A Meeting Of Fate

BACK IN THE TARRON MANOR:

After spending a good twenty minutes rubbing the wall. Apollita, Erya and Manai managed to remove it, and are finally working on the safe. After numerous attempts, they've managed to get two of the numbers, and are working on what is hopefully the last.

Erya carefully turns the dial with each number clicking and clicking as she does. The first number was twenty-seven, the next was seventy-nine, but neither seem to have any significance in any of their minds.

Erya continues twisting the dial, passing ninety-nine and still going forward. The first ten passes with nothing happening, then ten to twenty, twenty to thirty, and still, nothing happens.

The thirties are uneventful as well, but as she gets to fourty-five, a signature click is heard. The trio look at each other in shock as the safe finally opens.

Immediately, they swing the safe door open and peer in. The safe contains the usual stuff, documents, some platinum and even a dagger. However, as Apollita lifts the documents up, she sees a book that was hidden beneath.

Apollita then picks up said envelope with her left hand as she puts the documents back with her right.

Erya and Manai spot the envelope in Apollita's hands and immediately stop what they're doing.

"What is it?" Erya asks.

"I have no idea. It's some sort of... journal?"

Manai then says, "Well... open it up."

Apollita is a little apprehensive, but eventually, she opens up the book.

Inside of said journal is exactly what you'd expect, pages and pages of thoughts. After a quick scan, Apollita sees that the pages are filled with information little importance to them, except to potentially help them get a better insight into their Mothers mind.

Page after page, Apollita begins to lose any hope that anything would relate to Terra. Just then... she looks at the last page.

Suddenly, the door is opened up, and the trio try to conceal the evidence in the room, but luckily, it's Kova who opens the door.

"You have to hurry! Mother is planning on coming up soon! The maids are getting her and Fathers room ready right now!"

"Oh shit," The trio exclaim. They then quickly begin to put everything back to where it was, as perfectly as they can. Eventually, Apollita puts the book into the front of her dress, or more specifically, between her bosom as Manai and Erya close the safe.

Soon after, the trio follow Kova out of the room where they meet up with Sophia.

"Did you get anything?" Sophia asks.

"Yes, but we shouldn't talk here," Apollita replies.

A moment later, they hear a voice call to them from down the hallway, "Ahh, there you all are."

The sisters all look to see Myssera walking up with Kiera, Bislea, Virra and Diane in tow, "I was wondering where all my darlings were. I wished to speak to you all and ask how you were before you all went to sleep."

"We've just been here, Mother. We can't get any sleep for worry of Terra," Apollita says.

Myssera sighs. "I feel the same. One of my darling daughters taken from us, and not three hundred feet from our home. I only wish I was quicker."

Kiera places her hand on Myssera's shoulder, "Mother, you cannot blame yourself for this."

Myssera is silent for a moment before muttering, "But I can."

The sisters are confused by those words, but don't have time to ask further as Myssera says, "Anyway, please try and rest. Your Father and Durat have already rallied the troops, it is only a matter of time before Terra is returned to us, of this, I have no doubt. Now, I shall to try and get some rest myself, good night darlings."

Myssera then brings all of them together for a big group hug before making her way to her and Holvaeth's room. As she does, Erya asks, "Where is Father?"

"Oh, he has some meeting to attend before he comes to bed. I do hope he isn't long, he really warms the bed up," Myssera gives a devilish giggle before walking into her and Holvaeth's room.

The sisters all loom amongst each other, unsure of what to make of their Mothers words. Eventually, Apollita says to the rest, "C'mon, we've got something."

The sisters all quickly follow Apollita who heads into her room.

BACK IN THE KNAGSTUN ESTATE:

Sydna has opened the safe with relative ease and has the smugness to prove it, "Wow, that actually took less time than my wife. I might have to change up my tactics."

Amilia doesn't dignify Sydna's comment with a response as she walks over and opens the safe up.

