The children left the room and said their goodbyes.

“This is for you,” Fei said, walking to one side of the room. She picked up a pile of traditional Jiuli clothes identical to Mrei’s and Nyuei’s and handed them to Yushia. “Sister Lei-Lei prepared it for when you’d wake up.”

It was a shock to Yushia to see someone approach him so calmly. “You aren’t scared of me?”

“Why would she?” Suzaku said. “Lei-Lei and my greatness have vouched for your activity inside the Erkling den. They know you are not a threat.”

Fei nodded affirmatively. “If it weren’t for you, I don’t think these kids would be here today.”

“What about the other kids then?” Yushia asked. “There’s a few of them missing...”

“Their injuries were much worse than the others,” Fei said. She turned her back. “I’ll leave now so you can get dressed.” She lifted the drapes leading out and looked back at Suzaku, expecting her to leave too.

Suzaku crossed her fingers. “My greatness and her wielder are this close. My greatness will not be leaving his side.”

“Then Lei-Lei, how about you?” Fei asked next.

She shook her head no.

“You can’t use your blindness as an excuse,” Fei said.

She is blind then, Yushia thought. “I’m fine with Suzaku here but I’d like some privacy anyway...”

Lei-Lei nodded this time and left with her sister.

“Turn around,” Yushia said, setting down the clothes.

“My greatness was going to regardless,” Suzaku said, turning her back.

As Yushia wore his clothing, he thought it strange that they fit so well. Once he got to tying the red apron around his waist, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that someone had taken his measurements as he slept. After having finished dressing, he cleared his throat. “You can look now.”

Suzaku slowly looked back at her wielder up and down, grinning. “You look better wearing real clothing.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Yushia asked, adjusting the apron slightly.

“My greatness will leave that to your own interpretation,” she replied. Now that her wielder was fully dressed, she reached out her hand. “Let’s go.”

“Right,” Yushia said. He clasped Suzaku’s hand.

“Ah, let us not forget,” She moved to the crates and removed one from the top. She rummaged through it before finding a corked vial containing a purple liquid. “Lei-Lei suggests you douse your eyes in this liquid.”

It looked dangerous. “What is it?”

Suzaku shook the vial and removed the cork with a pop. “It changes the color of your eyes temporarily, supposedly. It will help ease the villagers if they do not see those eyes of yours.”

That makes sense, Yushia told himself.

Suzaku grabbed her wielder’s hair and pulled, causing him to squeal like a pig as he stared at the ceiling. She tiptoed to look down at his face and splashed the purple liquid in his eyes.

“Ahhhh!” he screamed, falling on the floor. He rubbed his palms vigorously against his eyes, worsening the stinging sensation. His eyes teared up and expelled some of the stinging. “Was that necessary!?”

Suzaku shrugged. “My greatness thought you would be against the idea of having something enter your eyes, so forcing it on you was my greatness' plan.” Feeling somewhat bad about the sudden assault, she crouched and rubbed her wielder's back. “There’s water outside. Rub your eyes there.”

Yushia nodded and wobbled, lifting the door’s drapes. The blinding mid-noon sun stabbed into his already burning eyes like needles and he squinted before spotting a barrel of water. He dunked his head inside and gently rubbed his eyes. Water had never felt this good before, and he took several gulps. He lifted his face back into the air and took deep breaths, staring at the glistening reflection of the water. The Cerulean irises he bore had turned brown like soil, and his yellow pupils had become black like coal.

“Did it work?” Suzaku asked, standing behind her wielder. When he turned around, she was less than impressed. “What a dull color.”

Yushia shook his head, splashing water against Suzaku, causing her to yelp and look away. “How long will this last?”

“As if my greatness would know!” she shouted, rubbing away the water stains on her skirt. “Go question Lei-Lei yourself!”

Yushia laughed but was quickly silenced when he looked around the supposed village. Not even a few meters away was an edge, and over the edge was a drop several dozen meters high. “Wow...”

“It’s quite impressive considering their manpower,” Suzaku stated. “You wouldn’t believe their reason for coming up so high.”

“What was the reason?”

