#iloverelics

And fifteen minutes later, he was by the central fountain of Saint Haven.

Aethanael sighed, his shoulders slouched as he scratched his head in confusion. He didn’t want to go out, and not feeling so… embarrassed as well.

Do something about it, Terramai’s words burned in his mind once more. It was the one thing that kept him awake some nights ago.

At first, he felt he did the right thing; he rescued the children and the wounded from becoming food and slaughter for the orcs and kobolds in Black Mountain.

But the reality crept up to him after his report with his superior: he forced someone to do it with him.

What’s worse was that he coerced an elf. And that particular elf was a member of the Silver Crescent Archers.

But what was he to do? On the one hand it was an opportune moment the he seized. Yet how he did so was unbecoming of a cleric.

The young man sighed as he walked to and fro near the fountain. The streets lightly buzzed with activity, and the sun was shining brightly over the city of Saint Haven. To some, it seemed like peace has blanketed over them.

He sat down on one of the empty benches to mull over his thoughts. One way or another he has to face her, and apologize to her.

His hands covered his face as he thought things through.

Apologize, that’s what needs to be done, he thought to herself.

Not to mention it’s your chance to meet her again… 

He shook his head. He simply wanted to show his sincerity to her that he meant no ill-will against her or her kin.

Yet, his imagination ran in his head once more: how deft she was in evading those kobolds, how lithe she was when she jumped over them...

…And her beautiful face, though serious and pensive all time… 

AAAHHH! he pulled his hair, frustrated. Of all the time that I had to be imagining, it’s this… 

Then from the corner of his eye, he saw.

Slowly he pulled his head up, and strained his eyes to just by the trading house.

It was her.

His heart seemed to leap up, but he just froze there on his bench.

It was definitely her.

The golden blonde hair, tied to a high ponytail, the leaf-shaped ears, her majestic cobalt-blue eyes, the forest-green uniform of the Elven Queen’s army.

Sedina. He wouldn’t forget such an elven name.

It was a slow day at the trading house, as it seemed she was the only one who was interested in looking at the wares that were for sale. She kept looking to and fro, clicking her heels on the hard earth as she walked about.

It was also the perfect time for him to approach her, as the last thing he needed was additional embarrassment in front of other people.

His legs were hesistant, but his mind forced his body to stand up. He was slightly quivering, but when he took a step, he regained his composure. He took another step, and another.

Until he was just about at arm’s length from her.

Her back was in front of him as he took a deep breath, then gently reached out with his left hand, and tapped her by the upper sleeve of her uniform.

The elf turned around, her face lined with slight annoyance. The young cleric’s eyes were mesmerized at her cobalt-blue eyes, but his mind quickly shrugged it off. “Uh…, hey there,” he spoke to her, his hands clenching and unclenching on his sides.

The archer merely raised a brow and tilted her head to one side, obviously puzzled. Silent as ever, he thought. “It’s me…, Aethanael, remember? Back in Black Mountain, I, ah…, well, you see…"

Don’t be tongue-tied now, idiot. 

Before the elf could open her lips, he continued. “I just…well, I wanted to say, I’m really, really sorry what I…, well, how I asked for help back then. Truly."

“I know my intentions were sincere, but how I did it…, I’ve regretted how I coerced you for help. I was really desperate, y’know…"

She merely stared at him with a raised brow, her head still tilted slightly to one side.

“And it’s been three weeks, I know…, it may look like I’m taking my sweet time and all, but I was trying to, y’know, find the right moment and all that. I was embarrassed, and well…afraid. But I had to see you."

“I mean, see you so that I could apologize over the matter,” he quickly recovered himself from the slip of his tongue. “Our two races were forced into an uneasy alliance because of this war, yes, but I don’t want that cooperation between us…, I mean, we humans and elves, to crumble because of this misdemeanor."

“Believe me, I’ve been reprimanded by my superior already. And it’s my responsibility. So please, accept my humble, honest apology Sedina."

He bowed his head to her, his eyes closed tight, his fist clenched on his sides.

It was quiet for a few moments, until he pulled his head up, and the elf before him spoke a single word:

“I’m Serethil."

