Cedric, Hirei, Penelope and Aalaiyah were walking aimlessly through Sograt Desert, attempting to navigate themselves to the desert city of Morroc with a compass in Penelope’s hands and a map of the Rune Midgard Kingdom in Cedric’s. The scorching sun and the cloudless sky caused a searing heat that pierced their skin. The sharp cries issued from the cactus-like Mukas and frequent barking from the Desert Wolves were annoying and did not help in their situation. It has been a long journey due to the frequent rests they had to take and were weary from travelling under an intense environment. Thankfully, Penelope had stocked up enough water and food for their long walk to Morroc and was very particular about how much they consume each they to make sure that there was enough for tomorrow.

‘Are we there yet? I’m getting dehydrated!’ grumbled Hirei as he dragged his feet, mouth opened as sweat trickled down his face. ‘We’ve already passed Ant Hell a couple of days ago right? We couldn’t be far off…’

‘Close your mouth, talk less, and you’ll be fine,’ said Penelope curtly as if trying to save her breath. She handed Hirei one of their half full water bottles, which Hirei snatched greedily like a Thief Bug. ‘Don’t finish that.’

Hirei raised the water bottle in the air and tipped it to his mouth, fresh water flowing down into his throat, temporarily relieving him from the heat. Just then, a yellow Drops hopped onto his arm, swallowing the water bottle into its translucent body and ran away.

‘Stop there you looting jelly!’ Hirei raised his bow and shot an arrow through the Drops, a relative of the also looting Porings, reducing it to little yellow fragments which evaporated under the heat. Hirei retrieved his water bottle triumphantly, bringing the rim of the bottle to his mouth once again for another drink.

‘BLEH!’ Hirei choked as he started to spit out sand back onto the ground. It seems that the water inside the bottle had been replaced with sand when the Drops stole it. Wiping his mouth furiously, Hirei threw the bottle onto the jelly remains. ‘Man! If we stay here any longer, I think my brain’s gonna be fried like an egg before it starts getting crazy and decides to brandish a frying pan like a Magnolia.’

‘I think your brain already went crazy…’ said Cedric cautiously as he scanned his best friend from head to toe. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

‘No need to worry now, look!’ Aalaiyah said as she pointed at a desert fortress, guarded by tall, sandy walls. They had to strain their eyes to spot the structure through the dusty dunes.

‘That’s Morroc!’ Cedric announced happily. They continued to hike their way towards the massive gates of the frontier. They entered the city littered with tents and buildings all around the large sandy compound, the people wrapped in tan cloaks to shield themselves from the sun and dust. Almost everything in Morroc was tan except for the diversity of colours in hair and clothing the people chose, the wares the Merchants were selling and the deep blue water which surrounded the castle of Morroc in the middle of the city. There were more goings-on in Morroc compared to Payon, Geffen and Izlude, the city somehow giving him an odd feeling of familiarity. Jewelry merchants, food sellers, item collectors all line the brick streets of the city, those in the bazaar not afraid to raise their voice to haggle.

‘Um, excuse me, do you know where this place is?’ Cedric asked a Kafra Staff in brown dress after having a quick look around the bazaar, showing her the piece of paper.

‘Oh, you just have to follow the road down south, and then head a little to the east until you see an inn near the corner of the street,’ said the girl as she waved her gloved hand. She then took out a map of Morroc and an adorable pen with Poring decorations. ‘Let me point it out for you on this map… Here, you can have this!’

Cedric thanked the Kafra staff and started to study the map thoroughly. ‘What was that for?’ asked Hirei as he tiptoed over Cedric’s back, his height giving him an advantage while Cedric tried to reposition himself so that the map was not in Hirei’s shadows.

‘It’s an address Edel gave me before we left Geffen,’ said Cedric. ‘He said that he had a Sage friend who might be able to give us some hints about the heart fragments of Ymir. I guess we might be staying some days here in Morroc.’

‘At least the weather in the city is less extreme than the harsh conditions of Sograt Desert,’ said Penelope as she recalled having sleepless nights due to the chilly weather during bedtime all while the sand kept colliding into their tents in the wind, distracting them while they tried to catch some Z’s. ‘So, we’ll be looking for this Sage now?’

