Garden Of The Abyss

"That doesn't change anything, though," he told her, keeping hold of her hand with a smile returning across his lips, "This is what has to happen. If we want to live out our lives in this world, Mastorn has to be stopped–King Held has to be stopped. It just so happens that the burden falls on our shoulders."

Iris shook her head with a shared smile as her azure locks cascaded down her slender shoulders, "It's not just us. All of the Outlanders, and a lot of other people, are working towards this. We'll make it."

"I know," he smiled as well.

Entering through the Gladiolus guild doors they settled down on the couches in the center area of the guild hall, waiting for Akshay and his specially chosen members to arrive.

"...I just realized, he didn't really give us a time, did he?" He asked boredly.

"Most people don't really have specifics on the time, Ren," she told him.

"I know, I know…" He let out a small sigh, "Oh, right…what're we going to do with this?"

Reaching into his pocket, he retrieved a bag of coins that was bulging with fine, valuable currency, juggling it in his palm a bit.

"What do you mean?" She looked at him.

"Well, Akshay already divided up the pay to everybody else, so this is our share; is there anything you want to buy?" He asked, still juggling the pouch of coins in his hand.

Iris swayed her legs a bit as she sat beside him on the safe, looking at him, "There isn't anything you want?"

"I asked first."

"I'm asking now, though," she pressed, sticking her tongue out slightly to tease him.

He furrowed his eyebrows playfully before setting the pouch down and crossing his arms, returning her gaze a bit as he leaned back against the cushioned furniture, "No clue. Honestly, I'm kind of realizing I don't have many real…hobbies in this world, you know?"

"Well, what about reading?" She asked.

He shook his head, "I do enough of that with studying grimoires. I probably should, though…it's about as good as I'm going to get in terms of entertainment," he shrugged.

After hanging around the lobby for another hour, watching as Akanni was busy exercising in his room, doing pull-ups with his tail, Felix, who took it upon himself to clean the guild without being asked, Elena who kept to herself, polishing her sword, time passed.

Archard, still not seen outside of his armor, tended to the plants he brought with him to his room, which neighbored Memo's and Samfrey's rooms. Memo, as unsociable as ever, hardly spoke to anybody as he came and went, not discussing where he was going.

Samfrey hung out at the lounge with the two for a bit, but headed out to meet up with some of his old adventurer friends. Meanwhile, Calytrix continued to practice what could only be generalized as "dark arts" in her room.

"It really is lively here already, isn't it?" He said.

"Yeah, I don't mind it, though," she smiled.

"Same here," he replied quietly.

It wasn't longer after that Akshay finally arrived, bringing along with him two new members, one of which was smiling, and the other holding an expression as if it was a bother for her to even be here.

"It's a pleasure to meet you! I'm honored to be a part of your guild, Mr. Nakamura, Mrs. Nakamura!" The man with fluffy, bright-orange locks introduced himself, dressed in a khaki suit, tall and slender as he placed his uncalloused hand over his chest, "I am Charles Callas, Gold-first class. I hope I can be of value to you."

He was slightly taken aback by how well-mannered the man was, nodding his head after sharing a glance with his wife, who seemed to share the same thought.

"Y-yeah, glad to have you!" He said, placing his hands on the sides of his sable, refined armor.

"Same here. I'm sure you'll be great," Iris smiled.

Akshay added in for the man, standing much shorter than the orange-haired, slender new recruit, "Charles is an expert at obtaining quests. He'll make sure to find the best jobs, and the right jobs, for everybody," the black-and-white haired man informed them.

Charles added in with a smile, "An expert is just too flattering, ha-ha. I do pride myself on my connections, though. I'm also able to scout any information needed, so just ask away!"

"I see…that does sound pretty valuable," he nodded, putting his hand to his chin.

After having to stare at the youthful woman with short, dark-blue hair and a prominent, green wizard cap, she finally decided to introduce herself, adjusting her circular-rimmed glasses, "Rena. Silver-first class. I am assuming Akshay brought me here not for my combat experience, but for my connections with the merchants of Old Tryna. Old Treyna is not fertile land; anything but so, as such, the merchants know that they can charge ludicrous prices for their goods. I, however, can prevent that."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Iris held her hands together, "That'll be invaluable during long quests!"