Inside is an absolute mess. Paper and parchment strewn around with some slumped bags of gold with a few coins escaping the bag.

Immediately, Amilia and Synda begin sifting through the copious amounts of papers. They begin tossing the ones that simply talk about the sales of property and reports of disputes filled with less-than-relevant twaddle.

Just then... they find something.

An unmarked envelope with a letter inside.

Sydna is the one to pick it up, but Amilia quickly snatches it from her hand before grabbing the letter within.

As Amilia gets the letter out, she sees a split red wax seal on the folded paper. Without a second thought, she flips the letter up, and begins to read.

"Master Knagstun. The meeting has been arranged as you requested. Your esteemed guest shall arrive on the fourth night of the second week of the month of the Blue Sun. As per your second request, the package will be delivered to the specified location and will remain upon collection, or we receive your word to move said package. Your faithful servant - Gritter."

The two are quiet for a few moments, letting the words of the letter sink in before Sydna asks, "This package... do you think it's Terra?"

"I do," Amilia responds before reading the letter again. As she scans the letter, she says, "No mention of where the damn package is."

Amilia throws the letter down on the nearby desk in frustration, putting her head in her hands as she sighs. Sydna then picks up the letter, scanning it herself, but getting nothing more from it, leaving both women with even more questions.

MEANWHILE - THE TARRON ESTATE:

The sisters are all in Apollita's room, all waiting for the eldest sister to open up the book. However, Apollita is hesitant to do so, and the others take notice.

"Apollita? What's wrong? Why aren't you reading?" Manai asks.

"Because... what if Mother is actually behind this? What do we do then? Do we confront her? Do we just go on and pretend like we don't know?"

The sisters don't have a response, instead, they just look amongst each other, hoping the person next to them did.

Fortunately for them, Erya decides to take the lead and takes the book from Apollita, "No matter what the outcome, we need to know."

The sisters are surprised by Erya's sudden assertiveness, but don't say anything about it as the youngest sister opens the journal.

"It has been a few days since Erya has been cursed with the Giant's Eye. I haven't been able to properly sleep since we found out. There isn't a moment that goes by where I don't wish I was the one in her position. I would even sacrifice myself for her without a second thought to save her, but I am forced to stand by because I do not share the same damn bloodline. Holvy has stated that he will do it, but we cannot afford for the Tarron's to be without a head. Unfortunately for us, our daughters don't have the same sense for business as their father does. I don't actually see this as a bad thing however, the cutthroats of the other noble bloodlines essentially makes it a necessity to have. But as for Erya... it seems as if we have no other options... and I am distraught."

The sisters are all shocked as Erya finishes the first page. They had never really heard their Mother say any if this since she always appeared to be calm and collected at all times. Erya then begins to read the next page.

"Holvy just received some very intriguing and surprising news. There was an attack by the thought-to-be dead necromancer known as Imoga on Reduna'z Gaze in Reduna'zriam. However, the most surprising part of this news was that Terra was apparently part of the force that fought to save the town. I am not shocked to hear that she helped to save a town, but I am more shocked to hear that she was with a group of adventurers. Terra has always been decently sociable, but to hear that she is part of a group of adventurers... it is quite strange. As a mother, I am absolutely terrified for her and I wish I could ask her to stop, but I am nowhere near the place in our relationship where I would even be allowed to make such a suggestion. However, as a former member of the Emberskiln, I am proud to know that her training has proven useful. On a different note, I now have an idea, but how difficult it may be to come to fruition... I have no idea."

"An idea? You don't think that..." Kiera says.

"Don't insinuate anything just yet. We should keep reading," Diane says.

Erya just looks amongst the room and the consensus is to keep going.

