„What is a piece of silver that can't be traded, nor bargained with? It is nostalgia, sweet to the taste, warm to the touch, a simple myth. It is more valuable than a house, wrapped in your soul and always sent to douse."- Peter Zahn
The time was around 12 p.m. when they had arrived for Seattle. The weather was still very pleasant, Vivien's eyes looking around to assess anything important they should be doing.
„Since the magic brought us here, as you have mentioned, where exactly are we supposed to go? You haven't told me."
„It will show me."
„You mean you don't know, yet? Good work... Vivien."
The two walked forward, waiting for a sign from the purple magic, but nothing happened. They were walking aimlessly, and Vivien was hoping the purple light would show the way they need to go.
Before she could finally give up on it all, a string of purple light stemmed from her right hand. It was showing them the way they should head towards.
Her eyes lit up with joy, as she pointed at the string of purple light on the ground for Sylas to notice.
„You're going to follow it?", a low voice from behind them ringed out from the crowd of people walking by. They immediately recognized who it was.
Jude spoke in an indifferent manner.
„The magic doesn't want to bring you anywhere to help you escape from the curse. It's only looking for random ways to pass the time. It's like a toddler."
„Heeey, it's the mysterious boy we haven't seen in so long! How have you been, Jude?"
„I tracked you two and followed you because I wanted to see what you were getting yourselves into. Doesn't look like it's anything dangerous."
„You know more about the curse than you let on. Why not help us, yourself?", Vivien asked.
„I have my own reasons."
„Ooooh, you're so mysterious and cool. I thought we've grown to be friends and have stopped keeping secrets from each other! Oh, this breaks my heart, not to be trusted by my fellow comrade..."
„Would you please be quiet and stop mocking me? You're frustrating."
Vivien and Sylas looked at each other. They kept quiet, until Jude broke the tension that was almost palpable.
„I'll come with you."
„Don't let us stop you.", Sylas answered.
Now, the group of three would follow the trail of purple magic which guided them along the busy streets. They looked around the city, admiring the tall buildings.
Being in Seattle was like a dream come true, they had heard so many stories and aspects about the town, the same stories which brought a sweet taste.
Vivien had went there just once in her life, but it still brought back the same memories of jokes and laughter, which were now kept behind the fragile petals of friendship. The moments etched to the surface, ready to attack at her heart.
Everything about nostalgia was an impenetrable obscurity she wished she could solve the meaning of.
But the moments were already lived, if she went back in time to relive the same wonderful experiences again, they would not feel the same as they felt the first time. Perhaps that is why we can't ever go back in time to experience our favorite moments again, because those pieces of silver live in our memories, and going back to experience them again would be pointless.
Maybe that was why their power did not allow them to go back, but only move forward two years ahead.
They finally came to a stop. The purple magic had dissipated into the air, having guided them to an old and abandoned house. Around it was a big fence, and the gate seemed to be locked shut, with no way to open it.
They wondered what they should do next. The magic clearly wanted them to enter the abandoned house.
„This is where it wanted you two to go. Interesting."
„Are you afraid?", Sylas asked.
„Why would I be afraid? I am not afraid."
„I'm inclined to have to believe the magic wants us to climb the fence. Perhaps there is something here.", Vivien chimed in.
The girl went ahead and decided to climb the fence first, leaving the two boys to watch her effortlessly place her hands and feet against the curves of the fence. She managed to climb over.
„Good luck, comrade.", Sylas pushed Jude forward.
Jude struggled to climb the fence, but he eventually made it to the top. Next was Sylas. He struggled to climb, but managed to make it to the top of the fence. When trying to come back down, he fell on his side. He let out a small wince and rubbed his side.
„Ouch... Couldn't they make this fence shorter? Hey, how did you land so gracefully?", he looked to his right, Vivien coming closer to him.
She stifled a laugh, then shrugged.
„I must have spider skills."
„This is so unfair... Don't let me catch you laughing at the way I fell!", but despite his request, the girl couldn't hold back a few chuckles.
