Chapter Text
Liurnia
The night sky of Liurnia was really beautiful, Bell and Melina laid on their backs as they watched the stars, the sky was full of colour, deep blues and purple nebulas swirling in the night. The moon was full, it was always full he noticed, full and bright and radiant. But there was this one time where it appeared different, Bell hadn't noticed it at first but when he met that witch Renna, when he met her the moon was still full but it wasn't the same pale white orb of radiance, no the moon was blue, dark and mysterious, it was full but so dark it appeared more like that of a crescent moon.
Melina shifted to face him "What are you planning to do now?"
Bell thought for a moment, he was in no particular rush to get the next great rune, he barley beat Godrick and that was with the help of Nepheli, for all he knew this next shardbearer was twice as strong and he wasn't about to go asking Nepheli to drop whatever she was doing to help, he needed to be able to do this himself. "Not sure, I think I'll just train some more before trying to get the next great rune"
She nodded "I believe that would be your best course of action. The next Shardbearer that is closest is Queen Rennala, not someone to take lightly in the least, while not a demigod herself she is just as deadly as one, well she was once, I have heard she is in a most sorry state since night of black knives"
"Why? I thought it was only Godwyn that was killed that night?" Bell recalled the history lessons Melina would on occasion impart onto him. Marika's son Godwyn the golden was murdered, the first time a demigod was ever killed, after that Marika went mad with grief and shattered the Elden Ring, shattering the peace of the land along with it. He didn't know much about Liurnia but he knew the region was functionally independent since Rennala still possessed the title of queen, so why would the night of Black knives effect her?
Melina's face became solemn "Her daughter and heir, the lunar princess Ranni had allegedly killed herself that same night. It was too much to bear for the queen. Not much is known of what happened after, the academy closed itself off when the warring began and have remained extremely tight lipped about anything to do with her"
Bell face shifted to one of extreme sadness, he couldn't even imagine what that must have been like, parents should never need to bury their own children "That poor woman..."
Bell had thought to simply leave the conversation at that, let silence and the Liurnia's natural ambiance take over again but a sudden confusing thought came to his mind "If she's not a demigod then why does she have a Great rune?"
"It was a parting gift from her husband Radagon" she said without much thought
"But why would he of all people have shard of the Elden Ring before the Elden ring even shattered?" Bell asked
That seemed to wake her up as she shot up with wide eyes before her face returned to its usual stoic state, but there was a bead of sweat rolling down her face "O-oh, well I suppose that is a good question, you see it was... a reward!"
"A reward?" Bell replied disbelievingly
"Uh yes, you see it was Radagons marriage to Rennala that brought Liurnia into the fold, Marika rewarded him a lesser great rune for uniting the realm"
Bell was unconvinced "Seems a bit much don't you think?" Bell questioned "I mean, you said the Elden Ring has influence over the whole worlds natural and spiritual functions, even a lesser Rune seems like it would be worth far more then a military conquest"
She froze for a moment "Yes well you may have point...but it was also a gesture of goodwill between the house of the Erdtree and the house of the moon"
"Ok then..." It was unusal to see her at this much of a loss but then again she may have just forgotten or was unsure, at least that's what Bell thought.
"Anyways" Melina started "Rennala is a sorceress of great repute, she has no small amount of skill when it comes to glintstone sorcery. I think it best you train your own sorcery, while you won't match her in power you will be able to keep her guessing if you will attack physically or magically"
"Got it, I'll visit Sellen, I've been meaning to get more lessons anyways"
"Good, I need to get back to my hunt"
"The monster that escaped you earlier?"
"The very same. It will do the world a heap of good with it dead"
"Need help? I could always go see Sellen later"
"NO!" she suddenly shouted "I-I mean no thank you Bell. I appreciate it but this is my task, you just focus on your training"
She donned her cloak again and made ready to leave before stopping again "It is best you remain wary from here on out Bell. You will be hunted with utmost prejudice"
"Hunted?" Bell asked concerned "By who?"
