It was his second to last day in Oak having received orders to return back to headquarters just the night previous. He couldn’t say he was surprised, he had been in Oak for far too long and it was interrupting his page training. He idly wondered how long it would take him to promote within the organization. He hoped it wouldn’t take too long, he still had things to do after all.

He would approach the gates of the Lord of the region, one Servas Phantasm. He had never met the man before but he had worked for him quite a few times by now. From what he heard the man was of a similar disposition to himself and while amicable in social situations, often kept to himself. This was something Seika could get behind personally, always choosing to mind his own when out and about. Working for someone who could effectively do the same when necessary, even when their station required much more out of them was almost preferred.

Ringing the gate bell, he was approached shortly afterwards by the Lord himself, the man’s high collar and noble frame giving away who he was almost immediately. The man graced Seika with a small smile before opening the gate and gesturing for him to follow inside. The two of them would walk in silence for most of the distance before the man finally opened up about his request and details of Seika’s objectives. Apparently it was the man’s wife’s death date, a rather important occasion in Oak culture and as such the man wanted to take utmost care that it went off without issue. To do this however required the woman’s favorite flower, something the Lord himself wasn’t able to collect due to being within the dungeons and thus a fairly dangerous location. Nodding in understanding, Seika would accept the proposal given to him before walking into the dungeons without fanfare.

The darkness seemed suffocating to him, the unfamiliar feeling of being wrapped completely made his skin crawl with revulsion and anxiety as he quickly rushed to provide a pilot light for himself, the small torch providing just enough light to peel back the veil of darkness around himself but not enough to actually illuminate the dungeon itself. The boy would sigh in exasperation, not expecting the light to provide much, but was still agitated that so much of the infernal darkness still surrounded him. He would continue his trek for another twenty minutes, a bit of surprise coloring his face at just how far the dungeon seemed to go on for. It was around the twenty fifth minute that he finally came upon an unusual patch of flowers in what was otherwise lifeless stone. The flora was an oddity but not one he considered worth exploring as he attempted to pick one of the florets. The plant was for some reason much harder to grasp than he was expecting it to be but after some effort and time he was finally able to pluck two.

With the flowers in hand, Seika would return the way he had come with much haste, the encroaching darkness seemingly pushing his body from its domain as if it could also tell he did not belong down there. Within minutes he was back standing before the Lord with flowers in hand. Handing them to the man he watched the look of recognition and sadness pass through the man’s face before a small thanks was given to him. He was paid shortly after and was promptly escorted off the premises. Finding himself with a few more jewels to his name, Seika would turn back to the barracks to finish packing for his trip back to Era.

[Exit]

[631]