Chapter Text
Logically speaking, Mirabelle knew a quest like the one she was faced with would be filled with numerous obstacles. It was always like that in the stories; the chosen one has to fight the antagonistic forces on multiple occasions. Face adversaries of various kinds. Be met with the internal conflict. Change and growth. Defeat evil.
But this was not a story like that, was it?
For one, her very first meeting with the major antagonist was very calm and peaceful. The kind of peaceful where she could easily imagine chatting over tea and cookies with them. Because... that's basically how it went?
It happened like this:
Soon after escaping the Dormont’s House of Change and becoming the Savior of the Vaugarde and all that, Mirabelle was, to put it kindly, quite a mess. It was nerve-wracking to be put in a position like this! Not everyday someone threatens to freeze your country in time - and for some reason, you, of all people, have to become Vaugarde's only hope! Yep! But don’t worry, Mirabelle, you can do this, she kept telling herself, worrying even more.
She couldn't even attempt to beat the King yet. She was too weak, too unprepared- and then it turned out the King, instead of being some crazy villain, was actually really smart? At least, smart enough to hide away the orbs to the House entrance somewhere, maybe across the whole Vaugarde, without anyone noticing, right before he took over?? So now she had to go out and travel through the country that was slowly being frozen in time, find these orbs - without any clue where they could even be - and then- go back and defeat someone with a power like this?
Who wouldn't be panicking in her situation? Probably any person better equipped to become a savior than her.
Back on track - so, when you have the quite unfathomable task of beating the king and his curse weighing on you, it's easy to forget some tiny, tiny details.
Like, the basics of survival, you know? Matches, shelter, campfire - yes, in a rush, she might have forgotten about preparing all that, and ended up in the middle of the forest at night. And you didn't want to find yourself in the middle of the forest at night on days like these. With negative emotions tearing the country apart, the sadnesses were running rampant. It would be easy to get ambushed by one. Or by a wild bear, or- something.
She would love to scream in frustration, if she wasn’t too nervous to do so.
Hurrying forward and following the road to the next town, her panic was slowly growing as the sky started to turn darker and darker - until she noticed a small dot of light flickering on the side of the road. At first suspicious, she quickly noticed that it was a campfire, with a small figure in a too big hat perched on a log right next to it.
"Oh, thank Change! Hello?" she called out.
The small figure visibly jumped, probably not expecting to see anyone out there at this hour. As she ran up towards them, she briefly noticed that the person had unruly, curly darkless hair, as well as wearing a big cloak and big boots - probably a traveller, then. The stranger stared at her with big eyes.
"Would it be too much to ask for a place near your campfire, kind traveller?" she asked, breathless, maybe a bit desperately.
"Oh! Um, sure. You look like you need it." He smiled, hiding his face in his cloak a little and looking away. She probably looked pretty bad, she realised, with twigs and leaves in her hair, unkempt clothes, and the nervous shiver wracking her body.
He had a bit of a peculiar accent that seemed familiar, and yet she couldn't quite place it. Or maybe she was too tired for that.
"Thank you so much!" Mirabelle almost collapsed on the log next to them, instead of sitting down properly, closing her eyes and letting out a breath he was holding in. The person scampered a bit away from her to the other end of the log - maybe that was a little bit too close? She now felt a little bad.
With Mirabelle feeling exhausted and not knowing what to say, and the stranger not being much of a talker, the silence between them quickly turned awkward, only broken by an occasional crackle of the campfire.
Come on Mirabelle, don’t be awkward! Say something!
"...Um. Would it lighten the atmosphere if I crackled a joke?" the stranger said after a particularly loud snap of the firewood, and turned to her side, staring at her expectantly with big eyes.
...Oooh! She gasped with realization. He was just as bad at this as her. They could be awkward and bad at small talk together, then! She then realised she messed up their attempt at breaking the ice, and felt bad again.
"Ah, I'm so sorry for not laughing! I just had a very, VERY stressful day."
"...If you had to force yourself to laugh, it wouldn't be a very good joke” he mumbled, wringing his hands. “But. Relatable. It was a stressful day… Or weeks, even! Oh, do you want a cracker? I was too busy to grab anything else to eat…”
She tilted her head. "Are you on some sort of quest, too?" she asked, gratefully taking one of the offered crackers. It didn’t taste like much, but food was food, and she was quite hungry after such a hectic day.
"Oh, yep, a quest! I’m actually almost done!" he perked up with a small smile. "I was busy hiding the o- uh, the secret. Secret artifacts! For my boss."
This made her huff in disbelief.
"What kind of boss made you run around and hide secret artifacts when the country is about to be frozen in time??"
"Oh, it's actually a perfect time for hiding artifacts!" he explained with enthusiasm. "A lot of places got abandoned, so nobody ever notices you sneaking around and trying to hide something. Like, a cool-looking fountain! Or, you know these cool crystal caves near the south? They are totally tourist free!! And it’s the same with ancient ruins! And, and, you could get a whole abandoned castle, all to your artifact hiding needs, if you so desire!” he blinked. “ …Ah, sorry for rambling! It was all just very exciting to see. You have a beautiful country," he added, a bit more somber now.
"Yes, if only not for the King's curse..." Mirabelle sighed, leaning back.
The stranger hummed. "You know, perhaps it is not the most terrible thing to happen."
"Pardon?"
"Your country could have ended up destroyed in a war. Erased from the map. A frozen country sounds almost peaceful, no?” The stranger hid his face in his coat a little, the fire casting a deep shadow on his face. “And I think Vaguarde should stay happy, not sad and broken. The way people here are so helpful, and motivated, and always trying to change…” He waved his hand around, at a loss for words.
It was... A very weird sentiment to have, but Mirabelle was not the sort of person to shoot down someone's way of coping with this terrible situation. And she was glad people from other countries enjoyed her home this much, too! Yes, Vaugarde was certainly worth saving.
“Thank you, mysterious stranger. That actually made me feel better.”
He slumped in relief - like he was actually really hoping to make her feel better.
"Oh, I’m glad! And you can just call me Siffrin!"
She extended her hand. "I am Mirabelle. It's nice to meet you!"
He smiled, but he did not grab it, blinking and strangely resembling a confused cat.
“Wait. Mirabelle? As in, that savior of Vaugarde?”
She dropped her hand and squirmed in her seat, uncomfortable. How did the word about that spread so fast? But she nodded, not seeing any point in lying.
It was almost impressive how quickly their face morphed from a polite smile to the look of horror. Siffrin jumped up, away from her, and exclaimed:
"No!!! This is so awkward!! Like, I-am-on-a-quest to stop you level of awkward??"
What.
What?
Did that mean he was… On the King’s side?
Mirabelle blinked, processing the information, while Siffrin’s cheek seemed to burn in embarrassment, and he continued on having a breakdown in front of her, pulling down at his hat in panic.
"Oh this is mortifying!! Can we pretend this never happened?? You can keep the fire in return! And the crackers!"
And then he bolted.
...
???
"Hold on, wait!" she stood up and shouted after him. But they were crazy fast and disappeared in the dark immediately.
She was too surprised to even get angry! What in the Change? So that was the antagonistic force she was supposed to be met with on her quest? So confusing!! Who would willingly be on the King's side like this? And she had such a polite little chat with them, too! It was all ruined!
…Maybe she shouldn't trust someone like that, but she sat back down by the fire and took the crackers.
They still tasted like nothing, but she still appreciated having something to eat.
That was Mirabelle’s first meeting with Siffrin, one of the major antagonists of her story. Not as bad of a start of a journey as it could have been, but certainly a weird one.