Please, let the journey begin

The sun is about to rise, and I am already on my way to the city. The early bird catches the worm or so. Normally no one would see me at this hour outside of my bed. But I am so nervous about my meeting with the other team members and the mission that I was not able to sleep a bit.

Theoretically I already know the other team members, to be precise the other two team members from the book. But my plot knowledge is no longer a guarantee. And the hero's behavior is also not what I expected. So I just have to form an opinion of them myself.

I enter the city; there is already a lot of activity. The people must have heard of the coming departure of the hero. The people around me are all whispering to themselves. Do they know I'm part of the mission, or are they just bored? I don't know, but who cares?

I take the most direct route to the inn. I pause in front of the door. I'm not very sociable, and as someone who lives as a loner outside the city, people also consider me weird. But hey, better to be weird than to be mistaken for a witch. Even if that's true. 

While I hesitate, the door suddenly opens outward and smacks me in the face.

"Ahhh..."

I fall flat on my backside, as the weight of my backpack pulls me backward. Gravity is a wonderful thing.

"What the hell...?" I whisper and touch my hurting butt.

A shadow dims the light above me, and a tall, muscular figure steps out of the tavern. A man with scars everywhere and short, slightly disheveled red hair stands before me.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't see you. Let me help you up."

He takes my hand and pulls me up with a yank.

My eyes widen, and I exclaim, "Whaaa...!"

The momentum briefly lifts my feet off the ground until I land with a slight bump. I wasn't expecting that. He could have easily thrown me over his shoulder! After I regain my composure, I look into the man's red eyes and say,

"Thanks for the help."

Wait a minute... red eyes, red hair, wide as a cupboard and an axe strapped to his back... that's Knox! He is the second in the group and the tank of this mission. Why am I so surprised? We are planned to meet at this inn anyways. I guess it's always surprising seeing one of the main characters in real life or whatever this world is.

"Are you ok? I am a bit straightforward; I hope that won't frighten you." While talking, he laughs embarrassedly and grabs the back of his head.

Oh yes, despite his gruff appearance, he is a nice character with a good heart.

A little nervous, I say.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My name is Aria. I'm supposed to meet Lionel here."

"Oh, so you are the healer. Nice to meet you. I am Knox Einar. I am a previous mercenary and the tank in our team. Lionel talked about you a lot, you know?"

"He did?" I ask while lifting my eyebrow incredulously.

"Yes, yes, just good things. But come in first."

He puts his arm on my shoulder and practically pushes me into the inn.

"Wait, weren't you about to leave?"

"I just wanted to get fresh air; come with me first and meet the last one in the group," he says.

Before I can refuse or say anything, he's already dragging me to a big table.

Lionel and another man with dark purple, middle-length hair bound in a little ponytail, with a clean-looking face, carrying a bow and quiver are sitting at the table.

Ah! that must be the archer and range fighter of the team. What was his name? Casper? Ah...no, it was Caspian! He is a hunter known for his accuracy.

"Aria, you are here!" Lionel says while standing up.

"Hello, beautiful woman, I am Caspian Elowen. And if you don't know already, I am a hunter and archer who can hit every target. You must be the healer of our team."

That you can hit every target doesn't mean you can hit on me...
But oh, now I know. He is described as a bit conceited who is kind of a womanizer.

I look at him with a serious face and say, "Yes..."

As he obviously expected another reaction from me, he seems to change his strategy before an awkward silence could break out.

"Did you know that Lionel has been strangely careless these past few days? He usually plays it safe, but strangely enough, he's often gone on missions without armor."

Lionel shouts, "I don't know what you mean, Caspian. Stop making things up!"

"Yes, yes... you even refused to let me accompany you during the wolf pack attack, even though I could have protected you from a distance..."

Lionel looks at Caspian with a fake smile and tries to signal him with a sideways nod and a roll of his eyes in my direction that he should stop.

