Search of hopes (chapter 2)

“M-Mister David?!” said the girl. The angelic face of teen girl showed quite a shock. It was Irina Sykes.

“Uh… Irina…? What are you doing in this place?” David tried to hide his surprise as well and spoke with his casual coolness and composure. The flame of hope he had for the previous seconds just went out.

“I-I am waiting for Sheryl, Mister David.” Irina responded. She could never expect that she will meet David here.

“Sheryl, the Cosmos Maiden you spoke of?”

“You are very true, Mister David.”

“So, about how long have you been waiting here?” David was actually quite curious, as to why Irina wore a different attire than she used to. Right now, she was dressed like a common townfolk, and that was why he had mistaken her for that girl. She still looked mesmerizing, even with that attire.

“Umm, I don’t really know, but I remember seeing one Narwhal flying on the sky.”

The habit of Narwhal, or the rare sky dragons, is to seek food at noon, when the sun is in its highest position at the sky. Usually about two hours later they are heading back to their nests, as the frequency of wind breeze in Fornstrand increases.

“It must be..”

“Yes, quite a long time Mister David,” she answered with her usual cute voice.

“She must have forgotten about the appointment, Irina.” Though the absent-mindedness of Miss Sheryl was obvious, Irina still believed in her. Still, this girl's innocence and naivette was really quite appealing to him. “Besides, it is going to get dangerous here, especially in the dark. The one-eyed monsters, manhunters are most likely to appear… Let me escort you back home.”

“I thought that would be so. But please, Mister David, I really want to wait for a little longer ” Irina pleaded.

“Well then, if you say so...” Somehow the charming voice of Irina was so hard to reject, just the same as her high-spirited brother used to be.

“I don’t want to be a bother to you, Mister David. You can go ahead. I believe you have a lot of stuff to take care of. I will be fine with this invincible elixir from the famous scientist we had assisted before. I can go back safely, I am sure of it. And armorshells, I can handle them with a little bit of fighting skills Miss Emmy had taught me. And… it's also thanks to you...” She smiled with her cute-looking face.

Her streak of stubbornness annoyed him a little. But her bravery to come here alone and her strong will to stay just reminded him of her brother, Rush.

“Then... I guess you left me with not many options...” He smirked and sighed He could not make her do things as he wished. Altough he was Lord of Athlum, he did not have much authority upon the Sykes siblings.

“But Mister David...”

“Irina, I have already given my word to keep you safe to your mother and I will keep my promise.”

Suddenly, there was an awkward stillness hanging between them, an uneasiness after he spoke those words. Before Irina finally broke the silence.

”Mister David…” she paused. David saw a bitter smile on her face for a few seconds before she turned her gaze up to the sky. ”Today is my brother’s birthday.”

Rush’s birthday? David looked at Irina. She had already seated herself on one of the rocks there. Her hands held one purple aster, which raised curiosity in David’s heart. Why does she love those purple asters so much?

“I know it sounds strange, Mister David, since he is a remnant. But Mom and Dad usually celebrated his birthday on this day. We were...” Irina fell silent as if she could not cope with the grief she felt and it was way too painful for her to reminisce. “Lately, I had been dreaming about him a lot. In my dreams he said he will come back.”

David walked closer to Irina and sat beside her. He knew her grief, he knew too well about the pain of losing someone, but yet he just could not find any words to say to her.

“Mister David... It may sound more than a little out of sense, but... Somehow I know he will back. I know he will.”

“Irina... “

“I have to do something. Mister David, I know, and you know that there is a way to revive him, right?”

If there was something like that, he definitely would... Suddenly he thought of Emma, the girl from his childhood, his father, his mother… It sounds too good to be true, right? Reviving dead people. It had never crossed his mind. The ancient folktales, telling the stories about reviving the lost ones usually end badly, whether the one who was revived is turned evil or the person who tried to bring back their lost one comes back insane. Too much horror was wrapped around those tales and death is definitely one giant mystery, as well as a certainty for those who live. There was almost nothing he could do but to accept it. Too much risk to try such things. But this girl with her appealing faith, how could he break her hopes?
“Well, there are... ways. But I am not quite sure myself.”

“Mister David, perhaps you might have missed the story of our fellow fighters back then?”

“Fellow fighters?”

“Yes, our fellow fighter, Rhagoh and his twin sister, Kate,” she responded.

Rhagoh, yes, he remembered him. He heard that Rush was travelling with him to Robelia castle, to find his sister.

” Do you plan on going to Robelia"?

She nodded.

”That is why I asked Sheryl, she is the closest person I can contact right now. As a beautiful Cosmos Maiden she is quite famous, people were talking about seeing her going out with Rhagoh,that is what I heard. I need to see Rhagoh to get the key to the Underground Tier.”

“I see..” replied David. Obviously Marina and John Sykes’ cleverness had been passed on Irina. She must have been thinking thoroughly about this. “But, who’ll take you there?”

“I have not decided that myself yet, Mister David. All I need now is to collect as much information as I can,” she gave him a would-you-come-with-me look.

David sighed. It would take time. Could he leave Athlum for that long? Considering the city's condition now, it seemed impossible for him to leave her when there was no guarantee that things were under control.

“Unfortunately, I am afraid that we have some problems in Athlum now, Irina.” David recognized the change in Irina's face; she looked worried.

“Has something worse happened, Mister David?”

