Enchanting (Shadow)

[MKR]

The spirit path, a place warm yet cold to the skin. Still yet in motion, it felt like mere moments passed inside as a kaleidoscope of golden hues passed by Ryan, Zector and their guide. There was no air here, but no choking feeling came. It was a moment of stasis, each party left only with their thoughts for the short span of time spent inside the spirit path.

---

November 24rd, 2880
The Hidden Village of Eryn, Ireland
04:12 AM

A place unreachable by those not in tune with the mystical, warded, protected, in a sense it was a relic from before humanity fled from the to be barren rock but it was a relic even then. The woods outside seemed to stretch on for eternity and further. One could only imagine how it had to look from the other end. But now, as Zector appeared in an open plain shrouded by the canopy of trees in an almost mystical darkness ebbing between night and dawn the only protection it seemed that kept the village behind it safe was a small wooden gate with no fence. What lay behind looked barren, abandoned even in an almost derelict state.

"Here we are." Davina spoke, "The home of the Hexen clan, the village of Eryn. Well done Ryan, you've successfully completed part one of your Divine Knight training." She stepped forward, putting her palm forward. A wall of light erupted forth, the true protection of the Hexen made clear to see for moments as a giant, elaborate construction of magics that rose far above the trees out of sight. After a short while the barrier vanished from sight once more, however as it did so the ruins regained life. Structure and movement were now within. Women of all ages moving around within, a few having caught on the happenings just outside.
"The barrier will now let you pass, I'll go and inform grandmother so I'll be back shortly. Until then I suggest you look around some and speak with the others. Just remember be respectful to grandmother and be honest with yourself to her."

She passed in through the gate, heading to the biggest building as she temporarily left Ryan behind to deal with the women now collecting inside the village, looking from Zector to him with their red eyes.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

Ryan would come to his senses as they shortly arrived at the village. After watching Davina leave, he snapped out from staring and went to check his body, making sure no digits were severed. Thankfully he was fine, he sighed with relief. “So that’s what teleporting feels like… that felt unreal. Guess I should prepared myself when she warned me.” He would lower his arms to his sides as he put his glasses on to more clearly look around. He did not really have a problem with his sight, but it was more that he preferred the look they provided him. As he put them on, he looked forward with more concentration to see… a village full of women.

Ryan’s eyes would widen at the sight. Well… that’s a big social minefield he was walking into. First off he knew nothing about what these people were like, if they were like Amazons, or if they were quite sensitive to those who offended their culture. Second of all… well…

They almost all looked beautiful, especially with their red eyes… wait… they all had red eyes? Were they all clones or possessed of a special power? Well, he certain didn’t want to find out by accidentally bothering someone. So he just decided to take a deep breath. “Ok… you can do this… just probably look around the front area… yeah that’ll be fine. Yeah that’s good, great.”

After having taken a bit of time to compose himself, Ryan began to walk forward and into the village, being careful and slightly defensive in his stride. His stomach rumbled slightly. “Oh of all the damn times I could go hungry…”, he suddenly blurted out as he began looking around for anything to eat.

”We just had to leave the expensive Arm Slave out in the snow. Where the hell am I even gonna sell that thing to get some money?”

 

[MKR]

Murmurs came from the group, the word Awakener being heard spoken between the women as Ryan entered the village, possibly the first outsider in over a hundred years if not more to do so. They seemed to keep their distance for now, choosing to watch in contemplative murmuring.
That was quickly halted by the rumbling of the stomach, an elderly lady stepped out from the crowd behind her.

"Oh come now its not like a machine is going to freeze to death." She answered "You however, could starve to it. The rest can wait for a bit." The old lady gestured towards a building, "Things like money can wait, you are a guest? No? Then we will take care of that as is our duty."

She would begin moving over there, the collected crowd beginning to disperse bar a select few. A large woman remaining behind to look at Zector from the position while another pair followed behind, Davina remained nowhere to be seen however.
"Now then, I'm Aoife and who are you, aside from the Palatinate Awakener that is."

The building she was heading towards was a tavern it seemed, one sparsely in use but well maintained. At least, its exterior holding a sign outside declaring "Rosa Abscondita", likely to be the name of the place itself if nothing else.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

Ryan would look up at the elderly woman who approached him. She seemed oddly out of place but still a welcome sight nonetheless. He immediately assumed that this was the grandmother that Davina mentioned.

