A Knight's Lilies

“Though largely inconsequential in the larger scale of things. The Academy Isle of Arteria is technically a separate jurisdiction that got folded into the city state. Remnants of that older time still remain. Many former nobles reside in the Gold District of Laurus Port. The island town and villages all fall under the watchful eye of the Laurusgarde. In recent times, there have also been more Arterian Redcloak and Trinite troopers deployed to the island with more and more nobles from across Cyndralia choosing to attend the Academy.”

- Lieutenant Marcus Hoffmann, Arterian Western Precinct, “Response to Question on The Laurusgarde”

The two of them smiled wistfully at each other, Aoi just awkwardly trying to not get in the way. The three of them were in what could be called the ‘command carriage’ where Eva, the sainted squad leader, and Sophie could plan for their mission. Despite the momentous occasion, Mila was excluded due to Sophie still feeling a bit mad at the duo for having left her behind. And they announced everything too! I can’t believe it!

For Sophie, it at least meant time to catch up with Eva. Ever since what happened to Sophia, there was a sense of guilt in the both of them for having set or caused the events that led to that fateful night. Perhaps in an attempt to try and mitigate the bad memories, Eva apologized and tried to keep her distance to prevent aggravating the problem.

Now, they are reunited. Though the tension remained and was left unaddressed, the other part of friendship returned. The desire to know what the other had been doing. Eva talked of double the saintess and saints training. Of how their training needed to accommodate for any threat that might be thrown their way.

When it was Sophie’s turn to talk, things got quiet and less joyous. She spoke on the aftermath of the Kolonia and now the possible attempts against herself in retaliation. Eva seemed downcast and Aoi looked a bit worried despite not being involved. By the time she finished, they were drawing close to Oakbeach, but not quite.

“I think I understand all the fuss Mila was raising now.” Eva snickered softly.

“Didn’t she tell you before?” Sophie asked.

“Pfft, ‘course not. Just some lines about working with you again and I agreed easily enough.” Eva winked and nudged Sophie, the half elf blushing a little.

“Then what fuss?”

“She didn’t tell you?” Eva flicked Sophie’s forehead, “She spoke at length to convince Inquisitor Janus, the program’s official manager, about something. Now it makes sense. She was trying to ask for some help in case things did go wrong.”

“Oh.”

Eva patted Sophie and scratched her head slightly, absently continuing as they talked. But in a different way than Ary did. A more familial action that made Sophie almost purr.

“Though if she just plainly asked me for help, I’d give it, you know? Especially for you.” Eva chuckled, a hint of somberness passing through her eyes.

“Mmm, I know.” Sophie accepted the satisfying scritch with grace.

“That’s right. We’d help too. We know of you two, you mostly.” Aoi chipped in, “All we know is that Mila is your friend and sensei’s friend. But she seems nice!” She finished with a mumble.

“Thanks Aoi, it’s nice to know you kids have my back.” Eva answered for Sophie.

Sophie nodded gratefully to the outlander as well, but then frowned and looked at Eva. Kids? You might be their teacher, but you’re just as young as they are.

Having read her mind, Eva just shrugged and bopped Sophie on the nose. “Chin up Soph, I don’t say this lightly but…” Eva offered her a cheeky smile, “I really do think you’ve grown a lot too. Whatever happened, I’m still proud of you. Really.”

Sophie blushed a little more, unsure of how to react. She stroked her arm soft, feeling bashful for the first time in a while. Across from them, Aoi offered her own smile of support, giving Sophie a nod when she met her gaze.

“Ladies, we’ve arrived.” The carriage driver announced as they rolled to stop.

Aoi collected her bow and arrows as the other two gathered their own weapons. Everyone shared a small nod and Eva opened the door with a click.

A warm if a bit salty wind welcomed them. The humidity and dampness level increased considerably than when Sophie would look at the sea from the Academy’s walls or even the port of Arteria. The coolness of the carriage vanished almost at once when strong beams of sunlight bared down upon the world outside. Seagulls squawked in numbers Sophie could scarcely fathom as the other carriages also creaked to a halt followed by the gentle clip-clopping of horses that the templars and inquisitors rode.

