Isekai Journey Of The Magic Archer

[Eon's POV: ]

[[ "So, is it true that you and uncle met accidentally and then you met Miss Sarah?" ]]

[[ "Not exactly so." ]]

[[ "Hmmm?" ]]

The other students were all around the garden now that the introductions with Sir Jade had ended. 

They had been surprised at first after knowing all the interesting things about him, his intelligence, his vast knowledge of various subjects, and, his ability to describe his experiences. 

They had only thought he was a shiny talking bird at first but after knowing a little more about him, they found him to be more amazing of a being than many other creatures present in this garden.

His feathers were heavy and made of silver, and, he had even picked out one of his feathers for the students' evaluations.

'That one feather alone was around a kilogram of silver, the price one could get for it was tens of gold coins, and since it was a feather of a creature, the natural details of this thing were unbelievably vivid.'

I already have a few of these feathers from our last meeting so I know them better than others, but still, this one feather alone could be worth a fortune for some of the students present there.

Just the thought that this was a feather of a bird who could grow more of these feathers was a thought that made their head spin with weird thoughts.

But, they also knew it was better to just work and earn their own money than steal the feathers of some nine-meter-tall bird. A bird with the legs and claws of a tiger and the upper body and wings of an eagle no less.

They would die even before they were able to touch the tip of those feathers, but, truthfully, they didn't have to worry about this much.

Sir Jade doesn't actually care about a few feathers so, if one asked sincerely, I knew he would happily give them one.

They were merely his feathers at the end of the day. He only needed a bunch of them for flight support. 

[[ "Well, you see Axion. I knew Sarah way before I met Elkin. We both also knew we were a perfect match and that I could be her familiar. However, back then, I had no interest in serving under some witch or being her partner for the rest of my life." ]]

We were talking through Celes' connection and, since there were still a bunch of students talking with him, this was a better way than attracting any unnecessary attention.

[[ "Long, long ago. I used to live in the Woods of Jumilimp, a place famous for its beauty and tall trees.

A great tree existed there until six decades ago and it used to be the home for me and many other beings of nature.

It was a small place, pretty and quiet. It was peaceful.

However, after the death of the great tree, the area started becoming… less attractive.

Some creatures left the place, some stayed, and some couldn't leave even if they had the chance to do so.

They were imprisoned in that place by the memories of the past, by the memories of the time they had spent in that place, by the moments that still remained there…

I, for one, loved that place.

The skies above the forest, the winds of home, the mountains, the small children that grew up right before my eyes… it was a home I never wanted to let go of even after the house itself was gone.

Haaaaa…" ]]

I could feel his emotions, the things he was trying to say, as well as what it felt like to have a 'home'.

Not a house where we just spend our days, but, a home where we live our life.

I knew how it felt to have that kind of place, a place where one felt belonging, where one would want to spend the rest of their lives alongside the people who they called a family.

I have a home as well, more than one if I say so, truthfully.

'The home that I was born and grew up in, the home where I met my master and spent the majority of my happy days in, and, the home in the capital city of the empire, the place where I spent all my time in after I was reunited with my family.'

Rein's house, well, I can call it her home, but, since I had only spent a few moments of my life there, I am not eligible to call that place my home even though that place means a lot to the two of us.

'Homes… sweet, certainly, but also warm and comfortable, welcoming, and calming.'

I can understand why he would want to stay in a place that was slowly dying from the inside after the core, the great tree sustaining it, had passed away.

[[ "I met Sarah when she was younger, and when the life in the forest was at peace.

I was younger as well, loved skies more than anything else, and when I wasn't in the sky, among the clouds, I was in my house, on the great maple tree, resting, with my friends and children of those friends.

You must know since you have Celestine, all the original beasts have a certain Skill or a role or an ability that is unique to them, right? 

My power was, well, it was destructive, it still is, so it was never needed in a place as peaceful as that one.

Perhaps, occasionally, to ward off the dangers to my home. Those were the only times I ever used that power. And, even to this day, I have only needed to use it a few times.

But still, I never liked the destruction.

I liked the peace I had, I had been born there so it was obvious I would grow up to love it instead of the violence and destruction that I was supposed to spread.

I don't know if you would believe me or not, but Sarah of that time used to live for destruction and chaos. 

She was a little crazy, I would say.

Perhaps, that was the main reason I didn't want to be her familiar even after our compatibility…

Haaa… I refused her, and she said she didn't need anyone by her side anyway.

She was arrogant, alone, and dangerous. Perhaps, that's why when I saw her again, I was so shocked I could not even believe the reality itself." ]]

He paused for a moment, glanced at the two of us under a tree, looked at Rein with a smile, and shook his head lightly.

[[ "I met Elkan accidentally when he wandered too deep into the woods after getting separated from his caravan.

He was a small boy, left alone in the woods, covered in cuts and bruises from falling and plants, weak and pathetic… and still, clinging to the hope that he would go back to his family.

I don't know if it was pity or curiosity or just my nature, but I helped him because I saw a light in him that I had not seen in many creatures of that dying forest for a long time.

I had seen humans before him, young and old, children and adults, but, this young child… he was different.

