Fang let out a gurgled cry, its tongue dragging across Giu’s face. He smiled, patting it over the head.
“Heh. Gonna miss you too, Fang,” he said. “Be sure to give our regards to the Dragons when you get back.”
The twimono let out another gurgled cry in response. Though its face still conveyed the same blankness as always, it had gotten easier to notice Fang’s little subtleties. Like how the tone of its grunts conveyed everything from joy to sadness. The latter of which the twimono seemed to favor on this day.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “When everything’s settled down, we’ll be sure to come visit you in Ling-Li. Might even bring you something special as a treat.”
That seemed to earn him a slightly less melancholic grunt, the twimono stamping a foot into the ground. He’d really miss the strange giant. But he knew they’d see it again. Just as he knew she’d settle things quickly.
Speaking of which…
“You really are a glutton, y’know.”
He looked back as he heard the familiar clink of metal, the door creaking open as his favorite canine stepped out.
“Just woke up and you’re already trying to play peacekeeper. It’s okay to rest once in a while, Immy. You know that, right?”
The fox flashed him a smile, her sword draped around her waist. Her freshly prepared armor set shining in the light. Despite having spent several months tied up underwater, he couldn’t deny Immy looked as strong now as she had the last time they said goodbye. Not that it made this one any easier. He was running over to give her a squeeze before he realized.
“Yisto?”
He buried his face in her shoulder.
“Promise me you won’t disappear again,” Giu said. “If we have to come down there and get you, we will. Paladins and rabbits be damned.”
He felt Immy stroke his head, hugging him back.
“I appreciate that, Tiny Paws,” she said. “But I don’t plan on going away again anytime soon. And you don’t have to worry about fighting another crazy group to find me.”
He pulled away, suddenly feeling like he was a kid all over again. She smiled back at him.
“I’ll make sure to check in with your pixie friend so you’ll know I’m alive,” she said. “You just be sure not to lose sight of them, okay?”
She winked, which made Giu a bit embarrassed, but he nodded all the same. As if he had any intention of leaving Tea’s side anyway.
He could see the pixie lying on the rooftop, their ears twitching as he knew full well they were listening in. The annoying extortionist. Still, it gave him a bit of comfort to see them trying to give him and Immy some space to talk. He hugged the fox one last time before she was climbing onto Fang’s cart and taking up its reins.
“Hopefully the captain won’t be too shocked to see me.” She flicked the reins. “Click click.”
With an indifferent grunt, the twimono once again took to the road, Giu waving his final goodbye to his recovered mentor. At least for the time being. Until she was done trying to help clean up the mess that was the Villa/Syd war.
It was one of the first things she’d jumped at when they brought her up to speed on what she’d missed. The second being Juzia’s amnesia and the third Tea’s appearance in general. As it turned out, height changing wasn’t a very common occurrence amongst pixies. But then, nothing was very common about Tea to begin with.
“Welp, there goes our ride, huh, Gi?”
Tea was still lying back when he climbed to the roof as well, taking a spot next to them.
“Good thing one of us knows how to fly, huh?” he said.
Tea scoffed. “So I’m your flying train now?”
“No, I’m the train. You’re just my wings.”
Tea sat up, rolling their eyes at my terrible attempt at humor. But it was the truth. If there was ever an event wherein they had to take on an aerial opponent, he’d be the bulky train to take damage while they were the wings to move them around. Together they’d make a decent Tour De Villa copycat. Something he could see Tea considering with a smile.
“You really are a dummy, dummy,” the pixie said. “But I guess I don’t mind being the wings for now. Just try not to take too much damage, Tiny Train.”
This time it was his turn to roll his eyes, the pixie’s words making him feel a little better about Immy’s departure.
Still. As much as they enjoyed teasing him, he knew there was some level of sincerity in their voice. Something he could tell as he saw their gaze lingering on him. When he sat up, he saw it softened a bit.
“Y’know, Gi,” they said, “you could have gone with her if you wanted. Not like I would have been offended or anything. She is your master and everything.”
He shook his head.
“Tempting offer, but I’m fine not participating in her campaign, T. Immy’s got her own adventure to handle and I’ve got mine.” He moved a little closer. “If it’s all the same, I think I’d rather stick with you, Tea. Wherever crazy places we decide to go.”
He put a hand on theirs, which earned a look of surprise from the pixie. Though it was one that faded just as quickly as it came, replaced with one that almost seemed relieved. Their paw tightened around his hand.
“Assuming you don’t mind the company,” he said.
Tea’s ears twitched, the pixie huffing in response.
“Like you need to ask, dummy. Can’t have a flying train without the train.”
