Chapter 13: My compass is a goddess and a bunch of people want to kill me because of it

  -Stephanie-

  I woke up to a pair of heterochrome eyes starting at me from between my breats.

  “Good morning, Nydia,” I greeted the bundle of cuteness on top of me.

  She stared at me for a while longer with a thoughtful look on her face, before replying to my greeting. “Morning Sephie. I was wondering… why do you have a divine artefact between your boobies?”

  That startled me for a moment and I had to blink a couple times until my brain caught up with what was happening. Obviously, she would notice the damn compass if she sleeps right on top of it. This was going to be so awkward so expin, ughhh.

  I carefully rightened myself up, much to the protest of Nydia who was promptly forced off my chest. She sat down crosslegged on the bed and pouted a little while I stretched myself out. I organised my thoughts as best I could, before reluctantly pulling out the compass.

  “So… three weeks ago I had a pretty bad breakup. In my frustration and stuff I decided to go after a magic item I read about. It was a compass that would guide me to my one true love. I thought, if I found that person I would never ever be abandoned again,” I expined.

  Nydia frowned a little, which didn’t help my racing heart. I was afraid she would leave me and run away if she found out that I only went after her because of some needle on a compass. But if she was my true love, she wouldn’t do that, right? I tried to reassure myself a little, before continuing my expnation.

  “When I finally found the compass, it fell down and I thought I broke it because the needle split apart. We ended up figuring out that I simply had multiple potential true loves, or something. While I was studying the movements of the needles, I realised that the blue one was moving a bit, so I decided to follow it. And that led me to you.”

  Nydia was still frowning, though her gaze was now fixed on the blue needle pointed directly at her. She leaned over to the right and the needle followed, then over to the left and the needle followed again.

  “To think I’m even compatible with these things…” she mumbled, probably to herself. “So you got your heart broken and the first thing on your mind was undergoing one of the biggest challenges the world has to offer, just so you’re no longer alone?”

  “It wasn’t that challenging… it was a little tricky to find maybe and it was super cold inside, but I wouldn’t really call that a big challenge,” I pouted.

  My cuddle-companion looked at me in utter disbelief. “Sephie. This is a divine artefact. There are only like a dozen of them around. People kill for these things. Hells, they die for these things. Do you even understand how powerful that thing is?!”

  I actually didn’t understand how this compass was supposed to be particurly powerful. I mean yea it was a 24/7 scrying device on six different people. That was definitely beyond most mages’ capabilities, but I couldn’t see how someone would actually kill to get their hands on it. I mean, I was really desperate for it and stuff, but even then, I would never have harmed someone to get it.

  Nydia seemed to have noticed my confused look and continued her artefact-lesson. “Okay, let’s expin this in very simple terms. A divine artefact is a magical item that was created by a deity. It contains a bunch of divine power. So much, that only one of these items can ever be created by any deity. That means there can only ever be like 25ish of these things in existence. Less than that, actually, because Mana has never involved themselves with mortal affairs and according to the Church of Time, Phray has never answered a single prayer either.”

  She gave me an expectant look, but I still didn’t understand how that made these things so powerful. They were obviously rare, yes, but this compass wasn’t world changing or anything.

  Nydia ran a hand through her hair and sighed. “Sephie. You are holding a literal piece of a deity. It is no longer in control of the deity. It is in your control. That compass is a living, breathing piece of Lilyfay and you control its power. It does a lot more than just show you people who are compatible with you.”

  “Good to know I guess,” I replied sheepishly. “I don’t really feel any more powerful, though. And I definitely don’t feel in control of anything. The st week has been terrifyingly chaotic!”

  My new tutor actually pinched the bridge of her nose after that. “Okay Sephie,” she sighed. “First, you’re going to keep this thing properly hidden.” She carefully cupped my hand and pushed it back towards my chest. I quickly hid the compass at its usual hiding pce, then Nydia continued.

  “Second, you’re not going to talk about it or mention it to anyone else. Once again, people kill for these things, which leads us to third: You gotta learn how to access and control the power of the artefact so you can defend yourself against said people.”

  I nodded along with what she said and couldn’t help but feel a little restless. It wasn’t like I funted the thing, but I wasn’t exactly the most secretive about it either. I showed it to Cass and I was walking around half the city yesterday following the needle to Nydia.

  If anyone saw me who had only half as much knowledge of these artefacts as Nydia did, I was already in a lot of trouble. Which also rose the question of how Nydia knew so much of these artefacts. I was still pretty sure she was some kind of noble, though I had yet to ask her. She didn’t strike me as a magic user though.

