Foes and Heirs: Segment One: The Easy Life

By Haroldosaur

Written throughout the summer of 2016

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SEGMENT 1 – THE EASY LIFE

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”

1: Warranted Suspicions

It was, on the whole, a sight not entirely unwelcome that awoke Iamos Wilder from his slumber. It admittedly could have been more comfortable – his ribs felt like they were being crushed – but this did little to dull his mood as he caught sight of the inquisitive eyes of his younger sister, Azura Wilder, turned on him. As he showed signs of consciousness, a beaming smile appeared on her face.

“Good morning, big brother!” She practically sang, leaning close to Iamos’ face as she announced her words.

“Your breath smells.” Iamos deadpanned in response.

“How rude!” His sister blanched as his statement and leaned back. “I’ve already brushed my teeth this morning!”

“I was kidding, Azura. Don’t worry about it.” Iamos rubbed his sister’s head affectionately as he sat up. “And how might you be this fine day?”

“I’m doing well, thank you very much.” Grinned Azura. “Just be careful with how you speak, brother – that sounded close to olde speech.”

“And so what if it does?” Rolling his eyes, Iamos slid his legs out of the bed covers as he continued to converse. “It’s not my vault my vocabulary is extensive, I read a lot.”

“Yeah, but they say that the Eeeevil one known as “TehDewd” will come all the way from Morcia to get you if you keep speaking it.”

“Considering we live on the other side of the continent and in a separate nation, I don’t think I have much to worry about.” Iamos laughingly acknowledged, beginning to dress himself; starting with pants, as most do. “So, what’s happening today?”

“Oh, not much.” Answered Azura. “Just come down for breakfast, because Rainer is waiting.”

“Call him “master”, Azura, not “Rainer”.”

“You know he hates being called master.” Iamos pulled himself into his jeans.

“That doesn’t change the fact that we should be respectful of his status.”

“Shouldn’t we also be respectful of his wishes?”

“Social conventions come first.”

“And how would you know so much about social convention? Last time I checked, you couldn’t even make eye contact with someone you didn’t know!”

“Oh, don’t bring that up.” Muttered Iamos as he finished clothing himself, sliding a violet shirt over his chest, before pulling jet black fingerless gloves over his hands.

“Fine I won’t. But hurry up, big brother, or Rainer’s going to be angry!”

“Good point. Come on!” Iamos grabbed his sister’s hand and the pair ran out of the door and down the antique wooden stairs of the house. Past the painstakingly crafted bannisters and over the cheap carpets, it took seconds for the two of them to arrive in the kitchen.

“Ah, you’re finally awake!” Rainer greeted them. “Good, good. Come, Iamos, sit down. You too, Azura.”

However, Iamos did not obey his master’s command as he would normally have done – he was too busy staring at the person who was eating a hearty breakfast besides Rainer.

It was the girl.

“So… she’s still here then?” He eventually managed to say.

“Oh, yes.” Rainer nodded.

“I see. Can we… talk about that? In private?”

Rainer’s brow furrowed. “If that is what you wish.” He rose from the table. “We’ll be back in a minute, Daiyu.”

The girl nodded, and Iamos and Rainer walked through the hallways until they were out of earshot. Once Rainer had affirmed that this was the case, he leant down to his apprentice.

“Now then, Iamos, what is it you wish to talk about?”

“Well, it’s about that girl – what did you say her name was, Die-you?”

“Daiyu.”

“Yes, thank you. Anyway, as you know, she tried to steal from us, and I had to catch her, and then you showed up, and… I don’t know… master, how can you be so sure that you’re doing the right thing? I know that you believe that circumstance forced her to steal from us, and I’m sorry if that’s the case, but I don’t understand how you can forgive her so easily for what she tried to do.”

Rainer stroked his chin, pondering Iamos’ statement.

“I see. You believe that we should not be so quick to trust this girl, considering when we met her she was attempting to steal from us.”

“Precisely sir.” Iamos bowed. “I just… would have thought that the matter would need to be given more time.”

“I understand where you’re coming from Iamos, but how about you listen before judging, hmm?” Rainer tipped his head to one side inquisitively – an endearing, childlike gesture of his. “I talked to young Daiyu last night, and questioned her motives, motivated by the same thing that motivates you now – I wanted to see if we could trust her. Well, the truth is, I believe we can. When I spoke to her, I was made aware of how she considered stealing a last resort, and has been travelling across the Cheinir Empire for years – yet, she can count how many times she’s stolen on the fingers of her hands. Most of her times is spent earning what she owns through work, or doing odd-jobs for people in exchange for supplies. I won’t go into the details, but let’s just say… she has had it rather rough.”

“So… circumstance, then?”

“I believe so. In any case, I have insured that she will never attempt to steal again – I have simply changed her circumstances.”

“Ah. Thank you master, for your clarification.” Ignoring his master’s reprimand of “Rainer”, Iamos nodded again, and smiled – though this facial expression quickly faded when he had another thought. “Wait a minute. When you say “changed her circumstances”, what do you mean by that?”

“I’ve given her a home here, of course.” Rainer shrugged as if it were the most obvious course of action. For a few long, terrible moments, Iamos was shell-struck.

“WHAT?!” He eventually managed to half-shout, half-splutter.