”Well… technically it can because I won’t be able to start the thing and I’m gonna need the money sooner or later since I’m broke like a joke. And it’s nice to meet you, Miss Aoife. I’m Ryan, Ryan Kessler.” He thought the name sounded slightly familiar from… some mythology. But he couldn’t exactly place where it came from, probably another thing he could ask. Great! More conversation topics!

Ryan would take a look around a bit, still no sign of Davina who said she would be joining him and her grandma. But he supposed she was running late on some other errand. To that end, Ryan decided to ask Aoife a question. “Is Davina going to be joining us?”

 

[MKR]

The tavern was calm, another woman, red eyes as per usual, standing behind the counter. Gazing up as Aoife and Ryan entered with a contemplative look on her features. One that moved to relaxed again shortly after as she continued cleaning at first "Fedelma." the old lady spoke up "Be a dear and prepare something to eat for our guest."

A simple nod followed from the woman, rag left where it was as she moved through a door to the back.
"I don't get it, the outside's obsession with money. It was a thing when I was your age and even now it seems the first thought everyone has is about money." She chuckled to herself "And before you worry, you needn't pay for the meal. We've no need of the mira, credits or whatever currency you have. So for as long as you are among us here you needn't concern yourself with the materialistic trite." She took a seat by one of the tables, gesturing him to do the same as she did so. It took a while given her age but at the end the old lady sat on a simple wooden chair.

"As for Davina, well I figure she'll be here once she's spoken with grandmother. An Awakener arriving is a special day after all, and something she'll attend to herself in due time. Until then you'll just have to do with little old me. Speaking of, if you have any questions before they arrive now would be an excellent time to ask them as we wait for your meal."

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

Ryan would look around the tavern with some manner of awe, it’s not everyday you manage to see something quite as old school as this. It was quite brilliant in its own way. As Aoife offered him to sit, he did so, making sure to carefully pull the chair out from under the table as to not create too much of a commotion before taking a seat. “Well… it’s more that I need it to survive. I don’t exactly need money because I’m greedy. It’s just that it’s… Ahh how do I explain Fiat money?“ Ryan would rub his temples slightly before coming to answer his own question. “It’s just something I need to barter in order to get people to perform jobs I can’t do myself because of a lack of skill. I guess that’s how I can put it.”

Ryan would raise his eyebrows suddenly however at the mention of this “grandmother” again. Was there someone older than Aoife? “Wait… so you’re not the grandmother? If not then… who is it?” He would think a bit more before thinking of what more to ask. “So your name Aoife, it wouldn’t happen to be the same as Scathach’s sister, right? From a story from Irish myth?” He said as he finally remembered where the name came from, the legend of Cu Chulainn. “As for other questions… uh…” Ok this was getting awkward really fast so he decided to ask what he hoped wouldn’t be a very sensitive question. “I hope this doesn’t come across a offensive but why does everyone here have red eyes? Is it some form of power or something inherited from the parents?”

 

[MKR]

"A self perpetuating cycle of sorts then, coveting money only because others desire it." She chuckled at the notion "I know about bribes and barters, and of course about wages. Its just that one would imagine the end of the world to have put a halt to that, but no." She placed her hands over one another as she sat, seemingly very amused by Ryan's reasons for desiring wealth. "Just because we absconded with it for ourselves doesn't mean we aren't aware of it, and yes indeed have it for dealings with the outside world."

"I'm flattered you'd think of me as the grandmother here, but she is leagues beyond me. I don't suppose the name Crimson Roselia means anything to you, because that is who Grandmother is. As for my name, its just a name. I'm no legendary hero of yore. But yes, that is who my name comes from." She shook her head a bit, sure she was old but not that old. Still the imaginings of youth were quite entertaining.

His last question caused her to pause for a moment, it wasn't unexpected at all but the best way to explain it was something to consider.
"Hmmm, I suppose you could say both. All of us here, we possess powers granted to us by grandmother. Its what tinges our eyes red, but it isn't my place to explain it. Though it is fair to say, none of us were born with this power except her." At that point the door in the back opened again, a plate with a mix of meat, potatoes and an assortment of vegetables brought to bear. All of which genuine and the quantity of which made it seem like a king's meal.

