With a sigh, Arras stretched out as he switched his focus from preparing to leave on the double, over to calming himself down. He'd made some final adjustments and attempts at a few magics tonight, though they hadn't gone very well. To be honest.. He really just was not good with healing magic. A week of on and off practice shared with the rest of his repertoire, and he could still barely make it work. Much like Illia, he could only heal using his tails as a conduit.

Given that he was more magically powerful than her, what not with having more magic at his disposal and an increased ability to wield it, the fact that he couldn't use it as well as she could didn't speak well to his abilities when Illia, self admittedly, wasn't very good with healing magic either. So, as opposed to continuing to think about that, if he wanted to be asleep any time soon he needed to think about something that he had more luck with.

Anyways... It was a good thing that senses was combination magic. He didn't need to have an extensive understanding of healing magic in and of itself... More so that he just needed its basic principles of interfering with bodily functions. Illia had done some explaining, he'd done some reading. Bada bing bada boom and...

...Much better.

Arras sighed as a comforting wave of his own magic dulled his anxiety, working his mind down from its frenzied state of study. He'd be asleep soon enough. Well, he wouldn't be able to fall asleep like THIS. He was still actively using magic, and he certainly couldn't work mental magic as unconsciously as Illia could. But it was a good first step. He wasn't going to be able to just forget all his worries, but he could take them off his mind for a little bit. And if he looked away from them, they would be easier to keep out of mind for good.

one blink, two blinks. And he leaned back in. As much as he'd love to go right to sleep, he did have a few dozen books to clean up... So much unread content, that would continue to go unread... It was hard to say it wasn't somewhat disappointing. The final few chapters of advanced Mind Realm mechanics, Water Magic basics, Ancient Elven... Though that one had been a whole lot of gibberish to Arras. More obscure magical techniques like Circulation and Conservation, just to name a few.

The book that he'd been reading at the moment had been on more difficult forms of magic. Mostly non-elemental types. Also a fair amount of magics that he already knew of. Like Spacial Magic, or Transformation Magic, or Gravity Magic. It was just an overview of them, to be frank. Arras wasn't quite sure why you would write a book like this... But, there had been one thing he was interested in. That being Time Magic, something he hadn't actually heard of before.

Sure, it sounded interesting... But he really did need to go to sleep. On top of already being up pretty late... He was keeping Illia waiting as well. She had stopped sleeping on a perch ever since her confession. A lot of her embarrassment had faded away over the past few days, she had begun to openly prefer cuddling up as opposed to doing whatever so... Arras didn't exactly care to deny her. She was patient, very patient. But he didn't want to test that patience, even if she almost certainly didn't mind.

So with another sigh, he closed the book and began to sort all of his material as quickly as he could. One, two, stacked into a pile, three, four, neatly sorted, another dozen or so, and... He stood up. Twirled around, raised his tails as he did so to not smack the books he just stacked up right back down, and made his way over to bed.

Another few steps, and he leaned forward as he undid his metamorphosis spell. Collapsing into bed right next to Illia, whom, judging by their slight squirming, had probably still been awake. If she had been, she didn't say anything though. That was fine with Arras, he just wanted to be closer.

Illia hadn't been lying or anything, largely everything stayed the same over the past two weeks. They just got more physically intimate. And to be fair, not by much. Right now was a prime example of that.

As Arras snuggled in as close as he could, he began to lax his use of magic little by little. It had certainly been a learning process, but he could manage to force himself to sleep somewhat reliably now. Dull his worries with his admittedly not great use of senses magic, get into bed next to Illia, wait a little bit, and by then he didn't want to get up.

...It was just nice. Nobody could blame him for that, right? Right. Illia certainly wasn't, because she agreed. Said so herself on multiple occasions. Speaking of that, she'd also gotten a little less shy... But it wasn't like it was a crippling flaw in the first place. He could deal with it before, and now she was somehow even easier to speak with.

He blinked an eye open, made sure he was well adjusted, and closed his eyes once again. He really did need to properly sleep tonight. He didn't want to be half conscious and in a carriage... That sounded like... An actual nightmare. But, instead of focusing on that daunting possibility, Arras breathed in deeply one last time and did his best to drift to sleep.

