Perspective Shift: Flynn; The Pendant

I waved goodbye to the girls, watching them each head off in separate directions. I thought about what to do before remembering the pendant Minerva had given me, along with her instruction. I was supposed to give it to someone named Gideon and tell Minerva what he said about it on the way back. How vague. She couldn’t even give me a last name?

“Dammit,” I sighed, knowing this was gonna take a while. I started by heading to the bazaar, figuring they’d know if he had a shop or something. Unfortunately for me, I spent an hour and a half waiting in lines just to ask various vendors questions they didn’t know the answers to.

Next, I decided to ask back at the inn. Maybe he was staying there too. It ended up being a waste of time as well, the clerk saying she wasn’t allowed to tell, but also heavily implying she had no clue. I left the inn again, and headed to a tavern, seeing if anyone there knew anything. After asking the barkeeper and several of the drunks, I still didn’t get anything. Well, I did get a few drinks in, but aside from that, I got nothing.

Back to square one. Literally. I went back to the church. And naturally, the last place I checked was the correct one. After asking about Gideon to one of the nuns, she told me there was a priest by the name of Gideon who was currently working in the cathedral’s library. Fucking finally. I followed the nun to the library and began talking to Gideon after she left.

“Gideon, right?”‘I asked. He looked up from a book he was reading. The man was slightly chubby, with short brown hair, thick rimmed glasses, and a thick mustache.

“Um, yes? How can I help you?” He said, slightly annoyed.

“I was supposed to give you this,” I said, pulling the pendant out of my pocket. His eyes lit up.

“Where did you get this!?” He demanded, snatching it from me and inspecting the onyx inlaid inside it.

“From a woman named Minerva,” I said truthfully.

“Well, this Minerva is very lucky she didn’t put this thing on,” he said, shaking his head grimly.

“Why is that?” I asked.

“This thing’s cursed to heck and back! Like, really dangerous sorta thing!” He said.

“Cursed!? What does it do?” I asked.

“No clue!” He declared with a strange amount of confidence. “Depends on who casts it. But I’ve seen curses that could do anything from turning you into a frog to causing your liver to explode!”

“Fuck! Good thing I didn’t wear it,” I said in relief.

“Yeah, no kidding,” he said, handing it back to me.

“Is there anything else you can tell about it?” I asked.

“Nah. Aside from the curse, it looks pretty normal. Heck, I doubt anyone who isn’t skilled in appraisal like me could even tell it’s cursed in the first place,” he said jovially.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said. “Thanks for the help.”

“Anytime, friend. I’m bored out of my mind here!” He said, waving goodbye as I left the library. I decided to wrap the pendant in a cloth before putting it away, just in case. I headed back outside, finding the others already back outside as well. Flora was covered in mud and straw. Lucille was drenched, currently drying her armor with a towel. Sofia was the odd one out, sitting down gleefully counting a bag of coins.

“Looks like you guys had an adventure,” I said.

“You could say that...” Flora said, rubbing her shoulder.

“Indeed,” said Lucille, shivering a bit.

“I got some money!” smiled Sofia, waving the sack of cash.

“Ah, there you all are,” said Arlo from behind us. “Please come with me. The ceremony is about to begin.”

“Of course, Bishop,” said Lucille, quickly putting her armor back on and following after him. The rest of us followed suit, heading inside the Cathedral’s main hall.