The Trickster

The day passed by like any other for the adventurers of Hidden Star. They went about their day, looking over new jobs and preparing for quests and expeditions. They went on without a care in the world for others. Faces passed in the halls of the guild wouldn't be seen again for days or weeks depending on what quests they pick up. Sometimes, they might not see them again at all.

Adventurers share a peculiar kinship. They hold an undoubtable respect for each other, yet forming a relationship with someone who you might only see once isn't what they're there to do.

Nessa thought over these observations for quite some time. Would anyone encourage her to keep trying if they noticed her slow down or struggle? Would they walk right past knowing it was just another person who they most likely wouldn't see again? Her victories, her struggles, her failures, they were hers alone. Few would notice if she failed, and in a way it was reassuring. After all, none had noticed that she had hidden herself away within the guild.

Nessa leaned over a balcony near the lower levels and looked up at the beautiful city above. The gorgeous lights of the false stars that came once the crystalline sun dimmed, and how every home shined in its own way, perhaps to better differentiate them from their surroundings. Beyond everything, she looked up through the web of bridges connecting the ravine city and caught a glimpse of the tower of the abandoned manor she and her brother once called home.

To the untrained eye, it would be nothing, it would just be a backdrop of empty space to the brilliant lights, a piece of history best left forgotten. To Nessa though, it caught her attention more than anything else. Now more than ever, Nessa reminisced on the time she spent away from the guild. She wondered if that was all that was left for her.

Looking away from the city above her, Nessa peered down at her tome opened in front of her. She stopped at the blood spells she had copied over the time of her training with Wright. Nessa tugged lightly at one of the pages, half heartedly threatening to tear it out and cast it out to the river below. Despite everything that happened, she couldn't bring herself to tear out the page. On the verge of tears, Nessa closed the tome and looked back up at the city above.

"Sis?"

Nessa hadn't noticed footsteps approaching at all. She quickly wiped at her eyes to dry them before turning around and seeing her brother waiting for her.

"Is everything ok? I haven't seen you since this morning, you're usually back at our room by now." Mair asked in a soft and delicate voice that was unlike him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Nessa lied, "I was just getting some fresh air is all. Were you looking for me, Mair?"

Mair's gaze shifted away as he looked for what to say. "I, well- Fausm told me I should be more outspoken about the things that bother me and all that. So what I'm trying to say is, I've been worried about you for the past couple days. You're always coming back from your training exhausted and worked half to death, and that's not to mention the pain I see you go through."

"I'm sorry Mair," Nessa replied, "You won't have to worry about it anymore—"

"Wait," Mair interrupted, still appearing as if he was searching for the right words, "I didn't finish. Even though I feel like this, I don't want you to change what you're doing because of me. I don't want to be selfish, I want to see you succeed more than anything else. So I may be worrying about you, but I don't want you to quit at all!" Mair felt more confident in what he was expressing. His desire to support his sister was truly something he believed. His desire was painted clearly in his star-like fiery eyes that looked deep through Nessa's soul.

Nessa fell to silence at her brother's words. She usually had such an easy time responding to him, yet now she couldn't find what was right to say. All she could do was walk up to Mair and wrap her arms around him. She buried her face in her brother's shoulder and let loose the tears that she had been holding back for the entire day.

"S-Sorry sis, I didn't mean to upset you." Mair hugged his older sister back, not all too used to dealing with Nessa's emotional outbursts.

"No Mair, no. You didn't upset me at all. I'm just glad to have the best little brother I could ever ask for. I love you." Nessa said through sobs as she brought her face out from Mair's shoulder. "Also, I do mean it. You genuinely don't have to worry anymore. I'm not going to be learning from Wright anymore. He's not willing to teach me."

"What!?" Mair quickly returned to his fiery childishness, which Nessa couldn't help but feel cheered up at seeing. "You were doing so well though! I swear he must've been afraid of you getting ahead of him down the line."

Nessa laughed in response, but before she could reply to her brother, she saw a glimpse of something moving in the halls down past Mair.

