It had been some weeks since the coming of summer had been heralded in. And with its descent upon the world, so did come the thick and humid heat the season was known for. The air was sweltering, seeming to dance off in the distance; swaying and shimmering to the unending song of the cicada. It would seem normal, the world around. Summer ever the same, indifferent to the transformations the Earth it settled in upon had endured.... Hanging in the sky above, remained a band which stretched far across the sky, from horizon’s edge to horizon’s edge, illuminated by the light of the ever-bright Sun. The world was quieter than it used to be...the noises of people had ebbed away with the advent of time and catastrophes caused by the hand of humanity. Cities and those places where the progenies of those who’d lived through what could’ve been called an apocalypse lay far apart from another, spread over the face of the continent known to its inhabitants as Manus Solis.

The roads between these settlements were desolate and lonely, underused and unkempt. Those who dared to travel along these paths could’ve been called brave of heart, idiotic...or perhaps desperate.

Perhaps it was that she could’ve been called a mixture of all three.... Journeying through the world, uncertain of it and what awaited her within it, her life had become this—moving constantly, never remaining in a place for more than a short period of time. Through the tail end of winter and through the spring, this had come to be the life she’d led. So different compared to the life she’d had before all of this began.... The world between cities was a harsh, unforgiving one. Something she’d not expected to find waiting for her following her being rendered alone. People did not treat her as she was accustomed...to them, she was nothing more than a pestering child who mattered no more than the dirt or pavement under their feet if she weren’t paying them for something.

She’d learned fast that the world was not going to do her any favors, nor were people, if she did not regard people with some level of respect or courtesy, even those who did not deserve it, then she would find herself all the more miserable. Getting by in the world required her to act a part she was unsuited to, one that was far beneath her. Speaking falsely, showing gratitude that did not exist within her; this was what had become her existence. It was something she despised, the notion of having to fake pleasantries.... It was an act beneath her and the surname she bore. A name worthy of people’s recognition and reverence. Alas, if she did not undertake this distasteful behavior, she would find herself given treatment far undeserving of a ‘Delacroix’. So it was that she did what she had to. And she would continue to attempt this for as long as necessary, until it was she would at last see her aims completed.

Though it would make sense if she sought vengeance for what she’d undergone, for what she’d lost...that itself was the very last thing she desired. Anger and sorrow begets only more of the same. Desiring the pain and suffering of another would do no one, no good. That was something she remembered, and had learned from her now late parents. Throwing away the lessons they’d instilled into her with their untimely deaths would only serve to further shame their memories, their legacies; which were already tainted by the fact so much blood had been spilled simply to preserve her single, pathetic life. To do that would mark her more of a terrible daughter than she already was.

Her mother and father, and so many of their servants had died to keep her from becoming a sacrifice to Uzziel. Over a dozen people had their lives ended so that she could survive; alone. To live, she had to lose everything she’d ever known, and to run away from the only home she’d had in her life. Behind her the city of Croix had been left, remaining only a part of her in her memories. Its citizens, and the God known as Uzziel...a fragment of her past along with the recollection of blood splattering across her face while it was she watched her mother collapse into a heap before her, slowly drowning to death by the fault of her own body fluid.

Without direction, without any certainties or knowledge, she’d fled from her city, beyond scared, beyond confused. It’d taken her days to even comprehend the fact that her parents were dead, and why it was they’d died. And following that, it’d taken weeks for her to finally come to terms with what it was she sought to do with a life that had its value far exceeded, a price paid with blood. Her travels had been secluded, she’d been alone for days...tired, worn and mentally exhausted from everything happening to her so fast, and she worked to keep others from her, from allowing herself to appear weak in the eyes of all who saw her for the sake of the name she carried. Of course, there is only so much one person can handle. Trying to feign a sense of esteem for those who have none for you is much of a challenge—one which she was guilty of failing time and time again.

Eventually, things surmounted enough to result in her losing it, and insulting an innkeeper in some speck of a city free of a God’s reign. Tossed out into the approaching night, tearful with shattered pride and self-shame heavier then, than it had been before...she had never felt so completely alone and in need of another person. Even a stranger. She missed her family; the sense of familiarity and warmth that came with it. Attempting to pick herself back up and together, she took to seeking out isolation from the rest of the world, hoping she could erect back around her a repaired veil of self-importance, to seem a figure worth recognition. With the tears that had been slipping down her beet red cheeks though, ones of anger, shame and loneliness, she couldn’t have looked more pathetic if she’d tried. And, it was this laughable state of hers had been what earned her a follower….

