Nefaaya stared intently at the handsome man with red hair. Inside, she debated on Merging to see the color of Flow behind that smile he showered to them.

Above them, the canopy of leaves rustled against the blowing wind. The man removed his cap and put it on the log beside him before he eyed them.

"My name is Nelrue Aysanier," he said with a bow that almost looked mocking on Nefaaya's eyes. It annoyed her. There was something in the way the man moved that made him... irritating to look at. But he was a handsome fellow nonetheless…. but there was something strange in his beauty, his green eyes spoke of depth and mystery. She had never seen something so beautiful yet so terrifying to look at.

His thin lips formed into a mischievous smile.

"A musicteller," Ettran said, eyes almost glinting in excitement. He wet his lips as he looked excitedly at Nelrue. She was surprised how enthusiastic he was, when he had always been cold at them.

"Aye, I am indeed a musicteller," the man admitted, proudly showing a silver eagle-shaped brooch encasing a brilliant violet stone. Amethyst perhaps. Nefaaya learned that amethyst was the most valuable and was usually used in awarding ceremonies.

He brought out a black cape with gold embroidery. It was short and would not pass down on his waist. Nelrue fastened it using the brooch and picked up his flute and started playing.

Only Ettran knows the song. It was called the Maiden In The Fingertips. Nefaaya had once read the tragic story. According to the legend, Princess Tahaliya had fallen in love with Etranil, the captain of the guards of her betrothed. But Etranil didn't feel the same or so what it seemed at first. Betraying his liege lord, Prince Klarinir, was something he wouldn't do.

But when the war between Talahiya's home and a neighboring country broke out, Prince Klarinir headed to the front to support the princess' cause. He left Etranil to protect the princes and to be her retinue. The two became close as the day passed and the court had started to notice something was amiss.

In the front, news had been brought to Klarinir, telling of an affair that might be happening between Talahiya and Etranil. The prince refused to believe what the others told him about his dear friend; he decided to call for Etranil in the front.

And so he left with thousand flattering banners

In the break of the day where the sun was still hiding behind the mountains of Atros

A morning when the star where still rebelling against the blue sky that was trying to eat them

My love, left and with it a promised to meet in the Fingertips

Not as a soldier and a princess but as two person swearing to the Eye

Promising to be together until the end of Flow... until the Eye became blind and never see again

But Etranil with his loyalty bound to the prince admitted his treachery. Despite this, the prince never killed him. Overcome with guilt, Etranil asked to fight for the prince for one last time, for he cannot meet the prince's eyes ever again. He promised to end this war, his last duty to him. And so Etranil joined the war. But a disaster took place that had put the kingdom's force at a slaughter. Etranil and Kalrinir both perished in the battle.

In the end, Etranil chose to do his duty of protecting the prince. And he died doing it. Talahiya's country perished and she had been married off to the conqueror to protect her people. Nefaaya thought bitterly.

And so I waited, for the day the banners would arrive.

For the day that the promise would be fulfilled.

Renaeril sighed heavily and clapped softly. Ettran mouth was gaping open at the musicteller as he continued playing repeatedly the tune of the last two stanzas.

"She's basically a flirt," Nefaaya said, breaking the silence among them. It was her opinion when she read it. With or without that heart-piercing music, her opinion would remain unshaken.

The two boys looked at her.

"They're victims," Renaeril said. "Of social classes."

Ettran nodded, "if only... if only if he was born in a different Path in the Flow."

Her eyes widened. That's fatalism. But she refused to argue more.

"Why did you say that Talahiya was a flirt?" Nelrue asked. "Did she cause the death of Etranil?"

Nefaaya looked up on the nearby branches, thinking. She nodded slowly, "if Talahiya didn't involve herself with Etranil. He might be able to live a long life, perhaps even take a wife with less issues to bear him children." To Nefaaya, Talahiya was nothing but a walking bomb with lots of issues. It's not heartbreaking, it's downright annoying.

"How could you say that?" Ettran said. "If he married another woman, surely they would break apart afterwards. The Flow intended for him to marry her."

Nefaaya scoffed, "then the Flow intended for him to die too? And to suffer?"

Ettran was about to speak when Nelrue spoke, ending the argument.

"The Flow heads towards a Path that sometimes we couldn't understand. The Flow was not a single Flow but a series of small streams each leading to a different destination depending on our choices. It was not the Flow who made the men's lives but it was the men's choices who made their lives. Whether it was the path of suffering or happiness. The Flow was just simply there to give us choices, choices that would take us away as much as possible from the influence of Madness."

Nelrue looked at her, smiling mischievously as if victorious, "the choice was given to them but they chose that Path, the path of suffering. You could say that they're foolish. But what is life if we don't suffer, if we don't get scars, if we don't get angry? If we don't suffer, we wouldn't learn to struggle. And someone who don't know how to struggle was closer to Madness than she could have ever thought she was."

Nefaaya fell silent under the gaze of Nelrue, the man played one more song this time a joyous one—as if to celebrate his victory over a child! That had lifted Ettran's sour mood, she was even surprised that Renaeril knew the song. She just clapped beside him half-heartedly.

"Why are you here, musicteller?" Ettran asked.

"I was supposed to play in this town, for my yearly visit," he said. "But when I arrived here, there was nothing left to hear my music. The town was almost burned to ashes... including the people who used to live here."

The three looked at one another. It was Reanaeril who asked casually, "Do you know of any news outside?"

Nelrue sat with his head hanging behind him, "news, eh? I heard that there was a war happening between the Empire and the Southern Countries... but there's also a brewing civil war in the Southern Continents as one of the country refused to rally against the Nortic Empire."

"Nothing else?" Ettran asked.

According to what little Nefaaya know about musicteller, they're traveler and often held a high place in the society especially those who possessed the eagle brooch. Each color has a representation of someone's rank. Ruby was the lowest, fourth was sapphire, third for emerald, second for diamond and first for amethyst. The highest of all rank. What an Amethyst-ranking musicteller is doing here out in the wild was something to be suspicious about.

"The news that I have here was of no concern to you," he said.

"In the Weilfrein Continent someone started claiming that he was the Prophet," he said.

Etrran started making a sign to ward off the Madness and Renaeril had done the same in the ground!

"Weilfrein and Loh'rain Continent was the land who have supported the Prophet until the very end."

As she heard the name of the Prophet she disagreed with what Nelrue said. It was news of concern to her.