55 Bloom
"Are we there yet?", Sera asked, as snow blew past her face. Somehow, Chrion was able to convince her to come to his hideout in the mountains. She, Aurice, and a new girl, who called herself Helrisa, convened last night just after going to sleep.
"How do you know this guy won't stab us in the back? For all we know, he's in cahoots with our enemies.", Helrisa challenged Aurice's decision to accept Chrion's offer.
"Well, for one thing, we don't know where we are, and where to go. We don't even know anyone we can run to.", Aurice answered back.
Sera wanted to say that there was the orphanage they could always run to, but she feared that if the Stedores were to find out she went there, they might do something terrible.
"We are here, out in the open. At least if we were somewhere difficult to find, it would give our pursuers a hard time." Aurice continued backing up her argument.
Helrisa pondered about a while, and snickered at the thought of the Stedores scratching their heads as to where to find Sera. "Fine. I'll go along with your plan. But just so you know, if this Chrion guy ever tries something funny, I won't hesitate to take over and rip his heart out."
'As if its that simple.' Aurice thought to herself. Now that there are three personalities in a single body, there might be a struggle as to who gets to use it most of the time. They need to agree with one another if it were to work out.
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"Are we there yet?", Sera repeated, the chill of the mountain starting to bite through her skin. Chrion had lent her some of his clothes but it still wasn't enough to ward off the cold. The soldier was piggybacking her so at least her feet doesn't need to dredge through the thick snow.
"Almost there…" Chrion replied. The falling snow was whipped around by strong winds that visibility was almost zero. Chrion, however, was already accustomed to this mountain's climate. He could even walk around it with his eyes closed.
A few minutes after, Chrion paused at a spot below a craggy rock formation. The soldier and Sera wondered if this was it.
"We're here.", Chrion announced.
"Uhm. Mr. Chrion, there's nothing here.", she smiled nervously, already considering if it was a trap all along.
"Exactly. That's what your pursuers would think if ever they tracked you up here." Chrion beamed, as if this was something to be proud of. Activating something in his gauntlet, the stones of the rock formation suddenly started to shift as if it were alive. Sera and the soldier just stared at it in awe. The rocks slowly parted away and revealed a large entrance akin to a cave.
"Welcome to my humble home." Chrion even bowed a little and gestured for his guests to enter. As the trio entered the hideout, the stones began to shift again, slowly enclosing the entrance shut until it returned to its rock formation camouflage.
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Chrion's hideout was a large cave carved out by the strong winds and storms in the mountain. Various mechanisms and contraptions stud the walls and ceiling, creating an almost metallic feel in the atmosphere.
"I apologize for the mess.", Chrion said, scratching his head. "I don't get a lot of visitors so please bear with it for a while."
While they were getting settled, Chrion went on to prepare a hot drink. The soldier found itself a corner and sat down, but Sera was mesermized by her surroundings. She slowly walked around looking at the intricate details in each objects. There was a large mechanism covered in one corner, and as she slowly walked towards it , she somehow felt very calm, so calm that it is making her a little drowsy.
"Oops. Not there, miss Sera.", Chrion's voice suddenly boomed behind her.
She whirled around, embarrassed for being so nosy. "I'm sorry. Did you make all these yourself? They're amazing."
"Yeah. When you're all alone you have to find a hobby. Mine was to invent mechanical things infused with a little bit of magic.", Chrion answered, as he held a mug to Sera.
"They're amazing.", she said sincerely, looking at Chrion's eyes. She held out her own hand to accept the drink when her fingers touched Chrion's hand instead.
"Ohh!", she quickly grabbed the mug with her two hands and turned away, not wanting to show Chrion she was blushing. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that.", she was stammered.
Chrion was also thankful Sera looked away. Had she not, she would've seen his ears turning embarrassingly red. He cleared his throat, and answered in the most manly voice, "Uh. Yeah. It's all good. I'm going to, uh, look for something…uhm, do you want a hot drink?" He didn't wait for Sera's reply as he darted away in one of the rooms.
"…stupid…stupid…she has a drink already, dumb…"
Sera heard Chrion mumbling to himself, as she held the hot mug in her hands. She slowly took a sip and felt the warmth flow to her body as her lips slowly curve up.
It was the first time she smiled sincerely in a very long time.
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In the darkened halls of the Arc Tower, Regent Magistrate Agaven Stedore and Regent Magistrate Rhael Stedore assembles a group of selected few.
"You shall be divided into two units with separate missions. The first unit will be tasked to eliminate the remnants of the Arcane Watch, which will be led by Magus Alakdan. The second unit will be responsible for the capture of our runaway daughter. Can we count on you to lead this mission, Magistrate Alamid?"
A lone figure, who has been standing in the shadows all this time strode into the assembled group. He stopped in front of the seated couple, and bowed slightly. "I will not fail you, Regent Magisrate. Your will be done."
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Back in a crude forest camp, somewhere in the forests of Stormfall, Sister Liz assembles the search party for Sera, as Thoran prepares with his own group to leave for the Ice-shard Peaks.
"I bid you farewell, High Magistrate. May the Lord shine His blessing upon you on your mission."
"Thank you, Sister Liz. Good luck to you all, as well."
As Thoran's party faded into the trees, Sister Liz went back to the camp. Anxiousness was clearly written over her face, when suddenly Sister Leia approached her.
"Don't worry, Sister. We'll find Sera in no time and bring her home. She is a strong girl. I know she's out there waiting for us."
Sister Liz smiled back knowingly. She knew she could always count on Sister Leia.
From one of the tents, Juron Althemor emerged while being assisted by some other members of the Arcane Watch. Among them, an elegant-looking woman walked just beside the Lord Magistrate.
"Father!", Leia jumped up and rushed to her father's side. "You shouldn't be up yet..."
"Nonesense!", Juron interjected while trying to smile through the pain. "What father would miss his goodbyes while his daughter leaves for what could be the most dangerous mission."
Sister Liz also approach them and spoke kindly. "Lord Magistrate, I assure you that my people puts the safety of Sister Leia as one of the top priorities in this mission."
"Ahh. Thank you, Sister." Juron acknowledged. "But just to make sure, I'm also sending one of my best magistrates to aid you. She's quite the capable woman, as you will all learn soon."
The elegant-looking woman moved forward and introduced herself. "My name is Kiri Inori, High Magistrate in the Arcane Watch. I pledge my services to Lady Althemor, daughter of the Lord Magistrate."
Leia, as always, was uncomfortable with the use of formality, but she smiled all the same. Juron saw this and smiled in return.
"Thank you all for your support and efforts.", Sister Liz was very grateful. "Now that we have more capable hands more than ever, this mission is bound to succeed." She gazed into the distance, knowing somewhere out there, Sera is all alone. "Hang in there, little sister. Help is coming. You will be home soon."
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Good day, dear readers!
We are very much pleased for your support and patronage of our very first novel. Some things have come up and we have to make a huge announcement. O.O
This chapter will mark the ending of Part 1 of The Fractured Soul: Faded Memoirs. As a parting gift to you dear readers, we published 3 chapters to make up for what we have lost the previous days. :D
But this will not be the end of the story, and we humble ask for your patience and understanding that we have to go on a month long break from publishing new chapters. Rest assured, this time will be used in writing Part 2 of The Fractured Soul: Faded Memoirs, so that what we deliver will be the best we can offer. We personally want you, our dear readers, to enjoy reading our novel.
So for the time being, Thank you all and we hope you stick with us on our journey to the future. >o<.
Sincerely,
Kisra and Brutoto
