Macha's Journey

When Tyr entered the apartment, disappointment gripped his heart. He had quietly opened Macha"s door to gaze at her, but she was not in her bed. It was still before dawn, so her absence worried him. Tyr crossed the hall and knocked on his sister"s door. "Luna, Luna, wake up." He continued to knock until her door opened.

Luna opened her door and stared at him with dead eyes. Her hair was a mess and her voice thick with sleep, "What now?" Tyr knew Luna did not like being woken up so early. Sometimes when they were kids, and she did not get enough sleep, she would chase him around the house and pull his hair over the smallest things. It did not phase Tyr seeing his sister like this. "Is Macha with you? She isn"t in the apartment."

Luna"s eyes rolled and she moved to shut the door on Tyr"s face.

Tyr stuck his foot in the doorway. He still wore his armor, so it did not hurt. "Luna, I"m serious. Where"s Macha?" Macha always slept in the apartment. Only once did she ever stay out all night, but that was because they had a misunderstanding.

Luna narrowed her eyes and sighed. "I don"t know where she is all the time. She did some kind of mission. Ask me tomorrow. I"m going back to bed." She had trouble processing their conversation and grew annoyed that Tyr bothered her. She thought about how of all the people in this world, he should know not to bother her in the morning. She shuffled back to her bedroom.

Tyr grabbed Luna"s shoulder. "What? A mission?" The truth was that Macha belonged to the guild, but he actually tried to prevent her from going on missions. The Outer-Reaches were dangerous, and he did not want Macha to put her life in excessive danger. He paid her very well, and she rarely spent money. There was no reason she needed to do missions. "Why?"

Luna turned around and smacked Tyr on the forehead. "I said, I"m going to bed. Go read the details if you want in the office. Goodnight!" Luna flopped down on her couch and fell asleep immediately.

Tyr looked at his sister and rubbed his head. This version of her was dreadful, and he hoped she hid it from Krystof. He did not ask either one of them to join the mission this time because the two of them had started dating. Macha suggested he give them time to get used to each other.

Tyr jogged down the hall and went into his office. He looked around and saw a few papers on Macha"s desk. She apparently took on a short mission to the Outer-Reaches a few miles out of town. He estimated that it should not take more than a week. Macha was gathering meadowsweet flowers with a few other lower-ranked guild members. It was an easy task that had a low chance of danger because the fields were traveled on often. Rubbing his finger along his lower lip he considered meeting up with her, but it would seem odd if the Captain showed up for such a menial mission.

Tyr sat down at his desk and looked out to the skyline. He had been excited to come home, but Macha"s absence left him lonely. As he made his way back to his empty apartment, he dragged his feet. Aži licked his cheek to comfort him, but it did not help.

Standing in the corner of the living room, he recalled how Macha usually a.s.sisted him with the task of taking his armor off, she would ask about his trip and want to hear all the details of his latest adventure. Now, his solitude ate away at him. Aži was in the room, but he liked to relax and sleep most of the time.

Tyr looked around the apartment. It was still decorated in dark tones, except for the splashes of color that Macha brought in. He walked over to a crystal vase that Macha bought to hold the gardenias he bought her a few months ago at the concert. Since then, she tried to keep a bouquet of gardenias in it at all times. Tyr took the wilted flowers out of the vase and washed it out. It seemed like she left a few days ago based on how wilted the flowers had been.

When Tyr woke up the next day, he went to the office to work on his paperwork. The day dragged on and his mood soured. He spent most of the day staring out the window and looking to see if Macha headed home.

Bartoz entered Tyr"s office. He needed the Captain"s approval for an expansion to the headquarters. The guild was growing and they needed to add more dormitories. Many of the members who left with Fenrir wanted to return because they did not fit in with the Carnelian k.u.mas guild. "Good to see you," Bartoz said as he made his way across the room. He swung a stack of papers in his hand.

Tyr swung his chair around and eyed Bartoz. "What do you want?" Both his face and voice were devoid of warmth. It seemed obvious that he did not want to be bothered.

