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fvaleraye · 4 years

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Turning In Old Goods

hey, would u look at that, another thing for Scintillam shocking ASDKFJN anyway, this is uh directly after Good Ol’ Ruins(that was the name of it, right-), and it’s basically Arte and Leona turning in their little “sidequest”, hence the name

i was inspired to start and finish this in like an hour bc a friend let me ramble and if i didn’t write something i was going to combust ASLDKFJN

anyway- hope y’all enjoy reading ^^

Today was a good day in the Sliver City.

The sky was clear, the sun shined brightly against varnished wood and polished marble. The trees grew tall over the stone walls separating the city folk from the wilderness of the great forests. People were scuttling about the cobblestone streets, scholars, sorcerers, merchants... Though, at the entrance of the grand city, one traveler was having... difficulties, gaining access.

"Ma'am, I told you, you'll have to leave to your dog outside the city walls." A city guard barked, clearly a new recruit, judging by the shine of his armor. “We can’t let things like that in.”

Leona just crossed her arms, her expression and stance making it clear that she was having none of it. "And I told you, sir, that I have been here before. My "dog" has been here before, and we never had any troubles getting in before." She squinted, causing the recruit to shrink under her gaze. "Just let me and Artemis in."

Before the situation could escalate, a decidedly more rugged looked guardsman stepped forward, his armor dingy and battered, his hair graying. The recruit snapped to attention the moment he saw him. He was probably the commanding officer, or a higher rank at least. He gave him a look over, and then looked over the traveling duo. His expression softened a bit. "Good to see you, Leona. Artemis." He said, nodding to both of them, his voice deep, but soft. Like a grandfather, almost. He turned to the guard. "Let 'em in, recruit."

He sheepishly glanced between his superior officer and the travelers, before opening up the creaky, wooden doors into the city. "My deepest apologies ma'am, I-"

"Just shut up before you dig yourself any deeper." She snapped, letting her arms fall to her sides as she strode past him, greatwolf in tow.

The two walked about the city, the warrior's armor making her look out of place in the Silver City crowds. Robes and casual wear as far as the eye could see, the only other armor being worn by the city guards. The sun shined on her dingy armor, her worn helmet attached to her belt by its tassel, clinking and clunking idly as she walked by. They walked with purpose, giving the impression of someone with somewhere to be, though it was probably the giant wolf that made people step aside for them, rather than anything else. Their destination was the Historium, a tall tower-like building, where all kinds of knowledge pertaining to the Old Worlds was being deciphered and kept safe and sound. Leona pushed open the doors, and beckoned her companion in, the greatwolf earning a few gasps out of the people inside. Though most didn't so much as blink at the Artemis' presence. Just a giant wolf, bigger than a Clydesdale, with a giant sword on her back. Nothing out of the ordinary for these people. The two stepped up to the front desk, the receptionist looking them over.

"Names?" They said, their voice one of monotone boredom.

"Leona, and this is Artemis."

They looked over their books for a moment, quietly mumbling to themself. "Leona, Leona, Leona... lets see... last name perhaps?"

"Areland."

"Hm... ah! Leona Areland, the magus's little errand girl for the day."

"... that's... one way to put it, I guess."

"Magus Coluber is on the fourth floor, first door on the left."

"Thanks." She turned to her beast, and gave her a pat on the side. "C'mon Arte."

The two took to the outdoor stairwell, as the indoor stairwell was too small to accommodate Artemis' size, and pushed open the door to the fourth floor. The door was obvious, first one on the left, like the receptionist said, and had the magus's crest on the front. Leona continued her trend of not even bothering to knock as they entered the magus's personal library and office. It was a large room, expansive and circular, seemingly taking up five floors, the walls lined end to end with bookshelves, while the magus’s desk was sat on the balcony in front of them, looking over the rest of the library. The grey haired sorcerer didn't seem to hear them, as his attention was focused squarely on some slabs of engraved stone in front of him, a couple of assistants at his side. One of them turned at the sound of the door, and tapped their superior's shoulder.

"Magus? We have visitors." They whispered.

"Hm?" He glanced up from the stone, and over his shoulder, giving a smile when his saw his two guests. "Ah! Leona! Finally!" He turned from his desk, and looked to the assistant to his right. "Would you, perhaps, put these away for the time being, James?" His voice was soft and aged, a bit of a refined accent showing in his words and tone.

