The Fairies Intervene
The next day, Mimil told her parents that she had to leave early. She wasted no time in going to the royal castle, for she recognized that Lescatie may be facing a threat from a faction of fairies that are entirely unknown. Granted, the leanan sidhes appear to be affiliated to the Order of Welsple and are described as explicitly anti-monster, so the threat may not be too high. Of course, she must report that Astramille probably escaped Lescatie, that sneaky little fucker.
She quickly walked through the streets of the upper-class region she lived in, heading to the royal castle. Mimil reflected back to all the changes Astramille brought to Lescatie. From her own parents actually working again and spending time with her to those faceoffs between Astramille and the authorities of the nation.
"Well, hello there," a voice called out to her, "if it isn't Mimil."
Stopping and turning around, Mimil sees Wilmarina walking to her.
"What's with the rush?" the older hero asked.
"I am reporting to the royal family," Mimil replied, "some fairies, leanan sidhes, took away Astramille's books. According to my parents, the man himself fled Lescatie and into the wild, not before leaving a letter that sounds unlike something he would write. I am wondering what is going on."
"Huh," Wilmarina seemed relieved, "so he finally left, huh? Good for him. Lescatie isn't the kind of place he would want to live in."
"Are you sure you're just happy that he won't interfere with your relationship with Elt?" asked Mimil, "I still, wonder what you see in him."
"That is no concern of yours," Wilmarina replied, "but the fact that Astramille is gone is certainly a relief."
"Of course," Mimil decided to add, "there is the possibility that he is still lurking somewhere in Lescatie. Based on my understanding of Astramille, he is one cunning son of a bitch. I wager that he could be hiding, waiting for his agents to come and rescue him."
"Oh?" Wilmarina seemed interested, "Why do you believe that?"
So Mimil told her everything. From things Wilmarina was already familiar with such as Astramille's personality and the nature of his books to things she didn't know, like his possible connection with fairies and Order officials from foreign nations. One of them was Acton, a man who is known in Lescatie as someone who wastes time on useless trinkets. By everyone who didn't know him well, at least. The other was a queen called Aine. Given that two leanan sidhes claimed to be the librarian Stella's associates and magicked his books away, it is possible that Astramille has extended his influence into a fairy realm. Not to mention that Aine sounds like a fairy name, suggesting that Astramille is somehow connected with a titania.
"By the Chief God," Wilmarina frowned, "that man really is something, isn't he?"
"I know," Mimil agreed, "there should ne no way for a man who has barely established himself in this world to extend his influence so far and wide. I mean, it has barely been a week since I dragged his ass into Lescatie. To think he could get into contact with a high ranked clergy from a Sax-Juton kingdom and a titania…"
Wilmarina frowned. Indeed, Astramille had some serious powers of persuasion. What the maid Azura told her and what the servants said to each other in these days testified to all that. But how did he get in contact with Malum? How did he get involved with fairies, with a suspected titania no less?
"Could it be that Astramille is lying?" asked Wilmarina, "About not having a soul and therefore no magic? Perhaps he does have some kind of magic powers that can operate independently from a soul."
"Indeed," Mimil nodded, "after all, I recall that he dropped out of a magic portal. Certainly, the magic was arcane and alien to me. But if it operates on a whole different set of principles, then there is no reason that Astramille can't use magic that is native to his world. I have read through his books before. His people have created some insane things and I am not convinced it can be done without magic. Have you seen their horseless chariots? Their flying machines? Ships made of steel the size of castle with cannons the size of a pillar? I think the Inquisition was wrong to trust him. There is far too much about Astramille that does not make sense."
And yet Wilmarina wondered. Would it be possible for her to make use of Astramille's mind? To make his remarkable abilities work to her advantage? Of course, the question was pointless if Astramille already left. Yet it was a possibility that now nagged at her. Could the man convince father to allow her to be with Elt?
"What are you blushing about?" Mimil asked, with one eyebrow raised, "And you look like you are about to-"
"Nothing," Wilmarina shook her head, "nothing at all. But if he leaves Lescatie, wouldn't that make all your problems go away?"
"Not necessarily," Mimil shook her head, "Astramille is the kind of guy who looks out for himself, and himself only. That is the impression I get from him. After all, when he believed that he no longer needed your father's assistance to return to his world, Astramille decided to stop helping him break you two apart. Not that you were ever together in the first place. My worry is that he will make a deal with the monsters out of ignorance to their nature. I must hurry to the royal family."
"Shall I accompany you?" asked Wilmarina.
"Please," Mimil retorted, "I am not some random child."
