To leave home

As they exit the Oraculum, Arsu exhales like the weight of the world had been on his shoulder the entirety of the visit.

"I had heard of what they could do" He breathes "But it's still impressive to see it up close"

Voa chuckles humorlessly. More like suffer it up close, but she is not about to remind him of that, it's not nice, the first time one meets a Seer, all your most inner thought, out in the open to a stranger…no…it's not exactly nice.

"I know, right" She huffs, then shares a look with him "She's terrifying"

Seers were something exclusive to Ethe in the same way Ifrans were resistant to fire and Yaonites poisonous. The ability to see the truth in a person just by being in their vicinity. It was a power that was dwindling in their population, what probably used to be universal in Ethenians, now was something only a few had the honor of possessing.

Voa blinks and sees that Nue is sitting at the fountain, his fabric pouch at his side and fiddling with something in his hands. She approaches happily, Arsu following not so happily behind her, and gives a small jump when reaching the Yaonite.

"We're done" she announces with a bright smile.

Nue raises his head and while he doesn't smile, nods and offers the thing he was fiddling with to Voa.

It's a talisman, a Yaonite one, consisting of a short red cord with a tied opaque green gem at the end. The fierce carving of a dragon head greets her when Voa looks closely at the coin-sized gem.

"In Yaon we don't have a god of travelers" explains Nue as Voa gapes at the beautiful talisman "But I figured Ryuo would be a good protector in our situation"

"It's so pretty…thank you!" Smiles Voa brightly "What does it do then?"

"Ryuo is the most powerful god in Yaon, father of the three sisters, and while he is known as the god water, he is also associated with good fortune" explains Nue as Voa looks at the carved gem closely, its weight comfortable against her hand.

"Thank you" repeats Voa shyly, tying the talisman on her scarf, to hang next to her only badge.

"I also acquired us a lizard" says Nue as he stands and stretches lightly "I left her by the Grand plaza stables"

"That's great!" Excitedly says Voa, trying to calm herself so she doesn't start jumping in joy.

"A lizard? Where did you get money to buy one?" Asks Arsu with narrowed eyes. Nue doesn't roll his eyes, but its a near thing, showing his exasperation with a mere look. The assassin opens the fabric pouch and pulls out a handful of gold coins, Yaon currency judging by the square hole in the middle of them.

"I bought from a Yaonite merchant, they always take Yaon coins" retorts Nue as he puts the coin back in his pouch " And gold is gold, no matter what shape it takes"

"Now that that is solved we should look for Arsu's merchant buddy, they were only restocking, right?" Claps Voa, looking between the two males.

"Yeah. He said they would leave pretty soon, so we can join them to Olympea" answers Arsu, then, like an afterthought, he clears his throat and looks away "a lizard should be helpful after we finish our…business in Olympea"

Nue doesn't say anything, the staring contest growing in tension by the second and Voa, feeling the awkwardness radiating like the heat off the sand, decides to interrupt.

"Well!" Squeals Voa, loud to try and make them snap out of the it "Let's go to the Grand plaza! Our ride awaits!"

She whirls around and marches in the direction of Gallery Ward, Nue and Arsu joining her soon after, Arsu chuckling at her strange way of walking.

They reach the marketplace not long after, and it takes them even less to find the red merchant—Rubellus, Arsu had insisted, the merchant name was Rubellus.

Nue had disappeared again, but this time with the mission of collecting their lizard.

On the way to the marketplace, the three had practiced their stories. Arsu was a rich man from Ifra, seeking the Ethenian princess' hand, and Nue and Voa were his servants, a Yaonite that had found refuge in Ifra after being too vocal about his rebellious thoughts against the empress—Nue had not liked that story, but Arsu had said with a very sharp look in his eyes that it was the one that made the most sense, Nue had accepted but still looked annoyed about it—and a ex-scavenger that had gotten hurt during a trip and had been forced to abandon her profession.

Voa had also tried to explain the princess' bad history with suitors: the king had accepted in her name one that had ended dead after a terrible accident and that the next few that had passed the king's judgment had not ended well either, after those…accidents, the king had stopped accepting proposals for the princess hand, believing her to be cursed—When she had finished the story, Arsu had looked at Voa with a raised eyebrow and the question of why had she thought that was the best course of action, and Voa admitted that it had been an impulse, but that it would probably get them in the throne room faster than any other lie.

Rubellus accepts them with open arms, even more so when Nue appears with a crowned lizard with a two person saddle.

