This story is part of the Wanderer series.
Stopping at the foot of the hill, Green abruptly looked up from her tracks and to the side, through the trees. Nozomi seemed to notice as well, perking up.
Rin saw the two of them stop, despite the darkness. “What is it?” she asked.
Gradually, as Nozomi observed her senses, her expression changed from confusion to bewilderment. The hairs on her neck rose as her senses tingled to the familiar signature of the feeling.
“There’s a seal nearby.” Green gazed around the dark cliffside a little longer.
“I feel it too!” Nozomi eventually blurted. “This way!”
“Wait!” Rin called after her. But she had already broken off the path, sprinting towards the sheer cliff.
“Come on.” Though equally surprised, Green pressed to follow her.
“But, we don’t know what this is.”
“I think… I don’t know, but she’s going to bumble straight into it anyway.”
“But…”
“It might be okay…” she added.
The two girls ran after Nozomi, finding her stopped right at the cliff face, looking up.
Green’s face lit up, as if coming to a realization.
Rin, on the other hand, began to scold right away. “Nozomi! You don’t just run towards a seal you don’t know!”
Looking a little apologetic, Nozomi turned back towards them. “Sorry… but…”
Sighing, Rin remained a little tense. “Where is it?”
“It’s up there.” Nozomi pointed upwards.
“Hm?” She gazed up against the moonlight. “Oh, up on the cliff?”
“This kind of marking and complexity…” Green was murmuring to herself.
“Eh?”
“You know what it is?” Nozomi inquired. “Is it a castle?”
Green glanced at her in surprise. “Do you think it is, too?”
“A what?” Rin interjected.
“Like, a flying castle,” Nozomi elaborated.
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
Green nodded in agreement. “I think so…”
“You mean… from the Land of Sky?”
“But, to be out here… and so easily detectable.”
Nozomi was edging towards the cliff face. “I’m going to go see it!”
“What?! Why?” Rin was whipping back and forth now.
“It could be Sen!”
“Out here? There’s no way!” Rin retorted. “We’re not even close to the Land of Forests yet!”
“Nozo—”
“We won’t know unless we see!”
Without waiting any longer, Nozomi resonated her energy and leapt at the cliff, grabbing onto one of the jutting cracks and hoisting herself up.
“Hey! Don’t be so reckless!”
Stamping her staff to the ground, Green created a glowing turquoise seal beneath the two. To Rin’s surprise, she saw Green’s expression was resolute as she raised her staff to project the seal upwards, levitating them upwards, towards where Nozomi was climbing. She glanced backwards in surprise as Green slowed to a stop where she was, as if beckoning her to get on.
“Promise me this,” said Green, pausing for a moment. She stared at Nozomi long and hard between her raised arms. “If we can’t determine if that is Sen’s castle, then we leave it alone. The high elders would never forgive me if I didn’t stop you from tampering with one of their castles.”
Nozomi looked back with disappointment. Yet, she ultimately understood where her friend’s concerns were coming from. Easing her resonance, she leapt off the rockface onto the seal. Accepting her onto their carriage, Green raised her arms a bit, and the seal resumed its ascent.
Partway up, however, the two of them realize something.
“Wait!” Nozomi exclaimed.
“Eh?” Green seemed equally confused.
“We passed it! Go back down!”
“It’s on the side of the cliff?”
“Is that unusual?”
“Not… entirely.” Green slowly lowered them back down. “But, I’m surprised we didn’t run into it. It must be embedded into the cliff, then.”
Nozomi was restless, seemingly excited again. “Or maybe we went through it! If we did, then—”
“Right here!” Green exclaimed, slowing their platform to a halt in the air. All three of them stared at the rough rockface. It appeared to them it was a little more rough looking and fragmented compared to the rest of the cliff.
“This is it?” Nozomi asked.
“It looks like rock, but also a little different. Is this illusion magic?”
“I think…” Green paused, leaning forward.
Rin looked back at her, curious by her expression. “Something wrong?”
Dropping her arms to grip her staff diagonally in front of her, Green subtly knits her eyebrows as she continues to scrutinize the rock.
“This seal is broken.”