Reos Purity Trials

The busy market was bustling about with Vayrons, Tyrians and various other creatures, chatting and haggling with the merchants. One lone friesian was walking through the crowd, their five tails, moving softly up and down with every one of their quick steps. Kazegami had been looking for fruits, but most of the produce she saw did not match her high standards, and so she kept moving along, hoping to find the prettiest, tastiest fruits for herself. A cool breeze was ruffling up her pecan fur and she raised her head to take in the surrounding scents. The air smelled of forest and rain, the puddles from last night’s shower collecting at the edges of the border stones surrounding the cobblestone plaza where the market took place at. In the distance the towers of the nobles reached into the sky, but seemed faded behind the fog that was hovering over the market. Lately it’s been getting colder and autumn was just around the corner, but for now the leaves of the mixed forests surrounding the city were still green.

After walking past a large Tyrian, trying to make a good bargain with a carrot merchant, Kaze noticed a Vay with four long, white tails, held close together and low to the ground, appearing not unlike a veil, but hovering slightly above the cobblestones as to not get the imacculate fur dirty. She immediately recognized the Puller, even before she laid eyes on his blue patches on the torso and face.

«Hey Seris! It’s been a while, how’s it going?»

The other kitsune curiously turned around, but he already knew who was talking to him because of the voice.

«Gami! Long time no see!»

The piebald gave her one quick nod as greeting before he proceeded to conjure an elemental bubble with a slight blue glow above them. Kaz who knew exactly what he expected of her also summoned her special powers and shot a pink, arcane arrow through it, resulting in the burst the bubble and a rain of glittering magic. It was something of a secret handshake to them and at every meeting it was unique, because their mood and experiences influenced the outcome. That day, they were both happy to see each other again after a long time, and the magical firework was especially pretty.

«So, what have you been up to, Gami?»

«Oh not that much. I was at the World Fair recently. It was a really interesting time and I managed to improve my skills a lot there.»

«Oh I can tell! Gotta be careful or you’ll outmatch me at some point.» 

«How hopeful of you to think I don’t already surpass you.» Kazegami winked. «What about you, Seris, did you go to the fair as well?»

«Nah, I haven’t been able to this time, but I was there last year. Got the short end of a deal though while I was there. Hope it turned out better for you?»

«Yeah, it was fine. You know, some mischief and trickery here and there, then making it up again so people don’t get too mad…» 

Tesseract grinned. «Sounds familiar. Like the good old times, right?»

«Well almost. I met a Runner there whom I’ve taken a liking to.»

«Really?! YOU?»

Blushing a little but trying not to let it show, Kazegami brushed one of her tails with her paws, pretending to clean it from dust.

«Not sure if it’s gonna turn into anything though. We’re still in the early stages of dating so–»

«Don’t you dare downplay this! I wanna hear everything. Come on, I’m starving. Let’s have a drink and some food and you can tell me all about it. And I mean ALL.»

The female agreed, so together they kept walking through the market until they reached the edge of the plaza and walked along the buildings there, looking for a bar or restaurant that made a good appearance to them. The two magical Vays may appear like some casual, laid back fellas at times, but they won’t settle for mediocrity, especially when it comes to food. After all they don’t go hunting themselves usually, which means they have even more time to judge others for THEIR hunting, cooking, fashion or similar skills and choices. After a while they finally found a restaurant that seemed promising. The name on the clean, black and gold sign read ‘The Sunset Pagoda, and the door below it was large and well decorated. Of course a fancy outside did not mean the meals in this establishment were any better, but usually the cheaper places did not care enough about their look to spend so much money on it. When they entered the building, it took them a moment to adjust their eyes to the dim light after they’d been used to the brightness of the outside world. To their left was a bar with stools and a Vayron sitting behind the counter, but they did not even look at the new guests, let alone greet them. 

The restaurant was empty and for a moment Kazegami was unsure whether this had really been a good choice, but then she noticed another Reosean ahead. It was a pale colored tyrian, dressed in a white cloak that seemed to be of excellent quality (Kazegami was a little jealous even), standing in the middle of the room, head raised high and wings folded behind their back. Their large veil tail had elaborate black and red markings on it and was trailing after them, half covered by the long robe. Despite having their back turned towards the two new visitors, they somehow noticed their gaze and turned around.

«Hm? Do I know you?»

Now the pecan colored kitsune noticed it was a female, towering over them.

«Yeah…yeah I think I’ve seen you before. Though I believe we haven’t had the chance to talk yet.»

«Indeed, it must be so…», the Tyrian said with one raised eyebrow, then bowed her head, although not too deep. Apparently she thought of herself as something better than them. The Vayrons returned the gesture and afterwards the Tyr continued with a very polite greeting none of them have ever head before.

«May the fates smile on you.»

Gami was a little confused by this and didn’t quite know how to reply, but Tesseract took over quickly.

«And on you. It is a great honour to meet a member of the royal Kongque family here. And the empress Shen’ai herself no less!»

«Yes, it appears to be your lucky day. I do not often visit establishments like this. When I arrived, all of the other customers seemed to have left the premises, perhaps too intimidated by my presence.»

«Or rather the guard’s presence» mumbled the barkeeper, but too quiet for anyone else to hear.

