The first thing that Himmel noticed was the two pointy ears that judded out of her short, brown shoulder length hair, signifying clear as day that she was an Elf.
An elf… no… I think she is a Half Elf… her ears aren't as pointed as Ryuu's are… this is the second Elf that I am going to meet… I should try and make it a little better than my first impression with Ryuu… Himmel thought to himself as he waved to her and greeted the elf that had called him to the counter. He had seen numerous elves inside Orario since his first encounter with a certain blonde haired and blue eyed elf at the Hostess of Fertility, but he had just seen some wandering the streets and had not actually greeted them.
Though her appearance had differed from the waitress at the pub she was still prettier than what Himmel had expected a Guild employee to look like, as he had expected some hulking man with a beard and a stoic nature. But instead he was greeted with the neat and orderly appearance of the elf before him, she had light green eyes that looked him up and down as he stepped up to the counter.
"Uh… hello… my name is Himmel… Himmel Aureole… it's a pleasure to meet you…" the young white haired boy said as he lifted his right hand up and stuck it out towards the young woman to properly greet her like he tried to do with most people he met. She looked a little shocked by the simple action and it took Himmel only a few seconds of comprehension to realize the mistake that he had made, he had received a rather harsh lesson from the waitress Ryuu when he tried to tap her on the shoulder to get her attention. Before he even realized what had happened she had twisted his arm at an unnatural, and admittedly, rather painful angle before she flung him out of the kitchen and into the dining area where several adventurers and guests laughed at the scene. She did later apologize and simply explained that she hated being touched by others and that most elves were the same and did not feel comfortable with being touched by people they barely knew. Himmel, despite wanting to blame her for the new ache in his wrist and shoulder, could not reasonably blame her for the incident. It was completely within her right to not want to be touched by someone that she had just met a number of days ago, though he did get to see her fling another person out the front doors of the Hostess for trying to grab her bottom as she passed by the table where he was seated. So that had, at the very least, made him laugh for the first time since he had come to the city.
As he pushed those memories to the back of his head, he realized that he was about to make the exact same mistake with the Guild employee in front of him now. If just trying to lightly tap one's shoulder was enough to set Ryuu off he did not want to imagine what the elf in front of him would do if he tried to take her hand. He started to pull his hand back after a moment's pause, before out of nowhere, she grabbed it. She had reached over the counter as she set down her feather pen and grabbed his right hand with her own and giving it a small yet firm handshake she spoke in a calm manner and greeted him. "Afternoon Mr. Aureole, my name is Eina Tulle. It is a pleasure to meet you on such a fine day… the weather has really cleared up over the past few days. All that depressing rain was starting to get tiresome, wouldn't you agree?"
Himmel was so shocked for a moment that he needed to take an extra second to process exactly what she had said to him "Y-yeah… the rain was getting a little tiring. But it is nice to meet you Miss Eina, I hope that you aren't busy. I had a few questions if it wasn't a bother…"
She retracted her hand and rested it on her desk as she laughed in a very regal manner, like a rich noble or Goddess would laugh at a slightly appropriate joke told at a dinner party. His hand hovered in the air for a second where he had shook hands with the elf before he dropped his own arm to his side and smiled slightly. "Well, that is what I get paid to do here. Help adventurers and answer questions, it's kinda my job." she said in a clearly amused tone.
"R-right..sorry…" Himmel said with a slight nervous laugh as he scratched the back of his head with his right hand and averted his gaze from the elf.
"No need to be sorry… anyway, what is it that I can help you with? Are you here to issue a quest or something?" Eina asked him as she leaned forward and fixed a stack of papers that had been piled on her desk area by picking them up and tapping the bottom of the sheets against the countertop.
"Actually I am here to register as an adventurer if that's okay with you… or do I go to a different counter for that…?" Himmel asked as he looked at the elf that suddenly froze with a weird twitch in her ears.
"O-oh… forgive me, I thought that you were perhaps here on the behalf of someone else like a messenger or letterboy, you don't have the same stereotypical look of adventures so I had just assumed… anyway of course you can become an adventurer and I can assist you in filling out the proper paperwork. First thing is first, are you registered as an adventurer outside of Orario?"
"N-no I am not, I lived in a village quite a ways away from Orario. So, we did not have a Guild in my village." Himmel explained as he remembered his village, the only building that was close to the size of the Guild was the Mayor's house that also operated as the town meeting hall and courtroom. Though there were very rarely cases that ever reached the point of having to be addressed by the Mayor. Most times it was sorted out between the people that were involved but if it escalated to a certain point they were forced into the hall with the rest of the townspeople to plead their case and then everyone got to vote on who was the innocent and guilty party.
