Not everyone in the coalition knew that Kiran and the others had returned. Judging by how focused Silvy was on fighting a dummy outside, she would’ve easily gone out of her way to find them had she known and set aside her current training that she found herself preoccupied with.
With a loud grunt, she lifted her sword and planted it directly into the training dummy. That poor dummy didn’t stand a chance a living breathing being like herself.
Even whilst in training, Silvy took things seriously judging by the amount of sweat her hair and garb gathered.
Silvy gasped a little as she finally realized he was just standing close by while leaning against a wooden post.
“Scared ya eh?”
She used her other free hand to wipe the sweat from her brow. “I think you know the answer to that question already.”
He smiled. “I promise I didn’t mean to.”
“Sure sure,” she said with squinting eyes that quickly returned to normal. “So, how long have you been standing there sneakily watching me?”
“Not any longer than a minute. Don’t worry. I didn’t catch you doing anything embarrassing if that’s what you’re worried about. I just figured I’d come by to say hello since we’ve just gotten back here.”
She gracefully sheathed her sword and then placed her hands on her hips. “Well, I’m glad to see you made it back here. I was truthfully a little worried about whether you’d make it back here given that it wasn’t exactly easy reaching this city in the first place.”
“Getting back here was the easy part. As for everything else, let’s just say that things could’ve gone better.”
She nodded her head in understanding. “Things fared similarly for us. We didn’t have any luck finding Noreko while you were gone or whoever it is that’s truly behind these murders.”
“No luck at all?”
“Heaven’s no,” she said with a frown. “We’ve been quite thorough in our searches, but there’s practically no sign of him. Things have been scarily quiet since you all left as well.” A dark thought crossed his mind when she said that specifically.
If no murders occurred while we were gone, that could suggest that Noreko had been accompanying us during our journey. Noreko could change his identity but since magic wasn’t working in this domain, he doubted that he would be capable of using whatever magic granted him this power in the first place. Therefore, he likely was wearing the same face as the man who they had stumbled into in that crypt back in Liall. Sadly they hadn’t gotten a good look at that man so they had no way of knowing what face he was wearing currently.
Silvy ended her silence as he kept contemplating such matters. “Do you think one of the people who accompanied you might be Noreko?”
As he pondered her question, it didn’t seem entirely impossible. Magic wasn’t entirely absent from this domain as they all once thought. Aphelia and her sister could use magic but they were anomalies. An arcane root would also work towards enabling someone to use magic so that could enable someone like Noreko to continue to change his identity into anyone he could quite literally get his hands on
“It’s not an impossibility that he had been accompanying us, but I somehow doubt that was the case.” Everyone seemed like themselves during their journey. Was Noreko really that good at taking on the personality of such personalities such as Yorais or Frederek? That seemed doubtful to him, but the nature of his magic subsuming another’s identity eluded him so he couldn’t cross out the possibility entirely. At the very least, he didn’t think Lar was Noreko. He had a direct connection to Lar after all with their souls being bound together so he didn’t have to suspect her at all.
Silvy sighed and began to cross her arms beneath her bosom. “Honestly, I’m not sure we’ll ever find him at this rate.”
Noreko was a serious thorn in all of their sides. It was like no matter how hard they wanted to pull the thorn out of themselves, it just kept sticking out their backs and the minute any of them attempted to remove it, it just wouldn’t come out no matter how hard they tried.
Perhaps the only way we can rid ourselves of this thorn is to yank it out the other end in the most painful way imaginable.
“I know you already said things didn’t fare that well for you,” she said, “but do you mind informing me of everything?”
“You want the short explanation or the long one?”
“The long one.”
He gave Silvy a relatively long explanation of what they uncovered from their end. While their capability of apprehending Noreko wasn’t bearing any fruit so far, they had at least an idea of where they needed to take things regarding matters concerning the state of this domain and how they might go about fixing it.
“What are our plans now then?”
“No one knows quite yet. I imagine we’ll be discussing this matter with the coalition soon with Lucias to try to come up with a direct solution. Frankly, I don’t think that there is an easy solution to any of this. Someone’s going to end up hurt and there’s a lot of bad blood between every side now.”
