Departure
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“Liam, do you have everything?”
“I’m almost done packing mother!”
I answered that melodic voice with a tinge of excitement in my tone. The first light of dawn was just starting to peek over the horizon, giving way for just the right amount of light to illuminate what was essentially my now empty room. I never kept much in here to begin with, excluding my clothes, the only things I was actually going to bring with me were a few of the magecraft books I ‘borrowed’ from Oliver’s study without his permission.
As soon as I got everything into the brown knapsack that was given to me the night before, I tied the sturdy thing across my chest and made my way outside the premises.
“I might end up missing this place way more than I thought.” Julia remarked, staring up at the small structure with a thin smile.
“That’s true" said the man in uniform as he quietly took his place by my mother’s side. “We’ve been here for a while now so it has grown on me.”
“Oh, I see someone’s raring to go!” He grinned at my appearance from his towering stature, but my eyes had unconsciously wondered back over to the sight of my mother’s unusual outfit.
“Mother...your clothes?”
“Oh this?” She smiled in delight, and gave a twirl to showcase the full impact of her sudden wardrobe change. It wasn’t like the usual, frilly ended garments she usually donned. It was a sleeveless blouse that was seamlessly fused with something like a scarf around her neck, it blended well with her fitted pair of leather pants and the matching leather gloves on her hands.
If nothing else, she was more than prepared for the occasion, even her usually free flowing hair was parted into twin tails on either side of her face.
“These are my old raider clothes. I haven't dressed up like this in quite a while, but since we’ve got a long journey ahead of us, I figured I might as well dress for it.”
“Regardless of what we’re about to get ourselves into, seeing you like that again does help to set the mood.” Oliver remarked with a hint of pride on his face as if to say ‘that’s my wife’
“Hmm...you think so?” She answered bashfully with reddened cheeks.
“Say Liam, what do you think? Don’t you have anything to say about your mother’s outfit?”
Her question sounded rhetorical, but I knew it wasn't simply because I’d actually been in this situation before. It was that thing, she wanted me to compliment her appearance almost as if it were some kind of reward for all the effort she had to put in. It was the first time this was happening with Julia in particular, but I suppose it was simply a trait shared by all women.
“I think it looks good on you.” I said, gesturing for a ‘high five’.
Flustered, she returned the gesture with an even brighter smile on her face. “Well, you’re certainly lively today if nothing else. Are you going to miss this place too?”
“I think so, but I want to see lots of other places.”
I saw Oliver give a vigorous nod in the corner of my vision; one could only assume he was expecting that response.
“I take it you’re all ready?”
Right on cue, our supposed party members came boldly marching over the damaged stone bridge. Flynn and Myra were casually strolling towards us, while Jytte on the other hand was actually in charge of guiding the wagon that was undoubtedly going to be our method of transport. In a similar fashion to before, when I visited the marketing district alongside Emma, the creatures being used to pull the contraption along weren’t horses, but instead a pair of crimson scaled monsters known as ‘newts’.
Apparently, these newts were a far more efficient method of transport since they could cross longer distances without rest and traverse a number of different terrains.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“More or less, we might even be a little early.” Oliver replied to the red-haired man.
“Hahhh...early morning missions are such a dragggg......” Said Jytte with a yawn, her furry ears twitched in sync with the dreariness of her voice.
“Hmph! I told you not to stay up drinking so late, now look at you.” Myra shrugged in annoyance.
“But it was sooo gooood~”
“Jeez, how dumb can you be?”
“What was that!?”
Even with all their incessant bickering, there was still a genuine sense of camaraderie among them, almost to the point where it reminded me of a certain duo.
“Good morning, everyone.” I spoke up, grabbing their attention. “I look forward to traveling with you all.” Blank stares were immediately exchanged above my head, the silent stares seemed to have conveyed some sort of cryptic message, because shortly after that, they all burst into a fit of laughter.
“No need to be so uptight kid!” Flynn exclaimed as he stooped to my eye level. "Just try to relax and enjoy the trip, we’ve got your back.”
At my own expense, I’d almost forgotten that I was still nothing but a child just now. That last fight must have clouded my judgement, either that, or some of my common sense must have been knocked out of me.
For a second, I was under the impression that I would have some role to play in the journey, but that wasn’t the case at all. If anything, I was the only passenger here since I couldn’t even use any magic right now.
“Oh right! I’ll leave it to you then...” I answered meekly.
“Well, he’s nothing if not honest” said Myra in amusement.
“Now, let’s-”
“Wait!”
A fervent yell halted us in our tracks, it came from the same direction that Flynn and the others had come and, without a doubt, the figures approaching in the distance were all very familiar.
“Sorry about this, everyone. They insisted on seeing you off.” Said Beatrice between labored breaths. All three members of the Ashwell family were still wearing their pajamas, so things must not have gone as smoothly as they’d planned.
“Liam, here!” Emma thrust a small brown bag towards me without warning, even with all the insulation I could still feel the blazing heat seeping into my chest.
“These are....”
“Faerie buns.” She said, cutting me off with a smile. “I stayed up all night making these you know, you’d better be thankful.”
The brown bag slipped right into my hand, the temperature from earlier now felt more on the side of warmth rather than unbearable heat. “They smell good, thank you Emma.”
She sighed in relief, before coming in for a hug. After spending so much time around her, she didn’t seem as tall anymore.
“Take care of yourself.....”
“I will, don’t worry.”
“I-I’m not worried alright! You just have a tendency to get yourself into trouble.”
“I’m surprised you’re not worried, I thought you were going to cry again.”
“She spent the whole night all teary-eyed, you should've seen it.” Isaac spat with a smirk
“Shut up Isaac!” She yelped in embarrassment.
“I think Liam’s gotten over all your little tricks now Emma.” Beatrice giggled at the sight of her flustered daughter. Left without any more clever cards to play, the poor girl was completely defeated, it even looked like steam was starting to puff from her beet-red face.
“It’s a shame we didn’t really get to hang out Liam, but I think we’ll see each other again, so until next time.” Isaac said, stepping forward for a handshake.
“Heh, who knows maybe we could even have a spar, I’ve heard the rumors about your talent.”
“Sure, when the time comes.” I answered with a firm grip.
“It’s been a long four years, but I’m glad I met you all, I hope we can meet again someday.” My father chimed at the top of his voice, adjusting his elaborate uniform amidst the declaration.
“Likewise, we wish you all the best.”
As we boarded the oddly designed wagon, I gave a final wave to the people I was now leaving behind. At the start of this whole ‘reincarnation’ thing, I was unsure of what my role here was supposed to be, and I still am. Heck, I wasn’t even sure if I was capable of living amongst these people in the first place, but; little by little, I feel like things are slowly starting to fall into place.
It might take ten years, it might even take a hundred, but someday, I’m sure there’ll be some sort of meaning behind all of this.
“We’re all set, Jytte!”
On command, the drowsy girl serving as our chauffer whipped the scaly creatures into action, and with a galloping sprint, the two monsters sped off towards the sprawling lands in the distance.
[NEW TESTAMENT REAPER – VOLUME ONE – END]