Time felt as if it slowed down for Nessa as she peered down the hall at a figure stumbling from out of view. Their drunken movements eventually slowed as it stopped and turned to face her without even a moment to adjust his gaze. The thief stood motionless, having been caught out of his cell. He did nothing but keep his snake eyes set on Nessa.

"Mair," Nessa spoke quietly as to only grab her brother's attention while she reached for her tome, "Behind you."

Mair was struck with confusion for a moment before looking in the same direction. "Isn't that the thief from Viiest? Why's he just walking about?"

Before Mair's question could be answered, the thief slipped out from the hallway around the corner and out of sight. Without a word, Nessa sprinted out towards where she last saw him, determined to figure out what it was he was after. Mair on the other hand, still confused, decided to quickly follow his sister even though he had no weapon to fight with. The siblings rushed down the hall, swiftly making their way down the same turn the thief had just made.

They found him, still several meters ahead. He constantly turned to check if the adventurers were still on his trail. Nessa's tome fluttered open on its own as she prepared to cast. Violet mana formed in her free hand as she carefully made sure that she wasn't relying on her blood magic. Once she was positive that the spell was able to be cast safely, Nessa released the mana bolt in the thief's direction.

The demiserpus took no effort in dodging the predictable path of the magical bolt. His sidestep resembled an elegant dance as he twirled to eventually face the two siblings with daggers lying in wait between his fingers. His wrist swiped through the air, releasing the daggers in an intricate twirl of his body, and continuing his escape.

Nessa and Mair had little time to react to the knives rapidly closing in on them. They braced for impact. Their expectations fell short as the daggers impacted only Mair's buckler and Nessa's tome, serving as distractions to slow down the adventurers from pursuing the thief. Just as the thief desired, the distraction momentarily halted the siblings long enough for him to get to the end of the hallway. The dead end hallway split into two intersections on each side, with a balcony in front of the thief that led to the rapid waters far below.

The thief hesitated in his decision on where to head next, allowing Nessa and Mair to catch up with him. They each guarded one of the intersection paths with hopes of cornering and subduing the runaway prisoner.

"Stubborn, aren't we?" The thief announced to both his pursuers as he slowly backed up to the balcony, "All I wanted was a breath of fresh air."

"You're the one being stubborn here," Nessa replied as she prepared a binding spell, "If you would just comply with the guild you wouldn't even have to stay here anymore. All we need to know is who you are!" She shouted in frustration.

"Who I am?" The thief gave a wink as he backed up to the edge of the balcony, "You may call me Revilis." He revealed in a sing-songy tone as his body fell over the railing and dropped out of sight. Both Mair and Nessa reached out to stop him, but they were too late. Looking over the railing, they found not his body falling below but instead an empty scene of the river crashing against the ravine walls.

"Where did he go?" Mair searched over the edge for Revilis but found no evidence of his presence. Both he and Nessa scanned over the railing, hoping there was some way they could still follow him.

"There!" Nessa pointed out to an open window a few stories down the guild, "He must've made it through there, let's hurry!" She ordered frantically as she led her brother down one of the intersections. Their chase brought them down flights and flights of stairs in hopes of catching up with the mysterious thief, Revilis.

Eventually, they arrived at the floor he fell to, and found unmistakable evidence of his presence. Guards and adventurers alike lay defeated on a clear path forward. The victims had daggers pierced through their armor, yet their wounds appeared to be carefully chosen and none seemed fatal. Even with the threat before them, Nessa and Mair remained determined to continue, following the path of destruction forward.

Revilis's pace slowed down as he neared his destination. Hidden Star's artifact exhibit chamber and all of its treasures were within his reach. As he approached, a pair of guards prepared to intervene. One of them held his spear and shield at the ready while charging at the runaway thief, the other stood back with a crossbow loaded at his side. The crossbowman guard tore his Hidden Star emblem off his shoulder and tightly grasped the small pin until it sounded off with a faint click, opening up with a white light.

