"Once upon a time, back when nothing but peace existed in the universe, the divine being known as Abu would send his blessing upon a seed that had been tossed away and left to fend for itself. Harboring it and keeping it from harm, Abu would soon transform the seed into the Garden, the very grounds that we live upon today. Sacrificing his own physical form, Abu blessed us with powerful flowers that would become the heart of each of the eight kingdoms." A stern voice recollected the past as the sun shone brightly through the colored window of a small office, projecting an array of all sorts of colors onto the old wooden desk stood in the middle of the room.
At said desk sat the source of the reminiscing voice, royal consultant Ajani of the Hexdom. His words seemed to fall onto the uninterested ears of the younger witch in the room, Caden, who was currently examining the shelves closely. Consultant Ajani however paid no attention to the other either, continuing on with his history lesson as his gaze stayed on the book in front of him. "The flowers of Abu secure our entire existence. It was them that allowed us to inhabit the lands of the Garden and blessed us with the ability to wield magic. Each Kingdom in the Garden has their own flower, their own unique source of life. Our abilities come from our divine Flower of Spirituality."
He flipped the page, gently moving his hand over the picture of a purple flower depicted on it. "Its power has given the Hexdom balance, equally parting us in light spirit users and dark spirit users. Both you and I are dark spirit users." The Consultant’s eyes finally moved upwards, falling upon Caden who was close to knocking one of the many relics collected on the shelves down. Consultant Ajani got up and moved towards the shelf, grabbing the relic just in time for it to not fall down. Caden could feel the cold stare piercing their own eyes. "Our duty is to fight and defend. This will never change. No one is allowed to break our balance by mastering both spiritual abilities."
The words that were spoken came across bitter and almost like a warning, the expression on Consultant Ajani only supporting the statement's effect. "Are you even listening?" A grim and sarcastic smile was shot towards Caden who would simply step back a bit and roll their eyes. "I've heard this story at least a thousand times, you can save your breath, Consultant Ajani." The young witch continued to observe a different shelf now, purposefully moving the relics closer to the edge. "I am afraid that I cannot." A cold hand would grab that of Caden, pulling them away from the shelf and back towards the desk. "It is my duty to specifically inform YOU of all of this. Your reckless behavior will not do you well. You need to understand that selfish acts like mastering both spiritualities will have dire-"
"Consequences, yeah yeah." Caden pulled their hand free from Consultant Ajani's grip, waving it around and dismissing the other's words. "I'm not here to be lectured about what's right and wrong. You'd have to be utterly stupid to destroy your own spiritual balance like that." The young witch sat down on a chair placed in front of the desk and crossed their arms over their chest, frowning as the other sat back down at the other side of the desk again. "It is not about stupidity, Caden. It's about mortal sins and even complete madness that drives someone towards the thought. We couldn't possibly understand what exactly makes one act in self destruction, but what we can do is try to prevent it. We have lost good witches to this sin."
His gaze would fall upon a painting on the wall showing a group of young witches, some of their faces seemed to be scratched off. Silence suddenly crept into the room, making the situation even more awkward for Caden. "Still seems pretty stupid to me..." They muttered underneath their breath. Consultant Ajani turned back towards them and let out a sigh, closing the book in front of him and moving it to the side. His voice seemed to have softened a bit. "Even so, it is important to stick to what has been given to you, your blessing from birth. Especially for your journey ahead. You'll need all of your strength to complete your mission and come back home alive." Perhaps there was even a bit of concern in his expression as he looked at Caden who was seemingly beaming out of excitement now.
"Now THAT'S what I want to hear about. I was invited here to become the hero of the Garden! No need for the history lesson or lectures about what I can and can't do. I was supposed to meet Her Majesty so that she can bless me for the journey. Yet here I am, stuck with... you-" Consultant Ajani's face immediately lost all signs of concern and returned to the usual stern and annoyed expression. "You understand, right? I prepared myself these last couple of months just for this moment and now I am wasting time here. I could already be out there and make a difference! If the Garden really is dying then shouldn't we skip right to the part where I go out into the world and save everyone? I would probably be done already-"
"Caden!" The young witch's rambling was soon cut off by Consultant Ajani who had slammed his hand onto the desk furiously, snapping the other out of their fantasy. "You sure love talking about yourself, don't you, yet you ignore what really matters right now. This is exactly why I was against choosing you for this mission! An inexperienced witch like you should never set foot near the other Kingdoms, let alone have such an important task! You are doomed to fail just like every other reckless witch that tried to make a difference before you!" The Consultant's words were met with nothing but the silence of a young witch that just got scolded for being too excited.
