As the two apprentices climbed the hills of the island leading up to the place they would be staying for the night, Venti was able to note that Jess was feeling progressively better the further they got away from the city. They could tell the anguish they had been feeling from their aura was fading and that the aura seemed to be under a lesser amount of pressure.
Venti sighed. Hopefully, before they left, Venti would be able to provide Jess with some help with their issue of sensing. Likely, they would be heading to quite a few more cities in the future and would be absolutely devastated by some of the more populated ones. Thankfully, as they drew further away from the city, the problem was lessening and the need to mitigate it was less urgent. Unfortunately, Venti could also tell that Jess was quite drained.
Luckily, they were fast approaching Venti’s home and so Jess would have time to rest soon. Venti doubted that Jess had any issues with scaling a mostly vertical island most days, given their apparent muscle mass, but the constant headache they had been dealing with since entering the city was certain not doing them any favors.
“We’re only a few minutes away now,” Venti offered, hoping that the information would help to provide Jess with a sort of light at the end of the tunnel for them to be driven towards.
Jess simply met Venti with a nod which they didn’t notice at first until they felt a very slight disruption of the essence they had around them. Due to their familiarity with the route, they only needed a small amount of essence to feel the surroundings, but they had been keeping a small field of essence around Jess so that they could detect bodily motions and to check on their breathing and heart rate on occasion.
Even if they couldn’t feel it in great detail at the moment, Venti was fully aware of their surroundings down to some of the smallest details. They had mapped out this entire path on several occasions and so now they only needed a minimal amount of essence to check for any large changes in the surroundings. Luckily, they also had Jess who, despite their slightly more exhausted state, would hopefully help Venti if there were any pressing threats that were incoming at high speed.
As they continued to walk, Venti noticed the scent in the air changing and they couldn’t help a smile crawling on to their face. It was a familiar scent, one of fire, metal, and wood, their parents’ shop. Stepping on to a path slightly different from the one they had been on, the two were now only a hundred or so feet away from the home.
The home was rather nice and thanks to the two expert craftsman living within, it was incredibly well built. The outside was lined entirely with wood painted white and green, but on the other side of the wood, the walls were almost absurdly well-fortified. On top of that, the house was rather huge. Most of the houses in the surrounding area were on the smaller side, given most of the people living out here were looking live away from the hustle and bustle of the big city, but the Orboreas were not the same. The home was constructed of several large sections, one of them being a large open area holding a forge, counter, anvil, and everything needed to make weapons, tools, armor, and much more. Hanging above the open area was a wooden sign with the words “The Broken Nail” in silver next to an emblem of a, surprisingly, broken nail.
Several of the lights in the home were on and dotted all around the exterior of the home, there were lanterns hanging from fixtures, casting soft light all around the property. Lining the outer edge of the property, there were hedges which, unbeknownst to those simply passing by, were actually hooked up to machinery and good be retracted in to the ground. Venti always chuckled at the thought of how fortified their home was, but over time, it simply became the norm.
Finally, the two reached the front door. Before they were even able to knock, the door flung open, a large man standing on the other side to greet them with a wide grin on his face. He was a rather tall and muscular man with half his hair shaved. The other half was a shock of short light green hair. He had on a pair of green overalls over a white tank top. He had bright green eyes that cut through the night. “Venti, dear, you’re back! And you’ve brought a friend!” the large man exclaimed happily. He had a rather deep voice, but it was so warm and full of joy and excitement that Venti couldn’t help smiling at the sound every time. The two were quickly ushered inside of the home. The large man did a once over of the outside of the house and then closed the door.
The inside of the house was similar to the outside in that it was very nice looking and clearly well built, but it was also very messy. Blueprints, unfinished weapons, materials, and everything in between was scattered all about. The inside of the house was made almost entirely of wood with little bits of gold accent around the place which served to fortify beams in some places and simply make the house look a little nicer and more lively in others.
