Return The Festivities Again

CHAPTER SEVEN: Return The Festivities Again

—The entrance bell a tailor's shop jingled, announcing Quinn, Paige and Maeva's arrival.

Maeva looked around the shop, her eyes wide with curiosity. She had never seen so many colorful fabrics and sparkly trinkets all in one place before. The scent of scented oils and perfumes filled the air, making her feel a little dizzy.

"Hey, Mrs. Cedarburg! You in here?" Quinn greeted the plump, warm-smiled woman in an old vintage tunic.

"Oh, if it ain't my favorite paladins, young Sir Lockewood and Miss Simmons!" The tailorette acknowledged them and confidently slid over, "How may I assist ya today? A sharp tailored suit for ya, Quinny boy? Maybe missy four-eyes here could finally put on heels and a skirt for once in her life..."

"Not happening," Paige flickered her glasses with a disdainful tone shot at the tailorette.

"Not this time..." Quinn swiftly averted the attention over to Maeva, "But our friend here, does need a wardrobe update from you. Knowing you provide the best clothes in town."

"Oh?" The middle-aged woman observed Maeva, her red hair and tattered clothing piquing interest. "And eh, who's the pauper ya got there? You know I got a no-street-rats allowed policy here."

'Street-rat?!' Maeva jolted.

"This is Ver—I mean—Maeva." Quinn patted her head casually. "She's...not from around here, so I was hoping you would have a good outfit for her."

"Uh-huh..." Mrs. Cedarburg began to circle Maeva, assessing her appearance. Touching and carefully picking on her ragged dress and red fringes. She gazed the redhead top and bottom, her experienced eyes assessing. "Her clothes look awfully shredded. Her body is disgustingly dusty and brittle. And her hair is a mess...oh?" She instantly peered down at bare feet, noticing strange grass growing on her wooden shop floors. "My my...ya friend definitely...is something."

"We just need you to give her proper clothes before we head off to the Capital," Paige affirmed.

"The CAPITAL?! Oh no no no no, this won't do!" Mrs. Cedarburg shook her head. "If she's going to Sterling, this little girly must be properly dressed. I'm talking; a bath, makeup, jewelry, glamorous from top to bottom," she insisted with determination.

"Is that really necessary?" Paige crossed her arms.

"Knowing you, missy, ya always take the tomboy route. Ya look like ya don't regularly shower..." Mrs. Cedarburg fired a sassy remark, earning a snicker from Quinn and a ticked-off swordstress. "Please, just do what you can."

"Hmmm...as long as ya payin'." The tailorette took out her measuring tape and began to checking her size. She measured her height, weight, and body type, all while muttering to herself.

"So, what's your style, dearie? I got a variety of dresses to suit your frilly little figure! But...I suggest take a shower first. Ya look like ya came out of a trash heap from Vendicrust. And lived in one."

"Well, I haven't exactly had a bar of soap in a thousand years so..." Maeva uttered with no filter. Mrs. Cedarburg was slightly taken aback but laughed it off as a strange joke. "Okay! Follow me, sweetheart."

The woman gestured and led Maeva to the back of her shop. "I'll turn ya into the most attractive woman on this side of the Republic with my own hands. I'm not just a tailor, ya know."

'Why does she sound like a Brooklyn girl?' Maeva thought. "Okay."

Quinn gave a comforting smile to the girl, and she offered a timid grin in return as she left.

Quinn and Paige waited out by the exit of the shop, allowing Mrs. Cedarburg to work her magic. The two took in the silent ambiance, allowing the whiffs of the shop's calming frankincense to saturate the air. The shaggy-haired paladin crossed his arms and let out an awkward sigh, his gaze on the draped window along with a thoughtful pout. "So uhmm, let's...hold off on sending her to the Church. Yeah?"

His words left the sword paladin feeling a sudden whiplash. "What?—"

"Just...hear me out." Quinn raised his hands. "She just woke up after a thousand years. Sending her there immediately might not be our best move."

"We can't allow her to wander around freely. The Church and the Assemblage need to know, especially considering what she possesses. Those who wield Arcane Energy by their hands...they're not like us." Paige proclaimed, her concern etched across her face.

Quinn crossed his arms, contemplating Paige's words. "I know, I get it. But we both know how those people are. Especially the Church. Let's just...linger here for a bit, and persuade everyone to continue with the harvest festival."

"How would that even work?"

"Hello? You already forgot about Verdana?" He secretly pointed at the door, which Maeva was on the other side of. "We could establish a new tradition with her, especially since she's no longer around the tree."

"We don't have the authority to make such decisions," Paige retorted, crossing her arms in disapproval. "You, especially."

"Okay, fancy pants. Did the Guild explicitly instruct us to take her to the Capital?" Quinn countered, raising an eyebrow.

"No, but—"

"Then, there you go. We're not taking her there," Quinn happily concluded, rising from his stand.

