36 Perspective (2/2)
”Okay...” Vel did as suggested. Jin watched as she closed her eyes, clenching her fist in concentration.
”Relax.” Jin told her. ”Take a second before you try it.”
Vel breathed in, and breathed out. She did it again and suddenly, those sparks from earlier re-emerged. They swarmed down Vel's body, eventually arriving at her legs. Vel kept breathing, even as the sparks receded. She opened her eyes, Jin glanced down.
Vel took a hard step and no sound was made.
Earlier that day, Decena
Arriving at Corona carried a sense of both excitement and anxiety. She couldn't wait for Enverna to take her in, for the two of them to hug it out, declare their love to the world, but those mages had her concerned. Where would the ones that ran away go? Would they actually be brave enough to attempt another attack on that village? She hoped not, for those citizen's sake.
”Good morning.” A tired guard with an accent said to the coachman.
”Good morning. Here's my ID.” The guard took one look at it and nodded.
”Move along.”
At some point, Ayami had fallen asleep on the bench opposite Decena's. She prodded the demon girl's shoulder. Ayami let out an adorable yawn and rubbed her eyes.
”We're here.” Decena stated. She smirked when Ayami muttered ”two more minutes”, but they did have to start walking soon, so the redhead poked Ayami's nose.
”W-What's going on?” Ayami swatted away Decena's hand.
”I said, we're here.” Decena replied, trying not to laugh.
”Oh, wow. Give me a moment.” She said, stretching.
”So, where are we headed to first?” Decena asked. ”You're the one who knew where Enverna was.”
”Well...” Ayami smiled nervously. ”To be honest, when I said that I 'spoke' to her, I meant through letters. It's not like I could tell you specifically what house or anything.”
”So... We basically have to track her down?” Decena sighed. ”That's gonna be tiring.”
”We may as well get some breakfast before we do anything too exhausting.” Ayami leaned outside the carriage and knocked on the side. ”Hey, we're getting off here.”
”Aye, I'll wait at the southern exit.” The coachman replied.
”Wait, he's just gonna stay here?” Decena asked.
”My family paid him to take me anywhere I wanted to go for the next month. He has to.” Ayami cleared up. ”Come on, I know a really good restaurant around here.”
Decena's first impression of Corona was... Mixed. She couldn't tell whether it was like a beautiful castle, or the most impoverished place she'd ever seen. The buildings were made of dirty white stone, but they melded together to form a very homey atmosphere. Animals were walking around freely, with neither people minding them or them minding people. In the distance, sun kissed children played around outside their homes. If she had to compare it to something, it'd be like if you put a city in the middle of a large farm.
Ayami lead her to a place that didn't even have doors.
”We're here.” Ayami said, casually.
”You're serious?” Decena let out.
”Yeah... What's the issue?” Ayami blinked.
”... Nothing.”
Walking inside she was struck by the sudden contrast between the rickety outside and the lively tavern-like ambience inside. Men drank and spoke loudly while female maids served from one table to another. Two musicians played strange, upbeat music in the corner of the room. As soon as they walked in, a man in the back who was busy attending other customers, set them aside to go over to Ayami.
”Amiga! Como va su dia?” He spoke in Mariana's mother tongue.
”Bien Jonatan, gracias.” Ayami replied with a slightly tilted accent. Decena, who couldn't follow the conversation, settled for just looking around. In a moment, she started finding signs of that outside, messy look. A few chairs had broken parts that could be fixed easily. Parts of the building looked like they could fall at any moment.
”Tendras lo usual?” He asked.
”Si, por favor.” Ayami bowed slightly.
”Sientese donde quiera. Le sirvo en unos minutos.”
Ayami pulled Decena's sleeve and led her to an empty table. A few of the men around them eyed the two girls, some of them not bothering to hide their lechery. Decena made sure to scowl at them, flashing her sword for a second before taking a seat.
”What did you say?”
”Just ordered my favorite. Trust me, it's great.” Ayami answered, the man she'd been speaking to overheard them as he emerged from the kitchen, with no food in hand though.
”Oh, I apologize.” He said. ”I had thought you also spoke our language.”
”No problem.” Decena replied.
”Anyway,” he said, ”I just wanted to tell you, it will be a while. Our wheat production has reduced lately, the Psychic's been feeling tired these days.”
”The psychic?” Decena asked.
”Yeah, the woman helping our farmers. We don't understand what's happening to her, she's been feeling down lately.” Jonatan stated.
”Who's this psychic anyway?”
”I don't know.” Ayami replied.
”Really?” Jonatan asked. He seemed to be as surprised as Decena.
”Last time I was here was about two years ago. It's been a while.” Ayami shrugged.
”You should talk to her.” Jonatan said. ”Maybe you could help her out somehow.”
”Well, after we find Enverna.” Decena quickly cut in.
”Yeah, of course.” Ayami replied, turning her attention to Jonatan. ”But, it's no problem. We'll wait a little.”
”Gracias.” Jonatan retreated back to his kitchen. ”But, the psychic will be coming by in a moment, she should be here before you finish.
All in all, the food had to have been the most exotic thing Decena had ever eaten. It was bread, layered on top of meat, layered on more bread and some cheeses. She was fairly certain that at some point, she'd made some unseemely noise out of how good it was.
However, Ayami and Decena had finished, and the ”psychic” still hadn't arrived. Just as she was about to tell Ayami that they should leave, she heard someone walking through the door.
”Bendecida! Gracias por venir.” Jonatan stated.
Relieved that she would be continuing the search soon, she turned towards the approaching person. Her eyes fell on a silhouette that she hadn't seen in a long time. The men and women in the restaurant continued their business, not realizing Decena's reality had just been shattered.
A woman with pale skin, black hair, brown eyes and a completely unassuming look to her. She was completely average and yet, that image may as well have had a heavenly choir sounding off in the background. She swore she could see a white light surrounding the girl, like Charlotte herself had come personally, to hand her over on a gold platter.
Enverna.
Decena didn't even notice she was in tears. Ayami gave her a worried look until she glanced in the same direction. Her jaw dropped as well. Enverna walked so casually, it was clear she hadn't seen the redhead until Decena stood from her chair.
Then, their eyes locked. Enverna's mouth hanged open. Her bottom lip quivered for a second.
”Y-...” Enverna tried to speak, but couldn't get any words out.
Decena closed the distance between them, tentatively placed her hands on the girl's cheeks, almost testing if she's actually there or not, and kissed her, holding her in an much-needed embrace that was long overdue.