"Target spotted at Chamber 12-H2! Activate the barriers!" The guard yelled the orders into the activated emblem, signaling a chain reaction as vibrant blue lights shone from the ceiling of the chamber, rapidly descending to form barriers that defended the artifacts from capture.

As the exhibit's defenses activated, the first guard lunged at Revilis. His spear set to strike at the thief, and yet his target easily sidestepped out of his peripheral vision. The guard fell into a panic, desperately trying to find and attack Revilis, who danced narrowly out of his vision as if the altercation was nothing more than a game to him.

Tiring of his own game, Revilis tore the helmet off the guard in a single fluid motion, revealing the young dusk elf beneath. The guard finally caught a glimpse of Revilis before he struck him with his own helm, sending him crumpling to the ground.

The remaining guard, finally having a clear shot, fired at Revilis only for him to cut the bolt out of the air with a swift slash of his dagger. Revilis closed the distance between himself and the guard in the blink of an eye, disarming the guard and raising his dagger to prepare to strike.

"Backup! Backup at 12-H2!" The guard yelled in fear as Revilis swiped his dagger several times over in an elegant dance of death. When the thief finished his attack, the guard was left unharmed and confused. The straps of his plate armor tore apart and fell to his feet in pieces, leaving him only in a chainmail shirt standing before his opponent. Revilis reeled back and delivered a fierce kick to the guard's abdomen, launching him across the room to impact against the chamber's wall.

Nessa and Mair finally caught up to Revilis to find him standing before the barrier protecting the crystalline halberd. Revilis outstretched his arms and held his palms out facing the barrier before him. The two siblings watched in awe as the thief's hands were enveloped in a blackened aura that resembled pure absence of light. Shockwaves of dark magic pulsed out from his palms, sending the star crystals and barriers all around into flickering convulsions.

The energy of the shockwaves kept Nessa and Mair at bay, for they could hardly approach against the current-like forces. Revilis smiled in glee as his snake eyes were washed over in clouded shadows. Finally, he brought his hands together and shattered the barrier and star crystals before him in one fell swoop. The siblings fell to the ground, watching powerlessly as Revilis stepped up the small stone hill towards the crystal halberd.

He reached toward the artifact with a shaking hand as he neared closer and closer. His grip tightened upon the staff of the blade with an unyielding fervor. He pulled the halberd out from the stone of the hill, causing the crystals of the blade to shine in a blinding blue light that slowly converted to a vivid lavender. The lavender light reflected upon Revilis' body as a faint steam boiled off of his scale-like skin.

Nessa picked herself up off the ground and looked at Revilis, baffled at the sight she saw. Revilis' appearance had utterly changed, he bore tattoos that flowed like wind upon his face. His formerly demiserpus features were removed and now replaced with something familiar yet foreign to Nessa. The pathetic rags of clothing he wore were revealed now to be a brilliant dark suit with intricate embroidery considered impossible by mortal hands. Revilis's face shone with indescribable beauty, rivaled only by his elegantly flowing black hair highlighted with light purples and pinks at its ends.

"The Solferre Halberd." Revilis peered into the bright crystals of the artifact he held. "It appears the light it produced was enough to destroy my illusion." He lowered the halberd and looked to Nessa. "As it may, now we may finally meet face to face my dearest Nessa."

"What...are you?" Nessa could hardly wrap her head around Revilis' true form. It felt unnatural, almost out of this world to her.

Revilis disapprovingly clicked his tongue. "How uncultured. You can identify my half blooded kin, but not the full piece?" Revilis outstretched his arms and a pair of ashen fairy wings unfolded from his back. "I am an aeriie, trickster of the natural world and creation of shadows. You so desperately ask for truth, and yet your eyes are hardly opened to accept it."

"A full blooded aeriie?" Nessa repeated in disbelief, she had only heard legends and fables of The Aeriie. Never had she expected to see one with her own eyes, yet one stood opposing her. "Why? What do you have to gain by attacking the guild? There are demiriie here as well, your own kin."

