CHAPTER 54: 51: A SURPRISINGLY BEAUTIFUL MORNING.

The darkness encompassing the sky was slowly receding back into the Earth, the lilac shimmer brought in by the rising dawn painting the horizon with its beautiful presence, chasing away the oppressing night. A cool breeze flew in from the east—sliding through the lush, dew soaked canopy of the quiet forest as it finally washed through Edward.

The entire earth and sky was doused in a beautiful symphony of chirps, the melody a soothing comfort to him now that he knew of the dangers the lack of noise brought them.

Edward let out a small yawn as he blinked away the drowsiness in his eyes. He shifted a little from where he was sitting, waiting for the light to bloom as he kept watch for the group with Rowan.

He was a little jealous of Selene, who had ended up being the luckiest one among them, drawing the shortest stick and getting to sleep through the whole night.

He glanced at Rowan, who still looked as alert as ever.

They had both settled into their own comfortable silence after the initial back and forth, keeping each other company in the eery darkness of the forest. Even though there was sufficient moonlight, Edward couldn’t help but flinch when the occasional noise of a bush rustling, or a twig snapping reached his ears.

To his surprise, Rowan looked to be on the edge too, which helped Edward feel little less lonely in his despair. At least no one could call him a scaredy cat for being afraid of such a horrid place.

As time passed, the light blooming in the sky grew stronger, Edward dared to peek a finger out of his blanket.

The coldness bit into his skin, not as strong as before, but still significant enough for him to be a little uncomfortable. Yet, Edward slowly squirmed out of his blanket, placing it by his side as he stood up from he were he was sitting.

The cold was a little painful, yes, but it was also a little refreshing for Edward who had been sitting still for the past few hours.

His body was really stiff from all the sitting, and Edward could feel his pelvis starting to hurt from sitting in the cold hard ground. Not to mention that his joints felt like they hadn’t been oiled in years.

He took a moment to relish being able to finally be out of the blanket.

Then, he stretched his back, a whimper unknowingly leaving his lips as he relaxed his body.

"mmmh~"

He blinked a couple of times, orienting himself, then walked out of the clump of trees towards the ledge they had been at yesterday.

It took him a moment to find the right direction, but when he did, he gave Rowan a short notice and started walking.

Edward paused for a moment when he saw the scenery in front of him.

The forest beneath him stretched until forever, lasting from horizon to horizon, not a single patch of soil visible under the thick, lush canopy. There was a swirling fog wafting in between the leaves like water, occasionally disturbed by the flutter of wings.

The sun was slowly, but inevitably rising into the sky, its slow march a comforting sight after a night of bearing the oppressive darkness.

Edward felt a little light, for some reason.

He took a seat in a nearby rock, enjoying the miracle of existence in-front of him.

The sun had fully rose beyond the the clutches of Earth when a soft voice finally broke him out of his trance.

"Enjoying the view?"

He turned his head to the side.

Aria stood by him looking like an apparition straight out of the most beautiful of imaginations—her pale silver her flowing with the wind as she gave Edward a warm, but drowsy smile.

He felt his heart skip a beat.

It was most likely the cold, he thought.

It was definitely the cold.

"Y-yeah..." Blinking the heat in the back of his neck away, he stuttered out. "It looks pretty."

A moment of light silence.

"It indeed does, quite the view for such a grim place."

Edward nodded, still unable to take off his eyes away from Aria.

"Are the others up?"

She nodded. "Selene is preparing breakfast for us, we’ll start travelling after eating."

"hmm" He hummed, not really knowing what to say.

Aria though, looked like she wasn’t done with the conversation yet.

"Did you sleep well?" She asked as she walked up and took a seat next to him, making Edward straighten out of surprise.

"Surprisingly yeah..." He shifted a little.

Aria nodded, her eyes studying the view in front of them.

"That’s good."

"Mhm..."

She let the silence hang for another minute.

"What about Rowan? He didn’t say anything weird right?"

Edward considered a moment if the banter yesterday could be categorised into something that was weird, promptly throwing the thought away before shaking his head.s

"He was nice company, helped me cope with the darkness."

"True, that idiot has a way of lightening the air." She chuckled.

"Right?" Edward chuckled too.

They continued making small talk, enjoying the scenery together as they passed the time in each others company.

It was after a while passed when the noise of footsteps interrupted them.

Edward turned to see Calen approaching them.

He stopped right by them and gave them a deep bow.

"Good morning, Your highness, Young master Edward."

Awkward silence.

Then for some reason, Aria let out a low groan, eliciting a puzzled glance from Edward.

She stared at Calen’s bowed figure, frustration mixed with something that looked like amusement apparent in her eyes.

"Did you forget what I said yesterday?"

And for the first time in Edward’s short new life, he saw Calen hesitate.

No, more precisely, he saw Calen flinch in terror.

He must have dozed off while sleeping, and this must be a sleep. He decided.

"No ma’am" Came Calen’s answer after a few beats.

"Name." Aria immediately shot him down.

Calen hesitated for another long moment.

"Lady Aria."

He heard her heave a small sigh.

"I guess that’ll do for now."