TYRIA'S REAL!?
Summary: The Tassof sisters discover their parents last known place of residence. Tiffany charms a new pet, and Petra and Andrew fall into the normal procedure when it arrives home. Tiffany, Fiona, and Deborah learn their parents names and history.
Chapter fourteen: Deceased Relations
Author's Notes:
EDIT FROM THE FUTURE: At the moment, I am working on writing chapter forty-one. You just checked how many more chapters there are, and found that this is the last one. That is because the story now has 242,622 words, and that is more than a hundred thousand more than a typical novel. So I split the story in half. At the end of this chapter, you will have completed the first half. The next half is chapters 15 to at least 41. I haven't decided on the title yet - but I will in the next couple minutes, it will probably be some variation of "The Orders of Tyria" so just look for that one. I'll note in it's summary that it's book two of TR.
Okay, here's the story now:
"Let's get moving, Fiona," Tiffany tells her sister. "According to the directions Mehid gave us, we need to go east of Black Haven into Blackroot Cut, and then go south, following the path. From what I remember of the map, the path is sandwiched between mountains, so we shouldn't get sidetracked."
"Best chance at guessing our way to a personal story chapter," Fiona snorts as the pair begin their hike southward.
"So, how about that 'Logan' slip-up earlier?" Tiffany asks grimly.
"He didn't seem to react at all," Fiona observes.
"If I remember correctly," Tiffany says slowly, "we start calling him Logan around the level twenty quest, which... well, normally when I create a character it's the dead sister, but we resolved that mostly without Logan's involvement, due to not interrogating various former Screaming Falcons and Tervelan. I do hope he gets found out. Anyway, but - hey, this would have been the level twenty quest!" she realizes.
"So we are on track to be calling him Logan, now?" Fiona asks.
"We should be... but... it's real life now. In Guild Wars, he didn't react to us suddenly switching. Life, on the other hand, is rather different. And while it makes sense to start calling him by his first name once we've fought side-by-side with him a bit, it's still a bit... off."
"I know what you mean."
"You weren't in Blackroot Cut," Tiffany ponders. "It might make more sense if I begin calling him by his first name for a bit, and you haven't fought by his side as much as I have, so you try not to, but you get pulled in by force of habit anyway. And... Fi, why are we debating when exactly we should start calling him Logan? The time's passed up when our characters in-game would have, we'll just call him whatever feels natural. If it's suddenly natural to call him Captain now, then we'll call him Captain. If we still get the urge to call him Logan, we'll call him Logan. But it's not a strategy game and we'll fail miserably if we get the timing wrong - it's simply a matter if he thinks we're rather odd or not. The sort of thing like which name to call someone isn't thought over as much as we have been!"
"Yeah, that makes a ton of sense. It's not like he'd start thinking we're evil dragon minions if we suddenly start calling him Logan too soon, or anything like that. I mean everyone's different, and we're not even Seraph. People who aren't Seraph but work closely with the Seraph - or any organization - get to calling the people they work with by their first name sooner or later, unless they're under hire or something."
"Yeah, that makes sense. We'll just not worry about it."
"At least we won't have this problem with the rest of Destiny's Edge, or anything." Fiona points out.
"That's great," Tiffany agrees. "And it won't be a problem with Trahearne, either - we meet him before he has anything for us to be calling besides Trahearne."
"We could always call him 'Firstborn' every time we see him," Fiona teases.
Tiffany starts laughing. "You're weird,"
Fiona joins in the chorus "...but no weirder than I am."
"How'd you do that?" Tiffany asks.
"You say that every time you call someone weird, Tiff."
"It's true! I'm the weirdest person in... well, the weirdest person on Earth. I've probably lost that title since we're in Tyria now... there's people like the Nightmare Court and the Inquest who're weirder than I am, probably. Oh, and the Sons of Svanir. Worshipping a dragon, really?"
"Well, it's probably so the dragon doesn't eat them, in which case, it's very sensible indeed."