«Excuse my curiosity,» Tesseract continued, «but may I ask what brought you here today, your highness?»

«’Twas a strange apparition that haunted me this morning and I cannot quite explain it myself. My seer said it was of great importance that I follow it’s ghastly trace and it led me right here.»

Tesseract bowed again, one paw outstretched and one bent, his head almost touching the ground. The floating cube shifted a little as he did, moving out of the way. «If I may invite you to eat with us here? We are both magical Reoseans, so perhaps we can get to the bottom of this mystery for you.»

The empress pondered for a moment and glanced at the shadows next to the entrance. When Kazegami followed her gaze, she realized two strong and mean looking pullers, armed with swords, had been standing guard there all along, blending into the darkness. Perhaps there were even more she just hadn’t discovered yet. While the pecan runner had not been aware that this Tyrian was a member of the famous Kongque Family, she knew however that their guards moved like ninjas, protecting the royals with cold and ruthless perfection. Turning back to her new aquaintances, the empress, who had been thinking about the offer, nodded.

«I think this can be arranged.»

She did not need to give any directions to the Vay at the bar, who immediately jumped to their feet, ran past the group and towards the back of the restaurant in order to open a large sliding door, revealing an enclosed courtyard behind it. The centre of the garden was lowered and filled with gravel, displaying elaborate lines, carved into the pile with a rake that must’ve taken much time and effort to finish. In the very middle was a large, gnarled tree raising its branches towards the open sky. The wooden floor they were standing on surrounded the edge of the yard, providing a walkway to the adjacent buildings. The barkeep - or perhaps even restaurant owner - quickly made their way to one of these buildings, slid another door open and gestured the group to walk inside. Shen’ai was already on the way there, walking slowly and gracefully. When the two Vayrons focused on their immediate surroundings again, they noticed the guards had moved closer when the Kaze and Seris were focusing on something else, and were now walking to the left and right of the empress, escorting her as she slowly made her way around the yard, trailing her extraordinary tail feathers behind her. 

When the group had finally settled in the new room, which was beautifully decorated with statues, perfectly trimmed plants and tapestries on the stucco edged walls, the barkeep brought in large platters full of extravagant delicacies which were probably not the usual dishes you’d get here as a normal citizen. After Shen’ai asked them to start eating, and them politely waiting for her to take the first bite, they all began with their meal. Simultaneously, the Tyrian explained to the Vays in more detail what ‘vision’ she saw.

«And so, naturally, I set off to follow this strange trail of lights.»

«Sounds like you saw some will-o'-the-wisp. Only strange they appeared in your own home. Normally they’d only be found somewhere outside, like at a forest or swamp», Tesseract said, speaking more to himself.

«Indeed. I was worried someone might have cast a spell on me to lure me out and mug or kidnap me.»

«But if you were suspicious, why did you do it anyway, your highness?»

«Well I had my guards with me of course! No one can harm a hair on my head when they’re around. You’d be incapacitated before you’d even lay your eyes on them.»

The piebald glanced over at the guards. As they had presumed earlier, there were more than two of them here. Four guards were standing in the room, one at each wall, staring straight ahead and ignoring the group completely. Like some mystical statues that would only awaken to life when the right verse was spoken. Still sounds a little reckless to me. You should never underestimate unfamiliar magic. Or their casters.

Now Kazegami began to speak.

«I’ve had some experience with will-o'-the-wisps before. In fact, I have summoned them myself, though that was a quite a long time ago. Seems someone wanted to send you a message. But the thing is, sometimes these lights can also appear accidentally. A strong magician might create them without being aware, simply because of their thoughts or feelings.»

«Then does that mean someone perhaps wanted us to meet here today? Since we all showed up at the same time?»

Gami nodded, but scratched her chin thoughtfully.

«It is possible it was one of us, yes. Though we did not plan to meet here either. We both happened to stumble into each other at the market earlier and randomly decided to visit this establishment. So none of us intentionally brought you here.»

Shen’ai took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

«I see. Then I guess it will remain a mystery. But I am still very pleased I got to make your acquaintance today. You have both been a tremendous help and if I am ever in need for magical assistance, I will reach out to you.»

«How will you know where to find us?»

«I will send one of my people. And who knows, maybe the wisps will show me the way once more», she said with a knowing smile. 

At the end of their evening together, Shen’ai refused the offer of the two Vayrons taking over the bill and paid for the meal herself. She handed the barkeeper, who’d been taking care of them, some large coins that were clearly more valuable than your standard Krones, not really paying attention how much she overpaid.

«T…thank you, gracious empress! You’re too kind!»

The barkeeper said bowing over and over again as the three left the restaurant. As soon as the door closed behind them, the smile disappeared and he sighed – happy the day was over. He went into the kitchen where his partner was waiting for him, dishes from the extravagant meal piling up in the sink.

«Your trick with the lights worked it appears. We managed to get a noble Reosean into our restaurant although perhaps not everything went quite as planned. Either way, I really hope I never have to cater to the needs of royalty again. I was so afraid of making just one wrong move…»

«Assuming she gave you a generous tip, we won’t have to do this again anytime soon.»

«Oh, more than that. The empress didn’t seem to have a way with money, or at perhaps she did not care.»

He held up the special coins and grinned.

«We can finally go for a loooong vacation on Vitalus.»