Chapter 1- The Ties That Bind
Aerosia
Virgil groaned awake as the sun rose over a new day. The storm that had blown through that night was a special level of fierce. His dreads were draped in a blend of black and red over his face as he slowly crawled out of bed and got dressed, yawning as he did so. Getting dressed, VIR pulled his dreads back from in front of his eyes as he grabbed for his goggles that hung from a nearby chair. As soon as he finished getting dressed, there was a very loud knock at the door. “VIRGIL!! COME GET YOUR IMP OF A WOMAN BEFORE I SKEWER HER MYSELF!!!”
Virgil quickly facepalmed and shook his head. “Let’s go see what fresh new hell Talia has cooked up for me today.” Virgil soon opened the door and sighed again. Talia had been his newest headache after he had finally gotten the trust of the Aerosian people. It also wasn’t helping that she had the brightest red hair he had seen in a couple decades. Despite the widespread efforts from Chanclera to dispel these notions that came with the Ancients bloodline, it would seem old habits die very, very hard. Also, she threw fire at people sometimes.
Virgil had sometimes wondered where his priorities were when he was running through the reasons why Talia was being a general hellion. One would think the ‘throwing fire’ part would be first. He also thought when she found her little goblin friend, she would have something to distract her from such foolishness. That little bundle of snot sadly wasn’t making things any better though. Virgil opened the door to find a very angry woman and her son, Darius at the door. He had this look to say ‘same old shit’. Virgil nodded and sighed, “Alright, lead the way. I’ll get her out of your hair.”
In a small tent with many candles, was the devilish girl, surrounded by good women dressed in red, that everyone learned to respect as the holy priestess ‘The mothers’, who have apparently decided to confine the child until she was to be taken by her guardian.
Hugging the Goblin closer to her, the young girl only looked up with excitement in her azure eyes as she looked at Virgil. The joy, however, was quickly replaced with fear as she dropped her gaze. She knew that a punishment and rebukes were to befall her sooner than later.
The ladies were very gentle, but the other woman, the mother of the kid she had gotten into a fight with, was very loud. She was also very intent on wanting to have a conversation about Talia, requesting that he show up later when she wasn’t in such a foul mood.
Talia didn’t pay attention and just followed the hand that pulled her from the crowd, hearing Virgil apologize as he was removing her from the center of the prayer room. Thankfully the mothers had gotten to her first. If not for the good ladies in red, Talia would have probably had it worse.
***
There was silence as the two walked to their isolated cabin. In truth, Virgil never ever raised his hand to hit the girl, but his silent and angry expressions were more than enough to make her lose heart in front of him.
She followed close behind, her gaze digging into the ground while her goblin began copying her movement while being pulled by the arm, as if thinking everyone was playing some sort of a game.
As soon as they go to the cabin, Talia spoke up first. “I… didn’t set her on fire… on purpose”, Talia tried to explain slowly with a smile on her face...only for it to fade when she saw that Virgil was not amused. After a long pause, she added in frustration, “Olivia started it you know!!”
By this time they had walked into Virgil’s house, the wind steadily shutting the door after the three of them entered. Virgil turned and responded very pointedly, “I don’t care if it was Hillel himself that started it, Talia! It was the fact that it escalated in the manner it did!! You know you still can’t control your abilities, so when you get riled up so does your magic...” Virgil gave an exasperated sigh as he sat in a chair in the small kitchen area. “So with that in mind, let me hear your excuse this time. Why did you lash out in such a manner that I was essentially dragged out of my house mere seconds after waking up and getting dressed to keep your head from ending up on a pike?”
Talia bit her lip and gave him an innocent look, “I faked a letter… but she totally had it coming you know!”
Virgil kept giving her the annoyed look and she realized she had to go on, “I hate how mighty and proud she is and how she laugh behind my back, think I can’t hear anything… So… There’s this… boy… you know…Darius… I knew he had a crush on Jaylyn for some time now… of course she is a priestess… and her mother wouldn’t want her around boys and more focused on her training….”, a pause, “I think that’s why he didn’t ask… But… I faked a letter to Olivia saying he didn’t like her and that he was going steady with Jaylyn….”, Talia looked away, “And rumors fly faster than birds here you know… I got caught…. And she just…. Was mean…. Called me imp girl…”, Talia threw an angry look at Virgil, “Said no one wanted me, even my parents… and that you- ….”
