Garden Of The Abyss

As he moved towards his bedroom, letting out a yawn, he caught a glimpse of Akanni laying across his bed that didn't support his height, causing his feet to hang off the edge.

Sorry about that, he thought to himself with a wry chuckle.

Taking a peek into the room that Felix chose, which was neighbored by nobody as of yet, he saw the shaggy-haired ex-priest making the room his home already as he stored his belongings in a closet.

Elena's door was closed, and he didn't feel like intruding, leaving only Calytrix's room, which he also didn't feel like checking–for a different reason.

…I feel like something dangerous will happen if I go in there–I'd rather not make things complicated, he sighed out.

Finally entering his room, he slumped down on the bed directly beside Iris, who was already in a light-purple nightgown, reading a book.

"It's pretty lively here now, isn't it?" He asked, looking up at the ceiling.

"You say that like we've been here all alone for a long time," she laughed quietly.

He let out a playful sigh as he laid his head on the plump pillow behind his head, keeping his hands behind his head as he laid, continuing to look at the ceiling.

"How much longer do you think it'll be?" He asked.

Iris looked at him, "How long until what?"

"Mastorn," he answered.

She laid beside him in silence for a moment as he clarified his question, slowly closing her book as she stared towards the ceiling as well.

"It's almost been four years since I came to this world," he told her, reminiscing a bit, "I've…experienced a lot. Yet, somehow, it feels like I've hardly moved forward in the grand scheme of things. It feels like we've made no progress on Beatrice's mission."

"Mother is cautious, that's all. There's no point in rushing things when we've really only got one chance, right?" Iris told him as her azure locks were resting on her shoulders.

"I get it–I do, but we haven't even been told of anything, have we? Is she doing anything? What is she doing? I don't know. She doesn't tell us anything," he said, "it all feels…disjointed? I don't know."

Iris sat up, hugging her knees close to her chest as she looked at him with her blue, bright jewels, "You need to learn how to relax, Ren."

"Huh?" He looked at her, "I spent two years relaxing, I think I've done my part on relaxing."

"That's not what I mean…I'm just saying that you can leave those plans to Mother," Iris looked at her hands, "...I know she can be difficult to trust sometimes, but she is taking care to make sure when we make our move, it's done the best way it can be done."

He returned her gaze for a moment, "If you say so."

After that, they both decided to call it a day and rest, which came easily after a day of partaking in a rather taxing quest.

With the rise of the next morning, he was surprisingly greeted at the doorstep of Gladiolus by a man he wasn't all too acquainted with.

"Yo."

Greeting him, and simultaneously towering over him, the Outlander with long, golden locks looked down at him.

Noah…I'm not too familiar with him. I think he returned while I was in Purgatory, he thought.

"...Morning," he returned the man's greeting, confused by his presence at his guild.

"Beatrice sent me," Noah told him boredly, pointing his thumb behind him at the Outlander guild entrance that neighbored Gladiolus, "Bring Iris and Sirius with you, too. It's important, apparently."

"Important? Hey, have you seen Sirius? I haven't seen him in a bit," He asked before the towering, bored-eyed man could leave.

Noah turned around, cracking his neck side-to-side casually, "Beats me."

How helpful, he sighed out to himself.

Waiting until Iris finished her morning bath and got dressed in her usual attire, same as him, wearing his armor around even within the premises of the foundation, he left, seeing that the other guild members were either still asleep or attending breakfast, served by Felix.

"Let's make this quick," he sighed out, walking alongside his partner, "Akshay is bringing in the members he personally recruited today."

"Oh, that's right, I'm kind of excited about that," Iris smiled, holding her hands behind her back.

"I'm glad you're excited. I'm just hoping they aren't a band of lunatics," he ruffled his snowy locks.

Iris frowned playfully, "You need to have more trust in your guild. You're their leader now."

"Right, right, I'm just kidding," he smiled.

As expected, once they entered the Outlander guild premises, all of its members, save for Sirius, were gathered at the meeting hall, with the platinum-haired Sage standing in the center–omitting her usual smile.

"Welcome, Ren, Iris, I'm glad you two could make it," Beatrice greeted them.

"You say that like we aren't next door neighbors…" He chuckled quietly.

"Sirius isn't with you?" Sora asked, leaning against the leftmost wall with his husky arms folded across his chest.

He shook his head, "Last I heard, he was undertaking a "Black Quest", whatever that is."

Fai added in, "A Black Quest? Well, that's shitty timing."

"He can be informed when he returns; it's no matter," Beatrice assured.

With that, the attention of the dozen otherworlders present in the room all focused on the Sage, who seemed to hold some significant words for all of them.

"Three months from now, the "Festival of Heroes" will take place," Beatrice announced.

Though they seemed like words that held weight, he didn't understand what they meant, and apparently, half of those in the room didn't.

"The what now?" Fai asked, leaning forward from the sofa he sat on.

"I'm not familiar, either," Brahmi added.

"Same here," Tristan raised his hand half-assedly.

On the other hand, Noah didn't even seem to be listening, lounging on the floor behind the couch with closed eyes.

Beatrice explained, "It's a once in a decade festival that occurs all across Mastorn, celebrating the heroes that founded it. Each city throws sleepless parades for the weeklong festival, and people from all around the world come to participate."

"...What's that got to do with anything, then? I don't think any of us are exactly looking to party with Mastorn," Sora interjected.