Phoenix

Here We Go

"Get up, you lazy ass. We have a job to do."

"And why exactly do we have to leave at three in the morning?"

"Because," a new voice spoke up, "the town is eight hours away and we should get there as fast as possible."

Both Emi and Kira jumped at the unexpected voice before Kira stomped over to the window.

"What the hell are you doing coming through the window? How many times do I tell you not to do that!"

"But I remember you saying I can't come in through the window. I'm not inside. I'm just sitting in the window."

"You're a pain in the ass."

"Can you two stop fighting?" Emi asked through her yawns. "It's way too early. Let's just get on the train so I can sleep."

Both Kira and the young man stayed silent for a minute before Kira smirked and pointed to the man in the window.

"Hah! You totally forgot you had to ride the train for eight hours! This is going to be so fun."

The man groaned in response before jumping down back to the streets.

"Well I won't be sick because Emi's going to do that thing to make me feel better."

"Oh no I won't," Emi declared. "I'm sleeping on the train ride. You can suffer."

"Wow Emi," the man started, "that's super harsh."

Emi looked up at the ceiling deep in thought. She wanted to make sense of all these memories, but they kept containing events that happened too far apart. Her recovered memories were scattered all over the place, and she couldn't find any connections. She groaned before freeing herself from the hold of the softly snoring lightning mage and walked over to the window. She looked out at the sky and found the Little Dipper. Her head began to hurt again and she let out a frustrated whine.

"So?"

Emi looked at the young man before her gaze went back to the two girls behind her.

"So what?"

"You coming?"

"We can't just leave without telling them. What if they wake up? They might think someone kidnapped us. What if they--"

The man put a hand over Emi's mouth, successfully silencing her. He turned back to his friends who were sleeping by the fire and pointed behind them.

"You're forgetting that my little buddy will protect them. He'll tell them where we went if they start asking questions."

Emi eyed the man suspiciously before allowing him to take her hand and dragging her into the forest. He motioned for them to climb a rather tall tree, which made Emi sigh. Once they made it up to a thick and sturdy branch, the young man put his arm around Emi's shoulder before pulling her closer into his side. The man pointed up to the sky.

"You see that thing over there? That's the Little Dipper."

Emi looked up at the stars and her eyes started twinkling. The man saw this and looked at her with a warm smile. He then reached into the small bag that he had taken up the tree with him before pulling out a small book.

"I found this at the bookshop when you were looking at that book on celestial wizards. I figured you might like it."

Emi took the book and looked at the cover: Shining Stars: A Quick Guide to Constellations. She started smiling as she opened the book and found the constellation that they were looking at. Her eyes widened as she quickly soaked in the details.