The road was much longer than anticipated for the twins. They were used to short distances to and from Stornval but the more they walked the less dense the population became. They were expecting a new place to stop every hour or so, but the path they tread on just kept winding through the forest. Twigs cracked beneath their boots as a birds song rang endlessly.
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As the sound of a river grew louder and louder, a view of a town grew near. Despite having been walking all day, Ressi perked up and sped toward the town, "Is that it? Are we finally at Donatagun?"
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A sigh escaped Reldin as he shook his head, "No. This place is way smaller than Donatagun. We've only been walking for a day, anyway. We're only a third of the way there."
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Ressi groaned as she slouched, dragging her feet as she walked, "Okay. Where are we, then?"
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Reldin took a moment to scan the area, "Hm, it looks like Riville to me."
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"You sound doubtful, is something wrong?" Kiran asked, concerned.
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"Well, generally the people are very active, even at this time of night," Reldin pointed out, "Yet no one is out right now."
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"You say 'this time of night' as if it wasn't dusk right now," Ressi said with a laugh.
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Reldin shot her a glare as he crossed the bridge into the village. "Oh, hasn't Archibald mentioned he has family here?" Kiran mentioned.
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"Yes, his sister lives here with her family," Reldin affirmed, looking around. Riville was not a very large town. It reminded the twins of their hometown of Storn Falls with how quaint it was. The houses were small but nice looking and they stood alongside the path to the center of town, which had a dirty statue of a hooded figure with wings protruding out the back.
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"Hey, Reldin, what is that?" Ressi asked, pointing at the statue, "It looks like a laguelle but instead of animal ears and tail it has wings!"
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"Technically, that is a laguelle. The laguelle you're used to are beast laguelle, but the statue is that of a bird laguelle, or volnte. Volntes always have wings, though some are more bird-like with beaks, tails, or even have feathers all over their body," Reldin explained.
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"Ooh. Okay, so why is there a statue of one here?" Ressi asked.
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"Read the inscription."
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Ressi obeyed and squinted at the iron plate. The hero of our town. The volnte who held back the Dynis menace. The hero requested to remain anonymous.
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Ressi frowned in confusion, "Why would a hero that required a statue in remembrance want to remain anonymous?"
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"There could be many reasons. Perhaps they did not become a hero on purpose, they could have been passing by. It could be they did not want to be known for this action, they could have been on the run and wanted in another kingdom. They probably didn't even know the villagers built this statue in the first place," Reldin answered, not quite succinctly.
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Ressi raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to ask yet another question before Kiran interrupted. "So, will we be staying at Archibald's sister's house for the night?"
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"Might as well," Reldin sighed, "Follow me, I know where it is."
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The twins gave each other an excited look. Neither of them had met Archibald's sister, they've only heard stories of his dear little sis. They were very eager to finally see the unknown Ardra Egros.
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「◐」
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Reldin lead the twins up a short, cobbled path up to the door of a small home. Not too small, it was actually a bit larger than the other houses around it, but it was much smaller than any house in Stornval. The mage knocked on the door and some shouts were heard within.
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"Who in the hell could be knocking at this hour?!" A deep, feminine voice called.
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A softer voice groaned, "Sweety, it's barely after dusk, it's not that late."
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The first voice continued yelling, "Well with all that's going on, I'm surprised someone's even outside!"
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The second voice calmly shushed the first, "So will you get the door or will I have to?"
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"I'll do it, I'll do it!" There was some muffled shuffling before the owner of the first voice shouted, "What is it?!" It took her a moment. She blinked, her eyes widened, "Rel-Rel is that you?!"
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Reldin groaned, "Please don't call me that."
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The large woman laughed and pulled the mage into a bear hug, "It's been a long time, my good friend!"
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"Reldin, is this Archibald's sister?" Kiran asked, completely unfazed by the scene.
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The woman dropped Reldin, who was used to such affection due to being so close to Archibald, and turned her attention to Kiran. "Sure am! Ardra Egros, at your service," she gave a mock bow before pulling the owner of the second voice out the doorway, "And this is my hubby, Ikati!"
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The pale laguelle grimaced at the sudden exposure to people, "Please keep it down honey, you're going to disturb the whole town at this rate." He swished his jet black tail back and forth angrily, his cat ears pointed.
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Ardra just laughed, "That's the grumpy love of my life for ya! Come on in, you three, I have some leftovers you can have!" She turned around and walked in her home, leading her husband with an arm around his waist.
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The company followed Ardra in, Kiran closing the door behind them. The inside was quaint, to their left was the dining room and kitchen area that had a simple set up; some cabinets, a counter, an open hearth, and a set of a table and five chairs. To their right was a bedroom area with a bed for two and three roll-up beds. On those beds were three children that looked around Martina's age.
