After the two groups chatted for a bit, the Royal Guards moved to another area to search. Nihil and Ignis took this chance to shift their positions as well. All this time they had been crouching in the undergrowth, without moving a muscle, for fear of being discovered. However their fears were well placed it seemed, as the moment they shifted even a tiny bit, a voice called out to them.
“Who’s there?” It was the girl who’d spoken to the guards first.
Glancing at each other, the two men sighed and stepped into view. Pixie cut shared a shocked look with her sister.
“Speak of the devil …” Muttered a man from the unnoticed group in the back. He had a full beard and moustache hiding his mouth, and small, black, beady eyes. His entire appearance was very unkempt, but he was surprisingly clean – despite all the fur. Yes, fur. He was a canine type Mysterious Beast. This meant he had grey ears; retractable claws; a long, fluffy tail; and his salt and pepper hair indicated a wolf ancestry. However, he was currently in his human form, so it was hard to tell his exact breed for certain.
“So, I hear that the Royal Guard is after you two.” The older girl commented pointedly.
“Apparently so …” Nihil responded ambiguously.
“Why’d you piss them off?” Pixie cut jumped in.
“Because we have a score to settle.” Ignis replied before Nihil could stop him.
The black-haired girl lifted an eyebrow at that statement but, noticing the annoyed look on Nihil’s face, she ultimately didn’t follow up with the obvious question.
“What are you going to do? Will you call those guards back, or will you let us go?” Nihil asked, relieved that the conversation didn’t go south due to his friend’s blunder. He surreptitiously shifted his stance, preparing himself for a fight if it was proved necessary.
“That depends … What would we get in return for letting you go?” Pixie cut responded somewhat aggressively, noticing the subtle movement that Nihil had made.
“Our gratitude?” Ignis quipped to lighten the tense atmosphere.
Pixie cut shot him a look, and just scoffed at his irresponsible comment, rolling her eyes and looking away in disgust.
“Fine. Why don’t you just state your price and we’ll see if it’s worth it.” Nihil replied, his mood getting worse by the second.
“You guys can’t be too simple if you’re able to escape from the Royal Guard – repeatedly at that. How about you join us on our trek to the Ancient Ruins in the deserts of Sheol? I have a feeling that we’ll achieve a whole lot more with you two around, than without.” The black-haired woman suggested innocently.
Her sister’s reaction to those words was priceless. The shocked and appalled face she showed was so expressive, that even Nihil had to press his lips together in order to hide the smile that was currently trying to escape. Ignis didn’t even bother hiding his laugh.
“Why would you want two strangers, wanted by the Royal Guard, to join you on such a perilous journey?” Ignis laughingly asked. He was suddenly intrigued by this unreadable woman in front of him.
“Just a feeling.” She replied, spreading her hands out in a gesture of feigned bewilderment.
This time Ignis was stunned into silence, she would risk the lives of her entire group based on just a feeling? Smiling in defeat, Ignis caved to this odd woman’s request. He looked questioningly at his friend, indicating that he was fine with the proposal so it was up to him.
“I suppose that’s fine …” Nihil answered after a while. “Those ruins are on the way to our destination, anyway.”
“Oh?” The black-haired woman responded, but didn’t elaborate any further. As such, Nihil felt no need to clarify.
“If we’re to be travelling together, I suppose introductions are in order … My name is Nihil, and that idiot over there, is Ignis.” Nihil gestured to his friend who was already starting to fool around with the rest of the group.
Rolling his eyes, Nihil wondered why he was even friends with Ignis in the first place. He always seemed to be so happy-go-lucky and it was often tiring to be around him. But then again, maybe that was precisely the reason – his personality was a perfect balance for Nihil’s own introverted nature. If Ignis was any less outgoing then the two wouldn’t have even spoken to each other in the first place.
“It’s a pleasure to be working with you. My name is Lunam. My sister, over there, is called Stella, and these guys behind me are, Carl, Clark, Paul, Archer, Linley, Klaus, Claude, Lucas, Alexis and Merry. We make up Diei Noctis.” Lunam responded, gesturing to each relevant person as she said their names.
The wolfish man from before had turned out to be called Klaus. Also, Alexis and Merry had both been mistakenly identified as boys previously.
