Atis takes a final sip of his tea before calmly placing the cup back on its tiny little saucer. He stood and slowly turned his back on me, looking out the window in a way that reminded me of the first time I was called up here.
"May I ask 'why?'"
"You know the kid that I have working for me right now, right? The student I chose from the first years?"
"I do. Only got in to the school because of the job you gave him. Wouldn't have qualified otherwise. No money, no connections, no sponsors. Other than you of course."
"I took a chance on the kid. It paid off. So rarely do you find people that care as much as him." I take a deep breath before continuing. "Stumbled up to the guild hall yesterday beat black and blue. I don't tolerate that treatment to anyone, doubly so to one of my own."
"And what do you plan to do to those responsible? Just retaliate with more violence?" He turned to look at me. "When are you going to grow up Palmer?"
"Still talking down to me after almost 40 years now." I can feel a bit of anger growing now "I never use violence as a first resort. Never have and never will. But when a self entitled prick takes out his frustration on another kid, they can't always be reasoned with. Some people need something physical to learn. Something that'll stick with them."
"You take this too far. Systems are in place to prevent this. Taking this into your own hands is just self gratification."
"Some job that system did. Look me in the eyes Atis. Look at me and say to my face that if some noble brat gets it into his head to strike a commoner, some one would step in to stop it. The school guards wouldn't dare touch someone with any sort of rank."
His face began to redden but he sat down again. A shaking hand grabs the cup.
"I won't endorse this."
"I don't expect you to."
"I'll not help you find them."
"You won't have to."
"Why even tell me?"
"I respect you too much to not."
His hand hovered just above the saucer, the cup tilted just enough to see the bottom. He said nothing else.
"I am aware that you try, believe me I do. But it's just one more small corruption. Won't change 'less the world does. But I can't be still on this."
After a solid minute of silence I left the headmaster's office as well as the Grand offices themselves. Just outside was an unassuming man, light brown hair and eyes and a small scar on his cheek that could have been from anything. He wore pants and a long sleeved shirt despite the mild weather.
"Jasa." I nod in greeting.
He returned the nod with a grin on his face. "Been too long pops." He grabbed my shoulder and pulled me in for an embrace.
"Hasn't been that long has it? I was only gone for a week." I return the embrace.
"You left the day I came back from a month long trip, myself."
"And I was bedridden a few days before that with the flu. The doctor thought it was a plague and had me confined."
He broke the embrace, his face a little more serious. " Ill luck that was."
"And ill luck today as well."
A slight inclination of the head brought out pleasantries to a halt and it was back to business.
"It was five of them. Two notables, the rest seemed to be cronies. Thomas Beckner the young thane of Rosen as well as the son of the Purple Duke and nephew of queen Adrianne, Alexander Hamilton ."
"Where do we wait?"
"They head through an alley just outside the university, good place to scale the wall out of sight. They're a group of common troublemakers. Get drunk, start fights, flaunt their standings and families. Beckner is suspected of tax frauds as well, not a good habit to get into so young. Sets a poor image for his holdings."
"The image wasn't great to start. We'll meet up with Joseph and Oscar then the three of us will head over when you say."
"Not going to ask me to come?"
"I know you've no taste for this ilk."
"I appreciate your consideration, but the kid was beaten to the edge of oblivion. Give a good one or two in my place, would ya?"
"Will do, son."
With that we set off on the long walk back to the gate. I could feel my eyes swelling from my proximity with those damn pines. As the gates came into view it occurred to me that I would have to deal with Jack again, so I wave Jasa ahead of me. If Jack sees him as a friend of mine then he would take every opportunity to harass him as well.
Jack is standing there arms crossed and a look that could kill. Or maybe he shat himself. One of the two. He was still without his polearm and his jacket was torn open with all the buttons missing. He saw me and strode toward me purposefully. I raised a hand in greeting only to receive a fist to the face.
Ouch. Jack was much stronger then I thought he was.
I'm shot backwards and actually leave the ground before falling and smashing the back of my head against the stone. I just lay there for a second and bring a hand to my face, gently probing for damage. Feels like my lip burst but missed my nose thankfully, I would not want that set again.
When Jack got close enough I kicked out hitting him in the knee as he was taking a step. Without a leg to support him he falls face down, barely throwing out an arm to catch himself.
I roll away from him and we both use the opportunity to stand up. I taste blood and my lip is throbbing but it looks like he landed hard on his left arm, he was cradling it against his chest. I grin and spit bloody spit at his feet.
