The headache was terrible. They couldn't move or talk without the pain spiking up. The slighest noise would overwhelm their eardrums, that it was the buzz of an insect or the vibration of their voices.

Once she was able to grab her guitare without the pain exploding in her head, Camalia casted the melody of heal, and to her big surprise, it actually worked. She has always thought it only healed external wounds, but it looked like she had been wrong. With the headache gone, they resumed their progress towards Varian's home.

It was silent. Well, the nature was blooming all around them, taking in the sunlight with delighted whispers and the wind messing around in the leaves and the grass, but the two travelers were silent.

Their feet were stomping on the grass, for sure, but no words were exchanged, no smiles, no looks, nothing. To Camalia, it was a big step back. She felt like the bonding moment they had was wiped by the alcohol, and that she had to do everything all over again.

The music mage wouldn't dare to start talking, her eyes shimmering with frustration and stress, as she was grasping strongly at her guitare strap, so tense it felt like she could break the air with one look. No, she wouldn't dare speaking up, when she didn't know if her only friend was still angry at her.

She wouldn't chat when his words were still deeply carved in her mind, those harsh and hurtful words that spoke an horrible truth.

She wished she couldn't hear, she couldn't think, she couldn't hope for something better. But she could.

"The only reason you're here right now is because I need you in order to free my dad. There's nothing else."

Camalia clutched her eyes shut, hoping to make the words go away. But it sounded way to much like what a certain snake could have whispered in her ear not so long ago. The only reason she was still alive back then was because they needed her in order to free themselves. There was nothing else. She felt guilty of comparing two abusing snakes with her friend, but... she couldn't help it.

She felt hopeless and empty, like all the joy of the world had been sucked in that insatiable black hole she had in her. And like everytime, she fought it. She fought the need to stop, to stop everything, to lie there in the grass and let time flow over her like a river. She fought the desire to lay there and watch days, weeks, years go by without moving, without doing anything but staring blankly in the distance. From an exterior point of view, nothing could betray the internal fight Camalia was having inside of her. After all, she became very good at hiding it, like everything else.

Suddenly, Varian stopped. He crouched down behind a bush and signed Camalia to do the same. She obeyed, without really understanding what was going on until he pointed at somewhere over the leaves. She looked, and there was the path they should have taken to get to Old Corona. It was full of guards, ambushed there and there, unoticable from the path, but easy to spot from where they were.

The music mage took a quick glance at the boy, thinking he made a great move of going in the forest instead of following the path. After all, he always made great moves. Well, most of the time.

Still without a word, he crawled away from the bush and the guards. At that point, the silence was so oppressing Camalia wanted to get up and scream to him so he would finally talk to her, or just stay there forever, not moving. She wanted to do two opposites at the same time so badly it was almost tearing her apart.

But she didn't do either. As quietly as Varian, she followed him, supporting his decision, what he wanted to do, like a friend would do. Well, what she thought a good friend would do. To be honest she wasn't really grasping the concept of friendship yet. What was labelled as "good to do when you're friends" ? What was "absolute no-no" ? She was stepping in that unknown territory again, hoping that this time she wouldn't mess up. Camalia relayed on her instinct and on what she thought she should do. On what she thought friendship was.

Once he judged they were far enough, the alchemist got back up and sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

-They were probably there to ambush us. Which means that there will probably going to be guards around Old Corona, and maybe even around my house. If that's the case, we'll have to be very discreet. Although, I did hope we would be faster, heh. A bit idealistic.

Camalia silently nodded. Varian looked like he expected an answer, almost begging to have one. When he realised his friend seemed to have no intention of responding or even making eye contact with him, he pouted slightly, terribly disappointed that she still wouldn't talk to him. He understood she was mad, she could be, he had been absolutely awful with her. Not that she didn't deserve it, but... he went too far. He didn't go at lenghts like building automatons and threatning her to death, but verbally speaking, he did. He should have never said those things to her considering what she'd been through, what she is going through.

But with what happened at the Snuggly Duckling, he thought that maybe they were friends again, and that they would actually act normally around eachothers, and not coldly and strategically. And then that morning, it was awkward again, and he thought that she would talk to him, engage the conversation like she had always done, but she didn't. So he waited. He waited for hours, until it became obvious she was mad at him. Just the way she was clinging on her guitare strap, it was telling it all. After the weird alcohol moment, she must have taken time to actually think about all that he said, the way he acted, and she knew it was unfair, so unfair. That he should have never acted like this if he was her friend. If he cared. If he could actually bring the mess he was together and try to make her feel better. But he didn't, he couldn't, all he could think about was the burning treason and his dad trapped in amber, desperatly reaching out for the letter. All he could think about was the cold hard floor he slept on, the loneliness, the wasted times on useless books, the lies, all those overwhelming lies and fear. It was all he could think about.

But he should have thought about her.