Feeling a vague twinge of guilt, both Ignis and Nihil re-evaluated the two girls. They were both elves that had short, mousey-brown hair, and they were wearing the more practical leather leggings that were similar to their own. This, combined with their obscurity within the group (due to the overpowering presence of the two female leaders) caused them to be overlooked by the two companions. Thus, they had been lumped together with the guys.
After a closer look, the two were found to be tall and very beautiful. Their beauty was more subdued than the two party leaders’, but they didn’t lose out at all. Due to their native environment, elves were always powerful and a good ally to have in a fight.
As their names were called out, each person had muttered a brief greeting with a small nod, and soon the introductions were over. They made for an intimidatingly large group of 14 now that 2 extra men had joined the party.
A few hours passed, and Ignis had already merged with the group since his playful antics unconsciously caused everyone to relax their guards around him.
Nihil however, was an entirely different story. His anti-social nature put him at odds with the group on more than one occasion – more often than not, Stella was an invested party in these disputes. Eventually, everyone gave up trying to talk to him entirely, and just left him to his own devices. Ignis and Lunam were about the only ones in the group that could stand talking to him for longer than about 2 minutes, and even with her, it was obvious that she was forcing herself to do so, since she was the one that had invited them in the first place.
Nihil, for his part, really didn’t care what these adventurers thought about him. He wasn’t about to change his personality – especially not for a group of people that he had no intention of staying with for any longer than absolutely necessary. As such, an equilibrium was quickly established within the group.
* * *
Later that evening, the group stopped for the night when they came across a clearing. Despite the large area, the trees’ canopies still managed to completely obscure the sky, save for a few tenacious stars visible through the leaves.
After setting up a few rudimentary tents, it was discovered just how painfully lacking the adventurers were when it came to skills in the kitchen. For lunch, the group had just eaten dry rations while still on the move, so the two friends were still blissfully unaware up until this point.
The disaster started with Clark and Klaus (supposedly the better cooks in the group) inadequately clearing the undergrowth when trying to start the fire, and ended with some perfectly good meat charred and unrecognisable on the end of a twig. It was a wonder how they’d managed to even survive as long as they had. Especially since nights got super cold in this area, plus a fire had the additional effect of warding off the weaker wild animals and magical beasts – potentially saving the group a lot of effort when guarding the camp at night.
Looking at the depressing lump of charcoal while also being a picky eater, Nihil decided to save his tastebuds and just cook for the group himself. Not having to worry about revealing their location to the Royal Guard anymore, he was glad to finally be able to set up a fire and cook a proper meal.
Seeing this, Klaus’ ears and tail drooped a little in embarrassment, while Clark’s visible cheek had reddened slightly (his other cheek was hidden behind his blonde fringe). However, naturally no one was more surprised by this hidden talent of Nihil’s than Stella.
“Wow! Who would have guessed that you’d be the chef.” She commented sardonically.
Not wanting to cause an argument by acknowledging the tone in her voice, Nihil just accepted the compliment – backhanded though it was. Taking his lead, Ignis also pretended not to hear it, and responded in a bright tone.
“I know right!? This guy can do just about anything.” He gushed jokingly.
“Oh? What is he especially good at, then?” Lunam asked, genuinely interested.
“Languages and history.” Nihil replied shortly, choosing to ignore the phrasing that excluded him from the conversation.
“Oh? So you are good for something after all then.” Stella piped in antagonistically, her mint green eyes flashing under the flickering light of the fire. “I would have pegged you as just a weak idiot. I guess it wasn’t just blind luck that allowed you to escape capture.”
Nihil didn’t seem to care what was said about him, but Ignis was the one who got offended instead.
“You don’t even know him, why would you say something like that?” Ignis berated Stella. He then turned to his friend. “And you shouldn’t just let people say stuff like that about you.”
Stella snorted and turned away. She then spoke up with her back still turned. “Maybe he should prove to us that he’s not an idiot, then.”
In the end, Ignis somehow managed to convince Nihil to demonstrate his skills. This portrayed itself in the form of a bard’s song.
Ignis played the flute, and added depth to the sound with a small foot drum, while Nihil played the mandolin and sang.
First, he sang a lively tune of the golden era of the guilds. The flute kept a jovial melody, and the drum had a pleasantly fast pace to it. Nihil told tales of the brave and daring feats of the more prominent guilds. One of them was about a young girl who had stumbled onto a foreboding secret. If she revealed it to anyone, then she would be discovered immediately, as the enemy had spies everywhere. As such, the girl decided that she should train and train to get stronger. When she finally felt strong enough, she set out on a mission. She was determined to save her guild from the deep rooted corruption that she had discovered.