But Caspian has the sensitivity of a steamroller and keeps talking.

Lionel says, "Didn't you want to get drinks from the bar?"

"Not that I know of. I want to tell her the best part where you..."

Lionel grabs Caspian by the collar and pulls him towards the bar.

"But I'm quite sure. Come on, I will help you, not that you stumble over your own mouth."

While Lionel drags him towards the bar, Caspian's heels are dragging on the ground.

Caspian calls out to me, "We'll talk more later."

What a chatterbox... but he seems to be a nice person after all.

That Caspian wanted to buy drinks is obviously a lie! I did not think that the hero was able to lie, but he also kind of tricked me into joining his team. So I am not that surprised anymore.
And what can I say...it worked.

"What is your motivation to join the mission?" Knox asks.

I think for a moment.

"As you know, I didn't really have a choice, as Lionel always appeared wounded and did not let me be," I say.

"Don't you have another motivation?"

Theoretically I have to help him to gain the happy end of this world, and I eventually messed up the story a bit. But let's say it in a way that makes sense to him.

A little melodramatic I say, "I can't let this world fall into ruins. Without me the mission cannot be completed."

My face becomes serious again. "And I want the reward money."

"The reward Money is also Caspian's motivation; as someone who likes to gamble and live his life to the fullest, he really likes money. And he wants the fame, I think."

Yeah, those are the characters I read about. Finally some information that does not deviate from my novel knowledge. But without this information, I would have also assessed him that way.
I already know the answer, but let's ask to be polite.

"What is your motivation, Knox?"

"I search for challenges. In my life as a previous mercenary, there were no thrills anymore. But this mission is supposed to be really fun."

I am not sure if fun is the best word to describe the situation. But at least someone will have fun or whatever his weird imagination of fun is.

Finally, Lionel and Caspian come back. Oh...and they actually brought drinks.

"Because someone here wants us to stay sober at our departure..." Caspian looks at Lionel accusingly and goes on speaking,"...we have only bought water to drink."

While drinking the water out of a wooden cup, I stare at Lionel with a thoughtful and slightly annoyed look. Lionel seems to feel a little uneasy, because he nervously starts to look away and focuses on his drink. But I don't care. The other characters are like in the novel, and my knowledge of human nature agrees with this.

But Lionel is different...

In my previous life I was so good at reading other people, but I can not really assess what he thinks and how he behaves. He also doesn't really act like he does in the novel. Also, his motivation for saving the princess was not so deep in the actual story. His sense of justice and his sense of commitment to the kingdom were enough of a motive in the book. What else don't I know?

I will monitor him on the journey closely until I can assess him. Speaking of the Journey...

"Aren't we supposed to depart soon?" I ask into the round.

Lionel's gaze becomes serious. 

"Now that we've gotten to know each other, we can come to the main part. The mage's tower is constantly changing its location. To locate the tower, we need to go to "The Cursed Dungeon." There's an orb that's capable of locating strong magical power, like that emitted by the tower. Because the tower constantly changes its position, the mage can't permanently conceal the magical power that emanates from it. And when that happens, we can find its current location."

"But what if it's gone when we get there?" Knox asks.

"The tower never stands for longer than three days in one place. We have to hope we can reach it in that time. Otherwise, we'll have to keep trying until its location is within our range."

"But Lionel, isn't that a bit risky?" asks Caspian.

"That may be, but it's our only option!"

"If you say so, chief," replies Caspian, shrugging.

The plan is really not that stable, but it is the only option, and as I know from the book already, it will work. Unfortunately, I don't know the actual location. Because the story had already changed, the day of the departure was delayed. So my information about the location of the tower is already out of date.

Knox jumps up and says, motivated. 

"Then let's go already!"

The other two also stand up and shout.

"Yes, let's go!"

A bit delayed, I also shout, "Let's go." Still sitting there...

Finally, the journey begins. It took a long time, so let's get it over now!