The two parted, with Mimil heading to the royal castle and Wilmarina continuing on her way. It was at that time that she saw something strange. Azura was walking through the streets in a real hurry/
Huh? Wilmarina thought, Isn't that Azura? What is she doing? She can't be up shopping this late in the morning. Besides, its Jeanne's turn to go to the market today.
The eyes of the maid and the heroine briefly met, causing both to flinch. After a brief pause, Azura recovered and continued on her way. Wilmarina narrowed her eyes before a grin that resembled Astramille's shit eating grin spread across her face. Could Azura be running off to meet a lover that she didn't know about? How interesting.
Azura sighed as she walked through the central district. To think that she would run into lady Wilmarina on her way. Such a coincidence.
Last night, Isla appeared out of nowhere and conveyed to her that a major operation has suddenly began. Isla told Azura that she is to quit her job at the Noscrim manor and move out to meet her at the tavern called the Valor Springs. It was a small establishment on the border of one of Lescatie's slums.
A little while later she arrived in front of the slightly dilapidated structure. Pulling open the doors, the leannan sidhe maid walks in. Almost immediately, she was greeted by the smell of alcohol, sweat and smoke.
"Ugh," Azura frowned and put her hand over her nose, "I don't like this place."
"Heeeeey!" a drunk customer drawled out, "Little laaaaadddyyyyyy. What are you doing here?"
Azura ignored him and tried to walk towards the counter, but the man grabbed her wrist.
"Come on," the man said before hiccupping once, "what's the hurry? Come with me…I'll show you a good time."
"Hands off me," Azura hissed as she tried to pull back, "I have to meet someone."
The man was about to say something when Azura raised a foot and brought down the heel on his foot. The man yowled before stumbling back and falling backwards, hitting his head on the floor. Several other patrons laughed and cheered, but most didn't see or care what happened.
"I was not expecting that," said a female voice, "you never seemed to be the warrior type to me."
Looking to the source of the voice, Azura sees a young woman with sharp green eyes and shoulder length orange hair that looked wild. She wore a long, hooded cloak that looks like its been around for a century and a hunter's outfit. The said young woman was sitting at the counter, leaning on her elbow and holding a canister of ale in her hand. Azura's eyes widened.
"You're…" she began to say.
"Bartender!" the woman interrupted her with a shout, "Get this girl a glass of your best wine. I'll pay for it."
The bar maid smiled and immediately went to the back. The woman turned back to face Azura.
"Yes, yes," she said, "it's me, Celeste. Now I know what you are thinking, but last night, Isla and Kaia messed up and had to go back home early. So, I am here instead. Surprised?"
"Well," Azura stuttered, "I wasn't expecting someone of your status to get involved."
"Heh," Celeste chuckled before taking a sip of ale, "well, you probably weren't Aine to get all worked up over this. Neither did I. But me being out here is sufficient evidence that the situation isn't that good."
Azura sits down next to Celeste and takes her drink from the bar maid.
"So, I take it is something about Astramille," Azura said after a while, "last night, Isla came to me and said to meet her here. Also told me to quit the job. I just dropped off the resignation letter, you know? I heard there was a large-scale mobilization going on because Astramille gave us all the slip. Quite an impressive achievement, if you ask me. Though I can't say I am surprised. That man has proven himself to be one crafty fox."
"I am just curious whether there is anything that you know about him that we do not," Celeste said, "we already know that he is from a technologically advanced world and that he is well educated. Is there anything else?"
"Like I said," Azura takes another sip of the wine, "he is one crafty man. Has a silver tongue and talks like a demon trying to trick you into making a contract with it. Seemed to figure out exactly how to worm into High Priest Noscrim's mind. Yes, I am telling you that this man with zero credentials, zero wealth, zero power and zero status won over High Priest Noscrim's trust within a single conversation. The man also has a taste for good tea."
"Huh," Celeste frowned, "that is interesting. Stella didn't make Astramille sound like a manipulative bastard. Well, based on what you know about him, do you know where he might have escaped to? His letters claim he is either heading north to the Gothian nations or East towards the Sax-Jutons or Zipangu."
"Which, of course," Azura said, "is bullshit. It was well into the night when we discovered the letters. It is impossible for him to prepare for long arduous journeys without a ton of planning. But why did he specifically choose such distant lands?"
"The books in his possession were either written in modern Coygan or some language derived from the northern islands of Zipangu," Celeste replied, "so it would make sense that he would attempt to head towards a region of this world that shares his languages and culture or at least can pass off as it. Given that Stella described him as zipangu-ish looking, I won't be surprised that he is heading East. The sneaky bastard probably said he was heading north to throw us off his trail."
