In the morning, Rox woke up feeling heavy. He thought it was odd, until he lowered his blanket and found Feera sleeping on top of him. He put his head back onto the pillow and tried to process this situation. Yes, she had to have crawled into his bed after waking up drunk in the middle of the night. She must have thought it was her room. It is the only explanation he could think of that made sense. Although he was surprised that she would still be drunk after sleeping for an hour or two. Elves and half-elves recovered from the effects of alcohol, during sleep, very quickly. Especially elves in their prime, like Feera. There were also those like Rox, whose physical abilities were high enough that it was nigh impossible to get drunk in the first place.
After a few moments, he felt Feera begin to stir. Panic set in, his heart began to race and he had to force himself not to throw her off before she noticed what happened. Although he was not, entirely, sure why he was so worried about it. Her eyes fluttered open, only a moment later, and met his. This close up, her emerald eyes glittered in the morning light. The iris of both eyes speckled with tiny fragments of another, lighter, shade of green that really made them seem gem-like.
"Good morning, sleepy purple." She said groggily with her usual, cheerful smile, "My bed was too far and you looked warm, so I got into your bed. You know, you are surprisingly comfortable, I should have done this on the trip here." Feera casually stated while sitting up, the blanket sliding down her back. Rox was in minimal clothing, simple small-cloth shorts, and an undershirt. Feera wore the same, highlighting the gorgeous curves of her body, that were unusual for elven women. Rox had an excellent view of her luscious hills, or rather, mountains.
He shook the thoughts from his head. However, it was too late. The danger had already arrived, and was standing in the now-open door of his room. Kara, her face flushed an impossible shade of red, stood in the doorway. If looks could kill, Rox was sure that both he and Feera would be splattered against the wall.
(Picture the illustrator drew for this scene: https://i.imgur.com/QqGN9XG.png)
"What the hell is going on here, huh?" She said with a barely restrained voice. "I come to say 'good morning' and discuss Feera's findings. Yet, here I find you two doing this?"
"Kara, wait, this isn't what it looks like," Rox said in a rush, putting his hands up while laying down, trying to show nothing inappropriate was going on. Feera, however, looked confused about what the problem was.
"What's wrong? We were just sleeping together." She said flatly, still straddling Rox.
That was it, there was nothing Rox could do to recover the situation after those words. Kara, in a mixture of anger and embarrassment, flushed an even deeper shade of red. She then visibly forced herself to calm down before smiling. However, that smile did not reach her eyes. They seemed almost dead, in fact, as she held her hand up with her palm towards them. "I see, you're just dirty. You need to be washed off."
Rox knew immediately what she meant, "Wait, Kara, no! Just calm do--." It was too late. Kara blasted the room with a torrent of freezing cold water before he could even complete the sentence.
- - - -
Rox and Feera sat in Kara's room on her bed, while Kara sat in the chair at her desk. Their clothes were dried, however their hair was still wet. As if nothing had happened, the conversation about the Aetherous began. For the two victims, this was because they did not want to get drenched again. After a visual cue from Kara, Feera started explaining what she had found.
Unlike usual, Feera reported in a business-like tone. She was almost like a different person. "Even among black market information brokers, there wasn't much information about the Aetherous. Oh, but I did learn some solid pieces of intel, as well as a way for us to do the research ourselves without running the risk of getting caught by The Church." As she got into the explanation, she gradually relaxed, the awkward mood dissipating. "The Aetherous have a few physical traits that can differentiate them from other people. The first is that their blood is always blue, similar to elves who have magic poisoning. They also seem to have, in the same way as the gods, domain over some specific type of magic, although which magics are unknown. What is known, is that what they hold domain over, the gods do not. They may as well be the gods of their respective domains."
Kara held a hand up, signaling Feera to pause so that she could ask a question. "So, you're saying that the Aetherous are gods, or something akin to them? Not just beings that are as powerful as gods?"
"I'm not sure, I couldn't get any clear information about that, but I think it's safe to say that one of those two things is right. It would also explain why the gods and Aetherous are at one another's throats. A god can't be born or created with domain over one of the Aetherous's magic while the Aetherous is still alive, so the gods can't increase their power to gain an edge over the mediator gods." Feera answered Kara's question, and added her own input to try and shed some light on it. Kara remained silent, she had her hand on her chin while thinking, so Feera continued with her findings. "The last thing I was able to learn about the Aetherous, is that they seem to be even harder to kill than the actual domain gods. Even after all the skirmishes with gods, none of them seem to have been killed off permanently. Even in cases where their bodies were destroyed entirely, they apparently showed up again later. The only beings our history books know of that have been able to do something similar are the primordial gods. However, the primordial gods couldn't die in the first place to our knowledge."
With that, Feera had finished explaining what she had discovered about the Aetherous. They seemed to be an existence on par with the gods, or at least close to them. However, there were far more gods than Aetherous, so it was curious that they existed at all or had domain over something. Domain gods were gods that were born or created with a birthright ownership over some kind of magic or concept, such as love. This meant that they had full control of this concept and were able to bend it to their will. Domain gods were also capable of manipulating mana itself and could wield it as a weapon. It was not as powerful as using actual magic, however gods had extremely high mana capacities and could easily overpower quality with sheer quantity. They could also form swords, arrows, and other such objects using pure mana alone. However, they could be killed just like any mortal, with the exceptions of disease or old age.
