T. A. Star
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17 - Another Expedition
🕑 Added 2024-03-20 00:00:04 +0000 UTC
King’s Dream made their way to the AOA building where they had been told to meet to go over their next mission which they had been specifically chosen for along with a few other select parties.
They were escorted to a large meeting room on one of the upper floors of the building where rows of chairs were set up, all facing the front of the room where a podium sat with some kind of device that had some odd bulbs and metal tubing, which gave off the same steampunk vibes the rest of the city did. The entire atmosphere read as if there was going to be a lecture given at any moment and they were the students.
“Why is that woman waving at us?” Rayna asked curiously and Phoenix glanced over to see none other than Polissa Teras with her party sitting in one of the already occupied rows towards the back.
The cinderen woman smiled brightly towards them and leaned over to speak quietly to the other party members, nodding in her direction which caused the others to glance their way. Dazien seemed to ignore the attention as he led them to an empty row of seats also towards the back where the Crystal Casters would normally be placed, leaving the front rows for the Sapphire parties.
Determining the “labeled” Caste of a party was relatively straightforward, the party’s Caste was equal to that of the lowest member. It wouldn’t matter if Paul himself officially joined their party, they would still be labeled as Crystal and limited as such. Now, they might be specifically chosen for higher Caste missions after more careful consideration and requirements needing fulfillment but they couldn’t just grab a higher Caste mission because they thought they could handle it. Too many young and cocky Adventurers quickly died because of that.
The room quickly filled with four more Crystal Caste parties and three Sapphire parties, including Phoenix’s former training partner, Bliss’, party which she gave a slight wave to. She was a bit startled when the Sapphire Chimera then shifted form from a fluffy humanoid amalgamation of a brown owl, green anaconda, and black panther into the small onyx kitten that the Wayfarer was more familiar with and proceeded to jump into her lap to beg for pets and treats.
Uriel was quicker to oblige, handing over a cookie from his belt pouch, and Phoenix wondered now if the adorable kitten form was merely a way to bribe her and the Mage into getting tasty food. Then she realized that if she could manage to turn into a cute bundle of fur, she would totally do the same thing; Uriel’s cooking was worth it.
Eventually, the AOA Director, Agatha Trayvious, walked to the front of the room with an assistant trailing behind. The other official moved quickly to slide a Knowledge Tablet into the base of the projector which caused a map to appear on the wall they were all facing and the director began to speak, “Thank you all for arriving here on time. I know things have been a bit hectic and I’m afraid it’s not going to get much better any time soon, so I’ll get right to it.”
Agatha gestured to the map of the tundra with their city placed in the center top, the large gorge off in the west, the evergreen forests and lake to the south, and the Razorteeth Mountains to the east were the largest land markers.
Six red numbers appeared along the mountain range as the director continued, “We have organized this as another expedition that will be led by Officer Wysmont. We will be having each Crystal party pair up and explore the Razorteeth mountains due to reports of Soul Reaper activity. Each pairing has some form of transport and communication ability to help with scouting and reporting.
"The Sapphire parties will each have their own route and each group leader will make sure everyone regroups at the designated location at sundown each day until the routes are cleared or a threat is discovered.”
She gestured to a green circle near the Eastern Trade Road that wound its way through the center of the mountain range, “If you encounter the enemy, it will be at the group leader’s discretion whether or not you will engage based on the likelihood of success. Otherwise, you will be expected to report back for reinforcements. Any questions?”
One of the members of Polissa’s team, a runeforged with colors that looked like glinting silver, raised his hand as he asked, “Why don’t we just have the esteemed Lord Paladin Wayland scout out and destroy anything he comes across?”
The director frowned slightly and said, “Lord Wayland has been assigned another mission already and cannot be in two places at once. While it might seem logical to have a stronger Adventurer make the work seem trivial, it would be inefficient and impractical to rest all of our missions on one man’s shoulders.”
Another hand raised from the front of the room as a Sapphire Caster asked, “What about monster encounters? Should our priority be the speed of mission completion or take the time to handle monsters as we come across them?”
