The Evernon Saga - The Journey Of Ascension, A Struggle For Godhood.

(Day 2)

"Shall we go to our usual place?" suggested Claire.

"This must be one of those rare occasions where you have a good idea! It's not very fancy, and William should feel quite at ease there," concurred Thea.

"Rude! How unbecoming of a 'fair lady' such as yourself, dear Thea," scoffed Claire in response.

Thea crossed her arms and turned her head away, pretending to be offended.

William felt left out, and was fairly confused.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"It's a secret!" wrote Gwen on her parchment before showing it to William, smiling cheerily.

William looked at the parchment, before lowering his head and gaze, dejectedly.

"I-I'm sorry. I wanted to mention this earlier, but I can't read that..." mumbled William out loud.

Having come from a small fishing village, he was naturally illiterate, as he had never needed to attend any sort of education, nor had he had any exposure to books. Deep down, it was one of his biggest fears when it came to going to the Capital.

The faces of the four fell, as the atmosphere turned dreary and heavy, and they went silent.

Gwen, especially, looked crestfallen, as her parchment and charcoal pencil fell to the floor with a swish and clatter.

Roxanne, who was still next to William, hugged him. Gwen ran forward to embrace him as well, writing 'It's okay' onto his back repeatedly. Though he would not understand it, she desperately wished to reassure him with the only words she could produce. Thea and Claire stepped forward to lay a hand on each of his shoulders.

William was stunned, caught off guard by their sudden display of tender reassurance.

"Don't have worry about it William, we can teach you whenever we aren't working. You need only ask, and at least one of us will be happy to help you learn, as long as we aren't too exhausted," murmured Roxanne into William's right ear.

"But we can't do that in just one day, and I don't know when I can see all of you again," interjected William with uncertainty.

The four smiled knowingly, as Roxanne placed her hand on William's c.h.e.s.t.

"Having known them for a long time now, I'm sure the girls and I are of the same opinion. We just always happen to know what the others are thinking," began Roxanne.

"Therefore, I'm speaking for all of us, when I say that I'd like to extend an offer to you,"

"An offer?"

"An offer to continue living with us, you sweet fool," giggled Roxanne.

"Huh? I can do that?"

The four broke out into laughter, as William stood there, as still as a tree. He was dumbfounded.

"Uhh, how much would I have to pay? I have no clue how the Capital's prices are like," inquired William.

The four's laughter stopped for the briefest of moments, before reviving with even more vigour.

"William, surely you jest," laughed Claire, "We mean that you can live with us, and you wouldn't have to pay us even a single copper!"

"Wait, but-"

Roxanne silenced William's lips with her own, successfully bringing his attention away from all his questions, and onto her.

As their lips separated, a transparent, liquid line connected them.

"William, we are serious about our offer, but it comes with strict conditions," warned Roxanne, sternly.

"W-what would they be?"

"You have to help with cleaning up the house," she began.

William nodded nervously.

"You'll have to 'take care' of us,"

A clueless nod.

"And this last one is especially strict, we will bear no arguments against it,"

Thea, Claire and Gwen nodded firmly as Roxanne mentioned this.

William gulped.

Roxanne's expression turned tender, and soft as she spoke slowly, with a smile.

"Stay as kind as you are, and as you've been so far. People like you are rare, even more so here in the Capital. You will learn of this quickly, during your stay here.

However! Do not let anyone change you, or convince you to change. Those are our conditions. Do you accept them?"

William stroked his chin, deep in thought.

"About the 'taking care' of you, I don't have much confidence in my cooking, to be honest...," said William, "For the rest of the conditions, I can only be happy with them. If all of you are okay with me, I'd love to stay."

The four realized that he misunderstood a specific condition of theirs, but they grinned nonetheless, allowing him to remain blissfully ignorant. For now.

"Shall we freshen up and be off?" proposed Thea.

"Yeah! Come, William, let's go!" squealed Claire enthusiastically, pulling William by his arm.

"Where are we going?" asked William, as Gwen joined in, placing both hands on his back, pushing him forwards while walking.

"To take a bath, of course!" giggled Thea, who then proceeded to pull Roxanne close, gently sniffing her.

