Amazing cover image made by Shreya_VA <3
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"Naomi! There you are! What the hell took you so long?" Malachi glares at the girl as she and Nisha rush over to the group.
After having breakfast at the tavern, Naomi and Nisha decided they should probably catch up with the rest of the group before they start to think they're dead or something. They find Malachi, Nesosa, and Lavern stopped at a small pond as they are talking through their objective for Arkala now that they have finally arrived.
From here, the massive white palace stands even taller and more subliminal. The structure is pure beauty to all whose eyes are blessed to see it. However, Lavern seems to be looking at it with the complete opposite feeling. His eyes hold disdain and possibly dread.
How can he not love the sight of that thing?
Naomi catches up and Nisha stands at her side. "Yeah... Sorry about that. But hey, look! I found Nisha!" She motions to Nisha with what they could consider over-enthusiasm, but to her, it seems perfectly reasonable.
Nisha just smiles and mimics Naomi's joy with a small gesture of jazz hands.
Lavern glares at Naomi and his eyes dart between her and the Tus'Felnis. "Hurray... You found her. Hope it was worth ditching us for," he mumbles.
Naomi simply nods. "It was! Ten outta ten, would ditch again." She winks at Lavern, earning herself an eye-roll from the elf.
Nisha chuckles and awkwardly scratch the back of her head. Pulling her attention away from Naomi and Lavern, her eyes land on Nesosa and sees the dimly glowing black and dark purple runes along her leg.
"That's... Tus'Felnis magic," she says and approaches Nesosa, keeping her eyes on the runes.
Nesosa huffs and rubs her hand over the markings irritably. "Nae shite, ah did nae notice," she deadpans.
Naomi brushes Lavern aside and walks over to Nisha and also eyes Nesosa's leg. "Can you fix it? It would be a big help," she asks.
"Aw, good tae ken ye care, Naomi," Nesosa says. It's hard to tell if she's being sarcastic or not.
Naomi waves her off. "I care about getting you to shut up about your ass itching."
Nesosa growls, but leaves it at that as she sees Nisha standing and staring at the runes, seemingly in deep contemplation. There's a look of remorse in her eyes, maybe guilt.
"So, kitty? Kin ye fix mah legs?" Nesosa asks.
Nisha sighs and her ears slightly lower. "I'm sorry... I can't." She looks away.
Malachi watches her curiously. Something about her demeanor is different from the last time they saw her. He can't tell if he prefers her like this or her smug confidence from before.
Teenagers...
But it's odd that she can't help. He knows she is already gifted with Life Magic, but it's rumored that all Tus'Felnis possess at least some fraction of the inherent magic of their race. He himself doesn't have any magic, so it's nearly impossible for him to tell the state of her magic abilities. Maybe that rumor really is just that, a rumor.
But Life Magic is used for healing not only physical wounds, but arcane as well. Curses included. This shouldn't be anything different.
Nesosa groans and slumps over, as if hearing those words made the uncomfortable feeling ten times worse. "Dammit... How kin we fix this then? Ah can nae stay like this much longer," she whines.
Nisha bites her lip and looks back at her to think. "We just... need to find a Tus'Felnis who knows more about the magic than I do. Luckily, Arkala is full of all types of Mars. It shouldn't be too hard to find someone who can help. It'll be fine," she says.
"Speaking of Arkala's Mars," Malachi cuts in. "We've gotta start working on getting the next fragment."
"I'll take a guess and assume the fragment is with the leader of Arkala, right?" Naomi asks. She tries to envision what the leader of a beautiful place like this must be like. She can hardly wait to meet whoever it is.
Malachi grumbles and shakes his head. "See, that's the problem we're faced with," he says. "Arkala doesn't have a leader. Not yet anyway."
"'Not yet'? The hell does that mean?" Naomi asks. So much for her excitement.
Nisha chuckles. "So, you haven't heard yet. Consider yourself lucky as this whole thing has been nothing but stressful for everyone involved. And honestly, the people who aren't involved have been getting the brunt of it too, so it's an all-around lose-lose situation," she starts.
"Arkala's previous leader, Belanor Dev'Ilistra-mar, died some time ago. Now, Arkala's got two candidates gunning for the throne," she explains. Lavern scoffs quietly and shakes his head, but provides no comments.
Naomi groans. "Great... Politics. Can't even escape them here..." she mutters.
