Krile hurridely ran across the red carpetting lining the hallways into the inn's private quarters. Having received news via linkpearl from Jandelaine that he had finally completed his makeover she was eager to judge herself whether or not he'd managed to mask Melanie's appearance enough for others to not immediately recognise her as Eorzea's champion. She passed by a number of people in the hallway before finally arriving at the door to Melanie's quarters, then after taking a breather and brushing herself down she knocked gently on the door.
"Come in!" Jandelaine's voice was heard from the other side. Krile pushed open the door and stepped into the room expecting to see Melanie standing in front of her, but the only person in the room was Jandelaine packing his things into his wooden case.
"I came as fast as I could. Wait, where is she?" Krile glanced around wondering whether Jandelaine did something as excessive as camoflaging her so she blended into the background.
"You mean you didn't see her outside?" Jandelaine asked trying to hide a satisfied grin as he packed another comb into his case.
"What, she's outside?" Krile gasped. She quickly ran out of the room and glanced up and down the hallway. There was a number of people standing around chatting to each other at one end of the hallway, a couple were passing by and nodded to Krile as they walked past, some others were loitering around as if waiting expectantly for others None of them looked like Melanie. Krile shook her head confused.
"I doubted you'd recognise her right away" Jandelaine said as he stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him. He then gracefully walked a little ways down the hallway with Krile following him behind.
"Please, I don't doubt your talents, but you must know how dangerous it is if anyone recognises her. I have to know where she is" Krile said to him in an urgent tone.
Jandelaine dramatically spun around on the spot leaning towards Krile with a smile and raised a finger to his lips, his other hand extended outwards in a very flamboyant manner. He then winked at Krile before standing upright and gestured towards to Melanie who was just leaning against a wall nearby paying no attention to anyone. "Allow me to introduce you to Miss D'brovola" he said.
Krile took a step back, her mouth agape in surprise. Melanie turned her head to face her. "Morning Krile, missed me?" she said with a smile.
Krile's eyes and mouth was still wide open as she slowly looked up at Jandelaine.
"Well, what do you think?" Jandelaine asked.
"Jandelaine... I underestimated you!" she gasped. She then ran up to Melanie her eyes glittering in both awe and surprise. "I didn't even recognise you! I'm still surprised just how different you look." Krile's mouth spread into a wide smile. "I think it's safe to say that we no longer have to worry about people knowing your previous identity. But I still must caution you not to let your guard down and to keep to a low profile. No gossiping about previous adventures or anything like that."
Melanie nodded in acknowledgement. "Don't worry Miss Krile, as far as anyone knows I'm still a new adventurer here, although that wouldn't be too far from the truth to be told."
Krile exhaled with a smile feeling satisfied with the situation. She then turned to face Jandelaine again. "Thank you for all you've done. You really are a miracle in artistry."
Jandelaine bowed in a very flamboyant manner with his arms sprayed wide in front and behind him. "It's an honor to be of your service Mistress Krile" he responded, then he slowly walked away as if dancing to a gentle melody past several women who began gasping and whispering to themselves before chasing after him pleading for a new makeover.
"I dare say he's going to have his hands full for the rest of the day" Melanie said with a slight chuckle as she watched the commotion.
"Indeed" Krile replied also chuckling under her breath. "Well, now we have the identity crisis out the way I suppose it's time for you to reintroduce yourself to some of the local guilds and start working on your training. I've already informed the ones in Ul'dah that there's a newcomer by your new name. From now on you'll need to address yourself as D'brovola. Your best bet would be to visit the Arrzaneth Ossuary first. Cocobuki at the Thaumaturges' guild should be able to educate you on how to master manipulating aether as well as providing training in magic arts. As for actual combat training itself I can think of no better than the Gladiataors' guild, they can teach you all manners of how to fight and survive. I pray it won't take you too long, after all our friends and all of Eorzea are counting on you to reclaim your title as its champion and bring our friends back home to us."
Melanie felt a lump in her throat on hearing those words. Yes, her friends were stuck on the First with no way back home, and Eorzea was without its champion. Meanwhile Zenos was already plotting his next move for a rematch and there was still one more Ascian to be dealt with. The clock was ticking and the pressure was already on. Melanie still wasn't fully convinced of her capabilities of becoming a fully fledged warrior much less a champion and left butterflies in her stomach just thinking about it.
"I suppose I should head back to Revenant's Toll and continue my work over there. I wish there was more I could help you with but this is all I can do. It's up to you now, D'brovola." Krile raised her hand up and touched Melanie's arm. "Be confident in yourself, set your mind on this and only this one task. You are more capable than you believe yourself to be. No matter how hard the struggle and how impossible the task might seem you must never give up on yourself."
