This was officially the farthest that Elena has been from her home. It was a strange thought, a thought she did not expect to have now. She doesn't even know how she could tell how far away she was without the map, but she knew. As the ship lurched, from her room she shared with a sleeping Gray, she felt a small connection somehow being severed from where she was from. This must have been what it was like to leave home, truly. Out of range of a simple letter really. And her father was on the fronts with the Frostlandians as their annual war became more and more violent. Their Manor would be empty now, only the servants to decorate the halls till she returns. When she returns. There was no uncertainty whether or not she will come home. No matter how close to death, she refused to believe so. Even still, the thought of that cold hand on her throat, a blade placed at the base of her head, she wished not to dwell upon it.

Gray was getting more and more anxious, understandably. He was wary of traveling these roads before. And now that they know to what danger they face, she can tell he's about ready to leave now. She did not blame him, it's the sensible thing to do. But sometimes knights and heroes don't do the most sensible of things. Outright stupidity could lead to much joy and happiness. And she trusts Lyse enough to follow on that path, as he has proven time and time again so far. Lyse. What does she think of that man? He seems like a fairy tail walking in a human form. But still, he is grounded. A picture of what knights hold to their students, and wish them to be. And he doesn't lack passion.

This is, however, for that she has no idea how to handle. It wasn't as overt as Shi'Ased or the Frostlands. They were far more terrifying because you don't know when or where they will strike. And while their goals are defined, as per Lyse's description, their entire relationship with these so-called gods and deities far exceeded what she expected of this sudden journey. She wasn't going to die, but it was daunting what lies before them. The world suddenly became several times larger than she imagined, and she can't even trust what she does know anymore.

It was hard to sleep. She watched as Gray eventually nod off, despite his complaints about the damp conditions. The boats rocking made her stomach almost a bit too in sync, and she felt the need to get fresher air. The very small hall that led to the small rooms was narrow, with only an oil lamp lit at the end of one hall. The only thing covering the wood is a half-ruined wool carpet as thick as shoe soles. The night sky could be seen up the stairs where she expected some of the men to be still working on the boats coarse. She was fairly surprised at how fast they moved. It hasn't been but an hour and she could barely see the lights of the city against the horizon. Albun worked the wheel as two men kept close to the sails. One was on top of a box, holding both hands up. On his darker, sun-baked skin were a few tattoos, patterns associated with what little she knows of Torlakian magic. It was quite astonishing, actually, to find a mage all alone in the clans. After Remmus decreed against teaching magic to outsiders, many simply left to live in Torlak. Those few who remained are carefully watched by the military police. The fact he's here meant that those procedures aren't as tight as anyone seemed them to be. He stirred the wind and rattled the water, pushing two or three times faster than what they would have traveled normally. Every so often, the two men working the deck would come and adjust the sails to get the most out of his magic.

"Pretty amazing, isn't it?" She looked over to see Lyse leaning over the rail, watching the land go by with that analytical gaze. He didn't wear his cloak anymore, settling with the cotton grey shirt and pants. The pendant he always wore was tucked beneath, glowing slightly. She wondered now if he knew something of magic as well. "Albun told me he was a student in the outlands. But when Torlakian magic being taught was outlawed, he had to go elsewhere and use his talents sparingly. An amazing talent to have, I must say."

"Do you know a little of this talent," she joined him at the rail, seeing the small smile that had formed.

"What if I do?" He asked coyly. "A knight using magic, what a thing that must be to imagine. I may know something, but it's not something I can use as sparingly as this man here."

"So you do know magic then, like your mother?"

