Armella sat under a tree on the edge of the keep's clearing. So much had happened in a very short span and their rescue mission, while successful in the end, hadn't gone entirely to plan. More and more magic made its way into their path, and while one smidgen of it had positive effects, the rest was either completely evil or it was in the middle.
Absentmindedly she picked up a stick and drew small designs in the dirt. She knew she should stay with everyone to keep an eye on things, but part of her wanted to leave and get away from all the craziness. However she also knew that it would probably never go and it would all catch up to her in the end.
Delilah wanders the parameter of the outer wall, keeping watch, happy to stay busy and stretch her legs for once. Without anyone with her her mind wanders to many things.
Seeing Armella she stops short, hesitant to approach. Delilah definitely had questions, but...
Slowly approaching, she comes up to her friend. "Howdy." She tries to smile and be nonchalant. "Been a few days, huh?"
Armella looks up, still slightly frowning from her thoughts. "Oh, hi. Yes, I imagine one would be out after being....Well I'm glad you are feeling better to be up and about." She smiles awkwardly and looks back down at her doodles in the dirt.
Delilah falters, her smile fading. "I... Yeah." She rubs the fresh scar on her neck, still getting used to it.
She looks around feeling awkward. Knowing everyone was affected in some way by what happened...
"You... You mind some company? If you'd rather be alone, I... I understand."
Feeling bad for her lack of tact she hurriedly waves a hand, "No not at all, please, you can sit with me." She pauses and fiddles with her necklace. "I'm sorry, back at the Conclave when someone would get hurt we treated the wounds like battle trophies to show off that we survived and the other didn't. But I'm not sure that's the best way to handle it for everyone." Armella admits rubbing the back of her neck.
"Anyway, I'm glad you're up and about. The keep has an odd feeling about it. Not that outside doesn't though since apparently massive ghost bears are a thing here."
"Ghost bears... You will have to show me if you see it again. I kinda feel like I missed out on a lot of... Interesting things."
Delilah chuckles, trying to lighten the mood. She sits next to her friend. "Well, this... Thing," she gestures to her large scar, "Will be a reminder to me. Perhaps not a battle trophy, but... How lucky I am to have you guys. I..." she trails off, contemplating.
Armella chuckles, "I think it's okay you missed that, too many strange things have been happening. But you will always have us to be with you. And now those people will know not to mess with us. If anyone even survived and got away that is."
"No messing with us for sure! The..." She looks contemplative. "...Hm. We should have a name for our team." Delilah laughs.
She smiles wide. "I like those! We sure are misfits, aren't we?"
A strange look comes into Delilah's eyes and she steadily grows quieter. "Hey, Armella? Can... Can I ask you about alkahests?"
Armella looks at her and tilts her head, "Of course, though I mean, I don't know specifics of it but what's on your mind?"
Delilah opens her mouth and closes it again. She can't seem to think of how to word it, and takes several moments to do so.
"Alkahests-- they-- don't they--" she looks flustered. "They are exalted. Right? But-- but I..."
She trails off, angry. Frustrated. Looking up at Armella, she shakes her head. "I saw them when I-- when I died. I saw Alkahests WE saw, Miss Mella! I-- I was in a place where everyone was. Saints and heathens alike. Is-- Is it-- is the afterlife we learned of NOT true?"
Armella stops, not sure how to respond. "I...Am not sure. Maybe what you saw was something your mind made in order to cope with what happened. You saw people you knew or had seen before, like the Alkahests. Maybe it was a waiting place before they go? Like a sorting. Maybe the afterlife is something people made so they would feel better about death. Not many people come back from the dead to explain it." She pauses, running her fingers over her necklace.
"Besides, we know that people make bad choices and could mess with what is taught. Do you want me to ask Tarj directly where they go? If it's all one giant conspiracy and deny everything I know? Would that make you feel better? To up heave everything you know and spiral down into black torment just because we don't have absolute knowledge over trivial matters. We're alive now, and now is more important than death. To cherish memories of those who moved on regardless of where they end up is better than to question and worry."
Delilah stops aghast, mouth open. She shakes her head slowly and closes her mouth, looking away.
"I saw what I saw, Armella." She says this colder than she means to. Her hands shake a bit, these retorts feeling uncomfortably familiar.
"I want to know what's going on! What's real... Don't you? Do you not know that much about alkahests? Why DON'T you ask your god?" She looks shocked she said it the way she did, on the verge of tears.
Armella shrugs, "What difference does it make? If I wanted to know what death was like, I would die. I'll ask since it matters to you." She could understand why her friend was upset but it was the same as with Emma.
