The next day, the three stumbled across a city, and made their way through crowds of chattering people. The scent of food emitted from various pubs they passed, making Faye's stomach rumble.
"What do you think?" Jyri asked.
"It doesn't seem much different than cities in Vustaria," Faye said.
"A city's a city." He nudged Faye. "Look to the left."
She turned her head and spotted a group of winged women sitting outside a cafe. "Half-fairies?"
"They're too big to be regular fairies," he said, smiling down at her. "Told you you'd be free here."
And he was right. People walked past the fairies without giving them a second glance. Faye's chest swelled up. She'd no longer have to worry about hiding her wings. And she wasn't. For the first time in years, she had them out and free.
"Mommy, what's wrong with that fairy's wing?" a little boy asked his mother as they walked by. His mother shushed him, and told him not to stare.
Faye's wings drooped as the three continued onward.
"I don't know what we can do here, given we have no money," Jyri said, making his way through a group of... elves?
Faye's chest swelled with excitement. "Those were elves," she said, jerking her head back towards the elves. A few of them glanced over their shoulders, at her wings. She pressed them tighter against her back.
"You'll see more of them. Over-populated things." Jyri sounded bored, but he wore an expression that matched her feelings. "Want to sit down somewhere?"
"I want to eat," Faye said. "All I ate today was that pear."
"And all we have is 20 loti," Jyri said. "The three of us eating out would leave us at 5, if that."
"I want a decent meal," Ran complained. "I can't remember the last time I had one."
"You did yesterday morning. Breakfast at the cellar. Remember?"
"No." Ran rubbed his stomach.
Faye's own stomach growled. Her eyes landed on an elderly woman distracted by a fountain. An opened purse dangled freely at her side. It would be easy, so easy, for her to sneak-
"You are not stealing from that woman!"
Faye turned to Jyri, who scowled at her with crossed arms. "How are we to survive then?"
"By earning money," Jyri said, as they continued to walk past numerous shops and vendor carts. "We'll find work."
Except they couldn't find work. No place needed help, and the places that did wanted someone with "permanent residence." From Faye's experience, she figured their ratty appearances turned people off. Especially her abnormal wing, which had gathered far more attention than she could ever expect. At best, she got curious looks. At worst, insults. Eventually it got to be too much and she threw her cloak on, despite it being a warm, sunny day.
Jyri groaned and slumped down to the concrete ground against a fence next to a bakery. Ran sat next to him, patting his shoulder.
Faye sat on his other side. "So, pickpocketing..."
"No!"
"I'm hungry," Ran whined.
"Me too," Faye added. And the smells emitting from the bakery only made it worse.
"We can buy a snack," Jyri said.
"That won't fill us up," Ran said. "Let Faye steal."
Jyri blew out a breath, and shook his head. "It's wrong."
Faye snorted. "And murdering your best friend isn't?"
"She's got a point," Ran said.
While Jyri ran his hands over his face, Faye remembered something. Something she used to do every day until she got dragged into Jyri's mess. "There was another way I made money."
Jyri scoffed. "How? Begging? That's almost as bad as stealing."
"I guess we'll starve then," Faye snapped. "And you'll never shower again."
Jyri pulled at his greasy hair, wincing. "I need a shower."
"And I need food." Ran looked at him with rounded eyes, hands clasped. "Please? Can we beg for money?"
"Begging for money," Jyri spat. "I would never perform such a degrading act. No, we will not beg. We must keep our dignity."
No more than an hour later, the three sat against the wall of a building with an empty cup and a "homeless, please help" sign made out of cardboard Ran found in a trash can. Most people actively avoided them, but occasionally someone would spare a loti or two.
"This is so humiliating," Jyri muttered as a group of fairies crossed the street, presumably to avoid walking past them.
"But we're making money," Ran said.
Jyri thumbed through the money in the cup. "6 loti. Half a meal for one. We're getting nowhere with this." He ran his fingers through his hair, and glanced over at Faye. "How did you survive?"
"By stealing, begging, and going weeks without bathing."
Jyri groaned loud enough to frighten away a group of elves. They shot the three nasty looks as they scurried away. "I can't take this anymore. Let's just... forget about all this and head to Wizard's Point."
"But we're doing so well," Faye said. "6 loti in an hour. I was lucky to get that much in a day back home."
"And what about food?" Ran asked.
"We still got fruit. Maybe we'll find more on the way."
The sun was about to set by the time they reached the base of Wizard's Point. Unlike the Vustaria side, nobody was there to keep them away. "There's no border patrol?" Faye asked.
Jyri shook his head. "Wizard's Point counts as being part of Dorendi. The other side of it just touches Vustaria's borders."
"Good." Faye's eyes fell on a dirt trail that led up and around the mountain. "Can we just, follow that path?"
