Part I - Summer (Middle) - "We rode into Embervyl ..."

Embervyl was a good three hours from Lazumere by cart.

They set out early that day, after breakfast, Yuka driving the carriage, Miyu beside her, while the boys sat in the back. The usual arrangement.

Even Elegia came along that day.

(Elegia: "D-Don't misunderstand. Embervyl's the only place where you can get the latest novels. It's not like we have a real bookstore in Lazumere …"

"Oh, come off it, Elegia," said Heinrich. "You're still being tsun-tsun, even after all we've been through? I mean, we just went fishing yesterday …"

Cameron, surprised: "You guys went fishing together? When did you two become such good friends?"

Elegia, groaning, face in hands: "We're not best friends …"

Cameron: "I didn't, uh … say 'best' …")

… And the reason for the day trip?

"Yeah, there's a lot of stuff we can't get in Lazumere," explained Yuka. "Obviously. So if we want specialty foods, or custom-made clothes, like, oh, I dunno, suitable wedding attire for you two human boys … or even"—shuddering at Elegia, disdainfully—"… literature, we have to order it in advance and pick it up from Embervyl. There's some good shops and restaurants, in the shoutengai so we can have lunch when we get there."

"… The what?" asked Cameron.

Miyu jumped in with the answer. "It's like a street of shops, on both sides, all in a row. I don't think there's a direct translation in Common. Maybe something like … shopping … arcade? Oh, and the street is covered, too, so it's kinda like indoors … But not."

"Oh, so like a mall."

"Ehh, well … Not really. Hmm, you'll see when we get there."

"I mean," said Yuka, somewhat sheepishly, "maybe it's not the kind of thing that impresses a pair of city slickers like you and Heinrich … But for us, if you want to be able to buy formal elfen-style robes that fit a couple of humans, you'll have to go to Embervyl …"

"I don't see why," said Heinrich (who was admittedly getting better at the art of the segue), "we can't just wear what we usually wear back at Miyu's house, to the wedding. Those are elfen-style robes, aren't they?"

Miyu smiled and answered, quite sincerely, "Those are meant to be pajamas, Heinrich."

Yuka pointed ahead. "Look! We're coming up on the bloomsroad."

Soon after they found themselves under the canopy of trees lining the road, as Cameron and Heinrich craned their heads up to admire the foliage, and the way the beams of sunlight flickered through the leaves and branches.

"Of course, you have to come here during springtime," said Yuka, "to get the real experience. Ya see, during spring, the trees blossom, and this road transforms into one giant, pink-shaded tunnel … It's very beautiful. But the pink petals, see—they don't last. They bloom, they wither … I think it highlights the, um … fleeting-ness … Oh, there's a better word for it, what was it … Not 'eternal' … 'elephant' … 'eph-ph—pheromone' …"

"Ephemerality," advised Elegia.

"… Yes, ephemeral … (thank you, Miyu's brother) …"

Elegia, seethingly: "I have a name."

"… the ephemerality of it all. The blossoms come full bloom, for only about a week. Then they're gone, before you know it."

"Yes," said Cameron. "Yes, Yuka. I know—I know how cherry blossoms work."

Yuka tilted her head, in sincere confusion. "How? … They have cherry blossoms in Crystal City?"

Miyu, eyes shining: "Yes!"

"Where do they … grow? Isn't Crystal City just … a bunch of platforms built on top of each other?"

(Cameron: "That's a bit of an oversimplification … But not entirely inaccurate, I suppose …")

Miyu continued, "Yeah! And so there's a few terraces that are just parks, basically. One of them has a lot of cherry trees. Cameron took me to it once, when they were in full bloom."

"Ugh," groaned Cameron. "Never again. You wouldn't believe how crowded it was."

Miyu giggled. "You could barely even move."

Cameron, from the back of the cart, reached over and lightly shoved Miyu, teasing, "You were the one who wanted to see them so badly. You practically begged me to take you there."

Yuka laughed. "You're so weird, Miyu-Miyu. You grew up with the bloomsroad, sitting under the petals in the springtime, all the open space you could ever want—and you wanted to experience an inferior version of it!?"

Miyu blushed. "Th-they're not all inferior experiences!" she said, as though suddenly compelled to defend Crystal City's honor (… for Cameron's sake? or her own? …). "There's plenty of things you can't see here, that Crystal City has."

"Oh yeah, Miyu-Miyu? Like what?" challenged Yuka. (… Trying her best not to let any genuine curiosity show through in her voice.)

Miyu thought for a while, then snapped her fingers. "… Snow! And the illumination festivals at winter time! Oh, it's beautiful, Yuka-tan." She turned to Cameron. "(… It never snows in Lazumere.)"

C: "(Yeah … I gathered that much.)"

Miyu, turning back to Yuka: "Picture entire terraces covered in a thick blanket of fluffy whiteness. And they hang these strings of crystal lights everywhere? Like on their windows, and on trees, for decoration, and it's almost like being in some kind of … fantasy wonderland. … Oh, oh! And it's even prettier in the center of the city, with the Mother Crystal's glow, like everything is just awash with this brilliant, blue hue. In the plaza, there's a skating rink, too, and—oh, and a ferris wheel! A-and you'd think it would be too crowded, like the cherry blossoms, but …" She blushed at whatever memory had popped into her head, and brought a hand up to her cheek. "… Cameron knew just where to go, to see the best views. He took me there."