“Well, we did have the attic to use as a spare bedroom, and it’s not like we can’t feed or care for her…” Rainer pointed out as Iamos continued to lose all usage of his jaw. Eventually, he managed to say:

“It’s one thing to forgive, but it’s another thing to give her a place in our home? Master, I don’t understand how you can trust her so willingly-“ He was cut off by a knuckle rapping his temple.

“It’s RAINER!” The aforementioned man snapped, withdrawing his fist. “And I’ll tell you why I trust her. Because I believe that she trusts me.”

This cut Iamos off.

“We talked for a good amount of time after you had retired, you know.” Rainer chuckled. “And in that time, that girl – who hasn’t a friend in the world – opened her heart to me, and entrusted me with all of her burdens. And so, it seems the least I can do is trust her in return, and grant her this simple kindness. This is something that we owe to everyone.”

“You can’t do something like that for every person who opens their heart to you.” Iamos muttered, knowing even as he spoke that the dispute was lost. “Practicality aside, it doesn’t seem wise.”

“Is that so?” Rainer chuckled. “In that case, let me tell you a quick little story. One night, near a beachside town, there was a terrible storm and a tsunami. Whilst the townspeople were unhurt, a great deal of fish were washed up all along the beach and were left suffocating in the air. When one old man noticed this, he began to pick the fish up one by one and throw them back into the sea. It was not easy work for the old man – his joints were aching after years of living, and his muscles were worn down. But he still travelled along the beach, making slow progress, saving every fish he could. A little while later, another man came across the fellow and scoffed at him. “Foolish old man!” said he. “There are thousands of fish all along this beach. What difference does your effort make?” The old man, perspiring with said effort, lifted an enormous fish and heaved it back into the waves, where it swam off; free once again. After this, the old man turned to his heckler and smiled, before saying:

“It made a difference to that one.””

“Hmm… I get the moral.” Iamos conceded. “I just don’t know how I feel about this.”

“Ugh, you’re such a change-o-phobe!” Rainer scolded, rolling his eyes as he turned around. “It’s useless trying to get through to you when you’re like this. You’re going to have to come to terms with it in your own time.”

“So what should I do in the meantime?” Protested Iamos. Rainer turned around and smiled a fatherly smile in his direction.

“Come and have some breakfast, of course!”

Iamos raised an eyebrow at his mentor’s childlike enthusiasm, although he had a sneaking suspicion that he was involuntarily cracking a smile as well.

“I appreciate the offer, master, but I think I might take the chance now to… come to terms with it, as you said. The sooner I do that, the sooner it’s over and done with.”

Rainer shrugged. “Suit yourself. Although you’re missing out; I made pancakes. No condiments, though, you can thank your sister for that. Why I let her stay with us is beyond me sometimes…”

His good-natured grumbling faded away as the door to the dining room closed behind him, leaving Iamos with nought but his blessed solitude. However, he didn’t have a long time to savour being on his own.

“Hey loser.”

Iamos started and whipped around so fast he cricked his neck.

“Woa.” Mused the other person, watching as Iamos’ face lit up with pain and he hastened to massage his neck. “You trying to hurt yourself or are you just happy to see me?”

 “There a third option?” Muttered Iamos, though the small smile on his face indicated an answer closer to the latter. “Hi Loden.”

“Hi.”

“Question.”

“Shoot.”

“How did you even… get in?”

“Well, I have my metho-“

“It was the window, wasn’t it?” Iamos indicated exasperatedly to the accused piece of architecture.

“Yeah, it was.” Loden avoided Iamos’ gaze.

Iamos rolled his eyes.

“Want to go for a walk? We have… a lot to talk about, actually.”

“Sure.” Shrugged Loden. “It’s always entertaining to see you complain about something.”

“Trust me, this isn’t your conventional session of “rants with Iamos”. Just listen…”

**********

“So that’s how things are now? She’s just moving in with you guys?”

“So it seems.” Iamos lamented. “I… I’m not too sure how to feel about it myself.”

At this moment, Iamos was walking along a dirt track that ran through his village of residence, conversing with his best friend. The wind whistled through open windows as the pair walked aimlessly, taking the time to converse instead of trying to go anywhere. Occasionally the two would happen across someone else, but for the most part they were alone.

“Now there’s a shocker. Mr Socially Braindead, uneasy because someone he’s never met is moving in with him? Next you’ll be telling me that Azura is actually super chilled out and has a freakishly deep voice. Like, so masculine-”

“Loden, I’m being serious.”

“Sorry.” Loden leaned back as the two of them walked, staring up at the overcast sky. His hair, the colour of wet sand, flopped over his forehead and down his neck – and his amber eyes showed humour and attentiveness at the same time whilst he was stretching his well-built form. “Didn’t know it was a crime to try and lighten the mood.”

“It isn’t, I just… I don’t know. I’m feeling really weird right now, ok?”

“Okay, fine. But define weird.”

“I mean… I don’t know! Distraught, hassled, rushed-“

“Guilty?”

There was a brief silence, then Iamos stopped walking. Loden turned and saw what must have been an odd expression on his face, because he stopped dead. What could it have been? Resentment? Realisation? Anxiety? Why was it that he had the words, but could not match them to the expressions? Why was that so hard?

“Yes. Yes, I’m feeling guilty.”

“What about?”

“About… being as distrustful as I was. I mean, I guess I had a right, because… you know, thief and all that, but by this point I should have learned to respect my master’s judgement.”

