The Heir of Zrephia

Arriving back at the church, Darx headed to the library. No one stopped him or questioned him. The guards saluted with the simple fist over the heart that he had seen them use for Deacons and Priests. Darx held no position of authority in the church, and yet they treated him like he did. The guard outside the library opened the door for him and Darx walked in.

Darx hadn’t been in that many rooms at the Church but the library was by far his favorite of them. The way the light that shone through multiple windows was diffused by the Ruby disk held by the statue of the goddess and gave the entire room a soft glow that reminded Darx of firelight. It gave a more intimate feeling to the large room.

A middle-aged man approached him, asking if he could help him, then led him to the section that had Zrephian history. Darx took out a book and flipped through it. It was a military history of the time period. It wasn’t very helpful. He went back to the section and started looking for something specific to Zrephian royalty. He wasn’t having much success. Most of the books about Zrephian royalty were specifically about the Princess of Calamity. He didn’t want to read about the fall of Zrephia, he didn’t want to read about her powers. The last thing he wanted to do is look like the second coming of the person that destroyed her city and wiped out her people. He was starting to get frustrated when a shadow passed over the shelves and a voice broke his focus.

“You are Darx?” The voice was feminine, but firm.

Darx turned to see a Battle Nun standing beside him. He recognized her immediately. He had seen her in the Library when Neku first took him there. Her face was pale white, with black lipstick and makeup around her eyes. She was dressed similarly to the first time Darx saw her, except this time she was wearing a thick Iron chest plate. She was still stunningly attractive.

“Well?” She asked, looking impatient.

“Oh, yes, I’m Darx.” He answered, standing to meet her. She was tall, but still shorter than Darx, coming up to his eyes. Darx offered her a handshake. In return the lady offered him her hand, palm down. Darx smiled, but took her hand and kissed it. When Darx released her hand, she gently gripped his, refusing to release him.

“Handsome and mannered,” She said, “The Heir of Zrephia does not disappoint.”

Darx was intrigued, having never interacted with a Battle Nun directly before, he didn’t know what to expect, so he played along, gave her a slight bow. “Thank you, my lady.”

Without releasing his hand, the nun turned to look at the shelves. “What are you reading about, if I may ask?”

“I’m looking up information on Zrephian royalty, what made them special. I don’t actually know that much about them.” Darx admitted.

“I can help you there. What specifically are you looking for?” The lady stated. She brought her other hand to rest on Darx’s arm, running her gloved fingers lightly over his skin as she kept her grip on his hand. Her shoulder brushed against his as they were pulled closer by her movement.

“I need to know what made them powerful. I need to find a way to show the Dark Elves that I am the Heir of Zrephia.” He said it then looked to the Nun. She was smiling at him. When their eyes met she bit her lip slightly, and her smile got bigger.

“The most obvious thing is choosing their own abilities, Darx.” She explained. “Anyone born with those beautiful red eyes of yours could choose what abilities they would have.”

Darx knew a little about that, and he had evidence of it in the way he had learned his abilities. The thought that he could choose what skills he would gain going forward if he were to rank up again was exciting.

“But more than that,” She continued, “Zrephians were powerful mages. Of course, choosing their abilities let them choose what advanced magics they would gain. Some would even take more than three types of magic, giving them many higher magical elements to draw spells from.”

Darx hadn’t thought about that before. Since he could choose his abilities, he could gain a higher tier of magic of his choice by choosing what magic element to gain. He would need to think more about that. He could possibly even take 4 magic elements. He knew Mizuki the elementalist, one of the Beast-kind S-ranks had four elements, she had requested the fourth from her goddess as her S-rank ability.

The woman ran her fingers over his, singled out his ring. “When you consider how their relics magnified their natural talent in magic, it’s easy to see why they would be so powerful.” The way she was touching him, the way she was looking at him, Darx felt heat rising to his face and his pants growing tighter.

“Yes,” Darx started to respond but his voice cracked. The lady’s smile deepened, she was delighting in her effect on him. He cleared his throat, giving him a moment to compose himself. “I can see that now.” He sounded so dumb saying it.

Her face changed, less teasing, more serious. “Then you can also see why restoring the bloodline of Zrephia is so important.”

“What?” Darx asked.

