After a long journey, they finally had arrived in front of the city. The back of the carriage had been really quiet during the whole remainder of the trip. No surprise, everyone must've been exhausted. Taro was worried about Liss, who had been in a bad shape ever since they got attacked. He already had a general idea what was happening to her, albeit he was still in the dark about the specifics. Since his body was fine, they must've injected them with some kind of poison that infected their prana flow. Depending on what exactly the poison did to that flow, there were a few cures possible. However, that would require not only medical knowledge but in most cases also specific spells. He could only hope someone capable would be able to take care of her. As soon as they entered the city, the first thing he'd do was to look for all the help he could possibly find. 

"Wow... Those are huge!" Rose's comment returned him back to reality. She looked in the direction of the city, with her mouth wide open out of astonishment. When she saw the outlines of the city, an energetic amazement had taken place of the fatigue she'd accumulated while continuously powering the vehicle. Taro had proposed to stop a couple of times, but she'd refused every single time. He was sure she was worried as much as he was about the safety of Liss and the others.

Taro looked in front of him. Rose's reaction was not abnormal. The walls of the city were enormous, almost reaching as high as the clouds and spanning as wide as the eye could see. Vinclum was often called the 'Impenetrable City' due to its unbreakable defenses, and Taro could see where it got that name from. The only entrance was a big gate in the middle called the 'Magna Porta', named after its size and elegance. According to rumor, the whole door was carefully engraved with old images and text, displaying the rich history of the city. It was said that each generation called on hundreds of the best earth users in the city, who all worked together to complete one panel which described the most important event that had happened in their lives. In a sense, the door was the soul of the city's past.

"We... made it." Rose breathed out a sigh of relief. The carriage slowed down and came to a halt a few meters before the entrance. Taro was surprised by how fast she'd adjusted her control of prana to meet the carriage's. In the last hour, he could've even let go of the steering wheel at some points if he'd wanted. But due to her fatigue, he hadn't taken the risk and just let her do her thing.

The people in the back had also noticed the halt. Someone asked him if they'd arrived, and he quickly confirmed. A joyous cry was followed by movement towards the exit. They were all getting out of the carriage. He saw Sam opening the door on Rose's side and helping her to get up, while giving some grateful taps on her shoulder. Taro got out on the other side and walked towards the others. A man was carrying the unconscious Liss on his shoulder. To Taro's relief, she seemed to have stabilized during the trip. Her condition was bad, but at least it wasn't getting any worse. He walked towards the man, asked to take over and put her on his back. Her soft, weak breath was slowly warming up the side of his neck. 

"I'll get you better soon, I promise..." He whispered. 

They all moved towards the gate. Two soldiers were standing straight in front of it, each holding a spear in their hands. They were wearing brown robes with a symbol of a shield in the middle. In the middle of the shield, a hammer was engraved. It symbolized the powerful defense and craftsmanship of the city. After all, apart from being one huge unconquerable fortress, the city was also known as one of the biggest manufacturers of hand-made weaponry. 

 

The guards made the group halt before the entrance.

"State your business."

"We're here for the Red Lunar festival."

"Alright, show your badges."

Everyone took out their badge and showed them to the guards. 

"Good. Sir, can I see yours?" One of the guards had approached Sam, after he had checked the others, who had already gone back to the carriage. Only he and Rose were left. The other guard was inspecting the contents of the carriage to check if nothing suspicious was brought  into the city.

"Missy, can I have my badge back? Ya still have mine." He turned towards Rose.

That's when the realization hit her. 

"I... I don't have them anymore..."

"..."

"..."

An awkward silence passed. Sam, still in disbelief, was the first one to break it.

"You... Don't have them anymore...?"

Rose didn't dare to look him in the eye. She hadn't told him about why she had thrown them away during the last encounter with the wolves, and it had completely slipped her mind that they needed them to enter the city. 

"Oi, oi, what are we gonna do now...?"

