“You don’t have to go. I get it if it’s too far for you.” He’d meant it genuinely—he knew that this was his mission alone. “And I don’t want to drag you all the way out there if there’s no reason to.”
Loraena vigorously shook her head. She hadn’t wanted to hear a single bit of it. “Of course I’m going to go with you! I don’t mind, really! I want someone to be there with you. You’re going to end up interacting with a lot of new and unfamiliar people, and I want to make sure you don’t feel completely alone there. Besides, everyone could use a change of scenery every now and again.”
“It’s so far, though…”
“And that’s exactly why we should go together. A part of traveling is having fun, and I doubt you’re going to do that without someone by your side. So, as long as you’re willing to have me, I’m willing to go with you.”
He quickly understood then that there was no real reason to argue. There probably hadn’t been a point in starting it to begin with. But the extra confirmation was enough to make his worries thaw a bit, and he found himself managing a small smile. “I’ll… I’ll be glad to have you with me. Thank you.”
So, with that, they did the preparations they needed and then set off for Revarius.
Astyu had never been outside of Yllvamel before—or, at least, not far enough to really constitute as going somewhere else. But Eme had told him a couple of stories about adventurers and heroes, as well as the grand journeys they would take. And, honestly… he thought that this trip with Loraena would have at least some element of that.
But it was just… a trip. Was it long? Kind of, but not really, with the help of Travel magic. Was it hard? No, they literally just got a ride with some merchants Regind’s grandfather knew. Did they learn anything interesting or insightful about themselves or each other? Certainly not, aside from the fact that Loraena really didn’t like having to explain over and over about being part siren, and Astyu was getting tired of being asked if the two of them were “eloping.”
And while he knew it wasn’t the ultimate lesson that he should be taking away from it, he reminded himself that the journey wasn’t what mattered in this situation.
It was the destination.
He just hoped—after a day’s rest at an inn and now standing in the center of a busy street in Revarius—that the destination would hold the answers he was hoping for.
“This place is a lot bigger than I was imagining…” Loraena mumbled. She looked around, but Astyu didn’t really know how that was going to help anything. There was too much to see, too much noise.
It was actually the perfect—albeit unwelcome—reminder that Yllvamel, though always seeming big to him, was nothing compared to what other towns were like.
But just as he felt himself starting to get lost in all of it, he felt Loraena’s hand on his shoulder.
“Hey,” she said, softly, “where do you think we should start? We might be able to ask around and see if anyone’s heard anything. All things considered, the people here seem pretty friendly. They might know something about Jasmin and Kiara.”
Slowly, he shook his head. “I don’t think that’s going to work.”
“Well, it might be worth a shot, wouldn’t it..?”
“You wouldn’t really understand… Jasmin kept to herself, I think. Or, at least from what I could tell, she tried to. Especially if something bad happened between her and Mother, or there were rumors of it, then she wouldn’t go around letting everyone know where she was.”
“But if this is really where she lives, then someone is bound to know something. Maybe not where she’s staying, but I’m sure someone knows something like places she usually visits or some way that we can contact her.”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“I doubt that would work either. She’s… probably pretty good at keeping a low profile, if she wants to. I wouldn’t be surprised if she could do everything she wanted without anyone even acknowledging that she was there.”
“Then how do you think we should handle this?”
“We… should just look around. She might not have told anyone we were here, but I’m sure she’d be well-aware of whatever happens here, especially if she expected me to come eventually. She’ll know that we’re here.”
“Alright. I’ll trust your judgment.”
So, they just… took to wandering. There wasn’t anything else they could do, really; Astyu knew that they shouldn’t draw attention to themselves, and he was somewhat certain of what he said about Jasmin’s knowledge. Not like he really had anything else to go off of, in the end.
“What do you think they’re going to say?” He couldn’t stop himself from asking the question; something that kept some noise between the two of them. Something grounding and familiar, compared to everything around him.
“I don’t think that’s really something we’re going to be able to know,” Loraena remarked.
“I guess you’re right…”
“But there’s something else you can ask yourself instead: what are you hoping for?”
“Honestly, I’m a little afraid that if I hope for something, it’s not going to happen…”
“The only thing that’s going to do is demotivate you. You shouldn’t worry about what hasn’t happened yet. And if you don’t think you can do that, then think of it this way: when, not if, you see them, what do you want to ask? What answers are you looking for?”
“I just… want to know what happened. I want to understand why Mother did what she did, and how it affected her. I want it to finally make sense, to have answers to all the questions I’ve had circulating in my head since she died. I… I’ll accept anything at this point, really. Just about anything is better than nothing…”
He trailed off when he noticed something in the corner of his eye. It was just a glimpse, but he was nearly certain of what it was.
“What is it?” Loraena prompted, after she noticed he started staring into one of the alleys. “Did you see something..?”
“I just saw Jasmin.”
“Wait, really? I really have to ask this, but… are you sure that’s what you saw, and that it was real..? I didn’t see anything just now, but I know that your magic is capable of a lot, and it seems well within what you’ve done in the past. I don’t want it to turn out that your magic just made it up.”
“I’m confident it was her. If it wasn’t… well, I’ve barely been fooled by my own illusions before, all things considered. I always knew that they were fake, even if I didn’t want to believe it. That one, though? I know that that one was real.”
“We can’t just follow her, though. What if it turns out that you mistook someone else for her?”
But by that point, Astyu had stopped listening to her. If he kept standing there, then he was going to lose track of Jasmin. He couldn’t let her get too far ahead of him. Not when they were in such an unfamiliar place, and when she had all of the information he wanted.
So he simply went after her, assuming that Loraena would either follow along or meet back up with him somewhere else. At that moment, he didn’t exactly care what happened. All he could think about was answers.
He made sure to always keep an eye on Jasmin, even when it seemed that even the crowds wanted him to lose track of her. Astyu weaved through the crowds, ducked past obstacles, went through smaller alleys—anything in order to catch up with her. If there were disruptions in his wake, he didn’t care about them. Those things could be dealt with later, when he had what he wanted, and there wasn’t anything to lose.
And finally, he watched as Jasmin went into a house, giving a passing glance over her shoulder at him while she did so.
Before he was able to walk up to the front gates himself, he felt a hand catch his shoulder.
“Hold on a moment,” Loraena said, nearly breathless, “we shouldn’t just—”
“I know it was her,” he interrupted. He gently pulled his hand out of her grasp. “She led me here for a reason. You were the one who wanted me to find answers, right? Well, this is how it’s going to happen. So let’s go see what she says.”
He barely acknowledged her mumble, “I suppose it won’t matter that much if it turns out to be the wrong person. We’ll just apologize and be on our way…”
Did even she truly not believe him?
