--A day later--
The next day, Lin Ye was resting in the back of a car. He was now on his way to Laterano. The road that they took to go to Laterano was a bit rocky but it seemed that his driver was an expert. Lin Ye did not really care. Laterano was not that far from where the Landship was.
Lin Ye sat in the middle of the row. On his right was Nian who was writing something on a notepad while on his left sat his old roommate, Ansel, who was staring out his window. The person who sat in front was the other people that were assigned to protect him.
The leader of the group, Steward, was the one driving. He had a fox-like body, his ears and tail are the most noticeable. It also surprised him that he was a caster. The person who was sitting in the shotgun seat was a Sankta named Adnachiel. Lin Ye was not ashamed to say that he had a hard time saying his name. The angel was assigned to be his guide, seeing that he was from that city. He also noticed that the halo above his head was crooked to the side. Although he was curious about why this was the case, Lin Ye kept that question for another day.
There was also another one that he will meet later in Laterano. An elite Operator that Kal'tsit assigned to him. Lin Ye did not know who this person was but he trusted Kal'tsit's decision. However, if Lin Ye had to choose, he wanted Ace to come along with him. Since Lungmen, he really did not talk with him. That was understandable, he was an elite operator so seeing him on the Landship was rare, plus, Lin Ye was busier than ever now.
Lin Ye really wanted to talk with a friend though.
"..."
Talking about friends, Lin Ye's mind drifted to a certain person that he met prior to him riding this vehicle.
Before he was riding this car to Laterano, he got to meet Yelena before she left the Landship. Rhodes Island gave her a group of bodyguards that will accompany her back to Sokk. At first, she did not want that, but after Lin Ye persuaded her, Yelena finally gave in.
They met in the departure area of the Landship. Coincidently, they were both about to leave. Lin Ye and Yelena did not say much, but it was enough for them.
He smiled at those simple interactions that he had with her.
However, his daydreaming was cut short, and a notepad appeared in front of his face. Lin Ye glanced to his side to see Nian, smiling at him. Her eyes twinkled as they pierced into his being. Lin Ye raised a brow at her.
The reaction that he got from her, was Nian nudging her head to the notepad in his face.
Although confused, Lin Ye took it from her hand and looked at it.
"So... What's this?" With his eyes still on it, Lin Ye asked her.
Nian sank back into her seat and smirked at him.
"My new draft of my movie!" Puffing out her chest, Nian exclaimed proudly at him, "I want to hear your opinion on it."
Rather than asking more about this sudden request, Lin Ye entertained her and read through the notepad. With each page he flipped through, Lin Ye was dead silent. This made the once-confident dragon a bit nervous now.
After what Nian felt like an eternity, Lin Ye closed the notes and glanced back at her. Smiling at her, Lin Ye gave back her notes. Nian took it.
"So..." Tightening her hold on her note, Nian nervously drawled out, "How was it?"
Nian knew she was overreacting by nervously waiting for his opinion however she did not care. He was her Gege. Nian did not want to make something he did not like. So hearing Lin Ye's opinion was a very big deal to her.
Lin Ye hummed while trying to come up with a good opinion of her writing. After a while, Lin Ye nodded at himself and glanced back at her, making Nian flip in nervousness.
"You did a good job in making the characters. The protagonist, the male lead, was interesting to read about. However, he seemed to be perfect on the surface. However, when you go more into his character, he's flawed. The female lead is also not some generic damsel in distress. She can do things that ML cannot. You even made the antagonist not fully evil," Lin Ye nodded as he smiled at her, "You followed my advice. Good job, Nian." He said before patting her head
Hearing this, Nian's face lit up and giggled at his praise.
"Thanks Gege!" She smiled at him, "So is my draft good?"
Lin Ye hummed at this.
Nian's mood dropped when she heard him. But she pushed that feeling away and wanted to know what he meant.
"Is something wrong with it? Anything I can improve?" Nian asked, interested in knowing more about his opinion.
Lin Ye thought about what she said, before nodding.
"Your story about how the ML lead turned into the hero is a bit... all over the place," Lin Ye admitted, "Although I know you wanted to make it work, you still need to have a structure to tell a good story. Or at least a story that makes sense."The characters are good, they're also exciting and relatable" Then he chuckled, "The story? It leaves much to be desired."
Nian thought hard about what he told her. Then her eyes landed on him again.
"Do you know how to do that, Gege?" She asked curiously.
Lin Ye hummed and thought about something. After debating with himself for a bit, Lin Ye smiled at her.
