An Owl's Rise

Evelyn hearing from Melisandre that she would need to provide credits to pay for a request frowned.

She had used up pretty much all she had in preparation for the expedition and was only sitting on a few thousand.

And with her magic core and beast core in such sorry states she doubted she be able to do much alchemy to earn what she would need to pay for a request that involved going to a place as dangerous as the inferno field.

\'I suppose I will just need to sell the gear I bought and whatever else I have left on me. I will end up with way less, but I suppose that is another price I will have to pay. I can always start over if I survive the evolution.\'

Being despondent over having to give up the items she had worked hard for Evelyn let out a deep sigh.

Naturally this did not escape Melisandre\'s notice.

"Evelyn, what is the matter. If you are having second thoughts, you are free to take all the time you want. I understand that this is not easy to go through with, and I would honestly be happy if you did not." Melisandre said with a kind expression.

She was really hoping that the weight of Evelyn risking her life had caught up with her and she was reconsidering it.

"No, that is not the problem. I was just thinking about the credits I would need. I do not have very many, so I will probably need to sell off a good number of my valuable items." Evelyn said as she looked down at her storage cuff with sad eyes.

Melisandre now understanding what was going on frowned. Knowing that Evelyn had not changed her mind at all.

"Evelyn did you forget that you are owed a sizeable sum for your participation in the expedition. I heard that you made a quite a few discoveries as well for an added bonus. I am sure once you have received your compensation you will have all you need to pay for the mission to obtain a hellfire rose. Though it will likely cost you quite a bit, it should not be out of the realm of possibilities."

After receiving Melisandre\'s words of encouragement Evelyn perked up, as she remembered that she would receive pay for her time on the expedition

For the majority of the trip she had been far more focused on her goal of obtaining a float stone that she practically forgot that she was also earning credits.

"Okay that makes sense. Thank you for reminding me of that Melisandre. I suppose that is what I will do tomorrow."

With their talk now over Melisandre allow Evelyn to go back to her room and get some rest. While she made her own preparations.

\'If she is going to go through with this, I need to make sure that she has the best possible chance.\' Melisandre thought as she resolutely flew off to meet with a certain owl.

Upon the coming of the next day Evelyn made her way to the mission hall and was able to get the credits she as owed for participating in the expedition.

Luckily, she was not penalized for being whisked away before it truly ended, and in the five months it had been while she was asleep most everyone had returned, and warp points were now being established over the continent where valuable resources were known to be found.

Then once she had gotten a status update on the expedition the receptionist for the hall that was helping her transferred over the credits she was owed.

However, there was something that happened that Evelyn had not been expecting.

The members of her squad that were deceased had their own shares split up between the surviving members.

\'Even in death they are helping me one last time huh. Maybe while I am searching for my brother\'s soul, I will look for them as well.\' Evelyn thought as she remembered the owls she had traveled with for the last few months.

Certainty they had known each other for that long, but they had fought life and death battles together. And while she had not really been looking out for them. They had died and allowed her to live, so she felt she owed them at least a bit of gratitude.

Now that she had gotten a bit more information and picked up the credits she was owed, Evelyn asked to place a request with the mission hall.

"Are you sure that you would like to set the reward as one point two million credits. This is definitely a difficult mission, but the reward is still quite high just to collect one item." The receptionist said, worried about Evelyn spending too much.

Evelyn though just nodded her head and said this is what she wanted to do.

Since she had gotten more credits than she anticipated she would rather pay for the best and fastest service she could.

If she offered a greater reward than normal, it was certain that only the strongest awakened ranked owls would take the job for the sizable number of credits.

\'Melisandre said that I would probably need to make the request at least eight hundred thousand, which is about what I would have gotten if not for getting the share from the others. I figure if I increase the amount by bit, it will be much more appealing and be completed quicker. I would rather either get over my weakness or die and move on as soon as possible.\'

With Evelyn\'s insistence the receptionist took her request and told her that it would be posted after being processed. Which would take a couple of days at most.

"Here the credits to pay for the request." Evelyn said as she transferred over the majority of the credits she had just received.

Now she was sitting at only a bit more than two hundred fifty thousand.

\'All I have to do is wait. Once that hellfire rose is in my possession, I can move forward.\' Evelyn thought as she left the mission hall.

As she did, she wondered if maybe she should get in contact with Bylur, Rehni, and Braulia and tell her that she had awoken.

However, she decided against this. There was a good chance that she would die when attempting to evolve and forcefully fix the damage to her cores.

She figured if she lived, she would try and contact them. Especially Bylur, the snowy owl.

He had really stuck his neck out for her and without him she was certain that would have been the end.

\'Without him struggling for that minute after I was hit with the backlash from the Aethersphere the empress dryad would have gotten me. I at least owe him enough not to give him the cold shoulder anymore.\'

With that last thought of her fellow squad members Evelyn returned to Melisandre\'s estate and waited for her request to be accomplished.

Many weeks went by as she lived a fairly monotonous life.

During this time she had pretty much nothing to do for the first time. So, she simply read what she could to occupy her idle moments with. Learning more about the world around her.

Then it finally happened. She received a notification that her request had been completed and that the hellfire rose was waiting for her to collect it at the mission hall.