Chapter 19
Despite how Tsubaki Collbrande had easily given the ok to ask about the incident with the abnormal Goliath, not a single word left Shakti's lips for what both considered to be a second stretched to eternity after the Blacksmith had said 'Ask.'
That just worked to demonstrate the tension in the room; as both High-Level Adventurers discreetly scanned the body of the other, searching for a twitch or any sudden movement that would reveal any kind of sudden action.
"From what I understand," Shakti stated, deciding to do the first verbal move. "You and many other Adventurers dealt with a normal Goliath in the usual event raid. However, the Dungeon started to act up as if a Deity happened to be there, making it spawn an Abnormal Goliath shortly after."
"You did your homework," Tsubaki stated, letting her finger circle the edge of her cup in an attempt for Shakti's gaze to focus somewhere else but on her. "So, I don't understand why the sudden need to ask the obvious."
Tsubaki shrugged, not really causing any kind of reaction out of the Ganesha Familia Captain.
'Right, I forgot she's used to interrogating people.' Tsubaki thought, seeing as Ganesha Familia was the de facto law force within Orario. Therefore, Shakti having to deal with this kind of situation was a norm for her, especially when the people sitting on the other side of the table were far more verbal with their statements.
"Simple, I just want to know how you beat him." Shakti managed to give a shrug of her own, a tense one. She picked up her cup of tea and guided it to her mouth, but not before giving one final word. "Seeing as the Abnormal devoured the crystals of the first Goliath, that would have made it a Level 6 monster, a level above you."
Tsubaki's eye twitched at the indirect flex thrown by the bluenet.
"So, it's only natural I am curious."
"…There's nothing much to say," Tsubaki said after giving a mental sigh. "I took my naginata, went, fought, and won. Short and simple."
"Like all of your relationships."
The sudden and unexpected reply out of the mouth of Shakti Varma made the Blacksmith internally flinch, forcing her to try her best and not show any kind of reaction at all.
Too bad she couldn't hide the clear annoyance in her tone.
"Are you holding a grudge?"
Shakti raised an eyebrow. "For making me wait for more than a couple of hours after being harsh with your statements?" she softly took another sip of her cup before answering. "Not all, just stating the obvious."
Tsubaki faked a chuckle. "Sure thing. It's only natural you can say that seeing we're in the same boat."
To her credit, the Blacksmith managed to get a twitch out of Shakti.
"Oh…" she replied, placing a dangerous edge in her tone.
"Last I heard, your last relationship ended because, I heard and I quote 'You are too frigid everywhere.'. and let me add an emphasis on 'everywhere'." Shakti's cheeks betrayed her professionalism for a mere moment. "Even in bed Shakti? For shame!" One of the corners of Tsubaki's lips moved upward. "I know some men have weird fetishes, but you should let yourself go a little."
"Like you?" Now it was Shakti's turn. "I seem to recall all of your previous relationships ending because you were 'too much'."
"Damn straight," Tsubaki replied without a single hint of hesitation. "Not all of us like to be the passive one in the relationship."
'Or in bed.' She mentally added, recalling that was where most of her relationships ended seeing as apparently, she was asking for too much. However, the problem lay in the fact that not just Tsubaki, but Shakti as well, were high-level Adventurers. So, getting that much stimulation at that Level was quite hard.
"You are incorrigible." Shakti thought out loud, sighing as she mentally cursed herself. These little exchanges to antagonize the Blacksmith had been partly planned; she wanted Tsubaki to loosen up a little and become careless with what came out of her mouth. However, it was partly because she didn't expect her to counter her statements so easily.
"You easily claim victory over the Goliath. But even for a high-season Adventurer, that's just a little too much, even for a Level Five."
"And yet it happened," Tsubaki stated with a tone of certainty. However, Shakti didn't believe her at all.
"But how? What kind of strategy did you use? Did you only use your naginata? Did it focus on only you? Did you have help?"
