She wondered if she should ask around for ideas of what to call it, but at the same time, she wanted to give it a name that felt like she was more of a part of it rather than just what others thought it should be. Especially since she already was finding the names of the few cities she'd been in more than a little strange.
Although, she knew she couldn't ask her friends for suggestions, as that would just reveal to them not only where she was, but likely the fact that she was at least one of the people in charge, if not the one with the highest position there.
Maybe she was a little overcautious about it, but she was at least confident that her friends likely would want to meet up with her, if only to share what information each of them had been able to obtain about the griffin canyon that they'd come to these worlds to find.
Then after that, they'd likely want to stick around with Jenn, which she really didn't want to have happen. Not when she knew Beth's life would still be in danger. Even if she still hadn't figured out how.
_
Embris didn't know what was going on. She'd been startled awake from an afternoon nap by a scream of some kind in time to see an ogress break through the doors of the main building and flee into the forest on the mountainside.
What that was about, she couldn't say. All she knew was that something had happened.
So, she started to run towards the main building, the only one that she had a feeling wouldn't go away, even once they started building new ones to replace the housing they'd tried to build before.
When she reached the door, she heard someone inside screaming, "I saw her! I saw her! She killed the Blue Rose!"
Embris felt her blood run cold as she opened the door. She wasn't sure if what would happen if that turned out to be true. Especially since she had finally started to stop thinking of leaving. She liked this world, even if she wasn't exactly fond of the mountains. She didn't want to have this place fall apart because it didn't have a leader.
However, what she saw in front of her nearly made her fall to her knees in shock. She saw a dagger plunged into the chest of the Blue Rose. The mask and hooded tunic gave it away. Only the Blue Rose wore those.
While a small part of her said they should pull off the mask and see who it was, the rest of her was screaming out to know who did this. She wanted to know who it was so she could…
Embris wasn't sure how to finish that thought. All she knew was that she wanted to do something about this.
She saw a young woman being held down by three others. She had light blue hair, magenta eyes, and tears streaming down her face. She was the one who was screaming that she saw who'd killed the Blue Rose.
As Embris walked closer, she felt numb. She wasn't sure what might be real or not, but she was confident that there had to be some mistake. That somehow this wasn't the Blue Rose. The one who had given her a place that she liked enough to want her siblings to live in. Even the ones that weren't with her right then.
After she'd taken three steps, she felt something stop her movement. It felt like a hand pulling hers back, but it took her a minute to even comprehend that's what it was.
As she turned her head, she saw Cithis pulling on her hand. "What do you want?" Embris asked in a voice that hardly felt like it was hers with how hollow it sounded.
"Mother should be back soon. She'll get to the bottom of this," Cithis said. "Until then we need to keep everything from changing as much as we can."
Embris wasn't sure if it was the expression of hers that prompted Cithis to say more, but she knew that she certainly hadn't said anything. It felt like her mind couldn't comprehend what had happened and was struggling to even understand as much as she'd seen and heard up to that point.
"Mother said if anything like this happened, it'd be best to keep the scene as much the same as possible until she or Tchisa could get there," Cithis added, somehow making Embris stop trying to move forward.
Yes, Tchisa would be someone with enough authority to organize things so that they all didn't erupt into chaos. Even if she had to take over, at least Embris knew that she should still be able to have a home here. No matter what else occurred.
Embris felt her body start to regain some feeling and her breathing to even out. She hoped that nothing would happen in the meantime to make her feel like everything was coming apart again, but she wasn't sure if there was anything she could do to prevent that from occurring.
Embris then let Cithis lead her to the side of the room to wait for either of the two she'd mentioned. She wasn't sure how long before Zirisia showed up and started getting everyone to not approach the body of the Blue Rose.
With Zirisia there, Embris couldn't help but feel even more reassured that things would somehow turn out well enough. Even if she didn't know how.
Embris felt relaxed enough that she let her eyes close for a moment, but when she opened them again, darkness had settled and Jenn was entering the room with Riewis. Neither of them looked like they understood what was going on. Just that something had happened.
Though, once Jenn saw the body of the Blue Rose, she rushed over to the body, put two fingers at her neck before sighing. Embris wasn't sure what she had been checking for, but she doubted that Jenn found it.
Jenn then carefully lifted the mask off of the Blue Rose and set it to the side. Riewis said something to Jenn that Embris couldn't hear, but she wasn't going to ask what it was. All she knew was that they were doing something to figure out what happened.
Yet, when her eyes saw whose face had been covered by the mask, Embris felt like something had grabbed her stomach and was squeezing the lunch she'd had earlier, threatening to send it back upstairs.
She recognized the young woman. It was Jianopra. She'd seen her before, even when she saw someone else wearing the mask of the Blue Rose. She wasn't sure what it meant, but doubt started to form that the Blue Rose had been actually killed.