"We shall depart in an hour" announces Rubellus and disappears inside his cart to do merchant-y things. Meanwhile, Voa rushes towards Nue and almost vibrates out of her skin when she gets closer to the lizard. It's beautiful, with short legs and a wide body covered in green moss, its long tail swishing gently on the dusty ground of the marketplace, it's black sunken eyes well protected by its thick greenish brown scales.

"Oh look at you! So cute" gushes Voa at the lizard, trying to pet the head of the animal in between its many horns, she scratches around one of the longer horns and the lizard makes a humming sound Voa interprets as pleasure and keeps scratching.

"She's unnamed" Comments Nue as Voa bites her lip at the absolute adorable lizard and the sudden urge to squeeze the animal in her arms "So you can name her if you wish"

Voa smiles at him and shuffles in between the many names that flood her mind for the correct one. And she realized she already had the perfect one in mind.

"Kimara!" Decides Voa with nod, Nue smiles at her and pats the lizard on her snout, making her flick her blue tongue out and make Voa giggle.

"A good name" says Arsu as he joins them around the animal "Perfect for shouting it when it tries to eat anything it shouldn't"

Voa pouts, lizards have such a bad reputation, but Voa always had wanted one, but it was unnecessary to have one in her youth and her parents had bought her a doll shaped like one when she was younger, a doll she had named Kimara and with whom she had plenty of adventures in her bedroom.

"It's a she" reminds Voa.

"A beautiful lady lizard then" agrees Arsu with a smile. The smile pulls at his almost healed wound and he winces. Voa frowns and narrows her eyes at it. It looked better than yesterday, but it was not healed yet, an a healing wound could still get infected.

"We should get something for that" she mutters and Arsu touches lightly the almost scar.

"It's fine, it doesn't hurt or anything" says Arsu unconvincingly, it had to at least itch terribly.

"I'm surprised it didn't get infected" Says Voa getting on her toes to try and see it closer "It looks kind of deep and the air of the desert is not kind to anything"

"I think it got a little bit infected" says Arsu like it's not a big deal "I think I got a fever? I don't remember, I may have passed out"

"You what!?"

"Oh I woke up again in the morning and I was fine" says Arsu waving his hand at her.

"Fine!? You could have died!" Shouts Voa. How could he care so little for his own health!

Arsu waves his hand again and smiles. Nue, who had been frowning at the floor with a pensive stare, snorts and pets Kimara again making the lizard close her eyes in delight.

"It's okay" says Arsu and pats Voa's head "Let's just get going"

Voa huffs, but follows when the prince whirls around and walks towards the caravan. Nue not far behind guiding Kimara, his terrifying breathing mask exchanged with a more normal one that lacked the monstrous carved fangs. Voa herself had her own hanging from her neck, she didn't like using it unless it was absolutely necessary, and, while it helped for not breathing in the arid winds and sandstorms of the desert, it only made her nose itch in the safety of interiors.

The caravan is ready to depart when they join in, Rubellus talking with other merchants amicably motioning towards his cart when he sees the three of them arrive. Arsu climbs in and when Voa looks at Nue he shakes his head.

"I'll ride Kimara, she must get used to it" He says and, when he sees Voa is not completely convinced, continues "I don't think Arsu wishes to share such a small space with me, I would also prefer it"

That convinces Voa. She doesn't want the fragile tension to snap while on their trip and surrounded by strangers, if Nue prefers to stay outside, she cannot force the matter.

"Okay" she agrees but also adds "But I'll walk with you sometimes, so you don't get lonely"

"Okay" says Nue, eyes smiling, then he gracefully hops on Kimara and puts on the hood of his cloak.

Before she gets on the cart, she looks back. This will be the last time she will see Myrm, at least until they collect all the key fragments. She sighs, it will be the longest she will be away from home.

"It's normal" says Nue suddenly and Voa turns her attention back to him "Home, no matter how much you want to leave it, will always be home"

"Do you miss your home?" Asks Voa before she can stop herself.

Nue stays quiet, lowering his eyes to his hand holding Kimara's reins. Then, when he returns his stare to her, his eyes are filled with determination.

"Always" he says and then leads Kimara a little bit ahead, leaving Voa to ponder his words.

Home will always be home, that is true, but Voa feels like home is not truly a fixed place, no matter how people wished it was.

With a last look at the place that had taken care of her since birth, Voa enters the merchant's cart and tries to ignore the strange feeling that invades her.

They have a long journey ahead of them, she'll have time to feel nostalgic later.