Sunya Situation

“Whatever! Idalec, how do I free Sunya? Is that even possible?” Sato kept wiping tears from his face. “I’ll do it, ok! Fine!”

“Take your contract and transfer it to Sunya. The words were, ‘ I hereby transfer this deed to its new true owner,’ and once Sunya holds the contract, she’ll stop being a slave.” Idalec said

“But she’ll leave me! I don’t want her to leave me!” Sato kept crying,

“Master, it’ll all be ok~” Sunya said,

“Do it already, Sato,” Prix demanded hotly. A few more minutes passed as Sato balled out his eyes, scratching them a visceral red before he finally pulled out Sunya’s contract with quivering hands,

“I-I he-he-hereby t-t-tran-ansfer this…” Sato breathed slowly, the crescendo fading, “d-de-deed to i-its n-new tru-true owner.” Sato then shoved the deed into Sunya’s shaking hands, but nothing happened.

“Why did nothing happen~” Sunya asked, confused, looking at Idalec,

“It’s because Sato said it with too much of a stutter,” Idalec stated. “You have to give the deed back to Sato and get him to try again.” Sunya handed her deed back to a despondent Sato,

‘How could it possibly be this hard to let go of Sunya?’ Idalec wondered, observing Sato’s face. Idalec had seen a man who lost limbs, their mind, and everything else; their home looked less defeated than Sato.

“It’s over…” Sato said, his fingers unable to curl around the deed. Finally, after a few more minutes, in a low mutter, Sato spoke, “I hereby transfer this deed to its new true owner.” A small flash of light glowed from the paper as Sato, with great difficulty, lifted the deed into Sunya’s paws; the moment she held it, the paper dissolved.

“I-I’m free.” Tears formed in Sunya’s eyes

“Now for my wish, I want Sunya to become my slave.” Luna laughed maniacally,

“What?” The tears of joy instantly, and without any apparent physical change, turned to tears of despair,

“No! That’s unreasonable!” Prix exclaimed, contempt in her voice, “Idalec-” Idalec raised his hand to get everyone’s attention,

“She was a slave a moment ago, so it can’t possibly be unreasonable,” Luna complained,

“It is unreasonable to deny Sunya her freedom since it would undo Sunya’s own reasonable wish.” Idalec declared,

“Then what the hell can I wish for!” Luna demanded, slashing at the wolf corpses, Sato still lying catatonically at the edge of the pile. Luna stopped ripping apart yet another wolf and looked at everyone present who avoided eye contact at all costs. Except Prix, who started her down. “Fine.” Luna jumped down the pile of corpses to stand face to face with Prix. “This is mine now.” Luna pulled Prix’s indigo necktie off. “Nyehhh!” Luna pulled down the lower part of her eyelid before jumping back up onto the bleeding wolf corpses.

“You can have it.” Prix tried to sound strong, as she was clearly also starting to become saddened by the loss. It wasn’t anywhere as bad as Sato’s grief, but it was still visible. “Let’s go back to the village,” Prix said after a few moments calming down.

“Ok~” Sunya said happily, standing Sato up. “Sato, let’s go, I’ll grab your tent~” Sunya said gently before moving away to grab Sato’s tent. Prix and Sato also went to pick up their own tent before heading back to town with armfuls of mushrooms.

“I think we should put our tents down near town,” Prix instructed with a frown,

‘I wonder what that necktie meant to her?’ Idalec followed Prix.

“I’ll…” Sato tried to talk as he was being held up by Garia. Sato opened his mouth again before closing it again.

“Let’s set up here,” Prix recommended, choosing a reasonable patch of grass.

“Master, what has upset you so much?" Garia asked as Miki, along with Sunya, set up his tent. “Sunya is still here? In fact, she could be here tomorrow-”

“Could.” Sato echoed,

Garia paused for a moment before continuing, “Well, she could not be as well? But what difference does that make if you do not have angels which sing to you? Praise you, Master Sato? I can uncast the muting spell on Carrot if you like? I do find her rambunctious spirit inducing more wrath than envy.”

“Sleep… It’s a dream.” Sato tried desperately to walk to his tent, but Garia had to help him out,

“Master- I mean, Sato, I'll be sleeping with Prix tonight~" Sunya bobbed her head before skipping over to Prix’s tent.

“Good night. Sato.” Idalec nodded, also turning in for the night. Garia helped Sato inside his own tent, which was still brutally cramped with Sato, Garia, Miki, and Carrot inside.

“Master Sato~” Sato shot up from his sleep; a tiny amount of sunlight illuminated a cat figure in front of his tent, her tail wagging,

“Sunya!” Sato scrambled to pull the flap open to find Luna, Prix’s indigo necktie around her neck,

“Hnhn.” Luna laughed to herself, “Sunya already left~” Luna then walked away from Sato’s tent.

“What happened?” Miki rubbed her eyes.

“It’s jover. The west has fallen.” Sato fell back into his tent, staring up at the tent ceiling. Miki managed to fall asleep, to Sato’s envy. The hours rolled by and the sun gradually rose in the sky. Idalec and Luna both got up and cooked up some of the mushrooms the girls gathered up yesterday over a magical fire Idalec made.

“You don’t think Sato’s still upset, right?” Prix asked, touching her neck,

“What’s with the necktie?” Idalec asked, looking over to Prix,

“It’s a gift from my dad-” Prix said. “I just always cherished wearing it,” Prix said, failing to sound nonchalant.

“How’s your family doing? You have a sister and… two brothers?” Idalec asked, trying to remember; he had a passing curiosity about the Liran royal family.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, you know,” Prix said mechanically, making a mushroom skewer. “I’m very sorry, but are the Yeves minor nobility?”

“We’re not nobility at all,” Idalec said without a second of hesitation,

Prix stopped making more skewers. “But…”

“We’re just a family of merchants.” Idalec said, ‘Of course I am a noble of House Vazove. Truly, the noblest house...’

“I see-” Prix took her hand off her neck as if her worry went away. “Is that why you're so good at business?”

“I guess.” Idalec laughed pleasantly. The two of them worked quietly before Idalec asked, “What’s it in for you? If we’re meeting up with the army, your father must already be dealing with things? So why are we taking this detour?”

“We’re not taking a detour.” Prix asserted. Idalec raised an eyebrow. “I mean, Easetan was a minor detour, but we did it to help out Oron.”