...

"Hey..."

"Hello? Arras?"

"...Mmgh?"

"Oh, good, you're awake. You're uh... Kind of pressing down on my right wing."

"...Is that why you're up before me?"

"It's a little uncomfortable, yeah."

"Oh... Sorry."

"Yeah if you could just budge a little bit to the side, it's still really early in the morning we can go back to sleep. Just uh... Figured it was better to just tell you, rather than not be able to fly in the morning?"

"Well..." Arras opened his eyes slowly as he shifted his weight ever so slightly away, feeling the feathery surface he'd been on slipping away a moment later. That might've been his bad. A moment later and it was over him. Equally acceptable, that was, if he wasn't planning to get up...

"Now that I'm up, I might as well finish off some of my work. We'll be leaving in a few hours anyways, won't we?"

Illia paused for a moment, before giving Arras the best glare she could while he was sitting under her wing.

"What work could you possibly have left to do? I thought you did everything already! You got more artifacts made, specifically tailored to you and me, you did your research, you spent an entire week just figuring out customs, you researched every little thing you were curious about, I think you spent an entire day just reading up on magic rankings! You said your goodbyes to everybody, last night you said you were going to finish up on a bunch of random stuff and go to sleep afterwards, and I felt you fall into bed! So what, what could you possibly have left to do?"

"...I didn't really finish up with that last thing. I just didn't think it would be a good idea to stay up too much longer. I wanted to get a proper amount of sleep."

"So, get, a proper amount of sleep! Go on!"

Arras hesitated to answer, fearing he already knew the answer. "...Do I have to?"

"Yes.'

"...Very well." Arras halfheartedly responded as he closed his eyes again. Practice would have to wait.

...

When he next woke, things were as they should be. Illia was soundly asleep, the temperature felt slightly warmer than it had when he'd last been up... Morning seemed to have properly came around. Arras swiveled his head towards the wall, and... Eight. That left him with... Three hours? He was leaving at eleven. So, yes, three hours. Notably, he was up a little later than usual... But that was fine. He had a few hours to pick up from where he'd left off. Unless something unique were to happen.

So... There shouldn't be any distractions. He and Illia should have everything in order before they left, and they'd leave without issue. So why... Why did he have this feeling that there was bound to be a distraction?

Arras blinked twice, and expanded his magic perception a moment later. Sure enough, there was most certainly a familiar magical presence on the fringes of his consciousness. He wanted to say that was... Amakazi? It was a little difficult to tell when they were so far away, but they were definitely getting closer.

Well, an acquaintance of his couldn't be too awful to speak with this morning. He wasn't a particularly big fan of her, but she and Illia got along so she was fine in Arras's opinion. Speaking of Illia, there wasn't much of an excuse for staying in bed any longer. They had to be going in three hours and... Arras had a secret project he'd been working on. Secret even, and especially, from Illia. So he REALLY needed to get up. Preferably without alarming Illia, he'd snag his bag... And all of that started with...

Slowly, very slowly. Arras began to shift his weight to the side. Creating a small piece of a force barrier with every inch he moved. He wanted to be up before Amakazi made her way here, so he could reasonably dump them onto Illia. A few moments later... And he was out! With that done, he slowly let the barrier drift downwards, carrying her wing to the surface of the bed as gently as he could, so as to not alert her. And with that... He was, ACTUALLY, out.

A short stretch and a thought later, and Arras was up and ready to take care of business. He didn't go into the city alone very often, but in the past few days he'd been... Trying something. Something that he very much wanted to have privacy with.

Breathe in... Breathe out. It was always going to be a little stressful to be out and about on his own, but Arras had come to terms with that. It bore no further mentioning. He readied his subpar senses magic, and opened the door.

"Hello Amakazi."

"Up early as usual, hm?"

"Of course. We'll be leaving today, I'd like to finish up some last second business, if you wouldn't mind?"

She smirked and took a step to the side.

"Ah, Illia is still asleep by the way. If you're going to wake her up, do be gentle about it."

