When the emptiness of the world finally gave way to his normal senses, the first sense that Nic experienced was his hearing. Two people were talking near him. One had a sweet voice that Nic would know anywhere, no matter how long it had been since he heard it last. The other was a man’s voice. It was low and smooth, familiar to Nic, yet he couldn’t quite place who it belonged to.

“... to Sanum if he wakes up while I’m gone!”

“Quiet down Aria, or do you want to wake him up already?”

The two of them were in a heated debate it seemed. So much that Aria was raising her voice in exasperation. At least that’s what Nic thought it was. At the very least, he could tell she was annoyed with that little bit alone.

“Aria, I’m leaving in two days. A decision has to be made by then. Would it not be most beneficial for Nic to hear the details of my offer as soon as he wakes up so he has the most time to decide for himself?”

“You! Huh? Lil’ Spirit? What are you doing? What’s gotten into you? Why are you so excited?” As she was speaking to this “Lil’ Spirit” Nic suddenly thought of the lesser wind spirit that had been helping him. If the two were the same spirit, then Nic was sure to be outed as being awake again.

Sure enough, as he opened his eyes, the little green blob was excitedly bobbing around above his head. As if it saw him open his eyes, the blob dropped down, landing on Nic’s nose. It seemed to spread out a bit like it was trying to encapsulate Nic. Seeing this, Nic let out a small chuckle.

“Hey there, buddy. Is this supposed to be a hug?”

“Nic!” Hearing him speak caused Aria to ecstatically call out his name and rush over to his side. She threw herself on top of him, wrapping her arms around his head while she pressed it into her own shoulder.

Unbeknownst to the girl, this single action of joy on her part caused immense dull pain to shoot through Nic’s entire body. He struggled to open his mouth to say something, and when that didn’t work, he tried to move his arms only to find them heavier than the heaviest rocks.

“A… Ri… A…” Nic struggled to say her name, his lungs being crushed under the pressure of another person laying on his injured self. Hearing her name, Aria pushed herself slightly off of Nic and looked down at him.

“Hmmm? What’s wrong?” Aria’s hair was pulled into a ponytail with a black ribbon. It was hanging down past her face, the tip of it tickling Nic’s nose.

“Sore… Pain…” Everything around him was getting to be too much. His sore body was in pain as the woman he had spent the better part of the past two years with lay on top of his upper body. At the same time, a pleasant scent was wafting into his nose. But the sweet voice that came out of her mouth made Nic question whether or not the pain was such a bad thing if he got to continue to hear it.

“Huh?”

“And you said you didn’t want me alone with him! The minute he wakes up and you go and immediately cause intense pain to the man!” The male voice from before called out to Aria. Its provocation caused her to fully get off of Nic so she could face the speaker.

A heavy weight on his body lifted itself off. While some pain lingered, Nic finally was able to take a deep breath again and catch his breath.

“See, the moment you get off he finally is able to breathe again.” The man who had been in the room had seen Nic take his deep breath and immediately used it to his advantage. Ordwell Chapman finally walked into view and gave Aria a small flick on her forehead despite the glare she was giving him. For some reason, Nic thought that the two were a lot closer than he thought they should be. “He taxed his body heavily pulling the stunt he did. I imagine his entire body feels like it is bruised currently.”

That wasn’t too far off as far as Nic was concerned. It was actually a fairly good description of the amount of soreness he felt. It also helped explain the dull pain he felt when Aria put herself on top of his upper body. Aria turned back around with a concerned look on her face.

“I’m sorry, Aria, but Ordwell is pretty much spot on.” Nic looked over from where his head was lying to look at the two of them fully. Weirdly, they were in almost matching outfits. Aria, on top of having her hair pulled back with a black band, was in an all-black outfit. It was a style Nic had never seen her in before. A long black dress with a light black jacket covering her upper body. Ordwell was in similar nice clothing, an all-black suit that looked to be of extremely high quality. Even just looking at it from a distance, Nic could tell that it most likely cost a fortune. “What’s with the outfits? Is something happening?”

He saw the change in Aria’s face instantly. Where once she had held concern for him, now only sadness covered her face. Her head swung down, holding itself lower than it had before as she stared at a place Nic could not fathom.

“Before we get to that, Nic I have something I need to talk to you about.” Ordwell’s response drew Nic’s attention.

“Is it about the “plan” you two were arguing about earlier?” Nic was fairly certain that was the case. But what that plan was ultimately was not known to him.

“No! Mr. Chapman, not right now! Not when that is today!” Nic felt something comfortably warm wrapped around his hand. When he looked down at it, he found Aria’s hands there, gripping his tightly. She was shaking while she spoke, no, while she yelled at the two of them.

“Aria, how many times do I have to explain this?! I’m leaving in two days. Nic should know what I want of you two as soon as possible so he can have time to think about it!” The hands gripping Nic’s tightened. She was looking at him, pleading for him to tell Ordwell to wait. Pleading for more time. But it was a plea that fell on deaf ears. Nic agreed with Ordwell. If he only had two days to make this decision, he should know sooner rather than later.

