The morning after the group's meeting at Luke's house, Jayler rose early. He scarcely woke up before he had to, but he couldn't keep himself asleep no matter how much he tried. Judging by the way Lex was bouncing around the area, she was just as excited as he was. Luke's father was already gone for work the following morning by the time they woke up, leaving all six of the Clan Leaders to wander around Luke's kitchen to find food. They spent about forty-five minutes in the house after they woke up, and all of them were on the edge of their seats out of anticipation.
Jayler was practically buzzing with activity by the time they had gotten the chance to leave the house. He couldn't keep himself still as the group started walking to find a secluded area. Even as they set a course for an area far from Luke's residential space, Jayler felt as if his insides were vibrating around wildly. The aim was for them to avoid the residential area where they had spent the night to keep any random civilians from seeing something they shouldn't have. Jayler couldn't wait to learn how to use Portal magic, to say the least, so that finding a place to meet with Tuila wouldn't be a concern. He would have loved to be able to flash over to Hyperion without any issues alongside the rest of the group, and he couldn't stop smiling brightly as soon as the idea settled in his head. Xia looked over at him with her eyebrow quirked upwards, but she didn't inquire about what had him so excited. After all, she understood it far better than she was willing to admit.
The final destination of the group wound up being a park on the road outside Luke's neighborhood. Jayler let out a small breath of finality once they had stopped walking, seeing the puff of air fly out in front of himself. He knew that Tuila was going to be there soon. She was far too prepared for every situation to not be aware of what was to come.
Nobody dared to say a word until the wind whispered and dawn's light shone through the trees in the perfect way. Jayler wasn't sure when Tuila had appeared, but he knew that she was there, hearing her footsteps along the dulled grass. Everything about her presence demanded respect, and Jayler grinned up at her. Tuila looked down to the rest of the group, and she nodded firmly as a way of proving her acknowledgement. The Clan Leaders gathered around her, and Tuila closed her eyes. Light flared all around them, but the illumination was covered by the rising of the sun on the horizon.
When the light died out, Jayler was standing somewhere new. The light overhead was coming from a sun that rested high in the sky, and Jayler looked up at it. The position of the star made it seem as if they were further along in the day than they had been on Earth. Jayler would have held up his hand to cover his eyes, but he didn't see much of a purpose to. When stepping away from the dawn of Earth, Jayler was beyond happy to embrace the beauty of midday sunshine. He closed his eyes and tilted his face skyward, a dreamy sigh escaping his lips. He knew that there were others watching him, but he didn't care in the slightest. He was sure that each of them felt the same way that he did, so why would he make an attempt to mask how happy he was to be back? It was only the second day they were back, after all, so he was still allowed to enjoy how incredible Hyperion was.
Jayler didn't fully recognize where he was on Skylia until after he had opened his eyes again. He glanced around and realized that he and the rest of the Clan Leaders were standing in front of a large castle, finding a strange home in between the massive, impressive structure and the rest of the town. Jayler couldn't figure out which of the areas he wanted to look at first, but he eventually decided on the town.
Something around the town felt both closer and further away. There were people moving around, but none of them seemed to fully register that Jayler, Tuila, and the rest of the Clan Leaders had arrived. He watched as they continued about their days, wondering what all of them were up to. Were they simply choosing to ignore the castle? If so, why?
Jayler turned around to stare at the palace next, and he immediately felt something inside him contract. Much like the town, the castle felt censored somehow. The outside should have been vibrant and beautiful, standing out as a beacon against the rest of the town, but it instead seemed gentle. Passive calmness didn't fit the palace in the slightest as far as Jayler was concerned, and to him, it felt as if the castle had been covered in a layer of dust, but that wasn't even enough to fully explain the sensation that overcame him.
The memory of the castle appeared to be what was covered in the dust. The people of the nearby town were ignoring it, pressing on with their regular lives as if the large building didn't exist. Even if they were used to its presence, one would have expected them to admire it at least every once in a while, but no eyes ever moved from daily tasks to gaze upon the palace. The mere idea of the castle seemed to be bringing pain to the people of the town, so they did what humans were good at, choosing to pretend that the issue didn't exist while wandering around with merry smiles that didn't fit the situation in the slightest. Despite only being a few yards apart, the town and the castle felt as if they were placed in different worlds, if not different universes entirely.
