With the moon high in the sky giving light to the land, the semi strong winds carrying the snow. Various rocks and small inclines littered the surrounds giving the place credit for being a mountain.
Overlooking the world with their amber eyes as their fiery red hair stayed put as it was tied in a bun. Feeling her sense of peace about to shatter at the arrival of an unwelcome yet important someone.
The creaking of wood got closer and closer to the woman as she turned around to see a man in all black with white goggles as the only bit of color on their persons.
"Here you are, did you never learn any manners when it comes to entering one's home?"
The one speaking, one of the old saintess and senior to Brunhild. The saintess helped the Palerouche for countless centuries, one who has seen great change in the nation.
The Hiker says no words as he continues to look at the saintess.
"Drifa Helga, a true leader of the people. What an odd mix of a name, to be named 'Blessed Snowfall' yet to have such red hair colored like fire."
The Hiker speaks with an androgynous voice, combined with the muffled way it was presented would have caused anyone to question if the person was a male or female under all that clothing.
However Drifa was expecting someone to arrive sooner or later so the identity of the person wasn't something she needed to question.
"Drop the mask. I already know who you are." Drifa declared while maintaining her stare at the Hiker.
The Hiker looked at her not seeing a hint of doubt in those amber eyes or hearing a hint of hesitation in her voice. Seeing that there is no need for the mask, they take off their mask and place his goggles on his forehead.
His white hair and red eyes caught Drifa by surprise, Astrid described how Apollo looked but seeing is different than hearing.
"I didn't expect your kind to be here, we are far, far away from any large bodies of water. So why are you here, Abyssal Hunter?" Drifa asked with her sense of authority in her words
Apollo didn't say anything for a moment before answering. "No comment, just came to see another one of the old saintesses." He said as if it was another day.
Drifa felt her eyebrow twitch from his response, she wouldn't say she is an arrogant person, arrogance is a trait that would betray her position. However, she knows there is a time and a place for everything so hearing someone talk to her casually feels disrespectful.
"So why are you roaming in the Palerouche territory?" Drifa asked.
"Why not, this is my first time in the country so why not enjoy it." Apollo said nonchalantly.
Believing she wasn't going to get much in terms of his objective for visiting out, she decides to drop that line of conversation for now. However a new line will begin.
"Apollo, are you aware of cubes coming from the sky?" Drifa asked, wanting to get to the bottom of this abnormal mystery.
Apollo could raise one of his eyes at the question. "Falling cubes from the sky, sorry but as someone connected to the sea then why would I bother with the heavens?" The lighthearted tone in his voice fading slightly.
"If you are a person of the sea then why are you in Kjerag? We don't extend our reach beyond these lands. It's only in recent years that Kjerag truly started to connect with the outside world on a major scale." Drifa said.
"I fail to see how that's enough evidence to connect the two." Apollo said, countering her point.
"Abnormal situations tend to cause abnormal effects. That's all" Drifa said.
"Then I can safely say that I don't have relation to those cubes you speak of. As for why I'm here, let's just say I'm on vacation. All of us have limits so breaks are needed." Apollo said.
Drifa could only sigh at the response, something she felt very dissatisfied with. "Then I will leave you alone, just don't cause a ruckus in our country. I rather not have to give the other two saintess or Kjandgandr a reason to worry."
Satisfied with the conversation Apollo puts his mask and goggles back on hiding his gender to the world. "Then I shall take my leave, till we meet again Drifa." His carefree tone returned to his voice.
As Drifa listens to the footsteps on her conversation partner slowly leaves before one last question comes to mind. "Apollo, how did you find this place?"
Stopping and facing Drifa. "It's simple, you used the same basic technique as Astrid to hide this temple. So finding you was fairly simple, although I must say you keep this place much cleaner than her." Apollo said as he turned back around and walked away.
Drifa lets Apollo leave as she begins to piece things together. 'White hair and red eyes along with an impressive physical ability, strong enough to deal with Astrid. Why are the Abyssal Hunters here?'
'Could there be a connection that I'm not seeing? I have to see if either of those children managed to figure something out regarding those cubes.' Drifa wondered, feeling one of her eyebrows rising.
As she thought, a thin white line slithered along the ground in front of her. Its scaly body makes itself known to its target, not trying to hide themselves.
"Perfect, just the person I was talking about." Drifa said as she kneeled down letting the scaly beast crawl up their arm.
The snake coiled around Drifa's arm like a spring as a light warm feeling spread along her arm. After a few moments the snake moved to Drifa's palm leaving in its place, words.
"Can you drop being a loner and come visit me for once. You'll never find a lover like that."
Hoping it was something important and feeling any and all hope disappear like smoke as she read the useless message. "Why did I get my hopes up?" Drifa asked herself.
The screeching of the train signaling its stop resonated through the surrounding area.
"Here we are, Ensia will lead us to the Palerouche family." Amiya said as she looked around her seat to make sure she had everything.
"Correction, we aren't meeting the head of the Palerouche family. Rather we are visiting a branch family. Lord Silverash believes that if you manage to get some level of presence in Palerouch territory, you'll have an easier time expanding and gaining trust." Matterhorn said.
"Are branch families common in Kjerag? There was never any mention of that with the Silverashes?" Sharp asked.
"The best way I can describe the reason why is because for the longest time the Palerouch were a warrior family, and that mindset continues even to this day. I feel like meeting the Palerouch family members would explain what that means." Matterhorn said as he headed towards the exit with Ensia following him closely.
