The streets of the small village inside Seriva, the kingdom of peace and freedom were busy bustling with people.
Vegetable and fruit vendors shouted over one another trying to attract attention. Children darted between wooden carts and wagons that were in rest, their joyful laughter mixing with the clatter of wooden wheels on the ground
As they wandered past a row and rows of stalls, Denna slowed down as her eyes narrowed, at a small and tucked-away stall
Inside, a man sat at the counter, unfinished dish in front of him on the counter. His cloak was still pulled low over his face. Denna had recognized him almost immediately,
He sat beside a red haired woman who was busy devouring her meal, completely absorbed. The man's posture, the way he kept one hand tucked under the table,
Denna leaned closer to Elara, muttering under her breath, "…Isn't that the man who bumped into you the other day?"
Without waiting for a reply, she took a step forward, closer to the man. Denna's eyes sharpened into a small glare as she stormed forward, the crowd parting slightly around her. Elara hurried after and grabbed at her sleeve.
"Denna"
"wait, it's not worth it," She spoke under her breath "Remember what my brother said... He's armed with a sword, it's best not to mess around..."
But Denna wasn't listening. She marched straight up to the hooded figure, who sat at the counter as if completely unaware of the growing tension. No acknowledgment at all, not even a glance at Denna. Just a casual lift of the spoon to the mouth, as if Denna didn't exist at all...
That only made her annoyed, his ignorance...
Without thinking twice, Denna reached out and tugged sharply at the figure's hood but instantly regreated what she did,
The hood fell back, revealing dark and messy hair that curtained a sharp and unreadable face.
Her skin was a warm tone, her eyes, a deep smoldering red that flicked up toward Dennn, almost bored look but she didn't look friendly like Ferran said...
The woman beside her set down her bowl with a soft clink on the table counter, glancing at the two without lifting her head much.
"Watch your hand" The woman's hand which had stayed relaxed until now drifted down toward the sword at her hip, fingers tightening around the hilt of her sword. "It might be gone before you know it."
But before the situation could escalate to a murder case, the woman next to her reached out, grabbing her wrist firmly to stop her.
Letting out a breathy, slightly exasperated sigh, the woman tugged a smile on her face, a forced smile
"Really sorry for whatever my friend over here did," she said in a calm tone as she tilting her head toward the dark-haired woman. "She's just being grumpy for some reason."
Denna stiffened, realizing too late that the person she'd confronted wasn't even a man.
Beside her, Elara hurriedly tugged at her sleeve, offering an awkward, strained smile.
"It's alright," Elara said quickly with a small head bow. "We must've got the wrong person, and, really sorry as well."
The dark-haired woman, her hand slowly slipping away from the sword.
Like they were nothing but a brief interruption, the red haired woman stood up and slid the copper coins at the counter. Nudged the black haired woman "We'll be taking our leave, excuse us."
After they left the stall and began heading out of the village, they spoke to each other.
"What's even her problem?" the black-haired woman muttered with a huff, her hood now covering her again. "Where are we going now, Ysvryn."
Ysvryn, the red-haired woman, shrugged her shoulders as a response. "Who knows? You probably did whatever she was referring to by accident." Her tone was indifferent, her attention was clearly more on the tasks that were at hand than on the conversation "And we're going to the ruined palace or whatever"
she continued again "you know where."
Their destination was far. They were headed toward a crumbling old palace hidden behind an abandoned village, it was a forgotten place. One that was hidden behind hills and among overgrown trees
"And please, atleast tell me you remember why we're going there," Ysvryn said, glancing sidelong at her companion who was now quietly walking behind
but that silence had to be broken
"The seal is weakening," The black haired woman, Venn replied flatly. "You think I'm stupid?"
"Yes, I do think you're stupid. Why else would I ask? You barely remember anything from the past or half the things that just happened"
A scowl crossed Venn's face with the words that left her 'companion's' mouth. Her hand moved to her sword. Her fingers curling around grip of her sword, get again, for the 32nd time today. It hung at her hip, her sowrd...
It was bare without a sheath. She started to pull it free.
The air around her hand suddenly grew heavy. A pressure formed, holding her back. Venn recognized that magic,
Ysvryn didn't even look at her. A sigh left Ysvryn's mouth "Don't. Don't even think about it."
Venn's grip tightened. She could force it. The magic wasn't strong enough to stop her if she really tried, but that didn't mean she can actually take Ysvryn's life...
The sword stayed where it was. Like it was never touched, it stayed in place.
"Tsk... I should've killed you long time back."
"Yeah you wish."
The silence returned, maybe it was for the better that it remains like that...
They walked down the dirt path, farmlands on either side of the path. Crops were long gone by now and only brittle stalks were left behind by the farmers. A crow tilted it's head in the distance. The wind made more noise than either of them.
The sun had began setting down, it's dawn now. Shadows stretched longer.
Venn tugged her cape, she had blanked out earlier.
"Didn't realize it was this cold," she muttered, more to herself than to Ysvryn who was still walking ahead of her
"You forgot it was winter?" Ysvryn asked dryly, she was right, Venn really does forget things often.
Venn didn't give a response and instead continued to take uniform steps.
"…It'll be a rough one this year," Ysvryn stated after a while of more silence... Her voice softer than a while back "Farmers say it started early, do you think it did?"
Venn huffed a short breath. "Of course it did. Wouldn't be fitting otherwise."
"You always talk like the world's doing it on purpose."
"Maybe it is."