He sighed. It wasn't tiring, just thoughtful. "Indeed I do. She is teaching me more as I go. Moving plants and bits. Trust me when I tell you it is difficult. Two weeks and I can only move a blade of grass to the wave of my finger, much less than moving entire forests to do my bidding. She told me that I will need this power. And I believe her. I don't want us to end up in that situation again . . . "

He trailed off, furrowing his brows. She did not wish to know what he was thinking. No doubt it was a dark place to find oneself, being powerless. Power is the way of the clans . She looked up at the stars. The moons. She saw wind spirits floating above them now. Common this far south near the ocean breeze. It was hard to find their figures, but whenever they obscured an especially bright star or the moons, they could easily be seen through their rippling forms. Either horses or vague humanoid figures. They never bothered humans. They never really attacked anything, just follows people and sometimes becoming omens when they gathered to warn of a bad storm. They were also omens of good weather sometimes, usually when they appeared in dancing pairs to am unusual rhythm. That's how most weather scientist predicted the weather in Silondras. People don't see them so often so far north though. Maybe it was the cold weather or the enchanted Forest that made them flee. Spirits can be very particular about their domains.

"So, what do you think so far of our journey? I doubt it is what you imagined it to be so far."

"I cannot say that I expected all that has happened, " Elena told him. "But we are knights. We deal with the extraordinary because we are extraordinary. We deal with the hardest because our steel is the only that can endure."

"You don't need to tell me these things," Lyse chuckled. "Still, I'm sorry for dragging you all into this. Thanks to me, you all might have a target painted on your sides."

"I didn't agree to come along with you because I wanted an apology Lyse," she looked to the wind spirits, and back to him with a hard look. "You need to stop this self-pitying. It is unbecoming of someone like you. At least what I believed you to be. I suspect you to be more of the, you know, carry on and do what needs to be done. Or is that a bit too fairy tale for Lyse Opal? Your sister needs you. And your mother. Your all that they have."

Lyse sighed. "I know. I can not say I have not wavered a moment in what I wish for. I have to save my sister. I have to be there for my mother, and protect my empire. That's what I must do. I do appreciate you sharing your feelings towards this. I will take it into consideration next time I ask you to jump into danger with me."

"There is no need to thank me for anything," Elena said. "Maybe when this is over, and we make it back to the capital, we can all share in a drink as brothers and sisters of battle, no?"

"A drink," Lyse's smile grew pleasant. "Yes, a drink would be nice. Just a simple drink when this is all over. No worry of death, no worry of my family. No worry about my friends. Wouldn't that be the best of outcomes? A reward more than fitting for the effort. Even the smile on my sister would be a blessing right now. A true smile, filled with happiness for the world, love for those she loves. I'd die to see it again, for some reason. Not because it will make me feel better, but because what other reason is there for a person than to make the ones they love to smile."

Lyse paused, seeing the mystified look on Elena's face as she stared at his face. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling again. Forgive me."

She furrowed her brows, a new smile spreading. "What did I just tell you, fairy tail hero?"

Lyse smiled, lifting himself off the beam to face her fully and bow to her in a grand gesture. "Of course. Thank you for talking with me, I appreciate it. Thank you for listening to my self-pity, and for putting up with my irrational decisions."

"Again, you need not apologize," she told him. "I'm just glad to be there for you. I just want you to be there for us all."

He nodded, taking a sharp inhale to then look at the spirits dancing above. "Can I ask you something, Elena? What if you were told to do something that you know you cant do. Logically it was impossible."

She raised a brow. "Nothing in this world is impossible. Even the most skeptical of a mage would tell you that."

"But I mean utterly impossible," he said. "Impossible, and there are people out there that are promised to have some answer you don't have. Power that you lack."

"Well then, I must find those people."

"And if they don't have the answer, if they don't have the power, either?"

She gave him a confused look. "What are you on about, Lyse."

He gave her a sad chuckle. "I am but a little hero told to do the impossible. I will save my sister. I will avenge my father. But I don't know how I'm going to. That is something I have yet to find the answer for. How do I win."

She gave a considerable glance to him and thought inwardly. It was a type of question some wisened man would muster to young men and women preparing for battle. And Lyse n doubts feels the pressure upon him. If it's an answer, a plan, she can not answer him. It is not her place to answer him. That is for him to discover. So that must be her answer.

