"Hey Wes? Fuck you."
"That's about the third time in the last ten minutes you've said that, little brother. But I must say, I'm not too keen on incest."
Two Nord men, brothers, conversing in the early hours of the morning, separated only by the rusty bars of an oddly cozy-looking prison cell, a stark contrast to the others. Despite their striking white hair color, they were both fairly young, though the man inside the cell appears to be around ten years older with irises blue instead of red like the younger..
The jail resided in Mistveil Keep and had fewer criminals in it than the ones who ran about Riften, which wasn't at all a surprise to its residents. Even those in charge were wrongdoers and law breakers themselves. Not Jarl Laila Law-Giver- no, at this point, she was more of a figurehead. Everyone knew that the one who really ran the city was none other than Celeste Evans; a conniving capitalist who had a monopoly over mead production. Her influence made those who knew the Evans clan cower beneath their feet, and she used her money to her personal advantage. The woman herself was as tricky as she was brutal. She would do anything to destroy her competition and protect her reputation.
Even sending her own son to jail.
Soul Evans, the younger of the two brothers (the one not in jail), paced in front of the bars, occasionally gripping his hair with frustration.
"Yeah, but for anybody else, you're good to go. No, seriously, why- how could you do something like this?" he shouted, grabbing the bars angrily.
"Hey," a guard called, obviously not happy to have been woken up, "Keep it down there."
Soul loosened his grip on the metal but did not look away, his glare refusing to diminish. "You know, you're awfully calm for someone who just murdered a man."
Wes sighed and leaned back on the bed seemingly undisturbed, the features on his face as easygoing as his voice. "I've told you plenty of times, that woman is lying. Her brother attacked me first. He intended to kill me- I merely acted in self-defense."
"If you weren't such a sleeze, you wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. Neither of us would," Soul grumbled.
"Now really, Soul, having to visit a temple a few times is in no way comparable to being locked in a jail cell."
"No, no, you're right." he acknowledged, though not without sounding like a smartass. "But it's another one of mother's stupid ways of saving face. Thank to you, she's worried that everyone will begin to question the morals of our family even more than they already do.." His words were not as loud as before, but they still had bark to them. "People used to think you were the better of us- you're supposed to be- but because of this- ugh!"
"So you've been ranting about for eleven minutes now. And again, it's just church. I wouldn't mind taking a few days to pray to Maka, myself."
"Yeah, I bet you would like to pray with the women and men devoted to the Goddess of Love," he sneered again at the man, giving him a look of disgust. "It isn't just praying. I'm expected to help volunteer for the people who work there."
His brother chuckled. "Talking to people is not going to kill you, Soul."
"Easy for you to say; you're a natural charmer." The younger man took a deep breath in and waited until his lungs couldn't intake anymore air before letting it all out. "Mother's really upset it was you," he said, considerably quieter. He set his forehead and closed his eyes. "She knows it was you from the moment it got out, but if it wasn't for the fact that your ex-fiancée publically testified against you, she would have tried to pin the blame on me."
"Oh come on Soul, that's not true."
Soul lifted his head back up and stared at his brother, deadpanned.
"...Okay, so maybe that's exactly what mother would do," Wes backtracked glumly.
Yeah, being the favorite child, you could almost get away with anything. But for once it's you who's being the disgrace, and now I have to be the appealing one. I hate attention.
"So when do you have to start working."
Soul pushed himself off the bars and stretched his muscles. "At seven."
"Soul, it was seven almost twenty minutes ago."
"Yep." Soul popped the 'p. in the word before spinning around on his heels. He had a day of chores dedicated to the goddess to get started on. "Let's hope the priests and priestesses are as forgiving as everyone says they are."
I hate this so much.
"Blessing of Maka upon you," Soul droned for the hundred time that day as he handed out another fucking flier that advertised the message of the goddess. Not everyone was as open to the whole love and kindness schtick. It was much worse than standing in one spot and handing them off to people as they passed. He had to actively seek people out themselves in order to give them the stupid papers like if a missionary were a delivery boy. Gods forbid in the future they have followers going to people's houses advertising their religion. That would never happen, right?
The people who worked at the temple were under the impression that being an Evans meant that he had plenty of money on him, and he found out on his fifth day working that donating to the charity box in front of Maka's statue was not actually required daily. Or at all.
