A milk run for the Dark Queen

Garan, Dark Citadel_

Here Vanoss was. His body forced onto his knees as he was firmly held down by two gargoyles. The Canadian was peering up at the Dark Queen, Olga Discordia, with a look of nervousness upon his face. It was not that he was nervous because Olga seemed intimidating, well, maybe a little bit, but it was mainly due to the fact that her clothing choice made her look like some form of exotic stripper with a superiority complex. Quite frankly, Vanoss wondered if it would be a good idea to voice was he was currently thinking towards the dark elf in front of him. It probably wasn't. Thinking of nothing else at the moment, Vanoss came up with the best thing he could currently say to Olga.

"Uh..." Vanoss trailed off slightly as he opened his mouth. "Howdy doody?"

Olga gave an analytical raised brow towards the captive owl-headed man before she spoke with contempt in her tone.

"What business does a pig-man and a kikiyaon have in my territory?"

At this, Vanoss couldn't help but let out a short and small snort of confusion. "Okay. I get the pig man part, but the hell is a kiki...kikiyaon?"

"Isn't that what you are?" Olga inquired Vanoss. "Are you not an owl-man?"

"Oh... That's what you call an owl-man around here? Huh. It's a weird name." Vanoss commented as she glanced to the side. "It just, kikiyaon just sounds so funky to hear and say. I mean, kiki alone is funky to say in itself, but adding the yaon at the end just makes even more weirder than it already was. Just fucking, kikiyaon. Kikiyaon. Kikiya—."

"Are you done prattling on like an absolute loon?" Olga questioned Evan with an almost annoyed tone.

"Well, if by loon you mean idiot, and by idiots you mean dingus, then to be perfectly honest with you, I don't think I ever will." Vanoss replied to Olga with a straight face.

Olga leaned forward on her throne as she narrowed her eyes at owl-headed man with a contemplative look. "You seem to speak without an inch of fear or anger in your tone. Do you not know where it is you are, and who it is you are talking to?"

At this, Vanoss glanced to the ceiling with his own thinking look. "Hmm. Well I know wherever it is we're at, it smells like raw cheese just about everywhere. Except in here, actually. What do I smell? You got any candles in here? I think I smell lavender."

Olga raised her brow in confusion, with the two gargoyles even sharing a confused look with each other, before she responded. "It's hyacinth..."

"Ah. Got it. Hyacinth." Vanoss said with a nod of understanding before moving away from his tangent. "But uh, for your other question, I have no idea who you are, lady. I mean, it looks like you're an elf, you know given your very pointy ears, maybe a dark elf. You've also got a crown, and you do have a staff, so I don't know. You're a queen, or something? A witch queen?"

"Are you truly that ignorant as to whom you speak with?" Olga calmly asked Vanoss. "I am Olga Discordia. Queen of the dark elves. And you and your escaped friend were trespassing in my domain of Garan."

"I see." Vanoss said as he decided to look around the large throne room rowed with marble pillars, noticing that alongside some of monsters, which looked similar to the ones he and friends killed earlier, were a few other dark elves, mainly female. "Well, my name is Vanoss... and, uh, yeah. I don't really have a title, but my friends usually call me by my real name, Evan. So there's that."

Once more Olga raised her brow at Vanoss. "If Evan is your real name, then why do you use a pseudo-name of Vanoss? Are you some form of undercover agent?"

"Oh, I wish. That sounds like one of the most kick-ass jobs in the world." Vanoss admitted with an almost awed expression. "But, nope. I just adopted the name from my dad and stuck with it."

Olga looked at Vanoss for a moment before spoke another question. "Very well then, Vanoss... what purpose have you and your friend in Garan? I demand you speak the truth, and only the truth. Lest your life meets a miserable end."

"Well, you can kill me but I won't stay dead." Vanoss commented, prompting Olga to raise her brow at him, though she did not get a chance to prod him more on that subject as he continued to answer her question. "But me and Wildcat, that's my pig friend, we're just flying north to see what we could find. You see we're new around here, and we, along with our other friends, decided to do some exploring. Me and Wildcat came flew up to your place, were immediately disgusted by the smell. Someone shot at us with fireballs, I got knocked out, Wildcat flew off, and now here I am talking to you."

"Yes. Flying." Olga said as she used her staff to levitate Vanoss's elytra wings over to her, as they were situated by her throne alongside Vanoss's firework rocket.

"Oh, hey. My elytra wings." Vanoss said as he spotted the pair of grey wings, which Olga now held in her hand.

"That's what you call them?" Olga asked. "How does one without the natural gift of flight use beetle wing casings to travel across the air?"

