“Why were you there!?”

The second the words left his mouth, Aria’s face twisted in confusion. She could feel the anger emanating from his entire body.

“Huh?”

She couldn’t say anything in response. She was just doing what she thought was right. She couldn’t comprehend what he found so wrong about that.

“I was-”

“You were doing what everyone else does. Assuming that you know what’s best for me!” Aria was cut off as Nic stood up violently. He was lashing out verbally, daggers in his eyes whenever they darted to her.

“What’s best for you?! How is chaining yourself to the wishes of a person 300 years dead the thing that’s best for you? What about what you want? Didn’t you say that you wanted to make your future children's lives better than your own!”

“That’s exactly what I was trying to do!” Aria stopped as Nic rebutted her question. “You’ve seen my standard of living. How I dressed before I met you. The number of times I have worn torn clothes because I had nothing else. The house I live in is falling apart at the seams. Half of what I eat is rotten, and the other half can barely be called food. My family has lived like that for three hundred years. And we would continue to live like that for two hundred more if I didn’t do something!”

With every word, his voice grew hoarser. At some point, tears began forming in his eyes. Aria was stunned speechless. Had she truly been in the wrong? Had she unknowingly destroyed that which she wanted to help?

She started to raise her hand. She needed to reach out to him. To salvage what she could. But his frozen gaze stopped her. The daggers pierced her. Every fiber of her being was screaming at her, opposing her will to move forward.

“And now… Now my family… Now I will never get peace. You did that. You ruined everything! I…” Aria trembled. She didn’t want him to continue. She pleaded in her heart for him to stop. She tried to open her lips, yet her body continued to defy her. The cord that tied the two of them together had strained so much that only a single thread remained. Taut as it could be, Aria desperately needed it to stay.

“I… I hate you!”

The last thread snapped.

“I never want to talk to you again!”

Her knees dug into the dirt.

“Go run off to Sanum and never come back here!”

Something warm rolled down her cheeks. Her breathing stopped.

“I hate you.”

A whisper. The final whisper he would say to her. The daggers were no longer there. Nic was no longer in front of her.

The body that had been opposing her out of fear finally gave way. Water streamed down her cheeks as her body struggled to breathe.

Her mind had gone blank. She had nothing. The connection that she had grown to value so much had been ripped from her. And she was the only one to blame it seemed. In her hubris, in thinking that she knew what Nic wanted, she had destroyed the one thing that always brought her joy. She had hurt the one person she cared about more than anything or anyone else.

At that moment, time had no meaning for her. At that moment, there was no feeling within her. At that moment, her surroundings could have been the lava bed of a volcano, and she would have never noticed.

She would have fallen onto her side and curled up into a ball if silent footsteps had not approached her.

Had he come back? Would he comfort her, apologizing and claiming it was a heat-of-the-moment outburst? Would the cord of connection between them be rewoven in a manner of seconds?

That hope spurred her to lift her head, open her eyes, and look at the one who stood before her. Instead of the brown-haired boy she had hoped for, Aria found a short, stout man with rustic red hair staring down at her with pupil-less eyes.

“R-ust?” Her voice was hoarse, catching itself in her throat. The man looked away from Aria, staring through the forest. Aria felt like he was looking at something she couldn’t see.

“Do you understand why I tried to stop you, miss?” Rust’s low voice rang in Aria’s ears as he slowly turned to look back at her. She knew what he meant. Their first time meeting, just a few hours ago, he had told her exactly what Nic had said. And she had refuted him at the time. Oh, how wrong she had been.

“I know…” Aria looked down at the ground, ashamed of her actions, saddened by what occurred.

“So what will you do now?”

Aria snapped her head to Rust. His arms were crossed in front of him and his white eyes stared directly at her as if peering into her very being. She shakily got to her feet, her answer clear in her mind.

“I… I need to find Nic. I need to apologize to him. I… Did you see where he went, Rust?”

“He’s heading toward that little camp the two of you made on the hill.”

Hearing that, Aria’s heart began to beat just a little bit faster. Her mind began to speed up as she thought of ways to catch up to him. The easiest for her to do would be to make herself lighter with the air so she could run faster. Maybe push herself along with the air at her back as well.