Tuila, on the other hand, was more than happy to acknowledge the presence of the palace, gesturing for the Clan Leaders to trail after her into the building. Jayler hesitated for a moment, looking out to the people who lived in blissful ignorance, the choice of pretending that everything was fine, before shuffling his feet after Tuila. Somehow, seeing the peculiar shift between worlds before his very eyes managed to dampen Jayler's spirit, but he grounded himself by watching the way Tuila's hair swished behind her in a rhythmic pattern, beautiful and treasured in its simplicity.
The entrance to the castle was large, and the doors towered above Jayler by what felt like ten feet. Lex had to crane her neck backwards to see each part of the door, and her jaw dropped in awe. Ocean was far more apprehensive, and the contrast between the expressions of the two made Jayler think of the line between joy and caution that had been drawn in the sand between the town and the castle. He forced himself to look away as Tuila pressed her hands against the door. The hinges of the building squeaked noisily, piercing through Jayler's thoughts like an arrow flying toward a target. He watched carefully, wondering what could be waiting behind the door. Deep down, he knew it was only going to be dust, but he was still intent on spreading the optimism that ran through him the same as blood.
Once he was inside the castle, the first thing Jayler did was sneeze. Lex followed suit a few seconds later, and Luke was third. Ocean, Xia, and Gemini were lucky enough to not fall victim to the dust particles floating in the air, and Jayler briefly envied them before he managed to let out a sigh and shake his head.
"My apologies," Tuila murmured, holding up one hand. A small spell was conjured soon afterwards, and the dust in the room began to disappear. Still, Jayler felt as if its impact lingered for far longer, and he cringed upon realizing that it did little to brighten up the dulled area. He wondered how long it had been sitting there blankly, waiting for someone to use it, before shaking his head and deciding he wasn't to indulge such thoughts. He had more important business to think about, after all.
"This is the place, huh?" Xia questioned, taking a small step forward as she examined each nook and cranny of the entryway from afar. When Tuila nodded, Xia grinned to herself. "I'm sure that we can make a place like this work. If the outside is any indication, it's absolutely huge."
"Nobody seemed to be paying attention to it," Jayler remarked with a small frown. "Did anybody else notice that? It bothers me how everyone in the nearby town was just going about their business as if the castle didn't exist. I know that they're used to seeing it here, but it felt like it was something deeper than that." When the Clan Leaders gave him quizzical looks, he let out a sigh and shook his head. "You know what? Forget it."
"That makes sense, actually," Tuila cut in. "None of them really want to acknowledge what happened here not that long ago. When the Skylox Heroes fell, they lost their primary source of protection. Nobody is willing to pay attention to the problem since they're trying to pretend it doesn't exist. If they keep on going about their daily lives, then they can't be hurt by the loss of the Skylox Heroes. That's what their thought process appears to be, anyways. Of course, we already know how ineffective that way of thinking is. The war on Daragon didn't stop just because people didn't look at the problem and address it as what it was."
"Yeah. The princess was more than happy to continue living her life as if nothing was happening, but the rest of the planet was suffering," Luke recalled. "But the war was still going on, and she couldn't change that at all. I wouldn't expect to see that here though... Then again, I suppose that all sorts of people can have an issue with denial."
"We're occupying this space because we need the room. I doubt any of them are going to get upset with us for coming back into the castle given that they've been ignoring it ever since it was left empty and abandoned in the aftermath of the Battle of Nadia. If they want to keep on ignoring the truth of the matter, that the Skylox Heroes are gone and they're incredibly vulnerable, fine. We'll simply have to protect them ourselves," Tuila explained.
Jayler nodded his understanding softly, but his lips remained pressed together tightly with dissatisfaction. He didn't know how anyone could willingly turn a blind eye to such a glaring issue, but he wasn't going to be ignoring it. If something was really happening on Skylia, then he and the rest of the Clan Leaders were going to have to find out more about it. The Skylox Heroes weren't around to look after the people of the planet, so it was a job that was going to have to fall to the Hanilia of other planets the same way the Draconic Superiors had protected Daragon in the absence of the Clan Leaders.
"We're going to try and figure out where the rest of the Hanilia fighters are, but it's going to be difficult," Gemini told Tuila. "In the meantime, I suppose we can go on and fix this place up. I feel as if there's a bit more for us to do than simply clear out the dust using magic. The problem seems to run a bit deeper than that."