"Find out the strength of your enemy," he said."Know your limits and theirs. Know the environment. And most importantly, know your resolve. That is what you have to do."

(X)

The days that followed were those spent looking upon the horizon, and planning. Koraki fastened its way to the horizon that grew further and further back. The lands of hills that were turning to the autumn times seemed to shake off this natural transformation and keep its healthy glow. The spirits became more prevalent, wind spirits more often than not that materialize to curiously circle their craft. Lyse suspected that it must be the magic the man was using to move faster. There were others. River spirits and nymphs sat on the riverbed, watching them carefully. The nymphs all looked like beautiful young women, some with odd colored skins usually in compliment to the river's natural hues. Gray called out to them with pleasant remarks, which were not returned very well. A jet of water was sent at his face as they passed, and he stayed away from the edge after that. What they were really looking out for were beasts that could attack. Every now and again, a murder of crows would be seen on the horizon far off. Every time they snuffed out every open flame and hunkered below until they were no longer in sight. None came very close, but having an entire murder to descend upon you on a wooden craft would prove to be anyone's undoing. Lyse took note of all that he saw. It was his first time seeing nymphs with his own eyes. The river that crossed just ten miles north of his home lacked any for some mysterious reason or another. He may spot a dryad now and again, but they were few and far between in the Forest of silence. Edlund never even knew this many can gather at all. He enjoyed having this sense of adventure as if bringing back some innocence of simpler times.

Celia, as she looked around, could only see potential enemies. Threats. No doubt the others saw this, but the aura she cast reflected far more in her demeanor, mostly staying huddled in some corner, diligently looking upon the river as if it'll allow them to move faster by her will alone, only to return to her bed with stiff movements. She progressively got much better from her condition, Lyse almost constantly pestering her with questions, which she had to convince him was genuine. All the while she continued to teach him more things, more of what the pendant can do. Among them, in these lessons, was the ability to summon grape Vines of all things. Lyse was confused, just as much as Celia was, but she explained to him that the God Dionysus was also a god of wine. Couple this with his ability to manipulate plants and she gestures that he can be quite versatile in his fighting. He can also cast this drunkenness to others, completely break their mind from focus to confuse them. And a step further was madness. This his mother went over rather lightly. It was a permanent wound on the mind, an almost unrecoverable loss of anyone's senses. She used it herself only once on the man known as Thanatos, and the results spoke for themselves. Lyse kept a good note on that.

Another discussion was their plan once reaching the city. Lyse expressed concerns about the impossibility of finding her in a city such as this. No doubt they will arrive at least a day after her if she took to slower travel, but even with that, it would be difficult to pinpoint one sage amongst a sea of diversity that awaits them. But, Celia seemed unbothered by this proposition.

"We will find her, no worries are needed Lyse," she had told him. He was sitting across from her, sharpening a small knife and cleaning her armor In a small pan. Lyse gave a puzzled look.

"And why is that?" He asked. "Can you sense her?"

"Of course not," she told him. "Not right now at the very least. But I know where she is going, and why she is coming here. At least I hope. It is but a mere guess, but will no doubt be our best shot in catching her before she gets away. She will be looking for a vessel to travel the southern sea, and I can think of few she'd actually trust to do just that. And if my guess is right, we need not worry much else."

"A specific vessel?" Lyse asked. "She'll be headed for someone in particular? Who?"

A faint smile appeared on Celia's face, spoken of some comforting or pleasant memory not found in the present. Lyse knew that it must be something interesting to pay attention to, and stopped what he was doing immediately. "Please refrain from saying that it was some sort of family member. I doubt I can take much more of that and keep my sanity. You promised to spill anything about that you know."

