Part 24
Silence emerged between the two. Cyeen fiddled with her fingers as she was looking at the demon. She still had many questions eating away at her mind but didn't ask any as they were too late into the night by now. Jess uncomfortably moved around before talking.
"Well, that'z only a small part. I woulda liket listenin' to yars but I'm tired."
Cyeen uncurled from the ball position she didn't even realise she was in.
"Sure, maybe later then."
The two finally fell asleep two hours into the midnight.
***
"Alright, so you said she went south right?"
A new day was upon them as the sun shone with all of it's glory.
"Yez Zoen, can ya stoppe pretendin' to not heare me?" answered Cherry.
The guy shrugged. Annoying Cherry had always been his favorite activity.
"Uuuh... Y'all haeve a map?" asked Jess.
Cherry's husband Guela was waiting for this exact moment. He showed his anticipation quite well as he slammed a map onto the table they were seated at. He began explaining:
"So, as you all know, this half circle looking kingdom in the northwest is Setina. The main territory of Setina is in the middle of the five duchies. On it's farthest west point -so leftest ;)- is Enidia and on to the east of Enidia is Drantu. Bami is in between Drantu and Enidia but closer to Drantu overall. So to the south of this place would be... The Sundom duchy!"
Four sets of eyes stared him down in annoyance. They did not appreciate the long explanation let alone being treated like they were dumb. The guy looked like he shrank in size.
"Quit yar yappin' and kep it brief jeze." said Jess in a hostile tone.
"Alright buddy alright, calm down. If I have to sum it up fine. Go south, I mean down on the map, and you'll enter the duchy of Sundom. Understa- Ow!" he turned around to see her wife smacking him on the head.
"Tha's a pirate captain infronto ya! Of courze she knowz basic directions!" The woman turned towards the makeshift gang. "Sorry guys, he iz oooobsessed widh staretegy thingies so alzo maps!"
The woman turned back to her husband, to be fuming out of her ears. She was not going to let anyone disrespect her captain, even her husband. It had always been captain first for her.
Cyeen scratched her head in confusion before poking Jess.
"Hey Jess, what does jeze mean?"
All the heads turned towards the noble.
"Woah woah woah, what de hell? It'z a slur ya imbecile! A human like ya can't jast say it!" exclaimed the offended demon.
Cyeen felt a little guilty but didn't care otherwise.
"Let me note it so I can use it against you later then."
In a second, the demon had attempted pouncing onto the noble, being barely stopped by her brother from ripping apart Cyeen. These happened all while Cyeen had a smug grin on her face. Her grin faded as quickly as a cooking pot was thrown at her head.
She turned to look at the culprit only to see a suspicious bronze hair colored woman whistling. Cyeen looked at her hair color, she hadn't been able to distinguish it till now.
The noble let it slide this time. Cherry had just demonstrated how loyal she was.
Zoen began talking after a long sigh.
"Alright, we all had our fun I assume? So, onto the main topic, you said Sundom right?" Guela preferred nodding. Zoen turned to the noble this time. "Cyeen if you know anything about Sundom please, go ahead."
The noble cleared her throat.
"Sundom, the place where the sun melts your skin. Though I'm exaggerating, It's usually pretty hot and and dry except for the capital which is a giant oasis. There should be a fight between the heirs over the prince currently so I'd assume it's a little unstable. Which means-"
"The prinse? Why fite over him?" asked Jess.
Cyeen didn't appreciate the interruption.
"None of your business Jess. So anyway, you two need breathable clothing."
Cyeen swung her sundress as an example.
Zoen took the last word.
"Alright then, take us to your tailor, Flameberg."
The makeshift gang left the house, taking Cherry along them.
***
Two days had passed since the visit to the tailor. The trio were about to get their clothes super fast thanks to the countless death threats Jess threw at the poor shopkeeper.
Cyeen, Jess and Zoen made their entrance as the owner was dusting the counter. The woman's heart skipped a beat and she quickly ran to the back. Not even ten seconds passed before she was back breathing out of her mouth, two sets of clothes present in her hands.
Jess had wanted something similar to Cyeen therefore was met with a white sundress that was nearly a one on one copy of the noble's. The only difference was that this one had an additional part which was a thin desert veil starting from her horns and ending above her mouth.
Zoen had went with a mix of brown and orange colored robe. He had specifically requested this color to be able to camouflage better.
Cyeen was looking at their new clothes from the corner of the shop.
"Guys? We're not going to a full blown desert? I remember telling you to request something breathable. What's with these get ups?"
Jess was devastated.
"Wha? I din't need the veil?"
Cyeen tapped her foot with a hand on her chin.
"No. Actually, wear it. It would be a great replacement for the mask you somehow lost." said the noble.
"The mask I poured my soul into." added Zoen, showing his dissatisfaction with the demon.
