noise of which seemed like a slipper being slapped on a wooden table at full force.

“Haha oh, you’re gonna get it, bro!” Another voice appeared to come from a bit of a distance and younger. The melodic sound had the twisted, mocking tone he hated so much.

“Shut up, Andrea.” Sebastian unpleasantly spit out.

“What did you just say to her?! A quien le estas diciendo ‘shut up’, tu?!” His mom’s yell boomed through the transmitter, making nearby people stare at Sebastian.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry, mom. I’ll be there in a while. Love you!” Sebastian switched his transmitter off quickly, embarrassingly putting it back in his pocket and continuing his walk with Camila as she laughed.

After a few more minutes, the sun began setting, giving the sky a beautiful mixture of colors like that of the insides of a blood orange. They arrived at Camila’s house; larger and newer than the rest of the surrounding ones. The light from the inside shined through the rectangle windows, telling him her parents were home. He smiled at her and hugged her.

“Well, see you tomorrow.” Sebastian let go of her with a kiss on the cheek.

“Yeah and don’t stay up too late.” Camila beamed and gave him a peck on the lips.

“No promises.” A small chuckle escaped from Sebastian.

“Alright ‘momma’s boy, you better get going, it’s late.” Camila teased with a light giggle at the end.

Sebastian rolled his eyes, “There it is. Haha laugh it up, you’re about to get poked.” He dryly said with a grin.

They parted ways and before turning a corner, Sebastian watched her parents welcome her home. Her dad looked at where Sebastian was standing and waved at him with a smile, thanking him for bringing her home. Her old man had a long, well-kept, dark brown beard that reached the bottom of his neck while his non-existent hair made his head shine. Not particularly the tallest in the village, though his stature was bigger than his own, so when they stood next to each other, Sebastian felt short. Not wanting to be rude, Sebastian waved back, smiling as he started his way to his own home.

It didn’t take Sebastian long to make it to his residence, where he heard the sounds of ceramic plates clacking together. Though his house might be smaller than Camila’s, it had its own charm, which gave off the sense of a warm welcome. Upon coming closer, he could see the big sun made of clay hanging from the wooden front door. It was colored in many hues all around, from blue, red, green to the most prominent one, yellow. The detail that stood out the most was its smiling face, with the features of a lady that had a light bulb next to the entrance illuminated.

As soon as Sebastian opened the door, he heard a ‘thunk’ beside him as if something hit the wall. He covered his face with his arms quickly, so anything else thrown at him wouldn’t hurt as much. There was another, smaller ‘thunk’, but this time it came from the floor like a slipper had been dropped. Sebastian uncovered his eyes only to see that it was a red sandal, laying on its side. Then he looked right in front of him, his fear was fully visible to her.

“You took way too long, the food is already getting cold!” The lady roared at him, her hands trying to express her anger.

“Yeah, and I’m starving!” A girl sitting at the table cried out while slouching in her seat with her arms hanging near the terracotta tiled floor.

“Sorry, I lost track of time then had to drop off Camila at her house, disculpame!” Sebastian entered the house, closing the door behind him.

The lady standing right in front of him, wearing a blue apron with two big pockets at the bottom over a white huipil decorated with colorful flowers, was his mother. She was shorter than Sebastian, but what she lacked in height, she compensated with an iron fist, already getting ready to throw another slipper. The younger girl sitting down at the table was his sister, Andrea. Her pink blouse was adorned with white blooming sunflowers near the collar and its sleeves. Both of them had their hair tied back in a ponytail, though Andrea had a small bang that ran from her forehead to her ear.

“Well, you’re here now so let's eat!” Andrea said with enthusiasm as she sat upright, deepening her voice at the last word.

Sebastian’s mom sighed and rolled her eyes. “Alright alright, go sit at the table, mijo. I’ve got the plates ready, we were only waiting for you.”

As Sebastian seated, their mom brought the gorgeous, ornamented painted plates, each holding a roasted bell pepper that’s been deep-fried just enough for the egg and flour mixture to golden. “Oh-hoho yeah, chiles rellenos!” His eyes widen with a big smile on his face.

As soon as Sebastian was about to dig in with a fork and a ravenous expression, all the lights in the house died. He let out a loud groan as his stomach growled like a hungry wolf ready to attack its prey. Andrea softly threw her silverware on the wooden table and facepalmed, murmuring about just wanting to eat. Their mom reached into one of her apron pockets to take out a small black rock that had cracks that glowed a darkish blue. She slid the stone on the surface to him since they were across the length of the table.

“Since you got here last, please go change the Obliriumite.” Their mom ordered Sebastian with a strict tone.

Sebastian sighed, wishing he could have taken at least one bite from his food. He could not see his mom’s face, but he knew better not to delay. “Fine, fine.” he said bitterly while standing up.

Sebastian picked up the rock from the table as he walked away from them and headed to a small room located right beside the main entrance of the house. He felt his way around with his hands, plus using the light from the outside houses to help him. It didn’t take long for him to reach the room, though he tripped on a chair right before he got there, giving Andrea a merry laugh.

The area was pitch dark, so Sebastian was going to have to blindly sense around to what he was looking for. He lifted his hands onto the cold, smooth wall, creeping them around until he held a small metal container protruding from the clay. Sebastian found the wooden handle on it, then pulled lightly. Some dark dust fell to the floor as the short door opened for him.

He reached inside to find more of the powder on a metal disk, so he scooped it up to hold it in his palm for the time being. Sebastian’s hand bumped into some hanging cables as he was doing this, so with his other hand, he placed the other stone inside. Using the fist that held the powder, he moved the exposed wires towards the cracks of the rock. As he inserted the last one, the house’s light flickered back on. There was a small bin made of dried bamboo and banana leaves next to where he was, so he dumped the dust he held in his grip in it.

After returning to the table, all three of them talked and ate their filling dinner. It wasn’t long when everyone had finished eating. Sebastian helped their mother pick up the plates so she could clean them in the kitchen, one of the few places where they had plumbing. After finishing, he said goodnight to both his mom and sister and retired to his room, which wasn’t far since it was a one-story home. His ‘suite’ didn’t have much inside; a bed made of hay with a blanket on top, a wooden desk, and a boken next to the window in front of the exit.

Sebastian took off his shoes as he closed the door, not wanting to dirty the floor. He drew out the transmitter from his pocket as he lay down on his bed. Once he was comfortable, he turned the dial to Camila’s frequency to talk to her like they did every night. Slowly but surely they drifted into the calming space in their head where everything and anything can happen.