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It'd be better for you to get out of here, you've got an excuse.
''Come, follow me.'' The gentle pink woman pulls you deeper inside the temple. <span class="mu-i">Oh no your palms are sweaty</span>. Churchs may give you a sense of familiarity but you never had any roots anywhere. <span class="mu-i">Rey has no friends; Rey never made friends; Rey has no idea how to speak to people who aren't her dad and mom</span>.
...It's pathetic, isn't it? At least the Divines can't read your thoughts.
Your scenery became a blur of rocks and woods, Augustine led you to a spot in the library devoid of anything but her needed alchemical apparatus. Roughly twice the lengths of your arms, this thing seems to be nothing more than glass tubes leading into more glass tubes with two heaters needing their energy cube to activate. A few lingering acolytes made their exits upon the intrusion of your duo.
Putting her basket on a nearby table, Augustine rummages inside to extract a gourd of water, a thick vial longer than two fingers with a red-yellow liquid inside, and finally, something hidden inside a small satchel. ''Here it is here it is...'' She opens a nearby cupboard to find the energy cubes to insert them inside the heaters, and finishes by pouring a third of the gourd inside a pipe you mistakenly believed closed. ''Ideally, I'd take it apart and clean it up properly but the medicine is more important, dust won't be enough to contaminate it.''
''A-Are you from Gwalchmai? Your name feels a little familiar with the people over there.'' Her gentle purple gaze locks onto yours and you promptly look away to watch one of the flames... but you look back at Augustine when her blue dress enters your field of view.
''Decisive, sharp, and cultured. I'm starting to like you quite a bit, Rey.'' Cupping one of her cheeks, Augustine makes this strangely sweet ''hohoho'' that manages to infect you.
''Hoho...I'm just me.'' You mutter, alternating between looking at the alchemy and stealing sideglances. You're only realizing it now but Augustine might be older than you realized, she has this air of maturity you can't place outside...instincts?
''You're right.'' The pinkish godtouched continues. ''Have you heard of Miséricorde?''
''Hm...'' Eyes closed, you retrace as much of your past as you can.''...No.'' When you reopen your eyes to look back, Augustine expression flickers for an instant with a look of... of sadness? Or perhaps nostalgia? Your stomach twists with regret. Her home and her past must be sensitive topics.
''It's a middling town, quiet and boring enough for me to learn my herbalism trade without many worries.'' Her features are kind and peaceful, could she be starting to forget about the alchemy? ''When the news about Eichenwald creation began to spread, we-I was already one foot out of my home, it must have been one of Mother Earth Little Fates.''
Augustine interrupted herself to peruse the apparatus and, once satisfied, slowly let the liquid she brought flow into it.