At this point, the music turned mysterious. The pace picked up, causing the listeners’ heart rates to increase accordingly at the same time. The flute and the mandolin seemed to induce images of fighting, while the steady beat of the drum made people think of the steadfast protagonist.
She hatched a plan to lure out all the fraudulent members one by one. In the process, she discovered their reasons and it tested her own loyalties. However, she remained steadfast to her own morals, and when she was finally done she chose to leave the guild. None the wiser to what she had done, she was hunted down as a traitor by the very people she had done so much to protect. Loosing faith in them, she decided to start her own guild with a few of her most trusted companions.
The music turned melancholy, with the flute crying out wistfully in disappointment. No one present was even breathing at this point, as everyone could almost feel the heart break that the girl must have felt at losing her home.
Eventually, she became so powerful that her previous guild had no choice but to give up their pursuit of her. However some higher ups couldn’t let what they saw to be their greatest shame, escape quite so easily. As such, they plotted against her and poisoned her own people against her. Only her most loyal friends remained by her side, each protecting her from harm. Her husband especially, because he knew that it was no longer just her life that he’d be protecting. He ultimately failed to protect his beloved, but he delayed it long enough for her to give birth to their son.
There was a slight pause in the music. It was almost as if it was a moment of silence for the loss a such a noble life. First the flute started up again, then the mandolin. Each instrument added more depth to the song, until Nihil’s magnetic voice started narrating again. This time the music seemed a little angrier and more vengeful.
Growing up to tales of his mother’s tragic life, the son was not quite so forgiving as the mother. The father, for his part, was devastated at his wife’s death, and also wasn’t of any mind to forgive them. The two plotted against the treacherous guild, and eventually brought it down. The elders that had played the biggest role in the girl’s death, upon learning the truth, fell into despair and killed themselves out of guilt.
The music finally mellowed out again, but no one was relieved. Not a single note seemed as if they were happy after their revenge.
To try to create a world where this wouldn’t happen again, the father and son worked to forge a new country, and joined the guilds together into 3 co-operative ones that worked together to protect Axis as an alliance – instead of the chaotic time where the land was in a constant state of warfare. These three guilds created came to be known as the Adventurer’s Guild, the Mage’s Guild, and the Warrior’s Guild. They were still some of the most prominent forces in the world to this day.
As the story got to this point, the tempo picked up again and the tune got livelier. Happier times were coming their way.
The boy eventually married and he and his descendants naturally became the royal family of their newly formed country, Avalon. The Royal Guard was formed to act as a police force in Avalon, but the royal family didn’t want to restrict the residents’ freedom to defend themselves, so they limited the number of laws that they would enforce. The atmosphere quickly turned to that of a party, and the adventurers were soon tapping their feet in time to the music as they swayed and danced along.
At this point, the music slowly trailed into silence as Nihil thought that it would be a good place to stop and settle down for the night. Only when the music had completely faded away, did the group wake from their trance.
There was silence for a long time as everyone was stunned at what had just happened. None of them would have guessed that the two unassuming people in front of them, would be such skilled bards. Each and every one of them had been so absorbed in the song, that they hadn’t even noticed the rapidly diminishing light.
Suddenly, a loud clap of thunder startled everyone out of their daze. Since none present were mages, this effectively signalled the end of their campfire and they all hurried to get into their tents to pass the rest of the night. Before going to sleep, though, the group made sure to decide the seven people who would cover the night’s watch in hourly shifts.
* * *
As everyone was packing up the camp the next morning, Stella and Lunam approached the two boys about their song.
“Who came up with the tale you wove last night? It was very moving, but didn’t seem to have any basis in fact.” Lunam asked, genuinely curious.
“Oh? Which parts did you have a problem with?” Nihil asked caustically, however it was hard to tell, since his expression and tone didn’t change at all. “None of it was fiction, you know.”
“I thought you were supposed to be good at history … it seems that you are an idiot after all …” Stella replied snarkily.
They had always been taught in direct contrast to what these two boys were saying now. It was only natural that they’d trust their version more than what two complete strangers were trying claim.
