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[freeformschooler]

: "Oh, come on, Gregor. Two lovers celebrating a big payday, upstairs at the inn. They'll want privacy."

: "So of course we should barge in!"

Charlotte led Gregor by the hand!

[Haspen]

The two rushed upstairs and quickly found the door, from behind a soft melody of a lute was coming to their ears. And then they opened the door.

Inside, there was two people; a scantily clad lady with very bright teal hair, with lute in her arms, sitting on a small table. Nearby, a brown-haired man in armor and red cloak was sitting on the edge of the bed, listening to the melody.

When the door opened, he looked toward those who interrupted their private moment. The lady stopped playing, and the knight stood up. It took him a moment to shake the shock off and run toward Gregor.

"...!" The man wrapped his arms around Gregor's shoulders and hugged him tightly. As he was taller and stockier than Gregor, the hug lifted the younger of brother's onto his toes. The older sibling shed some tears and patted Gregor on the back, but strangely, not a single word was coming - in fact, not even quietest of sounds were coming from Charles von Hexham's throat.

The lady inside placed the lute on the table and looked at the two brothers with curiosity and soft smile.

[freeformschooler]

: "Charles von Hexham... we've been looking so long I thought he might not be real."

Charlotte turned to the girl with the lute.

: "Who are you?"

[Sirus]

Gregor blinked a few tears out of his eyes, happy beyond words that at least one of his brothers had survived. After they parted from their hug he smiled.

: "Charles, I'm so glad you're okay! Where have you been? Didn't you hear that Prixima is gone?"

[Haspen]

"...! ..." Charles definitely wanted to say something, but not a sound was coming.

"My name is too long for you to comfortably pronounce, so just call me Mari." The lady's voice had some strange 'echo' coming with it, or maybe it was just Gregor's and Charlotte's imagination...

"And you?"

[Sirus]

: "...Charles? What's wrong?"

He nodded towards "Mari", but kept his attention on his brother. Was he wounded?

[freeformschooler]

: "I'm just a wanderer. Gregor, can we talk outside for a moment?"

[Haspen]

Charles kept being unable to say anything, while Mari curiously looked at Charlotte.

[Sirus]

: "Yeah...right behind you. Pardon me a moment, brother."

Follow Charlotte out.

[freeformschooler]

: "I believe that girl is a... hmm, how do you put this? You know that old tale, 'Siren Song?'  The ship is lost at sea, and the captain misses his wife. Through the misty veil, he sees the shape of a beautiful woman sitting on an icy rock, playing her flute. He cannot help but steer toward the siren's song, but as the ship approaches, there is no beautiful woman, only a large glacier. The ship is never seen from again..."

[Sirus]

: "Hmm. I think I do remember reading a story like that years ago. What makes you say she's one of those Sirens?"

[freeformschooler]

: "I'm not saying that at all. I just think it's similar. Your brother seems to be under a spell, maybe a binding curse, and she's so otherworldly. Notice the frustration as he tried to talk."

[Sirus]

Gregor lowered his voice.

: "I agree, there's something strange about her. But I wonder if perhaps...well, there's other possible reasons that he can't talk. A throat injury, perhaps. If he were under some sort of spell or enchantment I would half-expect him to not find his silence frustrating."

[freeformschooler]

: "Maybe we should play along for now. We have so little information that we're just wild guessing."

Charlotte re-enters the room with Gregor.

: "Sorry to interrupt your reunion. Mari, how did you two meet? We've been looking for Charles for months, you must understand our curiosity."

[Haspen]

"..." Charles looked at Mari. After a moment, with a sigh, she took her lute and began to play some simple, but lovely melody. She paused her performance seconds later.

"I shall sing you a certain ballad, of sorts." And then she began to strike the strings with her long fingers.

"Once upon a time, this humble Lady was in battle,
With a terrible foe, Hasmodai, the lord of the demon cattle,
But her power was high and his evil magic wasn't,
It should've ended right there, but it hasn't -
For a young knight have appeared, at wrong place and moment.

Charles von Hexham, savior of damsels, that was his proud name,
But poor knight didn't know the price of this lethal game,
Lady lost her concentration, and Hasmodai seized the chance,
And sent his dark magic, though it was blocked by a lance;
Thusly Charles has been struck, whilst Hasmodai has escaped."

Mari stopped playing and placed the lute away as Charles looked away in resignation.

"My foe has escaped, and Charles received a curse. Each moment he tried to say anything, his insides were burnt by hellish flames. So I've struck a deal with the poor darling; in exchange for help with few things, I have magically sealed his voice, so even by accident he wouldn't say anything and thusly hurt himself more. Of course, he agreed." Charles nodded a little.

"The first task was to recover the Schist, which we did. Then he was asked to help my two younger sisters finally have children, a task he performed admirably I must say." Charles' face flared like a lantern, and he scratched his left cheek in embarassement.

"Third task was to locate a 'Mind', a human in contact with Gingin, a beast that is Hasmodai's right hand. Said human was traveling with the bandits that were ravaging this town, so of course we take the job of ending their banditry. From the human I was seeking, I learned the location of Gingin's hideout."

"Now our task is to catch Gingin and learn where has Hasmodai escaped, so I can finish the battle and also break Charles' curse." Charles looked at Mari, and she looked at him for a moment. They stared at each other for a lengthy moment.

"Gregor, your brother is happy that you're alive, and proud that you've got such beautiful girlfriend." Mari said after turning her eyes back toward the other two.