Chereads / The Tale of Mythia / Chapter 19 - Not-So-Familiar Familiar

Chapter 19 - Not-So-Familiar Familiar

(Somewhere in Achisi)

(Friday, 30th of Dawnstar Moon, 2021)

Deep in one of the many sacred forests of Achisi lies a beast, a beast with scales as black as night, a horse-like mane that shone with all the colors of the rainbow, and eyes that were closed. It's sleeping breath spewed a misty spray that created a rainbow. Half of it's long and serpentine body hid inside the darkness of the cave that was it's home. The sounds of birds chirping and wind blowing through the trees were giving a kind of lullaby to the sleeping beast. The wind suddenly changed direction, and the beast's eyes shot open to reveal that there was now a lime green line of light connected to it. The massive beast crawled out of it's cave to reveal that the lime light was connected to its chest, while also revealing it's massive, draconian form.

"Hm?" The unnamed entity looked down at it's chest. "What's this? Someone finally got me as their familiar? What kind of prank is this?"

The creature examined the light coming from it's chest, as if it were checking the light's authenticity. Once the creature confirmed that this light is the real deal, it let out an annoyed huff, with this huff shooting rainbow mist from it's nostrils.

"Damn, if someone got me as a familiar, they'd better be powerful enough to make I, Tiamat, bow before them." The entity known as Tiamat let out a low growl. "If they're not worth my time, I'll swallow them whole without any mercy."

Tiamat fully left the cave that was her home to begin stomping her way through the forest, following the light, trying to find where it would lead her. Tiamat's massive frame was easily visible from above the treeline, and it looked like the form of a massive, black serpentine dragon with a reflective rainbow mane. Tiamat stretched her long and sleek body, and the very cracking of her bones managed to snap some trees that were close to her body.

"Let's see who this...user is." Tiamat crouched her legs before letting them push her up into the sky, allowing her to fly all the way to the other side of the line of light. Yet she could already tell where the light ended.

(At Sanctuary Academy)

(Tuesday, 1st of Lover's Harp Moon, 2021)

"Man getting shot at is not fun." Jack was complaining about his last mission. "Like, how come Deshret and Atitihad were so trigger happy to just shoot each other on the spot?"

"OH GEE I WONDER WHY!?" Zane sarcastically remarked. "Sarcasm aside, Deshret and Atitihad are both extremely religiously fascist government, and given how their leaders hate each other, they probably use propaganda 24/7 to make the other side look like a mega-asshole."

Jack was walking down the hall of the dorms with Zane. Jack was telling Zane about his most recent mission that he just came back from when Jack suddenly walked by his dorm's door. Both he and Zane noticed something off about Jack's door compared to when they last saw it.

"Hey, did my door always have a dog door smack dab in the middle of it?" Jack asked before reading the cardboard sign that was taped onto it. "Please dump all useless artifacts in here? Who the hell put this sign here?"

"It says that it was put up here by Herakles." Zane pointed at the bottom right corner of the sign.

"I honestly refuse to believe anyone would be idiotic enough to put their artifacts in some random guy's room." Jack sweatdropped as Zane rubbed the back of his neck. "No one better rob me though, that'd suck."

"Why not check inside to see if anyone dropped any off while you were gone?" Zane suggested, and Jack was reluctant, but had no reason to say no.

"Fine, but if nothing's there, you owe me a pudding." Jack pulled out his door key and unlocked the door, expecting nothing to happen. That is until he opened the door to find a massive gun, flintlock rifle, dice, fishing rod, dual swords, crimson cloak, and a guandao were leaned up against the door. "WHY ARE THESE PRICELESS OBJECTS JUST BEING DROPPED OFF?!"

"Well the reason why people want them is to ensure their enemy never gets their hands on them." Zane was oddly calm about this. "If they don't work for them, then they can easily just give them to someone on the same side as them.

"So you're saying if one person in the academy can use artifacts, everyone will just give me their artifacts that they can't use?" Jack questioned, and Zane nodded. "Well why the hell can I use artifacts in the first place?!"

"Maybe because of your class attributes?" Zane suggests, and Jack rolled his eyes. "I mean, your whole schtick is that you use the ancient magics that possibly belonged to cults of elder gods."

"Yeah sure, as if every archeologist in the world can use every artifact." Jack sarcastically replied before gently nudging the artifacts back into his room then locking the door. "So enough about me 'Suffering from Success' how was your mission?"

"My mission went...well." Zane was blushing about something, but Jack decided not to press for further details. "Hey, did you hear about that there's some kind prophet in Cuauhti?"

"A prophet?" Jack asked, and he did remember what that word meant. "As in someone who can see the future, speak to the gods, or both?"

"Apparently this person can see things other people can't." Zane informed Jack as he locked the door to his dorm to continue walking alongside Zane. "A bunch of nobles want to meet up with her, but get tossed out by her royal guards."

"Jeez, she has her own personal guards too?" Jack stuffed both his hands into his pockets while he walked. "What kind of guards are they?"

"Apparently she granted 21 members of a certain family mystical tarot cards which grant them their own magic." Zane recalled while he looked up. "This family has been going on for generations, and the same tarot cards are still being used to this day."

"How old is this prophet?" Jack wondered outloud with the sound of his shoes clacking against the tile of the hallway.