Riften was a busy town full of busy people where not many earned their money honestly. Either you struggled to survive every day or you climbed over people to get ahead. The irony that a temple of Maka was situated in the heart of the city did not escape the residents.
He handed a flier to a woman and her son each. He had to get rid of all the papers before he could return to the temple for his next chore. "Blessings of Maka upon you," he repeated. The little boy crumpled up the flier and kicked his shin, and Soul had to remember which goddess he was representing again.
I can't hurt a child, I can't hurt a child, hurting children is frowned upon-
"Soul! There you are, I've been looking all over for you."
I was really hoping not to run into you so soon. He winced as a blond haired man in drab orange robes loudly greeted him, directly in his ear, clapping a hand on his shoulder and causing the Nord's red eyes to mean the Redguard's blue. "Now I know you aren't supposed to return until you have passed out all of these fliers, but-" The hand that was on his shoulder turned his body to face the building being discussed. "We have another assignment for you that's far more pressing."
Soul sighed out his disdain and attempted to retain his composure. "Okay, Hiro, lay it on me."
The priest smiled widely and he removed the hand from his shoulder. "You're aware of the lovely statue dedicated to our beautiful goddess in the Temple of Maka, correct?"
"Kind of hard to miss."
"And a shame it would be to," Hiro said with a sagely nod. "Anyways, as beautiful as she is, Maka has not been cleaned in a very long while and is in desperate need of a wash. I'd love to do it myself- it's an honor to scrub away at that chiseled stone- but alas, the head priestess needs me for other matters in the basement.
"Uh...right…" Soul takes an extra step away. "Sooo, I just gotta clean the statue, right?"
"Indeed!"
"Alright, what about afterwards?" I hope nothing. I want to sleep for a thousand years. Please, sleep.
Hiro perched his chin on his fist, humming as he tried to come up with something. "Well, I don't know of anything else that needs to be tended to for the afternoon, so I supposed you could go right on home."
"Alright, cool." Fuck yes! Soul clears his throat. "So what do I do with all of these?" He holds up the fliers in front of the priest.
"Just place those on one of the tables near the entrance inside." Hiro waved off. "The stuff you need to clean the statue is beside it."
"Okay, I'll just-"
"Oh, wait one moment please!"
Gods dammit.
The blond priest pulled some items out of his robes- necklaces to be exact. "Since you've been such a big help to us, I want you to have one of these: an Amulet of Maka."
Soul spoke with hesitance in his voice. "Alright, thanks, I guess." He took an amulet and studied it for a moment. Up until the halfway point on each side of the necklace, there was nothing but thick, black string. After that, each side had three circles increasing in size as they got towards the middle, which was occupied by a small ball. A large circle decorated in an intricate swirl pattern with a green gem in its center dangled from the ball." A bit gaudy, in my opinion.
"Well go on, Soul, put it on!" encouraged Hiro.
Whatever gets me away from you faster, Soul thought as he slipped the amulet around his neck.
"Right, that will be 200 septims."
Soul's gaze snapped up the priest. "What? You gave it to me!" he asserted.
"I said I wanted you to have one of them. And you took it from me. I never gave anything." The Redguard explained innocently, a hint of smugness in his voice.
The Nord growled in annoyance as he pulled his bag off of his back. "Give me a minute," he said as he shuffled through his belongings. Fake coin bag feels a lot lighter, he noted, and located the secret compartment containing his real one with his hand and pulled it out along with an empty purse. He counted the septims close to his chest and dropped them in the new purse and into Hiro's hands. "There, can I go now?"
The priest slid the small bag into his robe with a small hum. "Good luck. Maka bless you."
"This is the part where I slip in a "someone's been a dirty girl" kind of joke, but I'm in no mood for shit humor." The Nord dipped the sponge into the soapy bucket water and got to work.
He started on the left side. White, miniature bubbles slid along the arm he swiped, some conjoining to form bigger ones before popping. The stone surface turned darker with the spread of water, but still retained a hint of green that it always had. Or perhaps he saw green due to the temple's dim lights. It would be nice to have a magelight in here.
Soul continued to clean in peace, thankful for the quiet. No one came in to worship around this time, and the priests and priestesses were either downstairs or out in the town. No one could bother him, it was just him and Maka.
