Deciding to change the topic of the conversation into a more friendly one, Leveen spoke up saying:

“Well, let’s not keep talking about such unpleasant things. Tell me you two, since you had the chance to see Ailya, how fares the girl? Does she look like her mother?”

At this question, Liria released a sigh as she smiled wryly and said in a slightly melancholic tone:

“She looks just like her mother. She has her beautiful green hair and brown eyes that make her appear as if she was a forest spirit.”

Adding on to Liria’s recount, much to the latters displeasure, was Vertice as he said:

“Though you can definitely tell that she is also Alfred’s daughter. The two have the same eye and nose shape.”

Hearing Vertice’s statement and seeing the displeasure in Liria’s face, the rest of the gathered members began to chuckle.

With the atmosphere in the cave improved, an elven girl with blonde hair and green eyes decided to finally join in on the conversation, asking in a casual tone:

“When do you think they’ll take down the two barriers? I don’t imagine it’s cheap to keep sustaining them for almost a week now?”

Answering her was the old man Croix, as he responded:

“When they feel confident that whatever they helped the demon cultists summon won’t attack them. I bet they must be panicking thinking that there’s a great demon just wandering around the forest.”

Despite Croix’s light hearted tone, Liria once again fell into a deep melancholic state as she mumbled:

“But it was because of that stupid summoning ritual that Aria died. While they took her prisoner for having betrayed royal customs and giving birth to Ailya, it was their accusations that Aria had been brainwashed in her campaign against Gratz and had actually joined the cultists, that they used as justification to kill her. Really, how despicable of them, working with the cultists to summon a great demon and trying to put a spell on it to control it. The as soon as their stupid plan fails, they put the blame on Aria saying that she was the one working with them and had her killed!”

Hearing Liria’s outcry and sensing the atmosphere in the room turning solemn once more, the gathered individuals of the Order of the Grey Heron once again returned to silence. However, not too long after silence had fallen on the cave, a tall black man wearing large round glasses with long dreads peeking from his hood while carrying a large ornate golden staff on his right hand entered the cave. As soon as his presence was noticed by those in the cave, everyone turned to look at him with a hopeful expressions that quickly turned to those of distraught at seeing him return by himself. 

Seeing the expression on his companions faces, the man let out a sigh and adopted a wry smile on his face as he said;

“As you all can see, I’m afraid that I couldn’t find the girl. Despite Liria having only left her for a day by herself, it seems our little hero took your suggestions seriously and has already set off on her journey and gone to look for her great father.”

Seeing the expressions of his companions darken slightly at his bad news, the man tried to assuage their concerns as he said:

“Now now, don’t look so worried ya’ll, you should all know that fate will guide her to safety, after all, being a ‘child of destiny’ is no laughing matter. The power of fate is something that you are all aware of, and, when the time calls for it, her powerful fate will manifest in a powerful soul ability or soul skill at tier 10 to help her protect herself. That girl is destined to become a great hero that will help us take down the Demon Lord, so put some trust in her that she’ll manage to find her way through the world. She won’t be threatened by some simple demon meant to be food for the Demon Lord or the demon cultists and elfs skulking around.”

Seeing the expressions of his companions calm down slightly. As they were all too aware of the power of fate, the man decided to continue on with more pressing matters as he said:

“Now, instead of worrying about this, I believe that it’s time that we begin moving out. Not only did I not find Ailya, but I also found no trace of whatever was summoned. Most likely than not, since they had their summoning ritual interrupted, they were unable to truly summon anything worthwhile. Most likely, they managed to summon a simple demonic being that ran away as soon as it’s instincts informed it of the barrier surrounding the forest. As soon as the idiots inside the barrier realize that there’s no threat in the forest, they’ll take down the barrier and begin looking for Ailya and us in full force. So it’s time that we leave and begin preparing for the future. Ailya will undoubtedly be attracted to the other ‘child of destiny’, so as long as we can track Ailya down, we should be able to know who our other destined hero is. At the same time, I’ll be heading back to the Empire to gather support for the upcoming conflict, is this plan of action ok with you all?”

At this, Liria decided to speak up as she responded with a determined expression on her face as she said:

“I’ll go track down Ailya, I’ll make sure to keep the girl safe in Aria’s stead.”

Following Liria, Croix spoke up as he said:

“I’ll follow along with Liria, someone needs to be able to train our two future heroes if we want to have any chance in the future, especially since we can no longer rely on Aria to bail us out.”

With Liria and Croix being set to look for Ailya, Leveen took the opportunity to say:

“Then I’ll take the rest of the lot with me to help some of our aides in the sacred forest escape before it’s too late. Aria’s death should cause a great commotion among the common elves in the forest, as well as many powerful people on the outside who looked at her with favor. There’s no doubt that unrest will begin to show in the forest, so we need to get all the important people out before the royals begin to kill them in order to prevent any rebellions. After that, we’ll begin to gather support inside the kingdom for the time being. Liria, Croix, if you find Ailya make sure to contact us immediately through the network. And Yasin, if you ever need help or aid in the Empire, make sure to contact us as well. It appears the gears of fate have begun to turn again and it won’t be long until the world is plunged into chaos once more. So until we meet again, stay safe everyone.”

With these words, everyone in the room rose from their seats and began to prepare themselves to set out, not only to fulfill their current missions, but to prepare themselves for the great struggle that was looming on the horizon…