Chapter 83 - Another Separation

After Nerun left Syracuse, alongside Evelin and the Magical Beasts, they were walking cheerily for a couple of kilometers. He was going to join a Caravan to go towards Eonia, but after talking to Evelin the day before, there had been a small change of plans.

"You were quiet during our talk with Marquis Vanilla and the Lieutenant. You are usually not like that, but more like a chatterbox." commented Nerun as he talked to Evelin.

"I had nothing of interest to talk to them. After all, they had some reservations since Senior Brother Raven is around. They were actually a bit fearful of saying something that displeases me, so I decided to also not speak. It felt quite stifling to say the truth. Fortunately, Big Brother Nerun, you keep treating me the same, even though you know I have a Legendary escort, hahahahaha." answered Evelin with a bright smile on her face.

Evelin was still wearing the facial mask, however, even the "normal" looking her, could not keep the shimmer in her eyes, and the mesmerizing feeling that came from them. Nerun could not help but be lost in them for a while, which made Evelin feel a bit self-conscious and blush for a bit.

"What are you looking at, Big Brother Nerun?" said Evelin with a small stutter. She did not really know why, but she felt a bit strange when Nerun looked at her like that. There was nothing lascivious, nor romantic in the way Nerun looked at her, it was just an intent look, as if Nerun wanted to unravel her deepest secrets through her eyes, and she did not know why, but she did not find it totally unpleasant. In any case Nerun was just 12 years old, and she was 9, so neither were thinking yet about that type of relationship.

Nerun "woke up" from lost demeanor, and muttered a poem, like the ones he liked to write:

"I know not what I wait for, Eyes,

seeing how you treat me:

For if you see me, you kill me;

And if I look at you, I die."*

Evelin was wide-eyed when she heard Nerun's poem. "My eyes… can kill… that actually sounded quite beautiful Big Brother Nerun. Is that poetry? Did you write it for me?" She was quite excited. She liked to read back home, and even though she was a bit bossy, and liked to make a lot of mischief, she never slacked in her training, both in the Magickal arts, as well as in reading about the world of men. She loved reading about history and literature, and both calligraphy and poetry were some of her passions.

She was about to take Nerun's hand to keep asking him about poetry, when all of a sudden there was a great wind that landed right in the middle of both. There was a shadow joining the wind. It was a young looking man, with fair skin and purple hair, with a third, vertical eye, closed, right in the middle of the forehead. It was precisely the Legendary Raven who was currently looking at Nerun with a deadpan expression.

"Boy, that was not you trying to flirt with our little miss, were you?" Raven started to emanate a powerful aura that stifled Nerun for a bit. However, before he could keep talking, he was interrupted by Evelin's shout.

"What do you think you are doing, Senior Brother Raven? You are not threatening my friend, are you? Hmph, I had barely forgiven you for following me without telling me in advance, and now you are here trying to bully a little child much younger than you. Are you not ashamed? Nerun, waste no time with this old man, he is just a busybody."

Nerun kept looking at the Raven with an expression that was clearly saying 'I'm not laughing. No, I'm not laughing. Brother Raven, EON is my witness that I'm not laughing'. Raven on the other hand made a grimace, while staring at Nerun with eyes that were saying, 'I dare you to laugh, you little runt.' In the end, the Raven was the one that first broke eye contact while turning towards Evelin with resignation.

"Junior Sister Evelin, can you please respect me a bit. It's true I did not let you know I was coming, but Master would have never let you go if I didn't come and protect you. Besides I helped a lot in that fake god's descent, nor were you ever in any real danger. Please at least give me some credit. I'm not bullying this little brother, really."

"Let it go, Evelin. Without Lord Raven's help, we could have very well died in those ruins." said Nerun. The frown on the Raven's face was gone a bit, and he actually started thinking a bit better about Nerun. He would be the first to admit to being a little impressed by Nerun's demeanor, as well as attitude during the whole Ruin debacle. Nerun was actually calm during the fight, and he was one of the most important reasons for their victory against the heretics.

"You are actually not that bad, boy. In any case, it's best we go now. Junior Sister Evelin, I'm afraid we have overstayed our welcome here in Ansem. Master will probably be worried about you, if there is any delay, he might very well come here personally." said Raven.

"Oh… You are probably right. The old fogey must be worried sick. Fine. I guess I'll come back, but Senior Brother, you have to promise me to travel more with me in the future and get to know more new places." answered Evelin while lowering her head. She was a bit reluctant to leave, but she knew that Raven was right.

Raven's eyes twitched a bit when Evelin said 'Old Fogey'. She was likely the only person in the whole world that was brave enough to call the Old Master like that. It was true that the Old Master spoiled Evelin quite a bit, and he was quite forgiving of her antics, which was one of the reasons that Evelin was truly fearless to do almost anything she wanted.

"Brother Nerun, I think that Whitey should come with us. I know that you both wanted to go and have some adventures together, but not everyone is kind to Magical Beasts. And Whitey may find it hard to actually raise his rank just by staying with you. In my home, there are tons of Magical Beasts, and we will nurture him into a powerful wolf in the future. You told me earlier that you planned to stay and train alongside your brother. When you are ready to go on different adventures, you may send a message. I promise that Whitey will be way more powerful then. He might even be much more mighty than you if you slack off, hehehe."

