The sun had soon set as the team finally reached the top. After exhausting their energy in running, fighting, and climbing, everyone only wanted to rest. But some felt worried, Quill hadn't returned yet, and the moon was starting to rise up.
"She has not returned yet, I hope she's alright." Celestine hoped, she was sitting down just at the ledge, looking down, hoping to see Quill climbing up.
The place was quiet, the crowd that was present earlier was now gone with people returning to their homes.
Climbers periodically emerged from the clouds to reach the top, carrying different items that their commissions asked them to bring.
Myo stood behind them, checking the scroll of the commission.
"Should we go back down there?" Celestine asked, out of everyone she was the most concerned.
"We can't, we'll just get torn to bits by those giant wolf things anyway." Marcus responded, his voice was filled with a mix of guilt and fear. Unwilling to go back down to help, but still felt saddened by what may have happened to Quill.
"She may return later, for now we need to bring these plants for safekeeping." Calliope ordered the group, she was sympathetic but knew that they had to finish the job.
"We will return at once to the abode of Myo where we resided hours ago." Hearing her words, the rest of the group stood up, except Celestine. She turned to the group with a distraught face.
"The rest of you can go, i'll just stay here to see if she comes back." she tossed her bundle of plants at Calliope after talking.
"Very well, the rest of you. We need to rest for the night and gather information on what this place is. Perhaps a book lies around here." The team started to walk away from the ledge, Calliope pondered on what they should do next while Myo led them back to the room.
Celestine kept looking down, hoping to see Quill emerge. She debated whether or not to go back down to search for her.
The door flew creaked open to the small room, dimly lit by a candle on the table. Myo immediately took a seat on the bed with the scroll still in his hands. The rest of the team sat around, relaxing from the situation earlier.
Calliope thought it was outside, taking in the cold but disgusting air, growing used to the smell. The place was quiet and almost felt dead. She continued thinking on their next move, if they could find answers to where they were, a book or an important place in this mountain she could go to.
Colton sat down in the corner of the room, leaning his head on the wall, on the verge of passing out.
While looking out to the sky above, Calliope heard movement. To her shock, Celestine returned with Quill. Heavily injured, resting her arm on Celestine's back.
Calliope swung the door open, ordering the twins to head outside immediately. The rest were surprised by the sudden word and rushed outside as well to check.
Quill limped on while covered in cuts and gashes. But even with all these wounds, she wore a big smile on her face, as if ignoring the state she's in.
The twins quickly started to heal her, raising their staff forward while it glowed green. Quill's wounds began to disappear after a few seconds, and she began walking forward with no problem.
"Sorry for the wait, those things really wanted to kill me." She laughed.
"You enjoyed getting mauled?" Marcus questioned her.
"Well, yeah. Been a while since I went toe to toe with a big creature like that." She continued to laugh, to Marcus' confusion.
At this point, Colton questioned himself on how the teams act in different situations. How someone who was near death could be happy.
"Can you still move?" Calliope asked.
"Well, kinda. My legs became pretty screwed after running for so long." Quill replied.
While standing around, Calliope remembered what she thought of earlier, she needed to find some piece of information on this place. A book at least.
"Oh, I also saw a bunch of people walking to a pretty bright place. Looks like a tavern or something." Upon hearing her words, an idea struck Calliope.
"Where?" She quickly asked.
"Well, down the path we came from, it's pretty noticeable because its bright." Quill replied.
"Hmm, you and the healers should head inside to rest for now. As for the rest of you, we have another task to finish." She ordered the team. Even after a few minutes of resting, she was already fully energized and barely tired. Marucs groaned at the order but quickly followed.
Myo joined in as well, interested in what Calliope had in mind.
The three returned to the room, shutting the door behind them. With that, the others went on the move.
"So we're just gonna go to another tavern like before?" Marcus asked.
"We're here to attempt and find information on where we are, or at least books we could utilize here."
"I don't wanna be a downer but i dont think a place like this would have that."
"Wouldn't hurt to try though, won't it?" Myo joined the talk, Marcus had nothing left to respond with afterwards.
The team walked down the path, finally spotting the place Quill talked about. The light inside was bright orange, people wandered around outside, either walking or sitting down, all visibly drunk.
With hesitance, they walked closer and reached the door to the place.
The interior looked just as rundown as the structures outside. Tables and chairs were all makeshift and unorganized as people drank. On the left was a counter, above were bottles that didn't look clean at all, wrapped in cloth to conceal their contents. Though the atmosphere was rather quiet, with people mostly talking closely to each other while drinking.
The bartender stood behind, looking blankly at the wall in front of him. But next to the bottles were a few small books.
The team quickly found seats near the bartender counter, looking around at the place.
"Same as before then." Marcus muttered to himself. Just like the tavern in the other world, he'll try to gain some information.
Colton though noticed that a few others in the table were reading.
Soon, the bartender arrived, looking at Marcus.
Without another word, the man grabbed one of the bottles and began pouring a drink to Marcus and the others.
"Enjoy, you want a book with that as well?" He asked in a stern voice.
"Yes." The man quickly grabbed a book and tossed it to him.
"Have fun reading, and again enjoy your drink." The bartender spoke to Marcus before walking to another customer.
Marcus handed the book to Calliope, knowing full well he cant read what was on it anyway.
Once she opened the book, many of her questions of the place were answered. It was a book on the mountain and the people itself, resembling a guide or simply a book to remember certain things.
One of which detailed the tavern they were in.
"Apparently this place typically hands drinks for free, along with books. Without any other space for other facilities, the tavern stores any books they were given by the higher mountains to entertain their people." She explained.
"On some days the tavern is reserved for drinking, while on a few it is used to read." She continued reading from the page.
"Bizarre mix, taverns and libraries typically don't go well. But desperate times call for desperate measures" Marcus commented. He took a quick swig of the beer.
"This mountain is reserved for the poorest in status and wealth in the mountains. The best method to leave and receive a decent pay is to participate in monthly commissions given by the other mountains. Those who succeed may be allowed to leave this place, resulting in violent clashes for commissions." She continued. At this point, Marcus had finished his cup, seemingly enjoying the drink.
"Curiously the community does not thrive with money, instead using a mix of barter and completing tasks to gain what they require." She continued reading from the book, this time Marucs was staring at her, as if wanting to ask a question.
"Does it talk about those wild things we had to kill earlier?" Calliope looked through the pages rapidly, stopping at one in particular.
"These commissions are typically given to this city due to the dangerous nature of the forest below. Inhabited by beasts of unknown origin, they are hostile to any that venture below. Generally during these festivals the population drops by a significant number due to the death rates these beasts cause. Though some attempted to kill them, many were unsuccessful." She closed the book after reading, finished, and gained all the information she could from the book.
"Damn, this place is really harsh on these people." Marcus remarked. But with the information already gained, Calliope stood up and left the tavern, with the others following behind her.
The team made their way back to the room, finished with their tasks now, all they needed to do was wait for the next day to come.