"Yeah, you really brought two powerhouses, didn't you, Akshay?" He asked with a smile.

Akshay simply laughed briefly, keeping his hands tucked into the pockets of his overcoat, "You put your trust in somebody like me, so I had to show up."

After that, Akshay showed them to the two last rooms available in the Gladiolus sector, which neighbored Memo and Archard.

"Full house, huh?" He muttered.

"Just like you wanted, right?" Iris smiled up at him.

He nodded a bit with a smile of his own, "Honestly, this has exceeded my expectations by a whole mile. I've got Akshay to thank for that–he's been invaluable as a member here."

Stretching his arms out, he looked around as his ears were filled with the ambience of his now full guild, taking it in.

I did it. I built something. This isn't complete though–not by a long shot. It's time to step up as a good guild leader, and cultivate "Gladiolus" into something amazing, he thought.

A few hours passed of mostly boredom for him.

With no quests to partake in that day, he chose next to help Akanni pick up the new, supersized bed ordered specifically to accommodate his large size. Obviously, there wasn't much need of his assistance as the draconic demi-human was strong enough many times over, but he felt like lending a hand to get to know the man better.

"You think this one will fit you?" He asked with a small laugh, holding the front of it, walking backward while Akanni held the end.

Akanni smirked a bit, "I'd hope so."

As they both laughed a bit, they arrived at the man's room, which had a natural, forestry smell, sourced by the lit candle in his quarters that were decorated with antiques and tranquil paintings–a surprising decor for the large, intimidating man.

Setting the large bed frame made of darkened wood down in place of the smaller frame, which was discarded before they started, the mattress was hauled in by Samfrey, who let out a "Hah!" before setting the large, cushiony material down.

"Looks like a good fit," he said with a smile.

Samfrey wiped his forehead, "Well, if that doesn't fit you, big guy, I don't know what will," the experienced, frosted-haired man chuckled.

The draconic man didn't waste any time laying himself down on his new bed to test it, holding a giddy, almost child-like smile as it was more than a proper fit.

"There you go," he gave a thumbs-up.

Akanni sat up, "Thanks, Boss!"

"Yeah, no problem!"

Heading out, now he set his eyes on what to do on his free day, knowing tomorrow would likely be a stressful one as it pertained to the paramount mission bestowed by Beatrice.

"So much free time…" He mumbled.

"Is that so? Then why not study the language of the shadows with me?"

–He nearly jumped out of his skin as the smooth, softly spoken words met his ears, followed by the warmth of somebody leaning close to him.

Of course, it was Calytrix.

"Huh-?!" He moved to the side a bit.

"What's it? Is something the matter? You talked about having "so much free time", so what's the issue here?" Calytrix smiled up at him.

"First off, I don't even know what you're talking about with this "language of the shadows" stuff, alright?" He told her, attempting to walk away.

Before he could make his leave, he was stopped as words both chilling and perplexing left the youthful, gothic girl's lips:

"It's that eye of yours, Ren."

"What?" He asked quietly, slowly turning back to face her.

Calytrix held her smile, keeping her hands held behind her back, "I have quite the affinity for darkness, you see. I can sense it, smell it, taste it, and hear its whispers–behind that eye patch, you're hiding something so potently shrouded in darkness, aren't you?"

He raised his hand as a droplet of sweat ran down his cheek, covering the black, leather eye patch that covered his right eye.

…Does she actually know something about this eye? He wondered.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he answered, trying to brush it away but that only seemed to make the darkly-dressed, pale girl smile more.

"I see," she grinned, "if you wish to quell the darkness, you're going about it completely wrong."

"What're you talking about?"

Calytrix walked closer to him, trailing her hand over his chest as he could only stand still out of perplexion, looking down as the enigmatic, violet-eyed girl who pulled away, tapping her cheek with her black-painted fingernail.

"Hmm…it really is so strong…intoxicating, almost," Calytrix mumbled with a pleased smile before matching his confused gaze, "You're attempting to muffle the darkness in that eye of yours, aren't you? What do you believe you're doing by covering it up? You're shrouding it in further, absolute darkness."

"What're you trying to tell me?"

"I wonder," Calytrix left him with that vague wonder, returning to her room with a small laugh.

He was left perplexed by her odd, enigmatic behavior, but he felt she wasn't trying to be malicious, but actually intending to help.