Fae's journey back to square one was a long one, but most importantly a boring one as she herself didn't have many things to do in the duration of those seven agonizing days, Yuna kept her company at night with stories about her childhood alongside her brother, and those same stories warmed Fae more than any blanket at night

The sailors didn't give much attention to Fae nor did she try to initiate a conversation with any of them, she could feel the same awkwardness that they previously had to both her and to Ichiya, but as long as it wouldn't cause any trouble Fae didn't really care much

However, those uneventful days ended with a surprising invitation from Edward to his captain's cabin

It was the night of the sixth day, and on the next morning she would have reached Newbury, back in Flora

Fae stood on the deck and in front of the door that would lead inside Edward's cabin, she cleared her throat and balled her right hand only letting her index finger out that she used to knock on the door

"Come in" She recognized his voice behind the door, and with his permission, Fae took in a deep breath and opened the door, getting inside his cabin that served both as his bedroom and his office

"Good evening Fae" She could see him behind his desk with a polite smile on his face, sitting down on a fancy chair while his hand held onto a quill that he used to write on some paper

"Hey" As Fae replied to him, Edward gestured to the chair that was on the other side of the desk, Fae took the offer with a smile and sat down on his opposite side

"I hope the trip so far has been comfortable for you" He spoke with a small smile on his face, one that Fae replied to with a smirk

"It certainly is, especially when I don't get suspected to be a spy" Her words made the captain chuckle

"You're not going to let me live it down huh?" His question was met by nothing more than a smile and narrowed eyes

"I'm kidding, I understand that you might feel responsible to suspect me because of your job, no hard feelings" Fae told Edward, softening his smile into a much more friendlier one

"Thank you" He answered her, his hand then dropped the quill back into its inkwell

"You don't mind if I ask you a couple of questions?" His question prompted unamused narrowed eyes from Fae

"Don't worry" He chuckled

"It's from genuine curiosity, nothing more" His words made her sigh in exhaustion, crossing her arms sternly while her eyes stared at Edward's

"Fine, what do you wanna know?" He smiled at her words, one of appreciation

"I was just impressed that the emperor himself spoke to you with such a father-like tone" He was saying as he leaned down to grab something under his desk, and that something was an alcohol bottle that he put on top of that same desk, and while Fae wondered how expensive the bottle must be, Edward gestured for her to look behind

And as she did she could see a couple of crystal clean wine glasses on a table, she went there to fetch them before sitting back down, putting the two glasses in front of each one of them

"So" He poured the dark blue liquid onto Fae's glass first

"What's your last name?" He then poured the alcohol for himself until his glass was full

Fae sighed and picked her glass, taking in a sip before answering any of his questions, yet her brain had one question to give first, what kind of acid did she just drink?

"This is really strong" She barely uttered while her expression twisted into a grimace of discomfort, Edward snickered

"One of the strongest you can find in Flora" She didn't know whether he was challenging her or merely being informative, with a quick shake of her head Fae drank another sip and got the same burning sensation

"Anyway, about my question" Fae gently rested her glass on the table as she let out a seemingly pleasing exhale after the second sip

"Walker" Her eyes were examining the liquid inside her glass but she kept her full attention on him

"Huh" His reaction immediately gained back her gaze however

"You don't behave as your average noble" Fae chuckled at what he told her

"That's because I am not" She replied, gently shaking her glass

"In my homeland, everyone has a last name regardless of their social class" She then took a third sip, however burning, the alcohol was quite enjoyable to drink

"How equitable" He answered her with a brief reply that made her scoff

"I'd say it was more utilitarian" She then looked back at him as she rested her glass on the edge of the wooden desk

"I'm sure last names were more popularized to help the government distinguish citizen from another, especially with how many documents each one has to have in my homeland" Edward finally started to drink his glass, taking more of a gulp than a sip

"You have a nicely eloquent speech" He told her, making Fae smile in appreciation

"Why thank you" She replied briefly, gaining a polite smile alongside a nod from Edward

"Though I don't think you wish to enlighten me more about where you were born, correct?" He asked her a question that prompted a big smirk on Fae's face

"Flawlessly correct" Her snarky reply made him snicker

"Your home must be very far away" He then took on to a much more sympathizing expression as he looked Fae right in her eyes

"Since I don't really know any nation that I can suspect you're from" She scoffed, lifting her glass to stare at it

"Very, very far" She muttered, and then raised her eyes to make eye contact again

