Chapter 10: The calm after the storm

It was quiet, so quiet. Not the kind of absolute quiet of an empty room, not the eerily quiet of a deep forest. It was as if water had enveloped your ears as you dove down a pool and stayed at the bottom. 

So peaceful and serene.

None of your senses were working. You could see nothing but pitch black, not even yourself. You couldn't smell anything, you're not sure if you're even breathing. There were strange pressure points moving around your body, but… did your body even exist? Or were you just imagining it?

How long has it been since you were stuck in such a state? You don't know. It was long enough for you to slowly regain thoughts, but was it that long or was your senses deceiving you? But it was relaxing and cathartic, you did not have to constantly worry about everything anymore.

But…

What was there for you to worry about again?

You didn't seem to remember any reason why you had to push yourself constantly. 

Maybe it was just a bad dream, and you were just drifting back to sleep once again.

But there was still something bothering you.

You were simply not… comfortable with allowing yourself to aimlessly exist like that. 

And it suddenly hit you.

Like a hypnic jerk, a sudden muscle contraction as you slowly enter your slumber waking you up entirely. You could feel it, your heart beating wildly in your non-existent chest, almost to the point of pain. You took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. You could feel the cold air around you now.

And as the last bit of air left your body, you regained your vision.

Bright.

Oh so bright.

It took you a minute to adjust your eyes and realize… you were lying on a hard surface, your head and body slightly tilted downward. And you were staring at the blindly white sky as snow gradually buried your entire body. The cold now registered, so you tried to stand up.

And stood up you did.

You were standing on a giant ledge, behind you, a ginormous mountain.

With the amount of snow on the ledge and on the mountain, you assumed that you were quite high up.

And a look over the ledge confirmed your suspicion. Under the ledge were literal clouds and fog. You could not see the land below. A chill ran up your spine, so you took a step back, making sure that both of your feet were planted on the ground.

"Oh…"

A female voice brought you back to your senses, as you stared blankly into the white horizon.

A girl dressed in a pure white gown akin to that of the monks, standing so near to the farthest edge of the ledge. Behind her, a beautiful tree with over blossoming flowers, white flowers.

"...Charlie? Is that you?"

She asked.

"Yes."

You replied.

"So you are dead, then." The girl smiled understandably "Took you a while…"

"Mmm…"

You suddenly remembered. Yes, you were slain. Your mind was still a bit murky, but… you could recall the smell of gunpowder, of sea salt, of blood and sweat. You remembered the loud barrage of cannon as you pulled the bell with all your strength, to signal your ship to open fire.

And open fire they did.

Their shot hit directly at the gunpowder cache of the pirate vessel, and probably blew up the entire crew. 

You felt a strange sense of relief. At least your plan worked out.

"Well, how did you fare? Were you any closer to… here?" The girl asked, she turned away from you and caressed a branch of flowers.

"Here?"

"Oh you know… O great Sage, do travel to the end of the world, on the Northern Grand mountain range , I will see you again by our white wisteria."

The girl suddenly recited a line, yet her voice seemed so strange, almost somehow ethereal and high pitched. And that line…

"So you were the one who… gave me that scroll?"

"Hmm?" The girl turned to face you, her eyes seemed unfocused but intendedly stared at you. "Ah… It seems… our time is up. Oh well…"

"Wait! What do you mean? Answer me! Are you the one who pulled me to this world? Are you the one who gave me the magical scroll?"

"Come to me then… if you really wanted to know." She smiled "Oh and… don't die too much, please."

You tried to reach out to her, yet your arm felt heavy, as if you were trying to sway it through a pool of molasse. You couldn't raise your leg to take a step forward, and it suddenly got so much more difficult to breathe.

An urge to blink immediately took over you, almost similar to a reaction when something got close to your eyes. You tried to fight the temptation to close your eyes, yet the mountain, the girl and the wisteria tree slowly blurred, and before you knew it, the pitch black had enveloped you once more.

===

"Oh dear Xanthufar… he really is squirming!"