“I see… so you feel remorse, huh?” That’s also quite unlike you. Are you sure you’re feeling alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Stop ragging on about how it’s weird that I’m showing emotion. I’m not a robot.”

“Do you want a captcha to prove it?”

“No, Loden, I don’t need a captcha OR your attitude.”

“Fine, fine. Anyway, you’re not feeling great? Feeling… guilty, even?”

“Yep.”

“Glad that’s cleared up. The real question is, what are you going to do about these feelings?”

“What do you mean?”

“According to your analysis, you’re feeling guilty. It’s not a nice feeling. Being a regular mortal, I can relate to such feelings. So what are you going to make you feel not guilty?”

“I could… um… well, I could apologize to Daiyu?”

“Precisely. When a pretty girl comes to live with you, you probably shouldn’t act like an antisocial jerk around her. At least, not for too long.”

Iamos smirked. “How would you even know that she’s pretty?”

“I can sense it.”

“Wierdo.”

“Says the guy who can move stuff around with his mind– oh, hey Yatsu!”

This last part was directed at someone, obviously an acquaintance of Loden’s, whom had spotted the pair and was making his way over to them.

“Hey Loden!” Yatsu said in response. “How are you?”

“Good, you?” Loden grinned his trademark roguish grin.

“Yeah, great! We’re gonna have to start work on the harvest soon, by the looks of it. The fields are almost completely packed!”

“Already? Sounds like a good haul.”

“Looks like it, too. Hey, what about you? How’s the ol’ training going?”

“Pssh.” Scoffed Loden. “They should make me captain of the guard and be done with it already.”

Conversation of this sort flowed between Yatsu and Loden for the next several minutes, with Iamos watching with what he hoped was a neutral expression on his face. Eventually, the two said goodbyes and Loden turned back to Iamos. As he did so, Iamos caught a look on Yatsu’s face that he was familiar with.

“You alright?” Loden queried, noticing how Iamos was staring at the retreating figure of Yatsu. At Loden’s question, he stopped staring and instead focused his attention on the ground below his feet.

“There’s one of those looks again.” Iamos murmured.

“What would you say it was?” There was no teasing from Loden now, no light-heartedness. It was one thing Iamos truly appreciated about his friend. When he knew something was wrong, he didn’t act idiotically or in an insensitive manner.

“I’d say seventy per cent or so of it was distaste… maybe a bit of anger? The rest, if I had to take a gander, was fear.”

“I thought you didn’t know how to identify fear?”

“I think, when I saw how scared Daiyu was when we first met, her expression of fear stuck out to me. Now I think I can identify it better…”

“Well… that’s, uh, good, right?” Loden sounded unsure of his words, but pressed on. “Regardless of who or what you are, you’re gonna encounter a lot of fear in the world. Better you learn how to see it now, right?”

A long silence followed his words.

“Iamos?”

“I’m okay. Yeah, that’s it. I’m okay.” Iamos muttered to himself, before turning to Loden. “It was just a look, right?”

“Yeah, exactly!” Loden thumped his friend on the back. “Just a look, man. Nothing to worry about. That’s why they say “IF looks could kill”, because they can’t! You’re fine!”

“Good… Ugh, sorry about that. Stuff like that shouldn’t still get to me, but it does.”

“Hey, no problem. If I were in your position, I don’t know how I would cope. I mean, you only really talk to me, Rainer and Azura, and for what? Because everyone else doesn’t like you for what you freaking ARE? That’s gotta be hard on you, right?”

“Actually, I appreciate the solitude.” Grinned Iamos. “I’m my own favourite company.”

“I resent that!” Chucked Loden, playfully swiping at his friend’s shoulder. “Anyway, where were we?”

“On the subject of apologies.” Iamos’ smile faded. “And how to go about them.”

“Well, don’t plan it.” Deadpanned Loden. Iamos sent him a shocked expression, but he ploughed on regardless.

“I mean, you’re probably not going to remember anything in the heat of the moment, why even bother? ‘Sides, it’s not like’s she’ll be much better, it sounds to me. You’re going to have to make sure you don’t frighten the poor girl away.”

“And how would I do that?”

“Speak to her as you would a gentle, fragile forest creature.” Explained Loden, wrapping his arm around Iamos’ shoulder (much to the other’s chagrin) as he indicated with his free hand. “Or, better yet – a pet animal. You’ve had pets before, right?”

“A dog.” Iamos answered.

“Right. Right. Anyway, when you’re getting to know these things, you go up to ‘em and you be all soft-spoken – in other words, you make the first move – and then you just have to sit back. And wait for them to come to you in their own time. If they don’t, then just back off and try again later.”

“And you’re sure that roping humans into the same category as pets in terms of psychological treatment is an efficient strategy?” Wondered Iamos, decidedly sceptical of his friend’s words.

“We are animals, after all.” Loden reasoned. “We have that same core psychology. You just need to be nice, and gentle, and not trap her using alchemy again.”

“To be fair, she was stealing from us.” Protested Iamos gently. “What was I supposed to do?”

“I’m not blaming you for that. Thief, scoundrel, I shall never forgive thee, blah blah blah. Ignore what you’ve already done. Just… make sure you don’t do anything quite so antisocial now that we know she’s going to be staying with you for possibly a long time.”

“Right.” Harrumphed Iamos. “Simple enough.”

“In theory.”

