Fool's Gold

“I guess we’re together.” Valentine exhaled slowly, still unsure of his earlier thoughts.

Matthew looked at him, then at the stick Valentine held and then back at his face, his green eyes almost tearing up.

“I-I don’t want to.” He whimpered.

“Sorry, no take-backsies!” Lilith giggled by the side, patting Matthew on the shoulder as she went by with Vesper trailing behind.

Everyone split into four individual groups.

Lilith and Vesper.

Noah with Carina holding his hand.

Martin stood behind Livia while taking one last smoke.

And lastly, Matthew with Valentine.

“The game is simple.” Noah’s words rang loud and clear.

“Around this area, there is an animal on the loose which the teams have to catch in order to win, you can recognize it by a big red ribbon on its front leg.”

“Bu-”

“It is tamed, there's nothing to worry about, it won't attack you. We also cleared the area and marked the borders with white powder so that no one gets lost or ventures outside the chosen location during the game.”

Noah smiled at Valentine as the boy’s hand dropped before it could be raised. Everyone understood the objective clearly, finding a thin white line not far from where everyone stood.

“There is no time limit, so take as long as you need.”

Noah looked down at Carina’s reddened face, and smiled at everyone present with excitement.

“Oh, and… whoever finds it first, will get a reward!”

***

After waiting around for a while, the groups split up in an instant, each choosing a different direction to search.

Their footsteps slowly faded as the crackling of dry leaves beneath their feet became nothing but the noise of the forest.

Everyone seemed quite motivated by the fact that there was a reward.

‘What now…’

Looking around the small clearing, Valentine stepped away from the dirt path, walking over broken twigs and fallen leaves.

Not far from it, was a clear line that came from within the forest.

He looked down at the white line of powder before kneeling and touching it with his hand.

It was rock-solid, not even phased by him trying to push it forward.

‘It seems this was done using a spell, but the pyra inside it is invisible for me. Does that mean it’s only required while casting and doesn’t need more to stay active?’

From what he’d noticed so far, Pyra was a limited thing. Even as he kept trying to pour it out, there was a limit to what he could do.

Even yesterday, he tried using the fire bullet again but to no avail. It only tugged at his chest as if looking for something that was not there, the Pyra that he had to offer.

Thankfully, it returned right after he had woken up, restoring his strength alongside it.

‘Perhaps it is something like blood, but it’s not necessarily required for living beings to function, only to maintain the quality of performance.’

“What are you doing?”

Matthew’s footsteps were slow and uncertain, he came up from behind with hands in his pockets. Similarly to Valentine he didn't seem to be the kind to follow others.

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“Not your business.”

Valentine stood up, brushing his knees.

Matthew stood right behind him with his hands crossed. He looked annoyed and angry by the fact that he had to be with the one person whom he had the most problems with so far.

His hair was ruffled on the edges, he was stressed as well, judging by the constant tapping of his leg on the leaves.

Looking at the line of powder, he suddenly sneered.

“This is just pathetic.”

Valentine’s head snapped toward him immediately.

“The hell are you talking about?” He shot back, to which Matthew threw up both of his hands in surrender.

“C-calm down! I just t-thought that the area is too wide for us to find whatever animal they want us to!”

Valentine gave him a dubious look.

“How do you know that?”

“The essence.”

“The what now?”

Matthew swallowed quietly as he knelt down next to Valentine, tracing his finger across the stone line.

“The essence of the circle, it’s too thin.”

Valentine raised his brow, watching the place where Matthew’s finger traced the white line. It seemed to be trying to touch something, or was already doing it, unnoticed by Valentine’s eyes.

“I can feel it circle through it, the power used to create this barrier.” Matthew added, seemingly fascinated. “It does more than it seems to, there’s an innate function to scare away anything that crosses it.”

'Is he talking about Pyra?'

He remembered, from both the book and the lesson back in the Preceptory.

There are three types of Ignis users and three different aspects that they posses.

Soul, which can see the nature of Pyra inside other beings.

Body, which possesed the ability to manipulate the Pyra inside it's body and reinforce the user.

And Mind, having the ability to sense Pyra in the air and influence it, a category which Matthew seemed to be a part of.

Listening to his explanation, the boy activated his vision, briefly shielding his gaze from the sudden flight flooding from the side.

After wincing and blinking for a moment, Valentine looked into the sparks inside Matthew, at their unique structure.

However, unlike everyone else he’d seen so far, the sparks in his body did not shine with the same glint as he’d gotten accustomed to.

Sitting next to him was a man whose body was entirely made up of nothing but solid gold. From his fingertips on the ground all the way up to his head, which looked down on his hand with a mask of blank, melted treasure.

He wasn’t made up of sparks that erratically danced inside his body and did what they pleased, but of a proper structure that held its shape.

Matthew’s head turned to face Valentine.

A faint chill ran down his spine as their faces both met.

The empty mask was staring right into his eyes, the shape of his eyes and mouth melted into its polished skin, with no ears or nose to show.

His clothes still clung to his body, obvious, but weirdly enough, that made the shape in front of him appear even more inhuman than the one wearing it.

Without its face moving, Matthew’s voice came from inside it, not muffled or obstructed by the sight in Valentine’s eyes.

“What?”

His voice was raised, annoyed, full of life that could not be expressed through the metallic shape of his being.

It was speaking to him, but why?

Why… did he feel so uneasy while looking at it?

“H-hey?”

Valentine snapped back.

As if realising what he was doing, he shook his head, disabling the soul vision.

The color vanished, returning the old appearance of a blonde boy dressed in a thick, black sweater and tight jeans.

His face was still mildly irritating.

“Stop looking at me like this!”

And he sounded just as disgusted as before.

Valentine promptly stepped away from Matthew, closing his eyes for a short moment.

He looked back at the white line, then at how far into the distance it stretched out from them.

He sighed.

“How big do you think the area is?”

After a pause, Matthew answered with a frown.

“...One fourth of the Cradle’s middle section.”

“Quite big then.”

Exhaling a breath, Valentine watched the smoke from his lips melt into the air.

‘I guess we have to work together, thank god he doesn’t sound as useless as he seems.’

Perhaps even his words about being able to defeat a knight were not a lie. Of course, the knight would have to be a cripple without any legs and arms while also being mute, deaf and blind.

But he could still have his uses.

Gazing into the area of the barrier, Valentine’s sharp sight noticed the ground rise upwards far in the distance.

If they had to find someone, then getting to high ground would be the best choice.

“Let’s go Richie.”

The blond's face reddened faster than he could stand up from the ground, already shouting.

“I’ll let you know that my name is not-!”

“It was a joke.”

Valentine snickered.

Their hunt began.