I stared at her, a bit dumbfounded. It just felt too random, but for her to drag me out here for that specific question didn't seem like the cause. Folding my hands in front of me, I shifted my weight. "Are you sure?" Asking again just to make sure if she wasn't going to ask for more.
"Well…." Cathy fidgeted. She gripped her hand into a fist as she bit her lower lips. The wind started to pick up, blowing her hair in front of her. With a gentle toss of her head, she pushed it away. Her gaze eventually landed on me with a serious expression. "I suggest you be careful around Phil."
Speechless, I held my breath for a split second before I spoke, baffled. "Why?" Completely confused, this was strange to hear from Cathy's mouth. I did have an inkling of her saying that they were together or something, but this was different.
Cathy glanced around. She seemed a bit nervous. "Do you know Phil's family history?"
"I think so?"
With a frown, Cathy sighed. "It seems you don't."
"Does it matter?" I couldn't help but counter. Was history that much important as of now, unless something changed that made it worrisome. I trusted Phil a lot. It wasn't something that I would so easily assume that he would do something bad to harm me….I hope.
"That depends on how you see it." Cathy jumped down from the tree and stood right in front of me as she circled around me. "Phil's mother has been banished from our city, but that didn't mean Phil was. The rule only applied to his mother."
"Why? What did she do?"
"Married a human."
"That's ridiculous." I blurted out. I couldn't help but stare because of such ridiculous reasons but realized that it was still the old times when racism was still high. Even today, I could still see the division between different races worldwide, but luckily it isn't too much of a difference in where I lived, which was a blessing.
"Not really." Sternly replied, her hand was behind her as she moved to my right. She lifted her chin, looking upwards into the sky. "Phil's mother was one of the Elders."
"And?"
"She's a high elven pureblood, meaning she's a lot more powerful than normal Elves. High Elves has ten times more magical energy and is a force that isn't something one should scoff at. We tend to keep our kind as pure as possible. The purer they are, the more powerful they can be. While Phil's mother was one of the most powerful High Elf, we had."
"Then why ban her? If she was so special, wouldn't you want to keep her with your people?"
Cathy shook her head. "Once tainted, she's not allowed back in. Her powers will become less powerful and eventually become a regular Elf."
"I don't get it." For someone to lose power, so suddenly was a bit odd to me. It was definitely something I didn't expect to hear.
"She was our high priestess that's been blessed with power by our God. The requirement to be a High Priestess is to be a virgin."
My lips turned into an O shape, eventually closing. I heard about those types of magic, where the host needed to keep their God's untainted power to flow in through them, allowing them to control the magic with much more ease. Honestly, the elves weren't the only one who had high priests like that, the humans also had the same requirements, and it made sense why they needed a pure elf.
"It is Taboo for a High Priestess to marry any outsiders." Cathy's voice cut through my mind, bringing me back from my thoughts. "If she was to marry, she was supposed to marry one of the other High Elves to continue the pure line."
"Wait," I held up my hand to stop her from going any further. "You guys are like the Egyptian Kings. Were you marry siblings?" My voice went up an octave, a bit shocked by what I was hearing.
Cathy was taken back from what I had said, her eyes turned big, and her lips slightly opened. "Absolutely not!" She quickly replied, disgusted at such a thought. Her pretty little hand raised up to cover her mouth. "We know what would happen if such things resulted from marrying one's siblings. The child's mind becomes twisted, and the child must be healthy without any deficit."
I couldn't help but think that such things had happened in the past because such knowledge wasn't something unless it happened in the past. Such thoughts made me shudder.
"We don't live such barbarous lives," Cathy wasn't pleased at all. "Either way, his mother was banished, unable to use her power anymore. In exchange, she had Phil, and she lived with her husband." Her voice cooled down, and her gaze seemed to be distant as if longing for something I couldn't see.
"They were quite a loving and happy couple." She sighed with a slight smile on her lips. "For five years, she was blessed with happiness that I never saw on her face until I saw it with my own eyes. She told me it was the best thing that happened to her, and she was glad that she wasn't a High Priestess anymore."
