Chapter Text
The days are slow and the sun is blistering hot as always, Calathea sighs as she takes a drink from her canteen. It was high noon and she was stuck outside the entrance of a dungeon, again, waiting for Nosveratu. It wasn’t like she had much else to do and not like she could leave without Nosveratu as the desert was a dangerous and unforgiving place. Not that Calathea was weak or anything, but she’s certainly not as powerful as the monsters and beings that roam here, she was a farm girl and then a highway bandit before all this. So she wasn’t weak, per se, just not strong compared to the desert and to top it all off she didn’t even know how to use her new weapons all that well. She robbed them from some noble people and unfortunately got a bounty put on her head in Eroki, which caused her to flee to the desert where no sane person would go. And that’s how she more or less ended up in the situation she’s in right now. Calathea thought it could be worse, she could have run into a sun troll and killed on the spot, but at least she ran into Nosveratu.
Nosferatu was hesitant of her presence at first, to put it nicely, and often would simply ignore her. She followed him regardless of his standoffish personality and sometimes terrifying power he unleashed when they couldn’t simply sneak past or away. Even if he didn’t seem to like her, Nosveratu still protected her and for that Calathea stuck by his side- initially anyway. While she’s standing out here waiting for him to return from his search for some artifact it gives her a lot of time to muse. It’s been almost two years since Calathea ran into him and man has it been a rough two years.
She grew up on a farm as an only child and as such did a lot of chores for her parents and got quite used to outside work, but after some tension at home she left. Calathea made a living for herself by becoming a highway bandit and living in the forest, so rough time and work wasn’t outside her realm of experience, but a hostile desert environment with a reticent mage really was. Everyday Calathea struggled to keep up, but she was nothing if not persistent, and she doggedly followed after Nosveratu. Of course it was for survival, but she slowly came to like being around him.
Just as she was thinking too much and getting lost in her thoughts, she felt a cold hand on the small of her back causing her to jump. Whipping around, Calathea caught sight of Nosveratu behind her, wrapped in bandages to protect his skin and looking just a tad irritated.
“Another bust then,” Calathea asked with a tilt of her head. They had been dungeon crawling since she started following him and everytime he didn’t find what he was after, he had an irritated air about him.
Nosveratu clicked his tongue before answering, “And you should pay attention more to your surroundings, dear. Now let’s go, I’m done here.”
They walked quietly together for a time before Calathea, not known for her ability to keep quiet, broke it, “So where are we headed next? We passed by that fallen city and I think it’d be cool to explore. Imagine all the shiny things in a place that used to float above the desert?”
“I’d rather not talk about that right now,” Nosveratu waved his hand and they both fell silent again.
The night came and passed and they were back to traversing the desert. Calathea thought they should travel at night, when it wasn’t so hot and the sun wouldn’t hurt Nosveratu’s skin, but he brushed her off when she first brought it up. Something about needing the sun to find the artifact, which didn’t make much sense to her, but she rolled with it anyway. Their days passed uneventfully and their evening spent with Calathea pressing Nosveratu into helping her perfect her Necril speech. The only language he spoke when they first met because he didn’t want to talk to her, but she was persistent as always. To the point he inevitably started to teach her Necril every night before they slept.
A few more days pass and Calathea starts to recognize some of the area, “Oh! So we ARE going to the floating city? Well, once floating city.”
Nosveratu glances at her and the excitement in her eyes, “I am, you’re going to wait outside.”
“That’s not fair! I’m useful, I can be of help too. Two pairs of eyes are better than one,” Calathea argues back with him. He never let her have any real fun or do any exploring and she’d be damned if she didn’t get to explore the floating city.
“Dear, that’s enough. You know the way we do this.”
“That doesn’t mean we can’t change it up! Live a little would you!”
Nosveratu turns on Calathea once the words have left her mouth and glares her down. She opens her mouth to protest or apologize, she’s not quite sure which, but nothing comes out anyway. He looks angry, something Calathea has never experienced coming from him and it makes her feel bad. Nosveratu grabs her arm and all but drags her to some rocks providing shade and shelter. His grip feels unbearable and she can feel tears prick the corner of her eyes before he finally lets her go.
“There is no we, do you understand? You simply follow me around and then need to be looked after like a petulant child! YOU are staying here and I am going to the floating city, once I’m done I will take you to Notos and leave,” he glared at her and spoke with venom in his words. “Do not try to follow me again, or you’ll regret it.”
At the end of his rant, Nosveratu turns and all but storms off. Calathea is quiet and too shocked to think or move or do anything but stare at his retreating back. Tears of frustration burn her eyes as they slip out and this snaps her back to reality where she angrily rubs them away. She couldn’t see him anymore and figured he disappeared inside the city which wasn’t far off from her location. Calathea sinks to the ground and sniffles despite wanting to be angry, she wasn’t a child and more importantly she thought they were friends at the very least. A good few minutes pass of her crying into her knees before she sobers up. Screw him, she thinks, she is capable and she can do whatever she wants.
Calathea dusts herself off and promptly starts the mild walk over to the outskirts of the floating city. She guessed the walls used to be white and pristine, but have since fallen into ruin with much of them being damaged and covered in sand and soot. She stood outside the walls and what looked like an entrance in as she calmed herself down. Calathea wants to explore and find cool things too, she wants to help find the artifact Nosveratu is looking for, and she’ll be damned if she can’t. Taking a deep breath, Calathea stepped into the city and it was nothing like what she’s seen so far. In fact, she can’t even begin to describe how the city was set up in the first place. The more she walked and explored the more she got lost, it felt like a maze and she had no way of tracking herself back.
However, that didn’t matter to her too much, Calathea was on a hunt for something useful. She checked every nook and cranny she could get into and then some, made sure to open all doors and cabinets that came across her path. Calathea even climbed on top of the structures to gain a better vantage point, but even after all this she couldn’t find anything interesting. Most of what she found was broken or simply didn’t make sense to her. Finally she found what looked to be the middle of the city and Calathea figured this was as good as any starting point to find the exit. But as she picks the direction she thinks she came from a horrible screech reaches her ears. Whipping around Calathea comes face to face with an imposing monster with full wings and a leathery body that is right behind her.
She can feel her face go white in terror as the beast stalks towards her. Calathea tries to back up, but finds herself rooted to her spot in fear. Again the winged beast stalks forward and again Calathea tries to get herself to move. Time seems to slow down as she finally finds the will to move and fumbles for her gun, but it feels too late as the monster lashes out at her. A scream pierces the air as its talons slash across her midsection and blood spills across the ground. Calathea chokes on her own blood and the monster comes in for another strike, one she barely dodges as she stumbles backwards. The monster comes after her again and catches her leg this time ripping all the way from thigh to ankle. Tears rush down her cheeks as she stumble-runs away from the monster to gods’ know where in this stupid floating city.