"Well none one has ever seen her." Zane scratched his chin curiously. "The only record of someone ever seeing her was 200 years ago, when the relationship between prophet and family was first formed. Back then, all 21 members of the family first saw her. They built her home, and she has been hiding in her room ever since that day. But it's said that the head of every generation makes meals for the prophet, then leave them out in front of her door."

"Well what's her name?" Jack wondered outloud, curiosity now being infectious.

"They call her the Lady of the Candle." Zane finally gave Jack a name for the prophet, which was a pretty dang ominous name.

"Dude...that is a dope ass name." Jack instantly wanted a nickname as cool as that. "I want a sweet nickname that sounds ominous as hell."

"Well maybe you should work on getting your class features back first." Zane laughed. "You know, there was a nickname back for you in our hometown, but I'm not sure if you'll like it."

"What? Now you've got to tell me!" Jack pleaded with Zane, who sighed before telling him the name.

"History Maker." Zane's tone made it sound ominous and cool, but Jack was still disappointed.

"What? That's it?" Jack whined as the two of them exit the hallway to enter the park of Sanctuary.

"Yeah, you got a problem with it?" Zane crossed his arms after noticing Jack's very visible disappointment.

"Yeah, it's just so...plain." Jack complained whilst looking up at the blue sky, taking notice of the fluffy clouds above. "Like, I was expecting something else. How'd I get a name like that anyways?"

"You earned that nickname because a couple days after you were born, and Geppetto first saw you, he said that you born to make history." After Zane said that, Jack's expression shifted to radiating pure smugness. "Oh shut up!"

"Don't be jelly of my potential." Jack smugly smiled, and Zane playfully punched his arm.

"Hey dick, you said you hated the name earlier." Zane punched Jack's arm, and the archeologist laughed.

"Correction: I said it was plain, NOT that I hated it." Jack corrected while laughing. "So did you guys have nicknames too?"

"Nah, because back before you lost your memories, you were kind of the strongest out of all of us." Zane informed Jack, and he looked down in disappointment. "Okay, how the hell can you shift moons so quickly like that?"

"Everyone talks about the me before the accident, and how it was a tragedy we lost him." Jack looked down at your prosthetic leg. "No matter how hard I try, don't think I'll ever be able to reach his level ever again."

"You're right, you're gonna be better." Zane sighed before patting his friend's back. "If he got to that stage with no artifacts and no official combat schooling, how OP would YOU be with a bunch of artifacts and the best combat education in the world?"

"Yeah...I guess you're right." Jack then began walking off. "I'm heading to town, I need to pick up some HP potions."

"Alright, I'm heading to the library if you need anything." Zane walked off to the library, and Jack walked to the entrance of Sanctuary.

Jack was curious, what would someone want with both Familiam and liquified dead cattle? The Familiam part he could understand, but the dead cows were another thing entirely. The dead cows were uneccessary, so what was his opponent planning to do with them? Jack read the alchemical books the other day, and while not common, liquified dead cattle were indeed an alchemical ingredient, and Jack counted at least 30 recipes using them as ingredients. Jack exit Sanctuary Academy, passing by the two guards before exiting the academy to enter the city of Oneiro.

"Let's see...I'm going to the...Witch's Cauldron?" Jack looked up 'Alchemy Shops near me' on his phone. "That is some A-tier branding right there."

Jack looked at the various shops around the street, trying to find one called 'Witch's Cauldron', but Jack couldn't find it no matter what. He kept on walking until he heard the sound of someone screaming, Jack turned around to see a mob of people were running away from something. Something with a prescience as mighty as a dragon. Jack noticed a lime light coming from his pocket, pointing straight through the cowering mob of people. Jack reached into his pocket to pull out a chunk of a glowing rock. It took him a moment, but Jack remembered the Familiam he got from the border. Jack knew that on the other side of the light was his familiar, so Jack walked through the mob of people. Scared people ran straight past Jack out of fear of the fearsome beast that was chasing them, while Jack was curious what kind of animal his familiar would be. A proud lion? Stubborn bull? Massive bear? Fearsome tiger?

NAY!

A HONEY BADGER!

"What..." Jack finally emerged on the other side of the horde of people, only to see a honey badger chasing the mob of people. Plus, the light that connected his Familiam to his familiar was connected to the badger's chest. "This is my familiar?"

"HISSSSSSSSSSSS!" The badger hissed at the people, and in all honesty, it smelled terrible too.

"Well, come on, you rodent." Jack picked up the honey badger by the back of its neck, and it did nothing to harm you. Instead, it let itself be carried like a horribly unfashionable purse. "I guess you are my familiar...well, better than nothing. Any chance you come with an air freshener though?"

The badger couldn't speak, so it remained silent as Jack carried it back towards Sanctuary. Jack still wanted to go to the alchemist's shop, but knew it would be a bad idea to go with a badger in his hands, much less one of the most ferocious badgers the world has ever known. Amazingly, the horrid smell of the badger stopped, and it smelled like a normal wild animal. Still terrible, but not as bad.

"Okay, first thing we're doing, we're giving you a bath." Jack held up the badger like it was a stuffed animal, and noticed how loose and coarse his fur was. "Damn, I guess the rumor that badgers had loose skin was true after all."

Jack knew his investigation would have to wait for now.