Even under my cloak, and even in winter, the sun still managed to roast me alive. That’s just how it was in a Solumian winter, and I hated it, doubly so when I threw my cloak off myself and was greeted with a freezing winter wind. I put my cloak back on, but didn’t curl up under it. Then, I turned away from the wind and opened my eyes to see rolling green hills, a distant forest, and the pure blue sky.

But not a single person I could admire the view with was traveling with me right now, and there was no easy solution to stop being alone. Cia was around, but I didn’t know her well enough, nor did I want to have a conversation about nature while I was around a stranger. Andrian was at least kind, but a couple of my opinions drove me away from talking to him. First, he was involved in politics, so I certainly didn’t trust him, and he was an adult—I knew the second opinion was somewhat baseless, but something about non-teacher adults scared me.

My ruminating shifted to my hair as I put it into a ponytail. While I missed my friends, a part of me was certainly glad that I wouldn’t have to deal with them anymore. No more remarks about my complexion or my hair, and no more teasing about me as a whole. But I couldn’t care too much either when my family was also gone. All my questions went to Cia, but she wasn’t the same sort of smart as my older brothers, and her empathy wasn’t on the level of my older sister.

I tried pushing the thoughts away and turned to Andrian, who sat at the opposite corner of the cart we caught a ride on. “Andrian, did I ever thank you last night?”

“I don’t believe you did.”

“Thanks, then...”

A grunt and a nod followed, but I didn’t mind the lack of a real response. My mind focused more on his clothes, and why he hadn’t taken off any layers yet. The air didn’t seem cold enough to cause someone to wear as many layers as he did, but maybe he wasn’t bothered by the warmth and was too absorbed in looking at the landscape. However, that answer also seemed wrong. Soleil, our homeland, while being called the land of the sun and wind—which elicited thoughts of a beautiful environment—had many bland hills with nothing there. Compared to the eastern side of Keirithu, Solumina wasn’t very exciting to look at.

“How’re you faring?”

I flinched at the sudden question and looked at Cia, who had suddenly appeared in front of me. “Good.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “Other than the boring response everyone gives after school.”

“I dunno. Don’t feel like talking.”

My glance toward Andrian didn’t give her the information I wished it had. “Hm. Why not?”

“Cuz.”

“You’re stubborn,” she commented. I hated how words so simple stung me. “I assume that if I push harder, you’ll close up further?”

“Mhm.” A smile appeared on my face a second later. “Try reading my mind?”

She sighed. “Not an ability of mine.”

I stifled and sigh and pushed myself further. “I don’t really open up to anyone. Try patience.”

“Well, I’m not patient.”

“Mm, you’re gonna have to be. I learned. So can you,” I said.

I heard her grumble and look away. “Then what can we talk about? Ah! I never told you about my Passives, even though I told you about my Skills.”

“Mhm?”

“Well, look out at the plains. Over there, specifically,” she said as she pointed behind me.

I turned and saw what I usually would. Grass, some flowers, and not much else.

“Nothing?” She asked as she saw my bored and confused face. “Name those bushy-looking ones.”

I spotted a plant with tightly bunched, small leaves that grew along with small, white flowers. “Why do I know that it’s thyme?”

“One of my passives. You’ve gained herbal knowledge of all sorts.”

“How come it doesn’t work gradually, like your Fae Eyes?” I asked curiously.

“It does. Bet’cha can’t tell me the scientific name of a single one of those plants, can you?”

I double checked, and the information, as she’d said, wasn’t there. “So it is the same.”

“Yeah. You’ve got herbal knowledge—plus lots of other plant-related knowledge—the powers of night vision, and a small increase in your speed. Plus one I won’t tell you about,” she smirked, seeming proud of herself.

“Why?”

“Just cuz it’s more useful if you don’t know about it for now.”

I thought about that for a second and decided to accept it with a nod.

Then, I turned my head as the cart reached the top of the hill, revealing a small town ahead. Faifin was a town I’d been to a few times in my life, and it looked just like the average Solumian town. Buildings with stone bases and wooden walls, each house painted a warm color of the rainbow, with children’s art on top. Simple thatched roofs seemed to blanket the town, making it seem as if each home was shielded by the yellow light of the sun, and windows sat quaintly in each wall; a rare ornament to see in most other countries. Though that last part was hearsay—I’d never been out of the country before.

But unlike the usual excitement I felt at the sight of the town, I only felt dread. Anxiety flooded my throat but my face kept still, like a statue. Everywhere humans were was a place I could be caught, put in jail, and killed. Unless the news hadn’t been spread yet, but everything told me that wouldn’t happen. I was an oddity, possibly dangerous, definitely desperate—fugitives like that had their faces put everywhere. Currently, my only hope was to avoid being found by using the resources I had available.

“I haven’t seen this architecture in years,” Andrian said, interrupting my thoughts. “They’ve still got their charm.”

