"Can we really afford a room like this?" Maven asked in wonder, bouncing on one of several large down beds as she admired the opulent suite that Fae had manage to reserve from the inn.
Maven was pretty ignorant when it came to the way money worked in Avalon and wasn't in the habit of carrying any on her, so Fae or Shayna had to take care of it. During her time as the Saintess, Maven had no real need for money and was forbidden from even attempting menial chores.
"It's okay, my lady." Fae said with a gentle smile. "I always make sure to carry at least a few mithril coins at all times, just in case of emergency. On the day we left the capital, I happened to carrying a few dozen - enough for 10 people to play around for the rest of their lives.
Even a nice suite like this is hardly going to make a dent, all thanks to those deals you made with the old fogey from the Alchemy Guild. Just leave everything up to me, I'll make sure you get nothing but the best!"
"I'm just glad you're here. I don't know what I'd do without you here to help me."
Smiling at her white haired companion, Maven stroked Jasmine's fur from atop the bed as she adorably kicked her legs in the air.
"Ummm... How did I get here?" Amara's beautiful, crystalline voice cut through the air between the two.
The armored elf girl stood, confused, in the corner of the top floor suite. Having memorized the coordinates where her first battle had taken place, Maven zipped back to let the elves know Ela was okay and bring Amara back with her the second the suite door closed.
She didn't want to keep all those elves waiting and worried Ela. A discussion about the future needed to be had, but Maven thought it best only Amara knew the full details. So she only let them know Ela was safe before grabbing Amara by the hand and zipping back to Mistport.
"I stole that little brat's ability to teleport and used it to bring you here, to Mistport. So far, I can only go between that field and Mistport, but I'll be able to teleport anywhere else I visit from this point on."
Explaining her new ability to move through space, Maven moved to have Amara join Ela and Fae atop the bed. She couldn't just leave the poor elf in the corner forever.
"Well, I'm just glad you managed to save the princess... I was so worried about her!" Amara said, her voice beginning to crack as her shame regarding her powerlessness began to rise. "I-I couldn't p-protect her myself. I'm so, so, sorry. I failed you, princess."
"It's not your fault, Amara. You fought tooth and nail to protect me. You even died for me. What more could I possibly ask of you?" Ela assured her as the two elves embraced each other in tears, each just glad that the other was alive.
"I'd hate to break up such a nice atmosphere, but we... need to talk." Expression grave, Maven dropped the unfortunate truth on the two elf girls. "I may have managed to get Ela back, but I didn't actually save her."
"Huh?"
"You didn't?!"
Looking at the two who were stunned by her sudden admission, Maven let out a resigned sigh. Gripping Ela's hand gently, the young girl looked the elf square in the eyes as she revealed the truth.
"I'm afraid it's true… You remember that last attack those guys threw your way? The curse that managed to get through my shield and knocked you out?"
"Of course! There's no way I could ever forget that frightening aura!"
"Well, that curse was insidious... More insidious than any I've ever seen. I managed to minimize the side effects, but it managed to latch onto something hidden in your soul."
"What would I have hiding in my soul?!?" Ela shouted in shock.
"I was actually hoping you could tell me. Somehow, you've got an amazing amount of pure natural energy packed in there. Enough to dwarf a top tier archmage hundreds or thousands of times over. Those guys called it a Seed of Origin and I'm guessing that's why they came after you. Once those two so-called gods realized they couldn't snatch you away with me around, they used a curse to get at it."
"What do they want with it?" Ela asked worriedly.
"I'm not sure… but whatever it is they want, that Kurga was willing to slice off a piece of his divine soul to do it. Even now, that piece of him is still planted in there, trying to stain all that energy with darkness."
"Wha-wha-what?!"
Shooting up in horror, Ela blanched at the thought of a god trying to hijack her soul.
"It's okay, you're fine." Maven said soothingly. "I've got that curse wrapped up in my own divine power, so tightly that it can't even twitch a finger."
"Then what's the problem?" Amara asked, her brow furrowed in worry.
"I may have managed to seal the curse, but the seal isn't permanent."
"It's not?"
"I'm afraid not…"
"So what can we do?" Amara asked, concern marring her beautiful features.
"Well, I can continue to renew the seal and work on removing the curse... but you would have to come with us on our journey, Ela. "