Bartoz slapped the papers onto Tyr"s desk. He could tell that Tyr was angry about something. Whenever Tyr got like this it was best to keep conversations short. "Need this approved." He walked around the room while Tyr read through the details.

Macha"s desk had an empty box of chocolates on it and someone opened her lower drawer but did not close it. This bothered Bartoz, so he closed the drawer and collected the empty wrappers.

Tyr glared at Bartoz. "Don"t touch her desk," he warned. He did not want anyone to move Macha"s things around. He had only taken the chocolates out because no one brought him lunch. Tyr was aware he broke Macha"s rule about only one chocolate per meal, but he reasoned it as her fault for leaving him alone.

Bartoz dropped the wrappers and shrugged his shoulders. The mess bothered him, but it was not worth getting into an argument. A few moments pa.s.sed and Bartoz moved to the tea station. He noticed someone did not cover the container for the tea leaves. He picked up the lid.

Tyr slammed the papers on his desk. He scowled, "Sit down and wait." It annoyed him that Bartoz kept touching Macha"s things.

Bartoz raised an eyebrow and sat down. He thought Tyr had gotten over his moody nature this past year. It seemed like the t.i.tle of Cold Hearted Captain could be kept.

Tyr finished reading the doc.u.ments and signed them. After Bartoz left, Tyr decided he did not want to work anymore. He locked up and went for a walk. As he descended the stairs a group of women called out to him. He did not want to be bothered, so he kept walking. Many people greeted him as he made his way to the lobby. With each greeting, he felt the social pressures weighing down on him and he just wanted to be ignored.

One woman in the lobby came up to Tyr. She had white hair, and he recognized her as one of the new recruits.

"Afternoon Captain, I"m glad you"re back."

The Captain kept walking, so Aierim thought he did not hear her. She jogged to catch up to him. "Captain?" She wanted to ask where Macha was because she was supposed to teach Macha how to make hard candy.

Tyr stopped and turned around. He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head impatiently. It annoyed him that people kept bothering him today. He wanted them all to disappear.

"Hi..." she muttered. The Captain never acted like this before and it scared her. Aierim decided she could wait till she found Macha herself. Captain Tyr usually would nod at everyone when they greeted him. He was quiet, but never intimidating.

Tyr did not smile. He narrowed his eyes as he turned, "Is that all?" he snapped and continued walking.

Constanza"s group sat in the lobby and overheard the conversation. They smiled and a few of them gave small shrieks of excitement. They joined hands and cried out, "He"s back! Our Cold Captain is back!"

One girl in Constanza"s group was new and asked them what they meant by "Cold Captain". Constanza looked at her and she raised her nose in the air. "Before that runt came, our Captain had that cold s.e.xy att.i.tude. You weren"t here before, so you wouldn"t know." Constanza sighed, remembering how Captain Tyr used to stalk around and yell at people.

The next two days were torture for Tyr. He did not understand why the loneliness bothered him so much. Before he lived with Macha, he used to live a life locked away from others. He used to prefer solitude, but now it ate away at him. He found being alone exhausting, but talking with other people felt even more demanding. Tyr found himself stuck being dissatisfied either way. Instead of dealing with his dissatisfaction, he found himself going to bed earlier and earlier. He had nothing to look forward to, so he did not see the point of staying up.

Macha came home. The few people she talked to on the way up said that Tyr returned early. It was a little after midnight, so she was not sure if he would still be up. When Macha entered the apartment, she looked around and the moonlight shined through the ceiling to floor windows. The apartment was a mess. Tyr did not bother doing the dishes, folding his laundry, or putting away his armor. Macha shook her head. When she first moved into the apartment, it had been clean. She decided she spoiled him too much. This room looked more like Luna"s.

Macha missed Tyr these past few months, so she wanted to gaze upon his face before going to bed. She put her things into the living room corner where they kept their armor, then headed down the dark hallway to Tyr"s bedroom.