184~Bravery
“What do you mean that’s all you can remember?” Fred asked, his legs quivered but he remained up right, all this time he thought the Yvlena protocol was just about finding his boss’s niece but now the older man was telling him something different.
Something that sounded dangerous.
“I don’t like this.” Fred asked, for once the blonde man was unsure of himself and Victor noticed his demeanor change, Fred was pulling back if not physically then mentally.
“Neither do I, only Anastasia knew the details, but she’s gone. Aya has to find the truth inside Moon Valley, that’s truthfully all I know.”
“Well do you think she’s found anything?” Fred asks.
“I don’t know, Fred. I can’t be sure what she’ll find.”
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Aya checked her phone and met a message from Daichi waiting for her.
[I’ll stop by tomorrow to show you around]
The text read.
Aya nodded and typed back a quick reply to let him know the plan was set. Now it was time to deal with a small town trapped inside a nightmare from which they may not be able to wake.
“I hope patient zero doesn’t end up being the tree, that’ll be an incredibly hard boss to fight. I just remembered I got another scythe piece, I can’t wait to get back into the game.” Aya said to herself.
Mars had already left for the arcade leaving Aya alone in the apartment since she once again refused to tag along, she didn’t think it was a big deal. She and Mars could head out with Daichi tomorrow anyway.
Though Aya noticed the slightly sunken expression on Mars’s face when she refused, the girl felt guilty but there were things she had to do.
‘Am I becoming a shut in?’ Aya thought before shaking her head. That couldn’t be right, she was just nervous about exploring the new city. It was the same thing when she had just moved to Axen.
Aya scurried off to her room to plug in the Revista and begin the game, as she was about to turn on her head gear a huge, red warning flashed across her screen.
[Warning: This PC will soon be incompatible with Moon Valley, please update you hardware or you account will be temporarily restricted]
The warning read.
Aya groaned, it seemed everyone was telling her that the PacBook would soon be unable to play her game and spending money made her heart race.
“I really need to talk to someone about that.” Aya said, slipping on her head gear.
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Yvlena woke up to Risel sleeping in the bed across from her, the pink haired elf stopped to take in her friend’s sleeping face.
It seemed Risel had finally calmed down enough to get some rest of her own. Yvlena sighed and wondered where she would begin helping the town.
Would she meet some new NPCs too? She remembered how the Floral District looked prior to her actions in the game, she could only hope the Verdant Vale would be the same. She pumped a fist in the air and nodded in determination.
Even if these people could not know for now, Yvlena had to fulfill her duties as the Harvest Guardian. The change of scenery was nice too, she wasn’t tired of Bloom Haven but her surroundings needed to be expanded.
The Verdant Vale seemed to be the sister town to Bloom Haven, both tool Vaelindor and Selendriel as patron gods but only Bloom Haven was blessed during their final moments.
“Maybe the gods thought the tree would protect them, it seemed to for a while.” Yvlena said. Her speech roused Risel from her sleep.
The blonde elf yawned, rubbing her eyes in the universal gesture of sleepiness. She sat up and turned to Yvlena with a smile.
“Did you rest well?” Risel asked. Yvlena found herself missing Risel’s gentle smile, it was nice to see it again. She never wanted to see the other elf sad, it was so different from the Risel she knew.
“I did, are you ready to meet the mayor and help the town?” Yvlena said, opening her arms wide for a stretch of her own.
The beds in the inn were surprisingly comfortable, more so than Corr’s inn. Yvlena had not yet slept within the Rose Manor so she had no instance she could compare to it.
It beat sleeping under a tree.
“You bet, I wonder if we’ll see Marla again or Lucas.”
“Definitely, Lucas has to take us to the Mayor after all.” Yvlena replied hopping off the bed with vigor. “Come on, let’s go.”
Risel nodded and followed Yvlena out the door and down the stairs to the innkeeper’s desk.
“You still owe me that story.” The innkeeper said looking up from the book she was reading as the girl ran past her.
“You’ll get your story later.” Yvlena called as she left out the door. The innkeeper muttered something but she was already too far away to hear it.
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“I was just coming to check on the two of you.” Lucas said with a bright smile. Yvlena took this chance to properly observe him now that he was out of armor. Lucas was a tall broad shouldered man with dark brown hair cut short.
Though he wasn’t as tall as Soren who towered of Yvlena and Risel, Lucas was still had quite a bit of height, he had a kind face, with skin bronzed by the sun.
Yvlena thought he looked like a kind fatherly man.
“We were looking for you too, we’re ready to see the Mayor, if you don’t mind.” Risel said.
“We’re eager to meet him, I have so many questions.” Yvlena said, holding her chin in thought. “How could the tree have been infected by the Miasma?”
Lucas gave a long sigh.
“The history of the tree is a long one, you would have to search the old library in the old Verdant Vale but it’s pretty dangerous.” Lucas said as the three of them started walking. “All I know is that it started after the pollution of the Verdant Lake.”
“Have you forgotten we got from Bloom Haven to Old Verdant Vale on our own? I’m sure we’ll be able to find the library if you tell us where it is.” Yvlena said smugly.
[Affinity with Lucas Increased +3]
“That’s true I can’t forget that elves are often older and tougher than they look.” Lucas said, laughing.
“Was my brother tough too?” Risel asked quietly.
Lucas paused and gave a weary smile.
“He was incredibly brave, a fighter to the end. I’ll never forget his feats.” Lucas said proudly. “I at least want you to know he lived a good, happy life here before he got sick.”
Risel nodded solemnly but she managed to give a smile of her own.
“I can’t wait to meet his family.”