"Hold on just a minute!" Paige asserted in a gritted whisper. "I'm the leader here. The Mayor told us. And I say; we're taking her to Sterling City."

"Relax, Paige. It's just for a couple of days. We'll go to Sterling, but let's give her time to adjust to the world. We don't have any pending tasks anyway. All the other guilds are aware of the situation. So we're good."

"Hmmm..." Paige grumbled, crossing her arms in disdain.

"Come on~ you know you'll say yes~" he nudged her arm with a playful grin.

"...fine, ONLY for a short time. A day or two."

"See? I knew you're soft underneath those teacher's pet glasses of yours." He winked.

"But how would we do this? You'd have to convince the citizens and certified approval from the Duke of Galisboro..."

"Everyone knows me here, I've got that covered." He flashed a grin.

Paige fell silent for a while and turned to Quinn with a curious look. "You called her "Maeva". As if you knew her..."

"Yeah. It was a name tatted on her. After that, when I held her, she was...shaking." Quinn explained, remembering her scared eyes. "She's gonna need time to adjust. So...I don't want her to be lost. The Church is a bad example. You know that too."

The swordstress knitted her brows at what he implied, lightly scoffing until her eyes softened. "Her hands were wrapped in bands, and she came from a time we lost record of. Which...makes me wonder." Paige thought. "What has she gone through in her time?"

—"He he he hee! She's all ready!" Mrs. Cedarburg soon rushed out of the closed door with an excited sing-song tone, eager to reintroduce Maeva to them.

"Paladins. May I present; The dazzling and lovely, Lady Maeva..."

Soft clicking heels echoed as she walked in, adorned in a stunning burgundy gown with a corseted bodice and intricate lace details. Full-length sleeves with delicate lace cuffs and a high neckline that gracefully exposed her shoulders. Like a noble from the Victorian era, she wore a feathery hat of white and cherry-red atop her bunned-up hair, with a matching parasol in hand.

At that moment, Quinn's usual joker exterior cracked for once. Revealing a rare glint of genuine surprise as he laid eyes on Maeva in the exquisite gown. "Woah..."

"Sooo~what do you think?" Mrs. Cedarburg proudly smirked. "Ain't she just a beaut'? The parasol really complements her fiery hair, and the richer hues make her pretty green eyes pop! I'd say she passes as a work of art."

"I kinda feel a bit out of place in this. Can't I just wear what she's wearing?" Maeva questioned, pointing at Paige's generic attire of pants, boots and a ye'olde blouse with a vest.

"Oh no no no...out of the question!" The tailorette refused, scooting closer. "I won't have ya looking like those un-ladylike paladins. Besides, the fabric is very light on ya's. This, my sweet cherry pie, is 'Sterling chic'!"

"For grandmas, you mean..." Maeva murmured to herself.

"And Quinny boy seems to fancy it too. Check out the look on his face..." Mrs. Cedarburg caught the paladin's starstruck gaze.

"Huh? Uh..." Quinn snapped himself out of it, clearing his throat. "I mean...it looks...well on her. What do you think, Maeva?"

"Well, I don't necessarily hate it..." she pinched the edge of her dress up to see her shoes while marveling herself at a mirror. "But since I'm stuck here, might as well work with it for now."

"Great! That'll be 13,000 Carnie up front!" The tailorette held out her hand greedily, ordering for the cash.

'Carnie??? Is that expensive?' Maeva thought to herself. She doesn't believe a currency like that exists, a Carnie?But then again, what does she know?

"Make it 10,000 Carnie." Quinn negotiated, crossing his arms. He knew the old lady liked to haggle with money so he had to weigh in on the pricing.

"12.5, these fabrics ain't cheap, Lockewood." Mrs. Cedarburg narrowed her eyes.

"10.5."

"That's 12.5, I ain't going lower." She huffed.

"11.5. And I ain't going higher." The shaggy-blond paladin countered with a cheeky grin, matching in a staring contest against the plump woman. But he had an ace up on his sleeve.

"If you agree, I could drum up more customers from the Capital, I'll put in a good word. Maybe even with the aristocrats."

"I—Hmmm..." Mrs. Cedarburg paused for a second to think. "That WOULD do wonders for my business. I'm hoping to branch out to the city but the Gods know that might never happen. Deal then." She shook hands and handed her business card before receiving a heavy pouch of coins from the paladin.

"Come on, Mae..." Quinn offered his hand gallantly. "I'll—I mean—we'll show you around the town. Get you accustomed to everything. If that's okay with you."

"...'Mae'??" She gave Quinn a wonderous look, just as he called her by a shortened name. And how he said it, felt slightly nostalgic. Like she knew someone who called her that. But at that moment, she snapped out of her thoughts as he maneuvered his arm over hers and kept her close.

"Hm? Is something wrong?" He asked.

