Seeds of Discordia

Liam stared at her after hearing the names. He remembered the little altercation both Key and Sebastean had the day they were boarding the ship. Sebastean was highly against him and his group from joining the ship and had protested it to Key. Key had divulged that she was tasked with ferrying Omira. However, during that argument she didn't reveal who had tasked her with that.

However, the problem with thinking that Key had a hand in this made Liam feel like that was wrong. Key was someone who Uncle Naro trusted. They were teammates once or maybe still were. Liam didn't know what was really going on with Uncle Naro's situation really. Albeit, Liam felt that Key genuinely like Omira and wasn't a threat to her. If she was then what was stopping her from killing her outright in the middle of the journey? She was powerful enough to be able to do so and Liam and the others wouldn't be able to do a thing about it.

As for Sebastean, he was a different story. He was already with Omira by the time he and his group ran into them. While he had made a showing plenty of times of wanting and trying to protect Omira, it had also felt…empty. Like he was just putting on a show. While Liam didn't have a good view of the elf due to his snobbish attitude and his accusations he also knew that he really didn't know the man that well. He could be under a lot of stress having to protect a princess whose had her life attacked plenty of times already. Maybe his over the top and quick to accuse attitude is his way of actually trying to protect her.

Liam's brows furrowed. While he was trying to have a better view on people he still didn't like how he was acting. However, he also understood he was probably treating Key in the opposite light because she had all these positives in her favor. He knew that the best way to divert attention was by creating favorable situations to keep you out of the list of suspicions when things happened.

Liam let out a sigh. He wanted to place full trust in Key, but his bad habit of not fully trusting people was coming out. He could blame this habit on the events of his childhood and a certain step mother creating this. While Sebastean seemed more of the choice to put all the blame on, he really couldn't rule out the woman entirely. Liam shook his head. No, he would put a little more faith in Key, but he would also still keep an eye out just in case.

Liam looked back at Omira. While he did think that, there was something else he wasn't thinking until now. A fact that could help him understand more. As he stared at Omira he finally said, "I can understand why you are wary when you look at the facts that these are the only two who know your route and are currently with you, however…" Liam paused as he watched the teenager. "There are some things missing in all of this."

"What do you mean?" Omira questioned as she stared at him.

"I mean I'm missing both a proper motivation and key facts," Liam responded.

Omira's brows scrunched as she stared at him. "What do you mean a proper motivation and key facts? Is the motivation that my siblings want to take me out of the running for the throne a proper motivation enough?"

"For your siblings yes," Liam started, "However, I don't think it would be motivation enough for let's say Key. She's a captain of this ship and a strong individual. I don't see how she would get motivation to hire people to kill you when she, her crew, or even her own friend could do it during our travels on the water. I mean, would anyone question how a person died during a Sea Parade? I just don't see what she would get from both having others or even herself kill you."

Liam paused for a moment as he watched Omira's reaction. He then added, "As for Sebastean, as much as I want to say its him I don't know anything about him. He was with you both we met you and from what I've seen so far he's a dick and a coward. However, that could also be that he is just stressed. Do you see what I mean?"

Omira slowly nodded her head as she thought about it. She then asked, "What did you mean by key facts then?"

"Before I talk about that I need to ask you a very important question. One I'm still trying to understand," Liam said as he stared Omira straight in the eyes.

Omira stared back, but the more he stared the more she started to feel slightly uncomfortable. "Y…yes?"

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Liam asked without hesitation. "Why tell me who you really are? Why tell me about the troubles of succession for the throne and what your siblings are trying to do to you? I'm having a hard time trying to understand this especially since you brought up secrets are one of the greatest tools a person can have."

"Ah…yes…I can see why you would be confused," Omira said as she looked down at the table. She looked a bit more uncomfortable than when Liam was staring into her eyes. When she started speaking again it was low and slightly quiet. "Because I want to…"

Liam raised a brow as she trailed off. "I'm sorry, but you trailed off, so I didn't hear it all. Because you want to…?"

Omira's head snapped up and she said with blushing cheeks, "Because I want to have people I trust."

Liam was now confused. He wasn't sure what she meant by that nor why she looked so embarrassed. He felt like a dick for his next set of words, but he didn't really think of how else to ask. "What do you mean that you want to have people you trust? Don't you have people you trust?"

Omira sighed, "I do, but I also don't. I have a teacher I trust with everything I have, but I really don't anyone else…I don't have any friends I can rely on."

Liam raised a brow. "Okay, but again…why come to me?"

"It's because you and your group protected me without being asked to," Omira stated. "You risked your lives to stop those people from attacking me and made sure I got out of there alive. Especially you. It couldn't have been easy having to take on all those people by yourself. I saw you limping when you caught back up to us."

