Snowflakes and Sunsets
A Maplestory secret santa gift for @tareloin ! I hope you enjoy it!!
Adele returns to Ristonia for a day off.
---
Adele found herself walking the increasingly familiar streets of Ristonia again, cold wind making her shiver. She had been getting stronger as of late in order to fulfill her new role in life. She still felt weaker than she had before being locked up, but it was all slowly coming back to her.
She hadn’t been paying attention when she ran into someone just outside the city. She began to apologize before looking up and seeing a familiar face looking back at her. He was smiling brightly, as if he had been looking for Adele. Maybe he had.
The boy took Adele by the wrist and ran back to their treehouse hideout, which had more people walking around it than the last time she was there. He was excitedly talking about what they had to catch up on and what she had missed out on since she had been gone and asking her about her adventures. She smiled softly and replied with interest, summoning a single aether sword and moving it around them in the crowded space of the treehouse, illuminating the various books and maps scattered around.
Jerome, the boy who had pulled her out of the void some time ago, was in awe at her command of the ethereal weapon and clapped when it finally blinked out of existence. I’m so glad my knight has been getting stronger, he said looking into her eyes. I’m happy to be of use to you, my lord, she responded. Despite the formal titles they used, their relationship was very casual. After Adele had begun to regain her memories and opened up with Jerome a bit, they had spent countless nights talking and discussing her memories, his past, and their plans for the future.
It was those nights where she realized that there was nobody she’d rather serve than Jerome. He was kind and intelligent and while she worried he might get taken advantage of by people with bad intentions, he had a good head on his shoulders and always listened to her when she had a bad feeling about someone or something. He knew when to take risks and when to stay back, and despite all the trust she had in him, she still worried about their coup-in-planning while she was away. They were starting to finalize plans for Jerome to take back the throne and regain control of Ristonia and restore it to its former glory, a plan that would take many years once the ball was rolling, and Adele’s only job for now was to get stronger.
But for now, she was back to check in on her charge and take a short break from training to catch up with her friends. It felt…strange for her to use that word to describe anyone. She hadn’t been treated well by her “friends” in the past, especially after they betrayed her when she couldn’t keep going with their new Godking’s rule. Jerome and the others were warm to her, though, and she felt as if she could truly speak her mind and express her desires to them and they would listen.
Adele was brought back to the present by Jerome asking another question. Have you ever seen snow, he asked, looking behind her. Snow, the word was unfamiliar on her tongue. No, she replied and just as quickly, Jerome ushered her to stand up and go outside. There were small flakes of white falling gently from the sky, Brook and Laddie were catching some of them on their tongues. Adele held out a hand to catch some, but they melted as soon as they touched her skin. For some reason, she felt disappointed that she couldn’t get a good look at the little flakes before they disappeared. She also realized that she had seen snow before on her travels, though something about seeing it in her new home, the orange sky illuminating her friends as they took a much needed break by running around catching snowflakes made her feel warm inside despite the chilly breeze that continued to blow around them. She had nowhere else she’d rather be.