'… this bitch.' Tsubaki heard question after question, slowly coming to the realization Shakti knew exactly what she was looking for. This made the Blacksmith gain a couple questions of her own.
The most important ones came to her after recalling her mention of a Deity in the Dungeon not even five minutes ago, making her fight the urge to not show any sign of surprise.
She was looking for Drake; or more specifically, the Deity that had been in the Dungeon that day. However, even if Shakti was looking for said person, why come specifically to her? The Dungeon had experienced a shift of power not even less than twenty-four hours before the Goliath incident happened, so the Dungeon had been acting weird ever since then until that moment.
And yet, Shakti was focusing solemnly on that event and not the rest for some reason; which meant one of two things.
'Either Shakti's taking her sweet time to investigate everything that happened during that time frame…'
"Why don't you go down to Rivira and ask the many Adventurers that were there that day? I am sure they will give you more of an insight than just me alone."
'Or someone told her what to look for exactly?' she mentally scowled as she finished the thought; thinking that the only one that could probably do that was Freya. However, she and Drake had been careful in covering their tracks, and the Goddess didn't have any idea of what happened in the Dungeon that day either seeing she was stuck in an emergency Denatus during that time.
There was also the fact that besides herself and Hephaestus, everybody else would laugh at the thought of a God fighting a damn Goliath of all monsters.
So, that begged the question.
Who told Shakti about Drake?
"I read the reports of their statements taken by the Guild. All of them summarize into these few words; 'Tsubaki Collbrande defeated the monster.'" Shakti replied with a rather honest yet bland expression on her face seeing how vague the statements were.
"Not my fault their statements were too lacking for your taste." Tsubaki's snort made Shakti narrow her eyes.
"Let me remind you that Rivira is independent of the Guild. Therefore, the Adventurers there have no obligation whatsoever to follow the same law of conduct we do here on the surface." She tapped her index finger on the table. "That, and the fact that all of those statements about you are so convincingly similar almost makes it look as if all of them were converging from someone."
Tsubaki could feel the clear sarcasm in Shakti's tone, all while she cursed Bors for doing such a good job of covering their tracks on that day.
"It's almost as if they were covering for something, or someone." And there it was again, that edge in her voice that was beginning to irk Tsubaki.
"So, why don't we stop pretending you defeated a Level Six monster alone and tell me what really happened?"
The Blacksmith simply shrugged, giving her best boring stare in the process. "I don't see any obligation as to why I should tell you what happened that day. However, if you have problems believing me," she started playing with her cup again, a little smirk adorning her face. "You are more than free to bring Lord Ganesha with you the next time."
Tsubaki had to be honest with herself right now, she was pulling the mother of all bluffs with this one. But she had the advantage that if Shakti did indeed bring Ganesha to personally interrogate her, then God would be on her Goddess' bad side. Something no deity in Orario wanted, even if both had prominent Familias.
And the best part of it all was that Shakti knew this as well.
The Captain of the Ganesha Familia narrowed her eyes, only to then sigh. "I guess that will be it then." She stated calmly, making Tsubaki cheer in her mind, not noticing that Shakti's eyes didn't show any signs of giving up.
'I guess I will have to be more direct then.'
"By the way, would you be so kind as to tell me how to find your friend?" it was only for a split second, but Shakti could see how the veins on Tsubaki's neck tensed. "You know, the blonde one? The one you were with that morning we met at the entrance of the Dungeon." Her tone had a hint of inquiry, but for Tsubaki, it felt as if she were mocking her.
Shakti had known all along Drake had been involved, she just wanted a confession out of her and knew how to find her.
"What? He got your interest?" Tsubaki tried to add some humor to her question, but it was easily noticeable that it was forced.
"Oh, you could say that." There was no smugness in Shakti's tone either, making it clear they both knew what they were talking about. "How long have you known each other? I take it a little over a month?"
The Blacksmith didn't show any reaction.
