Open Book [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczOoVBjTjFa4WOZrw-fNaZ5QhYajC-8_vOdHQ3UbjRReQ9ctQlTy_eygK8E5f9KuV59qqKZy30Tuz_UZrKHeQF5QpYqaCK55bi_DHR-DRts-6qZdO5MtT9ztSPK43ElzXIAt1NvR-reY73EstmatBU0L=w639-h958-s-no-gm?authuser=0]
Phoenix always enjoyed visiting the Temple of the Scholar as it held her favorite items en masse: books. The smell of parchment and ink and the comfortable silence only broken by the occasional scratch of a pen was something she wanted to hold onto. She tried to add a mental note to return here more often now that things were starting to slow down.
When her party arrived at their destination, she was surprised to find other people she hadn’t been expecting gathered in the short hall that led into the inner sanctum where she had first met the goddess and gotten her mark and first Knowledge Tomes.
Her cousin, Camilla, was fidgeting nervously as Knight Thevaris spoke softly, and Everin stood next to her. The shy researcher didn’t seem afraid of the Ruby Caster, at least, as they attempted to include her in the conversation. However, Everin seemed more subdued than normal, only nodding or shaking his head in response as he looked around the room.
Her aunt, Patricia, was also there already, but she seemed to be busily swiping and typing on that glass tablet that Phoenix never saw her without anymore. She wondered if perhaps Jacob might be able to recommend a mind mender that specialized in tablet-addiction…
Her thoughts were interrupted as the door to the inner sanctum opened, and Priest Lester, who had originally guided Phoenix here on her first day in the city, smiled and greeted them all with a polite bow, “Welcome, honored guests. Now that all of you are here, my Lady Scholar wishes to address all of you together.”
The group then made their way into the inner chamber where the goddess was already present and glowing in all of her tiny divine glory, offering all of them a brilliant smile as she spoke with the child version of Phoenix’s face once the doors were closed, “Since everyone already knows everyone, why don’t we skip the pleasantries and get straight to why I brought all of you here: the sharing of knowledge and learning new things!”
Scholar gestured to Camilla first as she said, “Camilla Saren here has news about the little plot she originally stumbled upon, which most of you spectacularly stumbled head-first into. I’m glad Veldrix Thevaris managed to take care of most of them in Tulim, but she has more information, and I ask that you hold your questions until the end.”
The shy brunette looked around wide-eyed before nodding and readjusting her glasses as she spoke in a more practiced voice, “Yes. I discovered that the victims that had been marked for trade weren’t all intended for the DOD but for another branch of the Scarlet Banquet, as Noble Wayland would have been. Most of the ledgers had been written with a code. The Ducal Guards let me take a look at it, and I was able to deduce that the branch was located in Serenydi.”
The researcher glanced over at Dazien, not meeting his eyes but taking in his hair as she added, “I believe Noble Wayland’s biological father, James Smithson, to have been taken there during the previous blood moon over sixteen years ago.”
Phoenix could sense her brother tense slightly beside her, but he didn’t look her way as she spared a glance towards him in concern. It was Scholar who spoke next, though, “Thank you, Camilla Saren. Exceptional work as always.”
Then the child-like goddess gestured to the garnet gemite, “I believe you have something to add in regards to that particular location, Veldrix Thevaris.”
The knight nodded and glanced toward Phoenix as they spoke to the group, “I’ve been using my own methods for tracking down information since I awoke after we raided the cannibal lair. I had managed to get a missive sent requesting some assistance from old contacts in the capital before resting for my Evolution Recovery.”
Veldrix looked towards Camilla, then added, “They were able to confirm the last known location for them to be near the city-state of Serenydi as well.” Then they gave a sigh and added, “I came to a dead end in my search for answers, though, since currently, I’ve agreed not to leave the city without a Ruby Caste defender from the capital for it to fall back on and even then I would need to return to the capital. Most of those contacts are also retired, but I can send more letters and see if any are interested in picking up the trail beyond our borders.”
