Chapter 1

The Parting

Often it's hard to get back to the way you used to live, the everyday things you always do, after traveling for so long. Be it remembering how to cut the grass, tend the garden, or cooking using an actual stove instead of a campfire. The hard part is always readapting those habits.

It doesn't take that long to remember, though. If the everyday things you do are ingrained to you, it'll take a complete memory wipe to get rid of those habits. The things you do don't go away that easily, just like the past mistakes haunting you. For me? It's forgetting to lock the front door.

Not like I'm worried of thieves sneaking into my house. I worry more of a certain shopkeeper nagging me about it than someone making a bounty on my stuff. I swear, whenever she visits me and finds out I left the door open (again) and I'm not inside the house at all, she I'll never hear the end of it. She'd be like, "Maki (it's my adventurer name; most people has one but some prefer their Titles instead), you left your door open again! This is the millionth I've told you already!"

No one's going to bother stealing my stuff if they can't get into my house in the first place. Plus, it's my house. She has no reason to worry. Not like she has her own stuff lying around in my house.

Speaking of stuff lying in my house, there are things that needs a good scrubbing. Alice, the shopkeeper of Aurora Village, comes over here to tend to the garden whenever she finds a reason to go to my place, even when I'm out traveling. I tell her again and again not to bother since it's not her obligation but she says otherwise. Since I keep forgetting to lock the front door, she cleans the living room and kitchen. It surprises me that she never grows tired doing it.

I unlock and open the door to my study. This is one of the places Alice can't get in to clean. I always take the keys with me on my travels. Alice never understands how I'm able to remember to lock this door but not the front door. Neither do I.

The first thing greeting me after stepping into the study is the wisps dancing around the wind with their colourful bodies of light. These wisps keep dusts from flying around the air, but I still have to sweep the ones sticking on the floor, the walls, and the furniture. This is going to take me a while. Might as well start with the bookshelf.

A lot of the books I have are recipe books. Traveling across continents means encountering lots of different cuisines. Some of the famous recipe books I have titles like "Bur's Fresh Fish Dish", "Elves' Secret to Every Vegetarian Soup", and "Ms. N's Out of This World Cuisines" are all lining up neatly on the shelf.

It's also because I use these books a lot that Alice on occasion has dinner with me. She even brings the village kids over to have lunch, using her same field trip excuse (she teaches at the local school sometimes).

Okay, I should focus on cleaning. I still have to meet with said shopkeeper later after this, and I don't want to have another one of her complaints of my tardiness.

I pull out a book titled "Game Meat: The Right Way to Cook'em" and a cloud of dust assault my vision. The wisps make quick work of them but the itchiness in my nose is still there.

"Goodness me, what's with all the dust?" I'll admit, cleaning isn't always a fun thing to do. "Hm?" There are a couple of old-looking paper on the floor.

I pick up the papers and place them on top of my study table. I take the paper on top of the pile and light up a candle, filling the study area with its orange glow. "Let's see, what do we have here . . ." The paper itself is aged and the ink is a bit blurry, but it's still visible enough to read the words.

~0~0~0~

Solace – 39th of Gold Moon, Waning Crescent

Dear Sword Dancer of Lluna,

I heard my father was forced to send you over there. I know you told me not to send you a letter during such crucial days, but do not fret. I have prepared the necessary procedures to ensure that this letter shall not be taken by the wrong hands. You should know that well. Wherefore, before you send your queries to me, trust me when I declare that this letter shall be delivered without any issues.

Formalities aside, how is the search? I kept bothering mother about it, and she told me that place is but a den of monsters. But of course, I know you'll come back victorious with the item in hand.

I have to address something first before continuing. My sister is the one who pestered me to write this letter to you. As you may know, she has not taken the rite yet. Therefore, I was her only form of communication to you.

Speaking of my little sister, she had been acting less and less of herself for the past gold moon. It's nearing the red moon, and I worry she won't be herself before the rite.