Initially viewing him only as an annoyance, as unnecessary and an insult to her pride, she’d tried to shoo him away from her, uncouth as ever. All attempts of this were in vain though...as he did not heed her requests, and he instead remained with her, taking to consoling her and helping in ridding her of the tears she couldn’t keep back. Even after this, even knowing that the comfort he’d provided was something she had indeed needed and desired, as to her he’d given her a sense of family again, she still tried to get him to leave her alone. Ashamed she’d even accepted his aid and allowed herself to cry before him.... Still, he did not leave her—and against all her wishes, he had tagged along after her, even when she attempted to elude him, or sneak away, he still somehow managed to find her again, refusing to let her be alone again.

She didn’t understand why he was this way...she eventually found herself accepting his presence after the initial hesitant weeks of him being at her side. He became a constant in an otherwise inconsistent life. A companion, and perhaps even a ‘friend,’ he stuck with her even though it was she only regarded him with boorishness and bitter sentiments. With him at her side, she was no longer alone, and that gnawing solitude she’d suffered for so long at last receded. There was no denying the fact that she did indeed feel some level of shame for coming to accept him as a part of her life, and allowing him to get mixed up in the mess that was now her life. Him being with her meant that his life was too in danger, as hers was. Though the God Uzziel and the city of Croix had been left behind her, those who were under Uzziel’s command were far from.

Repeatedly, she had to flee from the sights of these people...they would not hesitate in taking her life, or the life of anyone who got in their way. They’d slaughtered her family with no hesitation. There was no doubt they’d do that to even someone who was otherwise a stranger to her. ....which was why she had to keep moving, no matter what. She couldn’t stay in the same place for too long, if she did, people’s lives were in danger.

Not like it would do her good to remain in one place for too long anyway...given the fact that she had yet to achieve her end goals. What she desired to do, it was far from an easy task, but she would do what she had to in order to see it completed. For the time being, that required her to undergo an ever constant series of searches, to obey even the faintest wisp of a rumor.

Until it was she could rid the world of what it was that made Gods, Gods, she would never stop. Even in the midst of summer, with heat so intense, and air so thick, she’d keep on going. She was no longer alone, she had someone with her who insisted upon accompanying her whether she wanted him there or not...so much blood had been paid to ensure her survival....

This was why her travels now led her to a small outcrop of a town, one free of a direct God’s rule, a town called Inversa....

Grace, shaded by her parasol, walked next to her guardian and keeper Elric. A man in his late thirties, with dirty blonde unkempt hair and he was just over a foot taller, as well as one hundred pounds heavier, then Grace. She watched from the corner of her eye as this man, who raised her, popped another round, dough like sweet in to his mouth and began to chew.

“You told me, I must wait until we get back and eat something healthy before I may have sweets.” Grace stated as a matter of fact, still watching him. “So please tell me father why you are allowed to have one now?”

Elric swallowed the sweet and smiled down at Grace, his blue-green eyes shining mischieviously. “Because daughter, I'm a grown up.”

“That is a poor excuse of a reason.” Grace muttered, more to herself than to Elric, as she watched him closed the sack he held which not only contained books, but sweets and other necessary supplies as well.

The 'father and daughter' routine, while it could be considered the correct terms in referring to one another, Elric was not her real father. Or related to her by blood in any way. But he did raise her and it was much easier to travel among others by stating they were family, than it would be if they were to admit that he had taken her in. That always led to the two having to retell the story of what happened to her real parents, which led to more questions and then led to the question of why would he take in a child whose family he not only did not know, but take her on his travels as well. Whenever it came to that question, Elric would just laugh and tell them they wouldn't understand even if he told them.

He would not even tell Grace the answer, and she has asked him, many times before.

