Fantasy Mountain Magic Mayhem (Luc/Sazz)

[Anshelical]

"Ngh?" Iso was disturbed by the sword siding the Archon's height. "F-For my life..." Perhaps he had to reassess. While sacrificing for Diger would exemplify true love, he still did not want to die early. Death was not a choice until now, for he had never witnessed a revival. Yet, the mathematician would had calculated different outcomes to meet the same fate as those without one. "I-I-I--!" Besides, the sight of the Archon's heavenly species spooked him enough.

"Don't do it if you don't want to," Erro said. "There's other ways to deal with this." Even when Milly reassured them, he kept close watch foro any treachery.

"It'll be fine," Lier said. "Iso."

"Huh?"

"Whatever you choose to do, it'll be alright. We'll get through it."

Iso had a discontent glare on the knight. So that you can rehearse this very scene to the Governor, that I get glory for my misery that you caused? It was a fight with his own conscience; he believed Lier meant no harm in defending his love. Yet, he caught on to the gallant tendencies, the ones charming and attractive to civil attention. To counter this motivated him, that he could be with Diger, that Lier would not sugarcoat the truth of how he truly felt, even about the storyteller himself.

"I-I-I'll do it!"

"Hey, say it with some confidence," Vine said.

"I-I'll do it! I'll do it!"

 

[St. Clover]

"Are you absolutely sure?" Aela inquired, piercing silver eyes watching every twitch the boy made. The lines across her body had taken on a radiant hue now, honey scripture flowing over ivory skin at an increased pace. Even the sword she held gave off a quiet chime. "Because once you make this choice, nothing can undo it. I will be bound by oath to carry out this pact."

Her eyes flickered over to the tent, where she sensed the corpse. "This man, Diger. What was he to you? Why would you offer your soul for his? What reason would be worth returning him from the world beyond?"

 

[Anshelical]

Flurries of reason swayed the boy, who turned from the Archon's charging weapon. "B-Because..." He started. There was so much, a life full of scrutiny and criticism he poured out to Erro earlier. "Because I love him so much... A-And he definitely has more to offer in this world."

Such reason compelled Vine's disbelief. To him, Iso's reaction was simply a product of a young and inexperienced mind captivated by an ideal romance -- to have intimate feelings for a mathematician who may never return such feelings. While the leader was unaware of this romantic flare, he was aware Iso was close to Diger when the former's parents needed some intense calculations done, just extra time for conversation. In other words, it was a come and go visitation most times. Diger was a shell of numbers and formulas in his eyes; no one could seem to open him up. The adage could wait.

"Diger was m-my... my friend -- my closest of friends. No, I loved him more than that. I should had told him, but I didn't. I regret not saying anything. I just wanted him to focus on the big log he was working on..." He gulped. "There's a ton of better reasons for sure, I k-know! I just want him back... to at least know this chance of life is not being spent on someone like m-me anyway. He's got so much potential."

"Tck," Erro scoffed.

"Please, M-M-Miss," he glanced to Milianor then to the open ways beyond, "I want him to be... I want h-him to find h-happiness. Happiness."

Huujar's banks were on Vine's mind. "Iso..." He returned an eyebrow raise to Lier, who stood with a hand to his chin. Vine may had worried about the fate of the financial benefits attached to the boy, but Liernoine was concerned about a possibility Iso wanted to take vengeance against his parents for turning on him by cutting off the business heirship. Yet, no one said the Archon would kill him. Milianor's reassurance raised his trust. Many possibilities there were.

 

[St. Clover]

"You're really something else, y'know that?" Aela asked, unable to maintain her composure. Try as she might, she couldn't string the young man along any further. The sincerity in his voice melted her heart, and it made her feel guilty for not getting to the point sooner. "In all my years of wandering this world, I've only ever met a handful of people who would put themselves in your position, and not even flinch when I asked them to make the ultimate sacrifice. Such generosity is a rare thing, unfortunately."

Aela let her wings fade, deciding to tone down the theatrics. She didn't need them anymore, not since the he more than proved himself.

Kneeling down in front of him, the Archon rested a gentle hand on his shoulder. She offered him a warm smile, saying, "I'll accept your offer, Iso. It won't be easy, Sudis knows it won't. But I'll do everything in my power to see that he's given a second chance at life. And for the whole giving-up-yourself thing? Let's just call this one a freebie. Kay?"

 

[Anshelical]

He flinched earlier, Erro thought. And he stuttered the whole time. These celestials, I guess. He denied to admit his inner envy for Iso's earned favor. When Vine sent a nod of relief to him, he failed to face him. Iso will always get his way, won't he? It wasn't money this time, but rather his cold charm.