“Ordwell,” Nic could see the pain in Aria’s eyes as she heard the tone in his voice. “What is this plan of yours?”

“In two days, I’ll be heading back to Sanum. When I do, I want both of you to come with me. You will both be let into the city without a problem and promptly put into the magical university in its new year. That starts here in just about a month.”

Nic took a second to absorb everything that Ordwell had said. He didn’t understand why Aria was so upset at Ordwell telling him this now. Wasn’t this a shortcut to exactly what she had wanted? The two of them would go together to the place she wanted to be. Shouldn’t he accept this offer? Isn’t that what she would want?

He did have a few things he wanted to know before he readily agreed.

“First, isn’t getting me into the city going to be a problem? I’m a Verilo, after all. I would imagine the general populace wouldn’t appreciate me being around.”

“Ah, that’s fine. We’ll most likely give you a false last name. Once I give the okay, most people will stand down.” Ordwell waved off Nic’s concerns with a simple motion of his hand and a few sentences.

“What about my mother and father?” Nic knew something was wrong the second the sentence left his mouth. Aria’s hands squeezed even tighter as she continued to simply look down. Ordwell on the other hand awkwardly looked to the side, trying to find something to change the subject with.

Neither of them were prepared for the door to burst open. Standing there was Nic’s mother, in a similarly clad black dress. She had propped herself against the door frame, breathing heavily. Nic could see the red in her eyes even from here, the wholesale mark of crying.

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“I heard he was awake!” She stammered to Nic’s side, rushing to hug him when she saw his eyes open. Aria stopped her, shaking her head.

“His body is still sore, physical contact like that causes him pain.” Upon hearing that, his mother edged back a bit before leaning in and placing her lips on his forehead. It caught Nic off guard, as she hadn’t done it in years, but it was still nostalgic to him.

“Samuel would be so proud of you.” Nic’s breathing stopped. Would? Why isn’t he proud now? Nic was confused.

“Would…? What happened to father…?” His mother stood up and looked at Aria and Ordwell, shock clearly on her face before it quickly turned to rage.

“You didn’t tell him!?”

“Kayla, we didn’t have the chance to, we were just about to get to it.” Aria offered up an explanation only to flinch away after looking at Kayla’s face.

“What happened?!” Getting impatient and scared of what they would tell him, Nic raised his voice.

Why was everyone wearing black? What happened to his father?

Nic knew the answer to both. He knew they were connected. But he refused to believe it. He had finally achieved the goal his family had held for so long. It was a goal that his father thought impossible. Nic wanted to hear his father’s voice as he congratulated him. Nic wanted to hear his father tell him that he was proud of him.

“Nic… your father and Wendy, Aria’s mother, were both killed by Jack in his attack on the place,” Ordwell spoke succinctly and without emotion. He stated the facts as he looked away from Nic, unable to look at his face.

Nic tried to say something but his throat had closed itself. There was nothing for him to say. Nothing he could say. Everything seemed to slow down around him as his brain worked overtime.

Maybe this was just some bad prank. Some awful joke that Aria didn’t like and that’s why she had been looking so down, forced into it. His dad was waiting just on the other side of the doorway, waiting to come in and tell him it was all a joke.

It was all excuses.

“Nic…” His mother reached out a hand, but he looked away. Pushing through the pain and soreness, Nic flipped his body onto its side, facing away from the three people at the edge of the bed. He felt his eyes grow warm before something slid down one of his cheeks.

“Did he at least hear about Ordwell’s offer?”

“I told him about it, Mrs. Verilo.”

“Nic… You probably don’t want to hear this, but I want you to take that offer. And I know your father would want you to take it as well, ok?”

Only silence responded. Soon, Nic’s mother and Ordwell left, leaving Nic alone in the room with Aria. Nic heard her bring a chair over and sit down next to the bed. The next second, he felt something warm on his back.

“No matter what you choose, Nic, I’ll be by your side.” He didn’t know if he even believed what she was saying. All he wanted to do was be alone. His body simply wanted to let everything out.

The day after he woke up, Nic had been able to stand up and start walking. With the help of Aria, he had even made it out into her family’s dining area to eat some food. But everyone noted the same thing about him. He felt like a lifeless husk. Since learning of his father’s passing, that’s all he had been like. Aria wasn’t even sure that he had been thinking about Ordwell’s offer. At least not until he told her that night that he was going to take the offer.

And so that brought the two to the morning of their departure, two days after Nic had woken up. They stood outside of Aria’s house, separated and talking to their respective remaining parents. Aria’s father was going over everything with her, making sure she had everything she needed.

“That seems like you have everything.”

“I know Papa. I’ll be fine. I’m just going back to Sanum.” She gave a smile to her father, hoping to reassure him.

