| 5th of Teryusin — Year 362 of the Cycle of Synthesis, Grand Cycle ??? |
Raoul brought a thoughtful finger to his chin. His lips moved as if it had a mind of its own, its soul more than eager to catch Idri up on the happenings of the last few years.
“A lot would be an understatement, if I’m being honest. For a while I laid low, hoping to appease my mother. Once I transferred to Mestefi, I kept to myself. Jiving with people wasn’t really a common point in the years; and I… well, without realizing it, I had allowed myself to be a part of the content and wave-swept.”
“I met someone a few days ago,” he continued, tone changing to one that held equal parts malice and respect. “He noticed the real me that was hidden under the surface and worked to bring it out to the surface. That was how I was introduced to Driving.”
The slight girl tilted her head in honest confusion. “Driving? Like, to drive a car?”
A snort left his nose. “Quite the confusing term, right? To put it simply, Driving is a form of magic separate from spells. It’s powered by conviction and your true self, and takes names from the Cycles of old to categorize powers. Actually, maybe I could show you.”
Straightening his back, Raoul stuck out a tentative hand, reaching out to the world. He had done it once already, and so he was confident the process would go off without a hitch. And true to his thoughts, it did.
With air in the front in mind, there was no space to overlay the golden hills of Tel Midasia over the environment, but it seemed the world was eager for a partial manifestation. Like walking through an open door, Raoul felt his conviction actively being pushed forward by the world itself. Scents of dirt and wheat were first to pop up, overriding the rock and dust of Under Buril with its nostalgia. Winds no stronger than a breezy afternoon followed with the whiffs of countryside air, prompting Idri to raise a hand in an effort to catch the memories.
There was no golden wheat field; no overarching tree of yellow with its swaying leaves to protect them from the nonexistent sunset. Neither was there a spacious little cubby perfectly molded out by the roots for the four of them. A sturdy handrail would have to suffice for the two.
“Wow…” she murmured, fingers outstretched like she was reaching for something. Perhaps she was. “It’s like we’re right at Tel Midasia. What is this?”
That’s what I’m trying to ask myself. It was even easier this time.
“I couldn’t manage a full Sefichronisation, but this is what the past few days have led me to. A kind woman spotted me while I was meditating and decided to help out. In just a few short hours, I had learned more on the subject than I would’ve ever alone.”
He too stuck out a hand. Surrounding currents from the wind swept up in a controlled whirl, encircling its entirety in a small eddy that carried recently-formed, crunchy autumnal leaves.
“You’ve already gotten so strong,” a smile curved onto Idri’s lips as she retracted her hand. She raised a gaze to face him. “...Why did you look for me?”
“Do you have to ask?” Raoul replied, his own turning into a frown. “Did you already forget our promise? “We’ll walk toward the future together, and when one of us trips and falls, we’ll all reach out our hands to pull them upward and beside us.” Word for word, I’d expect the one who proposed the very words that fueled my resolve today to remember.”
She pouted, sending a halfhearted slap to his shoulder. “Of course I remember. It’s just… I didn’t think we’d be able to keep it. You were gone. And then I was gone. And now it’s just Avil and Cali.”
“Better late than never, right?”
His voice trailed off into complete silence. As did Idri. Both of them allowed the other to embrace the familiar tranquility brought about by Raoul’s Path.
“Hey, Idri. I want to leave Cias Buril.”
Without turning, the girl beside him hummed. “Does your mother know that?”
“She does. And if I know her enough from the eighteen years I’ve lived under her roof, I don’t believe she’s the kind to let me go so easily. The only reason I was able to leave the house yesterday was because she happened to rest her eyes on Father’s portrait and thought twice.”
“Mm… True. Where would you go?”
And so shrugged Raoul. “I don’t know. All I know is that if I’m to truly find for myself what it means to be free, I have to do it beyond the white walls of my home. There’s adventure to be had, and I want to go on this journey with my three friends. What do you say, Idri? If I were to ask you to join me, would you say yes?”
He expected her to be more hesitant. A few ‘hmm-s’ of deep thought and a ‘I have to think about it’ or two. Instead, what he received was an earnest chuckle and the girl scooching over to lean her head on his shoulder.
“That depends. Would you promise to always brush my hair every day?”
“Yes.”
"And sit with me at mealtimes? I've been eating alone for a while."
“Of course.”
"And tell me what colors things are sometimes? I've forgotten what some of them look like."
“Say the word.”
"And sing with me? It gets lonely singing the same song by myself."
The last request was accompanied with sincere eye contact—about as much as a girl with her eyes firmly shut could do—and her hand gripping his arm a bit too tightly.
“Not only that, I’ll help you compose more songs so you’re not stuck singing the same four-beat rhyme when the clock strikes your fancy.”
Her lips curved even higher, the arch completely denoting her now-jovial mood. Six rapid nods followed.
“Then yes, Raoul. I’ll follow you wherever you go.”
That was all he needed to hear. He lightly nudged at her shoulder, shifting her body to face away from him. As she did, he dug his hand into his pockets, fishing out a small wooden hairbrush. Compared to the long blanket that was her hair, it seemed almost comical in the difference, but he nonetheless shrugged and started smoothing out the clumps and entangled locks. Each bristle evenly flattened out the edges, while his free hand made sure to divide the workload into smaller parts that he could focus the brush on.
Idri’s smile continued all throughout the brushing.
“You said you wanted to have the three of us with you. Do you know what Avil and Cali have been up to nowadays?”
“I don’t. The person I told you about earlier who introduced me to Driving—his name’s Krocko—he’s how I actually found you. I was owed a favor, so I asked Krocko to make good on it. By tomorrow, maybe he’ll have found the other two. When that time comes, we’ll look for them together.”
She fidgeted around in his fingers for a few short seconds.
“If we have some time, would you like to join me for a short hunting session?”
Raoul couldn’t physically stop his eyes from narrowing. Somehow, Idri felt his gaze and quickly rushed to patch up the misunderstanding.
“It’s not like that…! We’re not cutting anybody’s throats. We’re just going to cull the nearby monster population. As much as the Goldstone Gang were hated around these parts, they did protect the villagers from monsters that got too close. Now that they’re gone, it won’t be long before these under-dwellers start making their nests closer and closer to the village. I want to stop that before it happens.”
“I’ll warn you that I’ve never done actual battle even once. I might just drag you down, Idri.”
Idri waved him off dismissively, kicking herself off the handrail backward. “Don’t worry. You can just stay in the back and cast your spells. I won’t let anything get near you.”