"It has been three days since Holvy sent Durat to Reduna'z Gaze in the hopes that Terra and this supposed Hero is there. Holvy has also sent letters to the rest of our daughters in the hopes that they arrive. We are planning on telling them about Erya. Manai and Naura still don't know either, and to our surprise, Erya asked to keep it a secret from her sisters until she was ready. While I am certain that most of my darlings will come home, I have my doubts about Terra showing up, I believe that is why Holvy has sent Durat to hopefully convince her to come."

Erya then starts on the next page.

"Well, Holvy has heard from Durat, and Terra along with her group shall be here tomorrow. According to Durat, they've had a hell of a journey, so we shall accommodate them as best we can. I have been talking with Holvy about what information we should share with them when they get here. He believes we should tell them about everything, including the part about sacrifice. I, on the other hand, think we should omit that and go with my idea which is to ask Terra and her friends to make the journey to the Giant Queen and get her to remove the curse. It would be an incredible undertaking, and I wouldn't blame them for refusing, but that means I shall have to resort to... other measures."

"See?! Mother has no part in this! Why are we even suspecting her?" Diane argues, trying to make the others see her point.

Just then, Erya turns to the next page, and her eyes open a little wider, "You may want to wait to hear this before dying on that hill."

Everyone looks back to Erya with shock as she reads the last entry, "The rest of my daughters all arrived today, and surprisingly, so did Terra and her friends. They are an... interesting bunch to say the least. There is an orc named Kyuala, she seems quite nice despite her intimidating stature. Next is a catfolk named Amilia who is quite honestly the living definition of rude, but in a fun way. Lani is the fairy of the group and is the cutest thing I have ever seen since my darlings were but babes in my arms. Last is John, a man that I am very intrigued by, and not just because he is a drop-in. I wish to learn more about him, but I fear my daughters would misconstrue it as something more. As for the... other matter... Holvy and I have a meeting about it tomorrow night. If all things go to plan tonight, we shall hopefully have a solution to our problem."

The sisters are all confused about this development and don't exactly know what it means, but the uncertainty of it all just fuels their fears. That's when Bislea says, "Wait, she said that we had just arrived, that had to have been written yesterday."

"And Father is away at a meeting right now..." Sophia says.

Kova then follows up with, "Not only that, she said that they're looking for a solution for their problem. What if Terra is that solution?"

The sisters all go silent, realizing that things may have just got even more insane than they already were.

Diane then begins shaking her head, "No. I refuse to believe that Mother is involved in this mess in the first place, but now we're suspecting Father?! Why would he pretend to send soldiers to Yakeston if he's just going to get her back at some meeting? Why wouldn't they just tell us that they're getting her back tonight?!"

The others look amongst themselves before Virra says, "Who says that they're actually bringing her back tonight? Or at all for that matter?"

"Mother wouldn't lie to us about this! This is her daughters life, our sister life we're talking about!" Diane defends.

"Oh, c'mon!" Manai exclaims, "Are you honestly so blind that you're not willing to even suspect that they'd be willing to do something like this?! How many times have you heard Mother insult Terra for running away?! How many times have we heard stories about or even seen our Mother's ruthlessness?! Do you really think she is incapable of something like this?! Don't be a naïve fool all your life, Diane!"

"But what about Father? Do you think he would honestly be involved in something like this?" Apollita asks, trying to be neutral in this situation.

Manai sighs, "I don't know. I just... I want Terra back! You know how much I missed her, and I will be damned if I let her go when we just got her back!"

The others are taken aback by Manai as tears begin to fall down her face. Kiera immediately heads over to her, wrapping her arms around her younger sister as she tries to console her.

As that is happening, Apollita leans down to Erya and asks, "How are you feeling? I can't imagine how hard this could possibly be on you."

"I'm... handling it as best I can. It's not exactly something you get used to, but I couldn't live with myself if I knew that the only reason I survived was because Terra had..."

Erya stops herself for a moment before continuing, "Let's just hope the others have had some more luck."

BACK WITH THE OTHERS:

John and Naura managed to escape from the dining room without being spotted and are making their way to Lani.