"Yes, yes. I'll be a gentleman about it. Just the way your oh so noble self would do it." She stepped back in as Arras walked past her, but paused before she made her way inside the room. "Ah, and you've a letter from your employer."

"The Academy?" Arras raised an eyebrow as he turned around. He didn't need to turn around... But better to play the part.

"No, the other one."

"...Oh."

Well what the heck could Pennsworth be writing to him for? Arras hadn't personally sent any messages to the man, but they'd apparently had quite the exchange of paperwork during his stay. So unless he had just been lied to, everything should be in order.

"I'll take a look at it later, I need to go finish something up in town."

"Important enough to not wait for her to wake up?" She raised an eyebrow right back, smiling inquisitively.

"Important enough to not wake her? It's important to not have her there, the surprise loses all meaning that way."

Amakazi paused for a solid moment, her smile fading away as recognition came to cognition. "...What?"

"Forget I said that, and definitely don't tell Illia either." Arras frowned as he pointed an accusing finger at the serpent. "I mean it."

"Well since when were you so aggressive? Don't shed fur about it, your secret is safe with me. Care to tell?"

"I don't think I do. If Illia cares to show you before she leaves, you can be just as surprised as I'm hoping she is."

"Oh? Well now I'm rather curious... But very well. As much as she loves you, I'm sure she'll be just fine waking up to somebody else at their side." They said in a... Deceptively disapproving tone. Was that right? Arras wanted to say that was right.

Apparently, his confusion showed on his face given Amakazi rolled her eyes a moment later. "I'm only messing with you, go on, get out of here. Go do whatever it is you need to do. Make sure you're back before ten, Eri has some parting words for you."

"Hm, if you say so." Arras shrugged and began making his way away. He wanted to be quick, less time apart, the better. The project he'd paid for should be done by now, he just had to go get it.

...

Arras wasn't sure how he felt about the upcoming move. He liked this place, he really did. It had very much grown on him, and he would be remiss to abandon yet another living space. Had he ever really just settled down in one place in his life? No, he hadn't. A month at most in any one given place. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

Arras supposed he could deal with that though, ever since he'd learned of a wider world he had wanted to see it, hadn't he? But what he wasn't sure about, was going to an even more crowded place. Supposedly, if his research was accurate, this so called "Capital" that he would be heading to was going to be UNBEARABLY packed in comparison to the Ephimarus estate. Quite literally, thousands more individuals around. He really wasn't sure how he felt about that idea.

Arras liked having his personal space. He very much did NOT like it when people invaded that bubble of his. Unless it was Illia, and only her. Now he didn't want to assume that people would just be piercing through that bubble recklessly, but he couldn't help but shudder at the thought of maybe ten or so times the amount of people currently around him, being around him at the Capital.

Deep breaths... It wasn't quite time yet. He still had a day or two before he arrived, he could withhold judgement until then. For now... He had a mission to accomplish. Reaching into his bag, Arras reaffirmed to himself that he did in fact have the required cash. He had to... Budget, to get this project to come to fruition. Eric had given Arras and Illia five silvers for each day that they would be staying with them while they were technically still unemployed. So, that had totaled out to 70 silvers, or 7 gold.

Arras had come around to the idea of math pretty quickly, it was relatively simple. And numbers were also universal. He'd come to an understanding of such things completely on his own long ago in his life, but he hadn't actually thought of more nuanced ways of, well, thinking about it. Economics came shortly afterwards. Nothing major, just basic spending really. And well, a few things came together, and he got an idea...

An expensive idea. At least, expensive on their allowance. After Arras started actually working it would quite literally be less than a single days worth of work, but that was not the present. And... It sure was a task to keep Illia from figuring out where exactly four out of seven golds were going... He had a feeling she knew he was keeping something secret, she just trusted him to not do anything dumb.

At least Arras hoped so. He really hoped she didn't actually KNOW what he was doing... That would kind of ruin the point... Well, perhaps not ruin it... But significantly dampen the pay-off of it.

Anyways... Being completely honest with himself... Arras was a little disappointed with the proposed final product. He'd overestimated how far a few golds were going to take him, but at the end of the day he still had what he wanted. It wasn't like adjustments or replacements could never be made... Breathe in, breathe out once again.

