Kevin and Jessica were standing in the temple of the unknown Gods people worshiped in this strange world. They were unconcerned with but not unaware of the general situation going on outside. There were some types of creatures that they could sense with some slight radiance of magic power that seemed to cause an environmental effect that would not affect them. They knew the town had some type of defenders, the Argonauts Cena had told them about and felt that they would be able to handle whatever threat was out there. No town could grow to this size if it was not adequately protected from common threats.
Technically Harahel and Lilitu were already married in Decide although that was when the characters were merely avatars in a video game. After Kevin proposed on the bridge the two put together their own little ceremony to wed. Originally they were happy to find the temple empty as they could perform the wedding without interruption or needing to conform to whatever the local customs were. Neither had any strong attachments to any type of faith and merely wanted the venue for its aesthetics and solitude.
As the couple got situated in their spots and were about to say vows suddenly the doors of the temple opened and slammed shut. Shuffling and yelling roused them from the peaceful moment that they delicately built for themselves. Which slightly peeved both of them as they turned to see what was going on. A elderly woman and two young men were talking after the men had barricaded the doors with pews from the temple's back rows.
“You all are being very loud for this to be some kind of temple.” Kevin said with a voice full of silent anger for interrupting his moment. “We are kind of in the middle of something here.”
While Kevin and Jessica did not know the intruders they could tell that something was wrong by their body language and demeanor. Grechid, Gael and Gary all turned their heads at the same time at the origin of the voice with silent anticipation of the new unknown presences. Still they did not care and wanted to go back to the task at hand; getting married.
“Who are you? Why are you in the temple?” Grechid asked.
Kevin turned to Jessica and let out an audible sigh as she ran her hand across his face.
“I don’t think we will have the peace and quiet here.” Kevin stated but in the guild chat so only Jessica could hear.
“It's fine.” Jessica responded in the same manner. “There's obviously something going on. I can still sense the magic creatures nearby.”
“Is it bad that I still don’t care?” Kevin stated in the chat.
“It is probably bad. I don’t care either but I haven’t cared about anyone out here but you.” Jessica responded in the chat. “Probably something to do with our avatar’s personalities though. In the game lore, angels and demons were both pretty merciless.”
Ever since arriving in Kilverstead Jessica and Kevin have found that they do not have any affinity for any of the humans or other creatures in the town. The feeling was not the same as just not knowing people so not caring about them, but instead it was much deeper. It was as if at a subconscious level their new minds registered anyone not from the game world as a lesser being. They genuinely could not think of anyone here as anything more than an insignificant, nameless and mindless NPC in a game. The only one that peaked their interest was Cena and that was for the contribution in magic items, knowledge and unusual appearance not his person.
Earlier while they were still on the bridge Jessica was the first to bring up the unusual feeling she got from the people here. How she did not feel the same way about the denizen that appeared around the guild. Those that came from the game she had felt attached to and cared about like people. Both she and Kevin were ready to set the world on fire in revenge against the bandits and those were people they had never met. Yet here it was the opposite, looking at a human from this world brought no emotional attachment or feeling of at least being around one's own kind.
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Both Kevin and Jessica caught themselves calling people it instead of him or her when talking about townspeople. Instead of being further worried about the changes to their personalities they decided to make light of the situation by picking at each other. It made them feel more like themselves and less like they were having their bodies and will snatched from them.
“I will ask again, who are ya and why are ya in this temple.” Grechid asked even louder this time. “Identify yourselves. I am the elder of this village.”
“It is yelling now.” Kevin mused in the chat.
“It?” Jessica laughed. “Leaning a little far into Harahel now aren't you?”
“She… You knew what I meant.” Kevin corrected. “Well I guess I better answer.” He cleared his throat. “My name is Kevin, this is my fiancee Jessica.”
“I would have been his wife if we weren’t just interrupted by the noise.” Jessica murmured to herself.
Kevin and Jessica let go of each other's hands and walked around the altar to the first row of pews. Grechid was surprised that two people that appeared to be Argonaut were hiding out in the temple as well.
“Are you both Argonauts?” Gael asked with some hope in his voice.
“No, we are merely travelers.” Jessica responded matter of factly. “We were just passing through and decided we would get married at this cathedral.”
“Now is not the time for a ceremony. Are you aware of what is going on outside?” Grechid asked.
“Magical creatures attacking? We could sense them. It sounds like you brought them to the temple.” Kevin responded.
“You may be travelers but you look well equipped. You could have helped kill the monsters attacking the town if you can sense them.” Gael stated.
“It is fine, they can protect us.” Grechid said with a smile. “Like I said. I am the village elder and am in charge around here. I can reward you handsomely if you two can guarantee my protection.”
“That is fine by us, we weren’t planning on going out there anyway.” Kevin said. “We were under the impression that monster attacks are handled by Argonauts and your town has a few of them.”
“I am surprised that the creatures are still around though, shouldn’t your people have killed them by now?” Jessica asked.
“Killed those things?” Gael questioned tears flowing down his face. “Willy and his team are dead. Grayson, Garald, Gorge, Garfuncle are all dead.”
“Oh…” Kevin said as he furrowed his brow in thought. “Are these creatures different from what you normally see in these parts?”
“Yes. They are something that normally takes at least fifteen Argonauts.” Gael blurted. “If you can do anything please help save the other Elders!”
“Gael shut your mouth.” Grechid yelled as she swung her cane and hit him across the face. “These fine travelers have already agreed to keep us safe.”
Gael's nose started to bleed as he spit out a chunk of a broken tooth. Grechid wasn’t strong but the weight of her cane hit him completely off guard. Gael pushed past his grandmother and walked up to Kevin and Jessica then prostrated himself before them.
“Please, I can tell you two are strong.” Gael begged.
Kevin and Jessica were both surprised at the show that just played out in front of them. They imagined a cinematic cutscene in Deicide in which they must accept the quest to kill a boss creature. Of course the emotions in the room were much higher than any cutscene could portray. They were even more unsure what they walked into if the Argonauts were this world's equivalent to the adventures from the game they may be dealing with a high level creature or a raid boss.
Kevin did not want to put them into more danger if they didn’t know what they were really dealing with but for some reason he wanted to test the limits of his new body. He couldn’t tell if it were his desires or Harahels. He looked over to Jessica who simply nodded and he could tell she felt the same. If they wanted to find a way home they would need to know the limitations of their skills. If it turned out that the creatures were too powerful they had no qualms with leaving the village to its fate.
“Fine.” Kevin said.
Jessica reached her hand out and it looked as if she had broken a transparent glass sheet in front of her which immediately began to bleed black blood which flowed out and pooled on the ground. She reached her hand deep inside of the hemorrhaging wound in reality pulling out her guandao. The shattered pieces of reality reformed and vanished and the blood evaporated into a fine mist. As soon as her hands touched the magnificent weapon her skill [Conseal Level] [Awakened] changed the awe-inspiring blade to look like a basic polearm.