They creep through a hallway, hearing a nearby door open which forces them to quickly rush to the room Lani is in.

"There's the door!" Naura says before they rush over to the door in question.

They quickly open the door and head inside, making sure to quietly close the door behind them. As they look around the room, they see what appears to be a very tidy leisure room. There's a desk with a wall of an assortment of alcohol behind it. There's a few chairs and even a couch that all face said desk, all of them with the finest red leather.

After looking around in awe for a few moments, John says, "Lani, you in here?"

There's a small rustling near the desk, but quickly, they see Lani flying up, "Good, you're finally here! I've found something!"

Lani then lands beside a folder that is placed on said desk, "You should read this."

John walks over before picking up the folder in question. He then gives a quick look to Naura and Lani before opening it up. As he looks inside, John is immediately shocked by what he reads.

"REPORT FROM OUR PORT GUARD: The ship known as the Ahtrosta's Maiden docked at port around midday, and had a lot of people depart. One of the men saw Terra Tarron and a group of people depart from the ship not long after docking. The sighting of Terra Tarron was confirmed by a few more of our men in town, travelling by cart toward the Tarron manor."

Naura is the first to speak, "They were... tracking Terra and you guys? I've had a few keen eyes on me from time to time, but this is a whole new level of creepy."

"Creepy doesn't begin to describe it. This... is the goddamn evidence we need. There ain't no way in hell that Knagstun could bluff his way outta this."

Just then, John presses on his communicator, "Amilia, we've got something."

"Alright, let's meet outside."

Kyuala then cuts in, "No time! John, you have to get outta that room! Kyarl and some guy beside him are making their way there right now!"

John then turns to Naura, "Shit! We've gotta get outta here right now!"

John then puts the folder back down and the trio make their way to the door. However, Lani decides to stop which causes John to ask, "What are you doing?! We've gotta go!"

"I'll join you outside. I'm gonna try and eavesdrop on Kyarl. Now go!"

John doesn't like the idea, but eventually relents, "You better not get caught!"

"Same to you!"

John and Naura quickly rush out of the room and dash down the hallway as Lani flies back into the room before finding a hiding spot.

The far door opens up and in walks none other than Kyarl Knagstun. His smug expression practically causing Lani to feel sick to her stomach. Soon after, another man walks in. His face is covered by a deep, black hood atop a long collared cloak. Lani internally jokes that if you were to picture a classic hooded bad guy, you'd be incredibly on point.

"Take a seat, we have much to discuss," Kyarl says as he sits in his big chair behind the desk.

The figure takes a seat as Kyarl starts to speak again, "So, how are you? It has been a while since we have talked like this."

"We are not here for pleasantries. Where is she?" The figure asks.

Kyarl laughs, "Straight down to business? I see that your master has not changed. Please tell him that I did receive his work of... art. it was... unique."

"He does not care for your approval. It was his response."
Kyarl sighs, "You think I don't know that? Does he even realize what this could do to us?! If this were to get out!"

"He understands the risk you've taken, and he appreciates it. He only wants to know where the package is, and you won't have to deal with anything more."

Kyarl slams his fist down, "I HAVE JUST RISKED MY ENTIRE LIVELIHOOD FOR THIS! IF ANYONE WERE TO FIND OUR ABOUT WHAT I HAVE DONE-"

"He suggests that you calm down. Everything you have done has a bigger purpose. Once the ritual is complete, you can wash your hands clean of any misdoing, as will he."

Kyarl takes a deep breath, inhaling through his nose before letting it out through his mouth, "Fine." Kyarl then pulls out a piece of paper before quickly grabbing a fancy looking pen and writing on it. A moment later, he passes the note to the figure, "That's the location of the package. I imagine your master won't be sticking around for tea?"

"No. He wishes to get what he came for and leave as soon as he can."

Kyarl sighs, "Shame. I wished to share some snacks with him at least once."

The figure stands up from the chair, "I will let him know of your sentiment. He thanks you for your service."