Sophie eyed the orcish inquisitor warily. His heavy armour and church uniform underneath marked him as friendly. Eva had told her as much at some point. Though she respected that, she still felt a little uneasy. He was joined by his colleague, the shifty but stern looking Inquisitor Janus. Followed by Mila. Who, despite her youth and smaller stature compared to the other two, still looked every bit as if she belonged in their circle.

From the second carriage, the other half of the group emerged. Four saints and saintesses under Aoi’s direct command as part of her squad. Riding with them was Sophie’s party member Hanabi, who seemed to be close with at least one of them. They were much rowdier than the inquisitors and far more cheerful, their whispered words and salutes of attention at seeing Eva approach was a bit endearing to Sophie. Eva’s growing too.

Ahead of them was a sleepy seaside fishing village. One that, despite its proximity to the Academy and the Bay of Arteria, had managed to maintain some relevance in the modern day. Its houses were reminiscent of the Arterian town houses, more sleek but tall, though most were made with stone blocks rather than the bricks of the city, and certainly none stood higher than two floors. The vibe however, felt much more relaxed and engendered a few stretches from Sophie as she took in the sight. Their arrival did not go unnoticed however. For trouble was coming in the form of a gaggle of curious villagers.

Sporting more simplistic single colour tunics than the fancier city folk, the villagers didn’t seem hostile at least.

Inquisitor Janus seemed delighted by this reception and beckoned his younger colleague to attend to the matter with Eva and Sophie, much to Mila’s chagrin. Sophie allowed herself a small chuckle at how annoyed the inquisitor looked.

“So many guests!” An elder looking villager welcomed them, his wearing of a small fez marking him as a bit more different than his compatriots. The chief, I reckon.

Sophie looked around a little, not a lot of guards either. Though I guess it’s the Academy Isle so things should be pretty calm. Laurusport is not far either, but still… at least no guard’s going to make us sit through customs, heh.

“We were expecting some scholars for research and a group of adventurers. Might I take it this… entourage is a part of the former?” The elder raised an eyebrow, scanning the crowd, “Ah, how rude. Pieter Caruso, mayor of Oakbeach. At your service honoured guests.” His raspy voice continued, like a man out of breath after running.

Eva bowed politely, her form still impeccable from her days as a noble scion, “Lady Eva Rosengart, I’m a teacher to these kids.” She gestured at the carriage. Her eyes then turned to look expectantly at Sophie. Drats, called out.

Sophie tried to imitate her bow, her nerves suddenly getting in the way at how intensely Eva seemed to be watching her. Fumbling a little, she steadied herself before speaking, “Sophie Kastiane, party leader of The Lily Knights.”

“Ahh! So you’re the adventurers, my apologies. You seem quite young though, for an elf.” The elder smiled, though his voice had grown a little less friendly.

“Of course. Though if you don’t mind, mayor. We have an idea.” She looked to Mila for support.

The inquisitor frowned at being called upon but walked closer nonetheless, her head only briefly dipping in acknowledgment to the mayor.

“If you don’t mind, mayor, we’re friends with the church and was wondering if it’d be alright for the saints and saintesses to get some practice in handling things alongside our commission.” Mila didn’t even introduce herself.

At the mention of saints and saintesses, the mayor seemed unsure if intrigued, but the crowd behind him began whispering amongst themselves, an air of reverant excitement began building. A few fingers were even not so discreetly drawing the attention of the crowd to the other students. Their hair and demeanor were still easily identifiable as that of outsiders, or in this case, outlanders.

“Well, it’s not like we would refuse the saints and saintesses but surely we’d need to prepare more to welcome them. I’m ashamed to admit it but we weren’t planning on any festivities and-”

“It’s fine. We’re also trying to keep this a bit… more low key anyhow. No need to do anything special.” Mila added.

“But still! It’s the saints and saintesses! The Goddess would surely feel offended if we don’t honor her chosen.” The mayor protested.