Gods that had domain over things that fell into the magic categories, such as shadow or fire, were particularly powerful when it came to combat. They could do all the things other domain gods could do, however they also could use their domain as a weapon. This is why the mediator gods were worshiped by mortals, and hated by the other gods. The Mediator Gods had domain over seven powerful magics and that gave them an edge. They also worked together to accomplish their goal of protecting the mortal races, unlike the domain gods who lacked teamwork and were simply out for their own gain, or to toy with the mortals for their amusement.
Primordial gods, however, were not so much beings as they were forces of nature.They seemed to have existed before the universe and created the domain gods as well as the world of Chalice, so that they could watch everything unfold like a game. They have been known to interfere occasionally, for seemingly unknown reasons, but whenever they did, it would be a large turning point for whichever side they chose to show themselves to. It was well known that they were completely immortal, not that any being could stand up to their power in the first place.
After Feera had given Kara ample time to consider her report, she finished with the icing on the cake. The way to do research on the topic themselves, without risk of the church finding out due to them asking around the black market or libraries. "As for how to find out more, it's surprisingly convenient and also tells us a bit more about seals at the same time. According to the information brokers, there are sealing sites around Chalice that the Aetherous helped make to seal gods away, or were sealed in themselves. Seals that are broken by force, like many seals that contained gods and Aetherous were, have information on the being it contained written in the leftover runic writing."
Kara's face lit up, an appropriate response considering she had just learned that she could now kill two birds with one stone. Even better, she no longer needed to risk being hunted as a heretic. "Excellent! In that case, we should prepare." She said excitedly, looking at Rox. He knew what she meant. She was ready to enter the Forest of Giants to see the sealing site that Rox knew of.
"Alright, but remember what you promised. I can't guarantee that I can protect anyone except for you, even then I'm not sure if I can." He said, warning her once more of how dangerous that place truly was while also reminding her what she had agreed to.
"Yes, let's do this." She said with a giddy, child-like smile. Clearly not understanding the gravity of the situation.
"What are you two talking about? Leaving me out of something juicy?" Feera said, losing her business voice and now talking like she normally does. Despite her tone, she was clearly pouting. Her cheeks puffed up cutely while she looked at them in feigned anger.
"I'm sorry, Feera, but Kara wants me to take her into the Forest of Giants. There's a sealing site there, and she wants me to guide her to it since I used to live there and know the land well. I won't take anyone else because I can't keep anyone else safe, it's that dangerous." He said, answering her seriously, even though he could tell she was half-joking about being left out. "Also, we need you to stay behind to meet up with Toley and arrogance manifest." He added, realizing the two still had not shown up in town. It might even take them up to a week longer before reaching the city, due to training on the way. Someone would need to be here to meet them if they showed up while Kara was in the forest with Rox.
"You mean Sheeron, Rox." Kara said, suppressing a laugh the best that she could.
"That's what I said." He responded without missing a beat, making Kara and Feera both laugh heartily.
Once they had both calmed down, Rox and Feera left Kara's room. Feera went to go lay roots with the local Thieves guild to see if she could establish a black market connection in other cities, while Rox went to prepare for the forest. Kara stayed inside of her room to do the same, packing several days worth of rations, clothing, and other necessary items for raiding a dungeon. The forest may not be a dungeon, but it would be best to treat it that way.
Rox's preparations were similar, but he also took his swords out from the chest in his room. The room, after being flooded by Kara's outburst, had then been dried out by the very person who caused the damage by removing the water. Once he had retrieved his weapons, he took a whetstone from his pack and drew one of his blades. It was steel, with a gorgeous sheen and finish. It clearly had been made through painstaking, sleepless nights by a master blacksmith. He then used his preparation time to sharpen it until the edge was razor sharp, then took a rune from his pack. It was a time rune with the effect of forcefully making something freeze in time for roughly a week. The item would be essentially indestructible during that period, and the edge of the blade would not dull during the duration. With a nod of satisfaction, he sheathed the weapon on his sword-belt, then removed the other sword from its sheath.
This blade was different. Even to an untrained eye, one could tell it was a magic item. The handle and sheath were made to look the same as the other, with a black lacquer finish. However, the blade was entirely different. It was still a long-sword, but it was a different color on the left and right side of the blade. One side was blue, the other red.
Rox placed the whetstone on the floor, then placed the blue edge of the sword near the stone. He then dragged the blade through the whetstone, cutting through it like butter, as if he were testing something. He looked at the cleanly-cleaved whetstone, then flipped the sword around to the red side and did the same. This time, rather than being cleaved in half, the whetstone vibrated violently. After a moment, as if time had reversed, the whetstone was whole again, as if it had never been cut in the first place. He then leaned down to pick it up for closer inspection. Not a scratch on it, as if he had never cut it in the first place. After returning the whetstone to his pack, he gave his sword a nod of satisfaction like he had with the other and returned it carefully to its sheath. The inside was laced with Elementia.
It was a purple, legendary, metal only found in ancient temple dungeons of Chalice, or bestowed by one of the primordial gods themselves. Purchasing such a thing would cost several fortunes, if any could even be found for sale in the first place. The substance was known for being able to take the shape that the owner thought of at will, no forging necessary. It would be as hard or soft as the user wished, and could be bestowed with any number of magical effects by the owner or other people that the owner allowed, so as long as they were capable.
"Looks like you still work, Fata Draco, but I hope I have no need to use your cursed self." Rox said to his sword while patting the hilt with affection.