We all know a few things. The sun rises in the morning. The moon comes out at night. And fire burns.

Every person knows that simple problems can be solved simply if you have the resources. If you're hungry you should go and get something to eat, provided that you had the food available or the money to get it. If you're thirsty, you should get some water.

The real hard thing in life, is having a problem...a wish...a compulsion to realize something...but no idea how to do it. It's a burning frustration that we all can have. So much harder than knowing what you have to do but lacking the will or motivation to take the path because at least the path is clear to see. It hurts to want something so much...but be unable to do anything because you and everyone around you have no idea how to start.

That's what i thought as I looked at my sister Tamar's body in a hospital bed hooked up to a life support system. Tubes of various colors with magical liquids I could barely pronounce pumped life into her to keep her heart beating and her magical abilities from atrophying. We both were in there in the room, in perfect silence save the sound of our breathing and the sound of the machines.

A lock of her short black hair was on her face. I pushed off and sighed.

"I'm sorry Tammy," I said in the silence, using the nickname she'd had since we were kids in the orphanage. "I want to save you but I don't know what to do..."

My voice...sounded a little choked but I continued on.

"I've looked around and talked to every mage I know. No one around the city knows any way to save someone from eating from the Tree of the End."

My voice came back to me barely more than a croak. Warmth trailed down my face. I bet if anyone was looking at me, I'd probably look crazy. A guy in a room with a coma victim just talking into silence...I don't really care. Even though she probably couldn't hear me, I want to talk to the hope that she could. I wanted my little sister to hear me even if she couldn't talk back to me.

"I just want my sister back," I said, barely more than a whisper.

And I just sat there for a moment in the silence, frustration, and not to mention the sadness. I sat there just wishing to see her smile again.

"Umm...Rez," a voice behind rung out meekly.

I turned around to see a nurse. Did she hear me? I wiped the tears off my face and stood to talk to her. I had always been a little bit known for being an open guy with my feelings. However a mage that was too open with his feelings handed weapons to his or her enemies. Sometimes you want to be an open book but at most you can only give the first few chapters.

"Hi Lydia," I said with a smile on my face. "How are you doing?"

She didn't want to look me in the eyes. She must have seen me. I think I might blush down to my roots.

"Okay I guess. Overnight visiting hours are over. It's 4am," she said shyly.

I glanced over at the clock. It really did say 4 am. Time went quickly. I had been here for what...8 hours without even noticing?

"I'm sorry. I'll leave now."

I grabbed my coat and went for the door. As my hand touched the knob, Lydia said. "I have another message for you. The administration said that their kindness and respect for your sister's hard work is reaching its end."

I turned back to her.

"Meaning?" said a bit more impassively than I wanted to. Lydia paused to clear her throat before speaking again.

"The hospital watches after its own, it's always been like a little family. Nurses get free treatment up to a certain point. But that's just it, up to a certain point. Tammy has been here for 2 months."

Lydia's face, almost steel in its resolve, sighed and relaxed as she let out the words that made the bottom of my stomach drop out.

"Starting next week, you'll have to pay all of the hospital fees for your sister's care or you'll have to take her home."

A soul breaking chill that had nothing to do with the season ran over me. Pay...I couldn't pay. With only me and my other roommate Vector, we were only barely making rent. Adding hospital fees to the mix...

More tears trailed down my face. I couldn't help it. The situation was already bad, I had been counting on the hospital to take care of Tamar while I figured something out. However I had been on a clock and my time was about to run out.

I wiped the tears off with my sleeve and smiled at Lydia. The action felt almost mechanical.

"Thank you for telling me that. I'll work something out," I said, turning to leave but before I did... "Just please keep taking care of her until that week was up."

"We will." she said solemnly.

I walked out of the door and into the hallway, and in that moment the world didn't so bright anymore.

***

"Hey you," another nurse called out as I passed the front desk. "Rez Proudheart, you were given a message."

I turned around to look at her, holding an envelope with my name on it.

"Thank you very much," I said, taking it. I walked out the door while opening the letter. It was still dark outside, the streets mostly empty save some Mages class looking like they were heading out to do a job. I lifted my arm up to them and made a fist, a show of solidarity. We Mage class people live dangerous lives. All of the jobs that the Merchant class doesn't do or feels like paying someone else to do gets shoved onto us. And there's always an occasional job from a Wealthy or even a Noble class person.