“Soraya! It’s time.” a woman called, interrupting them. The lady in front of Darx turned, Darx followed her eyes to see the blue-haired nun that had made up a bath for him just a few days ago. She saw him and stopped.

“Oh.” She said. “Good morning, Blessed one.” The pretty Blue-haired mage curtseyed to him.

“Raina, you’ve met Darx already?” The nun, Soraya, asked her.

“We’ve met, I prepared a bath for him.” She said, her face growing a little pink.

Soraya looked Darx over. “Lucky girl.” She said. “I see I am already falling behind.”

“It’s not like that,” Raina responded, growing more embarrassed, “We didn’t do anything.”

“Well, Darx,” The nun Darx now knew as Soraya set down a book she had been holding, Darx looked, the book was titled 'Dangers of the eastern plains'. “If you are looking to learn more about your Zrephian lineage. . .” Darx looked back to see Soraya running her finger over the spines of the books as she spoke. “Ah, here it is. I would suggest this book.” Soraya pulled an old, leather-bound book off the shelf and handed it to him.

She then squatted down, to look on a lower shelf. As she did her skirt fell off her leg where it was split, revealing a thick and muscular thigh. Darx knew adventurers’ strength wasn’t based on their physique, rank and class were far bigger factors, but he couldn’t help but wonder how strong Soraya was. When she found the book she was looking for she noticed him staring at her bare leg.

“I hope you find this book as interesting as my legs, Darx.” She said as she stood. Darx felt his cheeks get warm, but Soraya laughed. “Oh, we are going to have fun with you.” She said as her hand brushed against his elbow. Darx didn’t’ know how to reply, but he didn’t need to as she immediately pointed to the ladder. “Can you hold the ladder for me?”

“Sure.” Darx managed to say. Soraya only climbed up a few rungs, enough to put Darx’s face just below her large and shapely rear end. Darx turned his head to the side politely but couldn’t help peeking at the back of Soraya’s dress. Her waist wasn’t tiny like Neku’s, but Soraya’s hips were wide and her butt was, well, it wasn’t small. Soraya was well built but still very feminine. Combined with her intense yet flirty personality Soraya was incredibly sexy. She knew it too, he felt her eyes on him and saw she had once again caught him staring at her.

“This book you should find particularly. . . enlightening.” Soraya said as she pulled the book she was looking for off the shelf. She leaned back a bit and looked to Darx. “Help a lady down, Darx?” She asked. Darx reached up and held her by the waist, lifting her off the ladder and setting her down beside him. With her large iron chest plate on Soraya was quite heavy, Darx was glad he had the strength of a B-Rank, he was able to lift her, armor and all without trouble. Soraya chuckled as she took the two books she had handed him then walked over to a table and set all three books down. Darx followed her.

“Soraya, we need to go.” Raina said quietly.

Soraya turned back, took Darx’s hands in hers, “Sadly we are leaving for a couple of days for a mission. When I return, perhaps I can help you learn more about your privileges and duties as the Heir of Zrephia.” She winked at him, gave a little curtsey without breaking contact with him, then released his hands, picked up the book she had set down earlier, and walked away.

“It was nice meeting you both.” Darx called after the nuns.

“Our pleasure, blessed one.” Raina responded with her own curtsey, before following Soraya out of the room.

Darx watched them leave the Library. What did Soraya mean about restoring the bloodline, and that part about his duties as the heir of Zrephia? He knew what he was thinking she might mean, and while it was exciting, he didn’t want to assume anything. Besides, he was already trying to navigate his relationship with Neku and Wendy, and whatever was going on with the demon sisters, Namy and Usofra. He needed to find Amelia as well. Darx didn’t need any more women complicating his life. Darx knew the Priest saw women as his main weakness. And that meant whatever was going on here could also be a plot to control him more.

Darx sighed. He didn’t come to the library to worry about women, he came to learn more about his Zrephian blood. What Soraya told him already had him thinking. Being able to choose his abilities and magic meant he could choose his advanced magic. In fact, as a B-rank with Water and Air magic, Darx should be able to learn their combined magic, Ice. He hadn’t thought much about it before. Of course, he only found out he was a B-rank when he showed his card on his return trip to Riledo. At the time he was much more interested in the ability the Goddess gave him and he had been distracted by the situation with Syvis. But now he had to wonder how he would go about learning to use Ice magic.

