A Quest for the Stars

~Clara~

“Wee!”

The night had just about ended. After the trio had their fill of greasy tavern food, Alistair announced his departure and got up to head back to his room. Lenoria said the same, but with slurred speech and wobbly legs, she could not make it five feet past the table.

Lying on the ground, Lenoria waved her hand dismissively. “It’ssssssh okay. I’ll jusht….shleep here….”

“I know the inn allows people to stay on the floor, but you have a room,” Clara commented.

“Oh, I guesh I’ll crawl my way up there,” the girl said before she hiccupped.

With a sigh, Alistair returned from the stairs and planted one knee on the ground. “Come here.” With a mighty heave, Alistair picked up the drunken girl off the ground, one arm behind her knees and the other behind her shoulders. Despite her smaller and thinner frame, a limp body always needed a great amount of effort to pick up.

The girl blushed and said nothing, choosing instead to just close her eyes and hang on by wrapping her arms around the paladin’s neck.

“Will you be going back to the room soon, Miss Clara?”

The elf wagged her finger as she took a sip from her nearly-finished bottle of absinthe. “No,” she said after a gulp. “I think I’ll stay here a little longer. They say absinthe enhances creativity, so I think I’ll start singing in a little while.”

“Alright, then I bid you a good night. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“See you.”

Don't worry, fellow readers, for the night does not end here and we'll get to Alistair in a bit. For now, let's turn our attention to Clara.

The elven girl smiled as she watched Alistair carry Lenoria upstairs. Once they were out of sight, she got right to work. She grabbed a piece of parchment from a knapsack she carried, along with a quill and a small ink bottle. She stared at her work intensely, gnawing the quill in frustration as the words failed to come to her.

Opening lines

O, mighty oak

Like a raging fire

My morning sun

My sun king

I'm your mountain

Passionfruit

Just a handful of titles crossed off. "No matter what I do, I just can't stop thinking about him." Clara looked back at the stairs again. Right about now, those two should be entering the room. With a huff, she set her quill down and placed her head down on the table.

How did Lenoria do it? She wanted Alistair and set out to win him over. And won him over she did. Compared to herself, who sought out a forbidden relationship between mentor and pupil and waited years to form a bond, only to be rejected during the moment of truth.

I'm touched by your level of admiration, but you should reserve your feelings for someone around your age and not some silly old sod like me.

Why did he say that? She was quadruple his age. Even if he grew old in a decade, Clara would still love him. In fact, if his old age prevented him from doing basic functions such as eating and getting up each morning, she was willing to take care of him for the remainder of his days. Looks would fade, but her feelings wouldn't.

Or at least that's what she said to herself.

Clara understood Instructor Gardens not wanting to hurt her feelings; his teaching methods consisted of nurturing the students and never telling them how wrong they were in their problems, choosing instead to lead them towards the right answer. Maybe he had a lot more in his mind, but rejected her because he wanted to spare her feelings? Or maybe he was socially anxious about what would happen if word got out of their relationship, and wished to avoid a scandal?

Whatever it was, Clara reached a single conclusion. "It was doomed from the start, wasn't it?"

The sound of shuffling paper snapped her out of her daze. Lifting her head, Clara noticed a stranger seated across from her. Adorned with a navy-blue blazer and a red tie, with straight blue shoulder-length hair, and greenish blue eyes like a vibrant ocean scanning the parchment Clara carelessly left exposed on the table.

"Is she...?" Taking a moment to put two and two together, Clara covered her face with embarrassment.

The table was silent, not a creature stirred. Yet, in the recesses of Clara's mind, a scream could be heard.

The silence was broken when the stranger spoke with a soft voice, raising her fist with admiration. "Exceptional."

"Um, hi!" Clara raised her hand meekly after a while.

"Ah!" The stranger returned the parchment to the table. "I-I was just staring at the texture, I promise!"

"Texture?"

"D'oh! Uhhhh..." The new girl stuttered, unable to find an excuse. She placed her palm on top of the parchment as if to prove her point, but all it did was stain her with a red blot of ink and ruin the words therein.

Giggling at the new girl's feeble attempt at misdirection, Clara offered a handkerchief to help her clean up. "If you think the texture's exceptional, I can give you some parchments for free."

"Hmph!" Miffed at Clara's playful banter, the new girl instead snatched the parchment and the ink and quill. "That's right, so what if I like paper? Your poetry, on the other hand, leaves a lot to be desired, after all. It's not like I enjoyed it or anything; I-I just took pity on you, that's all!"

The stranger got to writing, occasionally scribbling words out of the parchment to replace them with new ones.

"It's obvious you got the hots for someone and lack the finesse to send them a love poem, but don't you worry! The Ocean Fairy Joanna Jones is on the case! We'll turn this d-droll and boring writing into something meaningful!"

