Laurel

Gaheris doesn’t dream, or if she did, she can’t recall it. What she does recall, however, is a feeling of warm nostalgia. The fresh morning air wafts over her, and the light dances over her face. For a moment, it’s as if she’s at home. And truly, for that moment, she believes it. The sun, of course, must be Gawain’s doing… It was always nice when she would call the sun before going to search for lost people. She feels someone shaking her awake. Her head feels warm and cloudy… Surely it's Agrivainne, coming to scold her for sleeping in. She turns around and softly begs for five more minutes, curling up tighter in the soft blankets. Strangely, she doesn’t hear her older sister, though. The voice seems much lighter, but more boyish… 

She cracks an eye open, and snaps back to reality. This isn’t home. She’s in ancient Lastola. Everyone is far away right now. Medusa shakes her a little. 
“Gaheris? Um, Gaheris…?” She tries. Gaheris finally sits up, rubbing the sleep from here eyes. There's no overhead lights, not a single car horn outside. Just Medusa in a nightdress, trying to rouse her from sleep. She smiles as hope fills her, if only for a moment. They're going to the guild today. They're going to make progress to save the world.

"Morning Medusa! Hope i didn't snore last night. Hehe." Gaheris comments, and Medusa seems relieved that she finally woke up, smiling herself. 

“Oh, no. Not snoring… um, you did mumble a bit, if you want to know what you said… it’s still the early morning, so we have a bit of time before we head out.” Gaheris blushes a bit. She sure is embarrassing herself on the regular, huh?

"Sure. Let me uh. Well I guess I shouldn't really charge my phone... Let me get dressed!" Gaheris says, hopping up from the bed. Medusa nods, and laughs a bit. 

“Don’t worry. It wasn’t anything embarrassing, I think… i just heard something like mirlin… merlen… is it a word from your language?” She sits up as well and begins to change into her regular outfit. Gaheris remembers the fact that her tights are fleeced and resents it. Guess we’re showing knees today!

"Oh! Merlin! She's the wizard that helped me, basically. She was the one to open the portal with my mentor." Her boots are a little thick too, it seems a lot to keep asking Medusa for stuff, but she's definitely buying a new wardrobe if they get the job. Sheesh.

Medusa nods curiously.  “Oh, the wizard. I see… what kind of person is she…?” Gaheris thinks about how best to describe Merlin without scaring Medusa.

"She's, uh... Eccentric! A little... Off-beat, but has a great... Uh. Heart!" She's really grasping for straws how to describe such a strange woman...

“Eccentric… hehe. Any good wizard should be eccentric…” Medusa can’t help but laugh a little at that description. She figures that strange wizards must be the very same as they are now, in the distant future. 
“Here, let’s head out… Maybe if we get there early, it’ll give a good impression. Oh, are you okay with carrying your bag? We should bring all our things. I get nervous leaving them here…” Medusa explains, as Gaheris goes to grab Medusa's bag as well as her own, hoisting both on her back with a big grin.

"Don't worry! I can carry both! I'm used to squire work. C'mon, let's get a head start!" And with that, drags medusa out the door, until she quickly remembers that she is very lost and has no idea where anything is. Medusa stumbles as she’s dragged, and soon, they’re out the door. It’s weird not knowing exactly what time it is, but also sort of refreshing, too. The sea breeze is cool and crisp, and the town seems a bit less busy than it was yesterday’s afternoon. Gaheris could get used to this! Medusa motions for Gaheris to follow, and begins walking the street, making sure to cover her head with her hood. The streets are kind of unlike what Gaheris would have imagined from any ancient civilization, really. This place is pretty clean and well-maintained, even without any technology… she can’t help but wonder about all the other places in the world. Maybe the guild will take them all over! Medusa stops, and points to a building in the distance. It seems to be a large hall constructed from huge marble pillars, with some groups of people mingling in front of it. Most of them are armed to the teeth, and at least a little noble looking. “There it is. Um, the Argo Guild.” 

…Like, the Argonauts? Oh man.