“Don’t quote all my doubts back at me, Lode-stone.”

“What are best friends for?”

“Not that, that’s for certain.”

“You’re so sensitive. Come on, what do you want to do now?”

“What do you mean? Shouldn’t I-“

“Not yet, boy wonder. You need some time to get used to the idea of talking to a person you haven’t met before, I know you. Don’t rush stuff like this. Seriously.”

“Well… okay.” Iamos conceded. “If you’re sure.”

“Sure I’m sure!” Loden nudged his friend in the side. “Just make sure you actually get it over with by the end of the day, you know? Too long, and it won’t look good.”

“Does the timing have to be so precise?”

“Trust me on this, man! I recommend this evening or something. You have enough time to wrap your head around all this socialising stuff, but it’s not too long since the incident, so she won’t think that you’re some jerk who only apologizes to people when he’s coerced into doing it.”

“Aren’t you coercing me into it now?” Pointed out Iamos.

“Well, yeah, but she doesn’t need to know that!” Loden countered.

“Fair enough.” Iamos conceded. Loden’s chatter continued to fill his ears, but it slowly faded into background noise as the alchemist pondered a strategy for the coming trial.

**********

“Hey.”

Iamos’ voice startled the girl, Daiyu, who whipped her head around to look at the young man before shooting back to her original position and exhaling a squeak of surprise. Rubbing his head awkwardly, Iamos took a step forwards on the metal balcony, hoping he hadn’t scared off any meagre chance of conversation. The meagre light of the crescent moon and the stars surrounding it provided the illumination for the setting, and Iamos took confidence from the fact that neither person could see the other’s face. Facial expressions were of no use to him anyhow.

“Sorry.” He muttered, his voice low. “I just came out to look at the stars.”

“Same.” The reply surprised Iamos, but he used it to bolster his courage and took another couple of steps forward, leaving him next to Daiyu. He placed his hand on the balcony beside hers.

“I… I was hoping we could talk.” The words were forced out through a clenched jaw. “This has been on my mind all day, and it’s something I’d like to get off my chest.” Daiyu’s response was initially a nod of acknowledgement, before she murmured:

“Okay.”

“Alright… well, since you’re going to be living with us for the… um… foreseeable future, I feel like I should… apologize for how brusque I’ve been. I’ve been harsh and… yeah. I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Iamos turned to Daiyu, who slowly faced in return.

“I-I was trying to rob you, after all… if anyone should be apologizing, it’s me.”

“Maybe… but when Rainer said that you were staying with us, I shouldn’t have been so critical of his decision.”

“You still didn’t – don’t – know me. I don’t think many people would, um… blame you. Blame you for that.”

“Well then maybe we’re both at fault.” Shrugged Iamos. “Here’s an idea – how about I shrug off my… um… reluctance to have you around, and you shrug off your… hmm…”

“Thieving habits?”

“Actually I was going to suggest prejudices towards alchemists, but that works too. How did you even get it in your head that alchemists are so terrifying anyway?”

Daiyu picked up a lock of her lengthy black hair and twirled it around in her fingers. “I don’t know where, exactly. It’s just common opinion everywhere I’ve been, so I guess I kinda… picked it up.”

“People think lowly of us.” Agreed Iamos. “Trust me, I’ve experienced it. They believe that we forfeit our basic rights if we choose the path of Alchemy. That our art is unnatural, and the work of dark beings.”

“What… do you think it is?”

“Well… let’s see… I think it’s an art just like anything else. It’s just like magic, or drawing, or bioelectrical manipulation.”

“What’s “bioelectrical manipulation?””

“Ah, leave that to the lunars. The point is… it upsets me that alchemy gets a bad reputation over all this other stuff. It’s just another THING. I don’t get why so many people are terrified by it…”

“Well…”

Iamos glanced to his left to see the girl nervously poking her fingers together, and realised with an uncomfortable jolt that, despite his own decent height she was taller than him by at least an inch or so. Just one more difficulty in regards to eye contact.

“When… when you trapped me in that prison… and then came out of the shadows… I was pretty terrified.”

Iamos tried to ignore the uncomfortable flush that was doubtlessly forming on his face. “Well… um… t-that’s more to do with MY appearance. It’s not like all the alchemists look as… as scary as me, right?”

“R-right.” Daiyu nodded. “Yeah. I guess that makes sense.”

“Yeah. So. Yeah. Anyway, re-introductions.” Iamos cleared his throat before holding his hand out. “Shall we get that part over with?”

“Sure.” Daiyu nodded hesitantly, before putting her hand in his. “My name’s Daiyu Abernathy, I’m seventeen years old and I’m a terrible thief.”

“My name’s Iamos Wilder, I’m also seventeen years old, and I’m really envious of your height.” The words were out before Iamos had time to consider them. His eyes widened and both his and Daiyu’s fragile confidence shattered almost instantly.

“What?” Daiyu blurted.

“What?” He echoed.

At this point, the pair were rescued from any more incidences of the sort by an exited squealing from the entrance of the balcony.

“Oh, you two are just PERFECT together!”

Mortified, Iamos wheeled around to see Azura bouncing up and down excitedly behind them.

“It’s like a match made in awkward heaven!” She laughed.

“You- shut up!” Iamos snapped. Daiyu didn’t say anything, appearing to be frozen in place with embarrassment.

“Loden’s gonna love hearing about all this!” Squeaked Azura before vanishing, sprinting away.

