Complete Private ✪ Finweald Off The Record

[Lune]

The rebuilt Embertorch hardly looked impressive, but it was functional. Understandable since they lost most of their members after the whole Szofrit fiasco, and Rome wasn't built in a day. Not a lot of people visit the public library section recently, but it made it easier for Lune to just hoard books and documents before skimming through them at breakneck speed.

"Not this," she pushed aside a book. "Nope," another pile of papers pushed away. "Not here too..." the woman muttered as the maps on the table didn't provide the answers that she sought.

The destruction of Embertorch annihilated a lot of records. Unlike the MIT, the Explorers were meticulous with their information and kept several backups just for redundancy's sake. The problem? Some backups were also destroyed, and most newly documented stuff didn't have the time to get the backup treatment yet. The shortage of members means the rediscovery and restoration of data is slowed to a halt.

Deciding to just sit on the chair to relax after some time of information searching, the one-horned woman sighed deeply. Her appearance has become significantly healthier compared to when she last appeared out in public, regaining some of her height, mass, and even hair length.

"Nggh.." Stretching her arms up, she stood up to prepare to return irrelevant stuff back to their shelves while keeping ones with potential leads open at the big table.

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

There was always something that needed to be done around here; at times it was due to actual emergencies, but mostly it was just the ever growing backlog of things that had continued to pile on over time. Their faction had already been quite understaffed, and the events surrounding Szofrit had only thinned their manpower further.

Sure, new blood always flowed in—first time players were often drawn in at the intrigue of adventure and discovery that the Whistles promised—but their inexperienced hands were better out on the field rather than behind a desk.

"Uuugh, when does it eeend...?" Piles of tomes, scrolls and letters had become a permanent fixture on the desk of every black whistle left, seemingly refusing to shrink despite all of their combined efforts.

The heel of her palm rubbed against closed eyes in an effort to relieve the strain from the last couple of hours, a drawn out sigh escaping the elf as she leaned back on her chair. A quick glance to the corner of her UI confirmed that @Yugam was still offline, though the name right below his sported the iconic green dot.

Right, time for a little break~ She’d certainly done more than her fair share to earn it after all. A happy hum escaped Lúthien as she headed for the one place in the Embertorch that she suspected her unnie was visiting today, but not before making a quick stop along the way…

"Found anything interesting?" A mug was gently placed down a safe distance away from the various books and scattered documents across Lune’s table, the contents inside still warm as a wisp of steam rose from the top.

@Lune

 

[Lune]

Even when being preoccupied with the information-searching, Lune knew who was coming from behind just from the rhythm of the footstep. Probably been a while since Luthien last saw the woman handling so many papers containing information, but it was one of the things that Lune was pretty good at.

"Nope, there were several books in my memory that I couldn't find." By her memory, she meant the memory of a certain blonde who lived in this world for years that she inherited. "Probably some of the many that were lost to the destruction, which sadly we can't do anything about."

"I'm just looking for something that perhaps referenced those pieces of stuff. Anything, really." Shrugging, she decided to drop whatever she was doing and make her way slowly to grab the mug of warm beverage. "Thank you, what's this?"

An idea appeared in her head as soon as she lifted the mug. Maybe there wasn't any written information left regarding category five magical artifacts. But what about unwritten knowledge?

"...Wonder if Beleg would know something about it?" The woman turned toward Luthien, mentioning someone who's been part of the League for so long and worked closely with the late Immortal Heroine in the past.

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

The sight brought back memories of golden fields, a quiet chuckle escaping as she remembered one of the many deliveries Beleg had saddled her with at the time. Said tasks were now left for the newer gold and orange whistles… although the occasional petition still crossed her to-do list on some occasions.

"Yeah, the fires claimed a lot of them. We’ve tried to piece together things from what remained but…" Despite the League’s best attempts it had been impossible to save everything, and their constant understaffed force had meant many of their tomes and scrolls hadn’t had any backups to fall onto if the originals were damaged or destroyed. "Well, let’s just say that’s another work in progress."

