“Have you got everything, sweetie?”

“Yes Dad”

“Are you sure?” Freid questions his daughter with worry in his eyes.

Rhea rolls her eyes and smiles. “Yes Dad, I’m sure”

Footsteps start charging from the kitchen, and Rhea soon finds herself crushed between the powdery arms of a baker.

“I can’t believe you’re leaving us so soon,” Rhemis cries.

His tears aren’t surprising. Rhemis has cried at nearly every milestone in Rhea’s life. Thinking about it, there's not much to do with Rhea that Rhemis hasn't cried at. She’s going to miss them dearly.

“Let go of her you big brute, she can barely breathe” Freid lectures his husband,

Rhea feels the weight crushing her body slowly loosen as Rhemis reluctantly lets her go.

“Have you got everything you need honeyberry?”.

Rhea grunts in embarrassment. “Daaad I’m not 5 anymore” she protests, folding over her arms.

Rhemis chuckles before shifting his attention to his daughter, ready to begin his questioning.

“Have you got your sword?”

“Yes Dad, I have my sword”

“And your bow?”

“Yes Dad and my bow”

Rhea and Rhemis both laugh before each going in for a hug

“I love you honeyberry, be safe, I’ll miss you”

“I love you too dad, I’ll miss you”

Fried smiles at the two before also demanding a hug from his daughter.

After spending 14 long years in this cottage, Rhea knows everything about it. Which floorboard creaks, how to open the strangely stiff door to the kitchen, where the dents and lumps are in the stone walls. She knows the smell of fresh wood being chopped up and thrown into the fireplace, along with the sound of the crackling fire that illuminates the cottage on a dark night. The shabby dining table that they‌ still haven't got rid of yet. This old stone cottage may have its flaws, but it has always been home.

After all the hugs and goodbyes, Rhea is finally ready to go.

“Wait‌, I forgot something!” Rhemis panics as he runs off to the kitchen before returning with an item wrapped in cloth. Rhea unwraps the cloth and discovers a stunning, mouthwatering slice of honeyberry pie. Tears begin to form in her eyes and though she Hasn’t left yet; a wave of homesickness washes over her.. After saying her thanks and once again getting the lecture from her dads, Rhea sets off in the direction of The Kingdom of Aaguot.

As she makes her way through her home village of Rein towards the guildhall, she hears someone calling her name.

“Rhea.... Rhea!” She turns around and is met by Ora, the local blacksmith's daughter who, much like Rhea, became an adventurer instead of following her father's footsteps. However, unlike Rhea, Ora’s dad wasn’t as nonchalant about his daughter becoming an adventurer.

“Hey Ora, what's up?” Rhea asks

Ora huffs with her back bent over and her hands on her knees. Her short chestnut brown hair falls just over her cheek below her big, round, grey eyes.

“Nothing much, just my dad being a bitch again. What’s this talk of you leaving town?” Ora inquires weakly still gasping for air.

“Oh..well I just feel like there's so much more out there, y’know” Rhea replies, turning to face her before realising Ora has disappeared.

She scans the area before locating her human friend, who appears to be captivated by something stuck to the post outside Reins guildhall. Rhea walks over and what she sees shocks her.

“10 Gold Mitras!” Rhea whispers excitedly, her eyes widening, “are you kidding me?'' She looks at the location and it's in a small village right at the end of the Mirime Kingdom's borders heading north towards Aaguot. The man's name who is asking for help is Jameson and he wants to pay someone 10 gold mitras to return his…. Lost cat? are you fucking kidding me! She marvels at the reward for this clearly simple task before reading the rest. The cat is black with a purple underbelly and has been missing for 2 weeks now. 10 gold mitras for a lost cat?

“Oh Mirei! That quest is just too far out of my way!” Ora pouts, crossing her arms

“Not for me it isn’t!” Rhea smirks before grabbing the poster.

Grinning, Rhea walks into the guildhall and slams the poster onto the reception desk.