"A great many parties, the most immediate being the Cuckoo knights, Raya Lucaria's private army, they for the most part are guarding the entry to the academy but there are some who patrol the roads. The Nights Calvery have been dispatched from Leyndell to block the roads that lead to other Shardbearers at night."
"Nights Calvary?" he asked
"A group that are loyal to Margit the fell. They are the hands of the fell omen. whenever a great champion of hero outlives their worth, the Nights Calvary brings an end to them"
"...the hands of the fell omen shall brook thee no quarter" Bell remembered Margit's last words were.
"But Margit's dead, why are they still following his orders?"
"Unfortunatly Margit was more or less their captain, with him dead they take orders from higher in the chain of command, Morgott the grace given if I were to guess, the current king of Leyndell"
"Great, I'm so looking forward for that" Bell said with sarcasm "What about the Bloody fingers and Recusants?" Bell asked concerned, a group of Tarnished hunters was not something Bell wanted to deal with, especially after seeing what was done to Lanya.
"They are more likely to try and recruit you then kill you. You would be too invaluable to them to not try at least once" Melina replied
"Well I'll be careful"
"That's all I ask"
After bidding one another farewell, Bell and Melina both disappeared in partials of blue and gold to their own destinations.
Limgrave-Waypoint Ruins
Bell appeared in a golden flash into the underground ruin, dimly lit and damp as water drip from cracks in the stone ceiling.
He stuck his head into the lone room of the ruin, filled with scrolls, books and crystals "Sellen? You here?"
He was answered swiftly when a book was thrown against his head "Ow! What the hell?!"
Bell turned and saw a familier stone mask, Sellen was standing there and had another book at the ready "It seems you have finally remembered me. Not visiting your dear devoted teacher for as long as you have. How rude"
"I'm sorry miss Sellen!" Bell bowed low
"I know, I am merely playing with you little tadpole" she said with poorly veiled amusement "But still, a short visit would have been nice, I never get visitors, a girl gets lonely after a while"
"I've just been really busy is all!"
"Yes, yes I am aware. I overheard passing soldiers from Stormveil on how a white haired monster slew their dear lord Godrick. I look upon a shardbearer now?" she asked
"Yes I am" Bell said with a bit of pride in his voice
"I am impressed apprentice, I really am. To lay low a demigod...and here I thought you would be just another passing student"
"The glintstone magic you taught me was real helpful" Bell bowed again "Thank you!"
"Of course it was useful, glintstone sorcery is a most effective tool, especially when it is taught by me" she boasted with utter pride in her voice "Am I to assume that you've returned here to continue your education?"
Bell nodded "Yes am Miss Sellen, I need to get another greatrune, to do so i need to take the one in possession of Queen Rennala. I know shes a powerful sorceress that I can't hope to match in a straight fight of magic against magic but If i can learn a dew new tricks I think I can squeeze out a win"
Sellen perked up, if Bell were to guess she probably had wide eyes under the stone mask "Queen Rennala you say? Well if your planning to lay low that sanctimonious woman how could I ever refuse?" her tone had a certain unnerving bite behind it
"I take it your not her biggest fan?" Bell quipped trying to lighten the mood
"Of course!" Sellens calm voice teetered on the edge of viciousness as she clenched her hands so hard that Bell could see small drops of blood falling from them "That women is the reason I was banished from the academy, she restricted research and when I alone had dared speak against her she ordered me to leave, branding me an apostate. So yes apprentice I am not amongst her admirers"
"Ok then..." Bell said uncomfortably, seeing the usually composed Sellen so angry was unusual and intimidating "So...what am i learning today?"
