{-Noa-}

Rennyn had announced that he was preparing what they needed to meet with the goddesses, who Kaylin explained were Elidia and Dalleira. So there hadn’t just been spirits in Noa’s mother’s story, but goddesses. No wonder Rennyn and Kaylin seemed so surprised, beyond whatever other things they must’ve been feeling.

Noa took the opportunity to talk with Aymer; it was something that everyone else would’ve overlooked. When Noa found him, Aymer was sitting down, working through reports with the Goddess’s Sword leaned up against the desk. He looked up and offered a weak smile.

“I heard Rennyn and the others plan to make one more small trip before they leave again,” he said. “Do you know when he’s coming to get the Goddess’s Sword? I still haven’t been able to talk to him about it.”

Noa decided to choose his words carefully, but also in a way that got closer to the point than most. He doubted they’d have a particularly long time for this. “He’s probably going to get it as soon as we’re ready to leave.”

“We?” Aymer repeated, frowning. “Noa, you’re not going anywhere—you’re not a part of their mission. It’s better that you stay here where I can watch over you. I’m not going to let you risk your life out there if you can be safe with me…”

“That’s… kind of the thing. I am a part of this. Or, at least, we think I am.”

“What?”

“You know the story Mom would tell me, right? About the hero and his friends? I… think I recognize Rennyn and Kaylin. I talked to them about it and they’re willing to believe that they’re the first two heroes, and I’m one of the three that went missing.”

Aymer sighed. “I thought your days of hoping for a fairytale were over.”

“This isn’t a fairytale, Aymer. This is really happening, whether you want it to or not.”

“You’re not going anywhere without my say in it! What happens if they’re wrong? What do you plan to do then?”

“You know how the story mentioned two spirits named Elidia and Dalliera? Apparently they’re goddesses that Rennyn and Kaylin know. They’re going to let me meet them. Hopefully they’ll have an actual answer for us.”

“Am I just supposed to let you go, then? What would your mother say to know that I’m willingly letting you get involved in something far worse than we realize?”

“You really asked that? You know exactly what she’d say! ‘Oh, Aymer, let him go! What’s the worst that can happen? It’s all a learning experience, you know. He’s not going to know anything unless you let him get out there. Otherwise, he’s gonna grow up just as boring as you!’”

Aymer slammed his hands against the table. “And see where those ‘learning experiences’ got her! Dead, before I was ever able to do a damn thing about it!”

The silence that followed reminded him of the path he now had to tread. That anger was replaced with regret, avoiding Noa’s gaze as he continued, “I didn’t think that, when she and your father left you in my care, that that would be the last time that I saw her. Even with the warning signs I didn’t think that would be the end. I lost her before I was able to say goodbye. I don’t want to lose you, too, Noa. You’re the only family I have left.”

“It’s a nice sentiment, but no one’s going to get very far like that.” The door opened to reveal Rennyn who, thankfully, appeared to be the only one listening. He proceeded to walk right in without a single concern for what the other two had to say about it.

Aymer, understandably, looked surprised. “How long have you been there?”

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“Since the beginning,” Rennyn answered casually. “I just came to say that we’re ready and overheard the whole thing. Figured I shouldn’t interrupt.”

“This is a family matter,” Aymer tried. “Please stay out of this.”

Rennyn shrugged. “The moment there was a possibility that Noa was a part of this, it stopped becoming a ‘family matter.’ This is a life or death situation for the entire world, and that means I’ve got to get involved. Trust me, if it was up to me, I’d let you work this out on your own. I know that can be important. But we don’t have time for mourning.”

Noa, honestly, didn’t know where he wanted to stand here. He… understood both sides, really. Mostly he just felt embarrassed that Rennyn overheard all of it.

Aymer took a deep breath. “Rennyn, I’m sure if you overheard you can understand my hesitation…”

“And all your hesitation is going to do is let Dhymos get one too many steps ahead of us. Then we’re all screwed.” Rennyn sighed. “Alright, I don’t know if it’ll help or not, but I’m going to tell you something. A story, if you would.

“It begins with a thirteen-year-old boy. He’s pretty average. A farm kid in a land where two nobles regularly taunted each other just for the hell of it. But when these two nobles decided they wanted to exchange more than words, that kid was sent off to serve one. The lord was desperate enough that he was even sending out his own daughter to try to get the upper hand. Sure, they tried to find a peaceful solution. But that still led to war, and they couldn’t escape the violence before they could find the source of it.

“And how about a prince, spared only because he was visiting foreign officials at the time of his parents’ assassination? He was blamed for what happened to them. All he could do was go into hiding and hope that he could find a way to clear his name. Quite frankly, he barely made it past all of the close calls.”

Aymer and Noa, still, remained silent. Noa recognized what these were—they weren’t other fairy tales or stories… they were pieces of Rennyn’s past, parts of his other lives. Not like he didn’t immediately make that clear.

“And now, that kid’s standing in front of you, another damn hero meant to save another damned world from another damnable villain. I didn’t ask for any of this, yet here I am.” Maybe he realized that still only half proved a point, as he seemed to carefully try—and mostly fail—to not sound annoyed. “What I’m saying is, we don’t get to choose the hand fate gives us. But we do have a choice: we can either cry about it and achieve nothing, or take it and see where it leads us. Once your hand’s been dealt, there’s no going back.”

Noa looked back at Aymer, who still didn’t seem too convinced. “If I’m a part of this, then I’m going to have to go with them. But it’s not unwillingly—I want to help them.” He glanced at Rennyn. “I know we can do it, as long as we’re together.”

Decidingly not helping his own case, Rennyn grumbled, “The ‘power of friendship’ isn’t gonna get you too far in the real world, you know.”

“I know. But we’re going to be meeting basically old friends, right? And we’ll be together, like we were supposed to. I know the world isn’t sunshine and rainbows, but I know that it’s not all terrible. Believing that is just going to drag everyone down, in the end.” Noa shrugged, though, in the hopes it really did come off as just showing his thoughts and not as a start of an argument.

Aymer sighed. “Well, I suppose the facts are against me here, aren’t they..? The only thing I can do is waste your time…” Despite that, it seemed he was still willing to give one last request. “It’s not definitive that you have to be a part of this, is it? There’s still a chance that you’re not involved?”

“A slim one,” Rennyn mumbled, “then only Kaylin and I have to get involved in it.”

Aymer seemed slightly assured by the fact. “Noa, I’m going to let you go with them to meet the goddesses. But I don’t want you running off with them if you don’t need to. If this needs to happen, then I suppose there’s nothing I can do to stop it. But I don’t want you in danger if you’re not a part of this…”

Noa said nothing because, honestly, he didn’t know he could promise that. He knew where the request was coming from, but… that didn’t change the fact that he was curious now—about the world beyond Silvium, about the connection between him, Rennyn, Kaylin, and the two others he had yet to meet.

Rennyn, then, made the promise for him. “How about this: we’ll all go together to talk to Elidia and Dalleira about this. I’m going to leave the Goddess’s Sword here. When we get back, you can talk to me about it. Tomorrow morning we’re leaving for good, with or without Noa, depending on what the goddesses tell us. Sound fair enough to you?”

“If it’s the best offer you can give me, I’ll take it,” Aymer responded with a nod. “Take care of him, no matter what. You’re responsible for anything that happens to him.”

“Oh, I’m well aware of that already.”