“It’s a learning experience. I was the one who agreed to it, sorry for imposing.” Eva swooped in, “I am an outlander myself, but as their teacher, I was hoping that they’d get some more exposure to the world around them. So please, no need to treat us to anything special.” Eva smiled.

Her words seemed to stun the mayor a little, the man searching for a response whilst his face cycled through a myriad of emotions. His gaze landed on the Inquisitors in the back, who deferred to Mila, who then deferred to Sophie, who then just nodded and tilted her head to Eva.

Realising that there was nothing else to be done besides denying the assembled party, he gave in and sighed “Of course that’d be fine. But still, you should at least get some food while you’re here. It’s rare for us to receive such distinguished guests.”

“It’s-” Eva tried to argue.

“It’s fine. I think the saints would be happy to relax a little while we go through a briefing on the proper threat at hand?” Mila interjected.

She nudged Sophie who hurriedly nodded in agreement.

“And don’t mind the templar, they’re here because the saints are. They won’t interfere unless necessary.”

“Even the templars…” The mayor mumbled before quickly clapping his hands together, “That’d be splendid!” He announced with a fair amount more excitement in his voice, “Quick, quick, tell Carter we have guests! Grill up some fish and honoured guests, please rest a while! Enjoy humble Oakbeach.”

Having seemingly ignored the fact that they were here for a joint commission, the mayor began babbling to the other villagers to arrange things. A bit overwhelmed and equal parts confused, Sophie tried to determine what Mila was thinking. Judging by the small scowl and tired sigh that came from the inquisitor, Sophie guessed that this would likely be a little more troublesome than expected.

Two immediate problems faced the combined team. Along the edge of Oakbeach was a small cove, there, a cave in which villagers would place offerings to the Goddess Euthymia for good harvests and fortunes. Recently however, after months of finding the shrine getting desecrated by something within the cave, a small posse headed into it to ascertain the reason of the disturbances. Ever since they had vanished a few days ago, the villagers had put out a call for aid to the local authorities and the adventurer’s guild. Now that they were here, they still had no idea what inhabited the deeper parts of the cave and why it was causing trouble. Figuring that out was the first problem.

Their other issue was the conditions inside the cave. In theory, nothing should have changed. But the villagers also reported that water levels fluctuate a lot within it. That ever since the desecrations began, they could not maintain the area properly. That the environment itself seemed to be working against them. Discovering the cause of that and mitigating it would be the first priority before confronting whatever was there. Though that could easily prove to be one and the same.

In either case, they needed to know more. Sophie and Mila, with Eva’s approval, decided to have their party perform a reconnaissance mission into the caves first to ascertain the current situation. Only after that would they let Aoi’s squad attempt entry. Mila didn’t want to risk the saints, and Sophie just didn’t want anyone getting hurt because of her. Hanabi mostly just shrugged her shoulders, the outlander simply excited to be doing something out of the ordinary.

That was why the three of them were currently standing in front of a seaside cave, the echoes of the waves hitting the walls rushing out at them. It didn’t seem like the inside flooded, but any amount of water still sounded like a pain. It meant the possibility that they would have to wade through water, or worse, swim inside the cave. Sophie was thankful that Mila was here. The inquisitor knew more than a few light based spells. Being in the cave, in the dark or only guided by torchlight sounds awful.

“Stars, the commission said ‘investigate a desecrated shrine near Oakbeach, likely goblins or other smaller creatures, proceed with caution’.” Mila scowled, teetering dangerously close to outright snarling, “Nothing about a water logged half sunken cave, stars.”

Sophie could tell Mila was more than displeased at the current condition of the cave. Or at least, displeasure from how inaccurately both the village mayor and other villagers had described this area. Sophie could sympathise, ‘the shrine is easily accessible from the cave entrance’ seemed to be a bit of a lie. From where they stood, only a yawning maw of rock and darkness awaited them, followed by the sloshing of water being deposited deeper within. All currently surrounded by dozens of colourful little charms and carvings etched or pinned against the stone entrance.