"I figured as much, then you are going to fill out this form to start with and then we can move on." Eina said politely to him as she pulled out a sheet from a stack of papers and placed a bottle of ink and feather pen on the countertop with the form for him to use.
Himmel went to work as soon as he had his pen in hand, filling out his name, assumed birth month and age, along with a small list of descriptors to help identify him. "Why exactly do I have to explain what I look like on this sheet…?" Himmel questioned the Guild Elf.
She smiled slightly and was quick to respond to his question. "Well the main reason is so that we can connect a name to a face, make sure that you are a legal citizen living inside of Orario and it also helps with… well body identification if… something unfortunate was to happen while you are done in the dungeon and someone is nice enough to bring you back to the surface…" Eina had rarely seen the last reason ever be used, sometimes adventurers would bring their fallen comrades corpses to the surface to give them a proper burial. However most of the time, they would be left in the dungeon because they are too heavy to carry back to above ground or the adventurers barely escape with their own lives let alone the bodies of their party members that met their ends. So for most adventurers the dungeon became their tomb, where monsters would mutilate their lifeless bodies like puppets that had their strings severed and feast on their rotting flesh.
There were groups of adventurers that worked as recovery parties, either hired through the Guild itself or hired outside of the Guild ring on quests as an unofficial job. Some Familias would hire the retrieval adventurers to go down into the dungeon and bring back the bodies of their friends and family, if there was anything that they could find to bring back. Oftentimes they would simply bring back belongings instead of the bodies themselves, as by the time they managed to find the corpses they were usually so mutilated and decomposed that there was no value collecting the tiny remnants of what had used to be brave adventurers.
Even if adventurers managed to get the corpses of their friends and Familia members to the surface, a vast majority of the time their bodies were unidentifiable. Often missing arms, legs and occasionally their heads. Eina had seen her fair share of mutilated adventurers that suffered injuries from the claws and clutches of abominations that inhabited the dungeon. She was very briefly plagued with the memory of a young girl that had just become an adventurer and joined a party. It was only their first day and several hours after going down into the dungeon the party came bursting into the Guild begging for medical assistance as they had run out of potions. The poor young girl had been tackled to the ground and by the time her party was able to get to her and pull the creatures off of her the monsters had clawed at her face and she no longer had eyes to even cry. Instead she just thrashed around and wailed a horrible scream that still plagued Eina's dreams some nights, adventurers that happened to be in the Guild helped to hold her down as the Guild gathered some of their emergency potions and tried their best to treat the girl and her wounds. In the end she did live but remained blind. Eina will never forget the girl's emotionless face as she came in several days later, asked for her adventurer form, looked at the paper in her hands for several minutes despite not being able to actually see it. Then proceed to rip the paper into tiny pieces and throw it up into the air and then run out of the Guild before anyone could take any action to stop her, leaving Eina standing there as tiny shreds of paper fell like snowflakes all around her.
"I-I see… that makes sense I suppose..." Himmel said as calmly as possible, snapping Eina out of her memory and back into the present. He continued to fill out the sheet and spotted something that triggered another question in his mind. "This place where it asks if I have an official combat training… what exactly would you consider 'official'?"
"Well, there are multiple institutions around Orario that can teach you various forms of combat, for example the Ganesha Familia holds training in the Colosseum where they teach aspiring adventurers the art of hand to hand combat. It's taught by the Ganesha Familia Vice-Captain too, Ilta Farna. So it is a highly recommended course from what I hear." Eina explained as she prepared another sheet for him if he wanted to take the class.
Himmel was sold, having hand to hand combat training sounded perfect to him and it would not be helpful not only inside the dungeon, but outside of it as well. Orario, based on what he had heard, could at times be rather dangerous.
"Though, it does cost a few thousand Valis per-lesson. So you will have to pay the fees of course."
F-few… thousand… p-per lesson… I-I will go broke in no time at that rate… Himmel thought in his head as he again cursed himself for his lack of funds, only adding to the fuel of needing to get into the dungeon and starting earning himself some decent pay.
"I… I can't really afford that… are there any other options…?" Himmel asked the receptionist as he hung his head slightly.