She paused for a bit, "We better get word back to Aine if we are to launch an operation to intercept him. By now, we should have rallied all our assets in Lescatie and agents on standby have already been mobilized. It has only been a day and unless Astramille has access to fast transport, he won't be getting far."
Celeste chugs down the rest of her ale in one gulp, wipes her mouth, sighs with appreciation before standing up, "Well now, Azura, let's go. We've got business."
Azura also downed her alcohol and stood up. The duo was prepared to leave when another hooded figure stopped them. She is slightly shorter than Azura and considerably shorter than Celeste. As Celeste and Azura tried to step past it, the figure spread out her arms.
"Excuse me," Celeste said, "we have to go. We're busy."
"Where to?" the figure asked.
"Wait!" Azura took a quick step back, "It's Lady Wilmarina."
The figure took off her hood, revealing that she was indeed Lescatie's most powerful hero.
"Huh," Celeste raised an eyebrow, "so, what do you want?"
"I am sending you to the Order of the Lescatie on suspicion of conspiracy with the heretic known as Astramille," Wilmarina said, "and being an agent of a potentially hostile faction."
"Ah," Celeste said, "You're the most powerful hero in Lescatie, yes?"
"Who cares?" Wilmarina said, "I knew you weren't human the moment I stepped into this place. How Azura evaded us for so long, however, defies me."
Wilmarina channels some of her to her fists, "You can surrender and come peacefully. I can advise the inquisition to go easy on the torture. As long as you tell us why you are so interested in Astramille."
"Azura," Celeste turned to the other fairy, "go back home and tell the queen everything has gone out of control. We are going to scout every fucking road that leads to the east."
Azura nodded before literally disappearing in a burst of particles.
"Instant teleportation," it was Wilmarina's turn to be surprised, "with no items or even incantation?"
"What?" Celeste smirked at the hero, "Did you think we were garden variety fairies that spend our time playing games, eating candy and get high on pollen?"
Wilmarina grit her teeth, "Don't mock me, fairy. Come with me to the Inquisition or-"
"Or what?" Celeste glared at the human.
"I'll show you the power of one who is with the Chief God," Wilmarina said, "and I shall punish you with it for consorting with a heretic."
Celeste shook her head, "This is why I don't like dealing with you Order idiots."
A man was sitting on his horse, near the tavern. A few minutes earlier, the hero Wilmarina asked to borrow his cloak, claiming she was stalking a heretic. Well, one does not turn down a request from the most powerful hero in Lescatie, especially when doing the work of the Almighty.
Suddenly, the side of the tavern exploded in a cloud of smoke and debris as two figures flew out. The man's horse bucked and threw him off, causing him to faceplant into ground. Several other bystanders also scattered.
"Well, Celeste," Wilmarina said as she stood back up, "you aren't so tough."
"Heh," Celeste picks herself up off the ground, "it has been decades since I killed anything."
Wilmarina turns to see the man who lent her his cloak. Walking to him, she hands the cloak back.
"Sorry," she said, "it's a bit torn."
"Never mind, ma'am," the man said, "it's my honor."
"Then lend me your sword," Wilmarina said, "I have a naughty fairy to punish."
"That girl is a fairy?" the man practically spat, "What? I thought fairies were small and stuff!"
Wilmarina ignored him and pulled his sword out from the sheath that was hanging from the horse.
"Alright, fairy," Wilmarina said, "I am giving you one last chance. Come with me to the inquisition or be executed here."
Celeste simply smirked and put her hand forward. A magic sigil appeared on the ground, with a dragonfly motif in the middle surrounded by letters from an unknown language. A bright object materialized from it. The fairy glyph then shattered with a crystalline sound, and the glowing object stopped glowing. It revealed itself to be a spear of sorts, which Celeste grabbed and pointed at Wilmarina.
"So, you want to do this the hard way?" Wilmarina narrowed her eyes.
"I have been doing it the hard way since the ninth age," Celeste said, "though I haven't done any fighting since the year one thirty of this age."
This gave Wilmarina pause. The Order calendar divides history into ages. An age started when a hero slaughtered a demon lord. The time it takes for demons to select a new lord by violent competition can take centuries. Right now, it is the twelfth age, as twelve demon lords have been slain since the recording of history began more than six thousand years go. If Celeste is speaking the truth, then she is easily more than two thousand years old.
She shook the thoughts out of her head and shouted, "I don't care how old you are! I have the Chief God on my side! Die heretic!"
Wilmarina channeled a large amount of mana into the sword and charged forward.
"Bring it on!" Celeste shouted as she charged forward as well, spear pointed forward.