He slowly moved his hand from the table and pinched his nose bridge, calming down from his outburst. "Listen to me, Caden. This is not just a one person adventure. You will have to do this with a group of great warriors from the alliance and you will need to get along with them. Stop thinking of this as a way to show off, there's a time and place for that but I can assure you that this is not it. If you cannot put that selfish attitude away, you will die... No, even worse, the entire Garden will have to die because of your incompetence. Do you understand?" Caden frowned at the other and hesitantly nodded their head. "Yes, Consultant Ajani."
They were known for being bubbly and speaking their mind freely so having someone criticize exactly that was a declaration of war. Caden thought about what they could say but everything that came to their mind at this point would be rude. Consultant Ajani crossed his arms over his chest and glanced at a small glowing orb that had been sitting on the desk. "Hm, it seems her Majesty is ready for you. Do mind your manners around Mistress Sage or I'll have you removed from this mission and stripped of your rank."
Caden stood up and pouted, kicking the chair slightly closer to the desk. "Alright alright, I will! Jeez, way to ruin my entire experience." For them, their daily routine recently consisted of being excited for the mission. It's not everyday that you get personally called upon by the Mistress, let alone be sent onto the most important missions of them all. The young witch took little to nothing out of the conversation they just had, the only thing that stuck was that Consultant Ajani was someone they didn't like and the other way around.
They also wondered how they could have possibly been accepted if the literal Consultant of Her Majesty was against them? Caden was more than happy that they did get to do it but it was weird if you thought about it. Either way, the two moved towards the door of the office, finally, Caden could escape the most boring room in the castle and therefore get rid of the most boring guy in the Hexdom. Or so they thought. With a confused expression, they stared after Consultant Ajani as he left the room as well and went on ahead to the main hall.
"Consultant Ajani, will you be there with me in the altar room?" Caden curiously asked, not feeling sure whether they liked that or not. "Oh I will be there but not on your side of the altar. You will have to go through this all by yourself." One could almost hear the slight joy that the older witch got from this fact, as if he was hoping Caden would fail. But Caden didn't seem to care all too much about that, shrugging it off. “Thank goodness, at least I won't have to be standing next to you during my audience with Mistress Sage, that would be weird. I hope she isn't as boring as you.”
If there was one thing that Caden was good at, it was probably making adults upset. They succeeded at it pretty well in this case too. “What did I say about minding your manners?” It seems like these two were bound to not get along, their personalities would clash against each other no matter how hard they would try. Not that there was a problem with that for Caden. “You don't look like Mistress Sage to me, so…” A grin formed on their face, a grin that would most certainly drive Consultant Ajani over the edge.
Luckily, before anything could happen, two of the Royal butlers had arrived to escort them. “Please, Mr Caden, this way.” The one with the short brown hair had called out, waiting for Caden to follow him. “I get that you guys are supposed to be really formal and all but please don't call me Mr Caden, it makes me feel old. And boring. Like Consultant Ajani.” The brown haired butler chuckled slightly at the other's comment, leading them to a room on the side. “You may prepare yourself here, I will get you in five minutes.”
In the meantime, the other butler with slightly longer and curly white hair escorted Consultant Ajani to a different room so that he could also prepare himself. Caden had just then realized that maybe this was more than just being sent out on a mission. To have the honor to have an audience with the Mistress of the Hexdom herself was quite the experience. Ever since the old Mistress had passed, Mistress Sage had kept herself away from the public, no one really knew what she was like, other than Consultant Ajani perhaps. They were excited yet somewhat worried about what could possibly happen.
“Nervous?” The gentle voice of the brown haired butler called out to Caden who had been seemingly spacing out for a few seconds. “There shouldn't be anything to worry about, the Mistress is a kind person. You will see.” He offered a soft smile to Caden before opening another door for them, gesturing for them to go through. “If you would please.” Caden simply nodded and went through, entering what seemed to be a smaller hallway decorated with wall paintings and dimly lit candles. Multiple former leaders and even great heroes of the Hexdom were portrayed on the walls, all standing proud to be remembered by all.