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” Waiting for nothing, Iamos almost stumbled over his own feet as he hastened after his sister.

2: History Lesson

The early morning sun shone down on Loden Adalwin, causing sweat to form in a sheen upon his skin as he continued to move and work despite the protests of his tired muscles. The motions of longsword combat were by now as familiar to him as using a pencil to write with might be to others, but the need to practice them every day was still there. The desire to become the best warrior that he could be drove him to religiously work on his skills and physical strength. Every day there was exercise. Every day there was practice as the shooting range. Every day there was repetition of the basic ways to wield both a sword and an axe, sometimes until his body felt like it was screaming in pain. Often, the amount of training he did amounted to at what time Iamos would decide that enough was enough and drag him away from the practice dummies and the armoury to receive a meal and a lecture on responsible care of one’s self. The meal was appreciated. The lecture less so.

Today Loden had found himself awake at an unnaturally early hour, his body clock thrown off for one reason or another, and so had taken the opportunity to get in an extra session of sword practice. As usual, he had stuck to the simplest of all movements, ignoring the more fancy or flashy moves that many other people practiced; “the basics are for battle”, someone had said to him a long time ago, and it was advice that he had followed for as long as he could remember.

His grey jacket, discarded due to it being unneeded, lay on the ground a meter or two away from him. The warm folds provided heat that was unwanted in the blazing hot Chenise summer, and the numerous mementos and items in the pockets only weighed him down. Because of this, Loden’s torso was clad in nought but a slightly-too-small t-shirt, normally an intermediate shade of green but currently darkened by sweat. Hiking boots scuffed the ground as his feet leapt from side to side, and the young man absent-mindedly tugged on the waistline of his almost silver trousers, the legs wider than otherwise necessary to increase manoeuvrability whilst they were worn.

The dull thud of metal on wood echoed across the ground as Loden wearily swung the blade once more in a downwards arc, slicing through the chest of the worn practice dummy. Panting, he rose the blade and clumsily fitted it back into his scabbard as he surveyed his handiwork. The instrument before him, already badly worn due to a constant usage by himself and others, looked to be on the verge of collapse, with the majority of the torso mauled by cut after cut of Loden’s blade. One of the outstretched arms was on the floor, having been severed by a particularly powerful blow he had delivered in the heat of the moment.

“You done abusing that thing?” A voice called out from behind him, and Loden wearily craned his neck to see Iamos meandering towards him, hands in pockets as he surveyed the scene before him.

“You just get here?” Loden was content to answer a question with a question, knowing that his best friend would not be offended by his lack of an answer.

“If I had gotten here sooner, I would have stopped you sooner.” Responded Iamos, eyeing Loden with a look made up of equal parts disdain and concern. “What drove you to work so hard to early in the morning?”

“I woke up early.” Admitted Loden. “Just one of those things, you know. Thought I’d get in some extra hours.”

Iamos hung his head and let out an audible sigh – a sure sign that Loden’s words bothered him. Loden could read most people like open books, and Iamos was no exception.

“Well, I forbid you from doing any more work until after lunch at the earliest.” He declared. “You can lie down for a while. Even if it’s not sleep, your body still needs rest.”

Loden tried to protest, but Iamos held up a thin-fingered hand.

“Would you rather I use alchemy to transport you back to the house? I could if I wanted to. You know that.”

“Fine. Don’t threaten me with your mind powers, I give in.” Loden raised his own grimy and blistered hands to head height in a mock surrender. “Yeesh, you’re never gonna make more friends if you threaten to do stuff like that.”

Iamos cocked his head slightly to the side, like a bemused little bird. One of his more endearing habits. “I’ve never threatened anyone except you and Azura.” He revealed.

“Only because you can’t threaten Rainer and no-one else has given you any reason.” Pointed out Loden. “You’d better make sure you don’t threaten that girl staying with you. I don’t think she’d appreciate something like that, you know?”

“I’ve already imprisoned her in an earthen cage once.” Deadpanned Iamos, a slightly bashful look spreading across his handsome features as he spoke. “I don’t think interaction with her will create a situation in which threats are necessary.”

“Because she got a crash course in what you’re capable of.” Loden rolled his eyes. “Man, as introductions go, that’s pretty sucky.”

“We talked.” Revealed Iamos. “And forgave each other for our respective transgressions.”

“Oh?” Loden raised an eyebrow. “Was is hard?”

“Yes, but she appeared just as awkward as I was, which made things easier.” The alchemist revealed. Loden chucked, envisioning someone just as socially awkward as his best friend. “I would have paid money to see that.”

“I’m sure that, had I not restrained her, Azura would have indulged you with every detail of our conversation.” Iamos folded his arms. “Luckily, I was able to stop her before she could reach your house.”

“What a pity.” Loden shrugged, and began to walk towards his best friend. “I guess I’ll just have to ask about it later.”

“Please don’t.” Iamos requested. “Whilst it technically went well, I’d rather not relive the experience.”

“A retelling isn’t the same thing as a reliving, I.” Loden grinned like a fox cornering a rabbit at his friend, who frowned.

“It is when your memory is as detailed as mine is.” He grumbled.

Loden sauntered past Iamos. “I’m sure that having a good memory must be terrible for you.” He crooned. “Come on, let’s head back. I intend to get all the details out of Azura, and you can’t stop me!”

