The Will Of A Life: Astras

'Petit'

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CHAPTER 4
‘Petit’
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   Comera woke up the feeling rather dazed and groggy. Her arms and legs felt very weak, and she had struggled to even remove the warm blanket atop her. When her eyes opened the woman who had brought her back from the horrible screams was sat by the bed. She was sitting in a wooden chair and let her head rest on the corner of the bed. The woman was asleep there and looked rather uncomfortable. Comera sat up and clung to the blanket as she found the room was very cold. If not for the woman who had been sleeping at the foot of her bed, she would never have gotten up, but she didn’t want the person who helped her to sit in such a cold room with no blanket. Slowly she got up and  draped the blanket over the woman’s shoulders.
   Now that her eyes were free of the tears she could see the lady better, she had thick brown hair, pointed ears, and a pair of glasses sat on her head. Currently she was in a white blouse and black pants, seemingly her casual clothing. Looking at herself she found that she was in an oversized brown sweater and wearing black sweatpants. It was obvious that they were the belongings of Vera which made her feel a little bit warmer. She found that the ceilings were strangely tall in the room
   Downstairs directly below Comera was the living room. The area was quite full, and each of the people that had been around when Comera fell asleep were there now. There were also a few new people, namely an old dwarf man, a tall female demoness, and a small human girl. The new group had just arrived, so Vera called for their attention.
   “Alright, I believe everyone is here, so we are going to do a roll call,” she announced to the room who had become quiet but continued their current activities. “Yan, Yori, Y’mura!”
   “Present!” shouted the three making themselves known. Yan was sitting on a wooden chair healing a scratch on Leon, and Yori poked her head out from behind the fridge door. Y’mura was sitting on the railing of the stairs that led to the second floor. 
   “Leon, Elaina, Arthur, Amber!” Vera called next.
   There were various answers this time. Elaina declared herself present, Amber said a “hello,” and Arthur, the illusionist, made a large illusion of a thumbs up in the center of the room. Leon, still not speaking, threw a dagger towards Arthur, but was careful not to interrupt yan’s work. Arthur had quite a shrill scream similar to Yan’s. Yan just resumed his work unbothered.
   “Yumida, Rodrik, Yajaurn!” She called again
   “Present-and-waiting!” called Tick. Yumida played 2 quick and light notes and the dwarf from earlier had a bellowing laugh that shook the house before claiming that he was there in an equally loud voice.
   “Rodrik, set your clock. Yajaurn, tone it down,” Vera called. “Alright, continuing now, Nora, Aldrador, Ristia!”
   A quiet “here” came from the little girl who stood hugging the leg of the demon lady. The woman reached down and picked up the girl by her clothing and sat her on her shoulders.
   “They can’t hear you Nora, you have to make them hear you or they’ll think you aren’t here.” The little girl seemed mortified by her words and shouted as loud as Yajurn laughed. Her words aren't really words but they knew she was here.
   “Hello Nora,” Vera said sweetly “is anybody present that I haven’t called? If I am correct Aristia is still upstairs, Far, Fir, and Eris, are still heading back from Naven, and Maria is still tracking Nakunee and Rosaria because they left their communication crystals in the house again.”
   “Where is Emily?" Amber asked.
   Aldrador replied that she was going to intercept the group coming from Naven and teleport them back here once she did.
   After a pause Vera continued “very well then, as you all know we have received a mission from the queen.”
   While Vera explains the mission I will take the time to properly introduce the others, namely, Nora, Yajurn, Aldrador, and Yumida.
   Nora Mireta, she is almost six years old and has no legal guardians. Abandoned by her parents at the age of four, and joining the guild at five, she has shown her worthiness to the crew for her unrivaled potion making abilities. She has fluffy black hair, short in length. Her eyes shine beautifully, one a bright emerald green and the other an iridescent blue. She’s wearing a short white dress with a very poofy skirt and a baby blue apron draped over top.
