The following day, when Darian woke up, he found someone licking his face. He was finally sleeping in his own bed here in Therya again after almost two weeks.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Snowy on top of him licking his face. "Mhmm, Snowy… five more minutes…" said he, turning around. Then, the exact moment he finished the sentence, he realized what he had just said.
Darian immediately opened his eyes wider and got up from the bed, almost jumping. Snowy lost his balance and fell on the ground. "SNOWY, YOU'RE AWAKE!" he shouted. Darian hoped for an answer from him, remembering when he spoke to him the last time, but the fox simply watched him with his usual look.
'Guess you can only speak in my mind…' he thought while grabbing the small fox in his hands. "Finally, you're awake, Snowy," he whispered. The small fox remained in his hands, looking at him directly in his eyes.
"I wonder why every time we use that power of yours, you're always the one who has to sleep for so long," he whispered, wondering why, if Snowy used the magic on his body, the creature had to be the one to remain unconscious for so many days.
"Maybe you're doing it to help me? Can my body not be strong enough?" he said. Darian was sure that he saw Snowy nodding his head. 'Then he can understand me, at least…' he thought.
"Well, Snowy…" said Darian while getting up from the bed and putting Snowy over his shoulder, "I'll try my best to become stronger. I feel like every time you use too much power, it's because of me that you end up like this… and this isn't right," said Darian while looking down, a bit sad.
"But if I understood correctly, if I become stronger, you will not fall unconscious for so many days, right?" Darian waited for an answer that didn't arrive. He was hoping that the creature would answer him or at least move his head, but now nothing happened.
'I need to find a way to enter inside my mind to speak with you…' thought Darian while closing his eyes, imagining himself in that same spot from the last time, but nothing changed. The moment he opened his eyes, he was still in his room and nothing had changed.
Darian began to walk outside the room, wondering what would be the best way for him to connect with Snowy in his mind. But the more he thought about it, everything felt too surreal and he wasn't able to come up with a proper solution. Darian looked at Snowy curled up on his shoulder; Darian slowly patted his head and entered the meeting room, where he found all the Veilguards inside.
"Darian!" shouted both Liro and Lily after seeing him in the room. Every time all the Alterids were inside this room, it was impossible to find a seat for everyone on the two sofas. Now that Lily was there too, the two sofas were extremely full.
"Hey… Snowy is finally awake!" shouted Vane. He realized that Darian wasn't holding him in his hands anymore and that he was sleeping on his shoulder. The moment he reached him, Snowy slowly opened his eyes.
"Eh, finally he's awake," said Liro in a reassuring tone. "Yeah… he woke up this morning," said Darian while reaching the sofa where Liro, Kael, and Lara were sitting. On the other, there were Vane, Lily, and Allocen. Alerya, as always, was sitting on her chair.
"By the way, Lara, how did things go with the injured people from Yalemba? I remember that there weren't many of them gravely injured," asked Kael.
"Most of them were only extremely tired. With my power, I was able to help them. The few gravely injured people, I was able to heal them without any problem," she answered.
"By the way, Princess, you wanted us all here, right?" asked Allocen, remembering that before Darian arrived, she had told everyone to remain in this room because she needed to talk with them.
"Exactly. I'm sure that all of you know the current situation in the city. I have walked this morning and found many people from Therya extremely mad because of the fact people from Yalemba have arrived," she said.
"I expected it… are these people dangerous?" asked Kael. Alerya shook her head. "For now, it doesn't seem so, but I'm scared that it might happen."
"So you need our help to stop these people?" asked Allocen.
"Exactly, I nee—" While Alerya was currently speaking, she was cut off by Darian.
"Princess, sorry to interrupt you…" he said, while looking down and feeling a bit sorry for interrupting her. Alerya didn't change her expression. "What is it, Darian?" she asked gently.
"During this travel, I remembered a lot of important things I left in the rocket I used to arrive here on Earth…" said Darian, remembering the pictures of his family that he had to leave there on the rocket and couldn't take.
"So you want to go away for some days?" she asked. Darian thought that she would speak with a mad tone, but in fact, she seemed chill and didn't have any problem with it. "Yes… if possible…" he said. Alerya answered in a reassuring tone, "Don't worry, I'm sure that you will not want to go alone," she said, looking at his comrades who have always gone with him, Liro and Vane.
"For me, it is alright!" said Vane, smashing his feet together. Liro, on the other sofa, nodded his head. Before Alerya could speak, she saw Lily's face burning with excitement. She remembered that this morning they had talked about the fact that she would love to see the mainland and explore more of this world.
"Lily… do you know that the mainland is a really dangerous place, right?" asked Alerya.
"I know… but I want to see more. I have been closed in Yalemba for all these years that I feel like there is a lot for me to know about this world," she said, while looking at Alerya with decisive eyes.
