Lua had never realised how big Aleynonlia was. While she had travelled across it occasionally, they had always been by cart or by horse. The last time she had crossed the entire city on foot, she was but a child, holding onto her brother's hands as they ran from the battles of war. Back then, everything seemed giant to her. Now that the whole world was open, everything instead looked like titaneous.

The city moved by her in a slow blur as she tried to take everything in. It would be a long time before she would be able to revisit her home again. In what seemed to be a blink of an eye, she had reached the outer gates and stepped out into the outskirts' farmland.

Behind her, one of the gate guard said, “Have a safe journey.”

“Thanks,” she replied. “I'll be back soon.”

She gripped the straps of her backpack and checked the jade swords at her waists. She whispered a well wish to her brother and began walking. Pass the houses. Pass the stables. Passing the farms. She only slowed down once more towards her destination for the familiar face of farmer Ted, who was loading up his cart with produce, ready to leave for his day at the market.

“Oh, if it isn't Lua,” the man greeted with a smile.

“Good day, Mister Ted,” she replied happily.

His eyes glanced around before his lips lowered slightly. “It's still unnatural, not seeing your brother with you. How are you handling it? I know you're sick of hearing it, but I still share in your loss.”

She nodded solemnly. “Thank you. I'm doing much better. There are... days. But he would not want me to mourn too long.”

Ted immediately cleared his throat. “And what about you? Where are you going off to?” He pointed to her bag.

“Just... going out for a bit.”

“Uh huh...” he let out disbelievingly. Finally though, he decided to drop the facade and sighed. “There's been tectonic shifts in the world these past few seasons, and I'm not just talking about Rubicum. But you already know that, don't you? It's getting dangerous again out there.”

She had been briefed on many things in the seasons since the battle against The Janus. She learnt that members of Clover were not always influential individuals like the king, talented like Lady La'Grey, or famous like Saix. Some of them were simply common citizens wielding extraordinary power. Some of them were just farmers who held fought gods.

She said, “Are you warning me not to go?”

Farmer Ted waved away the notion. “Of course not. In the end, it's your choice. But I wanted to let you know there are still people who cares about you.” He walked around his cart and fiddled with his basket of produce before walking out with some vegetables wrapped in scrap paper. “First autumn bean harvest of the season, for the road. Come back alive.”

She took the gift without a word, only bowing her head in thanks to hide her glistening eyes. Finally, she looked up and smiled to Ted. With an understanding nod and a wave, the two of them bid farewell and headed their separate ways, him climbing onto his cart and heading into the city and her walking further out.

It was a good day out. The Twins were bright, unblocked by clouds. The winds were cool and humidity was high. She watched two dogs chase each other around in a field, and a shepherd in the distance herding livestock. A patrol of guards greeted her enthusiastically when they passed. It was hard to imagine that they had survived a war just a few years earlier, and the peace was the lasting effect of great leadership under restoration. It was harder to imagine Rubicum had happened. It was even harder to imagine another War of Gods looming was on the horizon. But that was what seemed to be the case.

Outside the Nutsy Inn, which was a lodge on the outskirts, Joachim and The Watcher waited. While Joachim had a backpack like hers, ready to go, The Watcher wore a simple black vest over a white shirt and dark pants. His brown coat was half taken off and tied across his waist.

She walked up to the man and asked, “You're not packed?”

“Nope. I'm gonna live off the land!” he sassily roared as he jokingly flexed his arms.

“Tnahk godnoees yuo're hree,” Joachim signed. “Tihs guy wlil not suht up!”

Over the seasons, she had taken up sign language. And while she could handle simple words, complicated ones still slipped by her every now and then. Still she could fill in the blanks with what she had and come up with something understandable. At the very least, she could communicate with Joachim, and the two of them formed a stoic friendship built on the last minutes of their battles.

She apologised to him. “Sorry. Got caught up.”

Joachim continued, “So? Waht hppaned wtih the knig?”

“You'd know if you had been there,” she answered saucily.

He raised a brow. Over the seasons, Lua had tried interacting with him more, even doing so in a similar way to Ishumi. However, Joachim kept his face inscrutable. On occasions, would catch him staring far into the distant, as if no longer with them in soul. Since Nos's death, Joachim had not cried a single tear. For the first 10 days, he had locked himself in his room, and when they finally broke in, they found him near death from starvation. Afterwards, he returned to his normal self, though more distant than he used to be, always an arm's reach away. Lua hoped to close that gap, for there weren't many in the world who could sympathise with what they had lost.

Lua sighed and continued. “He gave us the choice to become Guardblades.”

Both his brows rose. “And waht did you say?”

“We'll be back for it,” she replied, confident.

The Watcher was picking his nose, waiting for them to leave. It was going to be a long journey over to Wendereight, where they were going to search for information on Moira, the god that had inhabited The Janus's body. Aside from Enneya – who was wheelchair bound – Joachim and Lua were the only two other living persons to have seen Moira's avatar up close. The Watcher had asked to bring them along on his search for the god on the chance that they could recognise any images of the creature. The both of them agreed, determined to bring down the being that stole the lives of their friends.

At first, they were going to teleport there with The Watcher's powers. But Lady Marianne had warned against it, as the city-state was still in political turmoil alongside a brewing civil war. She insisted they walked there despite being able to wait for a later date to leave. Lua thought the tactician felt the trip would help them heal. She did not disagree, and neither did Joachim. Together, they packed to go.

Joachim pointed to the autumn beans and asked, “Waht are thsoe?”

“Oh. Farmer Ted gave them to us. “For the road,” he said.” She unwrapped produce and from between the paper, two playing cards slipped out. “Wha–”

She dextrously grabbed one of the cards mid air and Joachim bent over lackadaisically to pick up the other one. He turned the card face-to-face before holding up the piece with a confused look. On it was a a single icon that showed a quarter of each of the four basic playing pieces atop a four leaf clover.

“Joekr,” he signed.

She looked at her own card. “Two of clovers. What are these?”

From his pocket, The Watcher pulled out a seven of clovers and quizzically compared them. After a moment, he laughed. “Hah! What a fascinating group of people they are.”

“Watcher?” Lua asked. “What's going on?”

“I'll tell you along the way. After all, we've got a long road ahead,” he said with a smile, putting his arms around both their shoulders and dragging them forward.

Joachim Kerr, Lua Ornitter, and The Watcher will return in...

The Chronicles of Tearha: Born and Made