She had plenty of questions herself when it came to Grimr and the shards, but little time to actually follow through with them considering the various projects and responsibilities Lúthien had undertaken since. Her unnie’s voice finally brought her back to the present, the all too familiar gremlin playfulness clinging to her voice as Lúthien spoke.

"Míriel stopped by earlier with a surprise, dried flowers she got from some Yladians she’s known for a while~" A sweet fragrance emanated from the cups, soothing and inviting, with fruity peppery undertones revealed when it was brought closer for a sip. "What was the name again…"

"Lissuin blooms."

A glance towards the door would reveal the silver haired elf leaning against the frame without a care in the world, sporting a lingering half-smirk as he gently raised a warm mug of his own in a faint greeting.

@Lune

 

[Lune]

"Lissuin blooms."

Just like the last time when she met Beleg as he asked for her help, something stirred inside of Lune. There was an urge to run up to him, casually greet him like an old friend, and ask about how the past days have been; to find out how the couple of past years have treated him.

Unfortunately, that sudden instinct was not hers. When one's memory was seamlessly imparted to you, it's hard to know whether you were still yourself.

"Hello. Sorry that I keep intruding on the library every day." The woman turned, giving a polite little nod before getting back to enjoying the warm drink. As she brought the mug closer to her face, she could smell the aroma that was somehow familiar. Lune took a small sip, noting the taste profile, "Hm."

She placed the mug back on the table, turning to face the two elves as she leaned on the edge of the table. It's a rarity to see the pair taking a break, walking around, and not drowned in work behind their respective tables. "Well, Luthien and I were just talking..."

Lune motioned toward the table covered with maps, documents, and stacks of books and papers. "... This is not connected to your side project, but do you perhaps by the slightest chance keep a documented list of known and potential category five magical artifacts?"

That's an equivalent of a "bro do you know where to find nukes" question.

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"Weren’t you busy? Last I checked you still had a mountain of paperwork piling on your desk."

"It’s fine… they can wait for a cup of tea or two."

"You sure ‘bout that? Some of them looked official, Beleg."

Honestly, how the man had climbed the ranks with that nonchalant personality of his was still a mystery to Lúthien. Then again she had to admit the elf was resourceful…, so long as there was motivation to be found that is.

"Don’t mention it, glad that this place is still of some use for others."

The exchange with his fellow whistle had brought him closer, golden eyes quietly sweeping over the various scrolls and tomes scattered over Lune’s table as he did so. It didn’t look like he’d noticed anything off from the woman’s microexpressions, but it was far more likely due to Beleg’s own choosing than missing them.

"Hmm, I can think of one if the rumors are true… but if there’s any information about it or others it’s unlikely you’ll find it here."

The woman would’ve had better luck perhaps if this had been their old library, plenty of dusty and forgotten records in their shelves at that time, but between the fires and ongoing events…

"There was another place that could’ve had the answers you seek, but timing really isn’t your forte young lady."

A shiver crossed Lúthien’s spine as she connected the dots, the blonde well aware of the rather… eccentric nature of most members within MIT. "Pfft getting clearance alone took ages, and they’re downright anal about what material you had access to even if you got it." None of that mattered anymore however, whatever knowledge remained from MITHRA-I’s ruins was in the heads of their members and whatever notes some—like Ronja and herself—might’ve saved outside of the research facilities.

"Goog luck grilling Ordnung for answers." Her unnie was going to need it.

@Lune

 

[Lune]

"You sure ‘bout that? Some of them looked official, Beleg."

The man didn't even answer, which was funny considering this was exactly the carefree Beleg from her memories. Glad all those years and higher rank changed nothing.

Holding back a chuckle, she looked at the first location that Beleg pointed out. Her brain quickly flashed to the decisive fight against Szofrit. Even if that was quite some time ago now, the area surrounding that was still considered dangerous, especially with her greatly weakened body.

