Disclaimer: I do not own characters not made by me. I know there aren't many in this story, but there are a few mentioned and appearing, so just keep this in the mind.
AN: I worked on Hermione after I started this one. This one just came later because it had to be more thought out.
Gunlord500: Hermione is well known from Hogwarts. Can't blame you for thinking that. However, the origin of the name is not the lovely muggle-born witch of Gryffindor but a princess of Sparta whose mother was once the possessor of the title of the most beautiful woman in the world. For your sake, I will tell you more about the Harbinger. To the present society of Elibe, Harbinger of Blaze is just the title of the most renowned assassin in Elibe. Tablesse just decided to call himself that after he turned assassin. Of course, what Harbinger of Blaze means to Nyvoclair is a different story…
-x-x-x-x-
Lucrius (part 1)
Ilians do not have purple hair. This man did. If there was any observer at the site, he would have been confused as to why a non-Ilian would be traversing through the treacherous Ilian Mountains in the middle of the winter. However, there was nobody else so Lucrius Eylat traveled unhindered.
He was not travelling for the sake of pleasure. As he was assaulted by the soul-chilling cold of the Ilian winter, he constantly grumbled. He was glad he was an anima mage; the current trip would have been far more lethal without the continuous stream of fire magic he was casting to keep his temperature up.
He stopped at one of the few clearings in the mountain. Where's the blasted cave? He was sure he had arrived at his destination. He increased his sensitivity to magic and probed the area. He found a flux of magic to his right. There you are. He entered the area, well aware that he was entering a place he may not be exiting, in the worst case scenario.
-x-x-x-x-
It was warm inside the cave; Lucrius was pleasantly surprised to find it so. Considering that it inhabited people, he should have expected it. In fact, it was getting quite uncomfortable to wear his thick winter wear. He decided to take it off.
"Don't get too comfortable, Lucrius. You may not be staying." Lucrius stopped, his initial discomfort forgotten at the voice.
"It's fatally cold outside. Let me just thaw the frost out, alright?" He hoped his voice was friendly enough to hide his anxiety.
"Don't give me that bullshit, Lucrius. This is not a social visit. You are not the type. What do you want?" I see she hasn't changed. Never the one to mess with. He found his minding relaxing despite the severity of the situation. If she hasn't changed, I'm going to show her neither have I.
When he replied, a tone of confidence layered his words. "Come on, Niime. Like you said, you know me. Have I ever been the one to waste your time?"
There was a moment of silence before the druid replied. "No, I can't say you've ever." She emerged from the darkness of the cave, her eyes still showing the wariness she felt about her visitor.
"Welcome to my home, Lucrius. I hope you are not expecting much, because I am not offering any niceties."
"Nice to see you too, Niime. I see you are still the same; breathtaking as always." She rolled her eyes at that before turning and leading the way. Lucrius followed, glad he was not going to be immediately eradicated by the powerful druid.
-x-x-x-x-
Lucrius wondered what the cushion was made of because, damn, it was comfortable. He then noticed countless tomes at the corner of the room and his scholarly tendencies made him curious to their contents. Wonder if she will let me read some of these.
His attention returned to his host as she spoke to him. "You haven't changed that much either."
"Does that mean you still find me attractive?"
"Oh please, Lucrius. Yodel was cute. You? An obnoxious brat."
"Right, Yodel. I never understood why you two broke off."
"You never really understood why preferences in magic could drive people apart, considering you dabbled in all of them yourself." Her comment made him wince slightly.
"Yeah, I guess that's why. Hey, heard you got married."
"The guy's a moron. Don't talk about him." Okay… Not a happy marriage.
He decided to change topics. "Are you in contact with Limstella?"
Niime seemed surprised at the question. "Limstella? Why are you asking me? Wasn't she your soulmate or something?"
Lucrius's heart stung at the word 'soulmate'. "Hmm. I have lost contact with her two years ago. We had a falling out."
"Hmm?" Niime's eyebrow rose in wonder. "I never spoke to her after all of us separated five years ago. Lucrius expected some snide comments about the break-up and was surprised when none came. Maybe she was hit harder than I thought with her break-up with Yodel. Lucrius never thought Niime was one to care for love, but now he was not sure.
"She never visited you in the last two years?" Lucrius's mind was racing at this new information.
"Does she have a reason to?"
"I kind of expected her to pay you a visit after all that."
"After all what?" Niime displayed irritation at Lucrius's vagueness.
Lucrius took in a deep breath before speaking. "Do you know of a tome called Ereshkigal?"