They would end up on a wall like that too someday, thought Caden as they smiled proudly at one of said paintings. A great hero loved and cheered on by all, that didn't sound like too much to ask for, right? Soon enough the colorful display would come to an end, same as the hallway that had led Caden to a purple curtain covering the entrance to the throne room. This is it. Once Caden stepped into there, they would finally start their journey towards becoming someone people talk about! With swift hand movement, the butler opened the curtain and let the young witch pass through.
Old stone tiles were now replaced with a polished, glowing path leading towards the middle of the throne room. The room itself was huge, like a cave carved out specifically inside of this castle. Pillars were scattered across the area with a singular colored window at the back wall behind the altar bringing light into the hall. At the altar stood Consultant Ajani, who held his hand out for Mistress Sage, the current ruler of the Hexdom, to take. She raised her own hand and politely declined, making her way up the stairs elegantly while her gown would follow her swiftly, swirling around from the motion. Her face was covered by a veil dangling from her witch hat, gently moving back and forth as she took each breath.
“Please, Caden, step forward. You won't be able to hear me from all the way over there.” She spoke as softly as her mannerism, inviting Caden to come stand before the altar. She let out a soft hum as they moved closer, audibly content with the young witch. “I've heard that you are quite excited about your journey and that you can barely wait. I can totally understand that. However, I must bore you with an important speech before I can let you go out into the world. Please, consider lending me your attention for a couple minutes.” Mistress Sage looked forward at Caden, a sort of understanding and even apologetic tune coming from her voice.
Caden blinked and looked up at her, they weren't quite sure if she was being serious or not. It's not like they had the choice to not listen. Well technically they did but no one would think to not listen to what the literal ruler of their kingdom had to say to them. Mistress Sage seemed a lot more calm and kind than the Consultant, I guess it made sense for the consultant to be the analytical and more stern one. Caden had once thought about becoming the Royal consultant, it seemed like a good position from the outside, being able to directly decide on matters with the current ruler. However, after looking into it more, the hoards of paperwork and meetings scared them away from that thought.
Mistress Sage took a step back and looked up, gazing upon the mural that was delicately painted across the ceiling. It pictured the Flower of Spirituality, the Hexdom's source of life. "I wish we could have met through better conditions, yet here we are. We are on the verge of war once again. A war that we thought we avoided 18 years ago. I'm sure you've heard this story a lot of times already so I will keep it short. Back then, we were overrun by an unexpected foe that we heavily underestimated. They call themselves the Clan of the Orange eye, damned souls that want nothing but total destruction. They despise the divine and follow the path of the creators, the ones that brought us here. After hiding for almost four centuries, they infiltrated multiple kingdoms and spread their corruption, damaging the Flowers of Abu." Her gaze fell towards Consultant Ajani who kept his expression cold and neutral. “It was a terrible war for anyone involved, we lost so many good people…”
“The Garden had never faced any form of global war before so no one could have properly prepared for what's to come. And even so, through our belief, we persevered.” Consultant Ajani added, his eyes wandering behind Caden with an expression that they couldn't quite read. He was most likely also part of that war, Caden assumed, since he was well into his 40s, perhaps he was reminiscing of that time or something like that. Not that Caden wondered too much about what he did back then. “We won after we formed an alliance with three other Kingdoms, but at the cost of many great people. And worst of all is that even though time has passed, the corruption on our flowers still remains. This is why we have called you here, Caden.”
Next to the two, a clear crystal was floating above a pedestal, the light from the sun reflecting off of it brightly. Inside of that crystal resided a purple flower, the very core of their abilities. One petal specifically was discolored, a dark and pulsating mix of orange and black sticking out from the rest of the soft purple colored petals. She gently reached for the crystal and opened one side of it, removing a singular healthy petal from the flower and taking it out. “To fully get rid of the corruption, we need to cleanse each flower with the power of the divine. To do that, us witches came up with the plan to resurrect Abu himself, for we have been the ones blessed with the ability to interfere with the spiritual world. We must collect a petal, like this, from each flower and reawaken Abu, or the entire Garden will rot away.” Her hands carefully closed around the petal as she passed it over to Consultant Ajani who took it and sealed it into a smaller crystal.
