Childlike Games

The Winged Mercenary Guild was definitely huge, and could possibly house up to hundreds of trainees and members. The whole design was neat and simple, much like their white armor and sword. And based on the atmosphere during the matches earlier, I could also sense the deep camaraderie and friendship the members have. So, it was quite regretful to be leaving such a place almost at once. But what were we to do? We weren't really here to apply for a position. In fact, we blatantly used the recruitment process just to spend some of our time. Now that I think about it, I sort of feel bad about it all...

"So, where we off to now?" The brown haired boy strutted beside me with easy, light steps. At least one of us wasn't weighed down by guilt.

"Well, we already said our goodbyes, and we don't have much to do," I muttered. "So I guess we'll just wander around after we leave the guild."

He nodded excitedly, as though wandering around aimlessly was his favorite hobby. We were just at the gates when we heard voices calling after us.

"Wait! Recruits," the fairy boy, Jorkin, shouted after our figures. He panted slightly with his thin hands on his knees. "Y-You haven't told us your names!"

"I agree," the other boy, Wells, said. Noticeably, he now had a pair of black glasses on his face. The new addition to his outfit somehow completed his overall look. He said calmly, "I would be soiling the name of my family if I do not even hear of the names of the great ones who had beat us in a fair fight."

Sneak and I looked at each other. I shrugged in agreement.

"I'm Charles," the boy said simply, and said nothing more.

Sensing the awkwardness in the air brought by that short introduction, I managed an elegant bow, and said, "I am Eleftherion, apprentice of the wine merchant Farseer of the Aerim Continent."

"A wine merchant!" Jorkin shouted in a cutesy manner. "I knew you weren't trained for battle! You were simply too clumsy that I had thought you were messing with me!"

I blushed in embarrassment. "Well, I'm sorry for not being up to your level, then. I am only of lowly birth."

"Oh, no! On the contrary," the pretty boy replied. "You were an opponent to behold! I barely managed to win against you, and to think you haven't even been trained for this... I'm quite embarrassed myself actually."

That got me both flustered and flattered. "B-But I think you think too much of me... I simply have a talent for controlling notes."

"As I've observed as well," said Wells, pushing up his glasses with a finger. "Your magical control is simply far too advanced for a mere merchant's apprentice."

I laughed emptily. "I suppose I just lucked out after being born with such a gift."

Wells still looked at me with suspicion and interest. "If you say so."

Well, if that isn't the clue that it was mighty time for us to leave, I don't know what is. We hastily bowed our farewells and halfheartedly made empty promises to come visit and duel them again. It troubled me deeply how both of the boys seemed more interested in me when I wasn't even the one who won against them...

I looked at Sneak who was whistling away, and then at the bustling world around me. We were now a few streets away from the guild, but the high, white walls were still pretty much visible from where we were. I found it strange how I hadn't tried to search these walls in the past month of exploring. It was probably one of the most noticeable landmarks from all angles.

"Hey, hey," Sneak clamped a hand on the back of my shirt, promptly bringing me into a halt. "Aren't we getting too close?"

I stared at him in incomprehension, but when he sighed and tilted his head towards a direction, I found how we were amazingly close to the Dome now.

"Woah!" I screamed. "How'd we get here?"

A few men in bulky, silver armor glanced towards us, and Sneak hastily dragged me behind an immobile couch.

"Don't shout, stupid!" he screeched at me softly. "Those are imperial guards!"

"Do you mean to tell me that I've been leading you towards the Dome, and you didn't even stop me?" I whispered back angrily. I knew I could sometimes get so lost in my thoughts that I would come to a mile away from where I had started, but this was just ridiculous.

"I thought you were thinking of playing hide-and-seek." The boy grinned at me mischievously.

"... With the Empire's guards?" I mumbled in exhaustion, simply appalled by the boy's brashness.

But, now that I think about it, this was all a lie anyway. He wasn't really an imperial prince, and his mentor or parents, or whatever, could actually be looking for him miles away, and definitely not near this dome. So, I wouldn't mind playing whatever game this boy was planning to do.

"Alright, yeah," I said irresponsibly. "I was thinking of playing a game, but not hide-and-seek. Whoever reaches and touches the Dome's doors first without being caught by the guards is the winner."

"That's not fair because they're gonna go after me once they see my face," he mumbled with a glare. "But okay, Therion. I like a challenge anyway!"

"Therion?" I asked, remembering another boy's reddish face who once called me that.

"Yeah, for Eleftherion," he said. "Don't you like it?"

"... Nah, it's fine." I stared at the guards spread around the dome. Based on their heavy armor, none could probably conjure distance spells like water ball. They could probably only do body strengthening at most. I grinned, suddenly filled with excitement about this little game. Anyway, I doubt they'll hurt a couple of children, right?

"You ready?" I asked him, to which he nodded to silently, his one small face masked with determination. I grinned. "Hey, you gotta buy me some food once I win, okay, Charles?"

