Nevar: This is probably going to seem redundant, but just in case you're a reader returning from over a year ago, I scrapped the old story and remade it, so in case you're coming back after over a year and find yourself lost, I'd suggest you go back and read starting from Chapter 1. Also, welcome back!
"Herz is telling you, he's a pervert from the castle!"
The first line of speech Jack had heard since losing consciousness almost made him want to pretend he was still out. He was certain Lily's opinion of him had degraded much since they'd met again. Herz was just putting more nails into the coffin, so to speak.
Of course, with his luck, he must've twitched when he regained consciousness or something, because the next thing he heard was the Princess' voice.
"It's generally a bad idea to sleep in the middle of a storm, you know," Lily said.
He could see the smile on her face as she said it without even opening his eyes. It was strange how accustomed he'd grown to this Lily in such a short time. It was easy for him to tell when she was teasing. It was like he could hear it in her voice, even though she didn't give any real cues that she was messing with him.
Hang on. Asleep in the middle of a storm?
His eyes opened quickly, his little charade forgotten. He'd been found in the middle of the rain? He'd been hoping that thing with the guy in armor had just been a bad dream. To be frank, he was half-expecting to wake up back in his bed in Solieu Village. Relief mixed with dread as he thought about the events before he'd been rendered unconscious.
On the one hand, he was glad to be alive. He was also glad that Lily seemed to remember him, still. But on the other, memories of the sword occupying the place where his stomach was supposed to be gnawed at the edge of his mind. He knew he stood no chance against the knight with the wolf helm, but he didn't think he'd be wiped out so quickly. He had, after all, been on a winning streak since this life had started.
"Was there anyone nearby when you found me?" he asked, all business. As much as he wanted to share a laugh, he needed to know how safe they were.
"Nope, just you," Lily answered, the smile fading from her mouth, "Who did this to you?"
"It was some guy in wolf-like armor," Jack said, "I've never seen him before."
"Herz doesn't remember any knights with a wolf head," the master of disguise added, confirming Jack's suspicion.
The man he'd met had never revealed himself to Jack before. That meant that Jack just found the people who were pulling the strings behind this little show. Or rather, they'd found him.
"Well, whoever he was, he did a number on you," Lily said solemnly, "You were out for a day."
"Wait, what?" Jack asked. He'd thought he'd only been out for a couple of hours, since it seemed to be daybreak outside. I was out for that long?
"Yeah, I was starting to wonder how much longer you'd be decorating my bed."
"I- thanks for taking care of me, Lily."
"Eh. You owe me one now," she said, and he really wasn't sure if she was kidding, "And besides, somehow I doubt it'd be good for me if you were out of the picture."
"Hey, don't forget Herz helped!" Herz protested.
His attention moved to the smaller, androgynous girl. Jack could never quite read Herz. He supposed it was a good thing for a master of disguise to be unreadable, but Herz seemed flawed in so many other ways.
"Yeah, yeah, so I guess you owe her, too," Lily said. The grin on her face that he found so delicious was back.
"I still can't believe the guy took me out in like fifteen seconds," Jack said bitterly. It was a bit of a mood-breaker, but then that was all he had room for in his head at the time.
"Whoa, I at least expected you to put up a fight," she teased, but the boy found he couldn't return her grin.
"I need to pay him back," Jack said sternly.
"How are you gonna find him, though?" Lily asked, "We don't even know who he is."
"He said something about how it was his job to keep things going like they were supposed to."
"So, maybe," Lily nodded in comprehension, "If we stick to the plan and alter events, we can get him to come to us."
"That's the plan," Jack's face curled into a slight grin, "We're hunting a wolf."
The plan was simple. Jack needed to get as many people committed to his side as he could before the knight in wolf armor paid him another visit. He also needed to get stronger. Much stronger. Since he'd been left alone for the moment, he was betting that he was being given another chance – all he'd have to do was jump into his role as protagonist at some crucial point. It had been two days, which meant that the Rose Cochon was on its way back from Earth Valley. He doubted he could possibly join them for the trip to the City of Flowers after his episodes at the Castle, so the earliest he could participate would be the time that the Radiata Knights assaulted the dwarves.
All things considered, that meant he had about a week to convert people to his side. That meant he didn't have time to get everyone. Getting them to help him out on your adventures was one thing, and that seemed to be part of the puppet show, anyhow. Getting them to break free and marching against a mysterious enemy? That would be difficult.
