Chapter Fourteen: Lucinda.

Garroth looked at me before he frowned, "How is that possible?" He asked before looking back at the booth.

"I-I don't know, but-" I stopped before looking at him. "I remember now..." I said softly.

He froze for a moment. His head turned to me before a realizing look hit him. His face relaxed before a quirk of a smile appeared on his lips. "You... remember?"

I looked at him before smiling, "yes, jerk... I remember."

A laugh rumbled from his chest out his throat before he hugged me. I giggled, squeezing him back as he breathed out.

"If I had known- I would've brought you here sooner-" He pulled away before he frowned, "Then who runs this boot-"

"Excuse me, I do not appreciate nosy people by my booth," A thick accented woman came around the corner.

The woman had bright green eyes, almost like a cat's night vision. She wore a velvet black dress that looked purple in the light and a satchel draped over her left shoulder. She frowned at me and Garroth before rolling her eyes and walking over to the side.

"See something you liked sooo much that you hovered until I came?" She said. Her voice was haughty, looking down at us as if we were bratty children. She bent down, putting her stuff under the counter.

I looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "I can see things I used to own in here..." I said before she stood back up. Her eyes went wide for a moment as she turned to me.

"That would be quite impossible as most of this is from Scaleswind-"

"My name is engraved in the bow to your right." I said, not wanting to listen to her spiel. Her cheeks went almost ghost white as she looked over at Garroth.

"Dude, back me up here." She huffed. Garroth rose a questioning brow before she rolled her eyes.

"Fine. They possibly are yours. A young woman traded them to me when she was leaving Scaleswind for a spe-" She stopped, "SPECIAL... uhhhh recipe!"

I looked at her before looking at her. Her eyes glowed for a moment before she looked down at my collarbone. She saw the pendant before looking back up.

"Oh... it actually is you." She said before clearing her throat. "I thought you were kidding when you said you wanted away from the bow but it looks like you got a new one right there," She pointed at the bow in my right hand.

I glanced down at the bow before looking at her. "Now I'm confused... I don't remember that?" I looked up at Garroth.

His brows furrowed together before he looked at the woman. She had her back straightened up as she waited, almost nervous for a question.

"What were you going to say instead of special." He said, turning to her.

"If I say, then I could lose my license." She said, "Privacy between you and your consumer." She said.

"I was literally your consumer for it," I said to her, walking towards her, "Please. Seeing that," I pointed at the bow, "Brought back my memory that I haven't had for almost eight months now. Can you at least be straight about that?"

She looked at the bow before she sighed, "Well I had enchanted that since the spell I gave to you were almost desperate for was a very new one. One that only a few others had actually agreed to use."

"Is enchanting it the reason that hap-"

"Yes. Your memories leading up to my possession were stored in the signature print. I use it as a display because if anyone else had gotten it they would have your memories. It was a dangerous thing but I felt like it would be useful, why?" Her words were quick as she got to her point.

"What was the spell?"

"Spell, potion, same thing," She corrected herself. She giggled nervously before clearing her throat, "It was a potion that helped with sensory imaging. From the information you had told me, you were searching for your family and a couple other people and needed a little help being out in the woods on your own. Only a couple other people had used it before with mixed results. Some of them went blind after the potion wore off, others memory, and one case was becoming paralyzed. I've been yelled at by so many people because of that stupid potion it's ridiculous-" She started rambling, her leaning against the counter on her elbows.

I rose a brow before clearing my throat.

Her eyes looked up at me before she stopped, "Right, sorry." She stood back up and reached a hand to me, "Lucinda. My name is Lucinda. I live in Scaleswind but I also live here."

I gently took her hand before softly shaking it, "Alaina." I said before looking at Garroth, "In a very odd way, I'm glad you did come here... I probably would've never seen you again if you didn't."

Lucinda chuckled before glancing at Garroth again. "Funny how fate works. Go to a village that is falling apart and slowly bring people to put it back together. Don't you agree, Mr. Ro'Meave?"

