Nascent Goddess Quest

Winning votes:
[w] Let him put it out of its misery

---

You look away as Tobias brings down the blade and delivers the final blow. As the pathetic screech that resulted fades, you look back to see Liam staring at him.

"Was that really necessary?" He asks, crossing his arms, wincing, then uncrossing them quickly.

"Did you want it to try to find us later and end up attacking the town?" Tobias retorts, successfully crossing his arms and seeming smug about it.

Liam just sighs. "You have a point," he admits, holding reddened hands up in defeat.

"Now that we're done, can we get the rest of this mission over with?" Jocelyn asks, a hand on her hip.

"Please," you concur with a nod.

Tobias uncrosses his arms and looks at Liam, the latter nods and Tobias nods back. "Let's go," he says.

Back through the tunnel, you find a very annoyed and bored looking Mira, still sitting with her hand clamped over the alchemist's face. It's quite an interesting expression. Upon seeing you all her expression flips completely to one of near-pure joy. You actually take a step back as she almost literally bounces from her sitting position to standing next to you all. Then she leans forward and whispers.

"Please tell me there's a centipede back there we can feed him to." The bright smile on her face as she said it was more than just unnerving.

"Er, no. We still need him to pay us anyway," Jocelyn responded. Mira's face almost immediately returned to its bored scowl.

"We're almost done with him anyway," you try to comfort her.

"Better than nothing," she mumbles. Looking behind her, the alchemist looks calm and somewhat confused. He almost seems to be acting like a normal person, if not for the outfit. Sadly he stops being close to normal again as soon as he realises he's safe as he stands up in a very overly dramatic and grand fashion, before making his way to the tunnel entrance.

"Have you all finished dealing with those pests?" he asks, ignoring all your injuries.

"You mean the centipedes you were hiding from this whole time?" Tobias asks snidely.

"The insects that were too far beneath me to bother applying myself," the alchemist says while sticking his nose up.

"Riiiight."

"I hired you all for this purpose, would you prefer to not be paid?" he retorts with a glare at Tobias.

"Can we just go before more things show up?" Mira interrupts grumpily.

"Oh, of course~!" the alchemist 'sings' at a horribly high pitch before marching down the cave, forcing you all to follow. Liam, in particular, hurries ahead and says something to your employer. You're pretty sure you know what it was as you pass the dead centipede without the alchemist screaming. Thankfully the walk out of the cave is fairly uneventful, with the centipedes apparently actively avoiding you all now. Despite that, you can't really find the desire to look at the cave around you and enjoy the atmosphere.

Once you get out of the cave, however, your employer begins talking about inane things again. How he'll be able to make a great many things with what he gathered, how we performed our jobs mediocrely, how difficult it is to find good adventurers. With hindsight from the walk to the cave, you tune out before he can insult you further and walk close to the back of the group to keep from being questioned about anything.

Once you get back into town he leads you to the guild, where a man in a nice looking suit stands awkwardly with several weapons on his body. It takes until he starts handing them to you for you to realise they're the weapons you were forced to leave behind. As soon as that's finished the alchemist hands you a signed form and they both promptly abandon you all. You all enter the guild and make your way to the bored clerk.

"Confirmation of success?" he asks. What?

You look down at the paper you were given, the words are written on in like a title, with the quest's details and a signature as well. You hand it over to the clerk, who then hands you a fairly large bag of gold, a decent enough paym- Then he pulls out another, and another.

This is...a lot of money. You all blink at the bags for a moment, then look up at the clerk, who nods. You almost don't want to complain like you were planning.

What will you do?
[] Complain about him
[] Don't get on his bad side
[] Ask him for alchemy lessons

Give back the weapons?
[] Yes
[] No

What will you do next?
[] Sleep
[] Shopping spree! (pick up to two)
-[] Weapons
-[] Armour
-[] Food
-[] Magic?
-[] Alchemical items
[] Go wander around

Winning votes:
[w] Don't get on his bad side
[w] Yes
[w] Sleep

---

Yeah, he gave you a ton of money, that makes up for his existence on the mission. You all hand out the money evenly amongst each other and head out of the guild to avoid taking up space.