At that point Talia recalled exactly how Olivia said that Virgil was going to leave her too, but decided against it. He didn’t need to know that she cared if he was around or not, “And… so on….So… I snapped….”
Virgil tried to keep a stern face as he scoffed. Her reason this time was stupid, petty, childhood drama. By all accounts, Olivia would have been completely justified if she had not lashed out against Talia like she did. They were both wrong in their actions, but he needed to deal with the immediate issue of Talia’s emotional state. “It’s okay. Come here.” Virgil sighed as his stance broke and he slowly stepped forward and embraced Talia in a nice, long, hug. “I’m not going anywhere. Not for a good long time. When I do eventually leave this world, I need you to know that it will never be because of you…” Virgil let go and moved his hands up to hold his face in her hands, brushing against her cheeks with his thumbs, “...regardless of what anyone says.
“Besides...” He let go with a smirk, “...the mothers were the first people we tried to talk to about finding a way to help you control your abilities and they didn’t even know where to begin, so what the hell do they know?”
“Yeah!”, Talia smiled soft, burying herself into Virgil, “Stupid people… I mean….”, she sighed, “Yeah, I know… I’m sorry….”, Still holding on to Vir, Talia added softly, “I am scared… I know I don’t show it… but what if all they say is not completely wrong… You think my parents left too… because of this power?”
At that moment the Goblin snorted, probably picking another interesting thing from his nose.
“I mean….”, Talia pointed at Dreeg, “Not the best companion to have about… and not much for talks either… If it wasn’t for the collar around his neck, I wouldn’t even guess he has a name… or was a pet of sort….”, she sighed, “This is pretty pathetic when you think about it, I can’t blame them for laughing behind my back… But...”, she grinned, “I couldn’t have just let her do as she pleased. Olivia totally had it coming, you know?”
“As far as Olivia is concerned, I’ll have a few words with her and the mothers and get everything sorted out. Though you know you were in the wrong for doing that in the first place. Everyone will get their just deserts in due time. It’s how life works. You want to show Olivia how much better you are than her? Then live a better life than her.”
“The mothers have their heart in a good place…. But… they really don’t know how to handle things, and Olivia is a big bitch to all the kids… just because her father is the town’s biggest clerk she allows herself so much.”
“Yes I know, but this isn’t the right way to go about giving her a humble check. Just let me speak to them and see if we can reach a middle ground. I know I still have enough pull that I can at least do that.”
“Fine!”, Talia grunted with the goblin grunting in response.
***
Norgard-
(OOC : Mysti- Could really use your Intro of the new queen and the possible depart of the two siblings, Ciara’s children which will happen later)
“I am so very excited”, said the beautiful queen as she marched across the halls of clan Al’Andunn, the new druids rulers of western wilderness lands.
Ever since her coronation, the lovely raven haired lady, queen Glissher, made sure to keep a good connection with the druids, not only out of fear of their might, but also because she soon grew to love the people and their customs.
Today was to be held a big celebration for the elder daughter, Princess Phaedra Al’Andunn becoming of age ceremony. There were many rumors about the Princess, in which she was to be sent to Chanclera, where her mother, the Lady of Fire, Ciara, was hailing from-- to marry a druid and by so empowering the connection between the two clans from the north and south.
That of course, was still left to be seen as the Princess had yet to agree to the terms. A voyage has been planned though, along with her brother, who is said to be escorting her there.
As the queen marched forward, she soon met with the elder druids of the various clans, all of them already holding cups of ale and food in their hands, as the celebration was said to last, like any other druid feast, for a few weeks at least.
“Lord Arjak, and Lady Ciara!”, the queen waves softly as her scribe, a fragile looking man with huge glasses, rushed after her making sure to record all the details. The warriors of the North who wore light blue armor, was following the queen, and seemed to be so out of place in this more common, joyful celebration. However, unlike previously, during the great war between the civilized nation and the druids, the air was much more relaxed and some of the guards allowed themselves to be carried to tables by lovely druid ladies, play cards, and even drink while on duty.
****
Chanclera
“You’re sure that it’s there, Kirin?”
“Without a doubt, Zelvad. We’ve all seen a lot since you returned and took over, but this is definitely ‘the craziest shit we’ve ever seen in our lives.’ ”
“So...Worrent, huh? How ironic that where my truth began, is where this ‘truth’ dies.”
“So what do we do now?“
“Spread word to the other Elders, the battle that started in Sigard ends now. Tell them to start the barrier...just like we practiced.”
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