Ch14-1: Passage 1

The tiny white bird hopped closer still, flitting over to land on the bent upright part of the girl’s knee.

The wild lands unfolded for Suzume like a tapestry, stretching as far as her dark eyes could take in. The sloped shoulders of the mountains sported a mantle of early summer green, passing into the haze of blue and purple as the peaks vanished, touching the bellies of the clouds. At her back, the cavern’s mouth yawned, a drifting sense of calm and tranquility of Wyndor sifting from the wavering lights below. Over one shoulder, she could hear the melodic chirp of a lone bird that had somehow found its way to alight upon the stones of the overlook.

The mountain dwelling of the Dragons was all so mystical and adventurous feeling. Secrets and shadows waited to be discovered at every twist and turn. And though the caverns were crafted for creatures that were far larger than any of the winged people, there seemed to be enough in the way of rooms there, built just for the purpose of people to live.

As if Lord Zemi may have foreseen the Migration at the founding of this place. As if he had known the events that would lead to the separation of the Cyngan and their Island home of Ceiswyr.

The sound of the wayward bird seemed louder to her for a moment, pulling the girl from her thoughts. Suzume wrung her hands in the hem of her robe with a frown. She did not want to let her heart wander that way. She did not want to place the blame for what had happened on Lord Zemi. He seemed sad enough that his lands were being attacked by the one that had once been his own brother.

Brother…

She may have had a brother once. She knew she had had a family, at least. But it was hard to remember. So hard to remember anything that she had been before the darkness had come. Before the fatal words of the chaotic magic uttered in the heart of Nefol had changed her existence forever.

Suzume didn’t completely understand all that had happened to her. But she could feel that she was no longer the simple girl she had once been. She was not even really like any of the other Awakened, either.

I’m not sure what I am…

The girl craned her neck back, peering at the sky. And she thought of Lucci.

…except for lonely.

She didn’t know how many days had gone by since the Migration had left the Islands. Though she had stopped counting, she knew it had been a lot. Weeks, maybe. Maybe more than a month. But the days felt like eternities within themselves, wrapped within the creeping cadence of worried waiting.

Will we ever be able to go back home again?

Kicking her legs back and forth over the edge of the cleft, the girl took in a deep breath. The wind fluttered the tips of her wings and played through the strands of her hair… but even that had a forlorn sound to it. The only company she had was the chirping of the tiny white bird that seemed just as lonely as she.

“I wonder what he is doing right now,” Suzume peered up at the bird, chancing conversation.

At first thought, it had felt like a silly idea to talk to the unknowing creature. But there was something almost intelligent in the tilt of the bird’s head as the single dark eye focused down on her. As if it really was listening.

“I’ve gotten a few letters from him in all this time. He has the worst handwriting,” the girl continued with a wrinkled nose face, “But I was so happy that he sent something to me. That he didn’t forget about me. I guess everything they’re doing is getting ready for the battle, so I was lucky he thought to write at all.”

As time passed, the news that Lucci shared had shifted from the cheerful banter that she was used to hearing. It was news of war. Of his long, tedious training sessions with – of all the most unlikely people – TsuYa. Of choosing his first weapon and learning how to work ground patrol. Of the fortification of the compounds and sealing off the furthest-reaching islands.

Gone was the talk of sunshine and fudge. Of the color of sunset clouds and the marvel of the silken petals of the flowers. Instead his letters slowly grew to sound more and more like the grim faced adults. And fear churned within her that the next that she would see Lucci, time would have changed him so that she would not recognize him anymore.

Lucci always changed so fast. But now he was changing to the rhythms of war.

The only thing that consoled her fears was his insistence at the end of each of his letters. Once the battle was over with and Zeromus had been defeated, he would find her. That they would be together again. For just a moment, he would sound like the Lucci she remembered. The last few lines were what she would hold on to. The promise of what would come.

“We’re going to win the battle,” Suzume murmured out loud, wrapping her arms around her knees and laying her chin on top. “Zeromus can’t beat us…”

~You seem certain of this?~

A voice sounded, distant as if carried on the wind. Yet so close that it appeared to be within her mind.

“He can’t! Lucci promised to see me after the battle… was… won..?” the girl swallowed, turning to peer behind her with a questioning face. She drew in a startled breath as she found that she was alone on the overlook. “Hello…? Is someone there?”

~Yes, I am.~

The voice sounded again, still as mysterious as the first time. There was a moment of awkward silence as Suzume’s dark eyes swung back and forth over the vacant stone before falling on the shape of the small white bird perched just above her.

“Did you…?” The girl opened her mouth, dumbfounded. Then shook her head, as if changing her mind. “No… that can’t be right. Birds don’t–”

~Talk?~ came a chirruped reply from the bird. Almost cheerful sounding.

“Ahhhh!” Suzume leapt to her feet with a short cry of shock, causing the bird to fluff its feathers in surprise.

~Don’t be alarmed? No harm is meant?~

The girl was already halfway to the door by the time she stopped, casting a wary glance back over her shoulder at the creature. Her voice wavered as she tried to clear her head, wondering what could cause such a strange illusion. “Wh..what are you?”

~I’m not a what.~ the bird replied, pruning quietly at its feathered shirt front.

“Then…?”

~I am a who. I am forming identity.~

Suzume furrowed her brow in confusion. Groping for a direction to take the conversation, she found herself clutching the hem of her robe again. “Who… are you?”