Sellen stood in the center of the room with her scepter in hand she unleashed a spell that was similar to [Glintstone pebble] but instead of firing a single shard it unleashed an uncountable amount of them moving so fast Bell almost confused it for a continuous beam if not for each crystal exploding on impact as they hit the wall. Sellen turned to Bell and flourished her scepter "This my apprentice is [Crystal barrage] the spell itself is rather self explanatory I think but this isn't all I will impart into you today"
She turned around and with a swing of her scepter released a bright blue arc of magic "I will also teach you [Glintstone arc] and also-" she lifted her scepter into the air and in a bright flash the entire staff was incased in a glintstone construct in the shape of a massive sword "[Scholars armament] a spell I think you would most appreciate"
Bell was wide eyed and slack jawed at the display, practically vibrating in excitement at the last spell in particular "Awesome! let's get started with the last one!"
Sellen chuckled in amusement before wagging her finger in the negative "No, no dear tadpole you will learn them in the order in which I showed you"
Bell deflated slightly, the other spells were amazing but he just really wanted to be able a massive magic sword "But-"
"No buts Bell" she interrupted before throwing the scroll for [Crystal Barrage] at his head "Start studying"
Bell just knew she had the smuggest look under the mask.
Liurnia-Village of the Albenurics
Gideon moved through the village, stepping carelessly onto the slain and mutilated corpses of the first generation Albenurics. Their rustic little village remained hidden decently well but the foolish things had abysmal defenses, although perhaps he was being too harsh, Albenurics are after all lesser then the true born races of the world in all accounts. The first generation of their race were amusing things, aging ever so quickly and crawling about because of their useless legs, no wonder Praytor Rykard kept them around in his torture chambers.
Gideon walked over the stone bridge, gliding through the sea of silver blood they had spilled. Ensha his ever useful servant was currently stringing up the corpses of the now dead Albenurics. Behind him was the Omenkiller he had enlisted to find the village, nobody finds and kill menials like the Omenkillers after all. Gideon had never bothered to learn the thugs name, he was mostly unimportant, Gideon just needed the zealots help and now his use was at an end, so he left the Omenkiller to torture the remaining Albenurics, much to Gideons annoyance, now he didn't care about the torture but he did find their screaming to be increasingly annoying, at least those frog head second generation Albenurics were mostly silent but that was likely because they were simple minded.
"Ensha! Get over here" he commanded and like a good dog, Ensha obeyed. The two walked through the desolated village, Ensha stabbing at any Albenurics that he suspected to be playing dead. They searched each and every house, dug through the pockets and each and every corpse but Gideon found no sign of what he was looking for.
"Curse it all" he whispered out bitterly "It should be here, I know it was here, my spies have never led me wrong before"
Ensha's silence only made Gideon more furious, normally he was happy with Ensha being silent, Gods above know that the Roundtable has enough noisy inhabitants with that imbecilic Corynth and that ingrate Diallos at each others throats constantly "You are sure that none of them escaped?"
Ensha nodded as Gideon knew he would, the village had no visible escape routes, none that the cripple first generation of Albenurics could use anyways.
"Search more them, it cannot be anywhere else but here. I don't care if you have to cut open every last one of these silverbloods, I want that medallion!"
The medallion was the key to opening a new path of knowledge, he needed it to access Miquella's fabled Haligtree and if fate was kind, he would be able to ascertain the will of the nascent empyrean. Miquella was a diffrent sort from his fellow demigods, he had a hand in many events he reasonable should not be involved in. What is the purpose of castle in the far north? What is his connection to St trina? Why did he want General Radahn dead? It was well know his sister Malenia was a loyal dog that would never move without his word.
There were so many unknowns to Miquella, too many for Gideons liking. The Medallion would be his key to uncovering whatever plans Miquella has laid out. Once he understood these hidden plots he would be able to circumvent them or use them for his own advantage and get him closer to the throne.
The village burned as the slaughter of the few remaining Albernurics was carried out, the omenkiller feeding them to dogs and Ensha continued to hang them but there was still no sign of the Medallion. Perhaps, gods forbid, he was wrong and the Medallion was in another location. That was what Gideon had though until he heard a distant anguished scream
"NO!" a womans voice screamed out.