He was smart, certainly, I would say. He understood the situation he was in, he understood what I was and how I still saved him, helped him recover, and told him about myself, my home, and things that, well, I had not told someone in a long time." ]]

He paused once again and looked towards Uncle El who was playing the fire tag with the other children and Master Brok. 

He was a professional adult now, a father, but still, he smiled like a young boy who was having the fun of his life playing with others.

[[ "He was a strange kid…

The first thing he asked me after coming to his senses, was not something simple like where he was, who I was, or what I would be doing with him. Instead of all the simple questions a young child could ask, he asked me, haha, it still makes me laugh when I remember his face…

His question was: "Can the silver feathers on your body be hollow? It must hurt a lot to pull your weight if it wasn't like that, right?"

Hahaha, there was an unexpected curiosity in his eyes. 

He was certainly afraid of me, however, his curiosity triumphed over the fear or pain from the previous experience.

He asked me a question not even I had thought of before that point and, during the one week we stayed together, in that hollow space of the dead tree, he had convinced me that… there was something more attractive outside of this dying forest.

He told me about the world he had seen himself, the ocean that he had been seeing since he was young, about the sky so much vaster than what I had experienced all my life. About the world beyond my home, beyond my prison...

And, in the end, he made me take him out of that forest, and, for the first time in my life, I left the forest, and, witnessed the true vastness of this world, this land, this space, these winds… these clouds.

I had always thought the world was a small place, and happiness could be found in a limited space only.

But, perhaps I had been wrong about it all since only after I met this curious boy, I was able to see the true greatness of this world, and, perhaps, because of the play of our fates, just like how I met him and ended up doing what I thought I might never do until the end of my life, the girl that once was known for her destruction, the one I rejected due to her violent nature, had also found something that changed her completely." ]]

He sighed after that once again, and, after hearing all of this, though some of my questions had been answered, some new ones had popped up in my mind.

[[ "There exists the fate of every element in this nature, Axion." ]]

Some of the questions I had were baseless, some absurd, some logical, and some of them were just outrageous.

[[ "And, the fate of one thing might be connected to something we might have expected the least." ]]

My questions were making my head heavy, and Rein noticed it, so, she stood up and, hugged me gently, helping me calm down a little.

[[ "Perhaps, everything is connected in this nature, or perhaps everything only gets connected when one's fate intertwines with another after the first encounter." ]]

He was talking about fates. He was saying nothing in this world is a coincidence. And, if what he was saying was true, then, thinking back, everything that had happened in my life until now, everything that I had been through…

[[ "The connection of fates is strange, Axion. Trying to understand them might bring no happiness to one but instead chaos, or at least, it is what I have learned from my own experiences." ]]

The connection of fate, one thing leading to another, if we think it deeply enough, isn't my existence in this world itself, a strange error?

A strange error that led to thighs that were also strange in themselves?

What if-

[[ "If 'ifs' and 'buts' were candy and nuts, what a delightful world we'd have, Axion.

Hahaha, I only said things are connected, that there exists a connection of fate, young boy. And also that it's just what I have learned from my experiences.

One thing leads to another, something leads to something that is not nothing, absolute's existence blurs, and the possibilities of uncertainties arise." ]]

My head hurts...

[[ "Thinking too deeply about the hypothetical what-ifs and scenarios that haven't come to pass might be a good mental exercise but, at the end of the day, the present is what has just passed, child. 

You live there, we all do. And, to change what would come, we do what we just have." ]]

My head hurts...!

[[ "Haha, I know you would want to dwell deep into your own thoughts, but, why not do it when you have the opportunity to do so in private?

Why not enjoy the present a little? Look around. And since things are connected anyway, free yourself from the burden of the unknown possibilities." ]]

He was saying all that to me… why was saying all these things out of nowhere like that?!

[[ "Me meeting her and the things after that, me meeting him and the things after that, and the two of us meeting again, were perhaps very similar to her meeting me and then her meeting your mother, but still, the moment we met each other was the moment unforeseen by either of us. Which just proves however you try to introspect, the past would remain unchanged, the future would remain uncertain, and the present… would just pass like a fleeting winds of fate." ]]

"Alright, everyone! Looks like Jade will be taking his leave now! Let's gather and say our goodbye and thanks to him~!"

[[ "Live, Axion. Live a little more." ]]

-OOOOOOOOOOOOOONG!

A large gust of 'golden' winds covered the area around him once again, and, after a light bow to us, the creature that had stood among us for quite a while, just… vanished, along with the silver feather it had picked out earlier.

"Uriel... something strange just happened."

"Hmmm? Yes? I know something happened. You suddenly started worrying about something excessively. I thought you remembered something you didn't want to… what happened?"

"You… weren't listening to what Sir Jade and I were talking about?"

"You were talking with him?"

What was she saying? Isn't that obvious?

"Yes…? Through Celes' connection. Celes, you didn't give her access?"

[[ Hmmm? What are you talking about master? What connection? I was watching the green fire lizard and the others for a while… did, something happen? ]]

"What…?! What did you just say!?"

My head was hurting all of a sudden.

The words of Sir Jade were ringing in my head!

Something had happened. Something definitely happened!

"This is strange..."

This was… strange…