Ethan finds himself standing in a stone-walled room, next to a statue of what looks to him like a strong leader, with very gravity-defying hair.
"Woah, who is this? He looks cool!" He walks past a mirror on the wall and then stops to get a look at himself, which he would've done anyway. "Wait, am I that guy? Sweet!" He walks over to a window and looks out. He can see the whole village, and it looks like he's pretty high up. "Whoa, wait, am I royalty? Oh my gosh, this could be great." Looking around, Ethan notices that none of his friends are with him. "Shoot, does that mean that I've got to find my own mission briefing? Ugh, I knew there'd be a catch..."
---
Arillea, Wynn, Valyri, and Sam appear together on a dirt road surrounded by grass trees and rocks. Just typical natural path stuff. Arillea is the first to notice her form for the world, as she isn't on the ground.
"Aah! Why am I not standing on anything? This is weird! What am I?"
"Ari, calm down, you're perfectly fine. Though you do look pretty great, it's nothing to be alarmed about."
"Shush Valyri! Just- ...wait! Am I smaller than you guys? Oh my gosh. I'm a fairy?!? This is so cool!"
Wynn puts in his two cents, trying to deduce the type of fantasy world they were in.
"You're a fairy, and looking at you Val, you have some nice armor on, so I'm gonna say that you're a knight. This is a fantasy world like Fern said, but why am I so simple?"
"You're not simple! You're the brains! Can't you tell?" They gestured to Wynn's outfit, as he now had a bag of supplies, a pair of glasses, and even a bowtie. It is a very unexpected outfit in such a world but is easily recognizable as what it's meant to be.
"What? Huh, I suppose I am, Sam. But what does that make you, a squire?"
"Uhh... I dunno!"
They look at themselves and see a belt with a few small instruments attached, like a tool belt. It includes a harmonica, a slide whistle, and a kazoo.
"Yes! I figured it out! I'm a bard!!! Yay!"
They do a cartwheel in excitement while the others watch in amusement.
"So..." began Valyri, "where, and what do you suppose the other three are?"
"I don't know, but I'm loving these wings."
"Uh huh. Well, in any case, we should get our assignment for this place."
Suddenly, a crystal flies out of a pouch on Valyri's armor and plants itself in the ground in a very sunny spot, creating a golden glow on the ground.
"Ooooohh! Pretty!" Said Sam.
An image of a girl in a fancy dress and quite a bit of jewelry materializes as a type of projection in front of them.
"Please, I can't talk for very long. He'll be back any moment now. I'll send this to you in some way, but you won't see it until you get close enough. I need your help, all of you. Find the Great Mage and please save me from this Villain's prison. Oh! He approaches, I must stop recording now. Thank you, great warriors."
"Wow. I guess we got that briefing, huh Val?"
"Uh, yeah. That was convenient. I guess those are some of the perks of fairytales. Deus ex machina is everywhere, all the time."
"So..." began Wynn, "Great Mage, huh? I wonder who that could be, or where we'll find them."
"I have reason to believe that it's one of the other three, but you never know."
"I don't doubt it, and it's what I'm hoping for too. I can handle working with someone new, but if their title is 'the Great Mage' then I worry about their ego."
"Well, we'll still have to worry about it if it's Ethan..."
"Oh gosh, why would you even say that?"
"Hey, its true and you know it," said Arillea.
An arrow quickly struck the ground between all of them, sending a bit of dirt up.
"Woah! Hey, what's that all about? We could've been hurt," exclaimed Sam.
"Don't worry. There's a note attached, I think whoever fired this knew what they were doing."
"It's still rude..." Sam mumbled.
"Whatever. Let's just look at the note. I'm too small right now to handle it well, so can someone please hold it up to me?"
"Sure thing Ari," said Valyri, plucking the piece of paper off of the arrow's shaft, and lifting it up for Arillea to view. Reading from it, the latter spoke,
" 'Follow the path to the west, find the tavern, and we can speak there. I cannot say much before we meet in person than this. You'll know which patron I am when you see me. --G.M.' That's all it says. I guess we should go?"
Wynn pondered aloud, "It doesn't seem like a trap... still, shouldn't we think about this?"
"There's not much else we can do. This is our best lead, and I think we can definitely trust it. 'G.M.' is bound to stand for Great Mage. This is exactly what we needed," replied Valyri.
"Okay then, if you say so. I do agree that it makes a good amount of sense. Let's go."
"Onwards! Woohoo!" Sam skips ahead after checking the compass over Valyri's shoulder.
The four heroes venture to their next location, hoping to gain another acquaintance at the destination. While they trot the way they've been directed, the writer of the informative note has already reached the tavern and waits for the group's arrival.
YOU ARE READING
Fiction WEAVERS
Pertualangan7 kids are recruited at a mysterious place by an equally as mysterious girl. What for? The hint that they're given is that "stories don't create themselves". What could it mean? What are they supposed to do? And what is Fern not telling them?
