Chapter Text
The Hero of Light Dressed in Alien Raiments And Bearing The Sword of Light Defeats The Monsters To Save Expel From Calamity.
Mael's finger traces the lines of the drawing just above the caption. The detailed armor the Hero is wearing; the rays of light blazing out from his Sword. The drawings are so familiar and easy to lose himself in.
The heavy book that holds the pictures doesn't belong to him. He just borrows it repeatedly from the mayor. He's read it over and over, and never tires of it.
A faint squeak from the floorboards causes him to look up. It's Papa. His eyes meet Mael's, and he places a finger to his lips and winks. Don't give me away.
Mael nods silently, then watches as Papa stealthily sneaks behind Mama preparing dinner. In one fell swoop, he wraps his arms around her. She lets out a small scream as he plants kisses all over her neck and shoulders.
"Elmyra! Oh, Elmyra, my darling. You're as beautiful as the day I first laid eyes upon you."
"Lou, oh, Lou!" Mama sighs happily. "You're ever as handsome and romantic as when we first met."
Mael waits for a few seconds. Then he rolls his eyes and says very loudly, "You two are so embarrassing!"
His parents freeze—then double over in laughter, both of them nearly falling to the floor. Mael hides his smile behind his book. Everyone expects him to be put off by their lovey-dovey behaviour, but he's not really that embarrassed. He yells at them to stop because the reactions are funny. They've been doing this for as long as he can remember. It's a game they play.
"Now that we've been put in our place, my beloved," Papa says, smiling, "let me take care of the rest. Mael, come help set the table." Mael immediately closes the book and jumps up.
As they sit down to dinner, Papa says, "A pigeon flew into Westa's house today. Guess what was tied to its leg?"
Mama touches a finger to her chin, pretending to think. "What a difficult question! It must be a letter from Rena."
"It was indeed, my darling."
Mael says, "Is Big Sister Rena coming back to visit? It's seasonal break at the Academy, isn't it?"
Papa claps. "What good memory, Mael! Right on both counts."
"My clever boy!" Mama ruffles his hair, then turns back to Papa. "Westa must be over the moon."
"She is. And not only that—you won't believe who Rena's bringing with her."
"Alen? Dr. Jean and his wife? That energetic Precis girl?"
Papa shakes his head repeatedly at every one of Mama's guesses. She finally says, somewhat impatiently, "Well, then, Lou. Who?"
"Dias and Claude."
Mama covers her mouth with a gasp, right as Mael drops a piece of bread into his bowl and splashes soup all over himself. She immediately turns and fusses over him. "Oh my goodness!! Are you all right??"
"I'm okay, Mama." The soup, fortunately, was not too hot.
"Oh dear," says Papa. He grabs a napkin and helps wipe up. "That's on me. I should have told you to put your food down before I said who."
Mama asks, "Did Rena say when they'd arrive?"
"No. Only 'soon'. And her note said, 'Please don't prepare anything special. The only gift we need is to see everyone again'."
"In that case," says Mama matter-of-factly, "I do believe it's the village's duty to ignore that part of the message."
Papa chuckles. "Yes, I believe everyone's in agreement on that. Tomorrow, the village will gather to plan…"
Excitement courses through Mael as his parents chat. From what he's heard and pieced together of the events before he was born, something called the Sorcery Globe had fallen upon Expel. It was a kind of evil magic that spawned terrifying monsters and caused fearsome earthquakes, ruining entire cities.
The three of them—Dias Flac first, then Rena Lanford and Claude Kenni together—had left the village. Somewhere along the way they'd reunited, travelled to El, destroyed the Sorcery Globe, and saved all of Expel. They'd been honoured by no less than the kings of both Cross and Lacour. A prestige completely unimaginable for people from their tiny little village.
After the adventure, Rena returned to live in Arlia. Mael remembers her well. She left a little over a year ago to study in Linga, and has returned a handful of times. The children all look forward to her visits. Not only does she always bring them gifts, but she's also the best storyteller. Even the grownups eat her tales up like treats from Westa's kitchen.
