"April, what was that yelling about?" Eon blinked as the grey ball rolled to her feet. She bent down and picked it up, turning it over and looking back at the girl on the bed.
April stuttered, her eyes wide. "W… u-uh… well…"
Eon shook her head, her red hair swishing gracefully. She didn't care enough to want to know, more to April's relief.
"Anyway, I came to check on you. We haven't talked in a bit. How are you?"
April blinked rapidly as she sat up straight, brushing her hair aside while Eon eyed the grey glow ball.
"I was just… meditating." She claimed, watching the redhead nod absentmindedly to her words. "Y'know, to recollect myself and regain my zen."
Eon sat down on the cushioned stool by the bed, still turning the grey glow ball in her hands. It really was a curious thing, usurping all her attention.
She frowned slightly and raised it to April's eyes. "I've never seen one of these before. What's it for?"
April blinked at her. So she was the only one who could see that arrogant picture of Saka with that perpetual scowl etched deep in that wannabe crystal ball's interior. That was a relief. It would be seriously weird, and awkward if someone randomly picked it up and saw Saka's face in it. She couldn't even come up with the answer just for the fun of it.
"Y-you know… I just keep it around because it's shiny." April reached for the orb, but deflated when Eon pulled away from her reach.
"It's delightfully warm." Eon observed.
"Yes, that it is." April sighed.
"Oh, do not worry. I do not intend to keep it." Eon smiled.
April wore a quick grin before she sighed, trying her best to keep her eyes off the grey glow ball. Somehow, for some reason, she felt attached to the thing, even if it wasn't possessive, and that bugged her.
"So," April cleared her throat, accepting the glow ball and the diary Eon picked up from the floor. "What did you want to talk about?"
Eon tucked her hair behind her ear and wore a faint smile. "Oh. Right." She chuckled a bit before her expression turned serious, her fair skinned and freckled face leaning closer to April's. "About that day in the Lake of Tears…?"
"The Lake of what?" April narrowed her eyes, her mind already traveling eons back trying to retrace that beguiling yet familiar name.
"The Lake of Tears," Eon repeated, with less conspiracy in her tone, tilting her head at the raven blonde. "You remember, the silvery waters in a room?"
April immediately remembered. She recalled where she heard that name before; it was a book she had scared away from reading when she laid eyes on the book cover, and she remembered the silvery waters in the room where she was stranded by that outrageous elf she was supposedly going to marry. But then her head tilted suddenly when the words clicked.
"Wait–what?"
(∩｀-´)⊃━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ ε=ε=(っ* ´□` )っ
Saka glanced back and noticed the two elves following him. These two were not Eref and Irstte. He had woken up a few days before and found the duo skulking around his secret lounge room. Only a select few knew of that space—Eref and Irstte were definitely not in that list—so he had to… convince them to never follow him. So instead, he got these two she-elves following him.
He rolled his eyes away with a detached expression as they returned his glance with hostility. He didn't care how they acted around him, it was expected. So even as they stood behind him with guarded postures when he stopped in front of a grey wing-shaped door, he didn't acknowledge their presence. He simply walked forward as the doors folded apart and opened for him.
He stepped into his room and took a look around the golden scene before his face turned sour.
"What are you doing here?" He asked from the back of his throat, like he didn't want to speak.
Semacoar grinned, his brown eyes twinkling with mischief. He flicked a single cashew in Saka's face. "Well, well, well, look at the groom." He smirked. "He strides in in all his shirtless glory. May I trouble you for a pinch of salt?"
"Whatever Safatore sent you here for, I don't care." Saka responded almost immediately. "And don't call me a groom. I have no time for jokes."
"Oh, please. Semacoar is no one's errand boy." The blonde scoffed.
"Then Semacoar is stupid for referring to himself in third person." Saka declared flatly.
"What does that make Saka, for referring to me in fifth person, then?" Semacoar grinned.
There was an imperceptible beat of silence.
"I hate you." "I know."
The young men said different but related sentences at the same time, a scowl on Saka's face and an undeterred grin on Semacoar's.
"Can you all just get out?" Saka exhaled.
"I don't think I'd wanna leave you alone when you're about to be forcibly tied to a girl of your nightmares. Be prepared for the grueling suffering of marriage, baby boy!"
Semacoar cackled, slapping his knee. Saka swerved to him, eyes blazing. The blonde immediately shot to his feet and ran out the doors, his younger brother giving chase. Their footsteps thundered down the golden hallways. Those two guards hadn't even seen them run past, just the fading echoes of an obnoxious laugh.
(∩｀-´)⊃━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ ε=ε=(っ* ´□` )っ
"How do you know about that room? I thought it was Saka's secret hiding place."
"Yes, it is, and I know about it because I was there." Eon said softly, a gentle smile on her face as she tried not to fiddle with the green of her robe.
"You were there?" April asked.
She squinted and glanced aside, forcing herself to think back. She remembered the silvery waters, the line tree in the center of the little island, the golden fruits up the tree, remembered when she sat at the tree trunk for hours after Saka left her there and then, finally, eventually remembered the red-headed and pink-skinned sea woman who had pulled her into the water.
Her eyes immediately circled.
"Oh my god!! You're the fish creature!" She stumbled back against the wall, panting, making Eon blink in confusion.
(∩｀-´)⊃━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ ε=ε=(っ* ´□` )っ
"This has been fun," and with that declaration, Semacoar moved his sword across in a slanted arc. The blade collided with Saka's metallic left arm's blow, pushing them both back before Semacoar stabbed his sword into the golden floor.
"Coward!" Saka gnashed out before a gust of wind started, some brown current erupting from the sword. An instant tornado swirled up and covered the grinning blonde. He was swallowed by the torrent before vanishing on the spot, the winds dissipating.
Saka remained standing there, watching the crack on the floor where Semacoar had thrust his longsword into, vanish and leave the floor spotless.
He straightened up, keeping his face blank and started making his way back. That idiot brother of his was always seeking out danger and the only way he could come close to it was poking fun at Saka. Who was acting like the nineteen-year-old now?
Saka kept his thoughts quiet, listening to the ones that were actually louder in his head. April was having a useless squabble with Eon. Saka sighed and rolled his eyes, rubbing his ear. This was an annoying connection.
"Are you lost, Your Highness?"
Saka paused to a female voice as he reached a cross-intersection in the hallway. He glanced back and found those two she-elf warriors who had escorted him to his room. He immediately turned his attention back forward. He paused on his first step when two more guards arrived ahead, stopping short of the cross-intersection.
"There you are, Your Highness."
Saka's jaw clenched, facing the two males ahead of him. In the corner of his eyes, two more guards arrived at his left and right from the other passages. They all stood there, watching him.
"Let us help you find your way back. You're a long way away from your brothers, young cub." One of the elves ahead of Saka said coolly.
Saka narrowed his eyes. Eight against one?
They all marched forward.
(∩｀-´)⊃━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ ε=ε=(っ* ´□` )っ
April was in the middle of interrogating Eon's past intentions when a sudden sharp pain ran through her right shoulder.
"Ah!" She gasped, holding her mysteriously injured arm.
"April…?" Eon paused.
With the sudden pain, she heard a familiar voice shout:
[The circle! Run to it, run! Run!]
An invisible blow hit her in the stomach before she slouched over.
"T-take me to the circle!" She cried, grabbing a confused Eon by the collar.