Clint
Despite victory in the Resta Grand Tournament being everything Clint and Seth had wanted for years, their celebration was surreal in how short-lived it was. Seth, who had finished the match for his team, certainly seemed euphoric at first, but only until Sam had rushed to hug him in celebration. The spellwarrior recoiled almost immediately and went quiet as Queen Penelope gave the usual speech that closed the festival. He didn’t even speak up when she asked for the team’s wish, leaving Clint to do so despite the fact that the eyes of the queen and everyone else were on Seth. He knew that Seth would normally prickle with irritation at having so much attention, but curiously enough, he seemed more despondent than angry with the collective gaze upon him. Indeed, his focus seemed to be on the crowd and not the queen they had set out to appease. He found Sara sitting between Maya and who could only be the Salican champion Sara had been so doggedly seeking, but the other man’s gaze was pointed in another direction entirely. Who is he looking for?
Once the ceremony concluded, the team seemed to disperse without a word, with Seth disappearing into the crowd departing festival revelers and Sam following while shouting unanswered questions to him. Clint thought that it might not have been Sam’s best idea to bother her mentor in this particular mood, however unusual it was under the circumstances. However, any attempt to advise her differently was made impossible when Royal Guards cut him off as they teammates walked away in order to deliver the vaunted treasure they had been fighting for all along. It wasn’t long after he took Helen’s spear in his hand before Sara and her new friends appeared from the crowd. Sara’s eyes were already glued to the artifact and fueling a look of reverence.
“The Guardian Snake,” she breathed as she took it from him. Clint let it go, feeling it only appropriate to do so. She is Helen’s successor, after all.
“That’s two artifacts down,” Clint said weakly upon realizing that Sara wasn’t talking to or even acknowledging him.
Sara looked Clint in the eyes for the first time and, for a moment, the look of pride that showed in her impression reminded him of Alexis’ smile. Why do I suddenly feel guilty?
“You guys were brilliant!” Sara said excitedly. “I told Mia before that seeing you three fighting for this artifact filled me with a surge of faith in our cause. Reforging the Storm of Mercy isn’t only possible, it seems easier than it did yesterday.”
“You mean we’re looking this for a bunch of old weapons?” Mia suddenly complained. “I know where we can find plenty of good ones, for fuck’s sake!”
Sara shook her head and held out the staff. “Perhaps, but none of them carry the hopes of Serenity’s first champion or the proven power to banish a deity!”
Clint smirked at the Salican champion as she seemed to deflate. “So, who’s your new friend?”
“Someone who’s worn more blood than you can imagine!” Mia snapped indignantly. Touchy!
“Gods! Sorry!” Clint responded with a weak chuckle. “You’re going to come in handy if we need someone scary to intimidate our enemies!”
“I thought that position was filled by the other guy on your team,” the former assassin responded coolly. “I thought he was going to kill someone!”
Clint shook his head and smiled. “He’d never do that! The worse he would have done with those stars of his was burn his opponent. He has a lot more control of his flames than you’d think.”
Mia shook her head and rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I was talking about! For a second, just before he started throwing those stars, I could sense his killing intent in his expression. He almost got desperate enough to do something drastic when he was disarmed.”
Clint thought of something he’d heard about how acolytes of the Salican faith were trained as empaths. Whether she had developed this skill as suddenly as she did the storm magic Sara had mentioned or merely saw this look as a killer herself was something Clint didn’t want to think about. So, instead of merely asking how she could possibly have known this, he instead opted to try to change the subject.
“Well, he’s a good man and you’ll notice that he didn’t do it,” Clint said with a shrug. “Maybe something changed his mind.”
“We saw him looking right up at us,” Mia said with a shrug. “Maybe he was looking at that other girl who was sitting with us. She had this sort of saccharine feel to her that’d probably make him feel too guilty to do it!”
Clint suddenly looked around at the mention of their other companion. “Where is Maya, anyway?”
Sara shrugged and responded, “She took to the air so she could try to find Seth.”
Clint shrugged and nearly let the subject drop, but then something occurred to him. If Maya had been the subject of Seth’s focus, why wouldn’t he look for her near the tent? It was possible that he merely wanted to avoid the crowd so he could avoid the risk of touching anyone. But why would he have to go very far for that? Looking around, he couldn’t see Seth or Sam anywhere in sight.
“We should probably find them, right?” Mia said with a frown. “We don’t have much time to waste, but still plenty to do, after all.”
This prompted Clint to picture Seth’s demeanor from the final minutes of the tournament, trying to remember any clue that would help them figure out where he’d been. He seemed confused; despondent, perhaps? Whatever he was walking to wasn’t a source of joy, but he didn’t seem to want to bother his friends with it. Clint didn’t have to think for very long about what most often seemed to make him feel this way. Well, she wasn’t bound to ignore him forever with the recent news going around between the spellwarriors.
“I know where to go,” Clint said quietly.
So Clint led the women into the capitol’s Downtown District, the quadrant of the city that was devoted to Chaos. It was here where Clint remembered the Midas’ inn of choice in the city was located. The Colossus’ Shadow was a popular establishment for any warrior or adventurer passing through Resta City, but it was particularly favored by spellwarriors. When the three champions found this place, however, Seth and Sam were nowhere to be found. They had found Maya wandering confusedly outside, but she had apparently never found the others either.
“It doesn’t make sense!” she complained in bewilderment. “I can’t even sense the magic residue he should be carrying from the tournament! It’s like he’s just gone!”
Clint placed a calming hand on her shoulder and said, “It’s fine. I’m pretty sure I know what’s going on here.” I just need confirmation.