Lier took another look to Diger's still decomposing state, wondering if calling down the sibyllic guardians was appropriate. After all, to him, it was just Diger -- a prodigy of their city, yes, but just an intelligent human being. Whether it was Iso's passionate rhetoric or their fortunate, growing relationship with Milianor, what made this situation so special? They were just four tr-- well five travelers. But, then there was something about the Blood Aura too, a discussion for later when the anorak awoke. He approached the dragonborn with a whisper. "You've got a good reference on you for troubles like these." And then he cheesed when Vine added a "Sure do."

"I-I-I--!" The lad couldn't believe it. "A-Are you s-serious? Y-You? You'll do this?" Nothing would elate him more. "Th-Th--!"

 

[St. Clover]

Watching the entire exchange with bated breath, Milly stiffened when Lier came to her. She slowly nodded at his comment, saying, "You're telling me. Honestly I half expected her not to answer me, if I'm being honest." She gulped down a lump in her throat. "I've known her since I was a teenager, yeah, but usually she's busy with her own work. Like, really busy. Fighting off hordes of bandits from towns over in the New World, busy."

Amused at how desperate he was to thank her, Aela figured she'd give him a hand and seize the initiative. "You're welcome," she said with the same patient smile as before. "And yes, I'm quite serious. I'll do everything I possibly can, though, as I said, it will be difficult. So much so, I think I'll need a little help from all of you, if that's okay."

 

[Anshelical]

"Sounds like a hard-working maiden," Lier nodded to the negotiation before them. "Or guardian. So, why didn't you turn out the way she did -- knew her since your teens?"

"Th-Th--!" Spilling the immense gratitude was so difficult. "Thank you s-so much! I-I-I--!"

"Wait, I didn't sign up for anything," Erro said.

"Haha," the leader chuckled. "Well, I'm willing to help at least. What do we need to do?"

 

[St. Clover]

"Couldn't control my magic well enough," Milly mumbled under her breath, looking down. She pawed the ground with her claws. "Met her right after I'd become an Awoken, still couldn't do basic Prestidigitation without it blowing up in my face. She found me and my dad on the wrong end of a stone guardian, helped us out. Then hung around our camp for a bit, teaching me some pointers. She'd come around every couple months to check on us, see how I was coming along. It's cause of her I started doing what I do now. Regent Hunting, that is."

"Nothing too back-breaking, I assure you." The Archon laughed and looked over to Erro. "Just a little gopher work while I get everything in order." She then looked back to Iso, who looked like he was about to explode. "Don't need to say anything else. Trust me, we're cool. All I want you to do is make sure he keeps himself away from dragons next time. Okay?"

 

[Anshelical]

"That's a good friend," Vine said. "Came to check on you from the heavens." Lier smiled at this, and the leader added, "But a regent hunter, eh? I can tell. Even if you didn't quite get to the level she did, you're still pretty strong to me."

Iso sure was about to explode, so he contained it all with a sincere bow. "Oh, Archon! Milianor! Th-Th--! He sure will stay away, I'll make sure!"

"Gopher work?" Erro said. "What do you mean by that?"

 

[St. Clover]

Milly grumbled to herself and punched Lier in the shoulder. "Idiot, I'm nowhere near as strong as she is," she huffed. "I can barely make a fog of cloud, even with my wand. Her? She can pull off Third Circle spells like it's nothing! I'm lucky to be able to do First Circle! Hells, I can't even do that without my wand!" She threw her arms up in dismay, before her shoulders slumped, defeated. "I've still got a long way to go before I'm anywhere close to her level."

"Oh, y'know," Aela started, casually waving off into the distance. "Go for this, go for that, handling all the little things I'll be too busy to deal with personally. Gopher work."

 

[Anshelical]

So much for fire spells. "Well, hey, I've got a long way before I can get to your level -- and then a lifetime before I can get to hers. No need to feel so bad." The ripe, dark skies simmered down the night crawlers, one which brushed against Vine's skin as it flew by. He swat at it. It started to feel a little sticky too with all the fresh drizzle around. And then Lier said, "Shit, it's hot out here."

"Can't grow with complaints," Vine said.

"You attend to people's calls all the time?" Erro glanced at Iso smiling to himself. "Not just Scales'?"

 

[St. Clover]

Exchanging glances, the Archon and Milly were slow to answer. Milly looked a bit sheepish, turning her attention back to the dirt rather than face them, and Aela pursed her lips into a thin line. "...Oooof course," she eventually said as confidentially as she could. "It's not like I ignore most of the people calling me for stupid things. Y'know, like helping get their cat out of a tree, or unclogging their drain pipes, or realigning their Cyberspace antennas..." Towards the end she trailed off and adopted a haunted look, staring off into the forest.

"I uh," Milly coughed. "May or may not have called her a few times on some... Less than life threatening occasions when I first moved to the city."

 

[Anshelical]

"Oh, she does plumbing?" Vine grinned. "Might have to hi--"

"Just don't," Lier shook his head, smirking. "Didn't really need to hear that."

