Is a Gamble Worth a Gander?

Chapter 6: Divine Mandate

Chapter 6

Divine Mandate

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The room was alight with the soft green glow of healing magic, pulsing in time with the heartbeat of a dying young man. He lay under the convalescing energies of two women dressed in black coats, seriousness etched onto their features as they performed their art. The two women couldn't have been more opposite, the one unifying factor being that they were doctors working for the guild. The younger one was pouring everything she had into holding herself together, concentrating solely on the task at hand. The older, though equally concerned with her patient, spared also a thought for the young girl leaning against the far wall behind her.

This young girl, sister to the dying man under the green glow, stared with empty eyes at the scene before her. She'd been brought here by a guild advisor earlier, quite the shock being dropped on her after what had been a mostly fine day. The woman had burst into her happy bubble and brought the entire world crashing down around her with terrible news. The advisor relayed everything she knew, which was very little in the grand scheme, detailing Lincoln's terrible condition and asking Lillian to accompany her to the clinic. Since that moment she had virtually been on autopilot.

Now, with the flashing green light accenting the glow of her emerald eyes, she listlessly watched the doctors doing everything they could to hold her brother on this side of the veil. Yet the graveness etched into their faces told her all she needed to know. She could see the words turning and mulling in their heads as the discomfort of the situation permeated their aura. Lillian was certain the two were trying to figure out how to tell her she was going to be alone soon.

With these thoughts flowing through her shattered mind, Lillian watched the labored rise and fall of her brother's chest as he struggled to take in gasps of air. She intently gazed upon the wrappings across his stomach, soaked with blood and having only just ceased further bleeding. She watched with all the worry her heart could contain as grim certainty settled itself within her.

From across the room, peeking through the door, there sat a pair of sapphire-blue eyes trained on the brooding girl, twin black ponytails twitching with concern almost as if alive. The face holding these eyes was a pallid tint akin to ivory, childish in its shape. The owner of these features stood perhaps only a centimeter or two higher than the girl she was watching. This person could have come across as a lost child that had stumbled across a bleak setting and grown concerned for one of those in the room. However this was not the case.

The pair of sapphire eyes belonged to a living, breathing deity that had decided recently to live among mortals. This diminutive woman, deceivingly girlish in appearance, was in fact Hestia the Goddess of the Hearth. Given her charge and sphere of affluence she was afforded a deep caring and concern for nearly all the sentient mortal races, those the Gods refer to as the children. Due to that concern she had just arrived here after following her only child's personal Guild Advisor.

The half-elf, Eina Tulle, had interrupted a dinner Hestia had been looking forward to for quite some time. She had just sat down and struck up a small conversation with Bell when this situation blew in. Yet once Eina had explained what was going on to them Hestia couldn't even contemplate denying her aid. With some reservation she had followed the half-elf here and was now shyly peeking around the doorframe to behold the somber scene within. Suddenly becoming aware that she was acting the part of her appearance, Hestia straightened herself up and stepped into the room with as much confidence as she could muster. Eina and Bell followed close behind as the Goddess approached the young girl across the room.