12 _Chapter 12_

"Shut up," Ren said calmly. "You're so damn loud all the time."

"No I'm not!" Emily huffed angrily. "You're just too quiet!"

She pulled apart a piece of her food and fired it at Ren, who caught it without a glance. Juan watched with a wide smile on his face and Lyira tried to join in, ripping apart a piece of bread and throwing it at Emily, covering the latter in breadcrumbs.

"Hahaha -ahaha!!" She pointed proudly at her handiwork and laughed.

"No Lyira!! You're supposed to aim for Ren, not me!!" Emily started wiping the crumbs off her clothes and hair vigorously.

Unbeknownst to everyone but Ren, the carriage slowly came to a halt, and quiet footsteps circled the carriage before stopping at the back entrance. Long fingers pulled apart the white curtains blocking off the inside of the carriage from any onlookers and Ryan's head peeked through. Emily shrieked again and even Juan was slightly surprised. Ren heard the footsteps and knew Ryan was coming, so he remained unconcerned and unsurprised.

"You're all making so much noise and it's making the horses skittish! It's been a long trip and I know we're tired and stressed, but it's only a couple more hours until we get to Amaryllis and we can't have any problems till we get there! So Emily, stop yelling, Lyira stop throwing food around the place and Ren, you do you... I guess." With that, Ryan released the curtains and returned to the front seat of the carriage. Soon the familiar shuddering of the carriage returned, signifying that they were on the move again.

Emily threw an angry look at Ren to which he returned with a chuckle and an innocent smile. It had been like this for the past 3 days. Everyone seemed more open with each other now and they talked to each other more often and Emily had even told Ren how she met Lyira, Ryan and Juan and how they ended up being attacked by bandits.

It all started when she learned of her parents' deaths. Emily smiled sadly as she retold the day she learned that they had died. About she'd seen the carriage that usually brought her parents back home deliver two coffins to her family's front door, and the man driving it offering small condolences as he and a few other men lifted the coffins out and brought them into their home.

She lived in a large, bustling human town called Kristel on the North Eastern side of Nilevar, along with family who she said loved her more than she could describe. She was an only child and didn't have any younger siblings and so her parents treated her like she was their world. Her parents were adventurers, and so they couldn't be around often because of their job, but when they were Emily said they made up the best memories of her childhood. They often told her stories of their travels; the people they met and fought with, and the monsters they fought against. Their travels took them around Pangaea, and yet somehow they always made themselves available for their daughter. Emily talked about them with pride, even though they were long gone.

Unfortunately for Emily, her parents deaths were sudden, and she wasn't even told how they died. They were very strong adventurers and had a talent in magic. Emily said she clearly remembered the times her mother used wind magic around the house when she was there. Such a rare magic was used for such basic things like cleaning and housekeeping. And her father often used light magic when he narrated stories from his life as an adventurer.

On top of not being told how her parents had died. There was no will left behind for her, and because she was too young to inherit anything as the firstborn child all her parents' belongings were split between her relatives. Relatives she had never seen or heard of before gathered to claim any part of her parents inheritance. And then she learned the truth, after eavesdropping on a conversation between hrr supposed 'uncles'.

Turns out that her parents were rich, and well sought after adventurers. Her father was proficient in Light Magic and her mother in Wind Magic. They could also both use the evolved form of their respective elements to a certain degree which made them very powerful people and in turn, very rich people as well.

Emily was so shocked and surprised to learn about this. She'd lived modest life with her parents, and they never splurged any money on her leading her to believe that they were just getting by. And here she was learning that they were a few years ago they were graduates of the Amaryllis Academy in Amaryllis City.

It was something painfully shocking o learn, but there were other problems to worry about. Because of their unexpected death and the lack of a will, Emily stood to inherit nothing from her parents fortune. Dhe could always live with any of her newfound relatives, but she learned something about them very quickly; They were all incredibly selfish. Not a single one of them were willing to take care of a child, especially when the child would later inherit all the fortune they were splitting amongst themselves. No, they would rather let that child die off.

"I guess that was why my parents never told me about my relatives," She said with a forced smile.