"Farther than you could ever imagine" He raised an eyebrow in slight disbelief

"Sounds like a fairy tale to me" He wasn't afraid of voicing out his disapproval, and that itself made her chuckle since everything that has happened to her so far was a fairy tale in and of itself

"I'm not here to prove my answers, only voice them" She said while looking at him dead in the eyes before taking another sip of the alcohol at hand

"Well..." He took a gulp out of his glass to then sigh, lifting his eyes to look at Fae

"If your words are true, then I hope you can one day return to your nation" He saw her sigh and take a slow sip

"I hope too" Her tone of voice and expression proved to Edward that it was much more complicated than he thought, and he didn't want to delve further

"Apart from that, what's your relationship with the empire's royal family" She looked at him to see a raised eyebrow that proved his curiosity

"He wouldn't speak to a diplomat as he did to you, even his granddaughter spoke to you like she would to a friend" Fae sternly furrowed her eyebrows and crossed her arms disapprovingly

"Didn't recognize you as an eavesdropper" He laughed

"I didn't hear your conversation with Lady Ichiya as I was on this ship when you arrived" He replied to her with a raised eyebrow and a smile plastered on his face

"But the expressions she made when talking to you was definitely proof of how close she felt to you" He added on, gripping the bottom of his wine glass with two fingers and slowly spinning it

Fae sighed and diverted her gaze, lifting her glass to take a sip before returning it to the table

"Guess you can say we became friends" Her eyes still locked with the liquid inside, hearing a scoff come out of the man in front of her

"Nobody just 'becomes' the friend of a princess" A smile appeared on her face before she lifted her eyes enough to make eye contact

"Like I said" She shrugged with her shoulders

"You don't have to believe me" Her words made Edward purse his lips in response, he'll just have to believe her for now

He then chuckled and looked down into his glass, shaking it slightly before taking a gulp to then set back the glass on the table

"Must feel nice to have friends in high places huh?" Prompting sudden laughter out of Fae that made Edward raise an eyebrow

"Nah" She looked right into his eyes as she slowly spun the glass she held

"I'm just grateful the ones I call friends are great people" She replied to him as her words alone brought out a smile on his face

"I don't think friends should be sought after with materialistic criteria in mind" She added on alongside confident eyes

"Character and personality should be the first thing to look for, and I'm glad my friends possess those in abundance" She saw him slowly nod in affirmation

"So much insight for such a young person" He snickered and lifted his glass while Fae didn't know whether to take his words as a sarcastic joke or as a genuine compliment, and she sure as hell didn't want to ask him

"Cheers, to your wisdom, and to our health" He smiled as he gestured for a toast that Fae couldn't but refuse, with a smile of her own as she clinked her glass against his own

And soon after their conversation came to an end as Edward didn't have any more questions after that but little small talk, and after a couple of minutes he walked Fae back to her room, it was a nice gesture that made him seem in a better light to her

The night passed and so came the sun rising up in the sky to give its light away to the world, and on the smaller picture Fae safely arrived in Newbury, spirits high at the thought of finally coming back to the nation she started on, she had quite the things to do now

Bidding Farewell to Edward and thanking him was first on her list, and that she did before going straight out of the port and into the busy marketplace of the town, it was quite suffocating for Fae who wasn't much of a fan of markets themselves

But she survived through the masses and left the town, eyes glued with the horizon as she walked back the path that she once went down, she could remember some landmarks that helped her recognize where she was using the map Ulfgan gave her, cloak wrapped around her body with it's hood on her head

The trip was very tiring for Fae, her feet hurt and her mouth felt a bit parched, with a huge sigh she decided to rest down under the shade that a tall tree provided

And with a grunt Fae sat down, back against that same tree as she rested her backpack on her lap that she then opened to grab her plastic bottle

And after downing all the little water it had left, Fae cursed the fact that she didn't buy anything to eat on the road, but at least she would count that as an experience for the future, always bring food with you no matter how short your travels are

"Do you hear that?" Yuna asked the resting Fae, who raised an eyebrow at her friend that appeared next to her

"No? what is it?"She leaned against the tree with her knee on the ground, eyes locked with Yuna while the latter had her eyes elsewhere, deeper into the forest

And then all of a sudden, Yuna vanished, putting Fae into a slight discomfort at her sudden disappearing as she went on to put the water bottle in her backpack that she hurriedly closed

And then that same Yuna who vanished appeared again just as quickly, eyes locked with Fae