Jude hadn't come back down. He was still positioned onto the fence, watching the two discussing. He felt like he was on top of the world.
„How's the weather down there for you? Are you holding up well?", Jude yelled at them so that they could hear.
„I'm going to hurt that guy.", Sylas muttered so that only Vivien could hear.
„Let's go!"
Vivien held her hand forward to help him stand up, and Sylas took it. He managed to stand up with her help, leaning onto her for support, still wincing from the fall.
He had a few scratches that were bleeding, but despite from that, he seemed to be all good.
Jude also came down from the fence, walking towards Sylas. After assessing his wounds, the boy walked back and tried opening the gate.
He noticed that it was not locked, after all, as they had thought. So they could have simply walked through the gate instead of struggling to climb the fence.
Jude pointed to the open gate, and Vivien facepalmed.
„Now I want to hurt him even more.", Sylas said.
But perhaps it was the magic's fault. It had pointed them to the fence, and they thought they should climb it.
Either way, they left the embarrassing moment behind, feeling like absolute idiots, and walked forward. The group was now standing in front of the abandoned house, and they wondered why the magic could have possibly brought them here of all places.
The house was huge, but there didn't seem to be any source of light inside. They did not carry a flashlight.
Jude walked forward and opened the door. Sylas and Vivien looked around, taking in the ancient architecture of the building which could collapse any second.
They followed Jude inside, noticing the worn-out objects. The smell of stale air and the dust filled rooms only brought more discomfort.
They came across the purple magic which lit their way inside the rooms. They could finally see clearly with the help of the light, the small strand of purple color guiding their way once again.
They walked up the stairs to the second floor, each step bringing more and more aches for Sylas.
Sylas held onto Vivien's hand as they moved up the stairs inside the abandoned building. His cold hand squeezed hers tight, and she did not complain.
Jude's amber eyes would try to assess absolutely every single detail. He followed the purple trail in silence, their minds set on discovering where that magic led to.
Suddenly, the magic came to a stop in the middle of the hall.
They could barely see anything anymore, a bit of light from outside managing to stroll inside through cracks or through small windows.
In front of them were multiple doors set either in front of them, to the right or to the left, which led to unknown rooms.
Sylas held onto the girl's hand even tighter. He looked around, noticing the purple light.
„Over there!", he pointed to it.
"Shucks, it's so dark. I can't see anything!", Vivien replied.
The two could barely make out where Sylas' finger was pointing toward, but they managed to see the light, as well. The purple trail stopped in front of a door to a room that was set to their left.
They walked to the door, a bit fearful of what they would find inside. Sylas took it upon himself and reached for the doorknob of the unknown room, opening it while his heart raced slightly.
Inside was a little girl. She was playing with dolls, and that was about everything they could make out from the scene because of the darkness.
„Hi, peach, what is your name?", Vivien asked.
„It's Deyana."
„That's a very lovely name."
Because of her high pitched voice, the group assumed the little girl was not more than ten years of age.
„Deyana, what are you doing here all by yourself?", Jude asked her.
„I'm so happy you came! I was walking with my mom inside a school when she told me to wait for a bit because she wanted to talk to my sister, I think. I don't remember exactly. I didn't wait there where she told me. I wandered off inside the place and saw a lot of students were walking around. I thought they looked very serious, so they must've been busy. I saw something purple, then I was dragged inside a portal. I've been stuck here for a long time, but a purple light showed me to this place. The light also brought me food and water, it was so nice to me! I also saw a kitty, which kept me company! Her name is Holly, she doesn't really stay here for longer than five minutes. If you see Holly, let her know that I love her!"
„Dear...", Vivien came closer to Deyana. She crouched down to come at eye-level with her. The purple magic was encircling the two girls, and Vivien could noticed her curly, black hair and soft, childlike features.
„I'm scared nobody missed me enough to look for me... I've been alone in this house for so long. I don't know how to get back."