**********

What surprised Loden was the fact that, once he had received the full story from Azura (despite Iamos’ efforts to deny him), he was more happy than anything else. Sure, the idea of Iamos and the girl – Daiyu, her name was – stuttering and squirming in front of one another was hilarious, but when it boiled down to it Loden was just glad that Iamos had found someone on his wavelength. Hopefully Daiyu would be able to provide Iamos with a much-needed friendship; perhaps even something more, if the two were mature enough. Iamos definitely deserved some proper happiness in his life, and there were some aspects of that happiness that Loden couldn’t provide, no matter how much he might want to.

He was walking around the house aimlessly, hoping to find something to do (Iamos had once again forbade him from training), when he caught sight of Daiyu herself seated on some old rocking chair on the porch of Rainer’s rickety brick house. She leaned back in the chair as if she were some old woman, staring at the horizon with a vacant look on her face. Deciding it couldn’t hurt, he sauntered towards her and spoke.

“Yello.” He chirped, flicking his wrist in greeting as he approached. Daiyu gave a start, but didn’t attempt to run away and didn’t look like she was about to pass out from fear. Progress at its finest.

“Sorry.” Loden continued. “I didn’t mean to startle you. Although, you jump really easily.”

“I-I know.” Said Daiyu, falteringly. “I’ve been on my own for so long… I’m still getting used to people approaching me… and I’m also not used to the fact that I can stay here.”

“Been on the move a lot?”

“For… as long as I can remember.”

“You ever had any company?”

“…No.”

“Woah. Any friends at all?”

“Uh… no?”

“NO? Good grief, no wonder you’re as bad as Iamos.” Loden threw his hands up in the air, in a melodramatic gesture. “No friends… gah! I can’t even…”

Daiyu watched his outburst with a bemused look on her face. Loden made a mental note of the fact that facial expressions not resembling a startled baby animal were actually possible for her, before exhaling hard and sliding to the seat on the other side of the porch, dragging it closer to the girl.

“Sorry.” He continued to speak as he worked. “I’m just used to socializing, so I’m not used to people saying they have no friends. Even Iamos has me, after all.”

“That’s something I’ve been wondering about, actually.” Daiyu declared. “How is it that you are Iamos are friends? The two of you are so different…”

Loden chuckled.

“Well, it’s a long tale full of tragedy and heartbreak.”

“Really?”

“Nah. Bit of a lengthy story, if you want the full version, but otherwise fine.”

“I see. Can… can I hear it? The full version?”

Loden laughed. “What, you got nothing better to do?”

Daiyu twirled her hair in her fingers but otherwise said nothing. It looked like she really DIDN’T have anything better to do – and for once, neither did Loden.

“Well, okay.” He shrugged, flopping into the second chair. “Just bear with me, because I’ve never had to really tell anyone all of this before…”

“I guess our friendship has been an element throughout both of our lifetimes. He was born on February the third, and I was born on February the second, so some could really see that as us being destined to have our lives intertwined or whatever. I first met him when I was five or so years old... you know, do you want the full story of how we met? It’s pretty weird, and I don’t want to get off track or anything, but…”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Well, I was visiting Rainer’s house, because my parents were working and they were good friends with him. It was… I think, late afternoon? The sun was setting, at any rate. There was this knock on the door. We went to get it, and saw this man standing there – and he was in terrible shape. All bruised and cut, and I think there might have been an arrow in his shoulder or something.

Anyways, he looks at us and like, falls to his knees. “Please,” he begs, “take them.” And he indicates with his hand and I see this kid standing a bit away, holding some kind of cloth bundle in his hands. He said “them”, so it didn’t take a genius to figure out that the bundle was a second person.”

“And that was…” Daiyu’s words faltered, as she struggled to process the story. “That was Iamos?”

“And Azura.” Confirmed Loden.

“But who was the man?” Gasped Daiyu.

“Dunno.” Loden shrugged. “But whoever he was, they must have meant a lot to him, because I don’t remember exactly what he said after that, but it was something along the lines of how important the two of them were…? Ugh, I really don’t remember, it was so long ago. I only know this much because Rainer told us how everything went down when we were older.

So, like, the guy keeps insisting that Rainer takes these children, and that he keeps them safe. And Rainer just wants to know why, you know? What’s so important about them, anyway? Like, is he their father? Why do you care so much about these children, oh panicked one? But before this guy can really answer any of his questions, there’s this really weird noise that comes from the trees. Like someone clicking rocks together, only multiplied by a hundred. And then this really bright light comes on from inside the forst.

When the guy sees the light, he freaks the heck out. He grabs the kids, basically throws them into Rainer’s arms, and before Rainer can say anything he bolts off – like, injuries and all – he bolts off away from the house and back into the forest. And… if I remember correctly, there was shouting, and then the noise and the light died. And Rainer thinks to himself “what on Militiregnum is going on” but he has to prioritize, and the kids aren’t looking so good so he shuts the door and takes them in.

Long story short, Rainer grew attached to the kids, and adopted them. And since I was at Rainer’s house a lot, I got to see a lot of both of them. So… I guess that’s where me and Iamos first formed a friendship. It was a bit tenuous, but I don’t think Iamos had really had another friend in his life, so he was real unsure of himself. I guess some things never change.”

This elicited a giggle out of Daiyu. Loden allowed himself a smile of his own.