"Ugh, Venn, Why must you be so dry all the time?"
A cow mooed behind them. Neither turned or reacted to the cow's moo
"Hmph. If only you had your other personality out right now. It wouldn't be so boring." Ysvryn shrugged lazily, then stifled a yawn behind her hand. Although it might turn out worse... she thought as a smrik tugged at the cornor of her lips
In a flat voice
"What?"
"What,"
Ysvryn echoed with a sideways glance, completely unapologetic.
"..."
"Why did you stop walking? Ysvryn grumbled and asked, noticing Venn had halted a few paces behind. She opened her mouth and spoke again "Come on, we can't waste time right now."
No answer from Venn.
Ysvryn sighed dramatically. "Fine. I'm leaving you behind then."
She turned, started walking again though she slowed her steps, just a little bit.
Venn grumbled under her breath and followed after her every step. The night deepened as the two continued to walk past farms and houses.
Once when they were still walking past the farmlands, a goat came in their way
"What's this interruption now."
Ysvryn shook her head "Go, shoo shoo" taking a step, she chased the goat away
They came across many small obstacles just like that sheep, although sometimes it will be beasts. Just small weak little beasts.
Hours passed. The stars began to fade.
"The ruin won't even be standing up, the last time we went to check, I remember if was crumbling."
"Must you ruin the peaceful silence, Venn? But, I know, that thing will still be standing..."
The dark night sky was replaced by the paling edge of dawn. But, they pressed on. Venn's breath was steady and uniform, she didn't seem to be exhausted. She didn't tire easily. Ysvryn, surrounded by a faint glimmer of magic, didn't either, she was cheating.
Walking from the evening to dusk won't bother either of them.
At last, they reached their destination. Before the sun can fully rise to the sky and brighten the kingdom of peace...
A palace that was long forgotten. Isolated from common people. Its roof had caved in long ago. Pillars cracked and slanted, some crumbled to the floor wrapped with thorny roses that climbed like they wanted to devour the stones. Moss spilled over every surface like old bloodstains. The air was heavy with age and memory.
Ray of sunlight hit the ground, right infront of Ysvryn as she stood gazing at the ruined and forgotten palace
"There," Ysvryn said quietly, her voice more solemn than usual. "Told you it still stood." She took a step forward and placed a palm on one of the pillars near her.
Venn stopped at her side, eyes narrowed. "Barely." She blinked, maybe Ysvryn was right, but no.
"Still counts," Ysvryn replied, brushing a vine aside. "Now come on. I'm not going alone." She continued "What if the seal suddenly breaks?"
A huff left Venn's lips but not a word, a glance to her right, then left. Now walking ahead of Ysvryn, she cut down veins and thorns blocking their way
The silence was kept, Ysvryn focusing more on places where the sealing were weakened. "... It doesn't seem like anything has changed, but it seems uneasy, how comes..." Her focus broke, something was in her head, not something she wanted to say to Venn. Venn most likely caught up before her.
A small clank, it sounded like something hard lightly tapping on marble
"How funny, this silly disturbance, utterly pathetic."
She looked at Venn who already had her eyes on her,
"Do I take action."
"Don't. Only if it's a major move taken, you shall, but focus on guarding me right now."
They whispered among eachother, although keeping her their distance with eachother to seem like they weren't doing anything. There was a slight change in the atmosphere
Ysvryn stepped forward. Towards a strange object...
Ahead of her floated a strange object, a fractured blue rectangle, turning slowly yet it trembled in the air, revolving at a fixed point. It wasn't solid nor was it entirely transparent. Faint light shimmered off its cracked surface in hues of blue too deep, too eerie to be natural. It looked out of place
Raising both hands toward it, like she was receiving something. Ysvryn's fingers parted slightly. She didn't touch the thing but it responded to her magic. Faint rings of pale blue light began to form around her palms. Thin circles etched with symbols that rippled outward. More and more number of circles layered over one another, they multiplied as Ysvryn poured her mana in her palms.
She whispered under her breath, mumbling spells in a language that no normal people will be aware of. 'They would say she's babbling nonsense to sound cool or smart,
but for a mage, for a witch, this 'babbling' is quite important, if not the one thing that is absolutely needed to ensure you are perfecting whatever magic you're casting...'
The tension thickened as the spell became stronger.
There was a sudden glow
Then, with a blink of an eye, right when Venn had blinked, like time itself hiccuped, the object was in a better condition now. The cracks that were once on the surface of the rectangular object were gone, it was filled in. The odd rotation steadied down with every second. It hovered with calm precision, as if it had never been trembling with the intense surge of power of whatever was sealed inside...
Ysvryn exhaled long, she can't describe sealing something this strong as exhausting and tiring
"…This may not last long," she murmured, eyes narrowing on the now-stable construct. "But it will last."
"But it will crumble when you exhaust it and kill yourself."
"What a way to ruin something."
"Whatever. The sealing is done, where do we go now?" Venn asked, taking a step back as Ysvryn walked past her and she followed along
Walking out the palace, leaving the ruin yet again
"We'll stay back a few days. No, not days, we already maintained the other seals, we'll stay here until something urgent comes up"
"Alright."
"I won't last long, this is taking up too much mana, not to mention my strength." Ysvryn rolled her eyes as she spoke, but she had to keep this seal if she wanted to keep the world safe from destruction...
She knows what may happen if those things sealed with her magic breaks out...
"What do you tend to do when the seal is broken?"
No answer from Ysvryn,