"Now what do we do?" Jocelyn asks.

"Shopping?" Mira suggests. Jocelyn stares at her in disbelief.

"We already did that, you hated it," she reminds the mage.

"I'm holding out hope we can find something fun to buy, okay?" Mira replies defensively.

"Actually, we should probably return the weapon we were lent and retrieve our own," Liam says.

"Wait, Liam, you want to give these back to that guy?" Mira asks, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Yes?" Liam answers hesitantly.

"Which means going to where he is?"

"Yes?" Liam answers with the same tone. You aren't sure where she's going with this either.

"Which means interacting with him again?" Mira finishes her string of questions with an exasperated tone. You understand what she was getting at now.

Liam rolls his eyes, "Yes, Mira."

"But why can't we just keep this stuff?" she asks.

"He'll probably come by later to pick them up and be angry if we don't," you point out.

Mira hesitates, before relenting, "Fine."

"You can find the inn if you prefer," Liam says.

"Please," Mira says almost immediately. She hands Liam the staff before walking away. A very quiet sigh comes from Liam.

"Does anyone else wish to come with me?" he asks.

"I'll come," Jocelyn says.

"Me too," you agree.

"I'll say to keep an eye on Mira then, we shouldn't leave her alone," reasons Tobias. Liam nods, he hands his own sword to the knight and goes after the irritated mage.

On the walk back to the mansion, you get a pit in your stomach. You start regretting your choice as the building gets ever-closer, but you have to stick with it. You wince slightly as Liam knocks on the door. A few seconds of silence pass and you feel a little better. Then the door opens with an obnoxious "Yeeeesssss?"

Then he notices you all, "Oh, it's you, what is it?" Before realising you were all holding out the weapons he loaned you, "Ah! Yes! Indeed, I must thank you for your willingness to return my property. Allow me to fetch your own weapons."

He turns back indoors.

"Marcel!" he shouts, "get those weapons off the ground and over here!" You pity Marcel.

He turns back to you, "Please wait a moment." He speaks like he wasn't just shouting at the top of his lungs…

Several moments later, footsteps come running. He takes the weapons from each of you and replaces them with the ones you'd given him, one at a time. After long enough that you start feeling antsy, he finally switches Liam's swords around and sends you on your way. He still doesn't thank you.

Mood somewhat ruined, you walk after the others to the inn with your gaze lowered.

"Hey!" you hear Liam shout, causing you to raise your head.

In front of you stands Karl, still looking shabby. Before you can do anything though, he grabs one of your hands, kneels, and kisses it.

"Thank you for your blessings She Who Soars Above," he whispers as he puts a small box in your palm. Then he stands and nods to your companions, "I do apologize for my abrupt appearance, and shall take my leave."

None of you have much time to process what just happened before he's vanished from sight. How? What? You're surprised you're still gripping the box.

"Are you alright Eshani?" Liam asks.

"Yeah, who was he?" queries Jocelyn.

"I'm fine, I think. He was the guy Tobias told you about, with the blessings," you answer their questions in turn.

"Let's...head to the inn before anything else happens," Liam says, before heading off at a faster pace. Jocelyn follows soon after, and you a few seconds later.

"Uh, do we have to tell Mira and Tobias?" you ask as you walk.

"I suppose not," Liam answers. You swear he sounds the slightest bit relieved.

When you arrive, Tobias greets you all, followed by Mira coming out somewhat sulkily.

"Uh, sorry about...before," she says hesitantly.

"It's no issue," Liam replies, before handing her and Tobias their weapons back. Tobias seems happy, but Mira just stares at her dagger disappointedly.

"Yup, back to this," she mutters. "We really should buy some new stuff though."

