The next morning, Gale and Sofia started getting ready for their first official date right after waking up, which was much later than usual since they didn’t have magical training. As she went to get ready, Gale realized to her horror that she did not really have nay more clothes than her traveling outfit, and the training outfit. As she went to tell Sofia, she confessed that she was in a similar situation: even if she was the daughter of a rich family, she was not expecting to need to dress up for anything, and only brought traveling clothes.

They agreed that it didn’t matter in the end that they didn’t have nice clothes, and that being together was the important part. Thus, they dressed into their not-training outfits, Gale into her cloth shirt and undershirt, comfortable pants, and hunting shoes (leaving behind the leather chest plate); and Sofia into a nice looking long cloth shirt, fitted pants and comfortable shoes. After that, they tried to look more dressed by changing their hairstyles: Gale was going to wear her hair with the top half in a ponytail, while the bottom half rests on her back, and two strands free, framing her face; while Sofia decided that she was going to let her hair untied, but curled the ends slightly with some heat. Finally, they used a black makeup item Sofia had to draw a line on their top eyelid to the corner of their eyes, and then further away.

Gale blushed a bit when she saw how Sofia looked now, she really was pretty. When she looked at herself, she remembered that the last time she had actually dressed nicely at all was at her village’s harvest festival when she was like 10, in a dress she didn’t like at all. But now, she was over the moon, hand in hand with her beautiful girlfriend on their way to have a very fun day.

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The traveling fair had set up camp in a clearing not far from the town. They had created a circle with a series of carts, and in front of each one they had set up their posts. Some of them we selling different types of food items, like fruits covered in a golden crust and such things. Gale had little experience with sweets, so could not really describe them any better. Other posts were basically ability tests, offering different rewards for success, like stuffed toys and wooden items. There even seemed to be a fortune teller, not that Gale believed in such things. IN the center, they had built a big bonfire, which looked quite spectacular but was probably a huge fire hazard, Gale thought looking at the wooden carts from afar.

As they entered through the path prepared as an entranced, they could see just how many people were actually inside the premises. Everyone seemed to be inside, not only from their town, but also from the small villages scattered along the valley further along the river. For example, she could recognize the butcher from the town, who seemed to be making a killing at the goldfish fishing game, much to the shame of the actual fishermen of the village. Gale chuckled a bit at this, and pointed covertly at the situation for Sofia to see too.

As they took a walk around, they could see Professor Aberyth behind one of the carts, having a discussion with one of the members of the fair, seemingly trying to buy something from him. Gale wondered if that was a side business for the fair, since they traveled all around the country, and hoped the items had been legally acquired (not that she was one to talk, given her reason to enter the Tower).

She was snapped out of the scene by Sofia pointing at one of the food stalls, selling the golden covered fruit, saying how long it had been since she had one of them. They decided to buy a couple of candy apples (that seemed to be their names), and sat down to eat them together, holding hands, watching the fire in silence. Gale decided to lean a bit on Sofia, and put her head on her shoulder, sharing a moment of closeness that filled their hearts with warmth, and made neither of them wanting to move.

After quite some time looking at each other in public, which made both Gale and Sofia blush once they noticed, they decided that they should keep seeing the fair before it got late. While looking around, Gale noticed Professor Aberyth once again, carrying a big item in a small pulling cart back into the town. Seems like he had managed to buy whatever that was.

At a stall where you could earn some items if you could throw down a target using a cork ball, Saku was looking quite expectantly at the twins, who seemed to be making a competition between them to be the first to obtain a book that Saku was interested in, the next installment in his favorite collection of action novels. He had tried to obtain it himself before, but only managed to run out of the money he had brought to the fair. The twins were quite matched, and were doing very similarly… that was, neither was getting close to getting it, even when they hit the target it barely moved.

After a while, they gave up saying that the game was rigged, and pissing off the manager of the stall. As they were going to leave, Teb appeared and managed to take it down on the first try. While he was gifting the book to a very smiling Saku. reminding Gale and Sofia that he was still a child after all, the twins looked at him completely defeated. Their faces made Gale and Sofia try their best to contain their cheerful laughter at the scene.

A few minutes later, they came across the fortune telling stall. Much to Gale’s surprise, since she didn’t believe in such things, Sofia had entered the cart on her own and was making hand signs for Gale to follow. Not wanting to upset her cute girlfriend, she followed her inside. The inside of the cart was quite cramped, full of different items Gale didn’t really recognize, the windows covered in lilac curtains and the floor covered by a blue rug with star motives. The fortune teller was sitting behind a table, and had most of herself covered, including her face, in purple silken fabrics. Still, her piercing emerald green eyes were clearly visible. In front of the table, two chairs were located, Sofia sitting in one of them. Without much interest, Gale sat down besides her, wondering what she might want to ask.

“So, tell me girls”, she started in a sultry voice, “what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from such a cute couple?”. Gale was a bit surprised she could tell they were an actual couple, and not just friends, but felt that they were probably leaving clues left and right about it.

It was Sofia who decided to start. She coughed once before starting:

“Esteemed fortune teller,

you who can see what is to come,

please tell me what will be my future…

in matters of love?”

Gale tried her best not to laugh at how she had tried to ask the question in a rhyme, and how she seemed to hesitate and blush at the end. They both looked intently at the fortune teller, waiting for her answer, since she had basically asked her about their future together.

Her eyes flashed for a second, before answering.

“Oh, sweet dear child,

you seem to be in luck.

You have already found the one,

to spend the rest of your life!”

Immediately after, Sofia jumped to Gale’s arms and gave her a deep kiss. She seemed over the moon, knowing they they will be spending the rest of their lives together. This made Gale smile widely as well, she could not imagine anything better than spending her life with her girlfriend.

After a few seconds, they got back to their seats, and took a deep breath. It was time for Gale to ask. After pondering for a second (and wondering ig the fortune teller’s answer to Sofia had actually rhymed or not), she asked her own question, not really caring about the rhyme thing.

“Oh fortune teller, please tell me, what will come of my future?”, she asked kind of curious of her answer.

A bright flash of light covered the cart, making them close her eyes and cover themselves with their hands. As they opened them again, they found a gigantic emerald green magic circle on the floor, and on top of it the fortune teller was floating over the ground, with her back completely straight and her face looking towards the sky, her eyes emitting a strong flash of emerald green light. Her mouth started moving, but she was not looking at them, and the powerful and mystic female voice that came out was obviously not hers.

“Rending Gale

Priestess of Rage

About your future you inquire

I shall give what you desire.

Many danger plague your tale

Many beings will try to ensure you fail

The azure bird, the fiery scales

A being of shadow might become your bane

Challenge a king, stomp down a faith,

Defy the heavens, should they stand in your way

Meet new companions, lose some again

The choices you make shall mold this tale

But beware

As the mountain walks and the seal is broken

Tragedy unfolds once the being has awoken

The ultimate choice shall you make on your own

Will you save the world, or yourself alone?”

After saying that, the magic circle simply dissipated, and the fortune teller fell to the ground, not moving. Gale was shocked, frozen in place, unable to process her words. It was Sofia who had stood up and was pulling at her hand, saying with a panicked voice “We need to see Professor Aberyth, now!”. Gale simply followed her, not wanting to think, as they both ran into the currently empty village.