"Uh...n-no. No, I'm fine. I mean, it's not like I have anything else to do while I'm here, right?" Maeva shrugged.

As they left the shop, Maeva, now clad in contemporary wear, felt a cathartic releasewhilst walking around the town. And afore the unforgettably large tree and its widespread branches. The sudden remembrance of being petrified and waking up here was still a fresh hit to the face.

"A thousand years, huh..." she mused to herself. While following Quinn's lead, her green eyes were fixed back on the Emerald Legacy each time. With its immense size, the tree, over a millennium old, was forever her reminder that everything she knew was gone. Technology was now extinct, and everything seemed to have regressed rather than advanced. She thought the future would have highly techy gadgets and AI, like in the movies she remembered watching.

Wait, what movies were they again? She felt like she knew some, but none came to mind. All static like before.

But at the same time, felt the eerie need to repel.

Returning to reality as a fantasy world wasn't on her bingo card. She wasn't into stuff like this in her time, but what was it they call it? A certain phrase of one that crosses to another world?

'So this is what they call an isekai, right?'

Observing the town beyond the market shops, parks, and the quiet ambiance, blossom petals rained down from the tree above, casting a peaceful backdrop. Maeva held out a hand, waiting for a sailing petal to dance right into her palm. It had been so long since she felt something like this, the painful realization of the time gap began to sink in again. She was probably the only one from her time.

"And lastly, the square." After the long tour, Quinn and Paige led her back to the very place it all happened.

"Huh..." Maeva looked back at a very noticeable space on the tree, where a certain statue used to be. She wandered closer, looking at its massive presence that engulfed the town.

She weighed a deep frown. "I was up there. For so long..."

Quinn sensed her sadness, flashes of his dream came back to him. He quietly stood beside her. "You know, none of us knew you were alive. Well, some of us imagined it..."

"And...this?" Maeva held out her hands, and on command, allowed the green stardust to shimmer from her palms. "Why do I suddenly have superpowers? I still don't know what's going on. Everything is so confusing. Am I...trapped in some futurisitic mindscape or something? Is this all real?"

Quinn chuckled, attempting to ease Maeva's confusion. "We don't have all the answers, but as for your 'superpowers,' well...that's a bit...hard to explain."

Maeva turned over to his soft gaze. "Then, what am I?"

Paige internally analyzed by herself as she pushed her glasses up. 'The Emerald Legacy itself is a natural conduit that channels all Arcane Energy across this region. It doesn't have a source of origin, perhaps it was either her doing or hypothetically work of the Gods—with her as the conduit.

If it isn't her, then where did her source of power come from?'

"Am I just gonna assume that tree gave me these powers. I don't know any more..." Maeva shrugged, her eyes fixated at the giant tree again. Paige took a moment to process her words, but knew Maeva's theory was wrong.

'It's...a possibility. But...it could mean something else...'

"So what's up with this world? If there's magic, does that make me some sort of magic user?" Maeva curious asked. "And what kind of heroes are you guys supposed to be?"

"We're Paladins, yes. But the magic of our realm lies in our Arcane Weapons..." Paige outwardly explained, she slightly unsheathed her glimmering blade inches out the scabbard. "Arcadia itself is abundant with Arcane Energy. In the air, in the water, in the soil, in nature too."

Maeva looked at her shimmering palms, still trying to make sense of her newfound abilities. "Arcane Energy, huh?" she mused.

Quinn chuckled, attempting to turn her confusion around. "Well, Arcane Energy is a thing we go by, but our abilities come from our Arcane Weapons. It's a bit more...complex than just simply wielding magic."

—"That's right." The three turned over to meet Mayor Elsinore again, passively stroking his white mustache as he strided over to them. "Arcane Energy is something really valuable here in Arcadia."

"M-mayor Elsinore..." Paige stiffened. "We were just...showing her around first."

"I understand. Though it is a wonder to see Verdana again." The short man looked up to the rubicund-haired girl with a smile. "A pleasure to officially meet you, Saint Verdana. I'm the Mayor of Chromestown."

"Eh? He means...me, right?" Maeva blinked over to Quinn, confused. "Eh...nice to meet you, I guess..."

"As much as I want the people to go on with the Harvest Festival, they can't move on from the recent bloodshed." Elsinore loomed back at his citizens, carrying grief over his weary eyes. "Though, it's not as if we can cancel the picking of the Verdana Apples collectively. We'll just have to wait before the end of the month. But...it's not going to be the same."

"Come on. We can still continue the festival, it's not like that Sin Wielder will ever come back for the statue again." Quinn reasoned.

"The Statue of Saint Verdana has been the part of the festival for over 40 generations, without her—"

"But she's not a statue anymore. Are you saying that the festival should be canceled permanently then?"

