Stroll

In a small room of a shabby house, a beautiful girl with long flowing white hair was swinging her war hammer with utmost focus. As she was practicing her swings, she heard knocking on the door. "Val?" Cadell called out from behind the door. Coming to a stop slowly, she turned her head towards the door. "Come in." The door knob turned and the door creaked open.

When Cadell entered the room, he saw Valentina standing with a huge hammer in her hands, sweat running down through her pale skin. With a blush, he marched forward and handed her the glass in his hand, filled with green juice. Grabbing the juice from his hand, Valentina drank it in one swift motion before exhaling, "Haah..." She looked at Cadell. "Did you already finish your training?"

He looked back at Valentina for a second before gaining his composure. "Y-Yeah." He looked at the weapon in her hand. "Although my training is not as intense." He smiled awkwardly. "Why don't you take a break?" He asked in a small, almost disappearing voice. Ever since they returned after meeting Zane, Valentina had a look of determination on her face. Cadell was happy to see this, but then she started to train day and night, without rest. She'd wake up early and train, go to the academy with Cadell, and train more after they returned home from the academy.

Even if he or Edana asked her to rest, she'd carry on with the intense training. This time too, Cadell didn't have any confidence that she'd agree to take a break. Valentina sighed and walked towards the wall. Resting the hammer on the wall, she looked at Cadell. "Alright." Cadell's eyes sparkled. "G-Great!" He exclaimed. "Why don't we take a stroll then?" Valentina let out a small smile. "Sure, let's go."

---

As the two walked next to each other in silence through the streets of Arcturus, they could feel the heavy atmosphere around them. The citizens were wary of everything around them as they moved to their destination, eyeing everyone on the street. The knights patrolled the area at regular intervals, making sure nothing was out of place.

The once bustling market of Arcturus was now silent and almost empty, with only a handful of people walking around. Valentina looked around the nervous people and frowned. "What is the Sacred Order doing? The way they handle things, all the citizen are uneasy." Cadell could clearly see her dissatisfaction towards the Sacred Order. "Go easy on them, maybe it's nothing. Maybe a criminal escaped and they're trying to catch them?"

"Criminal? You mean a rogue seeker?" Valentina raised her eyebrows. "N-No, I didn't mea-" Cadell spat out but was interjected by Valentina. "No, I don't think it's that." She said looking around the houses they passed. "I'd get closing the gates if criminals escaped, but suddenly closing the church and the academy? Just for a criminal? That's unlikely."

As they were exiting the market to go to the high-level area of the city, they heard a voice behind them. "Cadell and Valentina?" They turned to look at who was calling them and saw a middle-aged woman with bags of groceries in her arms walking towards them. When she saw their faces, she smiled. Stopping in-front of them, she took a long breath. "I thought it was you two!" She happily exclaimed. "Mrs. Loren!" The two smiled back. "Are you shopping for groceries?" Valentina asked. "Yes, my husband and children said they're tired of eating vegetables." She jiggled a bag happily. "So I wanted to make a meat pie today! Also, the meat is really cheap right now, with whatever going on in the city and people not coming out of their houses."

"Haha, yes the city locking down has been good for us in some ways at least!" Cadell chuckled. "Of course!" Loren exclaimed. "The only things getting expensive are the imported stuff that the nobles buy. I heard the nobles are really angry right now. Serves them right! Hahahaha!" As she laughed heartily, Valentina and Cadell looked at each other with an awkward smile. "Well I'll be going now kids. I'll keep a portion of meat pie for you both so come by later okay?"

"Okay, Mrs. Loren!" The two of them smiled and waved her goodbye as she walked away. "Well that's dinner sorted then! She's such a good neighbor." Cadell smiled. "Yeah." Valentina smiled. "Doesn't she remind you of the people back in Luesburg?" She stared at the fading figure of Mrs. Loren with a sombre expression. Cadell looked at her with sadness. After some time, he broke the silence. "Do you want to go to Ouida's? Maybe her father told her about what's going on." Valentina turned to look at Cadell. "Yeah, that's a great idea!"

