A Quest for the Stars

Clara Aurèle was the only child of her small family, which included herself and her two parents.

The parents, named Alain and Yolandra, had known each other since childhood, well over two centuries by the time Clara came of age. For the better part of a century, the small family lived in the forest city of Rougewood. Elves aged slowly - at a rate roughly 1/6th of a human’s - and for this reason they often learned about the world around them at a slower pace. Patience was the race’s strongest virtue, and for them there was no need to rush through life like the rest of the short-lived races did. They chose to make friendships with immortal beings, like the fae and creatures from different dimensions such as angels, over races with shorter lifespans such as humans and ratfolk.

For the Aurèle family, elven traditions became stagnant with time, and they desired to explore the outside world.

When Clara turned ninety, just twenty years short of achieving adulthood, the Aurèle family decided to leave the Rougewood and travel across the kingdom of Helix. They visited the port city of Pom, the quiet village of Maximus, and the alpine city of Ulysses Crossing, staying at each location for ten years, before settling in the big city, Helix City itself. By that time, Clara had turned one hundred and twenty, and enrolled in the Artificers Guild.

Alain and Yolandra had hoped their little Clara would pursue either a druidic career like her father or become a priestess of the elven deity, the Moon Guardian, like her mother. But nothing prepared them for the news of their little girl - now a grown woman - choosing the summoner class, instead.

The world of eidolons - a realm inhabited by creatures qualified to become a summoner’s companion - fascinated Clara, and she wished to learn more about them. Clara loved animals because her father knew how to handle them, but even they paled in comparison whenever she read about angels, reapers, and the paragons of law, the inevitables. This last one, paired with the mechanical structure of Helix City, inspired her to specialize in mechanical eidolons when she took the summoner course in the Guild.

To become a summoner, each student had to perform a minute-long ritual where their astral presence entered the realm of the eidolons and called upon them. The eidolon that presented itself - if it presented itself - is said to manifest from both the state of the summoner’s soul and their deepest desire.

It was to Clara’s surprise that her eidolon took the form of a faceless machine garbed in jade-green armor, with a crescent moon adorning the tip of its helmet. Blue lights illuminated where the eyes should be, and while the being appeared more like a samurai, its hulking fists and frame indicated a more brutal approach in battle.

This was the day Clara became a full-fledged summoner, and to commemorate this special occasion, she named her eidolon Tsukuyomi, after the moon kami of the Far West.

***

During one of the many mornings Lenoria slept over at her place, Clara woke up at the earliest stage of dawn. She slept on a soft chair while Lenoria took the bed; it was customary for her family to offer their guests the best they had, because if the guest could look past their shabby house, they were guests worth having over. It hadn’t been long since Clara and Lenoria became friends, but the blonde came from humble beginnings herself; she understood their living arrangements, and never judged them for it.

This particular morning, Lenoria was hugging the body pillow for warmth; her tossing and turning eventually left her blanket on the ground, and she grew cold. Clara picked up the blanket, tucked her in, and left the room, smiling as she did so. Once she was out of the room, that smile was turned upside down as Clara got ready for her daily routine.

The elven girl walked down the creaky hallway and entered the family bathroom. The stench of mildew lingered in the small bathroom; a smell she had grown accustomed to. She could hear her parents arguing in the next room; rent was due, and they barely had enough to pay for essentials over the next month. They tried to keep it a secret from Clara, but she knew better. All the work they put in to live in the city and in the end, they barely made ends meet, but they were too proud to move back to the forest.

All Clara could do was smile. Her parents smiled, too, when they saw her downstairs later, if only to forget their woes or at the very least bury them under the rug. Their marriage was strong, but the stress of having little money made them cranky. Thankfully, Lenoria always took care of the food whenever she was over; they never spoke of their problems in front of her, but Lenoria was smart enough to put two and two together.

Lenoria. The blonde girl wasn’t always like this. Her kindness had always been overshadowed by the rage she felt for Headmaster Starflower. Her mood was a black sea that engulfed all manner of positivity, and it only grew from the harmful words that were littered by the other students. Clara often wondered how things would have been if she never made the effort to open her heart.

----------

“Class is dismissed!”

