“Ughh!” Apollo slumps down in a seat,

“Maybe Saito is not wrong for never doing jobs,” he says

I’m so tired”

“How are you feeling fatigue for something we did yesterday?” Pinoki remarks

“Because my muscles are sore,

So are my ears after getting a lecture about requiems from that old man, the moment he found out my sword was one”

“He was giving you good techniques on the best way to market it, since requiems apparently sell for extremely large prices,” Karina points out,

“Do I look like I am going to sell Darius’s unfinished will?”

“But now you have options should you ever decide to,”

“Not happening Karina.”

“All this requiem talk, bores me” Lyra speaks up,

“My thoughts exactly,” Apollo agrees,

“I actually find it interesting,”

“You find everything interesting Kage,

If I sat here and explained the correlation of magic and fitness you would probably enjoy that too.”

“Well…

Are you-”

“-No.” Lyra declines adamantly

“You’re such a child!” arms wrapping around my neck from behind, semi choking me as Karina’s voice sings in my ear,

“You’re, strangling me Karina” I struggle

“I couldn’t help it,” she releases me,

“You are like a child always asking why and how about everything, I would think you were born yesterday,

You really have come a long way from since I first laid my eyes you,”

“I don’t think anything about me has changed that much.”

“You know you have changed a bit Kage, stop pretending,

I remember you being broodier, haunted by your past, you were still as curious as you are now but didn’t know how express it fully yet,

Now you’re more assertive,

Keep this up and you might even start developing a personality,” Karina jokes

…..

“I’ve already been reading up on magic anyways,” I turn my attention back to Lyra

“Magic functions exactly as normal physical energy would, correct?

That meaning if you would want to use magic for extended periods of time you would have to exercise like normal to build your stamina and general fitness for greater usage of magic.”

“Why are you telling me this for?” Lyra turning her nose,

“I am not a teacher, and didn’t I just say I found this stuff to be boring,

Is there anything normal that interests you at all, Kage?”

“…

I don’t know, maybe,

Everything and nothing at all,”

“Here we go, with the inconsistency,” Pinoki groans

“Make up your mind on what you want to be….”

(What do we want to be Kage?

Better yet,

Do you remember what we-)

“-And there he goes again daydreaming in the middle of a conversation,” Lyra complains,

“Apollo, we ought to turn Kage into a betting game,” Pinoki smiles mischievously

“I’ll bet a silver he says something like ‘what’ or ‘huh’” Apollo concurs,

“Two silver, he gets annoyed at us for making up this game,” Pinoki raises

(Only one way out of this)

“How about we make this a betting game, on how often Lyra gets angry at someone?” I suggest,

I receive Lyra’s boot hurling across the room as a response for my suggestion,

“I f had any arrows left you would have been shot by now,” I threaten the girl

“What happened to yours, I thought you just got more?” Lyra inquires, disregarding the threat,

“I accidentally left them back in Gate,”

“Such a peaceful town that was,” Karina says absent mindedly

“Baren isn’t exactly the peacefully I’m looking for,” Apollo remarks….

Gate town,

Even though it’s called a town, it was more a travel hub of sorts

The large arcs that loomed over the city were not just for show,

They were giant magic crystals with warp magic sealed to them,

People like Mr. Godfrey were there to use the ‘Gates’ to go to other nations, cities or kingdoms that permitted traveling to,

Besides the travelers there was not much to see, besides a few vendors and rest stops for people passing through,

If there were residents there, we surely did not see any…

…..

“I could take over that town,” Karina is saying,

“Well, we could,

Not violently of course,

Instead of doing whatever it is we are at this guild,

Let’s take the town, start Club Hedon two,

Die rich and pleasureful,”

…..

The four of us stare disbelievingly at the girl,

“That was a joke” she rolls her eyes,

(I don’t think it was)

“What’s this about taking over towns?” Claude and his sister entering the room,

“Nothing important Claude, but since you are here,

Are you ready to start explaining what your connection to the mayor is?” I interrogate,

“Ughhhh” Claude groans, “Why are you still pestering me about this?”