"Sister Tiffy, please bring two vials of infused raindrops. Oh and hurry please."

"Please… wake up. C'mon I know you can hear me."

A barrage of sound suddenly assaulted Charlie's ears, as he slowly, but surely regained consciousness. It was almost too much to bear at first, having his hearing overwhelmed by sounds of talking. But gradually, he could understand what was being said.

Where am I?

Charlie opened his eyes, yet immediately closed it again due to the intensely bright light. And as he opened it again, slowly, to allow his eyes to get used to the light, he saw many a familiar faces. And, like a natural reaction of his body, suddenly, he felt tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. 

He could see Roselie, the cleric girl with her long golden hair and her usual white priestess gown. She was beaming with a wide smile. Tears also perched in the corners of her eyes.

There were many elves surrounding him, based on the number of pointy ears Charlie could count. 

Elluin, the elf archer, of course, stared at him with a satisfied look and a crooked smile. Ayen, the elf druid and her silver hair, was covering her entire face with her hands while sobbing uncontrollably. 

And an elf whose face was hidden behind a white cloth mask - it was none other than Péftis the elf doctor of the Palace of Rejuvenation.

And there was Harrison, the human warrior. Charlie could finally take a good look at him, for the last time he was trying not to let himself grow weak and change his mind. 

Harrison seemed much older, and more experienced. The human warrior reached his hand to Charlie's torso and grabbed the collar of a small figure before picking a crying halfling up.

Charlie could finally explain why he was having difficulty breathing.

Lissa the halfling, she did not look a day older than the last time he saw her.

Charlie swallowed, the terrible dryness of his mouth made him felt like dry sand was stuffed inside his throat.

"Hi." He said. "Been a good while."

===

"Oh and you know! When we got to the town center, suddenly a thousand assassins appeared out of thin air! You wouldn't believe it, but somehow they actually concealed themselves! Not only that…"

"Alright alright! Lissa! Stop pestering Charlie and let him rest!"

A nun in black outfit placed a tray down onto Charlie's bedside counter. She nodded hello to Charlie and checked the vials hung on a wooden shelf bolted to the wall. She was sister Frieda - the nun who helped nurse Charlie back to health at the Palace of Rejuvenation the last time he had been seriously injured.

"Aww! I'm just helping him catch up with our adventure!" Lissa pouted, but the sister ignored the pleading pair of eyes and turned to the patient on the bed.

"How are you feeling today, mister Charlie?"

"It's fine, it's fine, let her stay. I'm feeling fantastic. It gets boring here, so please, let Lissa stay here." Charlie waved his hand, gesturing that he was okay.

"Sure. Sure. You're too kind, mister." Frieda scoffed playfully as she replaced the vials with new, full ones. "These will be the last of the prescribed orders from doctor Péftis, and I believe you are good to go!"

"Is that so? Oh wow, that is much much faster than the last time… Does that mean…" Charlie pondered "You are going to return to the Palace in Gawon?"

"Yes. I'm to return immediately after confirming your health has restored to the pre-reviving condition. Unless you wanted me to stay and give you…" Sister Frieda suddenly pressed her face close to Charlie's, so close that he could smell the faint floral scent on her outfit "...breathing practice?"

"Th-that won't be necessary!" Charlie stuttered, bringing his arms up in a guarding position "I'm sad to see you go, but no. Thank. You!"

"Alright, rest now. I'll come back in an hour to check on you. And Lissa, don't jump on his chest please. You can sit on his bedside but not him, okay?"

Charlie smiled and looked through the tinted window of his room, to a large slabbed yard full of priests and priestesses, clerics and paladins, walking and carrying out their daily tasks. He was currently recovering at the Supreme church of Lathander in Niliphy, one of the grandest churches of the Western Continent.

According to Lissa's story (Charlie did not know how much he could believe, for the halfling was exaggerating and fabricating details to add dramatic effect to her story), as soon as Charlie signaled with the bell, the Vermillion Vulture let loose everything they had on the Dragon's Roar vessel. 

