Chapter 29

Morning soon arrived, much sooner than Autumn would've liked. The adventurers were already up and about, and it seemed that sometime during the night she and Ember had been moved into a tent. Or maybe one was set up on top of them.

Either way, Autumn's dismayed eyes showed her clear dislike of the early morning. Ember was still sound asleep. 'Lucky her,' Autumn thought.

Autumn let out a sigh before stumbling out of the tent. As she stretched her arms above her head, she caught sight of the brilliant sunrise.

Gaping, she stood frozen. The sky was a lovely hue of pink, clouds swirling together like cotton candy. A light drizzle of rain made the sky shine like it was encrusted with gems.

"Liking the sunrise?" Khrona asked, his arms full with supplies.

"Yes, it's very lovely," Autumn replied absentmindedly. Autumn paused, doing a double take as her mind replayed Khrona's words. "You…your talking normally?"

"Normal? Everything is as you perceive it to be, so what is normal and what is not?"

Autumn sighed. She shouldn't have said anything.

"Never mind," she answered before turning and entering the tent once more.

'I can't deal with this alone, not this early in the morning…Ember, I'm sorry, but you have to wake up.'

Autumn shook Ember's shoulder. "Hey! Wake up. Khrona is being weird again. Now the adventurers know I'm awake and then they might talk to me so I need you to wake up so I don't have to talk to them alone pretty please Ember!" Autumn spit out a blur of words without taking a breath.

"Wha-" Ember muttered, "Khrona what now? Adventurers? Khrona is talking to the adventurers?"

"Oh you're awake!" Autumn exclaimed happily. "Forget what I said just then, I was just ranting."

"Oh no, on the contrary, please do tell. I'm interested now." Ember sat up with a grin.

"Well…I woke up and it was really early. I mean, reeeeaaaaly early. And then I went outside and saw the most beautiful sunrise ever. And then I saw Khrona." Autumn paused for dramatic effect. "And he started talking normally. Normally! Unfortunately, it only lasted one sentence."

"And what does this have to do with the adventurers?"

"In case they wanted to look for me since I was awake. I didn't want to face them alone," Autumn wrinkled her nose, "and Rui kind of smells."

Ember tilted her head, confused. When her ears picked up a slight gasp outside of the tent, she smirked and played along. "He probably just didn't get the chance to wash. He is on a mission, after all. Even so, we've been traveling for so long, yet we don't smell as bad as him!"

Autumn gasped, "Did we just discover something? Could it be that Rui doesn't like to bathe?"

That was as far as they got before Rui crashed into the tent. "I do not smell! And I do not dislike bathing! I'm a very hygienic person!"

Autumn and Ember burst out laughing.

"Why you…!" Rui realized he had been played and rushed towards the two.

Caught off guard, Autumn yelped before awkwardly scrambling out of the way. Her laughter never stopped as she hightailed it out of the tent.

Rui turned his sights on Ember, who had likewise scrambled to her feet but hadn't quite made it out of the tent yet.

"AUTUMN! Don't leave me here!" Ember yelled as she sprinted after her.

In this way, Autumn and Ember were kept busy until the adventurers had finished packing.

Autumn and Ember, even though they considered each other as good friends, hadn't had the chance to play in such a carefree way. There were always more important things to do, such as escaping, running, and hiding. Not to mention they needed to conserve their energy in order to travel.

Autumn hadn't realized how nervous she was until she had relaxed. It seemed that games were indeed the most effective way of easing nerves.

"It might be a little early for breakfast, but it's better to eat before traveling," Lapis remarked as she placed a soul stone in front of them.

Ember grinned, "It's never too early for food."

Autumn nodded in agreement, wolfing down the food quickly.

It didn't take long for them to finish. The other adventurers had long since finished their own breakfast, and everything had been packed back into their storage items. Now, it was time to travel.

After a bit of walking in silence, Autumn curiously asked a question. "Aren't adventurers known for their tech? Why don't you have a better method of travel?"

Ace coughed, "It's not that we don't have another way of travel. Most people use teleportation magic, and those without magic can pay others to use it for them. There's never been a need for any other method of transportation. In our case, it's a bit complicated. Teleportation magic can only be used once every 24 hours. We used it once to come here, so it'll be a while before we can use it again."

"I think that's reason enough to create a more convenient method of travel," Ember commented, "Some of us don't have magic or money."

Ace smiled, "I'll bring that up with the other adventurers. On the plus side, we've arrived at Arkas."

"We have? Where is it?" Autumn asked, confused.

Ember mimicked her expression. "There's nothing here but forest."

Lapis brought her hands together in a circle, twisting her hands as she formed a rune. With a golden flash, a large staircase appeared before them.

"Welcome to Arkas, the shadow city of Silversky."