"I don't know. That sounds like something you'd have to ask Brian about, he's one of my other friends." Vanoss told Olga. "I just know that you find them when you go to the End and you find an End ship."

"The End?" Olga asked, confused yet also intrigued. "What is this End you speak of?"

Vanoss gave Olga a once over look before he spoke. "You know what, I think with everything I say, you're just going to ask more questions."

"And what is your point? You are my captive. You do not have much room to bargain." Olga said with a haughty tone.

"I'm just saying, maybe there's something I can get in return, you know? Like, you ask me a question, and then I get to ask you question." Vanoss listed off. "You know, stuff like that."

Olga stared at Vanoss with a deadpan look before she replied to him. "You don't get how this works, do you? You do not get to make demands of me. You are my prisoner, and you will adhere to what I say, or suffer whatever pain I deem fit for you. Those fireballs from earlier are but a fraction of what I can do."

"Wait, that was you?" Vanoss asked with mild surprise. "Wow. Not cool, Olga. Not cool... Ah, who am I kidding? If I could throw fireballs, I'd probably fire them at just about anyone I could find too."

Once more Olga stared at Vanoss, her eye twitching in mild annoyance. "You are singlehandedly the oddest creature I have ever spoke with. It is almost astonishing, your level of ignorance."

"Hey, what are you gonna do?" Vanoss asked with a shrug. "Sometimes I can't help myself."

Olga let out a small frustrated sigh before speaking. "I will state this once more. You will answer my every question, or there will be hell for you like you have never known."

The moment after Olga spoke, the doors to the throne opened, the sound of rushing footsteps echoing through the halls. Everyone's attention was caught by this as they looked towards a bruised and dirtied dark elf woman running down the hall, save for Vanoss who was still being constrained by the two gargoyles.

Seeing one of her people bruised and obviously in a state of urgency, Olga arose from her throne, speaking out towards the dark elf. "What is the meaning of this interruption? What has happened?"

The dark elf, her throat dry, her voice hoarse, answered her queen. "My-my lady... we-we were attacked by a monstrous demon. We were i-investigating the dead monsters when that abomination... started to kill us off. Only two of made it out, Chloe and I, but-but..."

The dark elf had trailed off in her tale, prompting Olga to call her out upon it. "But what? Explain."

With a harrowed and grim expression, the dark elf spoke. "It's Chloe. She-she was wounded in the fight... my queen, she was affected the same way the dead monsters were. I-I fear she will not survive."

A look of immediate horror and fear grew in Olga's eyes, her voice booming through the throne room as she gave spoke out her demand. "Where is she? Bring Chloe to me, this instant!"

With a nod, the bruised dark elf ran back out of the throne room. As she did so, Olga looked to the doors with an ever-looming feeling of dread as each moment passed by. Vanoss, giving a raised brow of intrigue to what was going on, looked upon Olga's distraught face. He wondered in his mind what was going on. He did realize that whoever this Chloe chick was, she was obviously important to Olga. Maybe it was her daughter, or a really close friend.

Soon enough, the bruised dark elf came back in alongside one of the dark elf guards from within the castle as the carried in Chloe. Olga widened her eyes upon the condition Chloe was in, moving away from her throne and quickly to her to ward.

"Chloe..." Olga trailed off in horror. Chloe's darkened tan skin had paled, her eyes slowly losing color. A black and grey infection was slowly spreading upon her body. "What has done this to you...?"

In a very weakened state, Chloe inched her eyes towards her mistress, doing her best to utter out a response to Olga. "L-l-l-lad-d-dy... O-olga-ga..."

"Hush now. Save your strength." Olga told Chloe, her eyes riddled with worry.

Looking to the bruised dark elf, Olga spoke. "What monster could have done something such as this?"

"The monster... it was like a demon from the very depths of purgatory." The dark elf told Olga, her face grimacing at the memory of the vile creature. "It was absolutely abhorrent. It had no arms or legs, but it flew without any wings. It was like a skeleton with shriveled black-grey skin. It had three horrific skeletal heads with glowing white mouths and eyes. It killed Cynthia, Claire, Aria, and Jared. Chloe and I survived by running, but before the creature lost us, it shot an explosive skull at us from on of its heads. Chloe was hit, but she had shown no signs of an injury such as this... only when we successfully escaped did this plague overtake her."

Olga looked at the dark elf as she had told her tale, the description of the demon appearing in her mind. Olga could do nothing but grit her teeth in regards to whatever monster had done this to Chloe, but the moment she found it, she would obliterate it with every destructive spell and curse she knew.

