Happy Labor Day, everyone! In honor of the holiday, I labored endlessly all day to get this chapter finished for you all to enjoy. Of course, summer has now ended, and it's time to go back to college for a third year in a row. I was a high school junior when I started this story, and now I'm a college junior. Man, how time flies.
I tried a few new things with this chapter, as well as introduced some new things that may or may not be important to the story in the future. I can't say much more without spoiling anything for you.
Anyway, I hope you really like this chapter as much as I do.
Disclaimer
Dragon Quest IX is property of Square Enix and Nintendo and not me and probably not you.
What I do own are the characters that I make up, such as Michael, Jessica, and Allison, and some of the crazy things that happen to them.
Reviews:
theoneandonlylordmonkeyknight: Am I actually going to follow through on your suggestion? I can't really say without spoiling anything, can I? Also, yes, it's always good news to find out that I'm still alive.
MagatsuIza: More humor? There hasn't been enough for you at this point? I mean, I'm trying my best, but the source material isn't exactly a comedy. Also, I'm glad Michael is Michael enough for you. Although, I'm not sure how my roommate Michael would feel about that description. Also, WOO! 50 reviews.
OrionRaiju: Yes, the complexities of giving a silent protagonist a voice. I agree that some of the dialogue becomes awkward because of it, but fixing it is a very tricky thing. Also, it's not April yet! Yay!
Typhlosion-777: Welcome to the story. Yes, there are far too many staircases. I'm glad you're enjoying my humor.
Act 2 – Part 2: Jack of All Trades…
(No One's POV; A Few Days Ago)
A man – a mage – approached the altar at the head of Alltrades Abbey. Before him stood Abbot Jack, the holy changer of vocations. "Here you stand in the holy precincts of Alltrades Abbey, my child, where lost lambs come to change their vocations," the Abbot preached. "Do you wish to change vocation, child?"
"Yes, father," the mage answered, bowing. "I come before you today a humble mage, but I wish to end the day as a mighty martial artist." The man paused for a moment to reach into his pocket and pulled something out, presenting it to Abbot Jack of Alltrades. "And, in thanks for your most gracious service, I offer to you this rare golden fruit that I found during my travels."
The Abbot eyed the golden fruit with interest, curious as to how delicious such a beautiful fruit must be. However, he also sensed an immense power flowing through the fruit's flesh, and the Abbot's interest inexplicably became of feeling a great desire. "Thank you, my child," the Abbot stated, accepting the gift without hesitation. "So, you would like to pursue the path of the martial artist. Is this correct?"
"Yes, father," the not-much-longer mage confirmed.
"Then let it be so! Fill your heart with visions of becoming a martial artist and join me in prayer! O almighty arbiter of all vocations! Permit your servant to tread a new path in life!" A great pillar of light came from above and enveloped the man, before he emerged again, now a martial artist. "There. Henceforth shall you tread the path of the martial artist. Now go, my child, and embrace the new life that awaits you!"
"Thank you, father," the new martial artist stated, departing from the altar.
"Yes, of course…," the Abbot responded, no longer paying attention to the man and moving to leave himself.
"Abbot, where are you going!?" the bishop asked, confused at the Abbot's sudden exit.
"I think…it's time for lunch…"
(Allison's POV; Present Time)
"GET DOWN HERE MICHAEL SO I CAN KILL YOU!"
"No! Why in the Protectorate would I do that!?"
"Because you're an asshole and you deserve it!"
I sighed in disbelief at the scene that was unfolding before me. "Does this happen often between these two?" I asked Stella, who was trying really hard to focus on controlling the Starlight as it was plummeting straight down towards the surface.
"Eh," she responded stoically. "They've fought before. It's always the same. Michael does something stupid. Jessica explodes. Michael gets hurt. Jessica mocks him. Something scares the living shit out of both of them. They get over it."
"But, what did Michael do this time? I must have missed it."
"I don't know. I'm not really paying attention," Stella answered, pushing another button on the panel. "Something about Jessica being thrown off the Observatory or something."
"What? Where di-"
"HEY! No casting Frizz on the Starflight Express!" Stella suddenly screamed, cutting me off.
