CHPT 85: The Omega

Ursula continued to eat her breakfast, the vast majority of the maids had already left to go tend to the estate. She now sat alone— accompanied by the sounds of her own chewing and some other maids getting ready to leave somewhere deeper in the small house.

After a few more seconds of eating in relative silence, she heard a flurry of steps heading towards the kitchen. Someone was in a rush for some reason.

"Where is it.....where is it!" A maid quietly repeated while she searched around the kitchen.

"Alcina, is everything alright?" Ursula asked with a mouth full of ham and bread.

"Wha— oh hello Ursula, yes everything's alright...." she said while holding her panicked expression.

"Are you sure? You don't look alright." Ursula replied.

Alcina gave up with a defeated expression. She pulled off her mob cap and let her curly blonde hair fall down around her face.

"I think I somehow forgot to get food for my kids. I've just been so tired...we were low a week ago! I'm so screwed." She said while tears fell down her face.

Ursula quickly got up and walked over to her.

"I take it you can't get them, now that you have to work?" She assumed.

Alcina nodded weakly while wiping her tears.

"Ok, I'll go." Ursula provided with a shrug of her bulky shoulders.

Alcina looked at her like she was crazy. "No, no way. Your not my errand woman. I appreciate the offer but I'll figure something out."

Ursula crossed her arms saying, "You don't have to figure out anything if I'm offering, ma'am."

Alcina fiddled with her mob cap while she considered her alternatives. "What would your father think? Your a woman of high class. If he found out you were running an errand for a maid he'd probably lose his mind and burn this whole building down."

"So, since he's my father I can't commit an act of kindness....?" She asked.

Alcina seemed stumped by this and stayed silent.

"That's actually a good point." She finally said before adding, "Alright fine, take this and be quick. Your a lifesaver." Alcina said while handing her a few coppers in a pouch.

She paused for a moment after hearing the word lifesaver. It held so much more weight now that she's experienced some dangerous situations. She liked the term— finding that it aligned very well with what she was training for.

"I'll be as fast as I can. See ya later, Alcina!" She responded before heading out of the maid house and towards SkyHaven.

***

Ursula walked down the mushy dirt road leading to SkyHaven at a fast pace with a clear mind— for the most part. Luckily, she was able to leave the estate without gaining any unwanted attention. Just how she liked it.

The walk was only a mile or two so she was able to simply enjoy the cool early morning breeze and the scarce company of passing merchants and Heroes ready to start their days inside the beautiful city.

The sky was clear as always, aside from a stray rain cloud or two sailing off in the distance telling her it must've rained overnight.

After a few minutes of walking, she could see the gates to the city in the distance, prompting her to reach for the coin purse of money around her waist.

The gates were highly active with Heroes and workers that didn't live in the city preparing to leave. As well as a few early risers entering.

As she got closer to the gates, she was able to truly see the strong contrast between the Night Runners leaving and the daytime Heroes entering. The difference was almost uncanny, the leaving Night Runners wore shades of blacks, blues and purples to blend into the dark terrain they worked in.

While the daytime Heroes wore bright variants of all colors that shimmered under the light of the slowly rising sun. Their greatest difference was found in their faces.

The Night Runners looked drained and angry— even more so than the average Hero, like life relentlessly beat them to a pulp as soon as the sun set, yet here they were and here they'd be every night, ready to go again.

Her father, Rory, used to say that Night Runners were low class vagrants and criminals who got lucky enough to be Reborn. He often didn't even refer to them as Heroes.

Now, she wasn't so naive to believe that none of them were criminals. But their had to be some good ones among the bad. In fact, she respected the bravery one had to have to go out into the wild at night— a time when some creatures thrived, and fight to make the world a better place. Especially since she knew a thing or two about fighting monsters in the dark.

She shivered and clutched at her stomach in response to the memory.

She approached the gates into SkyHaven at the back of a line of men and women dressed in armor and weapons of all types.