Clara’s mind went back to a day in her third year at the Guild. Instructor Gardens had just finished his lesson plan for the class and assigned homework the students had to turn in the next day. She waited until the rest of her classmates had left before she stood up, fixed a fold at the hem of her skirt, and made her way to the instructor’s desk.

Instructor Gardens was a thin human male with a neatly trimmed black beard and long black hair at the top of his head and buzzed sides. He always wore an amethyst-colored robe with a cape attached to it by sun-shaped clips. An enticing, manly perfume lingered around him and his desk. A stack of books decorated his desk, including titles such as ‘Ra: Lord of the Light,’ ‘Religions of the World,’ and, resting at the very top with the illustration of a woman in a maid’s outfit posing with a firearm while a young boy in elegant clothes posed clumsily next to her, was the critically acclaimed fiction novel ‘Elizabeth the Combat Maid.’

“What troubles you, Clara?” Instructor Gardens was not only smart, but his sharp senses always knew when Clara was feeling troubled.

“You can tell? Well…”

“Out with it, Clara. Don’t be afraid.”

“There’s this girl,” Clara began, “and she’s always getting picked on by the students. I’ve been watching her for a while, but I just don’t know how to approach her. She’s always so tense.”

Instructor Gardens rested his elbows on the desk. “There’s a rumor going around that people from the Far West are savages.” He closed his eyes. “A rumor I’m not particularly fond of.”

“Right? Whoever started it must have no shame.”

Instructor Gardens remained silent for a moment before continuing. “Unfortunately, only the Disciplinary Council can put a stop to the bullying around here. Instructors aren’t allowed to interfere with the lives of the students.”

“That’s so dumb! The Disciplinary even joins in on the bullying sometimes!”

“I know, but there’s nothing I can do. When I brought it to the attention of the headmaster, he declared that anyone interfering with the academic development of any student is to be expelled immediately. I would quit to make a point, but I would rather provide a safe environment for the students.”

Clara knew the instructor meant what he said, for he was one of the few who openly opposed the headmaster’s decisions.

“What drew you to this girl, anyway? You don’t want to be her friend out of pity, do you? That would only hurt her even more.”

“No, sir. I’ve been watching her since she started her first year. She’s so smart, pretty, and kind. Well, that last one isn’t so obvious now, but she used to help the students with their homework. But after her date with Carter, well…” Clara sighed. “She doesn’t trust men anymore. Or elves, for some reason. O-or anyone else, really.”

“And what do you want to do about it?”

Clara gulped. “She’s the victim of a broken heart. All I want to do is mend it and refill it with love.”

“Ah, so you’re in love with this girl.”

Clara’s shoulders stiffened. “N-no!” Flustered and blushing, Clara averted her gaze. “M-my heart already belongs to another.”

She was too chicken to point out this other person was right in front of her.

“If that’s the case,” the oblivious instructor moved on, “maybe I can arrange a playdate between you two. Give you two a chance to bond. I was hoping to contact her guardian since she keeps forgetting to take her homework with her. I can use that opportunity to arrange something this weekend.

“S-so soon?”

“Nothing wrong with living life at a fast pace once in a while.” The instructor smiled. “Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”

Fast forward to next weekend.

“That nosy instructor.” An irritated Lenoria carried her camping gear to a hilltop in the outskirts of town. “I don’t know what he’s scheming, but he obviously doesn’t know what he’s doing!”

“Now, now, Lenoria,” her half-orc guardian said, “Instructor Gardens is only looking out for you. He said your grades have been declining and you’ve been getting hostile with the other students.”

“Big deal. So what?”

“I heard they call you ‘Lenoria the Tomboy.’”

“That’s a step up, believe me. It used to be ‘Lenoria the Pig Fu-’”

“In any case, I see the man’s point. You need time away from the Guild and just enjoy life! The fact this doubles as a science project for extra credit is just the icing on this cake.”

“That, I get.” The camera pans to reveal Clara clumsily climbing the hill right behind them. “What I don’t get is why she has to be here!”

“I think it’s cute he found you a partner for this science project!”

“He’s a planar instructor, and he wants us to go camping to collect data on local bugs and flowers! He should have at least funded a field trip to the world of the dead or something closer to his field!”