I don't quite hate how she hasn't caused any trouble for the workers here yet, but with how sudden it was, it did not sit well with me. Even mother has taken notice of this. So, mother and I devised a plan to hold a celebration. Just the whole family, however—that goes for our other relatives as well. You know she won the embroidery competition during the half-moon, don't you? Even though she hid her identity when she entered, we can't let this slip by. I'm also hoping this will cheer her up somehow.

There is nothing else for me to say, but I do hope you write back to me. It might be difficult in your current situation. I don't fully expect you to write back right away, but if you get the chance, please do so. For my sister's sake, that is.

Sincerely,

Golden Radiance

~0~0~0~

Solace – 3rd of Red Moon, New

Dear Sword Dancer,

Are you safe? Ever since my father received word about the explosion, my sister has grown very worried. (Even I'm) She doesn't want me to tell you this, but she's worried about you. I kept teasing her about it, and it's pleasing to see her all flustered. I know this sounds insensitive of me, but even I'm worried about what's going on there.

By the by, have you received the letter I sent? Remember I wrote about my sister's celebration? Well, it was a success! She's feeling better than ever. Although, we've received an unknown package as Auntie was giving her toast. I'm sure it was from you. Even sis was guessing it was from you. It was from you, wasn't it?

Nonetheless, the package was wonderful, but I still want to my sis still want to hear from you. It's selfish of her, I understand this, but I am asking you on behalf of her. Of course, you are not to blame if you do not return a letter. I understand your situation.

Sincerely,

Golden Radiance

P.S. My sister wanted to put her Title here, but father did not allow it.

~0~0~0~

Solace – 11th of Red Moon, First Quarter

Dear Sword Dancer,

Have you received the last letter I wrote? I forgot to put something you might want to know there. At around after the peak of the sun the day, which was on the 2nd of Red Moon if you were wondering; after the celebration, sis and I met with Alice, the shopkeeper of Aurora village, around Market Street. The one you told us about, remember?

We knew it was her because when we mentioned about your Title, she reacted differently. She told us where your home was. So, now we're preparing to depart for your house. Do not fret. We told our father about it; moreover, we've discussed that our departure would be unannounced. Sis is very excited about the news. We already asked Alice to have a little tour, so I do hope you do not mind.

With sincerity,

Golden Radiance

~0~0~0~

Solace – 17th of Red Moon, Waxing Gibbous

Dear Golden Radiance,

I am honored and am truly happy to tell you that I have successfully received the letters you sent for the past moon cycles of the season of Solace. To give you proof that I have read them, I believe that it was a good idea to celebrate your sister's success. She worked hard for the competition and as her advisor for the aforementioned event, I am proud to say she earned it.

The package you mentioned on one of your letters, I confess that I was indeed the one who sent it. When you mentioned her circumstance in the letter, I had to at least show her my appreciation. Otherwise, I will fail as her advisor.

I apologize for not writing back to you soon enough. As much as I was tempted to write back, the situation here is not in our favor. I am well aware that you and your sister are worried about our progress, but fear not. We have received word that the location of the item is within our grasp. The estimated date of our return is on the 24th of Red Moon, Full. It might be around three nights remaining by the moment this letter is on your hands. The King should receive word of this news as well. But the day where I shall congratulate your sister's achievement should not be far.

However, in your last letter, you have mentioned that you and your sister visited my humble abode. With all due respect, I am not at all delighted with the news. But if you and your sister so wish to visit, I have no control over your decisions. All I ask is for both of you to touch anything but the door made of silver. I hate to say this, but if you step foot into the door, I will know right away; and even if your Title outranks mine, I will not hesitate to use extreme measures against you.

With great sincerity,

Sword Dancer

~0~0~0~

I shouldn't have read those letters. I could've stopped at any point, but my eyes kept on moving from words to words, from lines to lines. Like an unknown force was forcing me to read it.

I fold the letter and place it on top of a pile of all the letters on the study table. It's near the edge, almost hidden from the light of the candle. On the opposite side, a large feather is still covered in cobwebs even after the cleaning; and a small, half-empty ink bottle sits next to the feather—with specks of dusts still attaching to its container.

