Couple of days later, our ship was finally finished. It was half the size of the previous one and I didn’t think it’d last in the open seas. Any decent size wave was going to knock it over.

Considering our situation though, I suppose I couldn’t fault the crew for still being proud. Heck, even I was proud, sort of.

“So,” the captain said. “How do you plan on getting us out?” He spoke to Alustur.

We’d had this conversation before. And every time Alustur said the same thing. Every time except this one. “We’ll take it outside and go underground with it,” he said.

“You, what?” The captain said.

I shared the same sentiment. How the hell was he going to take the boat underground? But then I recalled the tunnel in the pond.

“You sure?” I said. “You can’t breathe there.”

“I’m sure,” he said. “You can. And I would expect you to step up. Can you do that?”

“I can.”

“Alright then, let’s get this boat outside.”

“You want to carry this thing?” One of the sailors said. “It weighs at least a ton-” His voice of disappeared when he saw Alustur single handedly lifting off one side of the boat.

“It’s a little heavy,” he said, wiping off a bead of sweat.

“Little?” I wondered… sometimes I kept forgetting just how much of a monster Alustur really is.

It was decided we’d carry the boat in the afternoon and spend the night in the city. Alustur carried one end while the sailors carried the other. It took five of them to match Alustur’s strength and stamina. They had to constantly switch members. All twelve of the sailors got their ass handed to them just from the carrying. By the time they get to the pond, it was already evening and everyone was tired. Even Alustur was a little sweaty. Me and Shia never bothered touching the ship. Shia had offered to help though for some reason.

Anyway, we just left the ship and went back to the city. Alustur bought dinner for everyone. Meatballs and rice; not bad. We finished it up with the spiced yogurt drink, the highlight of the meal.

Afterwards, the sailors left and we made way for the inn. I went to my room only to find Shia sitting pretty on my bed. “Need something?”

“Bored. Let’s chat.”

I had a bad feeling about this one.

Shia was beside me and we didn’t talk. Usually, silence was a good indicator of whether you were comfortable around a person or not. This time it was also a really good indicator. But perhaps not something I needed at the moment. What good would it have done me to know this situation was hella awkward?

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I could groan all day but I had to do something about this, right? I had to do something about the situation, something about the awkwardness. Something about-

But what?

And why?

Shia never said she wanted to-

Wait a minute. Stop overthinking. This isn’t about it. It’s about her…. “How are you doing?” I said.

“I’m doing fine. What’s with the sudden interest?”

“Sudden? No. I’ve always been interested. It’s just that, lately things have been a bit hard on me so I wasn’t able to ask but… I am interested in how you are, sis.”

“It’s been a while since you called me that,” she said.

She hadn’t yet looked at me. Her gaze was on the floor but I could tell she wasn’t looking at the flooring. She was looking to a place perhaps a tad far away.

“Yes… it’s been a while.”

“I was worried.”

“About me?”

“Yes. I was afraid you’d die.”

“Why though? Why care so much about me. I don’t mean that as- no, I asked from curiosity. I don’t hold myself to a high degree, so I’m curious why would anyone care about me.”

“A lot of people care about you Sol. And I don’t think you need to have any sort of value for getting said care. I don’t think anyone should have to define why they care for you either. They care for you, end of discussion.”

“Okay.”

“Now. I wanted to talk about some things,” she said.

“Right.”

“I want to stay here.”

“What?”

“I want to stay here for some time. I know you’ll be coming back here again so I’ll come back then.”

“You can’t just-”

“I can. I came here on my own and I can stay on my own. I’m confident I’ll be fine. I already spoke with Alustur.”

“So I was just an afterthought.”

“What- no!” She grumbled. “Look, I know dad will be upset but you can convince him. I’m sure he’ll listen to you as will everyone else. They respect you. Way more than you think. And you’re so-”

She stopped.

Before I realized it, my eyes had been leaking again. I suppose I took her existence for granted just like everyone else in my life. So when she spoke about leaving, when she spoke about not being there with me… my heart took a dive.

“What’s wrong?” She said.

“I don’t know. You were always there. I couldn’t imagine myself being there, roaming around alone.”

“What, you like me now?” She snickered.

“Why would I not like you sis?”

Shia sighed. “Okay okay…” she went quiet.

“Why do you want to stay here?”

“There are a lot of things I can learn here. A lot of recipes, a lot of skills, a lot of the arts. I never liked fighting you know. I’m multitalented as you can tell,” she winked. “But I don’t enjoy it. At least not as much as I should be. I enjoy mundane stuff a lot more. I enjoy being free. Even though I know that’s impossible. I’m sure you can’t relate.”

“I can relate,” I said.

“Okay. That’s why I want to stay here. If you can’t convince them, just say I die-”

I held her mouth, I stared in her eyes, and just stayed like that for a couple of seconds. “I’ll try.”

“Okay… I wasn’t expecting you to be this upset.”

“Me neither.”

Shia was like an elder sister to me; no, she was my sister. She was there when I needed her, and mostly messed around and screwed up things for me. However, she was there for me. And now just like mother- no, perhaps not like Mom since she was dead- Shia too will be absent from my life.

I suppose this was another thing I had to contend with. I was growing up, she was growing up, the world was moving forward. Time wasn’t going to stop.

Nothing would go back the way it was.

Thus-

“You can have this,” I said, giving her about half of my red gem. The gem was clumped together in segments so breaking it off wasn’t an issue.

“What am I going to do with it?”

“Many things. You can supercharge any spell you wish to use. You can sell it if you want to. However, I would prefer if you used it in emergencies and kept it around. So, when I eventually come back here, it can be a motivator for me to find you.”

“Aww… your pretty sister isn’t motivation enough for you to find her?”

“Just take it, damn it!”

I literally shoved it in her hand and she kind of dragged me into her chest, giving me a bear hug. I didn’t or rather couldn’t say a word and just accepted her embrace, tears welling up again.

“Thank you Sol,” she said.

“You’re welcome sis.”