"But Michael refuses to let go of the pipe and fall down here so I can kick his ass!" Jessica whined angrily.
"It's not my fault that you believed that obvious lie," Michael retorted from where he was hanging above us. "The primary duty of the Celestrians is to protect mortals. Why would any of us ever throw any of you off the Observatory?"
"I mean, he does kind of have a point," I tried to reason. "He was a dumbass for saying it, but it's not worth mutilating him over." Jessica mumbled something under her breath in response. "What was that?" I asked, not able to hear her over the Starflight's engine.
"I said that he also wanted to kill you," Jessica repeated.
I blinked in confusion at her words, then looked back up at Michael. "You wanted to kill me?"
A panicked expression briefly passed over his face. "N-now, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for that," he explained.
"You know what?" I responded. "I don't want to get involved. Jessica, do whatever you want. I'm not going to stop you."
"Excellent," she cackled menacingly.
"Just…don't actually kill him," I added. "We still do actually need him."
"Fine…" she agreed disappointedly. "You here that, Michael!? As soon as I can get my hands on you, I'm going to beat you to within an inch of your life." Even down by the control panel, I was still able to hear Michael gulp in fear.
I sighed and repositioned myself so that I was sitting closer to the control panel, using another pipe to support myself. "Well, at least Jessica isn't cowering in fear. I suppose that's an improvement."
Stella grunted in response. "Yeah, I suppose anger is one of those emotions that overpower fear." A slight smirk slid across her face. "You know, considering how they can barely keep their hands off each other, you'd think they were in love."
"What!?" I yelled. "Why would you even think that? It's not even remotely true! Michael is currently trying to stay as far away from her as possible, and the only thing Jessica wants to do with her hands is strangle him."
"You really don't see it?" she asked, the smirk still sitting smugly on her face.
"No, and I don't think you do, either."
"If you say so."
I rolled my eyes at her ridiculous idea, then turned back to focus on the continuing argument between Jessica and Michael.
"DOOMINGALE!?" Jessica screeched. "You're still upset over that!?"
"It really hurt…" Michael whined.
"If you thought that hurt, just wait until I'm done with you this time around," Jessica threatened.
"A word of advice, Michael," I called up. "Just stop talking. It might hurt less if you do." He merely grimaced and tightened his grip on the pipe he was hanging from. I turned back to Stella. "Yeah…no. There is absolutely no love between those two at the moment."
Stella shrugged. "Well, in any case, I hope Michael flapping realizes how much I'm doing for him right now."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, typically, I would have pulled the Starflight out of its descent several thousand feet ago. However, because I don't want to watch Michael get torn to shreds behind me while piloting this thing, I opted to keep him out of Jessica's reach for as long as possible, at risk of us diving face-first into the ground at supersonic speeds."
"…Wait, at risk of what…?" I asked, suddenly much more concerned for my personal wellbeing.
Ignoring me, she looked out through the front window as the Starflight broke through the final cloud layer and the ground appeared dangerously close ahead of us. "Oh, yeah!" Stella yelled. "This is looking good! That must be it," she declared, pointing to a tree that was glaringly different from the rest, seeing as it was glowing a bright blue instead of the typical shades of green, and also ten times as tall. Beyond it stood a pair of large towers. "I just hope Michael has a plan for getting out of here alive," she confided to me, "because I'm going to have to pull up, like, right flapping NOW!"
I was about to ask how and why Michael would possibly have a plan, but I was interrupted by Michael's bag suddenly falling from above, catching Jessica right in the face, and knocking her all the way down to the far front end of the train with a painful crashing sound. At the same time, Stella sharply pulled the Starflight out of its dive and landed on the large tree with a large thump, which would've caused me to topple onto the floor had I not braced myself beforehand.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we've reached our destination. All change, please!" Stella announced. I stared at her, dumbfounded by how she thought now was the correct time for such…pleasantries.
