Avarein: Vant

Chapter 24: Cure

"Well, we're here. The city of Oaza."

The tourist attraction was exactly like it was built up to be. Buildings of white stone, each one unique in its own little way and looking like a small sculpture, curving towards the second floor and ending at a pointed roof. Tiles on each roof were each individually differently coloured, creating a sea of rainbow which reflected the morning dew. The buildings were made in symmetrically pleasing rings, around five in total, circling a sparkling lake. The water there was cleaned daily, being one of the main attractions of the city; rumour said that drinking the water could increase the rate that mana was generated in the body although nobody had fully tested it. On the south side the buildings were raised in each ring to match with the hill, the tiled stone walkways between buildings being stairways instead.

"I can't wait!"

... for my massage. Greva's tragic stiff shoulders was finally going to be cured. Her cat-like posture wasn't exactly the best for her back.

"This is going to be great!"

"Yeah, I'm really excited."

... to go to the museum. A certain two males had learned about the hero's exhibit that was on there at all times, showing off armour and weaponry from legends past. They were intrigued to say the least.

Morma was just trying to hold back any drool. Carte had certainly been hyping up this sweets shop for a week or so now, so it was understandable that she would be hyped up to taste 'chocolate' once more.

Carte could barely manage to hold the wave of people back, forcing them to instead sign in at the inn and unpack their belongings before they all scampered off. By the time they finished the act of moving all of their bags inside, it was slightly past noon with a side of groaning and complaining. Seeing how eager most of his companions were to go on their adventures, he decided they should first have lunch at a nice pasta place he had heard about from a traveller a few months ago instead of letting them go free. Fiara silently thought he derived some sort of sick pleasure from everyone's look of desperation, but decided against commenting on it.

Seeing even their legs with excitement after finishing their meals, Carte finally felt a little remorse about keeping them waiting so long. Pairing Morma with Greva and Vant with Andalt, he sent them off with a smile on his face. As they ran off, he took a moment to soak in that he was essentially a child wrangler before being dragged back to the current moment by a tugging on his arm.

"Should we go?"

Fiara seemed surprisingly eager, casually stretching out under her hood. He had already warned her about what they were about to do, but she seemingly didn't care about the danger. Perhaps she was a little too trusting, but at least that made everything smoother for Carte, so he just counted it as a blessing.

"Let's make this quick. I want to have fun too."

Or perhaps she was good at self motivating.

+++

"Vin, are you in?"

The room was dark, to say the least. It was the only house in the whole city with black windows, impossible to see through and dull compared to the standard stained glass that decorated every building. There wasn't a single source of light outside of the sunlight coming in through the door, splashing a little bit of brightness onto a pair of beds with ghostly white sheets and blankets and table between them. The surface of the table were filled with all kinds of plates, cups and books in a messy manner, almost as if someone had just dumped them all without a caring how it looked. Fiara almost instinctively took a step back but caught herself as Carte marched inside, opening a skylight with a flick of his wrist and letting the light both blind Fiara momentarily and reveal the rest of the room.