Homecoming

A wave of nostalgia hit me as we landed gracefully on a grassy hill overlooking the sea.

"So how you feeling?" Ami asked.

"Home... It's been so long since I was last- Blugh! Oh... not so bad... I think," I frowned as I clutched my stomach.

"Much better than before at least. So... this is your hometown, huh?"

"Yeah," I smiled as I stared out at the sea.

Now that my senses were back to normal, I knew exactly where I was. This was the hill on top of Kandelika Cove, the town dungeon, as well as the best place to get a view of the sea. You could even see the coast of Vecilia way off in the distance if you had a telescope.

And if you turned around, you'd see the town of Bisochos, a quiet little place that's neither big nor small, just right. Considering its proximity to Vecilia, it's got a heavy navy presence as well as a large harbor. It has no grand resorts like Keftes does, but the inn here is nice and cozy, as is the guild... It's been so long since I was last there.

"So Aya, mind showing me around? This is my first time actually stopping here," Ami nodded.

"Ah! Oh, sorry Ami, I was just-"

"-Overwhelmed by the homecoming? Yeah, you haven't been back here ever since you left to take the knight's exam, right? And now we're back under such dire circumstances. Your emotions must be a mess, but you need to clean them up. Otherwise, I'm not letting you fight."

"But if my father really is-"

"Aya, you need to relax."

I went quiet. That's the first time Ami's ever called me by my first name.

"Good start, now, show me around, LaNorne," Ami smiled as she began walking down the path towards town.

And she's back to calling me "LaNorne". I kind of liked hearing her call me "Aya".

As soon as we reached the town square, I began the tour. "Alright, so we came from Kandelika Cove Point, which is the hill right above Kandelika Cove dungeon. If we turn around and take the low path instead of the path we just walked, we'd be at the shoreline and the dungeon's entrance."

"What's it like?" Ami asked.

"Well, we all call it a dungeon, but it's more like a cave. It only has 3 floors and it's mostly just filled with rock monsters."

"Hmm, that explains how you handled them so well in Golde dungeon."

"Now if we turn a little to the right, you'll see our town's prized harbor. Originally, it was smaller, but after a navy presence was established here, it expanded." 

"I can tell based on all the warships I see, though are any of them Duner-class?" 

"We used to have them, but after what my father did, the admiral here forbid any from being stationed here." 

Ami frowned and nodded. 

"Anyway, if you direct your eyes to our immediate surroundings, we have a variety of shops and businesses. To our left, we have the library, the house of worship, and a salon that doubles as a barbershop. Everyone pretty much gets their hair cut there, so no one gets turned away, and can ask for both barbershop and salon services." 

And the moment I said that, someone with their face covered in beauty cream and their hair wrapped up in a towel ran out of the salon. "AYA!? YOU'RE BACK!?" 

I gasped as I recognized the voice. "Mary!?" 

"Ah- AH! My apologies! I was just so excited to see you that... Well, just say you don't recognize me like this to make things easier," Mary chuckled as she retreated back into the salon. 

"Who was that?" Ami asked. 

"Mary "von" Bisochos. She's my friend, and the new town mayor," I smiled. 

"She's the mayor?" 

"Yeah, used to be head of the guild, but took over from her father as mayor the day before I headed off for the knight's exam. That said, she's always found a second home in the salon, so it's pretty common to see her getting dolled up." 

"She was head of the guild?" 

"Yeah, the guild's kind of the big gathering place for the town and is right between the inn and the clinic," I nodded as I turned around and pointed to the large wooden buildings behind us. "We'll save that for last on the tour. Ahem, now to our right, we have the shops, which have an assortment of things. The closer the origin point of things, the cheaper the cost."

Ami's eyes bulged as she walked up and stared at the price cards in the windows. "Those dresses are dirt cheap in Traditsye! Hmm, at least they aren't charging too much for my sneakers."

Suddenly, one of the mannequins pressed up against the glass, causing Ami to scream.

"AYAY! Is that you!?" the mannequin cried.

Even though the glass muffled the voice a bit, I still recognized it.

"DORRIT!?" I gasped.

"HEY! MANNEQUINS DON'T TALK OR MOVE!" a voice from inside the shop yelled.

"But it's Ayay! She's back!" Dorrit cried.

"STOP MAKING EXCUSES! I WANT TO HEAR THE BELL ON THE DOOR, NOT SCREAMS OUTSIDE! DO YOUR DAMN JOB, YOU WORTHLESS WHORE!"

