The glass doors of the top tower floor to the corridors opened, and Fee was there on the balcony, arms on the railing, gazing peacefully at the stars, as if we weren't all worried sick for her.
"How in Elara's moon did you get there?" I yelled, stomping towards her. The rubble blocked the entrance to the tower. The door to the top was locked. There was no way for her to enter before Mage did. Unless. . .
"Easy. I climbed." Fee responded, not facing us.
"Climbed?" Bolton asked back, clearly anxious about the safety of our hideout if someone could bypass it. "The walls are at a 90 degree slope. How could you possibly get up on her own?"
Fee looked down nonchalantly. "Their rough edges and grooves on the wall. That's how I got up."
The moon gleamed as we stayed outside in silence. In some parts of the city, there was chaos. Fire erupting at odd parts of the streets, probably by some rogue knight and ogre fights, slime faintly pulsating against water barricades. And at the far edge, the mass of black slime pulsated strongly. Stronger than before. I wasn't sure if the others noticed though.
The night sky contrasted eerily with the ruined kingdom. Stars sparkled brighter than ever, like a bunch of sparkly rice plastered to the pitch black night skies.
Hundreds of constellations I had never bothered to learn about in school glittered spectacularly, galaxies and nebulae like green, red and blue smoke painted the night sky like a masterpiece.
"The sky looks beautiful today." Mage said in awe. "Better than it has been before."
Bolton nodded, but I could see something, like fear in his eyes. Maybe it kind of freaked him out how good the sky looked?
Fee stood, slouching on the railings, not even looking at the incredible skyview, focusing more on the ruined cityscape. Or maybe she was lost in her own world.
I wasn't the sort of person who did confrontations. I looked back at Leil standing at the glass doors, looking at Fee with concern.
I sighed internally. Of course I had to do this.
"Are you okay?" I asked, with my hand on her back.
Then, "The reason you came back, it's because of the person you lost, isn't it?"
Fee's spine tensed as I said that, and then she straightened back, eyes to the sky.
"That was part of it." She said mysteriously.
"Then what's the other part?" I asked, putting my hands on hers, and I could feel my cheeks buzzing with strange excitement. "You can tell me. We're your friends."
Her green eyes pierced into mine, and I felt paralyzed. "Promise you won't tell anyone? And you promise you won't think I'm crazy or laugh at me?"
My whole frame felt paralyzed, except for my lips.
"I promise."
The intensity of her gaze lessened only for a moment. Then she looked back into the sky.
"The stars told to."
Then her eyes turned slightly to my face, not fully looking at me, as if testing me for if I'd break my promise and laugh or say something stupid.
My body finally felt unparalyzed, but all I could do was tilt my head in confusion.
"The stars. . . talked to you?" Was she being metaphorical?
"Sounds weird, right?" Fee said, as if doubting her own insanity. "But I could hear it as clear as day. When I had lost. . .her, I ran away and looked at the stars. And the stars. . . looked back."
She turned to me to check my reaction, but I was still coming up blank. She said disappointedly and continued. "I could feel their gaze. Somehow. And then they. . . No. She told me."
"She told me to go back. To join Lance and his group and go back to PrideFall and save it. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to do that, but you can't say no to the 'stars', right?"
Her tone had taken on the lightness she usually had, but I could tell she was forcing it. I had no idea what all this talking to stars bit she was doing meant, and honestly, she was starting to sound like the members of that Alterra cult, but obviously I wouldn't say that to her face.
I still didn't know what to say, but we kept looking at the sky in silence.
"Her name was Ivory." Fee finally said with a small smile. "She was an incredible wolf. She always caught the best hares and gave the best back scratches."
I was starting to connect the dots now. Maybe she had that because her wolf had been poisoned? Whatever the case. . .
I put my hand on hers again. "We're here for you, you know that, right?"
For some reason, it still sounded hollow in my ears, but it was the only thing I could offer.
"I know." She said back, and we walked back into the tower.