Down the hill was woman adorned in chainmail riding a great direwolf, it was another Albenuric, a female one at that. Like her male counterparts she had weak legs which explained the wolf mount. She was the last one, she must have the amulet!
"Bring her to me now!" Gideon commanded, as Ensha and the Omen hunter sprung to action but the girl already had a head start, they wouldn't catch her he knew. In a desperate attempt Gideon lifted his scepter and cast [Carian phalanx], the glinstone blades swirled around him, their azure light illumnating the area and unleashed them all at once at the distant form of the woman.
The blades missed the woman but managed to hit the wolf, a fatal blow he knew, but the wolf still carried the woman out of sight to somewhere unknown. Unknown to him for now, but the beast was bleeding out, leaving a trail for Gideon to follow up on.
Gideon never even noticed that what he sought was but a few feet behind him, hiding as a pot.
Liurnia-Rose church
Varre leaned against the wall of the bloodied church as he looked around with utter disinterest at the surroundings of Liurnia. He watched the dimwitted Albenurics wander about aimlessly as he swatted away bugs that were the size of his head. He cursed the indignity of it all, he cursed his current station, it made him miss his placement in Limgrave, this station was unworthy of his talents. He curse Yura the hunter, for he was the reason varre had fallen out of favour with his master. He cursed Elenora for taking his place at the side of Lord Mogh. He cursed Ansbach for getting him positioned here.
This bog of a country disgusted him, he should be at Moghwyn palace offering prayers and guarding the cocoon of the Empyrium. When he thought back to those days he could not help but curse himself as well, he wasn't satisfied back then, he was ambitious and wanted to prove himself to his lord so he begged his lords leave and pursued the hunter Yura.
He was so confident back then, he had thought that the two of them could take this lone Tarnished.
He was wrong
Varre had lunged at him, hopping to cave Yura's head in. But Yura simply stepped to the side and cut right through Varre's mask, scaring his face. Fear took his senses and he began to run away faster then he could think, ignoring the cries of his partner who's head went flying past his own.
Lord Mogh had been furious, while angry on behalf of his abandoned partner, Lord Mogh was more angry at the cowardice displayed by Varre saying it stained not just the reputation of the bloody fingers but stained Lord Moghs own reputation, that he would allow such weakness in his ranks.
Varre snapped back to reality at the familiar sounds blood bubbling behind him inside the stained Rose church. Varre ran inside with all haste with hope in his heart that his Lord had called him back. These hopes were dashed when he saw the old fool standing at the center of the church.
"Ugh, Ansbach what do you want?"
"It would not hurt to show some manners Varre, especially towards a superior"
Varre grinded his teeth to hold back what would have been a vicious string of insults. "My apologies, sir Ansbach, what can I do for you?" Varre felt sick giving this outdated fossil any respect, but he had the masters ear and Varre would not dig himself a deeper hole.
"I have come for an update on your progress"
"Unfortunately I have no progress to report, I haven't heard a whisper of the boys current whereabouts"
"Most disappointing. The white haired child is certain to be in this region. He will need Queen Rennala's great rune, I will place agents near the academy, they will tell you if they receive any sign"
"Thank you kindly Sir" Varre said politely but his tone was anything but.
"Oh and Varre?" Ansbach called out
Varre groaned silently "Yes Ansbach?"
"Have you noticed our lord has changed recently?"
"I would not know, my interigation was the first time I had seen him since my banishment to Limgrave. I would not know if he had changed any since he was too furious at my failings. What changes?" he asked curiosly
"He has been retreating more and more into his communions with Miquella, I have had to pick up more of our lords duty since then. He hardly comes to meetings anymore unless it has something to do with Miquella"
"It seems to me that our lord is simply taken with his consort, hardly anything to get greyer hairs about Ansbach. Now leave me, I have a boy to find"
Something about what Varre said seemed to make Ansbach perk his head up as if in realization "Very well, I thank you for entertaining my query Varre. Farewell"
He disappeared into a pool of blood.