He would find it in a certain room, often reserved for the Midas family because of their volatile reputation in the city. He knocked loudly on the door and waited patiently. As he thought, the door opened to reveal a radiant half-elven woman with fair skin and sable hair. She regarded Clint with a look of dislike, but sighed when she saw the women behind him.
“Come in, please!” The woman said with every hint of reluctance in her voice.
Clint beckoned to the others nervously. He didn’t like to speak to Ruby Midas anymore than he could help because of moments like this. Apart from her eccentricity, Clint always found himself intimidated by the hostility she seemed to hold for him.
“Nice to see you again, Ruby,” Clint said as he the woman closed the door. “This is Sara Marle and Mia Gold and they’re--”
Ruby tsked loudly several times until Clint shut up, as she so often did. “Silly boy! Hasn’t my son told you that everyone in the Hem Order has standing orders to support your group? I know full well who you all are!”
“Even me?” Mia asked with her eyebrows raised.
“You were a Starling!” Ruby chirped with a smirk on her face. “With broken wings, sadly. But you have been given the chance to cease being a bird and start being a typhoon!”
Mia snorted in mirth at this unusual response, which seemed to only confuse Sara and Maya. But being used to phrases like this, as well as her reputation for being incredibly well-informed even for a spellwarior, Clint only shrugged.
“We’re actually looking for Seth,” Clint said pointedly, unwilling to let her distract herself this time. “When I saw how he got after the tournament, I had a feeling he’d be looking for you.”
“You’ve always been pretty smart for such a silly boy,” Ruby said in a singsong voice. “You’ve always seemed to think you know him better than I because you spoiled him before moving on to his sister. What an annoying mundane you are!”
Clint clicked his tongue impatiently. Don’t get dragged to that level! “You know I always enjoy these little chats, but if you’re supposed to be supporting us, can you just skip to that part? We’re in a hurry!”
“Nope!” Ruby said with as she shook her head stubbornly. “I’m supposed to help the Champions, but that thankfully doesn’t require me to talk to you such a waste of magic!”
Clint rolled his eyes in exasperation. A few decades ago, magic users used to live in fear of persecution but they only seemed to have to become elitists when they came out into the light of day. He glanced at the others and gestured impatiently. If she only wants to talk to another magic user, literally anyone else will do, at least.
“Oh, quit being such a bitch and tell us where your son is!” Mia snapped angrily. “The sooner we finish the stupid quest, the sooner I can stop boiling over with rage, so get on with it!”
Ruby looked at Mia in a tense silence that lasted several excruciating seconds until she broke it with cheerful laughter. “My, you’re rather scary, aren’t you?”
Mia bristled with the aforementioned rage, but was spared the chance to blow up by the oni woman, who added, “I have sent my son north on some Hem Order business. By the time you see him again, he will have made the next important step in your quest.”
“Do you mean the Chains of Orion?” Sara asked.
“Yes, you sweet girl, I do,” Ruby said with a honeyed smile. “Each of them lies in the hands of Maula’s most evil servants and they have been arranged so as to stand in the way of your final destination.”
“Which is where?” Mia interjected, her voice showing some signs of calm.
“Foldo,” Sara answered immediately. “That is where Maula’s temple is located. The easiest way to find her would be to summon her to the only existing altar built to honor her.”
“Two roads!” Ruby chirped as she held up two fingers. “One to the north of the city and one to the south! My son will make progress on the northern path, but if you want to save time, I would go through Flora Field and enter Foldo through the south.”
“Fuck that!” Clint snapped, suddenly. “How could you send Seth to go after one of Maula’s servants alone?”
Ruby began to glare at the champion and said, “Quiet now, silly boy! What my son faces in the north is not beyond him!”
“You don’t know that!” Clint retorted, his anger getting the better of him now. “You’ve always tried to make him do things that are beyond him! You are NOT an expert on what he can handle!”
Ruby suddenly gave him a chilling smirk. “If you’re so concerned for his safety, I’ll tell you where he went. Do you want to know?”
“Yes!” Clint roared.
“If you want to know, I will tell you,” Ruby said with a blatantly fake smile. “IF you agree to stop seeing Alexis.”
“You can’t be serious!” Sara interjected with a horrified smile. “You would really risk your son’s safety for that?”
“She’s risked it for a lot less. Trust me,” Clint growled darkly. “Fine. Tell me where he is.”
“Alexis will be better off without a mundane like you dragging her down!” Ruby sang cheerfully. “She’ll learn medical mysticism and settle down with a spellwarrior like she was always meant to! I can’t wait to tell her!”
“There’s not point to telling her anything if Seth gets killed,” Clint said with a fiery glare on his voice. “If he doesn’t make it, the first thing I’m going to do is go back to Palon and ask her to marry me!”
“Then you’d better not let him down,” Ruby said with an innocent smile. “For all of our sakes! You’ll find him somewhere along the Fire Road, between Fort Ridge and Camp Desmond.”
Clint had taken as much as he could of Loopy Ruby at that point. The champions and Maya left the inn in an awkward silence and, when they were outside, turned to each other to make their plan.
“You guys should go through the field,” Maya said immediately. “I can get to his side to help him faster than any of you could with your sky rug.”
“Are you sure?” Sara asked with a frown. “If he is going to face one of Maula’s servants, he might need all of our help!”
“She’s right,” Clint said while rubbing his temples. “Ruby has the ability send people through portals to wherever she wants. The reason Maya can’t sense his magic is probably because he and Sam are already long gone to Desmond country. He doesn’t have time to wait for all of us.”
Sara looked troubled with the prospect of splitting up so soon after finally completing the group, but there was no practical alternative. They could only have faith in the Seth’s strength and Chaos’ wisdom in choosing him as his champion. Meanwhile, they would have to focus on claiming the second of the Chains of Orion in the fey valley that lie between them and their goal.
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