"I don't see why not."
They all walked along the path. About halfway up, Ran spotted a small alcove to investigate. But they would have to leave the trail to get to it. Carefully, the three moved along the edge of the mountainside, taking care not to lose balance and plummet to the bottom. Faye wasn't afraid of heights, but she wasn't keen on looking down. And so she kept her eyes on Ran, who appeared as though walking along the edge of a cliff was no different than walking along a well-traveled path. Which surprised her, given how nervous he had been in the underground tunnel. Jyri, meanwhile, was inching at a snail's pace with his hands against the cliff wall, eyes focused on their destination. But the three made it safely in the end.
It turned out that the small, easily-overlooked alcove was a cave. The only light in it came from the sunlight shining through the entrance. But soon they wouldn't even have that.
"It'll be too dark to see anything," Faye said.
Frowning, Jyri turned to her. "Don't you know magic?"
"Right," Faye said. "I always forget." Palm facing up, she focused her energy, and conjured a flame in it. Darkness still surrounded them, but at least they could see where they were going. Somewhat.
The three made their way through the cave, which twisted and turned deep inside the mountain. It felt as though they were descending lower and lower. And at one point, their path diverged into two directions.
"Which way should we go?" Faye asked, voice echoing through the tunnels.
"We could split up," Jyri said.
"That's a terrible idea."
Jyri turned to Ran. "What do you think?"
"I think right," Ran mumbled to his feet.
"Right."
They continued walking through in silence until they reached another fork. They shared looks. Jyri paused, staring at both openings. "Left. Left this time."
And so they continued walking. Each took turns choosing various paths until Faye's feet ached so much she needed to rest. "I give up," she said, falling to her knees. "Can we leave?"
"But we're so close!" Jyri said.
"My feet hurt," Ran mumbled to him, collapsing next to Faye.
"Alright, we can rest for a bit." Jyri flopped down across from Faye.
"Do you think there's a map of this cave in the library?" Ran said. "That one we saw back in the city?"
"It's... possible." Jyri looked down at his crossed legs. "It was so hard to find any information on this in Vustaria, and I won't be surprised if it's the same case here in Dorendi. I'm pretty sure it's some sort of government secret."
"If only we knew someone who used to explore these caves, and came across a magical door at one point," Faye said. "Oh wait."
The color drained from Jyri's face, and he pointed his finger at her. "If you think for one moment that I am going back to that wench-"
"What else then?" Faye asked.
"We could leave, and see if that library has anything," Ran suggested.
Jyri considered his words, then nodded. "They will. They have to. We should leave now, and try to get back there by morning. We'll sleep along the way."
They arrived at the library in the morning with no problems. Except for the fact that the library did not have a map. The librarian didn't even know what they were talking about, but directed them to a few books on Wizard's Point. None of which contained information on a door in the cave, much less directions to it. Faye groaned. As they walked out of the library, Jyri looked ready to cry.
"So," Faye said as they walked through the city, "that wench-"
"Don't say it!"
"Guess you don't want to find that parallel universe then," Faye said. "Your entire life's work gone for nothing."
"It's not my life's work."
"What do you mean?" Ran asked. "It's all you'd ever talk about, aside from non-humans. You said it was your dream-"
"Shut up!"
Ran fell silent. Jyri stroked his chin, looking down at Faye. "I got it."
"Got what?" Faye asked suspiciously, taking a cautious step backward.
Jyri clasped his hand on her shoulder. "You can go ask the nymph to draw us a map. That way, I don't have to go near her."
Ran grinned. "That's a great idea!"
"I don't think-" Faye began, but Jyri grabbed her arm, and they all left the city for the forest. At least it would be a simple thing to do, though who knew if they could even find her.
After a long while of traversing in the direction Nephele said she would be at, the trio came across a body of water. But no one was around.
"Do you suppose this is it?" Ran asked.
Jyri rubbed his chin, looking around cautiously with his knife out. "It should be. But I don't see her."
"She must be around here somewhere," Faye said.
"Maybe it's a different lake. This one is a bit small. I wouldn't even consider it a lake. More like a pond." Jyri frowned down at it. "A big pond, but a pond. She said 'lake,' right?"
Ran nodded. "I heard lake."
Jyri gazed longingly at the water. "I haven't bathed in days."
"And I've gone weeks without," Faye said. But Jyri sat down at the edge, setting his knife next to him. He undid his shoes and socks. Faye stepped away, face scrunched. "What are you-"
"Relax. I just want to wash my feet," Jyri said, rolling up his pant legs. "This is a good resting spot anyways." He stuck his feet in, and scrubbed at his legs with his hands. "You wouldn't happen to have any soap in that pack, would you?"
"No," Faye said, averting her gaze.
