Colette's Recount

"...okay. I'll tell you..."

With those words, Colette began recounting her tale.

Not that long ago, some of the nuns from the church had shown up where she lived. They claimed that somebody wanted to speak to her and invited her to the church. She hoped they might have changed their mind and decided to reinstate her as an apprentice.

When she got to the church, however, she wasn't sent to speak with the high nun, but to a private room.

Opening her eyes, she found herself in a void of darkness, with a single, shining figure before her. A woman in the nude, her body barely covered up by vines. A woman whom she calls Gaia.

"My child," she had said, "You have led a traitor upon the holy ground. Now, he has committed a most heinous theft, for which you are responsible."

When she spoke of "Gaia," her voice was filled with both awe and fear.

"The boy has stolen one of our most holy artifacts," she told the girl, "It must be returned onto us."

The girl was promised, as reward for her aide and penitence, the return of her healing blessing. This would allow her to join the nuns in apprenticeship once more.

"Do you know where the ship was going?" I ask the girl.

"G-Gaia wanted us to return the sword," she replied.

"Bring it back to where?"

"We... we were supposed to go to a priest. We don't have one here."

"I don't really know how it works," she continued, "b-but the other nuns seemed to think that they needed a priest to return it to Gaia."

"I'm s-sorry," the girl bemoaned to me, "I led them to your rooms. I-I didn't know they would try to hurt you," she trembled.

As she recounts her story, I begin to get the sense that she doesn't actually hold much reverence for the gods. Even thinking back to when she first contacted me, she appeared almost distressed. Not to mention, she told me herself that she falls asleep during prayer. Her actions aren't really those of a nun.

"Why do you want to rejoin the church?" I ask.

"It-it's my home."

"I don't understand. Don't you live with your parents?"

She shakes her head.

"Orphan," Vol whispered to me, "Common in the church."

Hm. I don't have time to take care of a kid with no social skills, but I'm reluctant to let her go back to the church. While thinking of the best course of action, it feels like I can hear Vol's brain churning behind me.

I look back to see him scribbling on a piece of paper, doing his best not to get it wet.

He walks forwards, bending down the girl's level, "Here, take this."

In the warm glow of his fire, he comes off almost fatherly. I find myself wondering if he ever had any children. I see the girl's face light up as she reads the note.

I could definitely see Vol as a parent.

The following morning, the town is filled with talk of the shipwreck halfway up the street and the collapsed buildings near the docks. It didn't take long before the elven council was at our door. I guess we can't sneak anything by those guys.

Vol managed to ward them off by spinning the incident as an example of the changes we've been making to the manacaster. Of course, the manacaster has exactly the same power; We just never tested the tidal spell before, so they have nothing to compare it with.

Vol said they sounded pretty impressed, though.

If nothing else, I can at least say that they're still supportive of the project, which isn't something I would particularly care about if it wasn't because they also funded all this stuff. So we have more money now.

Once things had begun to settle down, I asked Vol about the paper he gave to the young girl. He was in the middle of cleaning my splintered bedroom.

"Oh, that," he said, "It's a letter of recommendation. She should be able to enter Rosewood with it."

"Isn't Rosewood still being rebuilt?"

"Exactly, Seb. They need all the help they can get."

Churches aren't prominent in Rosewood and you can't enter without permission, so it should be safer for her there. I know the elves pay those who help rebuild. Maybe she'll be able to stand on her own two feet one day.

Vol stood up, heaving a turned-over table onto its legs.

"Shawl, can I talk to you?" Elizabeth said, entering the room and startling me. She doesn't usually use my real name.

"Uh, sure, what is it?"

"I've been having some strange dreams lately.

I get the feeling you need to know about them."