Meanwhile, Michael, who didn't miss a single step, ran down the Starflight, threw open the door, and prepared to jump outside, but hesitated for just half a moment, looking at the ground far below. In that moment of hesitation, Jessica came out of nowhere and kicked Michael square in the back with a frightening amount of force, launching him outside. For the next few seconds, all that could be heard was Michael's continuous shrieks of terror, broken only by the occasional thud when he hit a tree branch, upon which Jessica's devious grin grew wider. Once Michael hit the ground with one last tremendous thump, Jessica grabbed his bag, aimed it, and threw it down as hard as she could, which caused another painful scream a few seconds later. Smirking, Jessica grabbed her wand and jumped down into the tree herself. There was a brief moment of silence, and then another scream from Michael, immediately followed by another, louder, shriek of sheer horror, which was then followed by a continuous string of Michael crying in agony mixed with Jessica's triumphant cackling.
Together, Stella and I watched the scene before us unfold with abject horror. "Well, he did have a plan," I admitted.
"And it did technically get him out of the Starflight alive," Stella added.
"He almost made it, too," I lamented.
"Eh. It was his own fault for hesitating when he did."
A particularly loud scream interrupted our exchange. "That sure doesn't sound like love to me."
Stella shrugged. "Ah, well, when you've been around as long as I have, you start to see certain patterns for things like romance."
"Oh, really?" I asked, skeptical. "And exactly how much personal experience do you have with romance?"
Stella just hung besides me in silence, staring ahead with wide eyes and jaw dropped. I smirked slightly at my small victory. "…Anyway," Stella continued, changing the subject, "it looks like we can only land in places with these blue trees for the moment."
"How many of these trees are there?"
"Just this one, as far as I know. You'll have to flat-foot it from here. If you want to get back aboard the Starflight, I'm sure you'll find a way if you go rooting around at the root of the tree." She flew out of the Starflight to look towards the East. "I've got an inkling feeling that one of the buildings we saw must be Alltrades Abbey. You can change vocations and stuff there. It's always chock-to-the-block with people, and where there's people, there's bound to be something going on. Right, I'm on a manhunt and you're on a… Well, a fruit hunt, I suppose. Let's pray that we both find out prey! Ha!" She laughed at her own pun. "Oh, and make sure you let-" another piercing scream from below "…whatever is left of Michael know."
I just sighed and began working my way down the tree, already resigned to having to clean up whatever mess is left below.
(20 Minutes Later)
"Michael, are you sure you don't want me to heal you at all?" I asked, concerned.
"Y-yes, I'm f-fine," he answered, clearly not fine.
"Michael, you're limping, your arm is frozen, and part of you is still on fire. Please let me heal you. At least a little bit," I begged.
"Allison, you heard him. He's fine," Jessica interjected with a satisfied grin on her face.
"Yeah…what sh-she said," Michael agreed. "Besides, it's merely a flesh wound. I've survived worse."
I grumbled discontentedly to myself, having lost this debate for the fifth time. 'If Michael wants to stay in pain, then so be it,' I thought to myself, finally giving up on the issue.
Not ten seconds later, however, Michael faltered, and then fell face-first flat on the ground. "Allison…?" he mumbled into the ground.
"Yes?"
"Can you heal me, please?" he asked sheepishly.
"Of course, Michael," I replied, rolling my eyes.
Jessica just giggled.
(Michael's POV)
"By the Almighty, I hate stairs," I complained, having finally reached the top of the staircase before Alltrades Abbey. It didn't help that my body was still fairly sore from…earlier, either.
"Michael, you are quite possibly one of the most pathetic creatures I have ever seen," Jessica quipped, much to my annoyance.
Allison sighed. "Jessica, don't you think you've tormented Michael enough today?" She simply shrugged in response.
"Right…" I said. "Anyway, let's not forget the mission at hand. We're looking for Fyggs, remember? So, let's go inside and see if we can find any clues."
Upon entering, we were greeted with a large, ornate chamber lined with marble pillars and lit with large torches in the corners. A long carpet stretched from the entryway all the way to the back, where an altar stood in a room surrounded by pools of water and bathed in natural sunlight. A small crowd was gathering in front of it.
"Welcome to Alltrades Abbey, holy home of vocational reassignment," a priestess greeted us. "But I'm afraid at the moment we cannot…" she added, trailing off into silence. The three of us exchanged odd glances with each other before moving deeper into the room.
As we approached the growing crowd, we were able to start hearing some of the things people were saying to one of the bishops, none too happy.