Some kids and visitors begin to gather around us, a couple of old men in a brawl. He holds his good arm out a little and takes a tentative step towards me. I rush him, hoping to take him by surprise. I duck under a punch thrown with his right and move in closer only to be hit under the jaw by his left.
Sly bastard. He actually fooled me with that. Or so I thought until he grabbed his left wrist, grit his teeth and groaned loudly in pain. I wasn't knocked away this time and recovered quick enough to throw a few punches back, aiming for his left. When he was occupied guarding his weakened arm I kicked the knee I hit earlier knocking him down again. He tried grabbing me with his good hand but I stepped back just out of reach. When he was down I delivered a final kick to his gut to bring it to a close.
He collapsed into the fetal position while retching and I took the chance to leave. The small crowd moved aside to permit me. I feel at my lip again frowning in consternation. Waving a carriage over, I'm rejoined by Jasa. We hop in.
"Guild hall." Is all I had to say before we were off.
"Awfully violent today ain't he?"
"Wasn't expecting a fight there, if it happens its before I get in. Might have to start avoiding him."
"Much like you, he must get more violent with age."
I lightly smack the back of his head. "Don't start disrespecting your elders now."
He chuckles lightly as the carriage stops outside the hall and we both get out, just to have Rob wave us over.
"That lady Sam told ya about is back." He started, "Waiting in an alcove in the hall. She's being more co-operative this time."
"You'll have time to hear her out, pops. Going to be a few hours until you need to head out anyways."
I don't really have the patience for this at this moment and I tell them as much. "Though, it wouldn't be good if she were to freak out again. Send Joseph or Holly or even Joanie if she's not busy. I don't want to deal with crazy alone."
I pull Jasa aside as Rob walks off. "Mind doing me a favour before you head off on that job you were thinking of?"
"It's no issue."
"Send a warning to the family of Beckner, keep any spill over away from the University. I'll send the letter to Adrianne. She's not going to be happy, and I was just in the Capital dealing with her minions, too."
We split up and I head inside to meet this Amaria woman. She was as Sam described yesterday, long straight black hair down to her waist and her white dress was pristine, unspoiled by the muddy roads throughout the city. The eyes are what drew my attention though. They were a dark grey that looked nearly black in the dim lighting of the alcove table she sat at. Those eyes turned to me the second I walked into the crowded guild hall and tracked me as I moved to her table.
Seeing her, I could confidently say that I had never seen this woman before but something about her tugged towards familiarity. Perhaps a relative of someone I know? As I sat down, Joseph strolled up to the table and sat down next to me casually placing a satchel he was carrying on the ground next to him. We both stared across the table and I waited for a smartass remark from Joseph. None came, oddly out of character for him.
So, I began. " Hear you've been looking for me. What's got you in such a twist that you cant post a request like everyone else?" Hell, even the cockiest of nobles know better nowadays.
"Is he staying?" The venom in her voice when she gestured towards Joseph surprised even me.
A cocked eyebrow from me and a shake of Joseph's head confirmed that whatever was making her angry wasn't because of him.
"Now listen here lass," she snorted at that and rolled her eyes, "Ain't no secrets between me and Joseph, so speak as free as you wish, or get the hell out of my hall."
Whether it was my blood still boiling from my fight with Jack or residual anger over what happened to Sam, or if something about her didn't sit well with me, I had very little patience for this woman. Even Joseph seemed surprised.
She glared towards Joseph for a moment before turning her eyes back on me. A shadow passed over her eyes making them seem solid black for a moment, I dismissed it as a trick of the light, or my eyes going sour in my old age. Maybe the pines from the university were still bothering me. I rubbed my eyes a little as she spoke.
"I request that you and several of your more trustworthy fellows embark on a journey through the square sea, to an island that will lie at its center. Once there you will enter a tomb, it stands prominently at the island center, and retrieve an item." She lays a folded sheet of paper on the table. "This is the depiction and description of said item. Do not, in any way bring harm to this item or fail to retrieve it, or there will be irreparable consequences. Keep it covered and let no one handle it, in fact keep it on your person at all times. It will then be brought back and handed over to me, and no one else."
I pinched the bridge of my nose and thought to myself, yup, she's crazy. Joseph pulls a map out of a satchel he had by his feet. Unrolling it and placing small painted stones on the corners, revealing the entire continent. Thousands of islands marked with major ports, capital cities and various other points of interest all written in a neat and tiny notation. Joseph brushed a couple of creases out of the map before starting.
