Mika noticed a young man and young woman both staring at the Defiant with widened eyes. He raised an eyebrow and approached her, hands behind his back.

"Hello, there, sir, ma'am." Mika introduced himself. "Commander Mika Cadenza of the Kintas Fleet, and yes that's my ship. Beauty, ain't she." he smiled, offering to shake hands with them.

I closed my eyes... did that just happen? How did he know about the journey...? Wait, Hector had to talk to my parents... Camos had to talk to me... so Troy must have told him, using logical deduction. Then again, is it really logical deduction if I just guess? Is it logical just if I think so? I'm not sure, maybe it was, but that would just make me more unsure. Also, did M really just leave the building? Then again, a lot of healers disagreed on that point. Some said it was good to get a walk after healing so you could feel relaxed, others said that the patient needed plenty of rest. I wasn't sure what to think, so I walked around the village. I realized this would be the last time I'd see it in a while... I suppose I would make this something to remember then.

I took a good look around Jopo... every detail seemed magnified to me, the snow, the buildings, the footprints... everything. I decided that I should say goodbye now... my heart felt strange again. I suppose that was sadness. It was strange... I didn't know many of the villagers that well. Indeed, many of the farewells only felt semi-genuine... when I came back, I would talk more to the townspeople, I promised myself that. By then, hopefully I will have learned a lot more magic so I could spend time with the other villagers. Of course, there was one person that I dreaded saying goodbye to. It was strange to think that any conversation with Jack would be sad... but I thought it would be. I was right.

I found him while walking towards his house. Actually, it would be more accurate to say HE found me.
"Hey, Ewyn!" I heard the all too familiar yell. My first and only friend walked up to me. He was smiling but I couldn't help feeling it was a bit... forced? Did he know about my journey? Then again, I had told a lot of people, and news travels fast in Jopo.
"Hi Jack..." I said. I wasn't exactly sure what to say. What did you say to someone you knew you weren't going to see for a while?

"Listen... about your journey. Good luck. No, you don't need luck, you've always been the village prodigy. Just... stay safe alright? Things are going to be different without you around." Jack said. I looked at his eyes... they were sad, yet he was trying to remain happy. I decided to say something.
"Jack... thanks. Your judgement is questionable at times, but you're a good friend and you're a good person. The world needs more people like that... the kind of people that want to help the world. Also... don't be sad. It doesn't look natural on you... this is a happy occasion. When I come back, I'll be wiser, older, and better at magic. So... you better improve as well." I said. Jack finally smiled a genuine smile.

"Well... this conversation is sort of finished... I'll miss you Ewyn. Before you leave though... how about one more duel?" He said, smiling. I nodded, and walked twenty paces away from him.
"This is... strangely reminiscent to how we first met, or at least I think so, but that look in your eye tells me you think so as well." I said. That memory was a good one... I was nine at the time, Jack and I met through a tournament that was set up. We were opponents and we had a good match, Jack and I became friends after that. I think Jack won that time... which was good in the long run, because my defeat made me improve a lot. Despite how goofy Jack was, he was a rather good dark mage.

Mage duels take many different forms, but the most simplest was, well... simple. Two opponents faced each other twenty paces away. One of the mages, usually the challenger, would cast an offensive spell, while the other mage defended themselves. Then they'd switch the attacking and defending roles until someone got hit. Non-lethal spells only, of course.

We had a pretty good duel, a few people even watched. It was a battle of endurance, to see who'd get weak first. Jack kept up really well, but eventually he was exhausted... of course he refused to give up. So what happened was that he tried to defend against a spell I reluctantly cast and got hit with it. Thankfully it was a weak spell, but Jack still fell to the snow of Jopo. I helped him up, and he smiled at me.

"Congrats Ewyn, you win this round... that makes our score seven-seven!" He said. I had to smile, he actually kept score of the duels we had.
"Anyway... you need to get some rest Ewyn, I'll be fine. You better become stronger, or you'll be in for a surprise when you get back." He said in a friendly banter. He stretched out his hand, and I shook it. After that, I went home.

I made sure I had everything I needed... scrolls, magic books, regular books, food, supplies, extra mage robes... everything was there. I took a look at the sky... it was Dusk, but I needed to sleep early. I liked the dusk most... there's not too much light or darkness. Perfect harmony... I wonder if our world can reach that harmony? Maybe I'll reach it... or at least help someone else reach it. I promised that to myself. Promises to myself... to some that's silly, but I never broke a promise if I couldn't help it, and even if I couldn't, I'd try and find some way to keep it. I think that's a nice trait to have... of course, I could be biased since it's a trait I have, but at least I think it's a nice trait to have.

