The youth was able to be carried to the top by the plant kingdom guards without much suspicion. Having waited for Gunvar to arrive back at the cavern they left their carriage behind in, the hurt but able-to-walk troop of men they were tasked with finding inside Baumfall accompanied him to the exit. With the orange-striped cloth, a broken-off piece of green crystal, and three silver coins in his pockets, Midas wandered the busy streets of the city—the sky quickly turning orange as the sun set.
Once he arrived back, the way towards the inn in front of which he had separated himself from Javelin and the others—Midas entered through the doorless frame, the first floor of the building solid wood, as the room inside was carved out. Right on the other end of the room, the youth laid eyes on a set of stairs that led up onto another floor—right beside it were mostly empty sets of stools that surrounded rounded wooden tables. Two of them were already taken by Javelin and Uteli—their heads immediately rose to look up at Midas, who had just arrived.
"Finally, I thought you were lost..."
Hearing Javelin's dim mutter, the youth approached them, seeing the dictionary he had borrowed from Avalon on the table in front of him and watching as Javelin shut the book closed, already eager to head upstairs to his dorm. Uteli looked at Midas intently, twisting two of her long strands of hair between her fingertips, before turning to Javelin—following him upstairs without many words. The youth didn't hesitate for long to find the room they already had booked with the spare money they made selling their Fahin and ride they stole from the troop of Water Kingdom knights outside the orphanage—his body tired from the ride and guild work.
Dragging his limbs into the room, the youth immediately sat down onto one of the sleeping places—used to sleeping on the floor from the time he had spent wandering the northern desert. On top of a still green layer of braided plant fiber lay a blanket of thick moss, making the flatbed much more comfortable than any of the accommodations the youth stayed in during his trip through the South. After a quick second to catch his breath, the youth laid the glass-like, green, glistening rock onto the tiny table next to his bed, laying the striped cloth he had stolen from one of the pirates right beside it.
Javelin's brows sharpened at the sight of what Midas placed on the counter, already getting an idea of what kind of stone this most likely was due to its subtle glow and glass-like surface—mustering him from across his room, his bed in between the two of them. Uteli sat on her sleeping place, having balled up her legs—wrapping her hands underneath them as she looked forward into the distance of the city, a sight that expanded right in front of them from their balcony—the wide entrance only slightly covered by large hanging leaves.
"I got enough money to finance another three nights here; with the other two silver coins, we have four nights left to stay... just enough until the fest starts. Have you managed to find any information about the location of the goods for the auction?"
Not minding Javelin's sharply concerned glance, Midas handed him the three coins that were given to him by Gunvar as a payment for his help—money that the youth most likely didn't deserve, since he basically made no difference in the outcome of the battle against the leader of the pirate squad. Surprised by a sudden giggle from the back of their dorm, the youth lifted his head again, seeing the girl with braided hair wander towards him with an amused expression.
"We tried to ask around shops and restaurants for any information... but we only got vague descriptions or dismissive answers that couldn't help us at all. After a while, Javelin got so frustrated, he almost started an argument with one of the shopkeepers, shouting through the whole street.
"Of course I'm going to be mad if he doesn't answer me properly... We have been doing so the entire day, and every time I go up to someone, they just look at me with a derogatory glance as if I were some kind of criminal!"
The youth watched with a softened expression, surprised by the light atmosphere the two of them had despite the circumstances—something he and Javelin alone could most likely not create between the two of them alone. Uteli began to laugh at him more directly, standing in between them as Javelin sunk his reddened face with clenched teeth—clearly feeling embarrassed at his outburst. The youth looked through the dimly decorated room for a second before eventually placing himself next to Javelin.
"We will get that Nor'Luft powder... no matter how high the stakes might be. If I have to, I will go after it on my own—your sister is a friend of mine too, a friend of Skye... one of us."
"I planned on working to pay the huge sum—the doctor from the village I came from already knew how unlikely it was for us to get our hands on it, but... I still wanted to try, wanted to come here and find a profession—earning enough to buy it through honest means. But, even before we even arrived at the border of the water kingdom, Jevaila already showed increasing symptoms... the nose bleeding wasn't something new; I tried to stop her from using her mana, but she didn't listen and continued."
Utelis's laughter dimmed down at Midas's words, intrigue making her halt her laughter as she listened to Javelin—quietly sitting down onto his sleeping spot as well, lightly resting her shoulder on his as she watched his head rise up from the side. The sky that was visible from the open entrance of their room's balcony became dark before the youth could notice, simply mustering Javelin's expression as he finally gave away some of his past, continuing his speech.
"We got into an argument once we reached the central dunes—her migraines grew stronger seemingly every time she used mana. Now that I think about it, it was quite easy to see in her expression how frustrated she became at her steadily diminishing output. I became tired of seeing her hold onto her head in pain every time we had to defend ourselves against bandits or beasts... so I urged her to stop, at least until we arrived at the water kingdom. I remember fondly how she looked at me with glassy eyes, openly telling me how worthless she felt next to me—a feeling she already had before we left home."