We do everything. Anything from killing wild Magical Creatures, hunting down lost treasures and objects, to even finding the missing and lost that the Patrolers have given up on, we'll be there to do it even at a cost to our own lives. Not because we're all heroic or something like that, it's the only option to us, given to us by the way the Emperor of Effalia set it up so long ago. The Wealthy and the Nobles buy specialized goods from the Merchants, who make unique items or provide a specialized service, while the Mage class does everything else. We're the bottom of the barrel yet we're also the cogs that keep everything going. Those rare materials that a blacksmith needs to forge a sword? Probably retrieved by a Mage class mage.

It's a system that supports itself from the bottom upwards. But who supports the little cogs that keep everything going? No one...until they're broken then they just grab another one and keep on going. The clock that Effalia keeps ticking while the broken cogs sit in the trash, irrevocably broken by everything they've seen and done.

The sun probably wasn't going to be up for another two, maybe even three hours. That was fine. Mornings in Epala were always kind of hot so I wanted to be inside before it happened. I stopped about a block or two away from the hospital, right in front of a small coffee shop, opening up for the day, before I read the letter.

Dear Rez,

I know you're having a shitty time right now. Losing your sister and struggling with bills along with your main job, but I was wondering if you could come in for a shift. Time and a half since it's not your usual time of course. If you're up for it, meet me at the restaurant by 7am. Best Wishes,

Yukino Fujikaze

I refolded the letter and put it in my back pocket.

So Justine had some extra work...

I suppose it would be a good idea to go, seeing as i was about to be in a serious need for some money. It would be best to be ahead of the situation with those hospital bills.

"I better head home and grab my uniform then."

No sooner than taking the first step down the street towards my apartment, something smacked me in the face.

"Ouch," I said more out of reflex than out of pain. It wasn't something heavy or anything. I pulled off my face.

"What's this?" I said looking at it. I pulled off my face. It was a playing card but instead of a number or one of the usual suits like clubs, hearts, spades, or diamonds, it was a mono-black young man with a hat and rucksack smiling as he walked to a cliff along with his dog.

"Where is it?" a woman said as she walked up the street towards me. She looked up and down on the ground and under trash. She was a waif of a thing, barely up to my waist. She probably was about 150 centimeters at the most. She was pale with bright blue eyes and blonde hair with a black headband covering her forehead.. She wore a black long sleeved shirt. Over this is a light purple dress with clock-like black designs and two black ribbons wrapped around her waist along with black tights and dark grey slippers.

She turned to me and smiled.

"Oh there it is," she said, running over to me. "That card is mine. Can I have it back please?"

"Sure," I said, handing it back. She took the card and her face scrunched out.

"Hmm, this must be fate for this card to come to you," she said looking up at me with a smile mostly reserved for people that just found a new toy to play with. That'd be good for her, not so much for myself. I didn't really have the time to indulge her in what she thought 'fate' had in store for me...

Then again I wasn't the type to cut people off when they wanted to say something.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Her eyes became alight as if two bright green sun had just risen. Her smile looked like someone who had just seen their newborn's first smile.

"This is the Fool Card of the Major Arcana of the Tarot deck," she said showing me the card with a massive smile. She must be really enjoying herself with this.

"The Tarot cards of the Major Arcana are supposed to tell a story of how people grow and mature throughout their lives but all stories start at zero, the choosing to begin the journey," she continued. "The Fool card is the zero and the beginning. It means that you have infinite potential, both positively and negatively. You can become anything just by having made the choice to take the first step."

"That's interesting," I said. Granted I never was someone that was entranced by fortune telling but having tarot cards sold to me in this way was certainly something more interesting than most fortune tellers throwing stuff at the wall to see what stuck.

She covered her lips with the Fool card but I felt it was a mysterious yet sly smile was on her face.

"The cards don't come to people on chance, my friend. The mysteries of the world are open to you. Start discovering them," she said. She pocketed the card and left.

"I guess that was interesting," I said to myself.

Fortune telling in Effalia was something that people most used to prey on people that were in dire need and needed some assurance. Sure there were powers in the world that could give the type of information that fortune telling could give, but the odds that so many people had it were low. So most of the fortune tellers used the usual cold readings and vague statements.

However every so often you'd get someone that had a gift for the future or seeing into people's lives. Not saying that the woman I had met was one of them but her delivery was certainly not the same old random cryptic sayings and cold reading at least to me.