The half-orc man at the desk sighs, pushing his black rimmed glasses up his nose “I don’t see the need for you to announce to the whole guild each time you take up a quest Rhea”

Rhea grins, "C’mon Tor, I'm leaving for good after this. Can't you be nice to me? Just once?" she begs insincerely, with a slight smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.

Tor finishes skimming the paperwork before looking up and facing Rhea with a sigh along with a small hidden smirk of his own.

“I suppose so” he looks down, letting the slight smile fade from his face before looking back up at the fiery red-head “so.. This is it I guess? You’re finally leaving?”

Rhea hoists herself up onto the desk swinging her legs in the hopes it will give her some confidence to say something, but all she can make out is a simple, solemn

“yeah… I guess so”.

“You could stay” Tor mumbles, Rhea didn’t think he’d actually miss her but looking back on it they had some good times together. She sighs, throwing her head back and closing her eyes. She can’t tell anyone why she’s leaving. It's her own secret mission and if word got out that Rhea was going on such a mission knowing her past, her dads would be furious.

“I could but there's a whole world out there Tor and it's calling to me” she turns around flashing him a grin “so of course I’m gonna answer it”. Tor rolls his eyes with a smile, this time not trying to conceal it.

“Same old Rhea” he chuckles softly, staring into his childhood best friend's eyes before swiftly turning his head away “Right, I’ll go grab your contract for your quest” Tor gets up from his seat and turns around to the stacks of paper behind him.

"The same one you make me sign every time I go out for 'liability reasons'?" Rhea asks, folding her arms and rolling her eyes.

“Well, otherwise people would die all the time and we’d get blamed for it, at least with this the public know it's the adventurers fault.” Tor casually responds with a shrug before placing the contract in front of her.

"Charming," Rhea teases, hopping down from the desk with a grin. "It baffles me how you can't get a girlfriend with the heart of gold you have.”

“There’s a difference between can’t and won’t Rhea” Tor retorts and gestures back to the contract.

Rhea sighs. "Yes, okay, I'll do it," she relented, though the contract annoyed her as always. As she hovers her finger over the contract, an arcana circle appears. Rhea has been doing these types of contracts for so many years now that she doesn’t even need to channel her arcana into her finger; it is just instinct. She ponders whilst looking at the strange symbols surrounding the white circle that consumes her flames until the circle lights up and a tiny sliver of smoke exits from her finger.

“So… I guess I’ll see you around” Rhea says as she nervously kicks the ground

Tor's expression turns grave as he cautions, "The contract is done. Just be safe. The world isn't as friendly outside of Rein."

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“I know. I’m 20 years old, I’m a fully grown woman, I can take care of myself” she replies clasping her hands behind her back trying to hide the shaking. Of course it’s going to be hard, but I never expected this to be easy. Rhea looks at Tor who still has a worried look plastered all over his face. Mustering up all her courage, she smiles at him with a beaming grin.

“Tor. It's me! Rhea! I’m one of the best adventurers in Rein. I’m gonna be just fine”

Seeing Rhea with a smile settles Tors' nerves, and he begins to laugh loudly, shocking everyone in the guild.

“Yeah, you’re right,” he says with a chuckle, wiping tears from his eyes. “If anyone can succeed from this tiny village, it's definitely going to be you. Rhea Valgorei”

They both reach in for one last hug and just as they are both letting go, Rhea whispers something into his ear.

“Before I go, word has it Ora has a thing for you”

But before Tor can get anymore information, Rhea is already one step out the door waving at him with her stupid grin. He’s going to miss her.

Rhea, on the other hand, has only one goal on her mind.. Well, make that two, this 10 gold mitra cat is not going to find itself and with that she sets off on her adventure.

