81 Ember Clothing

Will kept his eyes on the streets as he flew towards their new home. The narrow paved roads were full of activity. People walked on the sidewalk into various small buildings.

"The roads are black here." Maya commented as she flew next to Will. "Why are there no markets?" She looked at the many people walking in the streets. Will didn't blame her for not knowing, as far as she was concerned, stalls were for markets, not buildings.

"There are markets." Will said with a half smile. "They are in those many small buildings." He pointed to the various buildings that had many people entering and exiting.

"Come on!" Maya started to descend from the sky. "I want to see these stores!" She dropped onto the street and waved to Will, urging him to join her.

Will shook his head and sighed inwardly. "She is such a girl." He said to himself while he dropped from the sky.

No matter what Maya had been through. Whether it was dying, or the torture later on, she was still a girl.

Whether in his world or Crystallia, no one could separate a girl from shopping.

Will dropped onto the paved road and had to sidestep as a Ryder zoomed by. "Hey! Watch it kid!" The man called back as he kept going.

Will smiled as he watched the man turn the corner hurriedly. "Am I sure I'm not in New York?" He thought to himself. He looked at the busy streets and noticed something was different from the Ebonhart he was used to.

When travelling the kingdom with Maya last year, Will was used to seeing the plain white fabric clothing and malnutrition within the population. Either he saw families with skin and bone working out in the fields or toned muscled men working to join the Crimson Knights. He was used to seeing most of them clad in leather armor for their training.

What he saw around him was completely different. Looking around he saw people dressed in t-shirts and jeans. Most of the shirts had one thing in common, they had a gold crown with fire underneath as an emblem.

Others had a suit and tie on as they went in the various small buildings. Where there were men in suits, there were women in lavish dresses and skirts with designs Will recognized from shops in his own world. "Michael must be having a good turn around for all of this." He said to himself as he stared at the many differently clothed pedestrians. He thought of the exchange of fabric and clothing he knew his uncle was in charge of.

Sometimes when he had a break from training with Ragnos, Will checked up on his friends and family. Though he had never gone to the city, he noticed his uncle coming out of a portal door with loads of boxes. He didn't pry when it came to the contents, nor did he follow the many wagons that held the boxes which led to Ember. "Maybe I should pay him a visit soon." He said as he thought of his uncle.

Michael had become the family he should have been from the moment Will entered Crystallia. Though it was a rocky start and he wanted to kill the man in the business suit after Maya had been taken from him, he had come to love his uncle with all his heart. Without him, Will would still be flailing about trying to master his abilities.

"I'll have to see him soon anyway." He said as he thought of his uncle's unique water aura.

When he met his uncle, Michael had an orange flame aura. It was the closest he had seen to his own ability. Will remembered the first time he had seen his uncle summon his sword from his own cross. He had thought Michael had just taken a sword out of his pocket. Only later did he learn that it was his 'lineage weapon.'

When the dark wraiths kidnapped Bianca, they had dealt a near fatal blow to Michael, which resulted in him losing his aura. They had first thought that him losing his aura was a side effect of such a blow, but then later they realized that he was undergoing a metamorphosis. His powers soon returned, yet not in a way they would have expected. Will remembered the surprise he felt when he saw Michael on the battlefield welielding an ice lance and daggers. He was using an aura that Will himself hadn't unlocked yet. Now his uncle was the only one who could train him in the ways of the element of water.

"Are you just going to stand there muttering to yourself, or are we going to explore?" Maya broke Will's train of thought and grabbed his hand. She dragged him to the nearest door, which to Will's surprise automatically opened for him. He looked up at the archway and noticed a crystal placed in the center of the frame on top. "He found a way to make automatic doors?"

when Will entered the building, his jaw dropped. The building had tile flooring. He looked up at the ceiling and noticed crystals glowing as a source of light. There were isles upon isles of clothing on shelves and hangers.

People walked around wearing jeans and a t-shirt dawning a red vest with the gold embroidered kings emblem on the back. If Will hadn't remembered where he was, he would have sworn he walked into a store in his own world.

"This is incredible!" Maya gasped as she looked at the many fabrics, as well as the condition of the store. "It's like those pictures you showed me." She remembered when she had just met Will. He told her many stories of what his world was like. He used the pictures on his phone to give her an idea of what he was showing her.

Will had always been a bit of a photographer. Anything that caught his eye usually ended up on his phone. Pictures of air planes far off above him, theme parks he had visited, shopping malls he had been to and much more. Most of the pictures had one thing in common, he was with Bianca.

Lots of the pictures didn't include him. Some were of Bianca getting on a roller coaster while others were of her trying out outfits at the mall.