Emily was forced to live on the streets, there she spent nearly 5 months surviving on their own off of the by stealing food and begging. Now she was just one of the many people who lived their life this way, and it was a depressing thought for her.

Fortunately she found Ryan soon enough. Emily laughed as she remembered how they met.

One time she nearly got caught stealing apples from the back garden of a farmer's house. And he chased through the town, in the evening. She thought she was going to be caught, but Ryan saved her by throwing a stone at the farmer's head and successfully luring him away from Emily. Ryan later showed up saying that he easily lost the farmer. They shared the apples that Emily stole, and from then on formed an unbreakable friendship, both vowing to get out of this town no matter what.

It took the rest of the year before they finally got their chance though, when this time Ryan got caught stealing. It was by the same farmer they'd been stealing fruit from for a while and this time the farmer planned to get rid of Ryan for good. Thr farmer wanted to kill Ryan late at night, and dump his body into the nearby river. That night, she night when the farmer reached the river with a beaten, bound and wounded Ryan in tow, Emily rushed him witha knife and with her determination and average strength managed to stab his left arm. The farmer screamed and cursed but nevertheless he let go of the rope allowing Ryan to quickly shrug of the shackles and run.

The farmer chased after them unendingly, and eventually managed to catch and drag a tired and wounded Ryan. Emily screamed as they rolled around and scuffled with Ryan trying his best to throw the heavy farmer off him, but he was unable to. Terrified that Ryan was going to die and scared that she would be next, Emily entered a state of panic, and awoke a latent power for Wind Elemental magic she inherited from her mother. She didn't remember what happened, but when she woke up it was now daytime, she was on Ryan's back and the farmer was nowhere to be seen.

She discovered she had a high affinity with Wind magic and realized that this was their ticket out of here. Because Wind Elemental magicians were relatively uncommon, if they managed to get to Amaryllis City there was a high enough chance that she could attend the Academy that her parents went to. It was a long shot and the city was still too long a trip to walk, but they had no other choice, so they searched for a way to get out if Kristel.

From looking for free rides, to working in attempts to raise money, Emily and Ryan spent nearly two years searching for a way out of Kristel. While searching they rescued Juan, who was born in an abusive family and was a single child like Emily was. He was abandoned at 12 simply because he was born without functioning vocal chords and couldn't speak. And it wasn't an easy fix either, because it was impossible to use simple Light magic to heal him as he wasn't born with vocal chords so there was nothing to heal. The only way to help him was to use Creation magic, but that was very expensive and he was deemed not important enough to spend money on. He still learned to read and was adept at writing even though he was raised in an abusive family.

'Living on the streets was far better than staying in that house with that couple' was what Juan wrote, refusing to consider them his parents in any way, shape or form. After meeting Juan, they convinced him to travel with them saying that they were heading to Amaryllis City. Together the three of then managed to convince a travelling merchant to give them a cheap lift to Amaryllis. He was quite reluctant at first because they didn't have an Identification which was needed to get into Amaryllis City. But after he learnt of Emily's affinity with Wind magic and Juan's educative level, he decided to take them with him and get it for them.

Emily, Ryan and Juan had to work for the merchant for another few months until he'd restocked on goods and supplies and was ready to leave again. It was around this time that they met Lyira.

The little girl arrived in the town in a huge red-white carriage with a magnificent crest of a Rising Phoenix on it. It caused a huge uproar in the town, as not many nobles visited often and the carriage just leaked of nobility. Pulled by 6 pearl white horses, with complicated spokes on the wheels, and a diligent horsemen on similar white horses surrounding the carriage as if to protect it. Contrary to the noble aura emitting from the carriage however, a small girl covered in scratch wounds and with bright blonde hair was tossed from the carriage in an undignified manner. People watched with open mouths as the carriage turned around and left immediately after throwing the girl out, and one of the horsemen even spit on the girl's hair.

After the nobles left, it was gravely quiet as people attempted to understand what had just occured. But slowly, the shock disappeared and people slowly dispersed, leaving the unmoving girl on the stony ground. Emily rushed to help the girl but there was no response from her and she assumed the girl was dead, but slowly the girl started moving and opened her eyes.