2412, Strilaxis 14, Daleth
"You made me worried there. I told you to not go into the forest alone. I almost lost you."
Xanthy pushed the body away to reveal a boy with amber hair and bronze-rimmed spectacles. What in the world? Was she dreaming? She cast a quick look behind her to find June and Nyxis staring with their mouths agape. She's not dreaming.
Blood rose to her cheeks.
"I'm sorry," the beginning of a stutter made its way to Xanthy's tone. She narrowed her eyes at the stranger touching her without her permission. "Who are you?"
The boy stared at her in equal surprise. "You can talk?"
Xanthy grimaced. "Kinda question is that?"
The boy blinked like Xanthy just said she had horns on her cheeks. "Sorry," he shoved his hand on his already-messy hair. His spectacles caught the moonlight, making it glow for a moment. "You look like someone I know."
"And you're embracing me and whispering gentle words because of that?" She braced her hips with both of her hands.
The boy offered her a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his neck.
A weird feeling stirred in Xanthy's chest. Was it...honor? Yeah. She felt honored that someone just embraced her out of the blue. It's not everyday boys pop out of nowhere and do that. Destiny was crueler than that.
The world blurred when she was shoved out of the way. Xanthy sputtered. What? A black cloak shielded her view. "Yeah, who are you anyway?" June's voice bled in Xanthy's ears. Ugh. "What makes you think you can touch her?"
Xanthy raised her eyebrows. Wow. June usually never does that. If anything, he was the type to hand her over to the nearest thug and laugh his lungs off as he watches Xanthy fend for herself. What in the Queen's stockings was this forest doing to them?
When Xanthy stepped from behind June, she caught him glaring daggers at the stranger. Would June draw his actual dagger from his belt and start hacking at the boy? Probably.
"Stop it. He means no harm," Xanthy interjected, pushing June away from the stranger in an attempt to mediate the situation. She turned to the boy. "Right?"
The boy nodded while June pulled her back. "Come on, he looks dangerous," he whispered.
Xanthy raised her eyebrows as she regarded the boy over again. Oil-stained coveralls, brown spectacles, and light brown skin didn't scream close to danger. His pointy ears would have scared Xanthy more than anything else but she's moved on from that conditioned fear. She's not in Cardina anymore.
"He's not," Xanthy turned back to June. "Besides," she folded her hands together. "The hug is nice."
"Can you please speak in Ylanenla?" Nyxis's confused voice demanded before June could process what Xanthy had just said. "I cannot understand a thing except that this dude has the nerve to just walk up and hug Xanthy. Nobody decent does that."
"Exactly!" June gestured towards Nyxis in agreement.
Xanthy glared at her friends. They're being hostile for no reason. It's just a harmless hug. There's no need to overreact.
The boy gave Xanthy a bemused smile, like he can't be sure whether to laugh or to be insulted. "I am sorry to ask, but who are these people? How on earth can you talk? What happened to your hair?"
Xanthy's hand flew to the strands of khaki hair growing on her head. What's her hair got to do with anything? She resisted the urge to scoff. "I can talk since childhood," she glanced at her companions. "These are my friends, June and Nyxis."
"Who are you? What are you planning to do with Xanthy?" Nyxis narrowed his eyes. Xanthy cast him a withering glare. Not him, too.
The boy cocked his head to one side, his lips parting in some kind of realization. "Xanthy? That is her name?" His Ylanenla sounded nice and perfectly tailored like that of the Nobles in Cardina. Did Xanthy like that? She didn't know.
"Yes, peahead," June crossed his arm, frowning. He was not happy. "Now answer Nyxis's question."
"Fine. I do not plan to do anything to...Xanthy," the boy regarded her as he said her name. Xanthy blinked. What was that? Some kind of fairy etiquette? "I just mistook her for someone else."
"Well, at least, apologize!" Nyxis gestured wildly with his arms.
"Enough!" Xanthy stomped her foot, stirring dust from the forest floor. "No one will be apologizing!"
It's just a hug, idiots!
