I walked slowly, the... thing we'd found yesterday following me closely. It'd hide its legs when I turned around, but as I made my way through the woods, I could hear it behind me, clambering through the underbrush, almost silent, but just loud enough for my goblin hearing to pick up on. It was... oddly attached to me, rubbing against me, watching me with the eyes on the outside of the chest, I didn't understand why it was so enamored, it seemed to have chased off some thieves trying to take my stuff yesterday while we were in the temple, so it wasn't just because I'd given it gold. I drew up to a stop, and the box slowed to a halt behind me. I was supposed to give the others a couple hours to get home before I showed up, just so I could sneak in next to the church and not cause a scene. The sisters would have gotten a heads up from Brax by then about the box and the elf, so they'd be expecting me. I was still moving much faster than I knew they could travel though, so I needed to kill some time...
I dug in my bag and pulled out the elf girl and some food, narrowing my eyes at the box
"If I set her on your lid, will you behave?" I asked it
The one eye I could see blinked slowly, and I carefully set the lady on the small part of the lid, spreading a handkerchief on the stone top next to her, She watched the larger lid as she shook, and I patted her back, breaking off some cheese and bread for her to eat while we took our rest. I bit off a big chunk of bread and chewed it slowly, watching the box. It watched me back, and I frowned. Did it need to eat? I dug in my coin purse and pulled out some coppers, and broke off some cheese, holding my hand to the eye so it could see, then to the lid. The lid opened and the... thing? The dead girl? poked her head out, looking around at the woods. She picked up the coppers and dropped them into the black water with a splash and picked up the lump of cheese.
"Look, you eat it, see?" I explained, and took a bite of my own cheese.
She sniffed it, and copied me, biting it and chewing the lump. She wrinkled up her face and opened her mouth, letting the mush fall out with a splash into her pool. I frowned. Either she didn't have a throat to swallow with, or she really didn't like cheese. She looked at my pouch and poked it with her finger, leaning out of her chest to do so.
"goooold?" she asked hopefully
"Sorry, I gave you all my gold yesterday, no more until I do my chores..." I said, shaking my head
She looked at me, impressed "Alll gooold? Thhhankkk..."
"No problem." I said "You... need it more than me, I guess."
The elf lady finished her own meal and held her hands out to me, and I picked her up, setting her on my knee "We're waiting a while." I told her "We need Brax to let the church know you're coming first so they can prepare the cleansing ritual, and so... we don't scare anyone..." I jutted a thumb at the box.
"I... don't suppose either of you two have names?" I asked my companions. The girl in the chest tilted her head in confusion, and the elf girl opened her mouth, but sagged, not able to speak.
"Well, I like having something to call people, so... let's think of some nicknames..." I said, thinking.
I heard a buzzing noise and glanced up to see my two fairy friends flitting along the path towards us, waving.
"Oh, here, fairies are great with names, as long as you don't accidentally give away your true one to the bigger fae. They'll be able to help us."
"'Lo, Vervex!" Eralia sang as she floated up to me "We ate roasted acorns with Stony for breakfast! I want to learn to make them at home now..."
"Hi girls!" I said, smiling at them "Want some cheese for dessert?"
"I'd love some cheese!" Princa said, zipping up and sitting on the edge of the box
The girl in the box watched her closely, and slowly reached out her hand towards her, inching closer and closer.
"Hey!" I said sternly "No, you had cheese and coppers already, don't eat fairies!"
She jumped and looked guilty, looking between me and Princa, and nodded, slinking back and lowering the lid so just her head was visible.
"Who are your friends, 'Vex?" Eralia asked, taking the bit of cheese "I forgot if I've met them..."
"Pretty sure we'd remember a person that's a box, Lia." Princa said, kicking her feet on the carvings
"I can't really introduce them because we don't know their names, but this is an elf that Etheran brought with her, and this is the offering box from the temple, it turns out it's... alive?" I said, pointing at the two in turn "We were hoping you two could help name them, actually."
"Oh, I'm the best at names!" Princa said "I'm calling the one in the box Beefeater!"
"...Why?" I asked, what did that have to do with anything?
"I heard someone call someone else that in town once." Princa said "I thought it was funny."
"We're not calling her beefeater." I said, shaking my head
"I've never seen an elf as little as you..." Eralia said, floating down to the woman in my lap "Were your parents very short?"
