"I'm keeping you safe." The man whispered as he raced to open the door.
Brich, carrying Aletha over his shoulder, dashed across the street, weaving through traffic before darting into a shop between buildings to evade Drimi and the others pursuing them.
At last, with a gust of relief, he spotted a shop on his left—wedged between two markets. He tightened his grip on Aletha, dashed to the building, shoved his silver key into the lock, and twisted it right.
(Click)
He flung the door wide, the shop's scent surging into the street on the wind.
Brich guarded his valuables, but now urgency gripped him as never before.
Brich realized Aletha was in danger when he saw Drimi, Sally, and Phthonus. He believed they were still working for The Queen, and panic filled him.
Misunderstanding fueling him, Brich struggled to carry Aletha—his strength not what it once was—but persisted.
"Come on!" Brich grunted as he tried desperately not to let Aletha slip off his back.
(Ding)
The bell above the door jingled. Brich darted inside, uneasy as he carried Aletha, head swimming from her weight and scent.
Aletha's limp body pressed into him. She was a leaden burden; each step sent a jolt of hopelessness into Brich's chest.
Thankfully, Brich pulled Aletha back up.
He spun around, slammed the door shut, locked it securely, hurried to the windows to close the blinds, then raced through the maze of shelves to hide behind the counter.
He bent over, breath ragged and sharp, whispering to Aletha, his voice fraying with anxiety and relief.
"Why are you so heavy?"
Within the building, shelves are stocked with a wide variety of items. Some were shields, others were swords, and many were bows.
The shop resembled a classic pawnshop—solid lumber walls, a few ceiling lights, a counter, and brewing stations set along the northern wall.
Brich seemed to be the shop's owner, judging by the design.
As he rushed to open the back door, carrying the weight of Aletha, he heard footsteps outside the building.
"STOP! Give Aletha back!"
Brich ignored the shouts, hefted Aletha, and propped her against the wooden wall of the back room.
As he scrambled to flick the light switch, Brich faintly whispered to Aletha while grabbing his dagger and racing out of the counter.
"You're safe now... What were you doing out there without your brother?"
Aletha's eyelids were glued shut. Her chest slowly rose and fell, indicating that she was still breathing. Brich wiped the sweat of relief, grasped the doorknob, and slowly closed the door.
"Sleep well." He said as he slowly closed the door.
* * *
Thirty minutes later, after the room had fallen silent and Brich's footsteps faded, a faint stirring broke the stillness.
Her soft eyelids timidly parted, she hoisted her arms and released a loud yawn-- expelling all the weight off her body.
She looked around the room in confusion, her breathing growing uneasy. She realized she wasn't in the village—she was in a strange room. Her chest felt heavy. Her brother wasn't there.
With a trembling, quiet voice, Aletha muttered,
"Where… am I…? H-How long have I been unconscious? W-Where is Asahi?"
Aletha began hyperventilating. Her thoughts scattered as she darted around the room, opening boxes and peering behind furniture, her hands shaking with sweat and her heart pounding as she desperately searched for Asahi.
She searched every corner—shelves, boxes, brewing stations, furniture, everything. After scouring the room, she dropped to her knees, hopeless—realizing she was separated from Asahi.
As adrenaline coursed through her body, Aletha screamed in panic.
"Asahi, where are you?!"
Nothing answered but the hums from the buzzing light. Then, Aletha heard loud footsteps from behind the closed door. Aletha scurried to it and pressed her ears against the surface, trying to listen to movements and voices, or any clear indication of where she was.
(Thump)
(Thump)
(Thump)
The footsteps sounded like boots pressing against creaking wooden planks. Aletha caught her breath and backed away from the door, accidentally bumping her head against a shelf.
"Oww--
Her eyes widened in terror. Her breath caught; the sound had surely alerted whoever lurked outside the walls. She bit down hard on her knuckles, stifling frantic wails. She pressed her trembling back against the cold stone.
A few minutes later, Aletha stood back up and examined the items on the shelves.
As she leapt up, she knocked over a shelf. It collapsed with a cacophony of clattering metal and shattering glass. Aletha froze, praying the man hadn't heard.
After a few moments of silence, Aletha wiped a sigh of relief and crawled toward the fallen shelves.
"Huh, what are these?"
Near her knees were a carved wooden shield, a slightly tattered wooden sword, and a chain mail headpiece. As she searched the pile, Aletha also found four unusual objects that looked like weapons.
Aletha picked up the ancient, oval-shaped object. Just from taking it, Aletha could feel a surge of sadness and gloom bursting from the aura of this object. Hastily, Aletha dropped it, commenting.
"What… is this?"
She then grabbed another peculiar weapon. It was rectangular, filled with yellow star symbols scattered up and behind the item. It appeared to be some sort of tablet, and when pressed, it would transform into a long, celestial, twilight-blue bow.