Upon entering the house, Venti set their sword down in the foyer and walked in to the kitchen where they could smell food. They waved for Jess to follow them and they did so, the large man following behind them. In the kitchen, the three of them were greeted by another man who was sitting on top of the kitchen counter, reading through a cook book. Compared the man who had greeted them at the door, he was almost the exact opposite. He was skinny and shot with vibrant green hair tied back in a ponytail similar to Venti. He had pale brown skin, in contrast to the larger man’s olive complexion. He peered up from the book as the three people entered, but he didn’t put down the book, simply slipping down off the counter and in to one of the chairs at the table in the middle of the kitchen.
The large man took a seat next to the smaller man, giving him a little kiss on the cheek, causing him to blush softly. “Daltoy, please… I’m reading…” the smaller man protested.
The large man, Daltoy, chuckled softly and rolled his eyes. “Em, we have a guest. I think it would be polite to show them some courtesy and introduce ourselves, at the very least, don’t you think?”
The man sighed and contained a small smile as he looked up at his husband, setting the book down for a moment and turning to Jess. “I apologize for my rudeness, my name is Emerick Orborea, He/Him,” he offered before picking back up his book.
Daltoy smiled and turned to Jess, “I’m Daltoy Orborea, He/They, and yourself?”
Jess nodded weakly. “I’m Jessica Violi… They/She…”
Daltoy gave them a concerned look as he moved over to the counter. “Are you alright, Jessica? You seem a bit… tired,” he offered cautiously.
“I’m not a fan of big cities…” they answered simply.
Daltoy nodded, handing Jess and Venti each a bowl of rice followed by a bowl of salad. “We heard you don’t eat meat, so I just made some rice and salad. I wasn’t sure what kind of protein you like and I didn’t want to end up wasting food, but if you’d like, I’m sure Em could make something for you,” he said, nudging Emerick.
Jess shook their head and began to eat the rice. Daltoy gave them a concerned look, but decided not to press the issue. Instead, he turned to Venti for the moment. “Did you have a good time in the city today? How are Claude and Erika doing?”
“Claude was out when I stopped back, but Erika said that she and him are going great and they wish us the best,” Venti answered before continuing with their rice.
“That’s wonderful to hear!” Daltoy expressed. “Do you know how Erika and her boyfriend are doing?”
Venti rolled their eyes and shook their head. “I did not think to inquire about her love life, no.”
Daltoy scoffed. “Well, you could have. How could I have known? I always ask how they’re doing whenever I see her.”
“That’s because you’re nosy, dear,” Emerick interjected.
Daltoy put a hand to his chest in mock offense. “I am not nosy, I simply like knowing about the goings on of people.”
“No, dad, you’re nosy.”
Daltoy pouted, a strange look on such a large man. “Well you two are simply impossible…”
The four of them sat in silence for some time until finally, Jess set down their bowls, finished eating. “Where should I put the dishes?”
Daltoy chuckled softly and took their dishes from them. “I’ll take care of those for you.” He walked over to the sink and began to wash them. “Now, Jessica, where are you from?”
“I’m from a small island in the Grand Omnian Republic,” Jess started.
“They’re actually from the island where the Great Spirit Forest is,” Venti added.
This finally peeked Emerick’s attention. He set down his book and looked at Jess, his eyes drawing down to their arm. “Can I presume that that arm is constructed out of the wood of the spirit trees?”
Jess simply nodded, their hand unconsciously moving to hold their wooden arm. Noting the response, Emerick chose not to ask what had happened to the previous arm. “Are those gauntlets made from the same wood?”
“What gauntlets?” Daltoy asked, still facing away.
“The ones they’re wearing on their wrists. They seem to be in an inactive state at the moment, but their construction obviously shows that they transform in to gauntlets.” Emerick explained.
Daltoy finished up his washing and sat back down at the table, looking the bracelets on Jess’s wrists. “Ah, I suppose you’re right. I wasn’t looking too much at them, but you’re right. Impact gauntlets, I assume? Those are the counterweights on the side, no?”
Jess was shocked. “Uh… yeah… all of that is… correct… You two are… really good… huh?”
Emerick smirked while Daltoy simply nodded. “We’ve been in the business of weapons for over thirty years, before we even had this one,” Daltoy said, motioning to Venti.
