Big Brothers of Emblem

"Are you sure it's okay?"

"How many times do I have to tell you that it is? Even Raistlou called her like that the other day, she didn't say anything."

"Well, what if she's just being polite, but actually felt uncomfortable inside?"

"Then we'll just beg her to let us call her with that nickname. Besides, it's not like we do otherwise. Zh- I mean... just thinking about that person's name still gives me the creeps."

"Me too. I don't think I can call Avy with her full name ever again."

"...it's like, I'm afraid that she'll appear again if we do."

The two gossiping Emblem members by the bar counter shivered remembering the 'monster' that humbled every member of their guild in the last guild war.

Merideth giggled at the duo as she refilled their mugs of beer. Whenever Avy is not around, she's all what the members talk about. Well, the 'other' Avy to be exact, who's name became an unspoken taboo.

"Are you guys idiots? You're acting like cowards."

Another guild member butted in as he ordered a mug of beer from Merideth.

"Huh. Easy for you to say 'cause you were not there." He rolled his eyes at the former.

"Exactly. The group that came with Teiran only saw the aftermath, you didn't see how vicious and terrifying she was in person."

"If it weren't for Teiran some of us could really have died."

"You're exaggerating."

"Well, you saw how we were after he stopped her attacks on us. She did all that by herself. Do you think you can still casually call that person's name if you were in our shoes?"

"..."

"Yeah, I don't think so."

"She even managed to push back the guild master. She's really a monster."

"Sshhh! Don't let Teiran hear you or hell make a monster out of you instead."

"Speaking of Teiran, he's really something too. How he managed to only target her clones while using 'Meteor Storm' is beyond me. I never even thought that it's possible."

"They're a monster-sibling-duo, that's for sure."

"Speaking of monsters, did you hear about the rumors about a Demonoid appearing in the Kingdom?"

"Demonoid? You mean that clan the Dragon Emperor wiped out twenty years ago?"

"Yeah, that. Apparently they appeared out of nowhere in the capital, one would wonder how powerful they really were."

"If that's true then they should really be, I mean they 'are' descendants of the dark goddess."

"A fight between that Demonoid and the 'other' Avy would be epic."

"No shit. I wouldn't want to be them, though. If there really is a Demonoid out there, I bet the Dragon Emperor is after them. Apparently there's bad blood between the emperor and the previous clan head."

"Really? He must really hate him that he'd kill everyone in the clan."

"Exactly! I heard that he spent the last twenty years hunting down all the remaining clan members."

"No way. You mean there were dragon kins roaming around the Xyrinth all these years?"

"Of course, there are. I heard that they can hide their horns and look just like a regular humans. So it's no wonder that they can easily come and go."

"Whaaaa. It'd be nice if we could also come and go on Dragonbourn too. I bet there're a lot of powerful monsters in there, considering the dragon kins are really powerful themeselves."

"If that does happen. The next time the 'other' Avy appears, I'll ask her out."

The two gossiping members looked at each other as if in shock. Yes, even the one who said the dare who apparently just said it on impulse. Soon after they started laughing as if it's the funniest joke they've heard. After all, those things are just either impossible and scary.

"You two really are idiots." The third member sighed and shook his head at the ridiculous duo.

"Indeed, they really are."

Someone came up behind the two and was frowning at them, startling them and making them swallow nervously.

"Gulp. S-Star! When did you get here?" The first one said.

They were trying to avoid him for days now after he told them that he's making it a requirement to have all the priest classes learn 'Songfroid Hymn'. It's not like they don't understand why, it's just that there's a lot of quests and leveling up to do to acquire the skill and they would like to avoid it as much as they can.

"Just in time to hear you betting on Avy."

"It's the 'other' Avy to be exact." The second one mumbled under his breathe.

Both of the gossiping members are in priest class, and are ones of the few who had still hadn't taken the task of learning the skill seriously.

Star just glared at him. "If you just do the quests instead of gossiping nonsense, you'd have already learned 'Songfroid Hymn' by now."

"I-It's not like we don't want to learn it...it's just that..."

"...we're a little preoccupied with some things now, Star. It's not because it's such a bother to do at all."

Star sighed deeply. "I guess it can't be helped then. I just feel bad that we couldn't do much for her, you know. Even though we're like her big brothers in this guild and all."

"Big brother?" The both of them said in unison.

"Well, yeah. And not just her but all of Emblem's girls. Since there's just a few of them I thought we should all do our best to help them and make sure that they're safe and comfortable." He shrugged. "I mean, being surrounded with burly men who only think about fighting most of the time is probably already uncomfortable at some point, and yet they stayed. I think it's partly because they think of us as reliable big brothers too. It's a shame that some of us can't always do the role to the best we can."

"What? Who would dare!"

"Yeah. They're depending on us, how could we just turn them away."

"Let's go, man. I think we might still be able to catch up on the beard guy if we use a gem."

"Right behind yah."

And just like that, all of the priest class members of Emblem are on their way to mastering the 'Songfroid Hymn'.

The member who had joined the two earlier doesn't know if he's going to laugh or get annoyed with how simple-minded they are. Who gives in that easily just because they were called big brothers to a girl they were just calling a 'monster' earlier? Is it because they're single and don't usually get the attention of any ladies? That's just stupid.

"Tracy, you look like you have something to say." Star smiled at him pleasantly. "You know, I heard that there are some useful debuffs that a wizard can use on all-out fights like on guild wars."

"..."

"I'm pretty sure the girls would appreciate it if more of us can protect them with those skills."

"I'll go ask Rosette."

Tracy sighed in resignation and finished his mug of beer in one gulp, just as Star nodded at him cordially. He then left the bar counter to look for the female wizard.

Everyone in this guild are idiots... and he's one of those idiots.