The Erratum-Chapter 44: Scandinavia.

"Or would Navi suit you better?"

Gazing far above the skies, the Historian was lost in thought. However, after a second had passed, he scratched his temples and looked dejected.

"Pah! I don’t want to think any more! I’ll call you Navia..."

Perplexed by the Historian’s unusual behavior, young Skadi gazed at him with a flat expression.

"What? You don’t want to be called Navia? Fine, I’ll think of something else," The Historian adjusted his glasses slightly, "Something that can suit you better.. hmm.."

"Well, judging based on your appearance, you look akin to awild beast hunting for food. For someone like you, Hunter would be an appropriate name.."

Young Skadi looked even more in disbelief, gazing at the Historian as if the words coming out of his mouth were preposterous.

Then, she shook her head rapidly, stopping after half a second due to her head spinning.

"Pah! You’re so difficult! Do you know how hard it is to come up with names?!" The Historian lashed out at her.

Due to this, Skadi gazed at him in disgust, her cheekbones rising and her left eyes squinting. Her lips were curved at an odd position as she began to make a sour face.

The Historian’s mouth didn’t perceive what her actions meant, or rather, didn’t want to perceive what they meant.

"This girl is really something.. Fine! You win! I’ll give you a proper name."

He snapped his fingers and suddenly, the entire world began to spin.

As if everything was an illusion conjured by this man, young Skadi saw the surroundings change into something simple - something that she had once familiarized herself with.

A simple wooden kitchen table with a few seats on both sides. The Historian sat on the farthest corner of the table, while Skadi sat directly on the chair on the right.

The room seemed dark, only lit by a flickering light coming from a white candle, emanating a warm radiance that exuded the both of them.

Soon, the Historian began to speak, "In times as ancient as the first development of Helios, the Age of Mystic existed."

"This term is quite unfamiliar for young people like you, but you may have been familiarized with the term.. Eclipse Era or the Golden Era of Zeal."

"Nevertheless, in the Age of Mystic, I have heard stories about a lone Fae hunting in the mountains of Helios. She lived in seclusion, never allowing other Faes nor humans to see her."

"Once.. She hunted an entire mountain, killing every living being and animals that lived inside of it. However, this naturally caused some turmoil among the higher-ups of Helios, especially enraging the World’s Light."

"So, the hunter became hunted, and they were revealed under the light of the sun."

"What came after was an execution, tying the Fae on a golden cross facing upwards as they scorched slowly in the sun. The high-ups deemed it a worthy punishment for a hunter - making them slowly starve to death."

"I’ve once read that the Fae had an otherworldly allure - golden flowing hair as if it were eternally swayed by a soft breeze, face that could match the princesses of Helios, and ever-so striking eye, capable of embedding fear to the hearts of many"

"So.. for 2 months and 28 days, the Fae held her resolve, glaring at those who had come to sneer at her. In the end, she looked just like you did - ragged and oily hair, a gaze that can match that of a beast, and a lanky stature, clearly showing your great hunger."

The Historian leaned his hands on the table, carefully massaging the edges of its wooden simplicity.

He turned his head upwards, meeting young Skadi’s fierceful gaze.

"Truly a wild beast..."

He smirked, adjusting his glasses as he moved his fingers across the table.

"Someone like you deserves the name of the Fae of Hunting.. Someone like you should be named... Titania-"

*

"Titania? If that was what the Historian deemed to be deserving of your name, then why are you called Skadi?" Cetas inquired, a glint of interest shining in his eyes.

Laughing softly, Skadi raised her shoulders and turned back to face Cetas.

"It was simple, actually. I rejected it. I didn’t want to be named after a Fae that felled an entire mountain and got executed.. I wanted to be more than that."

Skadi’s face turned smug.

"I’ve told you, Cetas. I’m really greedy.."

"I didn’t want an old man that I had just met to decide what I am going to be called for the rest of my life.. I was erratic but mostly free, so in the end, I chose a simple name that shortened my original one."

The corners of Skadi’s lips curled, "Skadi. A simple name that encapsulated my original identity. It marked something new yet stuck close to my roots."

Gaining new insights, Cetas couldn’t help but be at awe with Skadi’s story. Earnest to learn more, he asked, "Then? What happened next?"