His scheming paused when he realized that Herz was still with him, staring at him from across the wooden table in Lily's apartment. The owner of the place he was staying in had gone to the Vareth Magic Institute's library. Lily had said she was going to check for information on those knights, although Jack couldn't fathom what she'd be able to find with how little they knew. Honestly speaking, Jack didn't even know Lily was a study in magic. Apparently, she'd written a book on black magic along with Ardoph, at some point. It came as a surprise to him when she mentioned it in passing before leaving. There was clearly more to her than he'd thought, and he began to wonder how much more there was to himself that he didn't know.
"Herz, it's a long shot, but I'd like you to go to the Castle," he said, "and try to find out if anyone knows about that knight in the wolf armor. Maybe Lucian knows something. Talk to him as someone higher up."
"Herz doesn't like it," the girl said, "but Lily asked Herz to help you."
"Thank you, Herz," Jack said, genuine gratitude in his voice, "Please be careful, and I'm sorry about the molesting."
"Pervert," she said, before she left the room, and Jack wasn't entirely sure if she was kidding or still sore about that time in the castle. Either way, she'd left him to his thoughts, and some hot chocolate.
He took a sip of the drink he'd been offered upon waking. It was sweet and thick, warming his bones on a rather cold morning. The rain hadn't ceased at all since it had started, according to Lily. It was certainly strange, but the sewer beneath them all, the Path of the Spider, was more than capable of withstanding a few days of rain before the streets would start flooding.
His thoughts drifted to the four major factions in the kingdom: Theater Vancoor: the Warrior Guild, the Olacion Order: the Priest Guild, the Void Community: the Bandit Guild, and finally the Vareth Magic Institute: the Mage Guild. It struck him how convenient it was to sort through them by Guild as opposed to picking a party for the non-humans.
Speaking of which, he needed to get the orcs on his side. The creatures were dull, but strong. It was relatively simple to get them to unite, as well, compared to the other non-humans. He'd only need to prove his own power to them, and they would follow.
Of course, I'm not sure how strong my attackers are. Do they even have an army? Orcs might not be enough.
Orcs were strong, and just about every member of their race could overpower most of the humans in the kingdom. However, experience told him that even the strongest of orcs paled in comparison to the strongest of humans. The leaders of each human guild were strong- strong enough to take on many Orcs by themselves. There was one thing he knew for certain about his mysterious attacker: he was strong, and he wasn't alone. He didn't know how many of them there were, but he knew he probably needed more forces, and he probably only had enough time to recruit one faction.
But which one?
His first choice would've been Elwen of Theater Vancoor. She was probably the strongest human opponent he'd ever faced, after all. On the other hand, he knew from experience how agonizing it was to get her on his team. He knew just about nothing about Elwen- she was a book he'd never been able to read, and thus he had no idea how else he could win her allegiance. I don't have time to get all of Vancoor on my side. Something else, then.
The most logical choice seemed to be Void, considering how he already had two of their trainee leaders on his side. However, he also knew Nyx was an ass who didn't fight for other people unless it was clear what was in it for him. He was pretty sure there wasn't really anything he could offer that would sway the strange creature to his cause.
There was no way Kain would willingly hurt his fellow humans without provocation, so Olacion was out.
That left only one guild- one that he wasn't particularly familiar with. In all the time he'd spent running around Tottaus with a party of humans, he didn't think he'd ever used people from the Vareth Magic Institute. It was counter-intuitive, he knew, because mages had the capacity to deal devastating punishment, but he'd always felt a little uncomfortable around magic. Whenever spells were cast, he always felt a slight itch that he could never pinpoint. He was sure it had something to do with how he knew nothing about how the magic of Tottaus worked. If he had some innate reserve of magical energy inside him, he'd never noticed it.
Yet, at the same time, the folks at Vareth were the most likely to be able to help him. He remembered the old children's tales of how mighty warriors were crippled by wizards with a mere word or gesture. Yet another thing I can't recall actually reading. Wonderful.
They could bridge the gap in power quite quickly, so long as they were to be protected, which was what the Orcs were for- the Blood Orcs in particular were battle-craving powermongers. He wouldn't even have to tell them to throw themselves recklessly into harm's way: they would do it for the chance to prove how strong they were.
There was still the feeling of guilt gnawing away at the edges of his mind, but then, he reasoned: If his attackers were the ones controlling the Cycle thing, then it couldn't be for anything good, right? Surely, someone so violent as to attack him with almost no explanation couldn't have been a good guy. I'm doing this for everyone's sake. They'll thank me when they're free.