"Bandits, four of them" She then slowly nodded to Fae

"If you stay here, I can take care of them" Even with those words spoken, Fae could only hear murder, and that made her purse her lips

"They haven't spotted us right?" She asked Yuna who immediately gave a slow shook of her head

"Then let's get moving, there's no need to have blood on our hands" Yuna however, raised an eyebrow both in confusion and in disapproval

"Why not? they could have valuable supplies to help your journey and we'd be cleaning the land of filth" Fae locked eyes with Yuna gain, she could see her slightly furrowed eyebrows alongside her frown

"You won't even have to do anything, I'll handle the dirty work" Fae let out a sigh as she diverted her gaze elsewhere

"That's not my point" She muttered

"Murder isn't something I take lightly, Yuna" She then looked at the eyes of that same Yuna

"Please understand" Yuna kept her silence for a singular long second before slowly nodding

"I don't think I can understand your values, but I respect them" Those words brought Fae to a smile, one of relief

"But there will be a time when murder will be necessary, I just hope you know that" She added on, Fae proved that she did with a slow, confident nod

"When the time comes, I'll be ready" Yuna too, smiled, to then disappear back to the state of Fae's guardian angel, ready for the harm that might befall her any second

While Fae herself took a deep breath in, she couldn't participate in taking somebody's life, whether it'd be directly or otherwise, it was too much for her

And so she carried on, step by step she walked up the road that she once took, map in hand and if her she was right the path that she was on would lead her to freesia, back to the town of familiar faces and kind souls

....

"Well look who it is" One of the guards that stood in front of the front gate called out to the surprised Fae

"Oh, hello" She waved to them and wore a friendly smile to both of the guards, they were familiar to her and that fact alone was comforting for Fae since she traveled for hours on end

"We haven't seen your face in a long time lass, I'm glad to see you alive and kicking" His words were followed by the smiling nod of the younger guard beside him, Fae couldn't but chuckle

"Thank you, it's just that I've been on a long journey, but I'm glad to be back" She informed the two guards with a friendly smile that they returned just as warmly

"I hope your journey was fruitful lady" The younger guard replied to Fae

"More than I thought it'd be, Graham" And the young guard had his eyes slightly widened by the mention of his name

"I want my two coins" The older one said loudly as he playfully elbowed his partner who grunted and diverted his gaze away, Fae however had no clue on what they were talking about, a mere raised eyebrow was the only thing that she could give as a response

"Don't mind us missus, we just having a friendly bet" The older guard told her, Fae had a doubt his name was Kurk but she didn't want to risk the chance and make the mood more awkward than it already was

"Well as long as you two are having fun" She told them with a friendly smile before she gestured to the open gate

"I'll get going now, thank you for keeping an eye for all of us" With a polite smile, Fae bid them goodbye as they gave her a nod accompanied by Graham's chuckle

"She's pretty nice ain't she?" Kurk said with a smile as both of the guards eyed Fae pass through the gate

"Doesn't surprise me considering she's pretty close to miss Yulia" Graham replied to his partner, attracting his attention

"Guess that makes sense in a way lad, she wouldn't befriend just anybody" His partner replied to him as graham himself had no reply to that but a shrug

"We've got quite the kind-hearted souls in our town huh?" Kurk asked his colleague with a smile, prompting a short chuckle out of him

"You can say that again, it's a nice feeling to be their town guard" Graham said while his partner laughed with his raspy voice

"Your sugary words won't make me forget my two coins my friend" Kurk said with narrowed eyes while the other had no words to say but a suspicious whistle as he looked away

Fae on the other hand felt a strange sense of homeliness as she walked within the roads of Freesia let alone the fact that this whole world wasn't her own, but still, her heart felt the warmth of a home

She made her way to the adventurers' guild and got inside, she could recognize a couple of scarce faces that helped defend Freesia the night when the goblins tried to raid it, but she was here for other reasons than to ignite conversations with borderline strangers

"Oh! Fae!" Maria called out for her as Fae walked towards the counter with a warm smile on her face

"Hey there, it's been a while" She said to Maria who scoffed at those words

"That's quite the understatement miss Walker" She replied to Fae with narrowed eyes and thinly pursed lips, two things that prompted a warm chuckle out of the latter

"Had to take care of some impromptu errands to say the least" She tried to explain herself with shrugged shoulders as if to say it was out of her control

"I'm just glad you're back unscathed" She handed those comforting words to Fae with a warm smile of her own

