Potential generations of misunderstandings (INV)

Near 'Hearth's Home Orphanage'

_____Auriel could not believe the rumors when she first overheard them a few days ago. To think there was a small chance that the goddess the Pallum admired might exist, but under a different name then what they might have recorded for so long in their history. To not follow the root of the rumors would go against everything Auriel stood for. She had chosen to stay in Orario to either ask the gods personally about Fiona, and if she truly did not exist she would rise to take the name to save her kind from themselves.

_____It was for that reason Auriel found herself lost within the slums of the city. Held close to her chest was a pile of papers confined into a small book. The content of the papers within were countless questions Auriel wanted to ask the goddess of her kind. If they got her name wrong who was to say their history about the goddess was all correct? Auriel wanted to double check with one who lived through it all to make sure she could set the records correctly if anything else was off.

_____Sadly Auriel also did not account for a few things before she rushed off to look for he goddess. The first, was the exact location of the orphanage the deity watched over. She only confirmed it to be within the slums leaving her looking around like a lost tourist. The second was her own appearance. While she was dressed in clean cloths, she was still messy otherwise. Her hair was sticking out and still dripping with some water from her shower, her eyes had a light case of bags under them from staying up all night to write all her questions down, and overall did not look that ready to meet the goddess of her people. But her biggest miss account, was if Hestia was not Fiona, that would no doubt lead to a extremely awkward situation...
@Hestia

 

Near 'Hearth's Home Orphanage'

_____Auriel was mostly lost in thought as the other person approached her. It was not until the cart crossed her line of sight that Auriel made any reaction to the new figure. However, it was mostly a light squeak as she jumped out of their way. "I'm sorry ... I .. was .." Auriel began to apologize for getting in the other Pallum's way only to hit her head against the cart when she bowed her head to show she was sorry. Her right hand rubbing the bump on her head, and causing a chain reaction of all her papers to start falling out of her book.

_____Another light squeak escaped her lips as she leaned down to try and get her papers. If the cart was not moved she would somehow hit her forehead against the same spot. Her memory of the cart's existence once again shining in her mind as she held her head and lost the last bits of her papers. Sighing lightly to herself as she looked slightly troubled by her own actions before she realized some of her papers laid in the other's Pallum's path. "I'm so sorry... I'll clean it up so you can keep going..."

_____Even if the Pallum had not noticed her due to her faint voice, she would reach and move into the path of the cart to try and get her papers out of the way before trying to stack them back in order. She kept her gaze on the papers as she reached around trying to pool them together before the wind could sweep them further apart. If Hestia tried to help a few of the pages would be facing upward by some cosmic forces showing the countless questions addressed to 'Fiona _____' with a blank space as if to address someone with a different name also. If Hestia made a comment while holding the paper Auriel would turn red and reach to try and get it from the other person. "I Can clean it up, no need to help... My mess..." Parts of what Auriel was trying to say lost in the wind as a few papers began to drift slightly out of her pile.
@Hestia

 

Near 'Hearth's Home Orphanage'

_____ Auriel's face was red with embracement, and her eyes troubled. Here she was causing someone to get down and help her because she was so clumsy, it stung her to trouble others. What more they offered to help her at the cost of showing up to their destination late. It was as some would call adding salt to her open wound. But while Auriel wanted to lie and find some reason to not trouble them further she knew when she needed help. Taking a deep breath she tried to muster her courage to speak loud and clear. "I was looking for a orphanage run by a goddess who looks like a Pallum... That's if the rumors I heard of such are even true ..." Auriel looked down at her pile for a moment as she counted her papers.

_____The oddest part was exactly how fast she counted and sorted them. With her undivided focus she sorted the fifty pages just by flicking through them, her hands moving to set papers back in their proper order quickly before she returned her focus to the Pallum to avoid being seen as rude. Her face red if the Pallum seemed to admire her speed at sorting papers. "To be honest... I rushed here because I thought ... just maybe the Pallum goddess was Fiona... and maybe the Pallum simply misheard her name and wrote it as Fiona... it would explain why the Pallum had been told a goddess named Fiona never existed..." One bad thing about Auriel, if she started talking she forgot when to give others time to respond or process what she was saying.

