“How dar…” Before the second word could finish, a vicious aura that felt like nothing but magnificent air from above broke off and slammed down, causing the elf to kneel onto the ground. There was no thumb, nor grunt. Not a single sound came from the altercation. It was clear this wasn’t because of the Will of the World was being gentle.
Looking at what just transpired caused Jessica to realize the implications of what was transpiring. She kept her head down, while still glancing around with her mouth sealed, seemingly been knotted to ensure she didn’t even breathe too loudly. Seeing the parties involved, she now had an idea of where each party stood.
First and easiest to determine were the duo, Ken and Loki. Loki had an ugly smile on his face with a sidelong glance. Trying not to laugh caused his very weak determination to uphold his imagine falter that much more. While Ken otherwise didn’t bother hiding his contempt from the beginning. With a light laugh, the two appeared to not be so friendly. Oddly enough, neither of the two seemed to be hostile towards her. Loki was very clear on this, while Ken seemed to be more neutral while showing clear contempt to the rest.
Without any contradictions of human aristocrats, like being chiseled out of stone, stood that man next to the kneeling elf. Hypocritical of everyone, there was a small veil hiding his arrogance. His contempt wasn’t as strong as Ken’s, yet even she could see he was looking down on the other parties. He hadn’t looked at the elven man that came with them since they arrived. This included coming to his defense even once. Though, he also didn’t try to correct his standing while still standing next to the elf that spewed hate from his eyes.
Uncle Beast standing to her left was glancing at her from time to time with a smile. Once everything started, he kept quiet and after bowing to the Will of the World, he hadn’t done anything. Standing next to him was a partially neutral man. It was unknown if he was friendly. Between them and that elf, they were standing a few steps closer to them. She couldn’t decipher if him standing closer to them held much meaning, and needed to determine his stance from the opposite party.
Old man had smiled politely at the man, while the human gave him a nod with a slight smile. This overly complicated relationships of everyone here seemed to be their own forces. Loki and Ken seemed to representation of the north. The human and elf combo seemed to have some type of alliance, while the old man was also an elf, there was hostility between the two. Only, like everyone else here, nobody saw that elf as their equal. Especially the man seemingly in some type of alliance. Dwarves seemed to try and stay neutral yet bringing Beast along and their standing position gave hope they were still on their side.
Surprising everyone here, the first to speak out after a slight bit of silence was Loki. Giving her a wink, he smiled before saying in a flat tone, “I, Loki Everwar, approve.”
Following suit was Ken, his voice was cold, only what he said caused everyone but the old man and Loki to seemingly freeze with surprise, “I, Ken Everwind, approve.”
From everyone’s reaction, she thought back to their talk around the fire. He seemed to have a large hate towards elves. His actions thus far seemed to prove this to be true. Only this begged the question. If what he said was true, which likely was the case. There was some strange between him and the old man. How old was the old man? What exactly happen between him and the elves?
Before her thoughts could get away from her there was another voice that broke her train of thought, “I, Daniel Everhope, disapprove.”
Finally, all eyes landed on the dwarf duo. More specifically on one, he didn’t delay or have a change in expression, “I, Lawrence Evercraft, approve.”
There was a bit of silence. Though this silence paused and didn’t break. There was a bit of confusion along the parties involved. Looking up, it was clear the next to speak would be the Will of the World. Still, she hadn’t spoken yet. Jessica was smart enough not to look up again. Instead, she studied the surrounding faces to determine what was going on. Suddenly all faces but hers turned.
Following a turn of her head, she saw snow. It was a strange site. Coming from behind Ken, a man was walking slowly, one step at a time. Each step he took brought him a large distance closer. From a dot to a tiny line, soon a silhouette, eventually from a silhouette came an older looking man. Wherever he went were flurries, strangely enough, this snow didn’t come from above, at least not from the sky. It was seemingly coming from the surrounding air. She was given the impression the moisture in the air was freezing before falling.
Everyone moved very subtly. What was once a four party gathering stayed four parties, however, there was a massive shift in attitude from everyone involved. Moving her over, the old man and her stood next to Beast, forming them into a single looking entity. While other two parties also gave the new entry a large birth. It wasn’t until he reached them, she realized there was a metallic taste in her mouth. Before she could spit it out, the old man put his hand on her shoulder as she felt his mana enter her body.
Very quickly, that metallic taste went away. This told her this was just an illusion, only how was it possibly for a man to give off such a devastating aura to cause her to taste blood. Such an idea seemed ludicrous to her. That was until she realized the grass under the man was red. Like red grass was growing under his feet. While the very air around them seemed colder, the man wasn’t able to produce any more snow in the presence of the Will of the World. Bowing slightly, “This old one greets the Will of the World.”
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Surprisingly still was her response, she didn’t seem too interested in anyone. Still her voice was as soft and gave off a gentleness of a light drizzle, “Everblood, how have you been?”
“Not so good. Even in my old age, I have come across a little one that seems promising. Now I have been teaching him while traveling. These old bones just aren’t what they once were. I digress, has the voting already started?”