„Since I'm here and I wish to help you, I'll tell you that I'm sure somebody would be missing a cute little girl like you. Your mom has definitely been looking everywhere for you."
„You think so?"
„Of course! You're stronger than you give yourself credit for. If I would've gotten stuck in an unknown place at your age, not even strenght could have gotten me out of a situation likeso."
Deyana chuckled at Vivien's words. The purple light was making everything visible around them. The girl looked around at the two boys who were watching their interaction. She noticed Sylas' scratches and got worried.
„Is he bleeding?", she pointed to Sylas.
„No, I think it's just ketchup. He was trying to do a trick and he missed a landing."
„What kind of trick? I hope it wasn't one of those green monsters that hurt him! The monsters are so scary, they tried to attack me, but the purple light made them vanish!"
„You mean the sumo monsters, as I like to call them, because they're so fat? Haven't you seen their bellies? They're so big!"
„Yes, the sumo monsters!"
Sylas smiled at the girls' interaction. Jude looked towards him and noticed his smile, then he nudged Sylas' shoulder slightly as to let him know that he was aware of what was going on in his mind.
Sylas was then brought out of whatever state he was in by Jude's soft nudge to the shoulder, then cleared his throat. He walked forward, chiming in.
„I'm guessing my precious deducting needs a round of applause from a certain individual standing on my right. If it wasn't for me, we wouldn't have seen the light and known in which room the little girl was in."
„I'm grateful to you for realizing where the girl was stuck, Sylas, you're the best detective Tallis could ever have. You deserve the title of ‚Best Renowned Detective'. Hooray!", Vivien said.
She applaused and Sylas bowed to the two girls, which made Deyana laugh.
„Thank you, really, it was a piece of cake."
The little girl joined in on the applausing, and in a short amount of time, both girls were giving Sylas the attention he wanted. Deyana seemed joyful to finally have some company.
„Aaah, even more audience, I'm truly grateful. Are you not going to applaud, Jude? You know it's quite rude of you not to join in on the applausing."
„No thanks... I've got better things to do."
„All three of you deserve the applause!", Deyana answered.
„Yes, exactly, little one, that is one trillion percent correct. I couldn't have found you without their help. We worked as a team after all. Jude is the best partner to have when you need things to be real and go according to the book, but to also annoy from time to time, and Vivien..."
He took Vivien and Jude and rested his arms around their shoulders. Sylas remembered how upset she was when he reached out to steady her thinking that she was about to fall during that one bus ride that still lingers in his mind.
The moment occured about a month ago, but it still didn't give him peace because she had told him to never touch her again during that bus ride.
Jude pushed Sylas' arm away, leaving Sylas' arm to rest just on Vivien's shoulder. Jude knew what he was doing.
„What about me? What type of partner am I? What role should be attributed to me? Tell me, don't leave me hanging! And Vivien... what?"
„Vivien's the most helpful partner you could ever have. Can't complain about her at all.", Sylas ruffled her hair while talking. Her smile grew even brighter just then. It felt like he was looking at a rare and colorful flower, but its petals were too soft. Anything bad he would say about her could make the flower break. He knew how sensitive she was deep inside, he knew she tried to hide it all from the world.
„Weak words.", Jude complained, raising his eyebrows and plucking his lips to annoy him even further. Sylas shot him an awful glare, but he was glad Vivien hadn't seen Jude's expression just then. He was afraid it would have made her feel mocked for or embarrassed if she had seen it.
„Okay, partners, we have to bring the little one back from Seattle to Tallis. Our mission is a success because of my precious intellect. Come, Deyana.", Sylas held out his hand and the little girl took it happily.
The four of them walked out of the abandoned building, this time opening the gate instead of climbing the fence again, then they walked forward.
Sylas was ready to take the little girl to the bus station, before Jude spoke.
„I came here by car. I could drive us back to Tallis if you wish. We could listen to music on our way back, I know what genre Viv prefers. What do you say?"
„Sure, let's do it.", Vivien agreed.