The Virtues' Magecraft

Page 25: The Departure

"Okay," Gabriel began to explain. "We're on Vanaheim. On Vanaheim, there's a lake. In that lake, there's an island. On that island, there's a fortress. A fort. That fort has a subterranean level. And somewhere in that underground whatever-it's-called... is the God Crystal."

"Hmm..." Leonard nodded. "I see, I see."

"Do you, though?"

Leonard kept on nodding. "Okay, but... How are we even getting there? Like why are we on a bus right now? Makes no sense. Would've expected a plane at, least."

Gabriel spat out a sigh.

"From the palace, we went back into town and got onto this bus. This bus is leading us to a port city. That port city borders a lake, but not the lake we need to get to. So basically... We find a boat in that city, and it takes us across the lake. Once we're across the lake, we get another boat that takes us across the river. Because, y'know, the lake feeds into a river. Or the river feeds into the lake. I don't know. Either way... That same riverboat takes us to the island. And from there, it's all on the island. We destroy the God Crystal, and we go home. Understand?"

Again, Leonard nodded. "...So this is just a pointless mission, huh?"

"Yep," Gabriel agreed.

"Not pointless," Liam interjected. "We gotta get the God Crystal. If we fail, and someone gets their hands on it, things could get rough."

The Virtues were on a bus. Along with a dozen and a half others.

Chilly air cascaded down from vents as they trekked across a dirt road. That was all. Nothing more or less for the past three, almost four hours.

Anastasia was asleep beside Alexander. She had used quite a bit of energy against Erling and the best way to recuperate magic energy was through rest. And so, she slept. And Alexander hadn't budged at all in the fear of waking her up.

Lumiel sat in front of them. But she never sat for long and always got up, or at the very least, turned to the other Virtues with something to say.

Alexander was sitting still, keeping his black bag pressed against his chest. "Why are you still carrying it?" Lumiel asked him, pointing at his bag.

"Hm? Oh. Just thought it would be best to carry my own stuff.

Lumiel's eyes glanced down to Anastasia. Between her legs was her own bag. And so, Lumiel smiled. "Well, looks like you two have a lot in common."

"..." Alexander stared at Lumiel. "No. Don't start with that. Please, don't."

"I'm not sorry," Lumiel said amidst her light laughter. "But, yeah, it's more fun when you're both aware of it."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a pale cube. Just like the one she had shown him just a few hours ago. "So you're really gonna carry your bag around the whole realm?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

Lumiel's gaze shifted from Alexander to the cube in her hand. "I have like three of these, y'know. It's really no problem to carry your stuff."

Alexander still kept his bag close. "No, it's fine. Besides, it's probably for the best. I have like a dozen knives in here. So I'll just keep it with me."

She squinted at him. He didn't want to impose on her, even as she was unrelenting in her pursuit of helping Alexander. His insistence was annoying.

'Oh, well,' she thought. Lumiel already knew the persistence of her kindness was annoying, as well. But that only made her smile. Especially considering the similarities between her and Alexander.