"Care to explain?" I heard her sigh before she told me to take a seat and that it was story time sarcasm following through her words before asking me to make sure Ella was out.
"There's not much to explain, back in the day I was a member of Cougar when the old master was around, things were better back then. Believe it or not I was the silent type, a shy girl and didn't consider myself very strong, no one did at least that's what I thought." Pausing I saw a smile make it's way on her face her cheeks getting slightly flushed before coughing to herself and shaking her head.
"During the time I was searching for my older brother of three years, something I had been doing for years at the time. As children we were very close, my mother believed it was important to get along with your family, trust them, and cherish them.
We were happy back then despite never meeting our father, may in rest in peace, that was until my mother passed away from a sudden illness.
That's when we met our uncle, may he rot in hell, who was a complete monster." She said as her voice became slightly strained as she quickly regained herself.
"When he discovered we had magic he saw it as a golden opportunity for profit and he would enter us in an underground fighting tournament against other mages. For 3 years he made us fight each other as 'training' at first we refused but he would only punish us worse if we did, but it was on my brothers 16 birthday that my brother finally snap.
It was a normal day of what we called freedom until a sudden request came in for me to be sold to a buyer willing to pay a hand full of money for me.
My brother didn't realize that they had taken me until he woke up that morning probably expecting a happy birthday or at least me being there to give him a birthday hug and kiss like what me and mother did for his birthday." She started to to smile as some tears escaped her eyes.
"I'm guessing things didn't go so well on my uncles side because I discovered that he was later killed on that very day. The next seven years of my life were spent in solitude with my new master a very kind woman with a very sadistic side to her. She would also punish us harshly if we did anything to displease her.
But other than that I had a somewhat peaceful life, practicing my magic in private, until I reached the age twenty.
That's when she sent me to work in the brothel as a bartender and maid, there were many instances where I was close to being raped or worse but I kept my wits about me.
My hope of ever leaving that place slowly drained until one day... He came." A genuine smile came as happiness seemed to glow in her eyes.
"The Cougars old guild master, when he first entered the brothel I thought him another man looking for a good time but I was surprised he said he came looking for me.
I didn't understand at first but he took my away from that place wishing for me to join his guild, I was against it completely thinking he was just another evil man but I was wrong.
As it turned out he was a friend of my mothers and when he discovered what had transpired he set out to look for me and my brother. He even let me in on a secret that not many others knew, that he himself was a happily married man with children, a mysterious man he was always keeping to himself and keeping a low profile." Slightly laughing to herself recalling memories of the serious yet genuinely good man.
"I kept his secret as I joined the guild, at the time the guild was a more pleasant place than it is now and I quickly got the hang of things. But I always kept to myself and distanced myself from the people there, always feeling like I was nowhere near their level of strength. That quickly changed after a fated meeting with a certain god slayer." She said slightly annoyed and amused recalling a memory of that day.
"I met Talos on a mission when my lead met a dead end. The man definitely got on my bad side and we seemed to clash every time we saw each other, even at the guildhall, it never turned to anything physical but it was a pretty scary fight to behold.
I never feared him or envied him like most of the people did there, maybe that was the reason we always fought.
Oddly enough though master started to assign me to go on missions with him telling me I was probably the only one he would listen to.
At first it was chaotic with us always competing with each other, seeing who would buy dinner or lunch that day, eventually we became very close friends, I slowly began to grow feelings for him.
It wasn't until Jackie came that things began to change, she seemed to have it out for me and despite being able to stand up to Talos I could never stand up to anyone else." She slightly snorted to herself as she hugged her knees with a pained smile.
"Talos had a reputation for being a player so it didn't surprise me to hear that they slept together. It hurt to see him so I began to avoid him on missions even going as far to take solo missions.
The Joker's Tavern became a new hang out for me and I developed a taste for alcohol, it's where I met Zekken who was in town for the week for business at the time.
It was a night after heavy drinking that I ran into Talos where after a chain of events resulted in me sleeping with him.
After realizing what had occurred I felt happy that maybe I stood a chance with him, what a fool I was." Her voice became a whisper as tears flowed down her face, lightly slapping herself she regained focus on the story.
"I ran into Jackie not even two hours later when she informed me they were getting married soon and that I never stood a chance, my pride, my dignity, my purity, my heart, they all suffered immensely.
With nothing left to do I went to the tavern, Zekken was also there at the time and he decided to be my drinking buddy for the day, after a few bottles my story slipped out along with my insecurities.
Out of no where he invited me to join his guild before going on a rant about me being the opposite of weak, and anyone who could drink as much as I can is more than welcome. Being the coward I am, I decided to accept his offer and leave the guild that very night and leave with him in the morning.
The pain I felt became numb and I tried to close people off but once apart of the guild they wouldn't let me, they were there for me even when I found out I was pregnant." Pausing for a second she let out a raspy laugh while smiling to herself, I saw her unconsciously rub her belly with ease.
