Monsoon

While on our way to ‘The Garden of Olona and Aron’ I saw Seethe fiddling with a new necklace that appeared on his neck when he woke up this morning. The necklace was shaped like an ‘X’ was slapped on top of a diamond, with imagery of fire spreading from the center, which looked like a pyre . I looked at my brother and pointed at it and asked him, “Hey Bro what’s the deal with that necklace you got now?”

Seethe did a double take before answering me, looking at the necklace than me, “...Oh this, I think my father gave it to me? I just noticed it, it’s been hanging around my neck since this morning. It might be a present or something. I don't really know what it does.”

Kellen leaned into Seethe’s chest where his necklace was and commented on it, “Looks like a protective charm or talisman to me. See look at mine, the shield covering the two spears, with the gold ring holding it together, protective charm of Ild.”

When she leaned into my brother I could tell how flustered he was, he wasn’t uncomfortable but he definitely seemed a bit distracted. Though when she started speaking about what his new necklace could be he started to focus a bit more. My brother, as socially awkward as he may be, gets just as curious as Gale and I whenever he hears or sees something he is interested in. Seethe was still baffled as to what his new necklace was, when suddenly his lantern flared up and sucked him inside of it.

None of the new people my siblings and I have been hanging out with have seen Seethe do this yet so they were all confused and scared for Seethe.

“WHERE THE FUCK DID SMOKEY GO, WHY IN THE HELLS DID HE GET SWALLED BY HIS LANTERN” Liz shouted as she was sitting across from Seethe scared the fire was gonna swallow her too.

Kellen had this worried look on her face and said, “That’s his father’s lamp right? Did I say something wrong? Did I offend him? Why did he get engulfed in flames and disappear?”

Corrin was speechless, which in itself is a big reaction from him, since he usually reacts more when weird things happen. It took him a second to react before he just screamed, “DID THEY FUCKING DIE?”

NoName very calmly said, “If he did die should we plan a vigil or a funeral of some kind for our friend?”

Quarry was driving the cart again so he was just very confused at all the screaming. Without even turning around he asked, “Yo Gale, Monsoon, did Seethe get sucked into the lantern again?”

Gale and I, just losing our composure laughing at our new friends’ confusion, replied in unison to our brother, “YEAH!”, before laughing again.

Quarry stopped the carriage before coming to the back and looking at our brother’s lantern. Quarry took the lantern and brought it to the front of the carriage plugging it into a hole he made specifically for it. He then looked back at our new friends while Gale and I were still laughing, and said, “Seethe has the ability to go into this lantern, which their father gave them. All of us have been inside of it before, it’s very comfy, but whenever they are dragged inside forcibly, it means their father has a lesson to teach them. This process could take a few minutes or he could be out tomorrow, when they come out of the lantern isn’t consistent.”

NoName eyes flashed before nodding in acceptance, I think their brain was literally processing the new information given to them before it just settled. Corrin had a blank stare before shrugging and sitting back down. Kellen looked a bit confused shaking her head wide-eyed for a few seconds before just accepting it and sitting back down. Liz though just started breaking down laughing saying, “SMOKEY GOT SMOKED! HE GOT GROUNDED! HIS FIRE’S BEEN PUT OUT!” after which she calmed down and also sat back down.

⠂⠂⠂

When we woke up the next morning after Seethe was still gone, his lantern was starting to dim. This probably meant he was still asleep in his lantern, this happens whenever he stayed in there for longer than a day. Seethe has had this lantern with him since we were kids, I remember once trying to put some lamp oil in it and it just got engulfed in an inferno similar to when Seethe gets sucked into it. I screamed really loudly and when Seethe heard that he came rushing into the room and tried using his magic to quell the flame, he then held me for a bit as I was crying from almost starting a huge fire in our home. My brother may look more timid than most and like the least courageous one in the bunch, but he will run into a burning building to save people he cares about, he absolutely will.

While we’re taking a break for lunch Kellen went up to Gale and asked her, “How long is your brother usually gone when he goes into his lantern?”

Gale responded by saying, “Usually he would’ve been backby now, but I assume he’s got a lot to learn because of that new necklace he’s got. I met his father once, all of us did, man is polite, regal, and kind. But whenever he has to teach his son something he does not hold back. He might not be back until we get to the Alucaya honestly.”

“Wanna bet on that?” Liz said, chuckling.

Kellen threw a glare her way. My brother is the only person she really tried to get close to in our group so I assume she did this just because she was worried about him.

Liz responded by raising her hands signaling she’ll stop.

⠂⠂⠂

Today was the day we got to the ‘Garden of Olona and Aron’, Seethe was still gone in his lantern. We went around the gardens along with a few other visitors and tourists. Kellen was explaining to Liz and Corrin why this place was special and the history of the two people it was named after, something I had already explained last time. She also answered Liz’s previous question as to why the first king was named after both his parents’.