Gaheris knew she should have paid more attention during ancient civ class! Whatever, whatever. She walks to the entrance and... God, what do people even do in this time? She knocked at what she assumed was the entrance and awkwardly waited, with bated breath. Medusa doesn’t object, so surely she didn’t mess up too bad... After a bit of waiting, the door opens, and is answered by a small man with pinkish hair and blue eyes. 

“Hello there, civilians!” He says, beaming. “If you have a need for someone to hunt down a lost husband, son, or other family member, the boards are down below! Thank you!” Medusa steps forward quickly. 

“W—wait, you’ve got it wrong…" Gaheris puts her foot in the door, before the man could close it.

"We're here on invitation from Circe! We're meant to go inside!" Gaheris tells him, puffing out her chest, trying to get him to take them seriously. Seems it was unneeded, though, because the man pauses. 

“Oop! Circe invited you? Reaaaallly? Wellllllll. If Circe invited you!” He flings open the door, and shakes both their hands, one in each, Medusa clearly doesn’t know what it is, but the man beams at Gaheris shaking back. 
“You’ll call me Robin Goodfellow! I handle all the little things around here! Do make yourselves at home, my friends! Oh, and be sure to follow me, lest you become lost.” He excitedly introduces himself, and Gaheris can't help but feel a bit relieved at the relative normalcy of his name, compared to everyone else around here anyway. After he lets go of their hands, he turns around and begins to walk. Gaheris immedietly goes to grab Medusa's arm and tightens her grip on her sword's handle... Just in case!

"Into the lion's den!" she whispers at Medusa, who nods, and the two enter, following Robin. The place is quite pretty and large, but clearly not intended to be an artistic atmosphere by any means, even though Gaheris is pretty sure it's that one place in Katoitica that's considered one of the world's greatest ancient sites, or... Something. Uh, might be a different one. As they walk by, some people stare at them, and Robin does a little twirl, which makes them suddenly stop looking. 

“Why, what did you girls do to get Circe’s attention? Hahaha, anyone in her eye has to have a brain worth picking!” He laughs good-naturedly. Medusa seems kind of on edge, but it’s probably just the anxiety of being in such an unusual place. Gaheris leans over to Medusa again, more panicked this time.

"Do we tell him we met her at a bathhouse? Is that a social no-no? or?"  She's awfully offput by how cheery this Goodfellow is, he reminds her a lot of Merlin if she was a man with, somehow, even less social awareness.

“That’s okay, you can um. Say that. Bathhouses are big social areas… um.” She whispers to Gaheris. “He’s sort of weird. His accent is really weird…” Robin keeps walking, apparently awaiting a response.

"We uh... We met her at the bathhouse and she... liked our vibe, I... Guess?" Gaheris groans and puts her hands on her face, no one in the whole continet, no, in the whole WORLD would ever understand her bad slang from the future! Crap! But, still, Robin laughs and turns around to look at them. 

“Hmmmhmhm. Well, you know, I can see why she likes you two! Yep. I’ve never seen anyone stick out quite like you do! Those clothes are something else, and the slang, too!” He comments, visibly entertained.

"Uh... Yeah! I was hoping to... Maybe, switch my clothes out for something more. Local..." She sighs, and Robin grins. 

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’m sure Circe will cover all that for you. In fact, I’ll take you right to her now!” He starts walking again. Medusa clings to Gaheris, clearly bewildered by Robin’s forwardness. They enter a hallway. Next, they enter what appears to be a library, or archive— and sitting in the middle of it, resting on some kind of ancient greek sofa, that same purple hair from last time can be seen. It’s Circe! Gaheris perks up at finally seeing a familiar face and, perhaps a bit too loudly, tries to get Circe's attention.

"Ah! Hello Miss Circe! Haha! We thought to come a bit early!" She cheers, mortifying Medusa a bit. Circe is alerted, and turns around to look. When she sees them, she gasps and stands up, setting her book down on the seat she had been occupying. 