"Well … That does sound nice," admitted Yuka.

Yes. It was nice.

… The understatement of the century, given that what Miyu was referring to was the closest thing to a perfect day Cameron had experienced in his life. (Or, … perfect night, to be precise.)

Winter break. No classes, exams over. Their first winter together as a couple, after all those coffee dates. (Okay, let's face it, Cameron—they'd been dates.)

Cameron still recalled every moment of their walk downtown that night, the snow on the ground still a thin layer at that point, while around them twinkled the illumination displays, the crystal lights strung between the lampposts lining the stone path, the two of them walking hand in hand, he in an ill-fitting blazer that was much too broad around the shoulders, she in a black dress that might've been, well, a bit too formal for the restaurant they were going to.

… Could you blame them? Two inexperienced college kids, their first time at a so-called 'nice' restaurant?

But in the end, it's not like anyone noticed their outfits. (If they did, nobody said anything, at least.) … Just like how nobody really cared when the two of them expressed confusion at the seeming surplus of forks at their disposal, or when Cameron ordered "Um, a bottle of wine, please," only to be met with a list he could barely read, let alone pronounce. (… He ended up getting the second cheapest option.)

After dinner, the snow had begun to pick up, and Cameron watched as Miyu spun around in her winter coat, her head tilted up, mouth open to catch the falling snowflakes, while she urged him to join her: he refusing, of course, no way he was going to do something so embarrassing—except that, well, he did, the two of them twirling around in the open air, both trying to taste the snow, the soft powder squeaking gently underneath their boots as they spun, and spun, until they were too dizzy to spin any more, their unsteady feet giving out as they tumbled to the marshmallow-like ground together, where they lay for a bit, just a bit, to catch their breaths ("… Yeah. To catch our breaths." "… Yeah."), the flurries around them still swirling silently, the faint scent of their earlier dinner—and oh yeah, the wine, can't forget the wine—wafting up from her mouth, her lips so close now …

… And then he cleared his throat, and stood up, picking her up along with him (and … was that a look of disappointment on her face just now?), and he led her by the hand ("But, Cameron—the Mother Crystal is that way!" … "Just trust me!"), up the stairs to an upper platform, then down a back alley, then up a ladder, and then up another flight of stairs (… and so on …), until they found themselves on the empty—save for a lone water tower—rooftop of some random tenement, where it was just the two of them, with a perfect, clear view of the Mother Crystal, standing tall and radiant in the city's central plaza.

Miyu leaned over the railing, marvelling at both the towering crystal monolith, as well as the massive throng of people swarming around its base below, packed together so tight they could barely move. (… Almost as bad as the cherry blossoms … Almost.)

"Wow … Glad we're not a part of that crowd," she said. "You sure know a lot of good places, Cameron Callihan."

"Yeah, well. When you grow up here, you know the city in and out."

She turned to face him, a teasing, smug grin on her face. "Oh yeah? Are you sure you don't have experience taking other girls up here? Hmm? Maybe you're a secret playboy all this time, and the shy boy thing is just an act, but you, uh … You …" She trailed off, her face flushing red, too embarrassed all of a sudden to continue the bit, and looked down shyly at her boots.

Neither of them said anything for a long time.

Then, barely audible, from her lips: "… You should probably just kiss me right—"

And so he did.

The sharp inhale and subsequent quickening of her breath as their lips met, the rush of blood through his body, the way one hand gravitated without conscious thought to her waist, the other to her cheek, the softness of her lips—oh Mother Crystal, never had anything felt so soft in all his life—combined with the soft moan she—

"—Wait, stop! Stop! Time-out, time-out!" yelled Yuka, face flushed, steam shooting out her ears. "Th-that's a bit …"

Heinrich guffawed. "Weren't you the one who wanted romance, and hearts going doki-doki? Can't handle it, huh? Ha! You talk a big game, but—"

… Whatever he was going to say, cut short by the cry of "YUKA PUNCH!", as Yuka's uppercut sent him flying off the cart, and shooting up somewhere past the stratosphere.

(Cameron, watching Heinrich being launched into the sun, hands shielding his eyes from the glare: "Wow, Yuka. This one looks like a new record for you."

Miyu, doing the same: "Ah … Looks like Heinrich Ambergris is blasting off again …"

Elegia, sighing: "… I guess I'll go get him."

Heinrich, distantly, off stage: "Thanks, best buddy!"

Elegia: "Never mind. Someone else do it.")

*

It was a little past noon when the town of Embervyl finally came into view.

From the outside, everything looked as it always did. No indication whatsoever of that which awaited them inside.

… And so, who could blame Yuka for driving the cart through the main gates without so much as a second thought—she and her passengers oblivious to the fact that, within the next hour, two of them would be lying face-down in the dirt, clutching their newly-acquired armaments, on a suicide mission to rescue Miyu from her Embervyllian kidnappers …