The elf in front of him gulped once; Norbert saw the figure playing out the conversation that he had just experienced in his head, trying to work out if there was a way he was possibly being conned.
With a nod of his head in satisfaction, the two clasped hands, Norbert giving a satisfied shake to finish the deal.
"Do you have a list of things you think you’ll need for the expedition?" The elf in front of him asked.
Surveying the room, Norbert noticed a shift in the guards' demeanour, a subtle relaxation in their posture. He leaned back in his chair, tapping his chin in contemplation, feeling the cool metal beneath his finger. His self-awareness was a comforting anchor in this unfamiliar setting.
"No clue what I'll need. A map, a guide, maybe? I'll leave it to you ... Mr?" Norbert asked, leaving the sentence hanging with a flourish of an extended hand.
"Isn’t it manners to give your name before asking for another?" The elf spoke, words grating on each other.
Smacking his palm against his forehead, Norbert rocked back on his stool, precariously keeping his balance. "What would my mother think if she saw my attitude? You're right; it is rude of me," Norbert said, clasping the back of his helmet as he released it, the metal dropping into his hand.
He placed it on the table, the cracked metal edge slightly embedded. Reaching for his mask, he felt fresh air on his skin as he took it off. He placed it on his right side, face up, as well.
"Norbert's the name."
The elves all were looking at him, all their faces scrunching up in response to looking at him. He brushed his face, confirming nothing wasn't anything on it, but the stares continued. He reached for the back of his mask, squinting as he tried to look at himself in the reflection, unable to see it correctly, but nothing looked wrong with it.
"Do I have something on my face?" He asked the staring crowd in front of him.
The sound knocked them out of whatever trance the reveal of his face had caused. "No, nothing. We were just surprised by how you look..." The elf, sitting down, unable to finish the sentence, tried to grasp the right words, but they slipped through his fingers.
“Dashing, handsome?” Norbert provided to this em.
“So normal”,” one of them said, loud from the side.
Norbert turned his attention to them, scouring their bodies for a sign of more information. “Well, I’ll take that as a compliment, then,” Norbert said, looking around at the three of them. “Wait, how do you know what is normal for a human? No offence, but looking at you and what you call yourselves, you are not. Do you have contact with those above ground?” Norbert quickly shot off.
“Wow, hold on there” The elf sitting at the table stopped Norbert’s stream of questions with a raised hand. “We are all getting what items do cite, items you need for your expedition and a guide?”
Norbert focused, remembering the question with them: “Oh yes, we'll need some food for the guide. I’m okay with that and whatnot and a map of the area. It's always better to know about it. And if I could look around this marvellous city of yours," Norbert extended his hands in a show of the opulence surrounding him.
The one in front of him nodded, standing up from the table and heading to the door. The two guards on the other side of the room moved as well, as the two besides didn’t shuffle at all. Norbert slowly turned around as he looked at the door, hearing the leader having stopped for a minute. With a nod before moving off, the two guards remained momentarily, only moving when the doorway was empty.
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He twisted his fingers momentarily, casting his ear out, waiting for someone to to turn for him. Getting through the song h, he was tapping, and still nothing appeared. Norbert sighed deeply, hoping he wouldn’t have a dagger in his throat for the move he was about to make. He stood up, letting the chair crash to the floor with a clatter. Looking down, surprised that it remained intact.
Slowly panning his head up, nobody appeared to be coming rushing down the stairs. Thankful that at least that still went to plan, Norbert padded up the stairs, coming to a stop as he looked at the squat building it came out from. The stone around him was the same colour as the rest of the cave, and a lamp hung from a hook on the wall. He stopped and started as the flames tickled around, reminding him of a warm cup of tea shared with a companion. As he looked back down at the pathway, realising that he provided his own name without getting the person’s name that he dealt with.
A mote of golden light appeared in front of him, Norbert tapping it as he felt it inside of him. Bathed in darkness, just floating around, the energy inside of him hardening up, curling around inside of him, a cat ready to pounce in case a threat appeared.
Stepping out of the darkness, Norbert found himself in the familiar room with the goddess. Her presence was a soothing balm, her sipping tea filling the room. She was a constant in his journey, providing guidance and comfort.
Finally able to properly relax, Norbert stretched up as far as he could, feeling his shoulders and back pop with the movement.
“Awwww, that felt good. Didn’t realise I was holding all of that in,” Norbert said as he walked to the free chair, unclipping his sword and resting it beside it. He reached the code table and took the hot, steaming cup of tea.
The lemon fragrance opened his nostrils as he breathed it deeply in. The smell itself refreshing and invigorating him. “Put something special in here?” Norbert asked, raising an eyebrow at the goddess in front of him.
“Nothing out of the ordinary. How do you like your interaction with elves?”
Sipping the lemon flavour, the sour citrus slightly numbing his tongue, the warm liquid going down his throat “Not the worst interaction I’ve had, but a weird group.”
“That’s what happens when you’re surrounded on both sides and don’t get enough vitamin D,” the goddess quipped, her words anticipating Norbert's impending meeting with Sally.
Norbert spilt out his tea, surprised by what he was given. Careful not to spill any more of the warm liquid, he wiped himself up with his hand before taking another sip. “I didn’t expect a response like that from you. But I know there is probably a timer on this again, so is there anything you want to talk to me about?”
“Honestly, no. This was a request from one of the other gods; Sally wants to get things down pat and regather next moves, Morenas.” Leaning behind her chair, bringing a scroll and unfurling it on the slightly damp coffee table, Norbert instantly recognised it as the scroll he had just signed.
“Oh man, I hope Sally will be too annoyed.”
“Well, there’s only one way to find out.” Luck said, Norbert looking at her as panic started over his face.
“Wait, just give me some time here, if possible?” Norbert asked her.
Luck tossed her head from one side to the other, then back again, before nodding, “Ok, but only for a bit.” Placing the cup of tea on the table, Luck stood up, placing her foot on the table, leaned forward and picked up the scroll as she bundled it up, leaping through the air with a spin and landing in Norbert’s lap. The cup of tea was somehow not spilling in her acrobatic manoeuvre.
“What are you doing here?” Norbert asked her, arms up in the air, not knowing what to do with them, blowing out several strands of golden hair from filling that luck.
“Oh, sorry about that.” Lucy whipped her hair around as it flew to the other side. Norbert’s breath was straightforward to breathe.
“You just look so relaxed …”
“I feel like there is a but coming.”
“But I've also been asked to come over there by Sally for the meeting.”
“And gods take orders from people?”
“Well, with the right incentive, of course.” Luck rubbing her thumb and index finger together, Norbert almost heard coins clinking into a money pouch just out of sight.
Norbert also nodded along to it, wondering how else the words stuck in his mind. What would he ever need a god to do for him, or how could he even give them something they would need? That thing what Ghastly requested?” Norbert asked, remembering when he helped the kid in Italy and wondering what that boy was up to. Hoping he hadn’t been caught again, the list of things he needed to do stopped him from helping others in the same capacity.
“Something like that.” Luck said, darkness consuming both of them once more.