~Zeni.~

It was because the word was spoken so casually that it held so much weight. The girl froze, only her dark eyes blinking as she faced the tiny white bird. The bird, in return, regarded her calmly with a strange sparkle in is beady eyes.

Of course… Lord Zemi’s sister… she takes the form of a white bird! Why didn’t I realize that?

Though Suzume had been to Assemblies where the Trine had met numerous times in the past, she had never been up close to the table. Not close enough to have seen the two siblings of the Dreigiau through the haze of light and magic that always filled the great meeting hall. The girl had gotten a look at the great white wolf Zazo from time to time… but the younger sister, Zeni, was far more scarce and not nearly as evident upon first glance.

“Why… are you here?” the girl found herself fumbling for words. Why she was so nervous around this Arweinydd, she didn’t know. She had never been afraid of Lord Zemi. But then, something about this creature seemed so much further removed from the nature of people as she knew it. Far more alien and unknown than Zemi had ever felt.

~I am watching over the chosen.~

“The chosen?” she asked, voice quavering even to her ears.

~Yes. Those who are chosen to be protected by the Trine. Those such as you.~ Zeni tilted her head and flicked the fan of her tail before hoping forward on the stone.

“Why are we chosen?” Suzume spread her hands slowly, taking a few cautious steps forward.

~Because you are loved by my brother.~

Something about that statement felt wrong to her. But she couldn’t understand why. “Then you only watch over us because of Lord Zemi? Not because you are concerned, too?”

The bird flitted closer, landing on a nearby rock. ~Maybe.~

“Maybe? I don’t understand?” the girl took a step back so that she could look up at the Arweinydd. Her lips pressed together as she fought to choose her words properly.

~I find Earthians to be cute. Some of them.~ Zeni’s little beeded eyes appeared as she poked her head down around the stone, peering down in an almost comical manner for all the seriousness in her tone.

Suzume blinked again, digesting the thought.

~They make good companions. At least, that is what Zemi seems to think.~

“What do you think?” Maybe it was prying and blunt, she realized, to ask such a thing from an Arweinydd.

Zeni tilted her head as if in thought, seeming unoffended. ~I must study them more before I decide.~

“Is that why you’re here… talking to me?” the girl swallowed, not too keen on the thought that she was being studied.

~No. I was drawn here because I sensed a deep emotion.~ the bird flirted her wings and gave a small side-hop.

“From… me..?” she pointed to herself.

~I would assume the emotion belongs to you. You are the only one that is here. And you come here frequently.~ came the matter of fact reply.

Suzume found herself shifting her weight nervously from one foot to the other. She wondered what it meant that Zeni knew these things. “Then… you have been watching me?”

~From time to time. I enjoy watching the world from this peak. I notice that you visit this place by yourself often. And that there is great emotion when you are here. It is a curious thing. I wish to inquire the meaning of the feeling?~

“The meaning?” she echoed, puzzled.

~The cause? You speak of the boy Sygnus. Your feelings arise from being separated from him, am I correct?~

Suzume nodded, even more puzzled. Afterall, Arweinydd were supposed to be creatures of great knowledge and power. And here was one of the Trine, asking her, a simple girl, to define the meaning behind common emotion.

“Lucci is my best friend. I really miss him and that makes me feel sad. He was the only real friend I ever had when I came to live at the Islands,” she picked her words slowly, trying to explain. It was harder to do than it first seemed. “I’m also scared because he’ll be going into a battle. He could get hurt.”

~Though he is a boy, he is a Sygnus.~ Zeni informed her as if that said everything that needed to be known.

“I don’t understand?” her quiet frown accented the question.

~He is a Sygnus. He will not be easily hurt. You do not need to fear.~ The reply was accompanied with a gentle churrup.

It feels like… she’s trying to cheer me up?

The girl’s dark eyes blinked up, reflecting the ethereal white glow that clung to the bird’s feathers. Because it was so faint, she hadn’t noticed the shimmer on first glance.

Is that possible?

If the Zeni could pick up the passage of thoughts, she did not show it. Instead, the tiny bird hopped nearer until she was perched on a rock that brought her down to eye level with Suzume.

~I have a curiosity that you may be able to answer.~

It was a question and statement rolled into one that caught the girl completely off guard. “Uhn… okay?”

~I have asked Zemi about it, but he was never able to answer me well. I think maybe an Earthian would understand better. Things such as this seem to hover on your thoughts quite a bit.~

“I’m not sure if I can help, but I’ll try?” Suzume settled down on the flat white rock, peering at the Arweinydd expectantly. She had no idea what sorts of things that she could know that one of the Trine would not. But neither was she going to argue about answering questions that were put to her.

~I wish to understand the concept of a “friend”. You speak of the boy Sygnus as your friend. But I do not grasp the meaning behind this relationship.~

“Oh..?” once more, the girl responded with surprise. For all the questions that could be asked, this was not one that had occurred to her as a possibility.

Suzume leaned back, bracing herself on the palms of her hands in thought. As she did, the tiny white bird hopped closer still, flitting over to land on the bent upright part of the girl’s knee. Just a little while before, she may have been startled by the idea of an Arweinydd perched upon her. But for some reason, the sincerity that lay behind the creature’s question had put her at ease.

The sharper edge of loneliness faded into the moment as the girl frowned with a furrowed brow, trying her best to define something that came as second nature knowledge to herself. When she was certain she had some sort of explanation, Suzume took in a deep breath and began, “Well…”