It was dusk when the carriage hobbled into town. The horses struggled with the heavy vehicle through the sandy roads, but eventually managed to make it all the way to the Luminescent shell, the local establishment that oversaw the rental houses in the peninsula. Unfortunately, this time of year most of these houses were unavailable due to the shifting of the tides, and instead Mana and Cobal had to rent a tiny room in the Luminescent Shell. Cassandra offered for them to come join her in her house, but there probably wouldn’t be much room for them, so the duo opted to just stay in the Shell. It would only be for sleeping after all, since they had much to do this time around. Cobal wasn’t too fussed about the rather small room, he could deal with it for a few days.
After getting settled in, they went to the bakery. Cassandra had gone ahead of them to inform her parents that Mana and Cobal had come to help. On their way to Ravadier, Cassandra told them that Sevastian didn’t believe they would come help because they would have more important things to attend to. And although that assessment was correct, they were here regardless. The rain was now gone, but the sand was still soaked, with puddles everywhere. The sun was peeking through the clouds one last time before going under as the duo entered the bakery. Standing behind the counter was a jovial man with a thick mustache and a white apron on. He had a big grin on his face. “I don’t know what kind of dirt Cassandra has on the two of you but it must be something serious if she managed to get you all the way down here to come help us.”
“You’re the one that raised her to be this persistent, it’s mostly your fault that we can’t say no to her.”
Sebastian laughed. “It’s good to see you again, Cobal.”
“You too, I’ve been craving some good bread for almost a year now.”
Sebastian turned his attention to Mana. “You look good now.”
Mana blushed. “Things have improved a little bit since the last time I was here, thanks for your hospitality back then.”
“I already heard many stories from Cas after she came back from the elven city, but it’s good to see you again as well.”
“You too, Sebas.”
“Prince,” a boy’s voice came shouting from the hallway. Seb came running up and hugged Cobal’s leg.
Cobal knelt down. “It’s good to see you again as well, little soldier.”
Seb smiled brightly.
Cassandra walked up as well, following her little brother into the bakery. “Come in, come in, you haven’t really been in our house yet, right?”
“Not really, we only saw you workshed.”
“That’s the best part of the house,” she looked at her father, “after the store.”
He nodded approvingly. “Well, you’re welcome in my home anytime, especially considering why you came all the way over here.”
“On that note, could you tell us a little bit more about what exactly has been happening?” Mana asked.
Sebastian nodded. “I have another hour of work, but once I’ve closed up the shop I’ll come tell you everything I know although I think there probably isn’t much that Cas hasn’t already told you.”
“That’s quite alright, we’re planning to do the rounds and talk to a bunch of people before we do our own investigation.”
“I’ll talk to you in a little bit then.” Sebastian looked at his son. “You want to help daddy clean the shop?”
Seb nodded enthusiastically and scrambled to grab the broom.
If Cobal could only use one word to describe Cassandra’s home, it would be “pleasant.” The smell of baked goods made its way from the bakery into the living room and having a basket of fresh bread sitting on the living room table definitely helped with that. Some chairs with many colorful pillows on them stood around the table while a hearth was slowly burning off in the corner. Due to the fact that the architecture in Ravadier was primarily made out of wood, the house had specifically replaced some parts of its structure with stone bricks so that both the bakery and this hearth could function. Cassandra had told them in the past that many houses didn’t have a hearth because the temperature rarely got so cold that it was truly necessary and the fear of burning down the house outweighed the hassle of pulling a blanket over you. Still, when Sebastian’s father had first built the big over for his bakery into his home, he felt like it would be a waste to not utilize the space on both sides of the wall. Sitting at the table, going through a pile of papers was Sarah, Cassandra’s mother. Cobal and Mana briefly spoke with her last time they were in town. Cassandra’s mother was a few years older than her father and although her hair was rapidly greying, her smile was still full of energy. She smiled brightly when Cobal and Mana entered. “It’s good to see both of you again.”
Coal smiled, “I promised you we’d take good care of Cas and I believe that is a promise kept.”
She laughed. “It sure is.” She shook Cobal’s hand politely and then hugged Mana. “You look better,” she remarked. Mana smiled. “Your husband said the same thing.” She paused and got a bit uncomfortable. “I don’t believe I know your name.”
“Oh goodness me, did I never introduce myself?”
“I believe you did, but I seem to have forgotten it.”
“Oh that’s quite alright. My name is Carilla. Once again nice to meet you.”
“Carilla, what a pretty name,” Mana replied.
She smiled brightly. “It was my grandmother’s name before it was mine.” She pointed towards the empty chairs. “Please have a seat, grab something to eat.”
“I won’t let you tell me twice,” Cobal said, gratefully grabbing a pastry that still felt warm to the touch?”