The sill of the window reflects gentle silver light, contrasting to the flicking sunset color of the candle. The wisps also change their light color to match the atmosphere. Every furniture is made of wood in this room—the bed, the study table, the closet, the door, the cabinet, and also the chair.

It's almost the peak of the moon, I think. I should head to the meeting place now or else Alice will get mad again. Rushing downstairs and passing through the small living room with two couches and a fireplace, I grab my white coat with crescent designs on the tail-end and the edges of the sleeves and run to the forest outside, the scent of dew and nature filling my nose.

There's a path that leads straight outside of the forest, and it's a path that has no other footprints but mine and the person I'm about to meet.

Long ago, someone else's footprints marked this path, but they never appeared again for the whole moon cycles of Solace.

Reaching a tree with softer leaves than the rest, I stray off from the path. The bushes bustle as I move them apart to give me a way through. When the bushes become less and the marigolds replace them, I quicken my pace again. Half of the area is shaded from the light of the night. It's preferable to move around with a torch or a lamp, but this place is familiar enough to me that I can find my way even if I'm blind.

"Found it." Whispering to myself, I approach the woman, dressed in a brown sweater reaching her thighs, standing in the middle of a wide patch of marigolds. These flowers in particular only grow during a white moon. They wither the moment the moon disappears, giving room for a new set of flowers that only grows on another moon.

"Did I make you wait too long?" I ask.

The woman shakes her head, brushing the hair near her ear, revealing the teardrop-shaped earring. She beams the same smile she shows me whenever cross paths. "I just arrived myself. I told you before, didn't I? There's no way you'll go first before me."

"Well, you certainly did." Moving to the center of the flower patch, I lie down, staring above the cloudless sky. Marigolds usually have this sharp, pungent scent on them because of the foliage, but these ones are almost odorless. The stars envelop the whole sky, but a star largest from the rest sits in the middle like a king surrounded by his loyal servants. Alice lies beside me, staring at the same sky. But what does she see in the sky that differs from mine, I wonder?

"Huh? What's this?" Alice picks up something beside me. "'Solace. 17th of Red Moon, Waxing Gibbous' . . ."

Upon hearing her, I snatch the paper from her hand. No doubt, it's the same letter I found in my study. Why is it here? I don't remember putting it in my pocket. Unlike earlier, the paper is crumpled.

"Who's that letter for?" Her blue eyes sparkle.

"No one." The tone I use comes out as harsh. Even if it's her, I don't want anyone to read this. This is too important to me.

"Oh, c'mon. I won't judge. If it's a love letter, I want to know who the person is. And also, we need to fix the way you write."

"Why would it need fixing?"

She sits up and looks at me in the eye. "It's so old-fashioned! You need to tone down the overly formal stuff."

"But you can't write overly familiar to someone you don't know."

"True, but there's no feeling in it." She lies back down. "If you're gonna write a love letter, you should put everything you feel about her. Even if it's something you'll regret later on." What's the point in sending it if the one who wrote it will regret it?

"First of all, this is not a love letter."

"Then what is it?"

"A formal reply letter."

She heaves a heavy sigh. "See, it's because you make things too formal that the young maidens in the village think of you as too plain."

"I'm not after a relationship. I told you this before." Also, whenever I come to visit Aurora village, it would be when most of the people there are attending service or if the appearance of an Aurora draws near, making everyone too busy to even pay attention to an outsider passing by.

"Who's that letter for, then?" She gets persistent like this on occasions and I usually don't make a big deal out of it, but this is a big deal to me.

"Just drop it, why don't you? Even if it's you, this is something for me and me alone. Why don't we discuss something more important, like, I don't know, the entire reason why we're here in the first place?"

She sighs again. "I'm sure you're just embarrassed to have me read it."

"Alice."

"Kidding, I'm kidding. No need to get mad." She picks one marigold and raises it in the air where both of us can see. I don't let my guard down on her, though. She might still bother me about the letter. But the way her eyes look at the flower, it's like she's looking somewhere far away. "Say, I've been wondering for a while now . . . Hypothetically speaking—"

"Since when did you become a scholar?" I scoff.