"Have you heard of the Hero's Journey?" Lin Ye asked.
Nian raised a brow at this,
"Hero's Journey?" She racked her mind to find anything about it but nothing appeared. She looked back at him and shook her head, "No, Gege. What is that?"
Ansel also was interested in this as he leaned slightly closer to them.
Lin Ye nodded and got ready to explain.
"The hero's journey is a common narrative archetype, or story template, that involves a hero who goes on an adventure, learns a lesson, wins a victory with that newfound knowledge, and then returns home, different than before," Lin Ye then held out three fingers at Nian, "The hero's journey can be boiled down to three essential stages."
Nian's interest was growing when listening to Lin Ye, as she pulled out a pen and wrote it all down on her notepad. The last part of Lin Ye's explanation caught her attention.
"Three stages?" Her eyes twinkled as her pen was still on her notepad, "What are they?"
Lin Ye chuckled at how excited she was now. He then pointed at one of his fingers.
"The first is the departure. In brief, the hero is living in the so-called "ordinary world" when he receives a call to an adventure. Usually, the hero is unsure of following this call—known as the "refusal of the call" or "Rejection of one's calling"—but is then helped by a mentor figure, Family member, Friend, etc, who gives him a wise speech or counsel, and convinces him to follow the call," Lin Ye pointed to his next finger,
"Second, the initiation. In the initiation section, the hero enters the "special world," where he must begin facing a series of tasks until he reaches the climax of the story—the main obstacle or enemy. Here, the hero must put into practice everything he has learned on his journey to overcome the obstacle. Campbell talks about the hero attaining some kind of prize for his troubles—this can be a physical token or "elixir", or just good, old-fashioned wisdom or both if you want to."
he was about to point at the last finger before Lin Ye paused.
Nian stopped writing all of this and noticed this sudden change in him. Filled with sudden worry, She grabbed his arm, shaking it a bit.
"Gege?" Nian asked worryingly.
This snapped Lin Ye out of his daze. Looking at Nian, He smiled at her.
"Ah sorry," Lin Ye giggled a bit, "I just forgot the last one. Just remembered it now "
Although she was not satisfied in the slightest with his answer, Nian sighed, before reluctantly letting go of his arm and putting back the pen's tip on the notebook.
Lin Ye slowly pointed at his last finger,
"The last one is the return or Journey's end..." Lin Ye's eyes softened as he stared at the finger, "Feeling like he is ready to... go back to his world, the hero must now leave. Once back in the ordinary world, he undergoes a personal metamorphosis in the realisation of how his adventure has changed him as a person, Physically and mentally."
Nian might just be imagining this, but she thought Lin Ye's face seemed lost when he said this. However, it was quickly replaced by him smiling at her. She didn't like that kind of smile one bit, a forced smile that was hiding the sorrow, pain, and regrets in it. She knows it all too well, for she has seen it so many times in her life.
"Is that okay?" He asked.
"... Yeah," Nian nodded at him as she put away her notes, "I think I can make something with this. Thanks Gege." she smiled at him softly, While inside, She was worried for him.
Lin Ye nodded at her with a smile.
"Do you write books or something, Doctor?"
Adnachiel could be seen glancing at him from the front.
Lin Ye spun around towards the angel and smiled at him.
"Nothing like that," He chuckled, "I just.... knew a person that wanted to be a writer."
"Someone you knew?" Adnachiel raised a brow, "Is that person a well-known writer? Have I heard of them?"
Lin Ye smiled and shook his head at him.
"No, she did not become one," Lin Ye's face softened as he talked about this, "Although she was an amazing writer, she didn't become one."
This caught the attention of everyone in the car, as they all looked towards Lin Ye.
"Why is that?" Steward asked, now curious about this story.
Lin Ye sank into his seat.
"She needed to choose between two things," he hummed, "Her passion for writing or someone that she loved that was sick. She picked the latter."
He smiled at the angel.
"That's all I am going to tell you."
Seeing that the doctor didn't want to discuss this any further, the others let this topic go.
To not make it feel awkward, Lin Ye found another subject to talk about.
"Adnachiel, you're from Laterano, right?" Lin Ye asked, "Can you tell me more about the place?"
Adnachiel smiled and looked back in front of him.
"Laterano is a symbol of tranquillity and consistency. The country has long endured several international conflicts, earning it a neutral standing in Terra's erratic geopolitics," He smiled while discussing more this, "The Church hopes to unify the Terrans against shared challenges to their civilizations by using their Legati as peacekeepers to communicate across nations."