June opened his mouth to say something when the leaves to Xanthy's far left rustled. "Who's there?" she yelled, dropping into a stance. The leaves continued rustling, sending rich and shaky echoes around the forest. A bird cawed not too far away. June and Nyxis glanced at her. They all froze.
A girl slowly emerged from the shadows. Xanthy gasped. It's like looking at herself without the aid of mirrors.
"What is this?" June looked from Xanthy to the newcomer. He turned to the boy. "Do you know what this is?"
The boy looked just as perplexed. "They look exactly alike."
It's true. The only difference was that the other girl wore a tunic and a skirt with a hooded cape tied around her neck and her luscious, wavy, khaki brown hair was up to her waist, whereas Xanthy only wore scavenged tunic and trousers from the Temple and her shoulder-length hair was dry and brittle. How unfair.
"She looks just like me," Xanthy muttered, more to herself than anyone.
Nyxis nodded in agreement, apparently having heard Xanthy's whisper. "Yeah, but how? And why?"
The girl gesticulated with her hands. The stranger raised his eyebrows.
Xanthy whirled to the boy with her eyebrows knitted. "What happened?"
The boy sighed as he scratched his head again. He seemed to be still processing things. "Ravalee cannot talk so we communicate with gestures. She says I should explain and lead you back to the Capital."
Ravalee. The name rang in Xanthy's ears like a festival gong. "Let me get this straight," Xanthy stepped closer to the new girl. "You are Ravalee?"
"Oh, you know each other? How cool," June muttered. Nyxis just looked back and forth between Xanthy, Ravalee, and the boy.
Xanthy ignored them. She turned back to the girl and raised her eyebrows, waiting for an answer.
I am Ravalee, yes. Welcome to Penleth. Ravalee's voice rang clear in Xanthy's head. She offered Xanthy a small smile.
Xanthy frowned. "So now you decide to open your mind," she said out loud which earned her a curious glance from the three boys.
"What?" they said simultaneously only to end up glaring at each other.
Xanthy's eyes flitted to Ravalee. She hesitated. Ravalee nodded her encouragement.Tell them.
"Ravalee has been contacting me through my head," Xanthy faced the three boys and wagged her finger between Ravalee and her. "We talk quietly through that."
June's eyes widened with a realization. "Oh, so that is why you are constantly muttering and scowling like a madman. I thought it was just because of the weather in Lifver."
Xanthy shook her head, half-smiling. She didn't realize how odd it was to her friends back then. "Other than you two, I have her annoying me," she pointed to Ravalee who waved at June and Nyxis.
That stunned both boys into silence.
The boy cleared his throat. "It is great to talk and all, but the night is not the best time here in Flaron. We should head to Diven so we could be on the way to Alkara in the morning."
"How do we know we can trust you?" June asked. Xanthy back-handed him lightly in the chest.
Instead of feeling offended, the boy shrugged. "You do not. But I wish you luck getting out of this forest without us. Between us and you strange travelers, we know the way around here."
June and Nyxis gaped at him. Xanthy tried her best to not laugh aloud. Ravalee caught her eye and Xanthy saw that she was struggling to hold her amusement too.
"What do you say your name was, again?" June cleared his throat. His face was a bit red.
"I did not introduce myself," the boy smiled warmly, placed his hand by his shoulder, and did a quick bow. "My name is Cyrdel."
"Cyrdel...?" Nyxis prodded.
"Just that," he turned to look at something Xanthy couldn't follow. "You will know more when we get to Depandes, Your Grace."
Xanthy whirled at Cyrdel rather quickly. Nyxis froze. "What?"
Cyrdel laughed. "I know a royal when I see one. Come on. We must go."
Xanthy knitted her eyebrows as she followed Cyrdel when he began to move through the forest curving up to lead them to the peak of the hill. What did he mean by that? This was the first time they met, right? Cyrdel couldn't have known that Nyxis was a prince.