They fired off at least half a ton of ammunition continuously, making sure that the pirates were truly removed from existence. That, plus the destination of their shots (dead center of the vessel's hull - which was the gunpowder storage of the pirates) gave birth to one of the most explosive and fiery man-made incidents at sea in history. 

And then, the Vermillion Vulture and its crew had to execute a search and rescue operation, to look for Charlie's body. It took more than an hour, with 6 rowing boats and 25 independent divers to retrieve both parts of Charlie - His body was snapped and cut in half as the mast he was tied upon got blown away by the explosion, resulting in a gory image of a wooden missile ripping his entire body apart.

Lissa said that Harrison told her Charlie was dead, like, truly a desecrated corpse. There were burn wounds all over his body, cuts and bruises as well as impalement of thousands and thousands of wooden bits. Also, his head was, of course, shot through, which made the post-mortem healing process extremely difficult.

However, it was fortunate, oh so fortunate for Charlie that there was a prestigious paladin on board, who had taken the lead in putting Charlie back in one piece. 

The paladin name was a secret to everyone besides his parents and his god, but his ability was undeniably one of the best in the whole continent. 

He cleaned the gnarly wound in your upper half and lower half, carefully rejoining the spine and the muscle fibers together before casting his healing touch to put Charlie back together. 

Then he had to poke a cotton pick inside the gunshot wound on Charlie's head to clean it off of gunpowder and other residue before closing it with magic. 

He was unsure his holy magic was even enough by itself to reform the missing brain (for it was one of the most delicate body parts to be healed by magic), so he opted to escort Charlie to the Lathander church at Todoryre when the ship docked and, together with Roselie's plea, the paladin demanded the church to allow the usage of the teleportation circle of the church. 

Not anyone can easily sway the bishop of the church to unseal the teleportation circle - for it was an instrument of war. 

In war time, said instrument was used to mass mobilize soldiers and warriors to the battlefield anywhere in the world in a blink of an eye. But, with the pressure coming from one of the top paladin and a known devout archdeacon, the Todoryre branch bishop caved in and allowed them to take Charlie's corpse to Niliphy, with everyone of his party going with.

At the Supreme church, Roselie and the paladin prepared a revival ritual, right in the middle of the praying chamber, for it was where a massive amount of holy power was concentrated. With the two scrolls Charlie gave to Ayen Averblossom - the elf druid, Roselie and the paladin brought Charlie back from the dead after a 5-hour long chanting session. They had to spend a whole diamond gem (taken from the church) to complete the ritual, but by using everything at their disposal, Charlie's revival was successful and no complication happened. 

Not everyone can sustain the strain of being brought back from the dead. Ordinary people or low level adventurers would turn to ash immediately from the sheer power needed to return and seal the soul back to the body. 

Luckily for Charlie, quoting the paladin, the days spent under the tropical sun and wind had toughened up his body and his mind, so that he could withstand the blessing of living again.

But…

It was not without problem for Charlie. After the spell scrolls consumed and the ritual completed, Charlie went into a deep slumber for 2 days straight, then as he woke up, he suffered major physical weakness that prevented him from moving around and even lifting up his arm. 

The fortunate part was the quick recovery he had. Roselie said that he was blessed by Lady Lathander herself for how fast he had recovered. It was recorded that some of the commanders in wartime took months to recover their strength entirely, yet it took Charlie a total of 5 days.

And today was the last day Charlie would be contained inside his room inside the church.

"Hold on… Why was the paladin so eager to help me?" Charlie asked Lissa

"The paladin, he helped us in storming the town of the cultists too, then he hung around Todoryre for a while under the order of the church, to seek out every last cultist hiding in the city. When your crew docked at Todoryre, he decided that it would be worth his time investigating the pirates of the … where was it again? Mach Sea?"

"Manch Sea. Pirates of the South Manch Sea." Charlie corrected Lissa

"Yes, that! And so, he tagged along with Elluin and Harrison."