Strange old fool, Varre thought, never knowing he had given Ansbach the true answer for their lords behavior.
Tracking down that woman was proving to be harder then Melina had thought, not because she obstructed her tracks or made false ones but because the area she had been located in was impossible for her to reach. She could not enter that town because of the tower that guarded the way, atop it blazed a great orb of frenzied flame that would drive her beyond the brink of madness if it caught sight of her, but still she needed know for certain if who she sought was still within the town walls.
Normally she could have just teleported there, unlike Bell she was not restricted to teleportation between graces, but the town was somehow shielded from her attempts and every attempt provoked the frenzied orb above the tower to blaze brighter and linger longer which caused almost every animal be it bird, deer, boar or rat to go mad. What was worse was that thing that lingered up the hill at the church, a lingering frenzied echo of a once great Tarnish warrior, the failed lord of frenzied flame, any attempt to enter the village would provoke it into action, while it was a lesser copy of the original it was still extremely powerful and if she was forced to fight both the echo and the maiden of madness Melina was not confident she could win out.
Melina staked out the place for hours on end watching emaciated wretches wander about aimlessly clutching their burning eyes, 'Such a pitiful display' was all she could think before she saw one of them rip out its own eye, bulbus and ripe with madness as he slinked over as best he could towards the town gate. Melina wondered why for a brief moment until she saw the woman she was hunting, sporting wraps around her chest from the wounds Melina had inflicted.
The wretch spoke but Melina was too far to hear what the exchange was about, but then the man tenderly handed over the eyeball like it was something sacred. The woman held it with such care before she did something that almost made Melina sick, she ate it.
Beneath her blindfold the woman's eyes blazed as she held out her arms in reverence, almost like she was praying. Briefly she donned a demented smile like how she smiled during their encounter. Melina knew full well that whoever this woman was she was connected to Shabriri, every now and again that demented spirit reared it's head to try his hand at creating the Lord of frenzy and he did often use maidens as a lure to drive men into the three finger's clutches. So far his attempts ended in failure
The woman wanted to get to Bell and drive him off the path of Elden Lord, she would not allow this, she could not. Melina refused to ever allow that woman to infect Bell with the beliefs of the frenzied flame, Bell will not become some hollowed out shell spewing the nihilistic words of the three fingers. She would not see the pure man she had come to be care for be ruined.
Cared for...Melina doesn't remember the last time she cared for a particular individual, she cared for life overall but never got too close to anyone, at least not that she can remember. Bell was a breath of fresh air for her, he was driven to be a good person, a trait that has become almost extinct in the world today after the shattering. She still remembered when he practically begged her to stay for dinner in the run down church he shared with the merchant. Bell shared the food he had hunted and foraged, she watched with almost contentment as Bell would talk and play with Torrent.
Every night for dinner she found herself staying just that little bit longer, until the night came that she began to sleep at the church with them. Bell was the source of almost every good memory she's had recently. What started as an accord of convenience became a genuine friendship that breathed new life into her.
Melina couldn't remember much of her life. She knew she had family, a mother, a father and siblings but she couldn't remember their faces, they were always shifting shadows with no discernable features. She had a purpose, she'd find it in Leyndell along with her memories, she'll be whole again and with that completion maybe she could help Bell fulfill himself as well, find his memories. They could be whole together, in what way Melina was unsure, these feelings were something that confused her, she would need to contemplate them but all she knew was that her life would be good so long as Bell was in it.
The frenzied villagers followed the woman back into the town as the bright yellow flame danced about the tower. She'd not get her target today sadly, but she would get her. It would be a cold day in hell before she let frenzy get anywhere near Bell and the throne of Elden Lord.