Aletha gasped as a feeling of wisdom seemed to flow from the glow of the magical bow. Words she didn't recognize came unbidden from her mouth.
"The universe is an infinite spectacle of an ever-expanding aura, one that attributes and complements the defining ideologies of one's own destiny. I soon discovered and analyzed that the bewitching testament, the anomaly that served as the counterpart to the universe, is…."
Instantly, Aletha dropped the bow. She jumped in shock, having familiarity with the words she was saying. Of course, these words didn't come from her but rather from the magic of the Twilight Bow. She quickly mumbled.
"Did… I say that? I sounded so… intellectual. Something beyond the boundaries of my vocabulary."
Aletha discarded her streaming thoughts and placed the Twilight Bow next to the Stone Oval. She began to realize that these objects were more than she had expected.
"Okay…"
The third object she picked up was a gleaming, dark black, purple heart-shaped catalyst, with traces of magenta encircling the edges. The moment Aletha's hands touched it, she felt uncontrollable pain consume her body.
A suffocating gas fumed from the object, choking her lungs and forcing her to gasp for air. As Aletha's vision flickered, she saw an encroaching purple gas fume from the tingling luminance of the heart-shaped object.
Quickly, she dropped it and coughed on the floor, spitting out dark lavender goop. While holding the object, she had seen flashes of a purple crystal meadow.
"W… Why? What is in that thing? I couldn't breathe. What was that place I saw? Who does this belong to?"
Aletha tried to calm her breathing and settle down. She was surprised the man didn't burst in after the noise, which made her suspicious.
Lastly, Aletha disregarded the warning and grabbed the last strange object from the pile of empty flasks. The surface felt to her like obsidian bedrock, one that seemed unbreakable. Aletha lifted the item to the light to see it more clearly.
"What the--"
Aletha gasped in shock. The object resembled a torn tablet, with ancient writing and scripture scattered throughout its contents. A green luminance emanated from the book, forcing Aletha to hear endless echoes of cries and screams.
She immediately dropped the tablet and saw it transform into an obsidian shield with three green lines imbued onto its surface. It looked nothing like the other objects.
As Aletha peered and gazed at the shield, suddenly, loud footsteps sounded behind the walls, growing closer to the room. Aletha was so shocked she couldn't move.
"H-Huh?"
The door swung wide open without consideration, revealing a person Aletha would never have expected.
"Aletha, you're awake?!"
Her eyes trembled in shock, seeing the lightning symbol-covered sleeves, the beard, his necklace and bracelet, and his brown hair. She couldn't believe her eyes, realizing that the man in front of her was…
"BRICH?!" Aletha screamed in shock.
"What are you doing with those?!"
He screamed in panic.
Aletha couldn't process the sudden burst of emotions rising. She was stunned to discover these eccentric weapons and couldn't believe that Brich, of all people, was the owner of this shop. It quickly raised suspicions in Aletha.
"W-What are you doing here?"
Brich slowly turned away, lowering his head so Aletha couldn't see his face. Her confrontation made him hesitate, nervous that she might attack. Sweating, he moved quickly to retrieve the four strange items while answering Aletha.
"Aletha, y-you know those weapons are dangerous…. J-Just give them back to me."
With the empty ambiance of the room surrounding her, Aletha sneered her eyes at Brich and interrupted him with a tone of suspicion.
"Wait… now that I think of it, these weapons match the descriptions Belial, Sally, Drimi, and Akwan gave me…."
Brich's breath grew uneasy. Aletha continued as she stepped forward.
"Not only that, it seems to me that you are the OWNER of this store. Wait a minute, Brich— are you the one who stole their weapons?"
"…"
An unnerving silence broke out. Aletha and Brich stared indefinitely, like sloths—with their bodies paralyzed, still, and their eyes peering deep into their souls.
Aletha realized that Brich—who had been the very first to help The Wanderers on their travels—was ultimately responsible for driving her and Asahi through the convoluted adventure in Dreamtoe Forest, Milmoor, and their encounters with beasts.
Aletha felt gutted—betrayed, discarded, and utterly disrespected by Brich, whom she had once admired as a lovely man. Now, to her eyes, that image was shattered, at least for the moment.
. . .
After two minutes of silence….
Quickly, Aletha scampered to her feet and rushed toward the door— but was immediately stopped by Brich, who pushed her down to the floor and blocked her path.
"Oof."
As Aletha tried to push him out of the way, Brich whispered.
"Aletha, you don't understand— I'm not trying to sell them."
Her eyebrows raised as she lifted herself away from the pile of objects.
"Eh?"
