The Trials of Ruin and Longing

Ilea

Ilea stood outside of what was probably the nicest inn in this town. It was old yet somehow dignified, with it's crown molding and tan stone. She didn't understand why she was seeking out Revel after the shitshow that was the night before. But she had to know why he was doing this. 

     Revel walked out of the large doors, spotting her almost immediately. He made his way down the stairs.

     "What?" Revel snapped. Ilea was taken aback a little. He seemed okay in their earlier meetings but now panic had run rampant over his amber eyes. The worry seemed intensified, and rage had settled in his eyes. 

     "Why are you doing the Trial?"

     "Because I lost something important to me, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get it back." Revel says. "Now don't you have better things to do?"

     "It's your someone, isn't it? The girl you talked about?" Revel's head whipped towards Ilea.

     "Maybe. Why?"

     Ilea shrugged. "Tell me about her." Revel sighed, running a hand through his hair, causing the side of his shirt to come up a little, revealing deep cuts on his stomach, with scars beneath them as well. His hand dropped, and the shirt did too, covering the cuts.

     "Her name is Lys. She the most brilliant and dangerous person I've ever met. We got separated a year or so back, and Thetos approached me with a deal. Join his Trial team, and he'll find Lys." Revel chuckled darkly. "If I don't and I just kill him to find her, I'll never find her."

     "I see why you want me on the team now." Ilea simply said.

     "I'm not in this for money or glory. You can keep the gold in the middle, I just want to get Lys back." 

     Ilea didn't let her mind talk her out what she considered to be the dumbest thing she has ever agreed to.

     "Fine. I'll join your team. Not for Thetos, but to assist you in getting your lover back."

     "She's not my lover. Not exactly anyways." Revel corrected. "And thank you. It'd be too much for me to handle on my own. Even with a reasonably sized magic source."

     "Shut up with the humility. You are more or less a god. You could destroy the maze in a minute. And if she's not your lover, then what is Lys to you?"

     "She's..." Revel trailed off for a minute. He sighed a little bit before responding. "She's home to me." 

     "Then we fight to get your home back." Ilea sighed. She didn't bother with goodbye as she walked away. She traveled the streets back to the ship to break the news to her crew. 

     "I'm leaving for the Trials in the upcoming year." A roar of protest came up from the crew. Revel had shown up at the ship today, requesting to join her crew till the Trials started and Thetos collected them, and she had obliged. Getting Revel away from that bastard would do him some good. 

     "That's bull shit!" Rosalind hollers, her arm around Carrine, who had a worried look on her face. Rosalind continues. "The Trials is death trap for idiots looking for glory. I did not swear to a captain who dabbled in such things." 

     "Aye!" Ink echoes, fury simmering in his rich brown eyes. 

     "I find this rather odd, you always found these things tedious. Why the change of heart now?" Mirallen, an older gnome with telepathy, muses. 

     "It's not my story to tell. That story falls to our new crew member and my future teammate, Revel. He may tell you if he wishes, but know I do not go into this with pride in my heart." Ilea replies. 

     "Captain Ilea has never led us astray before, why would she now?" Proa asked. "We know that it is in her very nature to lead us astray, but yet she has never done so." 

     "I too, agree with Proa," Malo said. "Ilea has done a great deal for us all. She has sacrificed for us again and again. She has never wavered, but yet she makes one off decision and you decide that she is going to turn on us? Ilea is as loyal to all of us as we are to her. Do not begin questioning her now, not when we could go months without her."

     Silence from the crew.

     "Thank you, Malo." Ilea waved a hand to her crew. "I am going to the Trials as more of a favor to Revel, if that explanation will please you." Her crew nodded before dispersing, leaving Ilea alone with Malo and Revel. She turned to them, smiling slightly.

     "Welcome aboard Thalassa's Speed, Revel."