“Well, you haven’t explained yourself yet,”

“Have you ever thought it is because you are still a stranger to me Kage,

I’m not about to start divulging all personal matters with you, I already told you enough as it is,”

“I used to think the same way about telling Kage my information,” Apollo comments

“And he still went spying into my memor-”

-…..

Apollo now receives my shoe from across the room,

“Do that again and you’ll taste my boot!” he hops up,

“Can we stop throwing footwear around here?” Pinoki mediates,

“Lyra started it” I taunt

“I-” the girl starts,

“You know what,

Fight me,” she clasps her ring,

“Right now, Kage.”

“Wait Lyra we can talk-”

-The light is already swooping us away into the nearest challenge dome.

…..

…..

“Come on!” Lyra assuming a fighting stance,

“Do we really have to?” I plead,

“Yes”

“Huhh!”

(Guess I have to,

Judging-from-Lyra’s-stance-she-looks-like-she-might-not-be-planning-to-use-her-magic-maybe-I-can…

Wait,

This is Lyra I’m thinking about,

I don’t need a strategy)

“Huwah!”

I rush at the girl immediately grabbing her arms to prevent any strikes,

“Let go!” she stomps down hard on my foot,

“Aghh!”

I hop on one foot moving behind her, I then wrap my arms around her neck, in a rear naked choke,

“nngghh”

She struggles around trying to get free I end up falling on my back, but the choke still remains applied,

“Aghh!”

She manages to bite my hand causing me to release the hold,

Before I can get back up Lyra scrambles over me landing the first jab to my face,

I extend my bow from my right hand blocking the second strike, she flinches back from the pain of hitting against the metallic surface,

I leap up to my feet spearing Lyra back to the ground she counters by wrapping her legs around my back and sends up hammer fists to me,

“Oww!”

Lyra moans as I slam my head down her chest stopping her attacks briefly,

Using the pause, I roll around to her head applying a headlock, but she anticipates it, biting my bicep,

“Mghh!”

I lurch back in pain, Lyra uses this as an opportunity to box me right in the ear,

It painfully sends a ringing through both my ears,

It is here I noticed Lyra face for the first time,

She’s smiling,

(Wait…,

She’s...,

Smiling?)

“Hahh!”

I throw my first jab in retaliation, hitting her squarely in the mouth,

“Chh”

Lyra spits out blood still grinning

“Now we’re getting started.”

****

“Huh!”

“Huh!”

“Huh!”

“Huh!”

We both breathe heavily laid across the hardwood floor, staring up at the crystal lights,

I don’t know how long Lyra and I have been fighting for, but we are both burnt out…

(I get it now, she isn’t always angry, anger is the only way Lyra can freely express herself,

She isn’t getting pissed at me because she’s soft,

It’s her way of saying she’s feeling something,

Lyra doesn’t understand her emotions, so she just picks the strongest one and set it as her default feeling, that being anger,

Just like me, except I…...

Wait, what do I do?

How do I feel?

No-)

“-Have you admitted defeat yet?” Lyra breathes

“Depends on your answer to my question,”

“What question?”

“If you feel any kind of way, just say how you feel instead of converting it to anger,

Shame, amusement, annoyance, any of it, just say your what it is next time Lyra,”

“That wasn’t a question idiot.”

“Well, you knocked my brain loose,” I joke,

“And you beat my anger out,” she responds lightheartedly

“Alright, I concede,

I accept defeat Lyra,”

…..

You’re a winner! Echoes though the dome as the light carries us back at my admittance ,

……..

……..

“Phew!” Apollo whistles, sharpening in his sword’s blade, at the sight of us both reappearing after a long while,

“Looks like you two had fun” Karina comments looking up from a small table in front of her, an assortment of magic gems lay there, from her general magic practice,

“…

I’m going to take a bath,” I get up sorely

Lyra says nothing already making a beeline out of the recreational room,

“Wait-” Pinoki calls, putting down his book

Claude and Amelia are nowhere to be seen,

(They must have left)

“-Giichi sir came in a while ago when you two were ‘goofing off’,” the little man says

“What did he say?”

“He said…...~” Pinoki making a dramatic pause

“Go on…”

“He is ready to show us what is in the artifact room”