The Tale of Eria

The Beginning

I took a small sip from my wine glass as I glanced at the assorted red and white wine bottles decorating the walls of the tavern. It was a small little tavern located far away from the water village, which was located next to the sea. Behind the tavern lay a mysterious forest that stretched for miles and miles. I looked out at the window, the sun was beginning to set.

"Same order as usual Eria?" The tavernkeeper asked as she cleaned a glass. I snapped out of my daydream and looked at her.

"Yeah, the usual," I said as I turned my attention to her.

"Y'know Eria, you can't spend the rest of your days hiding out here at the tavern. There's a whole forest out there waiting to be explored, or better off, ask someone here to give you a quest!" My friend Bianca said as she nudged my shoulder. I smiled as I looked at her. She was an elf who had beautiful brown skin and curly purple hair. Her eyes were the same plum purple color as her hair.

"Eh, I like hanging out here with you instead," I said as I downed the rest of my wine. Bianca sighed.

"Why don't you try pursuing a relationship? Maybe then settle down and start a fam-"

"Boring! Plus, you remember what happened with my last relationship right? Or do you want another explanation?"

"Why don't you explain it again? It's been a while since I've heard your story," Joe said as he peered over from Bianca's shoulder. Joe was a peculiar fellow. He was a human who wore oval-shaped glasses that framed his masculine face. He had dark brown eyes that contrasted his light brown hair. He was always there to listen to my past stories.

"Well it all started when I was born, blah blah my mom was a water genasi, water powers, blah blah my father is the Charybdis thus making me half siren blah blah, and I can transform into a siren whenever I touch the water. More boring stuff, okay now the interesting stuff. So I ran away when I was thirteen because I realized my dad was only keeping me around because of my power. It's super cool by the way, it allows me to control any living thing just by singing! Anyways, I ran away, then met another water genasi who taught me how to strengthen my powers. And so I trained for the rest of my days with her and then bam! Here I am. Did ya catch all of that?" The tavernkeeper looked at me and gave me a soft smile. Then she chuckled.

"Wow, usually in the first chapter the protagonist doesn't reveal their backstory all at once,"

"Well, this story is different! Instead of saving the day with a group of people I met randomly, I'm gonna drink until I can't remember anything about my past!" I cried. The tavern went quiet as the people in it looked at me.

"Oops, I shouldn't have talked that loud," I said as I quickly slumped into the safety of my seat. 

Bianca, Joe, and the tavernkeeper laughed at my sudden outburst. The tavernkeeper then handed me my bowl of soup.

"Thank you so much, Reina!" I exclaimed as I quickly downed the soup.

"No problem. Thanks for being a regular. Let me know if I can get you anything else," She said as she turned around to continue cooking orders.

"Joe and I are gonna go ahead and take off," Bianca said as she got up from her stool. I looked over at them perplexed.

"Aren't we gonna play darts like usual?" I asked. She chuckled.

"We got summoned to go on a quest!" Joe exclaimed. I furrowed my brows.

"You're not the type to go on quests though. Why are you suddenly going on one?"