Ariel’s View
We didn’t actually leave until a few days after the tournament, as it took a few days to get things ready. For now, I’m leaving the stadium, but not the housing I’d built. I concluded that the housing was too valuable to leave unwatched, and I really don’t want to stick around. For now, we are setting out on foot back towards Gerland… and I am very glad to finally get out of that town and away from Fenix.
Esmer:
“Two heros, huh? Both chose sword and shield?”
Sam:
“Their coordination is quite good.”
Ariel:
“The plan for now is to have them do some combat training in Gerland, before heading to the first dungeon.”
Esmer:
“Why train in Gerland?”
Sam:
“Ah, that’s where my friends are. We have a nice training area setup in Ariel’s house there.”
Esmer:
“I see. Ariel, are you really not leaving any of your selves behind? The tools and information you’ve left will certainly be of great help, but it’d likely help far more if you kept one of your copies at the Academy.”
Ariel:
“I really don’t like staying so close to Fenix. I just get this bad feeling that if I stick around, she’ll find some way to cause me trouble and drag me into something.”
Esmer:
“Like how you were tasked with choosing the next hero?”
Ariel:
“Yeah, exactly.”
Karen:
“Hey, Ariel, why’d you choose us?”
Carol:
“We didn’t even make it past the first round in the tournament.”
Karen:
“The guard captain was way more skilled than either of us.”
Ariel:
“Mostly it was because you put a lot more thought into everything than anyone else did.”
Carol:
“What do you mean?”
Ariel:
“You were the only ones to mention the risk people might face if they take their uniforms home with them.”
Karen:
“Isn’t that a rather obvious thing?”
Ariel:
“Most people simply never thought about it. I’m sure if they did, they’d probably realize the danger too. After all, once it was mentioned, no one seemed to have any difficulty believing it.”
Carol:
“Is it really just that?”
Ariel:
“The two of you also became leaders of your team, and made sure to talk everyone through your plans and strategies. The guard captain you mentioned earlier, just gave orders.”
Seeing the two deep in thought, I decided to add one last point…
Ariel:
“Also, you two showed the least reverence for Fenix.”
Karen & Carol:
*laughter*
Karen:
“You don’t like Fenix?”
Ariel:
“No, I don’t. She kinda scares me.”
Carol:
“Does that mean you’ve spoken with Fenix?”
“The two of you also became leaders of your team, and made sure to talk everyone through your plans and strategies. The guard captain you mentioned earlier, just gave orders.”
Seeing the two deep in thought, I decided to add one last point…
Ariel:
“Also, you two showed the least reverence for Fenix.”
Karen & Carol:
*laughter*
Karen:
“You don’t like Fenix?”
Ariel:
“No, I don’t. She kinda scares me.”
Carol:
“Does that mean you’ve spoken with Fenix?”
Ariel:
“I’m fairly certain Facile is Fenix.”
Karen:
“Oooh, that explains a lot…”
Carol:
“Like how she’s lived so long.”
Karen:
“And why she’s so beautiful.”
Carol:
“A god pretending to be human is basically a cheat.”
Karen:
“No sense in trying to judge her by our standards.”
Carol:
“Right.”
Thankfully, other travellers mostly left us alone, so it looked like the journey back to Gerland would be a peaceful one. The only self besides my main body that I kept active is the one back in Gerland. I did make a telephone though, connecting my home in Gerland and the Academy. Mostly it’s used to let Adam and the staff at the Academy chat about stuff. Well, mostly it’s Adam explaining things, but there are things they can teach Adam too regarding human, dwarven, and elven magic, as well as current affairs in the capital.
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Author note:
Sadly, I seem to have run out of steam, stalled out, and in addition to mixing my metaphors, I lack additional story. There will likely be no updates for the foreseeable future. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.
