Rebirth: Over the Horizon

The night was dark and the wind was strong, three people standing adjacent to each other stared warily.

"You wear a robe and carry no weapon, but you are neither woodsman nor hunter. You head for world mountain, yes? You are chosen, as we are?"

"I am not sure about, what is 'chosen'... but I am a magic-spear's man. " as Adam said Abyss Angel appeared on his hand.

As it magically appeared in Adam's hand, callia was a bit shocked and a bit surprised.

"Wow, you were a magician, after all, I am really am glad, it was a bit dangerous for a normal man like me to walk around in this forest"

"Now, I can rest assured"

'Uh...He himself decided that I was going to travel with them...well, it will be not so bad after all...I think,'

"Well, I guess so"

"But, Can you explain what is the thing, you talk about 'chosen'."

Dannis smirks, seeing the quizzical expression on Adam's face. "I'm not sure this one quite knows what is going on yet, Callia. We should do our best to enlighten them, shouldn't we?"

'Somewhat, I feel irritated by his statement.'

Callia's expression and tone remain flat. "We don't know...what is going on either."

Dannis rolls his eyes. "Well, all the more reason we should all have a little chat. We can compare notes, see if we can get to the bottom of this little mystery."

"Fine," Callia replies, getting to her feet and dusting off her robe with her hands. "But we should continue our journey as we talk. There is little time left, and if we do not at least reach the base of the mountain by sunrise, we will never reach the summit in time."

"Very well." Dannis agrees with a shrug, his chipper smile returning. "Onwards!"

"So! I suppose you want to hear the fantastic tale of how we set upon this journey to the home of the Twelve gods and godess."

Dannis declared, not bothering to wait for any kind of reply from Adam.

"Well, you see, I was performing for the Queen of Dahalia, at her winter palace. A ball was held for her niece's birthday. Or was it her cousin's?" he asked callia, but she didn't bother to reply.

"Some minor royal, in any case. It was a thoroughly lovely affair. My music, of course, was the highlight. Though the wine gave me a run for my money. And the decor…"

Adam recognized the name 'Dahalia'

'Isn't that a kingdom opposite to Aconia...If my guess is correct it is still locked...'

"Is this place Dahlia, in any case?"

"No, No, we were teleported here, We also don't know, what this place is??"

"Hm.."

Dannis continued to tell his story.

It quickly becomes apparent that Dannis is not a fan of brevity.

He continues on and on at some length, describing the merits of the ball and various bits of gossip about persons in attendance.

Finally, Dannis reaches a somewhat more relevant part of his story.

"That was when I beheld one of the most stirring sights, I have ever seen in my entire life!"

He points dramatically at Callia, who has been walking silently beside him the entire way.

"One of the legendarily lovely muses, appearing in-person to provide me divine inspiration for my next song!"

"That's not why I was there," Callia interjects, sounding vaguely annoyed.

Dannis turns to her and arches an eyebrow, puzzled. "You weren't?"

"No," Callia replies. "I've never inspired you. I'm the Muse of Epic Poetry, remember? Your inspiration all comes from my sister Alisha, Muse of Song and Lyric Poetry."

Dannis blinks. "Then, why were you at the ball?"

"I was invited," Callia responds with a shrug.

This only confuses the Dannis further. "The muses just… come to parties when they are invited?"

Yeah, Adam also find this little suspicious, 'Would the daughter of God, just come when invited to party.'

"If they're good parties. Continue the story." Callia says with a little wave of her hand.

'What??? does anyone buy this ridiculous reason.'

"Right." Dannis nods.

'Puff..this Idoit, Is he really a man of the brain or not' Adam was very confused but he didn't intended to dwell on this.

He didn't know what kind of NPCs they are, so he just continued to listen to the story.

"My next song was a particularly popular ballad. One of my best. The whole audience was full of anticipation. I-"

Callia interrupts again. "Why don't you skip ahead to the part where your patron appeared? You know, the whole point of the story?"

Danni's huffs, offended. "You know, for supposedly being the Muse of Epic Poetry, you aren't doing much to inspire me to make this tale epic."

Callia rolled her eyes and said "Huh, You are just making it very long not epic." for the first time she tilted her eyes towards Adam.

"Yeah, I also think you have to keep the story on track."

Adam joins Callia in encouraging Dannis to get to the point of the story. The bard sulks a little but is eventually prodded into continuing.

"Fine, fine. So, the ball was just starting to wind down, when the entire room filled with this glorious, radiant violet light. It was blinding. When it faded, there she was."

Dannis spreads his hands wide. "Araha Rhea, Goddess of Wine and Revelry. Never have I seen such beauty." He smiles, his voice taking on a boastful tone.

"And she had such praise for me! Ah, to hear one of the Twelve say that my songs are treasures for the ages…"

Callia rolls her eyes. "She said, 'that was a pretty okay song'."

Dannis pouts. "Yes. Well. It was still praised from a Goddess." He immediately puffs up again.

"More importantly, she said she had selected me as her chosen one for a divine quest. Me! Of all the mortals in the land, I am her favoured."

"At the risk of inflating your ego further, I will point out that you are her favourite of all mortals and immortals, apparently," Callia notes.

"After all, Edurmon chose me as his representative for whatever this quest may be."

Dannis is confused again. "Wait. You were charged to come by the God of Art and Creativity?"

"I thought you were just coming along too, you know, chronicle my amazing and heroic journey."

Callia sighs heavily, rubbing at the bridge of her nose. She looks at Adam. "I assume that your story is similar. Did one of the Twelve appear to you? Command you to climb World mountain?"

Dannis' eyes widen in understanding. "Oooh. Is that what happened? How wonderful, to meet another chosen of the Twelve!"

He leans close, invading Adam's personal space. "You have to tell us, then. Which one was it?"

Callia looks at him expectantly, also interested in the answer.

"I am-"