Embris felt hands gripping her arms so someone could slide under them and when she looked she saw Nymis and Rephis putting her arms around them. Whom she eagerly hugged. Regardless of what else, she was grateful to have them there and safe with her.
"Wha' happened, Embris?" Nymis asked quietly, her speech starting to sound more intelligent as she was a little older than when they'd been chased out of their village.
"Someone was killed," Embris answered just as quietly.
Somehow it felt like it would be rude to say more than that. Even though she wasn't sure how or why.
"Oh," was all her sister said in response. Which Embris was grateful for. As she wasn't sure how she'd respond if Nymis had said anything else.
"Who saw what happened," Jenn called out, authority ringing from her voice.
With Riewis next to her, Embris couldn't say that she was surprised at how Jenn was taking control. Riewis looked a little lost herself, but when Jenn's question rang out in the stillness around them, she seemed to snap back to the present.
When Jenn had spoken, it wasn't silent around them, but it was quiet. Any conversation, talking, or questions were all done quietly, as if everyone had been afraid to speak too loudly. At least after the person who had been screaming had quieted down.
"I-I did," the young woman said, a handkerchief being used to blot the tears from her eyes by a young man. "It was that ogress. She stabbed the Blue Rose. There didn't even seem to be any reason for her to do that!"
Jenn nodded, though Embris felt like there was something about what that young woman said that felt off. She wasn't sure what it was, but it felt more like the feeling she frequently got when any of her family was bullied back in her home village. Like a smug undercurrent in the young woman's tone. As if she did something and got away with it.
Jenn sighed. Then turned to Riewis before heading towards the stairs and climbing them.
"Alright everyone!" Riewis called out, pulling Embris' attention from Jenn. "We'll need everyone to clear out of this building until we have this in hand. What we'll decide to do about this is yet to be determined, but what I can tell you is, is that the Blue Rose wasn't killed. Jianopra was merely her stand-in, so we at least have that going for us. However, she was still one of us, and so we will do what we can to bring whoever or whatever did this to her to justice."
Embris couldn't help but notice a look of surprise on the young woman who said she witnessed the whole thing. While Embris wanted to believe that it was because, like Embris, she didn't know that there were stand-ins for the Blue Rose, but somehow, it felt different. Although Embris couldn't quite pin how so.
As she stood up, she made sure to keep in contact with Nymis and Rephis. If only because the death of another person seemed almost a reminder that that could have happened to her brother and sister. Where she knew that she was lucky to still have them here when there was so much that could happen to them. Even when everything was as safe as it could be.
_
Jenn felt sick to her stomach and not just because of the situation she'd come back to. Jianopra was someone that she was sure could have been a friend if they'd gotten to know each other better. Jianopra had bee quick to understand when Jenn had managed to give her and the other stand-ins lessons on using their magic.
Yet, all that potential was wasted and she only knew of one thing she could do at this point: seek out the chief of the ogres and talk to him about the matter.
While Jenn hoped that there was a misunderstanding, she couldn't say for sure. Not without going against her own decision about not using her magic to look into the minds of those who had been in that room. If the one who had killed Jianopra had been in that room, Jenn had a feeling her resolve down the road of continuing to avoid using her magic that way would begin to crumble. That it would be easier to justify using it that way.
Which she was certain would lead her to become a dictator or worse. At least someone who was suspicious of all those around her, including those who should be her friends and allies.
Although, at the moment, it was difficult to not be suspicious based on how unexpected this attack was.
"What're we going to do about that ogress?" Riewis asked, pulling Jenn out of her thoughts to find that the room had been cleared of everyone aside from Jenn, Cithis, Riewis, and her other stand-ins.
"I'll go speak to the chief of the ogres," Jenn declared. "He's not interested in fighting, so we should be able to find a way to avoid conflict."
"Are you sure about that?" Riewis asked, sounding almost accusatory. "You see what that ogress did, didn't you?"
Jenn looked again at Jianopra's body. A small dagger had been plunged in under her ribcage, possibly piercing her heart, but if not that, then a lung. It was a gruesome scene that Jenn would rather never had seen, even in a movie, yet she knew that to do so would be to turn away from what she could see had happened to her friend.
"I'm sure," Jenn said, though the dagger tickled at something in her mind. She wasn't sure what it was, but she felt it'd somehow be important. Like a puzzle piece that didn't quite fit, even though she hadn't figured out exactly how.
"Is there anything you need, mother?" Cithis asked, looking at Jenn with a worried expression.
Jenn pulled Cithis to her in a gentle embrace, one hand behind her back and one on her head. "Just for you to keep things running as smoothly as you can here," Jenn whispered to her. "I'll be back soon enough and we'll get everything sorted out."