"Look, what's goin' on, eh?" a large sailor asked. "Some of us 'ave come 'alf way 'round the world for this change of vocation, you know!"
"Ar," a farmer agreed. "I's spended what few coins I 'ad to pay for this 'ere trip 'ere. An' now yer sayin' we can't change trades after an' all?"
"It was tough for an old stick like me to get here, you know," an old man added. "And I did it to fulfill my lifelong dream of becoming a maid. So I'm not budging from this spot until I've got my little frilly dress and a feather duster in my hand." I heard someone snort from besides me, and I looked to see Jessica covering her mouth with her hand, blushing. Allison was biting her lip, trying real hard to not to smile. I just grew more confused about the mortals' rather strange behaviors.
The bishop addressing the crowd shuffled around uncomfortably. "I can only apologise to you all. Abbot Jack is absent at present. If you could all just wait a little–"
"'Ow long 'ave you been fobbin' us off with that, eh?" the sailor interrupted. "We'll still be standin' 'ere next year if we believe your rubbish!"
"I really am most dreadfully sorry," the bishop apologized again. "I implore you to be patient just a while longer." Unable to do any more, the bishop turned and walked back towards the altar. The crowd dispersed soon after.
"Abbot Jack is missing?" Allison asked, concerned.
"Maybe we should try to help find him?" Jessica offered.
"Guys, we need to find the Fyggs," I answered. "We don't have-"
"What if the Abbot's disappearance has something to do with one of the Fyggs?" Allison reasoned?
"Oh, I hadn't thought of that," I replied. "I suppose that could be the case. Maybe we should look into his disappearance after all."
"Besides, Michael," Jessica threw in mockingly, "Abbot Jack is a mortal, and, as a Celestrian, it's your duty to help and protect mortals…Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Because it's really not funny anymore," I answered. "Sure, I deserved it at first, but you're pretty much just beating a dead horse at this point."
"Whatever."
I sighed. "Anyway, let's go see if the bishop up there as any information about the Abbot or the Fygg."
We made our way up towards the bishop at the altar, but we were stopped on the way by the sailor from earlier. "Oh, you 'ere to change vocation an' all, are ya?"
"Um…no?" I answered.
"It's alright for you, then," he responded. "The Abbot's skipped town, so the rest of us 'ave to 'ang about like lemons waitin' to change vocation." He walked away, grumbling under his breath.
When we reached the altar, the bishop from earlier was having a discussion with a priest and a priestess. "We have searched in all the obvious places for the Abbot, but he is nowhere to be found," the priest exclaimed.
"The Abbot appears to be troubled by something at the moment," the priestess added. "I have no idea what it could be, though."
The bishop looked like he was about to say something in response, but then he saw us approaching and quickly ended the conversation, turning to greet us. "Welcome to Alltrades Abbey. Have you come to change your vocation?"
"No…" I responded again.
"Ah, well… If that's not why you're here, may I ask what is the purpose of your visit to the Abbey?" he asked.
"We're searching for a, um…a shiny, golden fruit," I explained cautiously.
"…You're searching for a shining fruit, you say?" He thought for a moment. "Well, as it happens, Abbot Jack was given a fruit that might match that description by someone who came for a change of vocation."
"Really!?" I asked, surprised. "Who?"
"I think the person in question is still here in the Abbey somewhere. Ask around, and perhaps you'll find something out."
"Thank you very much," I responded graciously. We headed back to the main chamber where we stopped to talk about our next move. "Okay, so someone here knows something about one of the Fyggs. We just have to find them."
"I don't know, Michael," Jessica cautioned. "This place is pretty big, and there are a lot of people here to ask."
"What if we split up?" Allison suggested. "That way, we could cover more ground in less time."
"That's not a bad idea," I agreed. "What do you think, Jessica?"
"It works for me."
"Alright then. Let's split up, and we'll meet back here when we're done," I ordered.
"Got it," they responded in unison, before going off in different directions.
"Okay," I said to myself, going in a different direction. "Now let's see what I can find over here."
(Allison's POV)
"On the day he was last seen, he went downstairs for his lunch as usual," one of the priests revealed upon inquiry. "But when he returned, he suddenly shouted something and bolted outside."