   Yajurn Kaurik is a dwarven man whose heart is truly gold. He has worked in the guild for around sixty years and has been a hood for five years. He is rather plump and carries a large hammer on his back. He has a long beard that is made entirely from clouds and sways as he walks. He is a dream walker and craftsman. Dreamwalkers are sort of like ghosts in a cloudy form, they can go through walls and move things without using magic, and they can calm people and enter their dreams to stop nightmares.
   Then is Aldrador Yurand, a demoness who stands tall at an even eight feet. She is the manager of finance and the realms number one merchant. She has, alongside Yajurn, taken the care of Nora into her hands. She has short cut white hair and a suit of blood red armor covers her body. Another piece of armor covers her eyes, as demons have a deadly glare. She has large blood red horns, and a thin tail with a point on the end similar to an arrowhead.
   Yumida Harbor, a tall Kiyo who works as the team's primary bard. A Kiyo is the water's manifestation of life, they have humanoid looks and a body made entirely of water. They are aligned with 4 other manifestations, namely asha (Fire), luma (light), fiyo (air), and juya (earth). Yumida plays the violin in place of regular speech the majority of the time due to his trouble speaking in human languages. He wears a beep blue vest decorated with waves of white over a white dress shirt.
   Each member in the room wore their hoods and masks. Leon wore a black hood and mask, Yumida wore an ocean-like hood and white mask, whilst Arthur had a leathery hood and white mask. Elaina wore a hood that fragmented like her coat, while Amber had put up the hood on her cape. Both were in white masks. Rodrik wore a white hood decorated with brass cogs and machinery sewn on. Aldrador wore a hood that was blood red like her horns, though it was actually splattered with blood, and her horns curled through holes in the sides. Yajurn wore a white hood which flowed around him like his beard did.
   Nora wore a smaller fluffy hood which was accompanied by a shawl draped across her shoulders, it was an alluring iridescent white. Her hood was highly enchanted by Yori and Aldrador with all sorts of protections and spells. Unlike the others Nora was holding her mask tightly in her hands, it was small and only made to cover the upper half of her face. The mask, unlike the others plain and serious masks, was made with an iridescent shine and had been adorned with beautiful white stars and an adorable pair of dotted eyes.
   “Do you all understand the urgency of this mission?” Vera called. “For we have been assigned this by the queen herself.”
   The room all responded affirmatively in a serious voice, whilst Nora let out another shout. A few laughs and snickers followed, but this only made the girl run upstairs embarrassed. Aldrador called for her but as usual she wouldn’t listen, respond, or go near anyone when she was upset.
   As Comera finally made her way out of the room and staggered into the hall she found it was a bit brighter there than in the room, and the ceiling was even taller. This time the ceiling stemmed almost 15 feet tall, but there weren’t any other rooms or floors in this specific hall. After a few more staggered steps she found her balance. The sound of quiet crying came from the hallway to her right. Though it hurt her to move much she carried on towards the sound. A little girl sat against the wall, with a sad face as she cried quietly with tears streaming down her red cheeks. Comera came to the girl and slumped down the wall beside her.
   The girl wanted to get up and leave, but she just couldn’t stand the thought of being alone again. So there she sat crying softly feeling glued to the floor. Comera didn’t say anything, for she only lended the small girl her hand. The girl took it only able to fit her small hand around some of Comera’s fingers. She scooched herself over to Comera and laid her head on Comera’s arm.
   “Would you tell me your name, please?” Comera questioned with a soft tone.
   The girl wouldn’t speak.
   “Well then is it alright if I just give you a nickname?” she asked.
   The girl gave a small nod. The tears slowed and stopped.
   “How about I call you Petit, I think it suits you.” the little girl nodded again.
