~Chapter 3- Corri & Diva~

High above the clouds were hundreds of floating land masses that were referred to as the Sky lands. Bountiful lands that were said to be blessed by the Goddess herself.

A bright red bird flew through the Sky Lands, a sparrow named Rojo. On its back rode a young, red-haired girl named Corri wearing gauntlets, and a woman named Diva.

They were now en route to the 'Crow's Nest'. The 14-year-old girl shuddered as she neared a large piece of Sky Land with many dark, crooked trees on it. It looked menacing.

"That's the place. If my old crow is alive, it's here," Diva pointed. Corri continued to guide Rojo through the skies towards the Crow's Nest.

They landed at the edge of the island and hopped off Rojo's back. The red bird flew into the air and began to circle them from above.

Corri found a wilted tree, removed the golden gauntlets she was wearing, and carefully placed them beside the tree.

"I wouldn't leave those on the ground like that. Those look valuable," Diva said.

"I like to take them off whenever I'm on the ground. I have to wear them whenever I'm flying," Corri remarked.

"Why don't you let your bird carry them for you then?"

"Only I can carry them."

Diva raised an eyebrow at her, "...What do you mean?"

Corri smiled and gestured to the gauntlets, "Try and pick them up."

Diva gave Corri a perplexed look and stood over the gauntlets. She went to pick them up but was surprised when they didn't budge. She put a little effort into it, but the gauntlets wouldn't move from where Corri had set them. Diva gritted up and pulled as hard as she could, cracking the ground beneath her. The gauntlets didn't budge.

Corri knelt down and picked up the gauntlets as if they were weightless, "See what I mean?

"How-?" Diva was speechless. Diva was leagues stronger than Corri, yet only she could pick them up. There was something unnatural about them.

"They're called Ralosia's Gauntlets. Apparently, only those blessed by the Goddess can wield them," Corri explained, "I guess I am."

"That's peculiar..." Diva remarked, "At least you never have to worry about anyone stealing them!"

The two of them headed deeper into the Crow's Nest, where a forest composed of dark trees surrounded them. Black wings were perched at the top of the trees, and Corri tensed up. They were crows - each of them with wing spans of a few meters.

"Don't worry, they're not going to hurt you," Diva said calmly.

"I don't know about that," Corri said, keeping her guard up, "Every single time I've come across crows, they've attacked me. They were being led by that Lunahreim guy."

"Ah, Lunah wouldn't hurtcha. Was probably just trying to spook you," Diva dismissed, "I wonder if he's around here?"

"Lunah?"

"Yeah, I used to call him that. He hated it!" Diva said with a grin. She hollered, "Hey, Lunah! Are you around!?"

No response came, and the crows continued to stare at them curiously. Corri followed Diva through the forest. She seemed to be familiar with this place.

Diva peeked back at Corri, "So... I understand you're not getting along with your dad?"

Corri scowled, "That's why you came with me, isn't it? To talk about him?"

Diva shrugged, "I came to look for my crow. If you don't want to talk about Razan, that's fine."

There was silence between the two of them for a while. To be honest, Corri did want someone to talk with.

"It's just that dad... kept so many secrets from me! He never told me he was part of the Sky Bandits, I had to find out myself. Since he was trying to avoid bounty hunters, we moved every couple years, so I could never make any friends. He never told me my own mom's name or anything about her. And one day, he just decides to leave without telling us! It's so frustrating, and he never acts like he did anything wrong."

"Yeah... That does sound like Razan," Diva said under bated breath, "I'll be honest, I don't know if you're ever going to get an honest apology out of him. But even if he doesn't say it, he knows he messed up."

"I doubt that."

Corri heard Diva sigh before saying, "There was this one time where Lunahreim had your dad and I spar when we were kids, and Razan ended up bruising my leg pretty badly. But he refused to apologize. It was about two years later when he came to say sorry. I had completely forgotten about it by then."

"It took him that long?"