It's from those stories, both Rena's and others', that Mael knows about Dias and Claude. Some of the older children also remember them, but none of the little ones do, because unlike Rena they didn't stayed in Arlia after the end of the Sorcery Globe. They kept travelling together, their fame spreading even further throughout the land. Dias, the most skilled warrior on all three continents, and Claude, his only match. They were finalists in the Tournament of Arms; they rescued Lacour from hordes of monsters; they saved hundreds if not thousands of people on El during the restoration efforts; they hunted down the most wicked of bandits.
Every so often someone returns from a trip to Salva or Cross with more news of their latest deeds. And every so often a curious traveller stops by, wanting to see the birthplace of the Arlian swordsmen. It only builds their legend in Mael's mind. And unlike the Hero of Light, they're real, flesh and blood people from his village.
And now, the most famous daughter and sons of Arlia are all coming home.
"Yaaaah!!"
"Come back here, you coward! Air Slash!"
"You're the coward! Air Slash!"
Mael is on his way to the mayor's house, lugging the heavy book in his arms, when Emile and Lucien dash past him. The two older boys are yelling, waving sticks like swords in the air and throwing handfuls of leaves at each other. Every so often there's a loud whack! as the sticks actually make contact. Ketil, Amicia, Jani and several other children run after them, shouting and laughing.
Emile notices Mael. "Hey, sleepyhead!" he calls out.
Mael is very sure he wakes up earlier than Emile, and probably earlier any of the other children. He wakes up even earlier than his own parents sometimes. He likes having the time for himself, reading or wandering around the village before anyone else is up, or after everyone else is asleep. He stays out of trouble and simply lets everyone think he's still in bed.
As Emile circles back towards him, Mael says, "What?"
Emile skids to a stop. "Did you hear? Ow!" Lucien's caught up and given him a whack. "Stop that!" He hits back several times with his stick. "That's dishonourable! Big Brother Claude would never attack someone from behind!"
"Ow! Well, Big Brother Dias—ow!—would never run away like a chicken!"
Mael looks from one of them to the other. "Did something happen?"
"Sure did—Big Sister Rena arrived late last night with Big Brother Claude and Big Brother Dias!"
Mael's eyes widen. "But Papa was saying the messenger pigeon just got here last night! The village hasn't even met yet!"
"I'm sure that was their plan," Ketil says knowingly. "They didn't want to give us time to prepare anything."
Amicia adds, "They probably stayed at Mayor Barnes', and sent the bird when they were already on the road to Arlia."
"I can't believe they're already here," sighs Jani, palms pressed against her chest. Then her expression becomes excited. "Did you know they say in Cross that Claude looks like the prince? I can't wait to see him!"
The other older children look confused. Ketil raises an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure you knew Claude even before I moved to Arlia…?"
She stares back at them, wide-eyed. "Well, yes. But that was such a long time ago. And I didn't know back then that he looks like the prince!"
"…Jani…"
Mael leaves them chatting away, and continues on the path to the mayor's house.
People rarely bother to lock their doors in Arlia. In fact, many of the houses have no locks. Mael was very confused the first time his parents took him to Salva, and he couldn't understand why he was unable to just barge into any house he saw. His parents tell the story every so often, to great laughter from the listeners.
As this is Arlia, not Salva, Mael walks straight into the mayor's house, hugging the giant book to his chest. He doesn't actually expect to see the mayor, since he's the busiest grownup in the entire village. Maybe he'd run into the servant dusting, or just leave the book on the table.
But then he hears two voices talking. One of them is the mayor's. The other is someone he doesn't recognize.
Mael peers around the corner to find the elderly mayor chatting with a stranger. The stranger seems younger than Papa, and is very good-looking. He's wearing a red headband and has shoulder-length hair tied at the back of his neck in a short tail. He's holding something at his side that Mael can't see. Mael realizes—it must be one of the Arlian swordsmen. He'd heard Claude has blond hair, so it must be Claude. And, thinking back to Jani's comment, he does look quite princely. Not that Mael has any real idea what the prince, or any prince, is supposed to look like, drawings in books notwithstanding. But he seems to have that kind of look.