“Hm...” Cia said. “I guess they are pretty vibrant. The homes even look happy somehow.”

“It’s a normal town,” I shrugged.

“Well, duh, you’re the local.”

“I actually agree with Kiara,” Andrian said. “The colors are nice, but the architecture is quite simple. Even in Soleil it’s the same.”

“Well I stand with my own opinions,” Cia said defiantly. “Even if they aren’t the best. Anyway, Kiara, follow me. You need to stretch those legs.”

I noted the almost childlike joy in her tone as she told me to follow her. She began flying towards the town excitedly, but I hesitated in following her. She turned and waved for me to follow; an air of confidence from her compelled me to follow and cast aside the anxiety I had felt at the sight of the town. Nervous sweat didn’t plague me as I picked up my blood-covered cloak and my two sheathed swords before hopping off the cart and landing on the soft ground just a few feet below.

I began jogging on the dirt path next to the knee-length, yellowing grass to catch up to Cia while I put my cloak on. Pushing aside self-conscious thoughts as I closed my eyes and let cool air fill my lungs, I stopped for just a moment before charging ahead at full speed. Winter wind pushed at my back, urging me toward Cia and the town ahead. It was nice to just be outside for once rather than reading or writing in my little room.

Cia slowed to let me catch up. “Well then, Kiara, how do you wanna do this?”

“Do what?” I asked before it clicked in my head. “Oh. Can’t we use Nightshade?”

“My powers still aren’t at full capacity, so someone could see through it.”

“Little Miss Arrogant’s powers aren’t good enough,” I said under my breath, testing her.

She smirked. “I heard that! Know what? Fine, we can try that.”

I nodded in response and smiled back.

“Hey. You always smile back when I smile. And even when Luna smiles, you smile back. How come?”

“Uhh, I dunno. I’m... happy to see other people happy,” I said as my face heated up.

“I glad that you’re you.”

Very quietly, I responded, “Thanks...”

“My pleasure.” A grin met my wide eyes, and just to prove my answer correct, I smiled back, unable to stop myself.

“Back to that plan of ours. I had a couple other questions, but my favorite way to figure people out is by spending time with them.”

A question struck me—one I’d been meaning to ask. “Why do we share so many traits?”

Cia cocked her head. “Not exactly. Dualaraties aren’t supposed to be at odds with their other soul.”

“No, I mean...” I trailed off to get my thoughts in order. “Don’t we both like talking about deep ideas and learning about stuff?”

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“Hm, I guess we do share a couple traits. We could look into it later.”

“Mhm. For now, we can get back to the plan.”

I flicked my cloak onto my head and walked into the village, fitting in perfectly. During any season of the year, Solumians wore cloaks to block the sun or wind, and to keep warm in winter. However, a few people didn’t wear them, instead choosing to let their hair fly freely in the almost constant wind. Or they wore their hair up to stop it from blowing into their face, and some, like me, wore a cloak with their hair up to alternate between the two.

“It wasn’t just your village that wears cloaks?” Cia asked.

“It’s a cultural thing for the weather.”

“Hmph. It takes away from that happy atmosphere the houses make,” she complained.

I continued scanning for shops as I answered. “Mm. Most people in Soleil don’t wear them cuz there’s a giant wall around the city. And most kids have dyed cloaks.”

“Good. That’s the next stop, right?”

“The next major one, at least. But we need a—” I cut myself off as I realized I had no money on me. Even though I planned to get a map the moment I escaped my village, I hadn’t ever checked for money. “Not a map.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“No money,” I said as I walked to the side of the street to double check my pockets.

“We could ask Andrian.”

“No.”

Cia almost flinched. “That was sudden. What’s so bad about asking him?”

I sighed. “He’s a politician. I don’t like them.” Cia’s questioning gaze urged me on. “Just a bias. They’re basically all liars or horrible people.”

“Oh?” She raised an eyebrow in amusement. “You have it in you to hate people?”

“Mm, kinda. I guess a few people,” I said. “But we need to figure out the money problem.”

I spotted a shop down the block with maps in a window and started jogging before Cia could speak. A plethora of art styles laid out before me, from simple black and white maps to large painted ones. The first maps that caught my eye were the ones created with colored pencils, as well as some of the ‘adventure-book’ maps. Cia pressed her head against the window and gasped at the wide variety of the art.

“Aha!” She turned to me and leaned in to whisper, causing her usually dark eyes to appear like a glowing solar eclipse. “We could steal a map if you’re up for it.”

“Uh...” I stalled, thinking back to a childhood memory of when I had stolen a small toy from a shop. My parents told me not to do it again, and I listened from then on. I felt a strong sense of persuasion from her, but I held to my heart. “I don’t think that’s a good idea...”

“I can clearly see your hesitation though. You’re at least thinking about it.”