Revilis's vivid smile dimmed briefly as he leapt down to Nessa's level, instinctively causing her to take a step back. "My actions here are not for my own kin, dear Nessa. My people are ones of deals and debts. Of promises and obligations. I hold no ill will towards you, these people, or even this city."

As Revilis concluded, Nessa saw past him that Mair had stood up and picked up a sword from one of the downed guards. Without any hesitation, Mair charged out at Revilis and attempted to strike at him and defend his sister. Revilis turned as if he foresaw the attack, raising the halberd to meet Mair's strike. The two blades met with a blinding flash, and in a mere instant, the steel blade Mair had found split in two just from contact with the powerful artifact.

Revilis held the halberd above his head, preparing to deal a counterattack to Mair with his back turned to Nessa.

"Mair!" Nessa reached out with panic racing through her mind. She hardly had time to open her tome, but still a spell rushed out from her palms. A pulse of wind emitted from her that pushed Mair a couple meters back and out of Revilis' range. With the artifact still raised high, Revilis turned to face Nessa with his eyes like clouds in a night sky. Nessa braced for an attack, but instead Revilis ran in the direction he came from, intending to flee with the artifact.

"I'm sorry." Nessa rushed to Mair first, making sure she didn't hurt her brother with her spell. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, but we can't let that guy leave!" Mair picked himself up, seeming dead set on his revenge against the aeriie.

Nessa looked over the artifact exhibit and saw reinforcements began to pour in at the other entrances. "No Mair, go to the guards. Try and get Wright or Director Veridan as soon as you can!" Nessa briefly put her hand on her brother's shoulder before rushing off alone.

"Nessa!" Mair tried to stop her, but he knew he couldn't change her mind when she ended up like this. He reluctantly left to grab the attention of the guards while Nessa pursued Revilis.

Nessa caught up with Revilis quickly. Be it that he slowed down on purpose or not, she didn't care as long as she was close on his trail. Nessa's violet mana swirled in her palm as she pitched bolt after bolt in the trickster's direction, hoping to hit him with at least one of the frantically thrown spells. Revilis, however, easily slipped in between the mana bolts with acrobatic prowess that seemed impossible to Nessa.

Finally, as Revilis neared the window he entered from, he turned and caught one of Nessa's mana bolts in the palm of his hand with ease. Revilis skidded on his heels, carried by his own momentum before finally pitching the bolt back towards Nessa at an alarming speed. Nessa could hardly react as the mana bolt struck at her leg, tripping her up and causing her to tumble to the ground with her tome falling out of her reach.

With one foot perched on the window sill, Revilis looked back at Nessa with a devious smile. "Constantly trying to prove yourself, and for what? No one would fault you for giving up, so why try so desperately?" Revilis looked out at the city outside of the opened guild window, his wings preparing for his escape.

Nessa couldn't answer.

She knew why she wanted to keep fighting. Why she wanted to prove to others that she was worth something. Worth was the foundation of Nessa's desires. To be seen as worthwhile, to see herself as worthwhile. Her supposed selflessness only came from this goal. Doubt over whether she had ever been selfless swirled through her mind, and it disgusted her to her core.

In a way, Nessa knew that Revilis thought this of her as well. She knew that he saw right through her.

Nessa's fingers curled into a fist with her finger tips dragging across the cold hard floor, leaving a faint trail of blood in its wake. The tome in front of her flipped through its pages, glowing a crimson light as Nessa struggled to lift herself up.

Revilis turned away from Nessa and prepared to leave. He moved his leg up to perch both of his feet onto the window sill, and yet he couldn't. Revilis tried once more to move his leg, and yet, he failed. He couldn't feel his leg for whatever reason. Nothing was grabbed onto him, but a gnawing constriction still kept him still. Revilis felt as if the blood flow in his leg slowed to a crawl, and that his muscles refused to move as a result.

