Chapter Text
Scott Springwell was a florist. He knew how to make the biggest blossoms, what different plants required, the meanings of different flowers, and how to work with the flora and fauna to help people. Unlike most florists’, he also had a different title: The Mage of Barrowhill. Scott never wanted that title, never wanted his magic to begin with but that wasn’t up to him. He was the only mage in the area after his mother passed and therefore was the only option. It was for that reason the half-elf found himself having to pack up and leave his hometown after being forcefully drafted by the Blue Kingdom.
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The journey was long, tiring, and the only benefit Scott found came from being able to explore the wilderness and all the local plant life. The half-elf had found himself at a small pond situated within a valley of mountains and a dark oak forest. He stopped for a moment to take in his appearance. The lilies in his hair had drooped slightly, with his blonde locks a bit messy from the journey. His cape was wrinkled, and he had mud stains on his boots. Scott sighed with the realization that if he made his way to the ‘capital of the Blue Kingdom’ without touching up his appearance at least slightly, he wouldn’t make the best first impression. He bent over reaching into the pond to splash some water on his boots and smoothed out his clothing. His hair could wait until he had a place to live, and the flowers seemed to have a mind of their own. Scott took one last look at himself in the pond, and started his way towards the entrance of the kingdom.
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The Blue Kingdom was surrounded by tall mountains, which seemed to stretch on for ages. Climbing them was a pain and something he might have to get more used to given the uneven terrain in the region. It took Scott a bit to reach the peak but as he did he gazed down at the valley below. Scott wasn’t entirely sure what he had expected to see in the capital, perhaps maybe a few more buildings? What he could say for certain though, was that he was not anticipating the ruins that made up the area.
The castle was crumpled, with some stone walls and a broken up wooden floor creating a vague outline. There were some torn blue banners on the walls and the ghost of a throne room in the center. Just past the castle, run down buildings could be seen made up of cobblestone and spruce. Dirt pathways twisted throughout the kingdom which Scott could only assume lay where paved roads used to be. Beyond them was a large wheat field, somewhat sparse but with a bit of work it could be fixed. Looking further ahead, an old gatehouse connected the ring of mountains together encompassing the area in an uncomfortable hug.
“Well I can’t say I was expecting this…” Scott whispered to himself, as he made his way down the mountain towards the fields. He stared wide-eyed at the ruined buildings lining the path. “What happened here? I thought this was meant to be… a kingdom?” He stuck to the edges on the off chance that he was infiltrating somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be. As he made his way further, he spotted a group of people talking by entrance. There was a pink knight who seemed to be another elf, and another knight nearby in golden armor that resembled a lion. He could also make out a blue slime, though it was hard to tell by his cape, and a redhead eagerly chatting with them. Just past that, was another knight, this time in darker armor with glasses, and a woman in a flowy white dress with a staff (another mage?). Despite everything inside of Scott screaming at him to turn around and leave, he slowly approached the group.
“Hello? Is there someone else here?” The pink knight called out, as she spotted Scott approaching the group. Her spear was at her side, and whilst armor typically made the knights intimidating she somehow seemed approachable.
“Hello?” Scott called out, looking in the direction of the group.
“Oh, hello there. I think we got another new person!” This time the man with glasses spoke, giving Scott a warm smile. He was shorter than the pink knight, but still relatively tall. Getting a closer look, his armor seemed to have a bit of red on it which made Scott pause. Next to them, the golden lion’s armor also seemed to have some red. Earlier the banners were blue but if the armor was anything to go by Scott wasn’t entirely sure if this was the right place.
“Hello… um is this the Blue Kingdom?” Scott asked, his voice a bit quieter.
“Yes! The name’s Graecie! What brings you here?” Graecie, the pink one, replied.
“Well… my name’s Scott Springwell. I’m a mage… from Barrowhill. I was sent for by the king? Monarch? Ruler? Anyways… Now I am here.”
“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you Scott! I’m Nominalgravy, but you can just call me Nom!” The man with glasses, or Nom, spoke as he reached out his hand towards Scott. Scott took it hesitantly and was caught off guard by the strong handshake. “That over there in the lion armor is Owain.” Scott looked in the direction Nom was, and saw the lion nod at him.
“If you don’t mind me asking…” Scott slowly released his hand from Nom’s grip taking a second to look around at the group. “What… happened here?”
“Ah. Well let’s see… First off, we don’t have a king currently. There was a war with the red kingdom, and a bunch of people died in the process,” said Owain. “I would assume that is the reason you have been called, to fill the gap so to say. Though I hope that you are able to survive as you don’t, forgive me for saying this, but you don’t seem to be a typical mage. Though I suppose it might be the best we’ve got seeing as all the previous mages died in combat” Graecie gave Owain a look as Scott took in what he had just said. Yes, Scott wasn’t exactly a combat mage but he could be useful, prove himself somehow.
“Well if you are looking for more, mages I might be able to help!” The swan lady in the white dress spoke up and slowly began to raise her staff. “Greetings everyone, the name is Eloise. I am not new to the kingdom, just happened to have left my parents house and decided to come help out! Now you were talking about mages?” The group nodded as Eloise began to prepare her staff. “Well I just so happen to be a mage!”
“What type of magic do you do?” The slime asked. Scott realized he hadn’t asked his name yet but he didn’t want to interrupt El’s conversation. He had never seen another mage before, and was curious about what other types of magic were out there.
“I suppose a bit of a demonstration is in order… I do air magic. Let me show you!” With a wave of her staff, a giant burst of wind swept everyone off of their feet and pushed them backwards. Scott took a moment to catch his breath and could see the air mage giggle with joy at the reactions around her.
