Novaris. Novem. 903. AGC.
Jasmine woke up with a headache—a really, really, really bad headache. Placing one hand on her head like it would help lessen the pain, she turned to look at the small clock atop her drawer. The clock showed it was past noon, and she sighed with relief, seeing she still had a couple of hours before having to be at work. So, hoping it would help ease her headache, she pulled the covers over her head and went back to sleep.
A couple of hours later, Jasmine awoke with a start as her clock rang with the sound of chiming bells. Groggily, Jasmine twisted to turn off the alarm, causing the room to go silent. Her head was still hurting a bit, but the worst part was the dullness in her mind. It almost felt like that annoying probing had returned at full power and was attempting to drown her consciousness. Thinking about that caused her mind to sharpen for a second as she gained some awareness. However, soon after that, a thought dismissed the idea, and she assured herself that there was no way the problem had come back. After all, it had been months since it last bothered her, so why would it start now? It wasn’t even her birthday yet, was it?
Looking over at the calendar on the wall, she was startled to see it was indeed her birthday! Seeing that once again brought her mental dullness to the forefront as concerns began manifesting one after another. The issue was that it felt like something was fighting her, and each thought about her current issue made her psyche feel duller and duller. Then, as her vision began to darken, a knock rattled the door.
This new stimulus helped her focus on something else, and the thoughts about her possible mental hijacker melded into the background as she regained her vision.
“Yes!? Who is it?!” Jasmine yelled, seemingly forgetting the struggle that had just occurred.
“Jasmine deary, may I come in?” Replied Emeline.
“Uh-oh-uh, yeah, Aunt Emy, come in!” Answered Jasmine, fumbling her words a bit.
With that, the door opened, and Aunt Emy entered the room. She quickly tapped the light, causing Jasmine to squint as she adjusted to the brightness. Emeline went and ruffled Jasmine’s hair as she sat next to her on the bed.
“You okay, sleepy head? You have work in half an hour or so, and seeing you had yet to go down, I came to make sure you were awake.”
“Yeah, Aunt Emy, I think I just overslept a bit. I’ll go ahead and start getting ready,” Jasmine responded. She also attempted to recall why she had fallen back asleep, but she came up blank.
“Okay, that's fine. Let's not make it a habit, though. Hurry and get ready. I left you some leftover food from the midday meal so you can eat something before work,” Emeline replied as she stood and walked towards the door.
“Alright. I’ll be right down. Thank you, Aunt Emy!”
“You’re very welcome, sleepy head.” Responded Aunt Emy as she exited the room, leaving Jasmine to her own thoughts. However, it seemed like Jasmine’s thoughts were just fine, at least until Emeline popped her head back inside.
“Oh! I almost forgot. Happy Birthday!” Happily shouted Emeline before disappearing once again.
And as soon as Jasmine heard the words, she was struck with a sudden and painful mental spike, which quickly dulled to the same old probing feeling like the one from all those months ago. Luckily, Jasmine didn’t have time to contemplate the feeling as she needed to get ready for work. So, with racing thoughts about work and the growling of her stomach for not eating since last night, the probing in Jasmine’s brain faded to a dull nuisance at the back of her consciousness.
After washing, dressing, and eating a quick meal, Jasmine was on her way to the Smiling Sun Inn. This time around, her thoughts revolved around her future. She had already spent two years in the orphanage since she had turned fourteen, and she knew it was only a matter of time before a conversation came about about her place there. So she had to remember to speak with Heledth about having tomorrow off so she could go hunting for a new living space. Heck, she might also invite Rose along. It had been a while since they had last spent time together, and Jasmine believed it was time for them to meet up again.
As Jasmine thought back on her past, she wasn’t sure why she had been so timid. Life was pretty great, as was her best friend, which made her question why they drifted apart so much. To Jasmine, her past actions seemed odd. Yet that thought caused her dull probe to thrum in her thoughts. Luckily, before she had time to keep following that train of thoughts, she arrived at the Inn and was greeted with - “Hey Jasmine! Afternoon Jasmine! Glad to see you Jasmine! Looking great Jasmine!” to which she responded in kind. Then, it was only a matter of minutes before she returned from the kitchens and began taking orders as the night crowd slowly shuffled in.