Malachi nods. "Unfortunately, we're gonna have to get involved. Whoever wins the title is going to be given possession of the Schism Fragment, so we've gotta make sure that we're on the good side of whoever ends up as leader," he says, earning more groans of annoyance from Naomi.
And here she thought Arkala would be fun.
"So, who are the candidates?" she asks.
Lavern frowns and crosses his arms as he leans back against a tree, still saying nothing.
Malachi stuffs his hands in his pockets. "Two Arkala natives. But only one is a Dev, so of course he's going to be backed by all the nobility of the city. Castien Dev'Alrich," he says.
Naomi immediately throws her attention to Lavern to see him biting his tongue as he fights to become angry. He's anxiously tapping his fingers against the trunk of the tree and staring at the ground.
She tilts her head. "Wait... Lavern? Isn't that—"
"My father... If you could even call him that," he seethes.
Seeing his anger, Nesosa walks over and rests her hand on his shoulder. This gesture makes Lavern snap his attention to look up at her with a quizzical gaze. He's not the only one shocked by Nesosa's apparent compassion.
She smiles at him. "If it makes ye feel better, we could aye murdurr him 'n' solve all our problems."
That's more like it.
Malachi sighs and shakes his head. "We can't solve everything with murder, Nesosa."
The centaur eyes him with confusion on her face. "Why nae? That's how we got rid o' mah second mother. Or was it th' third...?" She looks up as she tries to remember.
Malachi pinches the bridge of his nose and looks down. "This isn't Kilead. These are civilized matters that aren't resolved by killing the problem."
Nesosa huffs. "Weel that's boring."
Naomi sighs and tries to pull the focus back to the task at hand, though she is now feeling a bit more excited about eventually going to Kilead. This place sounds neat.
"And who's the other candidate?" she asks.
Malachi goes to answer, but they all pause as they hear clapping and cheering from the plaza down the street from where they're standing.
Curious, Naomi is the first one to rush to investigate, Nisha right behind her.
They reach the plaza to see a crowd gathered of people, mostly Adaliaens wearing more rugged clothes. It makes sense that these people aren't very fancy-looking, seeing as they are in the common district of the city. You wouldn't see any of these people walking through the streets of the upper district where the palace and rich people stuff resides.
The crowd is gathered around a makeshift wooden stage in the center of the plaza, and standing atop it is a person with white hair, long pointed ears, and green eyes. They have slightly more tanned skin than most Adaliaens. They are wearing a long brown trench coat with tatters on the end and a green scarf, and black leather armor that fits tight to their body.
Whoever this person is, they are definitely a crowd favorite.
"Centuries ago, our people, the Adaliaens, lived free in Aramora. This was our home and we were free to live and prosper in peace without being afraid of disdainful looks and mistrust from the other races. But, once the Dev'al Ordon established themselves here, all of that changed. Our people were forced to make a choice, to either run away and abandon our home to start a new life in Letroseli, or to stay in Aramora as second-class citizens," they start. Their voice carries power, as well as compassion and understanding for the words they're saying.
Admittedly, Naomi is mesmerized. Almost too mesmerized to notice the rest of the group catch up.
"...Who is that?" Naomi fawns without taking her eyes off the person.
Malachi crosses his arms. "Lyf Du'Gidea. The only person who stands a chance against Castien in the polls," he explains.
They all watch the speech with the crowd. "Most of our people chose to run. They hid in Letroseli to get away from the tyranny of the Dev'al Ordon. But, those of us who stayed, made a home of our own in the only place we could. Arkala. It isn't much, but it's ours. And we who stayed, did so because we weren't afraid of the consequences. But as time went on, even Arkala itself began to divide. Between the noble 'Devs' of the upper district, and the people who aren't afraid of anything. Not the Redcloaks in their temple, and definitely not the Devs of Arkala who would rather hide behind their palace walls than face the real world," they go on.
Naomi is starting to be swayed into believing not everything involving politics is bad. A badass person like that giving a speech is something she could watch all day, even if she doesn't understand half of what the speech is about.
"I am far from a Dev. I have no palace to hide behind. And I am no Mar. I have no magic. All I have is something that I know all of us down here in the lower district possess. Courage. Not only courage, but also hope. Hope that one day, Arkala won't have to be divided. Because all of us down here have to deal with the consequences of the choices the Devs make, when they never see any of it. And by keeping Devs at the helm, this ship will only steer us further into the storm. And when they end up lost, they are too prideful to turn to seek help from the people who have real experience, who know how to steer us out of this mess."