“While we want to move quickly on the potential threat you’ll be scouting for, you should, if capable, eliminate any discovered threats along the way,” the director answered then waited a few moments longer before acknowledging there were no more questions at that time, “Very well then. Party leaders come to the front for your pair and route number assignments.”
Some chatter broke out as each leader stood and made their way to the front of the room. Phoenix remained silent as she watched Dazien while thinking about what Paul had told her earlier about the threat the Soul Reapers posed and she couldn’t help the dozens of worries that buzzed through her head.
Rayna leaned over and whispered to her with hushed amusement, “That woman keeps looking this way towards you. I think I recognize her now from your party. Do you know what she wants?”
Phoenix shrugged at the voxen, while idly petting Bliss’ soft fur as the Chimera purred in her lap, and recalled her last talk with the cinderen woman, “Her name’s Polissa Teras. She wanted to talk over some drinks but I told her we’re busy with our missions.”
Rayna’s amber eyes widened slightly and the bard seemed to reassess the cinderen across the aisle then chuckled, “Poor woman has no idea the uphill battle she’s facing.”
“What does that mean?” the Wayfarer asked with a confused expression, it’s not like she had been lying about them being buried in missions as this very meeting was proof of.
Saiya leaned against her and said softly with a gentle smile, “I do believe you have an admirer in Noble Teras,” then the voxen bent forward to speak to Rayna on the redhead’s other side, “Her interest seems genuine, Rayna, so stop feeling like you need to intrude.”
The pugilist tried to lean back in the chair before wincing slightly and leaning forwards again to give more space for the three fluffy tails needing to bend up and around the chair awkwardly, “I wasn’t,” the bard grumbled, “I’m just sayin’ that unless you say it to her face like you just did, Phoenix isn’t gonna understand and that’s gonna make the game Polissa wants to play harder.”
“Game?” the Wayfarer asked, now completely lost on what the twins seemed to be talking about, “What am I not understanding?”
Rayna just looked at her with a face full of pity and said with a sigh, “Oh, sweet flower.”
Uriel leaned forward slightly then to look past Saiya, which wasn’t difficult with the height difference as he asked the bard, “Are you suggesting Noble Teras wants to court Phoenix?”
“Whaaaa?” the redhead gawked with shock, then quickly felt her face matching her hair as she promptly denied, “No. There’s no way. I’m nobody. I’m-”
“The heir of the second most powerful noble House on the tundra and marked with the Favor of six gods,” Rayna interjected flatly, “Not to mention an Aurabreaker and Wayfarer. You really need to stop seeing yourself as some nobody kid who has nothing even remotely interesting about them. At this point, it’s just gonna get you hurt.”
Phoenix blinked and realized that Rayna was right. The truth of it finally clicked in her mind with the blunt way the voxen had stated it. Even if she hadn’t done anything to deserve those things, it would still make people pay attention to her and potentially try to get closer to her for reasons other than just wanting a friend. She changed her denial to a question instead, “You think she just wants to chat with me because of all that?”
“Not necessarily. I can see the way she’s looking at you, even as we speak,” Rayna said with a mixture of annoyance and amusement as the bard looked over at Polissa, who kept glancing towards her and the kitten in her lap in turn, “She looks like she wants to devour you.”
“Are you sure she’s not looking at Bliss? Or maybe you? Maybe you can, um, get eaten instead?” she said with uncertainty.
Uriel snorted and even Saiya put paw to mouth to keep from laughing as Rayna gave her a narrowed look and replied, “I don’t think you actually know what that implied so just… don’t say that again. Like ever. Aside from that, she doesn’t seem my type. Especially if you are her type.”
“Does she not interest you, Phoenix?” Saiya asked softly, “I know we talked about it before but have you thought more about what your type of person is when it comes to courting?”
Phoenix shook her head, “I have no idea. I haven’t really had time to think about it more. We’ve been busy and it’s not really high on my list of priorities. It’s all been monsters, traitors, zealots, invaders, and the missions to handle all of that, remember?”