"Here, eat up." Fedelma spoke up "If you need anything else just give a shout."

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

“The end of the world?” That particular detail seemed a bit… odd, even for a place filled with magic. “Wouldn’t that be the time before they tried to colonize Mars? That is what you’re referring to, right?” That topic was quite interesting to say the least. Might as well learn what that time way like, after all all he’s heard about that time is from just historical accounts. History is written by the victor and all that, might be nice to get a third-person perspective to it all.

As for the topic of “grandmother“ and who it was… “Crimson Roselia… well it doesn’t mean anything to me at the moment. But at least now I have an idea of who I’ll be talking with later.“ He said optimistically, this was going better than expected. Then came the discussion about the red eyes. “So it’s a gifted trait from Roselia... I see.” There we’re some other thoughts he had such as some of the people here not originally being from the village but he decided to keep those thoughts to himself.

“You don’t mind if I ask what kind of pow-“ Ryan’s stomach would rumble again, this time a bit more loudly with a deeper rumble to accompany it, almost like the bass one would usually feel from speakers in a cinema. “Agh… not again.” Soon his eyes would light up at the sight of the meal placed in front of him. His mouth slightly agape as he admired the food. “Wow, that’s quite a lot. Uhh… thanks. I guess I’ll dig in. You probably have some questions for me too, why not ask?” He said as he grabbed some utensils off the table and began to eat, taking a slice out from a simple yet elegant beef steak. He took a bite and was instantly delighted, an audible hum of content came from him as he chewed on the piece of juicy meat.

 

[MKR]

Aoife leaned back in her chair, digging through her memory as mention of Mars came about. The continued topic of grandmother also persisted causing a nod from the old lady, there was seemingly no blame for not knowing the name. Rather such was the expectation. "I indeed am talking about that time, when the world went up in flames and the bluebloods made their first attempt. How could you call that exodus anything but the end of the world. But I was a young lass back then, it was at a time Roselia had not yet taken that name."

"But there were no victors back then, only survivors. People often like to declare themselves victors in retrospect but simply getting away is not victory, even when the foe stops being able to attack. Even we, who got away relatively unscathed were no victors." She spoke as he ate, there was some hidden contempt in her voice towards the end. Perhaps the conflict had some lingering frustration for this old lady who claimed to have seen it happen. "That was when she abandoned her old title and returned to lead us. It took some time for her to recover from those days, but it brought us to where we are today."

"As for questions, well, if you don't mind I would hear your story. I know how the Divine Knights decide their Awakeners but what lead you to that point. The highs and the lows." The old lady simply said.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

Ryan would take a sip from a mug before realizing what her seeing the “end of the world” meant. “Wait a minute… doesn’t that mean you’re over 300 years old!?” His face was full of shock, just how old would Roselia be? “Medical science can’t even do that… that’s… wow. That’s amazing.“ He would out a mouthful of mashed potatoes. He seemed to recognize the dish now, some variation of Surf n’ Turf. It seemed to have a bit more vegetable sides however. And it seemed to go along with the steak, there was some sort of grilled fish fillet. He took a moment to savor the taste of the food before continuing to listen. It really sounded like he was getting a first hand account of what it was like. But what exactly did she mean by Roselia abandoning her old title to return here? That must have been a sensitive topic so he decided to avoid going down that rabbit hole especially before the woman herself gets here.

”I see… well guess it’s my turn then.” He took a bit out from the fish fillet and was quite satisfied with it. Not bad, not bad at all. “I was born in Britannia’s Area 8, but it used to be called Canada so I personally like to keep calling it that. I didn’t have any parents, grew up alone for a while until a mercenary took me in, think of him like your Jaegers.“ He would pause for a moment to choose his next words carefully, whilst taking some greens and eating them.

