by Victoria Sheridan 16th April 2022, 12:26 am
-Outside Holy Castle, six hours later-
Victoria and Abigail came to a halt outside Holy Castle and Victoria parked the Centaur about ten meters away from the front gate. Victoria turned the vehicle off and the pair climbed off of it. They were walking towards the double doors of the castle when they opened and out stepped Father Morris himself escorted by two mages bearing a bag of Jewels each. The three met about four meters from the door.
"Ah, hello! I see that you two have returned from your mission. Did you happen to come across any cultists?" Father Morris asked the two mages.
"No, Father, we didn't come across any cultists. But we found something else that you guys might be interested in." Victoria informed the client. Abigail took off her backpack, opened it up, fished out the rolled-up papers with the blood red seal on them, and zipped up her backpack, then handed the papers to the bespectacled man. Once he took them she zipped up her backpack again and put it on her back.
"Oh? What are these?" Father Morris asked the two mages as he inspected the papers.
"We don't know, Father. We didn't read them because Victoria cautioned me against removing the seal. She thinks that it's a security measure of some sort." Abigail informed the man that neither she nor Victoria knew what the papers were because they had not read them, then cited the reason why they had not read the papers. Father Morris examined the seal and his eyes narrowed. He then made eye contact with Abigail.
"Your friend was right to be cautious, young mage. This is a security seal of some sort. These can be very dangerous." Father Morris confirmed what Victoria had suspected.
"As soon as we part ways I will have the Order's best clerics begin work on dispelling the seal so that we can read the papers. Whatever the seal is protecting has to be of considerable importance." Father Morris told them. The two mages had done their part in finding and delivering the papers to the Order. Now they were focused on getting home, but first they had to wait and see if Father Morris had any more instructions for them before they set out for Capital Crocus. In the meantime the two people handed Victoria and Abigail a bag of Jewels each.
"I would like you two to keep an eye out for any more messages that I might send you. You two have done us a great service in finding these papers. I must hand these over to the clerics right away, so I will see you two later." Father Morris bade them farewell. He and his two helpers turned and walked towards the castle doors, which shut the moment they walked through the doorway.
"Well, our work here is done, Abby. Let's go back to my place." Victoria said to her friend. Abigail nodded.
"Yeah, let's go." Abigail said. The two mages put their bags of Jewels in their backpacks, turned around, walked back towards the waiting Centaur, and climbed on board. Victoria cranked the Centaur up and gently accelerated, turning the vehicle away from Holy Castle. Once she was safely pointed away from the castle she increased the Centaur's speed and set out for Capital Crocus.
-The Sheridan Estate, Victoria's Room, six hours later-
Victoria had taken off her socks, shoes, and other equipment and had set them all on her bed. Now she was standing around her room and trying to figure out what to do. She had had quite the day and was not ready to go to sleep yet. She wanted something to drink.
Victoria started walking towards her room door to go to the kitchen and get either a bottle of water or a can of Cherry Charge soda when Abigail appeared in the doorway. Victoria stopped where she was and waved at Abigail, who was carrying a large bag of Jewels.
"Hi Abby. How's it going?" Victoria asked her friend.
"It's going a lot better now that we're out of Haunted Guild." Abigail replied. Victoria readily agreed with her friend. The blonde walked forward and offered the bag of Jewels to Victoria.
"I owe you for loaning me the money I needed to buy a new roof, so take these." Abigail said and held the bag out for the brunette to take. Victoria pushed the bag away.
"You went with me on a job I needed help with. You also saved my life. As far as I'm concerned the loan's been repaid." Victoria said to the blonde. Abigail pushed the bag forward again.
"Take the Jewels. I owe you the money, so here it is." Abigail insisted. Victoria made eye contact.
"Keep them. You'll need the money in case anything happens to the new roof to your house." Victoria said and pushed the bag back to Abigail. Abigail frowned and looked like she was about to press the issue but relented. She lowered the bag of Jewels to her side, holding the bag in her right hand.
"OK, you win. I'll keep the Jewels." Abigail relented.
"We're even now, Abby. You don't owe me anything else." Victoria said. As far as she was concerned the debt for the new roof to Abigail's house in Clover Town had been settled now and forever. Besides, the money was of little importance to her. Helping her oldest friend was of greater importance to her than the loan.
"All right then, Vic. We've settled that matter." Abigail said.
"Yeah. The loan's been repaid." Victoria agreed. Victoria wanted to move on to another subject, but she could not find one to talk about. Fortunately Laura came to the rescue.
"Miss Sheridan, Miss Windstrider, the evening meal is ready." Laura said to Victoria and Abigail before disappearing down the hall. Abigail looked at Victoria. She did not have to say a word to the brunette. Both mages immediately left Victoria's room to go downstairs for the evening meal.
[Post Word Count: 1,006]
[Total Word Count: 10,746/11,000]