Not wanting to cause a scene, Nihil just gave a perfunctory reply and moved away from the crowd. Following his lead, Ignis soon left as well.
“Jeez! Haven’t they realised who taught them that ‘history’ that they’re so adamant is true? You didn’t even tell them the whole story and they’re already declaring it to be false!” He cried once they were some distance away. After a pause, he continued to press his friend. “Why didn’t you mention that they caused the Great War in order to solidify their control over their newly formed country?”
“I didn’t think that would go down well. Up until that point, they had tried their best to follow their own morals and did what was right by them. However, I cannot condone that particular action of theirs – even if it did work out in the long run. They should have cared more for the billions of lives lost in that pointless and avoidable war.” Nihil replied in disgust.
“But, at least the Non-Aggression Pact between the different species came about because of it. As a result, relations between the races on the continent have been much friendlier since – even half-breeds aren’t an uncommon sight now.” Ignis replied. He agreed with his friend, but he couldn’t overlook the good that the Great War had done for the war-ridden continent.
“That wasn’t their doing, though. They couldn’t even stop a war that they’d started themselves.” Derision and disgust dripped from Nihil’s voice as he mocked them scathingly.
It was rare for his friend to be bothered by something quite this much, and Ignis wondered if it had anything to do with his past – maybe his family had been involved in that mess somehow. However, he knew that it wouldn’t do much good to ask, as Nihil would be even less likely to know the answer.
Due to Avalon’s royal family’s meddling, neither of the two could clearly remember their pasts before a certain number of years ago. Ignis could remember short snippets and scenes, but none of them were his own memories so they didn’t quite feel real to him. On Nihil’s side, he had managed to remember the time around when he was born, then nothing until he was ambushed in his sleep and dragged to the same place where Ignis was. However, even these vague memories had only recently resurfaced after a lot of effort on his part.
This was one of the reasons behind their trip – Ignis wanted to learn the truth behind what happened to him, and what he could have possibly done to end up in a place like that as young as he had. Nihil, though, didn’t care too much about recalling his memories. He just wanted to prevent similar circumstances from happening again, and to help his friend recover from the entire ordeal. Harassing the Royal Guard was just an added bonus they had on the side to provide some entertainment.
Just then Nihil recalled the morning’s breakfast’s scene when Ignis had practically inhaled all the food in his sight. As a result Nihil had made enough food to feed a small army – maybe not even one all that small.
“Ignis, you must be getting hungry by now, I could -”
“Nah … I should be good for a while yet at this pace.” Ignis interrupted.
At his friend’s insistence, Nihil decided to leave the matter for the moment, but he was far from dropping it entirely.
Seeing his friend give up, Ignis quickly ran to the front of the group before Nihil could change his mind. They planned to finally leave the forest by early afternoon that day, so the entire group ended up increasing their pace again at Ignis’ accidental prompt. They would be passing through Avalon’s more densely populated central region on their way to Sheol and it’s ancient ruin.
There were many similar ancient ruins all over Axis, but these were the only ones that had managed to survive the harsh environment of Sheol. Plus, it was also the only that hadn’t been fully explored. In fact, they had hardly been explored at all due to the ingenious traps that were still very much active several millennia after the previous owners had died. Supposedly they had ancient writing scrawled on almost every surface, so even though it was dangerous it was still a popular spot for scholars and tourists to visit. After all, even just one sentence from the outer walls would be highly profitable if someone managed to translate or accurately transcribe it.
Ancient writing had a strange affect on the minds of the people looking at the symbols. If the person didn’t already know the language, then no matter how accurately someone copied the symbols (be it by using a crystal capturer to directly take a photo, or by painting) the replicated images would always look fuzzy and out of focus. Due to this effect, there was a research building that was constructed nearby, so that scholars could research the language directly and try to uncover the ancient secrets hidden within.
Aside from that, it was a popular destination even for northmanni tourists due to it’s beautiful architecture and scenery next to the oldest surviving oasis in the desert.
Not to mention that there were always foolhardy adventurers seeking to try their luck at finding the correct path into the ruins proper. From the conversations within Diei Noctis, it appeared that this group fell into the last category. For no obvious reason, Stella and Lunam seemed convinced of their ability to safely get in and out of the deepest part of the ruin. It was yet to be seen if this confidence was well founded, or if it would remain as their arrogance in underestimating the traps.
Aerone Grey 