“U-um, Instructor Gardens is a smart man! He must have a reason for arranging things this way!” Clara didn’t like it when Instructor Gardens was insulted in any way.

“I don’t doubt the man’s genius, but that doesn’t make him a bright candle,” Lenoria chortled as she brushed aside a strand of hair from her face. “No need to get worked up about it, elf. Only reason I’d even defend such a braindead decision is if I liked the guy.”

Clara fell silent.

“Oh my gosh.” Lenoria stopped and pointed at Clara. “You actually like him!”

Clara hid her face in embarrassment. Lenoria’s mocking tone was a bit much for her.

“Aren’t you a little old for him? Better make a move now before he passes on sometime in the next sixty years!”

Karma sent Lenoria back down to earth in the form of an iron skillet falling from Sage’s backpack onto her head.

“Ow.”

“Cut it out, Lenoria.” Sage scolded. “You know elves mature slower than humans. She may be older than the two of us combined, but in the eyes of an elf, she’s like a girl in her early 20s.”

A single tear fell from Lenoria’s eye as she rubbed the bump on her head. “Pretty weird, if you ask me.”

“If you have a problem with that, take it up to the gods.” Sage set down his backpack. “We’re here!”

The girls set down their backpacks once they reached the hilltop. Signs of a campfire made ages ago rested in the middle, and Sage got right to work by taking out an axe to chop down firewood.

“I’ll get us started. Why don’t you girls go out and start collecting the data your instructor wanted?”

“Don’t you need help, old man?”

“I can handle this. I’m quite spry for my age, you know. Just be back by nightfall.”

“Thank you, sir.” Clara bowed and moved on ahead.

Lenoria rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

“Hey.” One word made Lenoria stop. “Be nice to Clara. She’s here to help you with your grades.”

At that, Lenoria scoffed and spun around to address her thoughts on Sage’s words. “Not sure if you got the memo, but I’m a natural born genius! Only reason my grades went down is because I stopped trying.”

“Sure thing, Ken.”

A grunt escaped from Lenoria. Sage had a habit of calling her by her father’s nickname whenever she was out of line. She hated that, and he knew it.

“I’m a lot different from Pop, you know.”

“Are you kidding? You’re just as stubborn as he is. I always bailed your old man out even when he was too proud to ask for help. And we both know you can’t graduate from the Guild without help.”

“Are you challenging me?”

“As a matter of fact, I am.” Sage carried his first stack of firewood to the center of the hill. “You want to prove me wrong? Then I challenge you to do everything alone for the entire day. If you ask Clara for help at any point today, you’re buying dinner when we head back to civilization.”

“Too easy. And if I win?”

“I’ll clean that pigsty of a room you sleep in for a whole week.”

“Deal!” The two of them shook on it and Lenoria went after Clara.

Little did she know that Clara had been listening in and pretended to look busy when Lenoria caught up to her. Fortunately for Clara, she didn’t have to pretend for long; she spotted worker ants marching away from the camp in a single file.

Alas, Lenoria wasn’t interested.

Distance was kept between the girls. Lenoria was fully intent on winning her bet and recorded everything she found in the wilderness on a notepad; the different flowers, the different insects, even the color of dirt from place to place. Anytime Clara offered to share her own notes, Lenoria would just shoo her away.

Sunset arrived and Lenoria was irritated. Clara wouldn’t stay off her back the entire time and nearly gave up on the project when she had an idea.

“Hey, Clara. I think I saw a four-leaf clover on that patch of grass over there. Would you mind getting it for me?”

The patch of grass Lenoria was pointing at was nearly a perfect 10-foot square of nothing but clovers. Clara gulped and felt intimidated by the challenge, but her expression shifted to one with determination and made her way there. “Sure thing, Lenoria!”

The urge to laugh was almost too much for Lenoria, but she held it in as she returned to camp. “Sucker. Four-leaf clovers don’t exist. Hope you get eaten by a bear or something, you stupid elf,” she mumbled maliciously.

Tired, Lenoria returned to camp not long afterward. A campfire had been set up and two tents stood close to it. Sage sat on a log by the fire with a stick and a marshmallow over the fire, releasing a sweet and pleasant smell.