And there was still some mystery surrounding the Dragonship itself, perhaps connected to the child that the Mother of Machines was trying to reach.

Guess she made the right choice to let her do that.

"Well, I would not trust scientists who somehow don't have backups to have what I'm looking for, Legolas." She just shrugged, not wanting to even try to go to MITHRA-II, before then turning to the blonde elf while gesturing around in annoyance. "You know how sussy Orduning is. I bet he already have some of those stashed in his personal vault or something."

Not like she was gonna have it any different, but at least she's sure that she herself doesn't have any sus agenda. "Looks like I hit a wall then," Her eyes scanned left and right, ensuring there were no other people nearby before shifting the topic. "But what about beyond the veil?" The horned woman said in a slightly whispered voice.

"I wasn't part of the dive team, so I'm lacking some information. But perhaps it is possible to bring things that are native to that place back here?"

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"Right? I can understand the landers not thinking about that… but you’d think players would be smarter than that!" She’d been shocked by the news that emerged after the fall of MITHRA-I, and the reminder stirred the same frustration she’d felt then once more. "Did those fools never lose an essay or a work project to random shenanigans in school?"

The taller elf had nodded along as Lúthien went off, though Beleg had remained unusually quiet—brows furrowed together as his gaze focused on Lune. It wasn’t so much what the woman had said, but how she had said it, that stirred old memories and gave him pause.

"Sure, there’s no cloud services here yet... but you’d think they would’ve tried something instead of risking it all like this." Maybe she’d been expecting too much out of MIT, after all the rumors of their poor decisions back in Red Fever days still circulated through Astorea.

"I hate that you’re probably right." Her own involvement with Emme and assistance with Ronja’s projects had meant spending more time than she ever thought possible with the headmaster and, while her original view of him had shifted slightly into favorable territory, she knew better than to trust him—or most members of MIT—blindly.

"Hmm, certainly not impossible..."

The frown on his face finally relaxed as he lifted the mug to his lips, perhaps the familiar sweetness had encouraged his mind to look for things that weren’t there? A slowly raised hand was accompanied by the hesitant voice of a certain blonde caught their attention next.

"A-Actually…" Between one thing and another she’d almost forgotten all about it—only discovering the item among the ever growing collection within her UI recently. "Dunno how it happened, but I found this inside my inventory."

A look around confirmed what Beleg and Lune had already checked, no one else seemed to be in the vicinity at the moment, before a coordinated dance of her fingers through the air caused an object to materialize onto her palm.

"Took a while to figure out where it’d come from when I noticed… but I’m absolutely certain it was from there now." She held it carefully in her hands, the cup of warm tea having been relegated to the table and half forgotten now. "Its astral signature matches nothing from here."

@Lune

 

[Lune]

"Who knows, maybe he's just gonna say that he has all the backup inside his head or something." The older woman shrugged, slowly walking around to stack and tidy up the papers that were of no use to him. "But yeah, I have no trust in MIT. Not after I had to clean up their mess."

When Beleg said that it might be possible, ideas bloomed inside Lune's head. Several possibilities, like grabbing a past powerful magical artifact like the crystal that she had from the other side, or even looking for something that didn't exist on this side. Of course, stuff like that might impact the future of that timeline, but they could always compromise.

"A-Actually…"

Luthien's voice brought her back from the deep thought, and as an unfamiliar object materialized on her palm. On the other hand, the glowing runic symbols on the side...

That was mine, yeah. But I am pretty sure it was a gun.

Are you suggesting that alternate-version-you wielded something different?

Either that, or it adjusts to the user's preferred shape.

With Beleg around, she couldn't outright say that she somehow knew that it was the Immortal Heroine's weapon. The most fascinating part was that she could feel the magic flowing inside the device, even though it was supposedly from a plane of existence that was different than theirs.

