After the fight, the trio finishes up this quest for now, and Rael looks forward to his future adventures with Aurielle, Jean, and others.
Chapter XII, Rest: Written on March 1, 2022. 37 words from the Storyteller. 1066 words from the story itself.
Chapter XII, Sleep: Written on March 4, 2022. 23 words from the Storyteller. 1003 words from the story itself.
Chapter XII, Present: Written on March 7, 2022. 71 words from the Storyteller. 1022 words from the story itself.
Total word count: 131 words from the Storyteller. 3091 words from the story itself.
The last chapter starts now. Since we would only meet for two more days, I might as well help with the poll…
If I’m feeling generous, I may give more hints to each route—if someone actually asks.
And it’s all settled—they’re resting at Dezlea Town for a night. As the squad headed towards the town, the Exiled went in another direction. No one else seemed to be bothered by that, so Rael continued moving ahead. The destruction left behind in the sand was there, as they followed along its trail. After arriving at the city, a townsman had their flintlock out—aiming towards Kat. Kat didn’t answer them with anything as she looked straight at them, while Aurielle said something along the lines of ‘She’ll leave tomorrow, don’t worry. We’re just staying a night here.’ She got some information out from the townsman, and they brought everyone to a small inn.
They’re staying in this place for the night. And Rael didn’t expect there’d be enough beds for them to sleep on—and he was right. Judging by everyone’s sizes, Jean would be small enough to fit with Aurielle in one bed, Kat could take the only other bed, and Rael could just sleep on the floor. “Are we sleeping here?” Kat asked, heading inside the room and looking around—a table, a shelf, a closet, some chairs, and two tidy beds. He began to doubt if the bed’s size would actually fit Kat. At the same time, Jean and Aurielle headed outside, leaving the twins inside the room. They mentioned they were about to get some dinner for the team, and told Rael to watch over Kat. While Rael was checking the closet to see if there were any other items, Kat asked, “Can I really sleep here?” “Yeah, is there—” And once Rael answered, he heard a thud. Kat dropped herself onto the bed, already dozing off. Somewhat bothered by the way she fell asleep, he tucked her whole body onto the bed. Something about her sleep still bothered him, as he sat down by the side of the bed. She didn’t even undo her ponytail before falling asleep, so he instinctively helped untie it. Once his hands touched her hair, he had another idea as his fingers weaved the strands together. He might not be the best braider out of his siblings, but he did a pretty decent job with it. While he was trying a few other braid styles he remembered, Jean and Aurielle returned with food in their hands. “She’s already sleeping?” Jean asked, as Aurielle bit into something Rael didn’t recognize. “Yeah,” Rael answered as Jean placed the food down on a table, and approached him, “didn’t expect her to be a fast sleeper.” “Uh-huh… Wait, wow. Those are pretty braids!” Jean’s eyes seemed to sparkle as she looked at the braids in Kat’s hair. “You’re good at this.”
Jean’s sudden excitement took Rael aback—only for him to realize he had known very little about her so far. He didn’t expect this to be the second thing she noticed. “You want me to—” “Get some food first.” Jean looked at the food she brought to the table, and Rael headed there. He picked a lamb skewer and bit into the meat, as he watched the rest of the squad wind down. Jean was braiding Kat’s hair, while Aurielle was reading something from a shelf. After he’s done with eating, everyone except Kat did their own things like changing clothes and such. And Rael returned to Kat again. There were a few additional braids on Kat’s hair, noticeably looser than his. “I admit, I’m not really good with this hair stuff…” Jean said as she plopped down next to him, looking at Kat’s braids. Unsure of what Jean was implying, Rael bluntly asked, “You want me to braid your hair?” “Oh, uh, not yet.” Even if they’re still somewhat awkward around each other, Rael felt as if he’d learned something new about her—and he’s glad about it. Once they were done with exchanging a few random questions on the fly, Jean headed to the bed with Aurielle. Rael got out from the bed, and noticed Aurielle still having her eyes open. He then laid down on the ground—that’s not too bad for sleep. He’s not the type to fall asleep instantly like Kat, since he still had something left to think about while falling asleep.