The woman shook her head and looked up at me, worried.
"She doesn't talk, Lia." I said "She's been cursed, she'll be full sized again once we get back to the town and get her to the church."
"Oh... Well then, I think her name is Thistle because they start out so very small then get so very big and tall." Eralia said, nodding
The elf lady looked between me and Eralia and slowly nodded along with her. I smiled and held out my finger for her to shake.
"Nice to meet you, Thistle." I said
"That's not fair, she gets to be called Thistle but mine can't be Beefeater?" Princa pouted "That's rude..."
"Just... think of something else, I'm sure it'll be a good one." I said, sighing
"...Box." Princa said sullenly
"Eralia, do you want to try?" I said, rolling my eyes
"I think she looks like a Lichen." Eralia said "She's all grey and kinda droopy like lichen is, but she's still pretty to look at."
"Lichen..." I said, thinking it over "I guess it could work."
I looked at the girl in the box "Is it alright if we call you Lichen?"
She tilted her head at me and frowned.
I sighed and pointed to myself "Vervex, Ver-vex."
I pointed to her "Lichen, Lie-ken."
She pointed to herself "Verrvecks?"
I shook my head and held her hand, pointing it at me "Vervex"
I turned her hand to point at herself "Lichen. Get it?"
She thought for a second, then pointed to herself "Lie-ken?"
"Yup, that's you. Can you remember that?"
She looked down at herself and then back up to me and smiled, her stained, jagged teeth making me cringe "Yes!"
"Alright then!" I said, clapping my hands "Everyone's got names now! Let's get on the road, I think we've given the other group enough of a head start, don't you?"
"I bet we can catch up!" Princa said, grinning
"We're not going to try, we're going to have a nice walk in the woods and get there around eventide." I told her, and carefully bundled Thistle up in her handkerchief and tucked her in my bag, packing the rest of my food around her to keep her from bumping
"Hey... you can't put her in there!" Eralia said "You said being in bags was bad!"
"It's bad if I don't know." I corrected her "Thistle doesn't have any wings, so she needs to be in the bag to stay safe."
"That's not fair..." Eralia said sadly "I want to be in the bag too..."
I sighed and opened the bag back up "Thistle, do you mind if Eralia keeps you company?"
She looked up at me and shrugged, and Eralia clapped and dove in, tangling herself in the cloth. I closed the top loosely, and made sure I wasn't missing anything as I set off down the road, Princa zipping around my head and Lichen following close behind me. I sure knew how to make friends, I guessed. Even if they were weird. I was weird too though, I guessed, so... I couldn't complain too much.
~~~
As the sisters surrounded the altar and began putting strange plants and bits of meat around Thistle's tiny shaking form, I stepped away and over towards where Sister Hennix was examining Lichen. She was peeking out of her box and trying to ask for Sister Hennix's bracelet, but didn't quite know the words, from what I could tell. I glanced around the fleshy, wooden room, the only part of the church non-converts were allowed in, and leaned in close to the head sister.
"So? What's the verdict?" I whispered "Is she really one of those 'chest that eats people' things?"
The Sister pursed her lips and nodded "Yes?" she said quietly "But... it's not like the books say, they painted them as bloodthirsty and violent, unthinking creatures that ate without end... This one, I swear it's trying to talk to me."
"She can talk, yeah." I said "Hey, tell the lady your name, ok?"
She looked at me and then to the sister blankly. I sighed and pointed to myself "Vervex..." I pointed to her "...?"
Her face lit up and she beamed proudly, pointing to herself "Lie-ken!"
"Her name is Lichen? Like the moss?" Sister Hennix asked "Such an odd name for such a mythical beast..."
"She's not a beast, I think." I said "She can learn and she can talk, and understand some stuff, I think she's just unfamiliar with our language."
"I see, I see..." the sister said "Would you be willing to part with her for us to study?"
"I can help make sure she's safe and fed!" a chipper voice said from behind me
"Sister Brax, what are you doing out here in your nightclothes?" Sister Hennix scolded her.
Brax shrugged, she was wearing... white robes. If I didn't know they weren't her normal clothes, I'd never have guessed. "I just wanted to see the elf lady, see if she's normal again yet, and to look at the box girl again."