"It sounds like you guys ran into a Wither. Was not expecting that."

Hearing his voice, Olga turned around to see Vanoss glancing back herself and the other dark elves beside her. "You know of this demon?"

"Well the description is very familiar." Vanoss told Olga as he did his best to look back at her. "From what my friends have told me, a Wither is an undead mob that really hates anything that lives. Though it's kind of strange how you guys actually ran into a Wither without summoning it, since they apparently don't spawn on their own. Hell, it's a miracle just the two of you made it out without the right gear and weapons."

Glancing over to the gargoyles, Olga slammed her staff against the floor. "Bring the prisoner over here, this instant."

"You can just call me Vanoss or Evan. We're already on a first-name basis." Vanoss said as the two gargoyles dragged the Canadian towards where Olga stood.

"You say you've seen this... Wither before." Olga said to Vanoss with a serious look upon her face. "Have you fought against such a thing? Do you know how to counteract whatever poison it has harmed Chloe with? Answer me, this instant."

Vanoss glanced over to the dying blonde-haired dark elf before nodding. "Oh, yeah. I've been hit with that too plenty of times whenever we fought a Wither. Though I've never a Wither seen cause someone to slowly die like this."

"I don't care about what it does, I want to know if there's a cure." Olga sternly told Vanoss, doing her best to keep herself from breaking down.

"Of course there's a cure. It's actually really easy to find." Vanoss nonchalantly replied with a shrug. "All you need is for her to drink some milk."

Olga stared at Vanoss with wide eyes as she slowly spoke back to him. "Milk...?"

"Yep. Plain old cow milk." Vanoss said with a mild chippy tone. He looked around the throne room, only to notice eyes shifting away as Olga was frozen. "You... guys do have milk, right? You at least have cows?"

Tightening her grip on her staff, Olga replied back to Vanoss. "Does this look like the kind of place where you find cows?"

Vanoss glanced up in thought before he gave a small cringe, sucking in air through his teeth. "Yeah... you got a point there..."

Dread had completely overtaken Olga as she looked at Chloe. The Dark Queen's eyes were dilated in fear for her dying ward.

Vanoss was able to catch a glimpse of Olga's concerned face. Even though she had thrown fireballs at him and Wildcat, captured him, and acted as if he was an ant under boot, his better judgment couldn't but give her a little sympathy. So, out of the goodness of his Canadian heart, an idea came to mind.

"Hey, uh, we've got cows back the commune where me and friends live." Vanoss told Olga. "You guys give me back my elytra wings and rocket I can zoom back here in time with the milk."

"And why would I trust you?" Olga turned to Vanoss with a glaring look. "For all I know, by letting you go, you will fly off and never return, leaving Chloe to suffer and die."

"Oh, come on, Olga. You barely even know me. What makes you think I'm just gonna leave you hanging? I mean, it's not as if you've been that much of a bitch to me, for me to not care what happens to someone you care for." Vanoss told Olga.

"Excuse me?" Olga questioned Vanoss on the 'bitch' comment.

"Watch your words when speaking to Queen Olga!" The female dark elf guard that helped to carry in Chloe told Vanoss.

"Hey, I'm just saying, what is the worst thing that could happen by letting me go on a milk run for your friend?" Vanoss questioned as he motioned to Chloe. "Well, you know, except her dying."

Olga narrowed her eyes at Vanoss, looking for any twitch in his facial features, any shift in his eyes. She looked for anything that would tell her if he spoke true or false, yet she could find no deception in his tone. She then looked back at Chloe, her young ward still quietly dying in pain. On the inside, Olga was in anguish, uncertain in what to do. Either take no chance and let Chloe die, or risk the chance of her survival on Vanoss, who seemed very ignorant to everything around him.

Luckily for her, Olga's answer was just about to make itself known to her.

Another dark elf guard, this one male, rushed into the throne room with urgency. "My Queen! The pig-man flyer has flown back to the citadel. The monsters engage him in battle, as we speak."

"Oh, hey. Wildcat actually came to rescue me." Vanoss said with an innocent smile. "He does care."

Glancing to Vanoss upon the mention of his friend's name, an idea started to make its way into Olga's head.

Olga looked to the dark elves that held the dying Chloe. "Take Chloe to my chambers, at once."

""Yes, Queen Olga."" The two dark elves nodded as they began to carry Chloe out of the throne room.

Olga then looked to the two gargoyles holding down Vanoss. "Release him."

The gargoyles obliged to Olga's command, letting Vanoss out of their grip. Still sitting down, Vanoss rotated his shoulder a bit to make sure the gargoyles didn't damage anything. As he was doing so, he noticed Olga walk up to him.