“Four to one.” Seemingly unimportant, she just briefly answered before asking herself, clearly showing more interest in this, “Should I expect another child to come find me soon?”
“That’s a shame.” It was unclear if he was talking about the vote or something else, while his words sounded harsh, it was very clear he wasn’t upset. “Hahaha, that child was a bit special. I don’t know if this one will be able to find you. If he can, he will do so, after these old bones enter the grave.”
Pausing for a moment he looked around seeing everyone look at him, he laughed once again a bit sheepishly, still there wasn’t any embarrassment on his face or tone, “I, Mercury Everblood, abstain.”
Jessica had a bit of a frown, she could feel this new man was a monster. Without doing anything, most likely holding himself back in the pretense of the Will of the World, she could feel a formless pressure. Not at the level of the Will of the World, who she didn’t even dare peek at, he was still a level above everyone else here. Worse yet, he only glanced at her before nodding without any arrogance. If she didn’t know better, this man just randomly stumbled into this field.
If not for everyone's response to his arrival and the seemingly invisible pressure. What type of man had this level of power and still wasn’t arrogant or snobbish. She might be in a congress of monsters. It was by no means, at this point, any more clear. She didn’t belong here. Even more clear, now, she understood why the old man was so against giving her his last name. He didn’t lie, being granted this name she could very well be put in danger.
Suddenly she felt a pull, she was lifted off the ground as she was going to panic, there was a gentle warmth that entered her body causing her to calm down. Looking down at her chest, she didn’t dare look up.
“It’s fine child.” A voice filled with gentleness, slipped pass all her defenses as she subconsciously raised her head, before she could realize what she was doing she saw that imagine in front of her she had imagined had changed. Now she couldn’t see anything definite. Instead, there was a blurry haze. The only clear thing she could see was faded outlines and a set of green eyes beyond the haze looking at her without any real feeling she could read.
“I am sure that little one didn’t tell you anything when he brought you here. If he had, you wouldn’t have been so undefended when you peeked at me earlier. By this point, you should have come to understand what it means to be here with this little coterie. The vote has passed. I would be premised if I didn’t at least ask you this, do you accept the name Everwood?”
Possibly from being in the presence of a god, she thought her head would be spinning. However, everything was simply calm. She wanted to glance at the old man. Unfortunately, she couldn’t turn around, this might have been on purpose. This was a decision she would need to live with for the rest of her life. It was very clear there would be implications to everything that happened if she just nodded. Good and bad, a list she couldn’t even begin to construct. Wishing to be besides herself at this moment. She was uncharacteristic calm, without a single thought in her head trying to pull away her thoughts.
Jessica had no doubt there would be no end of trouble. Challenges she couldn’t even imagine, making things like the laboratory seem a childish game. Suffering she wouldn’t be able to even fathom in her future. However, there was one question she couldn’t answer. What happens if she said no?
An endless spiral of despair, just the idea that this might sever the connection between her and the old man. She could feel a gentle force entering her body, keeping her calm. Only each time she thought of this possibility, the gentle force needed to double or triple. The simple idea that their connect might be cut if she denied his invitation at this moment was enough to cause her to feel so many negative emotions because of a simple possibility.
Looking at those green eyes beyond the blurry screen, she lost all trepidation. A source of unknown power, she didn’t know she had. Combined with the desire, she did, know she had. “Yes. Now.” Before she could correct her slightly aggressive words, a light chuckle came from beyond the blurry scene.
Before she knew it, she was already on the ground. Without that gentle energy entering her body, she felt all kinds of emotions. However, one she didn’t have is fear when the elf looked up on his knees to look at her. She met his eyes without any fear. She knew he was very strong, and yet she didn’t care. At the moment, she had so many different thoughts running through her head, she wasn’t even beginning to understand how dangerous what she was doing.
Expecting some type of ceremony, she was startled to discover that everything wasn’t over. Patting on her back, the old man smiled lightly, “I wish to bring up another proposal since we have everyone already gathered.”
“Oh? What is it this time? You seem to have many interesting ideas today, Everwood.”
“Haha, you flatter me. I wish to again pass my name on once more.”
There was a slight air of surprise, even her voice held a bit of surprise, “Is Everwood returning to the forest once more?”
The elf looked up with surprise and glee. Only the smile on the old man’s face looking at him caused his heart to stop, “Forest? I no longer belong to the forest. I am sure it is understandable, when the forest betrays those who live in it. Forest dwellers are more likely to burn down the forest than return to nurture it.”
There were two bursts of laughter. The Will of the World couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. It saddened her, but she wasn’t disapproving of his actions. Life was dull and meaningless if none of her children were interesting. Second, laughter came from Everblood. His laugh was a bit bloody, as when he laughed, the red grass expanded a bit under his feet. The temperature dropped a little bit as he had a good laugh. He couldn’t help but speak his mind, “Interesting.”
Both of them had a good chuckle, but a silent air started to spread. The number of people here was not large. By process of elimination, there were only two options that remained… Not even the Will of the World could come to terms with what he was purposing, as it was too wild.