_____"If it was 'Fiona' that was taking care of the orphanage just maybe it could help restore the peace among the Pallum... And then I got to thinking ... if we got her, maybe even his name wrong... who was to say we did not get other things wrong about the god or goddess?" Auriel lifted her book carefully before moving it back to her lap. "So I wrote down the most important things I could find within the Pallum history mentioning Fiona in order to hopefully confirm if the facts we had wrote had been truth..." Finally taking notice to her ranting she turned red and looked down towards her book. Not only did she trouble the fellow Pallum, she also wasted her time with her ranting. Her ego sinking even lower then before.
@Hestia

 

Near 'Hearth's Home Orphanage'

_____Auriel quickly got out of her slightly depressed look, in exchange to a slightly excited expression. "You know where it is? ... If it's not to much trouble ... I would love to be shown the way... I don't want to trouble you any more then that though..." Auriel's right hand began to twirl some of her bangs as she held the book tightly with her left arm and hand to avoid losing her papers as she rose to stand. "I would offer to help you push our cart there ... but I tend to only get in people's way if I try to help then when they are present..." Her gaze focused on her feet as she would start to walk slightly behind the other Pallum.

_____"I'm Auriel ... Sorry for troubling you so much... Thought if I joined the military I might be less of a burden on others but ... clearly it does not show many promising results right now..." Auriel moved her hand back to her book as she walked. her mind starting to slip into how she might go about meeting the goddess. She however was not good with thinking and walking, her face soon finding itself against a light post and taking her a few moments to realize she was not moving forward anymore, and that her face hurt. Slowly moving away from the light post she seemed surprised something was so close to her.

_____"They should have those off the sidewalk a bit more... Someone could walk into them if they aren't paying attention..." It did not register to her that she had started to walk off the sidewalk, or had run into the light post not that long ago. Moving back onto the path she would resume to follow the girl, her forehead redder then before, but other then that she seemed entirely fine. One could only wonder what her mental state was if such things could happen without her even knowing or truly reacting to them. To be honest she was extremely embarrassed about hitting the light post and id not want to admit it even happen.
@Hestia

 

Near 'Hearth's Home Orphanage'

_____Auriel was not all that offended by the fact she was left behind, she was rather used to it within the dungeon and on the streets of the city so it was normal. Speeding her pace to catch back up to the women who declared herself as Hestia. The name slightly ringing in Auriel's head but she could not place her finger on the reason as to why it seemed familiar to her. When the question about her home arose Auriel slowed her pace slightly as she looked towards the sky. "Not the best of states right now... But it's not ruins yet so their is still some hope... It's why i can't rest easy... if Fiona might be out there waiting to be found ... or if I have to rise to the challenge and earn the name to give other Pallum's hope in this world again..."

_____Auriel's expression, if only for that brief moment held pride and determination behind it. Of coarse if Hestia was looking at her it would quickly fade to nervous embarrassed for having such a big goal in mind. If Hestia did not look at her it would stay for a few moment before a look of shock replaced it. Auriel jumped backwards, her mouth releasing a loud crack in her voice from shock as her papers fell yet again. Either to be taken as a delayed reaction to hitting her face to the pole or something else was unclear until she spoke, her figure bowing down as much as she could while still standing.

_____"Hestia ... as in the goddess Hestia of the Greek pantheon! I'm so sorry... Not only did I cause you trouble ... you got down to the ground to help a Pallum cleaning up a mess they made... Im' truly sorry!" Even if it caused Hestia to be embarrassed Auriel did not know how else to react. She was in the presence of a deity, and not only that but had caused her trouble and was acting like she was just another mortal. Auriel's face was pure red as she tried to think of some way to make up for her actions, her papers beginning to drift away from her as she kept her head down.
@Hestia

 

Near 'Hearth's Home Orphanage'

_____Auriel would keep her head down until her papers had been handed to her. A nervous crack in her expression as she looked up and tried to re gather the remaining pages before returning a few feet from Hestia. She felt much shorter then the goddess knowing it was a goddess before her and not some other Pallum. She also did not think she could stand near her since they had such a large difference in social standing no doubt. Auriel was a cadet in the military, and a scrap fighter support. Hestia was a goddess, and that alone was such a large difference in her book.

_____"... I'm Sorry... I truly am just a big handful for everyone I meet... I'll try to find my way to stop causing you trouble... Even if you say I'm not ... I can tell when I'm being useless..." Auriel bowed her head shallowly before turning away from the goddess. She could not bring herself to risk causing her any more trouble then she already had. Left hand slowly pushing a paper into it's place before she slowly started to walk the other way. Her head was facing forward, but a tear would trace down her cheek. as she began to talk to herself.