“Supposedly, a stampede of beasts and Erklings found their way to where the Jiuli live. A lot of them perished, and the Erkling population suddenly rose. The Jiuli have taken to the trees, that way they do not have to face the hideous beasts.” she leaned in and whispered into her wielder’s ear. “If you want to, we could assist in solving their Erkling problem.”

It was an appealing idea. By helping the Jiuli, the Cerulean people’s image could improve, and Suzaku could eat all the Shijin Orbs she wanted.

Taking her wielder’s hand, Suzaku walked him along the shaky rope bridges. The homes of the Jiuli made a circular perimeter with bridges connecting to a single house in the middle. The village seemed awfully empty and eerily quiet. The buzzing of insects was much louder.

They reached the house in the middle of the village. There were windows unlike the house he was in, but they were covered by black curtains. Suzaku put a finger to her lips to shush her wielder. She lifted the drapes covering the entrance and went inside. A second later, she peeked back out and signaled for him to come in. “They’re sleeping!” she whispered.

Heading inside, a foul odor assaulted Yushia’s nose. Lying on the ground and sleeping were the rest of the four kids that couldn’t meet him. Their bodies were covered by a wide blanket stained with blood and yellow pus.

To the left and rocking in a chair was a young, freckled man around the same age as Yushia. Beside him was a sheathed sword leaning against the wall. He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of baggy black pants.

“Huh?” the young man said, his voice raspy. His silver eyes slowly opened before squinting to look at the visitors. He ran his fingers through his short and messy green hair and scratched his head. “Is that you, Suzaku?” he squinted harder and made out the familiar boy he’d seen a few days ago. “Is that...” his eyes widened as he clenched his teeth, standing up. He grabbed his sword and unsheathed it. “Cerulean...”

Yushia slid a foot back.

“Put the sword down, Payuei,” Suzaku said.

“You’ve lost your mind, Suzaku,” he replied, his breath heavy. “I still can’t believe you trust that demon. Him and his filthy blood. Your dirty scent made these kids sick, wasn’t it?”

“There are no filthy Ceruleans,” Yushia retorted, regaining his step forward.

Sensing the sudden tension in the air, Suzaku held her wielder’s shoulder before pulling him back to stand before him. She held his hand, and the rings on their palm began to glow. She glared Payuei dead in the eyes. “You have no right speaking down on the one who saved your little brother.”

“You also take the credit for Suzaku’s work?” Payuei sneered, sweat trickling down his face, still focused on the Cerulean.

A man came through the entrance.

“Please, Payuei...” the man said with a saddened voice. He was a lot older than the rest with a body that looked brittle, and the top of his head was bald. “...Quit your antics.”

“Good day to you, Danei,” Suzaku nodded.

Danei nodded back, then looked Yushia up and down. “Our guest looks to be well.”

“He’s well while these children aren’t,” Payuei blurted. “Don’t you see the prob—”

“Will you always blame others?” Danei asked. He hurriedly walked toward Payuei and snatched the sword and its sheath from him. “Your job was to teach the kids to fight, and you let them get taken by Erklings.”

Payuei’s face changed from anger to shame. “I was only gone for a minute...”

“The Cerulean is not to blame for the kids. You are.”

Clearing her throat, Suzaku spoke again to change the sore subject. “Danei, it is a good thing you are here. I have brought my wielder here to acquaint himself with Payuei, but you are here now too. My greatness would like him to introduce himself to you as well.”

So that’s what it is, Yushia thought. Suzaku’s hand smacked against his back, and he gulped. “My name is Yushia.”

There was a pause for a second. “Just Yushia?” Danei asked. He sheathed Payuei’s sword and threw it back to him. “You’ve no family name?”

He shook his head no. “Just Yushia.”

“I see,” Danei said. He turned to Payuei. “I am Danei, and the young warrior here is Payuei. I ask that you forgive him for his rudeness.”

A smile forced itself on Yushia’s face. “It’s fine, really. I understand why he’d think that way.”

“The young man is still suffering from the loss of his...”

“That’s none of your business, old man,” Payuei grumbled. He stomped furiously, pushing past Yushia as he left the house.

“...family,” Danei finished. He sighed in disappointment. “He almost lost his brother here too.” The air became somber as he headed out. “I will check on him.”