   Comera wrapped her arms around the girl and picked her up, then continued down the hall. Not far from the girl was a little shawl and hood, so Comera picked them up and draped them over the little girl. Following the voices of conversation she found a small staircase which seemed to be leading to a brightly lit room. She looked down at the girl who was now sleeping soundly in her arms and gently wiped her tears away.
   Aldrador sat sulking in the corner, dejected, whilst Yajurn patted her head. Yan stood with his arms crossed in front of Arthur and Amber, who sat on the floor with a few bruises and bumps. Rodrik was waiting by the stairs with Yori. The rest of the team sat quietly.
   Some creaks came from the top of the stairs as someone walked down the stairs, holding a child. They walked slowly with the girl, the woman’s long black hair done nicely in a braid hanging behind her.
   “Comera?” Vera questioned “Are you feeling better, wait is that Nora?!” To this Aldrador’s face lit up and in an instant she was in front of Comera.
   “Is Nora alright, how’d you find her, did you calm her down, is-” Aldrador was cut off by a black tentacle of sorts which twisted around her. It wrapped around her head over her mouth constricting her movements and voice.
   “Apologies but Petit is sleeping, so I ask that you lower your voice,” Comera said with a stern tone and commanding nature similar to that of a goddess. “Might I add she’s sleeping happily at that.” Comera noticed the ceiling was tall as well and she assumed it would be to make room for Sylphin, Ticks dragon companion. However, that wouldn’t quite fit her as the halls were too narrow. Still thinking, she hadn’t been paying attention to the demon tangled in her vines.
   “Calm down, little angel” The voice was heard clearly through the room despite how quietly she spoke. Yumida looked over from the map on the wall to the person who’d spoken. Grabbing his violin from where it floated in the air beside him, he started to play in notes that evenly conveyed his feelings. Light, soft, happy, notes that greeted the lady a good evening.
   Down the stairs came the pointed ears of the bard and summoner, Aristia-Morri Saintheart. She gave a lovely smile to Yumida and summoned a beautiful pan flute which consisted of eighteen beautiful flutes, each with a different magical power. Just as Yumida had, she sent out a quiet evening tune before turning to Comera.
   “I'm surprised you calmed Nora down, she is always wary of new people.” Aristia told Comera, “she never lets people hold her, that is of course, other than Aldrador.”
   “Oh, really?” Comera replied “Petit seemed no different from any other little girl I’ve met.”
   “Petit?” Aldrador questioned.
   “Indeed, she wouldn’t speak so I just gave her yes or no questions until we got somewhere. Of course I was careful not to ask about why she was crying, as that tends to make the child stop responding.”
   The people who weren’t preoccupied seemed confused. Yan interrupted the silence to let Leon know that he was all healed. Leon gave a light nod and a small bow as thanks, and then walked to Yajurn. He led him by the hand to the group, and gestured for him to meet Comera.
   “Oh, hello!” He said with a loud, cheery tone, “Im Yajurn. The lady over there is Aldrador. We are Nora’s unofficial caretakers.”
“It's a pleasure to meet you! I’m Comera,” she replied “and good evening, Leon.”
   He offered a small wave and a bow in return.
   “Apologies, but is there somewhere I can set Petit to rest?” Comera asked the people around her.
   “Oh yes her room is upstairs, just take two rights, a left, another right and two more lefts, then it’s the 24th door on the right!” Yajurn replied.
   Leon took one look at Comera’s confused face and turned to Yajurn before leaning over and poking his forehead. A small sigil appeared there, and he seemed to be controlled by it. Standing back upright Leon conveyed his thoughts and Yajurn spoke them.
   “I can take her there, but you should probably stay here so you can help revise the mission.” This time Yajurn’s voice was calm and composed unlike his usual loud and bold remarks.
   “That’s just how Leon speaks, don't worry it’s harmless.” Arthur called.
   “Alright then, if she runs off again just call me.” said Comera, handing Nora to Leon.
   He gave a small bow and held Nora properly bringing her back to her room to rest whilst Comera turned back to the others and started to answer questions.