"It was just a bunch of opening lines," Clara murmured.

It took a couple of minutes of writing and thinking, but the new girl set the parchment down and placed the quill on the ink bottle. "There!" She handed the parchment back to Clara. "Read it and be amazed by my magnificence!"

Opening lines

O, mighty oak

Like a raging fire

My morning sun

My sun king

I'm your mountain

Passionfruit

The morning sun, I can touch feel it

Mighty as the tree oak, warm like my passion

Stirring in my heart like a raging fire

O, my sun king, please stay with me

I'll be your mountain, unyielding and strong

"I can see the amazement in your eyes," the haughty girl boasted. "The first one is free."

"This is..." Clara set down the parchment. "This is amazing! C-care to join me for a little while? I know it's late, but I can pay for your food!"

"Well," Joanna said as she thought about it, "food is a method of payment. But I have to warn you, I'm very hungry!"

Clara privately opened her coin purse. A moth flew out of it, and to her dismay she could only find two copper coins. With an awkward laugh, she was about to break the news when Alistair arrived.

The lad's face was laden with sweat and an awkward face. He handed a key to Clara before turning away. "L-Lenoria gave me that key, and I locked the door so no one could get in. Please g-get some rest at your earliest convenience."

"Will do, Alistair. I was wondering if I could, um," Clara looked at Joanna. She didn't want to look bad after offering to pay, so she whispered in Alistair's ear.

"Oh, absolutely," the lad said. "I was meaning to give you your cut from the gold we found on the giant, but it slipped my mind. I have the rest stored in a safe space, but this should cover it."

He handed Clara a handful of gold coins. The only time she's seen so much at once was whenever her parents saved up enough to pay for their monthly rent.

"T-thanks, Alistair." Raising an eyebrow, the elf decided to address something she was curious about. "Why do you look guilty and out of breath? You were only gone for five minutes." Smiling slyly, she added, "If you wanted to bunk with Lenoria, all you had to do was tell me and I-"

"Out of the question!" Alistair blurted it out suddenly and awkwardly. "G-good night!"

Dropping the key on Clara's hand, Alistair retreated back upstairs. Dismissing his words with a shrug, Clara got ready to make another order and said to herself she would talk to Lenoria in the morning.

~Alistair~

Some time prior

The wooden steps creaked as Alistair made his ascent to the second floor. The smell of alcohol from Lenoria’s breath was faint, but still there. He didn't know her fortitude was so low, and chastised himself for not ordering a tankard for her instead. He didn’t want to deny the girls the celebration he believed they deserved, but in hindsight the paladin realized he could have just ordered tankards and paid for more rounds if he needed to.

What you should be doing is stop reading them books and fetch me another bottle, you little turd!

Alistair had far more to drink, but his inhibition had not decreased in the slightest. All the alcohol in him did was bring back repressed memories of his childhood. Those violent, glass-shattering nights. Some nights he’d go to bed hungry, other nights he wouldn’t go to bed at all.

Most parents would be happy to see their sons and daughters go out and make friends and even form relationships. His relationship with Lenoria would surely be the talk of House Leone for weeks, maybe even months, to come. But his own parents? He couldn’t tell Lenoria about them. He’d die from embarrassment.

And then he felt a weak tug at his tunic. He looked down to see Lenoria grabbing onto him as she snoozed comfortably. The violent girl with unorthodox fighting skills that made a giant submit was sleeping peacefully in his arms. The alcohol in her breath mixed with the scent of jasmine she washed herself with was hard to ignore. Alistair believed it was rude to stare, but he had a hard time not sneaking a glance every now and then. She was beautiful in his eyes, and even her snoring and soft mumbling was cute to him.

When was the last time someone else thought so highly of him that wasn't in a position of superiority over him?

“Hey, Lenoria. We’re here. I need the key.”

Waking up from her very short nap, Lenoria complied and reached into her left boot to retrieve the key, allowing Alistair to open the door to the room.

“Can you stand?”

“I think so,” she hiccupped. With some help from Alistair, Lenoria got back on her feet. Still wobbly, she collapsed, but the paladin caught her in time. “T-thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. I should apologize for ordering so much for you to drink. I didn’t expect you to get like this from half a bottle.”

Putting his arm around her waist, Alistair kept Lenoria from collapsing as they entered the room.

“Don’t apologize, Al.” With a sudden move, Lenoria stepped in front of Alistair and used all of her weight to push him. The lad had no time to react as his back slammed against the wall.

“L-Lenoria,” a flustered Alistair struggled to get any scolding words in.

“If anything, I sssshould be thanking you. You are sso thoughtful and sweet.” Her speech was clearing up. “Won’t you spend the night with me?”

Was this Lenoria when she lacked restraint? Alcohol was rumored to reveal a person's true self, locking away a key to the cage reserved for restraint. How much had she been holding back? And for how long?