This city's full of crooks and my family is the ringleader. Mother has connections with the Thieves Guild here and the Dark Brotherhood. She controls Riften with mead and money, and the rest of my family is no better. She has the power to sink the economy and she'll use that against everyone once she becomes Jarl. I haven't done anything bad, but I haven't done anything good either. Maybe that's why my life is so full of bull droppings.
He stopped scrubbing to scoff directly in the statute's face. "I know you're a goddess who probably can't just interfere whenever she wants, but could you maybe bend that rule and do something? I may not be praying, but there are plenty of other people in Riften who are, and their lives still suck. And they're trying their best too. Do something, damn 'Goddess of Love.'"
Just then, the double doors are pulled open, startling Soul enough to cause him to fumble his sponge before it ultimately fell to the floor. His head snapped to face the intruder of the temple, who was wearing a black cloak. They pulled down their hood to reveal what looked to be a teenage girl at first glance. She was sporting a child-like look with her ash blonde hair in pigtails and her babydoll face. He also guessed that based on the shape of her face and her height being shorter than the average female Nord, she might've been a Breton; not someone he recognized in town.
The girl held the doors open with her arms before letting them down and striding forward, not at all affected by the loud slam that echoed afterwards As the newcomer took a few steps, the Nord noticed that she appeared to be older than he first realized.
It was only when the woman was close enough to him did she finally speak up. "It is not enough to just help yourself, you must help others as well. Did Maka teach you nothing?"
Soul shook himself out of his shock-like state. "By the Nine, what kind of fucking ears do you have?"
"Maybe my Papa was an elf. Or maybe my elven ancestry just gives me naturally good hearing. Who knows."
So she's a Breton then. "What do you want. Come to pray? Well if you were looking to do so when no one else was around, then you've come at the right time," he said, going back to scrubbing the stone.
"But it isn't just completely empty, you're here and you're somebody." The Breton moved to sit in the bowl that was part of the statue that sat in front of Maka's hands.
"Hey, hey, hey, get off, I'm trying to clean here," he informed the stranger, watching her with disbelief. "Besides, I'm pretty sure this is, like. super disrespectful to the goddess."
The woman snorted. "She doesn't mind. Trust me." His grumbling did not go unnoticed, and she giggled in response. She did, however, ignore the glare that followed. "Do you need any help cleaning? I'd like to do something while I'm here."
"I mean, sure, knock yourself out, but you're gonna have to find your own-" he stopped when he realized that she had somehow pulled a second sponge out of the soapy water. "...sponge. H-How did you-?"
The Breton shrugged. "There was another one in the bucket. Perhaps you missed it." She squeezed the excess liquid out of it and began brushing on the right side of the statue.
He eyed her curiously before getting back to his own cleaning. For a few minutes they said nothing, the only noise that filled the room was the sound of scrubbing and the faint sound of the fire flitting from the candles. This woman is really confident about everything. For some reason it feels easy to talk to her, but I don't want to speak yet. I...I can't explain it, but I get the feeling she has more she wants to say.
As he predicted, the woman opened her mouth to say something more. "Gods interact with mortals on several occasions," she explained. "They can speak to them personally if it's crucial or to grant them special abilities, but they can't do everything for them. After all, Maka teaches its followers to spread kindness. People shouldnt have to ask to be treated like people," she sighed out glumly. "Unfortunately, many of those who pray to her seem to forget that."
"Yeah, well a lot of people don't have a choice but to help themselves first if they want to live and take care of their own families," Soul muttered loud enough for her to hear.
She hummed in agreement. "That is true. But family is not limited by blood. One will find strength in numbers. As much as I would hate to admit it," she noted with disgusts, "that is why the Thieves guild and Dark Brotherhood are as successful as they are. That doesn't mean that people who are too busy trying to take care of their blood familia first are selfish and wrong. Not at all, I'm simply saying that by spreading kindness in any way can make a huge difference for someone else. Money is not needed to do it. Kindness is free."
He slowed his sponging to a temporary stop. "...You seem to know a lot about Maka. You some big follower of her? You dont look like a priestess or missionary."
"You could say that," the Breton quipped, not facing his gaze. "And no, not really. I...technically am a part of the Cult of Maka, but at the same time I'm not?" She held her hands up before shrugging. "I can't really say if I count as a member."