And his hair really stands out. It's a pale, silky-looking gold, the colour of an early morning wheat-field at harvest-time. No one in Arlia has hair like that. Well, the figure of the Hero of Light in the stained glass window at church does, but that doesn't really count.
"You had something you wanted to show me?" the mayor is saying.
In response, the man goes down on one knee, head bowed respectfully, lifting up the mystery object in both hands. "This is my first work to pass the guild's mastersmith inspection with full marks."
Mael stares. It's an honest-to-goodness sheathed sword—the first real one he's ever seen in his life. The whole thing is like a picture from the books: the moment the virtuous knight makes a presentation to the wise lord or king. The mayor's thick beard helps a lot with the impression.
"Ah, the fruit of your apprenticeship under Gamgee of Lacour?" The mayor takes the sword and draws the blade from the scabbard, then examines it with care. The movement is so smooth that it surprises Mael. He's never seen the mayor wield a sword. But then again, the mayor has been old as long Mael's been alive.
"Claude, Claude, Claude." The mayor shakes his head with an admiring smile. "My deepest congratulations. This is truly magnificent work. Your teacher must be proud."
Claude lifts his head, then gets to his feet. "Thank you. I hope that means it's good enough for you."
The mayor's eyes widen. Mael has never seen him so speechless. Then he says, "Why are you gifting this to an old man like me? Surely you have a thousand better options. You ought to be… to be presenting it over at Cross Castle. Entering it into the Arms. Giving it to Dias. Using it yourself. I have done nothing to deserve something this fine."
"Mayor Regis!" Claude laughs and pats the mayor fondly on the back. "What are you talking about? You've done the furthest thing from nothing! You gave me my first real sword! You've been like a father to me, all these years! I could never repay you for everything you've done. When I first lan—" he suddenly cuts himself off, and then continues. "Whenever I come back to Arlia, it's like I never left. This place really is home to me. You're my family. Please. It's the least I can do—"
The mayor shakes his head the entire time Claude is talking, and exclaims, "Balderdash! Balderdash! What nonsense! 'The least I can do'—as if you haven't already done everything for us all! It's I who should say that on behalf of all of Arlia! That was the least I could do! And I would say it on behalf of all of Expel too, had I that kind of authority!"
Then the mayor pauses and eyes Claude. "But I sense you are very ready to argue the point."
"I think that's what we're doing right now."
"Then I will save us time and energy." He lays his free hand on Claude's arm. "I am truly nothing short of humbled to accept this. Thank you, Claude. For everything you have done for all of us. It is my—our honour—to be your family." The mayor wipes an eye. Then he looks down at the sword again. "Does it have a name?"
"No. I wanted you to name it."
"Then I shall. It can only be the Light-Bringer."
The name is magical. So noble, straight from one of the books. There must be a story behind it, some reason for the mayor to come up with it so readily.
Claude scratches his head, and then he says, "Isn't that a little over-the-top?" His tone of voice is rather funny, and Mael almost giggles out loud.
The mayor harrumphs, but his manner is jovial. "If you don't like it, you should have named it yourself." He turns to look at the wall, where there are two brackets holding a garland, which the servant changes with the seasons. Right now they're a braid of green, dotted with tiny colourful flowers. The display always looked a little odd to Mael, that it was strange for someone to set up something like that, there, for holding plants. Now he realizes why.
The mayor rubs his beard thoughtfully. "It's been a long time since a sword graced these walls."
Claude looks to the display as well. "The flowers look lovely there, though."
"I agree." The mayor carefully adjusts the greenery, then sets the blade on the brackets amongst it. When he steps back, it looks like a sword resting in a piece of the forest.
Claude wraps an arm around the mayor's shoulder like a son hugging his father, and they gaze at it together. Then Claude says, "The next time you find a lost idiot who needs a weapon, now you have another to spare."
The mayor guffaws loudly, heartily. Mael doesn't understand the joke at all. A grownup thing, he supposes.
There are solid footsteps, the sound of someone coming down the stairs. Then a deep voice says, "All I heard was 'Balderdash! Balderdash!' and noisy laughter."