Feeling slightly annoyed, I huffed because she was trying to make me go against my morals, and a snarky response popped into my head. “I thought Nightshade didn’t work well yet?”

“Oh, well it still works. It’s just... the problem is that it’s new, so people might be able to see through it.”

“I know,” I said, mostly ignoring the regurgitated information as I walked toward an alleyway beside the shop.

“Where are you going?!” Cia pouted.

“Somewhere covert,” I whispered. Cia floated behind me, following me into the alley where I took my hood off.

“Does that mean you’re gonna do it?”

“No.”

“But—”

“Please let me think,” I asked.

Cia sighed and lay down while floating as if she were on an invisible bed. She looked up at the sky as I thought about deciding whether to steal the map or not. I knew I didn’t need it and that I didn’t want to steal it either, but I wanted to satisfy Cia too. My back found its way to the wall and my arms crossed as I thought. Everything about the situation seemed wrong; if I didn’t want to be stolen from, then I couldn’t steal from others.

“We aren’t gonna steal it. We’ll be fine without it,” I said.

“But it’d be very nice to have.”

I stifled a sigh. “They don’t tell us about other countries, or where we are. And the ones I saw didn’t have any details of roads or... whatever.”

“You’re the one that came up with the idea. We can use it to get to Borea,” she argued.

“We can just... ask people.”

Cia sat up and looked at me, stern. “I’m not gonna let you back out of this, Kiara. If I think you can do this, you can. I’ll even help with the guilt.”

I knew she was right, and I hated it. “Shut up. You’re just like...” I choked up for a moment, my voice becoming quieter. “My brothers. You believe in me too much. I’m not the freaking prodigy you want me to be.”

“No. No, you’re not,” she said, stinging me with her words. “But I think you have the tools to get there.”

“Can I just figure things out on my own?! Please?”

“You’re not bright, are you?”

“I know,” I said.

“What?! I was joking!”

I hate this... I thought. Why am I so bad at arguing?

“Look, I’m sorry, Kiara,” she said genuinely. “I’m still trying to figure things out.”

Despite the argument, I smiled. Finally, someone else treated me kindly. “Thanks. I’m, uh... bad at that too.”

“I learned something though. To not push your buttons.”

As I swallowed the lump in my throat, a thought came to mind. I wanted to tell Cia what I was thinking, but I told myself it wasn’t that important. Memories of the same problem in Bristol bubbled up, and my emotions became harder to bottle up. I let myself slowly sink to the floor, brought my knees up to my chest, and laid my head on them as my body shuddered while tears fell from my face.

Cia’s heels clicked on the ground but I didn’t hear her say anything; I guessed she had already figured out a presence was much better than any words she could say. I began to truly feel hopeless, even if I had Cia here. I couldn’t ask my family for advice about what I should do or where I should run away to. My friends were probably either concerned or just making fun of me for this. Or maybe—no.

I need to stop worrying about them. Cia would want me to focus on myself, I thought. After taking a few deep breaths, I wiped my tears and looked at Cia once again, who still seemed sorrowful. And sorrow meant more than just a lot to me, so I smiled despite myself.

“Thank you. A lot.” Cia nodded in response. “I like... to try to figure things out on my own, if that helps. Uh, and it sorta reminded me of one of my brothers. He tries helping me in the same way.”

“Ah, I got it. I’ll try to keep away from other reminders of home—if that’s possible. And if I do, speak up.”

“Can’t.”

“Try it. It gets easier the more you do it.”

I nodded, knowing she was right. But spite bubbled up in me as I responded, “My friends make it harder.”

“Friends? They’re not friends if you don’t feel safe talking to them.”

“I shouldn’t have said that.”

She cocked her head, curious. “Is it not true?”

“I’m still... figuring it out,” I said. “But, I hate talking badly about people.”

“They’re bad people if they’re bad people,” Cia said frankly.

“But you don’t need to tell them that. I hate doing that cuz—” I faltered.

“Cuz you know exactly how it feels...”

I nodded. “It just feels wrong... nobody gets anything out of it, really. And... the worst part about this is that I think they’re usually just joking. I’m the only one who takes stuff seriously.”

“A serious outlook is good. It means you’re grounded.”

Not according to my brother, I thought. But there wasn’t time for more conversation. “Thanks... I feel a little better now.”

“Confidence does that,” Cia smiled. “I think, once you really appreciate yourself, everything’ll stop looking so treacherous.”

I smiled back. “It just takes time, right?”

“Exactly. Now then, stand up. Hold your head high. Don’t worry too much.”

I stood up, feeling an odd sense of refreshment. Unknowingly—at least up until just a moment ago—I had been sent a solution to most of my problems. Though it was ironic, too, since she had created my largest problem. But that didn’t really matter much, now that I had a new goal in mind, and nobody to tell me if I was going to wrong way or not.