“We have chosen you not only for your strength and ability to wield magic, but also for your willpower. We believe in you reaching victory over the Orange Eye once and for all. As we are at our lowest right now, we must act quickly. You are to rally with the other three chosen fighters in City X and immediately start, we are unsure how much longer our flowers can keep us alive.” Taking the crystallized petal from Consultant Ajani again, Mistress Sage moved towards Caden and held it out to them. “It is my honor to bless you for your journey. May you move onward fearlessly and protected by the divine. Take this sword that was held by many legends of the Hexdom and take good care of yourself and your team.” Once Caden had taken the petal, Consultant Ajani also moved forward and handed them a purple sword, it had scratches all over its blade and had definitely seen better days.
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Caden took the sword and stared at it, they could barely keep their excitement hidden as their eyes would sparkle while looking at their own reflection in the blade. They finally made it somewhere in the world and everyone would be able to see exactly how great they can be. “I would be more than honored to do so, Mistress Sage, thank you.” With a firm nod, Caden stood up tall and was ready to go, holding the sword tightly in one hand while using the other to put the petal into their bag. Before they could move towards the exit though, they were stopped by the Mistress’ soft voice calling out for them once more. “Caden, I fear I have left much unsaid. Please be careful out there, not everyone is too fond of our plan… don’t lose your way and always make sure to think before acting. You don’t have to overachieve for us.”
She gently moved her veil out of her face and gazed into Caden’s eyes, to their surprise, she was way younger than they had imagined. They were close enough to their age if anything. “You don’t have to bear this burden on your own, your team will be there for you. Believe in them.” Sage smiled slightly as her dark green eyes held a worried expression. Caden stared at her for a second before returning a confident smile, giving her a thumbs up. “You have nothing to worry about, your Majesty! I will fulfill my duty and save the Garden!” And with that, Caden bowed and quickly hurried towards the exit, leaving the other two in the throne room. They sighed in unison and looked at each other in silence for a moment. Consultant Ajani was the first to speak. “So, are you still sure that Caden is the one? They are too similar to-”
“That is exactly why I chose them, Mr. Ajani. We need people like Caden to build the path for future generations. They will face many difficult trials on their way but I believe they will stay on the right track. Caden will get all the necessary support from their team. I can only hope that those three can handle their temper.” She chuckled before moving her veil back in front of her face, walking past Consultant Ajani and urging him to come with her. “You act more and more like the previous Mistress, Sage.” Consultant Ajani followed her and let out yet another sigh, crossing his arms over his chest while walking alongside Mistress Sage. “Put your trust in a random graduate that could barely be considered an adult instead of using someone more skilled and experienced. Can you guarantee that the same thing will not happen again?” “I get the feeling that someone here is upset that he wasn’t chosen.” Her laughter echoed through the hall as the other turned away.
The sun was standing low already when Caden made it to the border of the Hexdom, they had spent a bit of time getting all of their things into one bag and arrived about an hour later than they should have. What was that about wanting to immediately leave for the journey? Moving past the guards at the border, Caden got more and more excited. They had never been to City X before. The City was established as a place for every race to live among each other, a community held together by the efforts of volunteers. There were different parts that were specifically for a certain race, but even those were mostly open to others as well. Caden had wondered why the Kingdoms couldn’t form an alliance with everyone once and for all, it worked quite well in City X so why not unify the entire Garden. They all fought for the same thing in the end.
City X consisted of all sorts of people, people that chose to leave their Kingdom on their own, people that were exiled or banned from their home or people born out of the bounds of any Kingdom. You could meet basically any kind of individual there. This was why Caden decided to walk towards the City cautiously, they didn’t want to cause any trouble or leave a bad first impression. Now, if only they could remember where they were supposed to meet up with the other three… Staring at the map in their hand, Caden came across one of the entrances to the City. They remembered something about meeting at the south end. Was this south? How were they even supposed to know where the south was? Just then, Caden heard a noise from behind them. They turned around and jumped back in surprise, looking down at the small creature that had appeared.
Big eyes stared up at the witch. Its body covered in a robe and a scarf wrapped neatly around its neck, the Gnome did nothing further than stare up from below the brim of its pointy hat. “Jeez, you scared me quite a bit. Are you lost, little guy? Are your parents not around?” Caden crouched down and looked around, there was seemingly no one else around. The Gnome thought for a moment before grabbing a stick from the ground and drawing symbols that Caden had never seen before into the dirt. Pointing at them, the Gnome eagerly waited for Caden’s response to whatever was written there. “I don’t think I can read that, sorry little guy. Come on, I’ll bring you inside and we will find someone to help you, alright?” Caden smiled and moved closer to the Gnome, reaching forward as if they wanted to pick up the Gnome.