Jayler couldn't help but nod his agreement. "Plus, we'll need to be ready to make accommodations for others as they join the castle. There's a lot for us to do before we can consider this place a fine base," he piped in. His gaze explored the room once again, and he couldn't help but frown. Even with sunlight streaking in through the prominent windows, the room felt dark and eerie, as if acknowledging it was a terrible idea. A shudder ran down his spine.
If any of the other Clan Leaders shared his unease, they were hiding it masterfully. Jayler doubted that something was actually wrong with the castle, as the site wouldn't have been selected to act as a base if there was something notable that would have to be solved before they moved in. However, he was aware of the last people who had occupied the space, and knowing what had happened to them, it wasn't surprising that he felt suspicious when inside of the castle.
"We should get to cleaning up," Xia declared, snapping Jayler out of his daze. "I definitely think that we're going to have to be careful about everything else in this space, and it might be for the best if we started trying to clean out the area as soon as possible. After all, it wouldn't do for us to finally pick out a Hanilia only for them to not want to come in here. First impressions are everything, you know."
"I'm going to send a few of the other Draconic Superiors over here to help you out when I get back to Daragon," Tuila explained. "This place is massive, and I feel as if you could use a few extra hands. The sooner we're ready to use this space, the sooner you'll be able to go out and find out more about the other Hanilia."
Jayler's heart skipped a beat in his chest, and he grinned at the idea. Even the ominous aura of the castle wasn't enough to keep him away from the idea of seeing the Silver Knight again. As soon as the castle was finished being cleaned, he would have the chance to investigate her whereabouts. Somehow, he was even more antsy about running into her again after talking about her with the rest of the Clan Leaders the night before, and he hadn't even realized that was possible.
Tuila walked away from the area, undoubtedly preparing to move over to Daragon and snag any of the Draconic Superiors who wanted to help clean out the castle. Jayler watched her go before letting his hopeful grin spread in full. He knew that the rest of the group was watching him, but he couldn't be asked to care. He was sure that they understood what had him so excited, so he didn't bother to explain.
He got to work on cleaning out the main area of the castle soon afterwards, and the rest of the group followed suit. Even while sifting through what had been left behind by the palace's previous owners, Jayler remained excited, wondering what would be waiting for him after the castle was ready for occupation. He grinned even more at the idea of the Silver Knight being there in the building by his side each day, and he wondered how long it would be until that vision became a reality.
~~~~~
Jay hated the walk back to the hotel near Nadia's remains. Her feet barely wanted to move, and the sudden silence from Arian didn't help in the slightest. Still, they managed to return to the building, and that was all she could really ask for given how terrible her mood had become. Jay wanted nothing more than to hide in a corner and ignore the rest of the world, and she hadn't hit that low point in quite some time. The last time had been when--
Jay suddenly looked up when an arm shot out in front of her. She stopped walking when she saw that Arian had wanted her to come to a halt. There was a person standing between Jay, Arian, and the door to Jay's room at the hotel. Jay frowned immediately, burying any weakness that might have risen from the fight in Nadia as she observed the newcomer.
It was a young woman covered in robotic pieces, and she reminded Jay of the guards who had been stationed at the City of Steel. The girl's expression was solemn and unreadable, and her fingers grasped firmly at a letter. She looked at both Jay and Arian with a frown before closing her eyes, and she looked as if she was contemplating something, though Jay couldn't say what it was for sure.
When the girl was finished, she held out her hand with the letter. "This is for you," she explained simply. Arian hesitated before taking the envelope from her grasp. The girl turned on her heel and left soon afterwards. Jay watched her go, wondering what in the world was going on.
Arian looked to Jay briefly before shrugging his shoulders loosely as a relaxed smile eased its way onto his features. Jay sighed and looked to the door of her room before walking inside. Arian trailed after her, and he shut the door behind himself before sitting down on the bed. Jay wasn't planning on joining him, but she hadn't realized just how much her limbs were screaming at her until she set her gaze upon the mattress. As soon as she sat down, every muscle began to relax, and she realized that she had likely been pushing herself too far. She cringed at the realization but managed to shove it aside as Arian fidgeted with the letter.
"What are we supposed to do with this?" Arian asked after a moment of silence. He couldn't stop turning the paper over between his hands, and he seemed ready to break the seal even without Jay's agreement.