A dangerous glint came to Niime's eyes. "Where have you heard the name? Wait. Don't tell me…"
"Yes. Limstella is looking for the tome."
Niime sighed. "Why? Wasn't she researching on…what's it called?"
"Quintessence. She called it quintessence."
"Yes. Quintessence, whatever that is. Wasn't she studying on that?"
"She was. In fact, I think she discovered something. One day, she just declared she is looking for the tome and when I said I was not going to abandon my research for a dark tome, she left."
"So that's why you thought she would come to me?"
"Yeah, if I am to find a powerful dark magic tome, I would come to you."
"And you thought I would have helped you?" Her comment was curt.
"Oh." I never thought of that.
"Yeah. Oh."
"Haven't thought of that."
"Of course you didn't." Only Niime could make him feel like a total fool.
"But what are the chances Limstella could find the tome without your help?"
"The chances are practically non-existent. Otherwise I would be leaving here right now in order to hunt her down." Well, there's a pleasant thought. He was about to reply when Niime cut in. "By the way, what project were you working on that you couldn't accompany your sweetheart?" Lucrius gulped slightly.
"Do you remember the project five years ago?"
"How could I forget? It was one of those rare moments in my life when I almost died." The scorn in the voice was evident.
"Well, I never was really satisfied with the results. So I continued working along those lines."
The shock on Niime's face suggested that she was dealing with a fool. "You continued the work after meeting Nyvoclair? Lucrius, even I do not try to meet with the elder go…" Lucrius put up his hand to halt her berating.
"I did not encounter any more elder gods. I'm not a moron, Niime."
Niime crossed her arms as if to comment 'I beg to differ'. "So what are you trying to do? Your attempt to merge fire anima with elder magic invoked a meeting Nyvoclair; a meeting you would not have escaped unscathed had there not been Yodel and I at the scene. Are you going to merge lightning with elder this time?"
Upon discussing a topic he had been researching on, Lucrius's enthusiasm started to show. "Lightning? No! Lightning's bad for merging. Too volatile. Not wind either. I think wind is much more suited for merging with light magic."
Despite herself, Niime felt the sage's enthusiasm catching on. "What do you mean? Anima is the trinity of fire, lightning and wind. What else could you work with other than those thre… wait a minute…"
The excitement was expressed evidently on Lucrius's face. "Yes. My favorite tome. I think it is possible to merge Fimbulvetr with dark magic."
-x-x-x-x-
"I do not understand why I am going along with this horse shit." Lucrius ignored her, having heard that comment about a dozen times in the last hour. To his side, Niime was going through the research notes he had brought pertaining to his study. After perusing through and still finding no flaws in the workings, she put them down irritatedly.
"Explain to me again, Lucrius. I like to listen to stupid things in your voice. It's fitting." Lucrius rolled his eyes but decided to humor her nonetheless.
"Fimbulvetr is the magic quite separate among the anima. It's unique that it invokes ice, something that is not part of the trinity. The trinity is too linked with each other; it interferes with the merging. However, Fimbulvetr has no such links. Also, it is the most similar to dark magic anyway, to have an amalgamation between the two should not be an impossible task."
Niime ran her hands through her hair frustratedly. "I am only going with this because your workings are sound, Lucrius. However, I will still hold you responsible if something goes awry."
"Alright. Let's begin." So, let's see what we've got.
-x-x-x-x-
"Well, what do you say to that? I say it's a smashing success!" The excitement in Lucrius was unconcealed.
Niime folded her arms and studied the results. The entire section of forest was frozen solid; she could tell that the vegetations were dead under the ice. "I must say, that is quite impressive."
"Not only that, I'm sure the tome surpasses even the Excalibur!" He was practically bobbing up and down with joy.
"Congratulation on that, I didn't know that was important," she rolled her eyes, "what are you going to name the tome?"
"Hmm? Its name? I guess I will call it Fimbulvetr Boreas. No need for a completely new name, do I?" Lucrius eyed his new tome lovingly.
"You are such a child." Niime chuckled at the sage's enthusiasm.
"It's something worth getting exultant over." He defended indignantly.
Niime got up and took the tome from the sage's hands. Lucrius's hand reached for it for a split second before he caught himself and retracted. Do not be so possessive. Niime's contribution enabled the creation of the tome.
"I must say, Lucrius, this tome has its appeals." Niime spoke without lifting her gaze from the tome.
"I know." Lucrius felt uneasy.