"What? Scared I am going to take him away from you?"
Now she snorted. To anyone else, that would have sounded as if Shakti was referring to stealing him away from her. However, that wasn't the right context, seeing as she meant putting him in a cell, instead.
"I find it extremely hilarious you think you stand a chance."
Shakti twitched, seeing as Tsubaki underhandedly stated he was stronger than her. She knew that, Ratatosk and Adam's statements about him, however vague they were, made her understand that.
"Can't argue about that, but I am sure the same applies to you. After all, I am sure the both of you have gone through plenty; like beating a Goliath together."
At this rate, Tsubaki didn't bother in saying anything seeing as Shakti already knew everything and just wanted a confession.
"Let's drop all pretenses," both narrowed their eyes as Shakti continued. "We both know why I am here. You can either make things easier for the both of us, or I will bring my God to interrogate you. And seeing as you are hiding someone so dangerous and you're dangerous, with or without Lady Hephaestus' support… well, it can only end badly for you."
Now it was Shakti who was bluffing, seeing this whole thing was meant to be a secret between Her and her God to not compromise their secret circle as well.
"… Are you really willing to risk your Familia for him?" Shakti now shifted to the good interrogator role, seeing as Tsubaki's glare and silence spoke volumes of how far she was willing to keep quiet. "A complete stranger you have only known for one month. Are you really willing to protect someone so potentially dangerous to Orario?"
Shakti noticed Tsubaki clenched her free hand. "He's someone that could easily wipe out the entirety of Orario without anything or anyone to retrain him. Something that shouldn't exi-"
Shakti Varma froze at that moment, immediately noticing how Tsubaki's mask completely broke in a single heartbeat, wordless at how deathly her eyes were looking at her.
Tsubaki Collbrande went down memory lane the moment those words started to come out of Shakti's mouth. She recalled Drake saying those very words with a defeated expression during the night they spoke in Rivira, as if accepting his existence had indeed been a mistake.
She never wanted to see that expression again, nor hear those words from him or anyone else. To be honest, she wanted to punch her friend straight in the face so much at the moment.
But priorities came first.
"Say, Shakti." Tsubaki suddenly said, not caring in hiding how threatening she sounded. "How do you know so much?"
She noticed the blue-haired Adventurer tensing.
"You sound so sure about your statements that it almost looks like you did your homework. However, that kind of knowledge is not something you can just ask anyone in the street about." She continued, knowing full well the only two people to know this besides Drake were herself and Hephaestus.
"So, I think it's fair I throw you my line of questions now." She stated as both tensed their bodies for what was incoming. Because Shakti Varma knew Tsubaki's method of interrogation didn't use many words.
'I don't have at hand anything that could be considered a weapon.' Her eye never left Shakti's, loosening her grip on her cup as she moved it to her lips. 'I would have to act fast.'
Tsubaki suddenly quickly moved her hand, letting go of her cup so it and its contents would hit the bluehead's face. This forced Shakti to quickly swing with her hand the flying object as the blacksmith took that minor distraction to flip the table as another distraction before swiftly throwing a punch through it to strike Shakti with a blind attack. However-
'Did you really think it would be that easy?' Shakti Varma thought as she caught the incoming fist; Tsubaki's strength had been enough to push her feet back a little, Shakti being forced to bend her knees and lower her center of gravity so as to not be blown back. 'Have you so easily forgotten I am faster than you?'
The law enforcer twisted Tsubaki's arm before moving her free hand in front of her face to deliver an elbow blow straight on the blacksmith's face. 'Restraining her would be the best course of action.'
Shakti didn't waste the chance to then use the forearm of her free hand to push the blacksmith back as she kicked Tsubaki's feet, making her fall to the floor while Shakti still held one of her arms; forcing the blacksmith to fall on her face.
Shakti quickly used her knees to apply pressure on Tsubaki on the ground as she secured both of her arms by pulling them up.
