Saintess Summons Skeletons

The ‘moving thing’ closed-in extremely fast. Too fast for Sofia to do anything, but Pareth was out, his weapon ready. Not that he could have done anything against someone with that king of speed, but he tried.

Human? No… Rabbit beast-lady?

The elegant woman that just appeared had white bunny ears just like guildmaster Kuli, and that was about where the comparison stopped. Though a bit shorter than Sofia, the woman also had significant curves, highlighted by her silky flowing white hair. Her pale blue dress reflected a gentle glow reminiscent of the moonlight, it floated around despite the lack of wind. She silently observed Sofia and Pareth, raising an eyebrow like she had a hard time understanding what she was seeing.

Sofia couldn’t feel or see the slightest trace of mana coming from her.

I can’t speak, so how do I…

“Follow me, we should talk in a more hospitable place.” The beastkin said with a soft voice and an expression Sofia failed to read.

Despite the lack of air, the woman’s ethereal voice reached Sofia, she did not wait for an answer. Simply turning back and hopping away, in a few jumps she was out of the crater.

Fast.

Does she have any idea how long it would take me to follow her that far?

Should I really follow a random rabbit stranger on the moon in the first place?

Then again, she must be pretty strong, not going and angering her might be more dangerous. She could even be the actual Moon for all I know, I don’t have mana to [Identify] anything. And with Sun being an Elf and Victory being an Orc, you never know.

Sofia started walking. I still have all my stuff, right? Hmm, yeah, everything looks to be in place. Let’s go then.

A neat trick Sofia had discovered was that by wearing her rings under Aphenoreth’s glove, she would still be wearing them after a resurrection even if the circumstances of her previous body were compromised. The Staff was smart enough to store itself now, and the crown would just reappear on her head no matter what. So the only real issue was the clothes destruction, but Sofia was used to that by now, activating her armor as soon as she woke up, be it from sleep or from death, was an autonomic reflex by now.

Is there a God with a Human-looking physical form? Scripture maybe? If so I would rather my species not be represented by scum.

 

Seeing how after five minutes of walking, nothing happened, Sofia decided that it was probably safe to erase her last rune and get some mana back. It was around then that she realized that there was actually mana on the surface of the moon. Not much, but enough to fly if she basically kept her feet right above the ground. How did I miss that? I was too busy thinking about the Gods’ physical forms. I’m really… I will need a break after this. Like, a real break, not a drifting in the void break. Maybe spend a week on the dwarven islands…

Sofia flew forward until she left the crater. She turned back to take a full look at her masterpiece before leaving it behind.

Alith is never going to believe me.

Now, where did she go? Nothing on the horizon, just more craters everywhere. Guess I keep forward.

Eventually, Sofia saw something pointy emerge on the horizon. A spire, then another, and another. What slowly revealed itself was a full blown city-castle of pure white stone, just standing there, in the middle of moon-nowhere.

The architecture feels a bit similar to Astelia’s moon-castle-dungeon. Which does make sense. Was that woman really Moon then?

Although this castle was nowhere nearly as big as the one the small Vampire oracle occupied, it was still larger than a regular castle. It looked like a refined palace rather than a fortress, but a castle nonetheless. Why is it so big? Everything is always so big. It looks like the moon lady is the only inhabitant, so why? The gateway is large enough to let twenty horses in at once. Why even make it a castle at this point? Do you even need protection? Just build a big mansion, no?

 

Sofia entered the castle through the comically large open gate. She hesitated for an instant but decided to land there instead of continuing to fly.

Not a dungeon.

Since there was a lack of instructions anywhere for her to follow, Sofia simply kept going forward, walking past the arches and columns, the gates leading to other parts of the castle, until she found herself before a large closed silver gate.

The gate was embossed with a simplified representation of a large winged dragon standing on its hind legs, holding the moon like with a single claw.

Nice door.

The rabbit woman opened the doors from inside.

“Welcome. Come in, you have a lot of explaining to do.”

Sofia nodded and stepped in, feeling her body be enveloped by the fresh air that was somehow held inside the castle despite the open door to the void outside. The rabbit lady held out a hand that Sofia hesitated to grab for a second before going for a firm handshake.

“Hello. I am Sofia Aphenoreth, sorry for the hole outside, it was an accident.”

The lady’s hand had frozen for the briefest of moments when Sofia mentioned her last name, but she finished the handshake as if nothing had happened.

“Erredis, moon guardian and saintess, among other irrelevant titles. And I do not particularly mind the ‘hole’; Sofia? But you have a lot more explaining to do now,” she answered with a serene smile. “Now if you would follow me. What kind of beverage do you want to drink?”

A Saintess, and I cannot even see the usual system prompt? Is she the saintess of the Moon? The way she said it is a bit ambiguous… “Would you happen to have some moonspring water?”

“You know of the moonspring? Of course I can get you that.”

Erredis did not walk long before taking a turn and entering the second door on her right. It was a salon full of books neatly arranged on crystal shelves, there were a few chairs around a small rectangular lounge table on which was a single closed book with a red ribbon sticking out from between the pages and a half-empty teacup.

“You can sit wherever. Make yourself at home; I will be back in a minute.”

Sofia awkwardly sat on the chair opposite the one facing the book and teacup as the rabbit lady left by another door.

“Not what I expected my return to look like. This place is nice, feels safe, away from everything. But living here must be a bit lonely.”

She had seen the state of the castle, even inside this main, core building, it was mostly empty. There were very few decorations or furnishings in the halls and corridors, and if not for that one well-furnished room she was in now, it would have been easy to believe this place was abandoned.

Sofia eyed the title of the book on the table. But it was in a language she couldn’t read. Looking at the shelves, the books were actually grouped by language. She managed to locate an elvish bookshelf and a draconic bookshelf before the moon lady came back the way she had left with a glass pitcher full of silvery liquid.

It does look like the moonspring water Astelia served me. Could also be the toxic silverwater. They look pretty alike.

Two clean teacups appeared on the table each on their own little plate, and Erredis filled them with the silvery water. “There you go, fresh from the source.”

“Thank you.”

Sofia grabbed the cup and took a small sip, her body and mind instantly relaxing under the magical effects of the drink. The rabbit lady also took a sip of her own.

Both cups back on the table, Sofia was first to speak. “You wanted explanations, right? What do you want to know exactly?”

“Straight to the point. Do you not have questions of your own?”

“Plenty, but I should at least try to look like a civilized guest…”

Erredis lightly chuckled, “People who accept to come so close without running away, tail tucked between their legs, those are few and far between. You’re civilized enough.”

“People avoid you?”

“Like a plague. As if I were the end of them. Well… Their fears are not unfounded,” she clarified before taking another sip.

There was a clear dissonance between the rabbit lady’s sweet voice, smile, and the words she said. It made Sofia slightly uncomfortable.

“Erhm, anyway, where do I start… Should I explain the circumstances of the tiny hole I inadvertently made in your garden?”

“If you would indulge me.”

“I can foresee that I will have to recount the story quite often from now on, so of course… Though it might take a while depending on the amount of detail you want, and if I can trust you.”

“Trust is not something you can create in such a short time, dear. But I reckon I could buy some goodwill. Let’s see… Perhaps this would be of interest to you, but you will need to have a lot to say if you are going to take it,” Erredis offered, bending down to take a thin golden thread off of her left ankle, and presenting it to Sofia in her palm. “If your name is what you pretend, Sofia, I am agreeable to such a trade. I shall also help satiate your curiosity about me, if you want, of course. How does that sound to you? I am not much of a merchant...”