“Right on time,” Sage said. “Where’s Clara?”

“She said she needed to look for a four-leaf clover. She should be back soon.”

“I sure hope so, the view is beautiful at the hilltop at night.” Sage took a bite of his marshmallow. “You two friends yet?”

Lenoria scoffed and giggled. “Yeah, best friends for life. Like I’d ever be friends with an elf.”

“What did elves do to you, Lenoria?”

“Headmaster’s an elf and he’s a total dick. They’re all pompous with a high and mighty attitude.” Lenoria sat down next to Sage. “Dwarves are cool, tieflings are sexy, giantkin are crazy strong and awesome. But elves? They just love making me miserable.” She looked up at Sage. “Is it racist to say this when it’s true?”

“Not all elves are bad, you know. Clara said she wanted to be your friend.”

“She probably just wants to set me up like Carter did.” Lenoria kicked a rock. “I’m done with people. I just want to graduate and get back home as soon as possible. Family first, you know.”

Frowning, Sage decided to drop the subject. Lenoria was as stubborn as her father, so there was no point in trying to convince her to think differently. He offered a stick and a marshmallow to the girl, hoping she would forget her troubles for the time being.

He looked over at a puddle of water next to him, catching the reflection of a reptilian creature too late as it pounced behind him. Daggerlike claws pierced his back, followed by a bite to the shoulder and a tail swipe that nearly made him trip.

The dinosaur had two strong hind legs and two small arms. It stood about four feet tall, possibly four and a half, and sticky saliva dripped from its mouth.

Lenoria rushed in with instinct, but a hiss from the dinosaur frightened her. Sage groaned in pain, but two quick punches to the neck of the beast freed him from the jaws of the dinosaur. The creature let out a shrill cry before its body became limp and unresponsive.

“I’m okay,” Sage said, “a little shaky, though. Oh…” Sage’s body fell limp, too. Burns marked his back and shoulder and his blood bubbled ominously. He fell face first into the ground and could only turn his head sideways before full immobility set in. “Ugh. Troodons! They’re as vicious as velociraptors but the bastards come with Dexterity poison! Quick, get the antitoxin and restoration potions!”

Lenoria froze. “A-antitoxin?”

“Don’t play with me, Lenoria! You packed antitoxin, right?!”

Lenoria hadn’t bothered to pack antitoxin or the potions for the trip in due part because she didn’t want to be here in the first place. “N-no…”

“Damn! You’re gonna have to carry me, then!”

“But the town's a mile away! And you’re too heavy!” Lenoria grew tense when she heard the rustling of leaves but was partially relieved to see Clara return to camp.

“Lenoria, look!” The elven girl held up a four-leaf clover. “It took me a while, but I found it!”

“Not now, elf! We have a problem!”

"W-what's wrong?"

“Clara!” Sage was a little more welcoming. The poison had started taking effect and his eyelids were getting too heavy for him to keep open. “Perfect timing! Lenoria’s a little wimp so she’ll need your help carrying me to town!”

“Oh, no! What happened?!”

“Troodon poison. I’m useless without an antidote, so we need to return to town and get me to a clinic! Can you help?”

Lenoria already pictured (in her head) Clara tossing the clover away and walking out on them.

“No! The old timer can’t die here! If I go to town, other predators might try to eat him!” Shaking her fist, Lenoria swallowed her pride and got on one knee, but Clara stopped her before she could set the other knee on the ground.

“What are you doing?”

Groveling was the answer, in her mind. “What does it look like? I’ll do anything, just please help us!”

“Lenoria,” Clara said as she placed her hands on Lenoria’s shoulders, “we can’t waste time like this. He needs our help! You don’t need to ask!”

“Huh?”

“Sir!” Clara made her way to the immobile Sage. “Troodons, right? How many did you fight?”

“Just the one,” he answered.

“That means the pack’s nearby. They never travel alone. If the two of us carry you, we won’t stand a chance.”

“Figures. Useless like the rest of the elves.” Lenoria snapped her fingers with a sullen expression, but she tensed up again when she heard the leaves rustle.