Arcturus was divided into three levels. Edana's house where Cadell and Valentina were staying was located at the low level, which was the residential area for the commoners. The mid level was where the market was. This level also had the Church and the Academy. Finally, The high level was where the nobles lived. There were also luxury shops in the high level for nobles.

Cadell and Valentina exited the mid-level and walked towards Ouida's residence in the high-level. After walking for some time, they finally reached a big gate with a plaque on the side, 'Roan Residence'. They walked towards the gate and stopped in-front of a guard. "Hello Will." They greeted the guard. "Master Cadell, Miss Valentina." The guard looked at them. "I'll inform Miss Ouida of your arrival, please wait a moment." He entered the gate and walked towards the huge mansion. 

"Even though we've come here before, it makes me uneasy going in such a big mansion." Valentina sighed. "Haha yeah me too." Cadell agreed. "I just can't get used to how nobles live." He added. As Valentina was nodding, the gate opened once again and Will, the guard from before, appeared. "Please follow me."

After entering the mansion, Valentina and Cadell were seated in the guest room on the second floor and served tea and cookies. Afraid of making noise, they just sat there, silently sipping their tea. After a moment, Ouida walked inside the room. "Val! Cadell!" She called out with a smile while her blue eyes sparkled. She was dressed in a simple but elegant dress and her hair gathered into a flowing half-updo, with a bow on the back. She fastened her pace and sat on the sofa in front of them.

"How are you two? Is everything going well?" She asked after she was seated. "We're good Ouida. What about you?" Valentina answered. After making some small talk about the academy, Odis and other topics, they finally started talking about the city locking down.

"So do you know anything about what's happening? Has your father told you anything?" Valentina asked her. Shaking her head dejectedly, Ouida answered. "No. Everytime I try to ask father, he avoids the topic." She looked at the two of them. "He definitely knows something but I can't get him to answer. Though he told both me and Odis not to worry and not to go outside."

Valentina looked disappointed. "Oh. That's alright. I'm sure whatever it is, will be over soon." She smiled at Ouida who nodded and smiled back. "Yes. Well my father works with the Union so if he says not to worry, I'm sure it'll be alright."

"The Union..." Valentina frowned at the words and the atmosphere grew heavy. Noticing this, Ouida spoke frantically, waving her hands. "I-I asked father about if any rogue seekers were taken to the Union and he said there were none. I'm sure the Order kept their deal and your brother is free now!"

Valentina looked at Ouida and smiled dejectedly. "Thanks Ouida..."

Ouida looked down, "I'm sorry I couldn't do more."

Valentina widened her eyes and spoke fast. "It's okay Ouida! I'm sure you're right! Thank you for asking about this to your father!" She looked towards Cadell and nudged him as she didn't know what to say. He sighed and looked at Ouida. "Thank you Ouida. There's no need for you to be sorry. There's nothing we all could have done in this situation. You asking your father is already much more than we could ask for." Ouida let out a soft smile and nodded.

Just as they were about to continue their conversation, they heard a loud bang and the whole city quaked. "What's going on!?" The three of them jumped up from their seats and headed towards the balcony. After opening the door and walking out on the balcony, they could see the mid-level and the low-level of the city. "What..."

They saw the houses in the low-level engulfed with huge flames, smoke rising from different parts of the city. Some houses collapsed before their eyes and they could see the people running away frantically. Looking further, they could see glowing red figures, which looked like people made from magma, chasing the citizens of Arcturus.

"What's that!?" Ouida pointed at something in the sky. Valentina and Cadell snapped back to reality when they heard her voice and followed her finger. On the sky of Arcturus, they could faintly make out a figure, smoke coming off of his still body and tendrils shooting out towards anything and everything in the city.