His eyes widened as his face contorted into a quizzed look. The last time he remembered, her name was Sedina, and she spoke in a deep tone, not like...

“Sister?” another voice spoke up, this time with the familiar deep, modular tone. And it didn’t come from her.

He turned his head slowly and just behind him, was her.

…What in the Goddess’s—?

Was he seeing double?

The newcomer elf, who bore a striking resemblance to the elf that he was talking to, wore a pensive scowl, and stared at him with such piercing eyes.

Those were the same piercing stare that he got when they were back in Black Mountain… 

The two elven archers stood side by side in front of him, his mouth trying hard not to gape in surprise. Although one was already had a smile on her face, the other one had this eeriely familiar stoic and poker-faced gaze.

Yet the two of them looked so similar. And so subtly different.

“Wait…what?” was all he could muster to speak in front of them. The elf who called herself ‘Serethil’ had now a closed fist on her lips, as she tried to hide the widening smile of hers.

“Is this man bothering you, Sister?” her apparent doppelganger spoke up again, the sound of her voice familiar to him as Sedina. His eyes kept moving back and forth at the two of them.

“Oh no, not at all, Sis. Aethanael… wasn’t it? He was just trying to apologize to me for something that should've been said to you."

Sedina raised a brow at her, then gave the young cleric a silent scowl.

He still couldn’t believe what he was looking at.

“Let us go, Sister,” the Bowmaster finally said, seeing that Aethanael seemed had nothing else to say in his bewildered predicament. She pushed past by him, as she ignored his stare that followed him as she walked away.

The young cleric scratched his right temple in embarrassment, when a sudden jolt of a slap on the back of his head startled him. The other elf trotted in front of him, a teasing smile plastered on her face.

“Looks like all that effort in apologizing was for naught, Aeth,” Serethil said to him, her cobalt-blue eyes twinkling. 

“Uh…"

“Couldn’t tell the difference between me and Sis? I suppose the one who could differentiate us hasn’t been born yet,” she giggled, then simply turned around and ran on tiptoe, towards the same direction as the other elf took.

“You may."

“It's my duty, as caretaker of these orphans, to ensure their safety and security, isn’t it? That’s reason enough for what I did…"

“Yes, ensuring their safety and security, which is first and foremost, Aethanael,” Terramai replied back, his arms akimbo now as he stood in front of his subordinate. “That which, from the looks of it, you did poorly."

“And that is why I had to correct my mistake."

“And by which you mean going to Black Mountain on your own and rescue them from the enemy?"

The young man simply nodded at his superior. “Believe me when I say I first asked for help from my brothers of the cloth. But with the Templar Knights scattered all over the continent…"

“And how about the Adventurer’s Guild?"

“I went there next; but all seemed to be focused in logistics and security. I even asked the Fairystar Sisterhood…, yes, I was that desperate for help."

“And when I’ve come to realize the gravity of such a task, High Father, I prayed to the Goddess for aid so that I may succeed."

“And by ‘aid’ you meant the elf you met earlier?"

“Yes. Her. Sedina. Of the Silver Crescent Archers.” Somehow his voice seemed…excited, as Aethanael stammered to him. Was that a smile Terramai saw for a moment?

The child in the caretaker's arms stirred a bit, but his eyes were still closed. The High Cleric was quiet as well, pondering on his words. Finally he breathed a sigh and looked at him sternly.

“For the record, what you did was reckless, and downright foolish. And as such a severe punishment must be meted out upon you,” Terramai said in a commanding voice. The young cleric tried to open his mouth to retort, but his superior made a gesture, and he stopped. “But in this case, Inquisitor Aethanael, you are already removed from active duty of our Order. I think this is more than enough of a punishment."

The young cleric blinked, then understood his words. He got a slap on the wrist this time.

This time.

“But, as I said earlier, Aethanael,” the Cleric Leader added, his arms akimbo once more. “You are in a very precarious position right now."

The Inquisitor blinked questioningly.

“The elf was hesitant in aiding you, as she was only ordered to do a reconnaisance mission. You know how strained our relationship is with them, and now this."

