The Legend of Caelestella

Three days later, as promised, they landed in Ios. The olympic let out a loud sigh followed by a gentle thud as the ship's hydraulic pressure-relief valves discharged, and it landed at a docking station.

Astar's body experienced a brief, spontaneous shudder. The winter months had begun to creep in, making their way into the bones, chilling their cores.

They were gathered in a small room in the top right wing of the ship. olympic's members sat around a large, oval-shaped table. The air was filled with anticipation. Astar fidgeted as small murmurs permeated the air.

All whispers came to an abrupt halt when the door to the meeting room swung open, and Eldrin entered. His hair was once again tied in a neat ponytail high on his head, flowing down past his shoulders and waist like a turquoise waterfall.

He walked slowly through the entrance, his gait as calculated as a lion. He held an otherworldly, predatory grace. 

This was the feared leader of olympic.

A tall, lean man emerged from the doorway behind him. He stood with pride, his chest puffed out. At his waist hung an arsenal of knives, each safely sheathed. His platinum hair was buzzed, and he wore a traditional Drocian hanfu. Its trim was decorated with stunning depictions of golden larch leaves, which contrasted against the vermilion fabric.

Eldrin slammed his hands on the table, and the aggression of the act shocked the room into complete stillness.

He spoke with importance; his tone was direct and forceful. "This mission cannot, allow me emphasise, cannot, be taken lightly." "We cannot afford to disappoint the Empress. After all, she is our commissioner."

{`}

Rich smells from the food stalls wafted past Astar's nose. He took it all in. It had been too long since he had been somewhere like this. He appreciated all the life that filled it.

Haruki stopped at a stall decorated with fine silks and soft clothes neatly stacked in the center of a table.

"Any of these catch your fancy?" Haruki asked, turning his head briefly as he carefully inspected the clothes.

The offer was tempting. He had not intended to buy anything for himself, but he considered it. Astar had been denied the privilege of warm, clean clothes at The Society. Instead, he wore the same torn, cheap clothes everyday. Like a prison. A dungeon.

Astar hesitated for a second. Then, he nodded and walked up to Haruki to inspect the clothes with him. This must have been the right choice because, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Haruki smile slightly. 

Another lesson Astar had learned from his time at The Society was that people preferred to have their offers accepted. Not denied. They wouldn't offer something they weren't willing to lose. Astar stopped as his hand landed on a soft winter coat. It was plain, but it looked comfortable, and it wasn't expensive. He draped the clothes over his arm as he sifted through the piles of garments.

Haruki had stopped at a weapons shop to look for a new scabbard for his sword. Astar looked around the store. All the weapons were high quality. As he looked around at all the weapons, a thought struck him.

"Uh… Haru?" He asked nervously, tapping Haruki's shoulder.

"Mm?" Haruki replied. He paid the stall owner for a polishing stone and a detailed scabbard.

"I read somewhere," Astar said slowly, "that mages can use weapons to channel magic." "Do you think I could do that?"

"Wait, what?" Haruki was startled.

"Oh," Astar mumbled, "was I wrong?"

"No, I just—do you not know what category you are?"

"Category...?" Astar felt a little dumb.

"Well," Haruki began, "the simple way to put it is that there are two different categories of tools." "Fighter tools are more suited for combat, while warlock tools are more suited for support." "Each magic tool fits into one of these two categories."

Astar thought about this. "But how do I know which weapon my magic will choose?"

"You just have to try them all until one works, to be perfectly honest." Haruki said as they strolled through the marketplace. Astar sighed. Was that the quickest way to find out? He didn't have the patience for that. 

He tricked his mind into focusing on the merchandise in the market in an attempt to suppress his frustration. He barely knew anything, and that infuriated him. He was significantly lagging behind the rest of the crew, and he didn't want to slow them down.

Part 3

When they returned, Astar flopped into his bed in exhaustion. He hadn't walked this far in ages.

He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling for a long while. He thought about the task Haruki had given him a few days ago. He hadn't been able to break the scissorstone mineral in the three days he'd been given. He hoped Haruki wouldn't look down on him.

It was then that he decided to do something about it. Recently, he had been grieving over his lack of skill and technique. However, sulking about this situation would not change anything for him; he had to take action.

