Chapter Six New Day, New Goals (Patreon)

Chloe slipped out of her bed and stretched. Already her mind was chewing on the things she’d noticed since she’d arrived in Tyna. Furea had spoken to her and asked her to visit her temple. Worse, she’d confirmed that a particularly dangerous Abyssal had been let loose on the world. Meanwhile, here at the inn, she’d noted the locals were up to strange things, but at least she knew why her companions didn’t like Krellik. Mind mages like him tended to rub mortals the wrong way. Some instinct told them not to trust him, but that didn’t always help them avoid the designs of the less-than-scrupulous mind mages. Elie it seemed had drawn attention for her curves, yet she couldn’t help wondering what exactly Krellik and the Proprietress were up to with Alicia. What they did to her wasn’t the usual sort of magical ritual. There was a question of how she’d conduct the proper exam, but she had a few ideas.

Reaching out with her senses, she noted the ladies seemed to be awake. So now wasn’t the time to go poking around. Chloe turned to Sae who was still asleep, and she was quite the tosser. Her pillow was on the floor, her head now at the foot of the bed and her blanket twisted to the point it likely didn’t even serve its purpose anymore. She shook her head and sighed, “Don’t mortals catch colds when they get chilled?” she muttered aloud.

Not that she needed an answer to the question, she actually knew full well what made mortals sick and this sleeping habit wasn’t good for Sae. Hell anyone sleeping next to her might be rather annoyed after she kicked them for the millionth time, which made her quite happy that someone had thought to get them two beds. 

Shaking Sae, the girl stirred, then stretched. “Is it morning?”

“Sure is sleepy, and you are a terrible sleeper, you know that?”

Sae looked around, “It happened again?” then her face changed, “I thought I was getting better about it!”

Chloe giggled, “Well I could paralyze you for the night, that would keep you from tossing.”

Sae blanched, “... that’s.... That’s a scary thought.”

Chloe stepped back, “Come on, let’s go see what’s on the menu.”

Sae’s belly rumbled in response and she flushed. Chloe giggled and made for Sae’s chest. Rummaging through it, she came up with an outfit that looked nice enough, but she noticed the girl hadn’t packed a single pair of panties or any training bras. Reinforcing her earlier impression that Sae didn’t wear underwear. Chloe still had questions about that. Holding the outfit up, she inquired, “Will this do?”

Sae snatched the top and pulled it over her head, before slipping into the skirt. It seemed the outfit would do. Sae hurried towards the door, “Come on let's eat!”

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Coming down the stairs, the pair were greeted by the proprietress. She was dressed much the same as yesterday but instead of green she was wearing a light blue dress. A grin was on her face as she said, “Morning sweeties, are we hungry?”

Chloe nodded and looked around. Like many inns they had a few tables, but where she expected early risers there was no one. “Um, are we early?”

She giggled, “maybe just a little. Now I had some fresh Flare Boar, so I made bacon and eggs.”

Sae practically bounced to the table and Chloe hurried after her while keeping an eye on the proprietress, yet she seemed normal. Quickly bringing them a plate of food each and then sitting down with some food herself. She took a bite, then said, “How was the room? Did you two sleep well?”

Chloe nodded, “The beds were very comfortable.”

“Glad to hear it,” then she focused on Chloe. “It must be rather hard just waking up in a strange land. If you need anything during your stay, let me know. I’ll try to make sure you feel welcome here.”

“Um, thank you?”

“Call me Zoey,” she replied before focusing on Sae, “What about you, did you enjoy the night?”

Sae nodded, her mouth full of bacon and eggs. It was strangely charming, watching her devour her food like some kind of small animal. Zoey chuckled, “You’re just a loveable little chipmunk with wings, aren’t you?”

Sae mumbled something, but Chloe couldn’t understand a word through all that food. A grin touched her cheeks watching the other girl eat.

Zoey shifted, “Are either of you two planning on going out today?”

“I wanted to visit Furea’s temple. I’m told she has one in the city.”

Zoey blinked, “Huh, well if you don’t mind tagging along with me I can take you there.”

“You going somewhere?”

“I have some shopping to do and...” she sighed, “I have to make a visit to Bysha’s Shop.”

Chloe frowned, “I, uh, see, but um, why can’t I just go on my own?”

Zoey gave her a look, “Are you nuts? A child on her own in Tyna? You’ll be in trouble faster than you can blink.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s just say there are groups around the town that are less than trustworthy.”

Chloe had to stop herself from commenting on that one. She’d seen quite recently that the Proprietress wasn’t exactly one to blindly trust, and neither was Krellik. “Noted. I guess I should ask Alicia.”

“Not a bad thought, but my offer stands if she proves too busy.”

A familiar voice interjected, “If who is too busy?”

Chloe looked over to see Alicia, unlike last night she was dressed, and there was life in her eyes. Yet Chloe couldn’t help reaching out with her senses. Now that she looked for it, she could see the signs. The mind manipulation was still there, a set of instructions just under the surface. Chloe chose not to mess with them, she wasn’t a mind mage, reading a mind manipulation was easy for her, changing it? Not her ballpark, and she knew breaking these things was best left to people who actually knew something in the field. Besides, the instructions were not harmful to her. Her mind was, outside those few instructions, quite free as well. “Morning. We were just talking about you. I need to visit Furea’s temple, and Zoey here says it’s not safe to just go on my own.”