"George, Zekken, and Kirito became my best friends despite their weird habits in all and supported me completely during my pregnancy making it really easy for me.
The guild was overjoyed with the new addition and they became what I always hoped and needed, my family.
For that I will always be grateful to them and be there when they need me, Ella is our little angel and blessing, we never once viewed her as a mistake or accident.
But as you've probably seen she tends to blame herself for why me and her father aren't together anymore.
The Cougar guild changed since then with the new master who I hear is quite brutal, they aren't the type to tolerate any kind of disrespect, I don't want her to be pulled into it." The room became dead silent with the exception of the sobs on the other side, I myself felt like crying and also like punching this guy in the face.
Through the orb I saw a pair of arms wrap around her along with the soothing sounds of comfort from George as he slowly brushed his hand in her hair.
"What do you want to do? Should I avoid him or would you like me to confront him?" This time George was the one to take the orb before casting a glance aside then back.
"For now let's just try to avoid them we don't want to start any conflict between guilds, just pretend you don't know anything and act as you are, should they try something you should know what to do." I gave a little nod before apologizing to Rosy, I didn't know mean to make her cry.
"There's nothing to be sorry about, we hold the blame for not saying anything. Please look after her and take care of yourself. Goodnight Eden." I watched as the orb became dull again as I let of an exhausted breath, great now I have to watch out for Cougars who might pounce on our little angel.
A sudden snore broke me from my thoughts, turning I saw Ella now spread across the bed hugging a pillow tightly.
She began to slightly whimper and cry in her sleep almost as if she was having a nightmare, sensing a magic build-up I placed my hand over her forehead trying to nullify it to the best of my abilities.
Finally seeing her calm down, I tried to pull my hand away but she reached out to grab it before calming down again.
After a few minutes of trying to pull myself away, I decided to just sleep with her tonight before taking my shoes and getting into bed.
She instantly cuddled against me before setting down smiling contently before a series of her snores filled the room.
The nightmares have been happening for a while now and I'm not sure what to make of it but for now all I can do is be here for her.
Giving her a small peck on the forehead I whispered a small good-night before joining her in her slumber.
...
May 4th, 3506
"House keeping!" I say strolling into the last room for the day, I've got to say that I'm surprised how people can quickly make a mess of things within a few days. Steering into the room, I let out a breath of relief seeing that everything was in place with the exception of a couple of dirty counter tops and trash cans that needed changing.
Getting into work I simply hummed as I did my work rather content that today was Ella's birthday, yesterday was a very quiet day since many of the guests left for the parade being held in town. The owner even says that he'll let us out earlier as a birthday gift to Ella she partially tackled him with a hug.
I giggled at the memory not hearing the sound of a opening and closing door, as I day dreamed I didn't feel the presence behind me until they tapped me on the shoulder.
It surprised me to see Orion standing there with an amused expression staring below, following his eyes I saw that I was wiping the counter with a trash bag slightly getting flushed in embarrassment before quickly using it to replace the other in the trash can.
"I hope you were more attentive to your work today or we might have some complaints later on. Then again as a guest I should probably report you for it." I slightly cringed at the idea, the other maid who got reported gotta stern talking to and left the room crying not that I wouldn't be able to handle it but I don't want to take my chances.
"But I'll let you pass if you go to the parade with me." Still turned away from him I tried to cool down the blush on my face, I'm not good when it comes to flirting.
"I'm sorry but I promised Ella I'd take her, it's her birthday today so I can't let her down." Checking my cart I realized I left the rest of the trash bags in the kitchen, before I could even take a step he handed it to me with a smile.
Without warning he kissed my the top of my hand and winked.
"I don't mind having her around she's actually cheerful, besides having two beautiful girls around doesn't really seem bothersome. I'll pick you two up an one hour, dress comfortably." Giving a slight nod a quickly walked out hoping the air conditioning might cool me down, checking the clock in the hall I made my way to the locker rooms getting my stuff together before exiting only to see Ella waiting there patiently before springing up and yanking me to our room.
"Come on aunty we have to get ready for the parade, I don't want to miss a thing." She began to run around the room trying to find the clothes she set out the day before before realizing that they were under her pillow.
I started to finish changing as I grabbed my stuff while waiting for her to finish putting on her shoes.
"Hey Ella do you mind if Orion joins?" She stopped in the middle of putting her shoes on to look over at me with a mischievous look on her face.
"Does aunty have a date with step-uncle Orion?" A ferocious blush made it's way on my face as I stuttered to deny it before she silenced me with her finger.
"I'm okay with it but in return..." She said walking out of the room, Vesta resting on her head before she spun around dramatically pointing out to me.