The town of Inversa was small town, one free from the so called “God's” rule. Rock formations of varying sizes were all about the area immediately surrounding Inversa, which made it seem either abandoned, but really it was just one of the more isolated town's of Manus Solis. To Grace it was just another rest stop along the road Elric was taking her on. Elric took a job, granted upon himself and of his own free will, to teach or as Grace saw it, preach, about the history of our world. Which he has pieced together from reading and finding various books during his travels.

Elric is the one who taught Grace how to read, as well as write, and since then she has had a love for books and all that they contain. Facts, fiction, stories, theories and everything else in-between. Grace currently was reading a book that told the stories of the “God's”. She honestly did not know why she was reading it, Grace did not believe these “God's” existed and it was some excuse to hold power over the people of the world and nothing more. It was this very attitude and belief that Elric seemed to like in Grace... She would never understand this man.

Arriving at the building that served as a rooming house, Elric opened the door with his free hand while Grace closed her parasol and entered the building. She headed straight for their room, while Elric greeted the owner, who stated lunch would be ready shortly. Grace heard Elric thank the owner as she opened the door and stepped in to the room, setting her parasol next to the door. She walked over and sat in a chair by the window as Elric came in, closing the door behind him.

“So what are we doing today?” Grace asked, resting her chin in her hand and looking over at him.

Elric chuckled and moved to the table, sitting in the chair opposite of Grace, placing the sack on the table and opening it. “Today, we are researching.” He said pulling three books, one of which fit in the palm of his hand. “Shall we see what we can find my dear girl?”

Grace saw a glint in his eyes, one she had seen before. It was always there when he felt he had got his hands on a valuable book of information. She always wondered how this man got his hand on books. They were so rare to come by and so few even existed still. Without hesitation, Grace snatched the small book from his hand and carefully opened the worn cover. “If there is anything of value or use, and can remedy my boredom... I will be pleased.”

Glancing up Grace saw a smile spread across Elric's face as he set to work on reading the other two books. Grace did not know why, but somewhere in her gut, something told her this small and worn leather-bound book may give her the puzzle she has been looking for.

“How many nights has that been, Boyd?” Calliah asked. Boyd had been camping in the woods for over a week, the only reason he was back was to get new clean clothes, journal, and food. Lately it had been hard for him to focus on Devora. It was like she was slipping away, one night he was talking to her and in a second she disappeared. It took him around an hour to get her back, it scared him to the point where he started to have an anxiety attack. Once in the woods she had shown him a new plant that could, for a short time, change the color of your iris. He had documented it in the last page of his journal.

“A week last night and I am going back out tonight.” Boyd said. He was in his black shirt and tan shorts. He moved around Calliah. “Excuse me.” He said as he saw Devora standing in the doorway of his room.

Wear the old maroon dress that stops before your knees and the black boots! She didn’t move as he walked partially through her. She sighed, for some odd reason loving the feeling. To her it was like she was actually touching him. She has watched him hurt and for a year after her death he finally saw her. He had walked to the small park that was next to their parent’s house; all there was, was a swing set, slide, and merry-go-round; and he sat on the swing and cried. She stood there and if ghost could cry she would of. He asked why she had to leave, and out of habit, she told him she didn’t have a choice. He flipped out of the swing and turned towards her.

He walked into his room, leaving Calliah in the living room, and closed the door. “Why? I am going to be in the woods, Devora.” She huffed.

Because, you are going closer towards the main road that leads into Inversa, which is dangerously close. What if you are seen? How are you going to explain what you do? Didn’t mother and father send you hear so you wouldn’t be ridiculed and shunned? I heard that someone was going to rat you out to, Rajesh. You know what he would have done to you! He shivered. Rajesh was a very weird God that had been ruling over Quailson where his family lived. He had a thing for younger boys and worse for boys that dressed as girls. He remembered a boy that was forced by his older brother to dress in a sun dress one day. That one day so happened to be when Rajesh was out for his monthly check up of the town. The boy was forced to move in with him. He never heard of the boy ever since then. Rejesh wasn’t a bad looking man, but rather a scary one. He was tall, roughly around 6’4, and muscular with black hair and the darkest blue eyes. Boyd tried his hardest to dodge him whenever he could and thankfully his parents did him a favor.

