Faewine [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczMBdJnSZn6vA7y7VToFeGGBzEVRTicN722WKuA7g45nre5HN2EUfWKlq3JDAYBJAKXFDIvShbit4GtdxPXmjTzhjt3mbABHA-UncbhqhwVrnGngHczkctq0zDI6tjrGt4j0tzi3JSsJ2SQTtMCTFOEJ=w639-h958-s-no-gm?authuser=0]
Lukas Lumeris was washing the blood off his hands in his private room with annoyance after watching the rainbow tails disintegrate into ash once more. That was the fifth time they had attempted the ritual and watched it fail to imprint its goal upon the soul. He had punched the voxen’s face for the smug smile he had given.
While annoying, he was determined to get those tails eventually, even if it took a hundred torturous rituals. For now, though, he would relax, replenish his mana, and sip some of the lovely faewine he still had in stock.
As he poured the Blood-infused wine into a glass and sat on his plush chair by the hearth, he opened a box of delectable dried dryad petals. Why all the best delicacies were illegal was beyond him. It’s not like it stopped people from obtaining them. It simply drove up the price, so the ones with money were the only ones who could partake. He was glad he was one of those with money.
Lukas was just about to open another box —this one filled with cigars infused with Phantasmal essence— when the alarms started blaring, “Warning! Ruby Caste intruders have been detected! Please evacuate via the nearest emergency tunnel.”
“Spawn of a spriggan!” he cursed to the air, slamming the box shut and heaving himself out of the chair.
“The savior’s Saint saves the sorrowful servant of slaughter,” a powerful voice said as Lukas turned to find the Maniac himself lounging across the chair he had just vacated, “Greatest gains by grabbing the gemite guy to go, but late Lukas Lumeris will lie in lavender lilies.”
Lukas raised a brow at the masculine-looking deity that only wore a pair of blood-red leather pants, “The gemite and not the Avatar or Saint?”
Maniac laughed, as he was often prone to do, “Rebel’s pets are pesky pests. It’s the king of kids, that wayward warrior, which will wake Valtessa Vanderill’s wishes.”
He frowned at the god at the mention of their High Priestess. The cultist was aware that she was searching for a suitable gemite for her grand ritual, which she hadn’t gone into detail about, only requesting assistance with the ingredients. He hadn’t thought anything of it when he originally got the message before the blood moon even began because he hadn’t known of any gemites in the city.
By the time he discovered he had been mistaken about that assumption, the orphan boy had already grown to prominence from his connection to House Wayland’s Heir and then became the heir himself. The boy was too risky of a target to even consider.
It was sheer coincidence that the gemite had landed in his possession. If a Ruby Caster was here now, however, and even his deity was warning him away, then it didn’t matter anymore what had been. He needed to escape.
Lukas paused and then asked, “If you know I’m going to be too late, why are you here, my Lord?”
“Scamper but stay. Watch and wait. Blood moon’s end brings bounty beyond the beach. Seek your sister by ship at sea. Treasure tidings the tides will treat.”
He tried not to sigh at the riddled messages the Mad God gave him. Whether it was purely in the deity’s nature or a side effect of not having much Aetherium to spend on giving proper quests or plain information, he may never know.
“The tunnels lead to the sea, so that is where I will be. If my lord will be generously merciful to my ignorance, information about which ship may hold the treasure we shall wait for, then I would appreciate something slightly more specific at that time.”
The Maniac simply grinned widely at him before vanishing, and Lukas finally released his sigh. He hoped he wouldn’t be stuck at sea for too long before heading to their sister branch in Serenydi since it was obvious he could never return here. Those particular alarms meant it was time for him to cut his losses and run to their hidden haven.
----------------------------------------
Patricia might not have had a physical beating heart anymore at Emerald Caste, but it still felt like it was racing as she followed the pull of Phoenix’s Soul Mark through the city and the streets of the Processing District. She was leading not only Emissary Mint, who had portaled with her to the Ducal Palace, but the small contingent of Fae fighters and other clergy members that had joined them along the way.
It wasn’t that difficult to figure out which building was the one she wanted considering the fact that it was currently on fire. She wanted to curse the Pyre Executioner but quickly realized the flames were magical, not hurting any of the people currently fleeing from the multiple entrances into it.
The upper floors appeared to be residential in nature and she felt her stress heighten when she rounded a corner of the building to see Phoenix with a group of other Casters in the middle of the narrow alleyway.
Relief finally filled her when her gaze found Padma, and she practically suffocated her daughter in a tight hug as she yelled, “You silly silly girl! Don’t you ever just run off without telling anyone where you’re going ever again! Do you hear me?! You are grounded for a year!”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
They were both crying now as Padma replied, “I’m sorry, mum! I was just trying to help Cami find Uriel and the others! I didn’t think—”
“Exactly! How many times have I told you to stop and think?!”
She squeezed her daughter tighter before forcing herself to push away to take in the Sapphire Caster’s appearance, “You’re not hurt, are you? We’ll get that Silencer off right away. I know some of the Warrior and Rebel’s clergy were more accustomed to dealing with rescue missions and probably have keys. Or the Adventurers—”
“Aunt Patricia,” Dazien spoke up sternly, placing a hand on her arm to get her attention, “We can’t trust the AOA with any of this.”
It took her a moment to register his seriousness and the implications of his words. She had wondered if there might be foul play with the mission before getting the jump on the group in the wilds but she hadn’t thought it was the AOA specifically to blame for it.
