"Maybe-there isn't much of value in my room anyway, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt." Aya shrugs. "Salem I have to ask-how DID you become a staff anyway-if you don't mind me asking."
"Oh boy, it's gonna be one of
those days, huh..." Salem grumbled, insinuating this wasn't the first time someone inquired about his past, nor would it be the last.
"...! Story time?" Pema exclaimed suddenly as she raised her legs onto the chair seat and huddled her knees close to her chest, feeling to need to get comfortable for a "bedtime story".
"You already know how I became the being I am today." Salem stated.
"Mm-hm, I know, but it's never a bad time for a story!" She chirped happily, a bit of gravy on her cheek.
He chuckled lightly. "Napkin."
"Napkin?"
"Napkin."
"Oh, gotcha." As if they had their own secret language, she brushed her cheek with a finger after finally noticing the gravy and extended out her arm for napkins resting on the table.
Salem began. "Anyway, I'll mainly be going by bullet points here. To answer your question, Fxeni, yes, I used be a barkeep when I was... well, a
person. I also held another position as a traveling agriculturalist. This was, of course, in Pema's village, but I didn't live there, so you may be able to surmise how cumbersome it was to commute back and forth between residences; particularly because the weather was unusually frigid."
"
Super frigid!" Pema proclaimed to the group with a dramatic raise of her arms, then focused her attention back to the story.
"Indeed." He continued. "The pay kept a roof over my head, and most of the people there were kind and courteous, so I'm not really in the position to complain. However... that's not to say I never got involved with a dangerous organization during my ignorant years. I didn't believe in their radical causes, but I just felt... lost. Life hasn't treated me particularily well. Heh, they say karma is a [sonic slicer] and I suppose I'm living proof of that. Bartending and managing crops is a living, though I was just barely scraping by. Let's just say that I knew some very sensitive information about that organization and traded it for money to keep my future financially sound... And you can probably guess what happens next."
Pema became silent and her body language conveyed that she knew this part all too well.
Salem spoke again after a brief pause. "A few men from the organization broke into my home and kidnapped me. The entire time I was blindfolded, the only thing that ran through my mind was my life until that moment. The choices I've made, the people I've bonded with... Truthfully, all anyone can do in a moment like that is to cling to life in the face of death. I knew what was coming. I was terrified out of my mind, but there had to be consequences."
She cradled her arms around her knees tighter and pressed the crumpled napkin against the corners of her eyes.
"When they removed my blindfold, I was standing in front of a strange altar." He exclaimed in a lower voice. "Men in purple hoods circled around me with daggers. And that- that is when he revealed who he really was. A Runemaster from the village disguised himself as one of these men and confronted the leader. Some went to fend him off and a couple others threw me onto the altar, planning to finish what they came to do. I caught glimpses of the Runemaster from the corner of my eye, trying his best to fight them off with truly amazing spells and abilities... But he was an elderly man and was quickly overwhelmed by their numbers. I desperately struggled to break free, but it was no use. A hooded man raised a dagger above me and... and jammed it through my stomach."
Pema shivered and squirmed in her seat, tugging on her hat's ear flaps.
"Through what little strength I had left, I twisted my head towards him and noticed a sizeable gash across his chest. He extinguished most of them, including the man who stabbed me, but some ran away. I rolled off the altar and fell to the ground. We were both losing blood. He crawled to me and asked for my name, then he asked questions about my family life, my personal ideologies, and how I became involved with this organization. It felt like... a test. In return, he told me his name - Tälja. Then he became quiet. Real quiet. His eyes flickered open in short intervals and he told me of a way to keep living, however, at a cost. My soul would have to be severed from my body and breath anew within his staff. I was quickly losing consciousness, and had no strength to protest that he should live on instead. He must've seen the hesitation in my eyes, as he assured me that he has already lived a long life. The staff Tälja used was one he personally handcrafted for his daughter during her battle with a severe illness at a very young age. Unfortunately, weeks later, she succumbed to her ailment."
Salem pauses again, as if to respect the Runemaster's sacrifice. Pema gently holds the staff and smiles softly. "I'm sure she was a very brave girl."
"Yeah, I'm sure she was." Salem replied and picked up from where he left off. "So, then he... Tälja chanted a spell with the last of his energy. My body was completely numb by that point and before my vision went blank, I could see his staff floating above me as the light enveloped my body. When I awoke, the first thing I noticed was that I was living inside... well, you know..."
She nodded solemnly and tightened her grip on Salem. "So much for only bullet points, huh?" She laughed slightly.
"Oh, right... Haha, yeah, I guess I got a little carried away."