“I know, I know. And if you ever need anything from me, I’ll just be a carriage ride away.” Her father gave her a long hug before letting go and turning to the man standing next to them.

“Ordwell, promise me that you will do everything in your power as leader of that City-State to keep my daughter safe. I already lost Wendy, I don’t want to lose Aria as well.” While her father stood sternly, his opponent simply gave a small chuckle and held up his hands in submission.

“You don’t have to worry about that, Kayde. How long have we known each other? Didn’t I used to take care of her for you two when you were out on assignment?”

“Do I need to remind you who sent us on those assignments? Taking care of her was the least you could do after sending us away for extended periods.” Even though Kayde spoke with a scowl covering his face, there was no one else he trusted more to watch over his daughter.

The two had known each other for much longer than Aria had been alive. As far as she knew, the two of them had known each other since Kayde was younger than Aria was now. And her mother had met them not much longer after that. Because of that, when Aria was born she spent a lot of time in the Chapman household. She even had two important friends she had made there.

A young man came up to the three of them and bowed his head slightly. When Mr. Chapman motioned his head, the young man walked over and started picking up Aria’s bags. He quickly took them over to the carriage that was waiting on the main road nearby.

As Aria watched the courier walk to the road, he passed by a stout older gentleman who was heading their way. He wore some worn-down clothes and had weathered gloves covering both hands. Rust-colored hair topped his head, drawing attention away from his completely white eyes. Aria already knew that he “saw” through the small stone hanging from a cord around his neck.

“Mr. Rust!” When Aria called out to the Deep Dwarf both her father and Mr. Chapman turned in the direction she had been looking. Upon seeing the Dwarf, they both gave him a slight nod. Mr. Chapman used the opportunity to walk off to Nic and his mother, striking up a conversation with the two of them. Aria’s father stayed by her, suspicion towards the dwarf in his eyes.

“Ah, Miss. It is good to see you again. Though before you say anything else I must apologize. If I had just told you about the Hunters heading even a bit earlier, some lives may not have been lost.” After greeting Aria, Rust leaned into a low bow as he apologized. Uncomfortable with the gesture, Aria quickly put her hands up to try and stop the Dwarf.

“It’s fine Rust, really. If you hadn’t told me at all, I’m sure there would have been more casualties than there were already. Besides,” Aria looked down at her own hands as she talked. “Mama died protecting me. If anyone’s to blame for her death, it’s me for just standing there.”

“Aria that’s no-”

“Miss you sho-”

Both Rust and her father spoke up at the same time. Aria cut them off with her hands, shaking her head.

“I simply said ‘if’. Mama made her choice, and I have no intention of demeaning it by being sad all the time.” Aria sighed slightly and looked over at the other group of people where Nic was. “I just wish some other people would be like that as well.”

“So the young Verilo is still stuck at the passing of his father?” Rust was also looking at Nic as he spoke. He had yet to actually visit him, in large part due to the mass amount of work he had been handed as soon as he arrived in the town. As soon as the town leaders had found out he could expertly create stone structures quickly, he was put to task turning the once dirt roads into stone ones. He also was in charge of turning the walls to stone. In the future, as the newly formed City-State, named Aric, grew, he would demolish and rebuild the walls, ever-expanding the amount of land protected.

“Mhm.” Aria nodded as she answered Rust’s question. Even if he had started walking again and could talk with people, the death of his father was still greatly affecting Nic. No matter what Aria said or did, nothing changed in him. It was the grief that was suddenly forced onto him. She was unsure if she could even do anything to help him at this point.

“Well, let me see if I can talk to ‘im myself. You go on ahead and get ready for your trip to Sanum, Miss.” Rust motioned towards the carriage before walking off himself.

Aria shouldn’t interfere with the conversation happening there, she knew that. So she looked back at her father once and gave him another hug.

Kayde walked by her side as she approached the carriage. The attendant that had grabbed her bags earlier had also grabbed Nic’s and was busy fastening them to the top of the carriage. The weather was nice, with no clouds in sight. It was unlikely that their bags would get wet and damaged during the trip to Sanum.

“Alright, Aria. Remember that I’m always willing to make time to see you or come visit if you need me to.”

“I know.”

“Don’t get into too much trouble while you’re there, we don’t need another incident like with Jack.”

“Dad, I got it.”

“Oh, make sure to tell Sarman and Yuuki that I said hi.”

Aria was walking up the small steps to get into the carriage while talking with her father. She knew everything he was saying already, he’d been on repeat all night. The two names he said caused her to stop. She found her arm shaking slightly as she thought about the two people who held those names.

“I will…”

She stepped into the carriage before turning around and giving her father a final smile. Closing the door she sat on one of the seats situated on the back side of the carriage. She leaned against one of the walls, letting her mind wander into the deeper recesses of her memories.

It had been six years since she last saw either Sarman or Yuuki. Aria wondered if either of them would even recognize her. Better yet, would she recognize them? Or would they be strangers when they first come face to face again in the future?