"I see…" Listening to her story, I could see from Cathy's voice and expression that Phil's mother was delighted.
"You should have seen her. She looked more beautiful when she was married to her husband than being a high Priestess…..I knew she was stressed and hated the job. Going around healing the trees, doing the morning prayers, dancing every day to bring good fortune, communicating with the birds, siphoning away the dark powers and eventually cleansing an area….so many more."
I wasn't sure what a High Priestess had to do, but her description of how much work she had to do made me not want to become one either.
"I wish they were still here." Cathy's voice became quiet. A heavy, sad air around her could be even felt by me. I couldn't help but feel a bit choked up about it.
Trying my best to break the intense atmosphere, I tried to divert the tension back to what we were talking about.
"So, what does this have to do with Phil?" I asked. It was getting a bit too emotional.
"Everything." Her expression darkened. "She died supposedly from one of the High Elves' hands. We don't know who, still."
A gasp escaped my mouth, completely shocked that they would kill their own kind so easily. "How? Why?!"
"I don't know, but we found residue of high concentration of magic around her body when this happened."
"So, I'm guessing Phil knows this?"
"Yes."
I cursed, knowing from Phil's perspective and tone of voice when he talked about his mother, he would boil in rage. The high possibility of him having issues with them was definite. It made me want to not think about what he might do to them, but I had an inkling that he probably was up to something if he was bent on revenge.
"What will you do?" Cathy asked, staring at me quizzically, waiting for an answer. From her gaze, I wasn't quite sure if she wanted me to help him or wanted me to stay away. It was like they were a small plea for help, but it quickly diminished, leaving behind her usual expression of saying stay away.
"I…" They were a dozen thoughts roaming in my head, unsure of what to do. I could help him, but I wasn't sure if he needed my help in the first place. It wasn't like it would get me not into trouble because I knew I would. "Am not sure," I replied bluntly. All I could do was watch Phil and wait for what he would do in the first place anyway. Just butting in without knowing the full picture was stupid.
"Well, take my advice. Stay away from him."
For some reason, the way she had said it sounded like she was shooing me away from a possible chance to get together with him more than warning me to be careful. This was the sudden thought I had had the moment she blurted that out.
"If you say so…." My thoughts trailed off. Cathy nodded as she turned around and walked away gracefully.
I stood there for a moment, thinking about what she had said. There were two sides to her tone of voice where I felt like she was warning me to be careful and the other side where she wanted me to stay away from "her" bodyguard, which made me frown. I don't know how a female elf's mind works, but most of the time, they usually don't fish for answers and usually straight up to a point. Sometimes, they dance around their meaning with two different meanings, like how Phil tends to do, but that's not always the case.
Either way, the sudden warning was thrown in the back of mind and almost forgotten. There was no point in letting it bother me. We had to get back home, mostly to prepare for the possible Legendary Monster attack already half the world.
With steady steps, I started to head back toward the inn. The warm sunlight tickled my nose and bare arm, where no clothes were covered. It was nice to have the sunlight touching my skin, especially because it brought extra energy that I needed. One could say I tend to be like a plant, waiting for the sunlight to give me much needed energy that I hungrily seek.
As I finally came through the path where fewer trees and plants were situated, I saw the elven community hustling and bustling with life. It was as if they too came out to bask in the sun. There were quite a handful of them who actually took the opportunity to lay down on the open areas where the sun filtered through to sunbathe, sitting in a lotus position and meditating.
There weren't many children that I have seen so far; instead, many were adult females that carried baskets full of fruits on their sides and heads as they weaved through the crowds. A soft chime-like sound could be heard as the wind blew through the city, giving it a calming feel. I couldn't help but feel like this whole place was a natural, peaceful, tranquilizer, or a perfect getaway from the bustling hustling life of a human city. Even back home, it wasn't as peaceful but had ambient noise of people trading, laughing, and even singing.
I quickly changed my mind about doing something else than returning back to the inn. Being cooped up in the room wasn't something I wanted to do. The exciting thought to check out the village actually made me want to tour around the whole place. I don't know when I'll ever have a second chance any time soon to come visit here, and I wanted to make the most of it.