"Should have a heavenly business going and give all the funds to Lord Sudis. And then I can split some shares with ya, haha!"

The young man tilted his head to the suggestion. "There's a business? She most likely j-just helps out of the goodness of her heart... because she's better than that." He would never want anything to do with using people wrongfully for reasons of money. "Even if it's, well, less than life-th-threatening."

This humor dampened Erro's belief in the sacredness for the maiden. She was like any typical person to him with great powers. "Pff, a literal gopher, then. At least you do ignore some of the stupid requests."

 

[St. Clover]

Once again there was an eerie silence shared between the two women. Milly chanced a glance at the Archon, who met her with a stern stare, forcing her to look back to the ground. "...If I'm being completely honest, I tend to ignore most of them," Aela slowly explained, making sure Milly felt the daggers bouncing off her forehead. "After a certain someone here gave out my Sign to her friends in case they ever needed divine help."

"I told you I was sorry!" Milly exclaimed, head shooting up. "How long are you going to hang that over me?!"

"Until I stop getting called at two in the morning to come get a ring out of the drains!"

All the dragonborn could do was fold her arms and snort, kicking the moist dirt. "Stupid Archons and your grudges..." she grunted under her breath.

 

[Anshelical]

Silence claimed the four travelers as well. For an Archon, they thought, she was quite vulnerable to be taken advantage of. Such conspiracy with the distributed Sign reminded Lier especially of a time a knight of their own released the Governor's location, which became heresay among the Seconds -- a big deal since they were in a small battle. He wondered why Milianor told her other friends about the Sign knowing it could unleash some trouble.

Iso thumbed a finger of his, planning to break the silence. "Mmm..." Regardless of who was willing to help or who was not, they both had good intentions in his eyes. "You must g-get a lot of calls every day -- l-like a dedicated w-warden."

"Taaha," Erro breathed a laugh, "You would know a thing or two about that." The Freiche family were known for their vain requests to masters of the cities -- repairs, inspections, advice -- only to try and strike a deal with them and feed their greed. Technically, being under the Chief was like the same, but of course the tasks were worthwhile, only to realize in the end the payout was shit.

"I-It's not a bad thing, to... to p-prioritize, either."

"Well, I'm sure they've got a whole log of actions," Vine said. "In the Legion, I mean. Wouldn't want to be remembered as the plumber, either."

"Hey," Lier wanted Milianor to feel better at least, "Even if she remembers you giving out her Sign, she'll also probably remember you the most. She came pretty much right on time when you needed 'er. I think I would had did the same thing if I knew I had the gift to call out an angel." Probably would had even married 'er.

Iso said, "The A-Archon's not to be trifled with."

 

[St. Clover]

Milly, agreeing with the remark, nodded. "Yeah, that's for sure," she said. "Despite all the crap I've given her, which I'm sorry for, she's never let me down when it really counted. Plus, uh, I may or may not have promised something in return for calling her this time."

"You better pony up that crystal when we're done here," Aela grunted, standing up.

"Aah." The dragonborn scratched the back of her neck. She really didn't want to part with the crystal, but she'd promised it. "Yeah, I will. Just wait till you've done your part, okay?"

 

[Anshelical]

"That's a good friend," Lier said. "Got your back despite your mistakes." He felt like that toward the Governor. After all, they were friends since childhood.

"Crystal?" That meant treasure to Vine -- some irreplaceable one.

"Nothing to do with you," Erro said. "So, are we going to get this going or what? No price, right? Hope there's no strings attached."

 

[St. Clover]

"Yeah, we are. Just wanted to make sure you all weren't going to suddenly back out for whatever reason," Aela explained as she chanced a look around the camp. It'd been hastily erected, but the overall setup told her these were at experienced explorers at least. That made them valuable for her purposes. "Wouldn't be the first time. Now, show me to your friend, and I'll do what I can for the time being. It'll just be a temporary fix until we can get him the help he really needs."

Finally they were getting back on track. Milly let out a sigh of relief. "It's a Tier 2 Lunashard," she said to Vine, patting her coat. "Celestially aligned, found it a few months back in an abandoned church. They're like candy to Celestials, literally"

 

[Anshelical]

"Oh!" Iso's feet skidded past the slapping grasses below toward the tent. "H-He's in here, in the tent."

"Candy, eh?" Vine said. "And what do they do? Make the Celestials hyper?"

Lier felt the relief as well, knowing they could finally be on their way soon. On their way. He almost didn't want to leave Milianor at the same time. It sounded like her world was very interesting to visit, especially all the different people she mentioned, including Charles her mentor. Let alone, Milianor was different to him, from outside of a realm working as a hunter. He could only imagine.

"Probably does," Lier said. "She said literally." After Vine discredited his guess, the knight said, "Well, didn't she say that? A lot is totally different in your world -- even your heavens."