The realization struck Revilis immediately, he looked back at Nessa. Her bloody arm, marked with reopened wounds, outstretched towards him, keeping him in place by constricting him. Nessa used the rest of her body to drag herself back on her feet. Her oak colored eyes stared down Revilis with an unintentional burning hatred.

Revilis looked on in shock and admiration. "Well done." He whispered. Without another moment of hesitation, he drew another dagger and flung it towards Nessa's tome still on the ground. The flung knife caught a page of her tome and ripped it directly out. Nessa's concentration snapped as Revilis was freed from her spell. In one fluid motion, Revilis leapt out the window and unfolded his fairy wings, staring back at Nessa with eyes that asked her to approach. Nessa rushed to the window, her mind still in a haze as she looked out at Revilis.

"You seek the truth?" Revilis announced, "Go to where the sun meets the dark! You shall find your desired truth there!" With those final words, Revilis flew out of sight, leaving the dust of his wings to fall to the waters below.

Where the sun met the dark. Nessa's mind was in such disarray that she couldn't understand what he meant at all. She looked back and saw the trail of blood that followed her to the window. Her gaze followed the trail back to her arm, still bleeding out from her overexertion. Her eyes grew heavy, as did the rest of her body, and soon she collapsed to the ground.

Nessa snapped awake, sitting up from the bed she laid in. A quick look around let her know that she was in her own room within the guild. She found Mair seated at his own bed and Fausm visiting, leaning near the door.

Hundreds of questions ran through Nessa's head, slowly answering themselves as she recollected everything that happened until she was only left with a decent grasp of the situation.

"What happened?" She paused to recollect the events that transpired. "Did I almost die?" Nessa inquired aloud to both Mair and Fausm with a bit of panic in her voice.

"No. You just passed out due to some blood loss is all," Fausm spoke up first, "Healers were able to fix you up, but couldn't keep you in the infirmary. After what happened, plenty of people are in critical condition right now."

"Not to mention, Revilis is still out there with that artifact," Mair added in, "He hasn't been sighted around the city since last night."

"Last night?" Nessa looked out the window of her room and saw the false sun shining. "That means...Tomorrow! Tomorrow, we need to go to the North and West Solferre Tunnels!"

"Calm down Nessa," Fausm responded, "You should still rest and not be worrying about quests right now."

"I'll rest today, fine. But Ilz and his adventuring team are headed there tomorrow to investigate the star crystal phenomenon. I don't know why, but I feel like Revilis will be there. He said to go where the sun meets the dark."

"Revilis was able to destroy those star crystals at the artifact exhibit," Mair pondered over this, "It would make sense that he had something to do with it."

"He must." Nessa looked out the window as she spoke. "For once, I feel like there's a chance that I can see this through. Mair. Fausm. As my team, but more importantly, my family and friends, I ask that you assist me."

A few moments of silence passed around the gathering of the three adventurers.

"I'll always be with you, sis," Mair ecstatically accepted after some hesitation, "No matter what we may face, I'll take on any challenge with you."

Fausm looked away, appearing deep in thought. "I regret not being around for when this all went down. If I could make it up by possibly undoing the damage Revilis did, then I'd be happy to lend a hand. But Nessa, do you think you will be alright without Wright's guidance? I'll defend the both of you as best I can, but you need to keep yourself under control as well."

Nessa looked down at her body. At this point she'd grown rather used to the feeling of bandages swaddling her arm, almost like it was natural for her now.

"Wright made his decision not to teach me anymore. I don't blame him, and I promise I'll do everything in my power not to overexert myself." She looked to Mair and smiled. "But just because he gave up on me, that doesn't mean I'll give up on myself. I'll keep improving, with blood magic or not, and maybe one day I'll prove him wrong." Nessa spoke with determination of which she had never seen in herself. She extended her arm out to her team, awaiting their final decision to join with her on this quest.

Both Mair and Fausm approached, they placed their hands over Nessa's, vowing to follow her lead.

"Tomorrow, we will see this through to the end," Nessa muttered with a determined smile.