Fiar was in a state of bliss, that was all that could be said about him at the moment. He swept back his black hair—which was steadily growing longer and longer by the weeks—and let his couch consume him. His leg still hadn’t healed completely, yet he was feeling great. All of what happened with Isla lifted an insurmountable degree of stress from his shoulders. For the first time in years, he was at peace with himself.

He looked all around him, at the dark wooden walls, all the paintings around him, and at the cup of tea that sat right next to him on the coffee table. It was green tea, yet the orange glow of the sunset made it look a hint too orange for his eyes. All that mattered was how it tasted, right?

Fiar could feel himself dozing off, his eyelids growing weary and his breathing slowing down. An overwhelming sensation of peace and quiet took control over his body, forcing his head to make a slow descent to the left. The snoring was beginning to set in. Rest would be upon him.

Until… it didn’t. A sharp knock on his front door jolted him wide awake. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. Sleep would have to wait, his eyes would have to rest another day, as he had a visitor.

Fiar reached his hands out to the sky and stretched, then grabbed his crutch and stood up. He ambled towards the door as knocks still beat against it. Whoever was on the other side was quite the rowdy person. “Yeah, coming!” he yelled, hoping the person wouldn’t jump to conclusions and knock the door down.

The moment he said those words, the knocking stopped, then he opened the rather large wooden door. It was Charliette, standing in the dead center of Fiar’s welcome mat, wearing that same Mage robe she always wears. He thought she looked adorable in it, so he didn’t complain about her lack of fashionable diversity. Hell, he wasn’t a fashion expert himself.

“Charliette? Come in.”

“Thank you, Fiar.”

Charliette followed Fiar inside the house, and the two sat on his couch. He was not expecting her to come today, since he’d heard that her and Christia would be doing a delivery. Seeing as how Charliette had a rather cheery face on, he assumed nothing went wrong in that regard. But still, why did she come to visit him?

“Sorry to stop by so suddenly, just thought I’d check on you to see how everything is going.” She crossed her legs over each other and fixed up the collar of her robe, then finally made eye contact with Fiar at last.

“I’m doing well. Never been better, actually.”

“That’s great to hear! I was actually getting kind of worried.” She broke into a light giggle. “Stuff like… you know… can really mess you up and cause trauma.”

Fiar followed the course her blue irises took, going up, down, then to the side. She was all over the place this evening, probably the jitters from just coming out of a hostile dungeon, he assumed.

She cleared her throat and rose to her feet again at last. “I’m hungry, mind if I chop up some of your fruit in your basket?” Before Fiar could answer, she was already heading to the kitchen and reaching for the fruit basket.

“Help yourself. Didn’t you guys already eat a few hours ago, though? Quite a lot too, if I remember the menu at that tavern correctly?”

“Well yeah, but that was a few hours ago. I’m hungry again.”

Fiar couldn’t help but smile at her lugging durians and pineapples to the cutting board. “You must have quite the appetite, then.”

Charliette looked up at him and at that very moment her lips curled up into a smile. “Hey, once a fat kid, always a fat kid, I guess.”

They both laughed as one, which followed the rhythmic melody of the knife striking the cutting board. Charliette, despite her slim figure, was willing and prepared to devour an entire pineapple and some durian on the side. When it came to her favorite foods, she knew no limits. Fruit was among those ranks, beaten only by Soaran Boks.

“Oh yeah, by the way,” she continued to chop up the fruit while calling to Fiar, “sorry that I didn’t mention this to you earlier, but everyone else will be meeting with me here after they finish their business in the dungeons.”

Fiar took a sip of his tea and exhaled. The autumn wind was growing colder by the day, and the hot tea always kept him warm. He didn’t mind the extra company, it made things more lively for him. He was alone a majority of his days, just lounging about or taking brief walks around the city blocks. It was a fairly monotonous life for him at the moment, so he was more than happy to have people over.

Now that the topic was brought up, it made Fiar realize something. Christia had gone with Charliette to a dungeon together, but only Charliette showed up at his door. He posed the question to her and she nodded her head.

“Christia wanted to check in on Kueler and Lio at the Aqua Dungeon. I figured I came to see you since they don’t need a full party right now.”

By the time Charliette had finished speaking and chopping up the fruit, Fiar had finished his tea. He let out a satisfied sigh and yawned. Charliette had stuffed the chopped up pineapple and durian into a ceramic bowl and sauntered to the couch with him. Fiar couldn’t help but glance at her longer than usually, noticing her unique way of walking. She took shorter strides than normal, which vexed him. It hurt his heart, though.

That was how Isla walked. She had a terrible habit of shortening her strides and scampering around with more steps. Now that Fiar thought about it, Charliette reminded him so much of Isla. It baffled him how Isla’s dress fit her perfectly, and how compassionate both were. The way they walked was only a fraction of their similarities.