As Lin Ye was hearing all of this, he nodded and smiled at Adnachiel.
"That's good to hear," Lin Ye hummed, "How're the people?"
The Sankta chuckled.
"They're amazing. People are kind and open there. Free-spirited in nature." He smiled, "Even the Pope is a really happy-go-lucky person if you see him in person."
Lin Ye hummed at this.
Although he looked glad to hear there was a good place on Terra, he knew this was just the surface. The apple's beautiful surface will always have a worm inside to gobble it up.
Meaning that Nothing in his new life was good.
Laterano sounded too good to be true. There must be something more to this so-called utopia of a place that the people did not want to know.
Although he thought about this, Lin Ye kept all of this to himself.
Lin Ye just needed to see the place for himself before judging it.
Just as he was about to ask more about the nation, Lin Ye saw a car pass them.
Lin Ye raised a brow. That was odd.
From what he knew, they were in the middle of nowhere. Seeing another vehicle passing them was not something he expected to see here. However, that was not the weirdest thing that he noticed.
From where the vehicle was going, it looked like they were heading to the Landship.
With curiosity getting the better of him, Lin Ye glanced at Ansel.
"Hey Ansel," He called him, "Did Rhodes Island appoint or expect any guests today?"
Ansel raised a brow. He hummed and thought about it.
After a while, the medic shook his head at him.
"I think not, at least not that I have heard of," He said while shrugging.
He stared at Lin Ye.
"And if there is, you don't need to worry all too much about it," Ansel said, "It doesn't relate to us anyway."
Lin Ye hummed and ultimately shrugged at this.
What the bunnyman said was right.
It had nothing to do with him.... Maybe.
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
Back on the Landship, Kal'tsit could be seen in her office going through some documents. They were all related to Yan and the money that they gave them.
She had to admit, being a partner with one of the royal families of Yan was a huge advantage that they had over most companies. They could now easily trade with the country and get in contact with the most powerful person in that country for their help. The Emperor also reassured them that their safety in the country is guaranteed and they could trade with them without any issues.
As Kal'tsit saw the amount of money Rhodes island was given in person from the Emperor, she thought she was dreaming. Before, getting this amount of money was something she could only imagine. But this was real.
The many zeros that she was staring at were real.
And all of this was possible because of one person.
Lin Ye.
Just as she was about to think about the man that was now the Doctor, the door of her office opened with a bang.
"Miss Kal'tsit!"
Kal'tsit, who was at work, slowly raised her head to look at Amiya who was full of anxiety. This made her frown.
"What's the matter? You look so flustered," Her eyes narrowed at her, "Could it be that something happened to Lin Ye?"
Amiya shook her head.
"No, Dokutah has already gone and left for Laterano."
Kal'tsit then looked confused.
"What is it then?" She asked.
"Someone is here for you, Miss Kal'tsit," Amiya said in a hurry, "She is from our sponsor."
Amiya's outburst did little to narrow down who was there. There were a lot of people sponsoring the company.
A trace of uneasiness flashed in Kal'tsit's heart, but she didn't show it on her face. She just got up slowly.
"Okay, then take me there."
With that, Amiya nodded and led her to the reception room.
The moment when Kal'tsit opened the door, she noticed how the atmosphere changed once she was in the room.
There were six people wearing robes that covered their whole bodies standing in the room. From how they were dressed, Kal'tsit knew they were from Yan. That made these people more important to her than anyone she knew. Yan was now the most precious sponsor that they had. Did the emperor send another person to oversee them?
However, there was something strange about them.
They were also surrounding the only person who was sitting down. Although there were more seats in the room, they chose to stand beside a girl that was sitting on the sofa. This made Kal'tsit guess they were all acting as bodyguards to the girl.
Kal'tsit walked towards them and stood in front of the girl with her hands folded at her.
"Greetings, I am the person in charge of Rhodes Island, Kal'tsit." She said in a calm tone, "May I ask, as to know who you are."
The sitting woman raised a brow at her and slowly got up from her seat. When she raised her head and gave Kal'tsit a view of her face, the medic thought that she looked familiar.
"So you're Kal'tsit," The girl hummed, "You are just how Gege told you to be."
Before Kal'tsit could say anything, the black-haired girl continued.
"Dr. Kal'tsit, isn't it?" The other party showed a faint smile, "I've heard a lot about you from my brother."
The princess of Yan held out her hand to the doctor.
"My name is Ying Li," She introduced herself, "Can I see my Gege? I have something to do with him."
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
Draft: Jaq
Proofread: Discord
Edit: Jaq