Entry# 11

The journey to Aide’s post was—surprisingly—uneventful. No Xeolstors in sight, no skirmishes, no chaos. Only clouds beneath their feet and wind in their sails.

“Thanks to Lord Ilazki for the incense,” Louis said, looking back at the faint trail of smoke wafting behind them.

Gabriel shrugged. “Too bad it expires so fast.”

A soft breeze swept across the clouds, and from it descended a figure in flowing garments that shimmered with feathers and silk. Aide—graceful and commanding—stood before them.

“Greetings, heroes,” she said warmly.

Louis, Joaquin, and Mira bowed in unison. Gabriel, however, remained standing—hands in his pockets.

“Gabriel,” Joaquin whispered with a grimace, “this is not the time for your pride.”

Sighing, Gabriel stepped forward, knelt, and took Aide’s hand. “It’s an honor to meet you, Lady Aide.”

She smiled. “Please, rise. You’re all my father’s champions. There’s no need for a ceremony among allies.”

They stood, though Gabriel’s gaze lingered on her longer than the others.

Louis looked around the cloudy expanse. “Lady Aide, is this your true post?”

Aide shook her head. “No. Let me show you.”

With a single wave of her hand, powerful currents lifted them gently into the sky. Mira gasped in awe as the world beneath shrank into a patchwork of blues and greens.

“Whoa,” she whispered, “the view from up here is amazing.”

“Welcome to my post,” Aide said. “I am Aide—ruler of wind and surveyor of the skies.”

Louis turned toward her. “If your domain is the skies, can you reach your brother Vishap’s post from here?”

Aide’s smile faded. “Vishap resides even higher. Only those who have mastered my element can ascend to his peak.”

Gabriel crossed his arms. “You have it easy, don’t you?”

The group turned to him.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Aide asked.

“You gods,” he muttered. “You live above us, literally and figuratively. You were born with power, while we had to scrape and bleed to learn to control ours.”

Aide’s eyes narrowed. “Are you challenging me?”

“Gabriel—stop,” Joaquin warned, exasperated.

But Gabriel continued. “You live in your floating sanctuaries while we suffer below. How could you understand what it means to be us?”

Louis raised a hand. “Let him speak.”

Aide’s expression darkened. “Do you think we are untouchable? Unreachable?” Her voice trembled, not with anger, but memory. “When our mother betrayed us—when she killed our sister Ran—did you think it didn’t hurt us too?”

“Lady Aide, forgive him,” Joaquin interjected. “Gabriel tends to… speak without thinking.”

Mira nodded solemnly. “We’re sorry. We’ll just—go.”

“No,” Louis said, stopping them. “This can’t end like this. We need to make it right.”

He turned to Gabriel. “Apologize.”

Gabriel looked away. “No.”

Louis sighed and, to everyone’s shock, slapped himself across the face.

Gabriel’s eyes widened. “What was that for?”

“For not being able to get through to you.”

“I’m not apologizing, Louis. Not until she gets off that pedestal.”

“She’s not on a pedestal—she’s above you because she’s earned it,” Louis snapped.

“And I’m saying,” Gabriel said, stepping forward, “that no one should be above anyone.”

Louis’s voice dropped, cold and sharp. “We are not gods, Gabriel. We do not have the right to choose who lives or dies.”

“But we do have the right to choose our path,” Gabriel replied. “And I’m choosing mine.”

Mira whimpered from the corner. “Please, stop fighting…”

That night, the group lay restless on beds made of woven cloud-thread. Mira rolled around in her cot.

“This bed feels like I’m sleeping on air,” she mumbled.

Louis leaned against a wall, arms folded. “Gabriel’s a pain in the ass.”

“For once,” Joaquin said, polishing his glasses, “I agree. He hasn’t learned anything.”

“I don’t get it,” Louis muttered. “Why does he always push back so hard? What did we ever do to him?”

“Louis,” Joaquin said, his voice low, “you’re a good man. But nobles—aristocrats like you—don’t have the best reputation in the places Gabriel grew up.”

Mira drifted to sleep as Aide entered the room.

“I hope you’re all comfortable,” she said softly.

Louis bowed slightly. “Thank you, Lady Aide. Will the trial begin tomorrow?”

She nodded. “At first light. Rest well.”

After she left, Joaquin turned to Louis. “So… are we going to look for Gabriel?”

The door creaked open.

“No need,” Gabriel said, stepping in.

Mira sat up with a smile. “Mister Gabriel!”

Louis stood. “I’m sorry for hitting you.”

Gabriel shrugged. “I deserved it. And I’m sorry too.”

Joaquin blinked. “Wait, how did you find your way back?”

Gabriel gave a lopsided grin. “Lady Aide helped me.”

Earlier, Gabriel had been alone—brooding atop a drifting cloud, staring at the star-speckled sky. The cool wind rustled his coat as memories pressed down on him.

He remembered his father—bent, weathered, defeated.

“This is just how we were born,” his father said, staring out at the fields. “They live in luxury. We dig in the dirt. That’s the order of things.”

Gabriel refused that order.

He stole for survival at first. Then for his family. And then, to fight back.

One night, cornered by guards, he lashed out—using the wind to kill the noble who enslaved his family. It was an accident. But it sealed his fate.

“Devil!” they called him.

He never looked back.

A soft voice pulled him from memory. “The view is beautiful, isn’t it?”

Gabriel turned. “Lady Aide?”

She smiled, settling beside him. “Mind if I join you?”

He hesitated, then nodded. “Suit yourself.”

They sat in silence for a moment, watching the clouds drift.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “For being harsh earlier.”

Gabriel shook his head. “No. I’m sorry. I went too far. I guess… I just wanted someone to see me as an equal.”

“You’re more than that,” Aide said. “You’ve come far, Gabriel.”

He looked at her. “Tell me something, Lady Aide. Why do you all care so much? You're gods. Why fight for us?”

She paused. “Because we were once like you. Carefree. Happy. Then chaos came. And Ran—our light—was taken. Since then, we’ve each tried to carry a piece of her light forward.”

Gabriel swallowed. “I’ve never had siblings. What was she like?”

“Kind. Smarter than all of us. She could calm storms with a whisper.” Aide laughed gently. “Ama-Lurra used to cry whenever she scraped her knee, and Ran would sing her lullabies.”

Gabriel chuckled. “Really? The same Ama-Lurra who almost killed Louis with a vine whip?”

“That’s the one,” Aide smiled. “She still cries, you know—just in silence now.”

Gabriel looked away. “Thanks for sharing that with me.”

As Aide stood to leave, Gabriel gently grabbed her hand.

“I know everything about me now lies bare before you. But I know nothing about you. How’s that fair?”

She smiled. “Fair enough. Come—let’s get back. But next time, I’ll tell you all our sibling secrets.”

They walked together, under the stars.

Entry# 11 End