“Here, I’ll carry y-” Before Caden could touch the Gnome an arrow came flying from the treeline further out and landed right between Caden and the Gnome. Caden pulled back their arms and looked towards where the arrow came from. Just then, a tall figure revealed themselves from behind one of the trees, pointing their bow at Caden and preparing to shoot another arrow. “Are you insane?! You could have hit one of us!” Caden yelled angrily as they moved in front of the Gnome, shielding it. “But I didn’t.” The figure replied coldly as they came closer, the distinct pointy ears and long blonde hair coming more and more into focus. The Elf lowered his bow and returned the arrow to its quill, approaching Caden and finally stopping a few steps in front of them.
“Keep your dirty hands from him or the next arrow won’t miss.” Placing his hands on his hips, the Elf stared down at Caden through his glasses, keeping his eyes locked on the other’s eyes. The Gnome jumped up and floated over to the Elf, putting its hand in front of him as if to stop him from continuing. Caden got up and brushed themselves off, grabbing the arrow that was on the ground and looking at it. “Whatever you and that little guy have going on, I don’t want to be part of it. I only wanted to help it find its parents and then continue on, no need to attack me for that.” Caden pouted and threw the arrow away, placing their hands into their pockets and shrugging. The Elf stared at him with an almost disgusted expression but held back on replying, nodding at the Gnome.
“Are you certain that THAT is them?” The Elf asked the Gnome as if they were talking before, though Caden could swear they only heard the Elf. “I’m what? Why are you looking for me?” The thought didn’t quite click in Caden’s head yet, though for the Gnome and the Elf, it was clear as day. “To think the Hexdom would send someone as incompetent as you. Do they want us to lose?” The Elf snarled at Caden and moved past them, looking at the symbols on the ground. “You can’t even read basic enchanted runes? This is more hopeless than I thought.” Caden’s gaze followed him as they stood there, it finally clicked in their brain yet they weren’t sure they wanted to accept it just yet. “Don’t tell me you two are part of my team-”
“YOUR team? Who assigned you to be the leader? My, you are dumb AND full of yourself. Great.” Caden held back the urge to charge at the Elf even though they would technically have the advantage. The Elf couldn’t possibly draw his bow quick enough. “What’s your deal, blondie?! Do you have a problem with me?” “Not quite yet, that all depends on how you continue to act now.” His gaze was cold and judging, making Caden feel sort of uneasy. It reminded them of Consultant Ajani and yet they wished it was him instead of the Elf talking to them right now. This guy didn’t seem to have any compassion at all, something that was rare in the Consultant but still existent at times. Caden took a deep breath and calmed themselves down, thinking about what Mistress Sage had said to them.
“Oh dear, it seems like I came at the wrong time.” A different voice rang out, now coming from the other direction of where the Elf had come from. It was a woman this time, dressed in heavy armor and equipped with a big ax that she was currently leaning onto. As she observed the others, her noticeably fluffy brown tail slowly moved from side to side, her ears perching up to listen to what they had to say. “Now now, we don’t want to start arguing already. This will never work if we leave a bad first impression on each other and everyone around us. How should we gain support if we can’t get along?” The Fox shot the three a smile before standing up straight, picking up her ax and pulling it after herself as she approached further. As she stood next to the Elf, she placed her hand onto his shoulder and held it firmly. “Wouldn’t you agree?” She smiled at him, although her smile had something sinister and intimidating about it.
With a huff the Elf nodded, causing the Fox to release her grip on him and clapping her hands happily. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try and get along. But I will have you know that I will continue the mission myself if you are slowing us down.” The Elf pushed up his glasses and started walking towards the entrance of the City. “If we hurry, we can find a place to stay for the night before the sun goes down.” He stated as he continued walking, not checking whether or not the others were coming along. Of course, the Gnome was happily floating next to him while the Fox followed slowly behind, urging Caden to walk. “Come on, little Witch. We wouldn’t want to get separated before we even really got together.”