She took a step forward.

And was met with a rock slab in her face.

“You can’t apologize right now.”

“Huh-! What? Why can’t I go?” Aria was just a bit frazzled by the stone slab and Rust’s declaration. Not even a second after she formed her plan had she been shut down.

“Apologizing to the kid now won’t do either of you any good. You need to wait and apologize when the time is right.”

Aria sighed and stepped back. Shaking her body to loosen it up, she thought back over what Nic had said, taking mental notes of everything she wanted to apologize for. Yet, something he had said was bugging her.

“Rust?”

“Hmmm?”

“Nic said something about his family having to spend another two hundred years as they were if he didn’t do anything. What did he mean by that?” Aria had cocked her head slightly to the side, inquisitively, as she posed the question to Rust.

“That’s simple. The Wind Spirit Progenitor Aeriel told us back then that he would reappear in five hundred years, and when he did, the Verilo of the time would be able to learn the ability to absorb and purify Irradiation. That was three hundred years ago. There should have been two hundred more years.”

This was the first time that Aria was hearing any of this. And more than anything this puzzled her.

“How did Nic… well, do what he did then?”

“That’s the interesting part,” Rust waved a finger in the air. “How did Nic unlock the talisman? That’s because his magic isn’t his magic.”

Aria stopped moving altogether. How was that not his magic? The two had spent so much time trying to get Nic to be able to use it, and now Rust was saying all that was for naught?

“What do you mean by that?”

“The magic Nic has been using is power drawn from a lesser wind spirit. A lesser wind spirit that just so happens to have the scent of Aeriel, meaning that Aeriel ordered it to create a contract with Nic.” A grin was nestled on Rust’s face.

“Aeriel… Then the Wind Progenitor is back?”

“That’s right. He’s probably already made a contract with someone.”

This was news to Aria. But it did explain everything. She knew a contract could be made without the human realizing it, though it would be weaker than a contract made with the human knowing. Nic may not have even known he had a contract, in which case he would assume the magic had been his all along.

“So-”

“Wait.” Rust abruptly cut her off, turning off towards the distance. Once again, it seemed like he was looking at something she could not see. “So it’s time then.” He turned back to Aria, the grin had turned into a grimace. “Looks like our conversation has to be cut short, you have somewhere you need to be.”

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“Wha-?!” Aria quickly took a step back as Rust got close to her and started trying to turn her around.

“You need to get back to the rad-town you came from, as fast as you can. There is a hunter from Sanum who should be reaching there right about now.”

“A Hunter?!” Aria knew what they were. Every City-State or Nation had a contingent of them, or something akin to them. They were a well-trained police force whose goal was the eradication of anyone who dealt with Irradiation. If one was going to the Rad Town, that could mean only one thing. “He’s after the Verilos?”

“You catch on quick. That’s right. His main goal is the kid. You have to find a way to get him away from the Rad Town before the kid gets back there. Otherwise, humanity’s hope of getting rid of the Irradiation will disappear for good.”

“Wait,” Something was wrong with what he said. Nic had said that it was already gone, yet Rust implied that it wasn’t. “Didn’t I destroy the device that would give Nic the ability to purify Irradiation before he could learn it?”

“Yes, but he still has that ability within him. He just needs to unlock it now, just like every other magic.”

“Like every other magic?”

Rust pushed her from behind. She looked back at him, only to see him waving her on. He had nothing else to say to her. She held back the rest that she wanted to ask.

Just a few moments prior, Aria had come up with a plan to catch up to Nic. She enacted that plan but changed the planned outcome. Now her goal was the Rad Town that she had lived in for the past six years, Rad Town “S-012”.

The trees slipped by Nic as he stumbled through the bushes. His thumping in his chest wouldn’t stop, the warm water flowing down his face never cooled and the pain permeating through his entire body was going to last for too long.

His lungs gasped for air as he continued towards the campsite, made the night prior. His mind replayed what he had said over and over. Every time he saw her face at the end, the pain inside of him grew worse. Every time he ran faster.

He wanted to escape. To be as far away as he could.