"I'm trying to keep their weapons away from The Queen. I'm essentially hiding them for the safety of Belial, Sally, Akwan, and Drimi. Yes, I have eavesdropped on them during the royal meeting, and I'm here to confirm that they planned their betrayal of The Queen days ago. I knew that if there were to be an ambush, I had to keep them safe and hide them somewhere. Didn't they tell you? Or did they forget?"
Aletha was speechless.
"Uhh…"
Brich gave his signature chuckle, projecting his usual friendly attitude.
The moment he did that, Brich felt a little more trustworthy to Aletha.
She released a relieved sigh and pulled herself up, wiping dust off her dark attire and setting aside the problems that had been happening before. Aletha took a deep breath and nodded her head, saying…
"Well, I-I dearly apologize, Brich."
Brich nervously scratched his head, then hastily raced to the pile of items. He simply couldn't allow his shop to be trashed.
Brich jolted to his broom, swept up glass fragments, and picked up the fallen objects in the blink of an eye. He lifted the fallen shelf and placed the four strange items on top of it, ensuring they were at a height inaccessible to Aletha. Brich grabbed the remaining bottles and continued sweeping the junk.
As Brich was busy tidying up his shop, Aletha wiped her eyes and released another yawn. She still had no idea where she was and panicked for her brother.
"Hmff..."
Aletha peeked her head from the corner to ensure Brich wasn't looking, then swiftly lifted her legs and…
(Creak)
Her warm fingers wrapped around the knob, and the door slowly creaked open. Aletha felt a stifling aroma tingle and brush up on her nose. The smell of fresh wood and dust.
Her first thought was to scramble to the windows to finally see where she was. However, upon further inspection…
(Clank)
Aletha tapped her fingers on the extending metal bar. She discovered that the windows were sealed shut, with padlocks scattered and locked on each window.
"The windows are locked…?" Aletha mumbled, confused.
. . .
She released a deep sigh and scratched her head, falling into disbelief that Brich even had a shop.
She was so filled with anticipation to view what was outside the building that she raced to the door, pulled out a stool, and pressed her face against the cold surface of the keyhole.
Though much was enclosed in the relatively tiny hole, Aletha could recognize that she was located in some sort of town or city from the blurry silhouette.
Aletha's eyebrows shot up; her heart hammered as adrenaline flooded her veins. Panic tingled through her when she realized the terrifying possibility that they were separated.
"W-Where is the village? Where is everyone?" Aletha mumbled tremblingly as she pressed her face against the cold surface of the door.
"Am I in Pladtioa City?!"
Footsteps sounded behind her. Aletha saw Brich, whose eyes were filled with shallowness, approach her with a green potion caressed on his hands. A cold feeling struck Aletha.
"I-I… I…" She bantered.
Brich scratched his head and chuckled nervously. He wasn't planning to do anything to Aletha.
"D-Don't worry, I'm just the potion on the shelf." Brich expressed nervously.
Aletha nodded her head suspiciously and replied quietly.
"O…Aletha could feel Brich's tension—his anxious eyes darting, his hands trembling at every footstep. Only now did she realize that, if it weren't for Brich's fear, she would have been in The Queen's grasp. Queen.
She had no choice but to put her trust in him.
(Tap)
(Tap)
(Tap)
Footsteps, followed by muffled voices, suddenly sounded from behind the walls. Brich leaned toward Aletha and whispered faintly.
"Aletha, you really don't understand, do you? The guards could be here. The Queen might be standing right outside my door, and we would have no idea. I say we should stay put until nightfall. It isn't guaranteed, but there is a small chance we can wander the streets by nightfall."
"Nightfall?! Why? I want to find Asahi!" Aletha screamed in frustration.
Without thinking appropriately, Brich blurted out his brief answer.
"He's captured by The Queen--"
Aletha's heart stopped, her eyes widened, and she backed away toward the door, producing more noise for the people to hear.
"What?!" Aletha shrieked with anger.
"It's a long story," Brich replied quietly. "Just trust me. There is a sole reason WHY I opened this shop. Please… calm down." He ended while gently pulling Aletha away from the front door.
Aletha roughly pushed Brich away from her and stomped her foot on the ground, gritting her teeth.
She was enraged, even upset that no one had protected them. When she first returned to her world, she didn't have a single smidge of trust in anyone.
Nonetheless, as time went on, Aletha managed to finally deem some people trustworthy and as friends. Proven by their failure to protect her and Asahi, all of that trust she had in the people was banished.
Meanwhile, beyond the sheltering walls of the shop, Drimi, Sally, and Phthonus pressed on through the broadening streets thick with heavy mist.
Drimi, Sally, and Phthonus all upped their pace, scouring across the broadening streets thickened with a heavy mist.
They were inclined and distraught when they lost Asahi, but what made their thoughts worse was how easily they allowed Aletha to get captured.
They could feel the wanderers' trust slipping away from their hands each second they remained missing...