This wasn't very healthy. Why couldn't he just focus on the area around him? His illusion magic was starting to slip he was paying so little attention. Unacceptable!

The enchanters shop was only a few minutes from here, he'd be in, be out, and be on his way. He'd ordered yesterday, they said it would be a three day long project... So, it should be done! Nothing else to stress himself out about, he had to save his mental energy for the d a y l o n g impending c a r r i a g e r i d e.

...He wasn't thrilled about that one.

...

Arras was rather curious about the supposed letter that he'd gotten. What could Pennsworth be sending him that couldn't just be ran through some other kind of check? He'd been given it not a minute after he walked back onto the grounds of the manor, but he hadn't opened it quite yet. Not for any particular reason, he was just mentally occupied thinking about other things. However, it was finally time.

Though... He hadn't actually opened any of these things before. Nor had he... Seen one? Well, first hand anyways. Now that he thought about it he'd seen a lot of them stacked on top of each other before, but he hadn't actually given any of them a close look.

It felt flimsy enough. He could just kind of...

Arras pulled at the paper that comprised the thing. He could feel another piece of paper inside of it... He just wasn't quite sure how to open it... But it kind of felt like it had given a little bit when he pulled. So he'd just... Do it again, right?

...No dice.

Arras blinked a few times in annoyance, before bringing the envelope right up to his face. He squinted at it, still couldn't quite figure it out, so instead of wasting any more brain power on it, he decided brute force was the way.

Gently pressing a finger against the surface of the envelope, Arras set the slightest flame upon the envelope. It was simple enough to control fire precisely like he intended to, and simple enough to prevent smoke when burning something, but perhaps a little more difficult for him to do both of those things at once.

In order to stop his flame from actually creating smoke... Well that was incredibly easy, it wasn't like it was natural fire. It didn't burn anything as long as it wasn't touching anything. It was an issue when he was actually burning something. And for that matter, he just had to do it precisely. He had to burn something thoroughly, VERY thoroughly, in order for it to not create smoke. He wasn't quite sure why an object smoked when he merely set it ablaze, and why it didn't when he REALLY scorched it, but it was what it was.

Now obviously, it got a little bit more difficult to control the area that the heat affected when there was so much of it. Therefore it required his utmost focus... His tails rose in his concentration, his feet unconsciously carrying him ahead as he breathed in slowly, then he breathed out, reducing the parts of the envelope that his flames touched to well... Quite literally nothing as far as Arras was concerned. He certainly couldn't tell if anything was left of it.

Just a little more and... Wonderful-

"Pff-" And Arras walked straight into a wall. He stumbled back for a moment as he immediately dismissed his magic, with a half missing envelope and a small sheet of paper clasped tightly in his hand... Nobody else saw that, right?

His eyes flitted side to side for a short moment, and he sighed in relief a moment later. No, nobody saw that. He was safe on that front... Not that he really cared what anybody thought about him, but it was embarrassing to think that he was paying so little attention. Was he really daydreaming that badly? He'd never even had to deal with distractions like this before...

Arras shook his head clear, and pulled the letter out of the now destroyed envelope. He didn't want to just drop it on the ground so... Into the bag it went. He'd throw it away some time later. Now, all that effort for this one thing... It had better be important. What even was it, really? Just something he read, or...?

Yes, yes it was.

"Mikaela. E. Pennsworth.

Arras, I am enthused to hear of your success and impending work at the Academy. I wish you luck in your ventures, do note however, keep an eye out for my son, Kalius.

This is an order, good day."

...Remarkably short for the man, perhaps they were learning? Anyways... So that's why Pennsworth wrote a letter straight to him. They wanted to give him an order...? Well, alright... First time for everything, but what the heck did "keep an eye out" mean? Arras shook his head and bagged the letter as well.

...He'd ask Illia.

Speaking of Illia, he'd been making his way to their room ever since walking inside. Now that he was finally at the door, he couldn't help but fantasize about what he was about to do. He really was curious about how she would react, he was very much hoping for...