"I'm not sure these guys have adventuring shops," Jocelyn says, "I was looking around while we walked, nothing."

"We'll have to move on then," you now non-grumpy mage says.

"But we need to wait for-" Tobias begins, only to be interrupted by Mira.

"Wait for your friend, yeah. After that though."

"Fine," Tobias agrees.

Noticing Mira's grumpiness returning, Jocelyn opts to change the subject, "Why don't we go inside, eat, and go to bed before we get caught in another storm like last night?"

A round of agreement later, and you're eating some very nice food. Well, it's not as nice as what you got last night, but it's better than what you got at the other village's inn or on the airship. The perks of being in a cooking village. Sadly, it's all over too quickly as you barely got to taste it really. Looks like adventuring got you hungry.

After eating, you go up to your room and practically fall into bed immediately (okay, you got up, put down Karl's box for tomorrow, and got changed afterwards, but still). Your vision of black gives way yet again to one of purple and yellow. Unlike before, the yellow is more pronounced, hardly dominant, but closer to that than before.

The purple figure you've grown accustomed to seeing sits at a table and looks at you with her arms crossed. Her finger tapping against her arms tips you off to her being irked. She stands as you approach.

"I wasn't gonna complain about the yellow before, but look at this!" she shouts and she throws an arm out to one of the streaks, "Look at how bright it is. You're gonna ruin everything like this!"

"Everything?" you ask.

She sighs, "Nevermind." Then she leans forward playfully, "Saaayyyy, wanna do me a favour?"

"What is it?" you ask.

"I'll tell you if you say yes, you'll be happy with the ambition points it gives," she says in a singsong tone.

[] Agree to do the favour
[] Say no to doing the favour

Winning votes:
[w] Say no to doing the favour

---

"Hmph," The figure crosses her arms, "well, you clearly don't want ambition points. Soooo..."

She lifts a hand, spins her index finger a few times, before pointing downward. You recoil as a small glowing orb leaps from your body to the tip of her finger.

"...You won't be needing all these ambition points you have," she finished her sentence before laughing. She flips her hand and crushes the orb in her fist with one fluid motion. As soon as she does, as small wave pulses through the landscape, and you could swear the yellow streaks become the slightest bit thinner.

[11 Ambition Points Lost!]

"Hey! What-" you try to yell at her.

"Hush!" she interrupts, "I'll be giving you one piece of advice before any good mood I have fades, so you'd better follow it: Don't trust the holy ones."

"Wha-" You try to ask again.

"Now get out," She interrupts again, voice cold as ice. And the purple-yellow gives way to black.

oOo

You stir in your bed, sitting up and rubbing your eyes. That went poorly. But at the same time you don't want to start agreeing to deals that you don't know about. Well, hopefully she'll be less moody next time you meet her; maybe getting more ambition points would help with that.

Letting out a yawn, you blink a few times to refocus your eyes. It doesn't seem to be too bright outside, looks like you managed to wake up early today. Then your gaze falls on the box Karl had given you. What could be inside it? Well, you won't find out by staring.

Reaching over and grabbing it, you bring it up to your each and shake gently. Something definitely bumps against the walls of the tiny box. On account of nothing growling at you, you decide to open in. Inside is...not what you were expecting. You aren't sure what you were expecting, but you're pretty sure it wasn't a slightly oversized blueberry.

Under the fruit(?) is a little note.

Note said:

Greetings She Who Soars Above,

I must admit to my great honour at being in the presence of such an important deity as yourself. Your blessing has given me great success in my efforts, and I thought it fit to bestow upon you a gift worthy of a goddess. In perfect honesty, this was likewise a ploy of my own selfishness to be in your presence once more.

Alongside this note is a berry, rumoured to be a delicacy of the gods, a fruit that can enhance one's divinity. Eat half the berry says the rumour. For they who eat the full thing, well, you surely know the saying about Ambition.