“First King Olonaron was named this because, as I stated before, his parents came from two different kingdoms and their marriage and union caused civil unrest in both. When they had learnt they were pregnant they had decided to try and unite their two kingdoms. This caused a full blown civil war which ended in both their deaths a month after their first son was born. He was named to celebrate their union. ”, Kellen explained.

While Kellen was giving the two foreigners in our group a history lesson I was foraging around the gardens. This act wasn’t strictly legal, but it wasn’t illegal either so I just did it anyway. We spent around two hours at the gardens and I spent the entire time just foraging for any plants that could be useful. I was mindful of the ecosystem though and planted the seeds of anything I could and only harvested a respectful amount.

We arrived at the gardens a few hours after noon so by the time we left it was sundown. We were about two days away from Alucaya at this point and it started to seem like he really wouldn’t be back by the time we got there.

⠂⠂⠂

Today was the third day my brother was gone. I was starting to get worried, the longest he had been gone before was three days, when we were young. When he came back he learned how to cast ‘Burning Hands’ without the need of his lantern. I was starting to get anxious and a bit stressed so I tried experimenting with some of the plants I got from the gardens yesterday. I was able to make a new potion capable of making someone fly for about 10 minutes. The flight speed wasn't very fast but it was very funny watching Corrin struggling to fly. He kept going up and down and spinning, it was like watching a flipped coin stay in the air for 10 minutes.

Everyone stopped asking questions because they trusted the judgment of my siblings and I, when it came to our brother. We all tried to keep on brave faces like this was totally normal like nothing was wrong at all. But by nightfall all of us were getting worried. Gale grabbed her spellbook that she kept hidden in her satchel. I think she was trying to look for a spell to help Seethe just in case. She was given this spellbook by our foster father Zahar and it still had some spells from when he used it, though she couldn’t decipher any of the higher level spells. Quarry was just sitting against the cart holding a ‘Sending Stone’ . I think he was contemplating messaging some people from his old unit. My brother is good at a lot of things but speaking his feelings isn’t one of them; from what he’s told Gale, Seethe, and I he has some people he likes to vent out his feelings to in his unit, or used to at least. He gave up after about an hour of staring at the stone and just pulled out his sketchbook. Usually Quarry likes to draw his runes and the way they manifest and affect the world, but now I think he was drawing our brother. Everyone else was minding their own business, getting ready for bed, sending prayers to their respective gods, etc. but NoName stood in the middle of us all beside the fire. They took out their violin and started to play a song, it was solemn and sweet, but fast in tempo, like the fire he stood in front of, a powerful force that was contained to keep us all at ease. I started to cry, Gale and Quarry immediately ran up to me to comfort me. I was so worried for my brother three days being gone is nothing for normal people, but my brother isn’t normal. He's been through so much, shouldered so much, why did his father have to train him for so long, why couldn’t he come out for a while to rest with us, his family. Everyone else stood at a distance understanding this was something they couldn’t yet understand. We all stared at the lantern as the night went on, hoping he would come back.

⠂⠂⠂

He didn’t come back that night, nor this morning, nor by lunch, by the time it reached 4pn we had arrived at Alucaya and looked for a place to stay. We found an inn called ‘The Clashing Blades’ . I assumed this place was a hotspot of mercenaries and adventurers because of all the groups of people with weapons strung across their backs or magical items on them. Everyone besides NoName and my siblings looked at me rather awkwardly when we all woke up this morning. I think they wanted to say some words of comfort after I cried last night, but understood that I probably needed my family more than anything else. We got rooms for the foreseeable future and laid down our stuff inside. All of us then went down and had a meal together and talked about how worried we were about Seethe. Four days was the longest he had been gone and all of us were wondering how he was doing. Suddenly from upstairs we heard a flare and running out of one of the rooms we rented Seethe came running down He smelt of ash, and when he got down to us he said nothing and just started eating. He had an uncharacteristically wide smile on his face and only said one thing, “Very hungry, very tired, if anyone wants explanations, I’ll give them tomorrow, I am just sick of eating fire and I need actual food.”

Like the somber mood we had a while ago was just a dream all of us started laughing at the sight of our friend back, at my brother being back. Quarry, Gale, and I gave him a big hug, Corrin and Lizz patted him on the back which caused him to flinch, choking on his food. NoName came up to him and pressed on his stomach to help him stop choking, causing Seethe to spit out his food. Kellen didn’t really do anything but I suspected she just gave him a message telepathically or something. No one in the inn seemed bothered by the mysterious person who came in from upstairs who smelt of ash, not even the owners of the inn. Anyways we finished our dinner, and went back to our rooms to rest for the night, comforted by the return of Seethe.