“Oh, you girls finally got here! Come over here, quickly! Oh, and Robin, sweetie, give us some space.” She waves the two girls over. Robin bows and skips off, leaving the library without a word. It’s an impressive library, too, with large openings for light and breezes to enter it. There’s plenty of soft rugs on the ground, and the whole place carries a vibe of foreign antiquity. There's even some trees planted indoors! This place is pretty swanky! ...For lack of better words, probably best to keep that one locked away, forever. Medusa sticks close to Gaheris as they approach Circe. 

“What do you think of the guild hall?” Circe asks in that singsong voice, leaning in a bit for emphasis. Gaheris grabs for Medusa behind her and kinda fidgets. Circe's got quite a scary look to her when she's so up front and personal. She has to admit, the guildhall with all its bits and bobs does have a beautiful flare that she could never has seen back home. It reminds her of all the little miniatures that Artura would piece together, except she's living in it. 

"It's really amazing, never seen anything like it!" Even though she's from the future, Gaheris can't help but feel a little out of her depth in such an old yet well maintained place. Circe grins and straightens her posture. 

“Oh, isn’t it? It’s a very old building, you know. Why, they say it was the first building in this city— the rest grew around it.” She invites the two to sit down. Medusa awkwardly sits, leaving an open spot for Gaheris and patting it.  
“Well, I know you two want to join the guild; I have a bit of an issue with selective hearing, you see, and the moment people start talking about guilds and adventures, I get so very excited. In any case, You should tell me your respective stories; well, you don’t have to, but it’s good to know. Oh, it’s not needed for joining. The boy in charge, Jason, is all twigs. If I tell him you’re a good fit, he’ll listen. But, we should get off on the right foot, right?“ Circe explains, taking a seat on a cushion across from them.  
“Who wants to go first?” Medusa looks at Gaheris, unsure. 

But, despite her nervousness, Gaheris clears her throat and shuffles a little in her seat. She straightens up and tries to make her story seem as reasonable as possible. 
"I, uh. I'm from Halsgrof, maybe you've heard of it, maybe not. It's my first time in this kind of place, and I was hoping to fight with the best of the best! Ah. Hehe. I am pretty out of my depth... But! I've trained super hard as a knight, so I'm ready to fight!" She smiles widely, hoping it covers her fear and apprehension. 

Circe rubs her chin with a thoughtful look. 
“Halsgrof… Halsgrof… Oh, Halsgrof! Why, there’s a little island in the far North called Halsgrof, isn’t there? You’re so far from home~! Yes, no wonder you look so out of place. Haha!” She laughs and claps her hands, obviously thrilled. She turns to Medusa. 
“Oh, and what about you, darling?” 

Medusa gulps apprehensively. “Um.” She starts, “I um… I’m a demon. I woke up on the sea floor some time ago… with this sword, um.” She shows off her elegant golden blade, “...And my sisters... Um…and I drifted here. I want to figure out who I am…” she trails off. Circe looks over both of them approvingly. 

“Such an interesting pair! Oh, you’ll fit in just right, I just know it!” She exclaims. “Yes, yes! Ah, should I show you girls around before we go tell Jason you’ll be apprenticing here?” She beams, standing up.

“Yes! Please.” Gaheris smiles and giddily jolts up. “Oh! Um. Hehe! Does that mean we’re accepted?” 
She sheepishly sits down and holds Medusa’s hand. “Both of us, that is!”

Circe heartily laughs and claps her hands on their shoulders, one each. 
“Naturally! Why, it would be unfair to only pick one of you. Good things come in pairs. Stand up, up up! There’s much to see.” She says in a singsong voice. Gaheris makes a little face of triumph at Medusa and bumps her shoulder to follow with her. 

“See! No hassle, we got in!” She says to Medusa as she grabs all of their stuff and goes to trail after Circe. Medusa seems bewildered. 

“Wow. I, um, had no idea it would be so easy…” she mumbles, following carefully. 

