Tales of the Pearly Kingdom (Pearly Tales Vol. 2)

64. Druid Training, Balance

"Are you sure this is necessary." Seamus growled in sync with the Weasel on his head. He glared at Cal who had a griffon perched on his head. The only thing that made it half-way bearable was that Ophelia had a bright red colorful parrot on her head. The three of them were sitting in a triangle on the deck near the bow of the ship.

"Yes," Cal answered. "This being is going to be your constant companion. You will need to watch out for each other, especially in a city as dangerous as the City of Perils."

The weasel growled, and more blood darkened Seamus's statically charged snowy hair. "The city isn't that dangerous." Seamus pouted. He had gotten used to constantly bickering with the nitpicking weasel. Not that he could understand him, but he was sure by the weasel's body language that he was using plenty of foul language. The weasel's crassness did not mingle with Seamus's etiquette training.

"Seamus what were you before we met?" Cal calmly asked.

Seamus's haughtiness died down. The weasel read the mood for once and tilted his head in confusion. The overwhelming sense of guilt passed through their link and he couldn't help but remove his claws from Seamus's scalp by a noticeable margin.

"It's okay to say it." Cal's somber tone held their attention.

A darkness clouded Seamus's eyes. "I was an assassin."

"And where were the majority of your targets?"

"In the City."

"Were there others?"

"Yes, there were many others."

Cal sighed. "I wasn't going to ask this, but I think it's about time." Cal stared at Seamus with enough intensity to see through the dark elf's soul. "Did you ever kill any children, half-breeds or otherwise?"

"No... I mostly took out other nobles. But... I knew many who bragged about the massacre of half-breeds before I knew your feelings." Seamus began to tremble under Cal's unyielding presence.

"Raiju," Cal looked at the weasel. "It is about time you better understood your companion. The commonly disputed religion of the city is dedicated to the merits of my actions hundreds of years ago. The Brother Calloway cult hold me as their deity against the wishes of the city's residents, but they are on the verge of becoming the majority. On the surface they seem perfectly honorable, but the leaders deliberately created that front, so they could indoctrinate the populace in an attempt to control the unraidable city with their viral ideals. Their most heinous action that I have discovered was a massacre of children based on their heritage. Seamus was an assassin for this cult believing myself to be a certain kind of god. Until the day he was tricked into the attempted assassination of his own deity, me." Cal pointed at himself and the weasel fell off Seamus's head.

The purple weasel crashed to the ground, when he picked himself up he quickly bounded to the side, so he could see both Seamus and Cal. Even the weasel understood the severity of attempting to murder their own god.

"When I was alone he pierced my in the heart with a poisoned arrow. Had I been a lesser man I would have died. Instead of exacting my vengeance I chose to save Seamus from his own destiny. You weren't wrong about him. Seamus has a fair amount of blood on his hands, even my own." Then Cal pierced the weasel with a look that made him involuntary cower. "This is why you have no room to judge him. I am his god, his mentor, his guildmaster, and his family, you are naught but a stranger. Now look at him and tell me what you see."