“You know,” Miguel announced suddenly, interrupting a long period of silence while they rode. “I think, even after next time I die, I think I’m going to stay with Cleric.”
“Yeah?” David asked, barely paying attention. The walls of Sitifus were looming in the distance. He could just barely make out the upper tiers of buildings above the walls. Most of Sitifus was located atop a hill, elaborate walkways and arches provided paths to get from the lower section to the center of the city. At the very top, was the Palazzo del’Imperatore, the home of the ruling family of Sitifus. Most of the actual power belonged to The Church of the Guiding Light which was at the base of the hill, on the opposite side of the city from where they would be entering. But the Imperator still held sway over the region surrounding Sitifus.
Their ride had not been exactly peaceful. Several nights, when they’d been sleeping under the stars, they’d been ambushed by monsters. It hadn’t been anything the two of them had had any trouble with, but it wasn’t easy trying to get back to sleep after having to fight off a rampaging owl bear.
“Yeah,” Miguel nodded enthusiastically. “It’s nice not to be up in the middle of everything, not worrying about pulling aggro. Since I don’t PvP, really at all, nothing really comes at me. I get to stay in the back and be safe.”
“You’re thinking about Tara, aren’t you?” Tara was the owner of the Greenbriar Inn. Her and Miguel had been in a relationship for months. But, since she was an NPC, when he died it always took a few days to convince her that he was who he said he was.
“I mean, a little,” Miguel shrugged. “It’s hard after I respawn.”
“I don’t have a problem with you staying as a healer, and I don’t think the Raid Clan will either,” David shifted in his saddle, the long hours of riding were making his back sore. He was looking forward to dismounting and stretching his legs.
“That’s great, but what about Ethan?”
“What about him?”
“Well, he’s back,” Miguel said. “Aren’t you going to pass leadership back to him?”
“It hasn’t come up,” David grunted and cleared his throat. “But also, do you think he’s ready for that? Or if he even wants it?”
“Well, this is his plan, right? Doesn’t that show he’s still able to lead?”
David shook his head, “He hasn’t said anything about it.” He’d been debating for days when, or even if, he’d pass the leadership of Disorder back to his friend. But the truth was, he wasn’t sure if Ethan was in the mental or emotional place to be able to lead their guild.
On their ride to Playa de Fuerte, he’d been sullen and quiet. David had watched him carefully to make sure that he wasn’t going to do anything rash. Especially after the first night when he’d purposefully gone looking for a fight. The savagery with which he’d crushed the bandit’s skull had scared David, forcing him to step in and put a stop to Ethan’s brutality.
“Well, either way, I’m going to stay Cleric.” Miguel shrugged.
“Miguel, how would you feel if I didn’t pass leadership back to Ethan?” David ignored his companion’s statement and gave voice to his own inner conflict.
“Honestly? I don’t know,” the white robed cleric shook his head and frowned. “I’ve followed Ethan for so long, but there’s really only four of us now, is the leadership title anything more than a formality?”
“There’s at least six of us, Miguel.” It bothered David that Miguel wasn’t counting Daniel, Tae-Won, Sam and either Ethan or Alera. Ethan had worked so hard to build a close knit group, and with so many missing, their world felt much smaller. The slight on his leadership didn’t even register.
“Right now, it’s only four,” Miguel insisted. “You, me, Leah and Ethan.” He counted them off on his fingers. “No one knows where Daniel is, Tae-Won is in the depths of a dungeon, and Sam joined Kevin’s guild. I didn’t count them because they aren’t here.”
“You’re not counting on Alera?”
“Why should I?” Miguel sneered. His relationship with Ethan was, in some ways, deeper than David’s. As much as he knew about Miguel, what he and Ethan had between them was still unknown. “She left once, she doesn’t have anything tying her here, once this is over, do you honestly think she’ll stick around?”
“It’s because of her that we found Tae-Won,” David pointed out. He had been trying to stay neutral as far as the Rogue was concerned, but her help had been invaluable.
“But if it weren’t for her, Ethan wouldn’t be in the state he is,” Miguel shook his head. “I can’t forgive her for that.”
“And Leah? Do you hold her responsible as well?”
Miguel sighed.
“That’s harder,” he shook his head again. “It’s Leah, her husband is missing, being tortured. If it were Tara, I don’t know how far I wouldn’t go to get her back safely.”
“If Ethan forgives her, would you?”
“Ha!” Miguel laughed. “You and I both know Ethan, forgiveness isn’t really his thing. Holding grudges, that’s his thing.”
“But if he did?”
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“Fine,” Miguel sighed, his shoulders slumped. “If Ethan were to ever forgive her and move on, I would too.”
“Dude, what is your attachment to him?” David’s brow was furrowed as he looked at Miguel in confusion.
Miguel rode in silence for a minute, staring straight ahead at the paved road.
“About three years ago,” when he finally said something, David could hear anguish in his low whisper. “I overdosed. Pain killers. I nearly died.”
“Shit man, I had no idea,” David’s mouth fell open as he stared at Miguel.
“There was a lot of negativity in my life at the time,” Miguel wiped his sleeve across his eyes. “But Ethan always tried to help keep me stable. One day, just a regular day with nothing terrible going on, I just, just took too many.”
