Hearts Pounding

"Right, so, where to start?" Rory chuckled uncomfortably and ran his fingers through his hair. "The ancient spirit of the forest woke up."

"The what?" Cecilia furrowed her brow. "But that's just a fairytale."

Rory shook his head. "It's real. Everyone back home is fine though. Jahreszeiten doesn't have any intention to harm us."

He decided to just pull his hair back, revealing the seam where his antlers grew out of his head. Cecilia's mouth made an 'o' shape and she covered it with her hands.

"Does that hurt?" her tone was laced with concern.

Rory shook his head. "No."

"S-so this spirit transformed everyone in our village into magical creatures?"

Rory's eyes widened and he realized he had accidentally misled her. He shook his head and waved his hands to emphasize that that wasn't the case.

"No, no, sorry for scaring you like that. It's just me. Jahreszeiten chose me to be his Druid. Think of it as an ambassadorial role."

She looked guilty about it afterward, but Cecilia let out a sigh in relief. Rory didn't blame her. Clearly, magical species were discriminated against here in Pompeii; she must've been worried about her mother.

"S-so those antlers are like a badge of office?"

"That's right," he smiled faintly, nodding.

He rejected Jahreszeiten's possession for a moment so Cecilia could see the natural clear blue color of his eyes, before the glowing green returned.

"I'm the only means he has to leave the forest, but rather than me transporting him here, he's escorting and protecting me." A very serious look rested on Aurelius's face. "I have to meet with the chief of Pompeii. Everyone here is in danger."

Cecilia paled, concerned enough that she didn't immediately correct her out-of-touch friend about calling the leader of a huge city a chief. "What sort of danger?"

"Jahreszeiten's awakening means the rest of the spirits could wake up at any moment. And he says there's a fire spirit living under these hills that will burn this city to the ground the moment it sees all the smoke it's making."

Cecilia blinked. "Then what are we waiting for? We have to tell them to either shut down the factories or evacuate everyone!"

The sorceress stood up and grabbed Rory's slim wrist, dragging him toward the door. He hopped to regain his balance. "C-Cecilia, wait—"

"Are you kidding?! Hey, country boy, sometimes speed is of the essence! Now come on!"

Rory found his footing and was dragged into running behind her up the hall and down the stairs. "It won't help anyone if we start a panic though!" he protested. "Will the chief of this city even meet a so-called man without an appointment?"

Cecilia spared a glance over her shoulder. "This isn't the countryside, Rory. A city's leader is called a Lord. And no, this isn't going to be easy, but over a million people live here and have no idea what's sleeping under their feet!"

She slowed down a bit when they reached the reception area, unwilling to cause trouble and be detained because of it.

But the moment they emerged out onto the street agian, Cecilia took of sprinting, forcing the Druid to keep up with her.

At least she seemed to know where she was going.

Unfortunately, their path was cut off at one point by a mass of people, all lined up at the side of the road and cheering. They were forced to stop for a moment, and Rory got a glimpse of an armored knight riding a pitch black horse. Maybe it was the steel plating he wore, but he looked huge. There was a halberd mounted to his back that looked inspiringly lethal. His helmet was removed for the purpose of the welcoming ceremony or whatever this was, and Aurelius felt his heart thump heavily in his chest.

"W-who is that?" he asked numbly.

"What?" Cecilia, who was distracted trying to find a way around the crowd, looked where Aurelius pointed and muttered, "Oh. That's the Arc Knight. I do know his real name. He's gotten pretty famous lately for hunting bandits and dragons like a madman."

"I see…"

Rory swallowed and couldn't tear his eyes away. This Arc Knight person had skin tanned by the sun until it was a dark, warm, earthy tone. It reminded him of pumpernickel bread. His hair was glossy black, short and swept back from his face. His features were strong and handsome. Though his skin was a little rough, it was without blemish, except for a faint, intriguing scar cut vertically across the corner of his lips.

He wasn't smiling at the crowd. Instead, he looked focused and dutiful, his copper brown eyes fixed on some invisible goal in front of him.

Jahreszeiten saw through Rory's eyes, so he didn't miss how his Druid's gaze lingered.

'Oh? Is that your type, Aurelius?'

The part of Rory's brain that he was pretty sure was supposed to protest—something like, 'What are you talking about? We're both men,'—was instead uselessly swimming around in the heat of his skull.

He only managed to cobble together one useless thought in reply. 'I… have a type?'

But then, Cecilia had found a new route for them, and he was pulled away again. They dashed through a series of zigzagging alleyways, through a busy market district, and finally across a wide plaza. After several minutes of frantic sprinting, there was finally a wide and tall building in front of them, surrounded by a metal fence which armed guards protected.

Both Rory and Cecilia doubled over to gasp for air. The sorceress propped her hands on her knees her face flushed with effort. Rory gulped the air and wiped sweat from his forehead, almost wishing he could feel the biting cold in the air in its entirety.

He glanced down at his childhood friend. "Normally you'd run me into the ground," he teased lightly. "Too much desk work?"

Cecilia gasped for air and forced herself to stand up straight, resting a hand proudly on her heaving chest. She had filled out a bit more in this past year, looking less tomboyish and more womanly.

"What would be the point if I left you in the dust now?" she teased back.

She glanced at him and her face flushed redder. Rory stepped closer and put a hand on her shoulder, worried she was going to throw up or something.

"Are you alright, Cecilia?"

"F-f-f-fine! You're—I mean I'm fine!"

She desperately turned her gaze away from her crush. He was drenched with sweat, his eyes blurry and his breath steaming in the winter air. A bead of water dripped down his neck and collarbone and down the neckline of his robes.

Cecilia's mouth felt like a desert and she was light-headed.

And that clueless, confused, and concerned look on his gorgeous face was going to drive her crazy!