“He was the only father I ever had… and I used to stand by him all the time. But… things change.” He would place down his utensils for a moment to speak more clearly. “Thought I could be a hero by doing what he did, so I followed him. But contract after contract, I saw what he was and what we did. Did some bureaucrat’s dirty work, taking out innocent lives all for “the good of Britannia.” It was just… terrible, absolutely terrible. We stained our hands with blood, all so that some pompous asshole gets to walk all over the corpses of those they consider to be inferior.“ As Ryan went on, his tone was starting to become a bit more antagonistic. “This wasn’t the fucking slave trade era, yet they’re still acting like it. And when all was said and done, they had my father try to shut me up, permanently!“ His voice almost bordered on shouting, it was clear he couldn’t control his emotions very well when talking about this topic. But he would soon calm down, taking a deep breath before picking up the utensils again to eat.

”In the end, I killed him. At least… I think I did. But that’s the past. After that I set myself up to freelance in the Eorzean Frontier, probably deal with some of Garlemald’s Magitek by using Earth’s own Mobile Weapons against them. Then I landed the job with Davina and the rest is history. What I do now, I do so that no man, woman, or child ever has to pay for something they never had a say in.“ He would then take a bite of steak and mashed potatoes once again.

 

[MKR]

"I'm a healthy three hundred and fifty three years old." Aoife commented with a sense of pride, falling silent as Ryan began explaining his story, listening with care to it as he did so. She remained silent throughout the entire tale, even as the man who to someone of such age must seem like a boy at most lost his temper she calmly listened, her features not budging as she heard every word, from calm to heartbroken to wrathful.

As he shouted, her reaction turned to a mild frown for a moment before returning to calm in the moment after. There was a lot to be taken in here that much was evident but she hadn't expected the outburst for better or worse. At the end of the story her eyes wandered to the side, a gentle breeze flowing through the building as she did so. Inside the door stood two women, one Ryan knew by this point as Davina stepped inside. With her however was a woman who could not have looked older then her mid twenties, a flower decorating her hair as red eyes pierced the room.
"So you are the boy who defeated Dierdre's phantom." The new girl spoke.

Her eyes turned to the old lady, sitting calmly by.
"You are dismissed Aoife. You, Awakener right arm forward." She motioned to the arm with a staff, "We will conduct a simple test. Davina said she saw you bleed but I will not suffer a blueblood in this village." In the meanwhile Aoife headed outside in a calm pace.

The young woman stepped forwards, Davina waiting in silence by the door.
"You may open them yourself or I will do it for you." With her other hand she took a small dagger, holding it upwards and presenting the end to the man where he could take it. Whether he did so or not the girl continued.

"In the meanwhile, welcome Awakener of the Palatinate Knight to the village of Eryn. I am leader of the Hexen clan, Crimson Roselia. Davina has informed me of your plight and I believe I heard it through the walls as well. I will not beat around the bush, I would hear from you why of all the Awakeners we would lend you aid. As the attendants and servants of the Great one, Divine Knights and their Awakeners. Why is it you that we should acknowledge above the others."
Her gaze bore down on him, unrelenting. It was as if she stared straight through him and into the wall behind.

No longer was he dealing with a sweet old lady, this was the leader of a clan.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

Ryan would be slightly surprised at the sudden arrival of Davina and her grandmother, Roselia. She certainly looked… quite young for someone most likely older than Aoife. He supposed it was some kind of magic and decided not to comment on that. He would stand up and would bow slightly with his head and was then suddenly confused by the initial proposition. “Cut my arm to see if I’m a blueblood? I… ok?”

He didn’t know if these people regularly dealt with shape shifters or body snatchers so he just decided to go through with it and humor them. He slowly took the knife, holding it in a reverse grip with his left arm before pulling up the sleeve on his right arm up until his bicep area. He was a bit more confident especially with Davina’s healing on hand, and presumably healing from others as well. “Alright, here goes.” He took a deep breath before using the knife to scratch the side of his bicep, a thin line drawn from the cut made, followed by the leaking of red through the seam. He would silently let out a groan to lessen the pain in his mind while turning towards Roselia to show the wound. He would then hand the knife back to Roselia, the blade pointing downwards with some section of the handle available for her to grasp. “There, is that enough for you?”