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"Hey, kids, we got visitors!" Ardra announced. The three stood up curiously. "Alright I got three of these little snots, tallest one's Haylei, she's fourteen. Next to her is her brother Bailey, he's twelve. And the small one is Arale, who is nine."
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Ressi took a moment to process the information given. Haylei, clad in pink, was pale and had dark cat ears and a tail that matched her father's. Bailey, who was wearing blue pajamas, had fair skin and had blonde cat ears and a tail. The smallest, Arale, wore green and looked the most like their mother, with dark skin and blonde hair and the only child that didn't seem to be a laguelle. Ressi let out a small chuckle as she realized all of their names rhymed.
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Ardra continued the introductions, "Kids, this is your uncle Reldin, as I'm sure you remember, and… oh dear, how rude of me! What are your names?"
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"Ressi Victor, Official Guardian of Princess Martina Garamond!" Ressi said, loud and proud.
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Kiran gave a somewhat sheepish wave, "And I'm Kiran."
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"Ooh! So you're the twins! Archie has told me so much about you!" Ardra gushed, "Though I've gotta say, I thought you two would look more alike, being twins and all."
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They had never really thought about it. They really didn't look alike. Ressi, on one hand, had long blonde hair, light blue eyes, freckles, and her wardrobe was composed almost entirely of red. Kiran, on the other hand, had green hair and matching green eyes and wore almost entirely green. They looked complete opposite despite their builds being similar. "Well, I mean, we're the same height!" Ressi mentioned.
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Kiran scoffed, "That's not true, I'm at least an inch taller than you."
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Ressi was about to bark back before Ardra simply laughed, "Well, you two certainly act like twins. C'mon, let's get you guys some dinner."
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「◐」
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Ardra served the company some stew and sat down at the table herself. "Well, come on, dig in!"
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The twins gladly complied but Reldin simply asked, "So, why is everything so quiet around here?"
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Ardra dropped her smile and sighed, "You really know how to get straight to the point." She looked over at her children. Arale was fast asleep already and Bailey was on the verge of sleep as well. Haylei, however, was silently curious of the guests and stared at them from the comfort of her bedroll. Ardra looked back at Reldin, "Well, you wouldn't believe it if you didn't see it."
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"See what?" Ressi asked, face stuffed with stew. Kiran kicked her leg to subtly remind her of her manners.
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"The robot," Ardra said. "Usually they're friendly folk, scary, though, all armed to the teeth but they're friendly. This guy, this guy's different."
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Reldin seemed interested, "Different how?"
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"Well, this guy is huge, for one thing. Bigger than the centurions that guard Fort Dynis, y'know?" Ardra looked astonished as if she was just looking at it, "I couldn't even see the top of him!"
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"That's hyperbole," Ikati said, face resting in his palm. He's clearly heard this before and was bored of it, "I could see his head clearly."
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Ardra scoffed, "Yeah, whatever. Your cat eyes see everything."
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"That's racist, honey," Ikati replied, unfazed.
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"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyway," Ardra continued, "The guy was massive and he used that height to his advantage! He was all yelling and such like, 'Submit to the rule of Korzion or else!' or whatever. That, of course, got everyone all freaked out. They stay all locked up in their homes and whenever the big guy comes back they cower in fear as he causes a ruckus!"
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"We're doing the same thing, Ardie," Ikati interjected.
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"It's for the children, 'Kati! We've gotta keep the children safe!" Ardra shouted, "Besides, it's not like he has many weaknesses, y'know, being a robot and all."
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"I told you there's a guy on his shoulder."
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"And I've told you you're crazy! If there's a guy, what does he look like?"
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"Well, he has light blue skin and long, dark blue hair and wears a hunter outfit. He looks vaguely robotic. He also has a quiver full of arrows but I haven't seen his bow yet," Ikati described.
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"Well that just doesn't make sense, why would he have arrows but no bow?" Ardra challenged.
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Ikati shrugged, "I don't know maybe he just hasn't brought it yet."
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"And what do you propose his name to be?" Ardra demanded.
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"That's an unfair question but I think I heard the big guy say 'oh.. sure…' oh, right! 'Oshura!'" Ikati figured.
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Ardra just shook her head, "Anyway, we got off track. That's why it's so damned quiet here."
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Reldin processed all the information just given to him, "Well, the three of us have plenty of battle experience. Why don't we just take down this robot guy, or guys, when they come back?"
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"Oh could you?" Ardra looked delightfully surprised, "That would be great! We couldn't get the knights yet from Stornval since it's such a recent problem but if you three could deal with it, we would really appreciate it."
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Reldin simply shrugged, "It doesn't sound too difficult. The twins and I will be ready first thing tomorrow morning."
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Ressi gave them two thumbs up, "Yep! You can count on us!" Kiran nodded in agreement.
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"Then it's settled!" Ardra stood up from her seat, "Here, let me find you some bedrolls, you'll need your beauty sleep now, y'hear?"
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