{-Myr-}
She was thankful to be out of the city. Sure, they’d have to be careful, but they had more options, too. A lot of researchers could use their help and, as long as it wasn’t around runes, she couldn’t think of any reason to be afraid of lending a hand.
Well, aside from the inherent nature of what Anseshara was and what happened there, that is. But that could be easily avoided, right? They’d danced around the topic this long, maybe they’d never have to bring it up.
Myr was up bright and early, glad to see that all of the players were there as well. They quickly decided on a quest—one not too far from the city, and not too close to any of the spots Casrane had marked. Though they didn’t really know what they’d do once they left, they decided it was good enough, and set out.
The scholar, when she noticed them approaching, waved them over. “Adventurers! Could I trouble you with a little bit of work?”
[Quest: Researcher Woes
Jasmin had been tasked with researching a certain set of ruins, but she’s finding it a rather overwhelming endeavor. She’s willing to pay any adventurer—or group of them—willing to lend her a hand and gather some data for her.
Rewards: 1100 EXP, 1150 coins]
“You had yourself a deal before you even said anything,” Zetai remarked. “Where’s a good place to get started?”
“Well, there’s more or less a few different locations.” Jasmin gestured around them. “I believe there’s a couple of old ruin machines over there, you’ll need to fight them for samples. I’d also like some samples of the nearby flora—see how they’ve reacted to their environment, and how long they’ve been here. Oh, and I need someone to take note of the artifacts and ancient writings around here, too. Some groups like to split up while others prefer to stick together. I’ll occasionally come to check on you either way, so it doesn’t matter to me what you do.”
Casrane nervously said, “I’d rather stay away from battles, if that’s alright…”
“I can probably handle them,” Tinath offered. She glanced at Jasmin. “They’re like the others, right? Scaling off of the levels of the players who go into the battle, and not the combined level of everyone in the party?”
Jasmin nodded. “You’re correct. You might just need to do a couple more battles in order to get all of the samples that I need.”
“I can come with you,” Reynneak said to Tinath. “It’ll save you from having to respawn in case they’re a little more powerful than you think, too.”
“As if I’m the one you have to worry about respawning,” she responded with a smirk.
Zetai frowned. “Hey, it’s not my fault I’ve got practically no magical resistance! What else was I supposed to do when they kept trying to target the glass cannons?”
“So I, uh, know you’re all just joking, but you’re making me a little nervous…” Casrane mumbled.
Myr realized it was a good opportunity to slightly change the topic. “Oh! If you’re all going to be fighting, can I look for the plant samples? I won’t wander too far. I just want to see what’s around here.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Zetai shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”
“And I’ll come with you,” Llewel decided. “We’ll probably be able to find more stuff working together, anyway.”
“If I remember right, there’s a fair bit of artifacts and writings throughout the area,” Jasmin recalled. “You can also take note of everything you find while you’re out. When you finish your other tasks, I’ll let you know how many are missing, and you can go and find them together.”
A mutual nod meant that they were all in agreement. While Tinath, Reynneak, and Zetai went to where Jasmin said the enemies were, Myr dragged Llewel over to where it looked like they would find the right samples.
Of course, she was happy enough just having a distraction from everything else. If she only focused on what she was doing, it was like it was the only thing that was going on. There wasn’t anything more to this than a couple of quests; what she felt and where they were meant nothing.
“Oh, look! That’s a pretty butterfly, don’t you think?” Myr enthusiastically gestured to it.
Simply out of curiosity, she slowly went to lie on the ground beside it. She held out her hand, partially expecting the butterfly to leave its flower and flutter off somewhere else… but it didn’t. It actually climbed up on her finger so she could get a better look at it.
From beside her, she heard Llewel let out a little chuckle. “It must like you, Myr-Myr.”
She hesitated.
“Is something wrong?” he prompted after a moment.
“N-no, just… it’s been a while.” She readjusted so she could face him. “Since you called me that, I mean. I think I missed it, actually…”
He was quiet for a moment, too. “I guess it has. A lot’s changed, between then and now—maybe that’s just one of them.”
“But why did it have to?”
“I don’t know. But… we don’t have to think about that too much right now. It’s only going to bring down the mood, don’t you think? So let’s just enjoy this.”
She smiled. “I’d like that. Would you like to see if the butterfly will go on your finger, too? Or do you want to look around somewhere else?”
While his smile was much smaller, she understood that it meant just as much. “I suppose it’s up to you.”
“Hm… let’s just look around. Jasmin will probably be annoyed if she comes over here and realizes we never actually left, huh..?”
So that’s why they did; they collected a couple of samples, generally talking about whatever came to mind. They reflected on the only somewhat recently-recovered memories of their pasts before the story quests—little moments with Duuzlo and the other priests in Nafrius. She assumed that it was safe to say that neither of them truly thought about the present and everything happening in it. She’d even go so far as to call it one of the best times they’d had just to talk since officially leaving Nafrius with the players.
But any peacefulness could be ruined in an instant, as that was. Myr had caught sight of a particularly pretty butterfly and, hoping to get a better look at it, gave chase. Llewel followed after her.
And while the butterfly had fluttered off out of sight, it had led them both to a spot that sparked a different kind of memory.
They stood there, suddenly silenced, facing the Heart of Anseshara.
It might’ve just seemed like some giant hand had come and punched the ground in that spot, did it not also glow—the same kind of glow from runes. The Heart of Anseshara was where it all began, really; where the runes started, before they spread out to the rest of Masylm. And it was where things were supposed to end, too, had things had been slightly different while the twins were with Casrane.
“Oh, there the two of you are! Jasmin wanted me to tell you that the players are all done, and she sensed that you’ve collected everything you needed to, so—”
Casrane stopped when she realized what they were both staring at. But when they both turned to her, she shook her head and made a failed attempt at making it seem like it didn’t matter. “We should get back to the others. They’re all still waiting for us before they start looking for the other relics.”
The twins gave a mumble of agreement and the three walked in silence to the players. Suffice to say that light mood was gone, never quite able to resurface again…