Starlight Phoenix [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczOMu78GNOSJ-UvyEajbQkDNwNZNEfr33QGyL8iiwz6vZk17YMy4TsRAAnwJ3qgEWGk4xIH8z4Ar4pbYngCL1x6GLAO_gd8ApQxJVaNIp4awVBU3UGHK2fc6iHL0nXWQJiIGyvJTDjXKPH7M3rIpPEdu=w639-h958-s-no-gm?authuser=0]
“Are you sure about this?” Dazien asked, giving her a dubious look.
“Look, this is a covert self-made mission to investigate kidnappers,” Phoenix explained as she wrapped the heavy cloak around her, “We need to blend in, right? So cloaks and hoods to hide everything should do the trick, right?”
“I still think you should just stay here while I go check it out,” he replied.
“Nope. We stick together in the city. That was your rule, remember?” she retorted, not wanting to be left out and also wanting to see the portion of the city she hadn’t visited yet. She never had a reason to go to that district before and her curiosity was getting the better of her.
“Besides, we’re just going to look around and ask some questions, right?” she pointed out, “We’re not going to sketchy back alleys or anything.”
“Maybe you can even use your Saintliness to get people to open up more,” Rayna added with a grin, “You know, actually benefit from all the attention you’re trying to avoid?”
“I don’t think it would be quite the reputation she wants to have by interrogating citizens in the name of the Celestial Pantheon,” Uriel thankfully pointed out in her defense, “That said, you really can just stay here while Daze and I go ask his old co-worker some questions.”
“But I want to see where he used to work,” she replied, wincing slightly at the whine in her voice, “I want to know more about both of your lives here before I literally crashed into it.”
“I used to work for a very questionable Floraval Harvester as an aspiring professional Looter. There, now you know,” Dazien said, arms crossing in his defiance.
“Oh, come on,” she groaned, “You know that’s not the same as seeing it. I even got that special permission thing to portal within the city. If things get hectic again, we can just leave.”
“We can’t just keep her locked up to avoid crowds in the cities or assassins in the wilds,” Saiya added, and she wanted to hug her for the support.
“We can absolutely keep her locked up,” her brother retorted, “She even did so voluntarily the other day. I know she has plenty of enchanting materials from the monsters we loot to keep her busy.”
“Dazien,” Saiya said in her I’m-totally-a-mother tone of disapproval, “There’s still a fortnight left until the blood moon will likely end. We can let her see more of the city before she leaves it for who knows how long.”
He seemed to thaw under Saiya’s level gaze before he finally gave a heavy sigh, “Fine,” he relented then pointed a finger at Phoenix, “But if anyone sketchy starts making their way towards you, you portal right back here to the Wayland Estate and wait in the garden for us to return, alright?”
“Yes, brother dear,” she replied with a victorious grin before pouncing to hug Saiya.
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Phoenix kept glancing around at all the shops and people moving quickly and loudly, almost shouting at each other as they haggled, bartered, and tried to maneuver through the densely packed thoroughfare.
The group tried to stay close together as the crowd shoved into them while making their way towards their first stop. Rayna agreed to cover Dazien’s back as he entered the first shop to talk to the proprietor he had dealt with in the past. Meanwhile, Uriel, Saiya, and Phoenix waited around the corner of the building and out of the main causeway that the crowd was occupying.
She tried to keep her voice low as she asked, “Is it always this busy?”
“It’s usually busy but this is more so than normal,” Uriel answered as he kept his head on a swivel, looking out for potential threats and pickpockets, “The influx of monsters from the blood moon, not to mention the ones summoned during the war, has led to this,” he gestured towards the packed crowds. “There’s plenty of people wanting to sell recovered monster bodies.”
“Not everyone has a looting power like you,” Saiya added, holding onto her arm like it was a life raft, “And many people don’t have the skills or knowledge to perform a looting ritual on the spot. So they’ll come to locations like this to get the most from their hunts.”
“It might not always be worth the cost, but it usually is,” Uriel added, “While the fee differs depending on who you go to or what service you’re requesting, you’ll usually make a profit from turning kills or captures into loot.”
“Captures?” Phoenix repeated with a raised brow.
Saiya frowned, “I honestly disagree with that method. It seems cruel to me.”
Uriel nodded, “Capturing creatures instead of killing them just to make sure the body doesn’t dissolve or get further damaged before it can be looted… Look over there,” he said, gesturing towards a magical sled that was making its way slowly down the middle of the busy street, pulled by a silvery spotted sivatherium; the tall creature always made her think of the results of a moose and giraffe having a baby in the snow.
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When Phoenix focused more on the cargo, she recognized a collection of cages holding a pack of snolves, monstrous white wolves with two tails that were attuned to Ice and often spawned in packs. “So they capture monsters, bring them here, then what? Slaughter and loot them?”
“Basically. I know it doesn’t seem that different from what we do,” Saiya conceded, “But I see it as just prolonging their suffering. Monsters are already doomed from the moment they spawn. Their constant hunger drives them to kill even if their normal aval counterpart wouldn’t. I like to think that putting them out of their suffering is part of our job, aside from protecting the people they would feed on.”
“Despite what most people think, though, not all monsters spawn as aggressive, unthinking beasts,” Uriel chimed in, “Depending on their Caste and what kind of creature they are, they could live for decades in a peaceful existence.
“Take the Mallophant, for example. It’s a big and slow Ruby Caste monster that is passive, even friendly at times, and that’s mainly because it’s able to feed on plants in addition to Casters as well as being able to efficiently store that magical nutrients. It’s actually known to boost the vitality of plant life in the areas they graze due to their affinity for Life magic. They can live for centuries before being unable to sustain themselves off of plants alone and needing Adventurers to intervene.”