Looking down at Vanoss, Olga spoke. "You are coming with me."

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Meanwhile, just outside of Olga's dark fortress-home, a platoon of orcs, imps, and a few cyclopes were in heated battle with Wildcat.

Wildcat was now dressed in his full set of diamond armor, his elytra wings still on his back. He wielded his diamond sword and his enchanted diamond bow, swinging and shooting at the monsters of Garan, all the while tossing fouls language their way.

"Come on, you fucking bitches!" Wildcat yelled out as he decapitated an oncoming imp. "I beat the absolute CRAP out of those gargoyles from earlier, and I will the shit into all of you until you release my friend!"

The monsters replied to Wildcat by roaring and jeering at him in their own language before they charged. While it was true that they had the numbers, and were somewhat overpowering Wildcat, the pig-man from another world played chicken with them. Wildcat moved in and out of the fray of battle so as to not received too much damage from the monsters. Even though he had better armor, fights with the Wither, Ender Dragon, and Illagers had told Wildcat that diamond armor wasn't always going to protect him.

"Come on, you fucking pussies!" Wildcat yelled at the monsters as he shot a flaming arrow into the eye of a cyclops, causing it to scream and run around in pain. "My armor and weapons are enchanted 3! Meaning I'm armed and nerdy as shit!"

Wildcat then swung his sword at an oncoming orc who wielded a club. The orc swing to meet to Wildcat's blade, causing the two weapons to clash as the diamond sword sent splinters flying out of the club. The orc staggered back from the shock of the blow, only for Wildcat to bury his sword into the orc's neck, killing it as blood gushed out.

"Come on! Who's next?! I'll take all you fuckboys on!" Wildcat yelled as he manically swung his sword in every which direction.

The monsters were all about to charge at Wildcat before the commanding voice of Olga Discordia rang through the air.

"ENOUGH!"

Immediately all the monsters paused, turning their heads around to see Olga stepping out from her fortress and walking over to them, Vanoss walking a little behind at her side.

"Yo, Wildcat! What's up?" Vanoss waved over to his pig-man friend.

"Wha-Evan? What do you means what's up? I came here to save your ass." Wildcat told Vanoss before he looked over at Olga, widening his eyes at her clothing apparel as his body went limp from befuddlement. "...Who the fuck is that?"

"Oh. This is Olga Discordia." Vanoss introduced the Dark Queen to his friend while motioning his hand towards her. "She is the dark elf queen, from what she told me. Uh, she's also the person that shot fireballs at us."

Wildcat merely continued to stare at Olga and Vanoss, mostly Olga, with a befuddled look, his brow raised in the process. "Huh? I-I'm sorry, what's going on here? I feel like I'm missing something here. Why is she wearing the weirdest lingerie I've ever seen? Did I interrupt something that somehow happened in the short amount of time I was gone?"

"Lingerie...?" Olga muttered with furrowed eyes in confusion.

"Yeah, I felt like asking that earlier. I gotta tell you, it was really awkward looking at you when you're dressed like this." Vanoss said to Olga, motioning to her clothing.

"This isn't lingerie." Olga said as she looked at Vanoss with a more annoyed tone, the monsters all having confused looks as this conversation was being had. "This is how all elven women dress."

"That would explain why a lot of those dark elf chicks looked like they were dressed in metal bikinis." Vanoss muttered to himself, bringing a finger to his lower beak in thought.

"Enough of this." Olga stated firmly before she looked back at Wildcat. "You seek your friend's return, no?"

"I mean, I think I speak for everyone here when I say that's pretty fucking obvious. I've been shouting it nonstop." Wildcat said with a bland look, motioning to himself, and even the monsters in the area.

"You get what I mean." Olga said in stern voice as she sent Wildcat an angered look.

"Hey, I'm just saying. You don't need to ask the obvious." Wildcat said as he rose his hands in defense.

Olga let out frustrated sigh towards Wildcat. "I don't have time for this. I will be willing to let your friend go, so long as you retrieve a cure for my ward."

"What? No way. You shot at us." Wildcat threw an accusatory finger towards Olga. "Why should I help you?"

"Don't, and I'll kill your friend." Olga threatened Wildcat with a glare.

Wildcat replied by scoffing at her. "Do it. He'll just respawn. You ain't got no leverage over me to help you, bitch."

"Should we see about that?" Olga dared as her monsters started to growl at Wildcat.

"Bring it on. I'll kick all your asses." Wildcat rose up to Olga's challenge as he pointed his sword at her and her monsters.

