Don't Destroy the World

As the girl cried with uncontrollable sobs the servant reached her and tried calming the girl down. Knight Vantosia stood there as if he wasn't sure what to do with the woman before speaking.

"What is exactly is she talking about?" he said, directing his question to the servant.

"I apologize, Sir Knight," the servant said, bowing. "My Lady is distressed after the disappearance of her friend."

"Lady?" Ember asked in surprise, drawing unwanted attention to herself.

The girl raised her head, managing to stifle her cries. She gave Ember a curious look before her attention shifted back to Lord Vantosia.

"I'm sorry for not introducing myself but..." Her face crumpled up and it looked like she would fall into tears again before she managed to calm herself. "I'm Lady Allyana Uniar and my friend, Meri, has been missing for 3 days. Please, can you help me find her?"

Ember felt a moment of surprise. She was Lady Uniar. Either she was a different girl from the Lady Uniar who went missing or the event hadn't happened yet. Did that mean there had been another girl who went missing before Lady Uniar? It was possible. Since Allyana had mentioned that girl's name as simply Meri it meant she was a commoner and likely didn't gain the same amount of attention a noble had during her disappearance.

"Have you spoken with the guard?" Knight Vantosia asked.

Lady Allyana frowned and nodded. "They said they are looking, but..." She shook her head. "They haven't found anything. I just..." Her big blue eyes looked up at Knight Vantosia with a plead in their depths. "You're the Knight of Truth. You would be able to find something, wouldn't you?"

Before he could answer, a clear voice cut through the air. "Allyana! I told you not to get yourself involve in this matter."

Everyone's attention turned to the gates as a tall man stepped forward. He was dressed in modest fashion but despite that his clothes spoke of wealth. He had a neat beard that was peppered in gray. His hair was a dark blond that matched the girl besides them.

Immediately, the servant bowed confirming who the man was. "Lord Uniar."

A stubborn look came over Lady Allyana's tear-streaked face. "Do you expect me to do nothing?"

The Count strode towards them. "That's exactly what I expect of you. Let the guards do their job. Your interference will only delay them."

Lady Allyana flushed. "I'm trying to help!"

Count Uniar reached his daughter. "I understand that you are worried for your friend, Allyana," her father said, his expression growing gentle. "But if you distract the guards, it will only delay things further."

"But...what if they-" She stopped and it was clear she was struggling to calm herself.

Even so, it seemed like the Count understood her worries. "I will check in with the guards personally. For now, return back with Denis."

Lady Allyana seemed to wilted but, in the end, she nodded and went with the servant. As soon as she stepped back through the city gates, the Count turned to Knight Vantosia.

"Knight Vantosia, I presume?"

Knight Vantosia gave the man a respectful nod but didn't bow since he was a noble himself. "Yes. Greetings to you, Count Uniar."

The Count nodded and his attention turned surprisingly to Ember. "And who is this?"

Ember immediately bowed. "Honored Greetings, my Lord."

"Oh! She has manners."

Ember raised form her bow to see the Count had a pleased smile on his face before his attention turned back to Knight Vantosia.

"She is Maiden Ember, a prospective squire."

The Count made a soft hum of interest, his eyes turning back to her for a moment before he returned his focus on Knight Vantosia. "If we can speak for a moment."

"Of course," Knight Vantosia said turned to Ember. "I will call for you tomorrow."

Ember nodded and hurried away. She had planned to go to her family but after what just happened, she ended up going in search of Priest Beslen. After some searching, she found the priest giving orders to the acolytes and directing them as they did their checks with the soldiers at the gate.

Ember had no qualms interrupting him. "Priest Beslen I need your help."

The priest gave Ember a placating smile. "I would love to help you but as you can see I'm in the middle of something."

"It's important," Ember insisted. "And time is of the essence."

Priest Beslen looked at her as if he wasn't sure whether to believe her. Ember might have gathered the priest's attention but she knew he couldn't help thinking of her as simply a 12-year-old girl. Perhaps an unusual 12-year-old but still a child.

She thought the man was going to ignore her request but finally he shrugged and gestured for an acolyte to take his place. "I will give you a few minutes."

"We need to go somewhere others can't see," Ember stated.

Priest Beslen raised his eyebrow in surprise and then looked around. He then gestured for Ember to follow and they moved further from the group and near one of the pillars of the gate. Moving behind it didn't completely block the from sight but it gave Ember enough coverage to do what she needed.

"What is it?" Priest Beslen asked, obvious curiosity on his face.

"Finder," she said, ignoring her trepidation. The map popped up in front of them unfurling.

Priest Beslen's eyes widened in surprise. "Your ability?"

She nodded. "This map can help me find things, including people. Though I have to be very specific." She met the priest's eyes. "There is a girl who has gone missing. I want to help find her."

Priest Beslen's eyes grew knowing. "But you don't want others to know about your ability."

She nodded. "Not until I'm registered and even then not publicly. It is not a flashy ability but I have no intention of becoming a slave to some noble."

"You could join the Order," Priest Beslen stated.

She met his eyes. "That's not a good idea." She glanced back at the map. "Besides that, if criminals knew I could find people for the guards then I would become a target, so I would like to hide my ability until I could assure I was protected."