"But why would he help out a pirate?"

"Well, Elluin said that he was impressed by the skill of our party, and he believed that their friend is also his friend? He's a weird man, but a good man nonetheless!" 

"Wha?"

"He also invited us to the church of Lathander in Qarchehia to have dinner with him, but Elluin turned him down, for now. Elluin said that we have to get you back to Serepike first, so as to make sure you would recover completely. Then we would consider his offer."

  "Hmmm… well… I guess we have met many strange men before…"

"Yep."

"By the way, where is everyone again?"

"Oh, they went back to Roselie's hometown, to visit her parents graves."

Charlie sighed. He could not believe the hardship his friends went through when he was gone. Charlie has heard most of his party's adventures without him, including how the elf archer and the human warrior became investigators for a government organization to look for him. 

He heard how Roselie became one of the most influential archdeacons of Serepike and many other frontier towns by bringing the blessing and teaching of Lathander to them. 

And he heard about how Lady Immith Murnyethera was missing after an all out war in eastern Gawon to take down the vampire lords conspiring to revive a dangerous vampire.

So many things happened in three years that Charlie almost forgot about his true self - a man from another world. 

Luckily, his magical stat scroll still remained in his possession, for Lady Immith had exchanged the scroll for her arcane book to battle the vampires.

Charlie looked through the stat scroll, the "Scroll of Angavir", at night when he had difficulty falling asleep. And the difference was astounding. 

He was now a "Level 9" human, and his profession was now split between a Ranger and a Fighter. - Probably because of his time spent as a pirate. He had to use his melee weapon much more frequently, and he had to move around as well as lead the charge at the front position much more often.

His stats did not seem to change much, strangely. He was faster, more agile, and obviously stronger in many ways, yet his stats read as such:

Strength - 15, Dexterity - 16, Constitution - 14, Intelligent - 13, Wisdom - 15, Charisma - 12

Maybe whatever system determined his stats were harsh on the points, and it had to keep Charlie relatively equal to most creatures in the world. Charlie could not help but wonder how everyone's stats were.

Before long, the two glass bottles of medicine had run dry, and sister Frieda confirmed Charlie's physical strength once again, before nodding satisfactorily and expressed that Charlie had recovered entirely. 

By the time sister Frieda was about to leave via a portal back to the palace, doctor Péftis suddenly walked through. He was not surprised that Charlie was already up and about, he actually asked him what took him so long even. 

But Charlie knew he did not mean any harm.

"Oh, and by the way…" Péftis said "I gave you my rapier so that you could protect yourself and others, not so that you could toss it to the ocean bed, you unkempt pirate!" (He now called Charlie a pirate now, even after much persuasion) 

"I didn't mean to! I was dead, literally gone to the Astral Sea, old man!" Charlie retorted, but he was feeling extremely terrible for losing a gift from the doctor himself. 

Not only that, he also lost the pistol made by the artificer back at Serepike too.

"Reasons, reasons! You humans are always full of reasons!" The elf doctor growled before reaching his hand out and made a grasping motion. 

And multiple specks of light suddenly appeared in his palm before a flash of arcane energy bursted out and, to Charlie and Lissa's amazement, his rapier was once again on doctor Péftis' hand.

"I knew from the beginning that I shouldn't trust you to hold on to my family heirloom, so I casted a recall enchantment on it to retrieve my sword when you die in a ditch somewhere." the doctor scoffed.

Charlie's eyes turned dizzy, almost as if he was seeing stars - he did not know he was using someone else's family heirloom. 

And worst of all, he tossed it down the ocean. 

He could have lost a precious piece of treasure. But… the doctor just sighed and returned the sword back to Charlie. He held onto the rapier, now so much more careful after knowing its origin.

"You are yet to have mastered the art of blade dance, and of course, your loud sidearm too. But… as I have said before, you have potential, you have what it takes to reach the Elite. So I want you to have this."