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Once he’d left, Suzaku tended to the kids with her healing flames and asked her wielder for assistance, teaching him how to rebandage wounds. The last child, the young girl with the severed tendons that Yushia freed, brought some reluctance when he tried rebandaging her.

“What is wrong?” Suzaku asked as she watched over him.

Yushia stared at the almost colorless feet with deep scars. He knew they’d never heal properly, and her feet would be reminder of what they Erklings did to her. “We can’t save this part of her, can we? Wouldn’t it be better to save her the shame and amputate her feet?”

“My greatness supposes we cannot, but a little girl would be more saddened to find she had no feet rather than having feet that she could no longer walk with,” Suzaku said. “If you will not bandage her feet, my greatness will.”

“No, I can do it,” Yushia said, taking a deep breath as he carefully held the girl’s feet, wrapping the bandages around them.

It was time to leave now. As it’d turn out, Suzaku had more abilities up her sleeves. Before leaving, she curled her hands into a fist and opened them over the children. Powdery dust sprinkled in the air like steel sparking, falling on them.

“It will make sure they stay warm, and that their recovery will be hasty,” she said. She lifted the drapes and left.

A thought lingered in Yushia’s mind. He stayed a little longer and watched the children. These kids had to learn how to fight to save their people? He pitied them, but he was no different.

Suzaku called out for her wielder, and he followed her out. Once again, they walked on the rickety wooden bridges. A powerful gust blew past them causing Yushia to nearly fall over. Suzaku was completely unaffected, acting as though no such wind had blown. They eventually arrived at their next destination: another house no different from the one he had woken up in and the one the sick kids slept in. There was no room for creative freedom when surviving was the biggest concern.

Originally, Yushia had thought the Jiuli weren’t much of fighters. His thoughts were proven wrong when he entered the house, eyes widened at the collection of Silverwolf canines strung and hanging all around the walls. On the right was a hill of warm, fluffy blankets made from their fur. There was another pile of clothing made from that same fur. To the left was a rack of swords, axes, and spears.

“Incredible...” Yushia mumbled, stunned at what he saw.

“Over there,” Suzaku said pointing to the rack of weapons. “It is your pick.”

“I have you, don’t I?” Yushia questioned.

“You won’t always have my greatness. Just in case, however, take something.”

He nodded and went over to the rack of weapons. He’d grown accustomed to Suzaku’s blade and took the smallest blade.

“A cooking knife?” Suzaku asked with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s for cooking?” he said looking back at her.

“It is what my greatness used when butchering, and what Lei-Lei and Fei use when preparing vegetables,” she said.

He put away the knife and picked up a sword. He tested its weight and swung it a few times, but decided it wouldn’t pair as well with his mobility. He tried the axe next and found it much lighter, but it didn’t have any piercing abilities like a dagger did. He put it away and picked up the knife again. It was still the choice of weapon he preferred. “I like the knife.”

“Oh well.” Suzaku shrugged. “A single knife missing will not affect the others too much, but it might serve you well to ask if you can keep it.”

“I could help with preparing food too if they let me keep it,” Yushia said.

“Yes, my greatness would love to see someone with no experience preparing food prepare food,” she said sarcastically.

“Well, back then...” he abruptly paused at that. He still felt it uncomfortable to share his past.

“Back then?” Suzaku said, confused.

He forced a smile. “Sorry. I meant to say you never know.”

“Uh-huh.” She pointed to what was beside the weapon racks, “You can get the sheath for your knife over there.”

Yushia picked a sheath, stored his knife, and held it in his hand. He looked up at the walls covered in Silverwolf canines. “Do you know what they keep these?”

“My greatness has a few ideas,” she said, hands on her hips. “But these ideas originate from what my greatness knew during her time.”

“I’d like to hear it,” Yushia said.

“Well, there used to be those who lived in mountains who used the horns and teeth of beasts as a means to connect themselves with spirits connected to Inanis,” she said. “But like my greatness said before, this is information from my time. This practice, from what my greatness saw, was already nearing its extinction.”

Yushia asked about the clothing made from the Silverwolf fur, in which Suzaku stated he’d only wear it if he planned on hunting. They left the house again, and on their way out, they were met by Fei and Mrei on the bridge heading toward them. Their expressions were opposites: one was smiling like a puppy, the other a slight grimace.