"If we knew the answers to everything nothing would have meaning. I'll ask, but why don't you? Ask a god of death, murder, and darkness. Why they couldn't keep the world together. Why it only took one to put the world right again."
Armella stands up brushing the dirt off. "It's understandable to be scared, but things will get better soon."
"IS the world right again? There's so much wrong in it. Death--I experienced it-- I could tell you about it, if-- If you'd just believe me! I wouldn't lie to you. You wouldn't have to die to know." Delilah looks hurt at the thought.
"Knowing--" she shakes with emotion, trying to keep her voice steady. "Knowing and learning is what Tarj is all about, Miss Mella. Isn't he...? I want answers. I NEED answers. But he doesn't... He doesn't answer me."
She tosses a rock across the ground, watching it skitter in the dirt. "He-- he didn't-- he didn't even bring me back. Magic did." Delilah's voice catches in her throat. "Hikaru told me."
Armella nods slowly. "Yes, and if I hadn't stayed with the group the magic wouldn't have been there. Couldn't that be him working through me?" She turns away abruptly.
"I can't answer your questions. Why don't you ask others since those answers will probably give you the warm fuzzy feeling you seem to be looking for."
Delilah bites back her tears. She shakes her head. No that doesn't make sense. Tarj using magic to... To accomplish things? Could that ever make sense? But...
She feels conflicted, looking up at the tall, imposing figure of a paladin. She feels small.
"I don't want that, I..." She hesitates, swiping at her eyes. Her voice seems quiet and weak when she speaks. "I'm sorry, Armella. I'm not being proper... You're... You're right. You being there is what saved me."
Armella inhaled and held it trying to force the frustration out as she exhaled. "It's okay, you just died and now you're alive. Of course you'd want answers. I just may not be what you want or know what you want to know." She answered. still not turning around she looks at her hands and clenches them.
"The church may not be perfect, but the good it has can't be all that bad. Besides, where else could I go? I'm not going to follow an old man or some kind of shadow creature." She mumbles more to herself than to Delilah.
Delilah hugs her knees to her, feeling even smaller. The church always held answers. Or it used to. Not anymore.
She hears Armrlla's frustrated mumbling, and she fiddles with the sleeve of her shirt--Armella's shirt--while she tries to find her words.
"I appreciate you rescuing me... And healing me... A-and getting me out of those old bloody rags they musta had me in." She tries to chuckle, but it seems lackluster.
"You're a good friend to me. I want to be a good friend to you, too."
"It's okay, really, I'm sorry. I'm not good with this sort of thing. Would you like to walk for a bit? I understand if you're not up for it." Armella offers, turning and sitting back down next to Delilah.
"Maybe we could walk. I'd... Like to pick some herbs, actually."
The sudden change in her friend seems off putting, but Delilah shrugs it off. She puts on a happy smile. "Perhaps we will even see that bear!"
She starts walking through the trees, picking herbs as they go. "What do you think of the Helots so far?"
Armella follows Delilah towards the trees, "Well so far we've jumped from a burning airship, crash landed with Firelord, and killed a bunch of crazy people. Minus that I guess it is nice. It's different than the cities. Do you think we'll stay here for long?"
Delilah stops short. Her eyes grow wide. "W..wait, burning airship? Is the ship completely gone?"
She struggles with that idea for a moment, mumbling, "We might be here a while, then..."
Armella stops and grimaces, realizing no one told her. "Oh, I thought someone told you....Yeah. We used the high burning something or other and when they shot at us we....exploded. I think though that Rhys made preparations in the event that things went wrong though, he may have moved your things." She offered trying to give some hope.
Delilah blinks away the surprise after a minute and shakes her head. "N--no that's... That's quite alright, Armella. Material items are replaceable. I'm just glad everyone is safe. It sounds like you've had quite a time of things."
She eyes her friend as they walk, a little nervous to ask. "You didn't get hurt, did you? Are you okay?"
"We're all fine, Firelord is as sturdy as it looks." She smiles reassuringly. "Maybe there's a ship we can use or maybe we'll just have to walk to the nearest settlement. But I'm sure our boys can build something if needed."
She nods in agreement. "Maybe even one of the cultist ships... If they didn't take all of them."
Delilah seems to consider it more, remembering. "They did land with me, I think... Somewhere far off. It took a few hours to walk to the keep. I just don't know from where."
"We could check that out with the others. Or we can go see if we can find it and kill anyone there. I have my guns if you'd like." Armella offers nonchalantly
"Either way." Delilah's tries to be nonchalant too. Her hands clench and unclench, thinking about Cyrus. "At least some scraps of a ship can be useful."