Péftis produced an envelope with a strange, ever changing and shifting color. From first glance, it had a rough-ish metallic look, almost seeming to be a sheet of silver crafted by a bored blacksmith apprentice. 

Yet, stared at it for a bit, Charlie could see it slightly turned purple and white, but just barely observable. The envelope was sealed by a silver four-pointed star.

"This is…"

"It's an invitation. Don't open it yet, I shall say that… you should travel with your friends for a while, and when you see fit, trust your heart on this one, human, when you think it's the right time, open the letter and follow its instructions. 

If you never open it, don't worry, it's fate that guides you. But know this, I believe you are the key for us to find out the location of Lady Murnyethera."

The elf doctor's voice turned serious, the barely glowing light of the portal behind him casted a shadow on top of his face, almost making his eyes glow in the dark. 

"I shall listen to you, doctor. Well, you should leave for the palace, there are other patients waiting."

"Yes, precisely. Yes…" Péftis nodded and repeated himself "Safe travel now, human, and keep my rapier by your side, always. Remember that, my great great elder bestowed it to my ancestors before it was handed back to me. So if you ever lose it again, well, your next treatment won't be too comfortable, I dare say. Goodbye, human, and you too, halfling."

The doctor went through the portal post haste, sister Frieda nodded goodbye again and followed him, leaving Charlie and Lissa in the room.

"Welp… That's that!" Charlie smacked his lips and fixed the rapier into his belt. "Get me my outfit, won't you?"

Finally, Charlie had finally put on his old clothing and armor again, and it barely fitted him. Parts of the metal buckles of the leather armor dug into his upper arms and shoulders, now that his muscle was much more defined.

I'll have to get some new clothes… but for now…

Lissa happily removed a metal cloak pin from her battle dress she usually wears and fixed it into his collar, to hold Charlie's green cloak again, just like the good ol' days. 

Charlie smiled.

Just like the good ol' days.

==

Trees quietly rushled in the background as wind tenderly caressed their branches.

Today is a beautiful day.

Roselie Tressel thought as she kneeled before two freshly built graves in the small yard behind the chapel that belonged to her family.

I have cleaned up the chapel, with the help of everyone in the town, of course. They… they were sad that you two are gone now, and they wonder who will lead the chapel now.

It's as I have said before… Exandret has always been a small town…, everyone is kind to each other, and we don't have many strangers wandering to town. Maybe… maybe that was why I left for Niliphy. But… I'm here now.

The townsfolk said that they wouldn't like someone from the main branch running our chapel, they said that it feels kind of disrespectful somehow.

Mom… Dad… please guide me… I do not know how to tell my friends that… I wish to retire from adventuring and take up on our chapel, I do not wish to witness any of my loved ones get hurt anymore…

It's been a while since the cleric girl kneeled beside the graves, and Tommy, her brother, also prayed with her, for he was a good brother (and honestly he kind of really loves his sister). But Roselie was starting to feel guilty for keeping little Tommy there with her - she knew her brother wouldn't budge from the spot unless she stood up first. 

And her friends, Elluin and Harrison were chatting with the guild representative from a distance, they were good friends and they were very understanding and respectful of her religion and personal woe. 

Roselie betted if she were to tell them her true feelings, they would respect her wish and move on without her. 

Maybe I really should just say it straight to them…

As Roselie started to move her legs a bit to lessen the numbness from kneeling for a long period, a sudden voice startled her from behind. 

It was loud and coarse, but it was also not too rough and, for some reason unknown to Roselie, so warm.

"My deepest greeting, dear mister and missus Tressel! My name is Charleston Fogsorrow, a fellow adventurer and a… close friend of your daughter, Roselie! Today I'm here at your chapel to introduce myself, but I regret not being able to meet you sooner."

W-What? Sir Charlie? Why is he here already? Shouldn't we meet up at Niliphy? Is he okay, did he run away from the church?

