Empyreal Calamities

Chapter 2: A Not-So-Modest Job Proposal

The Earth Elf huffed as she cracked her knuckles and walked to the study. "Doubt that. I'll wash myself off when I get home. What kind of job is it?"

"A job that is paying pretty well," Kara replied, nodding to a priest and priestess walking past them. "A message came in this morning. This innkeeper said there have been loud, strange noises and lights coming from the ruin not far from his business."

Ilys groaned as she entered the study and sat down on a chair next to the table at the center of the room. "Let me guess, we have to go to this giant ruin because the innkeeper is hearing noises at night and it's affecting his business?"

Kara looked at the map that was already on the table and pointed to an area on it. "That's right, and it's not too far away. See? The man who owns it said he'll pay us a nice price if we can find what's causing them and put a stop to it." She looked at her sister, who looked pretty skeptical. "Why not? We're getting paid good coin to exorcise some spirits that are haunting it. What's the problem?"

The other female scoffed and waved her hand at the map. "Because it's a fucking ruin we're going into? Remember what happened last time? You and I got separated from the guys and almost died. I was out for a while since I got a concussion from the fall." She pushed her hair behind her ears as she stood up. Her amber-brown eyes locked onto Kara's cornflower blue ones. "It's probably just restless spirits being extra loud at night. This doesn't sound worth it." As much as she wanted to earn some money, Ilys wasn't willing to take the risk. After the last job she did with Kara and their brothers, her head would occasionally get sharp pains out of nowhere. She hadn't told them or anyone else about it. The last thing she needed was her siblings fretting over her.

"We only fell through the hole because Dol accidentally activated the trap. And you only got hurt because you kept me from taking the brunt of the fall." the Snow Elf pointed out. "Plus, it's my duty as a priestess of Memoria to help restless spirits. What if they can't move on because their memories are keeping them here? It's my duty as a priestess of Memoria to help them move on."

She looked at Kara and groaned at the hope she saw in her sister's eyes. "Sorry, but I'm not interested. I don't mind exorcising spirits, but going into a ruin full of them and who knows what else? That sounds too risky." She started walking away and heard her sister walking after her, but she didn't stop. Ilys knew Kara wouldn't give up, but that didn't matter to her. She didn't want to go and that was final.

"Then I'm not asking as a priestess that serves Memoria. I'm asking as your sister to come with me. I don't want to have to do this job myself," Kara pleaded.

Looking over her shoulder, Ilys couldn't help but glare at her a little. To a priestess, she would've been fine saying no to, but to her sister... "Playing it dirty by stabbing me with the "I'm your sister." dagger, huh?" she asked, letting out a humorless laugh. She scratched her head and sighed in defeat. "Fine, I'll take the job. But if something feels wrong: we're gone. No questions asked." She rolled her eyes when she saw Kara smile and jump a little in victory. "When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow," the Snow Elf replied excitedly. "The sooner we get this done, the better. It's almost on the about a day's walk away to Wisteria Mist Inn and the Mornspark Sepulcher isn't too far from it."

The brown-haired girl scrunched her nose in disgust. "That name sounds sinister. Bet it has a lot of spirits and skeletons lurking in its halls. Just what I wanna deal with..."

Kara laughed as she rolled up the map. "We'll be fine. Nothing we can't handle. We'll also get to brag to Dolion and Sal when we come back and show them all the coin we made. They were bragging about how much they were getting paid to take out a cave of goblins near Bronze River Village. The money we'll make from this job will be double what our dear brothers are getting."

"Bragging about this is the only thing I'm looking forward to." Ilys looked down at the books that were on the table, seeing they were about slaying beasts and monsters. "I take it they stopped by here before going on their job?"

The Snow Elf nodded as she gathered a few papers scattered on the table and put them in a neat stack. "Yes, while confident in their abilities, they said they needed to know what kind of traps goblins set up. I'm sure they'll be okay, but I still worry about them when they leave."

Ilys waved her hand carelessly. "They'll be fine. I'll take my leave now. I'm sure Corny is steaming that I'm still here. I'll meet ya in the chapel's courtyard." She left before her sister could say anything more.

A lot of people here stood around the large statue of Memoria and prayed to her. Ilys couldn't help but feel some disgust looking at it. As much as she prayed to the Incarnate to help her recover her memories of her past, they went unanswered. She felt like they were being ignored even though Father Hammond insisted that Memoria heard them. However, Mother Cornelia told her that she must've done something very horrible and Memoria wiped her memories of her past life to save her soul. Ilys did her best to ignore that, but it was hard to after hearing it so many times.

The Earth Elf had just entered the courtyard before she heard a shrieking voice calling to her.

"Miss Amber-Lilac!" Cornelia walked to the younger female, anger clear on her face.Ilys bit back a curse and knew this wasn't going to end well. It never did. She turned to face the older woman and gave her a cheeky smile. "Yes, Corny? Is something wrong?"
Cornelia crossed her arms and glared down at her. "You will refer to me as Mother Cornelia. Also, I have told you time and time again to not show up here after working at the butcher! You look filthy! Travelers will think that we don't take care of our chapel if they see a woman covered in blood walking around! Next time, wear clean clothes when delivering something!"The Earth Elf rolled her eyes. "Corny, I'm not going to ruin another set of clothes to deliver some meat. You know butchering is a messy job."

The older woman's frown made the lines around her eyes and mouth look more pronounced. If Ilys had been a child, she would be running away and screaming that a monster was after her. Now, she just wanted to laugh. "If Father Hammond and Kara hadn't said you and your brothers can treat the chapel like a home, I would never allow you in!" She sneered at the younger female and pointed her finger at her. "Father Hammond did everything for you and your brothers, and how do you repay him? By turning your backs on the chapel and not following the path he and Memoria chose for you! You disgraced him! Have you no shame?"

Amber brown eyes looked straight into hers and Cornelia couldn't help the small shiver that went down her spine. Something about the younger woman's unblinking gaze made her feel like prey in the sight of a predator. A bead of sweat dripped from her forehead down to her chin as Ilys kept looking at her. Cornelia couldn't look away from those eyes and felt a lump get caught in her throat. As much as Ilys did this, it never failed to make her feel a little frightful even when she was a child.

After a few seconds, Ilys chuckled and walked away. The people that had seen them whispered and stared at her. The townsfolk didn't say much since her and Corny's fights were a normal occurrence. Travelers stared in horror at her treatment of the head priestess.

If only they knew what she was really like behind closed doors...

"I'll think I'll take a nap before heading over to the inn tonight," she mumbled to herself as she saw her home come into view. Her brothers would be returning later and want a drink to celebrate another job done. It would at least take her mind off everything because she had a strange feeling this job with Kara wasn't going to go smoothly.