Duality of Morality

The kitchen floor was dusty, and the room was filled with awkward silence. Maria put on a smile and said to Gabi that they needed to go as well. "If things get rough, we will need to move to another realm for some time as well. But for now, I want to find some people who I can trust to build an organization, to build a team that can make a change in this realm."

They descended down the rocky streets of the fire realm to find a good old pub. Inside the pub, even though it was still early in the day, there were already a lot of warriors drinking and having a feast.

Maria explained to Gabi the need to find people who could join the organization and fight for the cause. Then she went off alone and sat down next to the biggest muscular guy in the pub. He was ginger and had a messy red beard. His arms were like two pine trees, and his back was wide enough to carry a ship on them.

He was built like a true warrior, and he immediately started laughing when Maria sat next to him.

"Hey Missy, I am not interested in easy women or helping the poor." A silky-smooth voice came from this giant mouth.

"You look very strong, mister. Would you protect me?" Maria said and winked at him.

"You just tried a mind-control spell, didn't you?"

"What, me? No, I would never, mister. I don't know what you are talking about. I have my charms, though."

"I see, what do you want?"

"I am looking for strong people to join me in a quest to become queen of this kingdom." She said almost confidently.

"I thought the king already had a wife." Ginger said loudly and started laughing with everyone at the table.

"Ha ha, very funny, that is not what I meant. My name is Maria, and I will be the next leader of the Fire Realm."

"I am Hero," said the muscular warrior while adjusting his ginger hair.

"Of course you are," Maria said and leaned in.

"It's my name, Hero."

"Oh, I get it, but you can also be the hero, like a saviour of mine."

"No, thank you. Look, I have things to do, people to lead, this squad of mine relies on me."

"That is just an excuse. You want to stay where you are and cuddle nicely with your little blanket that you named Blanky, that your ugly mum gave you when you were eighteen."

"It may be so," Hero said with his voice cracking a little bit.

Maria looked down for a second or two, finding the words. "Look, Hero, this is your call to adventure. This is the first major turning point in every story, where a hero's normal life is disrupted and they face a challenge that pulls them into a new world. And in all the books and history, the Hero went on the adventure to become a legend."

Gabi came to the table to check what was taking so long. "Let's go, Maria, I found some people to join, if we can go."

"This is Gabi," Maria pointed with her arm dramatically. "Gabi, this is Hero."

Gabi bowed. "I am sorry to disturb you, I will leave you to it."

Hero looked at Maria with a sense of sadness; he saw something in her, and he asked for a moment of silence from everyone to stop and think.

Maria didn't know what was happening, what was going through the head of this muscular giant of a silky-smooth voice. She was observing a tattoo on his chest, some kind of symbolic and geometric shapes. It looked like it had some purpose more than a cool factor. Maria had some small symbols on her body as well; it was all for spellcasting's sake.

"If you free my sister from the prison of the Shadow Realm, I will join your party and your cause, but only if you manage to do this. And only I will join, my men will go their own way."

"Great deal." Maria put her hand forward to seal the deal.

Hero spat in his palm and shook Maria's hand. "Her name is Heroina, and she is in there casting some pretty big and illegal spells. But I guess if you can free her and reunite me with her, I can join you." He paused shortly, with his voice cracking again, and uttered, "If you free her, I can do anything."

Maria whispered something in Hero's ear and then went on her way.

"Hey, Gabi, let's go. These people you gathered, and we are having our first mission as an organization."

"We are ready, we are happy to join you," one of the men standing near Gabi said. "I am Lofi, and my brothers-in-arms and I are ready to battle, always. What is your organization's name?"

Maria put a finger to her forehead and stuck her tongue out a little bit. "Hmmm. I guess we will be called Zeppelin. I like that word."

"Okay, we will be Zeppelin if you, as leader, say so."

"Red Zeppelin," Maria said.

"Okay, Red Zeppelin it is, we are ready." Lofi showed her a small spell. He created an illusion of himself. Then he created multiple illusions of himself.

Maria was impressed. "I don't remember if I ever saw such a spell before. That is amazing. Can you teach me?"

"I am afraid I can't," Lofi said. "It uses multiple realm setups and multiple vision activations, as well as many symbols and practices."

"Okay, okay, I get it. I will not even try, I know how creating duplicates of yourself can be dangerous." Some spells are really better kept illegal for regular folk, she thought. But she couldn't say it out loud or accept it in her heart.