Darx was deep in thought when he felt a poke on his shoulder. He startled, then turned to see the twins, Mary and Maggie looking nervously at him.

“Darx, sorry, we just heard you were here.” Mary said.

“Would it be alright if we sat with you?” Maggie asked, looking like a puppy begging to be played with.

Darx sighed. “Sure, I’m just going to be looking stuff up in these books, though.”

The girls both smiled, sat down on either side of him on the bench he was on. “We can help.” Maggie offered as she scooted closer to him.

“Yeah,” Mary said, sitting so close that her arm brushed his, “We finished training near the top of our class, what are you looking for?”

“Are you sure?” Darx asked, “This isn’t the most exciting thing.”.

Maggie, sitting on the other side of him, rested her hands on his shoulder. “Of course, serving the blessed one is always an honor.”

“Okay.” Darx relented. Darx explained what he was looking for as he handed each girl a book. As they started to read, Darx couldn’t help but be distracted by the ladies. How pretty they were, how sexy they looked in their short skirts and low-cut tops, how close their bodies were to his. His interactions with Soraya had him a little aroused, the twins were magnifying it, and not just by looking the way they did. Maggie occasionally brushed her bare thigh against his leg, Mary’s arm would bump his, she’d smile sweetly at him when he instinctively looked her way each time it happened.

How was he supposed to get anything accomplished like this? Darx knew he should send them away, focus on his reading. But the way the twins smiled at him, how sad they looked every time they had been sent away from him, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Darx sat in the library, trying to focus on his book, trying to ignore the incredibly attractive women on either side of him. Worse he kept thinking about what Soraya had said, that he needed to rebuild the bloodline of Zrephia. It made sense that the church would think like that. The Zrephians were the literal descendants of the Goddess Imris. They were powerful, valuable. It made sense the church would want more of them. And Darx couldn't deny the obvious appeal of the idea. . .

“This is interesting.” Mary stated suddenly.

“What is?” Darx asked.

“So it says here,” Mary began, “that they used to track when humans and Zrephians had children that didn’t have the red eyes. Apparently, they would still have a chance to have a red-eyed child, but a very slim one. Two people with red eyes would always pass on the eyes and the gifts that came with them to their children, but if only one had red eyes it was rare to get a red-eyed child. But the normal-eyed children of mixed couples increased the chance of having a red-eyed child if their mate was Zrephian.”

“That, that is interesting.” Darx said, “And anyone with the red eyes would have the gifts?”

Mary looked back to the book. “It seems that way. After the fall of Zrephia there was apparently an attempt to track down people with Zrephian blood in their families to try and see if they could produce a red-eyed heir without either parent having red eyes. The royal family shut it down pretty quickly, said it was impossible and what they were doing was unethical. There are some accounts of nobles trying to restore the bloodline, doesn't look like anyone ever succeeded."

“Oh, wow.” Maggie said. “So even now there could be people with a tiny bit of Zrephian blood running around.”

“What?” Darx asked. Could his mother be one of those people, could his father have been part Zrephian too? Is that how he ended up with his red eyes?

“What’s your book talking about Maggie?” Mary asked.

“Mine is about magic,” Maggie starts, “The writer is going through different rumors and stories of battles and tournaments. It says Zrephians had more spells and were powerful mages, usual stuff. He’s very interested in what we call forbidden magic. They were powerful spells that only the most powerful mages could learn. They were much more common for Zrephian mages because of how strong they all were.

Forbidden magic? Darx had heard of that when he was training in the castle. If they were more common for Zrephian mages, if he could learn one, that would certainly help prove his case to be Zrephian.

“It also says that Zrephians were rumored to have magic that could transport them from one place to another instantly, or even move forward or backward through time. This guy seems to think that part isn’t true though. Apparently, storytellers took the Zrephian heroes and turned them into legends after the destruction of Zrephia, and the tales started getting more and more ridiculous as time passed.”

Darx had to agree. Teleporting? Magic that would let them travel through time? That sounded crazy.

“What’s your book talking about?” Mary asked Darx.

