Chapter 7 - Politicking and Passivity


The journey to the city of the elves was uneventful. The Courier gave the vaguest answers he could to the prodding questions of Nowa and Alleyne. The less people knew about him, the better.

He did however, marvel at the beauty of the forest around him. The women paled in comparison. Naked women, were not uncommon in Vegas; a living forest? Unheard of. Even Oasis was contaminated with radiation.

Forcing his mind to more pressing concerns, he analyzed his current companions. Nowa seemed very childlike, more so than anyone else he had met and possessed the same degree of cheerfulness. Alleyne seemed very rigid and professional, yet she still wore clothing that would have indicated she was anything but. Leina was...well, he wasn't sure what to make of her. He knew she was certainly a fairly moral person, as she stepped in to help Nowa, despite the protests of Nanael. Speaking of Nanae, where was she? He had not seen her since her complaints about the interruption of the fight. No one else seemed to notice she was gone. While Markus considered voicing his observation, he decided that he would rather have some degree of peace in this place.

Markus was not particularly happy with the world he had ended up in. That sounded incorrect. It would be more precise to say that he was not happy with the state of society in this world as far as he could gather from Leina.

The elven city was a breathtaking sight. The only city that the Lone Courier had to compare it to, was New Vegas. They seemed like polar opposites. While Vegas was dirty, run-down, and painfully bright, this city was one that consisted entirely of nature. The houses were built into the very trees of the forest. The Courier was fairly certain that that should not have been possible, yet he merely quietly accepted it.

Upon arrival, the Courier took a passive role in the proceedings, content to merely observe and remain silent. Leina had a better understanding of the customs of this land. To him, it seemed strange to come all this way to convey her gratitude (she implied she spoke for them both, which was fine by him) in a single sentence. Outside the hall of the elder, he did not miss the whisperings of the various elves. Nor did Leina it seemed. Apparently none of them knew how to whisper properly. The general consensus was that the two of them looked "dangerous". Which was certainly true in his case. Though, he found it strange to be in the same category as Leina.

Nowa, however, had things a bit worse. Evidently the elder's decision to give Leina and him sanctuary in this place was an unpopular one, and a burden passed to Nowa for her part in allowing them entry. It seemed that no one had informed them of the fact that an infernal temptress had her occupied at the time.


"Nowa?" Leina remarked at seeing the elf taking the blame for them.

"It seems no one told them about the infernal temptress that caused this mess," her companion remarked drily. They both walked away, realizing that getting involved would only make things worse for everyone involved.

Leina found it a bit strange how quiet Markus was. He hardly ever spoke. Yet, he followed her consistently. She figured it was because he was from some foreign land and assumed she knew what she was doing. Which she really didn't, but she would not admit that to him.

The sun was beginning to set, when they both heard Nowa above them.

"Oh, it's okay, I'm alright Lou, you don't have to be worried about me."

"Is she talking to her monkey," mouthed Markus.

Leina shrugged.

"Nowa, do you mind if we come up?"

"Leina! Markus!" she seemed delighted to see them. They both independently hoped it wasn't because they were the last friends she had.

"Everybody's worried," said Nowa, once the were seated on the platform.

"Worried?" asked Leina.

"I'm not a pure elf because half of the blood running through me is human. Because of that, everyone has always been afraid that one day I'll cause something terrible to happen.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same," Leina barely heard Markus mutter to himself.

"But that doesn't make sense," she protested, "you can't be blamed for what you are. You didn't have a choice!"

"Yeah, I know what you mean," said Nowa.

"Besides," said Leina, "aren't you the one who's fighting to protect the forest?"

"Yes and that's such a great honor."

"Huh," said Leina.

"I'm really proud that I have a job as important as protecting the forest. That way, I get to protect everybody that I care about."

"Nowa,"

"Besides, it doesn't matter what anybody else says, I'm still me, aren't I."


The Courier had no idea what he was doing. He had figured his best bet would to be to get to the capital. And not knowing anything about this place and lacking a map, he figured accompanying Leina would be the best option. He had not anticipated having to awkwardly deal with the identity crisis of an elf. To him, Nowa seemed idealistic without having any properly defined ideals. She seemed kind of lost, and without real direction or ambition.

