Tales of Arlo

A Glimpse of What's Beyond

When I woke up the next day, Sivero was the only one waiting for me in kitchen. He swiftly brought me a cup of tea and another cup of a oddly blue liquid. Sivero pointed to the blue liquid first and then to the tea, recommending the order of consumption. 

Begrudgingly, I shot the blue, alarmingly vicious fluid down my throat. It slide down like a slug, but I could feel the intense exhaustion in my body disappear. I quickly chased the elixir with the much more pleasant tea that Sivero presented me.

"Sivero, why was the blue stuff so slimy?" I questioned him.

Sivero made a fist with his right hand and place his left hand on top, nearly making a second fist. On his left hand, he made a rabbit ear-like shape with his middle and index talons. He bent his raised fingers, as if making quotations marks in the air.

"I'm just going to be glad that I don't know what that means yet," I laughed.

Sivero grabbed my hand and placed it in his head. He used his other hand to direct me to look directly into his eyes. I focused on his eyes and the thought of bright, blue snails came across my head. 

"Why am I thinking about snails right now?" I questioned the old medicine man. 

Sivero simply raised his eyebrows and nodded his head, releasing my hand. For the first time since we met, I could have a two-way conversation and know exactly what the Kenku was saying. I looked back in his eyes and made the connection that the snails had natural, magic-restoring capabilities. 

"I don't know if I like your thoughts in my head, Siv," I admitted. 

I could faintly make out steps coming from the further corridor of Galmiir's house. When Oda and Galmiir walked into the kitchen, I ran up to Oda and looked him deeply in the eyes. I could feel his confusion and shock. 

"I'm looking at you because I needed to check if Sivero had given me a potion of insanity" I answered before Oda was even able to ask his question, doubling in the shock. 

I looked over at Galmiir, who was thinking about how annoying of a spell thought detection was in my great-grandfather. In the back of his mind, Galmiir attempted to push back his worry that I would overdo it again. 

"Give it a rest, lass" Galmiir griped aloud, "I like keeping my thoughts to myself, thank you very much."

"You'll want to save your magic for our armor downstairs" Oda explained. 

"Ours?" I asked, looking at the ground to avoid accidentally reading Oda's mind again. 

"She seems fine enough to work" Galmiir stated, taking a cup of tea down to the workshop with him and waving me downstairs. 

Oda's bright green armor sat on a mannequin, perfectly mimicking the armor from his father's drawing. Next his armor stood another, smaller mannequin fitted in my great-grandfather's armor. 

"Your final test is to enchant these armor sets," Galmiir explained. 

He looked over the armor sets with pride, giving each a final inspection before placing his dear friend's book in my hands. I caught a glimpse of his eyes before he turned away, the feeling of sadness quickly washing over me and disappearing just as quickly. 

"We'll make you proud, Galmiir" I reassured him, "And we'll even return to you one day."

"Just to make sure you're still with the land of living, you old fart" Oda laughed, patting a sentimental Galmiir on the back.

"Enchant these armors and don't come upstairs until you both are dressed" Galmiir huffed, "Sivero, it's time we old farts let these young smithies work while we rest."