Return to Jorgaldur Volume IV: Reunion

Hope

Without realizing it, it had gotten dark. They had spent long hours talking about the adventures of Eldi, Goldmi and Gjaki. Although there were still many things to tell, and above all, many details that had been left out for the moment, at least everyone had a general idea.

"... and that's what we know of Elendnas's cure. Haven't you found some gems in your beginner's labyrinth?" the vampiress asked.

"Well, now that you mention it... I have these," Eldi showed some blue gems

"They're the one we were missing!" Goldmi exclaimed excitedly, although shortly after her face became somewhat depressed. "If we only knew how to get the cure."

"What does it need?" the battlemage asked.

"No idea. We only know that the seven gems are needed as one of the ingredients," Gjaki sighed.

Everyone remained in silence. They didn't know what else to say about it, they hadn't found any clues. They didn't know if it was some kind of potion, some kind of amulet, some kind of charm. All they knew was that those seven gems were needed.

Eldi, for his part, was thoughtfully studying the game's interface. His two former companions stared at him. They had the feeling that they had seen him like this before, in the past. On the one hand, it was impossible, because they had only met his character through their computer screens. On the other, they had learned that the game's reality and fiction were strangely intertwined, mixed up in ways they didn't quite understand.

"Potion of Rebirth and Potion of Renewal. Ah, I remember them. That strange being gave them to me. He was like a ghost, we didn't see his face. Do you remember? In the mission of the Cliff of Destiny..." Eldi suddenly began to speak.

"Uh... what's this about? I had almost forgotten that sometimes you started talking nonsense," Gjaki was surprised at first, and then he mocked him a bit, like in the old days.

"Eldi, could you explain a little better? From the beginning?" Goldmi asked. She had always had the patience in the past to try to find out what was going through her companion's mind.

It hadn't just happened in the game, but also on several occasions at his job. Eldi isolated himself from the world, focusing on his task. He got excited after achieving it, and wanted to explain his findings.

The problem was that he explained them starting from the end, he somewhat assumed that the others had heard his thoughts, which was obviously impossible. It used to be a somewhat awkward situation, at least the first few times. Once they knew him, they simply required more details, as Goldmi had done.

"Oh... I've done it again, haven't I?" he felt a bit embarrassed.

"Ha, ha, yes. Come on, tell us what's about those potions" the vampiress laughed.

"Those two potions are the only ones I know of that use the seven gems..." he began to explain.

"Really!?" Goldmi exclaimed suddenly.

She stared at him, incredulous. Without realizing it, her eyes were moistening. She allowed herself for the first time in a long time a glimmer of hope. Although the elf was happy with her life, she knew of Elendnas's suffering, and it hurt her.

"Go on, please," Gjaki urged, her eyes wide at the unexpectedness of the revelation.

"Well, the two potions are similar. It could be said that the Renewal potion is a limited version of the Rebirth one. It shares the ingredients, but has far fewer. Also, its effect is supposed to be minor. The information about the Rebirth potion says that the individual recreates each bone, each muscle, each cell. The Renewal one only regenerates them, although I don't know exactly what the difference is," Eldi explained.

Goldmi was now crying, unable to say a word. That description was exactly what she had been dreaming of. What they needed.

"The problem with the Rebirth potion is the ingredients. Many of them I don't even know. For the other one, I only miss a few," Eldi finished.

"What're those ingredients?" the vampiress asked, since her friend was speechless.

It wasn't that Gjaki wasn't also excited, hopeful, eager. However, it was evident that for Goldmi it was much more shocking, something that Eldi could notice. There was no need to be very smart to figure it out.

"To finish the Renewal one, and they are also necessary for the other, I would need blood from an ancestral vampire, from an arachne and from a Son of the Wind, which I don't really know what it is. I have the rest. For the other, it's a long list. Ingredients such as ice dragon eggshell, black Edelweiss, Flame Lineage fingernail, Kraken Mucus, stone turtle scale..." Eldi recited a long list of ingredients. Some were more or less easy to get. Some were even unknown.

"I know that the black Edelweiss was in the expansion, although I did not play it. The area is level 100, and dangerous. We may also be able to find the eggshells there. It won't be easy to gather them, but perhaps the Renewal one is possible. How many gems do you need for the potion? How much blood?" the vampiress asked.

"Very little, barely a thimble. Do you see this vial? It's enough to fill it up," he showed Gjaki a tiny glass container. "About the gems, one of each per potion."

To his surprise, Gjaki snatched the vial from him with great speed. Next, she drew a dagger and cut her finger, quickly filling the vial with her blood. Thanks to her power over blood, it flowed quickly, and it stopped flowing abruptly.

"It should be enough. Give me another, so you'll have it ready for the other potion," she asked, as she handed the vial to Eldi.

He was surprised. He knew that Gjaki was a vampiress, but not an ancestral one. Nonetheless, the high human preferred not to ask. It was likely that she had mentioned it in the past, and he had forgotten about it, or simply ignored it. If he admitted that he didn't remember it, she would surely be irritated, or perhaps just tease him.

"It certainly is. It's marked as a valid ingredient." Eldi confirmed.

It was then that a white bird went through a trapdoor on the upper floor. Immediately, it descended and landed on the table.

Goldmi was almost speechless, excited. Even so, she had been using Auditive Link ever since Gjaki had asked about the ingredients.

"She says... She says to put one of those vials on the table," the elf asked.

She had confirmed it up to three times with her winged sister, until she had ended up getting irritated, although the bird hadn't gotten angry. She knew that her elf sister was worried about her, and also how important it was. Therefore, she hadn't even asked for compensation, for the moment.

Eldi nodded, stunned, and put a vial on the table.

"She says two..." the elf informed.

Eldi pulled out another one, while the goshawk stabbed herself in the leg with her beak. She let her blood drip onto the first vial.