Nophica's Altar was more beautiful and tranquil in person than it was in the game. Standing in the center of a gentle running stream below a series of small low waterfalls was a meeting area made of small pebbles and round stepping stones, and at the heart of the meeting area a round stone table with 3 uniquely shaped chairs arranged in a triangle. Standing behind them was the Elder Seedseer herself and her most trusted guardians. Her face furrowed as Melanie and her friends approached the table.
Looking beyond the group the Seedseer nodded to the escort that led Melanie and her friends into the sacred grounds, and with that the escort left the area. Satisfied they were all alone the Seedseer then proceeded to speak out.
"Normally I would be more welcoming to guests in my sanctuary, but you have been more troublesome than the average visitor. You have sown chaos amongst my people, almost brought Gridania to a stand still, and avoided apprehension by fleeing the city." The Seedseer closed her eyes and shook her head in dismay. "But never-the-less, your actions stirred an emotion that's been smouldering in the hearts of my people for many moons and it was only a matter of time before the spark would become ignited. As Seedseer I feel I have failed in my duties and promises to bringing unity to all people both born on Gridanian soil and those who've made Gridania their home. This disturbance is a testimony to my failed duties and thus I have been forced to take quick action to ensure stability within Gridania."
Melanie and Reubemont's eyes opened wide in surprise at the Seedseer's words. "You can't mean to say you employed the Dark Jekyll to strike down those soldiers?!" Reubemont gasped in disbelief.
At those words the Seedseer opened her eyes and glared at Reubemont. "I did no such thing!" she said in a quick and sharp voice. "Whilst this Dark Jekyll has indeed been paramount in settling the more easily riled youth from creating more disturbances, their arrival and actions are purely of their own accord and not endorsed in any way by myself or my council. Should they make another unwanted appearance in the city my guards will handle the situation, and if it calls for it I'll enlist the adventurer's guild to put out a bounty on their arrest." Her voice and gaze started to become more sterner. "That is to say I do not want for random people to come into my city and taking matters into their own hands without due permission and that also includes you, do I make myself clear?"
Melanie and her team lowered their heads submissively and nodded. Satisfied that they had understood the Seedseer took a calming breath and straightened her face a little. "Now that that's out of the way, I will remind you that as adventurers you are still welcome to take on tasks that are submitted to the adventurer's guild and also any random requests offered by the citizens of Gridania, within reason of course. But one more step out of line and you will no longer be welcome on Gridanian soil. Now get out of my sight and let's hope that our next encounter does not involve me banishing you all from Gridania."
Reubemont bowed his head further and led his team out of the enclave. Before leaving Melanie glanced up at the Seedseer only to see her eyes glaring down at her. Melanie felt a shudder down her spine and lowered her gaze before turning away and following her friends. Silently they made their way back down to the Carline Canopy and once they found a table Reubemont slumped into one of the surrounding stools.
"Well, I can't say I didn't see that coming. To be honest I expected far worse" he said wiping his brow.
"I'm just glad we weren't all banished from Gridania right there and then. After all this is mine and Johnas's home" Suyaya said as she hopped onto a seat next to him.
"I'm still curious about who this Dark Jekyll character is" Holskwyb said leaning her back up against a wall behind her. "They're definitely the talk of the city. If the Gridanian council didn't employ them then who are they and why did they get so involved in this?"
"Brovola and I have come up with the conclusion that they may be the same person who was at The Golden Saucer the other night" Reubemont replied to her. Holskwyb looked at him confused along with the rest of the team. "Ah, it's probably best if Brovola tells you herself, if that's ok?" he said turning to Melanie.
Melanie nodded and pulled her stool further into the table so she could lean forward. "There's not much to say other than a man hiding in the shadows caught me off guard whilst I was alone and said something about cleaning up our mess. At first I had no idea what he was talking about until we arrived in Gridania, but now I'm fairly confident that the man who confronted me and the Dark Jekyll are the same person" Melanie answered.
"He confronted you whilst we were at The Golden Saucer? Why didn't you say anything?!" Suyaya said, her eyes showing a mixture of emotions that her comrades would choose to suffer in silence whilst she was oblivious to their suffering.
"No offense, but you were in no fit state to have done anything had I mentioned it at the time" Melanie said to her. "Besides you were all having fun and I didn't want to spoil the mood."
"That's no excuse" Holskwyb butted in. "If you feel you're under threat or in any kind of danger then you bring us all into the picture, whether we're too drunk or having fun or otherwise. We're a team and we face things together, not just on our own." Holskwyb then turned to Reubemont. "And Reubemont, I'm surprised you too didn't say anything. Wasn't it you who first said those words to us once or had you forgottten we're in this together?" she said with a stern look on her face.
"I, err, I thought it best that I kept Brovola's confidence until she felt like talking about it first" he stammered trying to avoid everyone elses' gaze.
Holskwyb smirked a little. "Relax Reuby, I was jesting a little and I'm glad she came to you first" she said in a joking voice, then she turned her face back to Melanie with a slightly more earnest look. "But truthfully, if you feel unsafe in any way then you need to let us all know so we can all face it together, because that's what being a team is all about" she said to her.
Melanide glanced up with a rather sheepish smile. "Oh, if only I could tell you of my serect then it would be so much easier not having to live every day lying to you and to myself" she thought to herself.
----
The rest of the day had gone smoothly with no further issues. Reubemont scoured the list of offers pinned up on the bulletin board at the Carline Canopy but found nothing there that his team were capable of facing, so instead they settled for some sparring and target practicing at the nearby target dummies.
Normally Melanie wouldn't involve herself in spars or anything labelled as PvP since she feared her own inadequacies, but this was more than just battling out against another person to flex over who was more stronger. By seeing how each person fought they were able to spot flaws and weaknesses in each other and discuss on methods of improvement and practice on it. Besides Melanie knew that eventually they would have to face arms against other people and there'd be no way to talk herself out of fighting them even if it was against her moral standards, so she'd have to learn to be more receptive to duking it out with others whether she liked it or not.
Despite having been nicked a few times during the sparring sessions Melanie noticed that she didn't feel the pain nearly as much as she anticipated and that her reactions to pain were out of expectation rather than actual pain. Once she realised this she became less reactive to the minor nicks and scratches and was more able to focus on her combat skills. Besides, there was always Suyaya to heal her wounds if they became too numerous or severe enough to do any actual damage.
Reubemont was happy to see his comrades once again laughing and smiling and flexing at each other and showing off their prowess. They had made great strides together, and they had also stumbled together, but those stumbles had only made them grow more stronger. He remembered back as a child the several times that he had stumbled and almost completely given up. Were it not for his promises and his sister he would've probably caved in and deemed himself unfit to be a fighter. And that man...the silver haired man in blue dragonscale that he remembered as a child. He knew that by now whoever that man was would be a seasoned fighter and no doubts still in conflict against the dragons in the northern lands. For years he longed to cross paths with him on his adventures to let him know he'd been lied to if only to quell his hatred towards the dragons just a little and not blame them for his mother's death. "Perhaps some day we'll meet and I'll help ease your soul" he thought to himself.
