Chapter 20: Onwards to Caverns
After a time of running they had went to a steady walk. There was silence that stayed between them for a while. The night continued to move on and grow slowly later. Eventually after what felt like hours Alura decided to break the silence. “So…you’re a wizard?” she questioned as she looked over to him at her side. “That’s amazing!” she exclaimed softly after he gave a nod with eyes looking ahead. “I’ve never met one before.” Alura explained as she turned her eyes off the young man to notice they had made their way inside a quaint looking town.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzF08HBij1s
“Yea but it’s nothing special though.” Marenzo began as he stretched his arms above his head. “I can do magic, big deal…right?” he asked and sighed as he brought his arms down to his sides, “it’s fun though at times, don’t get me wrong, but at other times…” he took a breath and sighed, closing his eyes as his shoulders dropped. “It’s not so much fun and is more dangerous than anything else.”1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxgbEef304c
Alura looked to him with confusion. “What do you mean?”1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡytQ8e5OTIr
“Well,” he looked to her with his blue eyes, “with the three dictators acting up it isn’t really safe for anyone.” Slowly she nodded in agreement with this statement. He shifted his eyes away and closed them as they continued casually down the street. “News came to us through the wind that Flora was the first to fall to Natta.”1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLHtZkT1cno
Hearing this she slowly looked down as her heart felt heavy. “Oh…you did?” she asked but his continuation of his thoughts seemed to imply he hadn’t heard her fallen voice.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWtip6Crj9Q
“Who knows? We could be next here soon. If those three join together and attack…we won’t stand a chance against them.” Marenzo’s voice filled with worry as he spoke those words. This drew Alura’s attention back to the Wizard. “It’s simple war tactics.” He answered her unspoken question that crossed her mind about how those known for their magic skill would stand no chance against others.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYVCexz97h2
Alura’s expression fell from one of awe to one of concern, “war…” she mumbled softly as she remembered Ginsu’s words and prayed it wouldn’t come true.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQ8Mi7bW9h
Marenzo glancing at the teen, beginning to pick up on that the mention of war was a bad topic. “You came from Flora, right?”1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqv22TTleYX
“Hmm?” she looked up, snapping out of her thoughts and dread. “How’d you know?”1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDwYST0F5dj
“Oh just the way you are acting really gave you away.” He explained as he stretched his hands above his head. “People from Flora always seem to be kind and think of others first, unless of course being attacked then they do what they must to live.” His fingers laced as his hands lowered to press his palms against the back of his head. “Plus…your eyes,” he pointed out gently.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7uqnWPOqLA
“My eyes?” she asked confused, not sure what was so special about her eyes.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlL3X4LGj1N
“Yes. They sparkle like the blue roses that are said to grow only on Flora.” Marenzo explained, “I’ve never truly seen one except in books, but that’s nothing like seeing the real thing.”1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYdCaSXVauZ
Alura nodded in agreement, being silent for a few moments before deciding to speak. “How old are you?”1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbymM9LypGX
The wizard looked at her then up to the sky. “Well, let me see…” he began while looking to be pondering, “I’m 21 I believe, though I can’t remember.” She stared at him in disbelief that he could forget his own age. “Oh well,” he shrugged, “what’s age anyway?”1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡerB1vZ1mQQ
“It’s so people know how old you are and when your birthday is. Do you know when that is?” she found this shocking that someone that seemed older would be so dense to not bother remembering their age.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8zHhlbD4aq
“Hmmm let me see….July eighteenth is my birthday. Why?” he responded, turning his gaze to Alura.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkUwn0eQFGe
Alura narrowed her gaze on him a little at his question to her question after getting part of an answer. “Do you remember the year?”1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ycNeiggC3
Marenzo shook his head before speaking. “No sorry. I know I’m in my twenties…oh! That’s it! I’m twenty years old.”1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbRvLvEkhXi
She smiled glad to jog his memory. “I’m fifteen.”1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs4U6ksNJmA
“Nice, ah such prime years,” he responded, sounding like he was musing over memories of his own. “That was the year I beat my teacher. It was fun.”1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWt7UxWouXw
“You are strange.” Alura pointed out as she eyed him curiously, silently wondering if all residents of Zento were this odd.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUQcyfCcCJV
Marenzo simply grinned down to the teen. “Thanks. You are kind of strange yourself wearing two necklaces at the same time.” He joked, thinking nothing of his words.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNKV1ecOjyB
Alura turned her gaze down to the jewelry, her face falling into a somber expression as she reached up to touch them with one hand. “….I wear them because one belonged to my father and the other belonged to my mother.”1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtCFs2rtZYR
“Oh I see.” He said feeling bad for his choice of words as they stepped inside of a well-constructed building. He made his way to the front desk before speaking to her again as he signed in. “Well then I won’t pry into the subject.” As he said that she finally realized they were no longer outside.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFiJNkHsZpg
They had entered the inn and after reaching the desk, had also gotten a room during their conversation and she hadn’t even noticed until after their words had stopped. “When did we get a room?” she asked moving to follow him as he led the way upstairs. He unlocked the door and opened it to reveal to her their room. “And to our room?” she asked stunned as it felt almost like a dream she was waking up from.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbQO70jZWsd
“Oh about a few seconds ago, why? Like it?” Marenzo questioned looking at the teen before stepping inside as he continued. “I asked for the very best and we got it.” He grinned walking over to one of the beds laying down sighing contently.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJBlkAR6IJ8
Alura walked around the huge wooden room with two good sized beds and a door leading to a nice sized bathroom to wash and go to the restroom. “It’s nice.” She said and he nodded in agreement. “Did it cost a lot?”1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5iD9Hwpdni