Charliette sat down right next to him and placed the bowl on the coffee table near his empty teacup. She had a wooden skewer stick she snatched from the kitchen and pierced through a piece of pineapple. Fiar could see the juices run down her lips when she bit down then wiped it with her sleeve.

“You want some? There’s plenty to go around,” she said pointing to the bowl.

Fiar’s eyes alternated between the bowl glistening in fruit juice and Charliette’s eyes. Her ocean blue eyes were enough to make one seem like they were lost at sea, unable to find land. He caught himself staring and averted his eyes, desperate not to seem adrift.

“I’m good, thank you,” were the only words he managed to peep out. The issue was that he hadn’t completely gotten over Isla. He accepted her death and moved on, which was a big step in his life, yet he saw her in the littlest things of daily life. In the flowers outside his house to the haircuts of women passing by. This time, it was Charliette.

It was normal to constantly be thinking about his wife. One can’t just forget their loved ones, they have to remember in their hearts. Fiar did just that, not condemning himself, but controlling his mind. Isla was gone, and he knew that. It was okay to be reminded of her, to think about her. He repeated that in his mind, and tried to find peace again.

When he looked back at Charliette, who was feasting on the fruit, he still saw Isla in her. But most of all, he saw his friend too, sitting and eating in silence. He smiled. This was the girl who brought him out of his nightmare and into the light. If Isla were to be compared to anyone, he was sure she’d be happy being compared to a girl like Charliette.

She had her head down near the bowl in a blissful state of cheeks full with sweet fruit, but her head suddenly perked up straight on her shoulders when the two of them heard the creaking of the door slowly being pried open.

Lio, Kueler and Christia walked through the door, equally in high spirits as Charliette. Of course, they didn’t bother to knock.

“We’re back, Magicians!” Kueler announced to the entire household of two entire people as if they weren’t sitting right in front of him.

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“Wucom buk,” Charliette spewed out with a mouth full of food. She forced it down her throat and breathed an elongated sigh.

Fiar likewise greeted them, but Kueler just couldn’t keep his mouth shut. “Someone here has a fanbase!”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Charliette jumped off the couch and approached Kueler. It seemed a bit of his energy was transferring to her. She was just so serene only moments ago, from what Fiar could gather.

Kueler slapped Lio on the back, which made him stumble forward. “This guy has a fanbase, as I said.”

“It’s not really a fanbase, they don't like me. They just like my abilities, that’s all.” Lio went in to try and shove Kueler too, but backed out at the last second. No way could he even imagine moving a man twice his size. Hell, his biceps were nearly as big as his head.

Christia stepped up to the forefront and rolled her eyes. “They’re just a bit riled up because the clients were smooth talking to Lio so they could form a connection. Experienced Rank Mages are rare, after all.”

Charliette couldn’t contain herself from interjecting loudly. “Pfft! So that’s what it was. Was starting to wonder where my fanbase was.”

Both Charliette and Christia chuckled together while Kueler and Lio jokingly tried to push each other around. Lio had no luck.

Fiar’s heart filled with a warm sensation seeing his friends like this. They all had smiles on their faces, chatting like close knit family. It moved him to know he was a part of that family too.

“I have fruit over in the kitchen if anybody wants some,” Fiar bellowed, and everyone ceased their talking to hear him out. Charliette was the one to back him up and throw up her thumbs.

“The fruit’s really juicy, I approve.”

And that was that. Everyone gathered around the kitchen and waited for Charliette and Lio to chop up the fruit for them. Fiar couldn’t help but see himself as an old grandpa stuck to his couch and unable to move well, but still enjoying the vivacity of his friends, closer to family now. Even as their little gathering ended and everyone went home, he was still happy to have them around and give him a lasting ecstasy in his soul.

X X X

Immediately following our departure from Fiar’s house, Lio and I went straight to my home to sleep. It was pitch black in the midst of twilight, so I offered to have Lio sleep over at my place since it was closer. He obliged, and I of course had him sleep on my couch again. I’m not ready to share a bed with anyone quite yet.

Lio didn’t even put on any sleeping garments or take off his robe, he just slept in his entire outfit, which must have been really uncomfortable now that I thought about it. Unlike him, I slipped out of my robe, neatly folded it, and put on my nightgown. It wasn’t anything special, only a beige gown accented in black.

“Goodnight,” I walked into the living room to tell him. I held an ignited candle sitting atop its holder, watching as its flames flicker and dance in the darkness.

“Yeah, goodnight Charliette.”

Once Lio placed his head up on a pillow I gave him, I walked back to my room and hopped into my own bed. Even with the recent stress of the business and Dalat, I was the happiest I have ever been. I didn’t know why, but our congregation at Fiar’s house made my heart warm. It was so warm that I felt this sensation would overflow. I know that we were in this together, that if anything came up, we’d all tackle it as one. So why shouldn’t I be happy? Being depressed or stressed about something for too long is bad for the heart, and it's futile. Sulking does nothing to solve the issue, but good morale does. The entire Soaran government has our back, as assured by Eiri, so that made me even more stress-relieved.