"Now-now, wait. Wait just a fucking minute here. Okay?" Vanoss said as he put himself between Olga and Wildcat, his hands raised at both of them in a stopping motion. "Now, I know she shot at us, but I think we should help her. That way, we can forget everything that happened here today, and maybe be potential friends."

"That is a very unlikely maybe." Olga muttered as she looked at Vanoss.

"Evan, I know you're Canadian, but you do not need to help everyone who's in trouble." Wildcat told his friend. "This witch has monsters under her command. We can't just trust here, even if we decided to help whoever her dying ward is. And anyway, what is it that you even need me to get?"

"She needs milk." Vanoss informed Wildcat. "A bunch of her guys got killed by a Wither, and one of the survivors needs a glass of milk before she dies from the Wither effect."

"What a minute, a Wither? What's a Wither doing out here?" Wildcat asked. "Did someone summon one?"

"I honestly don't know, dude. I only just heard they ran from a Wither." Vanoss told his friend.

"Enough of this farce. Are you willing to help, or will I have to be more forceful?" Olga demanded from Wildcat.

"Why should we help you? You shot at us." Wildcat made his point clear.

"Wildcat, before you start getting trigger-happy, you haven't seen the inside of this fortress." Vanoss said as he pointed his thumb back towards the citadel. "There are all sorts of butt-ugly monsters in there. I mean, you're looking at some of them now."

While the monsters of Garan were not exactly the smartest creatures in Eostia, they weren't entirely devoid of intelligence. This was made clear when some of the monster platoon murmured with other, slightly offended by Vanoss's words.

"What's your point, dude? We've taken on large numbers before." Wildcat told back to Vanoss.

"Yeah, when everyone was here." Vanoss stated. "And we all had enchanted weapons and diamond armor. Did you even bring my stuff with you?"

"Well... no. I mean I was in a rush to get back here, so I didn't think about getting your weapons and armor." Wildcat in defense.

"Exactly. And while we can respawn, you'll still lose all your shit if you end up dying." Vanoss also pointed out to Wildcat.

Wildcat stared at Vanoss for a hot minute, an even look upon his face before he swore. "Dammit! How are you being the sensible one, right now? You're the most reckless person I know."

"Look, all you gotta do is go on a milk run, come back with it, and we can go on with our stupid lives." Vanoss said to Wildcat.

"Ugh..." Wildcat groaned as he placed his hand to his face, dragging it down as he looked up in thought.

After a moment of thinking, Wildcat let out a sigh before looking back at Olga and Vanoss. "You do realize that this whole thing will be redundant for me, right? I just got back from the commune."

"Do you want to go get the milk, or do you want to stay in my place while I get this milk?" Vanoss asked Wildcat.

Groaning, Wildcat replied to Vanoss's question. "Fine. Fucking fine. I'll go. But if she backstabs up, even after helping her, I'm gonna say I told you so, for so long."

With that, Wildcat turned around, put away his weapons, and pulled out his firework rocket. From there, he spread out his elytra wings and shot straight to the sky in a matter of seconds.

Olga, having just witnessed what happened, looked towards Wildcat flying away with mild intrigue and surprise. "So that's what the firework does..."

"Alright." Vanoss said, turning around to face Olga with his hands on his hips. "Now all we gotta do is wait for Wildcat to come back with the milk. I doubt he'll be like a deadbeat dad and only say he's going to get some milk, so I'm very sure your friend is going to get through this."

Olga gave Vanoss a strange a look in regards to what he said about deadbeat fathers, but merely shook it off with a mild look of annoyance. Olga then looked towards her monsters. "All of you will stay on guard. If any of you spot an undead, three-headed monster, do not engage without notifying me beforehand."

Just as Olga turned around to walk back inside, she looked back at Vanoss. "You will follow me."

"Okay then." Vanoss said with a shrug, showing no concern over following the Dark Queen to who knows where.

Having re-entered Olga's citadel, the dark elf queen and Vanoss walked through the large fortress. They passed through many, torch-lit halls and corridors. Throughout the entire walk, Vanoss couldn't help but notice that there was a majority of monsters compared to any other dark elves, whom most of said dark elves seemed to be women. It was definitely an odd sight, especially given how the monsters that Vanoss and his friends had killed all acted. Many in regards to how they like women in a really bad way. Maybe these monsters were different? Vanoss wasn't one to judge. They may be all ugly looking bastards, but who knows. Maybe a few of them were friendly. Maybe. There was a slim chance. If not, Vanoss really had to question why the dark elves and monsters were working together.