"Stop worrying so much," she chastised playfully, waving her hand aside. "It's nothing of the sort. She is yet another of those guardians. Like Makyra and John. Or at least, she was. She is the daughter of some friends we made. She, like Massua and John, pledged to protect Lizbeth. But, I have not seen her in a long time. And from what Massua had told me, she has abandoned her charge and the world she has come to know. Now she's a merchant, a simpler and more rewarding profession, I suppose. I doubt my sister was pleased, but she'd be a fool to not see it coming. She's always a hothead especially to be under someone as demanding as Lizbeth."

"And she'll be taking us to Torlak then, or she was going to take Makyra to Torlak. What does she look like."

"Hathan, like us," she went on. "Rust colored hair and a thin face as I last recall. She'll stand out, even here. Again, you'll know her ship once you see it."

Lyse wondered about this in silence for a while. Makyra was becoming more and more curious to him, and he found himself mustering questions about her he intends to release upon her when the time is right. When he sees her, of course. She would come this far to save his sister's and avenge his mother and father. A devotion that is shared to some extent and has to admire, otherwise be stooped into hypocrisy. He still is not at all pleased she simply left him behind to pursue this alone, but it was the same thing he tried to do himself. If his companions were ant less strong-willed, more so for his mother, he would be in her exact position. He was grateful for that in some way. A life he did not hold in his hand doing what he wished to come. He never knew his life could get this complicated. And if any hints from his mother had shown, it will only continue.

It was the evening of the third day that they saw the rolling of fields give way to the flat sea that seemed to smoothly bud into the earth, and it was a sight to behold. Throughout their journey, while knowing their destination and their goals, Lyse had never thought once that he has never actually seen the ocean. He's seen pictures, remembers the vivid imagery pulled forth by many poets and bards at festivals. He didn't think it any much more than what he pictures a really large lake would look like. A lake with no boundary. But none of the best of drawings, not the most emotionally drawing of songs did justice to his first view of the Southern sea. The Rosy sun dipped near the horizon, casting beams of gold and scarlet to bounce off the ocean. The city that seemed to clutter to the shore somehow flowed like water over the land and even into the sea, with wooden and stone docks covering the contact between land and sea as well. Ships, hundreds of them bobbed like logs in the water. Many smaller vessels, but a few being vast, beyond vast in their make. The architecture was a mash of styles, both of the Clans and foreign. The smooth topped roofs consisting of domes and sleek roofs mimicked the ways that battered the sand. Even as they approached the gates, it seemed a city so alien and beyond compared to what he had seen so far, removed from the cloaks of the iconic clan make.

"Beautiful," he whispered.

"Yes," Edlund wistfully agreed, his eyes glued to the horizon to the west, the sun declining away. "I didn't expect a view like this. We came in the premium of times, haven't we."

"Tigri is famous for its scarlet disks," Albun informed them, pleasantly looking out ahead of them. "It is said that scarlet skies reveal a bountiful coming year of the sea."

"If this is a common view, I might have to find a home here," Gray said. "Although it is far from home, I suppose my father can cope with letters."

Lyse looked closer to the boats. Many were small wooden fishing vessels with the space to spare five men after a good haul. Some looked of military use, possibly those either traveling east to the outland kingdoms or rounding west and then north, to The Frostlands waters. There weren't many, so Lyse didn't think they were a part of some major fleet or Armada. The most impressive, however, was a giant among them. It seemed impossible how giant it was, even from where he sat. It was one and a half times the length of a regular battle class ship, over 250 meters long. It dominated the port and even towered over some building, ist wound up sails buffering like tree branches in the wind. There was no doubt that this was the vessel his mother had told him. There was no denying it. It was absurd just how large it was for being merely a merchant services ship.

"There it is," his mother joined him as they began passing the river gate and into the ports that wound all the way out to the river. "A War-hog battleship, developed by some brilliant engineers of Hath. Impressive is it not."

"It's hard to believe that the Empire would even allow a thing to dock ashore," he said. "By the name, I'm guessing it was meant for warfare purposes?"

"Indeed," Celia said. "It's the only of its kind. Enough to carry 300 men and enough cargo to support a small village. And that will be our transport in the sea. Granted we find Moxie of course."