"Maybe I'm just hopeful," I said with a shrug and hurried to my apartment.

I started off at a run and usually I can keep running for a good 20 minutes at a good pace but I slowed down to a walk after only 5 minutes. Maybe I had too much on my mind? Maybe my body realized I need to walk and not run?

Whichever reason it was, I slowed to a walk. I had time to get to my apartment and to the cafe in time so why not take my time to think.

"One week huh..." I said to myself. I thought a few months ago I had so much more time but it's now down to a week. What was left to do? I had ran all around the city looking for clues and answers to help Tamar from talking to mages in the know to going up to academics from the Magic Institute. In three months of searching, since the end of 1st Spring, I had found nothing.

"What am I going to do?" I asked myself, feet continuously moving forward taking in the city of Epala in the early morning. Epala was a beautiful city in the clouds. People that visit always are in awe when they first see it. The pictures never do the place justice. Beautiful soft yet bouncy streets and shining buildings made of our city's unique material, cloud matter. It left most of our buildings a soft mix of light and dark grey.

"Is there anything I can do?" I said.

My footsteps carried me past the train station, a place that went for more grandeur rather than efficiency. It kind of made since based on where we were on the map, eastward but mostly towards the center of the continent. This meant that Epala was a central hub of travel, commerce, and work. Most information and work came through this city and because of the constant visitors and guests, our governess, the Wind Governess, decided to go as big as possible with our city's major landmarks and public buildings in the recent years. I suppose most people would call it a beautification project but I wasn't really interested. Mostly because it just meant more taxes when I needed to buy something in the city...

The train station, in all of its splendor, mostly carried trains running people around the city for their jobs and other things but the bulk of the work and manpower was towards outbound trains connecting Epala to other Elemental Cities and other small towns.

A moment of realization like a click of a gun went off in my head.

"If I can't find anything in the city, I'll go somewhere else," I said to myself. I felt my face stretch into a grin. I felt like an idiot but a smart one...I couldn't find what I wanted in my hometown so I'll go somewhere else and I had a pretty good place for a first try.

I started running back home not like a 19 year old guy that just finished visiting the hospital but almost like a little boy, each step filled with eagerness and hope. I hadn't felt...well happy or hopeful in a long time. Having this idea gave it back to me and even if I hit another dead end in the place I wanted to go to find answers at least I have this moment, a moment of happy realization.

***

It had only taken me about 20 minutes to jog from the hospital to my apartment. When I was home, I lived in what could be called in other Elemental Cities as a brownstone but in Epala we called them whitestones because you know everything being made out of the white-ish grey cloud matter. A well kept apartment building was about 5 stories with about 8 apartments on each level with a grey steel fire escape leading down to the street.

I pulled out my key as I jogged up to the door when I saw a woman carrying a large box in her hands. She was probably no more than a 5 feet tall yet the box was at least half her height.

"Hey there," she said, face covered by the box. Her voice was soft yet it carried through the early morning well. "You mine helping a lady out here?"

"Sure."

And I unlocked the door. She went in first still carrying the box although now that I had a look at her I could see she wasn't struggling with it. She carried it as easily as a child carries their favorite toy or a blanket. Not entirely unusual. With magic people can manipulate how strong they are with just a thought and an effort of will or she could just have a really high Strength stat. You never can tell.

I looked at her short mop of black hair as she walked down the first floor hall and took a left towards the administration office.

I walked up to the elevator and punched in floor 5. The old elevator groaned as it came down and clanged open with a moan.

"Those are not good sounds," I said to myself.

My landlady was one of the best but was a little slow on getting things fixed. She was a good person but she stretched herself thin a lot with self managing the properties she owned, taking care of her kids, and her own aging mother. She was definitely a superhero in my book.

"I'll have to tell Ms. Aerilyn about this later," I told myself. I didn't really want to add on to her list of stuff to do but at the same time I didn't want someone to end up dead or trapped because the elevator broke down.

The elevator creaked open again as I reached the fifth floor. I jogged down the hall to apartment 8 and opened the door.

As three bedroom apartments go, it was pretty spacious. It was probably built for a family of three maybe a single parent and two kids since the living room was easily the biggest room by far. The place had a large living room with a small kitchen off to the side with a full bathroom with a bathtub and walk in shower along with three average sized bedrooms. The living room was furnished by Tamar and my other roommate and friend Vector with mostly off the wall and unmatched tables, chairs, and a rescued from the trash couch and easy chairs. Most of my friends and co-workers had described the place with words ranging from roomy to eclectic to straight up weird. I probably need less blunt friends...