Dorrit tensed up as I nervously laughed and turned to Ami. "So, that there is my friend, Dorrit Kugel. She's our resident gambler who's always taking odd jobs around town to get money."

Ami relaxed as she strolled up to the window again and stared at Dorrit. "Hmm, she does model the clothes well at least," she mumbled as she walked over to the armor shop next door. "Huh? Oi, LaNorne, the hell's going on here," she snarled.

"What do you mean?" I asked

"This armor here's barely enhanced with my gems, but they're charging a fortune for it! How the hell is anyone supposed to wear it if they can't pay for it!?"

"You can tell how enhanced the armor is?"

"Takes one to know," Ami growled.

"Aya... Is that you? No... My armor... what have you done to it!?" a voice trembled. 

We both turned to see a large man with a bushy black beard. This was Mr. Bulemas, the town smithy. 

"Mr. Bulemas!? Wait, what's wrong with my armor!?" I cried. 

"I- It's just there's so many gems in it I've never sensed before. They seem powerful... Where did you get them?" Mr. Bulemas scowled. 

"That would be from me," Ami smiled. 

"And just who are you supposed to be?" 

"Have you not heard of me? I'm Ami, great witch of the amethyst," Ami nodded as she did a curtsy. 

"Prove it." 

Ami widened her smile as she pulled out two vials of crushed minerals and poured the contents into her hand. She then engulfed the dust with magic and clasped her hand over it. When she uncovered her palm, a gem was there.

"Recognize this?" she smirked.

Mr. Bulemas' jaw dropped as he sunk to his knees. "It really is her, the great witch of the amethyst."

"Yes, a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Rest assured, all the gems in Ami's armor were made by my own two hands. They are the latest and greatest of gems, currently not for sale on the market. In fact, I just so happen to have one of the gems I gave her on hand," Ami smiled as she pulled out a gold gem stone.

"That... That's one of the gems merged with Aya's armor."

"Correct. It's yet to hit the market, but it will be soon as it's a gem that gives your whole body protection against undead enemies, doubly so if paired with one of my clothing items."

"You truly are in a league of your own, great witch of the amethyst. I'm just glad Aya didn't get scammed. Oh! How'd the knight's thing go!? We never got a letter back from ya."

Oh shoot, I completely forgot everyone here asked me to write back!

"Uh... is everyone curious about how it went?" I nervously asked.

"You think!? If it weren't for the admiral telling us he spotted you, we'd have been worrying just for your well-being, heck, we still do!"

I softly smiled as I turned and headed for the door. "Could you gather everyone at the guild? I need to go home first."

"... Got it," Mr. Bulemos mumbled.

"And so, we shall see you again at the guild," Ami waved as she followed out after me.

Once we had some privacy, her smile vanished. "You didn't tell anyone here what happened!? It's been over a month since you left!"

"Eheheh, so much happened that I... kind of forgot," I sheepishly laughed as I began leading Ami down the path to my house.

Once we reached it, I smiled as I noticed some children playing in front of it. "Hey boys, keeping the promise we made?"

The three boys all gasped as they noticed me. "AYA'S BACK!"

"So who are these three?" Ami asked.

"Tobias, Tevel, and Terry," I smiled as I introduced them.

"Aya said to watch the place n' keep the citron tree healthy," Terry saluted.

"We have our moms come over to help clean the house too!" Tevel stated.

"I keep watch over the stones out back!" Tobias smiled.

"And I thank you for that," I smiled as I stepped inside. "It's been so long," I sniffled as retrieved a bottle of wine before exiting and picking up a small stone on the ground.

"What are you doing?" Ami asked.

"Oh, just getting stuff for mother," I smiled as I began walking past the citron tree towards the hill behind my house.

The views here might not be as grand as the ones from Kandelika Cove Point, but they were still a nice place just to lay and hear the waves below.

"Hey... I'm back," I called out as I approached my mother. "So, I'd like you to meet Ami, she's the great witch of the amethyst and my partymate," I smiled as I began pouring the wine over the soil.

Ami began to frown. "Aya..."

"Ami, I'd like you to meet my mother, oh, and I guess my younger sibling too," I softly smiled as I laid the stone down atop the gravestone and wiped away my tears.

"Do you want a moment?"

"No, she always liked seeing new faces, friendly ones at least. Besides, I think now's a good time to tell you on what went down here many years ago..."