Melanie nodded taking in every word and began to choke up a little. Nobody had ever said such words to her before in her life on Earth. To have such high expectations and faith in her was as alien as the world she was living in now. Krile gave her one last smile before removing her hand from her arm and walking off down the hallway. Melanie gently wiped away a tear that rested on top of her lashes with a light sniffle. It was time. Time to set about a new life on this alien world doing the one thing she never imagined herself ever doing for real. She turned around and took a step forward ready to make her way down to The Quicksand below when she felt her head spin a little and heard what sounded like her own voice desperately whisper inside her head.
"If only you could hear me then I could help you accomplish this challenge."
Melanie propped herself up agains the walls to steady herself and tried to shake off the dizziness.
"What was that?" she thought to herself worriedly. She looked around to see if there was someone else behind her but there was nobody else nearby. The voice didn't sound like it belonged to Hydaelyn and the only other voice she could think of that could speak out to her inside her head would be Feo Ul, but her voice was very distinct and so far there had been very little evidence to support that Feo Ul could communicate with her outside of the First. Unsettled by the experience she slowly uprighted herself again and began to slowly move her way towards the stairway.
Approaching the top of the stairs her nerves started to get the better of her once again. She bit down on the inside of her bottom lip and scowled at the stairway. She knew she needed to get over her fears if she was to become an adventurer as not all adventures took place on flat solid ground. If stairs were still going to be a problem then she might as well just resign the whole idea of becoming an adventurer altogether right here and now. She began to recall a time back on Earth when she tried to cross a bridge across a wide dual carriageway. It took her many attempts and several days before she was able to get halfway across. Panic caught up with her once she was halfway that she screamed and crouched low, trembling in fear whilst gripping onto the rails, but after a while the panic subsided and she was able to stand up straight again and with determination pushed one foot in front of the other until she finally reached the other side. After that she had no trouble crossing that bridge. Whilst now the very thoughts of crossing that bridge again would've been a right-off since it was so long ago she realised the only way to get over her fears was to confront them head on, to keep on trying to cross that bridge until she could reach the other side.
Melanie lowered one foot in front of her on the stairway. Her legs started to stiffen and her heart palpitate, her breathing began to hyperventilate as she felt her body start to weaken and shake. She moved the next foot down onto the step and proceeded to lower herself down the next step. Her body was starting to resist her attempts and sent a rush adrenaline through her body causing her head to start spinning. "No!" she thought to herself angrily. "I will not be beaten by this! Not today!" She forced her other foot down to the next step, her stomach now starting to churn and her hands beginning to sweat. As she took yet another step her body started to give way.
"I've got you!" a voice called out to her and she felt herself being embraced from behind. Melanie turned her eyes up to see who her saviour was. It was an elezen man roughly her age wearing a basic gladiators' outfit. "Woah, steady now" he said as he held onto her tightly so she wouldn't fall and take him along with her. "A little afraid of heights are we?"
Melanie quickly snapped to as she realised what was happening. "I was trying, I thought if I..."
The elezen man smiled at her and gently loosened his grip around her, then he slid an arm under hers and held her torso close to his. "My sister used to be afraid of heights" he said as he adjusted his shield onto his back. "She was convinced that if she faced everything by herself that she'd manage just fine, but one day she pushed herself too hard and she almost fell. Luckily I was there to help her, just like I am right now with you. I told her that whilst I admired her determination she shouldn't try to do everything alone and that there's no shame in asking others for help. And do you know what happened after that?" the elezen man looked at Melanie's eyes with another deep smile. "We walked together and faced those fears together, and she eventually found the strength to surpass her fears and is now one of Ul'dah's finest paladins leading her own people into adventuring forays. The name's Reubemont by the way, what's yours?"
"D'brovola" she replied as they steadily made their way down the staircase together.
"Nice to meet you D'brovola. I see you're also a new adventurer here. Have you chosen a field in which you'd like to master your skills with?"
"I'm supposed to be heading to the Thaumaturges' guild" she replied.
"Oh, thinking of practicing dark arts are we?" he said a little excitedly. "You know there's a few of my friends who have been looking for another new adventurer to practice training with us and we could certainly use someone who would be mastering dark arts. Does that spark your interest as something you'd like to do?"
Melanie thought for a moment. Reubemont seemed like a friendly and gentlemanly kind of guy and the idea of making some new friends on this strange world to join on adventures together was certainly a welcome thought. She nodded a little excitedly. "Yes, I would like that" she said, trying to force a smile over her nervousness as they continued to slowly descend down the stairway.