"By the smell of it, you've already had your bath, so you don't get to come in with us," teased Thea, sticking out her tongue at Roxanne.

"Hmph!"

Roxanne went upstairs to dress herself, fuming the whole time.

Thea chuckled, before making her way to the bathroom, her clothes falling to the floor.

Numerous giggles and squeals could be heard from the bathroom, accompanied by the occasional m.o.a.n.

***

After the bath, William was pulled upstairs by Thea and the others to change, as Roxanne sat on one of the chairs in the living room, pouting. She wore a simple maroon dress that was modest and easy on the eyes.

Roxanne sighed, getting up from her chair. Walking towards and into the bathroom, she stopped in front of an isolated wooden box in the corner.

Removing the lid, a gust of hot air rushed up past her face, revealing William's clothes inside. Along with his clothes was a glowing, red gem that radiated an intense warmth. Retrieving solely the washed and now, dry, bundle of clothes, she exited the bathroom, only to come face-to-face with William, who was still n.a.k.e.d, and looking for his clothes.

All of a sudden, a wave of uncharacteristic shyness washed over her, as she of all people found it hard to meet William's gaze. The intentions behind her actions and their implications bestowed upon her a bad case of overthinking.

"I washed your clothes for you..." mumbled Roxanne sheepishly, briskly shoving the ball of dry, fuzzy clothes into William's hands.

After a brief moment of confusion, which has happened far too often in this house, William smiled cheekily, a plan in his mind. Drawing inspiration from his father, Jonathan, and his usual antics with Catherine, William made his next move boldly.

Holding the ball of clothes under his right arm, he walked up to Roxanne, looping the other arm around her waist. He pulled her swiftly and firmly, mashing her body against his, causing her to gasp in surprise.

"Do you remember what I said? Now that, was something a wife would do," whispered William slowly, into Roxanne's ear, placing emphasis on every word.

"Hwah?!" squeaked Roxanne.

This was his first verbal counterattack towards her, and it was a great success.

For the first time since they had met, Roxanne was unable to retort. Her mouth hung open in silent exclamation, as her skin flushed due to her furious blushing.

Roxanne's eyes began to tear up in frustration, as she childishly stamped her feet and turned her back on William. Poking out from her hair, a pair of reddened ears could be seen. She cleared her throat loudly and exaggeratedly.

"Y-you're a cheeky one, you know that?" she stammered, "I'll make sure to punish you for this someday..."

"Whatever you say, lover," teased William one last time.

Another angry, unintelligible noise could be heard from Roxanne.

***

After everyone was dressed, they hailed a carriage and boarded it...

The carriage was going quite fast, pulled by Tier 1 horses that were trained to perform at the Capital's standards, capable of speeds of up to 50 km/hr. They typically only needed to carry lighter loads and fewer passengers, allowing them to achieve this speed.

As William sat in the carriage, his mind wandered. Roxanne and Gwen were seated next to him, with Thea and Claire opposite them. All of them seemed to wear the same dress as Roxanne, only in different colours. Gwen wore white, Thea wore purple, and Claire wore sunflower yellow.

Roxanne held William's right hand in her left, whilst looking out the window casually, watching the buildings and people fly by.

Gwen, on the other hand, was completely immersed in cuddling William's left arm. She was rubbing her cheek into his muscular shoulder, her shoulder-length silver hair sprawled across his upper arm.

Her expression and smile stemmed from pure, una.d.u.l.terated glee.

William looked at her quizzically, wondering why she was suddenly so affectionate, and frankly, cute.

"Gwen seems to have taken a liking to you, William," commented Thea.

William's face grew visibly more confused.

"It's most likely because you cheered her up," commented Roxanne.

"What happened to cause her such sorrow in the first place?" asked William.

Claire scoffed in response, twirling her blonde hair idly with a finger.

"She was supposed to be wedded last night. Unfortunately, the groom seemed to change his mind, and never came. I heard he even left the Capital," revealed Claire.

One could see Gwen's mood visibly diminishing, as she laid her head on William's shoulder, no longer moving. A long, dejected sigh escaped her lips, one that caused William's heart to ache simply by hearing it.

"We went to The Sleeping Bear to help her get over her sadness with drink, alas, it was of no help," explained Roxanne.