“Fine!” He tried to make her stop with her questions, he knew she was worried for him, but it got annoying after a while. He stripped and laid out the clothes he was going to wear and the wig. He heard Calliah walk up to the door, she was a curious soul. She only ever heard one side of the conversation, but this time he wanted to keep this one private, “Bes I hup's vops su fioq ag I his as haqsz. Yue jpuv I eteommz his haqsz up sfiti sqant.”(But I don't want to hear if I get it dirty. You know I usually get dirty on these trips.)

She is listening again? Why do you keep her around anyway? And that is why I told to wear it because I know you were or are…something like that. Get rid of her, you know I think that language is creepy. It is dead for a reason. She floated and sat on top of his dress of drawers.

“I ol pus hissaph qah ug fiq, tfi at upi ug sfi giv gqaipht I fowi. Aph I sfapj tfi majit li..tfi fot ciip tniphaph o mus ug sali vasf li...vimm tapbi I fowi ciip fiqi. Aph I ol pus tsunnaph, his uwiq as. Is a noqs ug et...li.” (I am not getting rid of her; she is ONE of the FEW friends I have. And I think she likes me..she has been spending a lot of time with me...well since I have been here. And I am not stopping, get over it. It i part of us...me.)

I don’t think it is that. He looked at her and he knew she knew something. When she knew something she never looked at him. Boyd hurried and got dressed, looked in the mirror, made sure he looked like his sister, and dodged out of the room. He ran right into her.

“Is there something you want to tell me?” He asked her.

She blushed, took a seat, and teared up. “We are moving, Boyd. My parents are being called back to Wimsville. Kail wants the original families to be there. I don’t know why and I am scared.” Boyd hugged her until she stopped crying. They talked until she had to leave and he watched her leave.

You ready? Life is too short to cry over things we can’t control. She said and walked to the border of the woods and their yard. He sighed, grabbed his stuff in the house, and made his way with her.

“I don’t see why we are going this way; I really wanted to take more notes on the plant. It was pretty neat. My iris has never turned purple before.” They made their way down the path that leads to a small bridge and over a brook.

Why you have to question me about everything? Just…listen to me for once. I never lead you to anything that was harmful! She huffed and walked through a tree. He walked around and sighed. She was right; he needed to just listen to her. Boyd looked around and saw that they were heading for the outskirts of the town. Why is she leading me out of town? Nothing good is out of town, unless it is for more plants! Other than that, well… He walked right through Devora and right in front of a girl and a guy. The girl was tiny, shorter than him by a good six inches; she had long black hair and violet eyes. He shivered before looking over the guy. He was way taller than Boyd, a good foot, give or take an inch. The guy had black hair also, but he had blue eyes instead. Cute.

“Yue buemh ug sumh li su tsun uq sfos sfiqi viqi niunmi oqueph! Nus maji sfiz buemh fioq zue. Nuv I fowi pu bmei ag sfi oqi huaph su ossobj uq pus!” He hissed behind him where Devora was standing.

Sorry! They just kind of snuck up on me. I didn’t even hear them. Just act…natural. Be friendly and cute. Maybe they will take pity on you and spare your life. She gave a nervous laugh and walked up to them to check them out. Well, the little girl has the big stick, but other than that they don’t seem to have anything. Now…be cute and loveable. Say hi!!

Boyd sighed and then smiled, “Hi there, sorry if I have scared you two, I was just hiking through here. Are you two lost? Do you two need help? Ah, sorry, I am Devora. Sorry if I am just rambling, I tend to do that…sometimes.” He spoke in his higher pitch voice, making him sound more of a girl than normal, like always. He knew what they say; they saw a girl, which made him feel oddly happy. A blush crept up as he looked up at the guy and then away.

Devora laughed, Well don’t you look cute! Ohhh you think that guy is cute, huh? You make me look like some innocent little girl. Or rather you make yourself like that. She stared at him, standing next to the two strangers that he just sort of jumped out in front of. Ehh, I don’t think the guy likes cute girls. Look at his face. She floated up and stared nose to nose with the guy.

Oh for the love of all things! Get down, Devora! What if he CAN see you?! He looked nervous and kicked the dirt before looking back up at the guy and then the girl.

Kristoff had arrived at Inversa about two hours ago to deliver his message. He had left the doubles back in the city to keep the shops open and the money coming. He liked doing the courier jobs himself since he meant he got to get out. He had sent doubles all around the small town to deliver each one to their intended recipient.