"And you should probably inform miss Yulia of your arrival as well" Her warm smile turned into a borderline smirk

"If I was worried sick about you I'm sure you can imagine how she was" With a nervous chuckle Fae gave Maria a slow nod in the affirmative

"But well, she's having the company of a team of knights at her office currently, so you might wait a bit" Fae gave her an understanding nod with a polite smile

"Thank you, guess I'll wait for now" Bidding goodbye to the receptionist Fae looked around the large lobby and went on to sit down on a chair that was next to an empty table, resting her backpack on top of that same table while her body let out an exhale, it was an exhausting journey walking from Newbury back to Freesia but thankfully she didn't meet any evil on her way, or at least only passed by a few evils

And that thought coming back to her made her think about the action of taking a human life, a soul was sacred back in her world, murder was a really big word, one that shouldn't be taken lightly at least

All her life she was taught that murderers should be buried six feet under a prison, but self-defense should justify taking a life that is a threat on one's, right?

But what if it wasn't self-defense, what if Fae herself went on to those same bandits and killed them, would that be justified?

It is in and of itself fighting evil, after all

Fae let out a sigh, those thoughts weren't taking her to any place that would deem fruitful to either her or her journey, for now she has Yuna by her side and she could ask her opinion whenever the need arises, Fae knows that her ghostly friend would be glad to give help and at least that thought alone brought her some much-needed solace

"Hello Fae" Raising an eyebrow at her name being called, Fae looked to her left to see a woman standing over here, not the one she was hoping to see though

"Oh, hey Athena" Fae replied with a polite smile at Gunther's friend, not a person that Fae herself was in good terms with

"Mind if I sit down?" Though with that question given to her, Fae could see Athena's party in a table by themselves, she wondered what she would want from her

"Please do" With a friendly tone, Fae gestured to the seat that was the closest to her while Athena replied with a thankful small smile as she sat down

"Been a long time since I've seen your face, glad to see that you're not dead" Athena told Fae alongside a polite smile that Fae returned

"Thank you" But she didn't know what to talk to with the woman next to her as Fae didn't feel the most comfortable being in a one on one conversation with her of all people

"Well, did you hear that a couple of knights are talking with miss Yulia?" She asked Fae who crossed her arms attentively and gave a slow nod

"They're here to help us deal with the chimera that's been running amok around here" That single word made Fae's attention jump into the hundred and ten percent

"I'm sure you know which one it is" Athena narrowed her eyes for Fae to nod slowly at

"I myself think it's dangerous to fight a Chimera but Gunther insisted that we take this quest" She then gave Fae a dangerous smirk

"And I think it's destiny that you popped up today of all days" Resting her arms flat on the table as she leaned closer to Fae, Athena awaited her response with that same up to no good smirk

"I think I get the memo" Fae replied with a small smile that the other took as an affirmation since she didn't quite know what Fae meant by 'memo'

"When will the hunt start?" She asked Athena with her slightly furrowed eyebrows and her growing smile that brought joy to the former

"Today, before sunset" She answered Fae's question with a small confident smile on her face

"Miss Yulia already is devising a plan with the group of knights that came to aid us" More people meant more strength for Fae, and if all the knights were remotely like Claude, she knew she could count on them

"You'll even get a nice little reward at the end" She gave her a small smirk that Fae chuckled at before Athena tilted her head aside in impatience

"So? are you in?" With a raised eyebrow Athena gave her final question to Fae, who hummed to herself in thought while her eyes diverted to the surface of the wooden table

She felt exhausted from the trip, but if she doesn't join them she won't have her so desired payback against the chimera, she had to compromise

Those same brown eyes were lifted again to lock with Athena's, a small smile on the face of their owner as she delivered her answer

"Count me in" And as she spoke her words with her smile, Fae infected Athena and prompted her to raise the corners of her mouth

"Splendid, I'll fill you up ri-" Yet her words were cut midway as her eyes diverted from Fae to look towards the counter, Fae followed her gaze with her eyes as she could see four knights that wore similar armor to the ones she saw thus far, one of them however had a red X painted on the front of his helmet and with that she could guess who one of those knights were

The smile that appeared on the face of Fae wasn't because of the knights that headed towards the table the rest of Athena's party were at, but more at the woman accompanying them, and the same woman that locked eyes briefly to then look away, yet doing a double-take right after as her face lightened up when she realized that the woman next to Athena was indeed Fae herself