As they continue to walk, Olga glanced back at Vanoss every now and then, observing for any suspicious movements, or perverted glances sent her way. Thus far, it seemed Vanoss's attention was never on her one bit. He was looking around her citadel as they walked, but never did his eyes linger for too long at her, nor any of the female dark elves they had passed along the way. Not like the monsters that served under her employ. Either this man was really good at hiding his lust, or he truly was one of the most ignorant creatures Olga had ever seen. She supposed that wasn't such a bad thing, but she that didn't mean she trusted him, especially not his crude friend. One should never trust another they have just met.

Eventually, Olga had led Vanoss towards her intended destination. Her personal chambers. Standing outside the door was the dark elf guard that helped to carry Chloe over to Olgams room.

"My Queen." The dark elf greeted Olga with a small bow. "Chloe lays on your bed. Her condition is getting worse with each passing moment. I have chosen to stand guard while Aurora went to the healers."

"Very good." Olga told the guard with an even tone. "I will accompany Chloe till the cure for her ailment is retrieved."

The dark elf guard nodded to her queen before she cast an uncaring look towards Vanoss. "Shall I take him to the dungeons?"

"Wait, what?" Vanoss asked, slightly alarmed as his attention was brought towards Olga and the guard.

Olga took a glance at Vanoss before looking back at the guard. "I don't think that will be necessary. He will be with me inside my chambers."

"You might want to watch the phrasing on that." Vanoss warned Olga towards what she had just said.

"Do you want to go to dungeons?" Olga deadpanned at Vanoss.

In response, Vanoss rose his hand in defense before muttering off to the side. "Just saying..."

"Are you sure that is a good idea, my queen?" The guard asked as she gave a weary glance at Vanoss.

"I'm certain. If he had any actual ill will, he would have shown it by now." Olga answered the guard. "For now, continue to stand guard here. Notify me immediately when word of the pig-man's return is made known."

The guard gave a silent nod before she stepped away from the door, allowing Olga and Vanoss to enter the room. Upon entering the room, the dark elf guard closed the door behind the two. As Vanoss looked around, he whistled a bit in mild appreciation for what he was seeing. Shelves of spell books, most of which might be cursed, a table occupied by potion bottles and beakers. There was even a crystal ball situated on a desk near a window.

"Nice place." Vanoss complimented Olga. "It's not as great as my giant treehouse, but I think it looks nice."

However, Olga gave no response as she immediately walked over to Chloe, who lay on her bed. The Withering effect slowly consuming inch by inch.

Vanoss looked at the dying Chloe upon Olga's bed, giving a small grimace towards her predicament. "Oh... right."

Leaning down beside her bed, Olga's eyes softened in worry as she rubbed Chloe's hair. "Everything will be all right, Chloe. You'll be fine, and back to normal soon enough."

All Chloe could do this time was weakly moan in responses, doing her best to glance her now colorless eyes towards her queen.

Her eyes closed, fighting back a few tears that threatened to spill, Olga bite her lips in anguish for her dying ears before she looked up at Vanoss with narrowed eyes. "Your friend better keep to his word about retrieving the milk."

"Look. I may not know what it's like to be in a situation like this, but I get that you're sad and angry." Vanoss calmly told Olga. "But trust me when I say, Wildcat has got this. He's like one of the more dependable people in our group of friends."

"Hmph. You seem so certain." Olga replied to Vanoss, keeping her eyes at Chloe. "Good and loyal friends are hard to come by, these days."

Vanoss gave Olga an awkward look as he patted the pockets on his pants. "Okay... sounds like there's a story there that I may not want to know about."

Olga continued to look over Chloe, now taking her hand into her own. She tended to her ward the same way a mother would do for that of her own children whenever they would be sick. As Vanoss continued to watch the scene unfold, he couldn't help but feel out of a place in this situation, seeing as how there wasn't much he could do, and that perhaps the only reason Olga allowed him to follow her was because she wanted to personally keep an eye on him, herself. However, while Vanoss couldn't do anything to help Olga's ward, an idea did pop up into his head about what he could do.

"So... I know you're worried about your friend right now, and all, but, uh, I do have something that can help you avoid future situations like these." Vanoss suggested as he walked over Olga.

The Dark Queen glanced at Vanoss, her mood unchanging as she spoke back to him. "And just what would that be?"

Out from his pockets, Vanoss was able to pull out a book, Olga questioning the physics behind it as the book was much larger than Evan's pockets. Taking a seat beside Olga, Vanoss opened up the book, flipping through the pages.

"This is a book that involves everything from Minecraft. That's the name of a place me and my friends visit a lot." Vanoss said as he flipped threw the pages of the book, eventually stopping on a page that talked about the Wither. "This, right here, was what your troops saw."