"When I saw the Abbot bolt outside like that, he really didn't seem himself at all," a nearby priestess added. "It was as if… How can I express it…? As if he was filled with some overwhelming power." The priest eagerly nodded in agreement.
'That definitely sounds like the kind of thing I would expect to happen with a Fygg, I guess,' I thought to myself as I walked away. 'Maybe I'll find more clues downstairs.'
(Michael's POV)
"Eh? Wossat? A fruit called a fygg, you say?" the farmer attempted to ask. "A fyggamajig? Can't 'elp you there, I'm afraid. I's growin' veggies, me. Nice root veggies. I dun't know nothin' 'bout fruit."
I grumbled under my breath. At least the farmer had said something. The sailor was still too pissed off to be bothered, and the old man was too busy demanding a frilly dress to even notice me. 'Almighty, I hope the girls are having better luck than I am.'
(Jessica's POV)
Heading down the stairs to the lower level of the Abbey, a smug smile continued to sit on my face. I just couldn't help it. It's just too easy to mess with Michael sometimes. My smile faltered when I considered his words from earlier. Was I going too far at this point? Nah, I decided, wiping the thoughts from my mind and smiling once again.
I had two choices when I reached the bottom of the staircase: the pub down a long hallway to the right, where a few groups of people could be seen lounging in the distance, and the inn closer to the left, where some people were standing around. I decided to check out the inn first.
"What is it? You need something from me?" a martial artist standing near the entrance asked as I approached.
"Um…yes, actually," I responded. "I'm looking for a special kind of shiny fruit. Have you seen anything like that?"
"Have I seen a shining fruit?" the man repeated. "Yes, I have, as it happens. I gave a fruit like that to the Abbot. I picked it up on the way over here. I'd heard the Abbot was crazy about fruit, so I thought it might help things along. I don't know what he did with it after I gave it to him. I saw him talking to the barmaid in the pub, but that's it."
"Thank you so much!" I told the martial artist, who smiled in response. I ran all the way to the right side of the floor to the pub, and looked for the bar maid. Finding her, I dashed across the room, not paying attention to any of the strange gazes pointed in my direction.
"Excuse me, ma'am. Have you seen a shiny golden fruit?" I practically demanded from her.
"…Pardon? A shining fruit?" the barmaid asked, caught off guard. "Well, yes! The Abbot had one of them with him when he came in to lunch the other day. He's very partial to his fruit, you know."
"He ate it?" I asked, concerned.
"Yes, of course. He likes to have fruit for dessert, so I peeled it and gave it to him after he'd finished his main meal. He told me that he'd been given it by a man who wanted to change his vocation and become a martial artist."
I thanked her for the information, and eagerly made to leave the pub. I couldn't wait to rub in Michael's face how successful I was at finding information about both Abbot Jack and the Fygg.
"Jessica?"
I froze.
Please no.
Not that voice.
Anything but them.
I slowly turned around, praying to the Almighty that I was wrong. To my relief, I didn't see anyone. Taking a calming breath, I turned back around and nearly had a heart attack upon seeing a man standing right in front of me. "Z-Zachary!?" I shrieked.
Zachary, a few years older than me with slick black hair and a pair of daggers at his waist, held out his arms towards me as if he was showing me off to someone. "Ah, see, I knew that was you running around down here, Jessica. It's so hard to miss you with that fiery red hair of yours." His eyes narrowed as he said that last part.
I chuckled nervously. "Um…yeah, I gotta go, so…" I slowly began inching towards the stairs, hoping to get out of here as fast as possible.
A hand on my shoulder stopped me in my tracks. "What? You don't want to see the rest of your old adventuring team? I'm hurt," a seductive voice said from behind me. I turned around and found myself face to face with a woman with obnoxiously pink hair, elaborate face makeup, and a whip hung around her waist. A playful smirk danced across her glossy lips. "And here I was, so fired up to see you again."
I broke into a cold sweat. "Oh, uh, Sarah, I-I didn't see you there," I attempted to explain, causing Sarah to pout playfully at me. My hope for getting out of this situation was rapidly diminishing.
