Dragging Javelin into the ride, Uteli quickly guided him onto the sitting bench of the stolen ride while Midas hastily checked the ride for the glass of Nor'Luft powder—eventually grasping his bag to glance into it, sighing as he was able to see the light from outside reflecting in the surface of the glass. Having created enough steam with his attack, Fuegir and Jikith wasted no time to sprint back to the ride, backtracking their initial path as the Fahin, tucking onto the ride, made a sharp turn around. Staying in the back, Guan shot another knight that hastily made his way through the wooden door of the watchtower, leaving Gunvar defeated by his own.
"I think we did it."
"Don't relax just yet... I wouldn't be surprised if more carriages of knights were sent out to track us."
"Avernil is right; I'm running out of arrows here as well..."
Finding a spot on the benches to sit on, Midas kept the cloth covering his face on just a bit longer, not wanting to risk any potential guard recognizing him once they were back in the Luvious Forest. Fuegir sat beside the youth, seemingly tolerating him for now as the two of them glanced over to Javelin—having bags under his eyes, his hunched back made him resemble the prisoners who were lined up in the middle of the northern fort. Uteli let go of her axe for a brief moment, holding his back as she mustered Javelin's face with silent concern.
"Is this really the same guy that traveled with you...? Where's his grumpy face...?"
Looking back at them with a sharp grin, Jikith took control of the Fahin, steering their ride—not heading towards Baumfall, intentionally missing it as they headed back south. His brows stern, Guan looked at the empty dirt road they left behind, eventually widening them as three carriages colored in blue followed them, most likely having patrolled the land around the wagons belonging to the festival.
Seeing three of them now directly on their path, Guan could tell they would most likely catch up to them eventually. Barely missing one of the carriage riders with his arrow, having only two left, he glanced at Jikith, urging him to speed up to create more space between them and the knights. Spanning his bow with his last arrow, the man from the marsh closed his eyes, listening to the wind ruttling against the spanned cloth over his head as it glided around the carriage's surface. Rapidly opening them, he fired his arrow, able to hit a leg muscle of one of the Fahins as the wind seemingly guided the arrow, possibly having found the perfect timing to shoot his shot.
"One of them is slowing down... Are any of you able to bend...?"
Drained by the use of his Null ability, as well as having to bend vines on multiple occasions against Khud, Midas was nearly completely drained when it came to mana—the same most likely applying to Fuegir and Jikith, having fought against Gunvar twice now. Suddenly lighting up, Midas moved his torso from the beam of wood he leaned against to scramble for his sun shard—grasping it eventually from his leather bag, he turned to Fuegir, looking down at his bracelet.
"I might know a way to handle them, if you could lend me that bracelet of yours for just that moment..."
"And why do you think I'm just going to hand it over to you...?"
"Have my bag then, and if I act somehow against you... throw it out. If I lose it, then this whole trip will have been for nothing for the three of us here."
Making both Javelin and Uteli light their faces up in stress, Midas raised his leather bag at Fuegir—his uncovered eyes directly mustering his dimly surprised face while blocking out Jikith's proud laugh from the driver's seat. Watching the pirate sigh to himself, the youth exchanged his bag for the silver bracelet, exchanging the red stone slotted into it carefully with the sun shard from his bag, eventually stepping towards Javelin.
"You are the only one left here with enough mana and understanding of stone bending... Make their carriages halt; keep the knights alive if you really have to."
Seeing Midas stand in front of him while having traded everything the two of them made this journey for, Javelin frowned almost in confusion at the trust his partner was putting into him—grasping the handed-out bracelet in a reluctant manner, his brows softening eventually at the sight of it on his wrist. Gathering some composure, Javelin eventually got up from his seat—slightly pushed up by Uteli as she noticed his growing determination once he faced the two carriages following them closely.
Having just as little time as any other to waste, Javelin raised both of his hands, his fingers parting as he tried his best to focus his mana into the stone. Making a piece of dust and rubble from the wide footpath they followed levitate, Javelin eventually gathered enough mass of tiny stones to send out against their enemies. Suddenly infuriated by the fact he was trapped in a cage by the same people that now followed them home, Javelin didn't hold back with the mana he burnt with the blow of dust and debris that would fly straight against the foes carriages, entrapping them in a flood of dust that blocked their vision.
Panting dryly, Javelin slipped off the bracelet, letting Midas grasp it as the youth exchanged the stones, eventually trading it with his bag again as Fuegir nodded at him, seemingly easing the initial tension between them. Looking back to be sure, Guan wasn't able to see anyone coming out from the thick wall of dust—able to hear the bickering of Fahin in the distance, most likely enough to create a distance that would allow Jikith to head for the lowlands they seemingly steered towards.
"Uteli... I'm sorry I couldn't bring you to your family this time..."
"The gate doesn't open as often when it's that warm... Let's head north when the snow reaches over the mountains—then I'm sure our chances will be much better."
"Oh. So you're from the ice plains across the mountains...? That's why you're so strong—must be the genes of the people there. Can't blame them; the northern shore is a nightmare to live in."
Raising his head in mild interest, Midas turned to Jikith at his remark—the mentions of icy plains somehow making sense, as getting to the ever-distant chain of mountains on the horizon would require them to pass through the entire length of the plant kingdom. The mere existence of the forest right at the base of these mountains is most likely only possible due to their absurd height—possibly blocking out any of the icy winds that sweep over the continent from the most northern point. Whatever lies behind them, therefore, must be covered in snow and ice, which makes the fact that people are able to survive there much more remarkable.