"Definitely not from around here. Perhaps someone gave it to you?" The horned human tried to nudge Luthien into remembering the weapon that Alt-Corvella wielded, considering she saw her in action. "What do you think, Beleg? Something you recognize?"

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"We’ll have to wait and see I guess…" A few things about the topic still bothered the elf, especially after spending so much time with the Headmaster and most of MIT before the demise of their own headquarters. "It’s not like Ordnung to not have a backup plan, but even if he does that doesn’t mean shit always goes as planned."

Any additional thoughts on the matter would have to wait however, their current topic steering back to the unique experience she had lived through—and the device that had somehow materialized into her UI inventory afterwards.

The staff was unlike anything else Lúthien had come across TerraSphere before. Magical runes were etched along its sides, and she could feel the occasional pulse of energy from within the apparatus—as if it were dormant now. Her gaze shifted from Lune to Beleg and back to her unnie, uncomfortable as the silence stretched on.

"Whoever did were quite crafty, they snuck this into my inventory without a word." A pity really that she hadn’t had time to check the contents at some point before they had been pulled out of the shard. "Which, for the record, wasn’t something I thought could be possible until now."

"... Do you remember if anyone wielded something similar to this back then?"

His gaze remained focused on the apparatus even as Beleg spoke, the runes etched along its sides familiar despite the years that had gone by, though he didn't dare to assume its origin without further proof. He knew his young charge had a memory unlike most, but with it also came the annoyance to properly recollect the smaller details amidst a sea of never ending information.

"Nnngh, gimme a second to think…" Lúthien’s brows furrowed as she did her best to recall the moments of that specific adventure, a faint ache pressing against the sides of her temples as the silent promise of a headache began to surface.

Of course there was someone else who might be able to shed some light into the situation. Golden eyes shifted towards miss "ferret girl" as Grimr called her, quietly scrutinizing the woman... though Beleg didn't pressure her futher.

@Lune

 

[Lune]

"We'll see." She shrugged towards Luthien and Beleg, knowing both of them shared the same opinion as her.

As the conversation was fully committed to the weapon, Lune raised one eyebrow as Beleg somehow avoided giving the straight answer, despite being sure that he would recognize the runes. The weapon was indeed in a different form that... looked like a staff? Regardless, it's easier to just tell the blonde elf about the previous user.

"Hmm..."

And then she finally realized, she can't really talk too much about this without showing that she somehow had way too much information on Corvella without raising suspicion. Maybe it's fine, since it's Beleg? Her intuition said no. The fewer people who know about this complicated predicament, the better.

I think Beleg's looking at her right now. Alright. Bad acting, go.

"... Adventurer Corvella was said to wield a winged shield and a unique magical apparatus with runic text on its side that shoots projectiles, right?" She put her hands on her chin, pretending to be theorizing about this stuff, which wouldn't make sense to Luthien as she knew for sure that the memory of the Heroine lived inside the horned woman. Spoke with her a few times, even.

"I remember reading that somewhere, or maybe someone said it. Hanno, perhaps?" There was definitely no document that said any of that, but it's not like Beleg could confirm it right here and now, because Hanno wasn't around.

Wow, that was bad. I thought you had acting experience?

Shut up, the fact that stuff could pass through the veil is more important.

"Maybe she left that as a gift?" Lune continued, inspecting the magical runes. "The runes are not something that I recognize, but it does feel magical. Try flowing your magic into it."

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"No," she finally replied, a frown on her face as her eyes settled on Beleg. "I can’t remember anyone wielding something like this while we were there."

"What about the Corvella of that space?" He knew better than to doubt the blonde’s memory… and yet a part of him still tried. "Do you remember what she wielded?"

"Yeah, she had a shield—like the one held by the Immortal Heroine’s statue." It was then that Lune seemingly found her voice again, the older woman revealing something new about Corvella that Lúthien hadn’t heard before. "Wait, she went around just pew pewing stuff?"