Unfortunately, any hope I had left was immediately dashed upon feeling four sharp points press into my back. "Now, isn't that rude, Jessica?" a frighteningly soft voice whispered into my ear. "I'd expect you not to notice me, but poor Sarah here? You should consider yourself very lucky that she's not very hot-headed."
I carefully turned my head to the side to see who was standing behind me. It was exactly who I feared. A slender younger woman with speckled black and white hair hung in low bangs over her face, through which you could only catch glimpses of her blood-red eyes. Her claws were already equipped to her hands. "Willow," I meekly acknowledged. She responded with a toothy smile that caused my heart to drop.
"Well," I began, trying to stall for time before my inevitable fate, "if the three of you are here, then where's Marshall?" My question was immediately answered as I felt myself getting lifted into the air and found myself eye to eye with a very large man with darker skin and a very unamused expression on his face. "Oh, there you are." He only grunted in response before dropping me onto the ground. I quickly stood up and began backing away from the four nightmares before me as quickly as I could. "Well, it's been great to see you guys again, but I really need to get going, so…"
"Oh, my sweet Jessica, you know why we can't let that happen," Zachary explained in an inappropriately caring tone as he approached me, unsheathing his knives. "Especially after all the trouble you caused us that last night."
I kept trying to get away from them, but they simply continued to follow me down the dimly lit hallway. The staircase still seemed so far away. "L-look, guys," I tried pleading. "That whole thing was an accident. I didn't mean any of it."
"It hurt," Willow sneered. "A lot."
"You destroyed my favorite dress," Sarah added. "You know how much I loved that dress."
"After everything we did for you, you repay us by burning our whole camp to the ground?" Zachary spat in a venomous tone. Marshall cracked his knuckles in agreement.
The staircase was much closer now, but my legs were starting to turn to jelly from the immense pressure I was in. Just a little bit farther. "I-I was just… I didn't want… I was trying to… Please don't…"
"Jessica, what's going on?"
All eyes turned towards the staircase – just a few feet away now – where Allison was standing halfway up, holding her staff in preparation for a fight.
"Allison, you need to get out of here!" I yelled at her.
Before she could even react to what I said, Sarah pulled out her whip and pulled Allison's staff out of her hands, causing her to lose her balance and fall off the stairs. In a blur, Willow appeared underneath her and caught Allison in her arms. "That could've been a nasty fall, huh?" she asked my very frightened best friend, a sly smile forming on her face. "It's a good thing I caught you, then."
"Friend of yours?" Zachary asked. "It's a shame that she had to get involved."
"Let her go!" I ordered. "She has nothing to do with this."
"Perhaps," Zachary answered vaguely. "Do you have any other friends that we should know about? Anyone else who may miss you or your friend over there if you were to mysteriously vanish?" I opened my mouth to answer, but Zachary wasn't finished. "Preferably someone who you haven't hurt to the point that they probably no longer care about you. Because, let's be honest, we both know how you are."
His words felt like they tore through my heart as the gravity of my actions earlier in the day finally hit me. Michael couldn't possibly not hate me at this point. Not after everything I did to him. I could feel tears start to form in my eyes.
Zachary smiled smugly at the defeated expression on my face. "Oh, my sweet, dear, Jessica. You're far too self-destructive for your own good, and I think you've finally come to realize that. It's a shame it took you until just now to do it." He motioned Marshall to grab me and hold me still. I barely resisted, having given up all hope at this point. Zachary tightened the grip on his knives. "Lucky for you, you won't have to live with the pain for much longer."
"Jessica! What are they doing? Who are these people? Jessica, answer me!" I could hear Allison scream in panic off to the side, where Willow and Sarah were holding her back.
"It's too bad it had to come to this, Jessica," Zachary lamented, raising his knives. I closed my eyes, unwilling to watch any longer. "Thankfully, it'll all be over soon." I heard his arms slice through the air and I tensed up, waiting for the pain to start.
But the pain never came.
After a few seconds, I risked opening my eyes, and the sight before me caught me completely off guard. The pair of daggers, just inches from my face, were caught mid-swing by a sword, catching everyone by surprise. I looked at who was holding the sword. "Michael…" I breathed, utterly amazed. He did still care…
"What are you doing?" Michael asked severely. The look he was giving Zachary – I had seen Michael angry before, but the look on his face now was setting a new record on how livid a person could appear.
