The scent of crushed herbs and candle wax lingered in the room. Soft light filtered through the stained glass, scattering pale gold across the narrow beds and the copper basins that stood by each bedside. Beyond the door, children's laughter echoed faintly and traces of the piano playing could be heard.
This is what Mira discerned from her surroundings upon awakening from her slumber. Looking left and right, she could see Leslie and the boy occupy the beds near her, still unconscious. It seemed like she was the first to awake, and there no one else in the room besides them.
The last thing Mira remembered was seeing Mareth perform a kind of sleeping spell on her. Now, she was in a room that seemed to be an infirmary. Thinking back on her encounter with Mareth, there appeared to be magic within this world, much like the abilities given by the system. Moreover, from what she could tell, this world's technology had yet to reach the sophistication of her own.
She did have to admit, though, the sleeping spell had really calmed her nerves. The long rest had erased all traces of exhaustion in her body. Mira stepped off the bed, and the wooden floorboards beneath creaked slightly. She walked around the room, observing the contents it contained. A cabinet of glass vials and labeled jars holding herbs were in the corner of the room. Unlit wax candles hung along the walls. There was an alcove shrine in the center with a candle-lit statue of a religious figure of something, and was surrounded by lilies.
"Creeeak..."
Mira looked directly at the source of the sound. The door had opened. Mareth was the one who came out of it. She seemed slightly surprised Mira was up, nevertheless, she greeted her with a smile.
"Ah… you're awake at last."
Mareth walked towards Mira, with the soft clink of her rosary beads marking each step. It wasn't until the eighth clink, Mira noticed how close Mareth had gotten. The closeness startled her; Mira shifted back a step, uncertain whether to trust if Mareth truly helped them out of the goodness of her heart. Seeing as her intuition was quite dormant, Mareth seemed to be just a good person.
Noticing how Mira reacted, Mareth didn't move any further and apologized.
"Mira, I'm sorry if I startled you, but trust me when I tell you this. No one is here will bring you and your friends any harm. I can ensure that." she said, gently.
This woman was extremely nice, Mira thought, and took a moment before responding. She wasn't used to kindness being given so easily.
" ... Miss, thank you for helping us." Mira started.
"There's no need for thanks," Mareth said softly. "I only did what anyone in Vel would do."
Vel? Was that where she was now? It was a weird name for a place.
"Is that where we are now?" Mira asked.
"Yes, it is."
"I see."
"Mira, before we continue our conversation, you should get something to eat."
Huh. She hadn't thought about eating ever since she came here. Giving it some thought, she was hungry.
"All right. Please lead the way, Miss."
"I'm glad to hear that." Mareth replied.
They walked out of the room, and entered the hallway. Narrow, stone-walled corridors with arched ceilings, and tall narrow windows with modest stained glass let sunlight spill onto the halls. There were tapestries showing scenes of a person blessing children or teaching in gardens. Examining the person, Mira remembered seeing them in the alcove in the infirmary. Curious of who the person was, she asked Mareth.
"Excuse me, but, who is that person in the tapestry?"
"You don't know?" Mareth asked.
"Am I supposed to?" Mira said, hesitatingly.
"No, ... it's just that everyone in Vel and anyone from the Lumerian Empire knows who that person is. Are you not from this empire?"
Crap! Mareth was suspicious of her.
Was this a life or death question?
If so, how was she supposed to answer that question?
Mira couldn't just say she jumped dimensions and happened to land here --- she doubted Mareth would believe that. She could also fake amnesia, but how would that explain why all three of them are here. No matter how much Mira thought about it, there was no good explanation to that question. The easy way out was to say no and plead to Mareth to not hurt her. Then, stay silent to appear to have a traumatizing backstory.
Adults didn't push answers from traumatized kids.
Right?
"... No." Mira choked, trying to appear as distressed as possible. "Please..please, don't hurt me.... I...I didn't mean to.. please.. don't hurt us."
Mareth didn't respond to Mira.
Confused, Mira glanced up.
Oh. Mareth was crying.
Why was she crying? Mira hadn't meant for Mareth to cry.
Now, what the hell was she supposed to do?
Calm Mareth down?
Pretend not to notice?
Would either of those things help?
Damn it. She only wanted to evade the question --- not turn Mareth into a crying mess.
Suddenly, Mareth walked towards Mira, and lowered herself to meet her gaze. Her eyes looked sad; they no longer held the brightness they had when they first met. Mareth's hand reached Mira's cheek. "I'm not angry," she whispered. "I just… wanted you to trust me."
F**k
Mira could tell she took things too far. She hadn't expected Mareth to react that way, or the waves of guilt that flooded her stomach.
However, she couldn't back out of the lie now. Besides, it already seemed to have a huge emotional impact on Mareth, and backing out of it would make things awkward. So, she could only go along with it.
"... I hope I can."
***
Eating after physical and emotional exhaustion will always be one of the human body's healing abilities.
It looked sweet, and it was sweet. There was a small loaf of bread paired with it. Inside, there was a thin vegetable broth, and she was given a slice of poached apple to give it more sweetness. Moreover, she liked the tea. It tasted like chamomile.