"I’m afraid that story will be told in a future’s date," Her tone becoming more commanding and strict, "Cetas, go to sleep, it’s past midnight. For a young boy, that will hinder your growth."

"The clouds have blocked the sky, too.. The stars are no longer visible."

With her words sounding fierce, Cetas could do nothing but listen to her.

"Alright.."

As the clouds entered the skies within, usurping the ever-so radiance of the stars, the winds became eerily cold and still.

Cetas began to feel his eyelids drooping down, compelling him to fall under a slumber. Giving in, he let go of his senses and let his body rest upon the short-coming of the night.

*

Cetas awoke to the sounds of rumbling thunder and ferocious winds.

The trees raged along with the storm, leaning from one side to another. In the skies, dark clouds engulfed the entire area. Rain crashed down from above, dampening the roads and making it harder for the horses to traverse upon

The carriage sat by the side of the road, protected by trees against the wind.

Well, actually, the winds were protecting the carriage.

A veil was casted around the travelling device, guarding them from any misfortunate events from occurring such as the carriage toppling down and being destroyed.

Luckily though, Skadi was there to protect them.

Warm winds covered Cetas and the others. All of them were already awake except for Cetas, so, naturally, they continued to do their tasks.

Elishia was outside, preparing meals for the entire crew. Along with her, Jones and Galkan helped to maintain the heat for her utensils.

Inside the carriage, opposite of Cetas, Reid struck down on his blade, utilizing a sharpening stone to improve the quality of his blades.

Noticing that Cetas had already opened his eyes and shifted around, Reid glanced at him for a second and went back to sharpening his blade.

"You’ve slept well, especially in this loud weather.."

Rubbing his eyes, Cetas replied while still half-asleep, "Yeah.. Where’s Skadi?"

"Up there," Reid pointed his fingers up to the direction of the ceiling.

"Above the carriage?"

"No," Reid further extended his arm, aiming up high, "She’s in the sky, sleeping."

Having recently woken up, Cetas couldn’t quite comprehend what Reid was saying..

He shook his head, rubbed his eyes, and looked at Reid with doubt.

Noticing Cetas’ doubtful gaze, Reid took a deep breath, "I’m not playing around, you can look. I doubt you’d see her as she’s usually high above in the skies, lying around in the clouds."

The sheer perplexity of Reid’s words made Cetas formulate a question in his mind.

However, due to confusion, he could only let out a single word, "Why?"

"It’s something related to having fair skin and basking in the early sun in order to enhance her bones.. I don’t really know much of it."

"Huh.." Cetas shrugged his shoulders and got up to head outside the carriage.

After doing so, he stretched his body for a few seconds and looked up.

Cetas couldn’t see Skadi in the skies at all. But after choosing to trust Reid’s words, he didn’t pay it any attention at all.

Instead, he walked over to Elishia and casually talked to her.

Elishia looked busy as she worked on a makeshift table made out of wood, with different cooking utensils on top of it and a slab of large meat resting on the far edge of the table.

Beside the table, on the right, a large metal pot with a simmering aromatic soup inside, sat above a raging fire formed from sticks and dry wood.

Near the fire, Galkan sat down with a pile of wood planks beside him.

The wood looked wet, perhaps due to the tremendous amount of rain pouring down from above. So, Galkan had been assigned to dry the wood and aid Elishia in heating up the pot.

Jones was on the opposite side of the two, washing herbs and vegetables with water inside of a large barrel. The water didn’t look like it was made for drinking so Cetas determined that it came from the rain.

Furthermore, smoke came out of the barrel, and Jones’ brown hands looked red.

Figuring this out, Cetas knew that the water inside the barrel was hot.

Heading towards Galkan, Cetas took the attention of the bulky man and asked, "How long does she stay up there?"

Galkan tilted his head upwards, meeting with Cetas’ gaze, "Not that long, she’d usually descend after we wake up." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"I see."

Hearing Cetas’ soft voice, Jones immediately stopped what he was doing and called on to him.

"Glad you’ve finally awoken from your slumber! Pray, do step over here..!"

Cetas headed towards Jones, careful in his steps as to not distract Elishia and Galkan from their tasks.

"Skadi requested aid from me before she went under a slumber in the skies."

Jones shook both of his hands, splattering the hot liquid beside him.

"She told me that, today.. You would awaken your first Flourish.."