Once I open my eyes I’m greeted with a strange room. Oh, wait. This is the room Winnie took me to. I’m at Winnie’s house; I’m not a human; I’m an elemental. With a deep breath the memories return to me. My decision from my core almost escaped my memory - which is strange. So far I haven’t experienced a deep, dream-like state after being in my core. It isn’t such a bad thing since I’m a little more clear now. That’s right, there’s no reason to continue being worried. I know what I need to do. It won’t be easy to figure out all the specifics but I now have a goal.

I’m going to find a way home, make sure my family is safe, and make sure they’re safe until the end of the war. I have no idea how long a war usually lasts, it may take a few more weeks or it may take centuries. For now though, I need to find a way there.

My body doesn’t feel stiff when I push myself off the bed but I still stretch just for the familiarity. Once I open the door the sunlight from the window above warms my skin. I didn’t realize how sluggish I felt until the light spread over me. Stepping into it completely, I feel the warmth sink into me. My body becomes just a little bit lighter in more ways than one. With a glance at my hand I notice a dim glow. I almost want to laugh at how strange it is. It’s like this human appearance doesn’t matter since I still produce light. Soon the glow fades and the feeling of growing heat doesn’t increase anymore but instead I cool down a bit as it ebbs deeper in.

There’s a tap on the floor behind me and I jerk around to search for the source. There’s a man a few paces behind the doorway to my room and he looks more scared than I am. His evident fear turns to some awkward worry and I can’t help but release my own fear. He looks like he’s a fish who jumped onto shore. “What?” I question him carefully. There has to be some reason he’s here by my room. I understand that barely anyone visits this place. Winnie said so herself.

“I… uh…” he sputters. He’s shorter than me but seems to be above average height compared to the people I’ve seen so far. His short hair is bright orange and matches the little stubble across his strong chin. He has light skin and eyes that bridge between orange and yellow. Altogether, I’d say he’s good looking: almost rugged but with the small effort to be cleaned up. He’s wearing a black and green uniform similar to some I’ve seen on the way to the house yesterday. The design emphasizes the narrow waist and broad shoulders above his sleeveless arms. Although he has a strong appearance it’s barely noticeable since he’s so flustered. He clears his throat and starts speaking again with his eyes cast to the side.

“I’m here to bring you to Madam Winifred. Please, follow me.” He spins around and starts walking away without my response. It’s annoying that he doesn’t let me respond or even bother looking me in the eye. Because of this I almost forget to control my gait more than usual. After the first step causing a huge vibration through the floor I angrily recall this other annoyance and follow him with a glare. The morning began well enough until he appeared.

He leads me down to the front of the house to where Winnie is waiting along with the weasel. By the way the weasel matches the uniform I’d assume it was designed around the animal. Hm.

“Good morning,” Winnie greets me with a calm grin. She’s wearing pants today along with a long blouse with slits on the side and a seam gathered at her waist. Her colors are more vibrant today and I wish I had something other than this frilly dress to wear. I usually don’t care about clothes but Mama’s bridal training gave me some idea of my own taste and this dress is not in that category. “For now,” Winnie starts, “I’ll pay for anything you need. But once you get used to life here and start working you pay for your own stuff.” I nod thinking that I won’t stay long enough for that. She returns the nod in affirmation. “Good, let’s go.”

The situation on the streets is similar to yesterday. This time I notice some things etched into the fronts of buildings and I’m pretty sure that they’re supposed to be words. I understand the spoken language though, so I’m not sure what that’s about. It’s best not to ask Winnie about it right now but I’ll talk to her about it once we’re in a less hectic place.

While in the middle of the city she veers off the road into a brightly colored building. With a glance I can say that it’s a pretty huge place. It’s filled with statues of various sizes covered in clothes along with shelves neatly displaying shoes. The statues are gathered in groups according to styles and I can actually see a few that I wouldn’t mind wearing. Winnie weaves through the few other people analyzing the clothes and stops at a desk along the wall.

“Blythe!” Winnie’s tone is once again suddenly sharp. From within an open room we hear something tumble over and a distressed yelp. What emerges from the huge doorway is a somewhat short man with round features. He has dark skin, light blue hair with white ends pulled back in a ponytail, and large blue eyes. Although he has round features he’s not fat by any means; he’s rather lithe if you look past his almost childish face.

“Lady Winifred!” He’s surprisingly excited to greet her despite her aggressive barking at him. She explains that I’m a lost successor that was found recently and I’ll be staying with her. As such, I need Firet cloth sized for an Earthen. It’s not hard to tell that these are words they use to describe different elementals. They could have been more creative but then again I’m glad it’s so easy to understand.

The man called Blythe looks me over with curiosity and contemplation, like a puzzle he needs to complete. “First, I suppose we’ll figure out what you want to buy; then we’ll take her measurements.”

“Go on,” Winnie waves at me, “find something you like. Only a couple though, I’m not that rich.” I don’t really feel like answering and she doesn’t seem to care since she starts talking with Blythe again. Out of all the styles I immediately head toward the most practical ones. There are those that seem obviously designed for males and those obviously designed for females. The difference is in the statues but mostly in the chest. These clothes further reinforce Winnie’s statement about nectar. Many of the women’s clothes have sections designed to remove the cloth around the breasts and I avoid these immediately. There are still many designs that don’t visibly have this feature and I see a couple I like.

One is more simple. It has thick, dark, brown pants that won’t tear as easily as the other ones I’ve seen, the inside of the thighs are reinforced with leather - which is obviously designed for Earthens since my work pants easily wore out in the past - and there are a couple additions to the sides which could be used to carry items and such. All-in-all the pants seem useful. The shirt I like is strangely stretchy - which I love since it doesn’t look like it’ll tear - and doesn’t have a low neck-line or removable chest section like the others. It’s black with rounded, orange lines in a design that’s simple but nice to look at. Like a lot of other clothes in this section, it doesn’t have sleeves but I don’t care that much. The second pair of pants is much like the first except light tan, a bit wider at the bottom of the leg, and there are no additions on the sides. The second shirt isn’t stretchy and has long sleeves. It’s also blue and without design but looks comfortable and it’s pretty soft.

I don’t think I should take the clothes off of the statues and simply approach Winnie to tell her that I’ve decided. As I reach the counter I get closer to Winnie’s voice, which I could hear all along. She seems to be bartering with Blythe and although he has a pleasant look to his face he’s not letting her have her way easily. I also notice that the uniformed man that met me in the hallway in front of my room was there and wondered if he was there all along. I was probably paying too much attention to the crowds in front of me that I didn’t see him following us from behind. Just like before, he avoids me as much as possible. It’s fine because I don’t have any business with him anyway.

After I let Winnie know that I’ve decided on what I want Blythe measures me overtop the dress I’m wearing. It’s only embarrassing when he measures me across my chest and on the inside of my legs but he doesn’t take long to write down the measurements. “I’ll have these done by tomorrow as agreed,” he has a bit of a tired tone in his pleasant face and Winnie nods with an accomplished smile as she tosses a bag over to him. I assume it’s a form of currency. Mama told me all about money and we mostly deal with silver and copper; I wonder if they use the same. Blythe doesn’t bother to count anything so I can’t check for now. As soon as we leave the store we’re greeted by a woman wearing the same garb as the man that’s been following us around.

“Madam, Sir Lowell would like you to meet him at the Arena as soon as possible. He says that the spar will begin soon,” she reports. I catch a few glances my way but most of them are directed at Winnie. She smiles and looks at me with glee.

“We’re going to watch a fight.”