After a while of packing, the four of them finally finished "were finally done" akari said as she closed her bag
"Yeah it took a while" kaito replied as he closed his own bag and stood up "why don't you guys go wander in the village this afternoon" Kenji suggested
"Well we are leaving tomorrow" amaya said as she thought "lets have one last look around the village" akari said as she got up
"Yeah let's go" kaito replied as he and amaya followed akari to the village to have one last look around
"Hey guys i have to look at something real quick" akari said as she headed to the bracelet shop that they saw during the dragon festival
While looking, she noticed the old lady from their first night there. A sense of familiarity flashed in her again upon seeing the lady
"Hello dear" the old lady said as she smiled at her warmly "um hello" akari replied as sje smiled back
"Please have this" the lady said as she handed her a beautiful blue dress "wait really? Why?" Akari asked surprised
"It reminds me of your mother" the old woman replied, still smiling "my mother ? How do you know her?" Akari asked suspiciously
"Because im her sister" the woman said smiling warmly while akari froze in shock at the revelation
"So your my aunt?!" Akari asked still shocked about this information about her family
"Your Nanaka Matsumoto's child right?" The lady asked politely "well... Yes but how did you know?" Akari asked her, still suspicious
"One of your mismatched eyes is the same as her's and you have half of your mother's habits and personality" the lady replied
"So who are you?" Akari asked, recovering from the shock "im Atsemi Matsumoto" Atsemi replied
"So your actually my aunt?" Akari asked, still unable to believe it "yes i am" Atsemi replied "so how did my mom and dad meet?" Akari asked as she sat beside her
"Ok I'll tell" Atsemi replied "so when we were little, your mom was supposed to be married off to someone to produce strong offsprings for the war",
"She tried to run away but she got tied up and was dragged there but then your dad came and saved her" Atsemi said as she smiled at the memory
"Wow that was so cute" akari replied as she began imagining her parents "they were. Here's a photo" Atsemi said as she showed akari a picture of her parents
Akari suddenly froze as she saw the photo, it looked like the one's in her dreams "that's my mom and dad?" Akari asked as she pointed at the photo
"Yes they are" Atsemi said as she looked at where Akari pointed and smiled warmly, seeing the picture of her sister and her husband
"Hey Akari, we should get going now" kaito interrupted the warm silence as he walked over to akari
"Oh, who's this?" Kaito asked as he looked at Atsemi suspiciously "im Atsemi Matsumoto, you must be Akari's friend" Atsemi replied as she stood up
"Oh hello Atsemi, anyways akari we have to go now" kaito said as he turned to akari "oh right, bye Atsemi and thank you again" akari said as she turned and waved goodbye to Atsemi before walking away
Atsemi smiled warmly at Akari's fading figure in the distance "its nice to finally meet my niece" she mumbled quietly
"Sister, she really reminds me of you" Atsemi added as she looked at the clouds in the sky
"Don't worry, I'll take good care of her for you" Atsemi said before finally walking off to go back to her work
Meanwhile kaito and akari were walking quitely "so do you know her?" He asked softly
"Yeah, she's actually my aunt" Akari replied, smiling warmly at the thought "your aunt?" Kaito asked surprised
"Yes, until then i never knew much about my family" akari replied as she stared at the sky longingly
"Don't worry, I'll always be here for you every step of the way" kaito replied as he smiled warmly at her, trying to comfort her
"Thanks kaito, i don't what I'd do without you" akari replied as she smiled back at him as they walked
After a while, they arrive where kenji and amaya were waiting for them "your finally here" kenji said as he smiled and walked over
"Yeah we just got carried away wandering" akari replied as she took her bag "anyways, well be leaving now since our journey to Lunaris is far and might be tricky" kenji said as he pulled out a map
"Aren't we taking the usual road? The one that me and akari used to get here?" Amaya asked as she pointed to the route that she and akari used on their travel to Solana
"No, we'll be using a different road since that one is guarded by many guards sent to capture us" kenji said as he pointed at the map
The three followed Kenji's finger to a tricky path in the mountains and through a cave before finally arriving at Lunaris
"Thats a tricky path" akari said as she examined their new route "i know but there's no other path than this" kenji sighed
"Can't we go the other way around? Through the river?" Kaito suggested as he pointed to a spot opposite from the mountains
"We can but that'll take longer to arrive at Lunaris since we have to go around the whole Kingdom of Solana" kenji said as he stared at the spot kaito pointed
"Not to mention that there are multiple guards there to watch the perimeter" kenji added
"Looks like we have to go through the mountains" amaya said as she glanced at the tall snowy mountains from below
"We don't have a choice though" akari replied as she followed Amaya's gaze to the snowy mountains above
"Don't worry, we'll take breaks and camp from time to time but this road ahead of us will surely be difficult" kenji said as he straightened up
"But we'll do this together" kaito said as all of them began walking to the mountains