Naomi's eyes follow Lyf as they pace back and forth on the stage, staring at each face who stares back at them. As their eyes land on Naomi, her heart jumps. It feels like the moment lasts forever, but it really is less than a second before their eyes find other faces in the crowd.
"So how can we avoid this? By not putting Devs at the helm in the first place. Arkala needs someone who knows what it's like to have nothing. Someone who understands the suffering we all have to go through every single day. Which is why I have decided to stand up for our people. And I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. But I'm here to give voice to the words we are all thinking. The words we have been waiting to say to the Devs. And these are the words that I am not afraid of saying to Castien Dev'Alrich's face," they pause as they stop pacing and stand firm in the center of the stage.
"There's no spirit in nobility, but nobility in spirit!" Lyf throws their fist in the air as the crowd says the words with them, which immediately gets the mass of people cheering and clapping.
Naomi has no fucking clue what that means, but she's on board and starts cheering with everyone else.
Pulling her out of her trance, Nisha snickers and flicks her cheek. "Naomi?"
"What's the legal voting age in Aramora?" Naomi's brain shuts off.
Nisha laughs and rolls her eyes. "Sorry, but that's not how politics work in Aramora. The whole process is far more complicated," she says.
"I highly doubt that," Naomi deadpans. She shakes her head to snap herself out of her trance to see Lyf hop off the stage with something between grace and humility. As the crowd starts dispersing, they see Lyf approach two other people wearing similar clothes as them.
One is a taller man, a Tus'Felnis with black hair, ears, and tail, and amber eyes. He is wearing a trench coat a lot like Lyf's, only his is black. He has a black mask covering the bottom half of his face.
The second person is a woman, whose race is hard to place. She has light greyish hair and blue eyes. Her ears are pointed, but not as much as Lyf or Lavern's. Her coat is a bit shorter than the other two, and colored lighter brown.
Naomi doesn't realize as Malachi simply starts walking over to the trio, but Nisha grabs her arm and starts dragging her over before she stares for so long to the point of it being weird.
Nesosa and Lavern follow the others over. Nesosa is clearly also interested in these people, however her stares are less out of admiration and more of wanting to bed any and all of them.
Lavern just keeps his head down as he follows.
Malachi approaches the group and has to clear his throat to catch Lyf's attention as they are talking to the other two.
They turn their gaze over to see Malachi and they tilt their head with a confident smile. "Malachi Wood. Didn't realize you were in town. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Lyf snickers.
Naomi gasps and grabs Malachi's arm before he can speak. "Wait, you know this person? And you didn't tell me? I thought we were friends!" she exclaims.
Malachi grumbles and Lyf simply laughs, waving their hands and shaking their head. "Oh, no. Don't worry, Half Pint, I don't know this guy personally. I've only heard of him after how much he managed to piss off the Order. Anyone with the guts to mess with them is all right in my book," they say and glance behind Malachi to see Nisha, Nesosa, and as their eyes land on Lavern, they pause.
"...Lavern Dev'Alrich? Now, this is certainly a surprise," Lyf says and sounds almost stirred.
Lavern crosses his arms and glares at them. "Why? Arkala is my home too, is it not?"
One of Lyf's friends steps forward, the Tus'Felnis man. "Yes, but everyone thought you were dead," he says.
Naomi turns and looks at Lavern quizzically. "Wait what? You faked your own death?" she asks.
Lavern scoffs and keeps his focus on Lyf and their friends. "News to me," he says.
Lyf's other friend, the woman with shorter elf ears, rushes forward and stares at Lavern intimately, grabbing him by his shoulders and just staring at his face.
"Are you a ghost...? How can I see you? Wait, am I a ghost? Am I dead?!" She lets go of Lavern and Lyf rolls their eyes, grabbing her by the collar of her coat and pulling her back over.
"No, Ethel. You're not dead. It just means that scum Castien would rather the public believe their missing son was dead rather than admit that he ran away to become a Cle. Talk about daddy issues, snowflake," they say with a snicker directed at Lavern.
He huffs and shakes his head. "Figures. Anything to keep the 'flawless Dev'Alrich reputation', right?" Lavern states.
Nisha shrugs. "Well hey, at least you're living proof of his lie. What better way to stick it to him than by calling him on his bullshit?" She playfully punches his shoulder.
Lavern says nothing and just sighs as he leans back against the empty stage.