The two of them make their way through the woods for some time, and come to what appears to be a clearing of smashed trees. Obviously, an airship--and a huge one at that--had landed here, and taken off in a hurry.
Delilah looks around the clearing, brushing her hand against some of the broken branches. Their leaves, already wilting, indicate it's been a few days. "Well, darn..."
Armella looked around, "Well that's too bad. Maybe something is salvageable from the ship? I'm not even sure where that went down." She kicked at some broken foliage. "Do you think they'll come back?" Armella asks hesitantly, "I bet we could take them again if they did." She adds quickly.
She looks over at her friend. "I... I'm not sure. But I'm positive we could. I wanna tie up unfinished business with them anyway." She grumbles to herself.
Sitting down, she starts poking through the plants she picked. She sniffs them occasionally, nibbling on the end of one. "Your armor looks shiny. Is it new?" Delilah eyes Armella, observing her.
Armella perks up slightly, "Oh, yeah, I got it while we were still in the city. I figured it was time to get a new set." She sits next to Delilah, "So, do you think people will forget we're here and leave us along for once?" She asked jokingly.
She smiles back as best she can. "That'd be nice, wouldn't it?" She grows quiet, thinking for some time, listening to the birds up above them. "Would you like to stay here? In the quiet? Or does some place call you?"
***
Armella cleans up the alter and helps Hikaru training the villagers. In the evenings, she is down in the alchemy lab finally gaining a grasp on alchemy. A book she acquired from the temple had opened her mind to more possibilities and with the events involving Delilah she found more connection between the intricacies of alchemy with the teachings of Tarj.
Making final preparations with her various salves, powders, and potions Armella hoped that she wouldn't need too many healing options but it was better to be over prepared than under prepared.
Before heading outside each evening for her patrol, Delilah visits with Armella for a an hour in the lab. Bringing a plate of food for each of them, she would either watch, participate quietly, or read while her friend focused.
"You've been doin' great with your alchemy, Miss Mella. I can tell you've been practicing." She smiles as she comes in one evening, placing some venison stew on the table.
Armella looks over her shoulder with a smile, "Yep! I'm really glad I asked for the book at the temple. I feel like it's helping me understand better the core nature of things," She turns around and wipes her gloved hands on her apron before removing them.
"How are you feeling today? Things seem to be going smoothly, all things considered," She asks, picking up the stew
"That sounds fantastic! I'm happy to hear it's going so well. I'm doing alright myself, just keeping busy." She takes a few big bites, looking at Armella's work.
"These don't look so familiar to me... What've you come up with here? Something new?"
Armella nods, "Yep, some of this should be similar to what Emma could do, but honestly I don't know how much she was interested in this. I've learned how to help invigorate people, a few healing salves, a pretty nasty toxic mess, and ways to find magic and poisons." She points at different vials on her table filled with different colors of liquid, capsules and other mixtures.
Delilah's face breaks out into a huge grin. "You've been a busy bee! I know these will work fantastically." She peers closely at a few of them. "If you need help gathering anything specific to make more, let me know. I'll be more than happy to keep an eye out for plants in the forest."
"Oh thanks! I think I'm good for now, but I'll let you know." Armella responds, giving a thumbs up before taking another bite. "Oh, I'm sorry I got upset earlier." She pauses and puts the food down, "You had good questions, I just...Don't know. The more I think about it the more that things could have been changed over the years. Maybe there's some lost text or maybe there wasn't much of anything and someone made up a warm and fuzzy response to make people less afraid of dying."
Delilah chews a bite of her stew slowly, a pang of guilt in her chest. She smiles reassuringly nonetheless. "It's alright dear, no hard feelings. Y-yeah... Maybe that's it after all! I'm sorry as well, I was... rather demanding of you for answers, and that wasn't fair of me. You're a great friend, and I respect you."
Armella nods, rubbing the back of her neck. "I do hope that we can find the answers. Maybe when we find more crystals we can find more information on the past or something. I'm just hoping we can find a way to get out of here that isn't trekking through the forest for days if not weeks to the nearest city. Have you been to the Helots before?"
I haven't no. But, I did take a walk to the village Gravesford yesterday." She smiles. "When she was here, I heard all about the town from Brecca. She mentioned an alchemist there named Penna, and I took her some of our enhancement potions on consignment."
"I'd been testing a few different materials in 'em, and think we have the beginnings of some steady income! Although, we need to figure out how to make more of the base potion as time goes on..." She stands and pours over some of the materials left by the cultists. Leafing through a pile of parchment, she mumbles, "Must be a recipe here somewhere, right?"