Olga, her hand still grasping on Chloe's, brought the book closer to her. She observed the three-headed, undead creature, and to say it was disturbing was an understatement. Olga grimaced at the visage of the Wither before glancing at Chloe, fearing that terrifying creature would end up being the last thing Chloe would ever see if she would die from this ailment.

"This books talks about the details and main points about every item and mob from Minecraft." Vanoss said before flipping through the pages. "There's a tone of stuff in here. You got Creepers. You got Zombies. You got Skeleton Archers, Withered Skeletons, Ghasts, Zombie pig-men, Endermen, Golems, Red Stone Monstrosities—just a whole bunch of stuff in here. I am willing to give you this book, free of charge."

At this, Olga gave a skeptical glance at Vanoss. "You are willing to just hand me your source of knowledge about the things from this... Minecraft place you speak of?"

"I mean you're gonna need it if you want to avoid any future fuck-ups like this." Vanoss said as he closed the book, pointing at Chloe. "Besides, Brian made these books. I can always get another."

Vanoss patted the cover of the book, leaving upon Olga's bed before to got up and walked over to a nearby chair, pulling it out from Olga's alchemy table as he sat down on it, legs and arms crossed, watching Chloe alongside Olga.

Olga glanced at the book before glancing at Vanoss. No one was ever this willing or cooperative with her unless it was her own people. Safe to say that Vanoss kept surprising and confusing her with each passing moment he was by her. She took one more glance towards the book before focusing her attention back on Chloe, putting both hands on Chloe's as she and Vanoss awaited Wildcat's return.

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Speaking of Wildcat, he was currently on his way back to Garan, for the third time today. He had gone to his house back at the Team 6 commune, something that took a near 15 minutes to accomplish. He searched threw a few of the chests in his house before he eventually found the milk and made his way back to Garan. He was grumbling to himself as he flew with haste back to the Dark Queen's citadel, the glass of milk in his inventory.

"This is so fucking redundant and retarded." Wildcat muttered to himself as he flew on. "You'd think with a fortress that big, they'd be able to have cows somewhere, but no. Of course they needed one of us to go on a milk run. So stupid."

Wildcat continued to fly up north for several more minutes before the familiar image of a discount Mordor came into view.

"Finally. Now I can give Olga this glass of milk and we can fucking get out of this mess." Wildcat sighed in relief with an eye roll.

However, the moment Wildcat crossed Garan's borders, something very familiar caught his attention from the corner of his eye.

"Oh, shit..." Wildcat quietly trailed off with wide eyes at what he saw.

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Olga and Vanoss had awaited in the former's chambers for nearly thirty now. Chloe's condition was at its peak. If Wildcat couldn't get back to the citadel any sooner, Olga's ward would surely die.

As Olga inwardly fell apart at the thought of Chloe dying, the sudden sound of Wildcat yelling echoed through the nearby corridor captured her's and Vanoss's attention.

"I'VE GOT THE MILK!!"

The dark elf guarding Olga's chambers opened the door to dark elf queen's room, allowing for Wildcat to run into it, kneeling as he panted from lack of breath.

"I've got the milk!" Wildcat hoarsely spoke as he tried to catch his breath, taking out the glass of milk from his inventory.

Quickly, Olga shot you from her position by Chloe and went over to grab the glass of liquid dairy from Wildcat's hands.

"You're welcome." Wildcat said, still trying to calm his breathes as Olga walked back to Chloe with the milk.

Popping the cork off of the bottle, Olga tilted Chloe's head up, bringing the the bottle to her wards lips. She tilted the bottle, allowing the white liquid to gently flow into Chloe's mouth, the milk freely going down her throat. Olga continued to do this until the bottle was completely empty, down to the very last drop. Setting the glass bottle aside, Olga held Chloe's head up as she spoke to her ward.

"Chloe? Chloe, how are you feeling? Is it working?" Olga asked her ward.

Soon enough, to Olga's wonder, Chloe's ailment started to fade away, the greying infection slowly retreated and dissipated, her skin returning to his more tan color as her eyes became red again. Blinking a bit in weariness, Chloe groaned as she glanced over to Olga.

"L-Lady Olga? What-what happened?" Chloe asked Olga as she slowly regained consciousness.

Olga sighed in relief as she gave a small kiss upon Chloe's forehand. "Thank goodness..."

As Olga looked over the now cured Chloe, Vanoss went over to the panting Wildcat.

"Dude, what'd you do? Run all the way here?" Vanoss asked Wildcat.

