Fairyland Chronicles - Character Side Stories

[Aaronock]

OOC: I don't care if I broke my usual text limits placed on myself, this was gunna get done right, or not done at all!

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Ezekiel finally had some place of safety that wasn’t just a pretty prison. Cynbel had found Summer and he both, and brought them to a fort in the land of Arunafelz. After being on the run from Amdusias for a week in the independent island nations, the new hidden location gave them far more protection. Despite being wanted criminals here, the very politics of the land would keep them safe. The people there had no time to worry about searching for them. Ezekiel only thought the government did it to save face against the Republic and Rune-Midgard.

The rogue situated himself into the new location quickly. Supplies for the fort quickly stacked with making quick, daily trips to Rachel. His body covered mostly in a grey muffler, only his eyes could be seen. He blended in perfectly here with his tanned skin, dark eyes, and currently black hair. Or at least, nobody questioned his mysterious appearances. Whenever anyone asked questions about the rogue as he made purchases, he said he was hired by Rachel to exterminate some extremists, or thieves. Both not true, but sounded convincing nonetheless. Before leaving daily with the supplies, Ezekiel would sit calmly at the town square, in a favored bench near the fountain. The metal of the chair remained cool, perhaps because of the water behind it spraying gently against it. Familiarity brought with it memories of easier times, with far simpler work. Strangely enough, as he sat on old memories, he just wanted to spit. Something gnawed at him now, he wanted more than whatever he had back then.

What did he have back then? Well, plenty of money, and a good bit of freedom to do as he pleased, and the occasional woman in bed. But realized in all of that saw a shell of a very lonely man. The rogue’s guild had camaraderie, but he didn’t associate with most of them. Most of his fellow rogue guildsmen and women were mid-tier. They were in it only for themselves. And then he himself wasn’t so different for a time. Forgetting why he even left the highest echelons of society, to try bringing change at the bottom. So easy to get caught up in petty drama and sneer at everyone else’s foolishness. For Ezekiel, getting caught up in the moment meant he didn’t have to worry about anything underneath himself. Eventually at the age of 20 or so, Ezekiel only snapped back to reality when he found out his old arranged fiancee now came chasing at his heels. She had a bottomless pile of cash at her disposal to find him. Now the rogue devoted his time to obscure himself further away from her, and actually achieve the goals he meant to when he first ran off from home.

With that, he began working with Katarin, and would try to achieve the higher rankings as an informations specialist with her. They had trained already for several years now together, when both found the guild at nearly the same time - though separately. Memories of fondness stitched together loosely as they learned weapons - she the sword, and he the dagger. Then proceeding onward to hiding more deeply in even the shallowest of shadows. To increase their speed and ability to dodge any swing, they would practice for twelve hours or more several times a week. Ezekiel’s favorite part of the training was there, the ability to lose oneself in the moment of combat and in a state in the mode of flight, instead of fight. Rising upward on how best to keep secrets even under the highest duresses of torture. They lived it all together and developed an odd bond between them. It also meant getting a little too close in the other’s boots to put a cherry on the top. This relationship would have worked itself out, but then the fiancee had found him shortly after reaching the some of the highest ranks in the guild with Katarin.

That brought him back full circle to some old business he tried to address in Louyang. Luckily the fort had plenty of paper upon which he could write. In the upper left corners of the fort, a large table with several chairs sat. He spotted his surroundings, and found himself thankfully alone that evening in that section of the place. The place was not damp, as it sat in the deserts of Arunafelz, it had a strong and particularly dry air about it. It clinged occasionally to the skin, but one grew accustomed to it. A few spiders hung their webs upon the walls and ceilings, but other than that, not much life teemed in this section. The emptiness of the place didn’t bother him any. In fact, it was exactly what the rogue needed for the task at hand.

That she-devil of a wife represented so much that he hated, but even he had to somehow admire her guile. To think, she not only found out where he had gone, but discovered the aliases he worked under with the power of her money. Then caught him right in her tracks using one of her servants as a front to a job to offer the papers for marriage - or sink forever in jail. Perhaps that was the second mistake, he should have taken her along with the money. If he had done that, she could have shared freedom with him. Maybe eventually seeing no love between them, and finding her own path in life far sooner.

And now he had to force it. In the deepest parts of the marriage contract lied a way out. He wasn’t sure if she placed it there, or if the lawyers she hired made it for him. It was as if they knew of her strange obsessions, and tried their best to give him a way out. But by the gods, was it ever not easy! The money to buy back his full freedom from her sat in a secret account somewhere, with another alias even on it. With so much zeny in her hands again, he’d tell her his advice to best move forward the rest of her life. A deep breath was taken, Ezekiel had to access the deepest parts of old nobility training, and address her bluntly, honestly, and make it clear this was their ending.

To my wife Conch,

There is little love for you in this heart of mine. But no matter how much I tell you that, you never have listened. Somehow, I cannot blame you attaching yourself to this man, but the one you cling to is not the same as the one you met when we were but little children. That version of me disappeared the moment I ran with your family’s dowry money.

Well, there is no use in pondering what-if’s about what could have been. If I had taken you with me, or if I stayed with you and built the largest stockpile of money and goods in the history of the Alberta’s merchant families. However, the marks we left each other by my choices cannot be denied. We both need freedom from one another. For me, it is because of the fact I cannot tie myself to one place if I want to help others find truth and liberty. For you, it is because your guile and wit should not be stunted by a man who cares so little for you, and yet you want to give him too much.

And also, I must leave you due to the turn of recent events. I can only imagine what you think of me now when you saw my face in the papers. And I’m glad you knew not to take any words about me to Amdusias. For that, you have my thanks, because you not only helped me, you saved yourself in the process too.

This is the end Conch, accept the money placed with this letter. Weep only for a little while, pick yourself, up, and think about what you really want for just yourself. Sadly, freedom isn’t often about happiness, but the way forward. It could eventually lead to bliss if you make the right choices.


For a moment, he pondered how to sign it. With his real name or his current alias? Perhaps that was a question he should ask another. Summerstream owed him a favor, and she seemed better with words than he. With a thumb in front, and fingers behind the thick parchment of paper, the man picked up the paper, and would search for the lady of armor and shield tomorrow. For now, the letter became folded and hidden in one of his jacket pockets. With heavy eyes, the chair leaned back just a little, and Ezekiel slept. Dreaming only of fuzzy old memories that seemed to happen far and long ago. Not pleasant, but not unpleasant, they were simply that of a person who tried to live in the moment.