"Yeah, your dad knew he did wrong but didn't want to admit it. But he never forgot. He needs time to think things over and stew on them, I guess. He might be adept at everything physical, but he doesn't know how to handle anything emotionally. If he's having trouble talking about your mom, it's probably because he's still dealing with it himself," Diva explained.

"You and my dad were around each other a lot, right?"

"Until our twenties," Diva looked at Corri and smirked, "Want to hear something interesting about him?"

"Sure."

"We were each other's first kiss," Diva smiled.

"Really? You two were together?"

"Briefly. Vos was always the man for me though," Diva continued, "Your dad was very forward with every girl he liked. In just about every town we visited, he found a new girl to court. He wasn't serious about any of them though."

"What about my mom? Bonnie?" Corri asked.

Diva paused. They continued to walk the dark forest for a while until she managed an answer, "It was... different with her."

"What was she like?" Corri had been waiting to ask that for quite a long time. Her father and uncle were always tight-lipped about it, but surely Diva would tell her more.

"I- Umm," Diva stammered, "I honestly didn't know her very well."

Corri gave her a perplexed look, "Wasn't she one of the Sky Bandits? She was one of you."

"Yeah... but she was always so standoffish and distant with everyone besides Razan and Lunahreim," Diva answered, "I'm sorry I can't tell you more, kid."

"It's okay," Corri told Diva and herself.

They continued through the woods until they came to a clearing in the forest. There were dozens of large stones set out next to mounds of dirt.

"What is this?" Corri asked.

Diva silently walked up to one of the stones. Words were etched in the stone. 'Triga'. Diva placed her hand on the words, breathed unevenly and sighed, "This is a graveyard for the crows Lunahreim has taken care of over the years. He made a grave for my old crow."

Diva rubbed her hand across the tombstone. Corri could see her eyes nearly tearing up.

"I'm sorry," Corri said.

"I gave her a good life, and I'm sure Lunah took good care of her when I couldn't," Diva nodded and pushed back her tears, "That's all I needed to see." Diva turned away from the grave of crows into the woods. Corri glanced over the many tombstones. She left with Diva back the way they came.

Corri and Diva made idle chit chat as they went. But as they drew close to the tree where Corri had left her gauntlet, she heard murmurs. The two took cover amidst the trees and saw a group circled around Corri's gauntlets. Around them were black-winged birds wearing saddles.

"Are those other crow riders?" Corri asked.

Diva shook her head, "No, those are ravens. People mix them up all the time."

Corri saw a Mecarne woman with a bronze tint to her metal-looking skin approach her gauntlets. She looked familiar, but Corri couldn't recall from where. She put her hand in them, pulled with all her might, but the gauntlets didn't budge.

Corri smiled, "How long do you think it'll take for them to figure out none of them can lift it?"

"I'm tempted to wait and see," Diva said with a devious smirk.

Corri and Diva sat next to a tree and watched as the group tried to pull up the gauntlets one by one. Corri's eyes lingered on the bronze-tinted Mecarne, and she finally recognized her. Her name was Coppah; she was part of a crew of bandits. Little seemed to change.

"As fun as it is to watch them waste their time like this, we should probably do something about them," Corri remarked. Diva nodded.

Corri and Diva came out into the open and approached the group. A few of them drew weapons at the sight of them, but when Coppah saw Corri, her eyes widened. She remembered her last encounter with the red-haired girl.

"We need to go!" Coppah shouted to the others. Her crew didn't dare question her. They mounted their ravens and took to the air. By the time Corri and Diva had reached the edge of the Sky Land, they had flown away.

They spent the night on the Crow's Nest. Corri had taken care of all the errands she had in the sky, and Diva had found the place where her old crow rested. They were free to do whatever they wished now.

"I have some friends who are staying in Titus Forest that I was planning on visiting. Would you mind tagging along?" Corri asked.

"Not at all! I'm up for anything," Diva smiled.