Chloe felt it would be more dangerous for whoever tried to do anything funny with her, but she didn’t want undue attention on her either. Better to go with a friend.

Alicia’s face shifted, “Uh, sorry I have things to do, speaking of. Could you keep Sae company? It would be much appreciated.”

She didn’t reply right away, for a second she searched Alicia’s instructions but after finding nothing, she relaxed and said, “Sure, I can keep her company. What are you doing?”

“We have to make a few reports at the guild, and figured we might take a job in the city. Score some extra coin, we spent a few more potions than we liked on the way here, and need to replace them.”

“Oh! I see, um... good luck,” she replied. Seeing one plan shot, but it didn’t seem Krellik had any other plans for the two just yet.

Zoey interjected, “So want to go with me?”

Chloe nodded. It wasn’t a bad thought, and she had her questions about Zoey. Maybe some more time with her would shed some light on it. Her mind did flash to last night, she’d mentioned to Krellik that she’d make preparations for going to The Shop. There was also something about merchandise. That might be interesting to figure out what she’d been talking about.

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Chloe hopped off the cart and took in the sight of Furea’s local temple. It was apparently one of several large temples in the town, each one dedicated to one of the major gods, but it was one of only two temples in Tyne dedicated to a goddess of Light; apparently, only Furea and Cynaria were popular here. Yet it seemed Cynaria was according to some circles considered a Dark Goddess these days, which seemed odd to Chloe. Perhaps there was a story there? Zoey called her a Fallen Light Goddess, but said not to confuse her with the Fallen of the Abyss. They weren’t the same.

The temple itself towered over the buildings around it. Like much of Tyna, it seemed to have been carved directly from the rock. Where many buildings were rough-hewn, the temple was polished, gleaming in the light with sweeping columns and intricate artwork. Two massive statues of Furea stood on either side of the door, her arms reaching up towards the other, her body frozen in the middle of some dance. It was quite the stunning work of art and the artist had even captured the usual living flame aspect of her translucent clothing without obscuring her nipples or pussy. 

After a moment of enjoying the art, she stepped towards the temple. Zoey came up next to her with Sae in tow. “I’ll see you to the altar, I know the priestess; she’s trustworthy. Don’t stray far from her, I shouldn’t be gone long, but if you finish quickly I’ll be just down the road at Bysha’s, Priestess Alyna can lead you there if needed.”

Chloe nodded, but she was curious about this Bysha, so rather than let a valuable source of information just slip away. She did what she was good at. She created a little something. Doing it so stealthily drastically increased the mana cost, as she had to conceal the spell work from prying eyes, it wouldn’t do if Zoey knew she had an extra eye on her shoulder so to speak. Her little something took shape in the form of a small cloaked mystical object that would float right above Zoey’s right shoulder until it ran out of energy, at which point it would dissolve back into the ether. The spell was called Shadowed Eye, and it was one of her favorites. A few well placed eyes had always helped her out. Part of her however was tempted to create a Wraith, but she was lacking in handy souls to do it with. Not to mention, someone would notice if she extracted a soul from some random on the street. “Good luck with the shopping.”

“And you with the temple,” replied Zoey as she led her in and introduced her to the priestess Alyna.

Alyna was a lovely half-elf with long red hair, pink eyes, large breasts and a bright friendly smile. She was dressed in the traditional garb of a Furean Priestess, something that she was happy to see hadn’t changed during the time she was sealed. Which amounted to her wearing a translucent pink bra that hid nothing, and an equally translucent short red skirt. Again Chloe noted this woman wore nothing under her garb. Not that she figured this counted, she’d never known a Priestess of Furea to wear panties. So it was another mark in her sample size but did it count?

Alyna waved Zoey off then, said, “So you girls have business with the temple?”

Chloe nodded, “I had an odd dream. I came to the temple to pray and seek guidance on what it means.”

“Ah, the prayer room is this way. But I must point out, even if Furea is your patron, she might not answer.”

“She is, and I know she might not answer.”

“A mature young lady are we?”

Chloe suppressed her urge to bristle, and puffed up acting proud of her maturity. That was her cover afterall, and she was going to take full advantage of it.

Alyna chuckled, but led her to the prayer room. It was a modest room, decorated with murals of half naked women exploring their passions, along with burning idols. Furea herself was present in the form of a large statue in the center of the altar. Chloe walked up the altar and knelt. She took a breath and began to pray. It wasn’t like her to normally do this, but she knew the protocol. If Furea was going to speak more, she would have to play her part. Almost instantly the statue seemed to come to life, the fires on either side flared brighter and turned a shade of pink and gold. Lighting down a path to surround the altar. Then the world dropped away, voices echoed in her ears, but she had no chance to process them as Furea appeared before her. “Welcome, Chloe. Ready to resume our earlier discussion?”