Sara
To simply say that the Restan capitol was a city of splendor did neither the city nor the concept of splendor justice. Positioned over a bounty of natural gold, the precious metal lined all of the city’s most important buildings; the four temples that stood at the center of each wall, and the walls themselves to name a few. It wasn’t hard to see why so many chose to live there, but figured that it must be uncomfortable to look at during the day. She had come prepared with sunglasses, as seasoned visitors and residents must do, but still found herself disoriented by the radiance of the city’s golden fixtures.
“Come for the sights, stay for the optometrists.” Truer words were never said about this place.
Finding her way through the crowds in the big city had been a particular challenge for Sara. She had entered the city through the west gate, which was nearest to the Serene temple. After a few hours, however, she found herself wandering around the south wall’s temple of Crane.
Backtracking only seemed to lead her to the castle in the center of town. She had been about to ask for directions when she spotted a dozen men who were attempting to raise a massive red canvas. Knowing of the coming Summer Festival, she had nearly broke her gaze with the workers when an agitated man in a golden trenchcoat past them.
“Out of the way, you bloody morons!” The man shouted. “There’s an inquisition in progress!”
The workers stepped aside as he passed, nearly knocking over a stake meant to support their tent. One of them hissed with frustration as he rushed to steady it. The man in gold simply ignored them and continued to charge down the cobblestone road toward her. As he approached, she quickly stepped aside and turned to follow him.”
“What’s going on?” Sara demanded urgently.
“Mind your own business!” the man snapped back. “Royal business!”
“Are you the Royal Inquisitor?”
“Yes, now please! I really must go!”
“Whatever it is, let me help! I’m clergy!”
“Salican clergy?”
Sara’s blood turned to ice. Seized with the instinct that this could be related to the Champion she sought, she jogged to catch up with him.
“No, but I can still help! Please!”
The Inquisitor stopped for a moment and turned around. He looked sharply into her eyes and barked, “What am I to make of your interest in my case?”
Sara stood her ground and replied. “If you’ll even believe the truth, I may need your help later on, so I am offering my assistance now. But now that I hear you’re headed to Salica’s temple, I am convinced that your case is related to my own business here.”
The Inquisitor’s eyes narrowed as he regarded her for a moment. “Well, this is one case where I can’t turn down any leads. You can come with me only if you agree to stay where I can see you. After I look at the crime scene, I shall be glad to find out what any of this has to do with you.”
Sara nodded her assent. “My lord, if I am right, then this may very well involve everyone.”
Curiosity failed to compel the Inquisitor to waste any more time. So, they traveled to the Eastern wall in earnest, stopping short of the temple as they came into an inexplicably dense fog. The Inquisitor frowned as he flagged down a royal guard who stood vigil over the fog’s precipice.
“What the hell is this?”
The guard saluted before replying. “No idea, sir. This fog showed up an hour ago. It’s so thick we can’t see more than an inch past our own noses. We’ve got men in there, but nobody can figure out where the hell they are.”
“What of the Queen? Do we know if anyone has located her?”
Sara gasped at the question, but felt it best to keep her mouth shut. The Inquisitor took note of her reaction as the guard replied. “Negative. This fog is screwing with our airwave comms. The only people who could possibly know the queen’s whereabouts are lost in this unnatural fog.”
The Inquisitor turned to Sara. “Something to add?”
Sara’s reaction was caught between a nod and a shake of her head. “I don’t know anything, to be honest. I’ve read about the royal family’s tragedies just as everyone else has, but I never dreamed my own journey would lead to this!”
The Inquisitor began to glare at the girl. “Well, if you’re looking to make a pilgrimage to Salica’s temple, I’m afraid I can’t let you under the circumstances. I hope you know something useful enough to justify my bringing you here!”
Sara winced at the man’s biting tone. “I’m looking for someone who may very well have created this fog. Would you consider that useful?”
“Talk.”
“This fog is created by storm magic,” Sara explained. “It’s a discipline of the Salican order that alters the weather based on emotion. This spell is a defense mechanism. You could say that it is literally fed by confusion.”
“That sounds powerful. How come I’ve never heard of it?”
“It’s a fringe discipline. I’m not a Salican, but I believe that storm magic is considered heretical by the majority of their clergy. It’s very rare.”
“So… you think that this person you’re looking for cast this spell?”
“I can’t be sure,” Sara replied truthfully. “I don’t know many details of my quarry. I admit that I am acting on very abstract clues, but in light of your own concerns I’ll spare you the details. All I can say that is pertinent to your case is that this fog is a result of Salican magic. Find any practitioner, scholarly or priestly, and they can clear this up.”