"I'm sorry, but entrance without a badge is not allowed. I'm afraid you'll have to stay here." The man was clearly not interested in their grave condition. 

"Can't you make an exception, please?" Rose begged. If they weren't allowed to gain access to the city, they were completely screwed. And that was an understatement. They barely had drinks and food left in the carriage, and going back was not an option. Moreover, they were completely weakened by the attack. They would be completely vulnerable.

But the guard shook his head. "Rules are rules. You should've gotten a badge before you came here."

"We had one, but we lost it..."

"You should've taken better care of it then." 

"It was not our fault, look, we got attacked by wolves on the way here..."

"Wolves? Those don't live here. I don't care how you lost your badge, it's not our problem." The guard was inconvincible. "I will let the rest pass, but you two will have to stay here."

"..."

A sudden anger welled up in Rose. She'd traveled all the way here, and she would be stopped just before she had reached her goal? Rose had to see her sister at all costs, even if it meant... Subconsciously, she had put her right hand behind her back. Sparks danced out of the top of her knuckles. 

These humans, how dare they try to rip me and my sister apart again. I'll teach him his place...

The ominous voice in her head only fueled her pent-up rage. Rose was not in the right state to fight it: fatigue, impatience and frustration blocked her logical thinking. The guard even further poked the time bomb.

"Maybe you can ask those wolves of yours to sleep with them. I've heard their pelts are softer than a bed. With your clothes, it won't be hard to fake being one of them. Oh, but first you'll have to fix them a bit up, don't you think." He mockingly pointed at her ripped outfit. The part around her right leg was completely destroyed by her last earth spell. Additionally, there were small rips all over the place. If it hadn't been for the clothes, her whole body would've been a train-wreck. At this point, the guard was just ridiculing her.

Sam put his hand on her shoulder in order to calm her down, but it had no effect. Rose was determined to punch that grimacing face in front of her to the other side of the continent, so she'd never had to see it again.

Just before she lashed out, a young voice behind her brought her back to her senses. "M-miss...?" The young girl that Sam had been protecting all this time, had come out on her own. She looked as fatigued as the others, but her eyes weren't filled with fear and despair anymore. Instinctively her innocence caused Rose to momentarily forget about her bad emotions. 

The girl continued after the sparks on her hand had died down. "I-is there a problem?" She asked her. Rose answered honestly about the lost badges, and that they would have to go on without her. The girl's face darkened, then lightened up again as if she had found a simple solution Rose hadn't thought about.

"Maybe mister Lance will let us pass. Mister guard, will you let us see mister Lance?"

Mister Lance? Rose had no idea who that man was. But apparently, the name was all too familiar to the guard. 

"L-Lance vi Allonia? How does a little girl like you know that name? Wait a minute..." He inspected the girl up closer. The girl slightly backed up in surprise.

"I-I see... I didn't recognize you because of the filth, but you are Ana, aren't you?" The guard reacted way different than before when he made the connection. "I'm sorry, we will let you pass immediately!"

"Can mister let these two also come? They saved Ana's life..." She asked with her most innocent face. Rose was sure she was completely winding the guard around her finger.

"But we can't allow people without badges to-" 

Ana started softly crying in response. The guard choked in the second part of his sentence.

"A-alright, but they won't be able to get out of the city."

Ana cleared up her tears and smiled. The acting power of this girl could actually be more dangerous than those wolves. But luckily for them, she was on their side. "That's fine, I'm sure they will find a way, won't you mister and miss?"

Rose nodded, after which the guard let out a deep sigh. 

"Don't tell anyone about this, okay? This is a one time exception, praise yourselves lucky that you crossed paths with miss Ana."

He went back to the other guard and explained him the situation. The other guard's face showed a surprised expression when he looked at Ana, followed by a worried expression. Whoever this Lance person was, he for sure wasn't a normal resident in this city. 

"Thank you, uhm... Ana?" It was the first time she had heard the name of the little girl. She nodded reassuringly.