The Healer gave a soft smile and said, “Well, maybe you can take some time between missions. What personality traits make you happy to be around? What physical traits make you want to get closer? It’s okay if you don’t know but if you take the time to think about it then you might discover that you have certain preferences.”
She scrunched her face at the idea and asked, “Why?” then corrected herself and clarified, “I mean, why should I set aside that time instead of focusing on the missions and my other projects? What’s the point of getting involved with someone like that when we’re busy all the time and I might not be in the city for much longer after the blood moon ends and I hit Sapphire?”
Rayna gave a heavy sigh, “You’re gonna burn out if all you do is missions and projects. We have off days for a reason, time to unwind and relax. There’s nothing wrong with relaxing with someone.”
“Even if you aren’t looking for a relationship. If you at least understand what you might or might not be interested in, you can learn to gently turn down the people who don’t fit that description. It might seem… harsh at times to turn down a love interest but it’s kinder than leading them on with false hope,” Uriel surprised them all by saying.
Before Phoenix could ask more, though, Dazien returned to the group, who all stood to meet him, and informed them that they were to be paired with the Chaos Summoners party which included Polissa Teras. The room was bustling now with people moving to leave and even Bliss reluctantly made her way back to her own party, with a parting cookie from Uriel, where Noble Stratfured stood in her glittering dress with their own mission route in hand.
"There must be rules against this. Isn't it a conflict of interest or something?" Rayna groaned, “We can’t have members crushing on others and distracting everyone.”
"You know full well there are no rules against couples or family members being in the same party, let alone the same mission," Saiya chided as the Healer held her sister's paw in an attempt to calm the bard.
"It's the assignment we've been given and I hope you won't be lax just because you don't like our partners," Dazien said, his tone heavy with warning.
The Striker scowled in return, "I'm not so petty that I would risk a mission for that. Despite what you seem to be implying."
The party leader looked like he was about to retort when he met Saiya's gaze and paused, nodding his head, "I know. I'm sorry. I also know we're all getting a little burnt out from this blood moon lasting so long. I just don't want any of us to make a mistake we might regret because we’re worried about things outside of our control."
Saiya smiled at him and added, "Perhaps this is an opportunity for all of us to get to know some other Adventurers better while supporting Phoenix in navigating this new experience?"
Phoenix rolled her eyes, “You say that like I’m going to panic at the first sign of-”
“Hello, Starlight,” a confident voice said from right behind her and the Wayfarer froze, partially wondering if she didn’t turn to look then the woman speaking to her wouldn’t be there.
She pushed that illogical thought to the side, turned to look at Polissa, and managed to choke out, “H-hello, Po.”
The cinderen wore regular adventuring gear of light leather armor but of a much higher quality that wouldn’t normally be considered ‘regular’. Regardless of the cost and type of garb, the woman stood with the same confidence she had in a gown, “Looks like we'll be teaming up tomorrow. I look forward to chatting more with you on the expedition but do you think we could start early and you could join me for dinner?”
Phoenix hesitated, looking to her friends for guidance but the group seemed torn. Rayna was shaking her head in exasperation while Saiya just smiled encouragingly. Uriel looked indifferent but that was kind of his default state and Dazien was surprisingly a blank slate.
As she looked at her leader questioningly, he finally gave a soft, almost teasing, smile as he said, “You won't know if you like it until you try it,” then he gently tapped her forehead to indicate his communication link with her, “We'll be available if you need us either way. We’re just going to restock supplies for tomorrow.”
She glanced at the smiling cinderen and felt her anxiety get the better of her as she said, “Um, I’d like to help restock and there’re some things I need to make sure to get from Madam Malik as well before we leave.”
At the woman's slightly crestfallen appearance, she added, “B-but I’m looking forward to talking more on the journey tomorrow. If that sounds okay?”
The smile returned and Polissa nodded, “Sounds wonderful. I’ll see you then, Starlight.”
Comments
Some BS Deity
Oh, this is going to be an adorable, awkward, and amusing train wreck.
Custus
Thanks for the chapter!
