A heavy downpour started in a matter of a few minutes. The blue sky quickly changed its color to a lifeless gray. Big raindrops made me feel as though I just showered in a river. The air got colder and every other sound except for the falling rain got lost. In a situation like this, I would immediately search for a shelter, but the fire spirit was insisting on leading the way.

It wouldn't be the first time I got drenched in the rain so I didn't want to make a big deal. I followed the fire spirit because I was curious to see where it would take me.

After some walking, the fire spirit led me to a large lake. It might have been a beautiful sight on a calm day, but now it was colored in a depressing gray and the heavy rain pour made the water unstable. There was nobody there beside us, but in such weather, it was only natural. The fire spirit stopped here conveying me that we reached our destination.

"Obex," I cast a barrier to protect the fire spirit and me against the terrible weather.

"Why did you lead me here?" I asked the fire spirit.

It was too weak to speak. The fire spirit moved around a lot in front of me in all kind of directions It was trying to explain something to me by gesticulating, but I couldn't understand a thing.

"I guess there is a reason why we must be here?" I asked the fire spirit.

The fire spirit mimicked a nod with its movements. That was one of its rare moves so far, I could understand. If we continue traveling together, with time I should learn what all the movements mean, but I hope the fire spirit regains its strength as quickly as possible.

Since the spirit didn't speak and I got to know it for a very short period of time so I couldn't make out yet weather it shared a similar personality with Leo. Its human reincarnation, Leo was gone, but I'm sure there was still a part of him within the fire spirit. I was sad that he was gone, but at least in a way, he continued to exist somewhere within the fire spirit.

The elemental spirits were also a vital part of my world. They saved the world from the black holes just a little while ago with their combined strengths, even though one of them was missing and the fire spirit was at its weakest. I'm sure that my world needs the fire spirit and it would be a lot better if it regained its former strength.

The spirit tried to gesticulate something again, but I couldn't understand.

"Sorry. I don't get what you're trying to tell me," I said.

The fire spirit didn't give up on explaining and tried one more time, but again its movements didn't make sense. In the end, it moved above the lake.

There was a sudden splash near the fire spirit and I immediately noticed a very strong presence. The water spirit appeared in its transparent and undefinable form. It moved around the fire spirit and me, examining us very carefully. The fire spirit let out little flames around itself like it was trying to defy the water spirit.

"Witch Calytrix, the fire spirit..." the water spirit finally spoke in an annoyed voice.

I didn't want to say anything until the water spirit spoke so I stayed silent during the pause in its speech.

"You really did close the black holes with Andrezey and Akios much to my surprise," it continued.

There was an awkward pause after the spirit's acknowledgment and I had to be the first one to break the silence.

"The wind and the earth spirit also helped us," I said.

"I know," the spirit said shortly.

The fire spirit came close to my side and quickly moved up and down as if it were conveying something to the water spirit.

"Although we were always at odds it hurts me to see you in such state," the water spirit said.

The fire spirit let out a few small flames as it continued to move around.

"Don't get so angry," the water spirit tried to calm it." I know why you called me out here. I owe both of you an apology."

I felt warmth in my heart that the fire spirit was looking out for me. An apology would be nice, but I wouldn't be the one insisting on it.

"Witch, although you don't seem trustworthy I shall still praise your efforts on helping the world and I apologize for my rude behavior," the water spirit said.

With its words the fire spirit was satisfied and it stopped moving around. It was silently floating near me.

"About the last time..." I started, but I was immediately interrupted. The water spirit immediately sent a water orb toward me. It hit me hard and I staggered a bit. I felt like I absorbed something strange. A different type of magic entered my system.

"As an apology, I granted you the power of calling forth holy rain," the fire spirit said.

"Holy rain?" I asked.

"It is a special magic spell that the air spirit and I worked on. It is a type of rain that clears up the darkness and has healing properties," the water spirit explained.

It sounded like a very useful and mighty spell but I was still in pain due to the sudden shock of getting hit by that water orb.

"I'd like to thank you, but you could have been much gentler about it," I said.

"You're too sensitive for your own good witch," the water spirit had no intention of being nice and polite. "Now everybody is even. Nobody owes nothing to anybody now," with those words it dissolved in the water.

"The water spirit sure is a hard character to deal with," I told the fire spirit once it left.

The fire spirit nodded and started dancing around. I guess it must have been happy that everything is resolved now.

"What should we do now?" I asked the fire spirit.

The spirit mimicked a shrug.

"I also don't have a specific destination in mind," I said."Let's just take a short break for a while and head south."

The fire spirit nodded ad silently floated all around the lake. I sat down on the soft grass to rest, but I had to remain my focus on the barrier protection from the rain. Luckily it didn't rain long and a sunny sky exchanged with an endless gray.

I took out my writing materials and started to write a letter to my parents. The world is now safe. A sentence like that sounded overly dramatic and I couldn't be completely sure of it. The black holes appeared suddenly by the intervention of princes of darkness and they got closed off by Andrezey and the elemental spirits, but who knows what kind of threat could appear again.

In my letter, I explained that the black holes were dealt with, but it wouldn't hurt to be wary of danger. Who knows if they might appear again? 

I decided to explain almost everything that happened, about the witches guild and about Akios. I wrote that I had to continue my journey because I still didn't find out what I want to do, but once I find it I'll immediately write a letter.

I also wrote about the fire spirit in my letter. Now that it was back it might listen to the prayers meant for it.

The fire spirit and I traveled towards the south together. Our journey was calm and uneventful, but days like those weren't bad. I could take a rest from worrying about outside problems. I did carefully consider what Akios told me, about needing to plan my future, but I couldn't find the right answer. There were a lot of things a witch could do, but none of the plans I could come up with didn't seem like they were right for me. For example, a witch could become a close adviser of a royal like a king or a prince. My encounters with the King from Aweraton, princess Rheya, and the barrel prince convinced me that it wouldn't be a job for me.

Another type of job a witch would do would be to live in isolation but to be powerful and well known enough so that clients would seek her out and beg her to take their request. The first problem here was that I hated the idea of living in isolation. I wasn't a social flower, but I would still miss civilization.

If we were to talk about ideal jobs I used to admire the guild of witches, but they disbanded. I managed to get in a fight with one of their members and they were involved in very shady, evil business. That option was also crossed out.

There was always the option of living modestly in a small village, but since I grew up like that I wanted to do something different.

I liked the time I spent in Art town, but after I abruptly left broken-hearted I didn't think I could find a place for me there anymore.

I let out a sight. It was very difficult to decide on a future. The fire spirit noticed that I was stressing over something and observed me for a while. It came close to my face and started snuggling against my cheek. I felt a tickling sensation.

"Thank you for trying to cheer me up," I said while suppressing my laughter from the tickling.

Once the fire spirit confirmed I was doing okay it distanced itself and floated all around like he was examining the surroundings.

I guess nothing good comes out from worrying about things too much. Since my journey started I focused on one thing at a time. Thinking about all the things that happened at once seemed too overwhelming, especially when there wasn't much I could do to change the situation.

This time around, since the black holes closed up and Akios was gone I decided to mainly focus my journey on figuring out what I want to do.