"Do you know what that means?" You want to take it from me. Lucrius controlled his tongue from forming his first thought. Knowing Niime, she was trying to inform him something. He calmed his mind, and processed what her words signified. His intelligent mind raced until something clicked.
"It's not just an anima tome. It's a dark tome as well. Otherwise you won't be interested in it."
At his answer, Niime clapped slowly. "Well done, Lucrius. Nailed it on the first try. It's an elder tome as well. And I have no idea which elder deity empowers this one. You might want to watch out."
"Duly noted." Lucrius did not appreciated being told to watch himself but since it was Niime who was advising over an issue of dark magic, he did not retort.
"By the way, Lucrius. You might want to head to Aquleia."
"Why's that?" A frown formed on his face as he remembered his home city.
"You want to speak to Yodel."
Confusion crept to his face. "What? No I don't!"
"Yes. You do." Oh. Niime was not giving a suggestion.
"Right. Remind me why I wanted to see him again?" May as well get this over with.
"Well, he could help you with combining light magic and air magic."
"And?" He was waiting for her to get to the point.
"And, he could probably tell you about Ereshkigal." That caught his attention.
"Really? Do remind me more." Looks like I want to see him after all.
-x-x-x-x-
City of Aquleia is reputed to be the pinnacle of human ingenuity and learning. The architectures of the buildings at the centre of the city are more advanced than any other nations, and the people who are sheltered within the said structures are possibly the greatest intellectuals and the most enlightened in the continent.
Lucrius despised them and their sheltered lives.
Lucrius had never really thought highly of the aristocrats of Eturia or the church despite being from one of the most reputable family of the country. While he did graduate from the College of Eturia with brilliant accomplishments and reputation, he had not joined the Council of the Supremes as his father had desired, allowing Lucrius's ever charismatic sister to claim the seat. Instead, he chose to isolate himself from the Council and its messy politics, just so he could pursue his own goals unhindered.
Also, he did not enjoy working with the hypocritical, scheming aristocrats who were basically no different from the brutal Bernese nobles albeit in possession of much more discreet methods.
As he always did, Lucrius travelled through the slums of the city so as to avoid meeting any aristocrats. His plain travel garbs attracted no attention, and his purple hair was common among Eturians enough to catch no eyes.
He walked through the filthy, fetid environment of the slums and renewed his disrespect of the Eturian authority and the church. How could they allow the people to live in such a manner? As he emerged from the slums and entered the merchant district of the city, he wondered what fiascos the council was plotting at the current moment then pushed the matter away from his mind. He stopped for a moment to garner his attention and check his surroundings only to realize that he had reached the rendezvous point.
Well, let's see how much of a pompous cushion Yodel had become. Not looking forward to the meeting, Lucrius entered the Church of the Healers. It was a small church at edge of the merchant district and Yodel's current post.
At the moment of his entry, he was immediately bombarded by noise of children and its creators. Before he could escape, hordes of children had tackled him and pinned him to the ground, tugging at his hair, clothes, satchel and face. They were laughing the way children do, innocent despite being evil. Lucrius hated children. I hate children.
A clap was produced and instantly caught the brats' attentions. A girl's voice called out, laughing. "There, there, my darlings. Please don't suffocate our new visitor. Come here and I'll give you all a sweet!" Cheering, Lucrius's assaulters went for his savior in a matter of seconds. Grumbling, Lucrius got up and dusted himself. He looked at the direction of the retreating horde of kids, and caught glimpse of a petit figure with a long lock of wavy azure hair before all of them turned a corner and went out of his sight.
"Welcome, my friend. I hope the reception committee was to your liking?" A voice gently spoke from behind him.
Startled, Lucrius literally jumped to face the speaker. He recognized the bishop immediately.
"Yodel! You scared the heart out of me!"
Yodel gave a hearty laughter. "Well then, I reckon this is the first and the probable last time I get the better of you."
Seeing the bishop, Lucrius couldn't help but feel that he had been too quick assume Yodel had joined the rest of the ineffective, parasitical higher-ups. Feeling much better, he offered his hand to the old friend.
"Your welcoming committee sucked." The sage said with a smile.
-x-x-x-x-
Despite the comfy seat and the brilliant tea, Lucrius was irritated.
"I'm sorry, Lucrius. I don't know why Niime thought I could help, but all I know about the dark tome Ereshkigal is the history of it." The bishop's expression was one of genuine regret, which somehow worsened his mood.
"Never mind. I guess Niime was just messing with me."