“Anyway, a few years passed. And when we were teens, my… ah…”

He trailed off.

“What’s wrong?” Inquired Daiyu, receiving no response.

“Loden?” She pressed, with a worried sort of look on her face. “Are – are you sure you want to… to talk about this?”

“Well…” Loden hesitated, wanting to reassure her but unable to even reassure himself. “…I won’t go into the details, but let’s just say that it was a bad point in my life. Like, lowest point to date. I got involved with the wrong people. There was immaturity, there was anxiety… I was just kind of a scumbag, you know?”

Daiyu nodded, her look of concern still on her face.

“Anyway, when I was fifteen, I was being beaten up by these older guys. I didn’t stand a chance. Pretty dire situation.”

Here, an oddly wistful look came over Loden’s face.

“And that’s when he showed up.”

Daiyu raised an eyebrow.

“Like some knight in shining armour, Iamos arrived. I remember it like it was yesterday…

“What’s might you all be doing?” A voice called out. Grimacing, Loden rose his head from the dirt and opened his uninjured eye. There was a figure standing in the alleyway entrance. A figure oddly familiar to him.

“Iamos…?” Loden was at first unable to believe what he was seeing, but soon panic took over. “Iamos, go! Run! Get out of here!”

Iamos didn’t do any of the above, instead coolly eying the situation, emotionally detached as per the usual.

“Well, I don’t need an answer.” He eventually said. “It’s all very clear as to what’s happening around here.” And then, to Loden’s absolute horror, he began to walk forward.

“I guess I’m going to have to do something about this.” He muttered.

“Iamos, NO! You can’t-“

“Relax, Loden. I’ve been training with Master Rainer. I should be able to handle this.”

Loden thought there must have been something wrong with his ears. Maybe he HAD been out of touch for a while, but since when did Iamos call Rainer master? And what training? Was it alchemy?

Before Loden could speak, either asking his questions or warning Iamos further, the leader of the group assaulting Loden stepped forward. There was a glint in his slitty eyes, and Loden could tell he was relishing the fact that fresh meat had entered the fray.

“You picking a fight with us as well?” He grunted, flexing his rather muscular arms.

Impressive, Loden though despite himself. That was almost a complete sentence.

“It won’t be much of a fight.” Warned Iamos.

Without saying anything else, the leader threw a punch towards Iamos. But instead of the punch connecting with Iamos’ face, something more extraordinary happened.

The ground between the two rose up, and instead of punching a face, the leader found himself punching a wall of soil with the occasional rock mixed in. Pulling his fist out, baffled, he left himself wide open as the wall slid back into the ground and the pavement behind Iamos contorted and formed into a fist that rushed forward and ploughed into the leader’s stomach. The leader was knocked to the ground, and made no attempt to rise, instead clutching his stomach and making a sound familiar to that made by a pre-pubescent pig.

The other tough guys looked one threatening gesture away from an accident in their pants as they stared at Iamos in fear and disgust. Without missing a beat, Iamos idly flicked a thumb over his shoulder.

“Get out of here.” He ordered. The aggressors took their chance, scampering away and taking their downed leader with them. Iamos watched them retreat before holding a hand out to a battered Loden.

“When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter.” The boy recited as he hauled the other to his feet.

“I…” Loden found himself unable to speak, and instead only took Iamos’ hand and accepted his assistance in rising, wincing in pain as he did so.

“Why did you help me?” He managed eventually. “They’ll complain, you know.”

“I couldn’t exactly let them get away with something like that. They can complain all they want.” Emphasised Iamos, turning around and beginning to walk away. “Besides, you’re my friend.”

“And friends look out for each other.”

Loden finished his recollection, a smile reminiscent of a proud parent on his face.

“Despite the fact that his reputation amongst our peers in the village was already precarious, he attacked them to help me. And what makes me so happy is knowing that he would have done that for anyone, not just me.”

“That’s really sweet…” grinned Daiyu. “So, does anyone else in this village like him?”

“Unfortunately, no.” Loden’s smile faded. “Like I predicted, those guys complained. And Iamos was low enough on the food chain, ‘cus of his alchemy, that his word amounted to less than theirs.”

Daiyu shook her head, disgusted. “It makes no sense how people judge others just because they do something commonly judged as unfamiliar, or suspicious.”

Loden raised his eyebrow. “Weren’t you full of anti-alchemist stereotyping and terrified of Iamos when you first met?”

“Hey, I didn’t know any better!” Protested Daiyu, looking agitated for the first time since Loden had met her. “I just travelled around a lot and heard the same thing enough times to believe it. Besides, the way we met wasn’t great.”

“True.” Chortled Loden. “Though, he is sorry for that. Which is quite something, now that I think about it.”

“It’s fine. I’m sorry too. We talked it over.” Daiyu waved the matter off, but Loden leaned forward towards her with a sly look on his face.

“I don’t think you understand.” He grinned like an overly-excited Cheshire cat. “Iamos is the most stubborn person I know, no question. Once he’s decided something, or picked a side in an argument, he’ll cling to it like a drowning man clings to a life buoy. So the fact that he apologised to you – like, actually apologized instead of grunting and running away – means quite a bit.”

“Well… I guess I’m flattered?” Faltered Daiyu. Loden’s smile stretched even further.

“Oh, I’m definitely keeping you around. Dealing with that idiot’ll be so much easier with you around to help out.”