The trust he had in her. The minute it was tested. All Nic did was revert to how he was with everyone else. He pushed her aside. He severed their connection.

She was broken by Nic’s words, her face had made that all too clear to him.

An emotional outburst. A single second. That was all it took for Nic to destroy the one thing he held close to his heart.

How could he ever look at her again? How could he ever talk to her again? How could he ever remember her?

Nic finally reached the clearing where they had made camp. The sun, now nestled high in the sky, beat down on his head as Nic’s lungs screamed for air. He collapsed to the ground, his hands clutching the bag in front of his knees.

Gasping for air, he opened the bag and pulled out the black-bound book sitting just inside of it. Everything he had done was because of this book. He had been so close. And it had all been destroyed in a single moment. That had been the impetus for his outburst.

Betrayed. That was how he had felt in the moment after absorbing the Irradiation from Aria’s body.

The grip on the book tightened. The power spoken of in it was gone. The device had broken. There was no other device like that, capable of being used in that manner, of that Nic was certain. He threw the book to the side. As much as it pained him, there was nothing left for him in that book. Irradiation will continue to ravage the world, and there was nothing he could do about it anymore.

A gust of wind blew past Nic’s head. The book he had thrown was now floating in the said wind. Its pages flowed gently in the wind. He slowly reached out his hand, grasping the floating book and stopping the gentle flapping of its pages. As he turned the book around, looking at both covers, he noticed a small green blob attached to the back of the book.

“The magic you used to get in here was a spirit’s magic. It was most likely a lesser wind spirit that was told to help you.”

The memory of Noah had said that to him when he was asleep in the house. For some reason, when he saw the green blob, this was the first thing that came to mind.

Was this what a spirit looked like? Nic wasn’t sure. Hell, he had never even seen the one that had supposedly been helping him these past few hours.

“Are you… the spirit that has been lending me their magic?” Realizing that it was being addressed directly, the small blob began circling the book in Nic’s hands. Its energetic and sporadic movements seemed to confirm Nic’s question. He took a rather large breath, steadying himself as he stood. He had a lot of questions for the small blob in front of him.

“I don’t know much about spirits, can you talk?” The blob shook itself back and forth. “I guess that’s a no then. Alright, why did you catch this book?” Nic raised the journal in his hands ever so slightly. The blob seemed to float in the air for a second, Nic wondered if he was looking at the book in some fashion, before moving itself behind the book and pushing it into Nic’s chest.

“You want me to keep on to it?” An energetic bob up and down caused Nic to frown as he looked between the blob and the book.

“There’s no reason for me to keep it. Nothing will ever happen again anyways, Aria made sure of that.” Nic flung the book to the side once again. The spirit quickly caught it in the wind again, bringing the book back to Nic’s hands. This only caused him to grow more irritated and throw the book to the ground.

“I don’t need it! Stop giving it back to me.” Nic emotionally lashed out at the spirit, at which it seemed to deflate as it hovered over the dirt-covered journal.

Disregarding the spirit, Nic walked around and made sure that none of his stuff had gotten out of the bag. Content that he had everything he needed, Nic walked to the edge of the clearing opposite of the direction the Verilo lands were in. He knew that there was a road that connected Sanum and the Rad Town he had lived in all of his life. It shouldn’t be too far away from the bottom of the hill he was on in the direction he was facing. Looking over his shoulder at the spirit sitting above the journal, Nic called out to him.

“I’m heading out. You can stay here if you want, I wouldn’t be surprised if you did. Everyone leaves me, why shouldn’t a spirit be any different.” As he slung the bag over his shoulder, the wind picked up and blew past him. As it died down, he thought the bag felt a bit heavier than it should.

Looking back, the spirit was gone, though the book still seemed to be on the ground. A simple sigh escaped Nic’s lips as he began the trek toward the main road. The spirit was gone, as he expected. He didn’t have much time left either.

Nic rolled up his sleeve and looked at his right arm. Crawling along the skin of his upper arm were black tendrils. They reached just past his elbow. After absorbing so much Irradiation from Aria, he was surprised it was only showing this much on his skin. Aria had absorbed so much Irradiation in the Verilo Household that she had been completely covered in these tendrils.