Though they said that, he could see the light of the gem glowing a bit brighter. They sighed, leaning against his shoulder.
“Then partners we shall be, I guess. To riches and lands untold.”
“Hopefully some of which are less bloodthirsty. Getting real tired of running for my life every other day.” He groaned at the thought of finding yet another group of gangsters waiting in the next city they came to.
In fact, there was still one group in Seladon that wanted their heads. Though they hadn’t seen them in a while, it was only a matter of time before Redge and his boys came back for another rematch. And they’d probably be a lot more desperate the third time around. He already felt exhausted just thinking about it.
Tea tapped their chin a moment.
“So then…maybe we go somewhere safe-ish? I do know of one place I’ve been meaning to visit. And it’s not somewhere any old outsider can just waltz in on. Maybe we could make a vacation out of it.”
“So long as it’s peaceful, I’m game. Where is it?”
Tea pointed up to the sky, Giu following their finger to the small spec in the distance. Realization quickly dawned.
“Angelita?” he asked. “You sure?”
Tea shifted, their gaze complicated as they looked to the faraway nation. But he could see it grow more resolute as they gave his hand a squeeze, nodding to themself.
“Yeah,” they said. “I think I am. No more letting the past define us, right?”
He couldn’t help but smile at that.
“I’ve taught you well, Sir Pixie.”
“Oh shut up, dummy.”
They groaned despite still leaning against him.
***
The final departure from Seladon would come hours later, the two filling their stomachs before the trip on account of pixie food being, as T put it, “overly expensive and barely filling.” Something he had to agree with given how tiny Tea’s portions had been before they drank the height potion. Fortunately, Mr. Stone and Nightfree were nice enough to lend them snacks for the journey.
“Don’t forget to visit when you’re in town again,” the elder salamander said. “Soon as this war blows over, I’ll be needing more work. You’re still looking for a sword, right?”
“Naturally. Though I’m probably gonna need some pointers on how to use it.”
He looked to Tea, who took the challenge with a cocky smirk. They’d have plenty of time to work on the basics while away. Among other things.
“Just don’t be a stranger when you return,” Nightfree chimed in. “I might have more jobs for you two once you’re back.”
“Preferably with raises considering we just took down a cult,” Tea said.
Nightfree’s only response was a smile. Frankly, Giu was happy enough she’d gotten leave to look after Juzia. The snake would still be memoryless for a while. But she seemed to have some semblance of her old self considering how she’d stared at Immy when they brought her back. With any luck, she’d remember some things by the time they returned.
Tea floated behind Giu, taking hold of his back.
“We should probably get going,” they said. “Ready, Gi?”
He nodded, feeling the pixie lifting up and the ground pulling away.
It was a departure routine that they’d done many times, but almost never this peacefully. He half expected some gangster group to pop out of the woodwork to chase them away.
And almost as soon as he thought this, he spotted a group of large bodies running at them from a distance.
“P-p-pix-ie!”
They both stared down as Redge and his group collectively collapsed on the ground, tongues lolling in exhaustion. Even the Ice Bear looked all frosted out. Had they been running this entire time? Or did they only now stop running? Giu looked to Tea, the pixie shaking their head and increasing their upward ascension.
Now it actually felt more like a normal departure.
The higher they climbed, the colder the air around them grew, clouds parting as Tea carried them steadily higher and higher into the sky, the sun doing little to help things. Giu felt chills run through his body, but they seemed to fade as he felt Tea squeezing their paws around his chest, the light of their gem glowing bright.
“Sorry, Gi,” they said. “Forgot it gets really cold up here.”
He felt warmth washing over him, the pixie pressing their fur into his. Like a soft heated blanket. It made him a little less aware of the decreasing temperatures. Or how far away from the ground they’d ascended. He simply leaned into the pixie, trusting them to handle the rest.
In that moment, he couldn’t think of anything better to do than hang on to Tea and enjoy the long climb to lands uncharted. It was a flight he doubted he’d ever forget.
It's finally here. The last chapter. Hope you all enjoyed this crazy little story of mine. Spent a little over a year trying to cobble it altogether, but now it is finally finished. Woohoo! ^^
Gonna assume that if you made it this far you were at least tangentially interested in Suncrest's world so I'd love to hear people's overall thoughts on it. Did you like it? Did it get too off-the-rails? Not off-the-rails enough? Was it too long? This was a pretty big experiment for me and I'd love to use it to make better stories in the future.
All that said, regardless of how you come out of it, I appreciate each and every one of you who took the time to give my story a once-over. It has been an honor to be your storyteller for these 40+ chapters.
Cheers until next time!
-Vet
Note: Link below for people wanting to catch up on everything that led up to this final chapter.
