Pyre Academy
Southbound

Syl and Seb finally left the ruins of Mystallia behind them.

"So, where are we headed?" Seb asked.

"You really want to know?" Syl said, looking at Seb cautiously.

"Hmm, Aranei, then?" Seb thought.

"Not quite, you guessed right in thinking we're striking out against your old Master, but marching into Aranei would be signing our death sentence." Syl replied. "Instead, we're going to Avadey, and to Abysial Academy instead" He smirked. Seb backed up in shock.

"That won't be easy, you know yourself how powerful the dark arts are" He said.

"I know, but I do have Lumina's light flowing through my veins, I think we can do this" Syl nodded.

"So what's the plan when we get there?" Seb asked.

"We take it down, we dismantle the Academy. That should take Abyssia's attention away from my sister for long enough" Syl explained. Seb thought for a second, and sighed.

"You're doing this for her?" Seb asked.

"She's all I have left, everything I do is to make sure she doesn't lose everything, like I did" Syl sighed, and looked up at the clear blue sky. "She's already lost so much, I can't let her lose more" He frowned.

"I understand" Seb smiled, and patted Syl on the shoulder.

"Thank you" Syl smiled back. "I just can't bear losing any more."

"Though, I am sure, she doesn't want to lose you either" Seb said, walking ahead.

"Yeah, I know. This isn't a suicide mission, I intend to survive this" Syl replied, as he followed Seb.

The two of them headed across the bridge south of what used to be Mystallia. Several Imperial airships seemed to be patrolling the skies over the bridge, so Syl and Seb made sure to keep out of sight.

"What are they doing here?" Seb grunted.

"Probably keeping an eye out for Lumina and her people. If they spot me, they'd probably assume I'm with her" Syl sighed. "We gotta stay hidden."

"Right" Seb nodded.

The two made their way across the bridge, slowly, staying low and out of sight. Once they reached the other side, they made their way into the dense woods. Giant cobwebs formed a canopy above the trees. Seb looked up and shivered.

"Yeah, I know... I'm not the biggest fan of spiders" Syl said as he looked at the dozens of spiders dangling from their webs.

"Can we not go around" Seb begged.

"No, this is the fastest and quietest way south" Syl said, "Come on, the faster we get moving, the sooner we'll be out of here."

"Right" Seb nodded, as he quickly followed Syl through the forest.

"So, you have any family, Seb?" Syl asked.

"Just my mother and father, back in Ishtall" Seb replied.

"Have you been in contact since, you know, Terrana?" Syl asked, as he cut his way through a thick web.

"I've written letters, every now and again, just to let them know I'm okay" Seb replied, he screamed as a spider landed on him, he instinctively squashed it and followed close behind Syl.

"Don't think about them, think about somewhere you'd rather be" Syl said. Seb tried to picture somewhere that made him happy.

"Rosefall, I'd rather be at Rosefall" He said to himself.

"I love Rosefall, me and Roisin used to go there all the time as kids, to watch the boats come in and out" Syl smiled.

"Yeah, I used to go to see the big cruisers departing, wondering where they were headed. I once wanted to be a sailor" Seb chuckled.

"What made you change your mind?" Syl asked.

"Well, once I awoke to these powers, my parents pretty much forced Wynd Academy upon me, I didn't get much say in the matter. Once I'd been there a while, I just sorta, lost interesting in sailing" Seb explained.

"Wait" Syl whispered. "Don't look" He added.

Seb looked ahead without thinking, to see a spider the size of a human creeping about on the forest floor, before he could let out a scream, Syl covered his mouth.

"Fuck this, we're going around" He whispered, as the two slowly backed away. Then, a small crack of a branch came from beneath their feet.

"Shit" Syl said, as the huge spider turned to face them. "RUN!" He shouted. Syl and Seb turned as fast as they could and made their way to the forest exit. Syl glanced behind them while running and saw the spider gaining on them. "Go on ahead!" Syl shouted to Seb, as he stopped and turned around.

Syl summoned a glowing white war hammer, and awaited the spider. When it neared him, it fired a web from its maw, Syl jumped in the air against a tree, then leaped from the tree onto the spider's back. The hair on it's back was sharp and spiked.

The spider let out a hiss and began climbing against a tall oak tree, Syl jumped from its back and swung the hammer against its large back. The back of the spider exploded into dozens of smaller spiders, Syl let out a high-pitched yell and ran out of the forest screaming and patting himself down.

When he finished panicking, he looked up to see Seb in tears, laughing at Syl's reaction.

"That was amazing!" Seb laughed.

"It was terrifying!" Syl grunted.

"That too, but... that cheered me up massively" Seb chuckled.

"Come on, we're going around" Syl grumbled, as he turned around, facing away from Seb, he smiled slightly. The two headed off down a road leading around the forest.