"And also, I came to Exandret today to ask for your permission. It's dangerous being an adventurer, mister and missus Tressel, but your daughter has braved through and made a name for herself in the land of the Niliphian Empire. I've heard that she has brought support to the poor and the unfortunate, I know for the fact that she has made every effort to bring the warmth of Lady Lathander to those who needed it, even though they might not appreciate it or be outright disrespectful to her. She pushes on, yet I know the unkind words of those who didn't mean it hurted her."

W-W-What? What are you saying?! Roselie cheeks burned with embarrassment, it reddened to the point that she seemed to have been slapped repeatedly. 

"Roselie has helped me and our party so much that I would think without her, we would have been dead several times now. And, I know this sounds dramatic, but she was literally the leading light of our party. That is why today I am here, expressing my greedy desire, to ask for your permission to continue adventuring with your daughter. There are many clerics out there, but… Roselie is our cleric."

"I know you were worried about her when she left home to join us. Any parents would. You wanted her to be safe and happy. You wanted her to have a normal life and a loving family. You didn't want her to risk her life every day, facing dangers and hardships that most people can't imagine. I understand your concerns. I respect them. But I also know that Roselie loves what she does. She loves the thrill of adventure, the joy of discovery, the satisfaction of making a difference. She loves being part of something bigger than herself. She loves us, and we love her."

It's been a while since Charlie had poured every feeling he had out for everyone to see. 

And he was not brave enough to say what he wished to say if he had not closed his eyes. But if he had, he would have caught a Roselie who was on the verge of tears, and a bit further away, two elfs whose ears were fully perked up to eavesdrop.

But… after everything he had been through, Charlie knew he must face his fear, one way or another. So he opened his eyes and turned to the party's cleric. 

"What do you say, Roselie? Would you join us, and continue our adventure?" 

"..."

Roselie took a moment to calm herself, her hands were shaking from the sheer overwhelming emotions she had bottled up. 

She had tried her best to hide whatever feelings she had for her brother's sake - she focused on saving her brother, and then she had to be strong so that her brother Tommy had someone to rely on. 

But at that moment, the lid of the bottle slipped off, letting loose the feelings she dreaded to feel. The cleric girl averted the gaze of her brother and her recently-recuperated companion by looking down to her knees.

"... I… But I have… Tommy now… to take care of… "

Roselie couldn't bring herself to reveal her true intention. She knew using her brother as a reason to shy away from her friends was cowardice, but she could not find any other ways. Roselie flinched as she saw Charlie's face scrunched in pain, she always knew goodbyes were difficult and painful. 

"And I… I wish to restore and take care of our chapel, for my parents and for the town."

Charlie could have guessed that would be Roselie's answer.

He heard Lissa retold everything that had transpired over the past few weeks, of the reason why her and Roselie did not join Elluin and Harrison in rescuing Charlie.

Charlie knew that having a loving family was an actual rarity for adventurer-kind. And fate cruelly severed the ties of Roselie's family.

On the way to Exandret, Charlie had Lissa brainstorming ideas to lift the cleric girl's mood and invite her to continue adventuring with them.

But…

Charlie couldn't possibly understand Roselie's pain and suffering.

His own parents disowned him when he was still an infant. They could not feed him with their meager salary, so they sold him to the black market, for a box of nutritious gel.

So Charlie never really had a mother or a father. The old lady who bought him wrought him of whatever emotion he had by forcing him to work until he collapsed from exhaustion.

It was not until Charlie got summoned to this world, the world of Lumea, that Charlie actually felt like he was living his life. 

It was as if the whole life he had before was a lie, a bad dream.

Charlie thought that losing parents must have felt very bad, but he could not grasp what it truly meant. Not until Lissa came up with the analogy of losing a party member you have traveled with for years.

And now, on the verge of losing Roselie, Charlie felt a painful twang in his chest, and his stomach felt like there was an infinitely deep hole opened up in there. 

Charlie could not retort.

He could not come up with any reason to persuade Roselie otherwise.

Of course she must take care of her brother. He also lost his parents too, so who would take care of him? And the chapel too, their home. 