The wind whistles through Rheas pointed ears turning the tips pink, it’s at these times she wishes she had the stamina of a pureblooded elf, that would get her to the village in seconds, she sighs watching her breath escape and rise up before being swept away by the wind. The smell of wet wood engulfs the forest, a smell that Rhea had grown quite familiar too because of Fried being a lumberjack for the village. Suddenly, she spots a creature in the sky. Are you joking! No. There is no mistaking a beast that size with wings that powerful. A fucking dragon?! Hoping it hadn’t spotted her and decided that she would make a tasty midday snack Rhea darts to the trees hiding among the bushes, though she can’t seem to hear it anymore it's smarter to stay put when dealing with a dragon.

After waiting a few more moments, Rhea emerges from the bushes and rests her body against the nearest tree. She steadies her breathing with her hand on her heart before focusing on her next steps. The sun starts to set and Rhea urgently needs to find some light, after all the night is when the lower creatures of Deuma come out and though Rhea can beat them in a fight, it's best to be avoided unless she wants to get lost. Fire. I need fire.

She feels the familiar sensation of tingling as she conjures a flame into her palm to use as a defence. With her flame in one hand, Rhea uses her other hand to gather bits of wood. She stocks them all into a triangle before diminishing her flame and with both palms facing the pile of wood, she begins to feel the sensation in her hands again. She waits for the amount of arcana to be just enough before she channels her energy into the wood, causing a bright blaze to appear. Sighing in relief, Rhea leans her back up against the tree and listens to the soothing music of the crackling fire. Slowly Rhea finds her eyelids start to feel heavy and her body begins to feel weak. But the sound of rustling from a bush nearby shocks her awake. “you’ve got to be fucking kidding me” she murmurs as she slowly rises up off the ground and tightens her grip around the handle of her blade, if there’s one thing she can thank her birth parents for it’s the agility that comes with having elf blood, swiftly she darts towards the bushes and what she sees is not expected.

“A CAT?” she shouts in disbelief. “I got up because I was scared of a cat” she sighs with her palm in her face before looking at the furry creature. Its fur was jet black with a dark purple stomach. Purple… Where had she heard of a purple cat? But before she can put her finger on it the cat dashes off in the direction of a secluded part of the forest. “Hey wait!” Rhea calls after the feline before following it. Chasing it over bushes and fallen tree trunks until she finally catches up to see it grooming itself. But as soon as Rhea steps out of the bush ready to catch the feline, she finds herself caught in the beauty of this secluded area. To her right is a crystal-clear lake shimmering in the sunrise and to her left is the most gorgeous tree covered by its own hanging leaves swinging in the slight breeze. Even the grass beneath her feet feels so alive, she doesn’t know how to explain it.

“Wow…” Rhea marvels out loud

“Humanoids shouldn’t be able to come here” a stern but soft high-pitched voice shocks Rhea from behind, causing her wandering gaze to meet another’s. In the lake is a woman made entirely of water staring at her.

“Why are you here?” The water lady asks

Rhea gulps before replying, “I’m really sorry Miss water.. lady? I was chasing a cat?...” god that sounds stupid. Rhea chastises herself in her head.

“You are a fire arcani correct?” the woman asks

“yes ma’am,” Rhea swiftly answers

The lady looks her up and down before speaking again

“That is odd..” she ponders before facing Rhea and asking another question, “Do you know what I am?”

Rhea stays silent, reluctant to answer wrong.

The lady smiles. At least Rhea thinks it was a smile, before answering her own question

“I’m a nymphite”

A nymphite? I thought those were only the things of fairy tales Rhea knew of the nymphite of course, every child in every region did, they are the descendants of The Elmente charged with looking after their element and the humanoids, but many believed they had gone extinct or were never even here.

“Like… one of the descendants of Mirei kind of nymphite?” Rhea awkwardly asks.

The nymphite softly laughs. “Yes, one of the descendants of Mirei, though I believe your kind think mine are extinct. No?”

“uh… I mean there are a few who still believe in you guys but” she stops, scratching the back of her head “Yeah most of us think you are extinct or even never existed” she shrugs.

The Nymphite is stunned “Never…. existed…”

uh oh… I think I struck a nerve there.

Rhea waves her hands rapidly “I-I mean there are still quite a fair few people who worship you guys” she stammers, trying to cheer up the nymphite.