"The elf we're calling Thistle, and the girl in the box is Lichen." I said "And thank you both for the offer, but no. If the rumors of her bloodthirsty nature are true, me forcing her to stay here when she wants to follow me could be pretty bad. I'll let her stay in my living room, as long as she remembers not to mess with the fairies."
I gave Lichen a pointed look. She'd tried to grab Princa more than once on our way home, and it'd taken some stern words and slaps on the hands to get the idea that fairies aren't food across to her.
I looked back at the sisters and thought for a moment "...Actually, if she's there with me, and you bring gold and meat to feed her... you can 'study' her in my yard? I'd like to know more about her..."
"We don't have much gold..." Sister Hennix said "We can see what we can do though. Meat is... not an issue. Can we come by tomorrow to see what we can find out?"
"I don't see why not, come over around noon, we'll-" a blinding flash cut me off and I shielded my eyes, glancing over at the altar
A woman was lying on it, and as she sat up, the sisters around her wrapped her in a white cloak and began to pray. I looked at her for a moment before I realized she was Thistle, for some reason she looked... so much different full sized. She carefully climbed off the platform and finished putting on the robe, looking around the room. Her eyes fell on me, and she carefully walked over, her bare feet squishing into the warm spongey floor. I looked up at her and she looked down at me, still shaking, and she opened her mouth, her lips moving, but they never formed a word. It would seem that her voicelessness wasn't part of her curse after all, just brought on by fear and hurt. She gave up trying to speak and bent down, wrapping me in a hug, holding me tightly to her. I returned the hug, and held her shaking body until she broke the hug and stood up, still jittery, but smiling.
"Well, the curse removal was a success!" Sister Hennix said, clapping her hands. The other sisters bowed and walked quickly out of the room to cleanse themselves of... something. I didn't want to know too many details
Lichen waved at Thistle and bounced up and down in her box, looking happy. She patted my head and pointed at Thistle "Big now!"
"Uh, yeah, she's all big! Now she can... live a normal life I guess." I said "Uh, hey, it's late though Thistle, and I'm already bringing Lichen home, do you want to... stay over? I can sleep in the chair, the bed will be big enough if you curl up..."
Thistle covered her mouth and nodded quickly, hugging me again tightly.
"Oof, ok, uh..." I said, pulling myself out of her arms "Let's get going I guess, thank you, Sister Hennix for removing the curse, and... I guess I'll see you around, Brax."
"Bye Vervex!" Brax said, waving to me "I'll come visit tomorrow so I can meet Thistle properly!"
"No, you-" I sighed, she'd show up no matter what I said... "...Yeah, ok. I'll see you then."
As we walked through the dark streets, Lichen clambering clumsily across the cobblestones, Thistle stuck to me closely, her hand gripping the back of my hood tightly, almost like she was afraid I'd leave her behind. I put my hand up to rest on hers as we walked, she didn't know her way around this place yet, I'd never abandon here here. I didn't mind holding her hand to help her feel safe, I know Altina holding my hand during my first tour of the town was a treasured memory, but for... different reasons than Thistle holding my hand, of course.br>
~~~
"Hm... She seems to be intelligent, she just doesn't have a mastery of common." Sister Lashis said, writing in her notebook "I'd say she's... based on the last sightings, around three hundred summers old? Maybe as young as a hundred and twenty, depending on if the last sighting was her grandparent, parent, or her..."
"So what, she's like, super old?" Brax asked from her spot on Lichen's lid
"No, she's normal adult age for her kind, they age differently than most creatures, you see." Lashis explained "Based on what we know from the old textbooks, the size of the box they live in gets bigger and bigger the older they get, and never stops. There's one rumor of a walking castle being a single being, with the main body in the dungeon, and when it got hungry, it would simply drop the floor out from under one of the servants and eat them."
"Would we be able to... use that?" Sister Hennix asked "Grow her to a suitable size, then convert her and make her body into a mobile church?"
"She's not a tool..." I said "She might not even want to convert."
"I don't think it's reasonable, anyway." Sister Lashis said "It could take millennia for her box to get that big, and it was only a rumor after all."
Lichen opened the half of her lid that Brax wasn't sitting on and put her hand on her thigh, making her shriek "Stop, don't- oh... Lichen... you ruined my robe..."
