Thankfully for me, Ilsa didn’t make too much of a fuss after my altercation. A little less thankfully, she had still told Alina, and the long-suffering look from her was a little embarrassing.

We met for dinner and discussed our findings. Alina had said that she hadn’t made any real progress in the records and didn’t expect to for a while. There was so much superfluous information that finding what we were looking for was rather difficult.

Later that night, I found myself on the roof of the Inn again gazing at the stars. It seemed that it was becoming a habit, and I didn’t have to think too much about why it would be.

If you spent enough time inside a hospital, I think anyone would prefer to be outside gazing at the stars.

Alina’s warm presence followed up onto the roof after a bit, where she settled down beside me, joining my star-gazing. We didn’t talk for a bit, but nevertheless, I found her presence soothing in a way I didn’t understand.

At some point in my sickness, it had become aggravating for people to be around me, so this was different.

“Dragon’s Tooth isn’t like Haven at all,” murmured Alina, and I turned to look at her. She was still looking upward, and even in the relative darkness of the roof, I saw some bright red shimmers in her hair flying about as she shook herself somewhat out of her reverie.

She looked at me and must have seen the question in my gaze because she hurried to say, “It’s just, I guess Haven was my home for some years after my guardian Io took me there after I escaped the Empire. I haven’t had the chance to see and explore the world. Did you know there’s a place to the south where the dwarves have mined so far down it’s said that it would take a year of traveling to get to the bottom of their home?”

“I didn’t,” I said truthfully, marveling at such a place, “I can only imagine how much magic was necessary to make it possible.”

“Right!” exclaimed Alina, “And there’s so much more. There are said to be massive serpents that rest at the bottom of the ocean between the Northern and Eastern Continent, and sometimes, they’ll take ships down if they are disturbed with a single flick of their tail. On the southern end of the Northern continent, there’s said to be an ancient city where none can enter, and the entire place is warded with green magic.”

Alina seemed incredibly excited, cheeks slightly flushed and her eyes distant, as if imagining the scenes she was discussing. “When I finished my education at the University in Haven, I thought I would attempt to explore places like that. It was Io who convinced me I should stay in Haven and that I was needed to run for the Council seat.”

Her voice almost seemed to express regret, and I found myself strangely enough understanding a little of what she was talking about.

I had also wanted to travel before I got sick. I had even been planning once I finished college to go out and see the world and, in my own eyes, see the world I had only heard people talk about.

That hadn’t happened.

Now, though, somehow, I had been given the chance to see a world even if it wasn’t the world I had come from.

“Well, you have a chance now,” I said.

Alina looked at me and cocked her head before a small warm smile emerged on her face, “I do, don’t I? Still,” she looked seriously at me, “We’re not done, we find your White Mage; maybe after that, and you’re able to heal whoever you need to heal maybe…” she trailed off looking a little embarrassed before she pushed forward, “Maybe you’d like to come with me?” she met my eyes for a couple moments before she turned away her cheeks turned a deep red.

I was momentarily confused before I realized that Alina was legitimately inviting me to journey with her. I had considered her a friend, though a new one, but this felt more than that. “That would be really nice,” I replied, smiling at her softly and genuinely touched.

On my side, I still had some questions; in a way, I had even more questions now, but I shrugged them away; things were fine the way they were now.

_-_

A week passed, and I did my best to stay patient despite the lack of progress. I had returned several times to where I had smelt what I thought was the White Magic but had made little progress.

Ilsa had joined Alina for today, seemingly giving in and letting me wander a bit on my own, so I had walked the streets by myself. Without her, I easily blended into the general populace, and as I was walking, I smelled some strangely familiar magics nearby.

I only needed to turn my head to the right to see the group of boys with whom I had an altercation standing off to the side, chatting with each other as they had a standing breakfast together. I turned away from them, continuing my walk down the street.

Only then did I spot a rather familiar cat walking through the street, and our eyes met. It blinked at me. I cocked my head at the creature.

You again.

Despite myself, I raised an eyebrow, looking at the cat dryly, “You’re the one who used me as a distraction.” I replied softly, careful not to draw attention to myself.

If sheepishness had a feeling, that was the impression I got from the cat.

You handled yourself fine.