"Shouldn't you be asking the Blue Rose to do this?" Riewis asked, sounding a little irate.
Not that Jenn could really blame her.
However, she didn't have time to go around and debating on why she should go as well as why she wasn't trying to consult the actual Blue Rose on the matter. So, she glanced at Roesadra in hopes of getting some kind of support, even though she wasn't sure what that might look like.
However, it was Saelea that came to her rescue. "Actually, Jenn was selected to be the Blue Rose's stand-in when it came to the ogres. Whenever she needs to speak to them, she's the one who has to go."
Riewis looked at Jenn, her expression a question in and of itself. "I was told not to say anything to anyone about it," Jenn replied in her most contrite voice, as if that was a secret no one else was supposed to know.
Riewis merely scoffed in annoyance. "Then how did Saelea learn about it?"
"I know a lot more than you do about directions the Blue Rose has given. As do the rest of us in here. Roesadra and Oleania knew about it as well because it was necessary for us to know, as the Blue Rose only wants one stand-in at a time. She doesn't want Jenn to go to the ogres while one of us are passing judgement one someone down here. Only one Blue Rose is supposed to exist at any time," Saelea answered for Jenn.
Jenn felt a little surprised at how thoroughly the explanation had been thought through. Jenn certainly had doubts that she'd have been able to come up with something so well thought out on the spur of the moment like that. Although a part of her suspected that Saelea might have been coming up with that for a while now.
Not that Jenn understood how or why she suspected it would have been necessary.
Riewis sighed. "So, you're saying that Jenn's supposed to go check with them and I'm not supposed to say a thing about it, am I?"
Saelea nodded. "We're sorry about that, but while we'd have rather kept it from you, it was clear that you would have made more trouble for us if you hadn't been brought in the loop. If you're able to keep that to yourself for a while, maybe the Blue Rose will allow you to know who she actually is."
Jenn felt that last sentence was for her. While she trusted Riewis for the most part, she still was hesitant to reveal her own identity like that. Even if she really trusted Riewis, she wasn't sure that she'd do that. It just felt like she would then be betraying the principle of the point of having kept it from all those who didn't already know that she was the Blue Rose.
"I thought as much," Riewis sighed before turning to Jenn. "It looks like you better get going. I know it's dark out and you probably wanted to rest, but this is going to take priority. Until you speak to the chief of the ogres, we have to assume that the ogress is the murderer, no matter what else you might think."
Jenn nodded. She'd already understood that point, but she didn't feel like commenting on that point. Especially since she was pretty sure that Riewis would take it the wrong way. That it would merely create more problems than they really needed right then.
While she'd like to try and get things set up to go smoother while she was gone, she had to accept that she couldn't do anything else at the moment about any of this. That she needed to go and do her part on this matter, regardless of what came of this matter back here.
Although, she had to leave the hooded tunic that Jianopra was wearing, since it had gotten rather soiled by her blood. Not to mention the fact that it had a hole in it from the dagger.
"Uh, is there a hooded tunic I could use in place of that one?" Jenn asked, feeling a little uneasy about having to ask that in the first place.
"I have one up in my room," Oleania said, quickly turning to head there before anyone could say anything in response.
"What's the reason for the hooded tunic?" Riewis asked. "That's always been something for the lower end of peasants to wear."
Jenn shrugged. "I guess it helps keep the identities of those wearing the mask easier," she answered simply. "Though, you'd have to ask the Blue Rose about that."
Riewis scowled at Jenn. "Don't think that just because you're one of the Blue Rose's stand-ins that I won't do something to you when you get back if you say things like that."
Jenn nodded, not really surprised at the reaction. She figured she'd say it just to get under Riewis' skin a little, but she didn't plan on pushing her luck that much.
It wasn't long before Oleania came back down with a tunic for Jenn to wear, though she had to acknowledge that the one that she'd made had been much less scratchy than the one that Oleania had loaned her. Which made Jenn resolve to make more of those tunics, so each of her stand-ins had two of them each. Plus herself.
However, she knew that would need to be taken care of later. After this current crisis was resolved.
So, Jenn quickly put the mask on and started towards the door. She only stopped when Riewis spoke again.
"If it really wasn't the ogress, bring the evidence so we can gut the coward who did this."
Jenn nodded at Riewis, not wanting to say anything at the moment. She had a feeling if she did, that she'd be creating an even bigger delay before she'd be able to get back here. Which was also a problem due to the fact that she could feel herself starting to want to get to sleep. As even walking the distance she had gone with Riewis was rather tiring.
So, she turned and went out into the night. She was at least glad that the moon gave plenty of light for her to see by and that there didn't seem to be a cloud in the sky to hide the moon. With the only real problem being that she couldn't just sit and enjoy the view. That she'd have to merely use the light it provided to show her the way.