Looking at Cyrdel told Xanthy that there was a huge amount of things that she didn't know from being cooped up in Cardina for a long time. Up until she met Reeca, she didn't even know there's a fairy sub-race called varichria. Same with Elred and the shard fairies.
Until June told her about the different races living in Umazure, she wouldn't have heard of the Brownies and their home in Alkara.
Also, how in Umazure could one acquire a skill that lets you identify a royal even when they're dressed in Common clothes and haven't bathed for a week? Xanthy could surely use that if she were to look out for nobles to avoid once they got to Alkara.
Xanthy stole a glance at Nyxis and did her best to smile. Well, between Nyxis and her, he actually has the knack of looking perfect with just a toothpick.
Perhaps Cyrdel meant that he could tell Nyxis was a royal because he was one too? Psh. No. Xanthy pursed her lips to stop the amused laugh churning in her gut.
She glanced at the boy's coveralls that still reeked of oil. He doesn't look like the type of person who can stand going to court meetings and pounding cakes for the holidays. He's just a normal guy. Being with Ravalee also added to that reason. There was just no way for Royals to choose to interact with common people.
Then, as she was watching, Cyrdel slipped his fingers through Ravalee's. Xanthy's eyes widened. "Follow us until we come to a rest house in Diven. It is just a few hours' walk," Cyrdel said to the three of them but it faded in Xanthy's ears.
Oh.They're together. Like, together together. This totally cleared things up.
Xanthy glanced at her friends. They weren't talking. Huh. Weird. Usually, they were brimming with banter and yammering. What was different now?
When the distance between the brownies and Xanthy was greater, she leaned in to her friends. "Why are you acting like Cyrdel just punched me or something?" she lowered her voice to a whisper.
June crossed his arms and huffed. "People should learn to respect private spaces."
Xanthy almost snorted. June was the one to talk. "Oh? Like you do when you put your arms around me or shove your face a little too close?"
June's cheeks tinged pink as he shirked away from her. "If you are paying attention at all, that is Nyxis, not me," he jerked his thumb in the human's direction.
"Hey! That is not true. Stop straying from the point," for some reason, Nyxis's face was almost an equal shade to June's. Xanthy knitted her eyebrows. What was happening to the both of them? Was it the weather? It's getting cold, though.
June sighed. "We were just friendly with you," he turned back to Xanthy. "Did we try to hug you without your permission? I am just saying that he should have checked your identity first before making a move."
"Yes. For once, I agree with this nuthead," Nyxis interjected. "He should have checked first. And hugging in a public place? That is considered a crime in Cardina."
June rolled his eyes. "You Humans and your conservative ethics! You should all just build a shrine or something."
"Got a problem?" Nyxis glared at him.
"No, no," June stepped away with a nervous laugh. "I am joking. Stop taking everything seriously."
"That aside," Nyxis whipped back to Xanthy. "People cannot just leap out and grab you. I would not let them."
"Nor me," June waved his hand at her face. "You should learn to protect yourself against those kinds of people."
Xanthy scoffed. Why were her friends overreacting? The hug was nice! She pursed her lips, preventing her mouth from blurting that out the second time. This conversation would not see its end if that happened.
Xanthy shrugged, spreading her arms. "Come on, it is just a hug."
"A hug," Nyxis gestured his arms like he was measuring a length. "Can mean many things, Xanthy. I can sense a different vibe coming off him when he hugged you. Do you know what I mean?"
Xanthy shook her head. What's even Nyxis's point?
June slapped his forehead. "It means he is into you! You should have counted the seconds the hug lasted. It suggested feelings."
Xanthy kicked him in the shin. June winced. Nyxis yelled in triumph.
"How is the shin?" Nyxis teased.
June rubbed his leg, grimacing. "The shin is fine."
Xanthy squared her shoulders. "You both are being impossible! A duration of a hug cannot emit feelings," she claimed, forcing herself to believe it as well. She glanced north to see if Cyrdel and Ravalee were still out of earshot. "He just met me, so how could he be 'into' me?"
"You never know," Nyxis tousled his hair with a frown. What happened to the frowning makes one age faster advice? "The heart is really tricky."
