CHAPTER SEVEN: HOW IT FEELS TO LEAVE Y*U.

SPADE

"Wait, so let me get this straight, your piette chose a guild for you?" Spade asked, amused by the turn of events.

"Well, if you heavily simplify the information that I gave you and add some lies on top, then yes. You could say the bird did it forcefully."

Spade tried to contain himself but he couldn't, she was downright ridiculous. She had clearly made the story up, but he didn't mind her imagination, she was amusing.

But was he really going to join the weakest guild? That thought made his heart sink.

"So, which guild will you pick?" Kaira asked him. Her lashes were a deeper shade of black than her hair. When she looked up at him, he felt as though his heart had stopped.

Spade scratched the back of his head then frowned.

Since when did he have the luxury to admire girls?

He cleared his throat.

"Night Gladiolus."

"Wow! The same one as me!?" Her diamond eyes lit up.

"Yap." He said casually, but he was starting to feel claustrophobic, he wanted to reject and keep the girl before him at arm's length, she was simply a favour; he needed to regain control.

-Bathump! My ass- he thought to himself.

"We should hurry back. Else we'll be snowed in." He said calmly.

"Shoot! Yeah, we should." Kaira said then immediately busied herself with collecting the wood that had fallen.

"When we get there…" Kaira paused, then looked up at him again, "Let's watch out for each other."

Spade felt the corners of his mouth lift as he nodded to her request. That made his work easier.

"That's a vow." He said.

"Yes, a vow." Kaira finished.

They had both collected enough wood and had returned the excess that had fallen, to its rightful compartment before they returned to the cabin to help Haru and Sienna prepare for their last meal together.

They ate, drank, and laughed together as they reminded and retold each other old tales. Still, despite the light-hearted atmosphere, the dominant emotion that they all held on to was anxiety, the uncertainty of their future clung to their hearts and masked the joy that the reunion should have represented.

THE NEXT MORNING.

"Rise and shine kiddos, it's time to head to the port," Sienna said kicking Kaira and Spade's bodies that were sprawled next to each other on the living room floor.

"Mmmm…I..do…don't..no meat.," Kaira grumbled as she turned her body in the other direction.

Spade, on the other hand, got up immediately.

"Well that's surprising, you should probably shower before her," Sienna said as she puffed her lit cigarette.

"The sun's not up yet?" Spade asked groggily.

"Not yet, but it should be close to sunrise. Did you choose a guild yet? I haven't seen your piette for a while."

"Yeah, I've chosen one." He stood. "You said that we didn't need a lot of clothes because each guild has a technician and town nearby?"

"Yeah, it should take you five days to travel to the next port in Dia, so perhaps three or four garments to change into during the boat ride, are advised. But the rest you can buy after you get to Dia, maybe in the first or second town you stop at before Arkedia."

"Oh, and will there be an orientation?"

"Of sorts, it depends on the guild. Let's see; you chose Night Gladiolus, the head of the guild is Artea Micha. He is quite an oddball, but I think that you'll be fine with him. He's an air mage, specifically attuned to carbon as a gas."

"You know him personally?"

"More or less, he was a good friend of mine when-,” she paused then looked outside. “Never mind, go shower." Sienna dismissed the topic.

Perhaps it was the face devoid of emotion that Sienna wore, but as she sat down by the window watching the world outside while smoking, Spade felt as though he could only see a minuscule fraction of who she was.

Unsettled by the emotion, he grabbed his bag, from where he had left it by the door, then rushed to the bathroom.

KAIRA.

"Why the hell are you smoking in the house!?" Kaira grumbled with her eyes closed.

"I love you, Kaira," Sienna said, her tone calm.

Kaira felt unsettled by Sienna's sudden honesty. She sat up and stretched her body, then headed to the kitchen to steam some ground cacao.

"Why can't you just threaten to hurt me as usual? This…" she signalled between Sienna and her through the half wall that separated the kitchen from the living room, then sighed changing her reply, "You are making me feel as though you are slipping from my fingers, and I'm letting it happen."

"Can you catch me, though, even if you tried?" Sienna teased.