Zachary, regaining his composure, retracted and sheathed his knives. "Ah, yes, I don't believe we've met before. I'm Zachary. And you are?" he asked, extending a hand to Michael.
In response, Michael simply raised his sword up to Zachary's throat. I could feel Marshall's grip on me tighten. "What are you doing?" Michael repeated, even more angrily than before.
Zachary slowly retracted his hand. "Right. I suppose that was to be expected." He carefully reached up and pushed Michael's sword down away from his throat. "And I guess you're here because of these two lovely ladies," he continued calmly, gesturing towards me and Allison. "Of course, let's not pretend that you have any actual power here. At a moment's notice, I could have Marshall here crush Jessica like a bug, and, really, I think we both know that that other girl poses absolutely no threat to Willow and Sarah."
Michael walked right up to Zachary and stared him dead in the eye. Zachary stared right back, unwavering. "What. Are. You. Doing?" he asked for a third time, somehow even less amused than before.
"Alright, fine, I'll answer your damn question," Zachary spat. "If you really must know, I was about to execute Jessica here because she is a dangerous pyromaniac and verifiably insane. I mean, she actually thinks that she can see ghosts. Can you believe that shit? Honestly, I'm probably doing everybody a huge public service doing this. She poses a major threat to everyone near her. I'm sure you're more than aware of that."
My heart skipped a beat, unsure of how Michael would respond to that. Zachary wasn't entirely wrong… As I watched, Michael put his sword back into his sheath, started to turn away, and then suddenly whipped back and punched Zachary square in the jaw, knocking him to the floor. I couldn't help but let a small smile creep onto my face from the satisfying crunch of Michael's fist against Zachary's face. The smile immediately went away as Marshall began crushing me as soon as Zachary hit the ground, clearly unappreciative of Michael's gesture. I struggled to get loose, but Marshall's grip was too strong. Based on the noises that Allison was making, it appeared that Sarah and Willow felt similarly.
Zachary had gotten back onto his knees and was rubbing his jaw. "Alright. I see how it's going to be. I try to be civil, and this is how I'm treated. Fine. We'll do it your way." In a blink of an eye, Zachary jumped to his feet and pulled out his knives, swinging them at Michael. Michael responded by pulling out his sword and meeting the knives midair. For several seconds, they struggled to overpower each other, neither of them truly gaining an advantage over the other. They broke away for a moment and prepared to jump at each other again.
"HEY, you kids!" a voice yelled out from the direction of the inn. Everyone paused what they were doing and looked at where the yell came from. It was the martial artist I talked to earlier. He must have overheard the commotion from where he had been standing. "C'mon! No fighting in the Abbey. Sinndicate rules."
Michael and Zachary simply stared at each other, their blades still held aloft, fury in both of their eyes. Finally, one of them broke the silence. "Well, I have no desire to make a scene here in the Abbey," Zachary announced. "We were leaving anyway, actually. Come on, team. Let's just go." I fell to the ground as Marshall let go of me and walked away. Willow and Sarah also begrudgingly walked away from Allison, following Marshall up the stairs. "You should consider yourself lucky, Jessica," Zachary told me. "Next time, however, the outcome will not be the same." And, with those foreboding words, Zachary followed the rest of his team upstairs and, hopefully, out of my life for a very long time.
Michael let out a deep breath and put his sword away. "I'm glad that's over. Jessica, are you alr-"
I didn't give him a chance to finish before grabbing him in a tight hug, crying into his shirt. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" I sobbed. "I'm so sorry for everything I did to you today. I was being a total bitch and you didn't deserve any of it. And still, you saved my life. Please, please, please, can you forgive me!?"
A few seconds passed with no response, then Michael's body loosened up and I felt his arms wrap around me, returning the hug. "Yes, of course."
"So, who were those guys, again?"
I sighed, and leaned against the bedframe of my bed at the inn. "They were my previous adventuring group before I met you," I explained. "Zachary, the Silver Tongue. Sarah, the Killer Beauty. Willow, the Unseen Hunter. Marshall, the Silent Fist."
Allison gave me an odd look. "Where did those names come from?"