Xanthy rolled her eyes. Was he speaking from experience? It sounded like he was. Ugh. Forget it. She was probably assuming too much.
She waved her hand. "That is a brownie's scheme," she said, proud that she just used a fairy idiom she picked up from one of the merchants in the Shadow Road. "Look, let us put this conversation to rest. Just look at how he holds Ravalee's hand. Does that suggest something?"
Nyxis and June looked at the brownies' direction, eyes straining to make sense of how Cyrdel's hands intertwined with Ravalee's.
Nyxis drew back, tapping his chin. He seemed satisfied. "You and Ravalee looked alike," he mused. "It either means you are twins or you are part of the same soul."
Xanthy's throat dried up. That was so close to the truth. "How could you suggest that?"
June nodded. "That makes sense too, the soul thing. It is really rare for twins to be born of fairy descent. Soul splitting is the only reasonable way they could end up in this situation."
Gods, they hit home. Xanthy played with her fingers. Should she let them in on her secret?
"That is nonsense," Xanthy snapped. Guess not. "How is that connected to Cyrdel's feelings towards me?"
June showed no signs of letting it go. "Well, if you and Ravalee are of the same soul, so when you join together, who do you think he will love?" he challenged.
Xanthy blinked. "We could join together?
June's shrug placed another bout of uneasiness in her stomach and a ton of questions in her head. "Why not? You are the Virtakios. You can do just about anything, including discovering other uses of magic. You can just wish your soul back and poof! It is there."
Was that always how the Virtakios worked? Xanthy didn't know.
"And if you do join together," Nyxis added. "He will see Ravalee in you and he will have feelings for you."
"Then I will not claim my soul back," Xanthy crossed her arms. There was no way she would want to get between other people's lives even if they were technically a part of her soul. "I will let her have him. There, issue finished. Can we focus on walking now?"
June bit his lip and shrugged. Nyxis fell into step with Xanthy.
Silence enveloped them but Xanthy's thoughts raged. She could reclaim her soul? Why perform the split in the first place, then? And if she ever decides to get the half of the soul back, what will happen to Ravalee's personality?
We have different shadows, different trails, different legacies, even different synnavaimis. That's what Ravalee had said to her when they were speaking in her dream.
It could only mean that Ravalee had grown into a whole different person as the years went by. If Xanthy were to reclaim that part of her soul, what would happen to Ravalee? To her half's memories?
It's a whole other problem she had to face. Apart from being the Virtakios, this silly soul concept left her head inflating with about a hundred more questions with no one to answer them.
June also said something about her being able to restore her own soul without much ado because the Virtakios could perform all kinds of magic. She was pretty sure Ravalee said otherwise, that no magic was ever capable of returning a split soul ever.
Who would she believe?
She kicked a rock that came their way. Crozal's crimson sheen bore down upon them through the trees, along with four more moons that she didn't know the names of. The blue tree was nowhere in sight. Huh, what a weird night.
They walked in silence for a long time, with Cyrdel and Ravalee glancing back at them from time to time. Xanthy always made sure she waves at them or smiles to convey that they were fine. Ravalee nodded every time.
The night wore on with Xanthy's feeling on her feet in tow. She was sure that her legs had turned to soup but Cyrdel and Ravalee showed no signs of stopping. She planned on calling them to ask, but she stopped herself at each moment.
Sometime later, Nyxis ventured, "How did they find us if it is that easy to be lost in this forest?"
"Ravalee said she will find me as soon as I enter the Brownies' territory. I guess we have some sort of special connection," Xanthy shrugged.
Nyxis snorted. "Special connection, my foot."
Xanthy up at him. "Why, jealous?"
"What if I am?" Nyxis winked, returning her grin. His green eyes had never looked so nice in the dark moonslight.
Oh. Xanthy pursed her lips and turned away, hoping Crozal's crimson rays hid her coloring cheeks. She waved her hand at her friend's face. "Never mind. Let us just keep walking."