Chereads / Spellbound Vessel: Hosting the Divine! / Chapter 23 - X Marks the Danger.

Chapter 23 - X Marks the Danger.

A luxurious van soon showed up in front of Aiden's apartment building, and the passenger door automatically opened and slid backward. The front window rolled down, and a young man wearing square glasses peeked through. "Officer Cosineau, sorry that I'm late! There was a lot of traffic in Emberfell." 

"No problem, Nicholas. You were notified quite late." Monique stepped into the van, with Aiden and Synnove following behind. The van was the epitome of luxury. The right hand side, where the door was, had a large, tinted panoramic window, while the left had a TV mounted on it. The floor was lined with a plush carpet made from wool, and the four captain's chairs placed in each corner exuded a tone of elegance, their matte black leather calmly refracting the light from the roof, filled with dotted lights, mimicking stars.

"I assume we're taking the Sorveil route, ma'am?" Nicholas asked as he peered through a window placed for driver communication.

"Of course, the coastal route and this luxury, it's an unskippable experience." Monique leaned forward, opening the mini-fridge beneath her seat, pulling out a lemon flavored sparkling water before looking at Aiden and Synnove, seemingly asking what they want.

"Is that lemonade? I'll take that." Synnove happily chimed in, before Monique passed her the drink.

"Is that Jolt? Yeah, I'll have that one." Monique gave him the energy drink can with a slightly confused look, before turning to face Nicholas again.

"Olek?" Synnove asked.

Cracking open the can and taking a big sip, he replied. "Olek."

"Nicholas, cue the blueberry aroma, and you're dismissed." Monique ordered the driver around, but, it was clear they were already acquainted, because Nicholas didn't even budge, before a smell of blueberries spread throughout the van, and the ambient lighting turned purple.

The van was calmly coasting the streets of Sylvanwood, before they got on the highway. Despite knowing the quality of the streets in his town isn't the greatest, Aiden didn't even feel a single bump on the road. And they calmly coasted, without a worry. Monique turned on a movie, and the trio relaxed.

"You know, Miss Monique, I see why you prefer this over the train." Synnove had reclined in her seat, and was almost asleep.

"Of course, my dear. Why settle for something less, when such luxury is an option?" Monique's eyes now turned to Synnove. "What did you say your name was?"

Synnove sat up, looking at Monique with a light smile. "Oh, it's Synnove."

Monique placed her hand on her chin. "Synnove? As in, named after the Deity?"

Giggling, Synnove responded. "Not quite… I am the Deity." 

Monique's eyes widened and she choked on her drink, sputtering slightly. "You… you are the Deity?" she managed to say while coughing, her formal demeanor breaking at the surprise.

Aiden turned to look, and Nicholas lowered his window, both equally shocked. Monique rushed to compose herself, wiping herself dry with a napkin. "My apologies, Lady Synnove. But, if I may, why would a Deity be travelling with us?"

"No need for such formalities Miss Monique, seriously. To be honest, it's a long story, one not even I remember most of." She chuckled, her voice light and airy.

Monique was clearly skeptical, although not without reason. "And, why exactly would a Deity be travelling with us?"

"If I'm being honest, the same reason why you're here. Aiden." she pointed towards him. "Us two were friends before he even knew of my true identity. And now that he's being targeted by the Cult of Feyr, it felt wrong to not help."

"I see. I would've never thought that a Deity and a human being friends would be something I'd see in my lifetime." she said, continuing her drink and her gaze returning to the TV.

"Believe me, it's more common than you think. That is, in the Afterlife at least. Almost every Deity has a few human friends up there." Synnove reclined her seat again, intending on falling asleep.

"Interesting…" Monique chimed in, her gaze still focused on the TV.

The ride to Sorveil continued exactly like that, with very few words exchanged. 

As they were entering Sorveil, Monique pressed a button below the TV, opening Nicholas' window. "Nicholas, sweetie, enter the city and park somewhere near the Sorveil Market. I want to do some shopping, since we're already here."

"You got it, miss." Nicholas took an exit off of the highway, and the open road soon gave way to the beginning of Sorveil, the coastline on the horizon. The city was an interesting mixture of old and modern architecture, since Sorveil was a city that is quite old. In fact, Sorveil is the only city in modern day Astarea that had existed before the Great Faction War. Though, that's something I'll touch on later. 

As he precisely maneuvered into a parking lot directly next to the Market, Nicholas turned off the vehicle, before remotely opening the sliding door and stepping out. Making his way to the right-hand side, he waited for the three passengers to step out before getting ready to step in, and clean a bit.