The mayor turns around with another hearty laugh. "Good morning, Dias!"
Claude turns, laughing as well. "Good very late morning."
Dias looks exactly like what Mael imagines a wandering master swordsman would look like. He's also very handsome, but in a different way from Claude. He's older and taller, with broad shoulders and long, blue hair. Mael can easily picture him walking mysteriously into the distance, hair and cloak billowing in the wind behind him.
“You're awake, but were you aware you have company?” Dias replies. He doesn't turn his head, but his eyes move and now they're looking right at Mael.
Mael gulps.
Claude blinks. “Eh?” He and the mayor both turn to look in Mael's direction.
"Little Mael!" exclaims the mayor. "Just how long have you been standing there? Quiet as a mouse!" He pats his knee. "Come here. Do you remember Claude and Dias?"
Mael shakes his head and comes over tentatively, staring up them. They're even taller as he gets closer. For some pointless reason he holds onto the book tighter.
"Mael is…" Claude pauses, then snaps his fingers. "Lou and Elmyra's child?"
The mayor nods. "He is indeed."
Claude squats down close to Mael's eye level, grinning. "Hey, buddy! My name's Claude. That's Dias. You probably don't remember us, but we met before."
"W-we did?" stammers Mael, staring. Claude's eyes are the sparkling colour of the brightest sea, or the daytime sky. Just like the Hero of Light in the church.
"We really did. You were tiny the last time we were here. Look at you now!"
The corner of Dias' mouth curls up. "One of the few things that's changed in Arlia."
Claude glances down at the book in Mael's arms. "Did you know, you have the same taste as Dias? This was his favourite—" Dias nudges Claude in the shoulder from one side with his knee, just enough to cause him to lose his balance. He collapses on the rug with a laugh.
"There aren't that many books in Arlia," says Dias.
Claude sits up. "I was just making an observation. Your reaction says more than anything else."
The mayor chuckles. "It's a well-worn favourite of generations of Arlian children." He takes the book from Mael. "My thanks for returning it to my library, little Mael! I'm sure it will be gone again before the end of the week."
"Big Brother Dias!" "Big Brother Claude!" "Are you going to spar?" "Can you play with us?" "Please!" "Pleeeease!!" "Play with us!!"
Dias grunts in response. The older children, the ones who actually know Dias and Claude, are not intimidated at all, and continue pressing with enthusiasm. The smaller ones, like Mael, follow along more shyly. But once it's clear there's nothing to fear from the swordsmen, everyone is quickly encouraged to join in.
Claude cheerfully shoos them off with little success, but he doesn't seem to mind. "We just got in last night, you're lucky we're even up right now! Tomorrow, okay? Today's a lazy day."
This prompts a flurry of "Lazy day?" "What's a lazy day?"
"Eating and sleeping only," mutters Dias.
There's a chorus of, "But you're not eating or sleeping right now!"
Claude laughs. "Do we have to list everything? Breathing. Walking. Talking. Uh… going to the bathroom? That's pretty important. No working. No sparring. No playing. Just—zoning out."
Someone says "That's boring." Someone else says, "What's 'zoning out'?"
"Enjoying Arlia at our own pace. Doing our best to ignore all third party requests. That's you guys. You're third parties. Don't be offended, it's just for today."
"Awww…" "Boooo." "Booo." "Boooo."
"Who taught you guys to boo like that? And come on, you get to enjoy Arlia all the time. You can give us one day, right? Leave us alone for one day. Tomorrow, we'll spar and play all you like."
"Tomorrow? Promise?" "Promise?" "Really?" "You promise?"
"Don't promise anything," says Dias, just as Claude replies in a very serious and earnest manner, "We promise." Dias closes his eyes and makes more grumbling noises, but he doesn't actually argue. All it seems to do is make Claude laugh more.
"Yaaaay!! Tomorrow we get to see Big Brother Claude and Big Brother Dias fight and then we get to play!!" The children run off, the pact successfully made.
Later, Mael sees Dias, Claude and Rena in the village cemetery by the forest.