Strangely enough, all the things that were occupying his head - his fear, his worry for Athlum and his insecurity - just escaped his mouth, with no resistance nor awkwardness that he usually felt when he was talking about his inner feelings to others. But with those attentive eyes of Irina, the words flowed smoothly, just like when he was with Rush or with his childhood girl-friend. Now the burden on his shoulders got somehow lighter.
“My apologies, Irina. I...” He felt ashamed that he was being so grumpy.

“Uh, you don’t have to, Mister David. I am glad if I can be of any help,” she smiled. “Anyway, Mister David, I believe that nothing bad can happen to Athlum, if you're in charge,” she said. “You had brought independence to Athlum so far.”

Nothing bad can happen to Athlum, if you're in charge. That very words of her touched his heart. Like a freshness of rejuvenating water in the middle of the burning heat of the Great Sand Sea. The words that his childhood girl-friend had also said. Those words were exactly the same words he longed to hear. He really longed to hear.

“I wish that is so, too,” David responded. He saw the same gleam of his childhood girl-friend in Irina’s eyes in an instant. A reassurance. He realized that even though the burden of leadership was on his shoulders, actually he wasn’t really struggling alone making decisions and defending Athlum. He had people beside him, whom he can always count on, some of them were his generals to support him.

“M-mister David? Haven’t you stared long enough?” She blushed and seemed to be trying to hide her face elsewhere.

“Uh, nnn, had I? Oh my apologies...” He was distracted. It was clear that he was lost in her eyes.

“Anyway, you are right, Irina.” He tightened grip on his rapier “I am coming with you.”

“But what about Athlum?”

“I figured it out. I need some help, I will be asking for joint forces from our fellow friends. They sure want to help, if it’s about reviving Rush. After that, perhaps I will be able to ask them for some help for Athlum too. With the strength of our fellow fighters - the Silver Falcons and the others, it will be a lot of help.” he winked.

“A warrior gathering! Yay! Thank you, Mister David!” Irina exclaimed happily. Her eyes were gleaming.

A reunion, wouldn’t it be nice?

“About armors for Athlumian soldiers, why don’t we go ask Gabriel from Celapaleis? He sells swords, doesn’t he? I wonder if he could give us a discount or perhaps something for credit?” She suggested enthusiastically.

“That would do for sure.” David smiled.
The sunset in Cape of Delusion could not have been more beautiful. The golden spark of sun rays reflected by the sea, like an awakening hope in their hearts. The warm feeling infiltrating the soul, the colours of water playing trick with their eyes, causing the breath to stop of amazement for the moment.

“Awww, see, what we have here! A nice couple, aren’t you? Lord David of Athlum and Lady Irina of Nagapur! I bet many ladies and lads would have their heart broken by now!”

“I-it’s not what you think... We...” David stammered. While David and Irina both amazed by the sunset view in Fornstrand, the sudden appearance of the blonde Cosmos Maiden surprised them. Somehow David felt as if he were caught red-handed by Emma or Torgal from skipping his duties. "I believe you have been misguided.”

"Hee-hee, you should see the look on your face. It was priceless!" Teased Sheryl.

“Sheryl!” shouted Irina. “What took you so long? I had been waiting for you! And where is Rhagoh? You supposed to bring him.” David was so relieved by the change of the topic.

“About that, err... I was about to decorate my room and decided to get some lilies. Somehow I got lost when I was looking for them and realized it was late, then I headed back to see Rhagoh. I found him in Nordenalm pub, the place we used to meet. ‘Come with me, I have an important matter to attend to.’ I said. Without much thinking, I grabbed his hand and dragged him along. However, he freed his hand and shouted, ’Stop! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!’ I was startled, Rhagoh has always been gentle in his manner. Before long, I realized it was Rhagoh's twin sister, Kate. ‘Get lost! Rhagoh's been doing business and he headed back to Celapaleis,' she said. ‘Why didn’t he tell me?’ I asked. ‘Listen, I am not his spokesman. Don’t get bitching with me. Leave me, the hell, alone!’ By that time, I knew it was really late and I rushed here.”

“Wait, Sheryl, what do you mean by 'Lady Irina of Nagapur'?”

“Huh? You sure missed a lot of news, Lord David.” Sheryl gave him a look of disbelief.

“It must be quite surprising for you, as it was for me, Mister David. The ceremony of me being titled 'Lady of Nagapur' was not officially announced yet. Only few people know about it, Miss Sheryl's one of them, since she is the Cosmos Maiden and will be taking part in preparing the ceremony. It was kept secret in order not to make the political stability of Nagapur worse. I believe the ceremony will be held in the coming week” Irina began to explain.”As you know, since Duke Hermeien’s gone, who was actually my own uncle and my grandpa now rules the Nagapur back, Mom was supposed to be the Duchess of Nagapur. However, Mom refused to stay in the castle, nor to be titled Lady Marina. She chose to continue doing researches in Academy and help Dad. Researching was the best thing she can do for the sake of the better world, she said. Especially without remnants, the advancement of technology is really needed. Miss Haruko had made a lot of projects, It seems the Academy got busier nowadays. Honestly, I want to help Mom and Dad with their research too. I like doing those stuff and working with them. But I could not choose that way then.”

“So, you are now Lady Irina of Nagapur...” David understood now as why she was dressed differently than she used to. She must have been sneaking out from the castle, leaving visistone message, just like she did when she headed alone to Darken Forest. That was also her reason to insist on waiting for Sheryl, because the opportunity for her to be able to get out from the Wyrmskeep must be really rare. He sighed at the thought of how bad he missed a lot of information. As the Chairman of the Congress, he should not miss such important issue.