Hours passed, the sun set, and the world was embraced in a dark, moonless night.
For the denizens of Novaris, this night was just another night—a night that, for many, would blur into just another inconsequential blip in the story of their lives.
However, for Jasmine this would be a night she would never forget.
Late into her shift, Jasmine whirled between the tables of the Smiling Sun Inn like a silver bee dancing from flower to flower. Like a bee, Jasmine was graceful and laborious in her duty and soon arrived at her target. There, she quickly left their meals and drinks before attempting to pirouette toward the kitchen. Yet, before she made it but a few steps in her graceful dance, she felt the dull ache in her mind thrum.
As she stumbled to a stop, Jasmine couldn’t help but clutch her forehead with the palm of her hand as the ache surfaced from deep in her consciousness. Sadly, much like a drowning man clutching at straws, her hand brought no relief to her growing pain.
Not wanting to cause a scene, Jasmine bit her lip and held back groans of pain as she attempted to stumble the rest of the way to the kitchen.
Naturally, some of the inn’s patrons picked up on her sudden change in demeanor and gave Jasmine a few looks of concern, which were quickly followed by a few calls asking if she was okay.
Jasmine didn't hear any of it as her pain had quickly grown, causing her to come to a complete stop. Both hands clutching her head as she zoned out the rest of the world.
The pain grew and grew until it was too much.
She felt her mind burn as something deep within began to stretch and split her consciousness.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Then, letting out a sudden bloodcurdling scream, Jasmine’s sight went dark as she lost consciousness.
----------------------------------------
Annale sat in the corner of the Smiling Sun Inn to spend another night watching Jasmine. This babysitting duty had been her job since she had spoken with her goddess and had gained official permission from the Grand Cleric to accomplish the task given to her.
At first, the entire thing had been refreshing, as it had been decades since she last mingled with the common folk.
So, as an undercover cleric, she had come to speak with some of the inn’s patrons and, through them, had come to do many of the things the shorter-lived folk seemed to enjoy.
She had drunk many varieties of alcohol, even if none were strong enough to affect her. Well, unless she let them.
Sadly, she couldn’t afford to lose herself in her drinks as she had a child to watch. Thankfully, she could still gossip about the many things that happened in the city, from fighting adventurers to the latest news about the Kingdom of Cetis and its harassment of its neighbors.
Another saving grace to her rather dull yet essential job was that she could also play some of the gambling games the inn’s patron seemed to enjoy. These gambles caused many a fight to break out, or so she was told, as her experience had been rather enjoyable.
It was indeed odd for her to be back between the common folk and their lack of decorum. She had been serving Luxana for around two hundred or so years, so she had lost track after a while, and the years just seemed to blur by. And, of course, like many imagine, serving a deity, or at least her deity, came with certain expectations, and she had long given up much of the many simple enjoyments in life. This hadn’t come suddenly but had been a gradual decline, coinciding with her rise in strength.
Now, that didn’t mean she no longer enjoyed life. Thankfully, Luxana’s clergy were not barred from enjoying themselves. And they all participated in private and public parties, with each having its own pleasantries, especially those thrown during The Day of Darkness, where she and the clergy got things moving. Sadly, that particular celebration was still months away, and she still had a job to do. So her eyes quickly scanned the room, snapping onto Jasmine’s figure as she delivered some food and drinks to one of the many tables.
Though not much, the girl had changed over the last month or two. Interestingly enough, the girl and those around her hadn’t noticed the gradual change just yet. But Jasmine’s once-grey eyes had begun turning silver and swirled with hidden meaning. At the same time, her light skin had gained a much healthier and paler look, much like Annale’s.
As Annale watched the girl, she saw her stumble and clutch her forehead like she was in pain.
It was hard resisting and rushing to the girl, but she had to contain herself. Annale felt more than knew that the proof she had been waiting for would be revealed soon. However, she couldn’t expose herself or the girl, and she forced herself to watch.
As the seconds ticked by, she also felt the presence of her goddess subtly descend on her soul as the deity watched the proceedings alongside her.
Annale saw Jasmine begin to stumble towards the kitchen while some of the patrons gave her concerned looks and called out to her with no luck.
Then it happened.