Dias stands in front of a cluster of graves, with Rena and Claude flanking him. He lays a bouquet before the smallest marker, and the three of them stand quietly. If they're saying anything, Mael is too far away to hear it. Then they all bow, and move on to another grave.
This time, Rena is at the front. She places a wreath of flowers on it, and they again pay their respects.
Finally, they stand near the edge of the cemetery where it touches the forest, Dias and Rena on either side of Claude. The three of them look up towards the sky. They only stop when Claude lowers his head.
He turns to Dias and Rena in turn; they must be talking. Then they leave.
"Air Slash!"
Claude and Dias make good on their promise. Their spar in the fields draws not just the children but also most of the grownups in the village. Mael's eyes and mouth are wide as plates, growing wider by the second as he watches real swordsmanship for the first time in his life. All the children alternate between staring with jaws dropped and cheering wildly. Emile, Lucien, Ketil and several others try to copy a few of the moves.
Villagers bring water for the swordsmen as they look like they're finishing. "No more rounds today?" someone asks.
Dias shakes his head. Claude grins. "We need to save some energy for the kids, or they'll run us into the ground in seconds."
There's laughter all around. "Fair enough!"
"Everyone!" Rena's voice calls from the direction of Westa's house. "Look over here!" She and Westa are bringing out platters of baked treats, along with presents for all the children. All sorts of interesting toys, books, and little knicknacks from Linga. The children race over, squealing and exploring everything. Rena points the different items out, explains what some of them are, how they work. "These are from Big Sister Precis! And here are some books Big Brother Leon suggested!"
Mael is going through the books when he hears Claude say to Rena, "Appreciate the distraction." Rena responds, "I'm not sure how long it will last. Good luck!" Dias snorts.
Old man Hearn raps the side of the fence with his cane. "You two entering the Arms again?"
"Maybe, if we're up that way around then," replies Claude.
"That's not terribly confident-sounding!"
"It's not a priority this year," says Dias.
Mael sees the village carpenter—Emile and Amicia's father—lean over the fence as well. "Don't give them a hard time, Hearn! Our boys are just giving other people a chance. Can't have the Arlian swordsmen sweeping the finals every tournament!"
"Mister Bossman's right," says Rena. "Just every other tournament."
Soon other villagers are bringing out more food and drink. Most of the children are playing with the toys Rena brought, and Dias and Claude offer piggy-back rides here and there. Some of the older children, like Emile, Lucien and Ketil, demonstrate their backflips—apparently Claude had taught them the last time he and Dias were in Arlia—and Claude gives pointers. Several other children gather around to learn too.
Everyone enjoys the village feast, a welcome-back celebration for their three beloved guests. It's much more informal and improvised than the village was probably hoping for, but it's wonderful nonetheless. The air is filled with laughter, and many, many stories.
Early in the morning, Mael visits the cemetery by himself. He goes straight to where he remembers seeing Dias, Rena and Claude. The flowers they'd left are all still there, of course. And quite fresh, since it's only been a couple of days.
The first area they had been in is a trio of graves, three members of the Flac family. The smallest one, the one with the bouquet, says Cecille Flac. Around them are others, older graves, also labelled Flac, going back several generations.
The second spot they stopped at is a collection of graves marked with Lanford. The one with the wreath is one Westa often visits.
There are no graves at the third place. Mael looks up, the way the three of them had. All he sees is sky.
He thinks for a bit, and then he walks amongst all the gravestones and gravemarkers in the cemetery. He goes through the entire place without finding what he's looking for.
"Papa, I have a question."
Papa looks up from his dinner. "Yes?"
"Why isn't Claude's family in Arlia?"
Papa pauses. Then he says in a careful, drawn-out manner, which he does when he wants to make sure he fully understands something: "What do you mean, Mael?"
"Big Sister Rena's mother is Westa. Her father is in the cemetery. Big Brother Dias' family is in the cemetery too. But… where's Big Brother Claude's family? There's no grave markers that say Kenni anywhere."