He had gathered more confidence in himself over the past few days. Haruki had told him that one of the most important ways to become a high-class mage was to have confidence in his abilities. Astar had been stuck as a D-ranked mage for a long time.

During his time in The Society, he had never been allowed to use magic safely, which resulted in his confidence faltering once he was able to do so again. However, he knew better. He had been gifted such magic by the God of Light himself; he must have greater potential within him. Perhaps that was what Haruki had already sensed in him.

He hoped no one else would be in the training room. It would help him focus more without the worry of his magic going astray and hurting someone. 

He quietly pushed the door open and entered the spacious room. He was in luck; no one was here at the moment. He walked over to the scissorstone shield that he had left on the floor the day before. 

He had thrown it down in a fit and stormed out of the room, annoyed that he couldn't break it. He propped the shield up against the wall. He was still scared of his magic, and that wouldn't prove useful. He had to think of the good things that had happened because of his magic. 

He thought back to when he was a child, remembering how his mother used to tell him stories of legendary mages. He recalled staying up late at night, using his magic to read books. 

He thought of The Society, but not the pain it had caused. Instead, he remembered how he had used his magic to comfort himself in the dark, drab cells. It had been his escape. Even though he risked being found using his magic, he still used it. How else was he meant to survive those lonely hours, alone, listening to the screams and wails of the other enslaved girls and boys? 

He let these memories circle his mind, focused his mana into the center of his overlapped palms, and cast the spell. This time, the spell fired before he was able to chant the mantra. That shouldn't have been possible for his skill level. He saw his spell impact the shield, and following that was the bone-crushing scream of the scissorstone being torn apart. 

He'd finally done it. It had worked. He jumped up and ran over to the shield, inspecting it to make sure he wasn't seeing things. There was a clean hole directly in the center of the shield. He'd melted through the scissorstone!

Just as he picked up the shield, the door opened. It was Haruki and Milli; the elven woman with short, green hair. "Haruki!" He shouted. 

"Yes?" Haruki asked, but he didn't need an answer, as he soon saw the shield in Astar's hands. "Very well done," he said with a smile. "You should be proud of yourself. Not many mages can do this in such a short amount of time." 

Without thinking, Astar ran across the room and bumped into Haruki. "I did it!" "I didn't even need to chant the mantra!" 

Haruki looked startled for a moment but soon regained his composure, returning his face to its usual calm expression as he patted Astar on the back. "Without the mantra?" He asked. "Impressive, you may be better than I first expected, Star." 

Star. No one had called him this, not since he'd last seen his mother at least. 

Milli coughed awkwardly. "Erm, not to interrupt your little moment, but we have a delivery for you, Astar." 

Astar looked over at Milli and saw the trolley she had wheeled in. "What's in there?" He asked. Milli whisked the tarp off the trolley to reveal dozens of different magic tools. 

"Time to find your magic weapon." She said with a grin.

An hour later, Astar felt as if he had tried infusing a hundred tools with his magic. None had worked yet, and they had been able to cross fighter tools off the list. Most of the warlock tools hadn't worked either. The only instrument left to try was a harp.

"Here, try infusing your magic into this." Haruki said as he handed him a small hand-held harp. Astar gingerly took the instrument into his hands and plucked a string. He imagined his magic flowing through his veins, out of his fingertips, and into the harp. The harp began to buzz with energy, causing the wood to splinter. 

Astar released the harp, stepping back in fear. The harp remained in a suspended animation in front of him, the wood groaning and shrieking. Then it gave way.

"Watch your eyes!" Haruki yelled. A large, inky purple-black wall appeared in front of Astar, shielding him from the bursting wood. 

Haruki sighed. "I would rather you didn't have so many close calls, Star." "I keep having to make sure you're not getting yourself killed by your own magic." Astar winced. 

"Sorry." Astar muttered. 

"You know," Milli broke in, "why don't we try you with a key sword?" 

Astar turned around to look at Milli. "A key sword?"

"It's a lightweight warlock tool, usually it comes in the form of an ordinary key, but with the help of some magic it expands in size and becomes a weapon." Milli clarified. 

"The only problem is," Haruki mumbled to himself, "they're really hard to find, not exactly rare, it's just we don't know if a key is a key sword unless a warlock tries it, and there are millions of keys on Alatheia."

"Not to mention, a lot of key swords you buy from magic stalls are fakes and are just overpriced keys that don't even open anything." Milli scoffed. 

