Light

Chapter Nine

Lina looked up and around the village that they had transported, and grimaced. "Well, it looks like this one's been sent to dreamland as well."

Sure enough, sleeping people littered the streets, snuggled up to whatever as if they were having the best nap they had in ages. Some people, however, were shifting in their sleep, as if they were part of some vivid dream.

Nino walked around the bodies, staring up at the buildings. "Wow... This is not the villa of Anistar I know... The buildings are so tall..."

"Anistar?"

Nino glanced at Lina, picking up her cloak's trains. "It's a small village in Pherae that Lord Eliwood stopped by after he recruited Jaffar and I."

Priam kneeled down to a small child, about the age of fourteen, and checked his pulse. "They're asleep, alright. Thank goodness they're not dead yet."

Nino turned around to face Priam, confusion on her face. "Why would they be dead? They're just asleep."

"You can't feed yourself when you're asleep, nor can you drink. If they stay asleep for a long time, possibly a week or so, they'll die of either malnutrition or dehydration. Or both."

Nino grimaced, turning slightly green. "... Oh."

Lina walked up to a fruit stand and grabbed an apple. Eating it, she slowly strolled around the village looking for clues.

"Lina?"

Lina whirled around to see Priam and Nino studying at a map. She ran over there to see what the deal was. "Hm?"

Priam glanced up to see Lina approach the two, and wrinkled his nose at the sight of Lina's apple. "Did you really just steal an apple?"

"What?" Lina shook her head, poring over the map that Nino was holding. "It's not like the vendors are going to miss one apple once they wake up."

Nino held the map aloft so that all of them could see it. "So right now, we're in Anistar. I'm fully assuming that Serra is doing business somewhere around..." She took a piece of charcoal and drew an oval around a small symbol. "Around here. This is one of the St. Elimine convents, and while it's not the same one that Serra grew up in, it's the closest convent to where Matthew put Serra to sleep. It's due south to where we stand."

"So then, what are we waiting for?" Priam asked, hefting Ragnell on his shoulder. "Shouldn't we go now?"

"I'm... Not sure." Nino sighed, rolling up the map. "If I know Elibe well enough, it's covered with thieves and brigands like ants on a mound of sugar. We should also rest, pack some supplies for the road."

"We shouldn't have to worry about the bandits," Lina quipped, glancing at all of the asleep bodies. "They should be asleep too."

"But we still need supplies. It's a three day journey, and Serra might not have the animals in an eternal sleep. We should still be cautious."

Priam shrugged, and started walking away from the girls. "I'll go look for shelter. You guys... Do the map stuff!"

Nino glanced at Priam, then whispered, "Hey, you two friends? Or best friends?"

"Friends," Lina snorted, looking over the map. "You're just like that bloody ghost."

Nino shrugged. "I dunno. You two seem pretty close for friends."

"Let's focus, shall we? I want to take down this here Cleric."