Sévir Is A Pariah!

The door creaked open as Sévir entered the room.

Sitting at the bed were two familiar faces; a tan-skinned girl and another who shared his DNA.

"You're back." said Zephyr.

Sévir let out an "mm" sound as he took off his gloves, jacket and tie, the red tie in particular felt very silky.

His hands reached out to unbutton his shirt, but stopped upon sensing the heavy and not really discreet stare from Sanguinex.

He refused to yield and walked over to the bed, only then did he recall the discussion from earlier.

The frown on Sanguinex's face was evident as he hesitated dropping in. "Hey, what gives? C'mere!" she extended her arms, as if trying to call him in like a kid or a pet.

Without hesitation, he climbed onto the bed and pushed Sanguinex aside like some pillow and laid his head on Zephyr's lap.

"Oi! What the hell!?" she exclaimed in annoyance and confusion.

He read the cover of the book Zephyr was reading, it was the only thing he could see anyways.

[My Half in Magiaville], it seemed to be yet another volume.. It made him raise a brow.

He couldn't recall the last time he gave her money to buy a book.

Curious, he couldn't help but ask. "Where'd you get the money to buy this?" he flicked the edges.

She gently smacked the cover down to his face. "Nex gave me."

But all of Sanguinex's income always went to Sévir whenever they finished missions. He raised the book and locked eyes with the suspect, his face blank.

He didn't speak under the expectation of his subject to take the hint and speak up for herself.

"Well," she looked away, her eyes guilty and voice low, "you wouldn't buy me anything, not even a single Argentus' worth.

For a moment, all went silent. He noticed her saddened face and briefly looked away.

Since the trip to Magiaville, they hadn't talked much. There weren't any deep reasons, most likely just the fact she got injured, they were put in different stadiums, separate missions.. Maybe she just wanted something out of him so they could return to normal.

Sévir didn't want any of this trouble, not when he had to set out to Gran Planus. He sighed resignedly and sat up. "I'm heading out, I'll probably come back tomorrow."

The two looked at him. "Where to?" asked Sanguinex.

He got off the bed and put his jacket on. "Lena merged our team with Meredith's, we'll be heading to Gran Planus to fend off a bandit attack."

A deep frown etched in her face. "Meredith?" she said scornfully. While he couldn't know everything she thought of, he could already tell she didn't like the idea of Meredith around him, but what could she do? A mission is a mission.

"Can't you like, I don't know, skip it or something?"

"I don't have a reason to. I don't wanna hear anything about Percival going missing again either, I'll just make sure he doesn't."

"You care about him now all of a sudden."

Unwilling to delve further, he opened the door and peeked outside to make sure nobody was around. "Sanguine, rooftop."

He left the room and shut the door, heading towards the stairs that led up to the highest point of the building.

If he wanted to request something out of her, particularly anything WCO-related, then he couldn't have anyone, including Zephyr, hear any of it.

As he climbed the stairs, his thoughts trailed off to the mission.

If he had to be honest, he lacked sufficient knowledge of the Trystan Knights' capabilities. He heard them end the stalemate with the Atlas Kingdom and capture their capital years ago, but that was the only prowess he'd heard from them before entirely switching out the high command with pro-Trystans to attack Doreville—Bernard won the war with his late father's commanders.

With that in mind, he can only turn to the West Capital Organization. He doesn't entirely know either of his co-assassins' capabilities, but it was far better than trusting the government.

He reached the highest floor—a vacant space with old textured but intricately designed pillars between the paneless windows; there was but a single lantern, one that died out long ago.

The view made everything higher than it already was, and it made the city look much smaller than it already was from academy grounds. Not only that, but even with the permanently imbued warming spell within the uniform, he could feel the cold air brushing against him, demanding entry.

It would probably take a bit more until Sanguinex arrived, and so he climbed over the ledge and sat on it, its rough texture hinting at its centuries' worth of life.

Silence.. But that was fine, he was used to it.

When the bitterly cold air bit so sharply, it made the night sky all the more clearer. His breath hitched as he took a proper gaze up the sky.

The sky wasn't at all dark, but blended by black, white and blue in hues that mixed so beautifully with each other. Its beauty rivalled a certain woman he knew, but he wasn't going to compare.

Because he knew they were the same.

His eyes meticulously drew the image of that woman with all the stars he could find. "..Mommy…" he whispered gently.

That's right, it was his mother all along. A woman he loved dearly—his true first love. "..I wanna see you again." His breath was visible, but he couldn't care less, it wasn't green anyways.

He closed his eyes slowly and leaned on the pillar. For once, he wanted to surrender, relax and recall all the peaceful moments without interruption when the solace was nowhere close in his normal slumber.

.

Sévir turned around to the faint sound of footsteps about halfway from the floor.

At last, blood red hair poked out of the stairway, revealing the tan-skinned girl he was familiar with.

"Took you a while," he commented, "traffic?"

However, her frown gave off the impression she was having none of it. She folded her arms. "So, what's this about?" she asked, her voice hostile.

He stood off the ledge and walked closer. "I'd like to make a request."

Her right eye twitched. "Go on."

"I want you to ask the Old Man if he can send some guys to Eatsa and ambush the bandits. If you want, you can join in."

"I won't be involving myself," she declared sternly, "but I'll ask Sir Demeter for you." she turned around, headed for the stairs. "Not like I can say no anyways, even when I want to 'cause you never give anything back."

Her suppressed tone only highlighted her bad mood further. Before she could descend, he grabbed her arm.

He already knew the answer, but wanted to hear everything from her. "..Why are you mad at me?"

Sanguinex's frown deepened in disbelief. "Are you serious..?" she forcefully pulled her arm away. "You have a brain, use it."

Her descending steps were heavy and echoing, as was her voice. "Try asking again when you figure it out. Damn coconut."

He sighed as he was left alone. There was no salvaging anything right now, he could only try again next time.

Just as he planned earlier, he'll get that girl a gift so she can finally shut up. He was convinced it was a solid plan, but for now, he had to get on with the mission.

And so he leaped from the top and broke his fall with the green glow of air magic around his feet. To him, it was no different than absorbing the force of a normal jump.

.

He looked to his left, where he watched himself stray further from Gran Summa and onto Gran Lacus in the horse-drawn supply carriage he and the team boarded.

The wood that held the wagon together was coarse. He glanced up, noticing the lesser clarity of the starry sky he saw at full force earlier.

To make up for the otherwise boring cross-city trip, faces such as Roy and Ordin's interacted with everyone else. Sévir kept as silent as Damon did, who was sitting in front of him, his glare heavy.

Sévir hadn't done anything, he was sure of it.

Unless.. Damon still sees him as a big rival.

As he recalled, Damon never won any duels against him back before the coup d'état, and it left quite the sore in him.

But at the same time, he couldn't help but admire his determination.

…

A formally-dressed blonde boy fell to his butt, a pained look in his face.

Before him stood a silver-haired boy his age. He glared at the boy, not just out of despise, but of determination.

He stood up and pointed his sword at him. "Again!"

Despite losing over and over, he did nothing but request rematches.

The boy he fought was no other than Sévir in his standing's heyday, and the determined was no other than Damon Galena.

Sévir raised his brows, hinting at amusement in his otherwise blank expression. "We've rematched ten times straight already, give it a rest."

"No!" he yelled. "..We're not over until I say so!"

…

At that time, he couldn't understand where this strong source of motivation came from.

But now, looking at him and Meredith who sat beside him, it made everything clear.

Sévir slouched against the cart's wall, his sigh barely audible.

The trip was going to take a while.