Season 2 Chapter 12: Are you crazy?
Things around the castle had finally settled down in the few days I'd been back. Shiro asked me, what felt like, an endless barrage of questions about all the things I saw and the places I went. She barely left my side for two whole days. If I had to use the bathroom she'd just stand outside the door and keep asking questions. It became almost suffocating. Then on the third day Sora called for Jibril, Stephani, Shiro and I to come to the dining or meeting room. Basically it had a big table for us all to sit around. He wanted to tell us the plan of action that he and Shiro had decided on. It was something that made me feel sick to my stomach when he said it.
Once we were all in the seats provided Sora began,
"Thank you all for coming. I'd like to give you guys the details of the plan that Shiro and I came up with."
His voice sounded almost mature for a moment. It was a little unsettling to be honest. He continued,
"With the reports given by Tatsuya, I believe that we have figured out an effective way to not only win the ultimate game but to be able to allow everyone that we take over accept us and make it so that there wouldn't be a bunch of animosity between the exceeds."
I thought that I knew what he meant but the way he said it was a little confusing,
"So a way to lessen the impact of leadership switching hands then?"
I asked using a possible version that made sense to me.
Sora nodded crossing his arms,
"Yes, exactly Tatsu, even when we inevitably beat them and take control of them there would still be lingering discrimination between the exceed races. We aim to take them over and find a way to integrate all the people together and form a mutual friendship between them."
He spoke in the same serious tone he started with.
"The Dwarves are an interesting people according to your letters, they would be very agreeable when we take them over. Though same might not be said about the Elves or the Warbeasts. So here what we're gonna do…"
Sora elaborated on his and Shiro's decision and I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing. This plan, it was almost like he actually listened to my reports.
"You're going after the Sirens? What about your obsession with the war beasts?"
Sora shrugged at my disbelief.
"What can I say? You made a compelling argument Tatsu. Taking control of the Sirens would make it easy to control the coast lines too. The Warbests might have a large territory size but the Sirens control the sea. So if a few weeks we will be heading there to challenge them to a game for control."
It always freaked me out when Sora would agree with my suggestions as he was one of those guys who I expected to hear something like,
"Oh you only just thought of that?"
In just the snobbiest tone possible.
"Ah, I see, and thanks to this world's rules we don't really have to worry about being attacked from behind if we divert our attention elsewhere."
Sora snapped his fingers as he exclaimed,
"Spot on Tatsu! So you'll go on ahead and tell them for us."
It didn't register in my head at the moment what he meant.
"Right, so I'll be going to the Sirens again to-"
Then I was struck with immediate regret.
"What? Why me?"
I exclaimed slamming my hands down on the table.
Sora without missing a beat leaned forward giving me the most evil glare I've seen in a good while and simply said,
"Because they know and like you."
"Yeah, but returning there and telling them, Oh yeah so my people are gonna come and try to take you over. Isn't really gonna illicit a good response from them towards me is it?"
Sora pointed a finger gun towards me keeping his evil expression.
"Haven't you ever heard of don't shoot the messenger?"
"Yeah, and do you know why that term came about? It's not exactly because people were very nice to messengers."
This didn't sit right with me. At least he wasn't as gung ho as he used to be. But this was concerning.
"Now that that's out of the way I think that there isn't anything left to the discuss.
With that Sora dismissed the gathering. I couldn't shake this feeling that Sora was keeping something from me but if he didn't tell me then it must not be that important.
How many times must I regret thinking the best of Sora?
I only needed a day to prepare for the trip to Oceando. I did send a messenger ahead to announce my return, despite Amira's insistence that there's no need such formalities. Shiro wanted Steph to stay behind so I'd have to go on this trip solo. I was allowed an attendant but I didn't really feel the need to take someone with me.
Since I decided to go on my own I simply took a horse over a full carriage. It was at least a three day ride. So I had a lot of time to think.
"I can't believe that idiot, telling me to take that complete head case Jibril with me. All she'd do is insult the Sirens and make things worse. Well, considering that we're about to declare an attack on them I suppose it can't do that much harm."
I began to notice that since arriving in this world I really started getting into the habit of talking to myself. I couldn't help but laugh at the realization.
"Ah, I can't stand you sometime, Sora."
The trip was much faster than I thought it would be. Perhaps because this time I wasn't upset like the last time when I left.
When I finally arrived at the border I was met by a familiar face.
"Greetings Ambassador Tatsuya, welcome back to Oceando. To what do we owe your return?"
I gave the appropriate curtsey to her.
"I apologies for the short notice Lady Amira but I was given an assignment by Sora and I'm not one to beat around the bu-"
I suddenly found a finger under my chin.
"And here I thought that you just wanted to come and see me again."