She let out a deep sigh finding the situation quite a mess. “I feel like there’s just no end to the amount of trouble we find ourselves in.” Her eyes certainly gave off that impression. An almost emptiness began to dwell in that longing gaze of hers that drifted off of him before finding its way back to his eyes. “One of these days, I just want to relax and not have to worry about anything at all. Do you think such a thing is even possible anymore? Or is misery all we have to look forward to?”
“There’s no reason to assume it can’t happen. But if we were to have most of these problems solved, what would you be doing?”
“I think in such a circumstance I could finally have proper nightmare-free rest to start with. Then I’d gladly lay my sword down so it could rest for just a little while. Such a thought sounds practically impossible with where we are right now. But a girl can pray for such a thing now can’t she?”
“Absolutely.” What better than to hope for a better future? If he could in some way grant her these simple luxuries, he’d like to do that. He’d like to do it not just for Silvy, but for everyone dear to him.
“Oh but uh, if it’s alright, can I talk to you about something else in particular?”
His eyebrows went up. “What’s on your mind?”
“It’s about Juna. Have you gone by to see her yet since your return?”
“I was planning to go see her soon to check in with her and let her know what I’ve told you.”
“It’s just…” She paused for a moment coming up with the right words to say. “I’m just a little worried about her. I’ve been keeping close to her since you left. She’s been rather distant lately and admittedly struggling a bit emotionally.”
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“She seemed to be doing a lot better by the time we left,” he said.
“I know and I thought so too. But she quickly deteriorated once you all left.”
“Do you think it’s mainly due to Fred?”
“I think at least partly. Honestly, I think there’s a lot more going on with her than we probably know. The loss of Fred is no doubt a part of her problems. It’s just that I’ve tried speaking to her numerous times about whatever problems she might be having and she always redirects our discussions to more silly subjects and by the time I realize what’s happened, it’s too late for me to try to dig in. And I don’t know, maybe it’s just better I don’t dig into her personal life in the first place.”
He began to rub his chin. “You’re just trying to help. She probably just wants to keep her issues close to her own heart. You know how people are.”
“I do, and that’s why I’m concerned. I’ve known people who keep a lot to themselves and never really talk about the problems plaguing their mind. I’m just a little worried is all. But for all I know, I’m simply overthinking it. I can’t really blame anyone for feeling the way they do given everything that’s transpired.”
“She might not say so herself, but I imagine she appreciates someone like you looking out for her. I’ll certainly be sure to go see how she’s doing and make sure she’s alright.”
“You’ve known her for a lot longer than I so you’re probably better suited to it than me.”
He had known Juna since before he joined the coalition. Not even an entire year had passed since then and it already felt like an entire lifetime had gone right on by.
So much has happened not just to me, but to countless others. Oh how quickly things can change from a bad situation to an even worse one.
He stopped leaning against the wooden post and brushed his left arm collar. “I think I’ll go see how she’s doing.”
“Let me know what you think whenever you have a chance later.”
“I will,” he said as she looked ready to continue doing some training against the dummy without him being there to spectate.
If Juna was truly not doing so well, he felt a need to truly check in with her. She did seem a lot better by the time he left Valak, but as Silvy suggested, it could just be a facade.
At the end of the day, it was hard knowing how another truly felt about things. People in general could be quite surprising. Noreko for instance didn’t come across as a complete murderous fiend until that part of him revealed itself. Juna, while quite jovial and in high spirits most of the time could’ve easily been faking it if she had worked hard in erecting that kind of facade to act as a barrier between herself and others. What is presented outwardly isn’t always what’s really there.
What truly mattered, to him at least, was the bonds he had with others. Relationships such as family and friendships in general mattered most. Everything else felt secondary to those things. For that reason, he felt it important to see Juna next to check in with her.
* * *
It took him a while to ascertain as to where exactly Juna was. After asking a few members of the coalition whether they had seen her, he ended up eventually uncovering her whereabouts.
She had been seen wandering around Valak. No one really knew where she was though which made things a little difficult for him. With a bit of further questioning of the denizens within Valak, he lucked out by eventually running into her on the street.
“There you are,” he said to her surprise.
Juna carried what looked like some new tailored clothes in her hands.
“Oh, heya Kiran. I thought I heard you had returned today.”
“Yeah, we just got back a few hours ago. I’ve been looking all over the place for you wanting to see how you’ve been doing.”