“That’s not the norm, though,” Saiya cut in with a slight warning in her tone, “Most monsters just want to destroy any Vauva like us that they come across. Even the Mallophant will slaughter entire villages to sate its hunger as they reach the end of their reserves.”
Phoenix frowned as she looked back towards the snolves, assessing the Crystal Caste monsters from a new perspective. Uriel noticed her gaze and added, “One of the problems we see with snolves, in particular, is that they are also native avals to the tundra.”
“Why is that a problem?”
He looked on sadly, “They are a part of the natural ecosystem here. Meaning they belong and help keep things in balance. Plus, they often become bonded Familiars.
“The problem is that out in the wild, it’s hard to tell the aval apart from the monster without good aura senses. So the avals that belong and wouldn’t normally seek out Vauva to eat will get caught up in the monster hunts. It’s causing their numbers to dwindle to near extinction.”
“I know in Epa Toivo, at least, the government there has tried putting rules around hunting some of the native avals in our area too, but a lot of people don’t care or can’t tell the difference,” Saiya added, “While they’ll punish the occasional offender most get away with poaching, and there’s not much proof remaining once a creature has been processed.”
Phoenix grimaced at the cages as they continued out of sight, and her attention was suddenly brought to a small figure in front of her, tugging on her cloak as the little cinderen girl said excitedly, “You’re the Starlight Phoenix!”
“I’m sorry?” she said in surprise. That was a new moniker she hadn’t heard before, and she wasn’t certain what it might have meant.
“The Hero of House Wayland! My friends were talkin’ about you! Hair like rubies, eyes like emeralds, and skin like sparkly diamonds! They ain’t gonna believe me when I tells them I met you!” the young girl squealed. “You’re just like the Ruby Princess, savin’ all us from them Reapers!”
“N-no, I’m not—” Phoenix began but was quickly interrupted by Saiya, who bent down to look the child eye to eye.
“That’s right! This is Phoenix Wayland, the hero that conjured that big Starlight bird in the sky and protected the city from the monsters!” the traitorous voxen grinned, matching the girl’s enthusiasm, then dropped her voice as though sharing a secret, “We’re on a top-secret mission at the moment, perhaps an apprentice Adventurer like yourself can help us out?”
“Ooo, what is it? Is there another monster?”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out. Have you noticed anyone getting super secret deliveries around here?”
“There you are, scrumpet!” an older cinderen woman walked up to them suddenly and lifted the little girl into her arms, “I said you need to be stayin’ close to me in the crowds. Don’t you be scarin’ me like that again!” she scolded then turned to Saiya apologetically, “I’m sorry about that, she gets curious and likes talkin’ to…” her voice died as her eyes landed on the voxen ears, then tails, then looked past Saiya to see Phoenix’s face surrounded by red curls attempting to escape from her braid and out of her hood.
“Mama! It’s the Starlight Phoenix!” she whispered loudly as she clung to the woman’s shoulder.
Saiya spoke up again, trying to act as casually as possible and not draw more attention to them, “It’s no problem. Your daughter just noticed my friend here and wanted to say hello.”
The woman spoke in a reverent whisper, “My apologies, Saint Wayland. We didn’t mean to be causin’ you trouble.”
“No, it’s fine, really,” Phoenix spoke up, trying to put the woman at ease by attempting to mimic Saiya’s friendly smile, “We were actually hoping she might help us.”
“They’re lookin’ for secret packages,” the little girl tried whispering again into her mother’s ear but failed horribly as they all heard her.
The woman suddenly went tense and got a worried look on her face, glancing nervously around her before saying carefully to the Adventurers, “We don’t know nothin’ about no secret packages…” She hesitated a moment longer before seeming to make up her mind about something and saying in barely more than a whisper, “But you may want to do some questionin’ at the Crimson Rose.”
“Thank you,” Phoenix said sincerely.
“No need for thankin’ me for not gettin’ answers,” the woman said roughly, then gave them a nod and added softly with a slight bow, “The gods be with you, Chosen One.”
Phoenix felt the uncomfortable chill run down her spine at the Title but kept the grimace from showing on her face as the mother and daughter quickly vanished from view.
Uriel placed a hand on her shoulder and said softly, “You give them hope. Don’t be ashamed of that.”
“Even if it’s a false hope?” she muttered bitterly.
“It’s not,” he stated matter-of-factly, giving her a knowing smirk, “Do we need to have that talk again about following our own advice? You would never say that the rest of us offer false hope as Adventurers. Why would being a Saint be any different?”
Saiya spoke over the group chat to inform Rayna and Dazien that they had a possible lead as she continued conversing quietly with her best friend, moving further into the shadows of the alley.
Phoenix gave a sigh, “It’s not the same, Uriel. Nobody goes around asking Adventurers to raise the dead. They expect so much more from me than I’m even capable of giving.”
“Would you give it if you could, though?” he questioned, watching her curiously with his warm ember eyes.
She was caught off guard by the unexpected question but answered, “Yes. I think? I know that’s what I’m already trying to do, but I feel like I’m always coming up short.” She leaned against the metal building as she lamented, “People keep ending up hurt or dead. No matter how many monsters I fight or miracles the gods use me for, it never seems to be enough.”
“But you keep fighting the monsters anyway?” he prompted.
“Of course,” she answered resolutely, “I can’t let the fact that I fail stop me from continuing to try, right?”
Uriel gave her one of his rare genuine smiles that she was grateful to see more often lately as he said, “See, knowing you’ll always try your hardest to stand between them and the monsters; that’s what gives them hope. That’s what makes you the Starlight Phoenix.”