“Felix! I was so worried!” Those were the only words Lara managed to get out before bursting into tears.

  “Wow, I knew I was in need of a shower, but I didn’t think it was bad enough to drive you to tears.”

  His joke did not land nearly as well as he thought it would. Instead of laughing, Lara started crying even harder. Not wanting to create a scene in the hallway, he quickly dragged her into his room. It was only once he shut the door that he noticed someone else had slipped in with them. He briefly gave her a confused look, but the girl didn’t seem to have any intention of giving them privacy.

  First, he’d have to deal with the pink-haired koala currently glomped onto him.

  Only after being wrapped in a hug did Felix realise he’d been worried about seeing her again. The same part of him that felt so damaged and broken felt that maybe Lara wouldn’t see him the same way anymore. Only wrapped in her warm and familiar hug did that part of him quiet down, allowing him to realise what a silly worry it was. He didn’t know what he was thinking, that Lara, of all people, would treat him differently because he had no talent. It was ridiculous.

  The paper-thin shell he’d built to hold his sorrows threatened to break in Lara’s arms. If it weren’t for the thought in the back of his mind that they weren’t alone, he might have let it. But not wanting to break down in front of a stranger, he desperately fought to keep his tears at bay.

  Once Lara had calmed down, he’d have a chance to ask about the stranger, but as soon as she managed to catch her breath, he was flooded with questions about where he was and what had happened.

  “We met a nice elven lady who told us where your dorm is, but she wouldn’t tell us what happened. I didn’t see you in the infirmary while I was recovering, so I didn’t know what happened to you.” She said in genuine concern.

  “Lara, you were in the infirmary? What happened? Did something go wrong with your Journey?” Felix felt like he’d been slapped. Lara was stuck in the infirmary, while he’d just sat in his room feeling sorry for himself.

  “No, I’m fine, I just needed some rest. What about you? Are you ok?”

  Felix felt shame like he’d never felt before. He had to not only tell her that he couldn’t be a knight but also had to tell her about how he’d abandoned her. He’d been so confident in the face of Lara’s doubts that she couldn’t be a knight, he hadn’t even stopped to consider that he might not become one.

  All his previous bravado was now added to his shame. Grandma had her reasons for staying quiet, but if he’d just slowed down and listened to what she was saying, he’d have been able to figure it out. Arrogant, he’d been arrogant. What had Grandma told him back in the carriage?

  ‘You go through life thinking you’re a main character from one of your stories. Overconfidence is the worst trait a Traveller can have.’

  Yeah, it was something like that. Yet even as he listened to her, he’d just assumed everything would be fine.

  “Felix? What’s wrong? You’re scaring me.” Lara asked him, clearly on the verge of panicking.

  Felix tried to shake himself out of his reverie. He’d been quiet for too long.

  “No Lara, I'm fine. Just… Can we sit?” He felt weak knowing he had to tell her. After she led him over to the bed, he could only sit with his head down. It took every ounce of will he had left, but slowly he managed to recount what happened after he stepped onto the Ways.

  He told her of his short but intense Journey, how he’d left the ways feeling confused and muddled. The tea that cleared his thoughts and the conversation with Alvara that followed.

  As soon as he told her he couldn’t be a knight, Lara dove into his chest, sobbing. He couldn't bring himself to say anything more as he held her shaking frame.

  He wanted to tell her more, to tell her how sorry he was for not being there for her. How he’d been sitting in his room feeling sorry for himself while she wandered around the crossroads looking for him right after she left the infirmary.

  But what he saw in her eyes the moment before she closed them was all too familiar to him. It was the moment her world crumbled. He recognised it so clearly because he’d gone through the same thing. The two of them had planned out every aspect of their future, never considering that one day their paths might split. Now, Lara was being forced to face the fact that their ‘plans’ would always just be the idle dreams from when they were young.

  All he could do was stroke her back and whisper to her that it would be alright. He didn’t know what else to say. He didn’t even believe it himself. So all he could do was comfort her the same way he always had.

  While he was falling deeper into despair, trying to hold himself together for her sake, Lara’s sobs slowed. To think Lara was weak because she cared or showed her emotions would be a mistake. Maybe it was being raised with role models like Grandma Eleanor and Claire that turned the girl into a little tigress. It took strength to care for others, it took strength to live with an open heart.

  That strength meant that where Felix saw a dead end, Lara saw a detour.

  “It’s ok, Felix, we can still become mages. Look at how awesome Grammie was and that mage from the festival before we came here. It might not be what we wanted, but I’m sure we can still become explorers as mages. We don’t have to be knights.”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Before Felix even had time to process what Lara said, a nearly forgotten figure spoke up in outrage.

  “Lara! How could you say that! You’re the most talented martial artist in our group. You’re guaranteed to become an amazing knight even if you just slept your year away. How could you give that up for some jerk that didn’t even care enough about you to see if you were ok after awakening?

  “He left you after you went through that torment for hours, and for what? To go feel sorry for himself? Then, after you barely managed to walk straight, you had to go searching across the entire Crossroad, trying to find this asshole. You barely slept last night out of worry for him, while he didn’t even leave his room to check on you!

  “Now you want to throw away your amazing talent to become a mage with this loser?! You can’t!”