The figure then begins to walk off, and Lani begins to internally panic, wondering what she should do. She could leave the estate and regroup with the others and let them know what she has just witnessed. On the other hand, that piece of paper has Terra's location and the man is within her figurative grasp. The only problem is that the paper in question is currently in the man's pocket.

Lani quickly decides that the risk is worth it, and so, she quickly flies down. The figure has just got out of the room and is closing the door, but Lani avoids the closing door by the skin of her wings.

Lani holds behind the man for a few seconds, trying to figure out how to get into his pocket without him noticing.

She then flies down to his pocket, grabbing the sides before slowly sliding in.

Inside, Lani is struggling to keep still as the pocket bounces with every step. She stretches her hands out, grabbing onto the sides as she shuffles herself forward.

After a few scoots forward, the paper is now in reach. However, it's folded up. Lani then brings her right hand to the corner of the paper, trying to unfold it as she holds on for dear life.

Bit by bit, Lani manages to lift up the paper just enough to see some of the writing. There's just enough light that she can make out 'nth mill on the gre.'

She wanted to fly out right then, surely that would be enough information, right? That was the justification that she would usually take, but because of the dire situation, Lani knows that she had to be certain. So, she turns her body, trying to somewhat anchor herself against the soft fabric which doesn't go well, but she bears with it for now.

Next, she brings out her bag before diving in to get her notebook. She quickly finds it, and gets ready to write.

The last part of her plan is to use her left hand to lift up the paper, so she can read and jot down the entire location. The problem is, she would have to move the entire paper around, so, she would have to resort to the one thing that might get her caught.

Moving.

Lani remembers what this is all for, and so, she begins to slowly shift herself.

A moment later, the paper is being shifted around as Lani is doing her best to be as stealthy as possible. The paper soon shifts around and is in a good enough position. Next, Lani begins to unfurl the paper enough to see the full note on question.

The seventh mill of the green path.

Lani's eyes then suddenly go wide and her pencil stops as she feels the figure stop moving. Her breath halts as her heart pounds through her chest.

A few seconds pass, which to Lani may as well be centuries, and Lani hears a door opening.

Lani realizes that she doesn't have long, so she quickly writes down the remainder of the note before crawling to the opening of the pocket and flying out.

Back with the others, John is intently looking around as he says, "Where is she?! She should be here by now!"

"Lani's smart, John. If she was in any trouble, she'd have used the communicator by now," Kyuala reassures as she watches the figure who is getting into a cart.

John grunts, accepting that Kyuala is right, but not liking it. Soon after, they hear a small voice call to them, "Guys! I've got something!"

The group all turn around to see a panting Lani who is now sitting on a nearby branch, "I overheard Kyarl talking to that person about a package at 'the seventh mill on the green path.'"

"What's the Green Path?" Kyuala asks.

"The Green Path is a road that stretches through acres and acres of farmland on the opposite side of Mulvenscroll from here," Sydna explains.

"Then what are we waiting for?! Let's go and get Terra back!" Amilia says as she begins to walk away.

"Wait! The location doesn't make any sense. There hasn't been a seventh mill since they were first built centuries ago," Naura says, stopping Amilia in her tracks.

Sydna looks at Naura surprised, "Since when did you pay attention to history?"

"Since the last time you cared to ask," Naura responds, giving Sydna a slight gut punch reaction.

"It doesn't matter," John says. "This is the only lead we've got. We'll go search this Green Path for Terra. You two head back to the manor and tell the others, hell, tell your Father since we will need all the extra help we can get."

The sisters nod at this, but they soon hear Kyuala say, "The cart is moving."

The group all look at said cart which is now passing the gate of the estate. Lani then says, "We should follow the cart. From what I overheard, they're looking to get to this supposed package immediately."

"Then let's get going!" Amilia says before taking off. The group quickly follow behind as the sisters take off toward their family manor.