I looked at Cia as she rose to eye level. “We should get the map.”

“Woah. That was a fast change. You’re being—right, we just went over the fact that you’re a serious person,” she said. “Well, all right then, let's get to it.”

“I’ll still feel guilty,” I shrugged, “but I probably need to practice.”

“All-righty. Well, you stay put for a second, and I’ll scout out the area,” she said as she flew off. Before even reaching the end of the alleyway, her tiny figure popped out of existence, leaving me on my own. Not wanting to worry about the next thing I’d be doing, I instead took time to readjust my clothes. Crimson stains of blood covered most of my clothes, thanks to the previous night, but most of the stains could be hidden.

Just as I finished checking myself over, Cia reappeared. “Everything should go smoothly, so follow me.”

I followed her out of the alleyway, but not in the same direction we entered from. She led me behind the building to a door at the back of the little shop and gently began to turn it. The playful attitude usually seen on her face was completely gone, I noted, and was replaced with a carefully determined look. Something about the sudden change was almost creepy, but I admitted it would be nice to change gears at the drop of a hat.

“Nightshade is the signal,” she said, slowly turning the knob back to its original spot and staring at me with her lifeless eyes. “Go in during that time.”

My brain took a second to process that before I nodded. A sense of responsibility fell on my shoulders as she left me in front of the door while she went off to complete the other half of the plan before I could even ask what we were doing. I loved being filled in on why I was doing something, so it bugged me that she hadn’t explained. It was too late to ask now though, as I felt air seep into me.

Opening the door, slowly, I revealed a large room with shelves lining its walls, each section of the shelves piled with paper. Half-drawn maps were strewn across a square table in the center of the room, while finished maps sat in a neat pile at one corner of the room. I ignored the door to the front of the shop and moved with gentle and quiet steps as if I were at home when it was well past midnight, craving a snack, except this time I worried more about being caught.

Instincts told me that all of the completed maps would be marked down on a list, so I instead eyed a pile of unorganized maps sitting in one corner of the room. Wood creaked beneath me as I walked over, crouched down, and began leafing through the papers. Just as I’d thought, each one had a mistake somewhere on it, whether small or large. Suddenly, a tiny screech jarred me out of my thoughts, causing me to look around frantically until I spotted the culprit.

“GHOST!” a tiny gnome screamed as it ran across the floor. “Master! There’s a ghost! Please! Please save me!”

My eyes widened in fear at the alarm. My hands leafed through the maps at a faster pace as my heart sped up. Destroyed map after destroyed map. Not a single one looked half decent. Time was definitely running out. There! I found a map that looked perfect and shoved it into my one of cloak’s pockets. I stood and walked quickly out of the shop, careful to be quiet with the door. Then, I found my way back to the alley once more, just as Nightshade began to wear off.

Not knowing what else to do, I walked to the front of the shop and looked around for Ciara. Currently, she was sitting in front of the door, in the air, looking around. We spotted each other and she turned to the door and yelled, “I gotta go!” before flying over to me. Smiling as I patted my pocket, I opened my mouth to speak but was cut off.

“Shh! We should go somewhere else for now,” she whispered.

Once we had reached the edge of town again, I was allowed to speak. “I got it.”

“I could tell. And what lesson was learned?”

“Look around first. Sorry.”

“No apology needed, since we got the map,” Cia said. “Now, let’s see it.”

I pulled it out and showed her. Vibrant colors depicted the continent of Keirithu and its five regions, including the sea in the center. Which, along with the rest of the larger bodies of water, hadn’t been colored in. Crags like the sunset aligned themselves with the northwest of the map, while golden sand covered the southwest corner of the map. In the south and southeast, vibrant greens were used to exhibit the many grasses of Keirithu, and in the north was the unnatural line of frost that separated Frikalt from the rest of the world.

Major towns and cities were labeled—even mine, though it hadn’t been major for decades—with a closed circle, while capital cities were labeled with an open dot. None of the five regions were labeled, though those names mattered most to historians and why our ancestors had named each one a certain way. So, of course they weren’t on the map. But none of the countries’ names were either.

“It’s very pretty,” Cia noted with intrigued eyes. “Wait... you didn’t steal it from an obvious pile, right?”

“No,” I responded with more attitude than intended. “I took it from a trash pile. The compass is off and the oceans weren’t colored.”

“Ah. Good. Well then, all that’s left is getting back to the cart... and I guess after that we finish our ride and then leave,” Cia said with a melancholy tone.

“Mhm. I hope.”

I stashed the map in my pocket once again as it finally set in that I’d be on my own, possibly for the rest of my life. While my current goal was to gain confidence, I saw no purpose for it currently, especially if I never saw those friends again. All I could hope for was some sort of crazy pardon from the authorities, if possible. Only time and patience would tell, though.