Where in the world were Illia and Amakazi?

Arras had opened the door, and in the room was absolutely nothing. A quick once over with his magic revealed what his eyes had already told him. The two of them... Had left...?

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

But... But there was only an hour and a half left until they had to go! Forget about his gift, they needed to get going! Where the heck was she!?

"Illia!?"

...No response. Arras grimaced as he allowed his metamorphosis spell to dissipate. He couldn't smell things as well as he usually could while transformed, yet another imperfection in his spell that he couldn't correct as of the moment. He definitely wasn't all that happy about having to have his artifacts be tailored around this extremely flawed spell of his... But oh well what could you do? Speaking of those artifacts, it had apparently been a rather complicated manner to link them to his already existing outfit. An expensive one, one that was covered out of good will.

He wasn't quite sure why Eric was doing so much for him, but he certainly wouldn't complain. Apparently it made life a lot... Easier. So Illia had said. Anyways, speaking of Illia! It had been awhile since Arras had tried to actually track something down by its scent. A pretty long time indeed, mostly because he hadn't needed to. But he didn't think he was all that rusty, how could he be, really? It was a part of himself. And he definitely knew Illia's scent, how could he not?

They hadn't left very long ago, their scent was fresh. So... She was probably still in the building somewhere, perhaps eating before they left? Reasonable enough, but... Actually, had he even checked for a note yet? They might've left him one, right?

So, feeling a little silly, Arras stepped inside as he re-activated his artifact, hoping to spot something on his desk... But, no, nothing was there. Gone without a trace, besides scent, they both were. So, with a heaving sigh, Arras once again turned around and shifted back into his normal form.

He'd need to be rather quick about it.

...

Admittedly, it took Arras a longer time than he'd like to admit to remember how to properly track something. He just... Hadn't really had any need of this particular skill set for a long while now? Regardless, he got it down after a few minutes.

Knowing that they hadn't left him any kind of note, Arras figured it was even more likely that they were still inside the building. Illia wouldn't just leave him for no reason, he wasn't... Why was that where his mind was going? Seriously, there was just no way she'd vanish from his life. He sucked in a breath and dismissed that thought expeditiously.

A quick shake of his head later, and Arras was back on the trail. It wasn't moving towards the entrance, so he could comfortably shove down worries he'd rather not address even further than he already had, and proceed to carry on with renewed vigor.

It was a familiar path, so with each step his chest grew lighter and lighter. If he wasn't wrong, this was leading straight to the dining hall. Like Arras thought, yes, they should just be having breakfast. He could pop in, show Illia his gift and hope she liked it, speak to Eric about whatever they had wanted to speak with him about, grab that potion that would supposedly help him with the carriage ride, and then be off.

...And also ask Illia about whatever Pennsworth's order meant. Obviously he was supposed to watch the man's kid in some way, but how exactly?

Arras huffed in annoyance as he activated his metamorphosis spell yet again. He preferred his usual shape, but he couldn't deny the convenience of a humanoid form. For instance, the ability to open doors without magic! Well, still technically magic involved, but the point was easy to understand.

For some reason, Arras was half expecting everybody to be missing, but no his eyes were not disappointed. Instead, there were actually more people here than there would usually be. Saved him the trouble of tracking down Eric, he supposed. Any extra time saved was good when there was about an hour of time left before they had to make their way out of town.

"Hello." He nodded in tandem with his magic, making his presence known to the room, if they hadn't already noticed him what not with Arras being one of few people with white hair in the premises.

"Arras, I heard you had business in town. You're back remarkably quickly." Eric noted neutrally. To which Arras nodded in response.

"Yes, I did. I just needed to pick something up for Illia." Arras looked in Illia's direction for a moment, before returning his eyes to Eric's own.

"Wait, what?" She opened up a link almost immediately, but Arras conveniently ignored her.

"Regardless, Amakazi says that you had something to say to me?"

"Yes, nothing too important. Why not sit down first? I'm sure you wouldn't want a potion on an empty stomach."