"Not if you can kill the dragon. We'll see. Before we kill Jormag we'll tell all the Sons, 'hey, we're killing your dragon, want to help? Then you won't have to worship an evil being!'"
"You're being sarcastic, right?" Fiona asks.
"Not at all," Tiffany says flatly. "I died last time I did this because I didn't have enough people, and Svanir's Sons didn't know I was trying to kill their dragon."
"Really?"
"No, of course I'm being sarcastic, you ninnyhead," Tiffany says, rolling her eyes and cuffing Fiona. "People will buy anything if it's said with a straight enough face."
"You quoted Granny," Fiona accuses.
"Yeah, so?"
"So... so waa." Fiona says petulantly.
"Waa you," Tiffany retorts. "We're here now, so tush-pu until further notice."
"Is this the place?" Fiona asks Mehid and Salia.
"It is. Watch your step, though. When we scouted around earlier, it looked like someone or something had moved in." Mehid advises.
"Countess Anise asked us not to say more than necessary, as this is technically a royal matter, but I think you deserve what truth we can give you." Salia begins. "Your parents were spies for the last King of Kryta, Jennah's father. They helped track and destroy White Mantle cells, saving many lives in the process."
"Our parents?" Fiona says in awe.
"Sorry I'm late, what did I miss?" Deborah calls from behind them.
"Nothing, except that our parents were spies for Jennah's father and were the bane of the White Mantle," Tiffany replies. "Nothing important, just typical Shining Blade-style discoveries."
"Tiff," Fiona groans, cuffing Tiffany. "So this was their house?" she asks.
"Yes. The last message on file from your parents states that they feared White Mantle cultists had discovered their secret. They were planning to flee." Mehid replies.
"The Shining Blade lost contact with them after that. Either they fled to safety, or..." Salia trails off meaningfully.
"Either way, we have to know. Let's go inside. If there are clues to be found, we'll find them here." Deborah tells the group. "Let's get moving."
Near the house, Mehid holds up a hand, signaling stop. "Stay alert. I see ettin signs everywhere, but no ettins."
"Something's definitely not right. The ettins were here last time."
"They're probably hiding," Tiffany cautions.
"Ettins incoming!" Deborah calls from the back of the group.
"I knew they couldn't stay hidden for long," Salia declares, running forward.
"Ettins. They're probably a lot like trolls, with thick skin and probably magic-resistant," Fiona mutters. "Here, take a sword," she says, handing one to Tiffany. "You got that magical 'enhance damage' utility skill?"
"Naw. I need to infuse myself with power - from a hero point prolly - to do that," Tiffany replies under her breath.
The two girls rush forwards, both carrying swords.
Three ettins vs. five sword-bearing soldiers is never a fair fight, especially not when two are Shining Blade, one is a former Screaming Falcon and a Tassof girl, along with two other Tassof girls. However, ettins aren't that bright, either, so they stay and fight. Of course, they're defeated rather quickly.
As the group approaches the house cautiously, many spiders scuttle out of shady places.
"The faster we wipe these vermin out, the sooner we'll find what we came for," Salia declares.
"Pull them into a small area, me and Fiona can deal with them," Tiffany tells them. "Oh, look, here's a little one! Can I take it home with me?"
"Sure, if you don't have one like it already." Fiona says offhandedly.
Tiffany, relying on memory, discharges some of her energy into the small animal, which binds it to her, before Side-Along Waypointing it to Salma. She directs the spider to Andrew's inn, before popping back to Darkwound Defile and assisting with the slaying of the rest of the spiders.
While the group is fighting their way through spiders in the abandoned house, a little spider skitters into Andrew's tavern.
"It's a - " Petra yells, before calming. "Andrew, Tiffany sent us another pet," she calls.
"What is it this time?" echoes Andrew's voice from down in the cellar.
"It's a big spider," Petra replies. "Want to come run the test?"
"Coming," Andrew says, appearing in the doorway with a small device in his hand. He places the device around the spider's neck, scanning it for magical energy. "Yeah, Tiffany's labeled it as hers. I'll take it up to her room."