I grinned at the muddy grey handprint on her pure white robe, it was nice to see, even when we'd been in the woods Brax had stayed almost fully un-sullied by the mud and dirt and sticks. I didn't know why her clean robes annoyed me so much, but I assumed it had something to do with the image of the sisters being... 'above' the rest of us.
"So... what else do you need from us right now?" I asked, patting Lichen's head
Sister Lashis looked at her notes and frowned "I... don't think I need much, we took measurements and we've taken samples of her... fluid, I think we just need to take the data back to the church for study. I'm sure we'll have more to do later, but we've taken up enough of your day, we'll get out of your hair."
"Ok, well thank you for stopping by, and thank you for giving her some food, she really appreciates it, I'm sure." I said
"Yes... just... be careful how much you let her eat." Sister Lashis said "I don't think there's an upper limit on how much she can consume, and she most likely doesn't need to eat every day."
I glanced at Lichen, who was slowly following Brax around trying to wipe her hands on her again "I'll... keep that in mind..." I said
"Come along Brax, we're leaving now!" Sister Hennix called out from my gate
"I'm staying a while! I want to meet Thistle!" she said, smiling.
As the other two sisters left, my front door creaked open, and Eralia drifted out "Vervex... should we bring Thistle out to say hi? I heard Brax say she wanted to meet her..."
I glanced up at her and then in the house where Thistle had hidden when the sisters showed up "If she's ok with it, I guess... Don't force her though."
"Ok, bring her out!" Eralia called to the others
A moment later, Thistle was dragged outside by Princa, Brushtop, with Tati riding on her head. Thistle looked worried, but smiled lightly at Brax and Lichen, patting the latter on her stone shell.
"Hi! I'm Brax!" Brax said "I was the one who held you that one time, but then 'Vex said I wasn't paying enough attention, so I couldn't anymore? It's nice to see you all full grown again!"
"She is quite the excitable one..." Tati said, crossing her arms "Quite unbecoming of a queen."
"She's not a queen, just a Sister." I told her "White robes mean different things to non-fae."
"I want to hide in her hair! It's so puffy..." Brushtop said, dropping Thistle's hand and circling Brax
"You've all met her before- she was over just last week." I said "And the week before she had lunch with us, why are you acting like you've never met her?"
"I mostly forget about people unless they're royalty..." Tati said, turning her nose up. Thistle stepped closer to me and crouched down, closer to my height, pointing at Tati on her head with a look
"Tati, get off Thistle's head, she's not a chair." I said waving my hands at her
"She's been up there all day..." Princa said "The twins almost lured her off with some honeysuckle, but she said she needed her throne."
"If I'm not wanted, I'm sure she'll say." Tati said primly
"You know she can't talk, just- go back inside, all of you." I said. "Brushtop, get out of there!"
Brushtop poked her head out of Brax's frizz and rolled her eyes "Fiiine..."
"Come on, let's let the boring people talk, we'll go play a game or something." Princa said, kicking my shoulder as she flew off
Tati lifted off Thistle's head and floated into the house along with the others, closing the door hard behind her and Thistle gave me a worried look.
"It's fine." I told her "They de-rail every conversation when they're in this mood, they'll forget about it by sundown."
"Vervex, did you ever find out where Thistle is from? Are we going to bring her home to her family?" Brax asked
Thistle jolted, and shook her head quickly, waving her hands at us.
"I... don't think she wants to go to her family..." I said, frowning. Were they the ones who'd cursed her? Or... were they just bad people?
"Oh... Hey, maybe she can convert!" Brax said "If she gets a new body, maybe she can talk again!"
Thistle made a face and shook her head. I didn't blame her...
"I think we just need to focus on making sure she had a safe place to stay for now." I said firmly
"Well... I'd say finding out where she came from is a little more important." Altina said, causing me to jump. I turned around and saw her, Etheran, and Ward all at my gate watching us.
"I... well, maybe so." I said, opening the gate for them "I just mean that she's a little fragile right now... Everyone, this is Thistle, Thistle, you met them on the trip."
"It's nice to see you back to your normal self!" Ward said with a wide grin
"I'm sorry if my actions scared you, but... I did technically save your life." Etheran told her, holding out a hand
Thistle flipped her off, and shook Altina's hand instead.
