It was a quiet place. The residence when Aion was by himself reminded him greatly of the late nights at home. He supposed that the key difference was the fact that it was daytime, or rather, the sun was setting, so it was more like sunset. Regardless, Aion found himself waiting around the house hoping something would happen.
Of course, nothing did until Aira arrived.
"Ah, you're already back. I apologize for the wait, sir," Aira said while bowing.
Aion didn't bother saying anything; he figured she wouldn't change anything about her behavior.
"I'll be preparing dinner. Is Luna not joining tonight?"
"I don't think so; she just left while saying she had something she forgot to do and hasn't shown up since."
Aira walked over to the kitchen and nodded in understanding before beginning her prep work. As someone who could only make frozen food or throw things in a toaster oven or microwave, Aion was impressed.
"How long have you been cooking for?" Aion asked.
Aira paused her cutting and thought for a few moments before saying, "I think I first started doing things in the kitchen around five or six."
Aion raised an eyebrow. That was incredibly early. At least, he thinks it was. Of course, Aira probably did very basic things like organizing certain ingredients or whatever else is basic. Thinking about it caused him to realize that his skills in the kitchen were even more lackluster than he had initially thought. Most of his knowledge, which he admits is flawed, comes from random information he could recall from various books or shows he's watched. Which was sad considering the fact that when he was younger, his family would watch a lot of cooking shows on TV.
"That's pretty early; you must be very skilled." Aion gave a generic reply when he realized he wasn't saying anything.
"I'm just about average," she said as she resumed her work.
"Well, you're better than me. I can't even prepare anything complicated."
That was a lie. He couldn't prepare anything normal.
"That just comes with experience. If you've cooked for as long as I have, I'm sure you would be at my level at least."
"Uh…I guess?" Aion agreed hesitantly.
"If you want someone truly impressive, you should meet with my older sister over that."
Aion didn't say anything. He was a bit surprised that Aria was apparently better at cooking than Aira, but he supposed that Aria was probably better in some areas to balance it out from a narrative perspective. In a lot of cases, one twin character had specific talents over the other. Not to say that he hadn't seen some cases where one twin is superior, but, generally, there was always something that made the other twin have some sense of superiority, even if said twin didn't feel that.
Aion pushed the thought away, not wishing to pursue thoughts of narrative over a dream.
"Aria's good at cooking, huh? I wouldn't have guessed," Aion said.
"Aria is good at a lot of things."
"I'm sure she is."
Aira paused and asked, "Do you have a sibling?"
"Yes, I do. An older brother."
"Hm~" Aira made a humming noise in interest as she resumed.
"Why the sudden interest?"
"Well…it was just something I thought of. Your older brother, is he…is he good at a lot of things?"
Aion thought about it. What exactly qualifies as "a lot?"
"I mean…he's certainly better than me in a lot of areas. But I suppose that's only natural."
"What's he better than you in?"
Aion felt a little surprised at Aira's interest. He hadn't expected her to show any. Or rather, it'd probably be more accurate to say that he didn't peg her for the type to be interested in such conversations.
"I mean…he's better at quite a few things, like housework of all forms, organization, keeping to a schedule, and…" Aion trailed off at the final thing.
Aira, noticing, glanced over at Aion to see an expression that caused her eyes to widen slightly. A small twinge of gloom had crossed his face at whatever he was about to say.
"I get the picture," Aira said.
"Ah," Aion let out a noise as he returned to his usual expression. "Sorry about that. I don't know what overcame me."
Aion quickly covered up the situation.
"So, what are your interests? I'm a fan of reading myself, wait, uh, that's—"
"There's no need for that."
"No need for what? We're just getting to know each other, are we not?"
Aira didn't respond. Instead, she just continued working away at the ingredients before her.
"Uh…" Aion began with a noise before shutting his mouth in realization that he didn't have much of anything to say after her silence.
Soon, he slumped into a chair at the table in defeat.
* * *
The following day, Luna hadn't shown up, leaving Aira and Aion in awkward silence for breakfast. They hadn't said a word other than courtesies to each other since the conversation they had the previous night. So, when the opportunity arose, Aion escaped the painful atmosphere that was in the house and went on a stroll through Magna.
Much like yesterday, the preparations continued much to the disinterest of Aion. Around him, laughter and loud cheerful voices filled the town. It seemed like everywhere he went he was met with happiness. Perhaps, this place was just a happy place. Being cut off from the world, Magna could create its own reality—its own happiness—apart from the prying nature of the external world. Away from those omnipresent weights dragging everything into the abyss.
Magna was fortunate. That was what Aion believed wholeheartedly in that moment. To be free from the shackles of the real world, it was most beautiful. Like a flower in a garden, it can grow with greater care, away from the winds and storms of the outside. Ultimately blooming into a truly breathtaking sight. A sight that could fill an observer with a warm, pleasant feeling. One that could bring a soft smile to an observer's face. Yes, that's what Magna must be.
That was Aion's impression as he walked through Magna with his usual apathetic expression.
However, his facial expression twisted from a scene unfolding on the outskirts of town.
"You? Seriously? I can't believe a commoner was chosen for such an important event!" A girl with blonde hair fiercely glared at another girl.
"Well…uh…Mr. Alphonse is truly kind…" The brown-haired girl meekly said, not even looking the blonde-haired girl in the eyes.
Clicking her tongue, the blonde said, "So you do get it!? If you know what's best for you, I suggest you reject his invitation."
"Ah…well…"
Aion walked over, completely concealed from the two girls' perceptions. He supposed they were too focused on one another to catch the footsteps of another.
As he got closer, Aion noticed some marks on the brown-haired girl's face, like she'd been hit. A sour taste filled his mouth, and he stepped forward more rapidly.
