In the morning, Zelenia informed them that she was shown where they were to go. When questioned about it, she said the Elements were still debating on who should be chosen as the next Elemental, so they showed her a location set between the next two temples; once they decided, the next Elemental would be shown. Kalisa felt that the whole thing didn't feel right, but she stayed quiet.

So, with Tegen leading them again, they returned to Estys, lingered long enough for him to discuss things with the Elders, then guided them back to the main road winding through the jungle. He had already determined the lake Zelenia had been shown was in Asardia, so he took them right, deeper into the jungle. He said they would exit the jungle before evening and could find rest in the nearby village of Foreglen; in the morning, they'd travel north, then turn east where they would board a ferry at Sachsein. One of the cities he listed they would pass through was Ilvila.

Helian and Zelenia perked up at the name; Pica inquired for the interest, and they explained Lord Callidus and his previous assistance. Kalisa barely listened—something about Lord Callidus bothered her. The Sun and Moon seemed to find no fault in him, but Kalisa had felt a slight twinge in her soul on meeting him the first time. It may have been the fact that he was Seteri: renowned magic wielders, highly esteemed and slightly feared that they could turn, if disrespected. Being near other magic wielders had always raised her defenses, so she just contributed her feelings to that.

But still, she wasn't overly pleased that they would be visiting.

On their walk, everyone seemed normal: Helian walked beside Tegen, Pica and Zelenia talked and laughed, and Aeris and Geryon still traveled close—their newfound relationship after she nearly killed him was intriguing. The odd one out was Renuo, being distant from everyone; he usually walked by her, and they would talk freely—making her wonder if he fancied her—but he stayed away. His eyes remained down on the road under their feet and forehead scrunched, struggling to make a decision. She would approach him later and hope he felt comfortable to share what was on his mind.

She found it strange that she wanted—no, desired—his presence again. She, Kalisa 'Black-Soul' who always preferred isolation and silence, wanted someone by her side and to talk nonsense with.

It wasn't simply attraction that drew her to Renuo, it was his soul. His soul had been beaten down so much—it had been ripped to shreds—and yet remained intact and determined to survive. He had always repressed that prideful spirit where he seemed insecure; she knew better. That very first day, she saw that he could very well become one of the most powerful of them all; she could see within him that he could be a protector.

If only he could see it himself.

***

They reached the small village of Foreglen near sundown as Tegen predicted; they found an inn and retired early. The next day wasn't much different from the day before: more leisurely walking through grasslands that dipped and rose with many hills. Their journey was predominantly boring. Pica wasn't pleased with the lack of merriment, so she walked beside Aeris and begged her to sing. At first, she refused; Pica kept hounding her—even singing some of Aeris' songs to goad her into joining. She finally relented.

As she sang, everyone was ensnared by her voice just as before on the doomed ferry; so awestruck by her idol singing right beside her, Pica could do nothing but gape and hang onto Aeris' arm. Geryon seemed to be the only one still in control over his senses, but Kalisa did see him constantly glancing at her face, where his eyes sparkled—he was completely enraptured. They loved each other, Kalisa was sure of it now.

The Elementals weren't the only ones to fall under her spell; it didn't take long before they had acquired fellow passersby pulled in by Aeris' voice. Unlike before, the blonde woman wasn't embarrassed at realizing she had drawn a crowd; she seemed relaxed and even nodded in approval at Pica dancing beside her—probably some of her own choreography. Kalisa did notice the subtle movements in her form, like Aeris held herself back from joining in on the dancing.

Most of the passersby groaned when their entertainment came to an end at their arrival at Teufen. The city sat on top of a tall hill; buildings were stacked on top of others and multiple streets snaked through the labyrinth of homes and businesses. Since evening grew near, the city had begun to light up on its own with streetlamps.

The group found Teufen's inn near the top of the hill, providing a magnificent view of the city settling down for the night. After purchasing rooms and eating, the Elementals disbanded to explore the city.

Kalisa went on a search for Renuo—he had left early so she didn't see which way he went. After walking through the winding streets for the better half of an hour, she found him seated on the stone wall encircling a bubbling fountain. Kalisa didn't bother asking if she could join him; she just walked up and seated beside him—him facing the fountain and her facing the way she came.

Neither said anything for a while; Kalisa admired the soft glow of the gas streetlamps lighting the courtyard. The warm glows offered security, but they also maintained a sleepy quality. Even as a large city, Teufen knew how to grow quiet.

"The moon and stars would add to the beauty of this city," Kalisa began.

"Don't you think the streetlamps would be too bright to see the stars?" Renuo asked.

"No; the lights are soft. They couldn't overpower something that's stronger than them, even though they might not think that they could compete."

It was quiet for a while. "I knew you wouldn't be fooled."

Her lips quirked—it had always been hard to deceive her; she had to give Zelenia some credit though. "It's quite convincing."

"How long do you think it will be 'til the others find out?"

Probably not long at all, unless they've already guessed, she thought, but wasn't going to tell him that. With Renuo and Zelenia working to keep it quiet meant he didn't want them to know just yet. Pica, though, would fall for it.

"I'm not sure; I know you can count on Pica staying oblivious."

He chuckled. "She's too trusting. I hope this deception won't hurt her."

"It won't; under that naivety, she's strong."

"You have a lot of faith in her."

"You can't help but to believe in her." She turned to look at Renuo. "And I have faith in you too, Renuo."

His eyes remained down in the water. "I don't think I deserve it."

