Academy days (Book 2 of IA)

[16] Reunion...A good one this time

The sun began to drop, and so did the temperature.

"There." Veritas stopped and pointed from the top of the snowy hill.

From grooming lights at the edge of the horizon, stood a dark silhouette of an enormous structure stood wrapped in the blizzard.

"Is that?...." My voice began.

"Yes, the centre, The Fortress of Night." Veritas finished off.

Bits of the legend came back to me. Sartorius had told it to me back when I first came across Runannan's cut. Which reminds me RIP Sartorius and the other veterans whom I didn't get to learn their names.

May all your souls rest in heaven...

"I sense 3 heat signals below." Kuro said all of a sudden.

"Where?" I asked instinctively.

She silently pointed down.

Even without the blizzard it was already to see, since it was all white and the landscape and the sky were pretty much blurred into one. Then after a good hard look, I spotted 3 tiny dots moving sluggishly across the snow.

"It's them: the annoying red hair man, the noisy Roshan women...and a blue hair girl..." Kuro's brows ceased.

"Huh...I thought it was only 2 a group...oh wait that means they met up?"

"Correct. Their situation must be very much like ours." Veritas commented.
Silence was exchanged, as our trio stared downhill again.

"Should I shoot them?" Kuro asked with a poker face.

"NO!...Actually go ahead and shoot Rumble, I don't care about him." I said, being a true friend.

"Still a waste of ammo."

At that remark, I let out a bursting chuckle, then quickly regained myself again.

"Veritas." I said, facing her.

"Yes?" She replied with a smile.

"Can you take us down there with your flight magic again?"

***

Carrying two people, especially one inside a MS put a greater strain on Veritas's magic, but if that was the case, she wasn't showing it. And there we were. The 6 of us face to face, reunited under the pale moon spotlight. Neither side spoke a word. Using the time of silence, I took the moment to analyze them all. Lebi looked the same as the last time I saw her, with a few more splotches of dirt on her uniform. Rumble and Isa on the other hand were wearing their MS and covered in a green goo. Surprisingly Lebi, probably the shyest of all of us, spoke first:

"Veritas? Oh, sorry, sorry, I mean Lady Aeolus." Lebi waved her hand frantically in apology.

"There is no need for formalities here, Lebi. We're are all friends here right?" Veritas smiled with ease.

Isa narrowed her eyes at Veritas, but said nothing. The silence stretched on a little wee bit too long for my liking, and seeing no one would break the ice, I spoke up:

"You guys must be heading to the centre as well right?"

"Centre? I don't know what that even is. We were just running away from the night claws back there. You guys should have seen Lebi in action, she was like Bala-bing and bala boom! And BAM! All the night claws chasing us are all dead in the water!" Rumble exclaimed.

"Stop it! You're flattering me!" Lebi flustered.

Since when did the two of them get so close?