"Before, I didn't have the chance because I was alone… but now I've got someone who is willing to come with me. I don't want to lose this chance," added Lily. After she finished speaking, Alerya looked at the others who would need to come with her.
"We'll protect her. We don't have any problem bringing her with us," said Darian with a reassuring tone. Alerya, hearing that, felt better and nodded her head.
"The Seven Sages have told me that as long as someone remains here defending the city, we won't have any problem… for you guys, is it alright to remain here?" asked Alerya of the others.
"To be honest, I have already traveled so much these days… I'll remain here," said Kael.
"I don't feel like entering combat yet; I'll remain here too," said Lara.
Allocen, before answering, thought for a moment. "I feel like, if something bad happens, my golem will be really helpful. I'll remain here too."
"That's perfect. Then when are you thinking of going away?" asked Alerya. Darian without hesitation answered immediately, "I was thinking of tomorrow… is it alright?" he said, referring to both the people who would come with him tomorrow and to Alerya.
"For me, you can go even now… you should ask the others," answered Alerya.
For both Liro and Vane, it didn't matter when it was, as both of them were ready at any moment. The one who asked for one more day was Lily.
"If possible, I want to go tomorrow…" said Lily, feeling a bit sorry that she had to slow down everyone. "Wait, weren't you excited to go?" asked Lara, confused.
"I guess she wants to spend this day with Naluri, right?" said Alerya, already knowing the answer.
Lily nodded her head, and before she could even say anything, Alerya took the floor again. "You can return to Naluri; you don't have to worry anymore about the meeting," she said with a smile on her face. Lily immediately got up from the sofa and rushed outside.
"Thank you so much!!" she shouted before going outside.
While the others remained inside the building talking about what they needed to do in the following days, Lily rushed outside to reach her house and spend this day together with Naluri.
Outside, before arriving at her house, she spotted Tatsy; it felt like she was waiting for her. After the attack Yalemba received, they hadn't been able to speak because of the circumstances.
"Hey, Tatsy!" said Lily, happy to see her again.
"Hey, Lily…" she said, a bit sad.
Lily, understanding that something was wrong, changed her expression. "What happened, Tatsy?"
"Don't you want to live a better life? You know what happened to our city…" said Tatsy as she walked closer to Lily, who, after realizing that something was wrong, remained still.
"I know… but remaining without doing anything will not change anything, you see," said Lily as she slowly moved her eyes down.
"Are you seeking revenge?" Lily, hearing that, remained shocked. She slowly raised her eyes and looked at Tatsy directly in her eyes.
"I mean, they have killed Garoo… and Aki too…" said Tatsy with a serious expression. "I know that no one can stop your dream of going outside and exploring the world, but don't you seek revenge?"
Hearing that, Lily's heart began to beat faster. 'I mean she is right… if I'm not seeking revenge, am I a bad person?' Before this conversation, Lily had never thought about getting revenge, she remained sad and couldn't accept it, but she still hadn't thought about revenge at all.
"It is all Archie's fault… he deserves to die," whispered Lily. Tatsy, hearing that, nodded her head.
"It's mostly his fault; he betrayed us all," said Tatsy, then added something else that made Lily's heart beat faster. "I'm not strong; I haven't got a power that lets me fight. But you have it, Lily… you can get revenge for everyone."
Lily looked over her hands, the hands of an alterid, unlike the other one she had the power to fight without any problem. The guilt of being a survivor started to twist into a sharp, cold hunger for justice.
"Everyone in Yalemba is too scared to do anything and to fight back, after they received this home. But I know that you aren't like this, Lily. You are strong and you can do everything. Get revenge for everyone." Lily looked again at Tatsy's face; it became completely dark and it became impossible for someone to read her expression.
Now Tatsy's desire for revenge was slowly being given to Lily. She realized that Archie had to pay, like all the other Krukins.
"But we're safe here in Yalemba right now, aren't we?" asked Lily.
"You can never be sure, have you heard what they said? That the city got attacked multiple times, we can never be sure" said her getting her face extremely close to Lily's.
"And tell me… didn't you love Yalemba with all your heart? It's gone because of them," said Tatsy. Lily's mind completely changed after she heard what Tatsy was saying. Realizing that she could be the only hope for Yalemba's revenge, she finally nodded her head.
"You're right… I must avenge Yalemba and all of its citizens," decided Lily. Tatsy, hearing that, nodded her head. "Whenever you're going to the mainland… don't forget our revenge." After finishing the sentence, Lily watched Tatsy disappear into the shadows, the 'sparkles' in her eyes didn't return. Instead, they were replaced by a hard, steady flame. She realized that the mainland wasn't just a playground anymore; it was a hunting ground. She wouldn't just be Darian's companion, she would be Yalemba's shadow. 'And as Yalemba's shadow… I must revenge my city'