"Oh, shut up." She punches my arm. It doesn't have much force on it—just enough to shove it. "Seriously, though, hypothetically speaking, if you find yourself the chance to start over your life again in a different world, would you take it?"

Starting over . . . The idea sounds nice and all, but that's just running away, isn't it? But still, something as absurd as that is impossible. Although, if it is possible to happen . . . "Why not, I guess? It would be nice to roam around different villages without avoiding people."

"Was that how it was when you were still traveling?"

"Yeah, it was. This coat stands out too much, so I wear a different one to make sure it doesn't attract any attention."

"Does that even count as traveling anymore?"

"Traveling doesn't mean visiting villages. It's about exploring the unknown or whatever. Honestly, I don't quite care about finding new places. I just want to meet new people without having to hide from them. It's just not the same."

"Then why don't you start over from the beginning?"

That makes no sense whatsoever. How can one start over traveling after reaching the two ends of the continent? "That's impossible."

"Oh, but it is. There's a way to start over, or so I heard."

"I thought we're just speaking hypothetically?"

"That was until now. Listen, the Minister of Land came to visit the village three days ago and told me some strange news."

"Everything about him is strange."

"No, no—well, yes—but this is different. It's at 'that' place."

I sit up, putting my hand on my chin. "Tell me."

"They found a temple but haven't explored it yet."

"Why? Isn't their job to record new landscapes and buildings?" The Minister and I made a deal back then when I traveled around Lluna. In short, I helped them discover anything new around the land in exchange for a Scroll of Permittance. "Wait, don't tell me . . ."

"Mhm. He's asking you to check it out."

"That sharp tongue . . ." I'd facepalm, but for once, I'm not against his request. Throughout my entire traveling, I never once made my way towards that 'place'.

"Are you going?"

"I am. If it's the request of the Minister, I have no choice but to follow. I still owe him one more thing, and this request will be the last one I have to go along with."

"Great. Take me with you."

"No."

"That was fast!" She sits up as well. "You didn't take me before, but now I won't take no for an answer, you hear? I'm coming whether you like it or not."

"I can't take you with me."

"Why not?"

"You just can't."

"Well, I'm going anyway. Even if I have to follow behind you, I'm still coming."

"That's too dangerous! There are monsters around!"

"But you'll be with me, so it'll be fine."

"That's not fine, and you're not coming. This is a request from the Minister of Land himself, and you're in no obligation to follow whatever his stupid requests are."

"You called him stupid."

"That's because he is. But more importantly, Alice, I can't protect you if monsters attacked us."

"That's impossible. You're the infamous Sword Dancer, aren't you? Your specialty is to fight against monsters. You had other people with you on your travels before, didn't you?"

"That was then, but this is now. I can't protect you. Not like I used to."

"I can protect myself. I've been learning low-tier attack spells." She stands and waves her hand, enveloped in black flames, around the air. "I'll be fine, really. You're such a worrywart."

"Who says that these days?" What am I supposed to do with this woman? I can't recount the many occasions she persisted like this and won. I might be becoming rusty at this, or she's just too good at being hard-headed. I grumble. "Alright, you win. Just make sure you don't stray off from me." I form a circle with my thumb and index finger and whistle. The trees around us sway harder, and the flowers dance faster.

"What's going on?!" Alice has to shout because the cries of the wind are deafening.

From above, a grey beast floats down in front of us with a loud thud. It roars as it spreads its golden wings, reflecting the lights from the night sky. Its eyes as sharp as a serpent, its horns as bold as a Minotaur, the creature before us purrs as I pat its head.

"Could this be . . ."

"This is a winged-beast," I tell her as I continue to pet the beast. "She's the reason why I owe the Minister. I asked for a Scroll of Permittance and took her in. Now I'm her owner. Good girl, good girl." I throw a biscuit to its mouth. It munches on the treat and purrs with delight. "Are you excited? We'll be riding her to reach that 'place' quicker. Do you need to prepare first before departing?"