  I didn’t spot anything a mage would be carrying on her. No spellbook, no wand, no ingredient pouch. She didn’t even seem to carry a pack. Besides her clothes and a coin pouch she didn’t have anything at all with her. But if she wasn’t a mage, why would she know so much stuff about magical artefacts? I decided to ask her sometime ter. Right now I was just gd she didn’t seem freaked out by the whole true love situation.

  Speaking of situation, I was starting to get a little hungry and I noticed that Cassies bed was already empty. Nydia told me Cass woke up shortly after her and went downstairs so she wouldn’t wake me up. She was also apparently very startled to see another girl sleeping in the same bed as me, but didn’t make much of a fuss, which felt food to know.

  After we got ourselves dressed and washed up a little, we made our way to the common room, where Cass had already saved us a nice corner booth.

  She was munching on a simple bread breakfast, so I went to grab some ptes and mugs for me and Nydia as well, before sitting down in front of her.

  “Morning Cassie,” I greeted her happily.

  “Good morning you two,” she replied. Her eyes gnced over to Nydia. “So… who’s your new companion?” she asked. She didn’t even look away from her and I couldn’t help but feel the tension in her gaze.

  “She’s the person I’ve been trying to find. Her name’s Nydia,” I answered. I realised I didn’t really know much more about her than that, except that she was maybe bi?

  Cassie frowned a little more at the new girl and Nydia decided to speak up before things got awkward. “Heya Cassie. Nice to meet you properly this time. We couldn’t really talk earlier and everything.”

  “Yea, uh. Nice to meet you too,” she mumbled back and continued her breakfast.

  Okay there was definitely something going on here, but I had no idea what. Maybe it was because Nydia was some kind of noble, but she didn’t have her gold makeup on anymore ever since the bath. Her nails and hair was still very fancy, but not enough to make her seem like a noblewoman.

  Another thing might be that Cass was uncomfortable because Nydia and I shared a bed. Most people weren’t very friendly towards this kind of stuff between women so it wouldn’t be that much of a surprise if Cassie was one of them.

  Or maybe it was because I didn’t meet up with her like we promised and only turned up long after she already went to bed. Maybe she was angry with Nydia for keeping me from her… like she was maybe a little… jealous?

  That also made me realise I didn’t even ask her about how her errand went. I took a sip of my water before asking her. “So, Cassie. How did your errand yesterday go?”

  She finished her bite of bread and washed it down with some water. “It went good,” she replied, before reaching under the table. She pulled out a nice-looking longsword in a pretty red-leather sheath and shortly after another equally fine longsword in a bck sheath. “Bcksmith me and my uncle got out of a bind a few months back said he’d return the favour. He’s some kind of master craftsman, so instead of giving us some money, he instead decided to make the two of us some premium swords. Not only are they worth a lot, they’re also pretty useful to defend ourselves if we’re ever in trouble.”

  “Oh wow,” I excimed. The swords did look very well made, although I didn’t really know anything about swords. Or bcksmithing, for that matter.

  “Yea, they look pretty neat. Don’t really know how to use one though. Guess I’ll have to learn now,” Cassie mumbled.

  The conversation kind of tapered off by that point and neither Nydia nor Cassie tried talking to each other again. I really wanted them to get along, but maybe we’d all grow on one another once we got to know each other a little better.

  After we finished breakfast, Nydia suggested to back into the city. She didn’t get to show me what she wanted to yesterday. It sounded a lot like a date thing, but I didn’t want to leave Cassie behind again so I invited her along. She was a little wary but seemed happy to be invited. We quickly grabbed our packs from our room and Cassie pulled the sheaths on her belt, then we were off.

  *****

  It was nice and warm outside. The sky was dotted with a handful of small sheep-like clouds. There was a very faint breeze in the air, just keep cool under the sun.

  Nydia led us southwards, back through the massive stone gates into the posh district I found her in yesterday.

  A few patrols quickly marched past us while we were strolling through the beautiful avenues of the city centre. I noticed in passing how the guard presence had increased even more compared to yesterday. Now there were even some soldiers from the army on guard duty.

  From the heraldry on their shields I could tell they came from all over the country. There was the silver sun of house Dawne, the white unicorn of house Paragas, my lieges, there was the antler crown of house Oberge, the iron fist of house Mane, the purple rose of house Charmange and of course the golden crown of the royal house Verois. Lastly, there was the charcoal angel of house Bck, though they usually just flew fgs of pure bck or white rather than their heraldry.

  Back in my days at the boarding school we only ever got to see so many different soldiers when there was some kind of tournament in the city. Except I neither saw nor heard any announcements of that kind and all the patrols were very active. It was like the whole city turned into a nest of bees.