Maybe it was just too soon for them to show up en masse. Nic was sure that he would soon enough start to show more symptoms of Irradiation Sickness. Even if he was a Verilo himself, he wasn’t immune to getting that sickness.

It didn’t take long for Nic to arrive at the road he had been heading to. Though a road wasn’t an apt description of it. It was more of a dirt section of the forest that simply happened to not have any trees or bushes on it. It was traveled so little that there weren’t even tracks of carriages that had gone through over the years.

Nic began walking down the edge of the road. He planned to simply camp out on it till he got back to the Rad Town. If, by some miracle, someone was traveling along the road, he might be able to get some company for a bit of time.

And so like this, Nic walked for a while. He walked alone, in silence until the sun was at its highest point in the sky. Right about then, Nic heard the sound of horses behind him. The rumbling of a carriage's wheels could be heard as well. He got over to the side of the road, keeping out of the way of the oncoming vehicle.

As it passed by him, Nic gaped at the vehicle itself. It wasn’t too outstanding, at least it wouldn’t be if it was in a line with other carriages, but it was finely crafted, even Nic could tell that much. A carriage of this quality meant that the people inside were most likely wealthy, and considering the direction they came from, they were most likely a high-ranking member of the Sanum elite.

But that created even more questions. Namely, why one would be on this road in particular. Were they heading to the Rad Town? Why? Has someone figured out that the Verilos were hiding there? Was it even safe for Nic to head back at this point?

Nic slowly stopped walking as he stared at the carriage moving past. He quickly averted his gaze when the carriage came to halt just a few Mer in front of Nic. Hoping that it wasn’t because he had been staring at it, Nic quickly started moving again, his pace faster than it had been before he stopped.

Yet he was not that lucky. Before he could even get a few steps in, the door on the carriage popped open and an older gentleman leaned out. He had wrinkled, dark skin and disappearing gray hair, a demeanor that screamed confidence that came with age and experience, and a well-tailored brown suit with a white shirt.

“Hey boy! Are you heading to S-012? If so, do you want a ride?” The gentleman’s voice was deep and far stronger than Nic thought it would be. Not only that, the man had called out the Rad Town that Nic was going to by its identification number. If nothing else, this confirmed to Nic that this man was someone important.

“I don’t think that’s for the best. While I am heading to that Rad Town, I can manage just fine on my own. We wouldn't want a Rad Town resident getting someone of your status infected right?” Get away from this man. Nic’s body was screaming at him to do just that. He just needed the man to get back in his carriage and be on his way. The black veins on his arm were deadly to anyone who got in close contact with him.

Nic wouldn’t get his wish though. With a simple smile covering his face, the man chose his next words carefully.

“My status? What about your status? I would love to hear the thoughts of a Verilo straight from one himself.”

Nic froze in place. His once seemingly innocent look sharpened until he was glaring at the man. His right hand slowly moved to his pockets, searching for a certain knife. Yet it was not on him. He seemed to have lost it at some point that morning.

“Hm? You don’t need to be so worried, boy. I hold no grudge against you or your ancestors. Nor do I wish to harm you in any capacity. I’m simply offering to hear your story while we travel to S-012.” The man tried to placate the frozen Nic. His voice oozed with sweet words, but to Nic, it was all a ploy.

To Nic, it would always be a ploy, especially after what he had just gone through. Trust had always been the one thing he lacked, and the moment he had been close to putting his trust in someone else it had been burned in an instant. And now this man was offering him a way to get back home quickly. Not only that, he claimed to not care about Nic’s heritage. If nothing else, that alone would have required Nic’s trust in the man.

“I refuse your offer.” Nic had made up his mind from the beginning. There was no other choice in this matter.

The gentleman’s smile faded and a worried look came over his face. He disappeared from the doorway, heading back into the carriage. Nic could hear him talking with someone else in the seating area. There was another person in there. The man’s head popped back out after a bit. He smiled a bit when he saw Nic still standing there.

“It seems to me that you don’t know how to answer my proposition yourself.” Nic shot daggers toward the man at his comment.

“And what does that mean?”