Garroth looked at her softly before he lightly moved his head side to side, "I guess, yes." He said before looking at me, "Some things just fall into place at the right time."

I rose an eyebrow confused before looking back at Lucinda.

She looked at me before chuckling, "Here. I'll give you what I can back. The bow is a given, but anything you believe you need I can give."

I softly nodded, "I could trade you this bow?" I lifted it up, "I got it from the blacksmith back in Meteli."

"Ah, yes. Matthias. One of the best in the known world." Lucinda smiled as we switched bows. She ran her fingers over the carved wood, lightly twanging at the string. "He always knew how to make a lasting weapon that could test upon new discoveries."

A small laugh came from my throat before she set the other four objects of mine on the counter.

The first object was a royal blue and silver compass. The sides had a few scratches but the back had the initials GR engraved into it. I looked at Garroth before smiling, "Wasn't this yours?" I asked.

He looked over, seeing it, "Yeah." He narrowed his eyes at me with a brow raised, "Before you took it during a horse ride!"

I snickered, gently setting it to the side. I couldn't get rid of the grin on my face as I looked at the second object. The second was a small figurine. It was from one of my birthdays but it wasn't something I remembered well. I looked at the third object and the smile from my face fell.

"Is that...?" I looked at Lucinda, who was sadly smiling at me.

She nodded before picking it up. She lightly blew the dust off of it before handing it to me.

The names engraved into the leather were Reyanne Chrysten and Raphael Corona. My parents. I softly bit my lip, seeing the difference in how they both wrote their names. It almost hurt to look at as I could remember the wrecked ship right outside Phoenix Drop. I softly turned it over, seeing the painted rose and falcon etched onto the back. It had a metal ring on it to connect it to a bag or whatever you desired to attach it to. I bit my lip before smiling, remembering the emblems my parents would always accustom their behavior to. I set it beside the compass.

I glanced at the fourth object, immediately not liking the feeling I felt from it. It felt eerie, a dark crimson glow under the brown hue of the leather.

"This was the first thing you gave me." Lucinda said softly as she picked it up, "I wasn't sure if you would want it back, you were pretty desperate to get it away from you."

"I still don't know what that is... even before I gave it to you..."

"From what I can remember, this was what you found in the place of your sister when she disappeared. It isn't an active portal, but it's a gem that is found in the nether and when it is activated by obsidian, then it can bring about a telekinetic power to its user." She said, "I never set this out for the naked eye to see. I haven't found the means to properly destroy it yet, but I don't want to have it in possession of even myself."

I nodded softly, "I don't like the feeling that's coming from it..."

"I don't blame you... That's why I keep it in this." She pulled up a small chest with wide, green eye engraved into the lock.

"There's a spell that only I can see the contents of what is inside this chest and if I made the engraving on another chest, it would appear there as well."

"It's very secure, I guess. Since you explained that?"

She chuckled, "Unless you can use my body signature, not just blood by the way, then no one will be able to access it. Besides," She set the item in it and closed the case, "Any thief will just take anything quick; they won't work for something so hard in the first place."

I nodded softly. "Makes sense..."

Garroth nodded softly. He looked at Lucinda for a moment.

"Sorry about before, Lucinda. It's... been a very odd couple weeks."

Lucinda chuckled as she handed me the compass and leather engravings.

"I've heard about what's been going on. And it is stressful, so your reactions are very viable. I also like to mess with people who stand around my spot, especially in the morning." She said with a playful grin, "But don't worry. If you two ever need me and can't find me, hit the ground twice and I'll be there."

I tilted my head, "How will you know?"

She giggled as a witchlike hat accumulated on her head.

"Oh, Alaina," She said, gently tilting the hat before looking back up. She winked.

"I always know who wants my attention."

We all said our farewells before Garroth and I started to walk off. We were silent for the first ten minutes or so as we ended up next to one of the wheat fields by the village square.

