Well I had to admit this was not what I had expected…
Glancing around the entrance to the shop, I frowned at all the faces around … ones that were either calm and serene, or blank and expressionless.
There were rows of them on the walls, and on tables for display. So were made of wax, others finely carved from woods or bone, but they all were for a singular purpose. Not for the arts, but instead… sothing a tad more morbid.
"Welco to the Happy Mask! How can we be of service today, sir?"
A younger man, with a calm business-like smile erged from behind a hallway and counter and approached. I noted the way he glanced up and down, likely making assumptions of my position and status as he did, and wondered if I really had the right place or not.
Coin's little map had not been too detailed, but it had been enough. Like myself, and unlike most others in the Society, she was both well versed in travel and visiting new places. She knew what it took for directions to work effectively, and as such had drawn and wrote down enough directions that even a fool could have found this place… but…
Maybe I had mistaken it anyway? She had drawn a small face on the destination, as to mark it, and said that the family would be amongst faces, but…
riah visited this place…? A funerary mask shop…?
Sohow it made sense, yet at the sa ti it didn't at all…
It was too bad Renn hadn't joined . She would have found this utterly fascinating.
"Sir…?"
I slowly nodded as I glanced around again, and took in a small breath… but not to speak. I breathed in, and spent a tiny heartbeat examining all the slls of the building… and didn't sll anything or anyone recognizable. Not only did I not sll riah, I didn't sll any of our kind. Not even Coin, who had likely been here only a few days ago.
"Are you related to the owner's of this establishnt…? I'm actually here on personal business, not as a custor I'm afraid," I said, deciding to just find out the old fashioned way.
The young man gave an odd frown as he nodded and pointed at himself. "I am…? I an, yes sir… I'm the son, their son, I an," he said… suddenly sounding a bit awkward and young. Maybe outside of business he was still unsure of himself.
"Are your parents around then?" I asked.
"Um… yes. I uh… your na sir…? Or uh… well…"
"Does riah put up with your stamring?" I asked bluntly.
The young lad stood up straight and went wide-eyed at . "Wha…!?"
Well that confird it. "I take that as a no," I said with a small smile. riah was not the type to put up with such little ticks. She was an impatient sort.
Though well… I guess I had also thought her the kind to never willingly venture into a large city like this, let alone stay for extended periods in it… particularly at a non-society location…
"Oh… um… right! Aunt Coin! She…!" The young man then went silent, and slack-jawed for a mont as he stared blankly at … for long enough that I actually began to worry about him, but before I could say or do anything he shook his head a bit wildly and then pointed at . "You're him…!" he then shouted.
I should have brought Renn and had her deal with this…
"My na is Vim… hopefully I am he who which you speak of," I said lightly as I stepped forward.
The young man continued gawking at as I brushed past him and headed deeper into the shop and into the back of the building. I found the hallway behind the main counter and headed down it as if I owned the place.
"Oh my gosh…!" the young man whispered loudly with an odd tone as he quickly followed, but didn't stop .
"What's with all the shouting lad?" a new voice erged from down the hall, and half a mont later a face appeared from behind a doorfra. The older woman frowned at as I slowed in my approach towards her. "Whose this?"
"Gran, it's him…! That one! The!" the young man shouted from behind , since the hallway wasn't wide enough for him to do much else.
The older woman's frown deepened… but only for a tiny mont, then a blink of an eye later… I saw the answer I'd been searching for.
"I see. You're earlier than we expected, but she had always said you were that kind of man. Co, let us sit and talk… Close the shop up lad, don't let no one in. And go get your grandfather after," the woman said as she then stepped back into the room whence she ca.
"Right…!" the young man behind agreed without hesitation and hurried to obey… but I didn't care.
Because I had seen the truth of the matter on her face. In her expression. Written in old, deep wrinkles. Ones that had furrowed and grown somber and deep upon realizing who and what I was.
Renn not coming ended up being a good thing after all…
Walking down the rest of the hall I entered the room at the end and found a rather normal looking dining room. A large circular table sat in the center, though right now only had a few cups upon it, and the rest of the room had supplies and shelving lining the walls. A quick glance around made feel in a ho, not a shop, but I knew it was likely because they did their work elsewhere. Either in another building entirely or upstairs or below ground.
"Sit, please… I will need to be sitting for this, and it will feel very awkward if you don't join ," the older woman said as she poured what slled like hot tea into a few of the cups on the table. I noted she poured three, not four… which made wonder if she didn't plan to let the young lad from earlier join this conversation.