"How would we find out where she came from?" I asked
"I have the catalogue I ordered her from..." Etheran said, pulling out a tattered roll of papers "And the shipping manifest. It's in the capital, but... we have an address."
"And- wait, you want us to go there?" I asked
"I'd deputize you all as guards." Altina said "This is highly illegal and I have the jurisdiction to go after them, I think we need to. Who knows how many laws they're breaking? And if we bust them for doing things that are against the law, they'll be off the streets and not selling fairies and magical beasts, too..."
"I'm in all the way, I'm going." Ward said
"And I have to go or I'll be jailed for slavery..." Etheran rolled her eyes
"Oh, I'd love to go!" Brax said "I wasn't allowed to have a sword for the camping trip, but if I'm a guard, they have to let me have one!"
"I don't know if I can join you..." I said "I just got back, and I need to take care of Thistle and Lichen now in addition to the fairies..."
Thistle patted me on the shoulder and pointed to herself, then to the others. She looked scared, but determined.
"Are you sure...?" I asked "It'll be scary..."
She tapped the side of her head, then pointed at Etheran's catalogue and nodded.
"She would be a big help..." Ward said "I think she could come."
"Well, I... I wouldn't want to scare people, Lichen is some kind of ancient evil or something, she'd scare everyone we met off for sure."
"She literally pretends to be a chest most of the time." Etheran pointed out "We get a horse and cart, we load her up, and she's good to go as long as she doesn't pop out while we're talking to someone."
I looked for more excuses "I have my garden to think about, and the fairies need me too, I..."
"Vervex... The fairies can watch the garden, just forage then loads of nuts and berries and mushrooms, and they'll be ok, they usually live outdoors..." Altina said "Come on, we need you, I need you. You really expect me to be able to lead all these ruffians alone?"
"I am not a ruffian!" Brax protested
I looked at the group of my friends and Etheran all looking at me expectantly, and I sighed "...ok, but you're all helping feed Lichen on the trip."
"Alright! The party is back together and better than ever!" Ward cheered "Let's meet at the pub tonight for drinks to celebrate and plan our route!"
"I... fed all my money to Lichen." I admitted "I'll be later, around moonrise, I'll need to forage some stuff to sell first."
"Not so fast!" Altina said "We're all guards now, we all get a budget of five gold a day, and I'll have the first week's pay ready for you all when we get to the pub!"
"I- you get five gold a day?!" I asked "Every day?!"
"No, I get seven, I'm head guard." Altina said "I know you make at least that on market days though, it's not that much."
"Yeah, but market day is once a week..." I said "I might need to be a guard full time..."
Lichen looked around at all of us and hopefully asked "Lie-ken gooold?"
"Yup, you get gold too, every day!" Altina said "We'll... ration yours out, but you'll get the same rate as everyone else."
Lichen's eyes lit up and she giggled to herself, lowering back down into her box with a thump
"Well..." I sighed "I'll get to work on getting the house and garden ready for this trip... how long will we be gone?"
"About... ten days." Etheran said "According to the shipping times on the catalogue at least."
"Ok, that's... not a problem." I said "I guess I'll see you at the pub?"
"See you there!" Ward said, waving as he made his way down my path
"I'll try to bring some maps, too." Etheran said
"Thanks for this, 'Vex." Altina said "I really appreciate it."
"Yeah, yeah... anything for you." I said, meaning it but pretending I was joking
As they walked off, Thistle hugged me again, and I looked her up and down "Well... I know what we need to do with your first week's pay. You need some real clothes instead of those dumb robes."
"Hey, the robes are pretty!" Brax said, climbing off of Lichen "Rude... I gotta go see about getting a sword, I'll see you at the inn tonight, friends!"
She ran off, leaving me with the people who were actually living here. I clapped my hands and nodded "Well, I've got gardening, foraging, and baking to do before I leave, and I'm betting I only have a day or two to do it. Who wants to help?"
Thistle picked up a small shovel from my basket and smiled at me, and Lichen popped back out and pointed to the garden "feed!" she said
"Perfect, I'll set you two up, and I'll be back in time for us to clean up for dinner!" I said, and grabbed my basket. I was still wary and slightly annoyed at the journey that'd been pushed onto me, but... I couldn't deny there was a silver thread of excitement deep down I just couldn't manage to squash.
