The Six Guns

"So where exactly in Seeira are we stopping by?" Zia asks.

"To see a familiar face" Siran replies. "A friendly face would be a good change of pace, as well as it's a good place not only for us to rest, but to get some new clothes and even wash ourselves"

"Who's the friendly face?" Zia asks.

"A girl named Vivi" Alex says. "Friend of Siran's to be precise, since she doesn't exactly like me. She just kind of tolerates me"

"Her name is actually Violet, but Vivi is a catchy way to remember her by" Siran says. "She's kinda like a sister to me, and she has trust issues"

"Would she have problems getting used to me?" Zia asks.

Siran just pauses for a moment to think and says "probably not. I don't see why she would"

After a long journey, Alex's car breaks down near the border of Omnia, leaving them several hours away from Vivi's place. Unable to receive assistance due to being outlaws, they continue on foot.

"Does something else want to go wrong this week?" Alex asks.

"Things can always go wrong" Siran says, "and something will always go the way you won't want it to. That's just a part of life. Especially with that attitude"

Zia giggles a little then says "I guess now wouldn't be a good time to say 'it's not the destination that counts, it's the journey' now is it?"

Alex fills a few supplies in a backpack and slings it over his shoulder and says "well I hope you like journeys. Because it's really going to be a long one"

"Cheer up" Siran says.

"Why should I?" Alex asks, exhaustedly.

"It can always get worse" Siran replies.

"Has anyone ever told you" Alex says, "that you are the worst person with motivational speeches?"

"No" Siran replies, "that's an oddly specific thing to be bad at"

"Well more people should tell you that" Alex says, "because you are terrible at making people feel better"

"I don't know about that" Zia says. "Problems are always harder when you know there's no one there to support you. And now that you guys are here, it's a little easier to take a step forward, even if just a little"

"You sound SO damn cheesy" Alex says. "I don't like this touchy-feely bullshit!"

It stays silent for a minute or two as the three walk before Siran breaks the silence. "Someone needs a nap"

"I swear" Alex says over his shoulder, "I will hurt you"

"Try forming a large fireball one more time, but keep it in the palm of your hand" Siran instructs.

"For the last time" Alex says, "I'm not good enough for that at all! I suck with magic!"

"Then I think I know what the problem might be" Siran says.

"And that is?" Alex asks.

"It isn't that you don't understand magic" Siran replies, "it's that you don't have a good enough connection to a source of magic. Try this". Siran reaches out his hand and the same shadowy essence that he gave to Zia appeared. He held it out for Alex, but Alex only looks down in skepticism.

"And that is?" Alex asks.

"A source of self regenerating magic" Siran replies, "courtesy of yours truly"

"First off" Alex begins, "I've never even heard of something like that. Are you sharing your magic or something? Because I've never thought that was possible"

"It's possible" Siran says.

"Secondly" Alex interjects, "that looks sketchy as hell"

"Are you going to use my magic or complain all night?" asks Siran.

After a while of debating with himself, Alex eventually accepts the magic, then sits still for a good minute waiting to feel a side effect that never came.

"What do I do now?" Alex asks.

"Try making a fireball again" Siran says. "As big as you can but keep it in the palm of your hand"

Alex pauses for a second, closes his eyes, raises one hand into the air and wishes for the best. When he reopens his eyes, he sees an enormous fireball floating over his hand, about the size of an average bedroom.

"Holy shit!" Alex panics, "what do I do with this!? How do I get rid of it!?"

"Calm down, calm down" Siran says. "Focus on slowly dispersing the energy until the fireball completely disappears"

Alex closes his eyes again and the fireball slowly shrinks in size until it becomes nothing. After the fireball is gone, Alex nearly jumps for joy.

"Whoa!" Alex exclaims. "That's amazing! That's probably even bigger than one you can make, Siran!"

Siran laughs a little and says "you wish" and then pats Alex on the back. "Congrats Alex. You're now proficient in ballistic magic!"

The next day, the three continue their journey. They've passed the border between Omnia and Seeira, but still have a couple hours to walk before they arrive at Vivi's shop. As the three walk, Alex is still staring at his hands, dumbfounded, as Zia and Siran walk ahead of him.

"You holding up okay?" Siran asks Zia.

Zia looks up at Siran and simply replies "Mmhm. I'm fine"

"Are you sure?" Siran asks. "Because if you need anything or want to talk about anything, I can help, I promise"

Zia just looks down at her feet and thinks for a moment, without saying a word.

"It's not easy losing someone close to you" Siran says, "especially everyone close to you. I know that all too well"

Zia looks up in surprise. "How do you know how bad it is?"

