The Lost one's journey

Chapter 27: Kruhabelt

Heavy footsteps follow Harishon as he walks down the flight of stairs to talk with Rodet again. He soon arrives at Rodet's hateful gaze, meeting his eyes. Silence fills the room with a heavy presence. Harishon sits down on a chair as his gaze never breaks from Rodets. "The Sun, Moon, and Star have reported back. Voda, the lord of the beasts and king of shadows, has agreed to assist us in searching for the girl." Rodet's hateful gaze seems to grow ever larger, almost eclipsing Harishon. "You went to these extents? You know what he'll do to Raphael. Neither she nor Pocu deserve anything you are inflicting on them; no, actually, I'm not even surprised anymore. You're just the scum of both this world and the other." Rodet's words bleed with a passion for rage. "Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools. Ecclesiastes 7:9" Harishon says this as he summons a black book with a white crucifix on the cover page. "I managed to recreate it, using the gift of the priestess to peer into my mind back many years to when I first read it. Take it or leave it, just know that I... I- I do still care for you, brother. I know how much you've placed your faith in this book, even after coming here. No matter what, no matter why, no matter when, no matter who, we are brothers with our fates intertwined, even if you don't care for me anymore." The book floats into Rodet's cell, lying on his bed. Rodet looks away from Harishon as he picks up the book and begins to read it. Harishon then leaves, going back up the stairs, with every step he takes echoing across the cell. Raphael happily drags Folmon along with Pocu on her shoulders as they arrive at the gates of the city. "Ok, now we are actually here." She says, laughing as they walk into the city. Folmon stands up and dusts himself off. "God, the sand gets everywhere." "Aww what? Can't handle some sand?" "Yeah, it's just sand!" "Yeah, you get me, Pocu!" Raphael gives Pocu a high five, while Folmon looks exhausted. They look around the city; the buildings are all made of stone, but each has intricate designs with bushes of plant life all around the city. The majority of the people they see are elves wearing green robes, and while they do see some Beastkins, it's mostly elves they see. Raphael looks at this and raises an eyebrow. "Huh, there's a lot of elves here. A lot more than before." Folmon looks confused at Raphael. "How long ago were you last here? Elves have been in Kruha for as long as I can remember." Raphael seems to ignore Folmon's question, instead choosing to walk ahead of him. "So where exactly are we going? I'm still worried about Domo." Raphael grins as she stops walking. "We've arrived!" She happily declares. Folmon looks around, seeing that they are in the middle of what looks like a shopping district with many elves and a few Beastkins walking about and shopping. "Lady Raphael, with all due respect, this doesn't look like Eta-" Raphael quickly covers his mouth before he finishes speaking. Folmon notices numerous elves and beastkin focusing on him. "It's sort of taboo to mention it, so just trust me, y'know?" Folmon nods as Raphael moves her hand. As the trio walks down the street, Folmon notices many people watching him, and Raphael, with some even whispering. Folmon clicks his tongue, and mana gathers in his ears to amplify hearing and starts to hear two beastkin's conversation. "That elf looks familiar, doesn't he?" "What are you talking about? The only famous elves are those of the bloodline, and just look at him. Not to mention, he dared to speak the name of that place out loud. He's probably just some tourist who doesn't know anything. If anyone looks familiar, it's that beastkin next to him. I'd say she looks like little Ikati, but she was a brat and, y'know, had black hair.""Eh, I guess... Oh, didn't Lord Voda recently make an announcement to start looking for Ikati? She hasn't been home since she ran off with that human, like, god, it's been so long I can't remember." "It was, I think, fifteen? Maybe sixteen years ago? That isn't even that long for a beastkin." Folmon decides not to share this and instead asks Raphael. "Lady Raphael, how exactly old are you? Odd question, I know, but we're taking a long time to get there, and I'd thought I'd have a conversation." Raphael raises an eyebrow. "Well, that is certainly an odd question." She says with a chuckle. "Why my age? I would've expected a question about my time as an archangel." Folmon shrugs. "I was actually going to ask about that, but I wanted to know how old you are first so I could get an idea of how young you were when you first did those famous actions that gave you the name of the healing waters." Raphael laughs. "Haha! I see what you mean." Raphael then starts to think for a second. "Hmmm. I'm about one hundred and twenty-one years old. I believe that's twenty-one in beast years." Folmon looks at her in disbelief. "BY THE GODS YOURE OLD!" "Should I be calling you Grandma Cat then?" Raphael feels a twinge of annoyance. "I am not that old! I'm still in the prime of my life! Beast years are different from elf and human years!" She says With an annoyed voice and expression. "So how old are children then? If you're twenty-one years old, but in elf and human terms, that means you're twenty-one, how does that work for children?" "Well, Fol you see, it's pretty simple. For every ten years that pass for you two, then that's one year for beasts. We have a very long life span, with the oldest of us reaching thousands of years. I'm still at the average stage of my life. As for children, just add a zero to how many years they've been alive, and boom, that's their age. A ten-year-old is only one year old, and a seven-year-old is seventy years old." Raphael explains. "Oh, I see now." Folmon says this as the gears in his mind begin to turn. 'Those people were talking about Raphael; there is no way they weren't. They said she looks similar to her; she changed her hair before we came here, which makes sense time-wise since she would be six or seven years old at the time. So why hide this? My guess is that she is the daughter of the lord of the land, seeing as he's the one who put out the notice, but why run? Why hide? I probably shouldn't ask, however. There's a reason for everything.' "Well, that was a fun conversation. Please never bring up my age again." She says it with a happy smile. "Oh? Is the great archangel sensitive about her age?" Folmon says with a cheeky grin but quickly drops it as he sees Raphael glaring at him. "Yes ma'am." He squeaks out. After walking for a tad more, they arrive at a run-down building on the other side of the kingdom and at the end of the shopping district. "This? This is the place where they are holding my friend and torturing him??" Raphael grins and pulls out two masquerade masks from her pocket. Both of the masks have a unique design, with one having a crescent moon adorned with roses and the other with a golden sun along with vines lining the corners. "Where are you pulling these out of!? I was watching and couldn't see!" Pocu says while visibly confused. "Hehe, I told you that's my secret." Raphael says as she hands Folmon the crescent moon mask and Pocu the sun mask. "Now stay quiet and let me talk, ok?" Folmon and Pocu nod as Raphael takes Pocu off her shoulders.