Chapter Seven: Mission From the Gods
Radiata, Radiata City, September 24th, 1391 a.c.
Standing under the bright and beautiful sun it was hard for Quel to focus on what had just happened. Hard to believe a goddess in physical form had just come seeking his aid, hard to believe that she had almost begged him. A small part of his brain, the one that had a hard time not being a cynic, was laughing, telling him he was probably more astounded by the fact that Saida had gotten irate at the goddess, defending her territory, as it were, over Quel. It was hard to question the guts, and stupidity, it took for a mortal, even if she was half Ctarl Ctarl, to stand up to a goddess. Quel let his mind take him back to the past few hours, living again a scant few moments that would determine the course of his life for years to come.
They had been praying in the church of Olacion, Saida and he. Quel had been having this nagging feeling that something was out of place, but he couldn't figure out what it was. He was left feeling anxious all morning. He would soon have his answer, from an unexpected place. The pious silence was broken by no sound, or impulse. Her arrival was as unobtrusive and silent as could be. Only her scent, that of flowers and the unmistakable aroma of power that a god, or goddess, exuded announced her presence. Turning to look back over his shoulder Quel saw Sharess, a goddess of Toril clad in mortal flesh, standing with one hand cocked on her hip and her head tilted quizzically to the side, studying him.
With a start he realized who she was. "Sharess!?"
"It has been a while Quelly," she said seductively. "I have so missed you."
"Who's this woman!?" asked Saida immediately hostile.
"The goddess Sharess," Quel said. "She is the lady of revels and other pursuits of pleasure."
Sharess winked at Saida. "Don't worry, I won't take your lover away."
Both Saida and Quel blushed at that and looked away from each other. Saida recovered quickly and grew upset. "W-we aren't lovers!" she said angrily.
Sharess put one finger up to her lips in thought, open astonishment plain on her face. "Oh…? Well then I can borrow Quelly for a few hours then…?"
"Absolutely not!" Saida said loudly.
Sharess smiled wickedly. "Why not…?"
"B-because! He's not interested in a woman like you!"
"How do you know?" Sharess teased.
Saida began to blush and she was trying her best to remain calm, but Sharess was pushing her.
Quel, growing increasingly uncomfortable by all of this, interrupted them. "Why are you here Lady Sharess?"
Sharess smiled gorgeously, looking Quel in the eye knowingly. "I have come specifically to see you Quelly."
Saida's ears twitched atop her head, though she refrained from saying anything.
Sharess cast Saida an annoyed look. "Now I think it's time for you to leave mongrel."
Quel opened his mouth to stop what he knew was about to explode, but was too late.
"Mongrel!?" Saida said outraged. "Take that back you hag!"
Sharess' left eye twitched ever so slightly. "As your goddess I advise you to not insult me and to stop interrupting."
"You're not my goddess!" Saida bellowed in denial, standing up. "And you instigated all of this!"
"She is a goddess with affinity to you Saida," Quel said quietly.
Saida turned and glared at Quel. "Who's side are you on? What do you mean by that?"
"Oh he's just trying to tell you I'm the Mother of Cats," Sharess winked. "That's one of my titles."
"Alright!" Quel yelled, before any other arguing could begin. "Leave her alone! Why are you here Lady Sharess?"
Now it was an uncommon thing for a deity, even a demigod, to show any emotion or attitude that could be interpreted as a weakness. Which was why when Sharess looked forlorn a moment later Quel felt an ominous foreboding creep up his spine. Saida sighed in anger and sat down on one of the pews to listen.
"Quelly…" Sharess began tentatively. "We need your help. You're the only one they will all pretend to trust enough to do this."
"Tell me what's happened," Quel seated himself next to Saida. "It's not like a goddess to show emotion."
Sharess smiled a sad little smile. "No, I suppose it isn't. Well goddesses aren't supposed to be able to be kidnapped by mortals either."
Quel wasn't so sure he had heard that one correctly. "Huh?" he said intelligently.
Sharess dabbed at her now misty eyes with her sleeve, a very unladylike and even more undeitylike thing to do. She collected herself and seemed to be thinking of the best way to frame her thoughts.
"Quel…" she began slowly, looking from Quel and then to Saida. "And…you, cat-girl, we stand on the edge of an abyss. If we falter for even a moment, all will fall to ruin and chaos. Selûne and Eilistraee have been kidnapped. We know this because there were many witnesses. It is incomprehensible for even a single goddess to be kidnapped, let alone two," she paused there, gathering her willpower to continue. "The sudden disappearances of Selûne and Eilistraee has cast their worshippers into a state of chaos, but that is the smallest consequence. Shar is on the move and all who are allied with her are marshaling their forces to join her cause. If Selûne is not brought back to counter her sister's dark power the realms will be cast into eternal darkness. What's more, because of the disappearance of Selûne the moon has been afflicted with a horrible curse. It shines black upon the world, casting an unholy and corrupted light. And it gets even better. Azeroth has lost their goddess of the moon, Elune, as well." She paused to let it all sink in. Quel let about a minute pass and then he stiffly nodded for Sharess to continue.
