"John!" Edith jolted awake, her heart pounding wildly in her chest. She sat upright, her breath coming in short grasps. She instinctively held her arm out as if reaching for something far.
'Where am I?'
Ever the survivor. Edith's first thoughts were to get out of bed as soon as possible but a sharp pain shot up her leg as soon as she tried.
'Right… I got shot.'
The events that unfolded were still fresh in her head. Everything was so vivid, she could still feel the prickling sensation of wet grass under her and the horrible rotten stench she couldn't quite wash off.
The sound of thunder roaring and the heavy rain lashing out still rang in her head.
She huddled closer to her warm blanket that felt safe compared to what she went through. Her shoulders' drooped down, relaxing as she took a deep breath.
'I'm okay. I'm safe… Heroes aren't supposed to be scared.' She told herself.
'How do you do it, Venessa? How are you so brave?' She curled up, hugging her knees, trying to convince herself that she wasn't scared. That she wasn't utterly terrified of the uncertain nature of adventuring. She tried to convince herself that the monsters didn't keep her up at night despite wearing a brave smile in public.
The room was familiar to her. The cobbled walls and wooden floors. The sound of hearty laughter booming from underneath her. The windows that were always fogged up somehow. The smell of roasted meat and fish permeating through every crack…
She was in the Adventurers' Guild no doubt about it. Afterall, the Adventurers' Guild always took care of orphans who had nowhere else to go.
"You're up early." A muffled voice called.
Standing in the doorway to her right was a boy around her age. He had long chocolate brown hair that came down to his shoulders and light brown eyes that looked like drops of honey in the sun. He was chewing on a skewer while cradling a paperbag of groceries in his arms.
"I was going to let you sleep in but since you're up now…" He trailed off. Setting the groceries down on the small table in the cramped room.
"How are you feeling?" He asked, pulling up a chair by her bedside.
"What kind of question is that? I'm doing great!" She proclaimed giving him a thumbs up with a weak shaky smile on her face.
"This is nothing for heroe-"
"Edith." He began, taking her shaky hands into his.
"No one will think any less of you. Everyone knows- I know how strong you are."
At his gentle words. Edith gave a weak smile.
"Don't worry about me. I'm fine, John." She managed a smile. "Really, I am." Her trembling lips told him otherwise.
"I think… I want to be alone for a while."
"Please?" Her voice croaked, hoarse from holding back what she always kept to herself.
Meeting her gaze, John sighed. Knowing that she didn't want to talk about what she didn't want to talk about.
"Yeah, I'll give you some space." He said, the chair creaked as he got up and with a slam, the room was silent again.
***
John lazily stepped down the stairs, his arms awkwardly hanging down from his shoulders.
Unlike in Edith's room, the guild hall was jovial. Everyone had their own table. It was an unspoken rule that the twins sat by themselves. The older looking one looked as if he'd bite your head off if you looked at him wrong, and the younger one looked like he'd win all of your mora over a game of cards. Then there were the adventurer teams of four who'd make the loudest sound imaginable, laughing and chattering away without much care for others.
'You can barely hear yourself.' John remarked.
It was apparent to him that Adventurers came from all aspects of life. But somehow, no one ever felt out of place or unwelcomed. From what he could gather. Everyone held Branch Master Cyrus in high regards. That's the one thing they all agreed on. Never disrespect the Branch Master.
Not feeling like socialising. (Not that he ever did.) John sat at the least conspicuous table in the corner. Pulling up his Adventurer's handbook and setting it in front of him. It's not like he didn't know what's in it. He just wanted to collect his thoughts and not look like a crazy person staring off into space.
"That girl will probably quit soon." A woman, sitting one table from him, claimed. She got up, downed a pint of ale in one go and sauntered over, sitting face to face with him.
"I'm sorry, do I know you?"
"No, but I sure do know you." She claimed.
"The name's Marjorie." She held out her hand.
"John." He said as he shook it.
"Nice to meet you John. It's nice to be formally introduced, don't you think?"
"Formally?"
"Oh right. You don't know." She cleared her throat, slicking back her hair and spoke.
"Welcome to the Adventurer's Guild." In the deepest and thickest Scottish accent she could manage.
"Cyrus' daughter?"
"There you go." She smiled. "Daddy talks a lot. There's nothing that goes on in the Adventurers' Guild I don't know about."
This was surprising to him. Marjorie? The shopkeeper was Cyrus, the big oaf's daughter? He never would have guessed. Still, that comment about Edith was something he couldn't just brush off.
"Edith won't quit. She's not the kind to give up so easily." John fumed through his teeth.
"And how long have you known her?" She asked, her voice infuriatingly calm.
Despite being such a simple question, it left him speechless.
She was right. It's barely been a week since they met.
"Last time I checked. You came to Mondstadt three days ago. That's quite a short amount of time to get to know someone don't you think?"
"Shut up! What do you know!" He yelled, making the guild hall go quiet before it continued being noisy again.
"Easy there kiddo. There's no need to get riled up. I'm just saying I've seen cases like her before."
"Like what?"
"Adventurers who experienced one traumatic event, too scared to go back out there in the field. From what I've seen? The loudest ones are the most afraid."
"You don't know that."
"Fine, maybe I don't. Maybe I'm wrong and she bounces back. But on the off chance she doesn't and she goes out there, freezes in the middle of a life and death situation and gets herself killed? What then?"
"Trust me kid. You'll be doing her a favor by not letting her go back out there."
John clenched his jaws and balled up his fist.
"Even if you tell me this… I can't decide for her."
"You're right, you can't, but you can do something. You can nudge her in the right direction or… let her continue in her delusions." She paused, clutching her necklace tight. "If you care about her at all, you'll make the right choice. A choice I regret not making."
She's right. Damn it but she's right. But even if she was, did he have it in him to confront Edit-
The wooden door flew wide open and a battered and bruised man, limped in. His clothes were torn and covered in dirt.
"Cyrus… Captured… Couldn't… Sav-" He muttered before collapsing on the ground.
"Dad!?"