'You may be faster.' Shakti's eyes widened Tsubaki's arms started to overpower her despite the position she was in. 'But I am stronger!' The blacksmith managed to completely gain control of the hold Shakti had on her. She took advantage of this by rotating the upper part of her body to punch Shakti in the cheek and make her roll to the side.
'I had forgotten she's better in hand-to-hand combat.' She quickly stood up and rushed to Shakti, straddling the blue-haired captain before proceeding to punch her several times.
'Need to use a distraction.' Shakti endured the punches as she took a piece of the broken table to crush it, turning it into dust before throwing it straight at Tsubaki's face. 'Proceed to counter.'
'Damn it, no visibility.' Tsubaki thought before receiving a jab to the throat, making her give a few steps back as she held her throat out of pure instinct. 'This situation isn't good.' she managed to open her eye, only to see a blurry sight of Shakti approaching her slowly.
'A last desperate attempt perhaps?' Shakti pondered, seeing as Tsubaki went for a very predictable punch that the Captain of the Ganesha Familia avoided by stepping to the side at the last moment. 'No. She wouldn't be that reckless.' Shakti concluded, seeing as Tsubaki rapidly moved her other arm around Shakti's neck and then grasped her other hand to force her into a lock, forcing her head down as she prepared to deliver a knee kick straight to Shakti's face.
'It's still futile.' Shakti thought calmly as she moved her head up to generate momentum as she grasped with both of her hands the arm that Tsubaki was using to hold her neck and separate it from the other hand; this made her opponent's wrist and shoulder into a lever before quickly putting pressure on Tsubaki's shoulder and then grabbed the back of her head to force her down.
'…Fuck.' Tsubaki cursed before Shakti proceeded to deliver a certain punch in the back of her head, which would leave her unconscious.
'Conclusion… not good.' Tsubaki thought, having run down in her mind how her little encounter with Shakti would go if she were to engage, not knowing that said blue-haired Adventurer was doing the same on her end.
Tsubaki knew Shakti would have the advantage regarding speed and hand-to-hand combat seeing as she also restrained criminals on an almost daily basis. Things would be different if the blacksmith had a weapon though; unfortunately, Shakti most likely would be able to restrain her before she could go for a weapon from another room.
'Note to self, hide weapons throughout the whole house.' She thought, before coming to the conclusion that she wouldn't be able to get anything out of Shakti by either asking or by force. So, there was only one thing she could do in moments like this.
"… I am starving," Tsubaki stated, placing her cup of tea calmly on the table as Shakti did her best not to falter over the blacksmith's sudden statement.
"Excuse me?" Her question went to deaf ears as Tsubaki stood up and started to walk out of the room, which forced her to do the same.
"I am gonna find something to eat, feel free to tag along if you want to."
Shakti couldn't help but glare at Tsubaki's back with a stupefied expression. "You can't be serious. We are in the middle of an interrogation right now," thunder rumbled once more. "And it is about to rain!"
"Okey, first-" she stopped and turned around. "Let me remind you I am in my free will not answer anything if I so desire."
Shakti narrowed her gaze. "That would make you look even more suspicious now."
Tsubaki raised her hand. "Do you see what I am holding right now?"
Shakti adopted a very confused look, not knowing where the blacksmith was going with that question. But even so, she decided to answer. "Nothing-"
"That's right!" Tsubaki suddenly exclaimed. "Nothing! The same amount of shit I give about what you think." Her voice dropped into a deadpan as thunder rumbled once more. "And as for the rain-"
She turned around, ignoring the twitch in Shakti's face. "We better hurry up, then."
The Captain of the Ganesha Familia groaned, opting to stick with Tsubaki and try to pry for more. "Where are we even going?" she asked reluctantly.
"Don't worry…" the corner of Tsubaki's lips moved upward, Shakti would have seen a smug smirk was it not because she was walking behind the blacksmith. "I know a place."