Lyf stretches their arms above their head and crosses them as they bring them back down. Their attention is suddenly pulled and annoyance surfaces on their face. "Speaking of the asinal... Don't look now," they say and nod behind the group before walking past them.
They all turn around to see what has their attention, when Lavern freezes.
Naomi stares at the man approaching them. His hair is, as accustomed to Adaliaens, snow-white. His skin is almost as pale as his hair, and his eyes are brown. He stands taller than most of them, only being shorter than Malachi and, of course, Nesosa.
He's dressed in crisp white and gold attire. He looks like a walking bank, aside from his strangely placed gold tie. There is no way in hell anyone can convince Naomi that tie is not a clip-on.
Naomi's first thought is that this guy looks like a straight-up pimp.
He's glancing around the plaza and adjusting the gold cuffs of his jacket sleeves. His eyes hold disgust as they dart from each person who walks by, but they typically return the looks with disdain of their own.
He approaches Lyf and clears his throat. "Well, I'd say that was quite the display. But I hope you're aware that it'll take far more than flowery words and speeches to win over the people of Arkala. This is a game of investment, which I am clearly far more versed in. You might as well stop now before you embarrass yourself, Miss Du'Gidea," he snides. Even his voice makes him sound like a pimp.
Lyf's friend Ethel just glares at this man and growls as she slowly raises a crossbow in each hand towards him, but Lyf keeps their eyes on him as they push the crossbows back down.
Lyf scoffs with a smug smile. "Castien... Did you really come all the way down to the 'lowly commoner's district' simply to try talking me out of the election? Are you really that desperate?" they ask.
Castien narrows his eyes at them. "I'm only trying to help. I know how you... people are. Once you're knocked down from the reach of power, you're left with nothing but the scraps. You don't want to let down the people, do you?" he asks.
Lyf laughs. "Says the guy who's never seen a fight in his life. Well, unless you count the relentlessness of unhappy guests at one of your dinner parties," they sneer.
The obvious pimp tisks and shakes his head. "I don't need to trouble myself with such barbaric means of fighting. Words and wealth solve so much more, wouldn't you agree? Oh, of course not. You have neither."
"I don't need wealth. And trust me, I've got plenty of words reserved just for you," Lyf states.
Castien chuckles. "We'll see, ma'am," he reaches into his jacket and pulls out a card, holding it out to Lyf. They take it and don't bother looking down to see what it is and just keeps their eyes on the pimp.
"I would like to extend to you an invitation to one of my 'dinner parties'. You would do well to be there, since there will be some rather important people present. But don't worry, your little friends are free to join, so you shouldn't feel too left out," he says and glances at Lyf's friends, who are just glaring at him.
Lyf huffs and narrows their eyes at him. "How many friends am I permitted to bring?" they ask.
Castien holds out his hands. "However many you wish. You know I am in no shortage of space, so the more the merrier," he says with a cocky smile.
Lyf smirks and holds the card out, handing it to someone behind Castien.
He turns around and looks down to see the card be taken by Lavern, who is glaring up at him with a look of disgust. But somewhere behind his eyes, there is a spark of fear.
Castien's smile fades as he stares at his son. "Lavern..." he growls. "What in the world are you doing here? You have no idea how long we—"
"Save it," Lavern snaps. "Whatever you have to say, I don't want to hear it. I didn't come back for you. I came here for the person who's more likely to win the title of leader. You're just an annoyance standing in my way," he states and stares his father in the eye.
Castien's eyes flash dangerously and he starts raising his hand, but Lyf steps between them with their arms crossed. They narrow their eyes in warning at the man until he slowly lowers his hand back down.
Lyf huffs, the sound holds both pride and disgust. "We'll see you tonight, ma'am," they spat and turn on their heels before walking away with the group following close behind, leaving Castien alone in the common district plaza.
Before they completely leave, the Tus'Felnis man with Lyf stops and taps Nesosa on the shoulder. She turns around quickly and glares at him.
"What dae ye want?" she huffs.
He eyes her leg. "To help. M'Rhys senses the curse on you and he wishes to lend his assistance. However, it will have to be after the party, as Castien Dev'Alrich is no fan of any race other than Adaliaens. Meet with this one tomorrow, and he will be able to lift the curse, if you will allow him," M'Rhys offers.
Nesosa gasps joyously and claps him on the back. "O' course ah will! Hell, ah will bed ye if ye dae that!" she exclaims.
"Please don't," the Tus'Felnis deadpans.
They direct their attention back to the group as they rush to catch up.