"Nope. I've got everything I need in my purse right here." She taps the small purse strapped on her shoulder. "Wait, if we're riding her, why were you so against me going?"

"That 'place' is dangerous. And besides, Myrrh can't move around in the forest very well."

"Myrrh?"

"Her name. Now, come on." I extend a hand to Alice. "We'll reach there by dawn. You can sleep while we're moving."

She beams a smile and takes my hand. "What are we waiting for? Let's go."

~0~0~0~

I never once imagine I'll step foot in this 'place' again. But here I am right now, with Alice walking beside me. It's almost dawn, but the sun hasn't shown up yet. It's still quite dark around, and the air is still chilly as it was when we were riding here. We left Myrrh behind, right outside the border of the trees, because she can't move around much in a forest. There wasn't anything new outside of the forest, so we went to investigate inside instead.

The trees here are different from the one in Lunelit Forest. Instead of green leaves, they're all in the color of the sunset. Unlike Lunelit Forest, there are barely any flowers around here.

It's nothing but the same things everyone would see in a forest. Sure, the formation of the trees and bushes, and sometimes the structure of the land, change whenever it's the end of the Eclipse season, but there are no signs of any man-made roads, buildings, campsites, or anything else. Right as I'm about to tell her to give up the search and do it again another day, Alice stops in front of me, crashing both of us but not enough to have us stumble down to the ground.

"What's wrong?" I ask. But the answer is already in front of me. Four pillars of marble columns with the colors of purple, black, white, and green stand supporting a triangular-shaped roof with gold linings on top of the walls with the same colors as the pillars. They're all in random order, so it's hard to describe.

"There really is a temple here," Alice says. She rubs the purple pillar with her finger and inspects it as though she's analyzing a rare piece of jewel. "There's not a single dust on it. Think it's a new place?"

"Doubt it. Look." I go around the temple and cross my arms at the sight of the broken walls wrapped in vines. There are cracks here and there, and they don't look like they've been tampered by anyone. "The holes must've been caused by deterioration." Even with those holes, not a single one of them has any transparent colors. They're still as vibrant as the other walls. "That's odd."

"Mhm, yeah. So, I'll head in first if you're gonna take a while outside, alright?"

"Alright . . . wait, no!"

But she already makes her way inside the temple. Even though I tell her over and over again not to go off on her own, she still does this to me. That's it. I'm not going to have it her way when she asks me something ridiculous as this again.

The interior of the temple is the same as the walls outside. Vines spread around the walls and the ceiling, hugging them, as far as the eyes can see; the walls are littered with cracks, but the floor is neatly tiled with the color blue none of which are covered in vines or grass. The one thing strange about this place, however, is how the lighting works. There isn't any lighting on the ceiling, no torches, and most definitely no glow faeries hovering around the place. The walls have holes, but with their small sizes, it should barely contribute to the lighting. Not only that, but the place is lit without a single shadow around. Even I don't have a shadow on me.

The air around the place makes my skin crawl. Shaking my head, I continue forward. I'll explore the place some more once I've got Alice with me. She went ahead of me, that I know, but how fast is that woman? The first area is nothing but a long hallway until it widens with a bigger hallway with different pathways.

"Maki, over here!" The troublesome woman I've been searching for appears at the opposite end of the doorway from where I stand. "There's something over here, look!" She disappears into the doorway.

She doesn't even give me enough of a breath to scold her. Following her, I end up in a place devoid of the colorful walls. Instead, they're replaced with glass. The ceiling and the floor—they're all made of glass. But they don't show any reflection, not even ours.

"See that?" Alice points at a pedestal in the middle of the room surrounded by four smaller pedestals, their colors the same as the pillars outside. The four smaller pedestals have strange symbols on them. The purple pedestal has an N with a ring around it; the black pedestal has a diamond with a tilted LS; the white pedestal has a curving L inside a star that's also inside a circle, with the star's points having smaller circles around each point; and the green pedestal is a square with two blades, one thinner and has a handle, crossing each other in an X shape. "What do you think these are?" She pokes the object on top of the black pedestal.