"However, we did meet you there, and up until then, she had not smiled even once since she stood alone at the altar," she continued.

William froze, from head to toe, as his body went completely rigid.

Wait...

So I...with a woman who was someone's fiancee?!

William released a mixture between a groan and sigh, as an internal conflict raged within him. He turned to Gwen, desperately hoping to find an answer to his strife upon her face.

Gwen's smile returned after their fateful meeting with William was mentioned, as she blissfully closed her eyes, resuming her loving nuzzling of William's shoulder, contentment written all over her face.

William bore witness to her lovable nature and endearing smile, his heart shaken.

Aaah...I want to protect this smile...

***

About 10 minutes later...

"Thank you!" shouted Roxanne after paying the carriage driver.

As William and the four alighted, he saw the sign of an inn, hanging above its door.

'Crusty Pans and Beds'

"Here we are, time to eat!" yelled Claire, racing in through the wooden double doors, the bright yellow of her dress disappearing with her.

Thea, Roxanne, William and Gwen followed behind her, opening the doors and entering the inn.

"Owner! Five sweetroot pies please!" shouted Claire.

The moment William set foot into the inn, with Gwen still clinging merrily to his arm, an unknown scent invaded his nostrils. A sweet aroma wafted over, as William felt his stomach roar, protesting against its emptiness.

A tubby, middle-aged man with a bald spot walked out of the kitchen, carrying four plates, a golden-brown pie sitting on each, a stream of steam drifting off from all four of them.

"As loud as ever, aren't ya Claire? Ah well, you wouldn't be you without all that noise. Seat yourselves, I've got four more that'll be ready soon," grumbled the owner of the inn, who also seemed to be its chef.

He set the pies down at a table with a family of four, before turning his head to face the group for the first time that day. When he spotted William amongst Claire and the others, he rubbed his chin, a smirk growing on his face.

The owner's expression softened, seeing Gwen contentedly hugging the arm of William, with no signs of her sorrow from the day before.

He let out a long sigh of relief, now appreciating William and seeing him in a new light, before going back into the kitchen.

As William and the four seated themselves at a long table with around twelve seats, the owner was already on his way to them with four sweetroot pies. As the four received their plates, they seemed to be bubbling with excitement, eager to eat their pies as soon as possible. Roxanne was about to ask the owner about William's portion, before he answered her question.

"Young man, your pie should be done in a while. I have orders for pies almost every hour of every day, so I've always got some in the oven. Oh, and I'll bring a little something extra along, on the house," said the owner cheerfully, winking at William, before walking back to the kitchen.

William was puzzled but smiled nonetheless, nodding at the owner.

Roxanne seemed satisfied with his answer, and could tell why the owner was in such a great mood today. Turning to William and Gwen, she couldn't suppress the happiness that came from seeing a friend being able to smile like this again.

The four dug into their pies, as Gwen offered to feed William a piece, which he gratefully accepted.

The crust of the pie was savoury, fluffy, and spread warmth throughout his mouth.

The sweetroot filling was as its name entailed, sweet, yet also earthy, rich and creamy, a delectable combination that caused an irrepressible smile to break out on his face.

(Author note: Sweetroot is like sweet potato, but it isn't.)

This combination of flavours stunned William for a moment, as he tasted the piece Gwen fed him. He frowned, as he had never eaten anything like this before, in his entire life. The sweetness that the Capital's citizens knew from fancy baked goods and sweet things, was nonexistent in Birkstead and its inhabitants' tastebuds. The only baked goods available there were different types of bread.

Therefore, although the sweetroot pie was undeniably delicious, the foreign flavour of it took a while to settle in William's mouth, and even longer for his brain to process and memorize it.

William and the four ate merrily, as he had to accept that Gwen insisted on feeding him.

***

Around 15 minutes later...

Roxanne and the others had already finished their pies, and were idly chatting with William as he waited for his.

Inaudible shouting from outside could be heard, as a lithe figure slipped into the inn through its doors, without making much of a commotion.

Seeing William's group as the largest, they ran over to and sat in the seat next to him, using him to hide them from view. They sat very close to William, to the point where their t.h.i.g.hs were touching, and their shoulders were pressed against eachother.

