Freya
"Say, Astoria? Just curious, but what's your elven origin?" She seems to freeze as I bring out the question. "I know you're not from Bellken at least since I've been here my entire life and I had years to get to know everyone." I explain to her. Her gaze seems to soften as she looks at her reflection on her mug of beer. She looks at me, her eyes slowly losing color but eventually returned as she opens her mouth.
"Greeliysh." She responds. I began to ponder in front of her. "Hmm, never heard of it." She seems to smile at that but when I look at her eyes, I do not quite see that smile reach her eyes. "What about you? From what you said, is it Bellken?" I freeze for less than a second before opening my mouth. "Y-yeah, uh, yep! Been here all my life."
She smiles at that. "So, Freya Bellken and Astoria Greeliysh, huh?" She looks outside the window. I follow her gaze and look on the alley. "Nothing but trash and crates around." Astoria chuckles to herself. I tilt my head but I smile at her. "So, where are you gonna adventure to?" I inquire.
She takes a sip from her mug before talking. "Kliyer. It's the nearest city outside of Hellken." She takes out leather-bound notebook from a bag beside her. She flips open the notebook and I look at the first page. The first thing that I notice was writing which spells out as, "Quest". There was not much below it, just places that she wants to go to or investigate.
"There's not much in it and besides I was hoping my future party members could fill it out for me." She smiles and before I could say something back. A certain bard's unnatural noise reverberated throughout the tavern, grabbing our attention.
As he begins to sing, Astoria comments, "Pretty sure a lute can't do that." I chuckle. "You think?" Astoria chuckles as well. "Shush." She puts her index finger at my lips. We look back at the bard. But my gaze drops to ground as I began to ponder.
I find myself to the highest point of the Sanctuary. I look beyond the walls. Beyond the forest. Towards the ruins of many destroyed villages. "You know, Freya. I don't like being here. I look beside me and see Scholar Aloso looking beyond. "Every time I see those villages. I…feel disgusted. I find myself cursing that I am not able to be a paladin. That I can't be out there actually acting to help people."
I study his face. His gaze gave off a melancholic feel. He looks at me. "Sorry. Anyway, Scholar Freya, what are you doing here? Need a place to think." He asks as he sit. I nod at him. "Hmm, well this place isn't bad for that. Despite how much it pains me to look at those ruins outside of Bellken, being this high up makes me feel disconnected from it all. It allows me to think and make decisions rationally."
Aloso looks beyond the city once more. "How's your first mission as a paladin? Do you still want to continue being a paladin?" There was a small pause but then I speak. "Yes. Definitely." I look at him resolutely. He smiles at that. "Well, just take care of yourself. Don't be afraid to run should the situation calls for it." I nod and bow slightly as he closes the door.
I look back at those villages. "I…feel nothing about them." All of those villages were already destroyed, so I see no point mourning them myself. I look down towards the streets of Bellken, then I look back at the door. My vision blurs to an image of the past. Inside a certain room lit by only a single candle, surrounded by overflowing bookshelves.
"Freya Bellken. Rise." High Scholar Frejir commanded. I stand from the middle of my room. She stares at me for a brief moment before speaking. "With the ritual of Knowledgic Paladinis complete, you are hereby recognized as a paladin of Hu. You, at all time, must protect all that is known, and seek out the unknown. That is your mission as a scholar but as a paladin, you must do more than that, you must seek out knowledge from evil itself. Understand that evil, accept such evil, and purify it so that Hu and us, Scholars may accept it."
Frejir presents me a long item wrapped in cloth. She unwraps the cloth and it was almost uncanny to see my staff. That dirty steel staff now looked brand new. The steel was polished, its pointed bottom, sharpened, and the gem at the top was clear. "Freya Bellken, this weapon shall not be replaced for it is your instrument to do Hu's inquiry."
I hold the staff in my hand. It felt even more uncanny. The smooth and polished steel made me feel like it was going to slip from my hands. Frejir sighs. I look into her eyes to see it soften. "Scholar Freya, are you truly sure of this action? We recognize that we have no more knowledge for you to learn in our sanctuary but I still do not think that becoming paladin for the purpose of learning is necessary."
I straighten myself and look into her eyes. "Knowledge, old knowledge is grasped by the evils of this world. For me to learn more, I must seek them out and learn from them." Resolute and full of determination when I said that line. My vision ends as I find myself back to reality.