His parents exchange a look. After a moment, Papa puts down his knife and fork and says, "Mael—you're sharper and more thoughtful than most children your age. Before I can tell you, you have to promise not to talk to anyone else about this—and absolutely never speak of it to anyone outside of Arlia Village."
Mael grasps the situation immediately. An Arlian secret. "I promise," he says, firmly.
"Claude was not born in Arlia," Papa explains. His voice is very quiet, as if other people might be listening in and it's important to not let anyone else hear.
So Mael hushes his voice as well. "He's not? Then why do we all say he's from Arlia?"
"Because he is. The village adopted him. So it's no different than if he'd been born here."
"Why did the village adopt him?"
Mama reaches over and strokes his hair. "Mael," she says softly, "You know how Ketil and his family, and the lady who works at Mister Hearn's store, they're from Clik?"
"Uh huh."
"And you know how they came to Arlia after Clik was destroyed?"
"Uh huh."
"Ketil and his mother sometimes go on very long trips, but they always come back here because Arlia is now their home. Can you imagine what it would be like if you lost your home and had nowhere to go back to?"
He scrunches his face up. The idea of not having a home… is sad and scary.
"You see. Everyone needs a home. No matter where you go, there should always be somewhere you can come back to. Claude did a lot for us, so we're very grateful to him. And he likes Arlia and everyone in the village. So, Mayor Regis decided that we can be his home."
That makes sense to Mael. But…
"But we know Ketil's family came from Clik. Why don't we say where Big Brother Claude came from before he came to Arlia?"
Papa shakes his head. "It's not the same situation. It's not like Clik, where everyone became refugees to other places. Claude can't go back to where he came from for other reasons."
"Why? Did he do something?"
"Yes." Papa smiles indulgently. "He saved Expel."
"Don't confuse him, dear," Mama says. She turns back to Mael. "This is very important, Mael." She sounds very serious. "As Arlians, we leave it at that. Claude is one of us. It doesn't matter where he came from before Arlia. It's the same reason why we don't talk about how different Rena's ears are, or her healing power. They're Arlians and they belong here, just the way they are. We won't allow anyone to say otherwise. Arlia protects its own."
Arlia protects its own. Her words are firm, unmoveable.
Papa nods. "You heard your Mama. That's all we'll say. Remember—you now know more than nearly all of Expel. We trust you to keep that safe." He repeats Mama's words: "Arlia protects its own."
Mael nods, slowly.
That night, in bed, when Mael closes his eyes, he sees in his mind one of the first pictures in the mayor's book.
The Warrior of Light Is Summoned By Tria From Another World To Expel.
He sees Claude on bent knee. Lifting his sword to the mayor for inspection. Chatting with the mayor.
When I first lan—whenever I come back to Arlia.
It must be the Light-Bringer.
He thinks about what his parents said at dinner. He thinks about the stained glass Hero of Light in the church, with eyes the colour of the sea and sky, and hair the colour of sunlit wheat-fields.
The story in the book, Mael recalls, ends when Expel is saved. It doesn't say anything about what happens to the Hero of Light after. There's nothing about the Hero going back to the other world he came from.
What if Tria brought him here, but didn't take him back? What if he had to save Expel, but could never go home?
That seems… awful.
Mael tosses and turns for what feels like hours. Finally, he decides he can't sleep. He gets out of bed, puts on a cloak and his shoes, and sneaks quietly out of the house. Walking around the village at night, without anyone else there, Arlia feels like a different place. Like a dream where he feels very clear-headed.
As he approaches the part of the river near his house, he sees two figures sitting on the wall of the bridge. Who else would be awake at this time of the night?
As Mael gets closer, he realizes it's Dias and Claude. Claude is leaning his head on Dias' shoulder and they're having a conversation of some sort. Their voices are quiet, but clearer as Mael approaches, thanks to the wind.
"—just pretend it's one of them." he hears Dias saying. "Pick one."
"If it's any of them," Claude's saying, "it would be so tiny."
"So pick any tiny one."
"All right. Umm—" Claude hems and haws and then points at the sky. "That one."
"I can't tell which one you pointed at."