Charlie bit his lips as Roselie continued, albeit with a whisper for voice.

"If not me, then who will… I have lost one of my families today, and I can't bear to witness you guys get in danger. Not anymore… after…"

"Miss, if I may…"

Ilrune Mirazorwyn spoke up - it seemed that Elluin, Harrison and the guild representative had decided to rejoin Charlie and Roselie by the graves. 

"The attack on the Tressel's family chapel was partly my fault, for Exandret was one of the regions in my responsibility. Yet I have ignored this town, for the limited resources and, frankly, adventuring potential it had. That is my fault, no doubt. There is nothing in this world that I could recompense for the loss of your parents. That is a pain, a guilt I have to bring with me my whole life. And so, Miss Roselie Tressel, please, I beg of your mercy, please help me lighten the guilt on my shoulders by letting me carry part of your weight."

Ilrune Mirazorwyn eyes sparked with intensity.

"Thomas Tressel will be enrolled into the Supreme church of Niliphy, where he could study to become the next head of the Exandret chapel of Lathander. Every fee, including tuition, living expenses and spendings will be covered by my own pocket. I will make sure of that. And for Exandret… the town was robbed of two excellent people, and there is no doubt in my heart that they do not want anything to do with the slow responding force from Todoryre or the guild. We have lost their trust completely, and I'm ashamed. Oh, the side eyes and curses I received when I first arrived… That I can never forget. I vow to bring Exandret more protection and attention, I will try to bring more traffic to the town, as well as making Exandret a more developed town. For the chapel, the Todoryre church of Lathander had paid for the rebuilding and upkeep. And, until Thomas here finishes his study, the chapel will be open for the townsfolk and the religious alike, to visit and pray. There will not be a head of chapel for a while, but I believe that this is for the best."

Roselie slowly brought her gaze over her friends' faces.

They were hopeful, and also anxiously waiting for her answer.

She could clearly see that.

She had no more reason to not continue her adventure, with her friends, her companion, her party.

She knew her parents would be supportive of her, as they were before. They would encourage her to spread the love of Lathander to those who needed it, even if it meant that she must travel far and wide.

But a part of her still hesitated and is still searching for an excuse. It felt as if a shadow of doubt had caught the cleric girl in a web of self-doubt and fear. She truly did not want to lose any of her loved ones anymore.

So she turned to her brother, Tommy.

"What do you think, Tom?"

Ah… I have only been away for a few years, so why did he look all grown up already? He seemed much more mature than me…

The brother looked at his sister and finally smiled. A loving smile. 

"I have… always wanted to be a paladin, like mom was. And… I… I want you to be happy, and it hurts me when your kind eyes lose their shine."

Tommy helped his sister to stand up.

"I saw it again, just recently, the way you looked at mister… here, as he asked our parents for permission. There was the happy shine again. But it quickly faded away when you looked over to me, and our chapel behind. Please, sister, I do not want you to be sad, it's not you when you're not smiling. I do not want to be the reason why you're sad."

"It's not... " Roselie tried to raise her voice but Tommy just shook his head and held her hands.

"No, sis, please. I want to follow the steps of mom and dad, I want to lead the chapel one day, since I was still a child. But you, I know, you have your own fate and destiny. I dreamt of it. I'm not being forced, I'm a grown man now, and I can take care of myself. So please, follow your heart. Like mom always said… trust in your heart, sis."

Indeed, he has grown so much…

Mother, father, I understand now… this… this is your guidance…

I see…

Roselie smiled, she let herself cry, as two streaks of tears ran down her flushed cheeks. 

"Then… I'm… once again… in your care…"

Charlie, as well as Elluin the elf archer, Harrison the human warrior, Lissa the halfling and Tommy the aspiring paladin, all embraced Roselie the cleric girl. The road ahead would be difficult, dangerous and littered with obstacles, but such was the life of adventurers, and those who signed up to become one must understand that first of all. Not all those who became adventurers stick with it, and those who persist, even through loss and pain, would find out how truly precious life was.