"Nicholas, consider this break an hour long. We'll reconvene here. You're also free to do whatever, but don't stray far from the van, in case of need." Monique tapped Nicholas on the shoulder, before he stepped in and began cleaning. "As for you two, if you want to come with me, feel free to. I'm going to visit my friend's boutique."

"I doubt I have enough money to afford clothes like yours…" Synnove said awkwardly. "I guess I'll wander around the Market alone a bit, I hear they have all sorts of memorabilia and artifacts for sale."

Monique nodded approvingly, and turned her gaze to Aiden.

"I don't know…" he said, looking at the market. "I don't really need anything, so I guess I'll go wander around the city a bit. Maybe grab a coffee?"

"Alright, that's settled. Keep an eye on the clock, though. I don't intend on searching for you if you're late." Monique now turned around, before heading down to the coast, Synnove quickly following behind.

Aiden leaned into the van, noticing Nicholas polishing the seats, cleaning the glass, the TV screen, making sure everything is spotless. "Hey, Nicholas. Want me to grab you a coffee to go?"

"Oh, no, thank you, mister. No need, really." He said, without even looking at Aiden. Instead, he was still focused on cleaning.

"Please, cut the formalities. Us two are probably the same age, what makes me a 'mister' then?" Aiden laughed, before heading out.

Slowly walking through the streets of Sorveil, Aiden was immediately reminded of the busy vibe Emberfell always had. Despite growing up in such a setting, living in Sylvanwood for the past few months made him much more used to a slower life. But, despite all that, he couldn't help but be in awe of the sheer beauty of this coastal city.

Renovated old buildings mixed in with new apartment complexes, new office buildings, even a few skyscrapers. It feels so out of place, and yet, it works. The citizens of Sorveil love it, too. Statistically, they're the happiest city in the entirety of Astarea.

Taking in the beauty of his environment, Aiden was walking without a clear goal. He stopped by an ice cream parlor, and was enjoying this little period of resting time.

And so, as he was walking down Sorveil's main boulevard, he bumped shoulders with a stranger. And as he turned to apologize, he realized this wasn't a stranger at all.

A tall and broad man with an X tattoo on his right cheek turned around, and Aiden froze in place. "Ah, there you are. Who would've guessed it would be so easy to find you." The man grabbed Aiden's hand, and began dragging him to some alleyway. Aiden tried releasing, but, the crowd limited his movement, and he couldn't. As they entered the alleyway, the man threw Aiden onto the ground, by a dumpster, before reaching over and pulling out a knife from his pocket. "Our orders changed, finally. It's no longer capture Aiden, we're now allowed to kill you! Ah, I'm overjoyed!"

"Shit, I left my sword in the van!" Aiden frantically tapped around his jacket, trying to find something to use to defend himself. Until, he remembered - the hunting knife he took from Sergei's workshop. He reached in his pant leg, dragging it out, getting ready to stand up. But, the attacker was bigger and stronger than Aiden. He just threw him back down, before kicking the knife out of his hand. 

Aiden was trying his best to come up with an escape plan, but, the alleyway was a dead end and too narrow to maneuver. But, he had to do something. Turning his head around quickly, he noticed a cardboard box filled with old clothes to his right. He grabbed it, before setting it alight with Matchbox and hurling it at the attacker. He didn't react in time, the box hitting him in the shoulder and pushing him back, the burning clothes setting off a dense smoke. Aiden quickly ducked below him, and bolted out of the alley.

Frantically running through the overcrowded walkway, he made a whole commotion. Pushing people left and right, and the mercenary was following directly behind. Looking back, Aiden realized he returned his knife back in the holster, so he pushed a random man near him directly at the attacker, knocking him back. Finally getting back on the main street, Aiden ran a red light, almost getting hit by a car, but he didn't even budge. He was running, and running.

Making his way back to the Market, he was desperately searching for Synnove and Monique, but in the sea of faces, theirs were nowhere to be seen. He made his way back to the van, before tugging open the usually automated door. Nicholas was snoozing, and was woken up by Aiden's intense entrance.

"Nicholas, where is my sword!?" he screamed.

"It's here." Nicholas passed the ruby blade through his window, before stammering back. "What is happening?"

"I'm being chased by a mercenary! Call Monique and let her and Synnove know what is going on! I'll try to drag him away from the city somewhere." and as soon as he finished his sentence, Aiden ran off again.