I sigh and made my way back to the inner halls. In Hu's sanctuary, the inner halls always have fifteen rooms, seven of each side, and one at the end of the hall. I find myself at very end of the hall. I open the door and find High Scholar Frejir studying. She looks up at me and stops writing. "High Scholar Frejir, the time is near."
She nods at that. "Where will you be going?" She asks. "Kliyer. The frontline of Yohavez." She nods once more. "Hmm, it's the nearest city from here." Frejir pulls out a leather bag. She opens the bag and pulls out three letters. She shows me the first letter, marked by the emblem of Bellken. "This letter will allow you to enter Kliyer. It shows that you are a citizen of Bellken and such." She did not give much explanation. Of course she would not, it is simply paperwork after all. She hands me the first letter and then shows me the second letter, one with the wax emblem of our sanctuary. The last, I would guess, is my proof identity which also was marked with the emblem of our sanctuary.
"Receiving this letter means two things: one, you must establish a connection between the sanctuary of Hu in here and in Kliyer. This letter provides them the instruction to create a magical circle so it is important that you keep the letter as pristine as possible." I nod. "Can I have a copy of the instructions? Just in case." She nods and spoke. "Alright, I'll have it ready tomorrow. And as for your second mission. You must map out your journey to Kliyer." I nod once more. "The sleeping mountain, I presume?"
Frejir nods again. "Yes, our latest maps were from before the sleeping mountain arrived so you'll have to chart a new one." I nod. Honestly, I am getting sick of nodding over and over again. We finish our conversation and I find myself back to the highest point of our sanctuary.
I observe the people on the streets. They have a glow on them. "And I was the reason it happened." I think to myself. Me, who willingly became a paladin because my sanctuary can no longer offer any knowledge for me to learn. Cleansing the monster within the Everchange was a duty and I gain no knowledge from it yet I find myself satisfied still.
Not because I saved these people but for some other reason that I cannot point out no matter how much I tried. I shake my head. After observing the people in the streets. I look at the roof of a certain house. There was weird man who seems to be writing something on a notebook but then he stops.
He looks around and looks at me. I tilt my head slightly in surprise and then I wave at him. A second pass by and he does not wave back. I sigh but also chuckle to myself. "Of course, he can't see me. What a coincidence though." I say to myself as I look beyond the walls.
"…" It is strange, to still be hesitating at Astoria's offer. I know for a fact that I will join her but…Bellken has been my home for so many years of my life, I guess it is normal to be attached here. I shake my head. "I still have some time before that." I smile at that thought. I leave the sanctuary and find myself in the streets. The winds brushes pass my face and into my hair. I smile and walk forward.
Astoria Greeliysh
I open my eyes. Some time ago, I was getting drunk with Freya. "Well, just me really." I rub my temple and look around. It took some time and eventually, the blur of my surroundings becomes clearer. "And I'm also no longer drunk. Great."
I jump out of my bed and I head to the table by the window. On the top of the table were multiple letters. A letter requesting for a travelling permit. Another was a request for an official proof of my identity. I sigh.
Paperwork is not that new to me but it was also never a thing I do regularly. I look to the side of the table and see drafts of my letters. Most drafts were written with charcoal while my attempts to make a proper letter were written in ink.
I grab my latest draft for a proof of identity request and sigh loudly. I roll the paper and I place it in the window sill. By the corner of my room, I grab a bucket which had water filled for only about one fourth of the bucket and I also place it by the window sill. Finally, I grab a candle and placed by the window sill as well.
I burn the draft, letting the ash fall to the bucket and when it all burned to ash, I threw the water by the alley. "From old dwarven letter, I could guess how a letter would go but the problem is my tone." I sigh once more. I remember what Freya said to me about how I speak. Nobody in this city has an actual formal education apart from nobles so mostly the way I speak and my knowledge in general came from living long enough to learn from other people.
"And also, I'm writing this in a language that I'm not proficient in, if I was writing in elvish, it would be another story." I sigh again and wonder how many times I said that excuse before. I look at the street Bellken then to an empty piece of paper. I sigh and began writing again.
I leave the inn with two neatly folded letters. Apart from that, I had my usual gear on and as I walk to the local government building, I find myself fixing myself before finally entering the building. I open my mouth as I walk towards the receptionist at the middle of the lobby. "Hello, is uh, the mayor around?"
She looks at up with an expressionless face before smiling slightly. "Oh, you're the uh, elf that fought Kioi right?" I nod. "Mayor's busy at the moment but what can I do for you?" I give the two letters. "Need a travel permit and a proof of identity. Oh, just so we're clear, those two are all I need, right?"