Jyri mumbled under his breath. Then, began unbuttoning his shirt.
"What are you doing!"
"I want to wash my chest." Shirt fully unbuttoned now, he scooped up water in his hand, and brought it towards himself.
Faye pressed her palms in her eyes. "You know, you can just ask me to leave, if you want to bathe properly."
Jyri nodded, and shook the water out of his hand. "Good idea."
There was a splash, and Nephele popped her head up through the pond. "Bad idea."
Jyri shrieked, and leaped away, frantically looking around at the ground for something. Ran stared at Nephele, who ran her fingers through her wet hair, pulling it out of her face.
"WHERE'S MY KNI-" Jyri broke off his sentence to swear at the top of his lungs, clutching his bleeding foot with one hand, and picked his knife up off the ground with the other.
"Are you done yet?" Nephele asked, her voice monotonous.
Jyri pointed his knife at her, wobbling on one leg. "If you take one step out of there..."
Nephele eyed his foot in disinterest. "You're bleeding."
"Because of you," he snarled. Then, crumpled to the grass, grasping his foot as blood trickled down his hand.
"My pack is hidden behind those bushes." Nephele gestured towards a clump of bushes next to a cluster of trees that surrounded the pond. "There should be a rag in there."
Faye found the pack, and pulled out a tattered piece of cloth. She walked over to Jyri, and sat next to him. "Give me your foot."
"I can do it myself!" Jyri yanked the cloth out of her hand, and dabbed at the cut before tying the rag around it. Every few seconds, he'd glance over at Nephele. But Nephele remained in the water.
After he finished tending to his wound, Nephele spoke. "Have you had any luck?"
Faye shook her head. "We were looking for you, for help."
Nephele narrowed her eyes at Jyri. "I wouldn't have guessed, given how ready your friend was to attack me."
Jyri muttered something about self-defense. Sometime during this interaction, Ran had turned into a lynx, and growled at Nephele from Jyri's side. Faye apologized on behalf of them both. "He wanted me to ask you to draw us a map to the door."
Nephele bit her lip, brow furrowed. "I don't think I can draw from memory. I'd know it if I was in there, but I can't at the top of my head."
"Of course," Jyri said, attempting to wipe the blood off his hand onto the top of the rag around his foot.
"I'll be more than happy to escort you," Nephele said. "If you'd give me a few minutes alone, so I can get dressed-"
Jyri stumbled back to his feet. "There'll be no need for that."
"You're being unreasonable," Faye said. She understood why he felt the way he did, but there was no reason to take it out on Nephele who had been nothing but nice. If she wanted harm him, Faye was certain she would've tried to by now. "Nephele has done nothing wrong-"
"Other than abuse her powers to seduce men, and have her way with them."
Nephele's hand flew to her chest. "Excuse me?"
"I know your species. That's all you do."
"We do not!"
"You do. I've seen it." Jyri's voice cracked. "I've experienced it..."
An awkward silence filled the air. Ran rubbed his head against Jyri's leg as if to comfort him. Faye shifted her feet, unsure of how to respond. Nephele's face softened for a moment. "I'm sorry that's happened to you. It's... happened to me too."
For once, Jyri didn't snap back at her. Instead he focused on her with a curious expression. "How could it happen to you? Nymphs have natural magic that protect them from unwanted advances."
"Not when you're cuffed in those anti-magic braces."
"Impossible," Jyri said. "King Lyon was never able to capture nymphs. The men are always under their control."
"But not the women," Nephele said. "Recently, Lyon remembered women existed, and had them track us down, and cuff us when we were unaware."
Jyri listened with a set jaw, arms wrapped tight around himself.
"I was at a pub," Nephele continued. "Two women sat next to me, and started talking to me. I started feeling drowsy. I can only assume they slipped something in my food, or drink. I woke up in Milthum, with the cuffs on. And there were men..." Her voice trailed off. "You can imagine the rest."
Something in Faye's stomach twisted as she covered her mouth. Jyri bit his lip with his brow furrowed, as though wondering whether the story was true, or if she was just trying to earn his trust so he would let his guard down.
"Are you going to accept her help now?" Faye asked him quietly. Ran flopped down on his stomach, staring at Nephele with a tilted head.
Jyri's eyes darted between Faye, Nephele, and Ran. After several more moments of silence, he shook his head. "I can't."
Faye gaped at him. Surely the shared experience would've brought Jyri a little closer to Nephele? Or make him more understanding. "Seriously?"
He looked over at the nymph. "I'll... I'll think about it." He turned around, and walked away, Ran at his side. Faye said goodbye to her before following the men out.
"Now what?" Faye asked as she caught up with Jyri.
"We start living our new life. In Dorendi."
ns 15.158.61.48da2