"What I did was nothing special," Liam stated as he thought back to the fight. "While yes there was a lot of people who took the request, I only held them back long enough until a group of stronger people came in to take care of them. While I want to say it was easy, I really couldn't do much but hold them back."

"And that is still impressive in and of itself," Omira stated. "At first when your friends started pulling me away from there I was worried. I didn't know it was you at first, but the others said I should leave it to you…"

Liam's eyes narrowed. "Did they say something that made you think I was a friend of theirs during that time?"

Omira shook her head. "No, not once did they say anything that could make me believe it was you. Val did ask if they knew you, but they all flatly denied it. They said they thought it looked like you needed us to get away and used logic to help us move along, but…" Omira paused as she thought back to it. "I felt the trust in their actions and body language. To me, while it looked like that to anyone they were running away to get somewhere safe, I thought they looked like they trusted you to do what you needed to do while also wanting to rush by your side. Not just that, but the night when Mercer and Blair came to your side when Sebastean and I accused you. I don't know what it's like to have friends, but from the stories I love to read, it felt like I was seeing how friends really act. I want that. I want someone I can rely on and fully trust. Not just to have my back, but to also be able to do something others would believe they can't do."

Liam slowly nodded his head. The more he talked to her the more he was seeing exactly how lonely she was. It must have been tough being at the place she called home and needing to worry about whether or not the person who was by your side was sent to kill you or not. Liam thought about his life after things started to get hectic and he was left alone. The things that happened, the way people quickly turned on one another due to their antics…

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Liam shook his head to get his thoughts straight. This wasn't the time to remember things like that. Instead he thought about the girl in front of him. He was starting to understand why she came to him now. She didn't want anyone else here because she wanted to speak to him alone about this to show she was sincere and that she could be trusted with the secret she came across by accident.

"I understand, but I have to point something out," Liam started back up. "You talk about wanting to be friends and have someone to trust, but did you forget that one of the people you suspect happens to be my mentor's friend? Didn't you think there was a chance that I would mention something along the lines of her being someone of suspicion?"

Omira gave Liam a smile. "I did think about that for a bit and to be honest there's a small part of me thinking you would, but I don't think you would."

"Oh?" Liam muttered with a surprised look. "Why do you think that?"

"Because you are withholding your own secrets to your own mentor," Omira commented. Omira saw the slight smirk on Liam's face as she continued, "I figured that if you are cautious enough not to tell him about your membership with an Underground Association then you are cautious enough not to go to him about what my suspicions with his fellow teammate."

Liam didn't know what to say to that. She was right that he hasn't told Uncle Naro about him being a member of the Fiddler's Spider Web. To be honest he wanted to keep that to the bare minimum of people, but since he was still ignorant on a lot of things that list of people was growing. He needed to be a lot more careful from now on.

"I do have to warn you though," Omira started back up. A serious look on her face as she informed, "You are going to have to be careful. That Naro fellow is strong and probably knows you have secrets you aren't telling him. Whether he knows what those secrets are or not I don't know, but don't think you have him fooled. His senses are much sharper than you know due to how strong he is. One day you might have to make the choice of either cutting him out completely or telling him. I say this because your explanation of getting the Field of the Beast was…barely manageable at best. Really, you got that Field of study through practicing at the Mage Tower? Did you not know the only way a Beast-kin gets that Field of Study is through fighting?"

Liam's eyes widened at that. He didn't know that. He had thought that it was something he could have gotten through practice and raising his sub-stats, but to also have it be something gained through fighting? That was out of his calculations. "Shit. If that's the case then I'll need to be extra careful then."

Omira nodded. "I will say though that his elation of you revealing you had gotten it was genuine. He looked like an uncle who had gotten news that his favorite nephew gotten first place in a tournament."

Liam thought back to Uncle Naro's reaction. He slightly smiled at expression Uncle Naro had. Omira was right about that, he really did look like a real uncle happy. That thought made Liam's smile fade a bit. While it was true that Liam was keeping things from the man, it wasn't because he had any ill intent. He had secrets that he really couldn't tell anyone. Well, anyone who wasn't a part of his current circle. If he had something he could share with the man then maybe that would help him feel a little less guilty. As if to help him with that, Eri sent him a message.

[Why not share the fact you have the Field of the Lunar with him if you feel that guilty? – Eri.]

Liam was shocked by that message. He was told to not share that he had that Field of Study with anyone by her specifically. For her to tell him to…

[I believe he isn't the type of person to try and forcefully get information on how you got it. Well he might ask how, but if you tell him you got it as a dungeon loot then maybe he wouldn't pry any harder. But I believe he would help you in trying to master it better while also making sure when people do find out that you have the field that they cannot do anything to you. He is strong and I believe you can get better use of it through the methods he is teaching you. – Eri.]