A chuckle. "Any one of them!"
Another, deeper-voiced chuckle. "…So from Earth, Expel would be like that."
"Yeah. Oh, here's something neat I just remembered." Claude reaches an arm out again, hand open to the sky. "So if that was Earth, the light would be travelling a massive distance across the galaxy to get here and hit our eyeballs, for us to be able to see it. Which, you can imagine, takes a lot of time. So the light we're seeing is actually from the past. We're technically seeing Earth, maybe fifty or so years ago. Obviously I wasn't born then. That means in a few decades, we can look up and see Earth… when I was still there. Cool, huh?"
"My head hurts," replies Dias.
Claude laughs.
"You're better off talking to Rena about this," Dias continues. He sounds amused. "She's excelling in her classes."
Claude laughs again. "That's exactly why I can't talk to her about this. And she knows."
Mael blurts out, "Is Earth another world?"
The two men give a start. They both straighten, then turn around and stare at Mael.
"What are you doing out of bed?" says Dias, as Claude says at the exact same time, "Shouldn't you be in bed?"
"I couldn't sleep and yes," Mael says meekly.
They stare at him some more. Then Claude's silhouette relaxes. He beckons to Mael with a hand and says, "C'mere, buddy," as Dias says at the same time, "Might as well join us."
Mael walks over. Claude hefts him up to the wall of the bridge and into his lap.
"What are you two doing?" Mael asks.
"Listen," says Claude.
Mael listens. The river burbles. The grass rustles. Insects hum away, out of sight. The wind picks up a little, whistling freely.
"Feel that?" says Claude, his voice hushed. "Can you smell the forest?"
Mael feels the refreshing coolness on his face. It carries the sweet, earthy scent of the Shingo Forest.
"Mm-hmm."
Claude sighs happily. "I love Arlia at night."
"Why don't you stay here?" asks Mael.
Claude laughs softly. "There's not much need for swordsmen around here, is there?"
Mael considers. It's true. You don't go on adventures in Arlia.
Dias shifts slightly next to them. "Sometimes you have to go far away to be able to come back."
Claude looks at Dias. "Yeah. It helps you appreciate it even more. To return every so often and remember… your roots."
After a moment of silence, Dias says, "Perhaps one day."
Claude pauses, then says, very quietly, "One day?"
"Perhaps one day… we'll stay."
Claude doesn't say anything immediately. Mael has the impression that he didn't expect Dias to say that. Then Claude continues, lightly, "Yeah. That'd be nice. In the meantime… The world's a big place, Mael. Bigger than you could ever imagine."
Mael points up at the sky. "Are those other worlds?"
"Do you think they are?" Claude counters.
"Yes," says Mael. To his surprise, Dias chuckles.
"Rena thinks so too," says Claude.
For some reason, Dias chuckles again.
Claude says, in a completely different tone, "Are you helping?" It's clear he's talking to Dias and not Mael. It reminds Mael of Mama when she's mildly annoyed at Papa being silly or difficult and says 'Lou' in a very particular way.
"Rena thought that even when we were children," Dias replies. "She always had a big imagination."
"See, Mael? You can ask Big Sister Rena about her ideas. You know, one of the things she's studying in Linga is astronomy. Exploring the stars."
Listening to their calm voices, with their warm presence and the gentle darkness wrapped around them, is making Mael very sleepy. "Okay," he mumbles. He decides he'll ask in the morning. If he remembers. He rests his head against Claude's chest and closes his eyes. Everything feels very comfortable. Peaceful. Safe. Surrounded by the two Arlian swordsmen in the middle of the night, sitting on the bridge over the river with all the stars hanging overhead.
A thought occurs to him. The worlds in the sky—maybe that's what they were looking up at when they were in the cemetery.
Then another thought occurs to him.
He squints an eye open. "Big Brother Claude—Big Brother Dias—where are you going after you leave Arlia?"
Their answers come at the same time, in low voices, almost whispers. "Wherever our feet take us."
Mael closes his eyes again. He falls asleep to the sound of water, wind and singing insects, dreaming of wandering stars filled with worlds.