She was starting strong.
"What's this? No Miss Stephani with you this time?"
I coughed to stay composed.
"I- uh, Shiro needed her for something so it's just me this time."
She took her hand back, placing her finger to her cheek. Amira is very beautiful and I would be a fool to say otherwise. Luckily I've already been expose to this Siren's advances, with Steph by my side, so I mostly knew what to expect, or so I hoped. I cleared my throat.
"Anyway there is something that I need to discuss with you-"
Next thing I knew I was being poked on the collar bone.
"Oh my, that cannot be good."
I turned my gaze even further down to see a glowing king chess piece on my chest.
"What the f-"
"Someone is betting your race piece in a game. But the only one capable of that is-"
"That Tet damned idiot! I'm gonna kill you Sora! He wanted me gone so he could do something reckless without me there to stop him. Sorry Lady Amira, I have to immediately head back to Elkia to beat some sense into my stupid best friend."
I needed to get going as there was no way Sora wouldn't keep doing something stupid. Before I could leave however Amira grabbed me by the arm stopping my.
"Ah you're just going to leave you only just arrived. Your poor horse must needs some rest."
I tried to pull away but she was surprisingly strong. After a couple of attempts to get loose, I sighed and calmed down.
"Alright fine, but I will only stay the night. I'll be leaving in the morning though."
"Yes yes, I understand that you want to leave as fast as possible but tonight stay with me."
Amira gave me her most seductive gaze. Only to be met with a light flick to the forehead.
"You're a beautiful woman Amira, but I am a loyal man. I'll be sleeping in a separate room, thank you."
She let go of my arm and put her hands behind her back, almost looking bashful.
"Miss Stephani is a lucky girl."
He then lifted her head again and looked me in the eye.
"Well, if it doesn't work out between you two you could always come and see me."
She turned away from me to lead me to the room I'd be staying in. Once we arrived she allowed me in she stayed at the door and asked.
"So what was the matter of your business coming here again?"
I placed a small bag on the floor and turned back to her.
"Oh right Sora wants to declare his intent to bring Oceando into Elkia along with all the Sirens along with it."
"Is that so?"
Amira seemed to change her demeanor rather quickly as she left without another word. As I figured this sort of news would be met with either distain or anger. There was nothing I could do it was the entire reason that I came to Oceando after all and I expected this coming into this situation.
"I can't believe this, I come all the way out here just so that Sora could do what he wants."
There was little for me to do, with Amira gone for the day there wasn't even anyone that I could talk to now. I ended up turning in early so that I might be able to get going at dawn.
During the night my sleep was disturbed by the feeling of someone climbing into my bed. My first thought was Steph but then I realized that she stayed with Shiro probably because they dragged her along to where ever they are causing trouble.
"Amira?"
I stirred awake and tried to sit up only to be pressed down against the bed. The person muttered something but I could not make it out in the drowsy state I was in.
"Who are you?"
The person sitting on top me was what I thought to be a young girl. Before I could ask again my body shivered. The being in front of me was using some sort of magic.
"You're not a Siren. Who are you?"
I knew that Sirens were ranked 15th from Steph's lessons and being only the next rank up meant that they didn't possess any real amount of magic like the war beasts.
"Oh? You know that I'm using magic? That's very interesting for a lowly human to be able to tell."
I tried to push myself up once more managing to push this person off of me.
"Tell me who you are!"
The person hoped off of me and oddly enough proceeded to stand on the ceiling looking down at me.
"Oh and you're even strong, for a human. You're pretty fascinating. I didn't get to meet you last time you came, that tramp Amira was all over you guys and wouldn't give me the chance."
I clicked my tongue.
"You can either answer my question, or you can see yourself out now. Who the hell are you?"
The person dropped on the floor, landing on their feet. It was so dark that there was no real way for me to make out the features of this person.
"I don't really feel the need to introduce myself to someone like you who isn't even their race's representative."
"So you're an exceed's representative. You can't be an elf as you don't actually seem like a condescending jerk. Couldn't be a Flugel, well because duh."
There was something about this short statured person in front of me, I could, for some reason, see their eyes clear as day. Do they have night vision or something?
"Are you a Fairy?"
Who ever this person was, my instincts screamed at me to remain on guard.
"Fairy?"
The person started to laugh, at first quietly then I witnessed the silhouette double over laughing. They even fell onto the bed that I was given.
"Why on Disboard would you think that I am a fairy?"
They clearly couldn't contain themselves but this allowed me to finally light a lantern to see who I was dealing with.
"HEY! Warn people when you're gonna light a flame."