"Fuck... you..." Wildcat heaved out as he kept on trying to catch his breath. "Was in... a rush... Attacked..."

"Attacked? I ordered those monsters to let you be upon your return." Olga said with a stern look as she looked over to Wildcat.

Wildcat rose his finger as he continued to pant. Eventually he heavy breathing subsided just enough for him to form a full sentence. "It wasn't those fugly guys. The Wither is attacking."

"What?" Olga asked with wide eyes.

"You have gotta be shitting me." Vanoss said with a deadpan tone.

"Bastard saw me the moment I crossed the border." Wildcat explained, letting out another heavy breath. "You know, there's a joke about tight border security somewhere in there."

"How powerful is this Wither abomination?" Olga asked.

"What, against everything you've got? No chance. Not only do you guys not have the right armor to survive, but the Wither can fly and heal itself." Wildcat told back to Olga. "And need I remind you of your lack of milk?"

"I'm the most powerful sorceress on this continent." Olga told Wildcat as she walked up to him. "I'm more than capable of taking care of this monster."

"Again, you don't have the right armor take on a Wither." Wildcat argued back with the Dark Queen.

"How about..." Vanoss started, cutting into the conversation. "Me and Wildcat lead the Wither away. That way, you and your guys will be fine, and me and Wildcat can call back our friends, and properly kick this things ass."

"Eh. That could work." Wildcat mused the idea. "We'd be getting our own asses kicked until everyone gets back, but it could work."

"Okay, great. Now, Olga, I need my elytra wings and my rocket." Vanoss said as he looked at the dark elf queen. "Are they still in your throne room."

Olga looked at Vanoss for a moment before she replied. "Yes. I'll take you to them."

"Allright!" Vanoss cheered. "Let's get 'er goin'!"

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Back outside of Olga's citadel, it was very much safe to say that the Dark Queen's forced were getting royally fucked. Quite the ironic way of putting things.

The monsters outside charged at the Wither, who did nothing but fly over them, firing skulls at each of foul beasts, killing everything it hit. The first wave of dark elves that were on the scene did their best to stick to shadows and fire arrows at the Wither. A few of the arrows made their mark, but it didn't seem to take to much effect on the ghastly undead mob, instead further angering it. Already, The Wither had killed five dark elves and over thirty monsters. If back up did not arrive any time soon, those that remained of the first wave of Olga's forces would perish at the hands of this three-headed demon.

Luckily for them, they would be able to survive to see another day.

Immediately the Wither found itself peppered with flaming arrows. It screeched a bit in pain before it looked for whoever the source behind the arrows. It found its answer in the form of Vanoss and Wildcat, now having just exited the citadel, the latter holding the enchanted diamond bow that shot the arrows.

"Over here you big numb skull!" Wildcat shouted at the Wither. "Hold on, let me take that back. I meant to say numb SKULLS!"

The Wither screeched in anger started to fire at Vanoss and Wildcat. The two friends dodged the oncoming barrage of withered skulls by flying away with their elytra wings.

"Oh, come on! You can do better than that!" Vanoss taunted the Wither. "I've seen Snow Golems do more damage than you!"

Wildcat followed Evan's taunt with more flaming arrows, some hitting the Wither in the process. The Wither screeched again, it's focus now on Vanoss and Wildcat. It fired another barrage of withered skulls their way, but they evaded it by flying further away.

"Come and get us, you dumb ass piece of shit!" Wildcat continued to yell and taunt the powerful undead mob. "Skeleton Archers have better aim than you!"

The Wither responded with a bellowing screech, clearly getting more and more pissed with Vanoss and Wildcat by the minute. It's attention was taken away from the dark elves and monsters. The only two things in its sights were the two friends. Vanoss and Wildcat started to fly off once more, prompting the Wither to give chase, leading the mob further away from the Dark Citadel, and by proxy, away from Garan.

Olga soon stepped outside of the citadel as she, along with the remaining dark elves and monsters who had been fighting the Wither, watched as Vanoss and Wildcat led the undead mob away from them. Olga's eyes were specifically kept on the fading figure of Vanoss. Never had she met someone, let alone a man, who was a helpful or kind as him. He was even kinder than Celestine Lucross, one whom Olga thought she could call a sister.

Olga continued to look on, her eyes even, though her mind at work. Eventually she looked down at the book in her hand, the book Vanoss had willingly given her. Giving it a curious glance, she thought of what she would be able to learn from the book's pages. Olga gave one final look at the the scene around her, taking a more personal glance at the bodies of the dead dark elves before she went back inside of her fortress. There would be much for her to think about in the days to come.

End chapter_