"That’s one way of putting it, but yes." He didn’t try to suppress the faint chuckle at the blonde’s choice of words. "I saw those runes plenty of times too… and they’re just like those."

Beleg pointed at the staff in her hands, backed up by her unnie’s own words—assuming the only reason Lune was being so roundabout was due to the man’s presence. "M-Maybe…" Slowly the elf began to feed her own magical energy into the device, though her mind couldn’t keep itself from pondering how exactly it had ended up with her in the first palace.

"She wasn’t in any condition to be sneaking shit around." It seemed unlikely, but perhaps not entirely impossible, and @Madison Freebird had healed the silver-haired—"Wait, there was something different about her—she had platinum hair instead of blonde!"

@Lune

 

[Lune]

Ah, of course, the elf would mistake the not-Immortal-Heroine-over-there's hair since she hung around in the dreamscape so much that she mistook the guardian's appearance as her actual in-game look.

"Eh? Wasn't Corvella always platinum-haired? I don't remember anyone telling me she was a blonde."

Lune would wait until Beleg wasn't looking directly towards her before turning to Luthien and quickly giving her a 'shush' motion while furrowing her brows. The amount of Corvella-specific info that they divulged in the past minute was getting too suspicious.

"Wait," Several seconds after Luthien poured her magic into the apparatus, her magically sensitive eyes could pick up that its property was shifting. "Something's happening." The magical runes on the side would change color first, and then several parts of the staff collapsed and detached themselves.

Instead of falling to the ground, they floated and slowly shifted into a new position, merging back together. It repeated in cycles as the device continuously collapsed its parts and molded itself into something different.

"Is it... reforming itself?" Lune was fascinated, but wary. The energy reading coming from the supposed weapon was growing so much that it must have pulled a considerable amount of magic from Luthien.

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"Blonde…?"

The raised eyebrow on the man’s face spoke volumes, but before Lúthien could even think about arguing back her case her unnie had already butted into the topic. "Eh? Wasn't Corvella always platinum-haired?" Her own brows had started to furrow in response, before the veiled shush motion from Lune finally clicked things into place for the blonde.

"R-Right…! Look, I never met the woman before—" It was hard to figure out what Beleg was thinking behind that serious look in his eyes, his poker face game too strong to read despite her heightened senses. "—and it’s not like the statue has color… probably misheard someone one day and the thought just stuck…?"

It was a poor save, and the distraction had caused Lúthien to funnel more magic into the device than she’d originally meant to.Lune was the first to notice as the runes began to light up, their glow increasing rapidly as the object began quivering in her hands.

"Luth stop—!!!"

She cut off her flow of magic towards the apparatus as a blinding flash filled the room, forcing those within it to cover their eyes until the burst of light finally dissipated.

"It’s… It’s a bow…?" The newly formed weapon brought an innumerable amount of questions to the blonde’s mind as she held it, testing the balance of its new form before two impressed whistling sounds echoed in unison.

"Damn, Corvella never told me it could do that." It wasn’t hard to see the man was impressed, the smirk on his lips hiding the faint sting inside his chest. "Guess that solves one problem."

"Yeah, and it looks sooo cool—wait!" Her initial marveling over her new bow was quickly brought short as Beleg’s words reminded the blonde of the order she’d already submitted at Malinornë Weaves. "Fuck, I just paid for a new one three days ago!"

"And I’m sure Míriel is very thankful for your patronage~"

Lúthien knew the elven woman would never allow her to cancel it now, Míriel's contracts were always ironclad and binding... but maybe there was still time to modify the final details.

@Lune

 

[Lune]

After Luthien tried to recover from the overexplaining with some bad acting, Lune thought she had it under control until she brought up another not-widely-known fact. "—and it’s not like the statue has color…"

The shushing motion intensified as she knew well that only a few select people knew the connection between the statue and the person known as the shieldmaiden of Astorea.

Fortunately, whatever the device was turning into, it caused so much distraction that they moved away from the convo like they had any choice when the apparatus itself flashbanged the three of them.

