"You want me to rescue a princess for you to marry?" Alastor asked, when he heard Vox's terms.

"Yes." Vox said.

"Shouldn't you be the one doing that?"

"I would but my schedule is far too booked. I'm a busy man, I have a kingdom to run and expand. Also I now have to prepare for my queen to be."

Alastor felt the urge to make a crack but he decided not to do it.

"So who is this princess to you anyway? An old sweetheart? Childhood betrothed? Spurned lover?"

"Neither. She's the princess of the Ninth Kingdom, the most powerful kingdom there is so marrying her will not only make me king, but the greatest king ever."

"Typical." Alastor thought. "A marriage of power and position. Oh well, it's no skin off my back. Though I do wonder how the bride will react when she realizes that she's going to be married to a robot."

"So where is this tower?"

A guard handed Alastor a map.

"I have a transportation device that has enough power to send you to where it'll only take a day for you to reach the tower." Vox explained. "But I'm afraid you'll have to walk on the way back and it's a week's journey by foot, from the tower to here."

"What?! That's crazy!" Angel whined. "My legs can't take that!"

"Your legs will be fine Angel." Alastor said. "You have four of them."

"Captain Pentious, send my champion and his insect friend on their way."

"I'm not an insect!" Angel argued.

"And he's not my friend." Alastor added.

"Whatever. Just get going. You have a week and one day to bring me my perfect bride. Otherwise the deal is off."

With that said, Captain Pentious led Alastor and Angel into another room where there stood a large and extravagant machine. He then sat down at a keyboard and proceeded to type in the right coordinates.

"For the record this machine is actually mine." Pentious said. "I built it. It took me six months to build this but did I get to call it my own? Or at least a raise? No."

"With all due respect we don't really have time to hear about your issues." Alastor said. "We do have to be somewhere."

"Right! Sorry. Now I should warn you two that there may suffer some side effects."

"Side effects?" Angel inquired nervously.

"Nothing serious just possible burning, itching, oozing, weeping, and a slight heart attack."

"Heart attack?!"

"The shock of instant transportation really does a number on the heart rate."

"In that case maybe we should just walk to the tower." Alastor suggested.

"Not gonna work. Lord Vox has never been the patient type. He can't wait a week to be a king but not two weeks."

He typed up on more thing and aimed a type of lense at the two.

"Hang on to your hats."

"But we're not wearing hats." Angel said.

Pentious finally pressed the big red button on the machine an electric bolt shot out from the lense, striking Alastor and Angel. In an instant they were gone from the room and found themselves falling right into a field that was one day's travel from their chosen location.

"Well that was something I hope I never have to do again." Alastor said sitting up from the fall. "Angel are you still in one piece?"

He looked around, he didn't see the giant, albino spider-like creature.

"He's not here. Hey maybe I got lucky and that machine accidentally sent him to Aruba or something."

"Mmmh!" He heard a muffled voice cry out and felt something wiggling underneath him. He looked down and discovered that when they fell, he had landed on Angel.

"Oops! Sorry about that Angel."

He quickly got off of the spider creature.

"You know when I said I liked it when a guy would plant his ass on me, that isn't what I meant." He groaned. "Do you realize how heavy you are? How can someone so skinny be so heavy?"

"That detail about my body remains a mystery to my kind. I think it might be that the antlers add extra wait."

Angel got back on his feet and took a moment to brush himself off and fix his puffy hair.

"So let me get this straight, Vox will only clear all those mythical creatures out of your forest if you go rescue a princess and fight a..A what again? A dragon?"

"Actually it's a black moth adze."

"A moth? We're going to fight a moth? Is that a joke? Oh well, that just means a free snack for me."

"A moth adze. Do you even know what those are?"

"Moths with an exotic and spicy taste?"

"Adzes are giant and feral insects who can take on three forms, and they feed off of blood and plasma. The most common types are fireflies and mosquitoes, moths are a rarity."

"Okay you say giant, how giant are we talking here?"

"Well in their most deadly form they range to about 350-450 ft."

"Say what?!"

"Oh and the moth types are not only the most rare but the most ill-tempered and violent." He smirked, wanting to increase Angel's fear. "You'll probably last about...Mmm...Half a second before it mercilessly beats you and drains you dry of all fluid in your body."

"Stop messing with me Alastor."

"Who's messing? I'm just letting you know what to expect on this quest."

"Why did you even take this quest anyway?"

"You know why. To clear out all those bothersome creatures."

"What I mean is why didn't you just make Vox give you back the forest? You know do what wendigos do, eat him alive or something."

"Angel I maybe a monster but I'm not the barbaric kind who just blindly causes mayhem whenever something doesn't go his way. I mean think about it, I was in a stadium where over ten guards were at every post. How long do you think I would have lasted if I attacked their leader?"

"Good point." Angel said. "Funny, I knew you were smart but I didn't I know you were that smart."

"Yeah there's a lot more to me than most people think."

"Example?"

"Example. Well for one thing most people assume that I'm a brainless, boorish, philistine but in truth I'm highly educated and cultured. I can read, write, and do arithmetic as good as any scholar. I enjoy and understand literature, dance, theater, and music."

"Does that mean you wanna hear me sing?"

"No. I don't like your voice."

"Why do you have to be so mean all the time?"

"Because that's how I am and you'll just have to accept it. Lesson one in life, the sooner you accept the way things are the better off you'll be."

"I don't believe that. Alright so there are somethings in life you just have to accept but other things you can change."

"Such as?"

"Me for starters. For generations my species had been captured and used for slave labor. Forced against our will to work for humans, never allowed to live our own lives or make our own choices. My entire family accepted it but not me. No I wanted to have a life of my own. I wanted freedom. I wanted to live my dream."

"Which is?"

"To be a performer that is adored by millions."

That's when Alastor burst into a fit of rapid laughter.

"You? An adored performer? Oh that's a good one." He said when he could speak again.

"Go on laugh." Angel said irritated. "That's what my old man, my brother, and every other tsuchigumo except for my mother and sister did. They said that I was stupid and that I'd never get away from whoever owned me. That I should just stop dreaming and accept a life of slavery."

"They sound smart."

"Well they weren't. Wanna know why? Because despite what they said, I never accepted being a slave. I always rebelled and I always tried to escape. Granted I failed about three-hundred, sixty-two times but I never gave up. I wouldn't let them break me, and in the end I finally got away. I finally did the one thing that no tsuchigumo had ever succeeded at. I escaped slavery and gained a life of my own."

"Inspiring story. You almost filled me with hope. Almost."

"But don't you get it? You don't have to accept everything life throws at you."

"I find it much easier and reasonable to do so. It's very dangerous to let emotion get in the way of reason, you know. If I hadn't of accepted Vox's deal and just tried to force him to comply with my demands I would have been killed. It was for the best that I agree to his terms."

"Do you really think you can trust weasely, oil, rag?"

"Of course not but he can't cheat me because I'll have what he wants." His grin spread.

"Boy has he underestimated you." Angel said further impressed by Alastor's cleverness.

"Well as I said earlier, a lot of people underestimate me. Sometimes it's very amusing but other times..."

He stopped when he realized that he almost let something personal slip out.

"Other times what?" Angel asked.

"Nothing. Just a hiccup. We better start walking while it's still day light."

Angel raised an eyebrow in skepticism but chose to keep his suspicions and curiosity silent. For now that is.