I hope this is a well appreciated gift, worthy of you.

-Karl, the Kleric

Click to expand...

Click to shrink...

A divine berry? You don't actually know the saying about ambition. Tobias taught you a few, but they were pretty vague, or some went and said good things while other said bad. You don't know which is the saying.

While you contemplate the berry, a knock comes from the door. You stow it back in its box, which in turn is hidden under bedsheets. You're not sure what brought about your sudden protectiveness, but it just feels right.

"Yes?" you call out.

"Eshani, hurry up and get up," Tobias' exited voice comes through the door, "Lars came through early!"

Wait, who was Lars? ...Oh yeah, Tobias' friend who was getting clerics to help check you goddess...ness...hood, hood. In a short time you've gotten dressed in your blue robes again, and gone down to eat breakfast, box kept in a pocket. It somehow seems to taste better than what you got last night. Maybe they're just better at making breakfast, or the alchemist ruined your taste too. You kinda want to go with the second one, implausible as it may be, then you remember that you got money. Putting him out of your mind however, you decide to ask Tobias about Karl's kryptic, er, cryptic note. How do you even think words with a k? Regardless.

"Tobias, is there any big important saying about ambitions?" you ask.

"Hmm? Not quite. There are several that people should know, that I've already taught you. It feels like so long ago..." he murmurs. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," you reply slightly too quickly. Thankfully he seems to let it slide, or just doesn't notice.

You look over and see Mira chatting with Jocelyn, you didn't really notice how they'd become friendlier. Well, fighting together to avoid death brings people closer it seems, or shopping. Liam seems somewhat out of his depth, and is struggling to follow the pair. He gives you and Tobias a thankful look as you stand up. The five of you follow Tobias back to the temple, where Lars greets you.

"Hello, I see you've brought your other friends." he greets you.

"A good day to you, Lars," Tobias returns the greeting, "I'm surprised at how quickly the capital's cleric showed up."

"Indeed, her speed surprised me too. Though, considering it's about a divine being, her haste does make sense."

"So what's gonna happen here?" Mira interrupts the reunion. Lars' face switches to a glare for the briefest moment, before returning to normal.

"The high priestess will simply be checking your friend here for the nature of her divinity," Lars explains as he gestures to you.

"Wait, the high priestess?" Liam and Tobias both say together with wide eyes.

"What's so special about her?" Mira asks.

"She's one of the tops of the tops," Jocelyn explains, slightly breathlessly, "Which means..."

Liam, Mira and Jocelyn's mouths open as they stare at you in realisation. Then Mira grabs the other two by the wrists.

"Please excuse us for a moment," she says before briskly walking away and around a corner, dragging Liam and Jocelyn with her.

"Um, what was that about?" you ask.

"I'd suspect they didn't know you were actually divine," Lars says.

"Oh," is all you manage. That's a good point, they didn't really believe it. And now with a high priestess involved...

"They should be fine once they get over the shock, now, back to the matter at hand," Lars drops down next to your ear and whispers the next part, "the high priestess is a touch fanatical, she might force you into some actions when she confirms your divinity. It's why I was trying to get someone a little less powerful than her. Just remember you can say no to all this.

"What are you whispering to the poor girl, Lars?" a smooth, almost regal voice asks.

A tall woman, dressed in robes of pure white strides out of the temple. Lars shoots up away from you almost immediately.

"Nothing important ma'am," he answers.

"Very well. I bid you both greetings, I am high priestess Sophia." Tobias breathes in sharply at her announcement. "Shall we begin the procedure? It should not take long."

She apparently notices the hesitation on your face, a result of your dream-person and Lars' words.

"You only need trust me," she replies soothingly, "I would never harm an innocent."

What will you do with the high priestess' offer?
[] Trust her
[] Listen to the dream-lady, don't trust her

What will you do with the fruit?
[] Eat it
-[] Half
-[] All
[] Decide later
[] Don't eat it