Mira was already on her second bowl, and, well, Mareth was watching her eat. Alongside her, was a group of children staring Mira. At this point of time, she was too hungry to care why they were looking at her. Soon after, they began talking to her all at once.
"Who're you?"
"Why're you so skinny?"
"Your clothes look funny. Did you buy them from a witch?"
"Are you a spy?"
The first question made sense. The second question was debatable. The rest of them, though, Mira wondered how they thought those questions were reasonable. Although, in their defense, she was talking to children, and children, oftentimes, hardly made any sense.
Before she could answer any, Mareth scattered the children away first.
"Children. Aren't all of you supposed to be at afternoon school ?" Mareth asked, sternly.
The tallest of the group spoke first, "But, we w-"
"No Buts, mister. Now, all of you better go back to class!" she said firmly.
One by one, the children disappeared into the halls, an it wasn't long until Mareth turned her eyes on Mira.
"Mira, I'm sorry about how they acted. They didn't mean to pry --- just curious, that's all."
"No worries. I didn't mind."
"That's good to know."
There was a moment of silence in between them, and Mira saw Mareth's expression change.
"Mira, you were curious about the person in the tapestry, correct?"
Ah. That's right. Mira never got an answer to that question.
"Yes." Mira said, with curiosity laced in it.
"That person is Seraphene the Radiant. Her divinity Seraphene Lysara of the Silver Lily was the last daughter born of Phōreneion's tears --- a being of light incarnated into flesh when the world was young and chaos devoured the sky. She descended during the final years of the Age of Division, when kingdoms warred endlessly and the Demon King rose from the northern abyss.
Everywhere she walked, silver lilies bloomed. She healed the sick, the injured, and children wherever she went. Seeing the pain people suffered under the Demon King's reign, she sought out the The First Emperor, Aurelion Ardyn Phorynthos I. Together, under their union, they united scattered realms, and shattered the Demon King's dominion after the Siege of Ashen Vale, sealing him beneath the Crown Abyss.
When victory was achieved, Seraphene's mortal body could no longer contain her radiance.At dawn on the 7th day of peace, she walked into the flames of her own creation, and rose as a pillar of silver light that crowned the new empire
Ever since, her ascension marked Year 0 of the Imperial Calendar."
"...I see." Mira responded, amazed by the story itself.
While she didn't understand most of the context here, she could tell that in Vel or anywhere in the Lumerian Empire, wherever that was, revered that lady. Essentially, it sounded like the lady, Seraphene, centered the religion and calendar here.
"That's why I was surprised you didn't know who Seraphene was." Mareth added softly, interrupting Mira's thoughts.
"I-"
"thumf… thumf… CLANG!"
The sound was loud and it was coming from the infirmary.
Oh. The infirmary.
It couldn't be. Right? No, it was.
The boy, or this case the creature was awake.
Ah, F**k. Leslie was still in there.
Instantly, Mira got up and ran. Mareth followed after her.
When Mira got inside, she saw the boy choking Leslie.
She didn't think. She couldn't think.
She shoved in between the two, her arms acted as a wedge that put distance between a choking hand and a struggling body.
"Get off him!" Mira snapped, voice thin but hard.
The boy shoved back.
Leslie stumbled free and collapsed to his knees, coughing, shoulders heaving. Each breath came jagged and loud in the small room; he clutched at his throat, in pain.
That was when Mareth arrived and assisted Leslie.
Mira was about to assist Leslie when her intuition acted up. She looked at the boy.
There was anger, no, it was rage, built up in the boy's eyes. He lunged at her --- attempting to knock her down --- and the room answered with sound: a cabinet door crashed open, glass falling down. She had dodged, and now she had locked eyes on the boy with coldness --- this was a monster she was dealing with, not a boy.
The boy's fingers closed around a long sliver of glass that had fell.
He raised it, and in a quick, slashing movement, he rushed forward.
Her intuition came faster than his movements --- she sidestepped, then ducked.
The glass missed, and he stumbled.
She grabbed the nearest thing within reach: a battered metal basin.
With one fast swing she struck at the hand holding the glass.
The glass tumbled out and skittered uselessly across the floor.
That was the second everything shifted. The two of them crashed into each other, limbs folding, grappling. The basin had been knocked away. They fell into a tangle: arms pinning, knees hooking, small bodies thrashing across the room.
Mira could hear Mareth shouting at them to stop, but she couldn't stop. Mira needed to make sure the boy was properly subdued.
For a heartbeat it looked like the boy could break free --- he twisted, found leverage, and tried to shove her off. Yet Mira found the upper hand, she stopped him with a grab at the collar, fingers finding a seam and holding.
What neither of them noticed was a shadow of a man that filled the space behind them.
It moved with a speed that contradicted their size --- a single stride and they were off each other. Hands closed not cruelly but sure: one on Mira's shoulder, the other scooping the boy up by the scruff of the shirt. He separated them cleanly, both of them dangled from the man's hands for a second in stunned silence.
"Enough."