"Don't touch it. It could be dangerous." This temple is already strange enough. Whatever these things are, they spell trouble.

"Oh, don't be such a scaredy-cat." She pokes at the white pedestal. "See? Nothing happens. It's safe. You don't have to be on edge."

"It's because you do these reckless things that I'm like this. Now, step away from those things." I lower my tone to assert some dominance to her.

"Alright, alright." She steps back and admires the surroundings instead. "I could seriously use a mirror right now . . ."

Ignoring her, I approach the center pedestal. Unlike the other four pedestals, this one is entirely made of glass. On top of it, however, floats a silver ring broken on the top side with a straight version of the ring piercing through the top side. It rotates clockwise in a slow, continuous pace. I'm standing on the edge of the steps from where the center pedestal is, but it's like I'm being drawn in.

"What's that?"

Snapping out of my trance, I search for the source of a certain shopkeeper's voice. My feet moving on their own, I reach my hands out to push Alice's hands away.

"That's dangerous! Could you stop it already?" I yell. Even with the space around us, there's no echo.

"I heard a voice . . ."

"What? A voice? What do you—"

Just then, glowing particles of light float around us. I reach my hand inside the secret pocket of my coat in case something happens. But the objects disappear before I even prepare myself. On top of the pedestal lies a shining light. "Yo, wanna play a game?"

The voice comes from in front of us. There's no one else around this room, so the voice must have come from the mysterious light.

"Hey, hey, calm down there, buddy. I'm not gonna bite your head off. Well, unless you chickened off, anyway."

"What do you mean?" Whatever this person is, I want none of it. Coming to this place was a mistake.

"Maki, what is that thing?" Alice grabs onto the sleeve of my coat.

"Croire. You best remember it," the voice says. "The game is simple. One of you will touch the thing in front of you and voila! You win the game!"

It's not a game at all. There should be some kind of losing condition, right? But if one of us only needs to touch it, then this is hardly what you'd call a game. Alice reaches her hands out again, but the voice stops her.

"Ah-ah-ah." The light flickers thrice. "There's a catch. The person who doesn't touch the light can get out, but the one who touched it won't ever be able to get out of here again."

"Alice, you get out of here," I say, reaching for the object. But Alice's hand grabbed my wrist.

"Wait! Why are you deciding it already? There's a way for both of us to get out, isn't there?" She gives a pleading look to the light. She doesn't let go of my wrist.

"Nope~" the voice scoffs. "It's either one you'll get out of here alive or you'll both be stuck here forever."

"That's absurd," I say. "We can just follow the path back out of here."

The light snorts. "Good luck with that."

"Maki." Alice points at the wall behind us. Just a wall. No doorway or anything. It's like we're trapped inside a box. "The exit is gone. What do we do?"

"Like I said," the voice says. "One of you'll have to touch the object. C'mon, I promise it won't bite."

That still won't make me trust it. But if Alice can get out of here, then so be it. I shake Alice's hand on my wrist off. "There's no other way. Once I touch this object, take Myrrh and head back to the village. I'll try to find a way out, okay?"

"But—"

"You have people waiting for you."

She cast her head down. For a few moments, she keeps on staring at the floor, but when she raises her head to meet my gaze, she nods. "I'll be waiting."

"What beautiful friendship~ Bleugh. Now, hurry up and touch it already. I don't have all day. Unless you want to find out what'll happen to your little village."

"I don't care about that village," I say.

"But what about her?"

Tch. Good point. I can't let anything happen to the village. Not when some of the villagers are waiting for her return. This is my fault. I should have rejected coming here in the first place.

"Will you touch it or not?" the light flickers again.

I don't need to be told twice. I grab the object with strong force. Light shrouds my entire vision. Something warm wraps around me, my body growing lighter and lighter the more it envelops me. I don't hear the voice anymore, and I don't hear Alice either.

There wasn't any wind when we entered the temple, and there wasn't any hint of smell. But right now, all I can smell is the scent of grass.

After the light blinding my vision disappears, the first thing I see is the color purple. Long, flowing, purple hair of a girl who I've never seen in my life.