"Does death so bother you? Even though you make your living amongst it?" I asked as I went to take a seat. I chose the one that would have my back to the room's entrance. Out of courtesy.
The older woman paused a mont… and then gave a faint smile as she handed one of the now full cups of tea. "She had always said you were a man of indifference… But yes. Death does indeed get to . Always has, and I fear in my old age it's beco ever more so with each passing day."
"Well, that's better than being callous at least," I said as I went to take a sip of the tea, as to be a good guest.
It tasted a bit bitter, at least to , but I could tell that Renn would have enjoyed it. Especially considering the mont.
"Coming from one such as yourself, it must be true… though our adorable riah was so opposite," she said as she went to take a seat across from .
Glad to finally hear her na said aloud, by soone other than , I lowered my tea cup and nodded gently at it. "Thank you for the tea… even if you gave it to wash down the news you're about to make swallow."
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She gave as bitter a smile as the tea and nodded. "You look far too young and simple to be so cunning and shrewd… You're Vim, I assu?"
"Yes."
She sighed and nodded, a little dejectedly. "Then yes. riah is dead."
"How?"
A sad smile appeared on her face. "She had said you'd ask that before anything else. If that was our first question to our custors we'd be quickly ran out of business, then the town itself…" she said.
"You're the one, are ya?"
I turned just enough to watch an older man walk past. He walked with a crooked cane, one that looked like it was giving its all to support his lopsided weight. He had a bum leg it seed. "My na is Vim. I'm the Society's protector," I introduced myself properly as the man scoffed and sat down next to the old woman. As he did I noticed the young lad from earlier had not joined him… and was in fact not nearby. I glanced to my right, at the nearby wall and a broom sitting up against it… and realized he was likely not even in the building anymore. Maybe this place was connected to one of the others next to it, and that was where this old man had co from too?
"If you're wondering if the lad's listening, he's not. I sent him to finish polishing one of the masks," the older man said.
"He seed to know of her, and , already… so it would have been fine for him to join us," I said simply.
"The lad's a simple, carefree boy. Let him avoid such painful monts, not like him sitting here will change anything for him," the man said.
Oh…? So he was as gentle as she was, interesting.
"I myself have also struggled with such a thing. I usually end up making the mistake of letting them experience hardship in full, as to ready them for the world and whatnot. Probably why it never works out well," I said. Wonder how I'd deal with Nory in such a situation…? Renn seed to like the type to either be over-protective or the exact opposite, but… which way was better I wonder? Personally, just as how I was raised, I felt having the young confront and acknowledge hardship even while young was the proper way. Since it was a necessary trait to learn to survive… but how these folks, and those like them, did it wasn't bad either.
Life wasn't just about hardships. Sotis one did more harm by focusing on them than not.
"Explains our riah, then… were you the one to raise her, Vim?" the woman asked.
Were they not going to introduce themselves…? Maybe they thought I knew their nas? "No. I knew her from when she was young though," I said.
"Hm… she honestly never spoke much of her youth. Now that I think about it…" The woman went a little quiet as she pondered such a thing.
"riah arrived injured. In the late of the night. Three and a half moons ago," the man then said as the woman delved into her thoughts.
I put the cup down fully, as to not accidentally break it. "Did she say how she got those wounds?" I asked. My stomach twisted at the obvious, since it was clear.
We were in Telmik. She could have gone to the Cathedral. For help aplenty.
Yet hadn't.
"She left us sothing to give you. She said you'd eventually show up… though might not do so for years."
A letter maybe? "Where is it?"
The two glanced at each other, and then looked back at . "We don't have it… she only said you'd know where it is."
My jaw clenched as I groaned at the thought of where it could be. It could be at any of the locations we exchanged letters at… at least, I suppose, within reason.
Odds are it would be around here, I guess… I bet if I gave it so thought it'd be… not too… hard…
Other than the fact most of them were outside of Telmik… which would an I'd have to go to them without Renn… endangering her further.
Though one of them was both inside Telmik, and then again just right outside of it. Less than a mile away… I could hurry there and return quickly enough. Maybe I'll do so before I head back to the Cathedral.
Doing so would also let check the city so more… I was now very on guard for illusions and all forms of tampering with the world, but as of yet hadn't noticed or seen anything… which was both disconcerting and also terrifying beyond belief.
I had felt divinity. Pure mana. Just last morning, when Renka had shown herself and placed Renn in that illusion, I had felt divine power clearly… but since then, and before that, I'd not felt a thing. Not even when Renka had shown herself just now to us earlier, to let us know she would be gone for a few days.