Circe begins her tour by explaining the library they currently stand in: “This is the archive. It’s filled with rare books and useful knowledge, my personal favourites are the diviner’s stories— you might not know it, but supposedly seers all around the world get together to put together narratives from their visions of reading links. It’s amaaaazing!” Oh, Gaheris has heard of this one. Merlin used to talk about it sometimes, and she’s heard all about the stories of the mythologies that are common in Halsgrof, like Thor and Odin and stuff. It dawns on her how long people have been archiving those stories... She'll have to come back and see the diviner's records. Maybe if she's stuck here, at least she can answer some questions and maybe become an esoteric diviner, maybe one that can get the stories more aligned with modern day. She lingers a bit at that thought but shakes it off, she's here to work! She takes out her phone for a quick second that writes that down. She should really invest in paper and pencil maybe. Oh god, do they even have pencils? quills?

Circe doesn’t notice the phone and keeps walking. They exit through the hallway that they came to the library through and walk through the main area. Circe points to some wooden boards, with many pieces of paper(?) nailed to them. Some groups are looking over them and chattering. 
“Over there is the job boards. People frequently do come to us with their problems, such as missing family members, criminals, beasts, and more; they place them on the boards outside, and sweet little Robin moves them in here! You’ll go over there to collect assignments.” She giggles and turns to them. “Any questions, so far?” Gaheris looks over the board, lots of people seemed to have issues in this era. Wanted criminals and stolen goods, some people just want protection as they travel from place to place. 

"This isn't too different from being a knight. Protecting people and cargo is pretty run of the mill." She turns to Circe with a glimmer in her eye "When do we start?" She asks, tail wagging. Circe grins, and pets her on the head.  

“Now, now! I haven’t even finished my tour!” She giggles. “Come along!” Circe continues, leading them through an archway. Inside this large room, seems to be a dining room, with many different tables and seats. Only a few people are in here at the moment. 
“This is the banquet hall! Heh! This is where you’ll eat all your meals. Well, it’s not exciting right now. Oh, also, they’ll announce new members over dinner, too! Get ready for that!” She explains. It’s a very pretty, very large room. It totally looks like the cafeteria back in the barracks, in an esoteric way. It’s nice to feel a little less homesick. Gaheris nods along, though she does try to take a peek into the kitchen. 

"Ms. Circe sure seems to know everything huh. Although the way she described the banquet hall makes me a bit nervous..." She whispers to Medusa, feeling giddy, yet intimidated, and Medusa nods in turn. 

“She’s really, um, wise. But… I’m nervous too. Being presented to lots of people… that’s kind of scary. Haha…” Medusa quietly confesses to Gaheris. Soon, Circe motions for them to follow her, and leads them back into the main room, up some steps, and through another archway. In this hall, there’s some exits in various directions. 

“Well, I’ll finish your tour in a minute. Buuut, since we’re here…”  She leads them through a exit, and into another, smaller hall. Through a door, they enter a place that resembles an office, with a small, indigo-haired girl standing guard.  

“Circe?” The girl dismays. “Who are these people?” 

“Medea! Why, they’re my guests.” 

Medea frowns soundly. “Please identify yourselves. I won’t let any interlopers see Jason.” 

Medusa seems a bit frozen. Circe turns to them and motions for them to introduce themselves. Gaheris striaghtens up and clears her throat. 
"Ah. Uh. Hehe. I'm Gaheris! A knight from Camelot! I am here— " she goes to grab Medusa's hand, "With my partner, Medusa! We're going to be apprentices in the guild!"  She's sweating a tad but she doesn't allow her gaze to waver. But, by gods are these people scary! Medea squints. And she takes a long, hard look at the two. Circe is beaming. 

Medusa mumbles, “um, it’s true. I um… I wanted to join for a long time. So I could. Um. Learn to. Stand up for myself…” Medea continues staring. And after a minute or so, she sighs, as if defeated. 

“Well… I admit, you don’t seem to be bad people… Alright. You can see Jason.” She turns pointedly to Circe. 
“And you remember, it’s his choice who gets to join the guild! Not yours.” she scolds, which makes Circe scoff, and begin walking into the room. Medusa urges Gaheris to follow, and she breathes a sigh of relief as she turns to thank Circe.

"thanks for the good word! we couldn't have done this wihtout your help!" She does a little half bow, soemthing she's seen a few times in the market, as they make their way inside this 'Jason' guy's room. 