“So what happened with the two of you? Cassandra told me you had important business to attend to and that she wanted to come home for a while, but she didn’t know exactly what you were up to. Of course we heard the rumors of war and missing royalty, but that’s just what they were, rumors.”
Cobal nodded. “Mana and I have been working hard to figure out what has happened to my brother, Sapher. We ended up finding out what exactly happened to him and where is now, but unfortunately that’s a complicated story that I’m not going to divulge.”
Carilla nodded.
Cobal continued. “Our journey did take us far away to the beautiful city of Marsolin where we ended up staying a little while. Afterwards, we made out way back to the capital, but things were tense there. When Cassandra came to ask for our help, the two of us decided that it might be good for us to be here instead.”
“Didn’t you have important things left to do there, if I may be so forward?”
Cobal nodded. “I did, but after talking it through with my father I am confident that I’ll be more useful here than there. And helping a friend in need is important after all.”
“Weren’t you the one who had to think about it the longest?” Cassandra asked.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cobal replied. He smiled and returned his attention to Carilla. “Could you maybe tell us a little bit more about what exactly has been going on here?”
“We can,” Sebastian said from the doorway. He kissed his wife and sat down next to her.
Carilla spoke. “About a month ago, maybe a little bit more, one of the fishermen said that there were strange lights on the horizon. We first thought that he might have seen the lanterns of another ship, or just saw something that wasn’t actually there. But when he then went out to check on this strange light again, he was never seen again. That was the first sign, but at that point we still mostly assumed that it was just a strange accident that had befallen him. Then a few days later the blacksmith’s son saw a woman walk into the ocean and vanish beneath the waves. Since then we’ve had to deal with at least a dozen people from Ravadier disappearing, the most recent one being my brother.”
“You’ve met him,” Cassandra added, “that’s uncle Fred.”
Cobal remembered Fred well. He’s the one that gave him life advice when he was struggling to connect with Mana during the early days of their journey together and also let them use his boat when they went to find Arana. “I’m sorry to hear that.” He shifted in his seat. “What exactly do you guys already know about these disappearing people? Do they all have something in common, did someone see more of what happened to them?”
Sebastian fiddled with the edges of his mustache. “There isn’t anything concrete that we can tell you about it, but there are some things that people claimed to have seen. The first thing is of course the strange lights on the sea. The second thing is that by now it is pretty clear that the people just seem to walk into the ocean of their own volition. Also, on a bit of a darker note – I suppose – we haven’t seen any corpses or body parts wash up at all. I know that doesn’t mean anything per se, but if someone drowns or gets attacked by something out on sea, there’s usually signs of it afterwards.”
Cobal looked at Mana and saw on her face that she was thinking the same thing. The duo had visited the underwater city of Arana on their last visit to the peninsula and although they didn’t seem like the sort of people who would start randomly kidnapping folk, they might know something more. It also meant that there were people living on the seafloor, which gave them hope for the disappearing townsfolk. “Is there anything that all the missing people had in common?” Cobal asked.
Cassandra’s parents thought about this for a while but their daughter had the answer. “There weren’t any children or old people among them.”
Sebastian nodded. “I think you’re right. The youngest person that disappeared was maybe still a teenager and Fred was probably the oldest.”
“I wonder if that’s a coincidence or not. It’s too small of a sample size to really get any conclusions from. We’d need more data to really narrow it down to a particular demographic.”
“I told you she was smart,” Cassandra said.
“We never questioned her, darling,” Sebastian replied. His face turned serious. “The disappearances have caused quite a lot of fear among the people here. Some families are even talking about moving away from town. We were hoping that you,” he looked at Mana, “would be able to help us in some way.”
Mana nodded. “I’ve got some ideas about where to start looking, but I can’t make any promises.”
“Of course, we already greatly appreciate that you’ve taken the time to come here.”
“I can also speak with Lady Vadier,” Cobal added. “I’ve known her for a long time and we briefly spoke at the palace last year, I’m sure she’ll be able to give us some insight.”
“We sent word to the estate, but I don’t think any replies have come in yet,” Carilla said.
“I see.” He looked at Mana. “Well, we know where to start tomorrow then.”
“The Vadier estate.” She looked at Carilla and Sebastian. “When we spoke with Lord Vadier last year he was very kind, I’m sure they’ll be understanding of the situation and willing to help.”
“I hope you’re right.” He said. He then shook his head. “No, I know you’re right. They’ve probably just had a lot of other priorities and haven’t gotten the time to reply yet. The Vadier family has been good for these lands, it wouldn’t be fair to start doubting them now.” He looked at the two of them. “Are you staying for dinner?”
Cobal grinned. “Well, if you insist.”
Opal Kaharis 