“Did you know I would?” I asked the cat.

Uh…

“Whatever,” I sighed, “I’m glad you’re okay; you might want to scram. Those same boys are nearby.”

Oh. Yeah, I probably should. Uh, if you want, I’m sure my friend would reward you.

“I didn’t help you for a reward,” I replied, a little confused.

Sheesh kid. When someone offers you a fish, you take it. Come on now.

I shrugged; it wasn’t like I had anything better to do. I followed the cat, and we walked through twisting streets, gaining a bit of elevation until we had made our way in front of a large squat building with a slightly ajar gate.

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I followed the cat as it slipped through the gate, feeling slightly awkward as I entered a courtyard that looked a little overgrown, to be honest, as if it had not been maintained much.

Deir, I got the kid who helped me yesterday. Come out, you drunk!

I blinked, looking at the cat, surprised. That was a little impolite; also, from the way the cat talked, it seemed that its owner could understand the thought speech as I could.

A loud crash followed by heavy stuttering footsteps echoed through the courtyard before; through the entrance of the building stumbled a woman with long, messy silver hair, blurry-looking silver eyes, red cheeks, and disheveled clothing.

“I’m coming, you ungrateful brat, now what is-“ she looked at you before her eyes widened, “Erbor!” she stumbled to her knees, “Erbor! I thought you were gone…”

Her eyes were brimming now with tears, and she reached out to me as if I were a mirage.

I glanced down at the cat; all I got from him was nonplussed confusion.

“Uh, Miss,” I said, kneeling down slightly to look the woman in her eyes, “I’m not Erbor.”

She blearily blinked at me a couple of times before she sniffed the air, “Course you are,” she mumbled, “I’d recognize my older brother anywhere. Where’ve you been, it’s been decades.”

She tried to reach for me again before she seemed to stumble slightly and began to fall forward.

Instinctively, I rushed forward, grabbing her before her face could impact the ground.

I turned her over gently and realized she had passed out. As I turned to talk to the cat, I unintentionally took a deep breath of the air and smelled a strong, warm, and tingly scent. I froze and took another sniff, realizing with a twist of my gut that the woman I was holding was the source of the scent.

I turned to the cat and it skittered backwards a little at my look.

“You said her name was Deir; she’s a White Mage,” I said, my eyes pinning the cat where he stood on the ground.

Uh…

The cat looked between us hesitantly before,

No, she’s not…

His words were utterly unbelievable; he wasn’t even meeting my gaze.

I looked down at Deir, confused beyond belief, not even sure where to begin to address what I had walked into.

I looked back at the cat and stated plainly, “She’s drunk.”

The cat blinked at me, seemingly confused.

She’s always drunk.

I sighed, elation warring with the feeling that there was a picture here that I needed to get a hold of.

The Black Mage who looked like my sister's words floated back to me, ‘that broken one in the Long Mountains.’

Either way, I couldn’t rightly leave her passed out on the ground. I slid my hands underneath her limp form and picked her up before looking at the cat.

“Is there a place I can put her so she can rest?” I asked.

The cat flicked its tail and turned, walking inside the place.

Follow me.

I walked through the building, noting how messy things were. Overturned bottles abounded, and a sticky, acrid scent was in the air I could only attribute to alcohol.

Further in, we walked to where a couch was tipped over. With my foot, I flicked my foot righted the couch and placed the person who was evidently my White Mage on it.

I considered trying to heal her, but I realized my knowledge of healing so far had been limited to actual damaging conditions. As far as I knew, Deir had just drunk too much. Carefully, I bent down and made sure her head was turned to the side just in case White Mages could also vomit from too much drinking and asphyxiate themselves.

I looked around the area, raising an eyebrow at the mess before looking at the cat, “I’m guessing she doesn’t clean much,” I asked.

The cat flicked its tail back and forth.

Sometimes, she mutters about it. That’s usually before she goes to sleep again.

I picked up one of the bottles and eyed it warily. “I didn’t even know White Mages could get drunk,” I said.

Sure, they can. Just takes a lot of booze.

I looked around the place thoughtfully before I turned back to the cat.

“Do you think she would mind if I cleaned up a little?” I asked.

She spends half her time not even knowing her own name. If you want to waste your time before she wakes up, fine by me.