Circe smiles helpfully. “Why, it’s no problem at all! I just like to see people grow!” The three enter the room, and sleeping at a (in Gaheris' mind, comically oversized) table is a young man. He doesn’t seem very intimidating, yet anyway. 
“Jaaaaaaason! Daaaarling, wake up!” Circe sings, and he starts awake with a yelp. 

“Huh?!— oh. Hi, Circe.” He says, as if he wasn’t sleeping. “Do you need more chilis? I told you to ask Othello about that, I thought…?” 

“Nope! No, no, instead, I’ve brought you two lovely new apprentices!” Circe announces, motioning to them. Jason blinks, and then stands up to get a better look. 

“New recruits?! Ha!” He cheers triumphantly, hands balled into fists and raised in the air. And then, he pauses. “ …..Who are they?"

Gaheris is very much taken aback. This guy doesn’t seem like a guild leader at all! He’s maybe Galahad’s age, but he doesn’t have the warrior look.  Circe constantly yelling in that sappy sweet manner really sets her on edge but it doesn’t matter. She’s here to do a job! 
“Gaheris, knight of Camelot… Sir!” She introduces herself, tightly holding Medusa's hand.

Medusa nods. “I’m Medusa. I’m from the ocean…” Jason nods as he listens, and then leans back a bit. 

“Huh. A knight? You must be from pretty far away.” He whistles, impressed. “Yeah, we’ll take you on board. Heh!” He seems really satisfied.

Medusa leans in to Gaheris’ ear and whispers. “He seems like he’s posturing. Isn’t he…?” 

Gaheris giggles a little.  “He totally is, look at how he’s bending his back!”

Jason clears his throat. “Well? What are you waiting for? Come here, I’ll get your information in the books.” He’s totally puffing himself to look bigger. Gaheris turns back to face him, prepared to try and set up and any paperwork she needs to do. Gods, she’s not eighteen for a few months, are her signatures even legally binding? Well, she supposes, it’s probably different here. People died way earlier back... Now, right? The two watch as Jason bends over, reaches into a vase behind him, and pulls out two sherds of pottery. What? Medusa takes hers, and Jason starts to explain what they are to do with them: 
“Alright, alright, just write your names how you like them to be spelled, your age, your elemental affinity and whatever your species is below. And then write that you’re officiating it. It’s easy, just so we have it on hand.” He twiddles his thumbs a bit. 
“I’ll get some real papyrus documents for you later, but this is easier for now.” Medusa takes a small tool off the table and begins carving her name into the hard clay. Gaheris, however, is sweating. Carving? She already has abysmal handwriting on touch pad, she cannot possibly write her name on a pot. She looks helplessly at the tool and gingerly picks it up. With a shaking hand, she lightly scrapes out G-A-H-E-R-I-S, not enough to cement it in, but she’s so out of her element it’s not even funny. She tries to copy Medusa's technique out of the corner of her eye, and ends up hunching over to really stare at it. Jason sort of half-watches, he definitely notices how much Gaheris is struggling but can’t do anything about it. Medusa looks at her with a bit of worry as she finishes writing her own details: 

MEDUSA / 18 / SHADOW / DEMON 

She leans over to help Gaheris write. “Um. Try holding it like this…” Gaheris flushes in embarrassment, but accepts her help gratefully, finishing her small profile:  

GAHERIS / 17 / SHADOW / LINKED, HATI 

It’s messy, but it’s something. Hopefully this era has discovered the story lines of the Norse gods and such... If not, that would be very awkward! After they finish, Jason accepts the sherds and files them away… somewhere. Not before taking a good look at them, though. 
“Uhuh. Okay. A demon? That’s cool, we don’t have any demons yet. What do demons do?” He asks Medusa, who jolts a bit at being addressed directly. 

“Oh… um. Well… we come from a place in the sea called the spiral. We can manipulate the evils of mankind… um… that’s what my sisters say, anyway…” Jason nods, taking it in. Then, he turns to Gaheris. 

