Dungeon Raider System

Emma was definitely no the same person she was the last time Uriel saw her. Her eyes were deep and empty giving the sensation of looking into a well. She showed clear signs to have been crying for an extended period of time and her personality had changed, or rather, it was as though someone had magically erased everything that made her 'her'.

"At least she's not being annoying." Uriel muttered to Luna who agreed, but it earned him a well deserved nudge on the ribs by Medusa.

Emma's hands trembled as she took a sip of the coffee Nika poured for her and those present waited in silence to hear what she had to say.

"First of all, is it really Okay for me to discuss family matters in front of them?" She asked and Uriel replied.

"Things are complicated, but we're currently partnered with the Mapple corporation. Even if they're family matters, I can assure you it is on their best interest not to share anything they hear."

Usually, the Dungeon Raiders would hold meetings wherever they could inside the Pegasus since every member of the crew had the complete trust of the founding members. And of all places, the cafeteria was their favorite as it allowed Nika to drink, Luna to grab something sweet and it had large windows.

But on this occasion the meeting was being held at the meeting room which was located in a secluded place inside the ship and had no windows for privacy. This also meant that only those directly implicated in the matter was meant to be there and Emma was not stupid. Even in her current state she would have likely realized Jon was Uriel's father if not for the holy rank hunter also being Medusa's uncle, which also explained his presence.

"As you know, I've been investigating our family. More specifically, what happened to them, why and who is behind it. At first I thought it was cryptids, you know, like anybody else would have thought, but later worked on a darker theory. Unfortunately for both of us, my suspicions turned out to be correct and my family was systematically erased. As to why I survived, that's easy, I wasn't old enough to read, which meant I had yet to inherit my family's legacy." Emma explained.

"When you say 'my' family, is it because you already confirmed we are not related?" Uriel asked.

"Indeed. We are not related by blood. It turns out, my mom went to look for my 'aunt' not just out of love, but duty too. You see, the Sage family is incredibly old, ancient even. I tracked its origin to an ancient cult where the priests were called druids. They were mysterious people and little is known about them." Emma explained.

"That is not correct, druids have been studied by archaeologists for a while now. We know their customs and even some of their rites." Jon butted in.

"That may be true, but it is virtually impossible to find anything about them. Books about them do not exist anymore and all I found on the internet are made up stories and characters from a board game." Emma sighed.

"You tried searching online!? Of course it's going to be filled with role playing game lore, druids were pretty famous before the arrival. Looking them up online is like finding a needle in a stack of needles." Jon chuckled causing Emma's right eye to stutter.

"I... I've been working on this for a month." She crumbled onto the table.

"From what I understand, druids were priests. They acted as lorekeepers, doctors, even adjudicators. Most of the records about druids were of them giving council to kings and lords, but their presence on the continent was suppressed by the romans who later outlawed them and hunted them down until they were near extinct. This would make sense, since Rome conquered most of the Celtic territory which was actually pretty wide." Uriel explained to Emma.

"I guess I should have looked for you sooner, but I really wanted to come back with the full story. I thought that coming back empty handed would be a big let down for you, especially since I came with bad news only." Emma sighed.

"If it is about me not being a Sage, then..."

"No, it is not about that. It is about something far worse. In order to move from Europe to America I was forced to sell almost everything I had. Our mansion was fully furnished and well stocked, which earned me a pretty coin at the time. Or so I thought, it turns out, the guy that bought the stuff from me paid me with pennies for relics and artifacts that could have made me rich. And if taking advantage of a little girl was bad, even worse is the fact that he won't give the items back. No matter how much I offered, he said the only way I'm getting any of my things back is if I win the auction."

"Why are they holding an auction now?" Uriel asked.

"Apparently, most of the artifacts I sold were related to the druid religion. With my family dying it became obsolete I think which also turned the artifacts into useless trinkets, but for some odd reason they started acting up a short while ago."

It didn't take a genius to understand that what likely happened was the artifacts reacted to Dana's presence in the world and Uriel confirmed it by sharing a brief but meaningful gaze with his mother.

She was serious and her face was a stone mask, though it was evident she was seething inside. Each time the word druid was mentioned she clenched her jaw. She loved them like they were family and would visit them each year, she even knew Emma and remembered her being born which is precisely what hurt the most about the betrayal.

"And that is why... I'm begging you, please, help me recover my family's belongings. I know it will be a lot of money and I shouldn't be asking this of you, but even if it takes me my whole life I'll repay you somehow. There is no way I can let my family's legacy to fall on the wrong hands," Emma fought against the tears that trickled down her cheek to continue speaking. "because my family's religion, the one they followed was none other than the cult to the god of death, Donn."

"It's not like we don't have the money, but are you aware that if we buy those articles or whatever, we will be keeping them?" Uriel asked.

"That is not what I'm asking you. Those artifacts are likely too dangerous to be in anyone's hands. You see, my ancestors may have worshiped the god of death, but that doesn't mean they were bad people. What happened is they probably knew how to appease it and keep it at bay. Imagine what would happen if someone finds a way to summon the god of death and force him to do their bidding?"

"I'd like to see them try." Dana grunted.

"What she means is, we won't let that happen." Uriel rushed in to cover for Dana, but Emma did not make things easy for him when she continued.

"Sure, a thing like that on the loose? Can you imagine what it would do? That would be pure chaos, a thing like the god of death must remain sealed at all costs."

"What makes you think she... or he was sealed?" Uriel quickly corrected his blunder as he almost revealed he knew the god of death was actually female.

"That is one of the few key pieces of evidence I found. It turns out, the last thing my family did was to summon the god of death into a place where no human can enter. I knew you're thinking it's a dungeon and you're probably right, the place name is Rathcroghan and it's also apparently where my family acquired their knowledge about well... about everything. From agriculture to forging metals, though it was mostly medicine. They gained knowledge that was likely too advanced for their time which is probably how they were able to spread all over Europe like you mentioned."

"How did they seal the god of death?" Uriel asked despite the scolding glare Dana fired at him.

"I know all this sounds crazy, but If you were to believe gods are real and that druids were not delusional for generations, only then will you be able to believe in the existence of this artifact: The scythe of death."

"Holy shit!" Jon exclaimed.

"No kidding, that does sound bad." Uriel was about to ask Dana if what Emma said was true, but all he needed to confirm it was her face. What he saw was not the usually cold woman she had always appeared to be and at that moment Uriel learned that gods were able to feel emotions, at least one in particular, fear.