"Yes magus." They replied, their tone about as professional and respectful as it could be.

"Ah-! And warm up some coffee, please, my old bones need it."

"Yes magus."

The two scholars took the old stones, and walked off, leaving the three alone. "Don't just stand there, come! Sit down, rest, we have chairs for a reason." He gestured to the seats at his desk, pulling one up for himself.

The warrior plopped right into her seat, while the wolf sat herself down next to the desk. "We got some of the stuff you asked for, Caecus." She said, grabbing the brown sack from the wolf's side. "Plenty of it, too." She sat the bag down gingerly on the desk, being careful with the delicate contents.

Caecus put a leather glove on his hand, and reached into the bag, grabbing the first orb he could. His good eye sparkled at the old tarnished glass, shining faintly with untold magic. "My word... this one is intact... and it still has some energy in it...!" He whispered, wonder in his tone. "Pray tell, how did you happen upon one in such pristine condition?"

"Oh, y'know, found it." She said, curtly, giving a shrug. "Like all the others."

"... are you okay, dear?"

She sighed, letting some of the tension leave her. "Sorry, I had a bit of the trouble at the gate. Still a little tilted over it, to be honest."

"Ah." He cleared his throat, grabbing a few more orbs from the bag. Silence settled over the room, save for the clinking of glass, and quiet mumbles from the magus.

After a moment, Leona decided to break the... frankly awkward silence. "... if I may ask..." She started, shifting a bit in her seat. "Why do you need these? I thought your area of research was dragons? These orbs, and the things we got 'em from, don't seem very... dragon-y." Artemis gave a huff in agreement.

Caecus smiled at the curiosity. "Well, you would be correct, they aren't very... "dragon-y", as you put it." He stood up, pushing his chair back. "But! Who's to say what is dragon-made and what is not? We know so little about them, only that they were... massive, all-knowing, all-powerful divine creatures!" He started to pace around his desk as he continued. "We know they were reptilian in some fashion, though some sources claim they had feathers, others say they were purely scaled creatures, and a few older sources claim that their forms were not so... corporeal... but, regardless of their appearance, they most likely did not make these constructs by their own hands, no, but, perhaps, they instead provided the designs, guided the hands of the makers? Like an architect guiding the foreman and his workers? Or maybe they used their powerful magics to bring life to these beings, carving stone and glass while only raising a finger? We may never know, but I hope to divine such knowledge from the remnants of the Old Magicks contained within these crystalline spheres..." As his words trailed off, he looked back to his impromptu student.

She looked completely lost.

"... ah." He chuckled to himself, awkwardly fidgeting with his hands. "Sorry... where did I lose you...?"

"You really got a passion for this shit, huh?" She observed, shifting awkwardly in her chair.

"I do... I really do." He sighed. "Sorry, I know you didn't come here to be bored to death by the ramblings of an old man..." He got himself seated behind his desk again. "Thank you again, Leona, for the help."

"Hey, it's no problem, Caecus." She replied, giving a smile. "We were in the neighborhood."

"Well, thank you, all the same." As the two continued talking, the assistants returned to the room. One started to look over the books, while the other, James, stepped up to the desk with a mug. "Your coffee, magus."

"Ah!" He took the mug, and took a quick swig before setting it down on his desk. "Thank you James."

"You're welcome, magus."

The visitor raised a brow at the scholar, seemingly a bit offput by their... exceeding professionalism. She brushed it off after a moment. "... well, it was good talkin' to you, Caecus." She said, standing up from her seat. "But we gotta get goin'. You uh. Have a fun time with the balls."

The magus snickered at her wording. "I'm sure I will. Thank you again, and stay safe!"

"Will do!"

The duo stepped back out into the hall, brushing past a few historians, and walked back to the outdoor flight of stairs, looking back over the cobblestone streets, wood and marble construction, and crowds of scholars. Not a really a place either of felt at home. But just outside the gates was the wilderness of the great forests, filled with monsters and animals and hunting lodges and little farm-places. They both felt at home there. And, to be honest, they couldn't wait to get back to it. Big cities just didn't mesh well with them.

#Valerie Writes #Scintillam #Leona #Artemis #Caecus #another chapter in the bag... yell heah #gonna have to update the masterpost asdfkjn-#i'll worry about that later-#for now #this :V #i hope y'all like it ^^

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