Noone's mind screeched to a halt when he heard the words out of Tobias's mouth. He understood them, and he understood why he understood them. But how long has it been since he was able to talk with someone? With anyone?
Like a hammer to the stomach Noone felt sick as memories flooded through him of the last time he had talked with anyone. It had been years… He remembered what happened to Tapestry and another wave of nausea overcame him, he rocked slightly, placing his plate down before he dropped it. His hands came up to his face and he covered his mouth waiting for the feeling to pass. Before being able to talk with these beings, they were just strangers. But now that he could understand them, the loneliness he experienced from everything that happened over the past few years struck him. He suddenly realized how much he missed having someone to talk to.
Even if it was these strange beings, so what? Apart from their initial encounter, they had treated Noone fairly. Noone was unsure why they did so, but now he had a chance to ask.
Everyone looked on with different expressions. They had watched Noone’s face go from shocked to excited to sickly in the span of a few seconds and no one knew what to make of it. Sarah particularly felt her heart ache for some reason when she watched his grey eyes. She hadn’t noticed it before… but there was a familiar loneliness in them.
"What are you?" Noone asked. He finally lowered his hands from his face and looked at everyone in the group. He took a deep cleansing breath – this moment was too important for him to squander it by becoming encumbered with memories. His voice was not too high nor too deep. There was a crystal-clear quality to his speech that made it very appealing to their ears.
They were all obviously the same type of beings, but they looked so foreign. "And…" Noone hesitated for a second, pointing to the tall thin one who used the spear. "Why is Raelith blue?"
It just so happened that Noone had been dying to ask this ever since she began to teach him to speak, however he did not have the words before now.
Everyone choked on their food. Raelith couldn't help but smile sheepishly, she was unsure how to respond to that. She scratched her cheek, for some reason she felt embarrassed.
Many races existed in the common world. Among them were the elves. Elves tended to be taller and slimmer with pointy ears. And some elves, specifically Moon Elves, were hued various colors.
Raelith indeed was blue.
No one in the group found that weird, as they were all from the same world. But to Noone, he couldn't help but find this very odd. It would be one thing if they were all different colors, but it was just Raelith.
"We are humans, of course. Clerics to be specific, of the order of life. Raelith on the other hand is a moon elf, of the same order." Tobias responded, taking the lead in conversation. Initially he thought to throw out as much info as he could, to see how much Noone was familiar with. However, he got the feeling that Noone may know a lot less than they initially expected.
"Human? How can that be…?" Noone's eyes were clearly dazed, as if walking through a maze in the dark night. He felt lost. "I'm human.” He frowned deeply. We, my people, are human."
Tobias's eyebrows scrunched together. He carefully analyzed Noone’s every mannerism, even employing a bit of divine help to let him become more sensitive to the truth. But the only thing he saw was a lost and confused soul. Not just Tobias, but everyone in the circle was left unsure of what to think. How could someone who looks like Noone possibly be a human? Maybe he didn't realize how he looked? Surely not… right?
"Noone. Where are you from? How did you end up on the cliff? There was an extremely strong barrier set up in that space, we were nearby when the barrier broke, so we made it there quickly. But where did you come from?" Raelith cut right to the point. Everyone was very curious about this existence named Noone and nothing would get done if they sat around being shocked by everything he said.
Noone thought about what she said… a barrier? He recalled the sensation he felt when his consciousness was pushed to the edges of Tapestry as he broke through. Finally, he pointed to the west.
"I am from Tapestry. A city of… my people. It is a giant city built into the side of the cliff, overlooking the ocean at the edge of the world." Noone explained to them about Tapestry. When they heard the histories of the community everyone was shocked. No one was willing to believe a city had existed undiscovered on the edge of the world.
"This ancestor you mentioned must have been the one to put the barrier in place." Sally said, scratching her bald head. For someone to be able to isolate a community for so long, they would have needed to be incredibly powerful.
When they heard about the desolation which led the people of his city underground, they couldn't help but disbelieve a little. For over hundreds of thousands of years humans have dwelled on this land. There have been various catastrophe's but nothing to the level that Noone seemed to believe.
At least… not in the written histories.
Everyone looked at Noone as if trying to decipher a puzzle box. How long have they been tucked away at the cliffs at the edge of the world? And if they really did send a couple people out every thousand years, how come none of them had ever heard about such a people before? Even the grand-priest was unaware of the barrier blocking this edge, let alone any city underneath.
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The term 'epoch tribe' rose in their minds.
Tobias, Raelith and Sally all knew that epoch tribes could be discovered basically acting as time-capsules of era's passed. Some of which were home to their own unique races such as the tribe a few hundred miles north which they were on constant watch for.
That tribe had gold skin and four arms, so when they thought about Noone… from that perspective it suddenly made much more sense. What didn't make sense though was that Noone called his people Humans.
It was well known that humans have been around the common realm the longest, every other race lived in tandem or came after the humans of their world. So… why does Noone believe he too is a human?
Tobias explained this to Noone, however he had no answers to those questions. The only life Noone ever knew was the world of Tapestry. Now, with that gone, who else could possibly know?