"Ahgg" Bell laid on his back exhausted, his mana feeling thoroughly drained. He looked around at the craters he left behind with his magic. The spells Sellen taught him were powerful ones and quite compilated in theory and difficult to carry out in practice. When it came to [Glintstone arc] it was for the most part easy, he just need to draw his magic into a wide arc, being carful not to create the spell to quick so not to fire it prematurely and not to slow that the construct and his magic didn't deform. The spell made nice clean and deep cuts in the stone of the ruins and if used correctly could be used on huddle up groups of enemies
Bell did struggle greatly when it came to [Crystal barrage], the spell required him to constantly create miniature glintstone pebbles and not just fire them in rapid, blinding succession in a focused stream, but to also make sure each crystal was condensed with more magic the the pebble could hold so once impact was made it would explode. To say it gave Bell a headache was the understatement of the century, overuse of magic almost knocked him out and left his head throbbing. Sellen had to step in numerous times so that he wouldn't' overexert himself.
[Sorcerers armament] was the hardest spell for Bell, making a glintstone construct that was easily the size of himself was almost impossible, not just that but maintaining it's shape until he could land his swing took up a great amount of concentration that made it impractical to use in a fight. Sellen seemed to use it with absolute ease and she even showed him it was possible to increase the blades size and make the blades strike back an explosive punch!
"How can you do this so easily Miss Sellen?" Bell asked incredulously "I'm having a hard enough time conjuring the spells much less using them as practically as you"
Sellen, who was sitting on a chair in the back sauntered over to his side and crouched at his side "Repetition my dear apprentice. Repetition is the path to mastery for scholars of any subject, be it in the arts of sorcery, academia and in your case, battle"
She took Bell's hand and pulled him to his feet "Simply knowing how to do something doesn't mean your good at it. Does knowing how to swing a sword automatically make you good with a sword?"
Bell shook his head
"Exactly, you must become adept at using the magic, the more you do it the easier the spells will be for you to cast, and soon, stars willing, you will be able to cast these spells without diverting your concentration" She handed Bell a Cerulean flask that he drank greedily as it restored his mana and mind
"Got it! I'll practice as much as I can to get this down"
"You do that apprentice, go on home, that should be enough practice for one day"
"Alright, bye Miss Sellen, love you!" he cheerfully as he disappeared into golden partials
Sellen stood in the center of the ruin, still as a stone "....What!?"
Bell could have gone back to the roundtable, he had only come out here to help Diallos and that didn't pan out so well. While roundtable had nice feather beds, a stocked food pantry and good company, Bell did find himself somewhat nostalgic for living on the road, eating food he hunted with his own hands and sleeping beneath the stars in a ruined church, something about the old churches reminded Bell of something, just another thing he couldn't remember he supposed. He and Torrent ventured up a hill and it wasn't until Bell saw some familier gold trimmed towers did he realise where he was.
Stormveil Castle, well the back of it anyways. A part of Bell wanted to venture back in there and see what he could find and do but the memory of what happened to Rogier, with the black thorned roots impaling and ensnaring him along with the horrible face that was in the ground deterred him. He stared at the grand towers and felt a great surge of pride.
"I did it" he whispered to himself
He never really let it sink in that he had actually managed to kill a demigod, a demigod! Killed by him, a meek, naive child, although he supposed he wasn't such a person anymore. He had changed, he rested his hand over his eye where the scar that Margit gave him, then his hand traveled lower to his neck, a scar rounding around it's entirety, he gently caressed the scars as he pondered his changes. Sure he had grown in power greatly, Bell couldn't even try to lie to himself about that but the price he paid for that power made him question it's worth.
Dying never got easier, it had only happened a couple of times but he didn't doubt that he would die again soon, it was only greater and stronger opponents from here on out. Did he really think he could stomach dying again for some vague and distant goal?
His thoughts drifted to Melina, she needed to get to Leyndell for what reasons Bell didn't pry, but she seemed so eager to get there, almost desperate. She trained him and taught him to the best of her ability although she seemed to struggle to communicate much of what she was thinking to him. She was the sole reason he was alive, she gave him the power to convert runes into strength which enable him to beat Godrick. Because of her he was able to leave behind his weaker self, something that felt almost liberating to him.