"I..." Elsinore paused and let his gaze soften. He stopped stroking his mustache and folded his short arms behind his back. "No, not permanently. Until we find a way to honor the festival differently."

Maeva began to survey the square, observing the townsfolk scarcely attentive to the talk. She could sense the fear permeating each one, about the potential resumption or cancelation of the festival. Though she was unfamiliar with the festivities that occured here while she had been a statue, she began piecing bits together in her head.

Suddenly, Quinn's blood froze as something struck his sesnes like a chord, a chilling rush of nostalgia flooded in.

A killing intent. And it was coming in hot.

"Paige!" His instincts acted back and caused him to swiftly snatch Maeva up into his arms, leaping safely into the back.

"Right!" The sword paladin too reacted swiftly, lunging away with the Mayor in tow, just before a hail of giant spikes javelined right where they used to be. If they hadn't moved on time, they would've been human Swiss Cheese.

"Are you alright?" Quinn placed Maeva down and turned to everyone.

"Yeah, what was that?" Looking up, the paladins already knew who the culprit was. Maeva caught sight of a little girl in a red darling dress, standing effortlessly in mid-air with large ominous chains whipping around her.

—"I'M BACK, EVERYBODY! DID YOU MISS ME?"

"Great. That little shit is back?" Quinn readied himself, whipping out his musket from the back. Paige, too, skillfully pulled out her blade. Having experienced Serenity's antics before, the innocent citizens scattered, creating a chaotic scene of screams and cries.

"Hi, Chromestown! I'm here to play again!" The little Sin Wielder happily cheered, snacking on her signature candied-apple with a smile tugged on her lips. "I do hope you're ready for a bloody encore..."

"Uh...what's going on?" Maeva turned to Quinn, confused.

"Short story: Evil kid, black magic, dangerous."

"...got it. So a loli villain." She muttered.

"I don't know what that means but I'm guessing you caught on," he remarked jokingly.

"Just go with the Mayor and get to safety; we'll handle her!" Paige ordered.

In a sudden flash, everything around Maeva shifted. She watched as Quinn lunged towards Serenity, her aura brooding dangerously. The little girl waved her hand to command her chains, lashing out their quill-like attacks. But the paladins were swift enough to evade. The chains continued to lay destruction in their path, causing Maeva to duck down and retreat. "What the heck is going on?! This is crazy!"

"Saint Verdana, it's too dangerous here! We should let the paladins handle this!" The Mayor warned her. "Quickly, follow me!"

"Oh! R-right..."

The air crackled with tension as the little Sin Wielder swung her gigantic chains with a mischievous grin, but suddenly she began to pull back on them.

"Huh, backing away? That's new..." Quinn queried.

"Sorry. But sadly, I'm not actually here to play for long. We're here for the—" Serenity turned over to the tree, but saw no Verdana statue in sight. She was baffled right away. "Huh?! That's weird! Where did the ugly statue go? I could've sworn I saw it last time."

The little girl immediately turned her sinister eyes toward Maeva from afar, catching her wearing a distinct colour of red. "Wow! You wear red too? That colour looks so pretty!"

"Uh..." Maeva stood back, stiffly. "Thanks...I guess..."

"However..." But Serenity's child-like demenaor didn't reflect her dark expression, contorting into a look of malicious anger. "Red is MY favorite colour. And only I get to wear it. Which means wenches like you must be purged."

The Sin Wielder raised her arms, and immediately launched a series of giant spikes towards Maeva. Before she could even fully grasp the speed of the deadly attack, Paige swiftly stepped through - slashing away the deadly chains from reaching her.

"I won't let you harm her or anybody!" Paige warned. Quinn stood front as well and aimed his musket with only one hand. "We've dealt with you before, kid. Don't think your little tricks will work this time."

Paige added, "This town doesn't need your chaos. Surrender now, or we'll make you."

—"Well, this is certainly interesting..." A new voice smoothly appeared from behind the two unsuspecting paladins. Quinn and Paige, caught off guard, staggered as blows struck them from seemingly nowhere.

Quinn grunted, "What's going on? Paige, watch your back!"

Laughter echoed through the air, a voice accompanying the unseen assailant.

"Where is this coming from?!" Paige, frustrated, slashed her Arcane-charged blade through the air in an attempt to hit her unseen foe. But they danced away effortlessly, taunting her. She then recieved a powerful blow to her gut, finding herself knocked into the ground.

"Pai—Gah!" Quinn didn't finish his breath as a massive force punched him right in the face, launching him right into a market cart.

"Hmph. How disappointing." Thaddeus strangely reappeared only as a distorted shimmer in the air, the sinister butterfly mark on his cheek was just as active as Serenity's. "I expected more from trained paladins."

"Paige! Quinn!" Maeva's eyes widened in shock from afar. And without knowing, a spark of her green eyes gleamed with an unexpected but brilliant flare.

***

Edited: 12/Jun/24