What's on your mind, Velmir?
Said a voice behind him. Soft, close, and within it... lay a trace of family.
Velmir trembled for a moment, his hand shook, head twitched slightly, and voice couldn't even speak.
"...Lucas?"
Instantly, Velmir turned around in a hurry, unwilling to believe what had happened. Breathless and dizzy, for a second, his body didn't hear his command.
Until his vision slowly revealed that person.
Stood there in a mysterious, dark world that could be seen through the figure of a fractured door. The breath of that world brought life into his room and inside it- Lucas.
"It was... actually you..." His heart tightened as he wiped his eyes, asking himself if this was a dream or not.
When that moment came, the cold and loneliness in his room were replaced with the warmth of...life.
It was then, fireflies, birds appeared out of nowhere, wandering around Velmir, like creatures dancing to nature.
However, it was still...dreadful, as if that world beyond was waiting to swallow everything.
But... Lucas wasn't afraid; he was telling something. "This realm- it is my friend."
His voice couldn't be heard, yet Velmir knew everything he said with a look on Lucas's mouthline. Velmir, the boy who once turned away from Lucas, now missed him more than anyone.
His will to return home never faded. However, right now, a part of him hoped that he could stay here. Hoped that this was true.
The same smile in that dark forest appeared in the corner of Lucas' lips, and then, one step, two steps.
His foot touched the wooden floor of the inn...
"crack."
The door vanished, and each fracture was absorbed into the dimension as the door disappeared into thin air.
The two stood there, looking at each other.
Velmir couldn't say anything; his sentences were lost in joy.
Still, they both... felt it. The feeling of meeting a brother.
The moment lingered like a dew that wasn't ready to drop from its leaves. Even so, Velmir sighed a relief and he was the first to break the silence.
"I miss our days in the forest, Lucas..." In his voice hid a tremble beneath the surface; it was minor, but it came from the bottom of his heart.
Lucas didn't reply; he simply tilted his head with a kind expression before reaching out his hand.
Velmir, too, accepted it without hesitation. Only a smile, a happy and warm-hearted one. The moment their hands touched each other, Lucas drew out a golden-chained pocket watch from his folded sleeve and pressed its crown.
"Tick" - In the blink of an eye, the world fell into darkness, sound and smell disappeared, and space seemed to compress itself, but only a second after, Velmir found himself under the street light.
"What happened?" - Confused as always, Velmir wondered aloud, yet Lucas didn't let Velmir stand there as he quickly explained with a grin on his face.
"Don't worry, Velmir." Lucas took a moment. "It's a relic."
Velmir heard it all, but this time, he didn't... feel amazed like he always did when he found something new.
Instead, he felt like he knew it. "Relics... Items forged by mythweavers..." Velmir hadn't learnt about it, but somehow, words crept into his mind. Unexpectedly. Immediately.
His eyes twitched, "...How did... I know this?" - Velmir froze, not due to the new knowledge, but because of his.
Having to lower his head and glance at the pocket once. Unconsciously, Velmir said, "I... saw it."
But while he was stunned, Lucas captured his sentences. He wasn't surprised, but rather smiled, even with a happier look.
With grace, Lucas put his hand on Velmir's head and stepped away. "Let's go for a walk first."
Leaving just behind a few steps, he quickly caught up to Lucas and walked along with him.
In the quiet labor, the breeze swirled around the two, and lanterns guided their path. Lucas, after a few heartbeats, said to Velmir.
"...I'm a mythweaver." His revelation was sharp and fast. Yet it wasn't all. "Sorry, Velmir... I told you late."
He apologized. Sudden and couldn't be foreseen.
Even then, Velmir didn't rebuke him. It was never his right to ask for.
"Lucas... I respected your choice."
Velmir was confused by Lucas's apology, yet he knew. only he could carry a part of Lucas's burden. Therefore, he insisted.
"Even when a person chooses to be alone, Lucas. Eventually, there will be others for you to share. So, I can wait, wait for your promise. And one day, I know you will tell me... my friend"
Lucas shook his head for a little, eyes glittered once, and happiness clung to his face. Raw. Pure - Velmir could see it all in his friend's expression.
As the two walked along the way, Lucas maintained silence. Velmir didn't say anything either; he just simply followed Lucas since he knew his friend needed space.
After catching his breath, Lucas responded heavily, "I want to tell you, Velmir. Be careful, don't touch any knowledge from the second or first Era." A break between lines, "It's all I could tell you now, in the future... you'll know."
His voice was thick, full of husk, and he lifted his head with an anxious face.
Velmir was bewildered; he opened his mouth, ready to ask right away. However, when he was about to speak a question in return, his mind sharpened. "...No, I shouldn't... he already had enough pressure. I'm sure he said it for my own good."
Then, Lucas continued.
"Every mythweaver is given a diary, and that diary is your guidance. It will record your journey, myths, and status."
He stopped, no more walking, only a serious stare at Velmir before forming a wave of Ignis barrier around the two, even covering Velmir's whole body. His eyes fixed on Velmir, showing a hint of something... important. And finally-
"There are 15 soultrails."