“Uh…” Daiyu was by this point seemed unsure of what to say at all. Loden was thinking of a way to clarify his point when a voice rang out.

“What are you two doing?”

Wheeling round, Loden was confronted by the curious features of Iamos as he stood beside the porch, watching their conversation intently.

“I’m giving away your tragic backstory.” Declared Loden.

“Cool.” Iamos shrugged. “I’ve been getting some training in with Rainer.”

“Which aspect are you learning now?”

“Well, I’m TRYING to figure out fire transmutation, but it’s proving to be quite the struggle.” Declared Iamos, frowning as he spoke.

“Fire transmutation?” Echoed Daiyu. Iamos turned to her.

“When it comes to alchemy, there are a number of different ways to transmute. The core four are earth, water, air and fire, and they represent the four different states of matter – solid, liquid, gas and plasma.”

“What about jelly?” Interjected Loden.

“We don’t talk about the fifth state of matter.” Iamos grunted before continuing. “Anyway, once you have mastered earth/solid style transmutation, for instance, you can transmute solid objects like the ground or a brick wall.”

“And… with air, would you be able to transmute gas?” Guessed Daiyu. Iamos shot her an appreciative smile.

“You catch on quick.” He complimented. “Yeah, you can. Water, liquids, fire, plasmas – and you can combine these aspects to create special different types of transmutation.”

“Give us an example, this is interesting.” Prompted Loden.

“Well, the most well-known one is combining knowledge of fire transmutation and air transmutation to create lightning.” Iamos filled in. Daiyu’s eyes widened, and Loden had a feeling that his were doing the same.

“Seriously?!” He blurted. “Lightning?!”

“Yeah. It’s quite simple, theoretically.” Iamos held up a finger. “Lightning is created in nature by cold air and warm air colliding inside clouds. The knowledge of air transmutation-“

“I don’t want the theoretics. Is that something you can do?” Loden interrupted him. Iamos glared at the ground.

“No, it’s something very few people can do. It requires a tremendous amount of control to manipulate the heat of the air in such a way, and there’s always a chance of a transmutation backfiring.”

“Transmutations can backfire?” Blanched Daiyu.

“If an alchemist is not exercising appropriate control whilst transmuting, then the transmutation will fail and the natural energy that would have otherwise gone into the transmutation is released in one blast. Sometimes it’s not so bad – like earth, for example. Your transmutation goes wrong, you’ll probably just get some dirt in your face. No big deal. But imagine you’re trying to transmute lighting and it backfires. All that energy’s going to go wild and get released at once.”

“Well, that explains why you don’t see too many alchemists about.” Mumbled Loden. “They all killed themselves trying to impersonate Zeus.”

Iamos shot him a dirty look.

“Okay, that was tasteless.” Admitted Loden, adequately shamed for his actions.

Nodding his approval, Iamos continued to speak. “Besides, I’m struggling with fire as is. I’m nowhere near the skill level required to transmute lightning.”

“Well, what can you do?” Daiyu said.

“Let’s see…” Iamos began to count off the styles on his fingers. “Earth, water and air… ice and sand.”

“Coolio. A demonstration?” Loden pressed, and Iamos glared at him once again.

“You should have seen a lot of this already. I honestly don’t know why you’re so fascinated.” He deadpanned.

Loden shrugged. “What can I say? You talk about it so much it’s kind of gone over my head at this point.”

“Explain.”

“Well, when you’ve heard one speech about the wonders of alchemy, you’ve heard ‘em all, you know what I mean?”

“That doesn’t explain how little you know.” Iamos folded his arms. “You should have picked some of this up by osmosis, at least. I don’t get it.”

“When you’re not listening, anything is possible, my dear friend.”

“Ugh. Well, no demonstration for you.”

Loden’s face fell. “Wha…?”

“Alchemy isn’t something that you flaunt for the heck of it.” Iamos snapped. “Plus, earth is the only one that comes really easily to me at the moment, and both of you have seen that already. The rest is still hard.”

“How is transmuting different things hard? Don’t you just have to concentrate?” Daiyu spoke.

“Technically, yes.” Admitted Iamos. “But alchemy – at least, the way I perform alchemy – is also dependent on familiarity and getting used to what we’re transmuting. We can only transmute, after all, if we know about something’s chemical makeup so that we can turn it into something equivalent. So, Loden, think of… weights.”

Loden perked up and listened as Iamos continued.

“You start off with a weight that is heavy at first, but as time goes on you become stronger and it feels less heavy. Then you either move to a heavier weight or another type of exercise, and that becomes hard. HardER, in fact, because you still have to keep training with that first weight. For me, transmuting any element other than earth is like bench pressing sixty kilograms.” He looked at his arms, which had an underwhelming amount of muscle visible, forlornly. “I technically CAN do it, but not for long because it’s hard, and I’m not used to the sort of concentration required. Elements get more complex to manipulate down the line. Comprende?”

“Yeah, I think I get it.” Admitted Loden. “It’s always helpful when you include fitness analogies.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Iamos smiled, before walking past Daiyu and Loden and heading back inside the house. “See you later.”

“Bye!” Loden waved him off before rising from his chair. Noticing Daiyu’s curious gaze, he grinned.

“If Iamos is in the house, that means he can’t keep an eye on me.”

He broke into a run.

“And if he can’t see me, I can get some more training in!”