The readers voted for the options where Rael talks to Aurielle about Dacien’s whereabouts, and wakes Kat up so she can get dinner.
Dacien noticed the two hooded wizards arriving at an abandoned building in the wilderness, and the fire wizard removed his hood—revealing Hifumi who had a remorseful look on his face, and he bowed. The other shadow wizard who just removed his hood was Jarl, who still had his mask on. Being the one who’s less emotionally affected, Jarl reported the signals Kat gave them earlier—she’s heading with Aurielle’s squad, and would return to the Dark Arts Society in two weeks. Dacien was disappointed, of course. But he appreciated the fact she actually specified the time she would return. …And he had another idea. Something to ensure Kat wouldn’t cross the line of betrayal. He simply needed to deliver this message to her, and to tie up the loose ends himself. He scrambled for a small notebook from his pocket, scribbled something on it, and tore the page, handing the note to Jarl. “Deliver this to her and head to your lady’s place. I’m bringing the kid there,” Dacien said, as he placed his hand on Hifumi’s shoulder. The mention of the lady was enough to make Hifumi straighten his slouching posture. Once Jarl had left for the message delivery, Hifumi looked at him. “Are you visiting her too?” “Maybe. But most importantly, I need to bring you back to your home,” Dacien answered, as he patted Hifumi’s head. “Why?” “To retreat. Jarl will help them escape, and he’ll join you later,” as Dacien answered, Hifumi pointed at himself while looking back at him. “Don’t feel obligated to help. I know he could manage those people by himself. I only needed you back home for your safety, alright?” Hifumi nodded, as he turned towards some crashes and slashes from the outside. And Dacien looked out of the building, noticing some ruckus in the woods. He didn’t sense any magic from there, so he carefully approached them, not wanting to be caught in the mess. The Exiled and the Minotaur were fighting, again. This wasn’t the first time Dacien had seen this, and it wouldn’t be the last time either. So he returned to Hifumi before bringing him away from here—back to his home, where the lady lived.
You readers never cease to surprise me, haha. But hey, I can still combine those two results together. We’re almost there. :^)
Some questions remained on his mind, as Rael turned to Aurielle who’s still wide awake, with Jean sleeping in the same bed. Rael scooted towards her bed, and asked, “Where’d Dacien go?” The question snapped Aurielle back to reality, as she processed the question. “I don’t know either, to be honest. After you were out, we’ve been after Kat instead, since we didn’t see him anywhere…” She pressed her temple, as she was thinking of something. “We’re bringing Kat to King David, then head to the Silent Tower tomorrow. Better to tell him what we got about this lost magic thing first.” Rael turned to Kat as Aurielle explained. “Let’s hope another incident doesn’t happen,” Aurielle added. “Did you hear about what happened in this town, before you joined in?” Rael shook his head. “She was attacking this town, with the two other wizards. And from what I’ve seen, it reminded me of what I heard from the Silent Tower Incident—an attack to distract all of us, and to take someone away.” “Wait, what? That fight was a distraction?” “Mhm. Jean and I brought those three away from the town, and the townspeople dealt with the missing people. We blew up their cover on the latter part, so that happens.” And Rael was silent—somewhat conflicted inside. That whole family talk with Kat already lowered his guard around her, but with that incident… He couldn’t help but feel somewhat betrayed. Something felt wrong—with the way she asked him to find the truth with her. As moments had passed, he noticed new things to be suspicious about her, and this talk added to his suspicion. As he wondered if he could really trust Kat, he scooted to her bed. He looked at her sleeping state for a while, before hearing a growl from her stomach. He had an idea. “Kat, wake up.” Kat remained asleep, though her arm instinctively yanked away from Rael’s hand—forcing him to get up and shake her body. Her arm swung into the air next to him, as if her first reaction to being woken up was hitting Rael. And her eyes opened. “You haven’t eaten dinner. Come on,” Rael said as he grabbed Kat’s arm, tugging it. It took a while for her to adjust to being woken up, as she stretched her body. Rael then dragged her outside, almost forgetting to tell Aurielle about his next actions. “We’ll be back in an hour!”