Cedric turned to the rest of his party for opinions, getting a shrug from Hirei and two nods from Penelope and Aalaiyah. ‘We could look around Morroc as we walk, come on!’

They started walking away from the bazaar, but still had to push their way through the crowded streets. Hirei was walking in front while Penelope and Aalaiyah were behind him, holding onto each other closely. Cedric was concentrated on his map, making sure that they do not lose their way in a foreign land. Just then, he bumped into a girl in an elaborate outfit with a large, brown bow below her chest. Cedric lost his balance, slipping backwards before being caught by the same girl who he noticed had her sweet amethyst shaded hair slightly tied in the style of two ox horns on her head and the rest of her long hair left loosely below her shoulders.

‘T-Thanks,’ said Cedric as he nodded his head in appreciation. The girl’s small grey eyes seem to smile at him as she nodded too and walked away in the opposite direction.

‘Welcome back, sir Knight. Watch your back and stay alive until then, would you?’

Cedric stood there, stunned for a moment as he tried to figure out what had happen. He turned around to look behind him, but the girl who bumped into him and left him the cryptic message had disappeared.

‘Hey, Ced, stop dreaming there would ya?’

For the whole day, Cedric’s thoughts would be tortured by the strange encounter with the amethyst-haired girl, and it would not be the only strange occurrence he would come across in Morroc. He swore that he was starting to feel a little queasy, the girl’s grey eyes kept floating into his mind along with the words she said, reminding him of the time he was almost knocked out by a Poring’s water attack when he was little. Could he have known the girl from somewhere? He started to come back to his senses when a blue glint of light shone into his eyes through Penelope’s necklace.

‘This is the place, isn’t it?’ said Penelope as she opened the door and took a peep inside, revealing a well furnished inn, confirming her statement. She walked to the desk and asked for the Sage they were looking for, and they were pointed to the second room on the right up the stairs. Knocking on the door, they heard loud footsteps, followed by the door banging open with a girl panting at the entrance. She was wearing a Sage outfit, very similar to that of a Mage’s, but had a more intricate design to it.

‘Y-Yes? How may I help you?’ she asked as she casually tied up her grey hair into a loose bun with a pencil she had in her hand.

‘Nellie is it? Hi, my name is Cedric. We’re here to ask you for some help on the mystery about Ymir’s Heart,’ said Cedric as he flashed the paper with her name and address written on it. ‘Edel from the Wizard Council recommended us here.’

‘Oh, Edel Claphire? And you’re interested in my research? Please, come in and make yourself comfortable!’ said Nellie gleefully as she swung her door open, inviting them into her room. It was a standard size room with a large bed that could fit two people, but the whole place was drowned in papers, research notes and all sorts of apparatus, much like Nadleeh’s workspace, leading Cedric to adopt an impression that all Magicians were just the same. Embarrassed, she quickly cleared the floor and pulled out four chairs from the corner of the room. ‘I’m so sorry it’s such a mess in here. I didn’t expect to receive any visitors, so I never bothered to clean up.’

‘It’s alright,’ Aalaiyah said softly as she sat on the low stool Nellie provided. Nellie did a double take and leaned forward to take a better look of Aalaiyah.

‘Oh, aren’t you Chief Wingstaff’s beloved daughter?’ said Nellie cheerfully. ‘Edel told me about you. So you’re all traveling together? At such a young age too! I’m impressed.’

‘Yeah, we’ve been around for almost a month now,’ Cedric said, hesitating for a moment. The four of them started looking at each other and realized that they had been away from their homes for a month. It was that long since the day they became Novices and travelled to Prontera, Izlude, Geffen, Payon and now Morroc together. ‘We’ve been kicking stuff together for… a month already…’

‘Wonderful. So, how is it that you guys are interested by the legends of Ymir’s Heart? I’d understand if the Chief’s daughter was fascinated by these mysteries, but a fresh Swordsman, Archer and Acolyte? You guys must really have a good grasp of what you want to pursue.’ Nellie inquired in a reporter-like way, pausing for awhile and started laughing at herself. ‘Oh, I’m sorry if I’m too talkative or sounded too aggressive. Researchers like me don’t really get to sit down and talk often. And I’m really excited to be able to share my findings!’

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Current Word Count: 21,327

Labels: NaNoMadness, The Eminent Guardians