He was right, Arras most certainly would not want a potion on an empty stomach. He'd done some research on the subject, they could be very difficult to hold down on their own. Potions for ailments like nausea and what not usually weren't as bad... But it still wouldn't be a good idea. Besides, it wasn't like he had no time at all.

...

Arras couldn't help but stretch as he stood up, it had just been a very stressful morning. Not much had actually happened, but he'd been very unsuccessful in keeping his mind off of more distasteful topics. Most of them pertaining to the idea of being left all on his own... Arras wasn't quite sure where that had come from. Illia would never leave him, she just... She just wouldn't. He knew she wouldn't. It was an irrational fear that would never come to pass. So there was no point in worrying about it, but still... He couldn't help it, he was a flawed creature.

However, those fears were significantly dampened given the fact that she was currently on his shoulder, leaning against his neck. He still had to give her his gift, he was practically itching to do it by now... But he wanted it to be a private moment, away from any prying eyes. And that meant being in their room, getting ready to leave.

...It was still difficult to imagine that, they would be gone in less than an hour. They would be leaving this place behind, perhaps not forever, but...

Arras breathed in and out in a practiced manner, it was fine. Eric said as much. In his words... They would see each other around. Arras hadn't spent to much time with him, like he had with Illia, or even Amakazi... But he couldn't help but feel like there was some sort of unspoken bond shared between the two. Arras couldn't recall ever actually being upset with the man. He never... Overstepped. So for that, Arras supposed he would miss him. Not forever, they would meet again, but... He would miss his friend.

Though even if Arras would miss him, he had things to do, places to move onto. And speaking of those things...

Arras opened the door to his room. He wouldn't be taking any of the books, but there were a few things in this room that were specifically his to keep, his things. And also two vials containing the promised solution to his carriage problems.

"You know... I know you want to keep moving on, see the world and everything. But I've gotta admit, I'll definitely miss it here." Illia fluttered off of Arras's shoulder, making her way up to her post. "It wasn't that long of a time, but I enjoyed it here. Here's to hoping the Capital is just as nice, right?"

"...Right." Well, better now than never. "You remember how I said I went to get you something, right?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. I don't recall asking you to grab something for me though."

"Well, you didn't ask. I wanted to get you a gift."

"O-oh?" She stammered out in genuine surprise. Out of anything that Arras would be doing, she apparently had not expected that. "Is... Is that where half our allowance was going?"

"...Yes."

"I... I see. Well, I uh... What did you... What did you get?"

"Well, aesthetic is a big part of society, right?"

"...Uh-huh, what about it?"

"And by this societies standards, we're mates?"

She paused for a moment, perhaps not thinking about it in that particular wording... But she answered regardless. "...Yes...?"

"If appearances are so important, and we're supposed to be closely related in some way, then I thought... Why not be matching?" Arras posed the question as he reached into his bag, and a moment later... He pulled out a bow much the same as his own, except it was grey, instead of black.

"I thought about getting you a black one instead, but I thought it would be a better idea to contrast my... Are you alright?"

She was just... Staring, in stunned silence.

"...Illia?"

"I-yeah, yeah... I'm fine that's just... That's really thoughtful of you. I uh... Thank you. Is it an artifact?"

"Yes, though it's admittedly rather low end...? Or so I was told, three gold wasn't all that much of a budget. If you'd like a different color, or an artifact with different properties, it should be easy to get one-"

"No, it's... It's fine. Thank you, really... I..."

Arras had been a little worried before, but as opposed to his previous concerns of Illia simply not liking it, or wanting something else, he suddenly had a very new one to care about. A baffling mixture of happiness and a tinge to her thoughts that made it seem like she was about to cry.

He hesitated for a moment longer, but before he could speak Illia beat him to the point. "I don't know what to say... Thank you, really, thank you so much."

Arras was tempted to say something in response, but she clearly wasn't about to cry, so...

"I love it. I think it looks great, thank you Arras." She nodded enthusiastically, but slightly tilted her head.

"So... If it's an artifact, and a low end one... I'm just going to assume it has two or so properties, like... Self repair, and just staying fixated to who it's attuned to?"