"This here, this is where we are." He pointed to an island off to the far left of the map, it was labeled Quenta and the city Westport. He spoke slowly, as if talking to a child. "And way over here," he slides his finger dramatically towards the center of the map and a little south, "is the square sea. If you look real close, you can see that there is no island in the square sea."
"I am aware that there is no island, yet. In a month's time it will rise from the sea. And by then you must be there. You have but three days from its rise before it is swallowed by the sea once again."
Now an island that rises from the sea, while rare, is not unheard of. There are a few areas in the north and the east where people regularly harvest sea plants from these rising islands. Some port cities make their livelihoods from these place rather than fishing and trade. What made this statement unbelievable is that a new island had not been found in the Shallow Seas in the last three hundred years. This was well known and documented well enough that maps detailing the entirety of the Shallow Seas were fairly commonplace. You could expect to find a map in any local tavern for public use, copies for sale at any scribe, even regular citizens could afford to have one for the novelty.
I was a bit baffled by her. "So let me get this all laid out. You want us to send an expedition through the most dangerous known sea to find an island that you claim will rise from the ocean in a month's time with no evidence to prove it. You then want us to search this island, that is unlikely to exist in the first place, on a time crunch for whatever it is you want. And you threaten consequences should we not accomplish this."
"Yes."
"Any additional details or instructions?"
"No."
"Alright then. How much are you paying? Concerning the lack of sensibility in this request, I will have to take payment first. And a hefty payment it will be considering the risk. As for your threats, there will be no reparations for quest failure. This is non-negotiable. I'll tell you straight, this quest is stupid. If you don't sweeten the deal significantly then no one will consider taking it."
"Palmer Reed, you will take this quest."
At this moment a wave of horrifying images flooded my thoughts. Cities were torn to pieces in hurricanes and people I loved were swallowed by massive tidal waves. Their faces were twisted into depictions of immense pain. As well as various other such things, the images ended on a wide shot of entire islands falling beneath the waves as a shadowy figure rose from the depths of the ocean.
The flash of horror lasted but a second before I shook my head and dispelled them. I bounded from my seat across the table, pulling a knife from my boot faster than I thought myself capable. The knife pinned both her clasped hands to the table as my left hand gripped her throat.
I shouted at Joseph, "She's an illusionist!"
The shout seemed to shake him from his own visions and he quickly pulled a loaded and cocked crossbow from the same satchel he had pulled the map from. Several others nearby had also heard the commotion and were either prepping some sort of spell or weapon or clearing others away from the potential fight scene. A quick side glance showed Alphonse with one hand holding an orb of fire and the other crackling with electricity, Stevenson holding a longsword in front of him and inching closer, and at least two others with bows drawn and trained on the crazy sorceress in my hand.
It made my heart ache with pride at the sight of their swift reactions.
"Try that shit again and it'll be more than just your hands with a hole through them." I hissed the threat into her ear before I released her throat and got down from the table. I yanked my knife from her hands and wiped the blood off with a rag that someone tossed to me from somewhere off to my right.
She seemed unperturbed by the newfound holes in her hands. She flexed them with a look of confusion before a brief flash of light and they had stopped bleeding. The slit the knife made was still visible.
"That was no illusion but your future should you decline. However, I see you are in a bad mood. So, I will return tomorrow to further deliberations."
She stood and strode out of the guild hall, dress billowing in a wind that wasn't there.
Once out of sight, the tense atmosphere faded. I saw Joseph's hands shaking and a bead of sweat on his forehead. Alphonse walked over shaking his head and everyone else in the hall returned to what they were doing prior.
"Its certainly been a while since someone's tried something like that." Alphonse began but stopped after seeing Joseph's face. He grabbed his chin and looked into his eyes, which seemed to grow unfocused. He blinked and he showed a slightly confused expression. " No traces left, what did she show you to have you so shaken?"
Joseph wiped a hand down his face. "Can't recall, oddly enough. Just a lingering fear, might have been emotional illusions." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Gods, that hit hard."
"I'll set up wards next time, private room with a few counter spell mages on standby." Alphonse muttered. He wandered off, whether to make preparations or get back to work I couldn't tell.
I wait until Joseph recovers a bit before I say, "You sitting out her next visit?"
"Hell no! She caught me off guard this time but it won't happen again. I must be getting soft in my old age."
"The only thing getting soft is your gut but that was probably just the beer, no need to be self conscious." I smirk at him while patting my stomach.
He shoves me before standing and stretching. "I have to get ready for tonight, it's been a while since I had a decent fist fight." He rubs his eyes and turns away. "Actually, I'm just going to take a nap see you in a few."