"Excellent! I can introduce you to them now if you'd like, they're all waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs" he said cheerfully, his smile widening and making his eyes glitter. "And speaking of which, we have just arrived."
Melanie looked down at her feet to see they had finally made it to the bottom of the stairs. Reubemont removed his arm from her waistline and readjusted his shield again. "Thank you so much" Melanie said greatfully.
"Ah don't mention it. And since we'll be becoming part of a team you needn't worry anymore about having to do things by yourself again. If you need help with anything at all, even if it's just going down stairs, you just need to ask. Now, let's introduce you to the others."
Reubemont motioned Melanie to a table where several other new adventurers were gathered eating breakfast. "This is Suyaya, our soon to be healer who'll be working in the arts of conjury, this here is Johna our eagle eyed archer, and this is Holskwyb our light-fingered assassin. I'd keep a tight eye on those pockets if I were you, she's quite the klepto."
"Oh please! The only reason you keep losing things is because you keep waving them around for all to see" the young roegadyn female replied.
"Everyone, this is D'brovola" Reubemont said, trying not to be embarassed by Holskwyb's provocative comments. "She's going to be learning the dark arts of thaumaturgery and become our fifth member."
"Nice to meet ya" Holskwyb said flicking her hand up at Melanie. Everyone else around the table gave her a welcoming wave.
"Please, come sit and have breakfast with us" Reubemont motioned Melanie to an empty seat. Melanie sat down and looked around at the table to her new crew.
Suyaya was a plainsfolk lalafel judging by her dark pink eyes. Her hair was a light pink and in 2 small pigtails either side of her head held by small black bows. She wore a similar robe not unlike the one Melanie was wearing and carried a small leafy branch clipped to the side of her robe.
Johna was a midlander hyur with short golden locks and deep blue eyes. He wore a simple grey and white leathery outfit and a small white linen hat with a feather sewn onto the side. Next to him on the ground was a simple wooden bow and a small leather quiver bag with about a dozen wooden arrows in it.
Holskwyb was a dark skinned roegadyn with light grey eyes wearing an outfit mostly of white linen and dark leather wraps and a red and white bandana that covered her slick and dark shoulder-length. Hooked onto either side of her hips were 2 simple daggers sheethed in leather holsters.
As for Reubemont, now that she had a chance to get a better look at him, he was a tall elezen with violet eyes and shoulder-length white hair. He wore a bronze chain mail that was fairly simple in design yet looked strong enough to deflect any sharp objects coming his way. On his side a wide sword made entirely out of bronze hung in its sheeth whilst on his back he carried a square shield made of maple wood that was held together with bronze rivets.
"So D'brovola, know any magic spells yet?" Suyaya leaned over to her excitedly in a squeaky voice. Melanie shook her head. "Oh, well that's alright. We're all new to adventuring and some of us have yet to even start battling. Once you visit the Thaumaturges' guild the mentors there can teach you some new stuff and then we can try everything out together!"
Reubemont sat down at the table carryiing two plates with some manner of meat in a clear sauce with onions and passed one to Melanie. "Here, it's not much but I bought you breakfast" he said to her.
"Oh, thank you" Melanie exclaimed surprised. She looked down at the plate trying to discern what kind of meat it was. Her nose picked up the scent of the meat. It certainly wasn't anything gourmet and there was an incredibly pungent smell of garlic, but the smell seemed appetising enough. She picked up a knife and fork in front of her and began to dig into the meat. The taste was a little like a combination of pork and beef overpowered by an incredibly strong taste of garlic. The sauce tasted of a slightly sweet onion gravy, however it was also being overpowered by the large mound of garlic that had been encrusted on top of the meat. Melanie gagged a little, causing the other team members to chuckle as they watched in anticipation.
"I take it our newest recruit isn't fond of garlic" Holskwyb chuckled. "So far none of us have been able to match Reubemont's palette."
Reubemont lowered his fork from his mouth and looked at Melanie a little disappointed. "Oh, is it not to your liking?" he asked remorsefully.
"No, it's fine, I usually like strong flavours. It's just..." Melanie choked and coughed some more before swallowing the morsel and looked at him with a wide grin. "It could use some garlic bread" she said.
The table went quiet for a moment and then suddenly erupted in laughter. Reubemont looked a little confused and watched as Melanie took another mouthful and happily chomped it down and breathed a sigh of relief.
"You're going to fit in right with us with that kind of appetite" Johna said with a smile. "Welcome to the team, D'brovola."