I ran past the living room and went straight to my room.

See now...the thing about my room is...that usually it's clean. I mean I'm okay with cleaning it most of the time. I'm not like one of my friends Daisuke who doesn't feel at home unless his clothes, weapons, food, books, and whatever else he likes is on the floor in what he calls 'easy to reach'. On the other hand, I like things to be organized for easy access. I find a lot of comfort in just being able to reach over to my bookshelf and know exactly what book I have because I've already alphabetized the books. It simplifies things for me.

Now that's how things usually are...right now clothes, books, my beloved sword Seven Stars, unwashed dishes and various flying insects currently had claimed my room as their turf.

"I gotta clean this place up soon or the flies are going to start demanding rent..."

I walked up to my closet and pulled out my uniform, a simple white chef's shirt with black pants and my apron was at the cafe for me to pick up when I started work. I quickly dressed myself and rushed out the room towards the exit but stopped in the entrance hall of the apartment. There was a note on our bulletin board we usually used for grocery lists, notes telling each other that we'd be leaving for a few days, and some motivational quotes that Tamar sometimes put up. However there was a new note up.

Dear Rez,

The daycare director had a last minute cancellation with a chaperone for the kids' field trip to Koine to see a play so I'll be gone for about two days.

Lots of love,

Vector

"So Vector's going to be gone for a few days." I murmured to myself.

I walked out the door, making sure to lock up properly and started towards the train station so I could make it in time for work.

***

By the time, I had gotten off the train and walked up to my second job, the Café Aureole, the sun had just started to rise. I guess it was about 6 or 7 am. I'm not sure. I'm not a watch wearing type of guy.

I walked off the train and went up the streets of the Western Sector of Epala towards the Café Aureole...to find my other boss, Silver Stormshroud.

She was a beauty of a woman, long storm grey hair that went down to her curved hips with bright sky blue eyes and a heart shaped face. She was dressed in a well tailored charcoal grey business suit minus the jacket currently folded over her arm.

"Silver? What are you doing here?" I asked.

She looked at me then looked at the cafe and gave me the smile that you'd see older sisters give their younger siblings when they ask a dumb question.

"Restaurant? about 7 am? I'm here for breakfast before heading into the office," she explained.

The door opened and out popped my manager, head chef and owner of the Café Aureole, Yukino.

"Literally just on time Rez," she said.

She was a waif of a woman, probably coming up to my chest at the most around 155 cm. She had long black hair done up in a bun, with a more childish looking face with soft almond shaped brown eyes. She wore an electric blue apron over the cafe's uniform, white chef coat, white pants, and an armband with a pixie sitting on a cloud, the cafe's icon.

She looked around and saw Silver too.

"Lady Silver, it's always good to see you. Come on in," she said.

The cafe was bigger than a usual coffee shop but almost as large as a full scale restaurant, Yukino had some big aspirations for the place so she planned for the future.

Yukino walked up to the hostess and she handed her a menu to give to Silver.

"Please take a seat wherever you wish. Someone will be with you shortly," Yukino said with a smile.

"Thanks Yukino. I will," Silver said and sat down in a corner of the restaurant near the window where the morning sunlight shone through. She pulled some papers,probably from work, out of her bag and started going through them.

Silver Stormshroud was what we called in Epala silver to gold story. She was born into a Wealthy Class family who made and control the electricity for the city of Epala and pretty much all of the area. Her dad had started it up after moving out from his own family and making his own success. Now here's where the silver turns to gold. After her dad died, she took over the family business around 17 and she could have just sat on it and just kept it going. But she did so much more and diversified the business to go even further. Now Stormshroud Electric and Services was on track to be one of the most powerful businesses in the Wind Sector maybe even all of Effalia.

"Come on Rez. We've got people to cook for soon," Yukino said, beckoning me to the kitchen. I followed and picked up an apron although mine was sky blue like my eyes. The aprons the cooking staff wear are the only personal touch we get to our uniforms here so I took some time choosing mine. We walked into the kitchen and got ready to work.

***

It took about ten minutes for Silver make a decision and we got to work on her order. By that time, the place had started filling up with customers. Café Aureole was popular as a calm and relaxing breakfast spot for the people of the Western Sector of Epala so it was busy during the morning and cooled down in the afternoon.

