1
6 years ago, New Coillemeach in Elfheim.
— Meta. Is my new mentor, kind towards me?
There wasn't a clear answer as to whether or not this individual was indeed kind. Her palms were drenched in her sweat, her body was shivering uncontrollably despite being in the warm environment.
She turned her head towards her companion, beside her, as she clung to her right hand on his black leather sleeves. Displaying a white patch obscuring her left eye. She gave a graceful smile, radiating with jubilant. They'd walked along together on the stone-brick sidewalk.
The fellow in a black trench coat, made of the finest leather in the country. Underneath the thick coat, was a regal light blue suit with gold patterns scattered all over the vest. He had short hair that resembled the sandy shores of the warm sunny beach on earth. He had a remarkable face that charmed those of all ages.
The fellow turned his head to the left and then gazed towards his companion, while his eyes were completely shut.
He opened his mouth and replied...
"Yes. She's indeed a kind mentor you can trust. Training under her was a blessing during my youth."
"Oh!----- is that how you learned all of your fighting styles?" She was slightly awed in amazement, she darted her bright scarlet right eye towards her left, "like... To execute those felons, brother Meta?"
"Ha ha ha, not exactly, my dear sister."
"Hmm?
The little girl was about five feet tall, she was 2 inches away from Meta's height. As Meta considered her question to be worthwhile, He let out a joyful laughter in seconds. His laugh had reached his sister's ears, she tilted her head towards the right where she left a bewildered expression.
Feeling uneasy by it, causes her own neck's temperature to drop because of the odd laugh, Meta, had made.
It did not fill his laugh with malicious intent nor was it to mock his sister's curiosity. He found his sister's question amusing, seeking what was his mentor like. Seeing under her fascination, She wasn't downright wrong, yet... there were a few contradictions to her statement.
"How so? I'm confused, Meta. What does "not exactly" mean? Was I corrected or wrong?" The girl asked.
"What I mean is, my mentor wasn't the cultivator you seek. She hardly represents the type of person who teaches the art of concealment nor teaches any of the complex martial arts you've seen with me."
"Oh, I see. What is her specialty then?"
The young girl let out a tired "oh" as if she had lost her enthusiastic attitude from earlier, that was because Meta had diverted his answer from what the girl thought in her head.
"Let's see…" Meta touched the bottom of his chin and opened his eyes, he raised his head towards the sky where he remained speechless for a second "... Hmm, She specializes in one of the prominent magic techniques, Runecraft. albeit she teaches other lectures that include close combat and Field observation."
He lowered his head and then turned toward his sister where he shared everything he knew about his mentor.
"Ah, okay. Good to know… though, it's nice to know that she teaches close combat style."
The young girl turned away from her brother as she lowered her head. She shot a blank expression as if she wasn't satisfied or sure of the answer she was expecting.
"Though, I'm curious to know more about her teaching from her combat lecture, that's what I'm interested in. Say, It is the same skill you'd learn from her–"
"Nope!!" Meta left a pragmatic shout, "It won't be the same fighting style I learned. My other mentor has the style you seek, but pay no mind to my fighting style. After all, you're still learning the basics."
As she raised her head her mood slowly built into the tone with hope. Moments later, she was interjected with a loud voice coming right next to her. It was a sharp, sheer, but calm and positive rebuke said by Meta, to discourage her from regarding his "second" mentor that taught his fighting style, which wasn't the one that the girl expected.
He opened his right eye and gazed at his sister, where he saw his sister nodding her head, leaving a blank expression on her face.
Moments later, she turned her gaze somewhere else than him, staring to the lanes of where vehicles would stroll by. His heart pumped twice more than normal as he feared that his sudden rebuke may scare her.
The emotions he felt were strong and irritated upon hearing the same pestered question spoken by his sister. Luckily, his pragmatic shout didn't make his sister dismayed, that'll destroy their sibling's bond.
"Sigh~~~~" Meta sighed in relief.
2
The streets were nothing but silent, leaving vast echoes of air. The sky was painted midnight blue shimmering with seas of tiny crystals across the heaven. Both characters were walking together in a stone-brick peeved path.
A wagon-like automobile drove past the two through the concrete inner lane. It wasn't a busy lane where vehicles constantly race through these areas; however, few people were active in the dead of night. This lane temporarily remains a standstill through the entire course of the night.
The siblings' feet ached however, none of the signs show them yielding to their feet as they were resilient and wanted to keep moving, no matter how long the trip was. Their trip took longer than they expected, it could be two hours or four hours had passed than they'd planned earlier.
"Meta, can I take these wrappers away from my left eye? It felt kind of itchy at the moment."
The young girl raised her left hand and touched the left side of her face with a ribbon-like white patch on top of her obscured left eye. She gently scraped the felt-thin fabric as she lowered her eyelid and face towards the ground.
"Not yet, now is not the time to remove your bandage off of your face in a public space till I get you to a safer place."
"But there weren't any people here. There's nothing but a serene space; Only us we're here, Meta." She widened her right eye in puzzlement.
"Even there weren't many people here, ■■■■. I still won't allow you. I have an obligation to protect you, remember? Removing your mask right here might bring anyone's attention to your face…" He smiled blissfully, "…ESPECIALLY those Templars." He curved his mouth and turned his head towards another direction.
"I see…... It isn't safe to remove my bandage until we are at the château."
The girl was reluctant to remove her bandage off of her head because of the material of the fabric causing her skin to inflame and tenderize, making her extremely uncomfortable. Who knows how long she was holding back her sensation to itch her skin?
Behind his words, Meta had a point to his reasoning. There was an uncertain thing what might happen if removing the bandages could resulted in someone might have been lurking from the shadow, awaiting their prey to expose themselves in front of them. He wouldn't risk letting his enemy gain what they wanted.
Clack… Clack!
"We have arrived, ■■■■."
The sound of Meta's leather boots made a final clack, signaling they had stopped in their tracks. Meta raised his left hand and patted his sister's shoulder, letting her know they had arrived at their destination. Feeling the exhaustion throughout her body across to her feet. She raised her head after dozing off into space, and together they turned their eyes towards the front gate.
There was a large, black iron barrier with a flat with unknown symbols or patterns, melded inside the rows of iron bars from top to bottom. It stands in its path despite having thin bars that can let your hand slip through the columns.
The crescent-shaped plate inside the metal bars was the only thing that stood out. Where the top of the gate has a butterfly-like shape. This gate was called the wrought-iron gate.
"Oh!-----"
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
Behind the wrought iron towards the horizon, there was a wooden building lying ahead. It was a large Tudor-style structure that painted the walls like the color of chocolate milk. They were lined up in symmetrical lines that resembled piano-like keys. The windows were perfectly symmetrical and flanked by old white shutters in each row.
"---- The château is gorgeous!!"
