Arcana Zero

Chapter 2 - The Fool Across the Stars

After a while, the pain receded to a dull ache and I managed to get to my feet and start looking for Helen again. Fifteen minutes late, but I eventually found her waiting on the pathway, just in view of the mall. As we got close enough to see each other's faces, she visibly relaxed and gave me half a smile. Worried and anxious, yet she was still so beautiful.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I was," I said and paused for a moment to rub my aching arm, "delayed."

"It's quite alright," Helen said and motioned for us to move. "Shall we take a walk?"

We did. We walked farther along the pathway in silence for a minute or so. It wasn't oppressive silence or anything. It felt like a prelude, like she was letting the silence speak for her until she could arrange her thoughts.

"I'm sorry I called you here so late," she said, her eyes glued to the pathway just ahead of her. "I've tried everything, but nobody would help me. They're too afraid. You're the only one I haven't asked yet."

It was kind of annoying that I was the last person on her list, but I wasn't sure why exactly, all things considered.

"Sorry, I don't understand," I said. "You said sorcerers are trying to kill you. Could you maybe elaborate on that? I'm not really clear on what that means."

Helen stopped and I turned to face her. "Sorcerers of the Quartet have tried to kill me," she said, looking confused. "What do you want me to explain about it?"

"Well," I said, "how? How did they try to kill you, how do you know they were sorcerers?"

"They used magic, Alex," she said. "They used magic in a way that would end with me not drawing breath. It obviously hasn't happened yet, but I need help. Nowhere is safe for me anymore, there's nobody—"

Helen stopped and looked over my shoulder. Two dark silhouettes were making their way toward us, their features becoming clearer with each step they took.

"No," Helen said in a whisper, "they're here."

I looked the two over as they got closer. One of them was a tall man, about a head taller than me, with long, dark hair caught back. The other was a woman with short, wild hair dyed blue. She was just a bit shorter than me, about as tall as Helen. They both wore charcoal gray trench coats and took another few steps until they stopped a couple of meters away from us.

Before anything else could come to mind, I got between Helen and the two. I don't know about magic, but it seemed Helen really was being targeted and there was no way I'd sit by and let them have her.

The man crossed his arms and looked me over. "Who's he? I haven't seen him before. Think he's a freelancer or a simpleton?"

The woman narrowed her eyes and started looking me over. "He looks like a simpleton, I think."

"Yeah?" I said. "Well, you two looks like plebs."

"Right," the man said, "walk away, simpleton, this does not concern you."

My hands were shaking, my breathing fast, but my thoughts were clear—maybe even clearer than usual. Walk away and let them have Helen? Yeah, no chance. I didn't know who these people were, but I did know I couldn't live with myself if I didn't try to protect her.

I grabbed Helen's hand, my eyes fixed on the two in front of me. "Run, I'll keep them busy."

The wild-haired woman grinned and gave me a slow clap, while the man just watched us without expression. Helen squeezed my hand, moved closer to me, and whispered a soft "no, I can't leave you behind" in my ear. If I wasn't shaking, that would have made my knees go weak.

"Whatever, no witnesses," he said and both of them reached into their long coats. It's not often I feel thankful to my crazy Goddess, but this time was and exception. Had she not inoculated me with randomness, I might have been a bit... befuddled. The reason being that they pulled out a longsword each.

I didn't get much time to take it in before they whispered something and their swords caught fire. If the swords were unexpected, the fire was outright insane. Well, Helen was right about them being sorcerers. Now what?

"Let's not kill him," the woman said, her features distorted by the hot air rising from her sword, "I kind of like him."

"Really, sis," the man said with an exasperated look, "a simpleton?"

The woman shrugged, "I don't want to marry him."

"Alright," I said, "the next one of you two highlanders to call me a simpleton gets a bloody nose."

The woman burst into laughter and her brother turned to her for a moment. It seemed like that was the moment Helen was waiting for because she raised her hand over my shoulder and whispered a few words I couldn't make out. A powerful gale picked up some dead leaves and blew the two sorcerers back. They slipped as they tried to regain their footing and dropped their swords in a pair of loud clanks. The fire went out of them.

Helen grabbed my arm and started pulling, but she didn't have to. I was already running right beside her.

So, magic is real. Weirder things had happened. I could make so much fun of Roland, at least. We just needed to make it out alive.