He leads the spider up to Tiffany's room, and into the large cage she constructed to hold pets she found, back when she was always traveling to Ebonhawke. It'd just been so long since Tiffany had sent a new companion along in this manner.
"Alright, let's explore this house," Tiffany declares.
"Look, Tiff - gravestones," Deborah says in a slightly choked voice.
Kneeling by the smaller gravestone, Tiffany rubs her finger over the place where a name would normally be, trying to get the dust off. Faint markings are outlined in the cold marble, but none legible. Neither can she read the name on the other.
"No names?" Deborah asks.
"Not that I can make out," Tiffany says in a voice devoid of emotion. "But the inscription is still readable - barely. This one says..." she squints at the gravestone. "Th... three joys gave his life meaning... his wife, his country, and above all, his children... May the gods bless and protect Deborah, Tiffany, and Fiona."
Deborah is inspecting the other gravestone. "This one says 'Cherished Wife, Devoted Mother, Loyal Servant of Kryta. 'Our life's labor was to make a better world for the children to live in. May our own beloved children find it so.''"
"You sure you can't make out the names?" Fiona whispers in a choked voice.
"Yes. I... the names must have faded. But why didn't the inscriptions?" Tiffany says, her voice wobbling slightly.
"Magical protections?" Deborah offers weakly. "But why not on both?"
"Their names were Icaro and Maria Sereno," Salia says softly.
"Icaro and Maria," Tiffany says softly. "Those are nice names. The last name was Sereno?"
"Yes," Mehid confirms. "It seems the White Mantle found them, after all. I'm sorry."
"I... we'd always hoped they were still out there," Tiffany says hopelessly.
"That must be a hard dream to give up," Salia says, joining them by the gravestones. "At least now you know, though."
"Yes. At least now we know," Deborah says.
"They gave their lives to defend Kryta against one of its oldest, greatest enemies. I'm sure they'd be proud of you." Mehid adds.
"Who placed the gravestones?" Fiona asks.
"Friends, perhaps? Fellow agents? We may never know. It was likely the same people who rescued you and took you to safety in Divinity's Reach." Salia tells them.
Tiffany frowns. "Since this investigation started, I thought they'd brought us to Divinity's Reach themselves, since they knew they were in danger, perhaps intending to come find us once the danger had passed."
"That may be what happened. We may never know," Mehid repeats.
"Thank you both for finding this place, for telling us as much as you could," Tiffany tells them.
"All our lives we've been wondering," Fiona adds.
"My friend, this was never just another mission. Helping you with this has been our pleasure, believe me." Mehid assures them.
"If the rest of the Shining Blade files on your parents become declassified, or if any information surfaces about these gravestones, we'll contact you." Mehid tells the trio.
"We'd be very grateful," Deborah tells him, standing up.
"I think your parents would be very proud," Salia tells them.
"That... that's a generous thing for you to say," Tiffany tells her. "If you're ever off-duty, stop by Andrew's tavern in Salma District and say hello. We may not be there, off on adventures, but our adoptive parents, Andrew and Petra, would be happy to see you."
"You wouldn't mind? I mean... yes, I'd like that very much," Salia tells them.
"Of course. Thanks for all your help, and take care of yourselves out there," Fiona tells the exemplars.
"You too," Salia replies. "We'll leave you to pay your respects to the fallen."
She and Mehid quietly leave while the three sisters sit around the gravestones for a while in silence.
One by one, they waypoint home.
Author's Notes:
How do you like it?
Review if you caught the reference! If you caught it, you know what I'm talking about.
Salia's last line is weird because somebody put on sad music and so I was extra-eloquent when I wrote those lines.
I'd always wondered why Salia and Mehid couldn't tell their names, they discovered a lot more about them, and these are their children. Sure, their names are probably classified information, but... it's their children, I mean really? It's not like they're White Mantle. And you told them other stuff.
I hope you like the names I decided to use for their parents!
The end of Book One: Tyria's Real!?