Concurrently, in Tiliac. Aster and his companions began to trek the final painstaking yard to base, where things began for the boy in the first place. Enzo looked on at Aster, and he could see nothing but miserable dread on his otherwise blank face. Vanian and Julia also tried to confide in Aster, but he was clearly zoned out. "I can't even look, it's far too jarring...", thought the black haired boy. More tears fell from his eyes, and the rest of the group heard him, so they stopped for a moment.
"Aster, are you getting bad memories? We can help you.", said Julia to calm his mind, but before Aster could answer, a small explosion shifted the air around them, shattering the scenery in the distance. "Aim!" screamed someone a few hundred metres away. Enzo pulled Aster toward him and spoke quietly to him, "I'm sorry I put you in this situation, but there's no turning back now.", he muttered. "Seems there's going to be some turbulence on our route...", Julia added. Vanian gave them some confidence, "Trust me, we can make it, we have some of our status to get us through.", he informed.
Eventually, they were met with a stone barrier. "It's just as menacing as I remember it...", shuddered Aster. "Only clan members can get in, meaning we'll have to hide you and Julia in some way." informed Enzo, pulling out a black cloak from his bag. "Are you are this is enough?", questioned Vanian. Enzo blushed at the larger man's astute calculation, "Yes...I suppose it is...", he replied in a loving haze.
The group looked around, until Julia discovered something, "There are planks of wood all over this place. We're all clever enough, we could carve a trolley and Aster and I could hide inside under Enzo's cloak.", she pointed out. "That's a great idea.", replied Vanian, promptly using his ability to transport three planks of wood from the distance. "This is perfect, we can say we're transporting dead bodies to the morgue!", Enzo said excitedly. Julia was a little taken aback, "Morbid, but it could work!", she replied.
"You're so kind...but I don't need this...", responded Aster flatly. Enzo couldn't stand this, "I'm not letting you do everything alone!", he exclaimed. "Wow, another selfless act...", thought Vanian. Aster pondered for a second before coming up with an answer, "Okay then, let's do this. I can carve the wheels with my sword if two of fetch the wood, and the other helps me put it together. The tram effort was on, jobs assigned as they got to work. Finally, after two tiring hours, the trolley was complete.
Aster and Julia got inside and Enzo hastily covered them with the cloak. Enzo and Vanian sauntered up to the guards with confidence, pushing the trolley to their destination. "Excuse me, sir, we're taking dead bodies to the morgue. Would you mind letting us both in?", asked Vanian in politely. One of the guards nodded. "Of course young Vanian, right away!", they enthused. "Woah Vanian, didn't know you get the special treatment.", teased Enzo. The guards could hear him, "Wait, special treatment? What are you hiding scum?", asked the other guard.
Enzo responded as best he could with his echoing voice, "No need to be rude. You're disrespecting these poor souls!", replied Enzo in an over dramatic manner. Aster sniggered from inside the trolley at Enzo's display. "Did I hear something?", the guard questioned again. "Aster be quiet", whispered Julia, trying to be as quiet as possible. Enzo was frantic, and looked at Vanian for guidance "What do we do?", he mouthed to him.
Vanian tried to level the situation, "Please be assured that we're only doing what's best for these victims of battle.", he declared. "Yeah...", mumbled Enzo, slightly embarrassed by his bad response being said in front of Vanian. The friendlier guard couldn't help but smile, "Alright then, you may pass.", he stated. The men gave sighs of relief, the worst had passed or so they thought.
The guards separated and the humongous door opened but as they pushed the trolley along the path, they hit a stone. "Agh!", screamed Julia from inside. The guards turned back kto them, "What was that?!", the harsher guard exclaimed. Enzo and Vanian looked at each other in embarrassment, and the two hastily jumped behind the trolley, their faces stuck. "Julia! What the fuck?!", whispered Enzo.
As much as Vanian held them back, the guards marched over to the trolley and felt the cloak. "These people are warm, are you sure they're dead.". As this point, Enzo was too stressed to keep the facade, "Yes?", he said, very unconvincingly. "Hmm...", one of the guards lifted the cloak to find the two banished clan members curled up inside, clearly alive. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'll have to detain you guys.", the friendlier guard lamented. The harsher guard quickly restrained Enzo and Vanian and dragged them towards the prison. This mission had failed.