Presumably after the dagger would be taken back by Roselia, Ryan would decide how to answer Roselia’s question, all the while taking deep breaths in an attempt to ignore the pain. “Well, thank you for having me here. And to answer your question, why I should be given support, for one I am not that familiar with Erebonia as a whole and would need guidance in that regard. Second, I have taken… notice let us say, to the fact that some of you have already seen what a world ending looks like. Warmongers and other political rivals clawing at each other for resources scarce as they are, no one got anywhere by keeping their cards close to their chest. And even in this time of relative stability, the world is controlled by similarly selfish leaders, be it the League’s corporate space conglomerate or Britannia’s oligarchy. So to that end, I would look to people like you for support, not only to help me on my journey as an Awakener but to hopefully… someday bring change to Earth.”

Ryan would pause there for a moment to let Roselia to receive his answer. “With the power that has been offered and granted to me, I believe in that possibility, in that future.”

 

[MKR]

The pair calmly watched as Ryan opened his own arm, when red blood came dripping forth an almost invisible shift took place on Roselia's features. While her features shifted very little her gaze itself would lighten, she took the bloody knife back before holding her staff slightly forward and without as much as a word from her magics similar to what Davina had cast upon him prior would knit the wound back together, preventing any further blood loss from the man. At the end, aside from the blood on him and the knife it was as if it never happened.

She listened to him speak, Davina stepping up behind her and opening her hands. Roselia placed the knife in them without looking away from Ryan the other girl then took it and began cleaning it with a piece of cloth. "If you say it like that, it won't come to pass." Roselia answered at last "Hopefully and someday." She scoffed slightly at the notion of these two. "If you would have that future you need to be certain of it, if you would have us at your side for your future how could I have faith in it if you yourself hide behind words that permit failure." She shook her head slightly, "What proof do you have that you will do what is required to make that dream reality?"

Roselia stepped to the side, her eyes falling off Ryan as she did so.
"I've dealt with their likes before, business men and rulers, at the eve of the end of the world. They would do anything to hold onto the power they have, so if you wish to change the world how will you defeat men like that, let alone your fellow awakeners?" She slammed her staff on the ground with a loud thud, gazing at Ryan once more as she did so. "How will you garner support from those like me. Tell me."
At this point Davina, still cleaning the knife, would look at Ryan directly. It wasn't clear what she was thinking. Whether or not she wanted to know the answer for herself, or perhaps hope for what he would say or not say.

One thing seemed certain however, were he to want Roselia's favor this was an important juncture.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

Ryan would look down and sigh silently to himself. He doesn’t have the skill or even the ability to back up what he wants to do. So he just decided to be honest with himself for once. “I don’t have what it takes to achieve my goals, not yet. Right now, I’m just a guy from hell knows where, probably just trying to make a living off some scraps. All I was given were simply just the tools to be a fighter, and I have yet to master any of them. But that is who I am now, and people can change, I can change. I can become better.”

He would look up again, a more determined look on his face as he looked directly at Roselia. “If I have already achieved the feat of becoming an Awakener, then you would know what kind of potential I have. There’s a lot of room to grow as Davina herself said, and I whole believe in that. Find new ways to be a leader, find a new way to fight up close, find new angles with which to approach any situation. Ever since I left my old life behind, that has been my belief, that anything can change for better or for worse, no matter how stubborn and thick they may be.“

“And to answer you on how I will garner your support, I will not stand around just talking here. If you need MY support for anything, acquiring food, running a job or anything else, I will carry it out. After all, it’s only be helping each other like this that we can both benefit. A win-win situation to put it simply.” Ryan would walk forward a little. “But if that still is not enough for you at the moment, and you turn me away. I’ll come back, when I’m better, stronger, and worthy of being your allies.” Ryan would then glance over at Davina for a moment with a his lips slightly curving upwards before looking back to Roselia. “I never deserved to be helped by amazing people like you, but I will still make sure that you see it that way in the end.”

And with that, Ryan would take a step back before sighing with self content. “So, will you accept me?”

 

[MKR]

Roselia listened to Ryan speak, almost as still as a statue while he made his bid for cooperation. Her reaction to it uncertain, behind her Davina looked towards Grandmother more than towards the Awakener as if assessing her reaction herself until at the end of the declaration the blonde simply shook her head.
"In return for our help upsetting the existing world order, you would perform... Menial labour?" She paused, "You are correct, Awakeners have potential you could grow into a man capable of winning the Rivalries or even toppling nations."