"Yes, should be." Arras nodded in affirmation, moving past the previous series of events. He was happy that Illia was happy, that was all that he needed to take from that conversation.

"Great!" She chirped and fluttered back down. "Let's get that on! And then we can get going. Hurry, we only have so much time!"

...

The last legs of their stay had finally come about. Off in the distance, Arras swore he could see an overdecorated device, otherwise known as a carriage. And in that moment he breathed in as deeply as he could.

He had been told that he'd be fine so long as he drank the potion he had been given. Once today, and again when they got moving on the second day. Illia would be with him, so there's no way he'd grow bored on the trip, even if practicing magic his way was... Ill advised amongst uninformed company, he had other ways to keep himself occupied. Breathe out.

He did have to say though, he'd certainly gotten better at this whole keeping his cool thing. A lot of his anxieties caused by living in this whole society had dulled somewhat. They weren't any lesser, he was just... Better at giving them less of himself to hold onto. If that sounded alright. Well, even if he couldn't he still had the be all end all solution of just raising a hand to Illia, she was situated firmly on his shoulder.

Now... Enough fixating, he needed to say his goodbyes. His, actual, goodbyes.

Arras's chest was tight, there was something about a willing departure that was so much more difficult than anything else he'd done so far. He never wanted to leave his family, but he didn't really have a choice. He hadn't cared to stay anywhere else, this place was... Wholly unique, accommodating, an experience. One that... He had enjoyed. There was no shame in admitting that, but it was time to move on.

Life moved on.

"Eric?"

"Yes, Arras?"

"...I'll see you around."

"Hm, likewise. Do remember what I told you?"

"Of course. I'll make sure to check in with your brother for you."

They shared a few seconds of a solid gaze, before nodding solemnly. Another breath in... And it was time to-

"Hold on, what is that?" Amakazi slipped into Arras's personal space for the umpteenth time, appraising Illia, whom shook a wing in her face. She promptly backed up. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Is what what you think it is?" Illia asked innocently, knowing well that she was already staring at the bow on the red of her tail plume.

"Did he get you a matching ribbon? My my, I knew he was getting you a gift of some kind, but that's just about enough to make me feel something. How cute."

"...Well that's a certainly a change of pace."

"What can I say? It's nice to see something like this come to fruition."

"Uh... Thanks? But... Before we go though, just... Hey, uh, Arras don't mind me I'm just gonna talk to them privately for a moment."

Arras himself had remained quiet while the two spoke, but he nodded in understanding. If she didn't want him to hear whatever she was about to say, that was fine. She controlled the link and in a moment Arras's head was clear, a familiar uncomfortable sensation designating his exclusion from the spell for a single instant. Amakazi frowned at whatever Illia had said, but it didn't hold any semblance of genuine sadness. It was just... A frown, a manufactured one. Amakazi was very good at putting on a front, likely years of practice put towards it. So, all Arras could assume was that she had given Illia a "no" to whatever she had said.

"Just keep it in mind, alright?"

"Keep what in mind?" Arras's eyes drifted to Illia as her voice once again found itself into his head.

"Oh, nothing, just preemptively connecting you back into the link. Nothing to do with you, anyways."

"...If you say so?"

Even if he was curious, it wasn't quite his business. Something about the way that they spoke seemed... Solemn, if that was the right word. Besides, he had other things to think about. Like, just how Eric had asked for him to deliver his regards to his brother, Pennsworth had in a similar manner, asked him to keep an eye on his son... And that apparently meant, taking care of them? So... It seemed as if Arras had to follow that through, but to what degree? Surely nothing too obstructive, right?

He... Didn't want to worry about that right now. This was supposed to be a good day for him. So he took a step forward. Weaving his magic in the presence of his friends one last time.

"See you all around." He blinked, and walked through the front gates. Waving a hand as he wrapped himself and Illia in an illusion. Despite everything, Arras couldn't help but smile.

He was moving on, finally, he was doing something of his own will. And with that thought, each step away from the manor became ever easier.

...