“Piece of piss.” Mila abruptly cursed and turned to Sophie, a look of exasperation overtaking her visage, “Do you know how complicated operating in flooded environments can be? The church likes to be careful. Dedicated hydromancers and water mages to help manage the flow or help create air pockets. Equipment for divers and breathing apparatuses.” The girl stomped her feet indignantly against the stones below, scattering a few stray pebbles and dust, “And what do we have right now? Swords, and rations. Like that’d be much use underwater. Should’ve called the damned Pathfinders at this rate.”

Sophie smiled and nodded, giving Mila the chance to continue ranting whilst she surveyed the environment.

Beyond the inquisitor’s rage, she couldn’t hear anything too out of the ordinary. Though admittedly, she didn’t know what a seaside cave should sound like. To their left was Oakbeach, the right was a small just of land before shrinking back in to loop around to the coastal town of Villa Gard. Behind them, at a currently decent but still somewhat concerning distance was the beach leading out to the Bay of Arteria. Sophie let out a dissatisfied puff of her own, helluva place to build a shrine.

Hanabi waved, having gotten a little closer to the cave than the other two. Sophie followed, dragging a still grumbling inquisitor along.

“Sophie, Mila.” Hanabi greeted them with a single finger salute, her boots making a small splashing noise as she kept tapping the inside of the cave, “We’ve got ourselves a path. A little covered with water but we should be fine for now.”

“Great, just great, at least high tide is a few hours away. If it’s already filling up like this, however little, we can be certain that the deeper in will be worse. I swear, if those villagers erected the shrine deeper than a few dozen meters…”

“Don’t worry, if it gets too bad, I can just carry the two of you out.” Hanabi smiled, patting her chest.

Sophie and Mila traded glances. That statement seemed false, yet at the same time, Sophie could tell they both also believed it to be part fact. While that in itself wasn’t a problem, neither felt like relying on being carried out to be the optimal solution in case of trouble.

Mila was the first to break the silence, “Let’s just hope it doesn’t get to that.” She pulled out a small stopwatch adorned with church markings, “We’ll push as far as we can in an hour. If we can’t find the shrine, we call this off. If we find it, we keep going till the hour’s up. In the second scenario, we’ll fetch the others and continue from there. In the first, well… guess I’ll owe some people some apologies. You both okay with that?”

“Makes sense.” The outlander hummed.

“Works for me.” Sophie agreed.

“Good. Then So… hmm, just in case, Hanabi, your blade please.” Mila held out her hand, she was about to say my name, what’s the matter?

“Eh? This?” Hanabi unsheated her weapon.

“Beshdidec.” Mila chanted.

Hanabi’s rarely drawn blade glowed a faint yellow-white, illuminating the cave entracing even with the sun still high in the sky. A light spell.

“Beshdidec.” Mila chanted once more, her own blade bursting with light as well.

Sophie waited expectantly, ready to unsheathe her blade when Mila shook her head. “Not you.” The inquisitor declared.

“What?!”

“Magic does weird stuff to you, or you to it. Let’s not chance it. Besides, you are a half-elf, you should’ve inherited some level of seeing in the dark, right?”

Sophie frowned but nodded. It all made sense, yet she couldn’t help feeling a little more disappointed than she thought she would. With a final grunt from Sophie, they began diving into yet another cave.

Water barely went past the outsoles of their boots, but with each step they made, a little splish or splash would echo a little louder the further in they got. Though Sophie was usually the one who led the charge, this time, Mila took point. Being more experienced at hostile situations and scoutings, the inquisitor was not just a natural fit, but she also had her sword lighting up the path in front of her. Seeing Mila wielding a sword with one hand and a torch with another, it almost felt like watching one of Gunmar and Aurelia’s stories slowly playing out. It helped that she also found Hanabi’s general curious demeanor reassuring to have around. As for herself, she simply waddled along with a rudimentary torch, her own blade not even drawn.

At least with Hanabi here, I’m not the only one out of place anymore. A droplet of moisture crashed against her forehead making her flinch. Stupid caves. It's always a damned cave.