The guards up ahead looked as calm as someone reading the newspaper as they weakly looked over Hero's and merchants before letting them into the city. During the time she spent waiting in line, more people filled in behind her. It was still early so most of them were returning Night Runners— unfortunately some of them were carrying sacks filled with horrible smelling monster parts.

After a few minutes of listening to banter between the allied Heroes and arguing merchants, she found herself at the front of the line. The guards that previously looked relaxed and almost tranquil, now looked incredibly uneasy. Something must've happened when she wasn't paying attention.

One of them shivered slightly despite the increasing temperatures accompanied by the rising sun.

"Who the hell scared the guards?" She thought with a hint of unease.

"You're free to go, miss." A guard finally said.

"Oh— right, thank you." She replied before quickly entering SkyHaven.

The thought about what or who scared the guards still swam around at the back of her mind as she took in the sight of the city in the beginnings of the day.

The vibe of the city was different at such a time. Street performers conversed with eachother and set up their acts on the sides of the cobblestone streets and store owners moved around boxes of equipment like worker ants. It was all so normal— unlike the person walking a bit ahead of her.

During her time appreciating the city, she stopped paying attention to her immediate surroundings— including whoever was in front of her.

"Is he the one that freaked out the guards?" She thought after looking him over for a while.

The man was tall and dressed in all black— a Night Runner. He had to be at least 6'3 and despite the coverage of his black leather armor and torn cloak, his walk told her he was strong and fast when he needed to be.

She looked up to his head and noticed his long deep black hair was pulled into a poorly attempted ponytail— it looked damp as if he was in the rain for hours. She couldn't make out much from behind him other than the color of the skin on the back of his neck, a smooth sun kissed shade of bronze that felt familiar to her.

"How can a neck feel familiar?" She thought before abandoning the idea abruptly.

She continued to quietly study him and noticed two sword handles jutting out near the back of his head from under his cloak.

"Swordsman, makes sense." She thought.

She was curious to know what kind of sword the man used when— coincidentally, a heavy gust of wind hit the cobblestone streets out of nowhere.

The wind caused the man's cloak to ripple and sway to the side, revealing his swords.

The blaze next to the right side of his head was completely unsheathed, but the worn leather handle told her he'd spent a great deal of time using it. The other sword was what really grabbed her attention.

"Woah.." she replied quietly.

The sword was a bit longer than his other one, causing a small portion of the blade to be visible. Even though it was getting brighter by the second outside, the blade glowed a faint and pure shade of white. But, it didn't shine like any metal, it looked like some sort of stone. The sword must've looked beautiful at night.

After more time spent studying the man, she picked up the intense mixture of negative emotions he was projecting. She couldn't see his face, but his body language painted a perfect picture— it seemed others picked up on it as well.

As they walked down the street with other Heroes and workers, people tried their best to avoid him and individuals on the side of the streets stared with discomfort and fear. She didn't notice it before, but in the semi packed street, he was somehow walking all alone.

She didn't know him at all, but she felt like she did which made his pain that much more serious. It was an odd feeling.

"Maybe he just needs someone to talk to." She thought to herself.

The Night Runner looked like a looming shadow under the shade covering him and the rest of the street as the crowds of people split and hurried out of his path.

"Ok, I'll just go say hi....what's the worst that can happen? He tells me to fuck off? I can deal with that." She thought before speeding to catch up to the somber Night Runner.

After not even two steps, the buildings that lined the streets suddenly spaced out and let the rising suns luminous rays land on the man in front of her.

She wasn't able to see it before, but now— with the light of the sun, she noticed all the splatters and blotches of blood in his black cloak. It was all over him. The man must've committed a small scale massacre to get that much blood on him.

Before she could overcome her surprise and continue walking, the wind picked up again.

His cloak abruptly swayed to the side, revealing all the cuts in his armor that she couldn't see before. As she looked down studying the damage he sustained from some unfathomable fight, she found what had to be the source of his dark demeanor.

In his blood stained hands, he held 4 withered bronze Hero tags....