"I want you to give me a baby cousin to look after!" The sound of laughter filled the now quiet void in the hallway has I struggle to recompose myself, I turned to see Orion trying to hold in smile as his face became a bright reddish color.
As it died down he simply patted her head before bending down to whisper something in her ear before she quickly giggled and nodded before skipping ahead.
"Come on Eden we have a parade to see." Sticking his hand out towards me I hesitantly took it before he dragged me along the entire way, I didn't mind though my mind was wandering to our surroundings and all the activities going around.
It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen with all the colors and decorations, we had festivals in our village but nothing like this.
"I take it that you've never been to a parade?" Orion asked raising an eye to my reaction to everything as I behaved just like Ella who was also very amazed by everything.
"Yeah sorry for being embarrassing it's just a lot to uh..."
"Process, I can understand it's just strange to see a women so excited by something this small. If you like this then you should see the festival and parades they have in Hargeon, I'm sure Ella would like them too." Staring off I followed his gaze to see Ella in a small circle with other children, dancing to the music the musicians were playing.
Pulling out the camera I took a few shots before they changed the song into something of my liking, dragging Orion along I guided him along to the song. Judging by the way he reacted I take it he didn't dance to this genre of music much but I found his reactions adorable as he quickly learned the steps. After the dance ended we took a small detour to a cafe for a quick meal before the parade officially started.
I pulled the waitress to the side to ask if she had any surprise birthday specials which she happily replied yes before dashing off to get our orders. Ella and Orion seemed to be having a nice conversation when I joined them and for a while everything seemed peaceful until a certain group of individuals decided to stroll in.
"Well isn't this a pleasant surprise, mind if we join you?" Without even waiting for a response they connect a table to ours and sat down, much to my dismay before I realized I was without my axes.
Guess I'll have to stick with my daggers and defense techniques.
"We haven't see you for a while such a shame we were hoping to talk to you two." Formulating a plan I quickly came to the most simple and logical one.
"Sorry but we are going to have to delay our talk, besides her mother and papa aren't too keen on the idea of having Cougars hovering over their daughter." I could feel Talos slightly flinch before relaxing himself, Angelo on the other hand placed his chin on top of his to propped up hands as he glanced to Ella.
She was slightly confused by the situation herself along with Orion who seemed to be thinking about something, it wasn't long before the waitress came back surprised by the newcomers. She carried a medium sized fruit tart with lit candles towards us before a few other people followed behind her as she placed it in front Ella, surprising everyone but me before chanting happy birthday.
"Make a wish sweetheart and I'll make sure it comes true." Quickly taking a photo of her blowing out the candles, we all clapped as the sour mood drifted away as Ella's bright smile returned.
They all soon dismembered as we were left at the table with her thoroughly enjoying her tart, it was then I realized that a snorky remark was missing.
"Where's Vesta, wasn't she with us a while ago?" Ella gave a slight shrug before Orion finally came out of his little world.
"Yeah she said she needed to grab some things from the hotel, she said it was urgent." Almost on cue the cafe's doors opened to reveal Vesta in her human form barely carrying my two axes as she dropped them on my lap.
"I don't care if you're on a date or that it's Ella's birthday, you need to bring your axes when you go out." Transforming back she landed on top of my head before the waitress returned with our drinks, mine consisting of lemonade as she launched herself to it.
The waitress herself freaked out before rushing into the back causing a slight scene as the few others in the restaurant stared at us, well mostly Vesta who was happily drinking away the lemonade. I gave them all a questioning look before turning to see the Cougars staring at her themselves, Orion and Adrian on the other hand weren't at all fazed.
"Aunty why is everyone staring?" Coming out of his mild shock the Angelo guy recomposed himself, clearing his throat as his Sparky tried to poke her only to get his finger mildly burned by her.
Surprisingly enough he didn't seem to mind at all just kept observing along with everyone else.
"Sorry just a little surprised, we've never seen a fairy before, let alone actually talked to one."
"Was there something else you wanted, because we kinda have a parade to go see so..." Before I could question him Orion had already placed down a couple of jewels before tugging Ella and I out the door leaving them slightly offended and annoyed.
Once we got a good distance he slowed down, arriving at the collecting crowd near the lane where the parade would start.
"You shouldn't get involved with those guys, it could lead to something disastrous." He stated looking ahead to what appears to be the start of the parade, Ella kept trying to jump up to see it but kept failing miserably until he put her over his shoulders.
"Sorry little lady is this better." His causally smile coming back instantly as Ella nodded happily slightly leaning in to get a better view.
"I'm aware of the dangers but we'll be fine, I'm not one to give in to others demands or fear so easily. But that doesn't mean I'm not slightly curious to what the big fuss is about, mind explaining?" Parade floats began to go by as people danced across the street, candy being thrown aside occasionally to the excited children, I took a few shots here and there as he thought to himself.
