A bleak future.
There were countless people in Aeternitus with bleak futures ahead, for as many reasons as stars in the sky.
Most of those reasons could be summed up simply as "the world isn't fair."
Luckily, the ways people react to that truth is also as diverse as the stars in the sky. Whether with loud complaints, focusing on one small thing at a time, acceptance of certain aspects of it, or even turning sorrow into joy.
It's easy to forget, but the future isn't decided until it becomes the present.
However… sometimes the present is indeed just bleak.
Aureum opened her eyes. Her ears rang, and her head pounded. She was alive.
If that even mattered.
I don't hear Gemmo.
This was her first clear thought.
Then the blurry pain she felt came into focus. She gasped.
"Gemmo! Hiems!" She cried.
There was no reply. She looked around. It was a small stone hut. She was on the only bed inside it.
She didn't recognize it. She didn't notice her hands begin to shake.
Memories from her fall began to catch up with her racing thoughts.
"Gemmo!"
She screamed his name like it would make his head pop out from some cluttered corner.
I should never have brought him! Foolish, foolish broken woman! I should have left him behind!
She pushed herself up slowly.
Nothing kept her from moving with stabbing pain, so nothing seemed to be broken. Not that her aching body didn't protest.
Hiems can go die by himself if he wants—wait.
What happened to Hiems?
She pushed herself out of the bed despite the pain.
"Hiems? Hiems, are you there?" She said.
Gemmo was a kid. He might not respond if called. He could be distracted or playing. Even napping himself. But Hiems would understand her waking up disoriented and respond, just to calm her down alone.
There was no response. There was no one.
She saw her hand shake as she opened the door.
Aureum walked outside, barefoot.
There were stormy clouds in the sky. They were pushed by a strong cold wind that rustled the forest nearby.
But still no one within view.
He's probably fine. Just went out with Gemmo for the day…
Hiems was definitely capable of that, if he thought Gemmo was being too noisy to let herself rest.
She went back inside and closed the door behind her. Then quickly sank to the floor.
It'll be fine. Somebody had to carry me back.
She remembered how many men were against him. She remembered falling. At least not on Gemmo. But her hands clenched each other tightly. That kid was so close to those brutes?
What happened?
She couldn't believe it was fine. She felt a cold pit in her stomach eating everything. She stilled. In the quiet, if she didn't move, everything almost wasn't real.
The door behind her opened but hit her back.
"AAHHHHHH!"
Aureum let out a sheer cry of terror as she jumped up and turned. Only to meet eyes with a confused boy.
"Oh, it's you," Aureum said. "What's even your name again?"
She straightened her back and crossed her arms. She could feel her hands trembling again, but she just frowned deeper.
He also froze. Here was a grown woman acting like some startled squirrel.
"…I'm Stridere…" the boy said as he rubbed his neck.
"Do you know where Gemmo is? The kid… or Hiems?"
"Captured."
Stridere, being a boy of little delicacy, answered brutally.
"Excuse me?" Aureum said.
She didn't understand. She refused to understand.
"The man and the kid yeh were with were taken by the soldiers that attacked us," he said.
Aureum fell back but caught herself at the table. She sank into a chair instead of onto the ground.
"Taken…?" She said. "Why… aren't I with them?"
Her sentence felt as broken and awkward as her mind.
"Me n' Umoris saved you," the kid said.
Stridere didn't say this proudly, just a statement of fact. He was still eying her warily after her shouting.
"Why didn't you save them too?" She said, without thinking.
Aureum held her head. She felt like throwing up. She focused on breathing for a few moments, and it passed.
She saw Stridere's reserved expression and realized what she had said.
"Forget it, that was nonsense. Just. Forget it."
Captured. Not dead. Taken.
ButwhatiftheyfindoutwhatGemmocando?!andwhathappenstotraitorsinNix—
"Taken," she said aloud. "Still alive."
She got up.
"I need to go after them," she said. "If I get there quickly enough, I can still help. Tell Umoris I'm thankful."
"…alright…"
Stridere's voice and expression loudly proclaimed this as a bad idea, but he wasn't about to argue with the deranged woman.
Aureum went for the door. A thought struck her, and she froze.
"How much time has passed since… I fell?" She said.
"Three days," Stridere replied.
Three days?!
Aureum shot out the door. She bolted outside, still without shoes, but she didn't stop.
Her cloak wasn't on her either.
But that wasn't important.
Three days was a long time to be in bed, but it was a great head start for people to be chasing others.
I need to figure out where they're headed!
Her question had an obvious answer, but even the sharp stones she found under her feet didn't stop her, let alone an obvious answer.
She went.
The scene of the battle was easy enough to find. There weren't any bodies, but the dried stains of blood were there. All the ice Hiems had made was gone, but the destruction it had caused remained.
Seeing it made it real.
Alone.
That's what she was.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Aureum cried out, as if shouting could stop the tears.
It was her own fault.
Despite looking up in despair, her sight still blurred.
"Argh!"
She sank to the ground. Beating her fist into it did nothing but make her hand ache alongside the rest of her body.
Even that pain wasn't anything near enough to express the anguish in her mind.
But neither beating the ground, or shouting at the sky worked.
They were gone.
She let the tears fall without restraint.
"…dammit… Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!"
———————————————————
Many hours later, Umoris returned to the shed. Aureum was sitting at the table. Her eyes were red, but she had cleaned herself up. She wore her butterfly cloak.