The Inquisitor nodded gruffly. “Yeah, thanks for the help and go in peace. If you find who you’re looking for, make sure you send them my way. Worse case scenario, you might just be tracking a suspect in the murder of our queen.
“It is not in my plans to find the queen’s murderer, but if I do, you’ll be the first to know,” Sara said as she walked away. “I wish you well.”
It may have been considered impolite to talk to someone with your back turned, but Sara was only concerned with getting away from the Inquisitor as soon as possible. If the royal assassin did turn out to be the Champion of Salica, it was important to contain her if at all possible. When it came down to it, their mission was more important than the lives of even the royal family, but could she really trust an unrepentant murderer? It certainly wasn’t clear what she should do with that possibility, but she knew the Inquisitor would only complicate things further if he found the assassin first.
Whatever the case, she still had to deal with the fog. There was no way of knowing how long it would take to clear, but she felt certain that the one who cast it would be using it to hide. So, Sara decided to wait it out. She knew enough to be certain that the champion wouldn’t be leaving the city. Sooner or later, the two champions would meet there.
So, with little else to think about, she turned into a random nearby restaurant to discover she had stumbled upon cuisine from some island called Sister. The name seemed poignant in light of her search, so she asked for a table near the corner and began to peer at the menu. The choices seemed interesting enough, but she quickly found that her interest in food was limited to its potential for distraction. She glanced idly toward table next to her, where she noticed a brown-haired girl wearing thick glasses and a sensible blue dress. She would have seemed unremarkable to Sara if not for the nagging feeling that she should have recognized her.
The other girl seemed dazed and therefore took no notice of Sara’s furtive inspection. The poor thing looked like she’d been through something traumatic, but with evil creeping into the world, that could mean anything. As she studied the features in her face, she remembered a purple-haired girl from Galeon she’d recently met.
“Amelia?”
The girl looked startled as she turned to look at Sara. Comprehension did not take long to follow and, when it did, she bolted from the restaurant so quickly that she knocked over her chair and nearly upended the table. As she rose to give chase, she had barely a moment to register how much of her actions since the start of this journey had been guided by instinct. Just hours of arriving in a city she had visited on the vague whims of prophecy, she was now chasing a girl that she had assumed was a foreign traveler. It doesn’t get any crazier than this.
Not even wanting to consider being wrong about that thought, Sara focused on her chase. She managed to keep Amelia in sight, which was a relief. She didn’t have Clint’s tracking skills to rely on and hoped she wouldn’t need them. She was beginning to tire, though, and Amelia showed no sign of slowing down. Thinking drastically, she gave herself over to instinct once more. Suddenly, Amelia tripped, her left foot snared by the cobblestone beneath her feet.
Sara breathed a sigh of relief as she approached the struggling girl. “I wish we could have had a pleasant discussion. There are a lot of people looking for you now and I’m one of the few you’d want to find you.”
The girl turned toward Sara and sighed. “Look, I have shit to do! Please let me go!”
Sara brushed the stone that encircled Amelia’s foot with her palm, causing it to recede into the ground. She then helped her to her feet and replied. “Whatever you need to do can wait until after we talk. Don’t try to run or you might just trip again.”
Amelia rounded on Sara with the look of a cornered animal. “Do you know what I do to people who see me more than once?”
“I think I have a pretty good idea at this point,” Sara replied coolly. “But you can’t hurt me right now. You’re frightened and confused, so yes, you may lash out. But there’s nothing you can do in this state that I’m not ready for.”
The assassin drew her knife and sneered. “Wanna bet?”
This time, the stone around her feet rose to swallow both legs. “I’ve already taken that bet because the odds are against you. Now let‘s go somewhere we can talk before the Inquisitor finds you.”
Amelia stared at Sara with a newfound look of confusion. “Why would a priestess care about who the Inquisitor’s after?”
Sara released the assassin once more. “I think you’re a despicable killer, but I also think the Gods see something else in you. Prove me wrong and you can probably imagine how the Inquisitor will find you.”
To illustrate her point, the road beneath the girl began to bubble. Amelia smirked.
“Not bad. I never realized you acolytes were able to do crap like this.”
Sara returned the girl‘s smirk. “Just be glad I’m not a Chaotic or Salican. Otherwise I could have seriously harmed you. Anyway, I‘m assuming that I know you by a false name. What should I call you?”
“Amelia’s fine.”
“I must know your true name.”“Amelia is my name. I almost never use it, but it’s on my birth records. Want to see?”
Sara shook her head in annoyance. “I’m starting to wonder if I can trust anything you say.”
Mia snorted. “Then, why bother asking?”
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