“Luckily for you two,” Clara continued, “I’m a summoner. And what’s a summoner without her eidolon?” Looking at the sky, she cried “Return to me, Tsukuyomi!”

The rustling intensified as trembling footsteps got closer and closer. From the trees came a hulking construct, the same eidolon Clara had made contact with during her summoning ritual. There was a scabbard strapped to its waist, but its massive fists appeared to be deadlier weapons. It had a featureless face with blue glowing eyes.

“Here’s the plan! Tsukuyomi, please carry Mr. Sage and don’t let him go unless I tell you!” Clara then grabbed two sticks Sage had left for the girls to pierce their marshmallows with and set the tips on the campfire before handing one to Lenoria. “Lenoria, you and I will keep the troodons away. They may be predators, but they’re scared of fire.”

Lenoria was still processing everything. “Hang on for just a second! I thought summoners needed a minute to summon their eidolon! How did you get yours so fast?!”

“I had Tsukuyomi follow us this whole time.” Clara bowed apologetically. “I’m sorry. My safety is his top priority but if I had found the clover much earlier, this wouldn’t have happened!”

“Why are you apologizing? I’m the one who sent you on that fetch quest.” With a guilty expression, Lenoria elected to remain quiet and grabbed the stick Clara offered her. “I hope this works…”

----------

Clara sat alone on a chair by the kitchen table once she was done with the morning housework. Fondly looking back on that fateful night, she smiled at the thought of Lenoria buying dinner for the three of them once Sage was released from the clinic.

It was a bittersweet meal that night; the girl had admitted to her how she felt throughout the whole ordeal, and even after Sage was taken safely back home, Lenoria warned her to stay away from her or else she’d get hurt. But it wasn’t until a month after that incident when Clara understood how deep those words were.

----------

“So what? You think just because trash joins the elite, they get to behave like the elite?!”

Anne Steiner had a couple of thuggish girls from her posse grapple Lenoria, with each girl holding an arm, while she repeatedly landed one heavy blow after another on Lenoria’s gut.

“No,” Lenoria answered weakly.

“Wrong answer!” Anne finished with a devastating kick to the stomach. The haughty girl sneered as Lenoria was released by her posse, but quickly became concerned when the two thugs collapsed and revealed Clara standing behind them with a staff held by both hands.

A bump had grown on Lenoria’s eye while drool uncontrollably dripped from her lips and her arms and face had been viciously decorated with bruises. Even then, Lenoria had some strength, not enough to stand up but enough to call out to her savior. “Clara.”

“Leave her alone, Steiner.” Clara’s scowl had not changed since her arrival. Inwardly, she was shaking, but escape was not on her mind.

“Clara, what are you doing?” Lenoria panted heavily. “Steiner may have a little woman complex, but she’s built like a gorilla. She’ll kill you.”

“Yeah, Clara, you should listen to her. Oh, wait. Who really cares about what she says?” Anne pointed at Lenoria. “She’s just trash! Trash doesn’t get any rights! Not even the instructors want to side with her! That’s why the headmaster is fine with me making her my personal punching bag!”

Shamefully, Lenoria looked down.

“I have a complex? Please! She thinks she’s too good for everyone just because of a harmless prank! She doesn’t trust anyone, so why should we trust her?”

“She’s right. I’m not here to make friends. Not anymore.”

“She could just jump off a building and no one would bat an eye! She’d be doing everyone a favor then, at least!”

A shadow was cast over Lenoria’s eyes as her lips quivered. As harsh as Anne was, no lie was told. The Guild wouldn’t miss her. Perhaps everything would be perfect if she just disappeared. “Get out here, you stupid elf, or else you’ll get hurt, too!”

“You’re wrong!”

A teary-eyed Lenoria looked back up to see Clara standing in front of her, shielding her from Anne.

“I’ve been watching Lenoria ever since she arrived at the Guild. Not in the creepy way like Thomas, but I always noticed the romance books she’d check out of the library and how friendly she was with everyone at first! It didn’t matter what a person struggled with, she’d always help them understand the problem and lead them to the right answer!”

“I did?”

“She doesn’t carry diseases! She doesn’t kill people, she helps them! She even gave a poor man money - money she needed - just so his family could eat that night!”

