"That was the last time I saw him…" Ritta said, caressing his hair slowly.
"Spire however, came back a few days later, he had heard of his family's dilemma and needed to know exactly what happened. As much as I tried to tell him that Damion had no control, he wouldn't listen, instead, he went to the site and in a word, he was beyond disgusted by the sight of what remained of Noel. The only words he muttered were 'I'll make him remember.' He decided to raise his status in the Syndicate to get revenge on his brother on the matter, taking both parents in coffins and moving everywhere with them. I couldn't stop him… I felt helpless, I felt as though I failed both Damion and their mother. For 7 years, he worked with them only to look for Damion and make him remember what he did to his father.
"She looked at Damion once again. With eyes that nearly began tearing. She smiled due to how much she missed him, but she couldn't hold that feeling because one of failure had filled more than the room they were in.
"I wonder what will happen when they meet again." She added.
"We'll help him," Alloy said from the corner. Her fist clenched so hard, flickers of her shadows left her hands like small wisps of smoke. She was pissed, angry at what she just heard.
"You think you can do it??" Ritta asked, bringing her back to reality.
"Huh??" She looked up at Ritta's awaiting state. "Of course," She said, smiling. "Isn't that what friends are for??"
The room stayed quiet, Alloy thinking how terrible a father Damion had, Tasue sensed the tension in the room and kept to herself. Ritta watched outside the window, then back down at Damion. Thoughts ran through her mind, over and over again. Then, a few minutes later, she felt her clothes move slightly… upon looking down to check on Damion, he woke up so fast he hit her head.
"The girl!! Where is she??!!" He began. "OWWW!!!!" He held his forehead, feeling his pain more freshly than ever before. "That guy really did a number on me… my head hurts…"
"That's because you just hit mine." The voice behind him spoke. Immediately, chills were sent down his spine.
"That voice…" he turned slowly to see the person he hadn't interacted with or seen for over seven years holding her forehead due to the same reason. "Ri…"
"ANIKI!!!!" Tasue interrupted and jumped straight at his face.
"DAMION!!!!" Alloy added and launched from her corner to hug him.
"You had us worried," Ritta said as she chuckled.
"TAS….UEEE!!!" Alloy shouted as she tried to peel Tasue out of Damion's head. How wide her teeth were showed how happy she was to see him back up.
"Hey…" He said, recalling his last moments of consciousness. Placing Tasue beside him as he regained his senses. "Tasue… so that's your name. Are you okay??" He said, smiling and ruffling the girl's purple hair. She looked at him with the matching dark purple eyes she had, and got the feeling she had a brother.
"Aniki… I'm okay!! Thank you for defending me even if you couldn't!!"
Damion's face turned pale with embarrassment.
"I don't have a bow… needles were the only thing I could use."
"Bow??" Alloy interrupted as she recalled. "Right… you're an archer!!"
"How do you know that??" He turned and asked. He turned again, figuring it out by himself.
"Ritta… You told them??"
"I did, Damion. These are your friends, they deserve to know what they're getting into, don't they??" She smiled as the girls fought for his attention behind him.
"Maybe… how are you here??"
"This youngin here found me by coincidence."
"That's too much of one."
"I know." Her smile staying in place. "How do you feel??"
"Better. Can we go outside??" He pointed behind him. "These two are getting noisy."
"Alloy, Tasue, food will be brought to you in a few minutes." They ignored her and kept roughhousing.
The two walked down the steps and left the inn to catch up. Walking down the same street in eerie silence for a few minutes, Ritta looked at him and decided to break the silence, "Alloy seems dependable…"
"She is… she's a silly person who acts on instinct, but I don't mind it."
"Because she said she'd help you??"
"No… because I think I'll follow her even after." He smiled, "I know the pain of loosing your parents, she holds a pain similar to that. It wouldn't feel right for me to ditch her after she decided on helping me with my problems."
"Seems you are part of her guild. Is this the life you want to live?? I know it won't be easy."
"I'll give you an answer to that after what happens in Gami."
"About Spire…" Ritta began.
His face changed and a serious frown was plastered. "What about him??"
"Why are you going after him??"
"Because I'm tired of playing defense. He's sent over five groups of people to come after me, and the last one was the strongest. The one before that broke the bow I was using, I'm lucky Alloy arrived when she did."
"I see… is there another reason??"
"Like what??"
"I don't know…"
"There is." They faced each other. A glance before they continued walking. "Mother's necklace… it doesn't belong to him, and she would hate what he's doing as he wears it."
"That's true, your mother wanted happier lives for you two."
"Do you know why Spire blames you??"
"I know I killed father, Ritta. I figured it out not long after I regained my senses that night… but I couldn't go back, my body screamed it was a terrible choice to make. His reaction was understandable."
"First of all, your father… should have never pushed any of you to that extent. I'm sorry I didn't do more for you both." She replied, her face dimmed by her regrets.
The pair managed to exit the bounds of the town into a grass field. The cold wind of the night blew across the blades of grass the two stepped on in their walk. The moonlight shone bright in the night sky as they continued talking.
"It wasn't your fault. He was just a terrible father." Damion replied.
"Secondly… Spire came back because he wanted to share that he got into The Arcane Syndicate, which was one of your father's dreams for the both of you. His disappointment in the fact that he would never be able to see the smile on his face, I believe, is what drove him to become who he is today." The wind blew against Damion's red hair as he realized something.
"He doesn't blame me for his death, he blames me because he never got to see father proud of him…"
"It's just a possibility, what are you going to do??" She asked him. He paused for a moment before his fist clenched.
"Compared to me, father was always proud of him… he was fully invested in his necromancy drift. He got good at it… Ritta."
"Yes, dear??"
"I'm still gonna beat him. He chose to spend nearly a decade trying to get back at me, he's holding our parents' bodies hostage to lure me. I hate it. Putting an end to his madness is better, regardless of the blame."
"Very well…" She patted his cheek and added. "You've grown quite a bit."
He unknowingly let out a smile of embarrassment and nervousness. Flattered that he heard that from Ritta. "Should we head back??"
"No."
"No??"
"No. Here. I hope your skills got better." She said, handing him a short bow.
"Thank you… what are we doing then??"
"I have something to show you, I believe you need to learn it before we leave for Gami tomorrow."
"What is it??"
The wind blew heavily one last time as the three shocking words left her mouth.
"Your true Drift."