"Like there is multiple of them," Erro said.

 

[St. Clover]

Following close behind the young man, the Archon wasted no time in heading to the tent as well. Golden feathers followed in her wake, leaving a glittering trail through the damp grass.

Milly shrugged, offering a cheesy grin. "If I had a Shimmer for every celestial realm out there," she started in a chipper tone. "I'd be out of a job. Could kick back and relax until I died of old age or boredom, whichever got to me first. It's crazy."

 

[Anshelical]

Glittering trails of the Archon's gold feathers kept Iso's shuffling even in disbelief. A Celestial was before him, about to honor his greatest wish, and his honor was immeasurable. "R-Right here," he lifted a flap of the tent, revealing the rest of Diger's body that was partially exposed. The small fire burned right beside where some abandoned items lied scattered beside.

"Oh, definitely out of the job -- a big one," Vine said. "And then you'd have enough for your children, too."

"Like she has any," Lier said. "Never mentioned it. But I'm sure you'd have enough for whoever you'd like to give it to." Erro passing him to follow the Archon grasped his attention. "Or you could keep it in a Celestial treasure chest."

"I'm... sure it doesn't work like that." Lier disagreed with Vine, who added to his previous thought: "No, it doesn't. They don't need 'treasure chests.' Firstly, that kind of imagery's just a little, you know, blatantly unrealistic. It'd be nice if treasure was just sprawled out like that, though. And secondly they don't need that; they're from the heavens for heaven's sake."

 

[St. Clover]

To say the Archon's expression did a 180 would be an understatement. The moment she laid eyes on the mangled corpse before her, her expression turned to one of mild shock, wide eyes and a hand covering her mouth. "What... What in the Nine Hells happened to him?" she hesitantly asked, looking to the young man for answers. She had expected something horrific, bits of flesh tied into a bag, maybe an arm. This was a whole other level of grotesqueness that made her stomach turn over. It was a desecration, and it hurt her on her deepest levels.

It was Milly's turn to drop some knowledge, a chance she jumped on with glee. "Actually!" she chirped, holding a finger up. "Where I'm from, there's plenty of places you can find treasure chests. Usually you'll find them just, y'know, strewn about in dungeons or in ruins. It's kind of an oddity we still aren't sure how to explain yet. And no, no kids here."

She looked towards the tent when she heard her friend's exclamation, cringing at the sound. "And that'd be your friend getting the first class treatment from one of Heaven's denizens. Classy, huh?"

 

[Anshelical]

"Oh yeah, that's gonna be a lucky guy when he awakes," Vine said. "A story of the century, raised by a vagabond angel and walking like a miracle..." For sure he had to be close to Diger after revival. He could make a lot of money just being his friend. To this Erro ticked to himself.

"Hey, it's classy to even find treasure sitting in random places outta luck," Lier recalled a time he encountered a chest when walking in a crag. "Makes you think you were chosen to take it. Of course, nothing would be worth more treasure than meeting an angel in person, though. This is just..." He paused in disbelief. "This is amazing to watch. More than luck for sure. So, you being the one to lead her here is even more amazing -- got to see her grow 'n' everything."

"A-A dragon," Iso started, "A Shadow Dragon. He... it..." The memory was still fresh. "He fell off a cliff while the Dragon... tried to slash at him after he hit a rock wall."

 

[St. Clover]

"It's definitely a good thing I found what I needed out here," Milly admitted, rubbing her elbow with a gloved hand. She turned her attention back to the ritual site. "Usually she doesn't answer that quick unless it's an emergency. Life or death stuff. Only reason she came this quickly is because I used those rocks, they basically turned it from a collect call to a priority message, SOS. Honestly I didn't expect it to work as well as it did, what with the worldly differences and everything."

The Archon walked up to the corpse and knelt down beside it. She sat her sword off to the side, and uttered a phrase in the divine tongue. The firelight nearby flickered and turned golden for a split second. "It looks like someone put him through a wood chipper," she said crassly. To her death was just another part of the cycle, it held no real gravity all on its own. But types of death had significance, and from the looks of here, this was a very significant one. Not only because of the manner in which he died, but because of what he supposedly knew.

"I'm going to need some space. Back up a few steps."

 

[Anshelical]

"Yeah, worked pretty well," Lier said. "To us it was a lot of rocks and praying and silence, but it was worth it. But, here's the question: where do you get your materials? You just walk around these different places and find them out in the open? Gifted to ya?" He shared a nod with Vine, who wondered the same. As a matter of fact, they were both curious on what places they could gain some exploration pointers. "I mean, it's probably hard for just normal people to find it, right?"

Iso and Erro scattered toward the camp outskirts, possibly overestimating the preparing power. "Hey, move back, she said," Erro beckoned the rest of them.

"Sure she needs that much space?" Lier said.