Marisk's Ring

The young boy, washed now by the priest they’ve imposed on, comes back to Callidus, who turns the ring he’s taken around in his fingers again and again, his face only half-interested.

“What’re you even going to do with that ring? Sell it?”

“I’m not giving you a cut. And I’m not selling it either. I think I’ll show it to somebody who might know what it is, for starters. It’s some kind of magic.”

“And you don’t think it’ll come back to bite you that you stole it?”

“If it does then so be it. I’ll go looking, I guess. Don’t get caught again.” Callidus begins to leave the church, then has a thought, stops, and turns back around. “And if you see that old man again, try to stay away from him.”

With that, Callidus leaves the church and begins walking while still fingering the ring. He can’t imagine it would be too difficult to find Libarius, but he also can’t imagine it being too easy to get him to help. Callidus simply hopes that the ring is enough to pique his interest. Or that perhaps Gracia will happen to be nearby and can compel Libarius to be useful. However, before Callidus can get very far, he hears the high and stern voice of a woman he knows and shoves the ring into a pocket.

“Callidus, what are you wearing?”

Callidus turns to face her. The girl standing there is pale, with light blonde hair and blue eyes. She wears a long white dress adorned with lace, the sleeves loose around her arms, and at her hip is a wide-bladed sword in a black and purple sheath. Callidus, meanwhile, wears an incredibly simple shirt and pants, just like any other normal man on the street might be wearing, though there’s a bit of blood and dirt on his side where he had held the boy. Compared to his youth, Callidus thinks he might look rich, if not for the proper young lady of a noble house in front of him.

“I’m wearing perfectly ordinary clothes, Elder Sister. If you’ll notice, any of the men on the street today might be dressed just like this.” Callidus waves an arm to gesture out at them. At this time of day, there is no shortage of priests walking around the monastery, dressed in the proper attire.

“There’s blood.”

“Not mine, if that matters.”

“Callidus, you need to stop behaving in this way. Dressing like a common man, getting into fights wherever you go, all this reflects poorly on you.”

“On Father, you mean.”

“On you, and on Father, and on the entire family.”

“There’s a much easier way to protect your reputations, you know.”

“I won’t let any of them throw you back onto the streets, Callidus.”

“And I suppose you want me to thank you?”

“Also, I’ve been hearing some troubling things about you from some of the juniors I was close to at the Magic Institute—”

“All lies, every last thing. Unless they said something along the lines of ‘he’s among the very most brilliant mages I’ve ever seen’ that part’s true. And isn’t that enough? So just leave me be.”

“If nothing else, if you could at least return home once in a while—”

“Not happening, sorry.”

Callidus pivots quickly and makes a break for it. He ducks between priests, hoping his sister really will be too polite to follow right after him, and looks for some alley he might be able to hide himself in. He makes it quite far in so short a time, and should be able to get away, but before he can he hears another voice calling out to him.

“Callidus? What are you doing here?” It’s a voice he can’t resist in spite of himself. He stops and turns to face Stella.

“Hello there, Ms. Sidus.”

“Ah! There’s blood on you!” She reaches out to touch the red stain on his side. “What happened?”

“Nothing happened. I was just doing a good deed.”

“But where did the blood come from?”

“The blood was from some kid I found. I was taking a walk and I found some kid getting beat for stealing.”

“Are they alright?”

“Yeah, I got him away and stuck him up in some church for a bit. Scolded him and told him to steal from priests instead.” Stella smiles.

“You shouldn’t call it that. It’s charity. They’re giving it freely.”

“I guess so. Ah, I was helping out an old man too. So if you meet a man named Marisk who seems to be looking for Lama, he’s an old man covered in a cloak, stay clear of him. Ignore all that goodwill inside of you and avoid him.”

“Is he dangerous?”

“Think so. He’s a liar if nothing else.” Callidus touches the ring in his pocket. “I need to find Mr. Mitis, so I should go.” From behind Callidus is his sister’s voice.

“Callidus, we aren’t done here!” She rushes forward when she sees him stopped. “You need to come home sooner or later, Callidus. Choose today, when neither of us have business to attend to.” Stella sees the bitter flash on his face before Callidus fixes it and faces his sister. She steps forward before he can respond.

“A-actually… Callidus can’t go home… because… he promised to spend the whole day… with me.” It’s an obvious lie. Stella tries to hide her red face, not only from the awkwardness of lying when she isn’t used to it but also from the content of the lie itself. Though she isn’t looking at his face, she can hear the joy in Callidus’ voice.

“Yeah, that’s right, I really can’t go home. Can’t break a promise, after all. That’d be a stain on my reputation.”

“Callidus, your actions reflect not only on you and on us, but also on those who have chosen to associate with you. However, it is not my place to interfere in your personal affairs any further. I hope you enjoy your day, Callidus.” She begins to leave, but before she can, Stella leans in closer to Callidus.

“Is she one of your siblings?” Callidus answers loud enough for his sister to hear.

“Yeah. Alba, my older sister.” Alba stops moving.

“Do you still need me here?”

“I should at least introduce myself to you. My name is Stella Vidi Sidus.” Among the things that Alba has heard from her juniors, Stella’s name was brought up often, more than any other one person.

“Ah, you’re the fail—” Alba’s hand shoots up to cover her mouth. “My apologies. I shouldn’t have said that, least of all to someone I’ve just met.”

“No, it’s fine… I am a failed oracle, in the end.” Alba changes the topic quickly, which she finds easy enough to do. Stella’s name was brought up often, after all.

“Are you… close to my brother?”

“Something like that…”

“I see. I shouldn’t bother you two anymore.” As Alba begins to leave again, Stella looks at Callidus and has a small flash of white light, then flinches back and nearly falls. Both Alba and Callidus look towards her, Callidus moving to be able to catch her were she to fall.

“Are you alright, Ms. Sidus?”

“I… I am. Callidus, whatever it is you stole, you need to put it back. You need to return it, right now!”

“Hold on!” Callidus finds a thin metal cuff enclosed on one wrist, the other still in Alba’s hand. “C’mon, Sis! Isn’t this excessive!?”

“People must answer to justice, no matter who they are!”

“You’re off-duty!” Alba bows to Stella.

“My apologies, but it seems my brother is a greater fool than I ever would have thought. I’ll send him right to you once I’ve sorted him out.”

Alba begins to leave, dragging Callidus along by the chain.