"Perhaps. Or perhaps she was just trying to help me."
"What do you mean by that?" Niime or not, Lucrius did not like being used by anyone without his knowledge.
"Well, you see, I sent Niime a letter a time ago asking if she knew anybody who…"
"Whoa, hold up. You messaged Niime?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Is this after you broke up with her?"
"Umm. Yes. Why do you ask?" Yodel frowned with confusion. Lucrius facepalmed.
"Never mind, Yodel. What did you say to her?"
"I asked her if she knew anyone who was traveling and was willing to take on a cleric on their journey."
"You contacted her to speak about another gir… hold on a damn second. Are you saying Niime sent me here because of that?" The content of Yodel's words took Lucrius's mind off the bishop's stupidity.
"I believe that is the possibility."
"That scheming druid!" He had lost all sympathy to the woman now.
"Does this mean you are not going to take her on?"
"Are you kidding me? Why would I do such an idiotic act? I don't want some good-for-nothing cleric chasing me and wasting my resources!"
"That's quite offensive." Yodel's tone got hard.
Lucrius flinched at the change in the bishop. He reminded himself that Yodel was compassionate, not a push-over. "You are right. I apologize."
"It is not I who should be the recipient. It's her."
"What? Why? She didn't hear me say it."
"That is beside the point. Lucrius." Lucrius found that he could not keep eye contact with the bishop.
"Tell you what, I will take her in. Just for a year. Would that be apology enough?" He hated himself for saying those words.
A warm smile came to Yodel's face. "That's fantastic, Lucrius. Thank you very much." Cunning bastard. I knew Niime couldn't have liked him for being nice.
"Yes, yes. I'm a saint. Well, now that that's wrapped up, let me discuss something else with you. What do you think of combining light magic with anima?" He was not going to leave this place without getting something beneficial out of it.
-x-x-x-x-
Lucrius was a much happier man after the three hour discussion with Yodel regarding his research. Now, he had the basic idea how to begin incorporating light magic with wind magic. He felt confident that by this time next year, he would have succeeded in his research.
Indeed, as he got up to depart, he was in a pleasant mood.
Until… "Lucrius. You've forgotten someone." Damn it. Lucrius haven't, but was hoping Yodel had.
"Hmm? What are you talking about?" He faked ignorance.
Yodel saw through the act but did not point out. "Your new companion. Remember?"
"Oh, right. All right. Let's get this over with." His mood was much lower now. With a nod, Yodel exited the room – Lucrius briefly considered then escaping out the window, but held back for his old friend's sake – and returned.
Lucrius looked up to observe his new travel companion – and paused.
The lady was petit and had a long lock of wavy azure hair. He had not been able to see her face when he had encountered – if the situation could be termed so – her previously, but now that he saw her, it struck him that she was mesmerizing. She was not as beauteous and voluptuous as Limstella was, in fact, she was quite the other end of the spectrum. She looked innocent, adorable and kind-hearted. She's really cute.
"Well, you seem pleased." The bishop's words shook Lucrius out of his reverie. Yodel was barely suppressing his grin at the sage's expression. Even then, Lucrius could not help but admiring how lovely the cleric looked blushing.
Bishop helped Lucrius get control of himself with a light but firm tap to the back.
"Hmm?" Lucrius realized how mesmerized he had been, "oh, well, I guess she's okay."
"More than okay, from your expression." Bishop's are not supposed to look so sly.
"Have no idea what you are talking about. What did you say her name was?" He averted his gaze from the cleric with an effort.
"I told you before, her name is 'Besotted'."
"Besotted? That's a wonderful…" Then his mind processed the current situation. "You little rascal." He muttered as the bishop erupted into a laughter.
"Got you twice in one day. Seems like it's becoming a habit." Lucrius would have retorted with some smart comebacks had it not been for an azure-haired lady at the scene.
Gritting his teeth, he squeezed out, "very amusing, bishop. Now tell me what her name is or I will forever address her as 'Besotted'."
"Touché. She's called Selene Imagiea."
"Selene. I see." He faced the alluring figure. "It is a pleasure to meet you." He smiled.
"And you as well, Sir Eylat." She gave a small bow.
"Please, call me Lucrius."
Yodel smiled widely at the scene and left with, "I'll leave you to talk." Lucrius did not even notice.
As he gently shut the door behind him, Yodel thought how pleasant Lucrius had become from the aloof sage with biting tongue in the presence of the cleric.