Yet somehow, he still didn't feel so sure.
"You're still here?" came a familiar voice that made his heart beat faster.
"I didn't think you'd be back so soon," he perked up, his thoughts pushed away as he laid eyes upon the White Princess- his White Princess- walking back into her apartment, "How was the search?"
In response, Lily held up an old-looking black book with what looked like a six-pointed star in front.
"And that has info on that knight?" Jack asked, taking a sip of the now-cold chocolate.
"Yeah, let me just dry off and I'll show you," she said, setting the book down on the dining table.
It was then that Jack noticed Lily was dripping water onto the floor. She was soaked, meaning the rain hadn't ceased yet. More importantly, however, her normally form-fitting clothes were even tighter against her shapely figure. He could practically see her beautiful dark skin beneath it. He must have been staring, because she didn't seem all that pleased when his eyes met hers again.
"I can practically hear a wolf whistle," she said, punching him lightly on the shoulder as she walked past.
"Hey, it's not my fault your clothes are practically see-through," he said, feeling his mouth curve into a grin. Any second thoughts he was having were now gone- replaced by an immense desire to go up to her and feel her body against his.
Five seconds later, he had her pinned against her apartment's wall- her arms and legs between his. He breathed in her scent- a strong, womanly perfume that seemed to hang on her body. His heart thumped like a stampede of Mammoths in his chest. Any faster and he was afraid it would pop out. His brown eyes met her yellow ones as he searched them for unspoken words- for permission. There was a similar look of desire in the yellow orbs that told him yes. That was all he needed.
His lips crashed down onto hers- her body felt warm to the touch despite having been drenched in rain. Their mouths seemed to fit perfectly together, as though made for each other. Her lips tasted sweet- like chocolate. Idly, he wondered why he'd never done this before. He'd been missing out.
Without a word, he let go of her arms and she snaked them around his neck, as if on cue. His own hands wandered lower, feeling the hourglass-like curves of her sides through the wet cloth, his hands pressing into the soft flesh.
They had to stop, eventually, their lungs in desperate need of air. His mouth released hers, although it now felt strange without her. He nuzzled her neck and breathed deeply, taking in both much-needed air and the scent of her. The latter drove him wild, and his hands traveled lower. He gripped her shapely derriere with both hands, pressing her harder against him as he started nibbling on her neck. A hiss escaped her lips- a sound of pleasure.
"Jack, stop." she muttered softly, although her voice seemed strained.
His body, heart, and mind all protested, and he doubled his efforts, biting down harder.
"Jack!" she yelled, his name sounded so good when she said it.
"Enough!" she finally managed to scream, pushing him off of her.
He landed on the ground, on his bottom. He didn't have much experience with these things, but he was pretty sure it was a terrible way to end a make-out session.
"What's wrong?" he asked, trying to be gentle, but there was a certain gruffness in his voice that he couldn't iron out.
"We can't yet," she said simply, heading towards the bathroom like nothing happened, albeit with a red face.
"Then when?" Jack asked.
"You have to finish the story before you get the Princess, Jack," she said, shutting the bathroom door behind her. The sound of the door being locked seemed loud to his ears: It signified he wasn't going to be getting any today.
Frustrated, all the young man could think of at the time was to rally an army together as quickly as he could, eagerly anticipating the reward that awaited him. It didn't help that he'd gotten all worked up. He needed some sort of outlet, and fighting some Orcs was probably going to do it.
The book Lily had brought him laid on the table, forgotten, as Jack left the apartment, headed towards Borgandiazo- home of the Orcs.
Nevar's Notes:
I wish I could make better dialogue for Herz. I think one-liners suit her best, though. What do you guys think?
While writing Jack's conversation with Herz and Lily regarding his attacker, I admit I wasn't sure
I had a problem picking a guild that Jack would wind up recruiting. I wanted Void at first, but then I realized Void aren't exactly the sort of people who would be complemented by an Orcish army. The Orcish army is necessary, btw. I couldn't change that or I would've had problems later on.
Penultimately, I really, really enjoyed writing out this Jack and Lily scene near the end of the chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed that. Again, I lowered the rating from M to T, but I think this sort of scene is... acceptable? I don't know. Tell me what you guys think about it.
Lastly, I now hate the words "Tottaus" and "Borgandiazo." I kept misspelling them while writing this the first time. Anyhow, cheers! And let me know what you think.
