NOVPUB"She shines!?" Uriel blurted out when Nika's party returned to the ship and informed him the success of their mission.
"Yep." Both Nika and Medusa nodded while Luna remained with her lowered gaze and face so intensely red Uriel thought it was her activating her trait.
"That's so cool! Luna, why didn't you tell us earlier?" Uriel was both impressed by the nature of her trait and hurt that she didn't share it with them either. Luna's trait had been a mystery for so long Uriel was starting to suspect she didn't have one.
"Because... it's embarrassing. All I can do is shine, but your traits are so powerful. You can summon weapons, Medusa can petrify an entire army and Nika... uhmm." Luna finished her sentence short to avoid saying something hurtful as she considered Nika's trait to be nothing out of the ordinary, but her silence turned out to be even more offensive.
"And me?" Nika asked.
"I'm trying to learn social conventions and it's stated it's best to remain silent if what you're going to say could be considered as an insult."
"Forget about that, your trait could have saved us so many times in the past."
"Uhm... no. It spends too much flux energy and with Professor Lamar's help we studied my trait, it doesn't emit UV light, it's just a high luminosity discharge." Luna explained.
"I think all traits can be powerful in their own way, but that's besides the point. You actually defeated a horror level cryptid and you're still an ascended which means your growth potential is still high." Uriel pointed out.
"It wasn't a horror level cryptid and I only did it because it was extremely weak to light. If Medusa bought better quality flashlights we could have killed it in a second." Luna glared at Medusa who let out an exaggerated sigh.
"For the umpteenth time, I bought the best they had! They were expensive!"
"Lying is bad." Luna said in the most annoyingly casual tone she could muster which was still emotionless, yet Medusa knew she didn't mean it, though she couldn't see Luna poking her tongue out at her in a rehearsed gesture.
"Actually, most items you'll find in the shops are imitations. Everything looks nice, but they're all crap. Anyway, why do you think it wasn't a horror level cryptid?" Uriel asked wondering if an entity level could be as powerful as they described the shadowy monster they defeated.
"It didn't drop a flux orb, instead it dropped this," Luna showed a small black acorn that seemed harmless. "It's an acorn that contains a seed from the black forest from myths. Instead of feeding upon sunlight, this plant feeds on darkness which explains why it went after Nika and ignored us."
"Yeah, as soon as I tried to activate my trait I started to feel tired." Nika nodded.
Uriel had encountered several cryptids that didn't drop a flux orb in the past but to his knowledge none dropped an item, let alone an acorn as strange as that. There was something else puzzling him, though, and it was the fact that the party returned with twice the credits they were supposed to and that they knew somehow knew exactly what the acorn was.
Needless to say, he was more than happy that they got more money and he wasn't going to look at gited horse in the mouth, but he still needed an answer.
"And how exactly did you find out what that acorn was?"
"Uhm..." Luna fumbled, then fell silent.
At the same time in the same five star hotel Uriel stayed when he first arrived at the city what remained of the Dolminico family gathered around in the restaurant area after renting the entire floor for privacy. It was just for one evening, but it was still more costly than most people could afford.
"Are the rumors true!?" Kalos walked in like he owned the place and interrupted the meeting that was taking place.
"It's nice seeing you too, brother." Ciara replied with a scoff.
"Just answer the damned question!"
"Father has yet to be cremated and you're here demanding answers. How shameless can you be?" Ciara's bare face didn't leak sadness for the passing of her father, only spite for her brother.
"Like I care about that old man, he never gave a crap about me. Everything was always about you, but you know what, I don't even care anymore. I want to know..."
"What you want doesn't matter. You disowned yourself from our family, remember? You abandoned our family and broke father's heart, you have no right to make any demands from us or even to participate in this meeting." Ciara waved her hand prompting those near her to drag Kalos outside like the unwelcome guest he was.
"He might not belong to the Dolminico family, but Kalos has a point. We all came here to find out if the rumors are true." A man sitting on the opposite corner to Ciara voiced out everyone's thoughts. Saying Kalos pile name felt wrong on the man's tongue, yet he knew that now he didn't belong to the family he was considered an outsider and as such he deserved no respect.
"We do have a new guardian of the forest." Ciara's words caused several gasps and murmurs among those present which due to their small numbers allowed Ciara to hear them. They were all what was left of the treefolk, dryads, greenmen and other plant-human hybrids in the city, locals and refugees alike and the fact that they all fitted in a single restaurant was a sign that they were going extinct.
"Congratulations, Miss Ciara, I'm sure you'll bring us to new heights." A woman with short blond hair and light green eyes stood up and started clapping with a smile, but before others could join in the same man who spoke earlier also stood up and slammed the table.
"This is outrageous! Treefolk had always been guardians of the forest. I, Lorenzo Dolminico, will never allow a filthy dryad like you to defile our most sacred traditions!"
"You know damn well that the only reason treefolk are always chosen as guardians is because of their strength. Besides, Mister Alessandro chose her as the new guardian of the forest before passing." The dryad rebuked.
"This all smells like bullshit. I bet this is all a scheme and even Mister Alessandro's death was staged!" Another treefolk joined in until soon everyone was shouting.
In the past, whenever the boss of the criminal underworld died different families attempted to fill in the power void and take the position for themselves. It also wasn't unusual that things ended in a bloodshed as different families had their own interests and formed alliances to back the stronger candidate.
This, however, wasn't the case as everyone present belonged to the same family despite being from different races and Ciara couldn't let something like that to happen.
"First, I'm not the new guardian of the forest," Ciara spoke in a calm manner making good use of her dryad's charm to get everyone to pay attention to her and fall silent. Her words, though, caused several people to gasp in shock or murmur to each other and Ciara patiently waited for them to finish before continuing.
"Second, My father's passing had nothing to do with us dryads since we had nothing to gain and everything to lose. Everyone knew father's intentions of appointing me as the new guardian, yet I had no desire to carry that burden." Her soothing voice and the her solid argument caused pretty much the same reaction it did before.
"What happened to father was a tragedy, but we all knew the moment was near. The seed of the black forest allowed us to pass freely through the abyss of the darkness, but it came at a high price my father gladly paid for all of us. This is why I won't allow people using his sacrifice as a political chip to play whenever it's convenient." She glared at her uncle Lorenzo like he was trash.
"Miss Ciara," Lorenzo said softly. "I humbly apologize for my words. I truly meant no harm by them and it was only the grief of losing my brother speaking." Most treefolk were considered the embodiment of wisdom by those around them and Ciara wasn't the exception.
Nevertheless, she also knew how cunning they could be and she didn't miss that although the apology sounded sincere, her uncle still used her father's name to gain sympathy.
"Now that this is settled, let's move on to the next topic..." Ciara attempted to continue, but Lorenzo cut her short.
"Excuse me, but shouldn't the guardian of the forest be leading this meeting? Where is he?" Lorenzo avoided to mention Elio's name, but with Kalos out of the picture after he disowned himself and Ciara saying she wasn't the guardian, that only left one candidate.
"There seems to be a misunderstanding. This meeting isn't related to the guardian of the forest and we're only here to arrange the many funerals we need to hold after the cursed seed broke out. But if you must know who the new guardian of the forest is, all I can say is that she isn't a dryad."