-x-x-x-x-
Although he would never admit it, when Lucrius exited the church, he was jubilant. He could not remember the last time he had enjoyed being in the presence of anybody much. The lady, Selene Imagiea, just made him delighted to be in existent and he did not know how she did it. Not even Limstella had such an effect on him before.
He was whistling as he marched away from the church, visualizing the two's travels that would start tomorrow, once Selene had her affairs in order before leaving. He believed the rest of the day would be great.
Of course, it was not to be so.
Lucrius was still whistling when he heard, "it's nice to know you don't even bother to visit your mother despite being in a mile radius of her, Lucrius." Immediately, his mood plummeted. He turned around to find a short, bony woman clad in fine clothing glaring at him. She was equipped with a cane, a tool she used to combat wariness and repel fools. The forceful glint in the eyes, however, would have told any acute observer of the immense knowledge and secrets she had in her possession.
"Lovely to see you too, mother." He was not going to enjoy a conversation with this woman.
"At least be convincing when you are bluffing, boy. I didn't raise you to be so unskilled."
"Of course, mother. My apologies."
"Much better, now you at least look apologetic." Lucrius could feel a headache coming on already.
"To what do I owe this displeasure?"
Quick as a lightning, the cane knocked him on the head.
"There's a fine line between cheeky and rude, boy."
"Indeed, mother."
"I don't know what I did wrong to deserve a child like you."
"Thankfully, you had my sister shortly afterwards."
"Hmph. At least you know where you stand."
"How could I not, mother? When you literally rammed the concept into me?"
She spat to the side. "Beh. The very inhaling of the air you have exhaled makes me feel inane." Lucrius silently waited for her to get to the point.
"I've heard you've been seeking Ereshkigal?"
"How did you…" Lucrius stopped half way; he was sure he did not want to know how.
"Listen up, boy. If you really need the Ereshkigal, I can tell you."
Lucrius was about to enquire, but then held himself back. What's on her mind? She's not one for charity. She must want something.
"I don't want anything, you stupid boy. Even if I did, you are incapable of providing what I desire." Lucrius wondered for the umpteenth time in his life whether his mother could read minds.
"Don't waste my time; do you want to know the location or not?" Her tone displayed her irritation.
"Yes. Yes, I do." Even if it was not for Limstella – which was still the main reason he was interested in the tome Ereshkigal – he wanted to know about the tome from a scholar's perspective as well. A wicked grin came to his mother's face.
"Do you know of Bramimond?"
"Yes, mother. How could I not?" Even peasants knew of the eight heroes.
"Well, seek him out in Valor. He holds the path to Ereshkigal in his palms." With those words, a circle of magic formed around her and began to resonate with magic. Lucrius recognized the teleportation runes.
Lucrius cried out in bewilderment. "What? The man is dead! What do you mean?"
The woman cackled in delight. Before the magic finalized, she announced, "your sister is getting married, Lucrius. At least pay her a visit before her children grow and get married themselves, you hear? Although I'm sure I'm hoping for too muc…" His mother teleported as she grumbled. Lucrius couldn't help but feel that it was very characteristic of her.
Now that the irritable woman was gone, Lucrius tried to process what he's just been fed with.
While her mother could be extremely frustrating to deal with, Lucrius had to admit she was never the one to waste time. Although he was not willing to bet that the old hag had not gone senile with age, he admitted that she seemed to possess full control over all her faculties.
I guess if I search about Bramimond, I will find a lead to Ereshkigal. He also remembered her mentioning a place called Valor. Where the hell is that? I should look into that too.
He began to walk, needing to find a suitable place to spend the night before setting off with Selene in the morning.
So… my sister is getting married… Looks like everybody is ending up espoused. Without intending to, a sigh escaped him.
Maybe I will go visit her when her first child turns fifteen.
He was serious.
-x-x-x-x-
AN: IT IS DONE! I've been working on this one so long. I'm glad I'm done with this part 1. As you can probably tell, there will be more parts! (inserts cheers by himself)
Part 2 won't be immediately following. I will have some more random people before I return with the sage. However, I assure you, it will be here.
On the side note, I am now starting on the main plot. I know some people are just sick of the main plot but I need the Lyn's story curve set out (with my own modifications, of course) before I hit you people with another original story. I will however be skipping many mundane, banal and prosaic parts of the story so hopefully it will be easy on you people.
Oh. If you guys are kind enough, please hit me with random people ideas for me to start with. I could come up with random people (like a cattle farmer) but I want random people whose stories will still entertain!
That's all for today folks, desoldeben out.