"That was...something else?" I said as Garroth looked out. He nodded, looking back over at me.

"I'm kind of surprised that I barely remember her." He said, "I know I don't go down there very often but she seems like a memorable character." He chuckled.

I shrugged lightly with a smile. I pulled out the compass and smirked. "It was one of the first times we wandered out of the gates back in O'Khasis, wasn't it?"

He nodded as he started to walk. I followed next to him, his left hand still holding the box from Kalynn's.

"Yeah. I mentioned we were going the wrong way heading back and you said-"

"'Pffft! No we aren't! See?'" I held up the compass like I had, holding it vertically so it wouldn't work.

Garroth laughed as he pulled his arm around me to grab the compass, just like he had that day.

"Yes, we were, because you couldn't hold a real compass the right way!" He said, tilting it back to its horizontal position, "I just remember being found by the two guards that came looking for us and we were fighting over this thing."

I snickered, putting the compass back in my bag, "That was funny though!"

"No, it wasn't." He said as he pulled his arm back to himself, lightly resting his hand on the hilt of his sword, "Irene, my father was not best pleased when we returned."

"Mine wasn't either," I giggled, "We didn't do it again for a couple months but the next time we paid a little more attention to where we were going."

He chuckled as he looked at me softly, "You aren't wrong..." he sighed softly before rubbing his neck, looking away.

I gently tilted my head as I looked up at him. "Everything okay?"

"Hm?" He looked back at me before he realized what I had said, "Oh, yes, I am." He gave a small smile before looking ahead of us, "Just one more place to check up on before heading back to the station."

I softly nodded before asking, "Where are we going?"

He gently looked at me before he motioned to the hill a few hundred steps away.

"Lady Jessica's. I usually go check with her to see if anything out of the ordinary needs to be done."

My steps lightly faltered before I regained control, walking with me, "Is... it a good idea for me to come? After last time...?"

Garroth looked at me before he realized what I was nervous about, "Oh, no, no, no. It's okay." He started, "She asked me about everything last night after you went to bed... she just wanted to keep her distance since she had rattled you. There's no hard feelings."

I bit my lip as I crossed my arms over my chest, wanting to close off. "I still feel bad... I shouldn't have yelled at her... o-or you."

He chuckled lightly as his hand gently touched my shoulder, the unconscious tension relaxing at the feeling, "We both understand how you felt... I had been holding back because of the memory situation and she wasn't aware of it." He bit his lip, "Now that you remember things... do you remember meeting her at all?"

I shook my head softly, "If I met her, it had been a really long time ago. Like- before we met long time."

Garroth nodded, "Okay. Maybe she just remembers? Ever since I came here, I haven't mentioned my past to anyone. Just because I'd rather keep that behind me."

"You want to keep your background away from everyone else? Why?"

He chuckled again as he looked at me, "Everyone knows me as a guard. Which is what I always wanted to do. You know that," he said softly.

I nodded in agreement.

He continued: "If everyone here knew me as the son of the Lord of O'Khasis? Irene, I would only be known from what father has been doing the last few years."

I softly nodded. I realized I was never in the loop of any O'Khasis news after I had left so everything from the last three to four years was in the dark for me.

"I get that... I guess you would rather be known as the person that found a nobody and would sneak out constantly just to play games and fight." I smiled softly as a familiar smile spread to his cheeks. He chuckled before he stopped.

"I forgot about these." He motioned to the box again, "We can sit down before we go see Jessica?"

I giggled softly, "As long as you aren't behind schedule, sure."

He chuckled, "Follow me, we can go sit over by the pier."

I bit my lip with a smile before we started walking towards the water.

It sparkled innocently but I still wasn't sure if I wanted near it. My steps faltered before he turned to me and smiled. He stretched out his hand.

"The water isn't too deep next to the pier. I won't let you fall in, Alaina."

His words were comforting. I took in a deep breath before I took a step to him and held onto his hand as we walked to the water.

"I won't let you fall: I promise."