Nerun was about to reject, but Raven interrupted him first. "Junior Sister is right, boy. A Blizzard Dire-wolf like Whitey can easily attract poachers and robbers. Maybe here in this small county not many people recognized him, but in Eonia, trust me, there will be people that will try to harm him. Even though Ansem is better than most other Territories, only Pet Slaves and such are allowed inside the city. He left in order to get stronger. There is no better place for a Magical Beast like him than going with us."

Whitey was listening to Raven and Evelin. He was behind Nerun currently. He felt some trepidation towards the Raven. This was an instinctual reaction from a lower creature when facing a much more powerful species. Whitey felt like he could be killed with a simple thought from the handsome looking man. Nevertheless, he was not cowering or lowering his head. Even though there was some fear in his eyes, he kept looking towards the Raven and then to Nerun. If the Raven for some reason wanted to hurt Nerun, Whitey was willing to die with him and attack his opponent. Evelin and Raven looked towards Whitey and actually understood his demeanor, and both were a bit surprised.

"Interesting." said the Raven with a slight smile on his face.

Nerun looked at Whitey for some time, and then said. "You know you are my best friend. I wanted you to come with me so we could grow stronger together, and it seems that your chance came earlier than mine, hehehehe. I will support you whatever it is you decide. If you go, just promise to not forget me." Whitey was feeling a bit conflicted but finally seemed to make a decision and looking at Raven and Evelin, he nodded. He then got close to Nerun and put his head on his bosom. He loved being with Nerun, but he understood that if he really wanted to better help Nerun in the future, he also needed to grow stronger.

Nerun was a bit teary-eyed but knew that this was for the better. Evelin eventually whispered, "You know brother Nerun, you could actually come with us if you want. I'm sure you would become a lot stronger as well. We could play a lot and you would get to know a lot of cool people."

However, even though Nerun thought about it for a bit, he eventually said no. "That's not my path. I need to go towards Eonia and look for my brother. All of my sisters and brothers need me, and I can't fail their expectations." What Nerun left unsaid is that he was afraid. Afraid of being in a place that made him forget his objectives.

Evelin was disappointed but she still smiled. "Ok then. But you are one of my first friends Nerun, so you better find a way to write to me. I'll tell you what. Little Green will go with you towards Eonia. When you reach there, and find your accommodation, she will then come back to me. That way I can also write to you and we can talk to each other. We'll be pen pals, hehehehehe. What a great idea. Write more poetry. I really liked it."

"I'll give you a lift boy. I will not send you directly towards Eonia, but you'll be much closer, just a couple days away." said Raven.

Before Nerun could say anything, Raven extended his arm and a great wind surrounded Nerun and took him flying at high speeds towards the direction of the Capital of Ansem.

- WHOOOOOOSH! -

"AAAAAAAH!" Nerun screamed since this was quite unexpected. Little Green, who was on Evelin's shoulder, quickly flew towards Nerun and followed him. Little Green's speed was one of the greatest among the lower ranked Magical Beasts, still it had some trouble following Nerun.

"Senior Brother Raven, why did you do that? You could have been a bit more gentle." complained Evelin.

"He'll be ok." smirked Raven. At least he had taken a little vengeance. 'Writing poetry… Hmph. If Master finds out, he might very well break your legs boy, hehehehe.' Afterwards, his countenance changed for a bit and got a lot more serious. His third eye opened for a bit. It's color was completely purple, however he grunted a bit, and made a painful grimace, and then rapidly closed it.

"What did you see, Senior Brother Raven?" asked Evelin.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"What? How is that possible?" Evelin asked with concern. She knew better than most of the mystical abilities of the Legendary man in front of her.

"You know that as a Three-Eyed Raven I can see a glimpse of the future. That's my natural gift, and so far, there are very few people whose future I can only see a tiny bit. That boy is the first. His future is a total enigma for me. I can't see anything when I look at him. You know Junior Sister, I can feel it. It's just an intuition, but I see a dark tide coming towards our world, and I've been having this feeling for the last twelve years. I've tried to look for the source of the darkness to no avail. That boy is different. He is totally hidden from my senses. The biggest variable I've seen in these twelve years. As for you, little wolf, I can feel that by being with him you might be able to grow to unprecedented heights. That's one of the reasons I decided to help you. Moreover, the World's Mirror is about to appear. When it shows up, everything will change. There is just so little time. So little." said the Raven worriedly.

"Well… It's about time we leave."

Having said that, Raven transformed into a humongous bird like creature, with a wingspan over a hundred meters, with three eyes, the middle vertical one, closed. It's feathers were lustrous and elegant, with a deep purple, close to black color. It was a magnificent bird to say the least. Evelin quickly climbed on the back of the bird, and Raven simply took Whitey with one of its talons, and left towards their home with an unsurpassed speed.

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* This is a translation of a small poem by Franciso de Quevedo