32 Pricing One’s Will

"My apologies for the commotion I had made. I truly am sorry!"

Swaying that silver hue of long hair was, went along with the sudden motion of deep... a deeper shifting of her body downward, letting the shifting facial of hers facing her own reflection on the ivory floor projected from the feeble shade of dusk lighting. A faint reflection she could perceive, a reflection of supposedly-nonexistent sentience upon the illusive masses of opinions as something dear to them. Had seemingly became the sole reason for this apology gesture, so did her expression interconnecting with that faint mirroring of a disquieted mixed-race of humans and long-lost elves.

Neglected the amour propre of her own previous effort as if it was unseeable behind the thick layer of lament - hence the drooling maw... the gaping mouth letting out such a pitiful tone for those sitting at a white round table once a bit more concealed space with a high shelter above, devoid of the external shell as cynical observer but the inner circle where she craved to pour all of her remorse by assured choice and chore alike.

With friends like these however, disowning such a sincerity proposal became a customary struggle in the inner circle - bereft of seriousness albeit the contrary... didn't define their disregard of hers however, for they too, heeded the empathy at their own pace. The compassion they expressed beneath the crystal-clear ceiling, painting the ardor of adore on each of their facial uniqueness with the hue of cloudy dusk... showing quite a startled impression on their faces upon the sudden utterance, once inside a spacious room of deep orange shade and darker wall.

"She's doing it again... looking down at her own shadow." sheer of monotonous remarks, sluggish in response was heard coming from a petite whose greenhead resting on a ceramic round table... tilting her neck a little bit to enable her sleepy pair of lime-green eyes staring at that restless-look on of the silverhead girl who was seemingly struggle to hide it, "You seem like to pursue... such hobbies for looking down... don't you, Icy?"

"I-it is not what I mean, Miss Gree- Erceuse," haltingly responded the Half-elf was, faltering of outlining her perplexity upon hearing such a multi-valued statement from that greenhead girl... gazing deeply into her hazel eyes once the silvery hair had been raised and the rosy lips that were moving altogether, struggling to put those puzzles of a reason together, "Because it was purely my responsibility for the destruction of the city. A failure in calculation lead us into this worst scenario... because of one failure performed by my naivety."

"How... adorable,"

A breathy, gleeful laugh hidden quietly slipped away through the surprising phrase along with a brief sigh of the greenhead girl while slowly raising her lethargic head, gazing more intimately even with that pair of sleepy eyes... at that smoother face of the Half-elf where a bit of blushing clearly exhibited on it, seemingly that eccentric ethic of the greenhead girl was capable of being heard.

Attempting to connect the string as her intuitive yet intentional wording had already cracked every possible eardrums of interlocutors in the room, the greenhead girl smiled as a result of her own consequence which strangely compelling,

"I find your urgency of solemnity, is compelling and... adorable... even after one week later still does." the same-pitch tone, surely being resumed with her unusually listless remarks yet seemingly had that of hefty conceptual ideas on every words she about to convey, "But you know, Icy... you'd better loosen up few of your nerves, don't wanna them to be broken now, do you? Let the fuss in the past, passes through your troubled mind - hence comes the serenity. Mistakes were made... or so they say... and these mistakes you shall no longer bear alone, for you already became a part of a family whom you can definitely depend on... bearing this... sin of kin all together. Be over with the self-reproach, I implore you."

The response was nil, only the rejoinder of the subtle respiratory pumping the air inside out with the aim of thumping the heartbeat into the serenity... with none notable word came to her mind as the silvery hair was no longer swaying down, but seemingly loosened forward, sheltering her calmed chest with its length and hue... evincing her stare already stared forward, staring at the three of her kin now - members of her new family.

"I'm surprised... sometimes you can say something good, despite that look."

A deep, hoarse voice would respond in due course to the matter. Eventually filled the narrow gap of silence that one bulky man was, seemingly making fun of every spoken words by the lethargic-looking character sitting before himself, across this round table.

"Right..." disregarding his little ridicule with her typically sluggish grin yet bared no teeth... replying with credence, "Well... this energy-reserving girl not just spending her free time... sleeping in the library, you know..."

