[crow]

Akala spent the rest of that night poring over the journals. The notes about the fae-creatures bore plenty that was of interest to him. Part of the reason that the author of the journal had been so sure that it had to do with the Bright One was the prevalence of a healing theme in their myths. Akala the First wouldn't be nearly the first case of these fae deigning to bless some human or another with a magical cure, if she did indeed belong to this race of mystical beings.

He couldn't help but snort at it. They could've used some magical healing fairies in the present day too, what with all the diseases flying around.

[crow]

He had no doubt that if he found anything, it would be the remnants of what once was. If such a miraculous thing still existed, it would have been found and exploited by now. Either that, or the fae had decided to have nothing more to do with humans and had hidden themselves thoroughly, in which case Akala was still no more likely to find them.

... Well, unless... Maybe the shards would reveal something for them. That was the one advantage they had over the every-day profiteering adventurers, wasn't it? Akala didn't want to get too hopeful, in case it never amounted to anything, but all the same...

[crow]

Akala woke the next morning to the sounds of someone going through his fridge. It still took him a moment to register that it was probably Faber. That was going to get him into deep trouble someday, when his house actually got robbed.

When Akala walked into the kitchen, Faber was fixing himself a mug of coffee. Faber grinned as soon as he saw Akala's face, to which the latter grumped, “What's so funny?”

“You should take a look at your face,” Faber said. Akala walked to the bathroom, and realized that falling asleep on his desk had been a mistake. The rings on the spine of one diary had pressed a pattern into his cheek overnight.

[crow]

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, very funny. Give that here,” he said, and snatched the mug from Faber's hands. He took a long draught, then nearly spat it out, coughing as he choked it down. “How much sugar did you put in here?! That's disgusting.” Faber laughed, taking the mug back from Akala. Well, he could have it. Damn. Akala didn't even know he had that much sugar left in the cupboard. He watched Faber take one long draught of the stuff, and resisted the urge to retch again. Not that he had any breakfast to lose though, and he'd better rectify that ASAP. Thankfully there was more food in the fridge now, and even some leftovers from the day before. A little stale, but with some reheating and a bit more salt, they'd do just fine for him.

[crow]

Faber didn't mind the rough fare either, as it turned out, and Akala was happy to share. “Between the two of us, I think we might be able to finish this off. And about time too, since I don't think this is going to last another day in there,” Akala said with a grimace. Faber said nothing, focused entirely on shovelling food into his mouth. For someone so skinny, he sure could pack a lot away. Akala knew plenty of women who would probably pay good money for Faber's secret to weight loss, but he suspected they wouldn't want to try it once they found out what it was.

Was now a good time to bring up what he'd found? Akala was about to find out.

[crow]

“So. Faber. You showed up just in time,” he said. Faber looked up a little at that, his curiosity piqued. “You know how I've been going through those records of mine? I think I actually found something yesterday.” He watched Faber carefully, trying to gauge the boy's reaction, but so far there didn't seem to be very much of one. Alright, he was probably waiting to hear what Akala had actually found first. Fair enough. “One of those journals has an interesting lead on what the Bright One might be, and even an idea on where we could find something on her... And I'll bet anything that it has to do with your shard too, if it had something to do with mine. I don't know that you'd care, of course, but I'll be headed out to check it out soon, and I'd appreciate it if you came along. After all, you've got a better idea of what to do with those powers of yours than I do.”

[crow]

It was sad, but true. Even after all his practice, Akala still had a long way to go before he could claim to have a decent grip on his own abilities. The fact that they differed from Faber's own meant that whatever irregular coaching the boy could offer was limited in its effectiveness, which was already hampered by Faber's own tendency to be incredibly unspecific sometimes.

More than that though, Akala wanted another fragment-holder along for the ride. If there was a kind of key-of-the-chosen deal going on, then it stood to reason that the more of those keys they had, the better. The truth was that he had very little idea about what he was going to be walking into, so he couldn't say for sure, but the fact that he'd run into Faber like that had to mean something, right?

[crow]

Faber finished the mouthful he'd been eating, and for a moment, Akala wondered if he was simply being ignored. But then Faber paused over his breakfast, and did his slow Faber-thinking again, and Akala decided to just lean back and wait. It took an extra long pause for him, probably because there was more to mull over here than usual.

“I... don't think I want to go,” Faber said at last. Akala couldn't keep his face from falling, but he resolved not to push the boy if that was the case.

“Well, er, that's alright. I mean, feel free to stay here after I leave too. I'll, uh, forward some payments so you'll have heating and electrical hopefully, though I don't know how long I'll be gone...” The last thing he wanted to do was come off as a skeeze who was trying to pressure the kid into favors just because Faber was crashing with him.

[crow]

Faber smiled at him, and went back to his eating. Akala sighed. Okay, that was disappointing, but he still had a lead, and that was something to be happy about... right? He'd get to vindicate his ancestors and all that good stuff. Might turn some of his luck around too, if they were pleased by what he found. Ancestor-worship wasn't the kind of superstition that Akala subscribed to, but who knows, it might be true.

His speech about heating bills and whatnot did make him wonder what he was going to do with (or about) Faber once he got back. As far as freeloaders went, the boy wasn't unpleasant; that wasn't Akala's main concern. The problem was... What was Faber going to do? Heck, what did he do to begin with?

[crow]

That, however, was a question for another time. Everything in his life was going to be put on hold until he had made it back from the expedition that he was planning. It was all rather hastily put together, but Akala was too excited to wait; perhaps that was proof enough of the existence of ancestor spirits. He had never been terribly enthusiastic about the prospect of searching for the Bright One before, but she had never seemed like something real.

He spoke to Faber no more, finishing his breakfast in a hurry and heading back to his room to pore over the documents further. There was one nice thing about Faber--- there wasn't any need for manners or excuses with him.

[crow]

Two fervent weeks of research, supplying and miscellaneous tasks kept Akala running around all hours of the day, and more hours of the night than he would otherwise have liked. Faber phased in and out of his life, sometimes quite literally, but for once Akala was too distracted to pay him much mind. Curiously, as if it was the result of some reverse-psychology experiment, Faber occasionally looked as if he wanted to say something to Akala--- but it never came to anything, and Akala dismissed his observation as a mistake on his own part. He had thought he was improving at reading Faber's expressions, but perhaps not.

On the eve of his departure, he wrote up a note detailing the provisions that he had left for Faber's sake. There was some money for food and emergencies, but the bulk of the funds had already been spent on food with good shelf life like instant noodles and preserved meat.

[crow]

He wasn't going to be able to say goodbye to Faber proper from the looks of it, so Akala got a little more sentimental than he would have liked to admit, and in the end he had to ditch what he had written so far for a fresh sheet of paper. No use being flowery and coming off like a sap. Faber probably wouldn't appreciate that kind of thing anyway. He was more concise in his second letter, and he arranged his instructions a bit better too. When he was satisfied with what he had written, he folded up the note and wrote Faber's name on it, placing it on the dining table to make it as easy to see as possible. Hopefully the poor boy didn't miss it, though Akala wished he could be more certain about that kind of thing.

With that done, he shouldered his pack, and headed out the door. There was a car waiting for him, which would take him to the station, and a series of transfers and vehicles would bring him as close to the Whisper Forest as the roads would go. From there, he'd be hiking out on foot.

What was waiting for him there? Only time would tell.

[end]