Chapter Text
I stared at the coordinates in disbelief...They just couldn't be true. "These...these don't line up at all, I can't make sense of them," I muttered in disbelief."What do you mean ya' can't make sense of em'?" Keres barked. "I mean, they don't line up with any of my maps, I can't make heads or tails of these values." "Lemme' see!" Lorelai snatched the map I was holding away. "Careful!" I hissed as Lorelai looked at the map, then the coordinates on the placard, and squinted. "Hmmmm yeah... I have no idea what I'm looking at!" She declared after staring at the map for a good minute. "Gimme that, you oaf!" Keres took the map and looked at it, then at the placard. "Grrr, this stupid map is confusing!" she proclaimed in frustration. I sighed in annoyance. I don't know how I ended up with these bumbling idiots.
"Well, maybe if we leave the map reading to the cartographer, we can figure this out," I said snidely, taking back my map from Keres's claws. "Well, maybe the map is defective!" Lorelai exclaimed, She does not know what an inside voice is. "Lorelai, I drew this map myself. What are you suggesting?" I narrowed my eyes at her. "She's suggesting that maybe you're a sucky map-maker." Keres spat. "Excuse me? You're the one who hired me to find this staff! What even is your obsession with it anyway?" I interrogated.
"Yeah! Why do you want the staff, Keres?" Lorelai chimed in, her ear flicked in curiosity. Keres' ears pricked up, and she started to stutter. "I- It- It's none of your business! I hired you to find the staff, not interrogate me about it!" "You haven't paid me for the last two weeks I've helped you, I think I'm entitled to know why you want this magic stick so badly." I snapped back. "I haven't been paid—" "SHUT UP, LORELAI!" Keres and I shouted in unison, Lorelai's ears pinned back with a quiet "oh..." Before Keres could get an excuse in, the ground began to shake, and suddenly it collapsed.
I woke up in a dim cave. I pulled myself up from the rubble of what was once the ground and evaluated my surroundings. Keres and Lorelai were nowhere to be found. It was like Keres to run off in a fit, but Lorelai usually stuck around me. It was hot and humid in the cave, and all the rock was more red than brown. Suddenly, I heard a muffled shout from one of the tunnels the cave opened to. "Hey! There ain't no way I'm from down here, I was born in Vulpin Village, thank you!" It was unmistakably Keres with the voice's grammatically incorrect speech.
I paced down the tunnel upon realizing this. Quickly, I found Keres and Lorelai. "Frey-frey! You're awake!" Lorelai chirped. "Yeah, real nice of you all to leave me alone like that," I responded sarcastically. "Where are we anyway?" I looked around at the red stone, which now happened to form what looked like anguished faces. "Looks very...underworld-y," I commented. Lorelai and I both looked at Keres. Keres said nothing before Lorelai cleared her throat. "How should I know!" Keres exclaimed. "Well...you do have those creepy horns and weird swirly patterns..." Lorelai pointed. Keres snarled, "Talk about my horns or patterns again and I'll pawn that instrument of yours you love so much!" "You wouldn't..." Lorelai gasped. Suddenly something clicked...I knew why Keres wanted that stupid staff so badly.
"You want that staff to get rid of your horns and patterns...don't you?" I stated. Keres stiffened, and she seemed to think for a moment, which is rare for her. "Well, duh! How long does it take ya' to figure that one out?" Keres continued before I could get a word in. "Now c'mon, I don't wanna waste anymore time in this place." She turned and trotted onwards down the tunnel. This time, Keres was more closed in on herself.
As the cave stretched onwards, it began to get warmer and smelt of sulphur. Keres had taken off the long black coat she wore, putting the dark, swirly patterning on her arms on full display. I knew that if it were up to her, she would've never said anything about these anatomical anomalies. It was clear she was insecure about them. She hides them as much as she can and refuses to merely acknowledge them most of the time. I don't blame her. She probably wasn't treated very kindly in her uptight and strict spiritual village. Something still didn't add up, though, if she wanted the horns and patterns gone as soon as possible, why didn't she just ask the bard walking right next to her to play a healing incantation—or even ask me, the wizard, for goodness sake? Why did it have to be this specific staff?
"It's soooo hot..." Lorelai whined. "Aren't you from the savannah? Shouldn't you be used to this weather?" Keres commented. Before Lorelai said anything, I piped up, "Erm- are these faces on the walls getting more defined or what?" I looked around us. "Now that you mention it, yeah, it has gotten creepier in here..." Lorelai lamented. Just then, we entered a clearing in the cave. It was a dead end that dropped down to a depth so far that it looked bottomless. "Awww man! I don't wanna go all the way back!" Lorelai exclaimed, her voice echoed across the chasm. "For God's sake, Lorelai, grow a spine!" Keres punched her playfully. Keres turned to face us before starting again. "Well, no other way to go than back." Before she could even take a step, though, a huge fire roared up from the chasm, blasting a wave of heat that caused me to start sweating.
"Who goes there!" A booming voice emitted from the flames. I readied my staff in case of an emergency. "Uhhhhh...pardon us! We just got lost- we'll be out of your hair soon, um- Mr. loud voice!" Lorelai explained to the fire. The flames then proceeded to die down, revealing a humanoid goat form with black patterning across its ash grey fur. The same patterns as Keres. Speaking of Keres, she immediately took an aggressive stance with her crossbow aimed at the goat man. "And what are you supposed to be, eh?" Keres commented snidely. "Keres." The Goat man stated.
"Yes, Keres...I've been watching you..." Keres scoffed. "Stalker." "You're just like your mother, bold and charismatic." Keres's mother? I thought to myself. Now that I thought about it, Keres has never said a word about any of her family.
"YOU!" Keres yelled suddenly, her voice echoing. "Did you give me these stupid things!?" Keres accused, nodding upward to allude to her horns. "There's no need to get angry, child." The goat man responded. "I know how to get to what you're after..." Lorelai suddenly gasped, as if she had had an epiphany. "KERES! Are you after the staff to perform demonic magic!?" she shouted accusatorily. "No, Keres can't perform magic; she's a rogue." I corrected. "And what am I after, genius?" Keres challenged. The goat man then said something that changed my whole perspective on Keres. "You're after your dearly departed mother's staff...that was so rudely held from you all those years ago..."