The titters - apparently an irritating one - was heard short after, as his little witticism didn't reach to such an extent... hence he digressed, return to the main theme as his square-shaped face slowly turned to the silverhead girl once more, "Anyways... everything she just said is true indeed, Iecie. Let the past passes. After all, we managed to contain the creatures with no casualty... and not just shutting herself up inside the library... like someone short in particular."

Took a glimpse when given a chance that bulky man was then, peeking silently yet blatantly at that too-relaxed greenhead petite so that his supposedly-concealed intention to be exposed.

She clearly grasped the reference, that greenhead girl, yet she didn't give a second thought on it but a second clarification in her defense instead, "Then pardon me if you say so... but haven't I told you... that I was dealing with... some inconvenient matters in there. And it was quite... thorny you know, girthy man."

"Th-there is another matter that actually comes to my concern," interrupting a bit of fussing argument that bonded to be happened in a short while, the silverhead Half-elf was initiatively set forth her fret in disguise, "It is-"

Words of affirmation were about to burst out gently from her rosy lips, every syllable of her concern for she was too focused on the what-if future and presumably haunted by the guilty feeling... and the dignity of this grand name she must carried on every action she must carried out, even when her senior colleagues had nothing to be worried about, for the sin was no longer to bear alone. Yet still, control seemed to be the highest virtue which was directly proportional to the value of a name.

Therefore... no longer she wanted to weighted down the scales, recalling the root of the noontide incident was onto herself, aiming to disarm her initial plan thus allaying the public suspicion - hopefully. However, when those self-disagreeing words were about to be exposed, someone's voice came in contradictory to hers.

A voice of seemingly in playful manner, high pitched one despite the gender... hence the kind of impression of the flippant individual yet seemed joyful and this lack of seriousness.

"It's the civilians, isn't it?"

Was heard seemingly out of nowhere but from behind the silverhead Half-elf, that flippant voice of his. Attracting her head and those who was sitting at the round table, staring at the same figure - the owner of such a voice. The blonde-haired man, slender in posture yet tall in stature... wearing that self-modification leather armor covered beneath the jade-colored cambric as his supposedly-fashionable long sleeve attire. And a pair of narrow emerald eyes were stared back at the group, especially to the silverhead Half-elf girl who appeared to be startled before his sudden arrival.

"Someone saw the explosion of the scroll and unfortunately as well... witnessing the creatures coming out from it. And the fact that we deliberately sealed the damn creatures back as opposed to terminate them... many people grew worry." the blonde man carried on with his clarification, since no word coming out from his silver-haired interlocutor, "But stop with that worried look, Iecie... your cuteness will fade because of it."

Blushes replaced that worried look on that Half-elf's face, as the blonde man had planned despite in oddly unconventional way... startled yet again, and a bit of scolding him at the end, "P-please... quit with your joking-around part already, Antomast. We are being serious in here right now."

"Really... what was he thinking..." the greenhead petite girl was shaking her head - only once - in disbelief and disagreement over her newly-come friend's attitude, "You came late from nowhere and straight up with your... less-appreciated jokes."

"Okay, okay... my apologize then," sniggered Anto Mast, the slender man who was seemingly into the anti-serious nuance and against the too-intense ambience, "It's just... my old habits, you know."

Pretending to disregard the commotion the bulky man was, paying it little to none opinions as his preference was contradictory to the other two of his colleagues, hence the inquiry to return to the root of matter was conveyed by him, "Then, what about it? You mean many people saw that we deliberately allocated the creatures inside the city wall? Should we abandon the initial study on them?"

"That is what I was about to suggest as well." propped up on his remarks Iecie was, apparently sharing the same opinion regarding the current issue with him, "If we released or perhaps terminated the creatures, publishing it to the public, then the threatening status in our cause would be diminished."

"I doubt it, unfortunately... Iecie." out of her expectation, the bulky man whose words she held onto... he appeared to be contradictory with her early outlook later, "It doesn't matter what was done. We can really wipe away a poor impression - no matter what we do. Therefore I suggest you to continue with your study. After all, we have struggled to get them, and we too, already proving that we are capable of re-containing the creatures if something went out of control - which obviously we won't let that happened."

