Juni pushed open the door to the bakery, the small bell chiming. The place still warm from the ovens cooling down for the night.
"Only two people in this world can open a door so angrily or so sadly. You and your mother." George's voice called out from the back as he came out with a fresh cake while holding a large knife
"We got into an argument about the tournament coming up." Juni said knowing it wouldn't help if she just bottled it up anymore
"Sorry to hear that kiddo... ya know what I'll cut you a nice slice." He said as he set down the cake behind the counter and got out a few plates
Cutting into the cake, he cried in pain with a geyser of red spurting up. But Juni was unimpressed as she tossed him a rag.
"Cmon grandpa, you got me with that before. I know it's ketchup." She said as the old man laughed now holding up a red squeeze bottle as he was indeed completely fine and unhurt, just a prank he'd pulled many times
"So what else is bothering you? And I don't mean you and mother arguing." George now said serious as he sat down with her to enjoy the cake
"I met some strangers... from dad's homeland." She finally admitted as George looked a little concerned "They were, strange. But they somehow survived more than a month in the death forest." She explained as he looked even more bewildered
"That big dark forest to the east?" He asked his own knowledge very limited beyond that
"Yeah. They say they crossed the ocean and wound up lost in the forest. Apparently one of them knew dad's father..." she explained as George was truly at a loss but he could understand what she desired
"But you see them and want to be like them. Like when your mother and father first met. I can see it you kiddo. But you can't do everything on your own. Give it time." He explained as she looked irritated again "Heeey, chin up. You've more than made Xylia proud. She just doesn't want to see you living your life too fast." He added as she could see the truth in his words
She hated to admit it. He was right, but still that feeling of not belonging. Feeling alone, it was still there...
"Thank you..." She said softly as she enjoyed her cake
With this finally returned home. Xylia having fallen asleep on the couch waiting for her. Juni sighed as she slipped off her cloak and sat down beside her, curling up against her, she slowly fell asleep. Xylia awoke the moment Juni fell asleep and smiled gently. Carefully taking off Juni's glasses and kissing her forehead Xylia held her daughter close now. She didn't want to lose her family, not this time...
Meanwhile...
Cole, Iris and Faye had been tended to by the shamans. Those who were well connected to healing magic. They also had been given robes to replace their old clothes. They now sat around the fire of other members as they ate. They were honored guests of the clan. Finally as the night set in, Cole was given his own hut while Faye and Iris were given one of their own. For the first time in a long while, they would get to sleep peacefully.
As they lay there, Iris looked at Faye as she slept soundly, admiring her sleeping form and overall beauty. She was just pleased Faye could now recover fully. This was one of the few times she'd ever felt so vulnerable, the irony of it all being she once again found her past staring in her face. Faye's hand now resting on her cheek made Iris snap out of her thoughts. Iris now took her partner's hand and kissed it softly.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
"You need sleep more than me." Iris said now
"Elves don't sleep, we meditate." Faye said jokingly
"Did my ears just play tricks on me? Because that almost sounded like a joke." Iris quipped as she laid down beside Faye now
"I'll be alright. You're the one who needs the rest most. You're letting your mind go to what has been laid to rest." Fay said softly now touching her face and pulling closer as their foreheads now touched
Iris took slow and gentle breaths as she closed her eyes placing her hands over Faye's as the two were enveloped in a gentle light.
"Be at peace... you have finally freed yourself of the shackles you put on. Now you can be someone better, my love. Close your eyes, hear my words ease your troubled mind, feel my aura lull away your tired worries. And finally be free..." she recited as Iris listened and took in what was being said
Meanwhile...
Cole was the most tense alone in his hut. His eyes unable to look away from his weapons. Finally rolling over he stared at the makeshift ceiling. Something about Juni was familiar. Not the Phoenix, but something else entirely. The quiet was too much for him as he was soon out of his hut and up by the waterfall of the mountain.
Something about the loud crashing of the waterfall put him at ease. But he wasn't alone. Cole could feel his aura.
