Rachel couldn’t stop herself from sending death glares at Seryn. How could she not? The ’Princess’ was totally overlapping on the territory that she herself had a monopoly on until now! Both of them were princesses... Both of them were pretty...Both of them were shameless.
Rachel froze as for the first time in her life, she faltered.
’What am I outside of those things? Is my personality really that shallow?’
Perhaps it was the exhaustion talking but she was beginning to have a full blown identity crisis while the group went through the entrance of the Heartwood Tree.
Penny who walking beside her couldn’t care less at that moment, her attention was fully grabbed by the interior design.
The interior of the tree was even more spacious than it appeared outside. The entranceway was as almost if not as big as a football field by her estimation.
The decorations and furniture were so well made that it seemed to blend in naturally with the wood. Selyn, having stepped into the hall seemed to have a personality shift as her warm smile disappeared, replaced by a professional but somewhat distant one.
"Please follow this hallway down the right. The elders will be waiting for you. I will follow along shortly."
Leo gave a short nod and began to lead the group. Crystal and Luna followed in silence. The rest fell in behind without a word.
Rachel moved with them, but her legs felt heavy. She waited for someone to look her way. To notice she was quiet. To ask what was wrong or throw a jab and pull her back into herself.
A quiet presence drifted beside her. Lily.
Rachel didn’t look at her. She didn’t have to. Lily’s steps were light, her presence subtle but grounded. She didn’t say anything at first.
You’re walking weird."
Rachel blinked. "That’s your opening line?"
Lily gave a tiny shrug. "Just saying. You look like someone just told you your spotlight’s being repossessed."
Rachel sighed. "Feels like it."
They walked in silence for a few more steps before Lily added, "You okay?"
Rachel didn’t answer right away. She thought about lying. She almost did.
"I don’t know," she finally admitted.
Lily didn’t try to fix it. She didn’t offer advice or comforting words. She just stayed beside her, letting Rachel’s thoughts drift in the quiet.
Ahead, the hallway opened into a vast circular chamber. Wooden benches curved around the perimeter like ancient rings in a tree trunk. At the far end, a group of elders waited with stillness that felt more like stone than flesh.
Leo’s shoulders rose slightly, already preparing to speak. Crystal stood tall beside him, quiet but present. Penny’s eyes darted across the room, soaking in every detail.
Adam had a frown on his face as he looked at the circular benches and the elders sitting there. Waiting.
Did they want to talk to them...or were they here to judge? Either way, Adam was feeling uncomfortable about the situation.
Rachel let herself take one last breath before lifting her chin.
She still didn’t know who she was outside of the titles and the flash. But maybe that was the point. Maybe now was the time to find out.
"So....you’re the so called ’Heroes’ who defeated the pests our Princess was so adamant needed to be killed?"
An elder remarked, looking disdainful of the group which in turn caused Leo’s eyes to widen a bit in shock.
Turning to face the man who said that, Leo was barely able to contain his rising anger.
"Excuse me? That is a really terrible way to start a conversation."
The elder, merely scoffed at Leo’s words and replied
"Well I have no patience for liars who scam our princess and try to take rewards they do not deserve."
Leo felt his mind go blank for a second as the Elder continued his rude remarks. The other elders remained silent, clearly showing that they agreed with him at least on some level.
"So let me get this straight. We were given a quest and we completed that quest by risking our lives! And you claim that we don’t deserve anything?!"
The elder sneered in disgust "A lowly beast man succeeded where an elf could not? I suspect that you merely made a deal with these supposed monsters...if they even existed in the first place.
Adam grit his teeth as he realized that he was right. This wasn’t a discussion but an inquisition! It was a cheap ploy that was attempting to discredit them so they would not have to give any rewards.
"You slimy son of a bitch! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Leo snapped, his rage boiling over as he couldn’t stand him or his friends being ridiculed.
The elder scoffed, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes as he shot back
"A lowly beast man and his lowborn ilk are in our sacred chambers. That’s whats wrong! To make matters worse, you even have an elven companion but she does not lead you rabble? She must have some mental defect."
Each word the Elder said caused the temperature of the room to drop a degree. When the elder tried to figure out why it was getting cold, he realized what was going on. The Outsiders were emitting dense and uncontrollable bloodlust, directed solely at him.
"The next words out of your mouth better be a fucking apology..."Leo snarled with utter rage.
"Or what? You will harm a prestgious elder inside our sacred hall? That’s–"
"Exactly what we are going to do."
Luna leaned closer to Leo as if she was going to whisper in his ear.
"Can I rip off his jaw now?"
Luna said it loud enough for everyone to hear, her attention focused solely on the elder who had insulted Crystal.
Leo was tempted to give her the go ahead when another Elder intervened.
"Alright. Alright. That’s enough. I will apologize on behalf of my fellow elder.Trenlin take his words too far and I apologize to you young lady."
The elder bowed his head slightly in Crystals direction but the displeasure still remained. Leo grit his teeth as he tried to bite his tongue as he cursef to himself.
He had jinxed it. He had hoped for the process to be clean and easy so they could log out with no issues.
Now these old bastards were clearly going to be fucking annoying to deal with.