Kristoff-prime was standing in the door way waiting for the person to finish writing the response.

"You know I can come back la-" he started to say.
"No no no young man," came a old but spirited woman's voice. "It will just take a few minutes." she replied for the seventh time. Kristoff almost was thinking of it as a game. He was tempted to just leave a double here to collect it but, he- he had no reason not too.

Kristoff takes a step back and within the space he was in stood a double. The double looks at Kristoff with a sad smile while Kristoff shrugs back. He walks off and wonders what he should do with his time until all the other doubles returned. He said to gather inside the towns tavern. He looked inside and stared wearily at the chairs. He didn't particularly have anything against chairs. He just really really really didn't want to sit on one.. He was happy none were there so he decided to explore the town to see what was new.

Double1 delivers the letter and heads to the tavern and looks inside and decides it would be better to just wait outside. Soon double was joined by four more doubles and they combined into one. The double looked around and stood there and sighed.

"I wish I hadn't merged back together. It is just weird talking to oneself". He waited regardless and hummed one of his favorite tunes that told a story about a girl in a mirror.

Kristoff humming the tune Yondala's Life. He thought of the song about the girl who lived in the mirror only to dream about joining everyone else. He was wondering if the doubles were back yet.

"Excuse me, sir?" said a young woman close to Kristoff's age. "Would you like a flower?" She asked. IT was then that he realized he was leaning against a flower stand. He looked at the girl. She was quite pretty. He adored her freckles.

"I would love to buy one." he said as he reached in his pouch for some money. He accepted the flower and smiled. He put the change back in his pouch. "Has anything interesting or new happened around town?" He eyed the girl differently now.

"No Kristoff, Sorry but no expeditions have been needed and no one has yet to return from them."

"Thanks Zeezee," he said softly. Kristoff was a regular in many towns surrounding the city. He delivers as often as he can though sometimes he has lost several doubles in the process. It always wore him out but he did the trips regardless. He wanted a life full of meaning and danger, but he hasn't found anything yet. "Is there anyone that needs anything fixed?" He jingled his tool belt.As she handed him a paper with names and problems.

Kristoff created three doubles and each went in their own direction leaving the north to Kristoff himself. They started to hum Yondala's Life as they went to help the towns people.

The main street of Inversa was bustling with activity. Normally it was relatively quite, but the people of the town were getting together to hold a flea market, so stalls were being erected and people were advertising their wares. In the hustle and bustle no one really payed attention to a girl in a white sundress and sunhat who was flitting about from stall to stall. The few who did notice her smiled and waved at her. And why wouldn't they? They all knew her as the little girl who lived outside of town. She came in every now and again to buy food, probably for her guardians. No one really bothered her about it because she was so well mannered.

Mira, for her part, knew why she was there. She had found an abandoned house outside of the town a few years ago, and she had been staying there while she wasn't out hunting for God's tech. She went into town often enough that people recognized her somewhat, most people at least knowing that she came from out of town. She made sure to try and stay polite and focused, and had gained a reputation for being an extremely mature child. And yet, there were times like this that drew more attention to the second part of her description.

Currently, it was one of those times. She had felt the childishness come on suddenly, and for once had absolutely no desire to fight it. The people of the town already thought of her as a kid, so there was no one there she was trying to convince she was an adult. Beyond that, being immature every once and awhile let her stay loose and relatively happy, since she could release the urges she normally would bottle up. So here she was, running from stall to stall to see what she could find, a wide smile on her face. It was times like that even she could almost believe that she was just a normal girl.

She eventually stopped at a stall that had a greasy, middle-age man tending to it. Looking around, the place was filled with mostly junk that was being advertised as “technology.” Her childish enthusiasm dimmed as she held in her thoughts on the “technology.” Most of the items were just common pre-cataclysm trinkets, more of them broken than not. Still, there were a few things of slight interest to her, so she grabbed them and brought them to the register. The man looked up from a newspaper and favored her with a surprisingly nice smile.

“Hey there kiddo,” he said jovially (while she started fume internally). “Did you find something you’d like to get?”

