“‘Persuaded’, really, Sis?” she said to her. But the Bowmaster kept her silence as they walked passed the fountain at the center of Saint Haven, and made their way to the nearest smithy to have their equipment repaired.
Heads turned too look at them as they passed by. They were no stranger to such gazes, as they have been described to have ‘unnatural beauty and allure’, to quote a scholar. Serethil merely raised a brow at the people’s faces, while her sister-at-arms remained stoic as ever.
By the time they’ve reached the foundry, the blacksmith quietly took their gear and started to work on it, while the two stood by the corner of his shop as the Acrobat continued on. “Why didn’t you tell Ekara Ithilien the whole thing?”
“I did tell her everything, Sister. What I reported to her was the same as what I have told you when I came back from Black Mountain.”
“Oh no, Sis. You didn’t,” she said back. “I remember you saying you were ‘coerced into helping this cleric just to get the imprisoned humans out’ to me,” she added, as she imitated her sister-at-arms’ deep and modular tone on the last statement.
The Bowmaster just gave her a slight irritated gaze, yet her voice was calm. “Yes I did, but if I did so, it would have only complicated things.”
“You, worry about ‘complicating’ things about our kinda-strained relationship with them?” Serethil raised a brow in genuine surprise. “I never thought I’d hear that from you, Sis.”
“I am still annoyed at Aethanael’s method of persuasion, yes,” Sedina said, her gaze locked at the sound of clanging metal as the hammer pounded on the anvil with distinct ring on it. “But I also cannot deny his capability of improvising a plan while we were there.”
“If I am to judge on his abilities alone, he is very competent.”
“Wow. Just, wow, Sis,” Serethil let out a low whistle. “Am I hearing a hint of…admiration for this Aeth person?”
“His name is Aethanael, Sister.”
“And you’re starting to even care for his name.”
“I am merely stating it not as a contraction, that is all.” Her cobalt-blue eyes avoided her gaze.
The Acrobat stifled a soft chuckle under her closed fist. “So have you seen him again here in Saint Haven?”
“No. And why should I? He has completed his task, and I have no reason to aid him of anything else.”
“He sounds like someone with a colorful personality. Doesn’t that pique your interest as well?”
But Sedina simply wore her familiar stoic look; Serethil knew that was the end of that topic.
Right. Three days. After that, he felt as healthy as ever. It was a good thing he managed to figure out how the currency worked and stuff. He had a bit of a cheat from that. Riches wasn't a problem for him really. Anyway, after three days of just sleeping and eating, he finally decided to go out and have a look-see at this so-called 'Saint Haven'.
Beautiful, yes. Quite the nice place. It almost made him forget that he was told that the outside was dangerous. There were dungeons and from what he heard, nests and dragons. That piqued his curiosity. But blindly jumping into those things is stupid and will get him killed, probably warranting another day of recovery.
He wondered a around a bit, trying to look for that elf he had come across a few days back. Serethil. He went from shop to shop, trying to find out more about Saint Haven. He figured that she was probably out on an adventure or whatever it is that she does. Maybe he'll look into the guild later on.
Taking a rest on one of the benches, he couldn't help but look at the woman in red in the center. The Events Planner. She's cute. Although, as much as he hated to admit it, his eyes often darted somewhere else.
"Bear," he muttered. "I wonder how Serethil would look like in one of those uniforms," he asked himself quite loudly.
With his experience with portals and dimension sliding, he should have known better. But with how easy it was to pique his curiosity, he couldn't help but do one thing that was probably the dumbest thing to do. So what was it that this homunculus did when he was faced with a red swirling portal without knowing its purpose or origin? Touch it, of course!
After that, everything went black. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself flat on the ground. Nothing seemed to have changed... so far. He felt dizzy, slightly nauseous. He was definitely in another realm. That 'sickness' was proof of it. Somewhere new, unknown, yet somehow familiar.
He caught wind of some ruffling of the bushes behind him and drew out his blades. A long oriental blade on his right, a silver dagger on his left. "Who's there?"