  Cassie seemed like she’d noticed as well. Her eyes were darting around constantly and focussing on the different groups of soldiers all around and her hand was resting on the hilt of one of her new fancy swords.

  Nydia didn’t look like she noticed the heavy guard presence, though. Or if she did, she didn’t let it show. She just kept casually guiding us down the street, through the Grand Market and then finally into a small alleyway that opened up into a rger park that was completely enclosed by a block of patriar houses on one side and a massive vil on the other.

  There were a few other people strolling along the small paths through the greenery or sitting around in the shades of the massive oak trees. A couple children were pying in the water of a pond and a family was sitting on one of the wooden tables eating picknick.

  Overall, this pce was super idyllic and I felt like I was in some kind of elven garden. The somewhat elvish architecture of the massive vil only underlined that feeling even more.

  “This is actually the private garden of that vil over there,” Nydia expined. “Apparently the owners decided to open it up to the public and put a bunch of tables and benches and stuff here. A merchant’s daughter up in Norcore told me about this pce and I just knew I had to take you!”

  There were only four guards patrolling this area and Cassie calmed down a bit. Though I still couldn’t help but wonder what was going on. It wasn’t because of me, was it? Nydia warned me people would hunt me down for the artefact I carry. What if the king heard about it?

  These thoughts kept churning through my mind while Nydia and Cass enjoyed our little stroll. I couldn’t really bme them. This pce was utterly serene, although I felt like something was off. Something was very off. The chatter from the streets was mostly kept away from the buildings around us. Most of the sounds came from the other people, the kids pying in the pond, the couples gushing about, the families ughing and chatting and the soft breeze was rustling the leaves in the canopy above. Something. Was. Missing.

  We approached two of the guards that were making their way in the opposite direction. One wore the silver sun of house Dawne on their chest, the other carried a shield that had the charcoal angel on it and had a white cloak flowing behind her. My eyes were glued to the angelic wings. Something. Was. Missing.

  Birds. There was no birdsong. No animals whatsoever, for that matter, except for the barking of dogs and the stray faint whining of a horses from the street. There was this huge green area, with massive oak trees. And no animals.

  We passed the two soldiers and the Dawneite gave us a curt nod before continuing the conversation with his friend. “It’s always the calm before the storm that gets to me, you know. And we don’t even know where they are,” he grumbled.

  I lurched. They were looking for someone. Someone powerful enough they were expecting a battle. They really were looking for me, were they? A wielder of a divine artefact. I had to get out of here, now and fast.

  I clutched the compass through my blouse protectively before speaking up. “Nydia, Cass. I think we need to go. We need to leave. Right now and fast. I think they are after me.”

  They both turned to me in surprise.

  “What the hells are you talking about Sephie?” Cassie asked.

  Nydia’s gaze fell on my hand clutching at my chest and she blinked up at me a moment ter. I could practically hear the idyllic scenery shatter in her mind’s eye.

  She spoke up, “Okay Cassie, Sephie, stay close. There is a gate just west of here to Lys, from there we can easily get out of the city.” Then she turned back around and hastily walked down the path to the nearest exit.

  Cass still looked lost and confused, so I grabbed her hand and pulled her after me and Nydia. She tried to protest at first, but then her grip tightened and she kept at pace with me.

  We quickly made our way out of the garden and slipped past the south wall of the vil out onto the nearby road. Nydia led us down the street southward and then onto the main street that turned westwards.

  I threw a gnce back and saw the two guards I overheard following us. This couldn’t be a coincidence. The massive stone gate that led out to the Lys quarter was already in sight. I walked a bit faster, tapped Nydia on the shoulder and subtly nodded back to our tails. Nydia gave me a small nod of her own and we continued towards the gate.

  “We go through the gate and slip into the alleys immediately. We can lose them in the sump town,” Nydia expined quietly. We started to approach the gate and my heart sunk when I saw a party of guards stationed in front of it.

  I shot another gnce back and the two guards were about two dozen metres behind us. I met eyes with the white cloak and there was an intensity in her eyes. It was clear I was in her crosshairs.

  I swivelled back to the guards at the gate and they had noticed our strange pace. Three of them slowly walked towards us while the other five eyed us suspiciously.

  “Fuck!” I heard Nydia swear when we stopped in our tracks. There were guards behind us and in front of us. I could feel Cassie’s heart racing through her hand and Nydia was studying our surroundings for an escape route. Her eyes were quickly fixed on a small alleyway north of us between two patriar mansions.

  “Hold it right their citizen!” one of the gate guards excimed.

  Nydia gnced back at me, I nodded and we ran off as fast as we could.

  Muffin_Maeve