Following hesitantly, Caden caught up to her, looking up at her as they walked. She was notably taller than them, same goes for the Elf. They didn’t like being shorter than the rest but at least they still had the Gnome in the group to take the spot of shortest member for them. So, this was their team now? An elven guy that he couldn’t get along with from the first second on, a Gnome that apparently couldn’t communicate with them and a fox lady that looked like she could break you in half like a twig. This was not what they had imagined it to be like. “Are you worried, little Witch?” The Fox asked after Caden had been staring at her for a bit. They quickly shook their head and stuck their hands deeper into their pockets. “I’m more frustrated than worried. I just wanted to help but four eyes over here immediately attacked me…”
“Oh don’t take it personal, it’s just the way the people from the elven kingdom are. They are extremely cautious, especially when protecting what they consider to be ‘divine’ beings. Gnomes are considered as the closest race to the divine and since he didn’t know that you were part of our team, he saw you as a threat. We can’t always immediately get along with everyone we meet, it will take some time for everyone to warm up to each other, little Witch.” She gave Caden a gentle pat on the back, trying to comfort them a little bit. “Can you stop calling me little Witch, I am not little! Just because you are taller than me… My name is Caden, you can use that instead!” They pouted a little as the Fox began to laugh. “Fair enough, Caden. You can address me as Zaida then. I’ll be looking forward to what our little Witch can do.”
“I told you, don’t call me th-” “I give nicknames to everyone I meet. It makes it easier for me to connect to people, formally addressing someone always makes me feel like I am limited to having a work relationship with them.” There was a distant look in her eyes as she carried on walking, looking at the two that were in front of them. “Pretty boy over there is called Ithil, he doesn’t like me calling him pretty boy either but I have yet to hear him say it out loud. The Gnome is Hale, I still have to find a nickname for him. But speaking of that, please address him directly and talk to him like you would with any other person, he is not some creature that you can consider as an IT. Even though we cannot comprehend his speech, we still talk normally with him. You’ll learn how to read his gestures soon enough.”
Caden looked at Hale curiously, they had no idea that Gnomes were too advanced for others to understand them. Zaida, Ithil and Hale. Caden took a mental note of their names and continued on. “How do you know that, actually? Didn’t you also just meet them?” Caden’s puzzled expression caused Zaida to laugh once more, she seemed to enjoy their conversation a lot. “You were the one that was an hour late. We met at the proper time but decided to split up and look at the surroundings once you hadn’t shown up.” The more they followed the path into the city, the brighter and more colorful it got. There were many shops there that Caden had never seen before, things that they couldn’t even dream of. As the sun was starting to set, the four stopped next to a fountain and sat together.
“Most of the hostels are closed or full already, I'm not sure if we will find something in this part of the City.” Zaida sighed and held her head with her hands, her tail resting on the floor. The area was one of the poorer areas, not many people were outside and most shops were closed or abandoned. Hale and Caden stared into the water of the fountain at the little coins that were at the bottom. Both of them must have been thinking about taking one out. The coins looked like they had been in the water for a while, their usual silver color slowly fading into a more worn and dull color. Hale pointed at one of the coins that looked the shiniest, gesturing over at Caden. “Do you want that one?” Caden asked, trying to read into what he tried to tell them.
Hale gave the witch a thumbs up and happily watched as Caden took off one of their gloves and rolled up their sleeves. Before they leaned forward, Hale stopped them and gestured to Caden's back, making a gripping motion with his hands and pulling back. Caden nodded, it seemed like they were starting to understand what Zaida meant. “The least we can do right now is find some place that could give us directions to our first stop. Shouldn't be difficult to find at least one shop that's open.” Ithil looked up from his notebook that had a list of things they needed to do before moving forward. “What's our first stop anyway?” Caden called out while they had their arms in the water, trying to get the coin as Hale held their shirt and kept them from falling in.
Both Ithil and Zaida stared at the scene, one had to hold back her laughter while the other just sat there in disbelief. Once Caden had succeeded, they quickly pulled their arms out of the water and presented the coin to Hale as if it was a treasure. At that moment, Ithil realized that maybe age doesn't matter when it comes to how mature someone is. He was the youngest in the group, specifically he was two years younger than Caden, and yet the difference couldn't be more drastic. “Our first stop will be Nymph's creek, this should be the safest choice for us.” Zaida replied once she had calmed down, smiling at the two. Ithil on the other hand was glaring at Caden, making sure that they wouldn't get too close to Hale but also making sure they wouldn't do anything stupid.
