Quest 98.1- The Missing Breeze, 2nd Half

For the next 4 years, Ai went into the dungeon like a madman. She fought off Evilus members and delved deep into the dungeon on her own.

She, in turn, gained a reputation within the city and was given the title of Sunny Saint. She gained that title for her skill with the sword, which has grown fearsomely over the last 4 years, more than her spearmanship, and also due to her kind personality, garnering favor amongst the male gods and citizens.

With her help, she helped stop Evilus from growing unchecked and was now more feared for how she hunted them down relentlessly.

When she finally became level 5, she immediately headed to the guild and reported it. She waited for Fels to contact her, and by nighttime, a white owl reminiscent of Nox flew in with a letter.

She read the letter, readied her gear, and left to quickly report to Ouranos.

"Lord Ouranos." Ai said.

"Shirakusa Ai, as I said 4 years ago, you are permitted to go to Telskyura."

"Thank you, I will depart immediately."

To avoid people finding her, she took off on foot, quickly running through the southeastern part of the continent. She ran day and night through rain and sun, rivers, and mountains to reach Telskyura.

"Huff! Huff!"

After passing through the mountains north of Telskyura, Ai had a good view from high up on the mountain.

"I’m coming, Nox!"

After jumping down the mountain, she ran into the country's only city. She easily got past all the Amazoness, as they didn’t expect someone to come through the harsh northern mountains and simply run by them.

She quickly ran to the docks, as from what the Poseidon Familia had said, Nox would always come back there to rest and eat before heading back to look.

Sure enough, when Ai came, she spotted Nox’s unkempt, dirty white hair as she stumbled her way to the docks.

Ai ran to her and shouted.

"Nox! I came to help!"

Nox turned to her to show an exhausted face. It showed that she hadn’t been eating or sleeping very much to look for Cirrus.

She talked for a bit before breaking down in anger and sadness. She continued to punch the nearby crates in a fit until her knuckles were bloody.

She passed out from fatigue with tears streaming down her face. Many of the Amazoness came and helped, one of which was Bache. She brought Ai to Nox’s home, which was the building Cirrus was at before fighting the monster.

The Amazoness decided to give it to her as they had never seen such loyalty to another like hers.

While Nox slept, Ai talked with the Amazoness about why she was here. She told them that she was a friend of Zephyr from Orario, and she came to help Nox find him.

They asked no further and left her alone. Bache, on the other hand, informed her of how Nox was doing. Much to Ai’s observation, was right she would search at sea, diving deep within the water to look for him.

"…I see…and you have been giving her food?" Ai said.

"Hm, I would make her some food and treat some of her injuries should she get them while searching, even when she becomes sick…of course, she grew more resilient to the cold and wetness of the sea…it still pains me to see her walk up and go looking again."

"Well, I’m here to help!" She said with a bright smile that warmed Bache’s heart.

"I like your attitude, but we have been looking for four years. A country tried to find him and nothing, I’m sorry you came all this-"

"You know…he made a promise to me."

"H-huh?"

"I gave him some charms that he would come back so." Ai got closer to Bache and looked at her stern yet confident eyes. She had her hands on her shoulders. Bache could feel the callouses on her hand. They were rough. "I will find him and make him pay for leaving me for four years!"

"R-right!"

"So…" Ai, let’s go of Bache. "How long will Nox sleep for?"

"About 3 or so days…maybe more, but when she does wake up, she’ll taste some of the food and then continue to look for Zephyr."

"Hm well, I'll start in the morning, I’m a bit tired from the trip."

"I’ll show you to a room. Do you wish for-"

"I’ll stay here."

"Eh?"

Staying in one of the spare rooms, Ai ate and then went to sleep. Waking up early in the morning, full of energy, she set out to look for Cirrus.

"…I don’t know how to sail…dammit!"

She turned to see if there were any sailors or fishermen, but she found instead that it was Bache coming down the street.

"Bache!!" Ai shouted early in the morning, running to Bache and headbutting her.

"O O F! Why did you headbutt me?"

"Sorry! It’s a bad habit! By the way, do you know how to sail?"

"Uhh…."

For the next 5 days, they would go out to sea and search early in the morning. In the meantime, they would fish in the afternoon and repeat until.

Shine!

"Ah Nox!" said Ai. "Sorry I wasn’t there, I was-"

"What are you doing here? You are only a decade old." Nox said flat out.

"…Um…" Both Ai and Bache didn’t know how to respond.

"Lady Nox…um…" said Bache. "It’s been-"

"Four years." said Ai.

"…What?"

Nox stumbled a bit as she tried to comprehend this information.

"I…I…I never-!!"

She grabbed her head in pain.

"Nox!!" they both said going to her.

"What’s wrong, Nox!" said Ai.

"M-my head!! Its-!!"

Nox went silent. She stood up and looked out to sea, staring off into the horizon.

"…Cirrus."

With no hesitation, she leaped and turned into an owl, flying as quickly as she could.

"Follow her!" Ai shouted.

They set sail and followed Nox. As they followed her, a familiar scent caught Ai’s nose.

Sniff! Sniff!

"It…it can’t be!!"

As they sailed further and further, they saw a sail way off in the distance. Nox then dove down, and a bright light ensued.

They sailed further, and they found an odd ship moving rather quickly with sea foam from the sides in their direction, and in front of the ship, she saw a familiar face with Nox hugging him.

He had grown taller, as did the length of his hair. He had more scars on his body along with a tan, but his scruffy face was one she could always tell, but most of all, he had her charms around her neck.

"Z-Zephy-!?"

"CIRRUS!!!!!"

Cirrus had his eyes open as well as Nox was crying tears of joy. As Ai embraced Cirrus tightly, she began to cry, as did Bache.

"It’s good to see you all again." He said in a deeper voice.

Then a voice came up from the back of the ship.

"To think you were so loved they were still looking for you after four years?"

Ai, Bache, and Nox turned to look at the young woman. Her long pink hair was flowing in the wind, and her eyes were a deep blue and bright pink. Her clothing was that of a simple white tunic with sandals.

Nox immediately, upon seeing her, said in great surprise.

"A Sprite!?"

NotOriginal

Okay, so this chapter was originally way, way longer, so I split it to make it not a massive wall of text. I guess you can say it's more bit sized? You know, like I want you guys to be able to actually read and finish it in a reasonable amount of time. I don't want you guys to like highlight a part, scroll down and go like "Geezus there's still more!?". That's just how I feel about it. [/author]