I wormed under the covers and flipped my wool pillow around to get the cold side. The light of the candle died when I finally reached out to extinguish it. Darkness consumed me at night, but my happy mood made it feel like sunshine in heaven. Lio’s snoring reverberated across the house and into my room. It was loud, but it oddly put me at ease and into a much needed slumber.

That slumber only lasted about an hour or two, I’d guess. My body had woken me up on its own accord, because of a certain sensation of dread creeping up on me. I was getting goosebumps and the puzzling dread I was experiencing wouldn’t stop. It was because my instincts were crying out to me that something was wrong. My gut was desperately trying to communicate one thing: someone was watching me.

It felt like eyes were scanning me all over, and I knew it wasn’t Lio because I could still hear his snores. I sat up on my bed and wiped the cold sweat from my face. My fingers reached for the nearest match and used it to light my candle again, and was back to my feet again to quell my seething instincts. Ignoring it would only give me sleepless nights.

I walked back into the living room and sure enough, Lio was knocked out and dribbling saliva dripped out from his gaped mouth. I ambled over to the kitchen to investigate and even peered through the front window to see if anyone was at my front door. Nobody was present, save for owls hooting on a nearby roof.

I checked the room where I bathed, and it was obviously vacant. I was just trying to be thorough with my search so that my conscience stops bothering me. Don’t know why anyone would want to bathe in my tub anyways…

The next destination was the storage closet where I had straw brooms and extra clotheslines to hang up my clothes to dry. Surprise surprise, not a single living thing was hiding. Maybe I just had a bad dream and was paranoid? That seemed to be the most likely scenario at this point, but I might as well want to check out the last place just in case. Might as well finish what I started.

I returned to my room and advanced towards the window near my bedside. This was the last place I’d find anyone, since I swept through the entire building and found nothing. After this, then I could finally get back to sleep before I develop dark circles, which aren’t very pretty.

At last, my search would end at that singular window, wide and covered by silk linen curtains. I took a deep breath and tightened my grip on the candle holder. Okay, nothing will be there, get a hold of yourself, Charliette! I was manifesting that into reality and trying to remove the possibility that someone could actually be there. And I reached out to pull open the curtain, but stopped right as my fingers pressed against it.

I should probably get my tome.

There was a ninety-eight percent chance nothing was there, but my consciousness was irking me to grab my tome. My mind never let me down, so I obeyed and rushed back to grab it. The candle light continued to dance as I set down the candle on a nearby nightstand and grasped the tome with both hands. Licking my index finger on one hand, I cracked open the book and flipped through the pages. With the other hand, I pried open the curtains.

What stared back at me were blue eyes, cold as ice and so wide that they were near bulging out of its sockets. A young man around his late twenties stood there like a statue and glared right at me without blinking.

He caught me completely off guard that I jumped and screamed. Those eyes were terrifying, its horrors amplified by the gloomy night around him.

Then he moved. He made a wide smile, revealing rows of sharp teeth akin to a canine, and dove right through the window to get me.

I screamed bloody murder, scrambling to quickly cast a spell before he could do anything. My tome was tight in my hands, but casting spells takes time. The man landed on the ground in front of my bed, then got up and tried reaching for me. His eyes were filled with a lust for blood, something I’d seen many times before. He was perfectly human, yet his behavior begged to differ.

“Get away!” I yelped and kicked him in the shins. That didn’t stop him.

He pressed forward and licked his nasty lips as he did so. His muscular arms lunged for me, but I evaded it and crossed him up. First thing needed was distance to cast a spell in time, and I knew exactly what to do once I got my fear under control. I was still utterly terrified, but being stunned gets you killed. Death wasn’t an option tonight.

I turned back around, dodging his other attempt to get ahold of me, and leapt out of the window. Luckily my house was a one-story.

But I had all the space in the world now. I brought the tome in front of me, then aimed it at the man. Jerking the tome up slightly, I screamed with all my might. “Aqua Whip!” A whip made of water formed right on the tome, and I hoisted it right over my back. The man’s violent onslaught continued as he ran up to the window and was just about to jump back out. Before he could do that, however, I lifted the Aqua Whip and swung it at him. It cracked like a real whip and pounded right into his skull. The man hit his head against the edge of the widow while collapsing to the ground. He never got back up.

“Charliette!” Lio came running into my room, witnessing a man sprawled out on the floor and myself right outside. “You okay? What’s going on?”

Just when he asked that, a group of Military Knights skidded around the corner of the other house and made eye contact with me. Each of them held candles on their holders, so I could see well their faces turn paler.

“Oh shit…” the man leading the group murmured. They looked just as terrified as I was, like they saw a ghost.

I popped my head into the window to see the lifeless man yet again. His skin was pure white as snow. Maybe I was looking at a ghost too. A deep gash from the whip spread out across his face, and not an ounce of blood came out.