"A nightmare...?"
"Forgive me, I only heard stories about the brutality of the people there—to be fair, though, most of the stories I witnessed told about the far north usually stemmed from opportunistic salesmen from the water kingdom that tried their luck at selling goods there..."
Uteli nudged her head to the side in confusion at Jikith's description, making him apologize right after—snow and ice seemingly a normal occurrence to Uteli, born and seemingly raised for her first few Trestempos in her life there. Not getting himself to ask why she was separated from her family to begin with, Midas rather spent his time showing Javelin the glass of Nor'Luft powder—not even lifting it up from the bag, the two of them stared down at the rather unremarkable bluish-white powder. Its effect on the human mind and mana-distilling properties, however, made it unbelievably valuable to Javelin, explaining his hesitation with even lifting the jar up.
"Jikith... I fear there is another favor I need to ask of you. If possible, could you perhaps bring us to Cascrender instead of Brutpierda...?"
"Anything is possible if you're able to repay the favor back... The only thing that matters is if you're willing to pay the extra fee you'll owe me for that."
"Sure—add that to my debt I owe you for saving us after our initial attempt to get the medicine at the warehouse."
Meeting Jikith's intrigued grin with a determined stare, Midas agreed to repay him for another favor—dimly regretting it right after, since he now knew who he was really dealing with. However, unlike in the beginning, he now found himself between not being a pirate and aiding them in their goals, as the cloth wrapped around his forehead and mouth area used to belong to one of them.
Their way back to the university was much more swift than Midas had thought it to be; having spent the day, they retrieved the powder and two more getting through the Suffocar marsh as well as the northern part of the Luvious forest. With every day that passed, the youth was able to feel Javelin's anticipation of their arrival grow, their ride much more crammed with Fuegir and Guan remaining to accompany them on their way back—seemingly having business to attend to on the east coast once they were done carrying them back to Cascrender.
Halting right outside the same gate Midas and Javelin once walked through to somehow arrive in Baumfall to retrieve the medicine of someone whose life could end any time soon, they now found themselves back in the same spot, Javelin practically going to jump out of the back of the ride any moment as one of his feet was already planted on the wooden edge of it. The trip paid off in the end, even for Midas, who now felt much more comfortable actually speaking the water kingdom tongue instead of only getting to write it and was now also wearing two mana stones on him with a noticeably bigger mana pool than when they had set off.
Seeing Javelin dart out of the ride, hastily making his way towards the medical room despite only wearing the same dated cloth that was forced onto him when he was imprisoned, Uteli wasted no time to follow—barely able to run behind him as she dragged the weight of her axe on her shoulder. Only reluctantly sitting up, the powder already snatched from him by Javelin, Midas turned back to Jikith and the other two, his own striped cloth stuffed into his leather bag.
"Take this letter here; the place and time are written there—make sure to at least arrive there on the third of change... and remember, you have no right to run from us."
"The third of change...? Alright. I won't run..."
"Then I'd advise you to run towards wherever your friends are heading to..."
The serious expression of Jikith transformed into a cheeky grin, yet his sharp eyes remained solely on Midas as he grasped the letter, securing it into his leather bag. Bowing in front of them for having aided him and the others over the course of their journey, the youth made sure to catch up to Javelin and Uteli, the way to the medical room still known to him.
Watching the youth go after his friends as he made his way through one of the tiny double doors on each wing of the grand building, Fuegir turned eventually towards Jikith as he began to set off, unable to keep the fact out of his head of how Midas was able to look past their differences—simply having helped him despite their conflict.
"What do you think about this kid...?"
"He has potential—you think so too, don't you...? I just hope he doesn't fall into the hands of the knighthood; that would be a waste..."
"I suppose you're right."
Watching her shut eyes for another morning, Inaya carefully caressed the back of the girl's limp hand with her bandaged thumb, looking at her from the tiny holes of her mask and noticing the bleakness on her face. With a dimly tired expression, Haya stood against the window of the room, his arms crossed around himself as his training grew much more stale without either Khud or Midas to his side.
Their blank expression lit up eventually, looking up to a boy their age holding a glass flask of white powder in his clutched hand—standing in front of them shoeless, with messed-up hair and clenched teeth, sparing no time to lower himself to his sister as Midas arrived right after him with Uteli. Folding her fingers together in relief, Inaya looked at Midas as he dragged Uteli with him into the room, glancing briefly at both of them while nodding shortly—his eyes looked down onto Javelin's sister lying motionless in the bed.
"I have read a book on this flower's function and how the body is able to process it in the most effective way... Diluting two tiny spoons of it in water makes it easier for the patient to swallow—once digested, the substances in the powder help the brain ease up from the built-up stress it experiences due to the stored-up mana."
Midas and Javelin watched quietly as Inaya gently opened the mouth of his sister, pouring the mixture slowly into her—the four of them unable to relax until her eyes opened up. Staying put for a long, dragging moment of quietness and lingering anticipation, Javelin's face lit up as the eyes of his sister finally opened up again—a tear rolling down his cheek as his trembling fingers held onto her bleak face. Not feeling like she belonged here, Uteli set the head of her axe onto the ground, quietly looking over to Midas as his stern brows slightly relaxed at the sight.
Seeing the two of them finally together—having not to worry about Jevaila's condition—the youth felt relief at the fact he was able to help out the two of them, his efforts having paid off, as the two siblings could spend their time together again.