Chapter narrated by: Lira
Date: 15/14/95
I wasn't able to say if the silence that followed was long or short; a very bright someone was distracting me. What I can say is that the one who broke the silence was Balyn.
"So, I suppose this is the part where we introduce ourselves."
Sera sat up quickly.
"You're right, Bal. Let me do the introductions. I'm awesome at that." She coughed lightly to add a bit of drama and continued. "Hi! I'm Sera, a rank-two adventurer of Reval and Lira's partner. The boring-looking guy is Fin, and this big guy is Balyn. Don't let his size intimidate you; he has the heart of a puppy."
"Hey!" the two guys said in response.
Ali's warmth flickered when Sera began to speak. The feeling was similar to when she was angry about something, but different in a way that was difficult to put into words.
"You are rank two?!" Ali asked, a mix of surprise and something else I didn't recognize in her voice.
"Yep! My partner and I are rank two in everything except the official title, but that will change soon, won't it, partner?" Sera said with a lot of excitement.
"We still need to pass Holt's 'Test' to see if we move on from rank one to rank two, but yes, for having been adventurers for less than a month, we have done great." I felt proud of myself, and part of me wanted to show Ali how much I had accomplished in such a short amount of time.
But the only thing I saw in Ali's warmth was confusion.
"Wait… why would you want to go from rank one to rank two?" Ali asked. Her voice didn't just carry confusion; it carried a profound, cosmic pity, as if she had just watched a group of people celebrate their decision to start walking backward.
The table went dead silent. Fin's mouth hung open. Balyn blinked slowly, his brain seemingly stalling out.
"Why wouldn't we?" Sera finally blurted out, her brow furrowing. "Rank two means better pay, harder contracts, and—you know—not being at the very bottom of the food chain anymore."
Ali let out a soft, melodic laugh, her warmth shimmering with smugness. "Oh, you poor, confused girl. You've got it all reversed! It's quite simple, really. One is the best. The first. The peak! Why would anyone strive to be second when they could be first?"
She leaned against the table, radiating the confidence of someone who had just solved a riddle no one else was smart enough to understand. "I, for instance, have already ascended to Rank One. It took me approximately thirty seconds. Efficiency is, after all, a very important trait."
I felt my face heat up. It wasn't the warmth-vision this time; it was pure, unadulterated embarrassment. I buried my face in my hands.
"Ali," I groaned through my fingers. "In the Guild… Rank Ten is the highest. Rank One is… it's for people who find lost cats and pull weeds for silver coins."
The radiant warmth beside me suddenly stilled. The air grew inexplicably cold for a split second before returning to its usual temperature.
"…What?" Ali's voice was very small.
"She's right," Fin added, trying to hold back a laugh. "Don't tell me you thought it was the other way around?"
"Wait, does that mean you wanted to start at rank ten?" Balyn followed up.
"I—well—I obviously knew that!" Ali snapped, her warmth spiking into a jagged, defensive crimson. "I was merely testing your knowledge! A go—I mean, a specialist like myself must ensure her potential associates are properly informed. And you passed! Mostly."
"I like her; she has spirit," said Miss Ezra. "My name is Ezra, and this girl next to me is Mary. We are both rank-eight adventurers. So Ali, two questions: first, what made you want to become an adventurer? And second, and most importantly…" Miss Ezra paused for a moment and then continued, "Why is your last name Aurelios? Lira's never mentioned a sister, and you two don't exactly look like cousins."
"Oh, I'm Ali, probably the best light mage you will ever see in your life," Ali said. "To answer your second question, it is difficult to put into words… we share a family name because, in some way, we share the same father."
That was probably the most confusing way of saying it, and that confusion could be felt at the table.
"It's not… it's not literal," I stammered. "Father Cedric adopted both of us in a way. Ali and I grew up together and are best friends."
The confusion vanished from the table, only to be replaced by something much worse thanks to Ali's next words.
"Only best friends?! Is that how you would describe us, Lira? I'm offended; our bond goes much further than that."
Sera's teasing voice did not take even a moment to reappear.