As Rhodes Island didn't waste any time as they followed Matterhorn and Ensia to the Palerouch building, it wasn't massive like the Silverash estate but still large enough for it to have a weight to it.
A pair of armed guards stood at attention at the gates with Alice standing between them, calm and collected as usual.
"Welcome to Fondland, Lord Palerouch is awaiting you. Follow me." Alice said as she led the way.
Everyone followed behind her as they had various thoughts.
Amiya was thinking of what to say based on what she learned from Kal'tsit in regards to discussions and diplomacy.
Shard was inspecting the surroundings for important information such as the number of guards and potential escape routes if things went south.
Matterhorn and Ensia were just worried for Amiya as they know that many of the Palerouch family are conservative and stubborn to change.
Lappland wasn't too focused on what was happening right now, all she was doing was replaying the fight she had with Brunhild and thinking about how amazing it would be to kill someone of her strength.
Marth constantly adjusted her hat to make sure her horns were being hidden by the hate. She tried to stay close to Lappland as she hoped compared to her loud personality that she would fade into the background
The walk wasn't long as they quickly found themselves in the office of the Palerouch head and the de facto leader of Fondland. His brown hair tied into a man bun along with his black suit gave the idea of class similar to how Silverash presented himself.
"Ah, this lovely crew of people must be from Rhodes Island." The man stands up and makes his way towards them. "Welcome to Fondland, the name is Axel Palerouch." Axel put his hand out for a handshake.
Amiya brings out her hand in response resulting in a firm handshake impressing Axel as he didn't expect such a frail looking young girl to perform one.
"So, I've received only the basics of why you came here so if you wish to explain in further detail then the floor is yours." Axel said as he rested in his chair.
Like always Marth tunes out the conversion as this is all way over her head. As she lets her eyes wander she sees a large painting on the wall, although Alice was standing in front of it much of its detail was still visible. It was a landscape painting of Fondland from many years ago as seen by its lack of modern developments.
It wasn't long until Marth's eyes landed on Alice who's navy blue was fixed on her. To Marth it was as if she was observed, or picked apart within her mind. Although Marth could see any disgust in those eyes just the feeling of someone clearly staring unsettled her. Marth slides her way towards Lappland as Sharp was with Amiya and Matterhorn was with Ensia.
As Alice continued to look at Marth trying to figure out why every time her eyes landed on the girl that something was wrong, that something was missing. Her glare hardened as it felt as she tried to understand. Very soon something made itself clear, like a ghost illusion or outline of something.
Similar to a tv flickering, the top of Marth's head seemed to warp and distort. If only Alice could remove whatever is causing this flickering distortion then the truth would be clear.
"I will be quite frank with you all, Fondland and many of the territories under Palerouch are very conservative sticking to our roots in faith, I'm not different. However, if the people open their arms to you then I will not go against them." He said.
"If so then can we open a temporary clinic so we can gauge how they will respond?" Amiya asked.
"That's acceptable, any more questions or requests?" Axel asked.
"Yes, although it's more of a personal question than a business one." Sharp said.
"Ask away, I'll answer it to the best of my abilities." He replied as he adjusted himself in his chair.
"I was made aware that you are a member of a branch family of the Palerouch. We weren't aware of the existence of such things in the Silverash family, what created this difference?" Sharp said.
"Ah, that simple example. The Palerouch is the family that stayed connected to our warrior roots, much more compared to the Silverashes or the Browntails. Due to this fact, we still follow traditions and philosophy that many would consider outdated by today's standard." Axel says.
"What exactly does that entail then?" Sharp asked.
"The more kids a family has, the more available heirs along with more warriors in times of war. At one point it was standard practice to have around 2-3 kids per family. Many warrior tribes followed this mindset, we are no different." Axel explained.
"I see, the logic just checks out. Thank you for answering." Sharp said.
"My pleasure." Axel said.
With everything finished everyone said their goodbyes leaving Alice and Axel alone.
"What do you think of them, Lord Axel?" Alice asked.
Axel turned his attention to his most trusted ally.
"Nothing in particular, what's your opinion?" Axel asked.
"The only ones you need to worry about are Lappland, the white hair lupo, and one of Rhodes Island elite operators named Sharp. Amiya, and the girl with the hate named Marth do appear to have much combat experience in my mind." Alice said.
"I see, have there been any progress on who attacked our men?" Axel said.
Alice could do nothing but sigh and drop her head lightly in shame. "I'm sorry to say but we don't have any more leads. There was no witness testimony from anyone besides the victim and there is no footage of the culprit. I hope you can forgive me."
Axel rose from his chair and made his way towards Alice, placing his hands on her shoulder. "All is forgiven, we didn't lose anyone so this wrong can be fixed. I trust you will find the person to blame for this." He said as his normally hard eyes softened as he comforted Alice.
Alice looked up to see his eyes. "Thank you Lord Axel, my lord. I wish to ask a question?"
"When we are alone, I'm simple Axel to you, but ask away." He said.
"For Marth, did anything seem off to you about her? Like something was missing or off about her appearance." She asked.
Axel raised his hand to his chin as he rummaged through his memory. "Sorry, but I didn't notice anything off about her. Did you see something?" He asked.
"I'm not entirely sure." Alice said as she started to rub a certain spot on her head. "During the talks I observed her and the more I looked and focused on her I felt I saw something on her head."
"Such as?" Axel inquired.
"I saw horns, and they looked like those belonging to a Sarkaz."