She fixes her glasses and spoke once more, "Depends, but come back tomorrow. If nothing else is needed then this should be approved by today or in the early morning." She folds the letters and starts writing on her notebook. "Oh! One more thing, when will you be leaving?"
"Oh yeah, I didn't specify it. I knew I missed something!" I said to myself before opening my mouth. "A journey to Kliyer is about five days of travel and the local astrologist says the that a calm phase of the moon five times in a row is about…I would say…fourteen bright moon cycles?"
She nods as she writes it down. I leave the building scratching the back of my head. "Finally, next is my financials, then supply." I say as I go back to the inn. I lay on the bed of my room and looked around. "Fuck, it feels so nice to have a room just for me."
I roll around the bed and generally just lazed around but eventually I found myself looking out the window. I look at the endless tower while feeling my teeth with my fingers. Yesterday, they were regular old elven teeth but now, they were that of the aquatic monsters living in the sea like a shark, I would say. "Guess I should pay my respects to the god of ascension first.
Internally, there some sort giddiness flowing within my body. The very fact that I do not have to risk my life for the next month or so gives me this…indescribable feeling. Even things such as paying respects to a god seems so fun now. I stretch my body and hop out of the window and into the alley.
I jump a few times to warm up my legs for running but I stop. "You know what? Nah, I'll take my time." I walk out of the alley and simply enjoyed my time.
Himura Satō
I found myself at the top of this magical yet incomplete tower once more. I open my notebook and flip to the very end of the page. A sketch from charcoal can be seen, a certain incomplete tower drawn using only my memory. "Well…maybe a few peeks here and there."
I lean at the parapet and look outside of this city. "I swear that mountain moved." I thought, trying to convince myself that I'm not going insane. I look around me and see a few candles. A few candles had something wrapped in paper and string. "Is this some sort of ritual or something?" I ask knowing that no one would answer. Then I wonder if this is some sort of vandalism instead.
However, before I do anything else. I hear a pair of footsteps. I look at the first to see me. The priestess who I only met hours ago. This time however, she was wearing a simple yet elegant blue dress. It looked to be layered with the inner layers having a deeper shade of blue which was all connected to lower half of her torso by some sort of corset.
Looking at the way she is moving, she does not seem to be restricted so I can only the assume that the corset is merely a design rather than actual corset. Then, across her chest was a simple leather bag and lastly, her off-hand was holding her steel staff.
As we make eye contact with each other, we both bow at the same time and then my gaze falls to the woman next to her. The one that I always referred to as "Knife-ear" waves at me and I bow in response. Looking her over, I see that she has not changed since I last saw her. Same outfit and all.
However, in her hands were a few candles and something small wrapped in paper and string. The same as the ones around us. She speak in gibberish and I nod every time she ends her sentences. Then, a priestess turns to the knife-eared woman and said something to her.
Something that felt like I just got suckered punch in the stomach. I say that as she turns to me with surprise, then concern before speaking with the priestess once more. "Ah shit, I fucked something up." I did not know what was happening but the mood gave me some concerning feeling.
Like the death of my façade and whatever image that they had on me. She turns to me and speaks slowly. "Aisteo-eriac." She says whilst pointing to herself. I nod and speak for the first time in a while. "…Aisteo-eriac." Then I point to her, she smiles at that.
I find myself scratching the back of my head but I do not break my expressionlessness. She turns to the priestess and she speaks slowly as well. "Iferewaac." She points to herself as well. I furrow my eyebrows for a tiny bit. "Iferewaac…?" I say to her. "That sounded a bit off." I say at the back of my head.
In response, she smiles and shrugs her shoulder but then both of them looks at me. I breathe out slightly before speaking. "Himura." Shorter than theirs and clearly the way a spoke only confirmed what they realized earlier. "Himura, eh?" The woman known as Aisteo-eriac says. I understood that.
"Dublia-iteh, Ie teou pyteh imwai oififeeriinge ifieristeh." Aisteo-eriac says. No clue what that meant but she lights her candles and places on the floor then putting the thing wrapped in paper and string in front of it. She stands back up and heads towards the stairs, the priestess then follows but then, they stop.
Both of them look at me, Aisteo-eriac extends her arm slightly before swinging her hand towards herself, urging me to follow her. Without anything else to do, I shrug my shoulder and follow her. Perhaps the death of my façade would result in something better.