One short conversation later, Mira left the shop with all her purchases in tow, waving goodbye. Despite his looks, he had been a very kind man, apparently with kids that were “her age.” As infuriating as it was to be treated like a child, it had gotten her somewhat of a discount, which means she still had money left on her to go for other things. It didn’t take long for something to catch her eye.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw it. It was all she could do to try and not stare at it, but her unfortunate condition made it impossible to take her eyes of it (at least, that is what she told herself). She was staring, of course, at a plush cat behind a store window. It called out to her to come and take it, but reason told her that it couldn’t talk and therefore she shouldn’t listen to it. But it was soooo tempting… Well, maybe going in to take a closer look couldn’t hurt.

Five minutes later, she left the shop all smiles, the false feline perched carefully on her sunhat. Now all there was to do was enjoy more of the fun.

Adney Greenston

This place was very barren. Here, there was... nothing. Well, there were roads but they were covered in dirt, having not been traversed in a long time. This was some sort of... prairie, was it? Well, there were hills here and there but the land was mostly covered in dry grass. Some trees could be seen, some fully grown and others only in their infancy, but the only thing that really dotted the decaying road and massive field of nothing were… skeletons. But not just skeletons. There… there were corpses, too. Rotten and decomposing. Some corpses were still fresh. It wasn’t a completely lifeless place, though. There were some animals, too. Two strange black dog-lizard things he’d never seen before approached a skeleton once and one of them accidentally broke a rib. The other thing began to laugh (he thought) and the first one hit it over the head with the rib.

Adney Greenston remembered this clearly because it was the only interesting and mildly entertaining thing he’d seen in three days since he’d left the military base.

He still had no idea what happened. It was a perfectly normal day for him when his mother asked him to let her scan his brain. He didn’t know why but she was his mother and he trusted her more than anymore else. Then… he was here. No, no he wasn’t. He was actually in a military facility that was completely abandoned. Not a single sign of life inside. But what really freaked him out was his body. It wasn’t his. It was actually a robot. Somehow… someway… Adney had gone from being five feet and nine inches tall with brown hair and eyes to being a seven foot robot.

He didn’t understand. He didn’t understand why he couldn’t feel the cool air on his body anymore. He didn’t understand why the corners of his vision were obscured by weird symbols and pictures. He didn’t understand why his voice sounded so different. He especially didn’t understand, when he opened up a computer in the base and looked at the date, it… it… it said he was almost a thousand years into the future.

That was impossible. That couldn’t be right! With haste, he exited the facility (rather forcefully, given that the weakest door he could find required a lot of powerful punching to open) and found… nothing. There was nothing around. Nothing he could recognise. Nothing that told him he was where he was born, in the world he knew. This area… this place was completely alien. The reality crashed down on him like a falling sky; he was walking on an alien world in an alien body.

Without a single clue, he walked. Fortunately, something went right for once and he saw a familiar construct in the sky: Jackal’s Band. A circular structure that surrounded the planet, its purpose was to replace the many satellites that surrounded it already. The man who made it all possible was Markus Jackal, hence its name. He sadly wasn’t around to see it finished after maybe a century but his legacy lives on in that band, much like Adney’s hope. You see, there was a patch of maybe unfinished work on the inside of the band and, if you looked up at it from just the right angle, it looked like a rabbit’s head. Well, Adney thought so, anyway. Point is, you could only find this angle right in front of Adney’s house. Better yet, he could identify the patch from the outskirts of his town. If he could find that patch in the sky, he could follow it to his home.

So that’s what Adney had set out to do from the concealed underground military base. Unfortunately, he’d been walking for three days now and he still had yet to find that patch. He realised he may have been walking in the wrong direction but it was too late for him to back out now. He needed to find something.

And find something he did. In the distance, he could see lights. Beautiful lights of many colours that framed a tower. That tower was… part of a city! In the distance was a city! How wonderful! If Adney got there, he could ask for directions and maybe even a transport! So great was his optimism that it never occurred to him that they might not be too receptive of a seven foot machine in the shape of a man asking for directions. Invigorated, he continued his way to what seemed to be a fantastic shining metropolis.

He was tired, and therefore he was grumpy. Vega had woken him rather early that day for them to set out, and when she did things like this it often left him conflicted. One minute she was attempting to sneak away from him, the next she was waking him up at ungodly hours and making him travel for extravagant lengths. Maybe he was over exaggerating, tiredly carrying the spiel on.