"That..." Siran says as he scratches his head, "is a story for another time. I feel like I've already brought the mood down enough for today"

Zia continues staring at her feet while walking. It was obvious something was bothering her, and Siran could tell she was basically crying for help. However, Siran couldn't think of anything to do if she didn't want to talk about it, so he simply pats her on the back. Zia looks at Siran, almost like she's surprised by him trying to be kind.

"I'm sorry if I'm making you feel worse by trying to get you to talk about it" Siran says.

"It's fine" Zia replies. "It just doesn't feel like the right time to talk about it. Almost as if it's too early to talk about it. Like it never really happened yet or like I'm still trying to process what happened in my mind"

"I understand" Siran says. "Sometimes I still feel like that too, and truth is, that feeling just might not ever go away. We're probably stuck feeling like that for the rest of our lives. I won't force you to think about it if you don't want to, but if you need anything, I'll be here"

Zia started crying from the mixture of her memories of seeing her family and people dying as well as Siran showing kindness even though they only recently met. Zia stopped walking and Siran went to stand beside her.

"Are you alright?" Siran asks.

"I'm not sure" Zia says while lightly sobbing.

Siran crouches in front of Zia and thinks to himself for a couple seconds. Siran looks up at Zia's eyes that are closed with tears slowly flowing. Siran wipes off her tears from her cheeks and brushes the hair off of her left eye. Now that Zia's hair was no longer covering her left eye, Siran could see that she had two differently colored eyes. The right one blue and the left was white. Zia stood still in surprise. Siran finished combing her hair into a position that no longer covered her left eye and then stood up to begin walking again. Zia covers her left eye with her hand but Siran says "You look better with your hair like that". Zia lowers her hand slowly and tries to avert her gaze from Siran as they all continued walking.

After a few hours, they arrived at Vivi's place. Siran knocks on the door and the door slowly opens with Vivi saying "What happened to getting away and not bringing trouble to my shop?"

"Sorry Vivi" Siran says. "We need a place to rest at but we'll begin our journey again soon. Our last idea didn't work so we're going somewhere else"

"And who's the new one?" Vivi asks.

"This is Zia" Siran replies. "She's traveling with us"

".... why?" Vivi asks.

"She has no where else to go... long story" Siran says.

Vivi lets out a big sigh and says "You always find trouble wherever you go, Siran"

Siran just shrugs and Vivi finally says "Fine, come in. I have two bathrooms you can use to clean up in. You all smell like crap"

"Thanks Vivi" Siran says.

Alex is the first to go take a shower, and Vivi leads Zia to a separate bathroom for her to clean off in a shower separate from the one the boys are using. Alex gets out pretty fast and Siran takes the next shower, but Zia stayed in the shower for a long time, just reflecting on what happened to her clan and her village. When all three of them get done, they all sit in the living room. Alex isn't wearing a shirt, Vivi is yelling at Alex about wearing a shirt, Siran finally took off his sunglasses and Zia still had her hair combed off of her left eye but still averting her gaze from Siran. After a well deserved rest, they all start coming up with a plan on what to do next.

"What if" Siran suggests, "we go to Balphor? The country on the other side of Seeira?"

"That might work, but how would we survive there?" Alex asks.

"Well" Vivi says, "if you're looking not only for your survival, but also to help others like Zia, you could always end up taking in new members for your journey. It'll be like your very own band of criminals or something"

"I don't like the way this conversation is going" Alex says.

"Well I do" Siran says, "because there may be other people who really need the help, as well as with more people together, it'll be easier to live while traveling"

"You're kind of a softie, aren't you?" Alex asks.

"Basically" Vivi responds. "But if you want a place to start, I might have some good news for you, although I make no promises on how this will turn out"

"What's the pitch?" Siran asks.

"Well, I heard a rumor not long ago about this guy who keeps stealing money from Omnia federal buildings, buying food and disappearing into the night"

"And how does this factor into the people who need help category?" Alex asks.

"Well, get this" Vivi says, "there's also a growing number of people going homeless in that same area recently but no reported deaths by starvation yet. Perhaps if the two are connected, you'll find someone as dumb as Siran to help you on your journey!"

"Hey!" Siran says, "that's very rude!"

"And if the two aren't connected?" Alex asks.

"It'd still be worth checking out" Zia says, "what with all the growing numbers of people going homeless recently. I'd say I'm almost certain that the Omnia government is doing something noteworthy and terrible, so even if we can't find help, those people will need help"

"That's right" Siran says, "And I'm just nosy enough to help them out"

"You're hopeless and reckless" Alex says disappointedly.

"More like heroic and stupid" Vivi says.

"Well" Siran replies, "at least one positive thing about me was said. I'll take it!"

"Then the plan is set?" Alex asks.

"Sure seems like it" Vivi says. "Once Siran decides on doing something, it's hard to change his mind"

"We'll head out tomorrow then!" Siran says.