As they headed outside of the place, Kat didn’t seem… too pleased. But once Rael asked her about it, she only shook it off as her being irritable when someone woke her up. It didn’t take too long for Rael to locate a restaurant—as there were a lot of townspeople eating here. After the incident Aurielle told Rael about, Kat’s presence alone alerted some townspeople in the restaurant, forcing Rael to affirm to everyone that he only wanted to get a meal for her, and he wouldn’t let her hurt anyone here. Kat, who’s still somewhat sleepy, was asked what did she want for dinner. And she was clueless about what to order here, so Rael ordered the meal for her instead. After her meal, Rael began to feel sleepy too, though Kat was fully awake—so she suggested walking around the town together. As he left the place and walked with her, he noticed some damaged buildings along the way—and Kat wasn’t focused on them, as her attention seemed to wander to somewhere else. But as he noticed the same townsman aiming the flintlock at her, they disappeared in a blink—into the night. “They’re gone?” Rael asked, as he looked at where the flintlock person was. “Huh? You’re probably seeing things. I mean, you’re looking like you could end up on the ground right now,” Kat held back a chuckle as she finished the last part, though Rael was too tired to get annoyed. He looked at her walking ahead, as surrounding around her turned pitch black—no, it must be the night. But is it that dark in this town…? Was he seeing things again? He asked himself as he rubbed his eye. “Rael?” Kat asked, turning her head back to him. The town didn’t seem to be that dark once she snapped him back to reality. “Eh, let’s end the walk here. We’re heading back.” He wasn’t sure of what he just saw, but he definitely had seen something similar to that before—but it’s no time to think of that, as he headed back to the inn with her. He really needed the sleep, now that the squad’s traveling tomorrow.
On the next day, the squad left the town, moving to Summer Hold. Along with the route Aurielle used, he passed Doom Village—where he might return, once he’s free from this whole deal. He could introduce Kat to his family, too.
This time, Summer Hold seemed to be peaceful, unlike the day before. Aurielle brought the squad right into the keep’s upstairs, bringing everyone to King David Silver—who was busy talking to the two silver-haired men. Rael recognized both men as Levi Silver, the Magic Council captain—and Joseph Silver, that one Castlian soldier he met at the Marshlands. Despite the three Silvers sharing the same surname, Rael couldn’t guess if they were siblings, David and his two sons (to Rael, David seemed the most mature out of them), cousins, or something else. Once the Silvers noticed the squad, Levi waved at the three. “Yo, what brings you all here?” Rael and Jean pointed at Kat, and Aurielle answered his question. “Here’s the one who got the lost magic Dacien was trying to find.” After looking at Kat for a while, David told Joseph and Levi to stay inside the keep with the squad, as he asked Kat to head outside with him. Before Joseph closed the keep’s door, Rael noticed them stopping at the city’s wall. Now that he was with Aurielle, Jean, and the Silver siblings inside the keep—he only had a few ideas.
The readers voted on the option where Rael decides to chat with the Silver siblings.
The last part is here… Thank you. Thank you for reading and guiding Rael’s story.
Before I give you the end of Rael’s first story, I… I doubt I’d be remembered, but if we ever meet again in the future stories…
I’ll give you my name. I know I haven’t thought of this, but… I just wanted to know how it feels being remembered. Name… name… name…
Just call me Story.
Now that Kat was talking with the king outside, Rael turned to Levi. “You’re having a day off?” “Yeah. My shift’s done, and I still have some household stuff to settle with David. How’s the Dacien hunt going?” Rael turned back to Aurielle as Levi asked that question, prompting her to answer instead. “Lost.” “He’s lost?” “We’re the lost ones here. Can’t catch up with his damn thing.” “That’s tough.” Aurielle and Levi continued to talk as Rael backed away from them. And Jean finally noticed Joseph standing behind everyone. “You’re Joseph, right?” Rael asked, knowing that Jean wouldn’t dare ask the stern Joseph first. He nodded. “I am. Is there something?” “It’s nothing. Everyone else is busy talking.” “Oh.” Rael wasn’t the best person to keep a conversation going, unless he actually had something to earn from the talk. Jean might be like him when it came to that. But even if they’re socially awkward to some extent, Rael tried to remember how he used to have small talks with Jean before. It was asking random questions, hoping that the other would somehow not run out of the questions or answers. Between Rael and Jean, he was the one asking more questions—of course; he wanted to learn more about her. But he didn’t talk to Joseph about anything aside from the mission, so Rael had a few question ideas. “Hmm… Is the king your brother?” “No? We aren’t related to him. Levi might act like he’s our big brother, but I don’t see him like that,” Joseph answered, looking at Levi who’s still talking to Aurielle, then looking away to the keep’s door. “I’ve been working under the king.” Jean joined in. “Are you having a day off too?” “I wasn’t supposed to. But Levi dragged me here.” Joseph looked at his armor, still in the full soldier’s uniform. “I’m heading back to the station once his majesty is finished with us.” Like a well-timed opportunity, David opened the door as he and Kat returned to the keep. Kat relaxed her posture once she noticed the squad, and she asked where they would head next.