"Well of course there are, that is just the most recommended option that I could give you. If you want a cheaper option, then if you look and ask around you can find training facilities all over Orario that can teach you various forms of combat like I said. Bows and arrows, swords and shields, spears and staffs, your own bare fists. You can find numerous that teach everything that you can imagine, it's just a matter of finding one within your price range."
"What if someone is really… really tight for Valis right now… any other options…?" Himmel muttered out softly. Eina realized that she was still talking out of his price range so she went with the second option for training.
"Well, the other option that you have is to find another adventurer to train you… most adventurers are willing to train newbies. We even have that as a common quest posted here at the Guild accepted by higher ranking adventurers, so you could look for someone willing to train you. That would typically be cheaper or even free if you can find a friend in your Familia."
That's another problem… I don't even have a Familia yet… Himmel thought in his head as his pen rested at the bottom of the page. All that was left to do was fill out the name of his God or Goddess and then sign his name, there was a space for the God or Goddesses signature next to their name as well. Himmel had for a moment debated writing a random Gods name into the box but he quickly forced that idea out of his mind and cursed himself for even thinking about doing something so despicable. Likely the form would be taken to the God in question anyway to confirm that he is indeed their child, or they would check him for a status themselves.
Either way, he was stumped.
"Does someone need to be part of a Familia to get into the dungeon…?" he asked without looking up from the page, the only thing between him and the dungeon.
"Yes, it is a requirement established by the Guild. It would be far too dangerous for people to enter the dungeon without a blessing from some God or Goddess, thus it is illegal to enter the dungeon without a falna. That isn't a problem, is it?" Eina curiously asked as she noticed the slight frown dominating the boy's face.
"No, I…." Himmel couldn't bring himself to say that he didn't have a Familia, he couldn't bring himself to admit to the young woman that he had been rejected from every Familia that he had applied to join. Some had said that they were still waiting for the news or that they would let him know soon if he made the cut. But he knew better than to believe them anymore, he knew by the looks in their eyes and the expressions painted across their faces.
That he never even had a chance from the beginning.
He was being made a mockery of.
He was just a joke to most of them, someone that showed up daily despite the bad news he received every time he arrived. He was like an abused puppy, that despite being kicked back into the dirt time and time again, it would get back up and waddle over to their owner, thinking that something would change. That, by some miracle, it would be a different result and they would be loved.
Only to get kicked back into the dirt once more.
"Are you okay Mr. Aureolel… you seem to be a little pale… is something wrong?"
"No, I…." Himmel found himself still unable to say the few simple words that he could so easily admit to Syr everyday when he arrived back at the Hostess after running all over Orario to check and see if he was accepted anywhere. No, I don't have a Familia… is what he so desperately wanted to say, but his body wouldn't listen to him. His tongue wouldn't move and his mouth wouldn't open to let loose the few simple words. He was starting to feel trapped, backed into a corner like a wild animal. When a wild animal is trapped they do one of two things, they either fight...
Or they run.
Himmel's body chose for him as he dropped the feather pen which drifted down to the ground and landed at his feet, the feet that were turning on his heels. He knocked over the small bottle of ink and it fell over, the black liquid almost covered his sheet and ruined all of the work he had done but Eina was quick enough to snatch the paper off of the counter before it was ruined. No I… just remembered that I have to be somewhere… Is what Himmel had said in his mind but once again his body didn't respond to him it responded to his extinction instead.
His instincts were yelling at him to run away.
Find some dark alley and hide.
Away from Eina.
Away from the Guild.
Away from Syr.
Away from the Hostess.
Away from the world...
He could hear the Guild receptionist calling out to him but her words didn't reach him, all he could hear was garbled mumbles that sounded like nothing understandable to his ears. He took the first step, then a second and a third. He started to pick up speed after the first few paces and he started to draw the attention of others in the Guild. He could hear the Elf calling out to him, louder this time but it still sounded like nothing but gibberish to him.
Before he even knew it he had crossed the large open room in what felt like blinks of his eyes that were moving in slow motion, someone was walking in the door right as he reached it. He threw his hands forward and pushed them to the side and out of his way, in his mind he apologized and begged the Gods and Goddesses for forgiveness but the man, or possibly woman Himmel already could not remember, was in his way.
He continued to hear people calling out to him, it wasn't the Guild employee whoever. The voices were deeper and more manly but Himmel still couldn't make out what they were saying to him as he stumbled a few times and ran down the street like a madman until he could no longer hear their shrill voices.