“Ah, Yushia!” Fei shouted. “Have you chosen your sword?”

“I have,” Yushia said. He was suddenly nudged by Suzaku, who bit her lip to hide her laugh.

“Show her,” Suzaku whispered.

A mildly concerned smile stretched on Yushia’s face as he raised his sheathed knife for Fei and Mrei to see. Their expressions had reversed.

“A cooking Cerulean!” Mrei cackled, pointing at him.

“Yushia, I’m not sure if you know this, but those are used by me and the girls for cooking,” Fei said, walking closer so she wouldn’t need to yell out. “Men like you, well... They do better with a sword, don’t they?”

“Suzaku told me that already...” Yushia said timidly. “I don’t have experience with a sword. I’ll do better with a knife.”

Suzaku cleared her throat, “He said he would help with cooking too if you let him keep the knife.”

Yushia’s face flushed.

“We could use a few more hands, definitely,” Fei said, her smile returning.

Mrei’s face scrunched. “If the Cerulean is cooking, give me the food he didn’t touch.”

Fei’s tongue clicked as she covered his mouth. “Get in the house and change your clothes already! Lei-Lei wouldn’t have wet you if you just stopped teasing Nyuei!” She passed the two and whispered back to them. “I’m so sorry for him...”

“You don’t have to apologize,” “Yushia said, “I’ve heard worse.” Thinking back, the other slaves said and did a lot of harsh things Mrei couldn’t possibly imagine.

As Fei was about to enter the armory, Suzaku looked over her shoulder and stopped her. “What are you and Lei-Lei doing right now?”

Fei pushed Mrei inside and replied. “We were just at the hunting ground, checking and resetting our traps. Once we’re done, we’ll need some help cutting up the game.”

Her and Suzaku’s eyes set on Yushia’s. He regretted what he said earlier, about helping prepare the food, and looked down nervously.

It was rude to look down when people were talking, so Suzaku held her wielder’s chin up. “My greatness supposes Lei-Lei could make use of my wielder’s assistance?”

Fei headed inside and smiled. “She would.” She looked at Yushia, who still looked a bit upset. “If you’re worried about Mrei’s words, don’t be. If Mrei doesn’t want to eat, he won’t.”

That eased him up enough to regain most of his confidence. As he walked behind Suzaku, they stopped at a tree with steep steps leading down. The steps creaked under their weight as they circled down it.

Five hundred meters from the Jiuli’s village in the trees, Yushia and Suzaku arrived at the hunting grounds. The floor had been littered with already reset leg traps and spike pits, disguised in layers of moss, sticks, and leaves. They tread carefully on the dangerous land.

“Achoo!”

Yushia looked up. Lei-Lei was high in the air, straddling a tree branch as she held her staff in one hand while rubbing her nose with her other. “Up there,” he alerted Suzaku.

Suzaku looked up and waved to her, and she waved back. Lei-Lei pointed her finger forward, prompting the two to continue walking straight.

“She’s blind, isn’t she?” Yushia asked. How did she know to wave back?

“She is,” Suzaku reassured, “but she is using a neat trick called an ether field. Supposedly, her magic is all around us. Like a spider’s web.”

“I’d like to be able to do that,” Yushia stated. His ears perked when he heard the faint sounds of kids conversing becoming more apparent.

“Good luck,” Suzaku said. “An ether field must require a surplus of ether to use in an efficient manner. Only someone like Lei-Lei can do so.”

“Are you able to use it?”

“Her ability is one that not even my greatness has heard of until recently. If my greatness retrieved her mansions, she might be able to pull it off. Maybe you could too, even.”

“I’ll look forward to it, then—”

A deafening whistle suddenly rang in Yushia’s ears. A man in a white suit appeared in the corner of his sight, holding his hat over his face.

With haste, Yushia’s hands joined Suzaku’s, the rings scored on their palms warm. The man vanished soon after.

“What do you think you are doing, idiot?” Suzaku asked.

Yushia’s breath came out in stutters, nearly giving himself whiplash as he frantically looked around. “I saw someone!” A second later, he fell to his knees. His panic churned the contents within his stomach, and he puked out the porridge he’d been fed during his sleep. His head jerked to look up at the branches, but nothing was there.