"It’s… It’s a bow…?"

"It does look like one... But is it a bow?"

The question remained. In Corvella's hands, the weapon was able to create its own projectiles by resonating with her magic, and the same energy could propel said mini magical projectiles with accuracy. But in the shape of a bow? Does it still need to be manually operated? It is more of a magical focus, after all.

"Damn, Corvella never told me it could do that."

Well, I didn't even knew it could do that, there's that.

For now, she'll let Luthien figure it out by herself. The horned woman didn't feel like tripping into some more stuff that Beleg would catch on.

"Fuck, I just paid for a new one three days ago!"

Lune couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, having backup weapons can be handy. I have three different swords with me all the time." She shrugged before walking closer toward the blonde elf to look at the newly formed weapon further. "Or you could always donate it to someone else."

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

It seemed Lúthien was hellbent on shoving her boot into her mouth today, the new slip of her tongue increasing Lune’s shushing motions when the ferret woman thought Beleg wasn’t paying attention. If he’d noticed, or simply chosen to poker face his way through, would remain a mystery as the sudden flashbang from the artifact blinded them all.

"It does look like one... But is it a bow?"

Crimson eyes stared at Lune, a mix of confusion and something else that was hard to properly name reflected on them as she finally spoke. "Don’t tell me you’re gonna get philosophical on me now." Still, she supposed her unnie’s suspicions warranted some merit when it came to magical artifacts—a category this thing clearly fell into.

"Hey Beleg—" Her attention turned to the only one in the room known to have personally seen Corvella’s gun in the past, the thought on what to do with the custom bow she’d commissioned archived for later thought. "—any clue on how this shit works?"

"It’s magic." A shit eating grin appeared on his face as he echoed part of the words Corvella had once told him when he’d posed a similar question to the woman. "Try channeling ener—"

His words came to an abrupt halt as the man seemed to reconsider his suggestion, his narrowed gaze met by Lúthien’s own as she seemed to pick up the thought process inside that brain of his. "I’m not a child, y’know?" It was the same look he often wore when he thought something was beyond the ranger’s capabilities, and it irked Lúthien every time.

"Debatable… but I’d rather avoid a gamble within the Embertorch today." A pause, before he made sure to tilt the balance in his favor. "Unless you’re itching for more paperwork, that is."

@Lune

 

[Lune]

"Don’t tell me you’re gonna get philosophical on me now."

"Well, it doesn't look like it bends enough to handle all that force." She had some worry, but it is a magical weapon, obviously it's going to bend some logic and rules of physics, like almost every magic in this world.

"It’s magic."

A faint tinge of warm familiarity appeared among the cloud of memories inside her head, causing Lune to unwittingly smile as she recalled this exact exchange from a memory a few years back.

You missed this, huh.

Maybe one day, she'll find a way.

"I was going to suggest just giving it a spin and try, but..." The woman walked back towards the big table to resume stacking and sorting out the books, documents, papers, and journals that she had gone through for the past hour. "We don't want for a second library to be destroyed, so do it in your free time," Lune said jokingly, knowing the blonde's affinity towards magic is naturally high.

The stack was quite high, and it was clear that it wasn't going to be a one-trip thing, so she split it in half before carrying it to the shelf behind them to return where they belonged. "Speaking of which, Beleg." She stopped, turning back toward the pair of elves. "Should have given you a heads up, but I think you'll need to find an alternate way to power up your side project. I'm pretty sure I don't have the means to do that anymore."

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"You’re both ganging up on me, and I hate it." The pout remained in her face as she looked from her mentor to her unnie and back, before a defeated sigh escaped the elf. Curious as she was about this artifact Lúthien wasn’t about to risk damage to the Embertorch after all the work that had gone into its repair—or the paperwork that would come with it.

Beleg moved towards the table just as Lune finished dividing the stack of books, his hands reaching for the other half out of habit before the older whistle’s mind had even caught up.