The temptation was great, but he had to put a stop to it. “L-Lenoria, I’m afraid I have to politely decline. I’ll take responsibility for getting you drunk, but this is not the way!”

Even in her drunken state, Lenoria backed away, though it appeared she had no plans on giving up. “Are you sure? Heroes should always be rewarded, and you’re my hero.”

“I’m sure. We need to take things slow, so please get some sleep.”

“As long as you’re sure, though, if you change your mind…” She trailed her finger across his chest before she hiccupped again. “Any girl would be happy to have you.”

“M-maybe so, but I would never betray the trust of the one who has already declared her heart to me.”

This made Lenoria freeze. “Y-you have a girlfriend? W-what’s her name?”

Alistair chuckled. The answer was so obvious, yet it appeared Lenoria hadn't sobered up yet. “Why don’t I just show you?”

The paladin noticed something on the wall next to the window, so he turned Lenoria’s head in that very direction. Tears streamed from the girl’s face when she spotted a blonde girl with green eyes and rosy cheeks wearing a yellow Western cloth. When she looked again, she noticed the girl was crying, too.

“She’s so beautiful! I could never compete with that!”

It was a mirror.

“Why would you have to compete with yourself? I only have eyes for you, you know?”

The girl sniffled. “Really?”

“Yes, really. You’ve made it very clear how you feel about me. Granted, we’ve only known each other for about a week, which is why I recommended we take things slowly. Paladins have a code they have to follow, depending on their deity, and the Hammer is very strict about relationships.”

The lad debated if he should fill her in on it. It’s unlikely Lenoria would remember any of it in the morning.

“Cohabitation is a taboo in my faith. Most churches are lax with that rule, but the Hammer's tenets are stricter than others." Alistair chuckled as Lenoria tilted her head like a curious puppy. "Dates are fine, but the clergy is surprisingly vocal about chastity.”

“In Common, Alistair,” Lenoria hiccupped.

“We can’t share the same bed unless we marry.”

“Oh.” It appeared as if Lenoria had a moment of clarity. She held a heavy-lidded gaze the entire time, and only upon listening to Alistair elaborate on his faith did she seem to understand what he meant.

After some thinking, she pressed herself against him, backing him into the wall again. Holding an amorous gaze, she gently cupped his face with both of her hands. “Does your clergy say anything about kissing? There's not a lot I can give you, but you can have my first kiss.”

His back against the wall, there was no escape for Alistair. “U-um, well, I-I don’t think there's a doctrine against that. B-but I still t-think we should s-stop before-”

Standing on her toes, Lenoria leaned closer to steal a kiss. Alistair braced himself, for he preferred to get it over with than push Lenoria away. His heart thumped heavily, already thinking of countless ways to apologize to her when she woke up in the morning.

Something in him screamed at him to stop her, but his body begged for him to just give in. She giggled from watching him squirm, stopping halfway to get a few more words in.

"I'll stop if you're uncomfortable. All you have to say is," she paused to yawn, "'no, Lenoria, we mustn't.'"

But he failed to get the words in, so she continued her advance. She puckered her lips and closed her eyes, not waiting for Alistair to meet her halfway.

She only drank a little bit, right? So she couldn't be that drunk! But what if she was? Was it right for him to allow her to do this, knowing she wouldn’t remember at all?

Before he could get a word of refusal in, he felt her full body weight against him. Alistair opened his eyes, looking down to see Lenoria asleep on his chest. She could no longer fight the fatigue from the day, the alcohol in her system, or her weary eyes.

Working fast, Alistair set her down on the bed, tucked her in, and locked the door behind him. He went downstairs to give Clara the key before heading back to his own room. He thanked the Hammer for his escape and promised himself to monitor Lenoria’s drinking from now on. He wanted his paramour to be fully conscious when he shared his first kiss with her.

The right thing to do would have been to decline, but past experience told Alistair not everyone handled rejection gracefully.

***

~Lenoria~

Lenoria awakened in a flame lit room. She clutched her head and squinted her eyes from the faint fiery light. There was a throbbing headache and the fatigue she accumulated from the day’s events.

Then, she looked around the room.

She was no longer at the inn. She was inside a small wooden cabin. The source of the light came from a burning chimney. A young boy sitting close to the fire turned to see her and showed a toothy smile. He was scruffy with unkempt hair, with smudges on his cheeks black as coal.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

The girl panicked. Was this a dream? “H-hey. Who are you? And where am I?”

“I’m Owen Miller. Nice to meet you, miss.” Seeing the girl’s perplexed look, the boy kept going. “You don’t know me, but we sort of met. I’m better known as Fornax.”

Lenoria rose from her bed immediately. That was when she noticed she was garbed with a nightcap and gown with star and spatial patterns. “I’m in some weird place and I look like a total dork! This is definitely a dream!” She angrily pointed at the boy. “You got ten seconds to tell me what’s going on.”