“Gaheris is pretty foreign. What pantheon is your link from?” Uh… Shit. What was it again? Uh. The Volsung Cycle? Better hope that’s right.

“Um, the... Volsung Cycle. I believe the pantheon is... Norse?” She tries to scrape together all the information she knows. She should have paid more attention to other people's links, rather than just her and her immediate family and mentor’s lore.
"I’m very foreign." She helpfully clarifies. 

“I can tell, yeah” Jason remarks, very casually. “Don’t worry about it. Uh, Norse… yeah, I think we might have one of those. Anyway, I’ll get this all filed away… at some point. Circe!” Circe perks up excitedly. 
“Show them around. They’re going to be official apprentices starting tomorrow, so I don’t want them getting lost.” He says. Circe salutes him comedically and begins to lead the girls out of the room. They pass by Medea, who sighs irritably at Circe. Once they’re out of the vicinity, Circe turns around to congratulate them.  

“You did wonderfully! See, it all worked out!” She cheers, as Gaheris lets go of a breath she was holding and wipes her brow. 

“Well that solves that! I was really scared back there.” She bumps Medusa a bit and looks triumphant.  She thinks about her last acceptance, allowing her to be a knight in training. It was so long ago, but it’s a pleasant if bittersweet memory now. Medusa smiles a little, and bumps her back. She looks at Circe. 

“Um. Circe. Can you… show us where we’re going to, um, sleep at night?” She asks, somewhat meekly. 

Circe nods wisely. “Naturally; in fact it’s the last stop! Well, sort of. This way!” Circe leads the girls back into the dining hall, and through it, on the other side is an archway, which leads to the outdoors. Outside, there is a training ground, with many tools, training weapons, and of course, warriors training and sparring. How exciting! Circe seems content to let them explore it themselves, though, And continues to one of the buildings. This appears to be a women’s dormitory. Inside, there’s a small hallway with little cubbies meant for shoes. They continue inside, and find a room lined with beds, some hanging from the ceiling, and built into the walls! There’s also storage for clothing and items, and dividers between certain beds, which seems arbitrary. 
“Well? Go pick some beds for yourselves.” Circe says, beaming. 

"Thanks, Ms. Circe!" Gaheris says to Circe as she shoves her thick boots into the cubby with a fair amount of effort. Her coat and thermals all go into the storage and finds an unclaimed bed by the wall. She drops her bag down and checks her phone. Still 28%, it’s never been used this little! She plugs it into the aura charger and pumps a little magic into it.  She lies down and pats the single bed next to hers. 
“Set up here, Medusa! We’ll stick close.” Medusa excitedly follows after removing her own shoes and sits on the bed bed to Gaheris’. 

“Right…! This place… it’s really nice. Um, it’s nice sleeping in a place with just girls. It’s safe feeling…” Medusa sighs, but a bit more contentedly than usual. Circe stands between their beds with her hands on her hips, smiling. 

“All settled in? Great, excellent! Well, I’ll leave you two to explore, then. Ahah, but try to get to sleep at a good time, okaaay? We all wake up at sunrise here, so if you don’t get enough sleep, you’ll regret it!” And with that, Circe takes her leave, leaving Gaheris and Medusa to settle in. Medusa is right— this place is actually really cozy. It feels safe, too. After all, there’s even weapons storage in here! Medusa has already begun unloading her golden blade into the cubby under her bed. Gaheris tucks her sword and scabbard under her bed and ponders for a second before throwing the phone in as well. No real need for it now. 

She nudges Medusa to grab her attention. “I need to find a tailor or something that can get me different clothes here. Wanna come with?” She asks her friend, and Medusa nods. 

"I'll come. Since we'll make money from doing jobs, it'll be ok to use the money I have saved up, I think..." She smiles a little. "Let's look around that, um, training area on the way. It looks... fun?" She suggests, and Gaheris nods and smiles. 

“I’ll pay you back when we do get money!” She has no idea how much anything costs but it certainly can’t be that much... Right? Medusa stands and laughs a little. 

“You don’t have to— but, um, it would be nice.” She says, and the two make their way out of the dorm, putting their shoes on and stepping outside.