After the whole deal at Summer Hold, the squad (plus Levi) headed towards the Silent Tower. And like what happened before, Kat was called to have a talk with the current captain on this shift. But this time, Aurielle went with Kat too, leaving Rael and Jean behind with Levi. Some Magic Council officers noticed the off-duty captain’s presence. “I still need to catch up with this case,” Levi answered the officers, as he turned to Rael and Jean. “They’re probably busy interrogating her, so let’s talk.” “About what?” Rael asked. “Let’s see… How are your second magics?” Considering how Rael hadn’t really used his newly awakened Magma Magic that much, he wasn’t sure what to say about it. “I’m still trying to get used to it,” Jean replied, casting an Ice Magic circle briefly. Rael didn’t recall seeing gloves on her hands before. “Ooh, Ice? And what about Rael?” Rael cast a small Magma Magic blast within his palm. “I see… You guys are fast with the magic unlocking deal, really. You only had your Wood Magic for a few months, right?” Levi asked Rael, and he nodded. “A few months?” Jean asked, and Rael nodded to that too. “I see…” As the three continued to talk about magics, someone in front of the receptionist’s desk caught Rael’s attention. His posture reminded him of someone. Rael recognized his face once he turned towards him—it was Kai, that weird stranger he met at Brigand’s Landing. “What do you want?” Kai asked, reading some papers on his hand along the way. “…Nothing.” With the silence they left between them, Rael couldn’t figure out what he wanted to say to Kai. And Jean tapped Rael’s shoulder, prompting him to look at Aurielle heading downstairs. She was silent at first, before explaining Kat’s disappearance to the squad, “So Kat was turned in, and she wouldn’t be out anytime soon.” The news made Rael feel something. Something he couldn’t exactly put his finger on. It wasn’t exactly a heavy feeling, but it wasn’t a relieving one either. “So what’s our next plan?” Jean asked. “We’re traveling around the continent next, to find Dacien or his guild. Are there any places you want to go first?” And Rael had an idea, despite the fact he couldn’t bring Kat there too, for now.
With Rael’s answer, the squad had another destination for today: Doom Village, or his hometown. As he spotted his family’s house upon arrival, a small kid tackled him from the side—and Rael quickly recognized her as Enya, his little sister. “What happened to your face?” Enya asked, pointing at the bandages on his face while being picked up by Rael. “Oh, it’s from a fight. Is there—” Enya stared at Rael’s face, before looking at Aurielle, Jean, and Levi. “Are they friends?” “Yep, I’m bringing them over,” Rael answered as both he and Enya headed inside the home, followed by the rest of the squad.
It had been a while since Rael was with his family, ever since he left to travel on his own around a week ago. Despite being on a quest to track after Dacien and his future moves, he couldn’t resist making an excuse to return home. And now, he got to be back with his family, and luckily, his older siblings had some information on Dacien and his guild’s whereabouts, too. His oldest sibling was a wizard who’s been traveling on her own, similar to Rael—and his other older sibling was one of the village’s alchemists, so he knew some things about suspicious travelers around the village.
Now that he’s back home, he recalled the time he first traveled on his own. A bright future—something he believed in, and something he first sought in this journey. But right now, he simply wanted to relish the present, for himself and everyone he cared about. And hopefully, he’ll get to learn more about Aurielle, Jean, and the other people he met in his future travels too.