Astar contemplated for a second. A keysword? Howcome it sounded so familiar? Keysword. 

"Oh!" Astar realised. "I might know where to find one."

"Haven't you been underground for several years?" Milli asked. "How do you know where to find such a thing?" 

Astar ignored Milli, he didn't like people mentioning his time in The Society and wasn't sure how to deal with talking about it yet. Haruki jabbed Milli in her ribs with his elbow and gave her a "don't mention that" look. 

"How do we get to Springfell quickly?" Astar asked. 

"Springfell?" Milli asked nervously.

"It's a small village town just north of the Titania stronghold." Astar answered. 

"No, I know that." Milli sighed and began to walk fast down the corridor and turned left at another hallway. 

"Where is she going?" Astar asked Haruki. 

"The airship hangar." Haruki replied softly. 

"But, we're on an airship right now!" Astar exclaimed. 

"Mhm, but we have four smaller airships" Haruki said absently

'Are you okay? You seem distant.' Astar said. Haruki nodded politely and followed the path Milli had taken. "Wait–wait for me." Astar mumbled as he rushed to keep up with Haruki's long strides.

At the end of the hallway was another pair of those ridiculously oversized doors. The doors were open. Inside, Astar found a huge space that dwarfed the library.

Below the balcony they stood on were four platforms, each with staircases that all lead up to the main platform. There was a large door at the top of the hangar and one at the bottom. Astar finally got a glimpse of Milli's sage hair, she was in a small airship that resembled a praying mantis. Now that he looked around, each of the four platforms had a tiny airship docked at them. A rabbit-shaped one that crouched on its platform, a viper-shaped one that was coiled up, a jellyfish-shaped one with tentacles that hung over the side of the platform and the mantis one which stood delicately on the platform while its raptorial legs leaned on the railing. Milli waved at them from inside the mantis and beckoned for them to come over. 

"Let's go!" Astar said excitedly as he began to descend the staircase leading to the mantis. 

"Wait." Haruki said as he leaned forward and grabbed Astar's hand. "It's steep." Astar looked back at the man who held his hand, his usual blank expression replaced with one of concern.

"Hey!" Milli hollered from the open hatch on the side of the mantis' head. Haruki let go of Astar and began to descend the stair case, stopping at the base of the mantis. He grabbed a long rope ladder that hung from its side. Astar's hand felt cold now, it was uneasy. 

"Haru…" Astar called, "isn't this ladder a bit high?" Haruki let go of the rung with his left hand and hung off the ladder. 

"Scared?" He asked. 

'What? No! Well, maybe, so what?!' Astar protested. Haruki laughed a little and leapt off the rung he was on, landing in a crouch in front of Astar. Astar stepped back a little, Haruki had just jumped around 5 metres off the ladder and landed with inhuman grace. Sometimes he could be a bit scary. 

"How about you climb first, I'll stay behind you so I can catch you if you fall." Haruki suggested. Astar nodded and reached for a rung on the ladder and began to climb. He tried not to look down but it was a bit difficult to pry his eyes off the hungry void below him. 

"Hurry up, I'm opening the lower hatch!" Milli yelled over the rumble of the mantis' engine as it started. The rope ladder began to sway a little and the sound of metal scraping on metal echoed through the chamber.

Astar's heart pounded in his head as he clung desperately to the ladder, his fingers gripping it tightly, his knuckles going white. Below him, the hatch stood wide open, inviting the rush of wind that whipped through the air, sending the rope ladder swaying wildly. The city of Ios sprawled out below, a distant landscape of lights and shadows.

The wind howled like a banshee, tearing at his clothes and sending his hair flying. It felt as though the very air around him was charged with an ominous energy, urging him to turn back. He clung to the rope and tore his eyes from the sickening height. He shoved his face into the ladder, staring at the fibres in the rope. He couldn't move. If he fell now from this angle he'd plummet straight out of the olympic. 

Suddenly the wind that tousled his hair stopped. He turned around and found Haruki standing right behind him, gripping the rung above Astar's head. 

"You okay?" He whispered. Astar shook his head, he couldn't even get any words to escape his throat. "Hold on to me." Haruki said. Astar closed his eyes and grabbed Haruki's shirt, wrapping his arms around his neck as he fell into him. 

