“Era? Kid, you alright?” Gabriel looked at Era quizzically. “You look a little, uh… shaky.”
“I’m…” Era straightened slowly, avoiding Gabriel’s gaze. “No. No, I’m not alright. Something just… happened.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked solemnly, gripping Era’s shoulder.
“Give me a moment.” Era breathed heavily, closing his eyes. He stood still for several moments, his knuckles white from gripping his staff.
“Era…?”
Era’s hand flew to his mouth, his breaths deepening and coming in shuddering gasps.
“Oh shit. Hang on, kid.” Gabriel scooped him up as fast as he could, sweeping him through a gap in the crowd to a narrow alleyway devoid of people. He deposited Era quickly to the ground and grabbed his ponytail, holding it out of the way as Era emptied the contents of his stomach onto the pavement.
“Fucking hell, kid, you weren’t joking,” Gabriel said quietly as Era gasped for breath in-between dry heaves. He threw a fierce glare to a few passers-by who had stopped to stare. He waited patiently for Era to catch his breath, digging a handkerchief out of his bag and handing it to him when he had stopped retching. “Use this to wipe your mouth.”
Era nodded gratefully, wiping his mouth and chin and blowing his nose. “I’m sorry,” he whispered shakily, “I’ll get you a new handkerchief…”
“Don’t you dare fucking worry about me right now,” Gabriel muttered, “Just worry about yourself. Are you going to be okay, Era?”
Hesitating, he nodded slowly, holding the handkerchief uncertainly.
“Just throw it away. Trust me, I don’t want it back,” Gabriel joked.
“Oh, what a mess… what should I do?”
“Fuck, kid, don’t worry about it! It’ll be alright, just calm down!”
“It’s not alright, I can’t just leave it there, and then I ruined your handkerchief, and… and…” Era cried, growing hysterical.
“Kid.” Gabriel grabbed his shoulder and looked him in the eye. “Calm. Down.”
Era sat still a moment, breathing deep and quick, before scooting over to Gabriel and burying his face in his best friend’s robes. Gabriel patted his back reassuringly as Era clung to him, overwhelmed and fighting a losing battle against his own nerves.
“It’s alright, Era, calm down.” Gabriel counted the bricks on the building in front of him as he patiently waited for Era to collect himself. Era nodded several moments later, taking one last shuddering breath before readjusting himself into a sitting position against the wall of the building behind them.
“Thank you.” Era closed his eyes and leaned back, looking older than he guessed he was. “I’m just… so overwhelmed.”
“Let’s not talk about it right now,” Gabriel said quietly. “You just pull yourself together and we’ll go get a room at an inn, alright? We’ll talk when you’re fit enough to talk.”
“That would… yes, that would be best.”
“Can you stand up?”
“I think so.”
“Then let’s get out of here,” he said, pulling himself up before holding out a hand for Era. Chuckling, he continued. “The smell’s starting to get to me anyway.”
“What the fuck.” Gabriel stared incredulously at Era, hardly believing the story he’d just heard. “Kid, you’ve… wow. Whoever that headcase is, he’s got it out for you.”
“I know,” Era said, nodding glumly. “I don’t even know what I did.”
“This is really getting serious,” he stated. “I was more than willing to help you find out your identity before, y’know, just because it was important to you,” he said, “but now it sounds like… well, if you don’t figure it out, you could be in deep shit.”
“But I still don’t have any idea where to start,” Era said quietly. “What am I supposed to go off of? Mage-Names aren’t commonly used in society, are they?”
“No, they’re not,” Gabriel said, “They’re really only important to the schools, the state, and the mage who uses it.”
“Wait,” Era said, perking up. “The state?”
“Yeah, there are records of all the official…” he trailed off. “You’re thinking of looking there, aren’t you?”
“It’s at least worth a try.”
“I guess. Do you think that weird disappearing name thing will extend to the state documents as well?”
“I certainly hope not,” Era replied, “and it’s not like we have anywhere else to turn.”
“Point.” He leaned back, scratching his beard in thought. “Luckily, I don’t think you’re going to need to put on a show to get to these records. As long as you’ve got your sigil, you should be able to just flash that and get access.”
“Good,” he said, relieved. He fiddled with his sigil in his bag, twirling it gently between his fingers. Don’t get lost, he told it sternly in his mind.
“So, have we got a plan?” Gabriel asked.
“Go to wherever the records are held, ask to see them, look for my name.”
“Sounds good. When?”
“Not tomorrow,” Era said. “I’d like a day to recover.”
“Then the day after tomorrow,” Gabriel said with a smile, “we go to the castle.”
“Wait, the castle?” Era asked excitedly. “We’re really going to go to the castle?”
“Kid, where did you think the records were kept?” He grinned. “Maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll get to see the King. And if you’re really lucky, you’ll get to see the Archmage.”
“Why would that be considered really lucky?”
“You saw the tallest tower of the castle, right? Way in the back?” Gabriel asked. Era nodded.
“That’s the Archmage’s tower,” Gabriel explained, “and he very rarely leaves it.”
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