"Don’t worry about that, Grimr already knew this was a temporary solution anyways." Lune being the source of energy hadn’t sat well with Beleg from the start, but time had been short and of the essence at the time. "More importantly, is everything alright?"

Golden eyes almost bore into the woman as he finished putting the last of the books into its place, quietly changing towards the blonde elf who purposely dodged his gaze, before shifting back to the oreo-haired woman.

@Lune

 

[Lune]

"You’re both ganging up on me, and I hate it."

"Don't blame me, you were sort of an easy target." Not forgetting to follow up with her own bow-and-arrow pun, Lune chuckled as she walked away to put away the books.

"Hmm, sort of?" Finishing putting things back where they belonged, Lune turned to the elf. "I mean, when has it ever been alright around here in Terrasphere? Right, Luth?" Another small laugh, but this time the joke felt like it was trying to deflect Beleg's sharp instinct.

She brushed aside the brittle, white part of her hair, and as she raised her arm, Beleg would notice through the motion what was behind Lune's loose half-kimono sleeve, even though it was in the blink of an eye; the right arm was riddled with something akin to open wounds, cuts, and bruises. Unlike actual scars that adventurers might have, these looked fresh and numerous to the point that they looked like a pattern.

Due to where she stood and the angle, Luthien probably wouldn't have caught any of that. Or mostly because she was trying to avoid Beleg's gaze, and probably preoccupied with her new toy.

"As much as it's fun here, having to worry about two entire worlds is stressful."

Szofrit was finally gone, but she was just a small piece in this realm full of dangerous threats that they had yet to comprehend. The Dissonance, neighboring countries, the masked guy obsessed with veildiving.

The great white tree.

The last time they had to leave with their ass kicked. Several moons ago, at the peak of her power, Lune went back to Lubeck to investigate. Nothing, not even a trace. Is it gone? Did it just relocate, planning to come back even more powerful? Nobody knows, but she still noted it down as one of the highest threats as of now.

"I might take my leave now."

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

Lune’s pun-ful retort earned an eyeroll from the blonde, her non-verbal response in the form of a stuck out tongue towards her unnie.

His open-ended question had been met by an equally vague answer. A quick "The answer is never~" tacked on right after Lune’s words when Lúthien was brought into the conversation—though her focus remained mostly on the new toy she continued to inspect.

"Hahah, that’s valid."

The last book he held was stored away, before the movement of fabric at the corner of his eyes focused his gaze on Lune’s arm for a split moment. The visual had been brief, gone almost as quickly as it had unexpectedly showed up, but the sight of fresh gashes that haphazardly covered her skin was impossible to erase once found.

"Lun—"

"As much as it's fun here, having to worry about two entire worlds is stressful."

A flicker or alarm crossed those golden eyes, eyebrows furrowed when his voice was quickly cut off by the woman’s own as she veered the conversation elsewhere.

"Hey, at least this world has magic~" It was easier to deal with unexpected bullshit and life turning events when a little razz-n-dazz could be sprinkled over it, the example perfectly captured today thanks to the blonde elf that was absolutely twitching to find out what this artifact would do once she channeled some of her magic through.

She remained oblivious to the serious expression in Beleg’s features, a myriad of questions floating through his mind as the senior whistle tried to make sense of what he’d glimpsed—certain that they hadn’t been there before. Had Grimr’s calculations been wrong, and were they the reason behind the woman’s inability to continue powering the veildiver’s petproject?

Or was it the sign of a new danger to come—
"I might take my leave now."

"Awww, already?" Lúthiens whine drowns out the faint rumble as Beleg cleared his throat, the usual lackadaisical expression back on the silver-haired man’s face when the blonde finally turned her attention towards them. "Send me a list of what you’re looking for later, I’ll keep a n eye out next time I’m around Falderen."

Perhaps some dusty old scroll, or a worn out tome, in their libraries held whatever clues her unnie was seeking.

@Lune