"Yeah you lost me, lady," the Nord said, giving up on trying to make sense of her strange personality.
The Breton peered down at the pendant sitting on his chest. "I meant to ask you," she pointed at it. "Didn't think you'd be the type to wear that sort of thing."
Soul stopped to regard the object of her interest. "Eh, so I'm not the most devoted man. I was kind of tricked into buying it, but I don't wanna just shove it in my pocket, y'know?"
One of her eyebrows rose and she offered an amused smile. "Do you...you do know what that amulet stands for, right?"
"I'm gonna say it's to show your dedication to Maka," he guessed with a shrug.
"Close," she said, the smugness permeating the air. "It also signifies that you are single and looking for a spouse."
The Nord abruptly stopped moving his sponge around and his eyes went wide. He turned to her, waiting for it to be a joke but when she said nothing, he sputtered. "Wait-how- you mean for marriage? W-Why would that guy sell me something like this? And why have I seen so many people wear it?"
"Well, it also reduces the amount of mana you use when performing restoration spells, but given that you are a Nord, people most likely aren't going to assume that's why you're wearing it."
I'm really glad I wasn't outside for more than a minute after putting this thing on. "So I should probably take it off then." The hand not holding the sponge curls around the braid of the amulet.
"Maybe." She eyes him slyly. Depends on if you're looking for a bride. Or a husband."
He removed his fingers from it. "Hell no," he dropped before backtracking. "Well, it's not that I'm against love or anything. People just don't like me that much. My eyes freak them out- there are rumors that I'm even a vampire. And if it wasn't obvious enough, I'm an introvert with a natural resting bitch face.
The stranger laughed openly at that. It wasn't a mocking laugh he could tell, and he found it to be nice anyway. "Maybe you seem unapproachable at first, but if anyone truly took the time to get to know you, they'd see what an awkward dork you are."
"Shut up, I'm cool" he replied, unable to look her in the eye as he got back to washing. If she noticed the hint of pink on his cheeks, she didn't say anything about it.
"Sure you are," she giggled. Another minute of silence would go by before she spoke up again, this time asking an unexpected question. "So, what do you think about cheating?"
"Bw-huh?" he stammered as he blinked a few times. "You mean on, like, people?"
"Yeah." A short response.
"Should be obvious." At her insistent stare he continues. "It's fucking lame, duh. Cool people don't cheat on their partners, what's more to know?"
She smiles. "What about people who knowingly get with someone who's in a relationship already?"
"...My brother does that," the Nord admitted. "My family has this town on its knees but people still swarm to him, and he loves it. He means a lot to me, but he causes problems when he fucks around with people, and I try to stop him, but…." he falters with a sigh. "It's not something I think is cool either."
"Sounds like he's quite a handful," she proclaimed. "Maybe you're a cooler guy than I thought."
The man scoffs, but not with cruel intent. "You should have known I was cool from the moment you stepped foot in here."
"Mhm.' Her attention was back on scrubbing the stone bowl in front of it's matching brown-gray hands. "Do you like to help people?"
"What is with all of the questions, woman?" Soul sassed.
"Don't be rude. I'm just very curious about the type of person you are."
He shakes his head, melancholy making his irises an even darker shade of red under the dim candlelight. "Because I'm an 'Evans?"
"Because you're troubled." the stranger places a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm not trying to 'fix' you or anything. But you seem to think that because of who your family is, you don't deserve happiness."
"It's not just that. I mean, I don't do anything. I don't do anything productive and I certainly don't help anyone. Haven't had the chance to be fair, but that's just an excuse." The volume of his voice increased and he continued to vent, and the sponge dropped at his feet and he gestured with his hands. "Like I've said people don't like me and I don't like people. Plus no matter what I do my brother always outdoes me tenfold. He's the kind of guy people like."
By the end of his rant, his rough breaths are audible and he stared at the floor like he could see beneath the flooring. A sad smile crossed over the woman's face and she offered his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "You're not a bad person for being too anxious to do anything. I'm sure there are ways for you to help people without having to do too much interaction. Just like how the thieves of Riften don't gather attention to themselves when they steal, you could try to do the same with helping people out." She put her own sponge down in the stone bowl and stood in front of him, placing her other hand on his other shoulder. "Not to mention that you are important. Even if people don't treat you with the same kindness that you treat them with, you still matter. You deserve real love."