"Those were the code names that they used when they thieved."
"Thieved!?" Michael repeated in shock. "They're thieves?"
I nodded. "Highly skilled ones, at that. Of course, I didn't know that until it was too late and I was trapped with them. At that point, I knew too much."
"What I want to know is, where did the whole pyromania thing come from?" Michael asked.
"It all goes back to that night, I suppose. The night of the earthquake. Just like so many other things. That was the night that they found out that claimed to be able to see ghosts and what not," I began to explain. "Naturally, they thought that I was absolutely crazy so, that night, they tied me to a tree for 'their own safety,'" I explained using air quotes. "Obviously, I didn't like that, but there wasn't much that I could do about it. At least, until the earthquake happened. During the resulting chaos, my wand, which they had taken from me, managed to find its way back barely within my reach. With it, I cast Frizz on the ropes, burning them away to free myself. What I wasn't expecting, however, was for the tree itself to catch on fire. Before I could stop it, the entire tree was engulfed in flames, and, with the help of the earthquake, quickly fell over into their camp, setting the entire place on fire. It was entirely an accident, but I knew they wouldn't believe me, so I panicked and ran away as fast as I could. All the way to Stornway. All the way until I ran into you, Michael. I guess they've been hunting me down ever since."
"Wow," is all Allison was able to say in response, left speechless from my story.
"Well, I'm very glad I ran into you that day in Stornway, then," Michael said, smiling. "I'd like to hope that traveling with me is a bit better than with them."
I smiled back. "Just a little."
"I'm just glad that I decided to check downstairs earlier," Allison chimed in.
"Me, too," Michael added. "If I hadn't see you head down the stairs, I never would have gone after you."
"Well, this is all very nice and touching and all," Stella exclaimed from Michael's bag, which she was lounging upon, "but did we all forget already that we're supposed to be looking for Fyggs!? Did you guys find anything out!?"
"Oh! I nearly forgot!" I exclaimed. "I did! The guy who stopped the fight with Zachary, he found one of the Fyggs. Supposedly, he gave it to the Abbot as thanks for his vocational change, and then the Abbot took it and ate it for lunch."
"He ATE it!?" Michael and Stella both yelled in unison.
"Um…yeah," I answered. "Is that bad?"
"Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit," Stella replied, pacing through the air. "Yeah, it's pretty bad."
Michael explained further. "The Fyggs are blessed objects. Only blessed creatures like Celestrians are able to handle them safely. If a mortal creature comes into possession of one, they become cursed. Mortal or monster. Dead or alive. The power of the Fyggs affect all."
"Seven Fyggs with seven different curses. That's what the legends say," Stella added.
"It's bad enough that they're down in the mortal world in the first place. If they're eaten, however, the curses of the Fyggs becomes so powerful that they're able to corrupt the very souls of the creatures who consumed them. I can't even begin to imagine the kinds of effects this Fygg's curse will have on the Abbot, but it's not going to be good."
"But, what are the seven curses that the Fyggs carry?" Allison asked, a concerned expression on her face.
"Greed," Michael started.
"Deceit," Stella continued.
"Power."
"Lust."
"Despair."
"Wrath."
"And Death."
"Holy shit," Allison exclaimed.
"And the Abbot has been corrupted by one of those seven curses?" I asked.
"No," Michael explained. "He has become the physical embodiment of one of those seven curses."
Well, there you go. I hope you liked what I did. The opening scene introducing the Fygg. An evil team to rival our own heroes. The darker lore of the Fyggs in general. I took many risks with this chapter. Let's hope they pay off in the long run.
And, of course, I'm always happy to receive suggestions for things to add to the story. New characters. New subplots. If you suggest it, I may just do it.
Also, just as a brief reminder, there is a forum dedicated to the story where anyone can ask a question or leave a comment. I made it, so we may as well use it. It's called "The Mortal's Guardian: Michael's Story Forum". I'm always happy to chat if you want. Fill in the gap between chapters.
Anyway, the next chapter will maybe be out around year's end. No promises, though.
As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and review if you haven't so far. Please don't hesitate to let me know of any typos in the story via a private message or the forum. I strive for perfection, but, alas, I am only human.
Until next time, this has been D~F.