As I've predicted, he was surprised at me calling him by his 'name'. And I took that period of time to lunge ahead of him, skidding past the guards, who only belatedly realized I had gone past them.

"Not fair!" I heard a shout behind me, but I laughed into the winds. The doors were just in front of me. The guards had started to realize what I was doing, and started to move, but based on the amount of notes gathered around them, they were clearly not strong enough to control it efficiently enough to catch me.

I thrust my hands forward, feeling the cold glass doors of the Dome, which surprisingly hummed with some sort of energy. It entranced me that I forgot that I should be running away by now. His shout brought me back into reality.

I looked behind me, releasing my hand from the pulsing energy of the building, and saw Sneak being cornered by a dozen guards. He was sweating profusely, as though there had been a fierce chase before he ended up like that.

I cursed under my breath. 'How long was I out of it? And why wasn't I being cornered-?'

Too late! Guards were approaching me too in haste. I knew I was being really mean and disloyal, but what was I supposed to do? I gathered notes into my legs, and in a burst of magic I hadn't consciously used before, I practically flew up and away from the guards' reach and before I knew it, I had jumped myself up onto a two-story building's rooftop.

Hardly believing what I had done, I cursed yet again, and looked below me. I searched and searched for the brown-haired boy, but I couldn't find him anywhere near the Dome. The guards seemed busily marching around though. 'Did he manage to escape? What happened?'

I jumped from roof to roof, feeling like a little jumping monkey. I was about to shout for him, when I felt a presence behind me. I punched at it instinctively, to which I was rewarded with a child screaming, "OW!"

"Oh, Dear God Solus!" I shouted. "Sorry, but you snuck up on me!"

I examined the red welt forming on Sneak's arm. He shouted up at me, "You could've hit a bit more gently!"

"But how did you escape?" I asked as I helped him up from the dirty rooftop bricks. "At least a dozen guards had cornered you!"

"Yeah, and you just stupidly stood there!" he complained as he dusted down his pants. "I shouted for help a couple of times, you know. You only kept touching the doors like you were gloating."

"I wasn't!" I denied him blatantly, even though it really did seem to be the case. "Time seems to be slipping by me today..."

"Oh, now what?" he mumbled. "You can control time now?"

"No..." I grumbled. "I just got lost in thought, okay? There was this... power on the Dome..."

"Whatever," he said. "As long as you get your free meal, right?"

I started to complain but then he brandished a heavy pouch that I was sure wasn't with him a couple of minutes ago. He jiggled it around, the metallic tinkling hinting the presence of money.

My stomach grumbled in hunger, even though we just had lunch not even two hours ago. I still said, however, "You stole that from the guards, didn't you?"

He grinned at me. "A kid's gotta do what a kid's gotta do."

"... What a prince you are," I muttered at him, to which he grinned at widely.

~~

It seems like imperial guards were being compensated handsomely by the imperial family, because Sneak's haul was enough to buy us the best meals in town. But, because I knew those were tax-payers' money, I told him to save it for the future and only had him buy us some cheap streetfood snacks.

I bit into a grilled rabbit leg on a stick, the juicy meat making my stomach growl even more. I slowly bit into it small piece by small piece. By the time I had finished one, the 'prince' had already finished three.

"Dincha shey you wash hungrey?" he mumbled with food still in his mouth. He looked like a squirrel with nuts in its small mouth...

"Chew properly, won't you?" I chided him like I was Regina to a young child (me). "You're gonna have a stomachache if you don't, or even better, you might just choke yourself to death."

He swallowed down a whole rabbit for all I knew, and spoke, "Yeah, yeah. For a kid smaller than me, you sound just like my nanny."

The mention of that word made me suddenly want to spit out my rabbit...

I sighed and lowered my stick down to my side, suddenly losing all my appetite. I haven't exactly moved on from all that had happened, and thinking back to that day, I had many regrets. Should I have stayed behind to look for her? What if I came back and used what little power I had as a princess to save her?

I didn't know. And I certainly didn't have the magic to turn back time. I had lost her, and that's all there is to it.

"Hey, you okay?" Sneak looked down at me in worry. "... Stomachache?"

That made me laugh hollowly. Although I had met him a year ago, he didn't recall of it. So, for all he knew, I was a stranger he had met only a few hours ago. So, why did he look so worried now?

"... I'm fine." I shook my head, and to prove his point, I bit into his own rabbit and chewed arrogantly. "Shee?"

He glared at me and reached down for mine. A little war started between us, and soon enough, our faces and hands were all dirtied with the grease from the meat.

I sighed, taking a seat by a nearby fountain and dipping my hands in. There were probably no rules here against using the fountain water as a basin, right?

Ah, I decided I didn't care. It feels like I had grown used to acting like a crude boy that I had actually become one. At least I wasn't a crude boy with greasy hands!

Sneak snuck up on me and splashed some water up my face.

"Hey!" I screamed in complaint, and so, another immature game started. Acting like a little child, I felt a few of the heaviness in my heart start to whittle away.