"I guess we have to see what it says," Jay remarked. She didn't mention how the girl who delivered it looked as if she had come from the City of Steel, figuring that Arian had already caught onto such a realization. Part of her wondered if the girl had been sent by Lana somehow, though she knew there wasn't a way of proving that without opening the letter.
Arian nodded, swallowing dryly as his finger slid underneath the edge of the envelope. He broke through the seal of the page, and Jay had to marvel at how intricate the wax holding the paper shut was. Whoever had sent the letter knew exactly what they were doing, and they intended to make a great first impression.
Arian set the envelope off to the side before pulling a piece of folded paper from it. He got to work on unfurling the page, a small frown on his face. Arian instinctively scanned the page, but his gaze fell only on a small segment at the center of the paper. The rest of the page was blank of text.
"'Come and visit me. I know who you are,'" Arian read aloud. His eyes went wide as realized who had signed the letter. "It says that it's from Lana Tarulum! We did it! Somehow, we were able to catch her attention!"
Jay gasped in surprise and reached over to take the paper from him. Arian was more than happy to hand it over, too busy smiling excitedly to bother trying to look at it again. Jay read over the small handful of words a dozen times in the blink of an eye, unable to believe what she was seeing. She knew that it was real, but it didn't feel that way. She didn't even know what they had done to be worthy of Lana's attention.
After all the research Jay and Arian had done, Jay had been sure that there was only one way for them to meet with Lana. She didn't even know what proving themselves to Lana was supposed to mean, but she was positive that they would have to figure it out. Could it be that they had managed to fulfill the task without even meaning to? What had they even done that was out of the ordinary?
Jay set the letter down and got to thinking. No matter how much she wracked her brain, she couldn't determine just what had convinced Lana that it would be a good idea to meet with them. All they had done that day was head to the remains of Nadia and fight that strange Ice mage.
What if that was it? She didn't know who the Ice mage was supposed to be, but it seemed that they were far more important than she had been anticipating before. Jay let out a gasp at the realization, and her thoughts began to spin rapidly in her mind. The Ice mage's presence in Nadia was strange given how long the area had been abandoned for, and she was willing to guess that they went by there rather often given how easily they were able to manipulate the cold fog of what was left of the town.
Still, why would anyone go to Nadia on a regular basis? She had hated the idea of visiting the place once, so the prospect of revisiting the region multiple days in a lifetime made her want to be sick. She didn't know who the Ice mage, but if Lana really wanted them to meet with her after they battled that mysterious figure, Jay was sure that they were important. What other explanation was there?
"It has to be the Ice mage," Jay told Arian in an intense whisper. "Think about it. There aren't any other notable things that we've been involved with as of late. Somehow, she figured out about our fight in Nadia earlier today, and she wants us to come and see her to talk about it."
"Why would she want to hear more about that though?" Arian questioned. He was still smiling brightly, but as soon as he realized what Jay was saying, his grin began to slip until it had melted away completely a few seconds later. "You think that we're dealing with something far bigger than someone who just happened to get into a scrap with us in Nadia."
"We didn't provoke them at all. They attacked just because they could, and that's suspicious enough. When we factor in that Lana wants to speak with us now, only after we got into that battle... It's the only conclusion that I can come to. She has to know something about who that was, and we're going to have to figure out what it is. We have to go and see her," Jay insisted.
"Should we go to the City of Steel now then?" Arian questioned. "I mean, there's nothing else for us to do around here, and I doubt that going back to Nadia would do us any good. We could run into that mage again, and even if we didn't, the city didn't seem to have any clues as to what we're supposed to be looking for."
Jay nodded her agreement. "I wish I could say what's going on here though... It's obvious that something unexpected is happening behind the scenes, but we have no way of identifying exactly what it is at the moment. We'll simply have to go and speak with Lana and hope that she has something that could help us out," she told him.
"If she's calling us to see her, she has to know something... That's what I'm hoping for, anyways," Arian sighed. "For all we know, she simply thought that we fought well. I mean, we were beaten pretty easily, but we still managed to put up a good fight before we went down."
"Like I said earlier, we did nothing to provoke that mage. They simply attacked us out of the blue. That means there has to be something extra happening that we just aren't seeing yet. We didn't save any innocent people, learn new information, or do anything else that could be considered worthy of the 'attention of the gods'. We simply got into a battle with someone who we still can't identify. The fact that the battle happened at all is proof that something is going on here," Jay pointed out.