Will remembered the frustration he felt towards Bianca when she tried to get him to choose between her and all the people of Ebonhart which depended on him. The look of desperation on her face when she told him to give up, and the overwhelming sadness and defeat when she went through the archway he created without him.

Since Bianca didn't support Will, she left without any power. She wanted her normal life back, one with college and growth within her own world, so Will had given that life back to her.

In the final battle with Aremesis, Bianca had surprised Will much the same way that Michael did. She returned once more to Crystallia with a power unique only to her. She had become the only Saint aura wielder. Her white light was what Will used to banish Aremesis from Jake's body once and for all.

"For all of the people who have lost their abilities, I wonder how many have gotten different ones later." Will pondered as Maya dragged him through the store. It made no sense. How can someone who denounced their gift come back with another even he didn't have? How did Jonathan have the earth aura?

"William Ragnos!" Maya abruptly stopped and gave him a dirty look.

"What?" Will jumped and came back to himself.

"If you go deep in thought one more time, I swear I'll reach inside and pull you out myself!" She was holding a cute black two piece bathing suit in one hand and the collar of his shirt in the other. "Don't you think this would look good on me?" She held up the suit as if mentally trying it on. She gave him a knowing smile as his face turned red.

Will pointed to a corner of the store that had stalls stationed with curtains. "That's the changing area, you could always try it on."

Maya lit up. "I can try clothes on before buying them?" If Will didn't know better, he would think today was her birthday. He nodded to the girl in the metaphorical candy shop and was dragged by his arm as she skipped over to it.

Will laughed slightly embarrassed. He had never seen Maya so happy before. She was so excited to try on the two piece, she almost dragged Will into the stall with her.

"W-wait Maya!" He nervously tried to pull away.

"What?" She stopped just short of the stall and looked back, raising an eyebrow and giving Will a look.

"I um," he fumbled for the words. "I can't go in there with you." He pointed at a sign that had two stick figures in a stall. The small figures had a big red circle around them with a slash mark. "See?"

Will's face was as red as his crimson flames as he waited for Maya to respond.

"Ha-" she chuckled. "Hahaha!" She finally lost it. "You are embarrassed to see me without clothes!" She let go of his arm and laughed whole heartedly. "The big leader of all the kingdoms who has led two wars against the god of darkness is too embarrassed to see me naked!"

If Will was flustered before, he now wished he could hide himself for fear of being noticed. "Maya, cut it out." He said nervously.

"Fine." She came down slowly from her laughing fit. As she wiped a tear from her eye, she pointed at a row of chairs. "You can wait there then."

Will obediently sat on one of the wooden seats. "At least they didn't rip off plastic." He muttered while trying to collect himself.

"Good boy." Maya cooed as she opened a curtain. "No peeking now, I wouldn't want to harm such an innocent mind." She winked at Will.

Will dropped his head in shame as Maya closed the curtain behind her.

Will reached reflexively for a phone that didn't exist. It was a habit of his when Bianca brought him shopping. He would play a game or scroll social network while waiting for her to be done. He sighed inwardly when he remembered where he was. "Maybe this city shouldn't be exactly like my home world." He said to himself as he impatiently tapped his foot on the tile flooring.

In a few moments, the curtain flew open and Maya came out in the suit. "Well?" She gave a quick spin, revealing the whole suit to him. "What do you think?"

Will stared wide eyed with his mouth agape. He had only seen Maya in either her farmers clothes, the black tattered dress or her leather training armor. Nothing could have prepared him for what was in front of him now.

Maya's skin was porcelain white with absolutely no flaws. Her long dark hair draped over her shoulder, hanging long past her perfect ample bosom. Will looked her up and down with his jaw dropped for a good minute. "Are you going to say anything?" Maya spoke softly. Her face gained a tint of red.

"You look beautiful, Maya." Will said equally softly. "No one else holds a candle to you."

Maya said nothing as she closed the distance between them. Will fidgeted in his chair as Maya bent over and kissed him.

Will's eyes closed as her lips met his. Her hair hung down, brushing lightly against his cheek.

For a few blissful moments it was Will and Maya, nothing between them. 'Finally.' Will thought as he fell into a world where only the two of them existed.

When their mouths parted, will opened his eyes to see a tear run down Maya's delicate cheek. With a thumb, he wiped the tear away and held her there for a moment, looking into her deep dark brown eyes for what would never be long enough.

"I love you, William Ragnos." She breathed into him and took his hand, cupping her cheek more fully.

Will inhaled her scent and felt calm. It was as if she alone could break this spell. "And I love you, Maya." He had finally said it. The feelings he had for her that he tried so hard to keep in check flowed out with the five words he had held in from the moment he met her.

Finally, all was right in the world.