  Her words cut into Felix like a blade. He physically reeled back as if he’d been slapped. He struggled to even process everything she’d said. First, there was the fact that Lara had amazing talent.

  For the briefest moment, thoughts of jealousy flashed through his mind. How was it fair that she got all the talent? How come she gets to be a knight, leaving him behind? The thoughts were fleeting, but Felix still felt utterly revolted by them. Thinking of Lara being in his position, he almost felt like throwing up. As much as it sucked that he didn’t have talent, if given the choice, he’d choose for him to be the talentless one every single time.

  He felt a little proud of Lara, but it was hard. The wounds were still too raw. He tried to focus on what else the mysterious girl had said. He remembered the suffering he went through during awakening, he remembered barely staying conscious, and the feeling of weakness afterwards.

  From the girl's words, Lara went through that suffering not for mere moments like Felix but rather for hours on end.

  He couldn’t imagine her suffering. He knew the Ways would probably keep them safe. But his own experience was on the very edge of what he could take, to go through that for hours? He didn’t think he’d have been able to handle it.

  Then, after waking up from that hell, she was alone. He was supposed to be her support, but he left her at her weakest. She had to rely on strangers to even walk, and instead of getting the rest she so desperately needed, she searched for him across the Crossroads. All because he couldn’t be bothered to spare her a thought.

  The brief flash of disgust towards himself now turned into full-blown self-loathing. He already felt like a shell of himself, but now he felt like even that shell was just rotten. In spite of all that, Lara wanted to give up on her dreams for garbage like him.

  Felix had no idea if he’d ever be able to make it up to Lara for how he treated her. He didn’t deserve a friend like her, and he knew it. Just like he knew that he couldn’t allow her to give up on her talent for him.

  Even as he just started learning about Travellers, he’d already learned enough to know that they’d all have to follow their own paths. He’d have to figure out how to walk his path with what he’d been given, and so would she. If Lara ignored her talent for martial arts and tried to become a mage, she might not make it as a Traveller.

  Having processed the stranger’s cutting words, his attention came back to reality. He was surprised to see how little time had passed while he was sorting out his thoughts. He still had to get used to the ways his mind had become sharper after his first Journey.

  When he brought his attention back to the girls, Lara had just jumped to his defence. “Aster, that’s not fair! You wouldn’t understand. We’ve always wanted to be knights, wanted to be Explorers, and maybe even Starfarers. If we can’t do it together, then what’s the point? Besides, I’m sure it was really hard for Felix…”

  Realising Lara was about to try to justify his disgusting behaviour, he couldn’t stand to keep listening.

  “Lara, stop! She’s right.”

  Lara whirled around, looking at him like he’d slapped her. He raised his hands as if to show that he wasn’t being hostile.

  “Lara, I’m sorry. I wasn't there for you when you needed me. I left you and went to hide in my room, leaving you to walk around the Crossroad looking for me.” He looked at the floor, balling his hands at his sides.

  “I didn’t even think about checking on you until just before you knocked on my door. While you spent the night awake worrying about me, I was just sleeping after feeling depressed about myself. I don’t deserve you.

  “I don’t know how I could possibly make it up to you, but I promise to try. I’m sorry, Lara, you deserved better than that. Don’t make excuses for me, I…” Felix shook his head. He struggled to bring himself to look at her, but he did.

  He tried his best to put on a look of determination. “I promise I’ll do everything I can to make it up to you.”

  He tried to sound resolved, but he still felt weak and worthless. Seeing the bags under her eyes and her pale face just made him hate himself more. There was nothing he could do to change the past. He’d just have to somehow find a way to do better going forward.

  She took his balled-up fist in her hand and gave him a serious look. “I won’t lie and say that I’m not a little mad at you, but I understand, I know what this meant to you. I know how hard it had to be for you to find out that you can’t be a knight.” He saw a look of genuine pain flash across her face. She truly understood, because she felt the same pain.

  “So I’ll hold you to that promise, you work on being better next time, but don’t get hung up on making it up to me, ok?”

  Felix could only smile and choke back tears. But there was something else he had to bring up. It was important and it couldn’t wait. He took a deep breath to steady himself.

  “Lara, that's not all she was right about. You can’t give up on becoming a knight because of me.” He could see doubt creeping into her eyes, and he knew what she was thinking. He knew she was worried that he would try to push her away, so he quickly continued.

  “I got a letter from Grandma. I can’t say I understand everything she said, but if I understand her correctly, then if you abandon your talent as a knight, you may never become a Traveller.”

  At this, Lara looked really shocked, so he reminded her of what Grandma said about trying to become another Claire. After telling her about the letter and laying out his thought process, he concluded his explanation.

  “I’ll figure out something about my path. I don’t know what I’ll do yet, but I’m sure I’ll find something. You need to walk your own path. I don’t know what happens if you don’t, but I can tell it won’t be good.”

  Felix walked to the bed and picked up his mute letter, handing it to Lara. He watched as she read it, her expression constantly changing. Once she was done, she handed it back to him.

  For a while, the room was still. “I don’t know if you’re right, Felix. Maybe we can learn more about it on the Ways. This place isn't just supposed to be about our first Journey. It’s meant to turn us into Travellers. We’ll figure it out together, ok?”

  Felix nodded, but he finally couldn’t ignore the elephant in the room any longer. “Now, could someone please tell me who the strange girl is who barged into my room?”