She really could hide herself from . But… how…?
Mother had been so sure…
"Vim…?"
I blinked, and felt terrible for a new reason as I coughed and cleared my throat. "Sorry… As I'm sure you understand there's been… a lot lately," I apologized, and before they could say anything back I nodded and gestured lightly at them. "Did you… bury her? Give her a proper funeral?" I asked.
"Yes. We are not followers of her faith, but we know… knew the rites. We gave her a proper farewell," the older woman said.
Good… that was good. Especially since that also ant they had burnt her body. Now I didn't need to worry over anyone digging up her bones. "How long had she suffered?" I asked.
"Only three nights. She had been… ran through. As if by swords or spears," the man said carefully, as if afraid soone would hear him speak of such things.
I frowned but nodded… since that was likely the only things that could have brought her low. riah was tough, kind of like Renn… though not to the sa degree she was far from sothing a typical human would have been able to harm to such a degree. Not unless… they had a lot of help, or the situation had been dire.
"Did she ntion anything…? Anything I should know? Or soone else should know? Is there a ssage she had given for another, that I might be able to pass along for her?" I asked.
The two gently smiled at and shook their heads. "We gave her last words to Coin, Vim. As she had requested. All we were told for you was that you'd show up unannounced one day, and we were to tell you she left you sothing important. Sothing you knew where to find."
Great. And… Coin and her had been that close, had they? I had never realized that.
I'd never known. It made feel a bit… cruel. I had thought I had gotten along well with riah, but maybe I hadn't been as good to her as I had thought myself to be. That was sadly starting to beco a very apparent fact for many I've known recently…
Hopefully I wasn't as bad with Renn as I was them… I'd like to bla all the recent happenings, such as Renka and the other gods, but the reality was I'd been like this forever. How many tis had Miss Beak chastised for being so indifferent? And she had been a bloody monarch, one of the last pure ones too, so for even her to chide in such a way ant I'd been really bad at those tis.
Actually hasn't Renn lately been making such little comnts too…? That I'd been a slight apathetic lately? Though maybe she had not used that word, that has indeed been her complaint lately… and not just her either. Randle, rit, Lilly and others had all ntioned similar things…
Maybe these recent issues were indeed all my fault. Maybe the world was not getting active just to spite , but instead was doing so because I was neglecting it. Like how a wound untreated festers, or a nagging debt drowned a soul.
But have I been so bad that the very gods would co back and start causing a ruckus…? Or was it sothing deeper?
By my parents I shouldn't even be thinking such things right now… the two old folks in front of were both looking at as if I was so odd beast they'd never seen before. Just what kind of expression is on my face right now, I wonder? Did I even want to know?
I shouldn't linger. My mind was distracted, and it was an insult not just to these fine people but riah's mory to act like this. I was the protector… at least, I was supposed to be. Yet here I was, not even doing my job while instead worrying over things beyond even my control.
"Is there… anything I should know? Even the littlest detail might change a lot," I asked as I focused.
The two glanced at each other… and then slowly shook their heads. "No, Vim… she ca. She died. We mourned. Life moves on. We even made her a mask, though I'll not give it to you," the older woman said, and the man next to her nodded in agreent.
If only the rest of my people were like them. Maybe the Society wouldn't be so troubleso if they had been. They were the perfect mix of strength and gentleness, the kind that usually I kept a distance from… since I typically feared breaking them on accident. They kind of reminded of Berri, which was surprising since riah and Berri had not gotten along at all. "Well… I know not what she's told you, or your history with her… but know for all you've done for her I now owe you a great debt. If there's anything I can ever do for you, in any shape or form, please don't hesitate to ask. If I can't help you, the Society should be able to."
The two didn't even blink as they nodded. "We thank you Vim, but we're fine. We live our simple lives, nothing more."
I figured… especially since it seed they knew Coin well, and she likely visited too… but still. Maybe I should bring Renn here later, and let her spend so ti with them… "Well... I suppose then I should go and find what she's left for . I'd offer to stay, to talk rrily of her mory, but this could be dire. And it would not do her justice to linger, not in this way," I said as I went ahead and drank the rest of the tea in my cup.
"Of course, Vim. We understand… hopefully you can accomplish whatever important task she gave her life for, and hopefully it was worth it."
Standing from the table, I did my best to not let my emotions or thoughts show as I simply nodded. "As do I."
As do I…
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