Love Can Save {An Aphmau Fanfiction}

Emma

Amongst the crush of visitors to Phoenix Drop, I walked as unobtrusively as I could, the cowl of my cloak pulled low over my face. I didn't know how many people had been here a year and a half ago, when Zane had his show, and I wasn't sure how those who had been here would react to seeing me. Well, if they even recognized me. I'm sure my face had been one of the first people forgot in the excite-in the chaos. Besides, the cowl kept the torrent of rain out of my eyes. I hadn't seen such a rainy day in weeks.

I felt the hard stares of the guards boring into the back of my skull, but I prayed to Irene that they wouldn't bother me. All I wanted to do was to find my brother and not be bothered by anyone else. Of course, I wasn't sure how difficult that would be to actually accomplish that. From what I remembered, Phoenix Drop was actually a pretty big village, and who knew if he was actually in Phoenix Drop.

At the moment, my only plan was to simply wander around and hope to find someone I recognized. Not like there were many people I knew in this village. Beside my brother, I had only briefly conversed with the Lady Aphmau, as well as a blue-haired woman (Cate? Kylie? Kim?) and a blue-haired man who I was pretty sure was called Dante, but I could be completely wrong. Now I couldn't very well just walk up to the Lady, so I had to keep my fingers crossed that I would run into one of the other two.

My sword was strapped across my back in an attempt to not frighten off anyone, and to avoid trouble. A dagger was tight against my right calf, and another rested against the opposite forearm. Keeping my cloak pulled low in the summer heat, I wandered through the village for hours, my right hand constantly drifting to the empty space that my sword usually occupied.

In the end, I changed my target to a place to spend the night. This search had obviously been fruitless, and I was beginning to doubt that my brother was even in the village at the moment. The sun was sinking low on the horizon, fading rays breaking through the dark clouds, and yet somehow I found myself back in that market square where everything had gone south. The stones under my feet still had a darkened hue under the inch of water, and I remembered watching the werewolf girl falling here, her mission to save the Lady's daughters complete.

"Hello?" I whirled around, the dagger sliding down my left arm to rest in my grip. I heard the retaliating scrape of metal against leather, and it took all my self-control to fight down the Shadow Knight instincts that told me to attack. I peered into the downpour, trying to make sense of the figure in front of me.

"I'm going to have to ask you to put that dagger down." Even with a light and joking tone, I could tell this person wouldn't hesitate to strike. The figure stepped into one of the last beams of light, and I slipped the dagger away, knowing that flashing a weapon in this square was not the smartest move. Standing in front of me with hair like snow was a man, shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows and no jacket to protect him from the rain. Strands of his hair hung into his eyes, but the crooked grin in his pale features proved that he truly didn't care about the weather.

"I apologize. I'm just on edge." That was the first excuse that popped into my head, not wanting him to know anymore about me than he needed to. He certainly didn't need to know that everyone was a threat in my eyes, and that in this village I was terrified of being thought of as one of Zane's minions that had brought such destruction a year ago.

"In these times? Now whatever could there possibly be to make a beautiful woman such as yourself anxious?" His hands had slipped in his pockets, but his carefree attitude did little to hide the fighting stance he stood in.

"My hood's still up," I reminded him, still tense. It was hard to tell if his teasing was meant to put me at ease or to unsettle me. Either way, it wasn't going to work.

"Ah, but you have a wonderful voice," he replied, coming closer towards me. I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest for warmth.

"As lovely as this is, I don't suppose you could tell me where I could find an inn?" His gaze lifted up to the rainy sky above my head, hopefully in thought. I took the time to study him, knowing that he looked familiar but unable to put my finger on it.

"Unfortunately, I believe all of the rooms are occupied tonight. As they are every night, You see, there's always pilgrims and travelers coming to Phoenix Drop, and they take all the rooms up before dinnertime." He tilted his head, obviously trying to discern something from my cloaked form. "I have a friend who's a healer; I can see if you could stay with her. Or I have a spare room at my house."

I took a step back, beginning to shake my head. "No, thank you. I'll just find a place to camp."

"I promise, I don't mean you any harm. Besides, Katelyn would kill me if she knew I left you to fend for yourself on such a dreary night." The name rang a bell, and I paused in my backwards motion.

"Katelyn... she's the feisty one with blue hair?"

His eyebrows rose. "You've met Katelyn before?"

"I..." I faltered, wondering how much to tell him. But if he knows Katelyn, either as a lover or good friend I can't tell, but... Katelyn was close to Aphmau and Laurance. I should be able to trust this man. "I was here. When... when Zane forced me and my brother to stand and watch." I raised my chin, figuring that if he was indeed trustworthy, he would understand what I meant.

He did. "So you're Emma. I'll admit, I've been curious about Laurance's little sister. But please, let me offer you a place to sleep. If only for the night." I relented, talented enough at reading emotions to see that he was serious about his offer. But I wanted to try one more thing first.

"Can you tell me where I can find Laurance?" He shrugged, beginning to turn and motioning for me to follow.

"He's been on a scouting mission with Garroth, Dante, and Lucinda for the past few weeks. They're looking for where Tu'la is before they attack the village. And, I can assure you that I have absolutely no idea when they are meant to return. Although, everyone keeps saying that the longer it takes for them to find Tu'la, the longer it will take Tu'la to find us."

"But it could also mean that they've been captured," I retaliated, drawing my cloak closer around my form.

He sighed, shaking his head and splashing water against the side of my face. "And therein lies the heart of our troubles." He glanced sideways, obviously still trying to discern my features from under the cowl. "Come on, my house is only a few minutes away. I think Katelyn picked up a stew from one of the market stands."

He was right. In just a few minutes, he was leading me up the porch steps, heading toward a door framed in golden light. "Katelyn!" he called, shaking his head like a dog. "I brought a guest for the night!" He grinned at me, and I noticed his bright green eyes for the first time.

The door swung open, and there was the blue-haired woman I remembered, half-dressed in her armor. Feeling self-conscious, I lowered my cowl, preparing to introduce myself again.

"Emma," she recalled, beating me to it. "Looking for Laurance?" I nodded, marveling at the fact she could remember my face so easily. She must have caught sight of the thoughts written over my face and smiled ever so slightly, stepping back to allow me and obviously her lover into the house. "You and your siblings might not be related, but you act very similar. And it is a very Laurance thing to wander around in this storm until dark, looking for your brother." I dipped my head, finding smiles or happiness hard after so long spent killing and away from society.

"Thank you for offering up your house for the night." The man followed me into the house, throwing himself onto a couch in a display of dramatic exhaustion. Katelyn pushed him off, throwing a towel at him as he lay on the floor now, mock hurt spread across his face. She turned back to me, her smile still there as she offered to take my cloak.

"Of course. Travis knows as well as I do that we can't let you wander around Phoenix Drop all night, or even camp in the forest. These are dangerous times, even for a talented warrior like yourself." I shrugged off my soaked cloak, and the man, Travis, whistled at the sword I still had strapped to my back.

"It's a good thing you're on our side, Emma. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that weapon." He had pushed himself back up to his feet, scrubbing at his hair in an attempt to dry it. I said nothing but rather slid the scabbard off to rest against the wall, along with the boots I had been wearing for days now.

Katelyn offered me another towel before gesturing towards what I could only assume was the kitchen. "Come, let's get some warm food in you. You can tell us where you've been this past year and a half, and we'll fill you in on Laurance and Cadenza." I nodded again, padding after her to the warmth of the kitchen, more than ready for a hot meal and a soft bed for the first time in a very, very long time.