'I'll keep pushing forward for her sake if nothing else' he though to himself with determination.
Bell turned around and began to ride again through a series of lush trees until he caught sight of a ruined building, a church, so Bell rode towards it slowly, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. And out of the ordinary is what he found because sitting hunched over in one of the pews of the church was a bald bearded man in the same uniform as Sellen. He didn't seem to notice Bell at all until Bell had stepped on a twig alerting him.
The man shot up like a frightened and pulled out a staff "S-stay back! I'm warning you"
The man was compleltyly lacking in confidence, it was easy enough to tell because while he had never fought a genuine glintstone sorcery he could tell by watching Sellen how a sorcery conducts themselves in a fight because of her demonstrations. The mans stance was awkward, he was quivering and stepping on part of his robe.
'Clearly not a fighter' Bell concluded so he slowly raised his hands
"No need for this to get messy, I don't want to hurt you" Bell made sure to keep his voice calm and low as he gently made his way towards the sorcerer.
The sorcerer grew more nervous "I-I'm warning you! Stay where you ar-ahh!" the bald man could not finish his sentence as he tripped over his own road, leading to him getting himself flipped over the pew
Bell waited a moment before calling out "You okay?"
It was silent for a moment "...yes"
"Peace?"
"...peace"
"Great!" Bell ran over and helped the man to his feet "Sorry for scaring you."
"No, please it was my fault, I have been too jumpy recently"
"Can't blame you, not your fault, everything out here is trying to kill us, completely normal reaction. Names Bell by the way" he extended his hand out for a shake.
"A pleasure, I am Thopps" he shook Bell hand "I insist the fault lie wi-"
"Are you two going to apologies at each other all night?" A feminine voice called out from behind the two. Melina was sitting in a hole in the wall as she watched the exchange with mild amusement.
"Melina! Don't scare us like that" Bell was slightly shaken, Melina could always get the drop on him.
Thopps on the other hand was shaking like a leaf in the wind "W-what he said" Melina dropped down and approached the two, offering a handshake to Thopps which he accepted
"Anyways Thopps what are you doing out here?" Bell asked "By the uniform your from the academy"
Thopps puffed out his chest as he spoke with pride for once "Yes I indeed am. I have the pleasure to be a scholar of Raya Lucaria"
"Then, if you don't mind my asking, what are you doing out here?" Melina asked
"Yeah, we haven't seen anyone from the academy out here with the exception of my teacher" Bell chimed in
Thopps looked dejected now "w-well you see the academy has a series of wards to prevent outsiders from entering. But sadly for me I was still outside when the wards were put up"
"Didn't they realize you were gone?"
"They did, I had called out to one of the castle towers and was lucky enough to be heard. Unfortunately I was refused entry"
"Why? That's so cruel?"
"You see I am what they call a bluntstone, my talent in the sorcer arts of the glintstone school have proven abysmal. I was mocked and berated by my peers and looked down upon by professors. Queen Rennala always spoke kindly to me, though thos days are gone much like the sweet moon queens mind I'm afraid."
"I'm so sorry" was all Bell could muster, being rejected by your own peers would sting
"they were wrong for that" Melina said with an edge to her voice "A school is meant to help all it's students!"
"I was underperforming-"
"Is it not the job of educators to aid all their students? They should have tried to help you"
"You are kind, both of you, but please do not rile yourselves up on my account"
"too late" Bell quipped, bring a light chuckle from the sorcerer
They settle down into nice casual conversation as Bell got a fire going and began to cook a nice rack of boar ribs for the group. Thopps grew more comfortable with them, joining in jokes, he was sat next to Torrent, feeding the spectral steed only the finest rowa berries as he stroke his mane. Soon enough they all fell asleep, Melina slept on Bell's shoulder as they slept on Torrents side, Thopps sleeping in one of the pews of the church.