I glanced at the woman again, biting my lip slightly before reaffirming my resolve. Something about seeing her like this didn’t sit right. It tickled something in my mind, a memory. Not about her, but I thought I remembered seeing my sister's room once in my sorry state well into my sickness. She had been spending time with me, and it was only when I saw the mess in her room that I realized she was falling apart.

It was part of my lingering regret, how much pain I had caused her.

I stood up and looked around before I spotted my target in another relatively open area of the building. Lord Balar had shown me a while ago that trash was disposed of in certain bins enchanted with green magic to reduce the components to base materials. Then, if possible, blue magic was used to transport the material away.

If I wasn’t mistaken, the bin a distance away from me looked to have such enchantments, notable by the smells of the ever-changing green magic and the odd warped feeling of blue magic that Ilsa smelled of quite often and that I had faintly noticed coming from Azure.

I moved about the apartment, efficiently cleaning up the debris and tossing it away. Once the large items, namely a multitude of bottles, were tossed, I began to sweep up the apartment, noting in a very telling manner that while there were plenty of bottles of alcohol, there was no food debris.

Cleaning up took some time, but I found it oddly meditative. Bit by bit, I restored her living space to its former glory.

I opened up a couple of windows to air out the sickly sweet scent of the alcohol and then returned to where I had laid Deir.

I sat there observing her in thought.

I felt something stir in the back of my mind, and then Sara’s presence made herself known.

My poor child.

“Yeah,” I murmured, “She’s not really in the best shape.”

Deir. Gone for seasons uncounted. Cut off from me. Rejects my presence.

I nodded at the new information. It was something to start with; I had to get through to her, though together we could help Sara.

I could help someone.

I sat there for a little while longer before Deir began to stir. She stirred a bit before her eyes shot open, “Erbor,” she cried out, looking around wildly before her eyes landed on me.

I raised my hands calmly, looking at her, “I’m not Erbor; my name is Jamie.” I said, keeping my voice level and not trying to disturb her.

She looked at me, seeming somewhat confused, but her eyes had cleared slightly and now seemed to take me in fully.

“You look like Erbor,” she murmured before slowly rising from the couch, placing her feet on the floor, and looking at me. She sniffed the air once, and her eyes narrowed.

“You’re a White Mage. Is this how the Empire comes to recruit me?” she said softly.

I shook my head, “I’m not with the Empire. I’m here on behalf of S- I mean the Great Tree; she needs your help.”

Deir looked at me momentarily before snorting a choking laugh, “The Great Tree needs my help? Kid, that’s what started this whole mess.”

I blinked and looked at her, confused, “What do you mean?”

Deir seemed to rein herself in, “Erbor was the one who originally went to get help for the Great Tree some eighty years ago. He vanished, and without him, we fell apart. When the Black Blood came, it was all we could do to stem the tide. For as many people we saved, it seemed the Black Mages could curse more. Erbor came back, we thought we had a chance…” Deir paused, staring into space, “We wiped each other out. There’s only a few of us left, and I’m not worth much,” she snorted, looking at me as if I needed confirmation. She still wasn’t remotely close to sober. I got it as her head lolled back slightly onto the couch.

I sat back, struck. Sara had shown me the memory, but I hadn’t conceptualized what it really meant. Erbor leaving had caused all of this? Except things were starting to not line up. The Black Mage, who at least looked like my sister, had said that the White Mages were at fault.

“I thought the Black Mages were friends of the White Mages?” I asked, looking at her, desperate for answers.

Deir chuckled, but her tone was not funny. “They were our friends. That’s why we never suspected them of the Black Blood. We should have seen it…” she trailed off, staring at the space over my head.

I felt Sara almost physically recoil in my head at Deir’s words.

No. Not possible. My children at war.

Sara stopped speaking, and I felt her presence, which usually rested in the back of my head, retreating until it was just a glimmer.

Deir looked at me, and there was something terribly knowing in her eyes, “She’s just retreated from you, hasn’t she? I saw it in you the same way I felt it when we pushed her out of our minds before we fought the Black Mages. We didn’t want to hurt her. We did it to protect her. Now it’s just you and me alone.”

She started into another laugh as she fell to her side, giggling.