“Ethan flew across the country to see me in the hospital,” He sighed and smiled. “He stayed with me the entire time and then forced me into rehab. It was the first time we’d ever met in person, and he sat next to my bed while I was plugged up to machines.”
He knew roughly when Miguel was talking about. He remembered a day when Ethan had disappeared for over a week, he’d been cagey about where he’d gone and what he’d been doing. David didn’t realize he’d gone to see a friend who’d nearly died.
“Miguel, I’m sorry,” he hadn’t meant to dig up terrible memories for the Cleric.
“Ethan literally saved my life,” Miguel turned his head and looked at him. “I would be dead if he hadn’t come. My parents, my siblings, they’d written me off.”
“But a stranger,” he stressed the word. “Flew across the country to make sure my worthless ass survived. So whatever Ethan needs, I’m there for him.” He wiped his face again on his sleeve.
“He’s going to pull through this, you know?” David said, trying to comfort Miguel.
“I know,” Miguel nodded. “Doesn’t mean I don’t worry about him, or that I don’t want to protect him.” He shook his head. “Why did you send her with him? It’s just going to make things worse.”
“Because this isn’t the outside world,” David sighed deeply. “We’re trapped here, he can’t run away from his problems.”
“But-“
“Look, I’ve seen Ethan go through breakups before, I know what he wants to do. But he can’t do that here, he doesn’t get to run away from his problems,” David sighed again. “As hard as it sounds, he’s got to work through this so everyone has a chance to get home. I know that in the grand scheme of things, the eight of us aren’t more than a drop in the bucket of players, but we don’t know what’s still to come on the last seventy floors. The Raid Clan will probably need everyone, Ethan can’t afford to be self absorbed in personal drama.”
“So your solution is to make them spend weeks together?” Miguel eyed David cautiously. “You really think that will work?”
“I’m hoping it will at least force him to come to some terms with the fact that she’s not going anywhere,” David shrugged. “He can like it or not, but she’s trapped here too. Ethan can’t hide from her forever.”
“I need to stop for a second,” Miguel tugged on his reins and his horse veered off the side of the road and stopped. “Gotta change.”
“I probably should too,” David grumbled as he directed his horse to follow Miguel’s.
Paladins and Clerics in the Order of Guiding Light were expected to look and act a certain way, especially in Sitifus. For Miguel that means a simple grey cassock, cinched at the waist with a thick leather belt. A small, plain leather bound copy of their holy text, The Testament of the Mother and the Father, hung on his left side, and a medallion wrought out of iron featuring the profiles of a man and a woman hung around his neck. Only the highest ranked of the clergy wore anything more elaborate than Miguel’s simple vestments. Even then, it was only the few who preached Mass in the Grand Chapel.
David’s armor, on the other hand, was gleaming in white and gold. The same image of the Mother and the Father had been welded in the center of his breastplate, and embroidered into the center of the heavy white cloak he was currently attaching to his armor. Like Miguel’s cassock, it was strictly ceremonial. It provided no benefits to his stats, other than a small amount of armor.
He’d asked the High Lord of Justice why Paladins of the Order dressed more ornately than the clergy when he’d been given his armor.
“We are the loving embrace of our Mother, the shielding hand of our Father, and the righteous anger of them both,” the High Lord had answered. “When the common people see us in the field, they should always be inspired by our presence. Our brothers of the cloth, on the other hand, should inspire love and humility in the people so they may know our Mother and Father better.”
“This thing itches so badly,” Miguel frowned as he adjusted the robe. “And it looks like shit.”
“You’re starting to sound like Sam,” David said, strapping his shield to his back. Unlike the armor, his shield was magical. It had been the reward for finishing his class quest last time he’d been in Sitifus. “You’re supposed to look modest and approachable.”
“Maybe that’s why he doesn’t want to play a Cleric,” Miguel grunted as he climbed into his saddle. “He can’t look stylish in grey robes.”
“Maybe,” David shrugged as he got back on his own horse.
They rode in silence for another fifteen minutes while the horse and foot traffic grew around them.
“Hey, Miguel,” David said tentatively as they passed a group of three people in grey robes walking alongside brown mules. One of them, a rotund woman with short white hair, scowled as Miguel passed her.
“What’s up?” The cleric answered absentmindedly.
“I’m pretty sure you should be walking,” David craned his neck around, noticing several more members of the clergy. All of them were leading pack animals that looked much more modest than Miguel’s own dappled warhorse.
“What?” Miguel looked back at him in confusion.
David tried to recall from when he’d been a Cleric, not really all that long ago, if there had been some sort of forbiddance in riding.
“We are of the people, not above them.” The High Septon’s words came back to him. “When in a crowd, we should never be looking down on our brothers and sisters.”
David hadn’t had a mount at the time, so it hadn’t ever been an issue for him. When Miguel had respawned, he hadn’t had one either. This was new territory for them both.
“Yeah, you definitely need to walk the rest of the way,” David said as he dismounted. He knew Paladins were exempt from some of the regular rules the clergy had to follow, but if Miguel was walking, he wouldn’t be able to go as fast as David on horseback.
“God dammit,” Miguel swore in annoyance as he slid back to the ground.
“Ha,” David grinned and Miguel looked at him in frustration as he tugged on the reins of his horse.
“What’s so funny?”
“A cleric taking the Lord’s name in vain.”
“Different God,” Miguel scowled. “Asshole.”