Sacred City [https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AP1GczN7CIfmZHfugihqWckVv5sEoHHRsSUeIx_Ai9CQ2ghpo7xbXfvO3r1NnBeVXyUwcb3PeQgP7E_3ZAB61dwK3KF25ayqjZmvb3e78aAqU-xwrKt3vfzvuxIkzjACDyDGjR9Gb4qShsdsqMDo2MP9lkXB=w639-h958-s-no-gm?authuser=0]
Phoenix sat in Paul’s study back in the vessel of the Sacred City and contemplated the books lining the walls once more. She had been debating about taking the entire collection with her on her journey but thought it might be impractical.
“You should take them,” Patricia said from the doorway, walking over to take a seat across the desk from her.
“Are you reading my mind?” Phoenix asked with a slight tug of a smile at the corner of her lips.
“No, I’m reading your face,” the priestess retorted. “I’m so glad you’re leaving because you are terrible at controlling your body language.”
“That’s a bit hurtful,” Phoenix said but didn’t argue the point. She stood to walk over to the journals containing the story of Paul’s life. “What if something happens to them?”
“If you’re really concerned, I can have copies made before you leave,” Pati offered. “Though, I think they’re safer in your collection than on the shelves here. Even our family vault is probably less secure than an immortal’s personal dimensional storage.”
“Oh, that reminds me,” Phoenix said as she moved over and set a pouch on the desk in front of Patricia. “I wanted to see about investing these. Dazien said I should try growing my wealth rather than burning it with crafting, and I thought you might be the right person to ask.”
Patricia carefully took the pouch and opened it to glance inside at the small pile of Ruby Mana Bits she had placed inside. Her aunt stared at the contents for a long moment before asking, “Are you certain? I’m not sure you actually comprehend how much money this is.”
“That’s exactly why I’m asking you to handle it,” Phoenix replied with a grin, then walked back towards the books. With a thought, they all vanished into her collection. “I think I’ll have a lot more time to read while we travel.”
“I’m sorry about Noble Teras, by the way,” Patricia said after a few more moments of silence. “I could tell how much she likes you.”
“I like her too, but just as a friend,” she admitted and sat back down in the plush seat that Paul should have been sitting in.
“Well, I’m glad you figured that out before you left. Now, you’ll be sure to send word at least once a month, yes? I would appreciate regular updates on your progress and whereabouts.”
“Of course,” Phoenix replied, leaning forward to grab her drink off the desk and gesturing towards the Bits in front of it. “I’ll need to check up on my investment, after all.”
“That reminds me. Madam Malik at Mother’s Cupboard has requested your presence. She said she found some items that might interest you, specifically a new weapon.”
Phoenix grinned with excitement. “Awesome, I’ve been hoping to get a new sword since my last one broke, but she didn’t have anything worthwhile when I checked last.”
“Honestly, I’m surprised you haven’t tried your hand at smithing one yourself with how much you seem to chase after crafting everything. Your brother came to me practically in tears to beg for advice on curbing your spending habits. I suggested he try to convince you to gain a mark of favor from the Merchant so you’d at least get better deals.”
“Ha. Ha.” Phoenix replied sarcastically. “I’m going to miss your fantastic humor, Pati.”
Her aunt gave her a genuine smile. “I’m going to miss you too, Phoenix. Please try to stay safe out there. If not for me or yourself, then for your friends who will be depending on you.”
Phoenix was caught off guard by the sudden sincerity, but she nodded and softly said, “I’ll try my best. I know that’s not great, but I’ll try to do better.”
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“Thank you for coming to see me, Dazien,” Patricia said to him as he entered her study. “Please sit. This may take a bit, but hopefully it won’t.”
He hesitated, not liking the implication that it may take a while when it shouldn’t have to. That likely meant she expected him to resist whatever it was she needed to discuss with him, which wasn’t what he had initially expected. “I thought you wanted to discuss our plans for leaving Tulim in a couple of days?”
“I know most of them already, remember? You mentioned booking a passage on The Victor’s Tribute, which I verified should be fine. An Emerald Caster as Captain of a trading vessel with no ties to any particular nation shouldn’t be an issue. The fact that they have a key to get directly into the city is a bonus and speaks to a certain level of trustworthiness. Even better is that you were wise enough to keep both her and Uriel’s status as Chosen ones a secret, which I would advise you to keep to yourselves as much as possible while you’re all—”
“I know,” he interjected with a sigh. “I’m glad both of them want to do better at embracing that part of themselves since it’s not something they can just abdicate like a noble’s title, but I’m aware that Serenydi is extremely theocratic despite having a queen and might not take kindly to either of them.”
“It’s not that bad, really,” Patricia surprised him by saying.
Then he remembered who all was in the pantheon they venerated. “Right, the Cultivator is part of the Luxury Pantheon.”
While the entire world knew of and had access to all of the deities, as far as he was aware, certain areas and cultures had created their own pantheons to praise over all the others. In Serenydi’s particular case, they had established the Luxury Pantheon, which included the Lover, first and foremost, along with the Merchant, Artist, Gamer, Gambler, Fainéant, Socialite, and Patricia’s own patron: the Cultivator.
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Their entire culture centered around luxury in all things, whether it be their surroundings or relationships. Cultivating wealth, having relaxing fun, and enjoying freedom in love were the pinnacle of prestige among them. He had heard many various opinions about the city-state, but one thing was rarely disputed: they were one of the wealthiest nations in the world.
His aunt smiled and leaned back in her chair. She finally set the tablet down and looked at him as she said, “You know, I thought you’d be more excited about visiting that particular nation. You won’t stand out nearly as much, and most of the people there share many of your values.”
“You know of my values?” he asked skeptically.