"You must not sleep very well either" Cole quipped as Rin sat down on a large boulder
"I get the feeling there's more to you being here." Rin said cutting to the chase as well
Cole was now tense again, he at least appreciated the honesty in Rin's tone. Like he was expecting Rin to make some demand of him.
"Could ask you the same thing." Cole countered less hesitant than he was a year ago, his tone sharper as Rin eyed him
"Hm... well how about that." Rin smirked a little "Can't outrun our pasts, and I'm looking to do better." He added lifting his bangs aside showing his scarred face as he was using his false arm to do this
This said enough for Cole, he now looked off and up at the moon.
"I don't know who I'm looking for specifically. He could've taken on a new body, a new name, started constructing new laboratories again. We've been hunting him for the last seven years. We chased him all over Eden and lost him at the shorelines. He just... disappeared into the mist." Cole tried to explain as he couldn't fully trust anyone
His hand instinctively went to his gut. The shamans absolutely astounded he was alive by the old wound he'd sustained.
The images of his old life came surfacing in Rin's mind. Those cold stone halls barely lit by green glass lanterns. Those rooms with sickening experiments. Those large glass tubes with a disgusting green ooze. Sharp instruments meant for the purpose of dissection. The look in his eye hardened.
'It can't be.... He couldn't be in two places. It's impossible.' Rin thought to himself
"Who are you? Really. You have a power unlike anything on Oronia. It's far more, celestial by nature. Even though it passes off as fire." Rin explained truly wanting to get to the bottom of who Cole was
Cole merely showed a look of unease and pain. Like he truly wanted to tell Rin. But he wouldn't, he was bound by something more, more than the oaths of a Clan. That alone terrified Rin...
"What I can tell you is that it is a process that has been at work for longer than any of us have been alive. And it's my responsibility to bare. The gods left me a task I must see through." Cole said clearly telling a half truth
Rin could see it well, he knew when someone was lying. But this boy was apart of something, but even still he couldn't fully believe Cole. The gods had long since left their creation behind, no one person could be tasked by the gods, no soul could bare it.
"I will not ask anyone to follow me. I march into the unknown armed with nothing but the gift of Phoenix. I do not wish others to have to suffer for my sake, it's my burden alone." Cole explained finally letting something real slip out
Rin immediately caught it. He had not heard a Phoenix mentioned in any capacity since he was a child and with his clans.
'The Phoenix? I thought they had all died out after the gods left? Not a single man woman or child had seen one in over a thousand years.' Rin thought to himself as he looked on at Cole
But he could see a pain he could relate to. The pain of not wanting anyone around and to wander the path alone. The desire not to get any others hurt. He had clearly seen battle and the horrors of war. But something else about Cole made him feel uneasy now with this thought. Like a fire that had been forgotten and was now burning down the forest. One could smell the smoke if they weren't distracted. Something dreadful was coming, and very soon...
"Whatever happens. Take care of my daughter. Though it's not me you will have to answer to, but her mother." Rin explained as he stood now having learnt as much as could
"Not worried about my friends being a bad influence on your son?" Cole retorted jokingly
"My son will be fine. He has his own path to follow, should any choose to help him and sharpen that brilliant mind he has behind that thick skull of his. That is their choice." Rin explained now standing "You'll be going out with my wife and your companions in the morning." He added as well
Cole bowed to this, grateful. Something about his bow almost looked Shinobi, his mannerisms were similar, but still a very strange culmination of different types of speaking and mannerisms. There was so much Rin could still not understand about him. Though like all things with time, Cole's true identity would be revealed.
"But, one last thing. If I ever sense that Kushan near this town again. I will kill her." Rin warned earning a chuckle out of Cole
"Well you'll have to wait for that fight. She's still trying to kill me." Cole responded looking off to the Village of Misty as Rin looked puzzled once again "It's a long story." He added as Rin dismissed it as he wandered off disappearing from view
What do you think of this chapter?