Arras almost felt like he needed to be sick, at any moment, he was expecting his stomach to turn and that he'd need to step outside and walk along instead of riding. Which, he certainly wouldn't mind, but this was supposedly going to be a rather long trip... So, perhaps he shouldn't. And... He wouldn't! Miraculously! Perhaps a solid thirty minutes, despite all the bumps and stops, there he was. Not even in a transformed state, just lying down curled up to Illia as best he could in the tumultuous ride.

While the two of them weren't exactly talking much, this time it wasn't borne of any negative emotion. They were just comfortable in the moment, and the surprise of even being able to be comfortable in that moment paired with being, well, comfortable in that moment, was enough to keep him quiet.

Perhaps they wouldn't stay silent for too long... But the extended period of peace was nice for Arras. And even if he did enjoy speaking with Illia... He enjoyed a nice, quiet, rest just as much.

...

They stayed together for most of the ride. Nobody peeked in at any point, so they had absolute privacy. And that was good, because they both may or may not have fallen from their seats an unknown amount of times. Nobody was there to see it happen, so did it really happen? Who could say? Certainly not them, it was a secret to be taken to their graves. Regardless, now that they had stopped for the night... Arras figured if there was ever a time to do some practice, now would be it.

"So... How do you feel about all of this?" Illia mumbled as she followed the path of Arras's force magic with her senses. A trail of the invisible substance weaving its way through the air.

"...About going to the Capital? Well, I'm nervous, but I'm also excited. Much more excited, than I am nervous. I know that might be a little weird to hear, it's not like I enjoy the company of people. But... For the first time in my life, I realize that I'm choosing where I go, what I do."

"Well, that's not really fair. You chose to do everything else in your life, didn't you? You didn't kill me, you wanted to get back to your family, you decided to follow me? Just to name a few."

"Perhaps... But beyond necessity, beyond simply not being able to imagine doing anything else... Were those really... My choices? Was I the one who solely decided what I was going to do? I... Don't think I was. This time... Feels different, if you get what I mean. I think what I should be asking is... How do you feel about all of this?"

"O-oh. Well... The Capital is uhm... A little close to my old home. Most of the kingdom just circles around the forest, and my family is only a few hours away from the Capital...? But they wouldn't know I'm there, so that's fine by me. And well... I really just want to stay with you, Arras. I love you, and I want to see you live a good life. It might be a little difficult to pass me off as having reason to be on academy grounds, even if we were to... Get... Officially... M-married. And uhm... Even if we can't that's fine, a house is totally within a reasonable price range for your salary! So I don't have any issues at all. I'm looking forward to this! I'm glad to know you are too."

"...Thank you."

"Eh...? For what?"

"I know you didn't mean to say that to just make me feel better, but thank you regardless. I'm glad to hear that you're happy, and that you want things to go well for me... They will. I know they will."

"Yeah, of course."

Arras paused for a moment, before turning an appraising eye to Illia. "Now... You are still... Paying attention, yes?"

"Uh... You wouldn't really double back from that heart-felt moment so quickly would you?"

"Unbelievable. Right, we'll be going for the next two hours before we go to sle-"

"NO!"

----------------------------------------

Dictionary

Potions

Potions can be just about anything. They are compounds and mixtures created with various magical materials, and are then infused with a certain kind of magic. Applying a potion can have various methods, usually facilitated via different components in the potion, and occasionally the process of its creation.

The efficacy of a potion and its effect vary wildly between different substances. And the skill of the creator itself generally plays a huge part in it. However, a common trait that all potions share, is that they are usually an extremely powerful version of a spell that would be otherwise casted. The infused spell becoming many multiple times more effective as opposed to the simple usage of it.

The power and efficiency of a potion also greatly varies based on how well its infusion and components fit together. Some magical objects simply work well with anything, but in order to bring out the full power of a potion it needs to be paired with something of a similar nature to the infusion itself. Otherwise, any aspiring alchemist may find themselves sorely lacking in comparison to their competition. Obviously, this is a lesson all apprentices learn.

Depending on the infusion a potion is created with, it can obviously be helpful or harmful. Potions are both a viable supportive tool, and also a weapon of possible mass destruction. As such, it is a rather well controlled practice, given that those who seek to use it in a more malicious light would likely find great success.