Of Guildmates and Guildleader
Chapter 3 - A Guildleader's Solace
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There are many who have led great guilds; huge, massive and powerful guilds. Guild leaders who swept through lands and castles with their large groups of loyal guild mates.
They are usually the ones who choose to leave the battlefield completely when their guilds finally fall. It's not that being a guild leader is a bad thing. There are times when it is fun, times when one feels damn proud of having a successful guild.
But then there are also times when a guild leader would be extremely tempted to smack all of his guild mates upside their heads, or even times when he actually does smack them.
It is a precarious relationship to maintain.
The entire guild had lapsed into a state of depression after the fight between Syfer and Rito. Yuui especially, seemed to radiate pure dismay everywhere he went. Even Idy, resident sugar-high and cheerful Assassin Cross, had started to actively keep himself out of the Champion's way.
The two antagonists of the whole drama, however, seemed to have undergone a radical change. As seldom as I saw Yuui hanging around either of them nowadays, Rito and Syfer were almost never seen without each other nearby. Their attitude towards each other contrasted so greatly with their behaviour for the past few months that I even convinced myself that I was simply thinking too deeply about this whole mess and that it was good that at least two of them had returned to their old friendship.
That illusion was rudely shattered when I accidentally walked in on an interesting scene in the corner of the guild room. They must not have expected anyone, as everyone else had tagged along with Ruul as he made the trip to Yuno for his blessing from the Valkyrie. My early return to the guild house due to a sudden request for a meeting from one of our ally guilds had been an unexpected change in my schedule.
There was some mumbling, a few guilty looks, followed by several disgruntled curses as the three of us stared at each other.
"What... The hell are you two thinking?" The migraine that had been plaguing my head constantly since their fight was starting to get worse.
There was a short span of silence as they continued to stare at me.
"Right. I forgot. You two don't even think."
Syfer bristled slightly at my insult, but Rito placed a hand on his shoulder and the Lord Knight held back his retort to my statement.
"Tell me this is not some kind of stupid plot to goad Yuui into whatever you want from him."
They did not desist staring, but Rito gave a slight shake of his head. I said nothing after that, leaving the two of them alone in a guild room that seemed to have gotten colder after I had stepped in.
It is a precarious relationship to maintain.
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The conference with our ally guilds took up the majority of my day. When I returned to the guild house, the entire guild was already there with our newly promoted High Wizard, half drunk and giggling at Idy's antics. Ruul turned and waved lopsidedly at me when I walked past, and I returned the gesture. The poor boy then got himself dragged back into the mess of drunken guild mates where he was being showered with new magical equipment and more alcohol.
Feeling both physically and mentally worn out, I declined the invitation for me to join the party and made a beeline for my private chambers. What I found was not my blessedly empty room, but one sober Tetsu leaning against my room door.
"Hey."
I ignored the High Priest and went for the door handle. Pushing forcefully at the door, I dislodged him from his position and walked into my room, but he followed me in before I could shut the door in his face.
"Something happened?"
He said it like a statement instead of a question. I ignored him, moving around the room collecting clothes and a few other items. My partner leaned against the writing desk, his gaze following my trek across the room, which ended with the bathroom door slamming shut and stopping his visual stalking.
The man was still sitting at my desk when I left the bathroom after my prolonged attempt at drowning myself in the showers.
Silence, followed by a sigh. "You could try talking to them..."
"Two of them are being idiots and the third one is in denial."
"And what do you think would be the best resolution to this whole mess?"
"If they would just screw their bloody insecurities and shack up already."
Tetsu raised a brow at that. "And have you tried to convince them?"
"Like that would work."
"Well, you know how I deal with people. If you can't convince them, you confuse them."
"They are already doing a damn good job of confusing themselves."
"And if you can't confuse them... coerce them."
"..."
"You will probably have more than half the guild on your side if you try that anyway."
A plan was swiftly forming in my mind. "Tet?"
"Yes?"
"I love you."
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Cylia followed close behind me as I stomped down the dark corridors of the forbidden realms. "Fox... Are you sure about this?"
"Do you want to spend another day staring at Yuui walking around with his 20 yard radial depression-zone?"
"...but..."
"Not to mention what would happen if Yuui found out what his two depressed suitors have been doing while he was off on his little morality crisis."
"..."
We stopped at the end of the path, halted by the closed doors. The doorbell echoed badly when I pressed it. For a while there was no response, and I pressed the doorbell once more, after which the door slammed open, nearly into my face.
"I'm here, I'm here. Can't you guys learn to wait a little, jeese."
A petite woman stepped out from the door, mock glaring at us. Ryssa, one of the world masters (read: gods from above), happened to be on friendly terms with our guild. After the little chat with Tetsu, I had dragged Cylia with me on our little quest to obtain some "divine intervention" for the current guild love triangle.
We gave Ryssa a summarised story of the whole incident. A good second half of the day was spent amidst a flurry of devious plotting and shrewd planning.
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"Yuui?"
"...?"
"Mind helping Cylia and me with something?"
"...Ok."
"Cylia has a warp opened in the guild room."
He teleported into the tiny room, closely followed by Cylia.
"Eh? Where is this place?"
A shallow cut, and the poison was already acting before he could react.
"Wha...t...?"
While we waited beside the paralyzed Champion, I searched through his bag and removed all the Butterfly Wings I found. Barely a minute later another form warped in, carrying an unconscious body.
"The Sandman trap is pretty fun..." The Stalker dumped his sleeping brother unceremoniously beside the helpless Champion. "Maybe I should keep it Plagiarized for fun."
"Where is Rito?"
"Sorry Fox, had some problems. He sensed something amiss and nearly got away."
"How long will you be delayed?"
"Not at all. We just got him."
Two more appeared in the crowded room, carrying a struggling High Wizard between them. He caught sight of the two incapacitated forms beside me, after which he stared at me in disbelief.
"Hi Rito."
He mouthed something vulgar as he glared. A silenced Wizard was a useless Wizard, after all.
"So. All of us are getting tired of the little drama fest the three of you are putting up around here." Once again he mouthed a soundless reply, which only served to amuse a few of the guild mates in the room. "And thus you find yourself in this current situation."
"We had special help, you know. Restricted room, magically locked. And no, you can't use magic in here." I took the Butterfly Wings out of his bag and waved it at him. "And I'm taking these."
Link had opted to take the whole of Syfer's bag with him, not bothering to sort through the items for the Butterfly Wings. Rito renewed his struggling as the guild mates in the room stepped into Cylia's warp portal one by one.
Idy and Borny dumped their charge onto the ground and swiftly warped out of the room, leaving me to stare down the irate High Wizard.
"Good bye, Rito. And maybe, good luck."
And when I teleported back into the guild room, Ryssa was there with the rest, laughing as she threw me a chain with three golden rings.
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~End. Part 3~
A.N: It had always been my biggest regret that game mechanics do not allow us to forcefully marry the three jokers of my guild to each other. I have therefor endeavored to marry them off in this story :3