"Now I will tell you about the one responsible for both of these sins, for it was one creature who did these deeds. Multiple witnesses have told us it was a single warforged, wearing a black cloak and being constructed of blackened adamantine. He didn't overpower them, nor did he cast a spell that could entrap them. All reports claim he had in his possession an artifact of strange design that drained the goddesses of their power, bound them in mortal coil and trapped them within the device before vanishing through a portal he created." Sharess hissed in anger, much like a cat, making Saida's ears and posture perk up. "Whoever he was he had been planning this blasphemous assault for years! All of the gods have been divided in our response, but I and a few others managed to convince some of them to allow you to search for us without us getting in your way. Before you ask, no we cannot do anything to this warforged, he not only vanished without a trace he also is powerful enough that we cannot send enough of our servants to deal with him without making the other gods and goddesses notice. Shar will stop at nothing to prevent her sister's return. If we dedicated ourselves to his ruin we would drag the other members of the pantheon into war. This is why we cannot interfere. That is all I can tell you…"
Sharess shifted position from one leg to another in the ensuing silence. She hadn't left her position by the entrance to the church. It was late in the day, evening actually, and thankfully no one was nearby to disturb them as they talked.
"Ok," Quel said after thinking it all over. Both women turned to look at him. "So you want me to go looking for this warforged and retrieve the three goddesses he has kidnapped. What if I can't find him and what if when we do get the goddesses back we can't turn them back to normal?"
Sharess waved away his concerns, literally waving her left hand and shaking her head. "You leave that to us. Just focus on getting those goddesses back."
Quel sighed, and Saida giggled.
"You know," she said to Sharess. "I think I might actually like you."
Sharess smiled a sudden weariness visible on her. "I have to go now, things are becoming too dangerous for me to be away for long," she turned to go then paused, turning to give Quel and Saida one last look. "If you cannot do this thing there will be a war of the gods. I cannot promise you a reward, but I can promise you we will give to you what little remains of Them in our possession."
Quel perked up at this. "You mean a Regalia?" he asked in wonder, too amazed to guard his reactions.
Sharess shrugged, turning to leave. "We do not rightly know. It is just something we have had in our possession now for a few millennia. You will have to find out for yourself."
"Saida! Shield your eyes!" Quel said urgently. Saida obeyed without thinking and from behind her hand she saw the light as if from a sun, shining through and casting the innards of her hand in sharp relief. Sharess, like all godkind, had cast off her mortal form in a display of godly power, transcending up into the heavens. She left behind no trace of herself, but Quel could have sworn he heard her voice whisper to him as she left, echoing enchantingly in his mind.
Go to the Elfsong Tavern, she said. You will find your way from there.
The lighting was dim in Club Vampire. The Club had a fully stocked bar with an attractive bartender. She was one of Ortoroz's many adopted daughters. The old man adopted daughters like most people bought pets. While he may have had more children than most his devotion and kindness to every one of his daughters was well known. Ortoroz sat across from Quel, leaning against a poker table, sipping a brandy in one hand and hugging Silvia, the adopted daughter he was currently living with, with his other arm. Quel and Saida were currently having a discussion about the earlier events of the day, one event in particular.
"I still don't buy what you're telling me," Saida said in disbelief. "She seemed completely normal to be a god."
"Yeah, well she did disappear in a blaze of light for being normal," Quel replied.
"True," Saida admitted. "I just find it hard to believe is all."
"It is so rare to see a god that I'm not surprised by that."
"Not too rare," Saida said teasingly. "She knows you by first name Quel."
"Yes, well," Quel said uncomfortably, Ortoroz and Silvia looking on with sympathetic smiles. "That was from the one time in the past I've helped her kind."
"Only once?" Saida pressed, smirking ever so slightly.
"Yes," Quel said before changing the subject abruptly. "You have no idea how lucky you are to have seen her. Everyone you will ever meet and their children and their grandchildren and everyone they all will ever meet will never encounter one of her kind."
Saida stayed very quiet, digesting his words.
"So that big of a mucky muck flirted with you?" she said after a while. "You must know how to show a girl a good time then." She winked.
Quel smiled. "I think so. Sometimes anyway."
A silence settled in the bar, washing over everything slowly.
"So you leave in the morning, eh Master Quel?" Ortoroz asked, breaking the silence.
"Before full light," replied Quel, thankful for the change in subject. Ortoroz gave him a knowing wink with his one good eye.
It was just Quel, Ortoroz, Saida and Silvia. The Club was empty of anyone else and it was oddly still for this time of night, it was after all only nine o'clock at night.
Silvia yawned expansively and Ortoroz launched into another topic.