"So know that I am not judging you for what you are, rather what you offer to do and to be." She moved towards him, "But degrading yourself to working a garden isn't going to be enough to uproot a corporation and flattery isn't going to cause the collapse of royalty." She turned towards the exit, beginning to take steps away. "You may become better, infinitely so, but if you offer someone nothing of meaning to them you will still stand alone. Rest assured, you are an awakener still and as such I will not have you leave empty handed. A weapon at the very least. But your proposition, if you will never change that tune you will never be worthy."

Her gaze returned to him momentarily as she stood by the door.
"The men you fight will burn nations for their sake, and should you fight them you hands will be stained red before the first shot is ever fired. Their blood and those who pledge to you their allegiance. Even with the power of the Great One at your beck and call, they will die, bleed and cry for their loved ones. A word of advice, those like me. We've seen enough of you pass by to know how your story ends."

"You attempt your heroics, you fail, and maybe you get a page in the history books for your failed insurrection. Because you had to be better than them." She chuckled "But can you be worse." Her gaze returned to him momentarily. The chuckle fading into naught as her gaze bore down upon him.
"I'll offer you a simple question, if you answer no you needn't ever return to offer your sales pitch to me ever again. But do not think of answering yes purely to please me, I will know."

The question hung in the air, Davina's gaze turning to Ryan.

"Are you willing to forfeit everything you are for this goal of yours?"

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

Ryan would close his eyes solemnly as he listened to the barrage of words given out by Roselia. Well, it was true, he didn’t have anything to truly offer anyone. Nothing but his mercenary services. He didn’t have anything better to offer or say, made even harder by the fact that he doesn’t have any other knowledge on the Hexen Clan besides their duty to aid the Awakeners. But when Ryan was posed with a final question, all he could do was silently shake his head in defeat.

Ryan would contemplate on this slightly. Losing everything, even his life to fulfill a goal? That shouldn’t be a possibility he should think of. He would then speak up after a short amount of silence. “If I forfeited everything for my goal, even my own life, who would maintain that goal I seek? No one, it would all be gone as you said.”

 

[MKR]

"Then we are done here. You may enjoy the hospitality of the rest of the Hexen, but after you have a weapon to your specifications for Zector you are to leave and not return. I wish you luck with the Rivalries, Awakener." She turned to Davina with a stare, took the now cleaned dagger back and then left through the door. The sound of wood closing echoed through the room, silence falling afterwards. It was almost as oppressive in its presence as the woman who had left it behind, even worse was the utter lack of surprise in her tone when Roselia spoke up just prior.

For her part, the woman that had brought him here sighed. Breaking the silence with something arguably worse. In a sense she looked disappointed in him, "Siobhán, our smith, is looking at Zector currently, once you've finished your meal you'll find her by the entrance to the village." She opened the door again, the cloth stained with his blood waving in the gentle wind of the twilit village just outside "I'm going to get some fresh air."

And with that, he was essentially left alone. The woman behind the counter remained as quiet as before. Neither acknowledging nor denying his presence. The remainder of his meal sat there in silence.

 

[ShadowVigilante1]

Ryan would stand there, not knowing what to do. Soon he would open his eyes. He simply watched as both women walked out the door. That was his one shot to get some help from… someone. Now he didn’t know what to do, all the other connections he had were purely transactional. Now he was alone, again.

”Well then…” His mood would immediately swing, possibly him trying to distract himself from that failure of a conversation. He would pull out a smartphone and would begin to scroll through some data folders kept on it, he would then select a folder that simply read “Dad” which would then contain two more separate folders “Together” and “Intel”. Inside the Intel folder, Ryan would look up a file detailing the movement of goods throughout the Earth sphere, it seemed to be that of multiple black market merchants. They all seemed to have one similar stop over, Spain. All seemed to have sold their goods to the local warlords. And it just so happened that there was a hit on multiple warlords active at the moment.

“It seems like my hunt will have to continue for now…” He would push up his glasses, causing them to reflect the light coming from outside the tavern windows. A slightly smug expression would soon find its way onto Ryan’s face.

”Heh… I might be a piece of shit with nothing to my name, but I never leave a job unfinished.”​