The high speed orders coming from the waiters were quick but I found a sense of calmness in working in the cafe kitchen. It was kind of a simple job, know the recipe and if necessary modify it to suit the needs of the guest. When I combined that with some past experiences I had a few years ago, I was a pretty good cook.

"Something wrong Rez?" Yukino asked.

I looked up from arranging a parfait and said. "Huh?"

"Lately you've been quiet as a church mouse but now you're back to your usual self, talking, laughing, and smiling. It's nice to see but I also want to know the reason," she explained.

I went back to arrange the fruit and ice cream on the parfait but I started talking. The thought had slipped my mind while I came up with the idea but I needed to ask Yukino and SIlver for some time off so I can head to Arcavia. This was the perfect time to ask them both.

"I'm going to need some time off..."

She looked at me for a moment, her dark brown eyes fixed on mine. Then she shrugged and said. "For what?"

I explained the situation to her and my idea to go to Arcavia. She got a very focused look on her face almost like a mask.

"Rez, you know I love you. You're the best sous-chef I've ever had back here. And if you tried and got some training you could make something of yourself cooking." she said. "I need you here. But if I told you no or fired you, we'd both be really screwed over. You'd be out of a job you really need and I'd be out of a really good helper."

"So what you saying?" I asked. I was usually polite with stuff like this. I never want to rush someone when they're making a decision. EIther you're really rude and being rude was probably one of the things that I was taught to avoid at all costs. Or they'll be insulted and they'll change their mind to spite you. Sounds crazy? But I've seen it happen a good few times and I learn from the mistakes of others and myself. It's almost like a skill.

I had known Yukino for a few years. She was a pretty chill lady but she didn't like personal issues on the job or even worse in the kitchen. She was type of person that felt you needed to compartmentalize life, each thing within its own little seperate steel box. Sharing like this or even hearing it must be annoying if not frustrating to deal with.

"What I'm saying is I'm in kind of a bind here." she said, jumping off her step stool with a plate. It looked like what the waiter said Silver ordered, a simple plate of strawberry pancakes with a side of turkey bacon. Yukino jumped on another stool and tapped the bell for the waiter to get the order.

"Take this to table 5."

She turned back to me as I finished the parfait and did the same as she did to call the waiter.

"I need you here but if I keep you here then your heart isn't in it and that's going to screw things up." she said, crossing her arms."I guess it's better in the long term though. Fine you have my permission for time off. But i'm going to work you super hard when you get back."

The look on her face was one of annoyance and frustration but I saw a little bit of sadness in her eyes. Why? I'm not sure. Maybe I was decent company back here? Who could tell?

"Excuse me," someone said from the window out into the cafe. We both turned on a dime to see Silver standing there. Flipping fires and flames. She practically inhaled those pancakes. "Compliments to the chef as always."

"Sorry if you heard that ma'am," she said.

"It's okay. Rez works me with me so I know the situation already," Silver explained. Then she turned to me and said. "Rez, I need you do me a favor and see my cousin in Lyre Town. It's her daughter's birthday in two days and I need to give her a gift. I need you to take it. I don't have the time with how things around the company are going. She's also an awesome source of info. Talk to her about Tamar's situation. She'll definitely have a solution."

Silver put a bill on the window, I guess about 100 artemisias...she always was a big tipper.

"Wait why is going to see your cousin a better shot than going to Arcavia?" I asked.

Silver looked back at me with a smile and said. "I'd love to tell you but Suzie's always been the type for dramatics so she'd love to try and be all mysterious and cool and tell you herself. I don't want to take that away from her. Trust me. My cousin has information better than any Library town."

And with that, Silver left.

"She really gets off keeping people in the dark sometimes..."I commented.

Yukino shrugged and said. "So are you going to Lyre Town or Arcavia?"

"Lyre Town's a better bet I guess. Silver's never lied to me before and if she turned this delivery errand into a job that means that she'll pay my way there and I'll get paid for doing it. It sounds like a nice way to get get what I need to do done and get what she wants done."

"Sounds like a good way to make all of your goals happen," she said.

As the words left her lips, the bell on the door rung through the cafe to the kitchen, informing us of new guests.

"Let's get back into it," she said, getting back on her stool to accept the next order. And so I worked with Yukino until my shift ended.