“We were given a mission to come here…” he added, which made her gaze darken, “It had the official seal and was signed by the Assistant Director of Investigations. They are not our allies at the moment.”
She nodded in understanding, “The clergy then,” she reiterated, “We’ll get these unlocked, and you can explain everything.”
“There might be more people left to save,” Phoenix interjected, “We need to go back—”
“You don’t need to do anything more,” Patricia retorted, “There are others here to help now.”
It wasn’t an exaggeration either, as the others were already at work helping the upper floors to evacuate while following the friendly flames downward into whatever hidden abominations awaited them.
Patricia finally took a moment to look around and take in the faces of the victims surrounding the party that had rescued them. Most with their gazes were fixed on Phoenix and she recognized both awe and gratitude within them. She grimaced slightly at that, knowing it would shove her niece further into the spotlight.
She knew that if a story could be exaggerated, then it most assuredly would be. The priestess had no doubt that by tomorrow, the city would be abuzz with gossip about the Saint resurrecting those thought long dead. She could already feel the headache building at the edges of her temples.
First, though, she needed to take care of these victims of the Scarlet Banquet while she left Knight Thevaris to take care of the cult itself. It was obvious that half the group was hurt as Dazien leaned against Uriel, whose eye was badly wounded, and he was also limping slightly.
Rayna also looked much like Dazien currently, slightly singed with electrical burns making patterns across their skin. The bard was being supported by her twin, whose tear-stained face was the only outward sign of the turmoil within. Camilla looked shaken but unharmed, thankfully, which seemed to be the same state Padma was in currently, and she asked, “Did they hurt you?”
Her daughter shook her head, causing the long braids to shake as she explained, “No. I— Dazien protected me,” the young woman glanced at the two men helping each other stand, “He was willing to die to keep me alive. He— That crazy cultist was going to make Uriel kill me, but Dazien wouldn’t let him.”
Padma glanced over at Phoenix as she added, “Phoenix got… um, well, she—”
“I understand what happened to Phoenix,” Patricia cut in, “We can talk more about that at home.”
“I explained to them that Phoenix has an ability that teleports her to safety in an emergency. Uriel managed to trigger it,” Dazien explained and she nodded in thanks to her nephew.
Patricia glanced back at Padma, who was now looking at Dazien the same way she had worried over her daughter looking towards Uriel before this whole debacle. She needed to have that talk about chasing after love interests sooner rather than later, it seemed. Neither of these men would be a good match for her daughter, but she knew simply telling Padma ‘no’ would only make her dig in her heels and chase after them more.
Her temple gave another threatening throb, and she quickly moved to usher the group away from the entrance as more people descended upon their location. It was becoming crowded now with clergy, guards, and Adventurers.
Monk Hawa Nemore approached the group and actually hugged Dazien as she said, “I’m so glad we found you. You know those kids at the orphanage would never forgive you for dying, right?”
Dazien laughed, “I can already hear Jennica’s ranting. Please tell me they don’t know we went missing, right?”
“No, but I’m sure they’ll hear about this close call. You know how gossipy Priestess Yua is.”
He grimaced and Patricia could better understand him now after her last disturbing meeting with that particular priestess as he said, “I’m sure she’ll somehow find a way to blame this all on me.”
“What?” Padma replied incredulously, “But you were a victim too.”
“Yes, but Priestess Yua has a bad habit of blaming Daze for everything,” Uriel said with a scowl, “She blamed him for not getting adopted as a child and for that time that I almost destroyed the playground. Said it was because I was jealous of the guy bullying him. Then she blamed him for Jennica becoming an orphan.”
“Well, that technically was my fault,” Dazien interjected.
“Didn’t you say that was because you saved her from almost getting beaten to death by her father?” Phoenix clarified.
“Still my fault she became an orphan instead of a corpse,” he replied with a grimace, “It was worse when I was living there, though. Jennica happened after I moved out.”
“How could she possibly blame you for getting kidnapped by a bunch of cannibalistic blood cultists?” Padma asked.
“Likely her usual victim-blaming tactic,” Uriel answered with a growl, “He seduced them into it. Tantalized them with his looks that they just couldn’t help themselves.”
Everyone looked from Uriel to Dazien in a mixture of shock and disbelief. The shiny gemite just shrugged, “That’s what happened when one of the kids found out about me getting assaulted about three years ago, and she overheard them talk about it. It was shortly before I became a Caster.”
“That is just vile,” Padma said with disgust, “How is she an actual Priestess of the Parent?”
“Oh, it was just me she was like that with,” Dazien clarified with a pained smile, “Took me quite a while to realize what was going on, but she is quite kind and motherly to the cinderen and runeforged children there,” he grinned and nudged his partner playfully as he added, “Even had a soft spot for Uriel, I think. She felt so bad for him getting into all sorts of trouble because of me.”
Uriel rolled his eyes, “She always made me feel even younger and more naive than I actually was.”
“Sorry if I’m interrupting,” a young runeforged man said as he walked up to the group and Patricia thought he looked vaguely familiar, “I was just wondering if it’s possible for us to go find our homes and families or somehow get word to them?”
“I’m sure the guards will want to at least get all of your names to help rescind any death assumptions,” Patricia said hesitantly, then added, “We could bring the families to you, though.”
“Oh! I’ll go right now and bring Madam Malik!” Phoenix replied with an excited smile, “I can’t wait to see the look on her face!”