“We should move, if we stay in one place too long, we might get held up by unnecessary tasks.” Ithil got up and nodded at his own statement, grabbing his bag and waiting for Caden to pack up. They had scattered most of their belongings on the ground while on the search for one specific thing that they didn't even find in the end. “Can we stop for food? I didn't pack enough to make it all the way to another Kingdom…” Caden stated while stuffing everything into their bag and following after Ithil once they continued walking, looking up at the other. While they walked, Ithil kept quiet and didn't reply, focusing on finding any shop that looked somewhat decent enough to go into.
Behind the two, Hale was happily showing the coin he got to Zaida, gesturing with his hands and explaining to her how great the coin was. “Caden.” Ithil suddenly called out, dragging the witch out of their thoughts and startling them. “Huh?” “That is your name, is it not? I overheard your conversation earlier… Or would you prefer it if I called you little Witch?” Caden swore they could hear a sly smirk appearing on Ithil’s face yet his face kept the same, cold expression. “Don't you dare, four eyes!” Caden playfully hit Ithil and immediately regretted it as Ithil glared at him from the side. “Hey, didn't you say we are searching for an open shop? That one over there looks pretty open to me!” Caden pointed at what seemed to be a café tucked away at the corner of the street they were currently on. It was the only shop in the area that emitted light onto the streets.
“A café? Do you think we can get directions there?” Zaida joined in on their conversation, placing one hand on her hip. “I guess it's worth a shot. Good job, Caden!” She happily moved past the two and approached the café, peeking inside through the window. Hale followed, both of them looking through dark tinted glass into a small but comfy appearing café. Just the right place to get some food, thought Caden, though they felt like they shouldn't say that out loud. Their main objective was obtaining the directions to Nymph's creek, not getting food. That didn't stop Caden from carefully observing the menu that was written on a small board in front of the entrance. Ithil let out a long sigh before opening the door, letting the other three enter before he did. They were greeted by a friendly voice coming from the counter.
“Welcome! Please take a seat wherever you like, we will be right with you.” A shorter woman welcomed them and then went back to sorting some papers that she had been busy with before. The inside of the café was mostly decorated with wood, there were shelves scattered around the room with various pottery items displayed. The tables were all neatly set, there was an overall soft green theme flowing through the café. Only a few customers sat at the tables, although most of them were already done with their meals and prepared to leave. There was one person in particular that immediately caught Caden's attention. He sat next to the window in the corner, staring outside while waiting for whatever he had ordered. A well dressed man with long red hair, loosely tied in the back. Caden had never seen someone dressed like that before, he looked straight out of a story book to them.
Hale and Zaida went over to a table and sat down, waving at Caden to come over and join them. Caden looked back at Ithil who was currently waiting for the woman to finish sorting the papers so that he could ask for directions. They shrugged, going over to the table and sat down, once again observing the menu. “This shop seems pretty neat and out of place, don’t you think? And why are they still opened even though the sun is about to go down…” Caden wondered out loud while Hale started thinking about it too. It just seemed a bit too random. “Whatever the reason may be, it’s a good thing for us. We can get food, ask for directions and perhaps they could even tell us where to find a place to stay for tonight.” Zaida exclaimed, watching Ithil while he still tried to get the hostess to talk to him. In the meantime, a server walked around and collected empty glasses from other tables, they seemed a bit shaky but managed to not drop a single one.
“OWL!!!” A strong voice suddenly called out from the kitchen through the entire café, causing the server to jump and run back behind the counter. It seems that the server's name was Owl, at least from what Caden could tell. There were three people working at the time, the hostess that finally had time for Ithil, the server that disappeared into the kitchen and most likely the cook inside the kitchen. All of the workers seemed notably young, around Caden's age, they thought. The server came back out with another order, going straight to the table that seated the well dressed man. It was a tall glass with a dark red liquid inside, decorated with some herbs and a lime slice at the top. It looked more like something you'd get at a bar than a café. “Here you g-” It was then that the server tripped over a chair that was standing a bit too far out from underneath a table, causing them to fall and shatter the glass on the ground, the red liquid going everywhere. And with everywhere, it also meant that it landed on the man sitting at the table, who sat there for a minute in pure disbelief. What followed was absolute silence. “Oh dear-” Caden mumbled to themselves as they watched the scene unfold.