Aethanael gulped. The war thrust the two races to work together, albeit in not-so-friendly terms. Some of them looked down upon the humans with open disdain, despite of their Queen’s call for an alliance...

And his superior was right. This.

“I suggest you do something about it, and quickly,” Terramai noted, as he turned around. “If we are to win this war, unity between humans and elves is the only way."

“Yes, High Father. If that is your wish,” the young cleric said in a serious tone.

No answer. The room was empty, and didn’t look like anyone had been there in the past hour.

Where could he be?

She closed the door gently as she mentally ran through several places where he could be.

Today is a Tuesday, so…

Rhianne roughly had a grasp of his weekly activities, as it was tied a lot to her tutor Eazor’s; during weekdays, they would frequent the Trading House for wares, while planning excursions before sundown by the Garden of Time and Space. She had just got back from there, and didn’t see him, so…

She walked out of the guild house and rode her horse once more, and this time rode towards east of Saint Haven, by Merchant Deowen. She was hardly tall enough to see through the crowd, so hopefully being on a horse would help her see him faster --

As usual there were lots of people hanging around the merchant, but no sign of the familiar blonde Saint in white… She clenched her fist, where she held a small stone, as her excitement began to die down --

“-- not really sure how --”

“-- demand and supply, it’s really difficult --”

She turned into the direction of the stone steps leading to the Theme Park, where she saw the Majesty-Saint pair walking up the steps, deep in discussion.

“Silfr!” The Elestra jumped down from her mount, and ran towards the two, who looked surprised at her sudden outburst.

“What is it?” the blond Saint asked rather cautiously, as the Majesty looked at the Elestra’s excited face.

“Hmm, I’ll just be checking my mail, okay~?” She said, patting the cleric’s shoulder. “I’ll leave you two for a while~”

“W-Wait, Ea--”

But she had long Teleported away. The Saint looked at his sister, who still had that excited grin on her face.

“Well… you were looking for me?” he asked, his face not betraying the confusion he felt.

“Here, take this!” She took out a jewel from her pocket and handed it over to him. “See if you can touch it, first.”

The Saint looked at her and at the jewel a little dubiously before tentatively reaching for the jewel. It was cold to the touch…

“A Dragon Jade?” He thought out loud, as he looked at it more closely. “I’ve.. never seen one of these before… what is it?”

“A Tree of Life Jade!” she said excitedly. “Oh Goddess, I’m so happy you can even hold it -- there are some special restrictions about it, you cannot seal them, some of us in Fairystar are still looking into it.”

“Tree of Life Jade,” he repeated, as he ran his fingers around the small, arrow-shaped jewel. He could feel the same life-giving sensation that the Tree of Life in Anu Arendel emanated, albeit faint... “So.. how were you able to give it to me if it could not be sealed?”

“Well…” The sorceress stepped back a little and moved away. “The hypothesis is that… it’s about people’s bonds.”

“Bonds?”

“Yeah… but it’s rather hard to measure such a vague requirement… But it’s still up in the air.” She hesitated. “Anyway, I hope that it helps you and Eazor and Saraquel too. I know it would be useful for you.”

“How do I --”

“No.” Her voice was firm. “I still owe you for that Frost Nova plate, remember?” She smiled at him. “This is in repayment for that. So don’t bother, alright?”

The Saint gave a defeated sigh before smiling in gratitude. “Alright, alright, you win this time. Thank you, Rhianne.”

She giggled. “Don’t mention it.”

“Oh?” The Majesty resumed her place beside the Saint. “Looks like I missed something interesting~”

“W-Well--”

“Show it to her, Silfr,” the Elestra urged, and so he held it out to the Majesty -- whose fingers simply went through the jade.

“Eh?” Eazor blinked. “What a curious little jade~”

Rhianne still couldn’t help but wonder what exactly it was that allowed Silfr to touch the jade that she had found, and she was sure that the thought was floating in his mind, though he was probably too scared or awkward to voice it out. For now, she contented herself with getting something unique for him; it was usually the other way around, as Silfr got around to doing a lot more things than she was able to.