“Please be at ease. I don’t want to fight you. If anything, I want to thank you for setting me free from that tyrant.”

“Who, the giant?”

“Yeah. It wasn’t my choice to power him up, but anyone who agrees to the pact has to be provided with power.”

Pact? Did the boy mean the deal spirits make with their potential partner?

“I just wanted to meet you, that’s all!” The boy shielded himself with both hands. “Honest!”

Lenoria calmed herself and released the tension from her shoulders. “Relax. I’m not going to hurt you. But I need an explanation, so hang on for just a second.”

With a mere thought, Lenoria called out to Pearl. A moment passed before Pearl manifested herself in a whirlwind of feathers, looking as indifferent as always.

“I see you’ve met Fornax.”

“Hello again, weird witch,” the boy greeted as politely as he could.

The three of them stood by the fire at the edge of the cabin. There was little else inside besides the bed, the chair, and the chimney, as well as the lights from the stars and moon outside. A scarlet hue illuminated within the darkness of space outside.as the blue planet hovered below.

Before she could ask her question, the window had grabbed Lenoria’s attention. “Wow.” She walked over to the window to get a better look. “It’s….it’s…” At a loss for words, she blurted out the first thing on her mind. “Is this the Astral Plane?”

“Close. It’s a simulation of a cabin orbiting around your planet,” Pearl revealed. “We’re actually inside your Soulstone. Or, more specifically, inside one of its many compartments.”

It was a strange feeling for Lenoria, seeing her planet floating beneath her. How many times has she gazed at the stars and looked at the moon from below? Now the reverse has occurred, and she was at a loss for words for a moment until she repeated Pearl's word back to her.

“Compartments?”

“There are sections within the Corvus Soulstone that are reserved for the spirits of the other stones we will acquire. They’re vacant now, but I hope that changes soon.” Pearl hovered in place, taking her seat on an invisible throne. “Remember how I mentioned that, although having limits, I can absorb any Soulstone we collect and use its power?”

“Oh, yeah,” Lenoria said as she remembered. She had forgotten about it since the fire occurred right after Pearl told her. “That means we can use the power the giant had.”

“Exactly. You can only call upon it once a day, but it’s nice to know it’s at your disposal. And before you ask, Fornax has agreed to help us.”

The boy nodded to confirm Pearl’s claim.

“Are you sure?” Lenoria asked. “He’s just a boy.”

“Don’t mind me, Miss Lenoria. It’s the least I could do for what you’ve done for me.”

The boy rose from his chair. With a flick of his fingers, the flames of the chimney intensified. The strong smell of coal invaded the girls’ noses despite the absence of smoke.

“Besides, I can help you defeat your enemies when you need a more direct approach than Pearl’s.”

The reflection of the flames danced in Lenoria’s eyes. Could this be the beginning of a beautiful, explosive friendship in the most literal sense? “As long as you don’t put yourself in harm’s way, I’ll be happy to have you, Owen.”

The girl was more determined than ever to continue on with Pearl’s mission. She wondered if Owen was a suitable match for Alistair, but even if he wasn’t there were surely more stones to choose from. The only thing that worried her was if Alistair could keep a secret.

“What do you think I should tell Alistair?”

“The honest truth, if you ask me,” Pearl said. “If we take who he is at face value, then he’s a disciplined individual who would carry out his duties diligently for the good of the realm. Ideally, he’d lead this mission and ensure its success far better than you could.”

“You think so?” Pressing her hands against her head, Lenoria squealed. “I’d be so happy if we traveled together after Starflower’s trial. If Clara takes Mrs. Hunter’s suggestion to study at the College of the Wilds, I’d be all alone without either of them! I’d be crying and begging her not to go, but would approve of her decision regardless!”

She could see it now. Alistair would have no reason to stay with Lenoria other than for the sake of their budding relationship, but if they don’t make progress soon, he’d likely want to keep his distance to focus on himself. But what if he knew Lenoria was on a noble mission to prevent chaos from growing in the world?

Lenoria, I cannot see my life without you. Someone so smart, so selfless, so beautiful! Let’s get married and travel the world! I shall aid you on your quest for the stars!

Their first stop would be the Plateau. Lenoria would love nothing more than Alistair meeting her family. Her own brother Arthur would have the older brother he always wanted, and her sisters would adore him. Her mother would treat him like one of her own children, while her father would likely work him like a horse in exchange for lodging.

But at the end of each day, the happy couple would cuddle under the stars.

“She’s drooling,” Owen whispered to Pearl.

“You’ll get used to it. She does this a lot."

A Quest for the Stars is a work with an entry in Paizo's Community Use Registry. No portion of this work other than the material designated as Open Game Content may be reproduced in any form without written permission.

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