"I'm not sad," he mumbled under his breath. "I don't need to be comforted."
One of her arms slid down his. The other lifted to place its hand on his cheek, encouraging him to meet her very bright green eyes. "You're not any less a man for asking, nor are you any less cool. If anyone says that, I'll kick their butts."
That got a small chuckle out of him, and he ever so slightly leaned into her touch. She has nice eyes. And lips.
Her smile grew. "We should talk more. Not just about Maka- I mean about life. You seem like a good friend to have." She placed a quick peck on the cheek not already occupied. "Sometime whenever you can, meet me at the Bee and the Barb. I'll be there no matter when you decide."
His skin heated up at the feel of her soft lips, and even as the contact left him he still felt warm all over. "Y-yeah okay, talk...talk more, Bee Barb, Barbie- hey, wait!"
While he was lost in his trance, she had already made her way to the front doors. Her palms grasped the handles as the Breton turned around at the sound of his call.
"Um, who-who are you, exactly?" It came out as a bit of stutter, but it was clear enough to understand.
Another one of those addictive giggles slipped out of her. "I have a feeling you'll find out soon. I don't get out much and I'm not from here, but I'm pretty well known." She opened both doors. "Goodbye Soul, it was nice meeting you. Remember where to find me if you want to talk more." And with that, she gave him a wink and slipped her hood back on.
"Nice...nice meeting you too," he muttered quietly at the same time she walked out of those doors. Wait when did I tell her my name?
"B-b-by the Nine!" a male voice gasped behind him.
Soul turned around in an instant and laid his eyes on Hiro. I didn't even hear him come up from the basement. How long had he been standing there? The Redguard was trembling from the doorway to the other room. "Hey, are you okay?"
The man's gaze didn't leave the door, his finger lifting to shakily point in that same direction and his gaping mouth turning into a wide open smile. "I-I can't believe that- sh-she was- oh, wow-!"
Soul moved closer to the man. "Spit it out already, you're freaking me out." He momentarily looked back at the door. "Are you talking about that lady? What about her?"
The priest stopped his ramblings and grabbed his shoulders roughly, not at all the tender touch of the recently departed visitor. "My word, do you not know who you were just talking to?" No answer was given and he shook Soul's shoulders with vigor. "You must be blind- that was Maka!"
"Maka? The goddess?" The Nord looked at him with disbelief. "There's no way you're serious."
"Soul Evans, I am as serious about this as I am about my devotion to the Mother Goddess!" exclaimed the priest. "I got a very good look at her and I do not doubt my senses for a moment. She even had blonde hair, just like the goddess. Th-that was Maka herself! If you do not believe me, look upon her statue yourself!"
Soul removed the man's grip from his shoulders with force, but studied the statue as he was told. She wore a robe with large sleeves and a large shawl that covered her head and almost reached the ground. She also wore an Amulet of Maka and a belt with another pendant dangling from it in the front. But she wore scaled armor and a black cloak, just without the helmet. Their attire was nothing alike for sure, but his interest was piqued when he moved on to observe the face. There was something about the fullness of the cheeks, the way the nose curved, and the smile on those small lips that were all eerily similar to the Breton he had met earlier that evening. It was the eyes though that made his heart stop. The shape of everything from the irises to the eyelids gave off the same warmth and mirth that the stranger had expressed whenever Soul made her laugh.
He frantically looks down to the bowl, only to find that the sponge she had placed in there was gone. The amulet around his neck swung into his view with his abrupt movements and he picked up the large circle.
The gem in the center...it's the same green as that stranger's eyes..
It was starting to come together: how she had stormed in to challenge his judgement on Maka without even having to be there to hear him; how she walked around like she owned the place; her expansive knowledge on Maka's teachings; the questions she asked him; that calming, angelic effect she had when she offered him comfort. And-
"She doesn't mind, trust me."
"I...technically am a part of the Cult of Maka, but at the same time I'm not?"
"Even if people don't treat you with the same kindness that you treat them with, you still matter. You deserve real love."
"I have a feeling you'll find out soon. I don't get out much and I'm not from here, but I'm pretty well known."
By the Nine, the Goddess of Love, Maka, just asked him out on a date.