He found himself in a dark alley, he wasn't sure where he was exactly from all his aimless running. The alley was filthy, there was slop up to his ankles and a disgusting smell that made him wrinkle his nose. But it did not matter to him, all he cared about was being alone for a moment. Letting the feelings of rage and sadness take over for a single moment without having to worry about someone trying to comfort or calm him.
Then he felt something, at first he thought that in his mix of rage and sorrow someone reached out and touched his chest. But when he blinked his eyes a few times to check no one was there, instead he raised his right hand and reached to where he had felt the feeling. His hand snaked its way into his coat and found what was causing him the sensation, he pulled it from the coat and his eyes fixed on the journal.
His grandfather's journal.
He brought his other hand up and clutched the book tightly, he started to squeeze the book. He heard his fingers crack, his knuckles starting to go white as his veins bulged. The book for some reason that he could not even hope to understand, angered him greatly. It was a worthless collection of information anyone and their grandmother could learn by spending a few hours researching in the library connected to the Guild building. It was filled with spelling errors that annoyed him, but what angered him even more was how it was unfinished. Its contents only detailed to floor nine, adventurers had long since past that floor and dived to deeper depths. The maps looked like they were drawn by a drunken child that was in desperate need of glasses. It was outdated and old. So many times he believed the journal and it had done him no benefit, he visited almost every Familia the book listed and it had been a waste of time and effort.
It was useless.
As anger was turned to blind rage, feelings of rejection and loneliness bubbled over, he threw the useless collection of papers down the alleyway. He saw it land, sitting there motionless in a small pile of filth that only the Gods could know the true origin of.
It was insulting him.
It was infuriating him.
Just the existence of the book sickened him to his very core, it was mocking him just like the multiple Familia members were everyday he showed up on their doorstep like a lost child. He wanted to wipe it away, like a stain on his clothes that he could scrub away so that it was like it never existed.
He could tear it.
He could burn it.
He could freeze it.
So many options that he could use on a single book, his mind racing with visions of what he could do to the simple collection of infuriating paper. What he could do to get back at his old man for leaving him all alone suddenly, promising him so many things only for none of them to come true. Leaving him with a worthless book that offered him nothing of value. He felt like the world around him no longer mattered, like everything was traveling at a million miles an hour despite standing perfectly still.
Then, out of the muck and mud came a rat. A single rat that was nothing special compared to any other rodent, it was dirty, it was simple minded and it was powerless compared to even a child armed with a stick or woman with a broom.
Himmel had thought that he had experienced the most extreme levels of rage possible, but then the rat did something that infuriated him more than anything had in his lifetime. It nibbled on the bottom right corner of his grandfather's journal. It did no real damage, only tearing off the smallest piece of paper from one of the page's corners that stuck out just slightly more than the others.
But for a reason that Himmel could not even hope to understand, it angered him more that the rat was tampering with his old man's journal more than it did with the journal just laying there alone and forgotten by all but him. Barely thinking about his actions he bent over quickly and scooped up a fairly sized rock and just like his journal he whipped it down the alleyway, the rock struck the ground near the rat and it jumped up in the air slightly letting out a rather loud squeak as it was spooked suddenly.
Himmel quickly walked up and watched as the rat scurried off down the alleyway and back into the shadows that it had first emerged from.
He bent down and picked up the journal and shook it off to rid the cover of the few globs of filth that clung to the binding. He brushed it off and quickly inspected the journal and came to the conclusion that with the exception of the one slightly torn page it was intact. He guided the book back into his light brown jacket with his right hand as his left held the coat open. "Mine." he plainly said to the already gone rat as he turned around and walked back out of the alley and onto the street, he looked down at his feet.
He felt an odd feeling inside of him, one unlike the anger and sadness he was experiencing only moments prior he could not directly place into any distinct category. Like someone, somewhere had been watching his outburst despite being isolated in the back alley. So he just shrugged it off and changed his sights towards the direction that he assumed the Hostess of Fertility to be located. He could use the Tower of Babel like a guidance point to base his position off of so he had a rough idea of where he was located within the city.
"It is getting late… Syr will be wondering where I am… I don't want to worry her… better hurry back.." Himmel changed his gaze up at the sun that was close to setting over the wall which is when Orario was covered in the blanket of darkness. He started in his destination's direction with his right hand in the pocket of his pants and his left hand going up to check and make sure that he still had his journal every few blocks that he walked.