Her foot tapped away at the ground as she rested her head on her knuckles.
Stridere was in the corner chipping away at something.
"I see you're up," Umoris said.
"Thank you for helping me," she said. "Is there anything you can tell me about the soldiers?"
"No, I should be thanking you—!
Aureum's glare halted him. She did not have time to go back and forth thanking each other. He sat down across from her.
"I know the soldiers were from Nix," Umoris said. "Their uniforms, mana, and the way they fought all could only be Nix."
"Yes, but I want to know more about how you ran across them," Aureum said, leaning in.
"They were after you," Umoris began. "Stridere says their leader came and asked about you two before I was captured. That means they followed your trail."
"Well, can I presume you know where they're heading?"
Aureum had scoured what she thought might have been their camp, but someone had eroded any traces of mana she could find. They led nowhere.
When it came to woodsmanship alone, she was lost.
"They left the same night as they attacked," Umoris said. "Signs indicate they headed back to Nix."
Aureum sighed.
I was hoping they might have been headed on some secret mission somewhere else…
Nix. It was the simplest answer. The problem was that trying to save a traitor from Nix was… impossible.
She felt sick and covered her eyes.
"Is Hiems even alive?" She asked.
She couldn't bring herself to ask about Gemmo.
"I saw no bodies," Umoris said. "I don't know."
"Do you think there's a chance I can catch up with them?" Aureum said.
"…You can fly, but they won't be resting on their way back either. As a group, they might move slow, but Nix isn't far off either. As sorcerers, they've probably already reached it."
Aureum took his words in with silence. They were things she almost had guessed already.
"Can you reach Nix in a day?"
She grimaced. That was impossible.
"I have to try. Maybe they were delayed…"
Umoris reached over and grabbed Aureum's arm as she stood up.
"I know you've lost much, but there are better ways," he said. "Just because you're in ruin doesn't mean you should invite more!"
Aureum jerked her hand away and stormed to the door.
But she stopped with her hand on the door.
I did this.
Her hand became a fist. Her eyes were burning again.
Maybe everything would have been fine if I hadn't gone in the first place.
It was hard to do nothing. But. If she messed it up any worse than this… Aureum didn't know what she'd do.
What if I go and they end up being killed? She thought. If Hiems is not already dead, spooking them while he's being transported would be worse.
Unless she could force a quick capture… She had no confidence about that.
She didn't know what they would do with Gemmo. That almost spurred her into action despite everything.
If I die, who will help Gemmo then…?
Either they were gone or they weren't. She would find out, but the time for a quick rescue had passed.
"Fine," Aureum said, holding her forehead as she turned. "Do you have any advice on what I could do instead, at least?"
Umoris had no real idea, but to say such to her would be inviting disaster.
"You should let yourself recover first. Strengthen yourself in what ways you can. And if something is impossible alone, perhaps you can get others to help with it."
Aureum turned away.
Nice, simple solutions that were impossible. Therefore, they were useless.
Umoris pulled out a familiar slip of paper.
"This letter came for you while you were sleeping. Very fancy, it flew by itself."
Aureum snatched the letter.
"Thank you… for everything," she said. "I'll try to pay you back."
"You don't need to pay me. I failed to fully return the favor you originally gave."
"…"
Aureum couldn't bring herself to mention that the only reason he had been in trouble again was because they had helped him. She left without any further words.
Everything felt pointless.
The kid skulked out of the hut a few moments later. Aureum turned to look at him, but Stridere turned away.
He followed her as she wandered.
Just a little tag-a-long sent by Umoris.
There was no need, Aureum thought.
She felt like spitting. She wouldn't be going to save Hiems anytime soon.
If not now, when would be a good time to fight Nix?
Is there ever a good time to infiltrate a fortress?
Her will felt like a rotted tree that was about to break under its own weight.
The letter… I need to find a spot to read the letter.
But she spent a good hour just walking, even as the sun sunk lower and lower. The trees, which had been dark figures against the afternoon, became one with the shadows as light left.
Ah.
She had wandered so much that there was no sunlight left to read it.
The inns will have light.
That wasn't so hard to find once she had decided it. She sat in a random inn at the closest table, with the letter held out before her.
Of course, she didn't want to read it.
After only bad news, what was she expecting? Peace? Eveybody in Fluentem to be having a fine time while occupied? She didn't want to know right now!
She had her own troubles to mourn…
But it wasn't like she could ignore it. And it wasn't like she would be getting any sleep anyways.
She unfolded it. There were her own words, but she ignored those.
The original letter had been brief, but the new handwriting wasn't long either.
It read as follows:
Aureum,
I'm glad you are able to write. I am fine. So is Sitis and my family. We've been lucky. A few injuries, but otherwise untouched.
Mors came to Fluentem. He died in the siege. They say Lord Caducus killed him personally.
The university is doing their best to defend us against Nix, even now.
I don't know what to make of Mendax being with you.
I hope this letter finds you well, despite everything. I am doing fine.
Aureum put her hand to her mouth. She could feel herself beginning to shake again.
She didn't know if it was relief or what it was.
"Hah… ahahaha!"
Her nervous laugh did nothing to release whatever was swallowing her.
Mors dying, she didn't even know what to make of that.
Serves him right.
That was the only thing that came to mind.
At least Lacuna is alive…
That was one good thing in a day of only sorrow.
A tear slid from her eyes, and then another. It was the second time she was crying that day, and she couldn't even begin to care.