“Unless everything you’ve ever said or done is a lie,” she said with a flat look. “You care about those you feel you have responsibility for and have a love for love itself. You’re loyal and determined to increase both your power and prestige. Aside from those more personal aspects, though, you know I’m not wrong about the general tone you’ll find in Serenydi. They will gladly welcome someone like you, likely much more than the people here do. Why don’t you seem happy about the destination?”
“Don’t get me wrong, if it was just myself going for some kind of vacation, I would probably love a chance to explore that city,” he admitted but felt the frown on his face as he thought about his biggest concern. “But Phoenix and Uriel… neither of them are going to enjoy it like I will. I honestly fear that Phoenix is going to have a panic attack on arrival no matter how much I try to prepare her for the cultural difference.”
Patricia grimaced. “Good point. She always gripes about those dresses I ask her to wear to display her Soul Mark. You’d think I’d asked her to sacrifice her firstborn with the way she looks at me whenever I mention showing a bit of skin —or, gods forbid, some actual cleavage.”
He chuckled, shaking his head at the distraught look he could easily imagine on his sister’s face. “She’s obviously self-conscious about her body, which I would honestly prefer to have Priest Jacob work through with her, but I don’t think he’ll be able to manage that particular miracle before we leave.”
“Are you planning to teach her about their culture while on the ship for a month?”
“That was my plan.” He gave a slight smirk and added, “I figured she wouldn’t be able to just run away and get distracted by crafting something that way.”
Pati gave a short laugh. “I wouldn’t underestimate that collection of hers. She took an entire library with her, so your battle is going to be with books, it seems.”
Dazien shook his head. “I really wish there was a limit on that thing, but she seems to think there isn’t one —which is just insane to me. It really feels like even among the stories of Wayfarers I’ve heard about, she still breaks the rules.”
“I gave up believing she follows any rules of our reality when I found out she can resurrect,” she replied with a grimace.
It was hard for him to argue with that, so he returned the topic to the original one. “So why did you ask me here if not about our travel plans?”
His aunt seemed hesitant for a moment, uncertainty painting her features as she conjured a large blossom in the air. It was apparently her own dimensional storage ability as she reached an arm in it and pulled out a pair of letters before dismissing it.
One of the letters was already in a sealed envelope with the magically infused wax seal emblazoned with the Wayland Crest, while the other was simply folded in half. She pushed the unsealed one across her desk towards him as she held the envelope up and explained, “That letter is a copy of the one already in this. Signed and sealed and ready to be delivered. I need you to be the one to deliver it, though. The copy is for you to read first so that you know exactly what it is you’ll be delivering. I don’t want you getting angry at me again, thinking I tried to manipulate you or anything.”
He raised an eyebrow at her before slowly leaning forward to pick up the copy. “How do I know that telling me this isn’t a manipulation in the first place?”
She frowned. “You won’t think that once you read it…”
That made Dazien frown in response as he opened it and began reading. His jaw slowly dropped in surprise as he read through the letter written by Paul to the queen of Serenydi, and he barely managed to whisper, “This can’t be real—”
“Oh, it is. It was the impetus for him to become exiled from that city in the first place, and he believed this would be the only way to mend that rift and let Phoenix gain access to their Royal Library,” Patricia explained, clearly unhappy by the idea.
“You agreed to this?” he asked incredulously. “You want me to still deliver this even though he’s trapped in a cursed stasis? Is this even legal?” Too many questions were threatening to overwhelm him at the moment, but it didn’t seem like he had any other alternative but to agree when his aunt replied.
“It wasn’t my choice. It was Paul’s long before the Soul Reapers showed up on the tundra. This is what he had decided, and I’m merely trying to carry out his wishes. It’s going to ultimately rest with you delivering that and if Queen Emilia agrees to it or not.”
Another thought came to him, and he said with a grimace, “You’re telling only me because you don’t want Phoenix to find out until it’s too late, don’t you?”
“You know she’ll try to stop it without fully thinking through the ramifications, and Queen Emilia might very well decline. She did exile him in the first place.”
“Wait, she exiled him because he declined this idea originally, didn’t she?”
“Yes, which is why I don’t like this idea, but understand that this was ultimately Paul’s choice, not mine.”
Dazien stared back down at the letter in his hands once more, reading through the overly flowery language that would fundamentally alter Paul’s life once he could live it again.
Then he admitted with a heavy sigh, “Well, I can’t deny that this is definitely one way to gain access to their Royal Library, but Phoenix is going to be pissed about it.”
“Probably, which is why I’m entrusting this with you.”
He paused for a moment, surprised by the trust she was placing in him for such a task. They had both come to an uneasy alliance recently with her actions of support trying to mend the rift she had caused by trying to manipulate his partner into leaving. He understood now that her priority had been their safety and fulfilling the wishes of her brother. She could have easily just tossed him out on the street for not dancing to her tune, but her loyalty lay with her family and that was what she saw him as now.
“Thank you, Aunt Patricia. I know we’ve not been on the best of terms lately, but I do want you to understand that I appreciate how you’ve embraced me as family and have been going above and beyond recently in your support of me and my goals. I’m honored that you feel like you can trust me with this task and will see it done.”
She smiled warmly at him. “I appreciate that, Dazien. I realize I haven’t always made the best choices, but I’m glad you understand it was only from a desire to shield you all.”
After a brief pause, he set the copy back on the desk and hesitantly said, “There is something else I’d like your help with while I’m away.”
“Oh?”
“Aside from the new program I’ve been working on with the House Council in my time between missions, there’s a particular orphan I want to help, and I’d like you to help facilitate things.”
She gave him a gentle smile that he rarely saw as she asked, “More family?”
He smiled in return. “I hope so… someday.”