“Yuck!” Suzaku gagged. She let go of her wielder’s hand stepped away. “What is the matter with you? It must have been the other Jiuli!”

“It wasn’t! I know it wasn’t!” He stood up, his stance wobbling. Another round of puke nearly exited his mouth, but he forcibly swallowed it back down his throat. He regained his balance and then bolted forward. Were the kids in danger?

“Yushia?” Nyuei said, carrying a bloody basket of meat on his back.

“Yushia’s here?” Yoyei asked, lifting her sword out of the Giganobbit she held. Her back was to him, and she looked over her shoulder. “Konkon, Yushia!”

A sense of relief washed over Yushia. He fell to his knees again, but instead of puking, he began to pant. Safe! They’re safe!

Suzaku yelled at her wielder after finally catching up to him. “Idiot, what do you think you are doing!?” She grabbed his collar and forced him to stand “Care to explain why you nearly soiled my clothing?!”

“A man...!” Yushia replied with a gulp. “I saw a man!”

Her voice was still filled with rage, “Spotting another villager is no excuse for—”

“They were not Jiuli!”

An older gentleman around the same age as Danei was among the children—Kuei. Like the rest of the Jiuli men, he wore baggy black pants and a black top. He quickly reset the trap he’d disarmed and rushed over to the Cerulean. He seemed to have known something. “What did this man look like, Cerulean?”

Yushia grabbed Suzaku’s hand, wrestling to get it off his collar. “A white suit! He was wearing a white suit!”

Kuei faced the children. “Nyuei! Yoyei!”

“Yes, uncle Danei?” they replied in unison as they worked to free a small rabbit from a leg trap.

Spit shot from his mouth as he yelled. “We’re leaving this instant!”

Leaves crunching made them all turn their head to the sound’s direction. It was Lei-Lei.

“Oh, Lei-Lei, thank goodness you’re here!” Danei moaned.

Suzaku let go of Yushia’s collar. “Lei-Lei, do you know of this man in a white suit?”

She nodded—somehow even her nod seemed quiet—and spun her staff over her head. “We leave. I beseech you, Voice of Rain...”

Threads of ether channeled above her head, creating a large sphere of water. She released her left hand from her staff and motioned for everyone to stand beside her.

Yoyei apologized to the rabbit and sprinted with Nyuei to join the others already in the sphere of water.

Lei-Lei continued. “...Imprisonment Aqua.”

The sphere of water burst, forming a dome of water around them with air inside. Smashing her staff’s butt against the ground, the water dome’s perimeter spun rapidly.

You could see the outside perfectly as if looking through a window. When Yushia went to touch it, he was abruptly stopped by Lei-Lei.

“Don’t touch the water,” she mumbled. “You will lose your hand.”

“Sorry,” Yushia apologized. A brown squirrel ran across a branch. It jumped and spread its limbs, gliding over to a faraway tree. The branch broke off and was turned to sawdust upon contact with the dome.

To spare the trees, close proximity was necessary to allow the dome of water to bend out of shape to avoid them. The way back to the village was surprisingly fast and the dome was released, lightly showering everyone.

“Lei-Lei, we must do something!” Danei grumbled as he followed behind Lei-Lei on the steps back up to the village.

She nodded and kept quiet.

They reached the top. “I still don’t understand what’s going on,” Yushia said.

Suzaku stood in front of Lei-Lei, just a fingers-length away from her face. “My greatness would also like to learn more of this new revelation. To keep information like this hidden is highly offensive.”

“I’m just as unsure as you are,” she said, her hands trembling. “I was collecting my thoughts before. I apologize for my inability to answer immediately.”

“It should be impossible for outsiders to find this village,” Kuei said, wiping the sweat off his forehead. “The closest society is a week’s journey on mudmiller-drawn wagons. Perhaps you know of this person, Lei-Lei?”

She quietly shook her head in disagreement. “I saw him the same time Yushia did. It was my first.”

Nyuei thought for a moment until he suddenly realized something and spoke up. “I think I’ve seen that man before too.”

Danei bent down to his level and squeezed his shoulders. “Where, boy!?”

“It was during the stampede... I think.”