"Why such a sudden change of plans Master Quel?" he asked. "We expected to have you for at least another three days. You are putting Lord Nyx in a bit of a jam, it's not like you."
Quel shrugged, slightly embarrassed and slightly agreeing with Ortoroz. "An emergency request from a friend is my excuse Ortoroz."
The old man nodded at this, a twinkle suddenly appearing in his eye. "Well now just remember you owe us for once! Hahahaha!"
Saida rolled her eyes and smiled at Quel and he smiled back. Ortoroz was a harmless man overall. He was more of a doting father than a crime lord, though he had his criminal moments. Quel had just never gotten on his bad side and he had planned it that way. Just then a young girl walked into the room, she was breathing heavily as if she had run all the way here. She immediately caught everyone's attention, which made her shrink back a little. Then, marshaling herself, the girl strode boldly into the casino proper and stood right in front of Quel.
Looking up he realized with equal parts curiosity and dread that it was the girl he had interacted with earlier. The one who had brushed past him at the confessional, been rude to him multiple times and had questioned him.
"Take me with you," she said. Her voice was filled with a powerful emotion. He paused to better judge for himself what was unfolding before him. Quel could easily see some deep emotion gripped her soul, her body trembled very subtly and her eyes were unwavering.
"I cannot," he replied simply.
"Why not!?" she retorted, pointing at Saida, "If you can take that girl, then why not me?"
Saida snorted, causing the girl to give her a dirty look. Quel shook his head. "If I were to take you, you would probably die. What we are about to attempt is for the insane or the cursed."
Saida glanced at him sidelong over that.
"What do I have to do to prove myself to you?" the girl pressed.
Quel was at a loss as to what to do. He looked over at Ortoroz and gave him a helpless look. Ortoroz, curse him, smirked.
"You will not deter her this time I think, my friend Quel." Ortoroz said. "This girl is in search of her parents. She was given to the Order as a newborn. She has no memories them, so she will never let go of this chance to go and find them."
Quel sighed and looked the girl in the eyes. "What makes you think your parents aren't on Radiata?" he asked.
She didn't even hesitate. "I've been searching for them for two years straight, they're not here. You're the only one who has landed on this world who has any contact with the Void Community. You are also a man who looks reliable (Saida had a coughing fit when she heard this. Quel ignored her.). I'm going with you whether you want me to or not."
"Let her come," Saida said suddenly.
Aghast, Quel looked over at his companion. "What for?"
"You already know why," Saida said, rising from her seat and leaving the room.
Quel sighed and stood up to look the newest member of his crew in the eye. She was beaming in an unseemly fashion. Girl figured she had him pinned, she was right of course, but he wasn't going to give her complete satisfaction.
"You disobey my orders or become a hindrance and I'll send you back to the Void Community faster than you can say 'cap'n cap'n', got me?"
"Yes sir!" she beamed, "Thank you sir!"
Quel was having a hard time deciding whether to grunt in agreement or just sigh in exasperation again.
"What's your name?" he asked instead.
"Flau," she said, a regular smile now on her face instead of a radiant one.
Knowing better than to ask if she had a surname, Quel simply nodded and snarled at her to be ready to leave "before the gods themselves were awake!" She took his minor display of tyranny in stride and raced off to do some final preparations of her own. Quel bid Ortoroz and Silvia a good night and went back to his room at the inn, thoroughly exhausted.
The three of them stood at the southern gate of Radiata City. Ortoroz stood a short distance away. With him was Eon, a member of the Void Community. Both of them had come to see the three of them off. Flau, dressed in her short shorts, shirt, vest, gloves and long boots. Quel, dressed in his cloth shirt, collar unbuttoned, vest worn over the top of the shirt; metal gloves protecting his hands, metal leg armor worn over brown leather pants and soft leather boots completed his outfit. Saida had her forearms wrapped tightly in cloth, with leather fingerless gloves. She wore a sleeveless short top that only covered her upper torso, leaving her stomach and chiseled six-pack exposed to the elements. She wore a belt securing her mini-skirt and her shins wrapped tightly like her forearms. To finish off her outfit she wore moccasin shoes. Saida also had painted her face today with two double sets of stripes of white war paint running under her eyes and a large circle painted on her forehead. She had her hair braided intricately and seemingly randomly as well, with half of it being braided and half unbraided. In a word, she was wild.
All three were ready to set out. Their farewells were sparse, for they had already had long goodbyes earlier. Rynka, a dark skinned violet haired woman of no small beauty, watched Flau with sadness and joy mixed in her eyes. Rynka was the one whom Flau had trusted most in the Void Community and was like her elder sister and mother in many ways. She waved as the three of them were picked up by the courier ship from the orbital station. The peaceful interlude at Radiata was over and now with the false cover Nyx had given them and their backtrail having been swept by Nyx's contact, they were ready to set off without fear of being pursued.