_____"Still the same useless Pallum as you always have been Auriel... Claim such big talk ... when you can't even walk a strait line without tripping or running into someone..." Auriel tried to kick a stone off the pathway, only to end up pressing her foot to it and sliding until she hit her but against the floor with a light shrike. her papers fall all around her as she rubbed her butt for a few moment before scurrying for her papers like she was always having to do. "Can't even kick a rock out of my way..." More words to herself as she gather her pages listed as thirty two and fifteen.
@Hestia

 

Near 'Hearth's Home Orphanage'

_____The attempts Hestia made to help Auriel get over her thoughts of being useless only made matters worse. Reaching for each of her remain pages before she rose once more wiping her tears out of her eyes and doing her best to fake a smile to the goddess. Her eyes told the story she was just trying to get the goddess to stop worrying about her and move on with her task she was undergoing. "I'm fine ... It was nice meeting you Miss Hestia... I think I'll come back and look for the person I was here for tomorrow... something tells me she is not there today ... but maybe she will be there tomorrow.

_____Slowly dusting her pants off with her free hand while the other held her book tightly before she began to walk away again holding back the urge to cry. She knew Hestia had good intentions with trying to cheer her up with words, but it was the same speech with different wording to Auriel. Her adopted parents had always told her she was not useless, just saving her usefulness for when it truly mattered. Her magic instructor told her it was like new magic users, sloppy and unrefined to start but with time a flawless work of art and arcane achievement. Auriel was someone who was on the verge of giving up on trying to be helpful, and each time people told her she had potential to be better it only pushed her further off the ledge.
@Hestia

 

Two days later, outside orphanage

_____Auriel was much more nervous then she had ever been. She had managed to get the book fixed so the pages would not flutter out as she trembled slightly looking in from outside the building property. Her mind had finally connect the dots between the Pallum goddess who worked here that she was looking for. It was Hestia, and she still felt like her first impression was likely the worst the goddess had ever encountered in her lifetime. The second meeting would likely be worse considering her state of appearance and mind.

_____Auriel was dressed in her H rank gear like most days, having just finished her dungeon dive for the week and not feeling that much drive to change to more casual cloths before coming back to the goddess. Her eyes had been red, mostly from crying herself to sleep and continuing to cry while she suffered nightmares about her life being relived. Her body looked like someone's ragdoll. Dirt covered parts of her armor, and countless bandages lined under the fabric from the hits she took from the adventurer group she ended up being part of.

_____Looking towards the building front door Auriel tried to amount the courage to step forward, just once would have been enough for her to say she tried but she remained frozen shaking in fear and wondering all the bad outcomes that might await her for troubling the goddess yet again. Clenching her fist tightly she fell to her knees and started to cry softly, she truly was worthless, unable to take even one step towards a chance at dragging her away from her helplessness.

 

Two days later, outside orphanage

_____Hestia's voice caused Auriel to fall backwards way from the sound. Her face quickly setting on the ground. "I ... I Just came to say I was sorry for just walking away the other day... I'll take my leave then..." Auriel hated herself, here she had the chance to get what was clouding her mind out into the open and she was trying to run away like a coward. Unless Hestia told her to stop or gripped onto Auriel she would start walking getting up and trying to leave the area.

_____'If I can't even face reality I might as well just fall off a cliff or let monsters eat me rather then troubling more people...' Negative thoughts resumed heavily clouding her mind as she hung her head low while either walking away or in the presence of the goddess. Some of her wounds getting aggravated as a trail of blood began to drip off her index finger on her left hand as she kept clenching a fist and letting it ease slowly. The pain reminded her, if only in the back of her mind that she could not die until her people had hope to live on and not go extinct. Her book left where she had fallen down at.
@Hestia

 

Shocked

_____Auriel's figure froze up when Hestia began to pull the girl back towards the orphanage. Her mind throwing down countless 'what is about to happen to you' thoughts, and not of them remotely close to what Hestia had explained would happen. Fear slowly seeped into Auriel's expression as she began trying to fight against the goddess. Her survival instinct was kicking in, and her mind was telling her that staying near Hestia was going to end her life.

_____"I'm sorry... I did not want to cause you trouble ... please let me go ... i'll never come back around here again ... please just let me go..." Auriel was clearly shattered inside her mind, her free hand trying to grab hold of anything to stop Hestia from moving her any closer to what her mind told her was her death bed. Legs trying to go against Hestia's movement by walking the other direction only to fail due to her lack of physical strength and energy for that matter. But it did not stop Auriel from trying to get free.
@Hestia