"It's kind of a long explanation..." He trailed off scratching his head slightly before I let out a small chuckle.
"I've got time." Taking time to recollect himself he checked to see if Ella was okay only to see that she was completely entranced by the parade.
"Metatopia, the region we reside in, is just one of the 6 alliance kingdoms. In this region there are said to 67 guilds according to the archives, and there is a competition held by the royal family to see which 5 guilds get to compete in the Great Hero Games. From which 5 of the selected guilds compete against the other finalists from other regions to see which guild is the overall most powerful.
The Cougar Guild was named one of the most powerful guilds throughout the regions but that all changed when the old master retired a few years ago, he was said to be one of the strongest mage to ever have lived." Catching my interest I beckoned him to carry on about the mage.
"The year he retired was the year that the cougars lost their first games and they haven't managed to make a comeback yet. No one knows where the master had gone not even the king, he was mysterious and never left a trace of his steps.
People suspected that he had married and had a family somewhere since he would occasionally vanish for small and long periods of time before returning back to the guild but there was never any solid evidence. But despite his disappearance the Cougar guild is still the most powerful guild in this region and their members are a force to be reckoned with." Processing the information a question popped up in my mind.
"What does this have to deal with us?" His eyes looked down as he slightly turned his head in my direction.
"Their master tends to recruit strong mages from lower guilds by any means necessary, whether it means war between guilds or simply destroying a guild. You've made quite a name for yourself along with the legendary alpha squad from your guild, despite how secretive and discreet your guild is, especially since your guild is the only one that never competes in either events.
But rumors have said that the Inebriating Shadow Guild tends to do all kinds of dangerous jobs for the kingdom and magic council themselves despite it's small numbers and that tends to make you guys stick out. I'm guessing the only reason that no one has questioned it is because we don't know how to take action against you guys, besides you haven't done anything wrong so I doubt the council would like being questioned."
The parade was almost done as the last float made it's way through, Ella's excitement died down slowly as she came to know her surroundings. The crowd started to disperse and the night became more apparent as colorful lanterns still decorated the streets.
"We should head back to the hotel, it's dangerous for a couple of young ladies to be out at night." He said winking at me before slowly moving a sleepy Ella into his arms which he insisted that he was fine with it.
We walked in a comfortable silence with the exception of some pervy shouts by a few town drunks who were barely able to walk down the street.
"You never said what guild you were from, mind telling me?" I asked rather curious now that he knew all about us and our guild.
"I'm from Metatopia's 4th strongest guild, The Hemo Stallions, I'm surprised you haven't heard about us after all we are constantly on Metatopia's most popular magazine Metatoptia's Weekly Adrenaline."
"Yeah I don't know what that is." I say casually as he slightly freezes in place before opening his mouth a few times only to close it again as he struggled to regain himself.
Taking the opportunity I took the now sleeping Ella from him as he trailed me shaking his head probably to gather what ever thoughts he now had to reorganize.
"So you've never read about the constant dangerous missions people go on, how they survived, who's the strongest mage, the hottest bachelors list, oncoming festivals, intel of new magical items spells, or rumors on finding powerful relics? Nothing?!" Thinking for a second I shook my head no again, what's so wrong about not knowing about a stupid magazine.
"What's the big deal, magazine articles just like stirring up drama leading to conflict, I rather focus on learning to better my magic and train to get stronger so I can protect my family. Isn't that all that matters?" He looked rather dumbfounded before a smirk appeared on his face as he wiggled his brows at me suggestively.
"But don't you want to meet someone and fall in love, staring into each others eyes as he whispers sweet words of love into your ears-"
"I don't believe in romance." I shortly cut in before he became shell-shocked, gaping like a fish out of water, I found it funny so I took a quick shoot with one hand while still holding Ella. He stumbled around saying a series of misplaced words before I figured out what he was trying to say.
"Romance isn't really my thing, I can understand loving another person and caring for them but I wouldn't be able to commit myself in a romantic relationship, especially not now."
I said mumbling the last part with a slight trace of sadness before it quickly vanish as I heard Ella whisper aunty in her sleep, snuggling closer with a smile on her face.
"Besides who needs boys when I have this little cutie to look after." He slightly chuckled at my optimism but didn't question any further, we proceeded to walk in a comfortable silence until we reached the hotel which was buzzing with people celebrating what I believed to be the after-party of the parade.
"Thank you for today Orion, we had a great time. Goodnight."
Right as I was about to leave an explosion sounded outside slightly shaking the ground as screams of despair followed.
...
Alright well here's a longer chapter, I kinda have to work tomorrow so I'll be posting now. This story has a slow pace but I didn't want to rush it so it'll have be continue that way. I have yet to introduce a villain so I decided why not do that right about now but don't worry he won't be the last.
Next time on Beware of the Reapers Scythe, Pyro and the Two Council Agents.
~thecoolasses