“Oh,” Darx pulled his eyes away from her smile. “Mine is talking about some of the more interesting stories of Zrephian heroes, discussing how they broke the standard class rules. Some having four or even five magical elements. Non-magical classes like monk or archer with magic elements. There were even spellswords with multiple elements instead of just one. Apparently they were called Archons. Zrephia even had elite military units that were built around skillsets that went well together, and the most promising young men and women, when they ascended, could build their skillsets to fit into an already established group.”

“Imagine that,” Maggie said, looking past Darx to her sister. “Being able to choose abilities that fit together, build a party however we wanted, that would be really cool.”

Darx thought of Amelia, Oliver and himself growing up. If they had all become adventurers together and could choose their own abilities, what would they have chosen? Amelia had always wanted to be a healer, so she would probably be much like she was. Oliver would likely have been a tank, he wasn’t aggressive and mostly tried to protect everyone, so it would fit. Darx kind of lamented that he didn’t know early on that he was choosing his abilities. He had just seen someone doing something, thought it was cool and his Zrephian blood put it on his card. At least, it seemed like that was how it happened. But honestly, Darx liked being a spellsword, or more properly, since he had more than one magic element, an Archon.

Thinking of Oliver and Amelia made him nostalgic, and a bit sad. He missed Amelia, and he missed Oliver. . .

Darx stood up suddenly, interrupting the girls, who had been talking while he was thinking.

“Darx?” Mary looked worried, like she had done something wrong.

Oliver. He had forgotten about Oliver, how could he forget Oliver?

If Amelia was in the city, there was a very good chance she would at least visit Oliver and Emma. Especially if she was back to her old self. He had to go to The Pleasant Owl, he had to find out if they knew anything.

“I need to go.” Darx stated.

“What? Where?” Maggie asked as she grabbed onto his arm, stood beside him. Her voice had a bit of panic in it.

“I need to see a friend.” Darx stated. He couldn’t say more, he was in the church. He couldn’t be certain who would hear him.

“Can we come?” Maggie begged.

“Maggie.” Mary scolded.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t mind, except I need to talk about something personal.” Darx answered, he didn’t know why the twins were so attached to him, they’d barely spent any time together. It didn’t seem natural, and in the church, that made him worry about why they were like that.

“We understand.” Mary said, disappointed. Maggie looked like she was about to cry. Mary took her sisters hand and squeezed it. “We can put your books away for you Darx, or if you want we can get the librarian to hold onto them for you.” Mary continued.

“That would be nice.” Darx answered. “And seriously, thank you for helping me today, it was really nice.”

“Anything you want Darx, and anytime. Just let us know.” Mary said. Her face showed she meant it.

Darx felt bad walking out of the church. The twins seemed so earnest, they seemed to like him a lot and they were always sad when they were separated from him. But he also knew he couldn’t trust them, they were a part of the church, and while Neku believed they were harmless, just pawns being used by the priest to make him want to stay in the church, Darx knew the priest could ask them a question at any moment and **** them to answer truthfully. Even if they weren’t working directly for the priest, Gabriel still had the power to get what he wanted from anyone in the church.

Darx sighed, put the twins out of his thoughts, and picked up his pace. He would go see Oliver, he could only hope Oliver had some information about Amelia he could share with him.

--------

Mary watched as Darx walked out of the library. She pulled her sister to her.

“Maybe when he comes back?” Maggie asked. “We could wait for him in his room.”

“He might not even come back, he’s allowed to be at his guild now.” Mary said, “Besides, we don’t even know if he wants us.”

“If Neku didn’t hog him all to herself. . .” Maggie started, her voice hurt and bitter.

“Hey, don’t talk like that,” Mary said softly, “you know Neku is responsible for Darx. It’s a big job, being in charge of the Blessed One. She does what she feels she has to. We have things we need to do too, Maggie. Come on, let’s go find someone to serve before it gets late.”

“I don’t want to serve any of them, I wanted to serve Darx.” Maggie cried.

“I know, me too. But you know the rules.” Mary said. She held her sister a little longer, then pulled her off of her. “Come on, Maggie, pull yourself together. Maybe Fryar Anselm will take us, at least then we’ll be done quickly.”

Maggie just nodded sadly. Mary helped her walk out of the library. They would need to hurry, get Maggie cleaned up. Hopefully Fryar Anselm hadn’t found one of the other Acolytes to serve him already.