“Really?” The nymphite looks at Rhea with hope in her eyes, causing Rhea to bite her tongue and lie

“Y-Yeah really, tons of people still love you guys!” Lie.

The nymphite begins to smile. Looks like chaos is averted…for now Rhea sighs, I didn’t think a nymphite would be so… immature?

“Anyway human, you entering the barrier broke my portal”

“Ok…” Rhea stares at her, not quite knowing what to say

The nymphite frowns at her answer before carrying on

“I was meant to be having this big ceremony. All my brothers and sisters were going to be there” she continues

“ok…”

The nymphite sighs before carrying on, “but because you broke my portal, I can’t get back to my clan. The ceremony will be held in a year in the border between the light region and the water region” She smiles at Rhea before speaking again “And so that’s why you, as you are a human and know human things, are going to take me there”

Rhea freezes “I’m sorry what?”

“You are going to bring me to my ceremony” The nymphite sighs again but this time exasperatingly “since it’s your fault my portal broke it’s the least you could do”

Rhea racks her brain, thinking of ways to not take this nymphite with her. For one thing, Rhea already has a mission that she needs to complete that’s extremely important and another.. this nymphite seems incredibly annoying.

“But Lady Nymphite-“ she starts before being interrupted

“Please call me Liae”

“Okay. Liae. It’ll be absolutely impossible to get you to the other side of the Water Region”

“Why?” Liae quizzes her

“Because you don’t exactly blend in amongst the humanoids” Rhea responds, gesturing to Liaes body that is just water. “Most of us have skin at least” Ha, that’ll do it. Rhea begins to celebrate victory before Liae speaks again

“oh this?” she laughs. “That’s no problem at all”

And with a whisk of her hand, Liaes previous water body transforms. Her skin, though nearly transparent, appears like regular human skin. Her piercing blue eyes, reminiscent of the sea, and her long straight hair, a shade that can only be described as the colour of the sky during the early morning hours. If she had been born in Rein, Rhea knows for a fact everybody would have worshipped her.

“So?” Liae queries the half elf

Rhea sighs. I can’t exactly say no to the descendant of Mirei

“Yeah, ok sure,” she smiles

Liae claps her hands excitedly before stepping out of the lake. In the rush of the moment and the fact that Rhea was absolutely stunned by her beauty, she forgot to mention one thing.

“Erm Liae” she covers her eyes with her hands. “In the humanoid cities, most people tend to wear these things called clothes..”

“I think I understand… What about this?”

When Rhea turns around, Liae is in a beautiful dark blue dress adorned with silver designs running down the folds on either side of her skirt and decorating the cuffs of her bell bottom sleeves.

“That works,” Rhea quickly blurts before turning around and to her surprise the cat is fast asleep on the grass. She pulls out the poster to confirm her suspicions and indeed, it is the same cat worth 3000 Mitras. What a lucky find.

“Where exactly are you going, human?” Liae asks, looking at her newfound companion with curiosity. She hadn’t met a human before and is honestly quite excited to journey with one. Rhea scoops the snoozing cat up, placing her into the nymphite’s arms unexpectedly.

“Don’t worry, it's on the way and my name isn’t human it’s Rhea, thank you for asking,” she says as she picks up her bag with a huff, leaving the nymphite perplexed.

“Right. Sorry, Rhea” Liae sheepishly apologises, “I had no intention to offend you” she looks at Rhea and Rhea can see the sincerity in her eyes.

“Don’t worry,” the half elf replies with a sly smirk. “You didn’t even know I was a half-elf, so I don’t expect much from you”. Liae nods without thinking before realising what Rhea has said.

“Excuse me?” she looks up to find Rhea heading out of the forest, causing her non-existent blood to boil.

“How dare she?” she huffs before hearing Rheas' voice call out.

“Are you coming or what nymphite?”

“It’s Liae!” she calls back before rolling her eyes and following her new but not so friendly half-elf companion into the rest of the forest.