The next day
~~~~~~~~~
I woke up early the next day. I went over to my companions house to wake him up. His parents were already up of course ready to say goodbye to their son.
If only I had parents I thought
"Ah, your majesty" Greeted the father "Please, come in."
"Thank you." I said "Where is your son?"
"Downstairs in his room" Said the mother
"Thanks!" I said
I went downstairs then I took out a Horn that I bought at he market. I pressed the horn to my lips and started to play reveille... loudly.
"GAHHHGH!"
Eywn fell out of his bed.
"Haha." I shouted "Get your stuff, Boy!"
"We have a boat to catch!"
I ran back upstairs
"You might want to get up here quickly I have a surprise for you!"

Kea stared. And stared. She wanted to jump down from the deck of her ship, wrap her arms around the newcomer, and never let go; but she was preoccupied by the flaming magic that was flowing haywire through her body. Words and their definitions coursed through her mind, new words that she could never have imagined existed, ideas that seemed far beyond the reach of comprehension.

Electricity --- who would have thought of creating lightning in order to make things work? Computers --- by the Gods, they made her ridiculous little pulley and gear systems seem like a toddler's chew toy in comparison! Physics --- Physics! What a beautiful thing! Such a wonderful phenomenon, to have rules within which the universe must flow, to have unwritten, unspoken laws to govern the way things exist!

It was all too much. She swayed, at the edge of the deck, ten feet above the dock --- which was no longer grand, but pathetic --- and tumbled over the gunwale, the world going black as she fell.

Narome's mind froze. No... he couldn't allow this girl to be like the one he remembered from all those years ago. In his mind, the girl's fall was like an eternity. No. She was so reminiscent of the girl he used to know. He could not allow this to happen.

He sprinted like never before. His heart raced. He didn't care if she knew who he was anymore. This was neccesary. She plummeted further still...
"No! NO!"
A moment later, and he wouldn't have made it. He just barely caught her, using his punctors as well as his arms. The adrenaline evaporated and a huge wave of relief passed over him. The girl was safe. Maybe the newcomer had done something...?
"Hey... wake up!"

She awoke within seconds, her mind somehow managing to process all the new information and store it away in parts of her brain that she didn't know existed. She kept her eyes closed for a moment, savouring the feeling of complete and utter understanding, of total immersion in the machine --- then she remembered that she had just fallen from the edge of her ship, and yet was somehow still alive.

The 'how' seemed to be answered by the warmth of flesh beneath her, cradling her almost tenderly. But something about it felt . . . off. She couldn't place it, but something about the arms that held her was strange.

"Hey... wake up!" The voice --- a familiar voice, Narome's voice --- came from just above her. She opened her eyes slowly, having to squint to adjust to the blinding light that shone from the Commander's ship.

In the violent glow, she saw Narome clearly. She saw the green tattoo across his face, the mottled skin of the arms that held her so carefully . . . and suddenly, the feeling of strangeness clicked into place.

Instead of feeling two arms holding her . . . she felt four.

She screamed and struggled out of his grasp. Her head spun viciously, a wave of dizziness overpowering her, and she collapsed back onto the wooden planks of the dock when she tried to stand.

"It's you," she shrieked, trying to drag herself down the dock, away from him, without aggravating her dizziness any further. "You're the Tondoe! Help! Somebody help me, please! HELP!"

It was almost tragic. He'd done what many would consider good, even heroic... but in Narome's efforts to make himself hated, he had also made it impossible to make himself loved or anything in between. Of course, this was his plan to begin with, but it still didn't make him feel anything but sorrow.

"You're the Tondoe! Help! Somebody help me, please! HELP!"

Narome didn't attempt to escape. He didn't attempt to stop her. He simply gazed at her with a look of sadness and regret.
What was he doing? She wasn't the girl he used to know. He shouldn't have felt compassion of any kind. He was already beginning to get lost in his thoughts. He had even forgotten about the sudden newcomer.

Kea froze suddenly. The dizziness subsided slowly and she sat up, a look of absolute confusion on her face. She looked back at Narome in wonder.

He was just sitting there where she had left him, watching her with one of the most sorrowful looks she had ever seen. Something inside her snapped. He hadn;t chased after her, or stabbed her, or killed her. He had, in fact, saved her. And how had she repaid him? She cringed as she thought of the words that had just left her mouth. She could still taste them on her tongue, like some sort of bitter poison.

He was, apparently, a monster. He had killed and maimed innumerable people, innocent people. She had seen the after-affects of his attack first-hand. But he had saved her, when he hadn't needed to. He had gone out of his way to protect her.

Mabe he wasn't such a monster, after all.

She remembered what he had said earlier: "Well, I don't really have a home anymore. That... 'Tondoe Menace' would be responsible for that." How many people had reacted in the same way she had, just because of what he had unwillingly become? How many times had he been shouted at, screamed at, insulted by people who would never understand him? How many times had he given up on loving people, caring for people, because of the actions done by people like her?

She felt sickened with herself. She had always prided herself on being remarkably open-minded (she had to be, or else she would never have done any experimentation with her magical abilities at all) and now, it was as though she had betrayed the very fabric of her being.

"I-I'm sorry," she gasped. "I . . ." But she knew that nothing she said would repair the damage she had done. More assertive action had to be taken.

She got to her feet and walked back to where he still sat, immobile. She stood over him for a moment, her green eyes meeting his gaze levelly before she spoke again. "You saved my life." She dropped to her knees beside him and reached out. Her hand cradled the side of his face as she leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek.

"Thank you," she breathed into his ear.