“Thank you, Veldrix Thevaris,” Scholar said and then gestured towards Phoenix, “Now, my Chosen, it’s time to share why you came here in the first place to those who don’t know.”
Her eyes went wide at the sudden spotlight of attention, but a moment later, she remembered that she knew all of these people and swallowed her anxiety as she explained to Camilla, Veldrix, and Patricia about the divine quest she had been given by Hero and Rebel that had seemed to start the cascade of divine favors.
“Y-you… The gods want you to t-travel halfway across the world to s-save another nation?” Camilla asked her in disbelief.
It was then that Phoenix realized that she had never asked where Tyrand was.
With the blood moon, Soul Reaper invasion, betrayal of noble houses, and not being powerful enough to really start on her quest, she hadn’t thought to look into more details about the nation she was meant to save. She had been leaving all of that to Paul and Dazien, and she mentally berated herself. Instead of looking into basic information about Tyrand, she had been tinkering with magic items…
Veldrix was the next to voice a question as they asked Scholar, “I don’t understand. While I appreciate the trust you all are displaying in me to keep this information secret, what does this quest have to do with the Scarlet Banquet?”
The goddess then surprised all of them by gesturing towards the amethyst gemite instead, asking with a grin, “Would you care to add your piece of the puzzle, Dazien?”
They all turned to look at the Defender, who gave a slightly bashful look before saying to the group, “After learning about Phoenix’s quest and talking with Paul, I started working with him on researching for it. We found mentions of an ancient relic called the Monarch’s Authority. It’s a set of three legendary magical items that have been passed down within the Tyrandian royalty for hundreds of generations. During the coup by the current regent about two decades ago, the set was rumored to be divided; the pieces said to be lost or hidden away.”
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He finally turned to meet Phoenix’s surprised look as he finished, “One of the pieces of the set was rumored to have been last seen in Serenydi.”
“So, that’s my destination,” Phoenix said, finally understanding why they had all been brought together, “I need to go to Serenydi.”
Dazien nodded and pointed out, “For more than just your quest, it seems.”
He paused for a moment before saying with heavy sobriety, “I told you before, but I’m going to say it again now for the benefit of the others; I’m with you to the end, my sister. I will lead our group to help you in achieving your goals if that is what you desire, and I will do my best to defend us all.”
Phoenix found herself slightly stunned by the sincerity of his words, and she slowly looked at the Mage standing beside him.
Uriel gave a small reassuring smile as he said, “I’ll continue to follow my king. But I also agreed to be there to keep you from breaking more, remember? I promised to stand beside you as one of the Chosen, no matter where that may lead.”
She flushed slightly at the reminder of their conversations that had seemed like ages ago. Phoenix had once displayed her dedication to her friend by absorbing the Spirit Gem that he had been forced into and feared. Now, he was returning that show of dedication by remaining by her side during her potentially dangerous and time-consuming quest.
Phoenix turned to look at the twins, who had remained silent for most of this time, as she started to say, “I know you both never really signed up for this when joining our party—”
“Don’t even,” Rayna interrupted with a grin, “We’ve already made our preparations.” She gestured towards her sister, who wore the attire of the Traveler’s clergy. “She even went ahead and joined a temple.”
Saiya scowled at her twin, “I didn’t do it for Phoenix. This was for myself.”
“The point is that we’re not about to leave our other sister to face an epic quest all on her own,” Rayna interjected, “We’re with you, Phoenix.”
“What about Mohala?” she asked, understanding that the two wanted to remain together after trying to set her up with Polissa.
“We already talked about that after Po told us what happened last night,” Rayna said with an awkward look, “We’re sorry things didn’t work out between you two. I really thought Po might have been a good match for you, but she said that it was her fault for not understanding what we tried to explain beforehand. I hope you’re not upset about it.”