"Then wouldn't it be better to find a noble to protect you?" Priest Beslen said. "Not all of them are like Lord Felis."

"But a lot of them are and I don't have the pull or time to shift through them all at the moment," Ember cut in. "A girl's life is on the line. Can you help me?"

Priest Beslen looked thoughtful and then slowly nodded. "I'll help you but I can't make any guarantees about the aftermath. There will be questions."

Basically, she would be opening a Pandora's box by going down this road. She nodded. "I understand. Just don't reveal my identity." She closed Finder. "I'll need the girl's parent's name and whether she is from here or somewhere else. I also need confirmation of her name. It had to be her real name and not a nickname. From there, we'll need a private location where people won't realize you are working with me."

"That's certainly a lot but I'll handle it. In the meantime, you should return to your family," Priest Beslen said and gave her an amused look. "You certainly are one of the strangest girl I've met."

Ember didn't comment on that. She knew she didn't act like a regular 12-year-old and she didn't feel the need to. It wasn't like possession existed in this world, so all people would think was she was strange. She could live with that.

"Thank you," Ember said and then she hurried away to meet up with her family, but she didn't get far before Justine appeared next to her.

Ember blinked in surprise. "Where did you come from?"

"I saw you sneaking off with that priest," Justine said. "Had to make sure he wasn't up to something."

Ember made a face at the implication. "I'm 12 and he like twenty or something."

"He's nineteen. It's not a big age difference."

"Like hell it isn't," Ember said, her face twisting.

She never could get used to the lax age limit in this world. It was simply creepy and inappropriate in her eyes. But it did remind her that she should be careful. Priest in this world weren't banned from having relationships. It was actually encouraged because of the limitations of the Treaty of Brotherhood. It was a way for the Priest to gain more Seedlings without waiting to gain them through the Choosing.

"So what were you talking about with him."

"I'll tell you later," Ember said. "I'm going to need your help."

Justine would be the best person to get involved since she was the one person who knew the most about her abilities or the portions she had revealed.

"Sounds like it'll be exciting," Justine said with a grin.

"Hopefully not too exciting," Ember mumbled but even as she said it, she felt a thrill go through her.

She could've just left the situation alone. There was no need to get involved. And while she did have some pity for the missing girl it didn't involve her. But this was an opportunity. At some point, Lady Uniar would be kidnapped and if things went like before she would be killed. If Ember could stop that from happening then she could earn a favor from the Count, a favor she desperately needed.

Still, she would have to do it without looking suspicious or gaining the attention of the kidnapper. If the kidnapper discovered her ability, they would likely kill Lady Allyana right away or flee. She would need to do this very carefully.

A new thought entered her head. She could end up preventing the kidnapping all together. For a moment, she felt unsure. If she did that then she wouldn't gain the Count's attention because Allyana was never in danger. That would defeat the purpose of getting involved.

She felt a twinge of guilt. She shook her head. That was an issue she would consider later. Right now, unless she had a person's name or ability, she wouldn't be able to find them. So just looking for kidnapper or murderer wouldn't work on Finder. So as long as the kidnapper still at least attempted to take Lady Allyana, even if she prevented it she could still garner the favor she was after.

Lost in her thoughts, it took her a while to see that she had reached her family.

"Welcome back," Justine said with a grin as Ember's eyes refocused on her.

"I did it again, didn't I?" Ember said.

"Yup."

Ember's mother looked worried. "Are you alright, Ember?"

Was she? She didn't remember this being a habit in her past lives. Unless it was and no one had the courage to point it out before. "I'm fine, Mom. Priest Beslen said we might be going to the temple?"

Her mother nodded. "I know your teacher said she would provide us a temporary place to live but I think it would be better if we all found out own place. We'll stay in the Temple until then."

Ember figured her mother was still wary because supposedly Bloom Larisel worked for a noble. After Lord Felis, it was not a surprise that she was cautious. It wasn't a mistake that her mother said all, meaning she was including Ember. Ember was fine with that. She wanted to be close to her family...just in case.

Ember nodded. "Okay. I'll let Bloom Larisel know when she comes to get me."

"You don't have to worry about that. I'll speak with her on the matter."

Ember frowned. That meant more pretending. She glanced over at Rowan who was frowning. It was clear her brother wasn't happy that she was still pretending.

Distraction time!

"I actually needed to talk to my teacher about our lessons. Knight Vantosia offered to teach me and Rowan, so I was going to get her permission."

"He did?" Her mother asked with a frown.

"I'm going to be a knight!" Rowan said, his eyes wide and then he was turning to mom with excitment on his face. "Please, Mom! You have to say yes. Please, please, please."

Her mother looked conflicted.

"He didn't say we'll be knights," Ember pointed out. "Just that he'll train us for now. He told me he would talk to you first."

That seemed to ease her mother but she still didn't seem completely sure.

Her mother looked at Rowan who was staring at her with pleading eyes. "I-I'll think about it."

Rowan grinned. "Yes!" Then he practically danced in place.

Ember couldn't help smiling.

Her mother sighed. "Now enough of that. The acolytes are almost through the gate. Time to get going."

Ember and Rowan nodded and they began gathering up, helping out as they stepped into Hekral and the first step into a new life.