He shrugged some before releasing a yawn. “Not really. It was cheap as I’m known around here.” She nodded a little before yawning and he chuckled. “Get some rest. We have a long day ahead of us.” He instructed before sitting up, removing his shoes and laid back, resting lightly then fell deeper into his slumber.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4MZEdE52Pe
She watched and slowly moved to the other bed, sitting down, removed her footwear then laid down under the warm covers, yawning. The instant her head touched the pillow her body deeply fell asleep with dreams of what she’d find, and of what had taken place so far. This all she enjoyed but some parts of the memories also saddened her, knowing what she had left behind but also brought joy to appear at knowing what she was going to save.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgw4DXmvcm4
Morning came quietly and Marenzo was the first to wake, waking as early as the sun rose. He turned his freshly cleared of sleep eyes to watch Alura resting easily. Shaking his head gently he silently stood and began to stretch after removing his shirt, it was just habit with one of his morning exercises before showering and changing back into what he had worn previously.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUzmoxS9QqL
Once the sun had begun to shine in through the window would be when he would finally wake Alura, being careful not to be slapped from past experiences. Alura groaned while swatting the air and yawned, gazing at him tiredly. She wanted to go back to bed and almost did nod back to sleep but stayed up. She got herself woken up fully and got ready to go. They would leave before ten o-clock in the morning and continue on their way to the Crystal Caves.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JOuvWFdnr
It was dull so far to her mind as she walked along with Marenzo. She had figured in her thinking that a Wizard was glamorous and exciting, to only find out that they weren’t either one. They seemed to be just normal like any other human she’d been raised around. Guess they aren’t like the stories say they are. No big fancy jewelry, then again there is no royalty about him anyway. No fancy magic tricks, no nothing just like…he’s human but…I saw him do magic before when he saved me. She released a sigh with these thoughts as she shrugged. Oh well. Guess it’ll be a long three days to the caves.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7izaoZDDZU
Marenzo turned his attention from the road ahead to the girl at his side. “You know…I’m not dull like a human because I can’t do magic. I can do magic but if you’re too good then you get noticed.” He explained while rolling his eyes. “When you get noticed, then you get targeted and feared by others who fear power if it’s not their own. Then we’ve just got one big ol’ mess. Get it?” he questioned as he flashed a smile to her, making it sound like a game he’d seen done over and over again that was fun to him.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI9iSS8DUAx
Alura blinked stunned by his words and the way he spoke them then nodded with a small ‘yea’ which drew his face from hers and ahead the way they were walking. “Um…could you please stop reading my mind?” she asked after a few moments silence. “It’s a little weird and an invasion of privacy.”1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtdRCtIQxmm
“Hmm?” he turned his attention to her, “how’s it that? What people think comes out in voice sooner or later anyway, so I’m not really invading your privacy I’m just skipping a step in the process normal humans take when they think of something.” Those words made her cheeks puff out and eyes narrow in anger at his logic that beat her words. Marenzo laughed seeing her reaction and hearing her cursing thoughts. “Okay, okay, I won’t listen in no more. Only will I if you are bound and gagged again will I listen to your thoughts. Better?” he asked while moving his hands to try and motion for her to calm down with a playful expression on his face.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJKkBSM6BYJ
She thought this over before folding her arms with a huff. “All right I’ll accept that.” Alura mumbled lowly and he laughed again before ruffling her hair, getting an objecting whine from her which caused him more joy. Alura growled then smirked as she got an idea. She jumped up ruffling his hair back which, as he moved, brought him to laugh as he caught her wrist and held her up by her arm. “Hey! Let go!” she snapped, kicking and struggling to get free as hard as she could.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk9Xcks8UTz
He chuckled as he stood at six foot and she stood at around five foot and five inches, this making him enjoy her struggle more as it was cute. “Oh fine then, have it your way.” He said in a bored tone. He suddenly dropped her hard to the ground before turning and walking on with his hands behind his head.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJqweXRXvJ
Alura stood, grinding her teeth with her jaw tight. “Why you…” she growled and raced after him as she punched him in the back and ran ahead of him, grinning ear to ear before sticking out her tongue. “Nah hah!” she taunted. He smirked as he started running after her, making her yelp and run faster. It now had been turned into a race for the next town or until they became tired.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1S8tdZwInZ
It wouldn’t be until after two-o-clock in the afternoon that they would stop to rest, both were breathless enough to collapse to the ground under the shade of a huge apple tree. Alura looked up panting hard and smiling as she enjoyed the shade and feeling she had clinched victory. “I….won…”1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzLX4i9XA2V
“No you didn’t….I did…” He replied smiling as well, panting as hard as she was while he swallowed in-between words at times.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡynsqjMAoki
“Prove it.” She dared.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUxf8wwm1C9
He chuckled moving slowly up and walked a few steps closer to her, then stepped around her laying form and fell sitting on the other side of her and smirked. “There.”1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgV2rkEQAfk
“Cheater,” Alura accused lightheartedly.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdBpvZGZhWe
“Thank you.” Marenzo said with pleasure before starting to snicker which brought her to also start snickering. They both laughed and looked up at the sky before closing their eyes to rest as the soft wind lured them to a peaceful nap in the warm summer day.1095Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcnFpVnPo0N
As the evening bird began to caw would be when they would wake and continue on their journey to the Crystal Caves, going through deep into the night before they would find a spot to set up camp. Two more days travel they had before they would reach their destination, unaware of what awaited or how troublesome it would be for them to gain entry.
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