After the two was done trying them, Zoen guy practically slammed the coins they "borrowed" from Cherry on the counter before leaving. Confused, both of the girls followed after him a second later. They caught up with Zoen and began making their way towards the house of the ex-pirate.
***
Some preparations were made and a few goodbyes were exchanged before the makeshift gang began walking towards the stable they've put their horses at.
One final waving session was made. Guela turned to his wife in concern.
"You realise we have been hosting a noble in our house right?"
***
The makeshift gang were back on the roads. In their classic fashion, Cyeen and Zoen rode in front while Jess was following them from behind.
Minutes turned into hours as the environment was getting harsher. Trees around them were starting to change shapes and types and the beautiful green was being overwhelmed by the orange and the yellow. A new kind of tree with greenish brown trunks which the siblings hadn't seen in their lives ever had started to show up. The two asked Cyeen if she knew the name of these strange trees. This was the perfect opportunity to prove she had some worth. But unfortunately, she was met with uninterested faces at the end of her speech.
A few hours passed again. Zoen was actually starting to blend in by now. It was sometimes hard to pick him out from the trunks of the trees which started leaning towards orange ever so slightly. They stopped at a nearby place that had a well around to set up camp for now. Cyeen had been given the first guard duty.
The noble leaned against a tree and looked at the yellowish green grass below her.
"Never thought I'd be going back to Sundom. I hope we won't cross roads with that snake." she mumbled.
Me too.
"You?" she managed to say as her vision went black.
An arena or so it looked like. There were seats made out of a strange material all around the elipse shaped arena. Cyeen looked around her, she felt included in this world much more than the other times.
"I'm going to fight someone? Then send who you are sending!" she yelled at the void, her voice echoing.
Silence, not a pleasant kind. This world was starting to get scarier each time.
"Nothing...?" The noble turned around her. "Do you have something to do with this?" she yelled once again. This time directed towards the voice that whispered to her occasionally.
Of course, it wasn't going to answer. It never did when it counted. Screw you. Thought the noble as she left the arena from one of the entrances. Nothing looked right about this world, even the walls looked off with their vivid and bright colors.
Outside the arena was a floating paper that shook occasionally. It must be important, thought Cyeen as she didn't know how to read that language.
Enough for now.
Her leg was being grabbed as she returned back to the real world. It was a sleepy looking demon, grumbling for Cyeen to go to sleep. A few bad words crossed her mind which none of were swears. She shook her head, not even a single swear word came to mind. Was it because of the environment she was raised in? Maybe I'll have them teach me some.
The noble nudged Zoen with a stick to wake him up before going back to her tent. The guy sat down next to a tree. A tree that was next to Cyeen's tent. He obviously wanted to have a word.
Zoen didn't feel the need to sugarcoat it. he began talking while fiddling with his fingers.
"You know, Cyeen, I actually was against you joining us that day. It came so unnatural to me that you, a noble who had been almost kidnapped would be willing to travel alongside us. Can I ask what pushed you to offer that?"
Cyeen sighed. She didn't know why herself.
"I don't know what was my push to be honest. Maybe I felt suffocated by nobility or I just wanted to get to know the world better. I'm afraid I won't be able to give you a straight answer right now."
The guy clicked his tongue. That wasn't the response he was looking for.
"Who am I kidding, this wasn't why I came to you. I just felt a little left out since you two turned out to get talkative at night. How'd you do it? By that, I mean how did you get her to talk?"
"Me?" Cyeen was surprised. "I just asked. It looked like she had way too much bottled in her and no one to talk to. No offense to you Zoen, but siblings usually don't talk to each other about these sort of issues."
He clicked his tongue once again.
"And that's exactly why I feel scared sometimes, Cyeen. I'm terrified of the idea that I'm a terrible brother. Jess has provided everything I need to live a normal life but I refused all of them. She wanted to open a shop somewhere for me but I refused. She begged me to give up on the pirate life but I refused. I didn't want to leave her side, do you think I was wrong?"
Cyeen turned around in her tent.
"I don't know your story fully but I can say one thing confidently. She needs you by her side."
Zoen let out a pained snicker.
"Thank you, Cyeen. I think I understand why she chose you to open up to. You're surprisingly easy to talk to."
The noble turned around once Zoen left her side. She wanted to sleep.
Wow, you actually have feelings?
Cyeen turned around her sleeping spot again. Harsh, but I'll take it. Goodnight voice. She thought.
***
The makeshift gang woke up to a commotion. They all darted out of their tents to see the source of it. The sight they were met was a horse galloping away from the camp. What took their attention the most was that a person was riding it. Cyeen looked around her only to see the lead she used to tie her horse was cut.
Zoen and Jess hopped onto their horses, ready to chase the thief down. Cyeen didn't wait a second as she hopped behind Zoen.
"What are you waiting for? Go after them!"