He hadn't always been afraid of heights, but since he'd lost his wings the fear of falling had consumed him. The knowledge that his freedom and safety had been taken in one fell swoop ate at him.

Haruki wrapped his arms around Astar's back and waist. Astar suddenly looked up in surprise, expecting them to start falling. But they weren't. They were floating. Astar tensed, there was no rush of adrenaline, just absolute, unadulterated terror. S

lowly, Astar looked up again and saw the familiar scene of purple-black inky shapes. They were wings. Six large, devilish wings. Astar hugged Haruki a bit tighter as he carefully looked down. Now that he wasn't going to fall he was able to look out the hatch below and stare in awe at the view. Flowing rivers like veins covered the lands and little houses speckled the empire like ants. It was beautiful. 

Just like that, they were already on the doorstep of the mantis. Astar let go of Haruki and stepped onto stable ground, releasing a sigh and looking around the interior of the mantis. 

{`}

"So~" Milli said to Haruki, "how'd it go?" 

"It's not funny, you didn't even see how terrified he was. Never do that ever again. I mean it." Haruki said sternly. 

Milli pouted as she slumped into the driver's seat. "Remind me never to do anything nice for you ever again."

Haruki rolled his eyes and sat down in the co-pilot seat. 

"Haruki!" Astar called from below the driver's deck. Haruki spun in the seat and pushed himself up, following the sound of Astar's voice. 

He stopped for a moment to look back at Milli. "Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

"Hmph as if I'd ever mess with you again, you're too scary." She whispered. 

Haruki descended the ladder and came across a scene he was not expecting. Astar was hanging out of a net and jumbled in with some crates.

"Help. Don't just stare." Astar pleaded. 

"Hah! How on Uivis did you end up there?!" Haruki burst into laughter, holding his stomach as he crouched on the ground.

"It's not funny! Who would put a net trap near the supply door? These crates are heavy, please help." Astar whined. 

"Okay, okay. Give me a second." Haruki recollected himself and leapt effortlessly to the mechanism at the top of the net trap. "How do you keep getting yourself into these situations?" Haruki asked as he looked down at Astar. 

He let out a small grumble as he tried to push one of the crates off his stomach and looked up at Haruki. "Are you going to help or not?" He said haughtily, surprising even himself with his tone. 

Haruki furrowed his brow and grabbed a hook on the mechanism and yanked it downwards. Astar suddenly yelped as the net below him fell to the ground, along with him and the half a dozen crates that he was jumbled in with. He landed on the floor with a loud thump and rubbed the back of his head which had struck the floor. Astar looked up at Haruki and frowned. "Thanks for doing it gently," he mumbled to himself. 

"What was that?" Haruki asked defensively, "I thought you wanted out? If you're going to complain I'll put you back in the net!" Haruki's voice began to raise, slowly becoming aggressive. 

Astar looked up in shock, he'd never heard this sharp tone directed towards himself before, honestly, it sounded threatening. "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I didn't mean it. Please don't get upset." 

Haruki looked taken aback and jumped off the mechanism and landed in front of Astar. Reaching out, he put his hand on Astar's head. Astar looked away from his gaze. 

"Hey," Haruki whispered, "look at me. I'm sorry too, you didn't deserve to be yelled at." Guilt flooded Haruki, he became easily defensive, often misunderstanding others and getting angry. He pulled Astar into a hug. "I'm sorry." He repeated. 

Astar hesitated, then leant into the hug. "It's okay." He said softly. 

He heard the engine of the mantis roar as Milli began to lift it off the platform, the sudden movement sent the two boys sliding backwards, Astar fell onto his back and began to slide towards a crate, but quickly felt the warmth and strength of Haruki's hand cover his head, catching him before he likely concussed himself. Astar opened his eyes to find Haruki on top of him. 

"Sorry!" Astar yelped, covering his face, Haruki smiled a little and tapped Astar's hands that covered his face. 

Haruki grinned as Astar peeked out of his fingers. Haruki stood up slowly and grabbed Astar's hands, pulling him to his feet. "Come on, we better go sit down in the cabin." Haruki said. He began to climb the ladder which led to the cabin. Astar stood there for a second, completely bewildered. 

"Wait for me!" He called, running over to the ladder he grabbed the rungs and began to scramble up the ladder, following Haruki to the cabin.