"Her condition stayed like this for a while. I found peace at simply looking over the occasional nosebleed or mana surge in her head—quietly hoping it wouldn't get any worse than this, hoping to earn money as soon as possible before it eventually would. I was wrong, however; when that teacher told me she was in a coma, I just didn't know what to do anymore... I felt completely helpless, not having even learned the language. Now I'm here, having to rely on urban legends and barkeeper stories to find seemingly the only cure for my sister."
Midas frowned slightly at his words, knowing that the part of the desert Javelin came from lay much further to the south—not connected to the continent on which they now found themselves. The stress he felt having to find a solution against the brewing sandstorm to the east of the northern desert to preserve Almas's left-behind fort seemed miniscule against what he just heard from Javelin, who needed to outrun the uncertain fate of his own sibling.
"I can't tell you how to feel in such a situation. I don't have a family I know of—I just woke up in the desert one day and got taken into the fort of a man I never knew before... The feeling of having to race against something grand, something seemingly unchangeable as one singular person, something that was put onto your shoulders to carry, is hard—but simply giving up and trying to ignore it is much harsher, not only for others but for your own well-being as well... which is why at least trying is the best thing you can do for Jevaila."
"You know how it feels like...?" How so if you don't know of your family...?"
"The only thing I can truly do about this is preserve the northern desert as best as I can. I woke up there; perhaps the people I search for still roam around it... maybe they left some clue behind for me to someday find. I also owe my life to the man that found me, who let me sleep inside my own room and fed me and educated me. Since he isn't alive anymore, I plan to construct a grave at the fort. However, if the current sandstorm to the east of the desert keeps growing larger, it might consume everything... Not even the Water Kingdom army is capable of taking care of it."
Their eyes widened at Midas's implication, making them open their mouths dimly at his words, trying their best to find any hesitation in his expression or voice. The youth would have to make his way towards Ajan soon, having learned the water kingdom tongue to a degree that allows him to speak fluently enough—already planning to head towards Cle'phoria just like Alma told him.
"Hold on, how are you supposed to take care of a storm not even water kingdom knights are able to walk through...?" What even is there to take care of...?"
Javelin leaned towards Midas, his expression a mixture of concern and sternness—his confusion matched Utelis's, as she mustered the youth with an agape mouth. Evading the face of Javelin as it closed in on him by leaning to his side slightly, Midas reminded himself of the fact that Ajan was a traveler—perhaps knowing more about the storm than any other, as he wrote letters about his sightings to the royalty.
"I don't know either, which is why I'm going to meet up with someone who might know much more about the origin of the storm than I do... That's my only option. If he knows nothing about it, I will try to scrape my own knowledge together myself."
Sighing in light disappointment at the uncertain answer Midas promptly gave off while facing away from them, Javelin straightened his posture, glancing at Uteli as she didn't make any intention of widening the space in between them, gathering his composure.
"We should get to the point already... the most believable thing I heard about is that all of the goods for the auction at the fest are stored at a giant storage facility to the north of the city—many stores keep their unsold goods there, which might also be why we could find these goods. From the expression on the faces of whoever I asked and the uncertainty in their tone, I can already foretell that this place must be heavily guarded..."
"We should at least try and find a way to get to the goods. Who knows... maybe we can sneak into the facility and steal it—this way we won't have to worry about facing a water kingdom general. I'd rather face normal troops of the same rank as typical knights instead of having to fight a man double the size of me wielding a sword that is able to spin around in the air."
Having said so, Midas headed towards the tiny table of their dorm, slowly undoing his dimly bloodstained cloth and revealing his bare right hand. His skin was reddened from constantly wearing the bandage, still swollen and lightly numb around the hexagonal shape of the stone rune implanted into the back of his hand. Holding the crude piece of crystal next to the rhombus shape of his sunshard that was placed in the stone rune, the youth compared their sizes, having to find someone who would bring the crude rock to the same shape that would fit into the engraving.
"Is that this commander Helm mentioned on our way here...?"
"Yeah, he works at the university as well... I have seen him fight with his sword before; he uses a waterstone to rotate his large blade—a film of water surrounds it, and the mana inside of it holds the sword in the air, also allowing him to retrieve it from a distance when he pleases."
The two of them quietly watched as Midas placed the stone back onto the table, using the fresh bandage given to him by the elderly salesman from his first guild job to cover up his hand again—wrapping it around his fingers and eventually his wrist became a habit. Trying to move his fingers around, the youth's expression lit up slightly as he barely was able to form a loose fist without his rune hurting too much.
"We should head out as soon as we can then... Having to steal something is already bad enough, but having to fight a water kingdom knight over it is even worse..."