"Just listen to—"
"Excuse me," Aion interrupted the blonde girl with a cordial smile.
"Huh? Who are you?" She glared at Aion, which made him tense up.
"Just a passerby, I don't think you should harass her like that."
"What? Does the little commoner have feelings for this poor excuse of a girl?"
Aion didn't like the comment. Not one bit.
"Look, I don't even know who that is. I just think harassing and assaulting someone is fucking disgusting." Aion glared at the blonde girl.
"Assault?"
"Oh, I guess maybe that word doesn't exist here, so hitting her is disgusting."
"Hold on a minute! What do you know about what happened here?"
"Enough to figure out that you're treating this other girl like shit."
"What are you even saying!?" The blonde girl started getting worked up. "Do you even know who I am? You should!"
"Well, I don't."
The blonde girl was flabbergasted.
"How do you…?" She looked genuinely shellshocked, which made Aion almost laugh.
"Look, how about you leave since you're clearly someone important; thus, wasting time with us is below your station, right?"
"That's not—"
"What's going on here?" A voice interrupted the small commotion.
A young man wearing glasses was walking toward them. The blonde girl's breath hitched.
"Juno? What are you doing?" He asked.
"Ah…well, you see," The blonde-haired girl, Juno, was in a panic as she spoke. "That's—"
"I'm not interested in excuses. Were you harassing Esme again?"
"No, that's—"
The man sighed and said, "Look, I'm not interested in your excuses. Could you just leave? I'm already busy enough as is."
Juno's face twisted into annoyance as she said, "You're just kicking me away like that!?"
"Yes."
Juno's mouth dropped.
"You heard him, princess," Aion said with a mocking tone.
Juno shot a glare at Aion before leaving.
"She gave up easier than I thought she would," Aion said to no one in particular. However, he then turned toward Esme and asked, "Are you okay? It looks like you've been hit."
"Oh, that's not what you think…" Esme spoke in a quiet voice.
"There's no need to protect her."
"I'm not though…" Esme said, failing to meet Aion's eyes.
Aion didn't buy it, but he decided to go along with it. There wasn't much of a point in pushing further into that narrative.
"Uh, who are you?" The man asked with a perplexed look on his face.
"Hm? Oh, Aion Belial, I come from outside of Magna. I'm staying here for the duration of the festival."
"Oh?" The young man looked quite intrigued. "That's definitely different. Also, thank you for helping Esme out. I appreciate it."
The thank you seemed more like an afterthought, but it was whatever.
"It's no problem," Aion said. "So who are you?"
"Ah, my apologies, I'm Samuel Astra."
"Samuel, huh?"
"You can just call me Sam," he said.
"Sam, huh?" Aion echoed the name with a twinge of nostalgia in his voice.
Sam was one of the characters in Crystal Machinations, along with Juno and Esme. Juno Celestia was the daughter of the treasurer of the town of Magna. Esme Cerys was just a commoner from a poor family and the deuteragonist of the original novel from what he gathered. And Samuel Astra was in the lower end of the nobility if he recalled all their information correctly. Also, hadn't that name been mentioned before? It would've been in the invites Luna wanted to give out; he recalled both Esme and Sam had been mentioned along with Alphonse.
"Um…" Esme spoke up a bit. "I'm Esme Cerys…thank you for helping me…"
She nervously averted her gaze, hiding her hazel eyes behind her long brown bangs.
"It's no problem. I'm sure anyone seeing the scene would've helped. It's the right thing to do."
Esme smiled and said, "Aion, I hope for your brief stay you enjoy your stay in Magna. If you need anything, feel free to ask."
"If that happens, I'll call for you," Aion said.
Esme then waved goodbye and left. Leaving Sam and Aion behind.
"Why are you staring at me?"
"No reason, I'm just grateful."
"Didn't you already thank me?"
"I did, but it felt a little rushed and more like an afterthought." Sam laughed at the end.
So he did realize, Aion thought.
"As I said, I'm sure anyone would've helped."
Sam smiled and said, "Sure, sure, but still, you were the one that showed up. For that, you should be thanked."
"..." Aion wasn't sure what to say.
"So, uh, actually, I've noticed you've been walking around town by yourself since yesterday."
"Oh, yeah, I don't have much to do. I guess I could stop by Alexander's, but…"
"Alexander? You've made friends with him?"
"'Friends' is probably a strong word…"
"Acquaintances then."
"Yeah, that's certainly better."
"Still, I don't know Alexander to talk to many people. The fact that you think you can just stop by Alexander's is quite impressive."
"Is it now?"
Sam nodded and continued, "You're also friends with Luna, are you not?"
"I suppose so. She at least claimed so."
Sam smiled and said, "That's great! I know you're leaving soon and all, but it's still nice to connect with others while you're here. We could be friends if you want."
"Friends, huh?" Aion repeated the word, and a strange feeling welled up in his heart from it.
The word 'friend' already seemed shaky for his and Luna's relationship. But this person he just met? That was even stranger. Furthermore, this was a dream. Perhaps they were friends. Calling someone from a dream a friend felt weird, like he had some sort of imaginary friend.
"Do you have a problem with it?"
"Oh no, nothing like that. I guess we can become friends. I just think we should get to know each other first."
Sam nodded and said, "I can understand that."
"So yeah, I guess labeling us friends immediately would be too fast."
"Well, I guess we should get to know each other more. I have festival preparations for today and tomorrow. On the Festival's Eve I'm free, and we can meet up, though."
Aion nodded and said, "Sure, I also should get going."
"I look forward to it!"
Aion agreed half-heartedly and walked away. Once he was out of Sam's sight, he picked up his pace, not wanting to linger a single second longer in that place.