Liam nodded his head as he finished reading the message. He had forgotten Omira was there and was slightly startled when she asked, "Are you alright?"

"Hm?" Liam swiftly responded as he looked at her with slight embarrassment. He quickly thought of something he had wanted to ask her so he could shift the topic and stated, "Yeah. I'm fine I was just remembering something I wanted to ask you."

"Oh? What do you want to ask?" Omira inquired.

"The Lotan Spawns. Specifically the first one we came across," Liam stated.

Omira froze for a brief moment. When she didn't respond Liam stated, "You tensed up when Mercer was asking about it. I also saw you trying to motion for Key to stop talking about it whenever she looked at you. I know we weren't very close to you then, but I'm wondering if I have gotten close enough that you can talk about it now?"

Omira stared at him and remained silent for a long moment. She looked like she was debating about something really hard in her mind as several expressions washed over her face within the few seconds she was quiet. Finally after what seemed like forever she said, "I could tell you what you'd like to know, but…I need to confirm something first."

Liam raised a brow as he stared at her. "What do you need to confirm?"

"Will you be…you know…," Omira started to ask before she started to get flustered.

Confused on what she was getting at, Liam said slowly, "No…I don't know. What are you asking me to be?"

An embarrassed expression grew on Omira's face as she grew even more flustered. Finally she squeaked out, "Will you be a friend I can trust? Like in the stories I mentioned?"

Liam stared at her with a blank expression. Out of all the things she could have asked, this wasn't the one he thought he'd hear. If he was honest he wasn't sure what she was going to ask. Not really sure what to do he decided to reply, "Uh…sure?" He knew it wasn't the most elegant response, but he also wasn't expecting her to ask that question.

"And…your friends? Can they be my friends as well?" Omira asked, hope tinged in her voice.

"I'm sure they could if you ask them…," Liam stated. "I don't speak for them, but if you ask them then I am sure they would be delighted. Especially Ariyana."

Omira beamed at his words. She then nodded. "Okay. Then if they agree to be my friends then I will tell you all what you want to know about the Lotan Spawn and why I acted the way I did that day."

"Okay…," Liam slowly responded as he looked at her with some concern. He wasn't sure about this now. IF all it took was to be friends with her to get the information, then he was both concerned and worried about this girl. She was starting to seem like the gullible kid in school who offers to pay for everything if you're willing to be their friend.

Liam was snapped out of his thoughts as she suddenly stood up. "Alright, I will take my leave now then. It is late and I am sure you want to get some rest. Thank you again for saving me and taking time to hear me out."

Liam raised a brow as he stared at her. He could see she was looking embarrassed and while he still had some questions, he understood she wasn't going to answer any more right now. "No problem…," was all he was able to get out before she made her way towards the door. Before she reached for the handle, Liam stated, "Before you go. If you're really worried about both Key and Sebastean then stick around us whenever everyone is out and about. We can keep an eye out for anything that could possibly happen if you're around one of us."

Omira nodded her head, not looking at him. "Okay, thank you." She then swiftly left the room and closed the door behind her leaving Liam all alone in the room.

"What a strange girl," Liam muttered to himself.

[Strange? Probably. Socially awkward and friend deprived…probably more accurate. I think she's just hungry to have people she can trust who isn't out to kill her. The fact you guys protected her probably made her hope that you would accept her. If she wasn't already in the service of another Deity I would bless her myself…hm…may I still will. If the time is right. – Eri.]

Liam shook his head as he read the message. You know that would probably cause some issues, right?

[Much like your ignorance of that Mana Smell Racial Benefit? – Eri.]

Liam thought about that. His eyes narrowed as he responded, You knew she could smell Personal Mana Scents didn't you. You knew and didn't bother to tell me. You wanted this to happen didn't you?

[I have no clue what you're talking about. Did I know she could smell Personal Mana Scents? No. Did I have strong feeling she could? Maybe. It all worked out in the end. – Eri.]

Liam had a flat look as he stared at this message. Mmhmm. And if it didn't?

[I have complete confidence in your ability to figure a way out of it if it didn't. Besides, is she really the one you need to see if things will come out well? – Eri.]

Liam took this message for all that it was worth. It looks like Eri knew what he was thinking. Ever since he came back to the group his Web Watch had vibrated in a way that told him Silky had a message. When he read it his concerns for what was said made him want to kick every chair and table. He hadn't talked to the others about it yet because he was still trying to figure out how to go about it.

The cause of his new concerns were now on that Val girl who befriended his teammates, and his own Matron Deity was interested in. Before he saw the message he wasn't sure why she was interested in making her a follower, but he now had an inkling. If her class wasn't an interesting one, her Web Name certainly was. That girl was a fellow Fiddler's Spider Web member who went by the name Toxic Songbird.