"Oh wow, partner, what aren't you telling us?" Sera teased.
The rest didn't take long to join in. It was complete torture—even more than the time Dad forced me to eat turnip soup. I could feel Ali's smugness vibrating through the table. She was enjoying this. She was absolutely, divinely enjoying my suffering.
The laughter at the table grew into a roar, with Sera leading the charge. Thankfully, Mary seemed to take pity on me and decided to intervene.
"Sera, I think you and Lira should go talk about some things in private."
"What do you mean, Mary? Why do I need to go speak with her in private?" Sera asked in confusion.
"Yeah, why does she need to go in private with her?" Ali asked with an emotion I still didn't recognize.
"Isn't it obvious, Sera? Ali probably wants to join your and Lira's party. You two probably have to talk about that first," said Fin.
"Oh! Right. The party. The official, legally binding, 'we-share-the-same-coins' contract. Yeah, we definitely need to talk about that," Sera said before turning toward Ali. "So, Ali, are you serious about this? You want to join us?"
Ali responded without thinking too much. "Yes, I'm serious about this. As serious as one can possibly be, and probably a bit more."
Sera stood up, kicking her chair back with a loud scrape that made me wince. "Okay, then. Ali, stay here. Lira, come with me."
I felt Sera's hand wrap around my arm. It was a firm, grounding grip, but as she pulled me toward the quieter hallway leading to the back of the guild, I felt a sudden, sharp spike of heat from the chair next to me.
"Wait," Ali's voice dropped an octave, the playful chime replaced by something heavy and possessive. "Why must you go to a different room? If it is about the party, I am the one joining. I should be part of the discussion."
"Guild rules, 'Rank One,'" Mary cut in, her voice calm but unyielding. She leaned over and placed a hand on the table near Ali, a subtle gesture of containment. "Existing party members get the final say on new recruits in private. It's standard procedure to ensure there's no… undue influence. Besides, I think you and I have some things to talk about regarding your light magic."
I could feel the hesitation in Ali's warmth.
"It's okay, Ali," I said quickly, reaching out to brush my fingers against her sleeve. The contact felt like a static shock, vibrating with her indignation. "I'll be right back. Just… stay with Mary. She's very nice."
She just uttered a little "Okay" in a defeated voice.
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We made our way past the rowdy tables and into a small side room. Not a moment had passed since Sera closed the door before she started questioning me.
"Okay, Lira," Sera said, her voice dropping the teasing tone for something uncomfortably serious. "Spill it. And don't give me that 'we share a father' bit again. Who is she really? Because I've seen oracles before, and I've seen mages, but I've never seen anyone look at another person the way she looks at you. It's like the rest of us are just… background noise."
"I told you the truth, Sera. Her name is Ali. We grew up together."
"I don't remember seeing her when I stayed at the church—not a single time. And I remember that I sneaked out at night to see every room there was. So who is she really, Lira?" Sera continued, and honestly, she was making me a bit nervous.
"Wait, you sneaked out at night? Sera, you can't do that."
"That is not my main point, Lira. I want to know who she is. If she is so important to you, why haven't you talked about her before, and why didn't I see her at the church?"
I didn't know what to say. Ali didn't want her nature as a goddess to be revealed, so I didn't know what to tell her. The Sera who was with me right now was completely different from her usual self.
I could feel her observing me with total focus—a focus I had only seen her apply to reading the time magic book. Even her warmth changed a bit; it seemed more concentrated, as if all the movement it usually had was focused on a single objective.
"I don't know what to tell you, Sera. Ali is just Ali, my best friend."
She stayed quiet for a moment and took a deep breath.
"Alright, Lira. I will drop this topic for now, as you clearly don't want me to continue… with one condition. I want you to answer one thing."
"Sure, what is it, Sera?"
"Is she, or is she not, the person you were dreaming about earlier?"
"Sera!" I could swear my face was burning now.
"Oh, so she is?" Sera just laughed a bit.
"Could you please not do this?" I pleaded.
"Alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore… for now. Besides, we need to talk about getting Ali into the party. I'm in with the idea if you are, but we will need to make some decisions regarding the economy," Sera said, thankfully dropping the topic of my dream.
"I'm in, Sera. What would we need to do?"
"For starters, our current gains are not enough for another room and food. We will need to share a room with Ali. As our current room has only two beds, one of us—most likely you—will need to share a bed with her. Other than that, depending on how much faster we clear contracts with Ali, we might or might not need to go some days eating just once a day, at least until we get to rank two and the gains become better. Are you okay with all of this, Lira?"
It didn't sound very nice, especially the eating-once-a-day part, but if it was for Ali, it was alright with me.
"I have no problems with that, Sera," I answered.
"Perfect. Then let's go pick up our new partner and head to the inn. Tomorrow morning, we'll do the official documents. Right now—yawn—all of what I drank earlier is finally taking effect, and my bed is calling for me."
I agreed with her. It was already way past midnight, and I, too, felt tired.
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The walk back to the inn was quiet. Sera walked ahead of us, sometimes almost losing her balance. Ali and I had been quiet since we said our goodbyes to the rest at the guild.
Don't get me wrong; I had a lot of things I wanted to speak with her about, but right now, with Sera there, it wasn't the moment.
The moment came some minutes later when we got to the Sleeping Bear. Sera went to the room ahead of us, telling us goodnight and that she was very tired.
Now we were alone outside the building, and I didn't know what to say or where to start. Thankfully, I didn't need to think about it for long, because all of that disappeared when I felt Ali's arms around me. I returned the hug; it was warm, the same warmth the church always had.
"I missed you a lot, Lira," Ali said.
"It hasn't been that long, Ali."
"Hm, are you truly questioning my time perception, Lira? Remember that I'm a goddess."
That made me laugh a bit—not at what she said, but because I had missed being with her and her comments on everything.
"A goddess who doesn't know how to give hugs," I said teasingly.
"Excuse me?! I would like to see you try giving a hug in a body you have only had for a week," Ali answered.
"You're supposed to do more than just put your arms around the other person, Ali."
"Oh? Then why don't you explain to me how to do it properly, little turnip?"
"Are you seriously bringing that nickname up?" She just laughed, her warmth moving with the sound of it. "You need to hold the other person, Ali. It's a little act of trust. You hold me, and I hold you."
I pulled her closer to me, resting my head on her shoulder. Slowly, she mimicked the movement and rested her head on top of mine. I could feel my heart speeding up just a bit and then relaxing, the warmth around us acting as protection from the cold of the night.
"This feels… nice. I understand why mortals look for this when they are sad," Ali said.
I just nodded in response, and we stayed like that for some time in silence.
"The stars are very beautiful tonight," Ali said, breaking the silence.
"I bet they are," I whispered, a small smile touching my lips.
I pulled back a bit, enough to look at her face without breaking the embrace.
"We have so much to talk about, Ali," I said, the weight of the last few weeks finally catching up to me. "About the guild, about your new body, about… everything that happened after I left the church. I don't even know where to start."
Ali's arms tightened around me for a brief, reassuring second before she let out a long, manual breath.
"Then let's not start—not tonight. We have time, Lira. All the time in the world. I didn't get into this body to rush things; I did it because I want to learn what it is to be a mortal by your side."
Ali's words made my heart skip a beat. I laughed softly, reaching up to find one of her hands and squeezing it. "Is that a divine promise?"
"It is a fact," she declared. "Now, as much as I enjoy the dramatic atmosphere of a dark alleyway, I believe this body is demanding sleep. It was really tiresome walking all the way from the church to here."
I let out a genuine laugh, the tension finally draining from my shoulders. We turned together and stepped into the Sleeping Bear, the floorboards creaking under our feet. Inside the room, the air was still and cold. We each took our sides of the bed.
"Goodnight, Ali," I said, my voice barely a whisper in the quiet.
"Goodnight, Lira," she responded.
I thought falling asleep would be hard tonight, but the warmth of Ali beside me and my curiosity about what would happen tomorrow were enough to make me drift off almost immediately.