Jess nodded before noting something on both Emerick and Daltoy’s exposed shoulders. “Were you two in the military…?”
“We were, yes. We were… very different people back then…” Emerick said, looking down at himself, a soft smile creeping on to his face.
“Very… But that was sort of where we got our start. Before joining the military, I had no idea I had any interest or talent in smithing, but then I was placed in the smithing corps and I quickly rose the ranks, eventually finding my way in to Em’s company where we stayed until we both left the military about five years later. When we came back home, we were already a couple and a year later we decided to get married. After that, we decided to open our shop and we’ve been in business since.”
“Then, they found me and I threw their whole life out of whack,” Venti offed, half-joking.
It was Emerick’s turn to roll his eyes. “Oh please, you know we could have asked for a better child… We don’t regret finding you at all… That was one of the happiest days of both of our lives…” he said, leaning against Daltoy and smiling softly.
“So, Jessica, what brings you to Aeria, might I ask?” Daltoy asked.
“I’m searching for fragments of the Heart of Nature…”
Emerick’s ears perked up at this. “Oh, you’re a searcher? How long have you been searching?”
“Only a little bit, officially… Though… I’ve been a searcher for some time… You know about us?” Jess explained.
Emerick nodded. “The military took us all over the world. We met all kinds of people and quite a few searchers. Though they were all in teams. I’ve never met a solo searcher.”
“Well… there aren’t many of us…”
“I wish you the best of luck in your search. I hope for the world to be repaired as much as the next person and with someone like you on the job, I’m sure we’ll be just fine,” Emerick offered.
Jess gave a soft smile. “Thank you, sir…”
“Of course. Now, is there anything else we can help you with?”
“Could you show me to my bedroom…?” Jess asked, wincing slightly. “My headache is mostly gone, but I’m still… very drained…”
Emerick nodded and turned to his husband. “Dear, can you show them to the guest bedroom?”
Daltoy stood up and kissed Emerick on the cheek before making his way around to the other side of the kitchen, gesturing for Jess to follow him. The two disappeared through the doorway and as soon as they did, Emerick turned his attention to Venti who was just finishing up their food.
“Well… go on and say it,” Emerick prompted.
Venti sighed. He was always far too good at reading them and it was a bit uncharacteristic of them to have been so quiet, even while they had been talking to Jess.
“I want to go with Jess on their journey…” Venti started.
“But?”
“But… they don’t really seem too inclined on having someone with them. Something happened to someone close… someone that they were meant to be travelling along with and they don’t want anyone with them now, but… that’s why I think I should be with them…” Venti continued
The two just sat there for a moment, the silence eventually being broken by Daltoy stepping back in to the room. “What a nice young person…” he trailed off, seeing the looks on the faces of his husband and child. “What’s wrong?”
“Venti wants to travel with Jessica, but Jessica is not inclined towards having anyone travelling with them. However, Venti thinks that they need to have someone with them,” Emerick recapped.
“Do you believe that they are going to end up hurting themself?” Daltoy asked.
Venti nodded. “They have a reckless air about them… and they’re grieving alone… I have a feeling they’re going to get in too deep with something and end up getting hurt…”
“You can’t simply insert yourself in to someone’s life though, especially if they don’t want you to. That would likely only make things worse for Jessica. But… I can’t deny that they do seem to be in a somewhat poor state… Perhaps you should try and simply accompany them while they are here in Aeria. If they warm up to you more, by the time they leave, perhaps they’ll be more inclined towards taking you. You can’t push it though,” Daltoy offered.
“I did offer to help them already and I showed them around the city. Perhaps I just need to spend more time with them…”
“Perhaps, but for now, dear, I think you should head to bed. It’s getting a bit late.”
Venti nodded. “I think I will. Thank you for dinner and for allowing Jess to stay here.”
“Of course, we’re always willing to help.”
“Goodnight, dads… I’ll see you in the morning…” Venti said, heading up the stairs and in to their room, collapsing in to their bed, exhausted.