The four were confused, but assumed that this individual was an acquaintance of William's, as they watched intently.

A head of jaw-length, silver hair was bent forwards, using William's body to hide it. It was messy, yet still possessed its own charm due to how it framed their face and grey eyes, whose piercing stare gave William a chill that ran up his back.

They possessed soft, gentle facial features, resembling that of a girl.

Long, delicate eyelashes.

Light pink coloured lips. The upper lip was slim and elegant, whilst the lower lip was full and alluring.

A button nose, cute and dainty.

A smaller build, and narrow shoulders.

The only word that would do their appearance justice, is 'beautiful'.

A girl?

No...wait...

As their bodies were very close, William deduced that this person was a male, like him. The reason was that he lacked the naturally sweet, pleasant smell that girls and women tend to have about them.

In fact, this person had an extremely neutral smell, one that even caused him to second-guess his previous judgement.

"Hey yo-," began William, as the inaudible shouting got ever closer, before the doors to the inn were pushed open, and two maidservants poked their heads in, scanning the interior of the inn frantically.

The stranger hugged William's other arm, and placed his head onto his shoulder, mimicking Gwen, causing her to pout, and William to be internally horrified.

"Bear with it, please," whispered William to Gwen and himself.

He decided to place some trust in this strange fellow, who would even go to such lengths to hide himself.

The maidservants glaced over the room a few times, before sighing exasperatedly and leaving to check elsewhere, resuming their shouting.

The moment the doors closed, the stranger breathed a heavy sigh of relief, relaxing his body, completely leaning onto William, like Gwen.

In response and retaliation, Gwen reached over, poking the cheek of the stranger repeatedly, before drawing a question mark on his face with her finger.

"Huh? Oh, I see...," He shrunk back, confused and in shock at Gwen's unusual behaviour, before guessing that she was unable to speak.

William's confusion grew for the umpteenth time since his arrival in the Capital, as the voice that he heard from the stranger's mouth was essentially a girl's.

"My name's Aiden," said he, extending a gloved hand whilst introducing himself, "What's yours?"

"Mine's William, nice to meet you," mumbled William shakily, shaking Aiden's hand.

Through a glove of black silk, William felt Aiden's hand during their handshake.

Soft, slender, and delicate.

His hand was significantly smaller than William's, or any other guy he had shaken hands with before. William had never questioned Aiden's gender as much as he had, in the brief moments of that handshake.

"You have my gratitude. Had you not provided me with a chance to hide myself, I would have been caught. That would have been quite troublesome."

"It's no problem at all, I'm just curious what all that was about."

"It was nothing of importance, really. I simply ran away from my escorts, and out of my family's estate," replied Aiden casually, as if the chaotic situation he had just mentioned was of no significance.

William was taken aback, but dismissed the idea of probing further, as Aiden's definition of chaos was most likely vastly different from his. Furthermore, there was a more pressing question in the front of his mind.

"Aiden, you are a guy, right?" inquired William, without a shred of hesitation.

With a 50/50 chance, he figured that he might as well fearlessly choose an option.

Aiden's body and facial expression froze, as he went completely silent.

Was I mistaken?

William's mind immediately began racing to find an excuse or apology, as beads of sweat began to form on his forehead.

Aiden raised his head to look at William, his eyes glistening with tears, bearing a smile that spanned from ear to ear.

"Finally, someone who can tell that I'm a man! And without hesitation, at that! Bravo!" exclaimed Aiden as he threw his arms around William, squeezing him.

Aiden had laid his head on William's c.h.e.s.t during the hug, which served to unsettle him even further.

William, on the other hand, had still not completely come to terms with the disparity between Aiden's looks and gender, almost to the point of doubting his very existence.

"I think I like you, William!" laughed Aiden, wiping a tear of joy away.

William's only reply was a grunt, unsure of how he should take that statement, if at all.

The fact that those words were spoken in a voice that was deceptively female, made him happier than he would have liked, against his better judgement.

The four chuckled, finding their antics incredibly amusing.

Roxanne and their others realized that although interactions between the two were peculiar, they were genuine. Nodding to each other with smiles, they stood up, leaving their payment next to their plates, and a small pouch in front of William.