Even so, he didn't mind being with her. Rather, he minded not being with her. It was odd for him, when they first met, he needed somebody, a companion. And she needed one too, so he took a shot and ended up becoming severely attached to her in the amount of time they had known each other up until that moment. If he were asked how he felt about her, it would be difficult for him to explain. He wasn't sure if he was in love with her, but he was definitely... interested. Romantically. A whole lot.

Maybe that is love.

It was just a single sentence that ran through his head, and he idly shook his head at it, casting a sideways glance at Vega to see if she had picked up on it. She hadn't, she just kept trudging forward with a determined (albeit cute) look on her face. Love, yeah. He had leeched on to her, and although he'd like to say it was unintentional, it wasn't. He needed her, even if he didn't know her at that point, and he felt a little guilty for taking advantage of her when she had needed somebody too.

He tried to focus his thinking, attempting to remember the name of the town they were about to come up on. He knew it was Godless, much like the area he had come from, and he knew that they'd more than likely be crashing there tonight. That is, if Vega didn't end up getting them thrown out of an Inn. Again. Granted, it had only happened once to the two of them, but Edmund imagined it had happened frequently to Vega when she was on her own, one of the times causing them to meet.

Input...? No. That's not it. Universa? Invers-

He thoughts were put on halt as a figure walked out of the woods and seemingly right into their path. He stood like a deer in headlights at first, on alert, but immediately relaxed when he realized it was a girl. At least, he thought it was a girl, taking a closer look now, there did to be something off about them. But the blush and high pitched voice distracted him from those thoughts for too long, and he leaned forward ever so slightly as he put his hands in his pockets.

The girl seemed to let out a nervous chuckle after apologizing, and Edmund noticed her eyes focus on something in front of him, which he found odd, considering there was nothing there. After that little split second, the girl then cast her gaze downwards and nervously kicking at the ground.

Huh?

He leaned forward more, narrowing his eyes at the girl, as if he was examining her. His eyes ran down and then up her once, before he gave a little nod and straightened his posture again, turning slightly to the left to face Vega and give a little shrug. He didn't talk much, if at all, in front of strangers, and so Vega was used to his body gestures by this point. That shrug in particular meant 'Doesn't seem like a threat to me, so whatever'.

Because of this reclusive attitude in front of others, however, Edmund becomes rather passive and lets Vega call the shots. And so he did so then, standing silently and waiting for her to speak up in reaction to this seemingly harmless and trivial girl.

Inversa. The name popped into his head as he waited for Vega to do something, awkwardly casting glances back and forth between the two females before turning on his heel and beginning to wander further down the path they had just walked up. Vega knew how he was in front of other people, so this shouldn't be a surprise for her. When they were done with introductions, he was sure she'd come and get him.

Astrazonica Bronach

Everything was meaningless. Happiness would never come again. Pain was washed away by numbness and felt no longer. There was no such thing as “God,” at least the kind that the people seemed to worship. There was nothing to look forward to. There was nothing to hope about. The only thing there was left was regret. Was there really a way to be saved from such a thing? No. However, Astra was going to do everything she could to be sure that she left the world with as few regrets as possible. That was her only purpose in life.

Unfortunately her last attempt to expose a “God,” Astra was found out. She could not finish the job. As a result, the fraud had her run out of town. Luckily, Astra was used to running for long periods of time when she had to. She ran as fast and steady as her feet could carry her. She had been following the path to Inversa. However, tracing the path would only make it easier for the guards to find her. So, she ran into the thick forest a ways off the path. Hopefully that would help to through them off of her trail. Luckily Astra was talented with navigation. She surely wouldn’t get lost in the forest.

To anyone else, the forest would have appeared so beautiful… The mossy trunks of the trees… The ground had some grass too… The thicket was so alive… and green! Birds could be heard chirping. Butterflies flittered around bright indigo flowers. Many people would be breathless at its sight… If the humidity hadn’t already taken their breath away. Then again, most people also wouldn’t run through the forest because guards were chasing them for trying to expose their leader.

As Astra blasted through the forest, she came across a hill. As she circled around it, she did not see the man straight ahead of her until it was too late. If he didn’t move out of the way, she would crash straight into him!