It was night time when Daichi exited the Eos Conquerors building and walked out towards the pristine streets. The young man took a moment to glance around him.

  Evangels was a city of lights, everywhere he looked there was one building or the other lit up by fanciful golden lights, he scoffed, half amused by the sight of what he was seeing.

  His grandmother had once called it the Angelic city, he wondered what people called Axen. What they called the dim streets where bad things happened and no one was around to help.

  He sighed.

  If he signed with E.C. they owned him but it would be a better life for him, for his grandmother. The red head began walking, he’d need to hail a cab to the train station and catch the train back to Mericross.

  Daichi checked his phone, seeing the strange phone number at the top of his missed call, he dismissed it. Who ever called him would probably call again if it was so important. It was usual for him to get dozens of calls now that they’d recognized his talents in Moon Valley.

  He lifted a hand, and within a few moments a sleek cab pulled up to the side walk and slid it’s door open with a pneumatic hiss. He climbed in, watching the door close.

  “Please input your destination.” The automated female voice prompted.

  “Evangels central station.” He said, leaning back into the soft leather chairs. This trip would cost an arm but for one he wanted to know what it felt like to not have to worry about it, to live like Mateo or any of the others.

  His phone buzzed with a message.

  [I hope you take the deal, you have talent. It’d be a shame if it went to waste without proper management.]

  He didn’t need to check the contact info to know it was Mateo. Daichi smirked. He seemed persistent but tried to play it cool.

  ----------

  The next morning Aya woke in her bed having over slept, the smell of a fresh breakfast wafted into her room from the kitchen. She rubbed her head, recalling events of yesterday had ended when she thought about buying a brand new PacBook.

  “Did I really faint over that?” Aya asked, pressing a hand to her forehead. She pulled the covers off her body wondering how she had made it to bed if she had passed out.

  There was only one explanation.

  “Mars is super strong.” Aya giggled, hopping into the shower to prepare for her day.

  “Hey.” Mars said the moment Aya popped into the kitchen for breakfast. She looked considerably better than she did last night which made the dark haired girl exhale in relief.

  “Did you carry me last night?” Aya asked teasingly.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  “Would you prefer I left you out cold on the floor?” Mars teased back, causing Aya to pout cutely and pick at her plate.

  “Thank you.” Aya said, biting into her toast. Mars waved her off, knowing Aya would have done the same for her, and she had back in Axen.

  “Anytime, now eat your food. Did the number call you back?” Mars asked.

  “Haven’t checked my phone yet.” Aya said.

  “Good habit, couldn’t be me though.” Mars said leaning back into her seat. “I’ll probably head out today after lunch, I want to hit up the local arcade and see if they have any tournaments.”

  Aya nodded, Mars always needed to keep her skills sharp after all. A lot to the tournaments also had good prize money and the prize pool would be way better in Mericross than it had been in Axen.

  "Good luck, I’m going to finish up my quest hopefully.” Aya said finishing up her breakfast. “I’ve gotta get to the bottom of this story with Risel’s brother. How come he chose to stay in the Verdant Vale but she didn’t?”

  “The elf chick right?” Mars asked, Aya nodded. “Maybe he had some sort of responsibility, what do you know about him?”

  “Nothing to be honest, Risel hasn’t told me anything about him. I’ll ask her when I log back in at the inn.”

  “Excellent, just keep clearing those Miasmic barriers and soon you’ll hit contact with the rest of us.” Mars laughed.

  “I do need to head to Alfinheim, there’s a library I want to check out. I’ll probably need to bring back some texts for the Bloom Haven library but like I said, that won’t be for some time.”

  Mars nodded, absorbing the information.

  “Sounds like you’ve got some investigation to do, and don’t worry I’ll ask around the local arcades for a store to get your computer, if not you can just order online. We have an address now after all.”

  ----------

  Yvlena’s eyes blinked open to fight the sight of a wooden ceiling above her, she shook off her exhaustion, realizing she really needed to eat something before she got through any more fights. Beside her, Risel’s bed was empty.

  The other elf probably went down to the innkeeper to get some food for herself and prepare for the journey ahead.

  “I should get something to eat myself, can’t have this exhaustion stat bothering me after all.” she said rolling off the bed and hopping unto the wooden floor.

  “Yvlena, you’re up.” Risel greeted cheerfully at the sight of her friend and escort. Yvlena waved back, then paused to scan the room in search of Ivory their gracious host, or even the man who had taken issue with her when she mentioned Jack.

  She saw no one but Risel.

  “Where’s Ivory?” Yvlena asked.

  “She’s in the back preparing some breakfast, I had a feeling you’d wake up soon so I ordered a meal for two.” Risel chirped.

  Yvlena thanked the twin gods for her helpful companions, goddess knows it wouldn’t have occurred to Dylan in the slightest.

  “Thanks.” Yvlena said. “Risel I want to ask about your brother, you haven’t really told me much about him or your family for that matter. I don’t even know his name.”

  “It’s Freude”

  The elf’s ears drooped and Yvlena wondered if she had gotten too personal for her friend’s tastes. Risel hesitated at first then rested her hand on the table.

  “I guess that’s only fair, after all I asked for your help so I could see him again.” Risel said. “Like most elves my family was originally from Alfinheim.”

  As Risel spoke a flashback began to play before Yvlena’s eyes similar to what she had witnessed with the Aruergo merchant.

  “We were doing alright before mother was struck with a rare illness, Queen’s Blight or Drokesis as it’s known to our people.”

  The flash back showed a woman, similar looking to Risel who walked beside her and a young man, singing.

  “We left Alfinheim because of contagion and searched everywhere for a cure but eventually we settled in the Verdant Vale as a family.” Risel sighed, seemingly more tired than her youthful countenance would have previously let on.

  “My mother had given up ever being cured but I didn’t, I left for Bloom Haven because I heard there was an alchemist of great renown living there. I would always visit but eventually mother passed away from the illness.”

  “I’m so sorry Risel!” Yvlena said reaching across the table to squeeze Risel’s hand.

  “Freude and I were already on different paths so I decided to keep pursuing alchemy while he studied to become stronger. After the Miasmic barrier rose we were both cut off from the outside world, we lost touch, I just hope he’s alright, I hope he doesn’t think I abandoned him.”

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