"William, the girls and I need to go buy an important herb," announced Roxanne, "There's 10 silver in the pouch. It's more than enough for you to have some fun, and get home later."

"Thank you, but what are you going to buy? I'm curious as to what would have all of you rushing off like this," asked William, a look of ignorant wonder on his face.

Roxanne smirked, Thea chuckled, as Claire had her usual belly laugh, and Gwen giggled silently.

Placing a hand on the lower half of her stomach, Roxanne grinned.

Payback time.

"Let's just say that if we don't procure any by the end of today, you might end up a father to four children in around nine months' time," she reminded William.

The owner stopped dead in his tracks, plates of hot food still in hand, overcome by shock.

The patrons of the inn paused, any and all conversations halted, all of them turning to stare at William and the others.

Aiden whistled in surprise.

William's brain seemed to stop functioning as he stood up in bewilderment, yet had to sit back down as the news drained his legs of the strength to do anything.

"Y-yes, go...go d-do that," stammered William weakly, as the possible ramifications of the night before dawned upon him all at once, at that very moment.

The four waved and winked their farewells to William, unable to stop themselves from laughing at his reaction on their way out.

Soon after their departure, the inn seemed to thaw, as everyone gradually resumed their previous business and conversations.

"Impressive! You've lay with all four of those beauties? I say, William, you seem to be a man that I can only aspire to be like!" complimented Aiden as he gave William a light smack on the shoulder.

"...Your appearance won't help you with that, especially when you look like you could be my next target," muttered William quietly under his breath to himself, his head turned away.

"I heard that."

"Huh?!"

"So, do I happen to be on your 'list', William? Regretfully, I happen to be unable to bear children. Or perhaps, is that a good thing?" joked Aiden, winking at William.

"Shut it! This is no joking matter, I'm much too young to be a father!" retorted William.

"That makes me an even better choice, actually," teased Aiden relentlessly.

"AAAAH!" roared William, now incapable of forming words to respond with.

Aiden had lost all composure by this point and was now laughing himself to tears, his head laid sideways on the table, as he banged its surface with a fist.

Their conversation was interrupted when a massive plate was set down in front of William. On it were two steaks, a few 'sunny side up' style eggs, and oven-baked potatoes. Directly after that, a smaller plate was placed slightly farther away from him, with a hot, fresh sweetroot pie on it.

"Here, William, was it?" asked the owner, "This is on the house, which means you don't have to pay for it, this time at least."

"Thank you, owner."

"William, have you heard what happened to Gwen?"

William nodded.

"I've known those girls for a long, long time. It was painful to see her, the little girl I saw grow up, being betrayed and left to suffer like that. I was worried, William, because I can't do much more for her than feed her sweetroot pie and some food. I had no clue how I was going to help her out of that dark place she had fallen into," continued the owner, "But now, seeing her smile like this again, has dispelled all my worries. This meal is a 'thank you', so make sure you enjoy every bite of it."

"I will, owner. Thank you, once again."

"You had better. If you don't, I'll charge you double for everything, for the rest of your life!" threatened the owner jokingly.

William then put on an act of being frightened out of his wits, covering the top of his head in his hands, wailing 'Nooooo' with a tone of despair.

Nodding with approval, the owner turned to Aiden.

"I'm quite happy to say this, but no free food for you. What would you like?"

"Hmm, I have not had pasta in a while. Could I have some in...perhaps, meat sauce?"

The owner massaged his temples in frustration.

"I swear, every time you come here, you just happen to know what I already have prepared!"

"I just happen to be lucky with my guesses, I guess?" reasoned Aiden, shrugging.

Sighing, the owner walked into the kitchen, only to come out less than a minute later with a plate of piping hot pasta in meat sauce.

Aiden paid up front, and began to eat with William, who had wordlessly waited for his food to arrive.

However, just a few minutes into their meal, Aiden scrutinized William, this time especially closely. He looked not only at William, but seemed to observe the space around him as well. Aiden leaned towards William, drawing very close to him, whispering something into his ear.

A question, asked ever so simply.

So casually.

Yet its contents filled his stomach with a pit of endless dread.

"You...can use Mana, can't you?"