“Well that was something!” Nom said, trying to mask the childlike joy on his face.
“Indeed. What about you, other mage?” Owain questioned looking at Scott. Scott felt put on the spot as he scrambled to get his book out of his bag. He started looking through the different spells he knew before settling on invisibility.
“Well I can go invisible I guess?” Scott replied. “Give a moment to just… it takes a bit… but I can! I just…” Scott felt the eyes of the others staring at him in anticipation. It was overwhelming and he could feel their judgement as he failed to cast the spell. He tried his best to focus and just let the magic do its thing, not that it was something he ever had to study anyways. He closed his eyes and tried to picture himself fading into invisibility and felt the magic slowly move from his palms. He released the energy building up inside and opened his eyes. He looked down at himself, only to see that he was still visible. Scott frowned, disappointed that it didn’t work and was caught off guard by a scream. Scott looked up only to see that instead of going invisible, he could see multiple copies of himself circling the area. One of those copies had just poofed out of existence leaving a startled redhead trying to collect herself.
“What in the heck was that?” Owain raised his voice and went to poke one of the copies, only for it to vanish right in front of him. “What the?!?! Why can I not see anything?!?! You better have a good explanation for this.” The lion seethed with anger and tried his best to calm down. Scott was frozen with shock, not expecting his magic to work against him to that level. He dropped his concentration and looked towards the lion who had his arms crossed.
“I- I’m sorry! That… that wasn’t supposed to happen I swear!” Scott apologized and felt his face flush with embarrassment. He looked down at his feet, as his arms gripped his sides. His first impression with the residents of the former Blue Kingdom was already off to a bad start and he was sure they were doubting his abilities. Why was he the one who was called for when he couldn’t do magic properly? Why did the mayor have to owe the former king a favor? Scott stepped away from the group as he felt the eyes of the lion leave him, focusing instead on questioning the air mage. He was sure they wouldn’t like him now… not after how badly he fumbled his first social interaction in a while.
Scott’s thoughts were broken by a hand on his own. He let his gaze follow where the hand was coming from bringing him eye to eye with Nom. He gave him a small smile and squeezed his hand in reassurance. “Don’t worry about Owain. He can be a bit much at times but he means well. Besides, I thought your spell was cool even if it wasn’t the one you had meant to cast.” Scott tore his gaze away from the knight and took a deep breath, giving him a slight smile back. Nom opened his mouth again as if to say something else but was interrupted by the sound of footsteps and frantic breathing.
“Hello! Oh people, great!!!” The voice came from another elf, this one wearing a blue dress that seemed to look like waves. “Would any of you happen to know where the blue kingdom is? Or how to fix my staff? Or really just anyone who is nicer than those folks over at the red kingdom?”
“Why yes! The name is Eloise, and you happen to be in the blue kingdom. As for the staff, you may need a knight to repair it.” Eloise smiled and gestured over to Owain who took the staff from the mage’s hand.
“Thank you so much! My name’s Shandrea and I am a water mage.” Shandrea collected her staff from Owain who had finished repairing it as the water mage spoke.
“So we have two new mages? So long as you can control your magic we should be alright and not have another incident…” Owain stated. He looked over in the direction where Scott and Elosie were standing, as Scott slowly waved to the new mage. Shandrea waved back and laughed a bit at Owain’s statement.
“Well I suppose we shall have to see. Might as well show you all what this water mage can do!” The water mage raised her staff as a large bubble slowly formed in the air. She pointed it towards the group and Scott watched in shock as the knight was sucked into the bubble alongside the two rogues. Scott stepped back towards the fields, a bit overwhelmed at the sight. When he looked down at his feet again, he couldn’t see his body anymore.
“RIGHT!!! No more magic for now, please.” Owain exclaimed as he was released from the bubble. “I suppose proper introductions are in order, though we do seem to be missing someone?” Scott took a deep breath and released his invisibility as Owain stared at him, then back at the group. “Whilst I suppose I shall start, the name is Owain. I am one of the knights of the blue kingdom.”
“I’m Graecie, I am also a knight and I hope to make all of you feel welcome as we rebuild!” Graecie smiled as she introduced herself.
“I’ve already said my name but I am Eloise, an air mage from the blue kingdom. I’m not new, however my parents live on the outskirts of the kingdom so they wouldn’t get involved in the war. I suppose I just wish to stretch my feathers and leave the nest!” With that, Eloise’s feathers on her ears perked up a bit as she began levitating in place.
“Well you already know me, I’m Shandrea. I apologize for the jest Owain, though I suppose you must not be used to jokes and fun given the state of this place! Not to worry though, I am sure we will all become best friends soon enough!” Shandrea reached out her hand to high five whoever was closest to her, which happened to be a very eager redhead.
“Oh I would love to be friends! I am Mae Maezes, one of the rogues here! I hope you like tricks and having fun!!” Mae, the redheaded rogue, exclaimed. Scott noticed that she had difficulty settling in one place, but couldn’t blame her for being excited.
“Well my name is Scott Springwell, I am also a mage who was sent here. I guess I specialize in light and nature magic? Though, I am more of a florist than a mage…” Scott produced a bag of flowers taking inventory of what had survived his travels. As he did he felt something in his pockets and looked towards the slime who gave Scott a sheepish look.
“4C? Are you going through people’s pockets again?” Nom asked, giving the slime a disappointed but fond look. “Anyways I am Nominalgravy, or just Nom. I’m a blacksmith so if you need any armor or weapons, just let me know. And that over there is 4Cvit.” 4C waved at the group, and then looked over to stick his tongue out at Nom. Scott looked over the group again, and found himself smiling ever so slightly. Perhaps this florist now turned mage might survive?