"No matter where I am, I will find you if you need me. I'll kill everyone if I have to. I'll-,"

"Wow, you have such a potty mouth this early in the morning, and what powers are giving you this confidence? Did you, by any chance, wake up with different abilities?" Sienna teased laughing at her.

"I'm serious Sienna. I'll get a bazillion times stronger than you."

" You know," Sienna took a moment to inhale her cigarette then continued speaking as smoke pooled out of her mouth. "There is a reason I raised you like my daughter and not a disciple. I want you to be free."

"Freedom to me means running an illegal 'odd jobs' business that puts guilds to shame, in a cabin, in the mountains with the person I love most in this world. So, no matter what, I will come back."

"Okay, I'll be waiting."

"Cacao's ready, want some?" Kaira asked changing the topic.

"Yeah, which milk is available?"

"Camel and goat, we ran out of cow's milk."

"Camel is fine, make some for Spade, though he doesn't like sweet things, so, maybe just the steamed cacao?" Sienna suggested.

"Got it."

Kaira served the beverages then brought them to the living room at the same time Spade walked out of the bathroom, steam rolling off him.

"Oh…you're done? We don't take coffee, so the only alternative is steamed cacao." Kaira said.

"Oh…sure, no sugar though?"

"Yeah, no sugar."

Kaira grabbed her cup and went to her bedroom, which had now been completely colonized by Haru.

"Seriously…are you planning on moving in even before I leave?" she muttered as she grabbed her bath supplies.

After an hour, the rays of the sun pierced through the sky, embracing the land with its warm glow. The four of them left on Sienna's Basilisk to port Poi, The only port that connected Dia and Skala.

"You should have just given me genie when I was going to register for the guild!" Kaira asked as she let her hair flow free with the wind due to the speed of the basilisk they were on.

Sienna said nothing; she merely held Kaira in her arms then kissed her hair.

Sienna, being a beast mage, had beast-like characteristics, and that also included, a beast’s possessiveness that only ever took charge when she was parting with something she liked. Be it her favourite bow or a living being.

"My Gosh! I'm the one who didn't want to go, so why the hell are you acting as if we'll never meet again, do you just want me to commit treason? because I will!"

At this, Sienna finally laughed, "No, I just...I want to remember you like this."

"Like this?"

"As a spoiled kid with a potty mouth who likes sweet things, meat, and constantly complaining. Also, get your own familiar Genie, isn't your carriage!"

"I will...I hope, my power isn't exactly…"

"Yeah, you're right no familiar would want you," Sienna rolled her eyes.

"HEY!"

SPADE

"Did you know that Kaira communicated to her piette?" Spade teased Kaira by sharing her story with Sienna.

"WHAT?" Sienna responded.

Spade was shocked, did Sienna actually believe that? Anyone who knew piettes would know that there was no way that that could actually happen...still, Spade frowned. Her Piette had chewed her hair.

-Was it defective?- Spade wondered.

"If you could call talking to a con artist a conversation, then sure, but we didn't 'talk', 'talk'…it was more like it understood me?"

"Huh, I've never seen nor heard of such a case before. Could Augustine be making a new breed?" Sienna pondered out loud.

"You casually call legends' names as though they are your neighbours. Some of us grew up listening to his adventures from rumours, Augustine is like a legend to our generation."

"Speak for yourself, I gracefully lived in a cave," Kaira said.

"A cave? Don't you mean mountain?" Haru asked.

"Naah, when I was your age Sienna, and I went to Indl isles for training, we stayed in a cave and only ate seafood. I got so many worms from Sienna trying to make me eat raw fish!"

"Seriously? Aren't the isles dangerous?" Spade asked.

Indl Isles was an isolated patch of unleveled land north of Skala that was often associated with bad weather and ships capsizing.

"Well…after you almost die two or three times, you stop stressing over it," Kaira added cheerfully.

"Ah, right, comforting." Spade retorted in a monotone.

"It has to be. You were trained by pirates Spade. I bet you also had life-threatening experiences!" Haru said. "I was really lonely you know; if Danny-,"

"Not that boy again!" Spade growled in an irritated tone.

"He is a good person!"

"He can go be, 'good' elsewhere." Spade dismissed.

Kaira laughed then rested her head on Sienna's shoulder