"Why did you guys come for me? And what is this necklace?" Noone lifted the necklace which hung from his neck, letting the firelight hit it.
Both sides of the necklace were now in the shape of a moon. The rare stone which hung in the center was no longer a gentle blue, but instead it was black with white specks. Looking into it reminded one of looking into the night sky.
Over the past week Noone had tried various times to remove the necklace. Every time he attempted to lift it past his head, it would become stuck and he would not be able to move it. It did not matter how much he fought it or what techniques he tried. It was clear to Noone this was some form of surface-world magic.
No one was sure how to explain their circumstances, so Tobias told their story from the beginning, including Raelith's hypothesis on what the function of the spell contained in the necklace was for.
"I see…" Noone pried a bit further into the details but Tobias revealed that he barely knew anything more than what he said. Noone’s eyes furrowed in thought. So, someone obviously knew about me? My existence? Noone couldn't help but think back to the tall living skeleton he encountered in Tapestry… was it related?
As an explanation for their poor first meeting, Noone quickly explained what occurred within Tapestry before he left which caused his maddened state.
"Skeleton… orange eyes? Raelith ran her hand through her short blue hair in thought. She couldn't place it but that sounded familiar. "The most probable answer is that it was a lich. And a very powerful one at that to be able to slip through your ancestor’s barrier." She frowned. "The grand-priest at the head of the order of life is one of the few strongest individuals in existence, and not even he was aware that a barrier existed which hid the real edge of the cliff… Noone." Her voice hardened. "I hate to say this, but any being which could break through that barrier is not something you can deal with. As you are now without the harsh violence of the deviled will which overtook you, in a one on one fight you probably couldn't even match myself. I have lived for a hundred and seventy odd years, and I would be considered just below average in terms of fighting capability." Raelith was being completely honest, ultimately, she was still a student cleric, even if she was a member of the Burian.
Noone nodded his head, but his heart was set. Raelith understood that nothing she said would deter him. After hearing what happened to his home, everyone felt for Noone. Most of them had experienced death, so they understood how it weighed on the soul. Sarah understood this feeling most of all.
But the world was impossibly large, there were countless people who survived calamities with their heart set on vengeance. Some of them achieved their goals, others died trying. Raelith knew that if Noone ever got to live out his life and experience the world after they handed him over to the grand-priest and that woman, he would come to this realization on his own.
"You are a hundred and seventy?" Noone decided to switch the topic, he could tell what she was thinking, but his mind was already set with his goal. Even with the inner devil sealed within the pendant, Noone's desire for revenge burned like a torch in the night.
"Yes,” she smiled. “We elves can live to an incredibly old age. Humans…" She looked at Noone and smiled sheepishly, she knew that he considered himself human and she didn't want to push the issue.
"They," she said, pointing to the rest in the circle. "Live to be around a hundred at most, unless they choose a lifestyle which allows them to supersede their birth-given age.
"What about you Noone? How old are you, and how old do the people of Tapestry age to?" Sarah asked. Ever since they had begun talking her curiosity towards Noone had skyrocketed, especially after hearing his circumstances. It seemed as though she completely forgot the battle which occurred a month prior.
Feylin wasn't as moved as Sarah, he still vividly remembered the pain he felt and how Noone injured the party. He chose to try and put those thoughts out of mind, and instead try to accept Noone the way the rest of the group seemed to be doing.
"We live to around six hundred." Noone said, "I am… twenty-two."
Suddenly Tobias's hand twitched. He looked down at his palm, the pendant he was holding had definitely moved.
"Twenty-two, are you sure?" Tobias asked. He looked deeply at Noone, this was the first time he got a reaction from the pendant. He had been constantly pushing energy through it, relying on his divine nature to seek out any lies Noone might try to pass onto them. So far everything had been the truth, Tobias couldn't understand why Noone might lie about his age though.
Noone simply nodded his head. Tobias frowned.
"Noone, do you mind if Sally uses a miracle to detect your age?" Tobias explained why he was asking, he did not want to cause an unneeded confrontation when they were communicating so effectively until now. It was better to keep their relationship good and be open about his reasons.
Noone couldn't understand why Tobias would think he would lie about something like that, seeing no harm in it, Noone nodded his head.
Sally moved close to Noone and held her palm out, hovering just over his skin. His body was covered in a thin string of light and he felt his mind fog up for a moment.
Just as quickly as it started, the process ended.
Everyone looked at Sally wondering what she found out. Even Noone was curious. He wondered if he might have missed a year or two somewhere while being absorbed by the plant-like existence…
He thought back to the time he spent within the flower when he was climbing the cliff face. Initially he felt that a couple years had passed, but in reality, he had no way to know for certain.
His mind thought back to the stale air and clean-picked bones he encountered when he arrived back home. Suddenly anxiety flooded his heart. Could it be…
"Noone, according to the spell… you should be a little over one hundred years old." Sally said. She was unsure if Noone had lied knowingly, however the shock on Noone's face was genuine.
Everyone was unsure what to think.
Noone most of all.