The girl let out a bloodcurdling scream, causing the inn to grow silent. As the silence reined, all heard the thud as her body hit the floor. However, Annale felt it.
For the briefest of seconds, she felt Luxana’s power within the girl. Yet there had been something else. Something repugnant that caused her hair to stand on edge.
Sadly, before she could intervene and help the girl, she heard the words of her goddess echo in her mind.
“Not yet, child. The seal weak as it is still holds, and we must not interfere.”
----------------------------------------
Elegnos waited impatiently for another night to go by as he watched Jasmine go on about her night. At first, the job hadn’t been that bad, and he spent his nights playing various gambling games with the inn's patrons. Sadly, they eventually figured out he was cheating, though not how he was doing it, and they all blacklisted him as a no-go. In truth, Elegnos couldn’t blame them. After all, having magic gave him quite the advantage, and he had his own bad experiences of high rankers using magic to “outplay” him.
So, without any gambling buddies, Elegnos began spending his nights drinking while flirting and hooking up with any living thing that moved on two feet.
Tragically, that little bit of fun ended too soon when he was marked as a fanatic of Loxie’s, which are those who take the Goddesses of Love’s teaching a bit too far. That particular issue was something he blamed on only being able to visit the same stupid inn every night. After all, only so many people came by the inn, and without other hang-out spots, he was quickly cast out as a crazed lover.
Well, at the very least, he could still get drunk. However, his drunken state didn’t help to stop him from getting annoyed whenever he looked at the stupid girl that he was tasked with watching.
The girl had begun gaining proper silver eyes and much paler skin, both features that reminded him even more about her connection to the damn goddess.
It was also annoying that he constantly felt the tug of his goddess as she checked in on him, not that he would ever actually express such feelings directly. He knew she was aware of his sentiment, but she overlooked such facts as long as he served her with total loyalty. So, not being able to do much else, he just kept patiently watching the girl for any signs of her connection to the damn goddess.
Luckily, something finally did happen.
Unluckily, Elegnos had no idea what.
He had been resting his head on his table when he felt a pulse of energy exactly like that of his goddess's wash over him. Then he felt his goddess's passive yet ever-present connection tug his soul so hard that he began to black out from the metaphysical pain. All he remembers feeling before losing consciousness was her pure, unadulterated rage.
----------------------------------------
Jasmine woke with a start, finding herself lying on a bed.
That wasn’t right. She had been delivering some food, and then…
Nothing. Jasmine couldn’t remember anything. It had all gone dark.
However, before she could hammer her head, attempting to remember how she had gotten on a bed, the door to the room opened.
“Oh gods, Jasmine, are you okay?!?!” Heledh semi-shouted, her face evidently concerned, as she stormed into the room and began checking Jasmine all over.
“Uh. Yeah, I am fine, I guess. Wait, what happened? How did I get in here?” Answer Jasmine, as confused as Heledh was worried.
“You fainted, that's what happened! Is your head okay? Does it hurt anywhere? You don’t have a bruise yet, but from what everyone is saying, you hit your head pretty hard.” Replied Heledh, still visibly concerned as she kept scanning Jasmine’s head.
“Yeah, I am fine. Honestly. I am not in any pain whatsoever.” Something she confirmed by also patting her own face. This, in turn, finally helped Heledh calm down, and the woman released a long sigh before speaking.
“Okay, well, either way, I sent a runner to fetch one of Sol’s Clerics, and they should be on the way back.”
“What?!? No! Ugh, they will just try to probe me with rituals again!” Replied Jasmine, clearly not appreciating the sentiment.
“Jasmine, deary, not only did you faint, but you also let out a blood-chilling scream right before fainting. You screamed so loudly that I actually heard you all the way back in the kitchen. Honestly, I thought a banshee had appeared in my lovely inn.” Heledh answered calmly yet caringly. Then, pausing to give Jasmine a brief smile, she continued, her face changing to a face that Jasmine recognized from the few times she had seen Heledh go into boss mode.
“Now, I am sorry, deary, but something is clearly not right with you. So, I want you to go with the lovely cleric and find out what's wrong. And I don’t want you coming back to work until you do so, understood?” Heledh continued in her direct and no-nonsense, ‘this is not up for debate, boss voice. '
So, Jasmine did the only logical thing and just nodded in response.