The guildmistress stepped out from the transmission spring beneath Vane, where a large number of people had gathered once the tragedy was past them. The ship had crashed at only dawn this very day, though it felt weeks, even months ago.
"Say, what exactly was that last magic you cast there?" asked Dyne as he and his friend sat on one of the fallen stone columns near the transmission spring.
"Just 'prayer'," said Ghaleon. "The hopes and wishes of a heart--that's all." He smiled, crossing his legs as he folded his arms across his chest. "In basic terms, that's essentially what magic is. Are you getting a little interested in it?"
Dyne smiled amiably in return. "Mm. A little."
"Are you leaving so soon?" asked the guildmistress, gathering the folds of her dress in her hands as she made her way down a small hill to join them. "What a pity. I wanted to fix you a home-cooked meal." She laughed, waving her still bandaged hand. "But I sprained my finger on that ship!"
Two of Lemia's aides sidled up to Dyne, seemingly out of nowhere. "By the way, her cooking is really, really bad."
Dyne blinked, both at the news and the still laughing guildmistress. "Man, she's cheerful..."
"That must be why the handwriting on the note was strange," said one of the aides, presumably referring to the guildmistress's finger, although Dyne wasn't entirely sure.
Then the guildmistress walked up to Ghaleon, both hands clasped before her. He looked at her quizzically, and the smile faded from her face. She was not disproving or haughty, but rather saddened. "I'm sorry," she said. "Your ship..."
His ship. Yes, it had been his.
"It doesn't matter," he said. He shook his head and looked away. "After all, it was a relic more than a century old." He glanced back at her. Their eyes met for a brief moment. "You look familiar; do I know you?"
"From the last day you spent at Vane," she replied. "I look much different now from how I did then. I wasn't the old woman you see now."
That was always the case. People aged around him, not the other way around.
"The face of Vane may have changed over the years..." said the guildmistress.
He remembered Nia, as his beloved five year old friend, as a young girl, as the new parent of a healthy child, as a grandmother. He traveled to and from Vane, an adolescent still new to the world, and each time she would see him off, no matter her age, but while he idly enjoyed his travels on the road she would only grow older. At last one day he visited and found a stone marker waiting for him. Her daughter and granddaughter took him to her grave.
"...but..."
The daughter passed on, and now the daughter of the granddaughter was with child. The guild marched on with the same effortless cheer that had always possessed humanity and through summer and snow Ghaleon walked on, though always he would spare a glance for Vane if ever he could see it in the sky.
"...it has always been your home..."
His last visit to Vane... It had been brief, but as always the guildmistress and her family would see him off. By now the fifth generation of Ausa had been born, and the small child smiled brightly at the man almost consumed by loneliness.
"...as it has been mine."
Ghaleon's eyes widened. That child... was the guildmistress before him. Had it truly been so long? She smiled warmly at him, eyes saying what words could not.
The people of Vane gathered behind their guildmistress. "We have been awaiting your return," she said.
Dyne nudged him from behind, but Ghaleon could only lower his head, humbled and touched. "It's too long a story. I'll tell it to you someday."
Lemia jogged up to the group and her mother's side. "You're already up?"
"Ah! My sleepyhead!" said the guildmistress, still smiling. "If you'd come any later, these two would've already been gone."
Lemia faced Ghaleon and Dyne and curtsied deeply. She bowed her head, her smile a little too sincere, a little too perfect. "On behalf of the Guildmistress of Vane, I deeply thank you for all your help."
Both Dyne and the guildmistress looked somewhat disappointed. "That's all?" she said. Nothing else?"
Ghaleon turned away and clapped a hand on Dyne's shoulder. "Let's go." He glanced back at Lemia. "You were a great help as well. Please excuse us."
She barely acknowledged the compliment, watching them go with saddened eyes as they stepped out on the great plains of Lunar. She was by her mother's side, as she always would be until it was time for her to take over the guild, but some part of her wanted to give chase, and it terrified her. They were two small figures in the distance now. Soon she would lose sight of them entirely.
"You know," said the guildmistress with an innocent look on her face, "a charming only daughter should try indulging her selfish side now and then..."
"Wait!"
The figures grew closer, and the taller of them, the dark-haired young man, looked back of his shoulder.
"Please wait!" Lemia shouted, running after them.
This was absurd. She has no equipment, no supplies, but she knew that if she did not take the opportunity now it would forever be lost. She caught up to them and hunched over, gasping for air--how to make them see if she could not find the breath to speak!
"Please. Take me with you! I want to see the world!"
Dyne looked at her, full of that blank look he often wore. His companion regarded her as well, eyes unreadable. Dyne scratched his head in a moment of silence, as though completely uncertain what to make of the situation, then he relaxed, smiling. Ghaleon smiled as well.
"'Please' is a little formal, don't you think?" said Dyne.
Lemia raised her head in disbelief, tears of joy welling in her eyes.
Dyne grinned and extended a hand to her. "I'm Dyne!"
"I'm Lemia Ausa!" she said, wiping her eyes with one hand as she accepted his in the other.
"My name is Ghaleon," said the white-haired man. "Pleased to meet you, Lemia."
And the companions that were once two were now three.
Lemia would write home often, telling her mother of the adventures she had and the sights she'd seen. The three would be joined by a fourth, and together they would save the world and ensure a fragile peace for the land of Lunar.
And so this story will be handed down throughout the ages, from generation to generation of this bloodline, this legendary tale of adventure.