~~~
"I think we should go around the death swamp, I mean, look at the the name." I said, reaching for my ale
"Vervex, that adds two days to the trip, it's not that bad, I live in a swamp." Etheran said
"Do you live in a death swamp?" I protested
"...I live in Moss-Top Swamp." she said "But it's still a swamp!"
Thistle reached over and firmly traced a line around the swamp with her finger, glaring at Etheran
"That's three vs three, Lichen, what path do you want to take?" Altina asked her.
She frowned and looked at the map, then shrugged and pointed at me.
"Ha! Four to three! We're going around!" I said proudly
"Aw but think of the loooot..." Ward moaned
"We can't loot the dead anyway, it'll be a waste of time." Brax said "I think we'd be disappointed."
"You lot just want extra pay..." Altina said, rolling her eyes
"Oh... Gooold... mmm..." Lichen said, picking another one of her five coins off the table and dropping it into her box.
"Exactly..." Altina said, sighing "Oh well, it's not like I'm paying for it, it's the magistrate's office, I guess."
"I'm still concerned about the mountain road." Ward said "Is it the right time of year to be going through it? I know that' a big deal."
"It's late spring, dumbass." I said "We're not going over the mountains, we're going through them. We even get some nice cave-roads to pass through too, out of the sun and rain."
"Are we sure those aren't infested with g- monsters?" he asked, flicking his eyes at me.
I glared at him "If the southern goblin tribes try to mess with us, I'll tell them who my parents were, we'll be fine."
"We... don't have much of a monster problem anymore, Ward." Altina explained "Since the treaty that made everyone equals, everyone just kind of... found a place in a culture that accepted them, and no one really cares anymore."
"That's... good?" he asked "I guess we'll still fight wild beasts."
"Ooh, and undead!" Brax said "We've got lots of those left over from the demon king's occupation way back a long time ago, I can beat them for us!"
"You know blessing magic?" I asked her
"I'm... learning." she admitted "But undead are weak to even little blessings, so I'll be a big help, I swear."
"Do you know healing? Etheran asked "I can only bring so many potions you know."
"Um... nothing that works on non-converts..." Brax said
"I know first aid, and so does Vervex, we'll be ok." Altina smiled.
Thistle raised her hand and held it out, a light white glow coming from her fingertips, she pointed at the light and nodded to us.
"Oh, that's... low level healing? That's good!" Altina said "We've got a pretty well rounded team, I think. Now that we have our route planned... Let's all go home, get some rest, and stock up on stuff at market tomorrow. We'll leave the morning after, from the south entrance to the town, is everyone ok with that?"
Everyone nodded, and Lichen pulled the remaining coins into her box and smiled at us.
"Perfect! Now... someone help me carry Lichen out of here, it was a huge pain lugging her in..." Altina said, and we moved to help her
Two more days... I was nervous, but... I was looking forward to it a lot, my heart was full and my brain abuzz, we'd save the lives of so many people, and I might even get new friends to stay in my sanctuary!"
~~~
We all stood in a row at the edge of town, Lichen loaded up into the horse cart, and the rest of us fitted out in our new gear and bags. I'd gotten a nice leather breastplate and a new knife, and Thistle had spent her gold on a metal breastplate that shone in the sun, as well as a long tunic with a hood to wear under it. Ward looked like he always did, Altina was wearing her official helmet and holding her pike, and Etheran was wearing clothes that weren't patched up anymore. Brax had a short sword, but nothing to put it in, so she was just holding it awkwardly in her hands. It was a cheaper one, so I was guessing the Sisters had refused to give her a sword, and she'd bought it with her own money. The adventure league might have been gone, but we were nothing if not adventurers in this moment. I braced myself, and looked around at the town before moving to step forward, to start the journey, when I felt a tug on my shirt. I looked down to see Eralia hiding close to my body.
"Ppst!" she said "I'm going to sneak into your bag again! I'm telling you so you know!"
I smiled at her, I'd appreciate her company on the long trip, and it wouldn't be too dangerous, we were just going to the capital city after all, and maybe she could help with the captured fairies, too!
"Ok, thanks for letting me know, Lia" I whispered back. She nodded, and I felt her wiggle into my pouch. I gave it a pat, and took a breath, finally taking the first step, feeling proud and nervous all at once. I looked forward to the trip, and dreaded the destination, but such was how it went when you were on a quest sometimes.