Lenoria gasped as if she remembered something but said nothing.

“The reason she doesn’t trust people now is because everyone rejected her, first! I’ve lived in this world for over a century, and I’ve seen many good women kill themselves when the world turned its back on them, and I won’t let that happen to her!”

Lenoria had nothing to say, but not for lack of trying. All she could do was mentally deny everything. Clara had to be lying.

“She’s not trash! The Guild i-is just jealous because she’s climbed her way to the top despite not being a native! Her grades may have taken a hit, but that’s only because she stopped trying.” Clara grinned. “The way I see it, she surpassed you a long time ago, Anne. She’s not with the elite, she’s above them!”

Dumbstruck for a moment, Anne’s face quickly filled with rage and grabbed Clara by the neck. “Enough!” She slammed the elven girl against a wall. “You think you’re better than me? I could snap you like a twig!”

“I know.” Clara coughed. “But I’d do anything for Lenoria. She deserves all the happiness in the world.”

Anne pulled back her fist. Clara flinched, bracing herself for the worst. But when she reopened her eyes, Lenoria, although weakened, used all of her strength to hold the stronger girl back.

“Let her go, Steiner,” Lenoria said, “you’re not hurting anyone else today.”

Grimacing, Anne pulled her arm away and stormed off in a huff. “You two sure know how to take the fun out of everything! Hmph!”

Lenoria had enough strength to remain standing until Anne was out of sight and would have hit the ground had Clara not caught her in time. “Why did you come here? I said mean and hurtful things to you and told you you’d get hurt if you kept hanging around me.”

“Ever since you gave my dad that gold coin, I’ve been wanting to talk to you.” Clara held Lenoria close to hug her. Lenoria didn’t resist and instead wrapped her left arm - which had less bruises than the other - around Clara. “I just want to be your friend, Lenoria.”

“Why me? I’m not that special…”

“Don’t make me repeat myself. You took a big hit on your self-esteem.” Sobbing, Clara hugged Lenoria tighter. “You’re mean now, but I know the kind of person you are underneath. I won’t pretend to know a lot about you, but we can always hang out at the library, or a cafe, or even at my place!”

Hearing Clara sob made Lenoria sob, too. Bittersweet tears streamed from both girls as they both held the urge to scream. “I-if this is a prank-”

“It’s not, I promise! I’ll help you go back to the way you were!”

The two of them wept until school was out that day. They walked home together that day and stayed up all night at Clara's place reading romance novels.

----------

When Clara came to her senses, the heat had already intensified to unbearable levels. The smoldering corpses of the bullies lay prone and stiff just a yard away from her. What remained of Omar was a burnt skeleton that gradually crumbled to ashes. The smoke in the air burned her lungs and nostrils.

Trying to stand, Clara immediately collapsed when she didn’t feel her feet. Then she noticed the pain. A burning, piercing pain. She looked at her feet and she could not see them because they had been buried in the rubble. The ceiling had partially given way from the explosion and the rubble fell on her lower body after she had passed out. The way back was blocked, and even if she could move, she would have to take a different route outside.

Clara’s vision was nothing but a blur of red and black. She heard an object clink on the floor and roll its way to her. A vermillion gemstone was all she could make out from it; an oval shape that glistened beautifully in the fire around her. It must have fallen from Omar.

“L-Lenoria. It’s too late for me. I don’t know if my words can reach you, but I just have a request: Be better. Be better than who you were when we met. Ascend to the heavens and aim for the moon! Then maybe, just maybe…” Clara closed her eyes. “You’ll see me with the rest of the stars.”

But the elf was not ready to rest just yet. She opened her eyes, surprised she was still in the burning building.

“Hold on a minute, what am I doing?” Clara pushed herself up as best as she could. “If I die here, what’s going to happen to my best friend? I promised her I would never make her sad! I have to fight on until I break free!”

As if reacting to her monologue, the vermillion stone emitted a glint. “Reach out and grab me, kiddo! I’ll get you out of here,” said a grating voice from the stone.

“T-the stone.” Clara wiped her eyes. Her vision cleared slightly, but now she could see the stone shining with a fiery light. “It can talk?”