The individual winced, meaning that they were definitely using some sort of night vision. But now I finally got a good look at the person who interrupted my sleep. In front of me sat a girl with almost crystal like blue hair with reddish or maybe even pick tips. They were dressed in what would only be described as a gothic lolita. I couldn't help but notice the black wings and demon like tail.
"Well, you're clearly not a Fairy with that get up."
I tried to think back on the lessons I received from Steph. Demons were said to be massive and animalistic to look like this. Flugels have angelic wings, not that they're angels by any means.
"Are you a member of the Dhampir?"
The girl sprang up and put their finger to my nose. This person is really fast too.
"Bing Bong. You got it. I am actually the representative of the Dhampir exceed. But you can call me Plum."
I restrained my impulse to laugh that this girls name was "Plum."
"Okay, Plum was it? Why exactly have you dropped in on me while I was sleeping?"
Plum walked around me as if to get a better look.
"It's like I said before, those fish girls huddle around you all the time so I decided to take this opportunity to meet you."
It was strange to me, this whole time something felt off about the appearance of Plum, my body reacted again like there was magic being used but I couldn't tell exactly what the magic was doing.
"Why did you want to meet me exactly?"
Just then Plum pushed me from behind causing me to face plant on the bed.
"What the-?"
When I turned around I was face to face with Plum, she was even straddling me.
"Uh what exactly are you doing?"
"Hold still. I'm getting a better smell."
The declaration was a good deal unnerving.
"Smell? Why exactly would you need to smell."
My instincts were going crazy but for some reason my body was freezing up. Why was this happening? Was it something about her eyes? I have to resist whatever this is. I have to.
"Hoh? You think you can break free of my control? No human could possibly hope of breaking through my magic."
Plum's gloating about her magic pissed me off. If I could detect Jibril then there's no way a rank 12 would be more of a challenge.
"Don't-"
I tried to find any part that's movement wasn't blocked, it seemed I could still move my neck a spine. With all my strength I leaned down.
"Huh? Where do you think you're going?"
Plum followed after me still taking in my scent.
"Don't get cocky brat!"
"Hey hey, what are you-"
With all the strength I had, I quickly did a sit-up attempting to throw her off of me. Unfortunately when I did this, I caught the top of her head with my chin. The pain caused to both of us seemed to release the magic and I regained control of my arms and legs.
"Ow ow ow. My head, why'd you do that?"
She was holding her head on the spot where she hit me. Of course I was in pain too, rubbing my chin.
'Crap, did that crack?'
There didn't seem to be any swelling it was just tender.
"Why? Cause I don't like having my body restricted. Geez, what the hell is your skull made of?"
When I looked up to see Plum once more what I saw surprised me to say the least. The shock apparently caused "her" to lose concentration on the illusion.
"Ah, so that's a thing. No wonder my senses were going crazy, you used magic on yourself."
Was all I could get out when I realized that Plum wasn't a she but a he.
"Why were you altering your appearance?"
Surprisingly all Plum did was pout.
"Geez you're no fun at all. You even broke my illusion. So mean."
I crossed my arms annoyed at his behavior.
"I won't hear that from the one that had me locked up with magic. Are you satisfied with the whiff you've gotten?"
This became something that I never expected. But as I was "an ambassador" and he claimed to be the representative of the Dhampir I decided to play the part.
"Let me guess. You've been hold up here for a while and you're bored of syphoning off of Sirens."
He stuck out his tongue and fixed the tiny top hat on his head.
"Ah you caught me. It's been a really long time since I've had something else. Not to mention you don't smell like I remember humans to smell. Why is that?"
Something told me I wanted to keep my origins hidden from this one.
"Hmm, perhaps you're just remembering wrong."
Plum, being very animated placed his finger to his chin thinking about it.
"You think? I suppose that could be the case."
He finally stood up redoing his illusion and patting his legs getting dirt off.
"Either way, I'm intrigued by the people that became the king and queen of Elkia. You're their ambassador right? Would you mind introducing me to them?"
He gave me an innocent smile, but I've learned too much from dealing with Shiro, Plum has an ulterior motive. But luckily I have a feeling this will back fire on him greatly.
I smiled to him and extended my hand.
"Okay, that's something that I can do. Just don't come crying to me if it's not what you expect."
Plum seemed curious and took my hand.
"No promises."
Yes, this isn't a prank. I'm back from teh dead y'all. That said I should also say that Plum is a very interesting character from what I have read and I doubt I am doing him any kind of justice, as I know he is far more malicious in the LN. I do have an outline for my aforementioned "Season 2" but because I have been unable to work on it like I originally intended
As always I encourage any and everyone to leave reviews, rants, corrections, critiques and even inform how a character might act differently than I have portrayed them. I am only going off descriptions of the characters and their traits. I do also encourage polite discourse if any are so inclined.