"Well done, lil' girlie! Mister Sam will buy you anything you want as a reward!" Sam complimented her.

"Yaaaaay!" The girl jumped up happily.

The three of them went back to the carriage, while the guards opened the gate in front of them with a series of spells. Taro wanted to ask Rose what happened, but he saw her lifeless face and decided to let it rest. She powered up the carriage, drove past the enormous gate, into the mouth of the city.

A long road, surrounded on both side with enormous walls, guided them deeper into the city. Apart from those walls, there was nothing around them. By foot, it would've probably taken them half a day just to get past that entrance. However, with the carriage it only took them about half an hour. Finally, they came out of the shadows and met the smile of the morning sunlight. For the second time in one day, Rose's mouth fell open in astonishment. The sight before them was even more spectacular than the giant wall they had passed.

"Heyhey, you must see this!" She knocked enthusiastically on the wall. Not much later, everyone stepped outside, witnessing the same scenery as her and Taro. Some of them gasped for breath while admiring the sight before them.

The wall and the entrance were built on higher ground than the city. The result from their point of view was an overview of the whole city: thousands of buildings rose up in the distance, and even more little figures could be spotted walking in between them. Some places on the left consisted of factories expelling a lot of smoke, forming grey clouds above the area. On the far edge there was a piece of the city surrounded by a wall, not much bigger than the buildings. Inside there seemed to be a lot of small houses packed on each other. Some factories were positioned directly next to that wall, on the main city's side.

On the horizon, a deep blue was visible. It was the sea. She saw a couple of tiny moving objects on it, which were probably ships going in and out of the dock. That was a place she'd definitely have to visit later. She felt a vague sense of nostalgia when her thoughts slowly shifted to the image of crashing waves and endless beaches. Of course, she probably wouldn't find the latter in this place, but it was still worth to go and take a look.

The right side of the city seemed to be focused less on manufacturing. Instead, there were a lot of open places, which seemed to be resemble parks and markets. It was hard to tell from that distance, so that was another place Rose had to check out. She was especially interested in markets because of the exotic things most of them brought. She couldn't even imagine what kind of things she would find in a place like this, with access to many places beyond its own territory. 

On the far right, a part of the city was elevated, about halfway the height they were standing on. The size was roughly about a third of the whole right half, yet there were very few houses on them. Instead, there was a lot of nature, carefully placed so it emitted a majestic presence. At the end of the area, a small castle was rising above the surrounding trees and houses. On first sight it looked ancient, but some parts of it had clearly been remodeled over time, trying to make it look more like a palace. Rose was sure that whoever lived there, must be the one that was in control of the city.

"..."

This was beautiful. Rose could stand here all day, looking at this scenario. However, she did not have the luxury to do so. There was a sick girl that needed help, everyone including herself desperately needed rest, they had to ask for a search party for the missing people as soon as possible and last but not least: she had to find someone.

Somewhere in this city, the person from her memory was walking around. Rose would search all the crooks and nannies to find her. Even if it would take her an eternity, she would make sure they would be reunited. And then, when she finally found her, they would sit together on the end of a pier, looking over the horizon. She would let her tell all the stories she'd forgotten, so she could laugh, weep, and get angry about the memories they'd made. Even though she might not remember them, just hearing them would be enough to fill her heart with the warmth she longed for.  

After that, she would build new memories, together with her. She would find a place, maybe in some small town, where both of them could be happy together. They would grow up, make good friends and get a nice job. Maybe they would go on a little adventure or two, not far from the town, just for fun. She would gladly become that person's teacher, their mother and their best friend. Whoever or whatever she needed the most, Rose would give it to her. All so she wouldn't have to worry about a single thing in the world... 

Rose smiled. Even if her dream was still distant, she was sure she would reach it. This was the path her heart was telling her to follow. And without any reason to argue, she would follow it blindly to its destination... Rose would definitely regain everything she had lost, one step at a time.

And this time, she would make sure to not let anyone destroy their happiness...