She ended up walking by his side and they began walking up the inclining wavy cobbled street together. “I’ve been doing well. I ended up needing to get a few new bits of clothes today.”
“What’d you end up trading for it?”
“I traded in an extra dagger I no longer need and traded a few bits and bobs I found throughout this domain that I’ve picked up along the way.”
“You didn’t forget to buy me anything now did ya?”
“What?” she said taking him seriously. “No, I didn’t. I could though if you want me to.”
“Nah, I’m just teasing a little. These clothes I’m wearing are holding up well enough.” Compared to what he had back before ever reaching Liall, he was living it up. He had nice leather boots, leather pants, and a comfy jerkin that fit him just right. Each article of clothing had a few cuts or problems, but overall, he had managed to not get any of them too badly damaged even when he ended up fighting Evelyn back a few weeks ago.
They began to near one of the buildings provided to them by Lucias where a lot of the coalition was holding up at and stashing up things. The inside was quite dark with just a few lit candles. Juna began stuffing the clothes in a bag she kept up against a wall.
For some reason or another, there was an air of strangeness the longer he found himself by her side. She didn’t seem as interested in holding up a conversation or sparking one in the first place. He could definitely get a sense that she was not entirely like herself from before he had left Valak.
“Say, Juna,” he said not wanting to beat around the bush.
“Uh-huh,” she said standing back up.
“Have things been going alright for you?”
Her eyes darted to the ground for a moment. “Not you too,” she said softly. “No offense Kiran, but it feels like everyone can’t seem to just ever leave me alone these days. ‘Oh, look at Juna, she’s not acting just as she always does so something must be wrong with her.’ I’m doing just perfectly fine I promise you.” The way she said all of that made it clear that wasn’t true. Words were one thing. Her tone of voice and the way she carried herself portrayed something entirely different.
“I get it,” he said. He thought he knew what was eating her up or at least played some role in it. “We never have talked about what I did for you on our way here to Valak.”
“You’re quite correct Kiran,” she said formally. “Quite frankly, I don’t want to talk about it. I appreciate what you did. I do and I accept that you didn’t have any other choice. I don’t feel like we need to talk about it any further.”
Kiran hadn’t wanted to end Fred’s misery. But he had done it anyway. He hadn’t talked to Juna about it since it happened and he got the impression she hadn’t taken it as well as he had once thought. This wasn’t the only problem plaguing her, but it was a big one he could accurately assume.
As she tried to walk away he decided he needed to dig further even if his body screamed at him to not do so. “And why shouldn’t we talk about it? Should we not confront the uncomfortable things that are nagging at us? If there are things that need to be reconciled, I’d like for that to happen so we can resolve things before they have a chance to fester.”
She sat down on one of the many beds within this building. Her palms pressed into the bed causing creases to form. “All I want Kiran, is for people like you to stop always treating me like there’s something wrong. I’m just me. I’ve always been me. Can that not be enough? I’ve already told you that I’m fine and that I understand that what you did was necessary.”
“I’m your friend Juna,” he said sitting across from her on another bed. “When I hear others are concerned, I then become concerned. People wouldn’t be saying they’re concerned for no good reason. And I get it if you don’t want to talk about your problems. We don’t have to, but I do want to help you in whatever way I can when I can see clearly that not all is well.”
Her palms gripped the bed more tightly than before. “If you really want to help me Kiran, then stop pressing me.” She stood up suddenly keeping her back facing him. “I’m perfectly fine as I am. Please,” she said in a tired voice, “don’t make me state it again.”
Juna walked away leaving him there alone. He didn’t bother going after her. She made her desires evidently clear. She stated in no clearer terms than for him to not dig into her problems any further. If I push despite her own wishes, she’s bound to crack.
Silvy’s concerns towards Juna were quite evident now that he saw it for himself. Juna wasn’t like herself and she was clearly aware of that.
He wanted to help her but she wanted none. How was he supposed to help someone who didn’t want help?
All he could manage to do was sigh. Another difficult situation left in my hands. There was no easy direction to take this issue. Let time do its part and it likely would fester and get worse. But force himself into a situation that she doesn’t want him to pursue, and potentially cost an entire friendly relationship that he had with her since they first met.