Markus was leaning on a tree, watching her train. And Leina did not feel that he was impressed. One of his eyebrows was slightly raised, showing the same amount of interest one would at the accomplishments of a child. She did not like the feeling and tried to ignore it and trained with increased resolve.

"So it doesn't matter what anyone says huh," she said to herself. She took out Risty's coin. She was contemplating her motivations when she heard a voice.

"Is the trouble maiden finally coming of age?"

"Oh, great, you again," she heard her companion say.

"Nanael!" she exclaimed.

"There's something neat happening in the village, and I'm pretty sure you're gonna wanna see it."

The Courier was thoroughly unimpressed by the stealth skills of his two companions. While he had not expected much, he had expected at least some degree of competence when they proposed embarking on this mission. It was because of this, they had to stop a relatively far way away from their objective. The council of the elves was not difficult to hear.

"There was an oracle this evening from the forest spirits." The Courier's eye twitched slightly at that sentence.

"Eventually, a momentous conflict will arise between two forces. And once the conflagration ignites, its flames will engulf our land." This was met by shocked gasps.

"Is there nothing we can do?" asked one of the council members.

"Isn't it true we're doomed because of the half-breed? Her human blood has brought this destruction upon us." said the man on his right. While it sounded bigoted, the Courier realized that with everything he had seen so far, it was entirely possible that that was the case.

"If that's true, why don't we send her to be part of that foolish competition." It took the Lone Wanderer a second before he realized that the elf was referring to the Queen's Blade. That tournament that decided who would be dictator for the next four years.

"You're right, whether or not she wins will be irrelevant. There is merit in what you propose. Does anyone oppose this plan?" A chorus of "No objections," emanated from the council.

"Then the decision is unanimous. Alleyne. You will prepare Nowa to depart for tomorrow."

"Understood."

"What's going on?" asked Leina. Evidently there were some things even she didn't understand here. It was nice not being the only one utterly confused. Nanael kindly provided an explanation.

"The council of elders is trying to lay all the blame on Nowa and get her kicked out of the forest. It's so unfair and cruel!" she said gleefully, "They can't get away with this! But I bet you could go down there and teach them all a lesson. Why don't you start with Alleyne!"

Aaand Leina was off.

"Aren't you an angel?" asked the Courier, "I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to be instigating conflict, nor should you be this happy about it."

"How would you know what angels are supposed to be doing?"

Markus just caught up to Leina. Evidently angels were not inherently good. It was something to keep in mind.

"Why don't you stop them," she asked Alleyne.

"Because the forest matters most," she replied.

The Courier was now confused. As far as he knew, there were other forests. Was this one special in some way?

"You know Nowa holds you in the highest regard, are you simply going to tell her to leave?" said Leina.

Markus wasn't sure what she was trying to accomplish. As far as he could tell, Alleyne did not have the ability to overrule the council in this matter.

"It could be fated, the day long anticipated has arrived unpredictably." said Alleyne stoically.

The second part of that sentence sounded like the activation phrase for a sleeper cell or something. It was cryptic to the extreme.

"That is nonsense," said Leina, voicing his thoughts.

"To my knowledge, Nowa has been prepared for this challenge."

"But how?"

"She's made the decision to go herself. If everyone in the forest wants her in the Queen's Blade competition, she'll want that too."

That particular point hit a little too close to home for the Lone Wanderer. It brought up memories that he made particular effort to keep buried.

"Which is the wrong reason," argued Leina, "you're the only one who can stop her now."

"Foolish human," said Alleyne, voicing his thoughts, "that's impossible. It's complicated, but you wouldn't understand."

It actually wasn't complicated. The council of elders had decided to exile Nowa. Alleyne lacked any power other than martial skill and thus lacked any way of preventing her exile.

"The laws of the forest cannot be changed; not by the vagaries of human thought."

"No don't, no please, this is all wrong", said Leina, "You're going to regret this. You know Nowa deserves better than this." She was distracted by Nowa's monkey pulling at her leg. Alleyne started to walk away.

"Most who suffer deserve better. I have met very few people in my travels that have deserved the suffering they have borne," the Courier said to Leina. He had made sure not to get involved in something in which victory was impossible. In this instance, he did all he could to lessen the pain of Leina's defeat.