"You might not think you do, but you need it the most. Everyone needs to know someone believes in them; all it takes is just one belief that you can do something to do it. Believe in yourself that you can when the need comes."

He sighed heavily. "Have blind faith? Go in hoping I can act when I know what I'm capable of?"

"Sometimes you have to block out everything else—every little doubt and forget the past—so you can focus on starting anew. And remember, others have told you you're a failure; you've made yourself believe them, but do you really think you're useless? Look what you have done."

He didn't respond for a long time; she thought her words had finally taken root until he shook his head in disbelief. "I'm not anything, Kalisa. Don't put your hope in me; I don't want you to be hurt."

Maybe he needed more than just words; maybe he needed proof that she believed in him, and always would. Kalisa put her hand on his. "If you don't think you're something, know that I do."

Renuo looked at her—his eyes were watery and dispirited, but hearing her declaration strengthened him. He held her eyes for a while until they flickered down to her lips.

Excitement flooded into her system and her heart leaped to her throat—it wasn't just her that had thought about kissing. Never had she ever felt this rush of high emotion, making her nervous and giddy at the same time.

Her heart pounded so much it hurt, feeling like it could burst out of her chest at any second. She had never been bold, but Renuo needed reassurance that she was with him the whole way. Kalisa leaned in to meet his lips.

Her last view was of him doing the same.

Then she was yanked off the fountain wall to the cobblestone street. Kalisa's eyes popped open to see Renuo crouched over her, eyes back on the fountain as he pulled out his trident. She could hear something violently splashing in the waters.

"Fangril's demons!" he told her as he stood. When he straightened, he thrust his trident into the fountain—a cry answered his attack followed by a wisp-ing.

Kalisa scrambled to her feet to see dark forms scurrying through the shadows of the buildings—they avoided the light of the streetlamps the best they could. Terrified shrieks echoed out of the city, joined by sounds of battle as the citizens awoke and fought against the demons attacking.

There wasn't anything in sight she could bend to her will easily and the streetlamps provided extra defense so she couldn't break those, so Kalisa pulled out the throwing knives she had hidden on her. With deadly accuracy, she threw the knives at the blacker-than-night demons—wisps of smoke confirmed her hits. When the demons grew too close, she performed simple magic to kill them, like a small ball of fire or a bolt of lightning. She defended the small courtyard with Renuo beside her, jabbing, parrying, and stabbing his trident into the human-like demons. She hoped the other Elementals were alright.

A horrible inhuman scream brought their attention to a streetlamp to find one of Fangril's demons wrapped around the top of a streetlamp—it writhed and screamed in agony as its darkness seeped into the glass and smothered the flame. The demon disappeared into a wisp of smoke as the light blinked out—it sacrificed itself to destroy the light. With one of the four streetlamps cold, more of the demon brethren advanced on Kalisa and Renuo.

"Keep the lights going! That's our only chance of surviving this!" Renuo yelled.

Kalisa got closer to a streetlamp to defend it; she saw Renuo fighting in the middle, not as secure in the light as she but boldly confronting the waves of demons. They fought valiantly and killed many demons, but one streetlamp went out, followed by another, and they kept coming. Exhausting her supply of knives, Kalisa now relied solely on magic, destroying some with destruction skills or lifting one, breaking its limbs and sending it flying back into the others. They desperately needed Pica to restore the light.

Suddenly, a scream sounded out above her; she looked up to see a demon sacrificing itself to douse the light. Before she could direct an ice spike at it, the light winked out. A wave of demons bowled over her, long and sharp claws tearing through her clothes and slicing into her skin. She cried aloud in pain, trying to knock them away. They wildly tore into her like ravenous dogs.

Renuo screamed her name before a powerful wave of water rushed over her, washing the mad demons off. Without them pressing in on her, she could breathe again—her body stung with many slices, but she was alive.

Kalisa lifted her head to see where the demons went but had to clamp her eyes shut and curl back in for protection, for every streetlamp came back to life with blindingly bright light. Multiple inhuman screams sounded out before cutting off abruptly in wisp-ings.

"Tone it down, Pica; that's a bit too bright," Helian's voice said.

"Right, sorry; I just kinda panicked seeing Kalisa..." Pica said. The severe brightness dimmed behind her eyelids.

Hands suddenly grabbed her. "Kalisa?" Renuo asked, his voice pitching in fear.

She slowly opened her eyes and pushed herself up; her body ached with searing pain all over. Small puddles of water surrounded her, and her blood made them red. "I'll be okay."

Cool hands gently came onto her shoulders; the searing pains vanished as she looked up into Zelenia's worried face. "Where do you hurt?"

"Mainly my arms and torso."

Zelenia set to work with her hands trailing down her arms, healing the bleeding cuts.

Kalisa looked around to see Pica and Renuo huddled in close to her, and Tegen and Helian discussing the attack but on guard for the tension in their postures. Aeris and Geryon showed up—without any sign of injury. They looked over at her in concern at Helian's explanation; Aeris left Geryon with the other two to check up on her.

Zelenia's hands had to linger longer over the deeper slashes in her waist. Kalisa looked over at the fountain to find it empty—in Renuo's fear, he had forgotten his insecurities and used water to save her.

Kalisa looked at Renuo—his eyes were wide with worry.

"See? All it takes is one moment of desperation to realize that you aren't nothing."

He held her eyes. Replaying what he did, his eyes slowed trembling as he considered that she may be right.