Fell into a solitude the Half-elf as a result, with no word capable of countering his veracity,

"That's what you're gonna say, isn't that, Anto?" the square-shaped head, turning itself toward that slender figure who was walked slowly approaching the round table at which his group gathered.

"Yeah..." that grinning face, became even more apparent under the hue of the dusk coming from the crystal-clear ceiling, "A control-obsessed society is quite complex to handle. They crave for safety and well being, even when it is meant to be controlled under a small group of people, and when there is something against the flow, they will mock, scoff, and scorn... outright reject it eventually, yet reluctant to see the bottom of the cup."

A step closer to bring his slender posture beside the restless Half-elf, since she was practically still a bit foreign to this course, unfamiliar with many things happened within it. A feeling of this surprising revelation when she eventually became a part in it, thus explaining her reasons to concern.

"So, quit with that worried look. Your initiative to study the creatures infamous for their regeneration ability is quite fascinating already. If it succeeded, surely it would bring the welfare and happiness they crave so much... and hopefully wipe that... less-appreciated impression." once he could catch a clear glimpse of her uneasy hazel eyes with the emerald of his, carrying on with the reassuring assertion, "Above all, your proposal has been approved by the Scion of Holy Knight himself... right, the Scion of Holy Knight?"

Turning his emerald gaze to meet the hidden stare beneath the thick layer of silver helmet. He whose silvery armor shone under the crimson dusk, who mostly kept most of his words for himself amidst the disturbance inside this large hall with its famous name, Halle der Helden. The chaotic nuance that was built intentionally by his friends of the same cause, seemingly a customary outcome that always happened within this hive of the five... those with difference unique characters, perspectives and frame of mind... exhibiting a polarity with one another, yet within his wordless observation, those completely different variation had been yielding such a combination shared the exact same purpose.

"Iecie Sigurros Turetajs," a surprising loud yet muffled voice, abruptly came from beneath the thick layer of silver... giving that stern sensation of such a heavy voice typically owned by that authoritative figure, as he was too, the founded of the group and the leader of its cause.

"Yes!"

Standing more straight up and more properly was the common reaction that could be observed on anyone upon hearing such a voice, not excluding that silverhead Half-elf... straight up his face and posture, staring deeply into that pair of hidden eyes beneath the silver layer.

"Lest you want to say perhaps you are regretting your own decision... your own initiative to create a better world." continuing his statements, utterly in interrogative manner, because he was as well, shared the same feeling to lend a hand for his lost family member just like the rest. Hence a bit of assertive approach he showed toward her, "I believe in your determination, Iecie. Therefore I wholeheartedly support your desire and dedication to make a better future. Or perhaps, the price of your will can be negotiated? When there's a small pebble on your way, you choose to look for the other way instead cleaning the path."

"No... I am not," a quiet response, hardly to hear if one didn't stand beside that silverhead Half-elf. Displaying a deep thought across her facial expression upon listening to the words she could live up for.

"You're focusing too much on the future..." a monotonous voice was heard one more time, undeniably coming from Erceuse whose greenhead already put back resting on the round table, "Icy... when you do that... the present... will be wasted. And you don't want to spoil the present you just obtained, do you?"

"About that... less-appreciated impression." Anto Mast who stood next to her, connecting the statements, "We were already gained that tittle in the first place, so don't think too much about it as well. Instead, perhaps we are the ones who need to apologize for involving you inside."

"Despite his flippant habits, he's right, Iecie." Lyell the bulky man too, coming out with his own telling, "We've done much worse things in the past, yet here we are... since we exist only to serve those in time of need."

The wordless silence, the immovable rosy lips and pair of hazel eyes seemingly gazing at the distant while facial expression lack of emotion... it was a no sign of bad omen, but a precognition of something anew when those words of longing for change had been preoccupied her troubled mind... her good humor of tranquility became unbearable.

And at that moment, the Holy Knight began to renew his motif of inquiry for his new family member, "So... would you name the price of your will, Iecie Sigurros Turetajs?"