Chapter 43: Red Flag

  Waking up to an unfamiliar ceiling, a woman in red and black opened her eyes. She looked around and while the room was unfamiliar, she felt safe. She could feel the silver moon’s presence.

  Letting out a sigh of relief, she sat up in bed. She scanned her surroundings. It was a very spartan room, it had a bed and a table with chairs.

  While she could see two carpets on the cut stone floor, she still felt that the room was very bare.

  “Where am I?” She said with a quiet and exhausted voice. She felt pain when she spoke.

  The woman in red and black was about to get up from the bed when she heard an ethereal voice enter her ears.

  “Go out of the room, he will take care of you.” The goddess’s voice sounded warm.

  To the woman in red and black, the goddess’s voice was like an oasis in a harsh desert. She bowed slightly with her hand on her chest as a respectful gesture to the goddess.

  The branch which Rouge commanded was much more relaxed than the other branch temples and the main temple. They didn’t have a uniform or dress code.

  However, the Northern Aurel Silver Moon branch followed the traditional and old dress code. White pants and a white shirt were the base of all Silver Moon Uniforms.

  Squires wear black jackets with their uniform. All mystics are separated in different ranks, depending on the number of entities they have contracted.

  The ones called squires in the silver moon include the two first mystic ranks which are in order Spirit Sensitive, and Entity Invoker. A red cloth is used to indicate that the squire is an Entity Invoker.

  The woman from the Northern Aurel silver Moon branch chose to have hers as a left shoulder cape over her black jacket. Her black hair didn’t reach her shoulders, her outer appearance was rather cool.

  She opened the door and the light in the temple got to her eyes. While it looked like the temple had natural lighting through cracks and openings in the ceiling, the truth was that the ceiling was as a mirror which the goddess uses as a way to watch her mystics.

  The light was actual Silver Moon Light that came from the goddess herself. As if blinded, the woman squinted her eyes a tiny bit. She noticed a silhouette in the distance.

  She walked past a round table and walked on the bridge to a central platform. There she saw a young man her age. She heard him sigh as he grumbled to himself.

  “That was unexpected. To think Ms. Astral was waiting for me at the training area only to throw me to the ground and forced down a vial of blood in my mouth. I really can’t get used to drinking blood, but Ms. Astral force feeding me is even worse.”

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  The squire from the northern silver moon branch observed the young man simply standing there mumbling to himself. Her thoughts mirrored her confusion… Has he turned crazy or has he lost control? Should I be worried?

  She thought it odd that the young man did not have a standard uniform, but she had heard from her captain that the Southern Silver Moon Branch was much more relaxed with the dress code… But why a purple cape? IS he supposed to be a squire?

  Instead of standing there and watching another squire simply mumble to himself, the northern branch squire decided to take the first step and speak with the person in front of her.

  In her mind speaking to him was the proper choice, she was told by the goddess that he would take care of her. With confident steps, she walked up to the young man.

  “Greetings! My mystic name is Red Flag. I was told by the goddess that you would take care of me. I don’t know what instructions you have but I will work hard.” She said with a confident and loud voice.

  The young man’s reaction to having the passed out mystic from the northern branch suddenly walk up to him while he was talking to himself was least said surprising.

  “My Lady, told you what?” The young man said with a worried tone.

  Red Flag’s reaction to hearing the young man call the goddess “Lady” was one of astonishment and horror… He dares to call the goddess, My Lady! Isn’t he afraid of divine punishment?

  Just as Red Flag was about to reprimand him and pray to the goddess for his forgiveness, a silver robed women jumped out of the temple water next to them. She landed gracefully and looked at Red Flag and the young man next to her.

  Red Flag recognized the silver robed woman instantly. It was the Silver Witch, the youngest saintess under the silver moon. Red Flag was about to bow with her hand on her chest when she suddenly heard the young man next to her speak.

  “Ms. Silver! Did the meeting with the main temple go well?”

  Red Flag’s expression turned horrified once again. Her mind was filled with worry as she quickly shifted her gaze towards the young man in purple.

  Just as Red Flag was about to apologize for the young man’s rudeness, her mind cleared for a bit… Why did I think that he was a squire? Maybe the main temple sent another saint!

  Red flag tried her best to convince herself that the young man next to her was a saint. However, she knew that there was no saint that looked that young.

  Even the Silver Witch was a special case as she became a mystic during her early teens and was deemed a genius.

  Silver Witch looked at the young man as she spoke.

  “They said that there is nothing they can do for now. Most of our branches located in the same city as the churches of fire and flame have been attacked.” Silver Witch said with a tired tone.

  “Then how long until we can get reinforcements?” The young man in purple said.

  Silver Witch thought for a moment before answering with a sigh.

  “At least a week. They did promise me that I will be allowed to stay in Aurel. Those old saints usually keep to their words. If not, then I won’t send them any more new year’s greeting cards.” With a rather tame irritated tone of voice, Silver Witch spoke like a teenage girl speaking about her grandparents.

  “Um…” Red Flag tried to speak, but the gazes of the people that suddenly turned their heads to look at her was too much.

  The Silver Witch, a saintess that had saved her life a couple of times and the mysterious young man capable of calling the saintess as Ms. Silver and the goddess as My Lady.

  It was too much to expect a simple squire to be able to speak with these two people in front of her.

  The young man looked at Silver Witch and asked her a question.

  “Ms. Silver, apparently Red Flag was told that I was to take care of her by the goddess. Do you know what she wants me to do?” The young man spoke with confusing in his tone.

  The Silver Witch looked up at the ceiling then down and locked eyes with the young man in purple before speaking.

  “No. But I think you just got yourself a caretaker, or should we call her an attendant?”