“I—” Phoenix wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. She had been upset, mostly at herself, but hearing Rayna talk about Po seeming to be doing the same thing in self-blaming actually helped her realize that neither of them was to blame, just like Po had told her.
“I’m not upset anymore,” she admitted, “I think for now I’ll just focus on this quest, though, and just let something like that happen on its own instead of searching for it like Daze and Uriel suggested.”
Phoenix glanced over at the pair, who smiled in encouragement, and then she asked Rayna, “But what did you and Mo decide?”
“We plan to try keeping in touch and see if we can handle the intermittent visits and write letters until this quest is over,” the bard said with a sigh, “She doesn’t want to leave Po here while their family is still recovering and overworked, but I really wish the PPS was faster at delivering letters.”
“PPS?”
“Pyrin Postal Service,” Dazien answered, “They limit their services during a blood moon, but they should be fully operational again soon. It’s mostly run by Avians, but they’ll hire pretty much any portalist they can get their hands on, as well as a number of travel and speed-based Casters to get letters and packages delivered all over the continent. You pay extra for speed, but if you don’t mind waiting, the standard fare isn’t too outrageous.”
“I was tempted to put myself in a box and see if they’d ship me here before the blood moon,” Everin added from across the group with a grin, “Would have saved so many Bits in portal fare to get here from Felwen.”
“Felwen?” Phoenix asked, not recalling having heard the name before, “I thought you came from Tyrand?”
“Oh, I did,” he clarified, “But Tyrand doesn’t allow any travel in or out of the country. So, I was basically smuggled to the neighboring queendom of Felwen, where I could access a portal from. Even with that, it still took me a good two months of portal hopping, caravan catching, and then walking on foot before I got here.”
“I think that just displays how big of a difference those portals make,” Dazien said, slightly grimacing as he looked back towards her and warned, “It will likely take us a month by ship to get from here to Serenydi.”
“A month?!” Phoenix exclaimed in shock.
He nodded, “I’ve been looking to charter one for us since even before the blood moon ended. It would easily take us four times that if we tried traveling over land without a portal to shortcut.”
“Why don’t we just get a portal then?”
“Because there isn’t one currently being offered to Serenydi. The city itself is completely warded and takes up a whole island. The only way there is either from an approved vessel that holds a docking key or from a ferry that runs from the mainland. The keys are reported to be algorithmically synced to pass through those wards, and without one, you’ll never reach the island. Sometimes there is a portalist that can provide passage to that mainland dock, but I haven’t been able to locate one yet.”
Phoenix groaned, rubbing at her temple before clarifying, “So, a month at sea to get to Serenydi to find information about one of the royal relics and also about your father is the current next step for us?”
“Um… I’d like to s-sign up too,” a timid voice said, and Phoenix turned to stare in utter shock at Camilla, who was twisting the hem of her sweater in her hands. “At least to Serenydi,” the researcher clarified, “They have a Reality Rift there that I’ve been, um, curious about and might be able to actually have a chance of seeing if I go with you. I-if you d-don’t mind me accompanying you… I, um, I can offer my s-services as a Rune Scribe in exchange.”
Phoenix turned to look at her brother with hope, and he gave a soft smile as he answered for her, “We would be honored, Miss Saren. Your expertise would be a great boon to our group, but can Lord Teras spare you? I know you’ve been busy with not just this cultist business but with the new alert system that’s being implemented during Tulimeir’s reconstruction.”
“I have just b-been advising now. I will s-speak with Lord Teras b-but the, um, the plans are all in place for others.”
Everin clapped his furred hands together as he said with a forced grin, “Excellent, sounds like this will be a fun adventure for all of us.” Then he added with a bit more aggressive snark than usual, “I wish Vel could come with, but as they’ve made it quite clear that their duty to an abusive, cold-hearted, and entitled queen comes before their own autonomy or happiness, we’ll just have to make do without them, so—”
“Hey, I explained that my people—”
“Actually, my Avatar,” Scholar interjected with a bemused smile. “I have a separate quest for you.”