"And if Lana noticed it, she must be aware of what exactly this extra something is," Arian murmured. "I see what you're talking about now... I don't know how much I'm looking forward being dragged into something potentially dangerous, but I don't think the universe is going to be asking for our permission on the matter. If we're supposed to be fighting against a source of great evil or something similar, we're just going to have to."
"Exactly," Jay confirmed with a nod. She got to her feet despite the way her body immediately objected. She stretched her arms above her head in an attempt to relieve some of the tension, welcoming the gentle pull of her muscles when she did so. "We should leave as soon as possible. We don't know if she's waiting for us right now, after all."
"If she was watching us during that fight, she must have a way of spying on people even from afar," Arian told her. "I'm sure that she wouldn't mind if we took a little break before going to see her... I don't know about you, but I feel like I'm going to lose it if I move around too much so soon after that last battle. I really need a few minutes to catch my breath before we get going again."
Jay was eager to go and see Lana, but she knew that Arian was right. Both of them were exhausted, and they wouldn't be able to properly pay attention to anything that Lana tried to tell them. They needed a few minutes to relax before launching themselves into the next task.
She nodded her understanding before sitting back down, silently recognizing how much her body enjoyed the relief of being off her feet so soon after she got back up. Jay leaned herself against the bed and closed her eyes, surprising herself by how willing she was to display weakness in front of Arian. Normally, Jay was far from being a trusting person, doing what she had to in order to keep people at bay until she was positive they were worthy of her faith. Still, her issues with trust couldn't keep her eyes open as the cold from the fight in Nadia threatened to sink into every part of her body.
Jay also didn't move when Arian leaned back against the bed beside her. His room was just across the hall, but she could see the exhaustion that had started to cloud over his regularly bold and optimistic eyes. He was just as tired as she was, and as soon as his moment of positivity and excitement regarding Lana wore off, he was left ready to collapse. She couldn't blame him in the slightest.
She looked at him out of the corner of her eye even so, wondering what he was going to do next. If he was going to attack her, he would have already done it. She was safe. In all reality, she should have recognized that Arian wasn't going to hurt her quite some time ago, but Jay preferred to stay safe rather than sorry. After all, life could change in the span of a few seconds, sending everything falling apart.
Arian's breathing evened out, and she realized that he had fallen asleep beside her. She watched him carefully, barely managing to keep her eyes open. Jay's mind was cast back to their earlier conversation regarding how old he was, and she remembered that they were both still sixteen. They were so young, and yet, there was so much going on that couldn't ever be described.
Jay looked up at the ceiling for a moment before allowing her eyes to slip closed. She knew that she and Arian were the same age as many other children scattered across the planets, but it didn't seem that way. Both Jay and Arian seemed to understand some darkness that others would never dream of facing. Perhaps that was for the best. She didn't want anyone else to suffer under the weight of the past that threatened to suffocate her with each passing day.
Nadia was a reminder of everything that she had dealt with in her sixteen years of life, and she couldn't help but wonder where it had all gone wrong. Less than a year before, she had been enjoying herself freely, having the time of her life as she navigated her way around a sword and grew up with countless people who loved her completely. She returned the affection with a wide smile, and regret didn't exist in her life. She was different from everyone else, yes, but it didn't seem that way. She had a family.
But then it all crumbled. Jay had come to know pragmatism, fear, loneliness, and hatred. She didn't want anyone else to experience what she had, and she understood why she traveled alone all over again. Bringing that pain to others was something she simply couldn't afford to do. After all, she had thought she was safe before, and that had turned out terribly for her.
Jay wondered what could have pushed Arian into a similar situation. Despite his hopeful eyes, Jay was left with questions about who he was beneath all of that. She wanted to know what was running through that head of his and why he had looked so damn terrified as soon as the idea of conflict arose.
There was nothing she could do about it in that moment though, so Jay allowed herself to drift into slumber. When she fell asleep, she was forced into dreams of melancholy and agony, and she was thankful that Arian wasn't awake yet when she woke. After all, she didn't want to have to explain to him the reason behind her sorrow. She doubted she would ever be ready no matter how close they got.
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And there's the new chapter! Yay!
-Digital