He should have thought about that person that pulled him out of the darkness, with this bright smile no one could fake. He should have thought of all the moments she was real, she was true, and when put together, there were so many. So long. So shiny, warm and comfortable. The laughters and smiles radiating through them were real. Those small, enormous moments where everything was actually fine.

Beside them, all the dark thoughts, the scary, the angry, the lost moments seemed like a black dot of sadness in a vast bright universe.

He should have thought about her, but he didn't. And he regretted it.

-Camalia, I-

He had never been the best at expressing his feelings. Then again, she arrived in a moment in his life when everything was upside down and splattered around. It was hard for him to build back a strong friendship after being decieved once. It was hard to talk about all those thoughts and feelings that were so overwhelming you could drown in them. Those feelings and thoughts you were never used to. It's hard to speak, to express, to forgive and to be forgiven, it's hard to be yourself when so much is pushing you to be someone you're not. It's hard, yes. It's hard and he had never been the best at expressing his feelings. But really, who is ?

-I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have... said all those things I said, most of them I didn't even think. N-not the part where we were drunk, I uh... I do think those. I do think that... Well what I mean is that I shouldn't have said the things I said before that. The... all the cold and-and violent words I said. I am really, really sorry, Camalia.

The music mage was shocked. She just stared blankly at him, as if she was waiting for him to apologize and go back on what he said. But Varian didn't. He was just looking at her expectedly, even if he was getting more and more uncomfortable under her stare. She shook her head, trying to put her thoughts together.

-Wait, you're not... you're not mad at me ?

-What ? No, of course not, I-I thought you were mad at ME.

An angel passed and Varian snickered before they both laughed it off. They were so relieved that after all, they weren't alone in this. Camalia smiled at the alchemist and reached out.

-Friends ?

He grinned back, and shook her hand.

-Friends.

After this was finally cleared up -more or less-, the rest of the trip to Old Corona was strewn with jokes and questions that the other hopefully couldn't answer. Their hearts were warm and happy, still keeping a terrible part of darkness that neither of them was thinking about at the time. They were delighted and playful, but careful.

After the encounter with the ambush, they tried to keep away from the path as much as possible, and to be very quiet around it. And they were right to do so, they saw a lot of guards then and there, peacefully waiting for them to show up. It became clear that entering Varian's house would be more complicated than anticipated.

But they didn't worry too much about that. They knew they could figure it out.

It took them the whole day. When they finally got there, even with regular stops and a lunchtime thanks to Camalia theorical knowledge of the woods, they were exhausted. Their legs hurted, their back was sore and they just wanted to lie on a bed and sleep for a week.

The fact that is was night wasn't helping their yawns. But it was helping their cover. Thanks to the dim light of the crescent moon, they were impossible to notice behind the bushes.

Varian crouched quickly, followed by Camalia. He signed her to be silent, and she nodded. The alchemist moved the leaves to reveal his house. Everything was exactly like he left it, and it shook him a little. He froze, feeling fear, anger and despair rise up in his throat. The faint light of the amber through one of the window wasn't really helping.

Seeing her friend tense up and his eyes widen, Camalia took the initiative.

-Uh. I thought your house would be bigger. She whispered.

The comment sucessfully snatched him from his contemplation and he looked at her in disbelief.

-What do you mean bigger ?! It's the biggest house of the entire village ! My dad is the chief of Old Corona !

-Yeah, well, I did live in a castle for most of my life. I kind of expected something... bigger.

Varian rolled his eyes and bowed slightly.

-My apologies, your highness, I thought my humble and very small home would be enough for your luxury tastes.

Camalia huffed and tapped his head, out of pure annoyance. He scoffed and without him realising it, the fear, anger and despair were being swallowed back in that dark part of his heart, even when he glanced back at his house. He went as far as having an amused smile, seeing how enormous it was, after all.

-So, began the music mage again, what do we do now ?

Varian analyzed the place, seemingly empty of any body and soul. He frowned, not buying it for one second. His gaze trailed over the edge of the forest, circling the village until the cliff took over. They should be able to get a better angle and see if there actually was no one hiding.

-We are facing the same way as the path. If someone is there, we won't be able to see them from here. I think we should go around, using the forest.

Camalia agreed silently and the alchemist carefully placed the leaves back to their original place. Once they were far enough, the friends glanced again at the village.

Of course, it was filled with guards. One was hiding under the bridge, another peeping between two of the giant rocks, a big guard was using a house as a cover... They were everywhere. But lucky for them, all the guards were focused on the path. And no one bothered to look behind.

After all, maybe they were dangerous, but they were just kids.

Varian felt a wave of confidence rush over him, and he smirked. He suddenly got up and was about to leave the forest to head in his home when Camalia grabbed his sleeve and quickly sat him back down.

-H-hey ! What was that for ?!

The music mage slapped a hand on his mouth, effectively making him stop talking. She pointed at a dark spot behind his house. He examined the shadow for a couple minute, but nothing was out of the ordinary. Suddenly, he saw a faint movement, and the shine of an armor in the moonlight.