In the end, Tsubaki opted to take her to the Dragon's den. Although, from any other perspective, it could be said that her master plan consisted in 'running away.'
"Can you please drop the subject?" Drake Aurion thought out loud as he leaned back in a bathtub inside of the Hostess, sighing exhaustingly while looking at the ceiling for a tired expression.
It was the first time since he arrived in Orario that he had been fully tired. Neither an abnormal Goliath nor Udaeus compared to the various hours of forging near the divine fire. Not to mention the concentration he had put into the task was beyond any fight he has had so far; so, mental fatigue was normal.
And yet, he couldn't find his peace of mind due to one certain person.
'She was giving you a clear invitation and you let it pass!' The voice of Zelos Wilder rang in his face with a tone that could be compared to a very disappointed parent. 'What the hell's wrong with you!?'
Drake groaned, closing his eyes slowly as he recalled the event that led to this annoyance; Hephaestus 'inviting' him to take a shower.
Flashback
"I have never seen you fight, but according to Tsubaki, you didn't even shed a drop of sweat when you faced the Goliath. And yet here you are with such obvious fatigue that it looks like you are about to pass out; it's kind of weird seeing you like this." The Goddess Hephaestus stated, both of them sitting next to the other on the Anvil in her forge with her eyepatch resting to her side, the holy fire that had been used to forge hers and Tsubaki's hammer was long gone now.
"Says the woman that actually passed out after a few minutes of me hammering an ingot. Shame on you, Goddess of the Forge," he replied, taking an entire bottle of water and gulping it down as Hephaestus looked away, pouting.
"It was a shame though," the corner of her lips moved upward. "I would have loved to keep seeing such a sight."
The blonde stopped mid-drink, narrowing his eyes and adopting his usual blank look before looking at Hephaestus. "Really?… really!?" He asked with an incredulous tone, raising his tone with each word.
Hephaestus couldn't help but look perplexed at the clear accusation in his tone. "Wh- What?"
"I know forging is your forte and all, but do you really have to get it on by looking at others working? Really?" he shook his head, rolling his eyes as he finished the bottle of water; not caring for the indignant look the Goddess was giving him.
"It is not that I get on seeing someone forge," she averted her eye, playing with the tip of her hair in the process as a faint blush could be noticed as well. "I just admire hard-working people, that's all."
He snorted.
"Say that with a straight face and I might believe you." He stood up from the anvil, stretching his arms in the process. "I better get going before Lunor comes in demanding more money."
"Hmm…" Hephaestus narrowed her eye at him for a second, the clear sweat easily noticeable. "I think you still have enough time, you did give her a lot of valis… wanna take a shower in the meantime?"
Drake looked at her. Her face was completely straight as she continued.
"The door over there leads to a bath, you are free to use it." she stood up from the anvil and gestured at the said door. She put some pressure on her neck and sighed. "I honestly could use a bath myself." She turned around, smiling innocently at him. "So, what do you say?"
Drake's mind was going by the mile, thinking that the woman in front of him couldn't possibly be so dense as to not realize the implications of her words.
Clearly, she didn't.
"Sure thing… I mean… if you are inviting." He said, being subtle in his last words; letting the words slowly sink into Hephaestus' mind until her smile dropped little by little in realization.
"… I-" her face turned red. "I mean- that isn't what I…" she groaned, turning around to show her back as she rubbed the side of her head. "… I think I am gonna take the bath first."
"Make sure to be a cold one, seems you need it more like me." He said, fighting the urge to snort as he didn't need to see her face to know she was twitching.
"… I think you should leave." She said, not out of malice, but because she didn't dare to face him now; somehow this felt worse than revealing her face, which she was still doing.
"I am sure you do," he said, putting on his shirt as he started to walk out. "Just don't start drinking in your bath."
Now he snorted, walking away after closing the door to her personal forge as he heard a massive groan coming from there.
'I am just saying, you had an open window.'
"I made her realize what her request could mean, she was embarrassed and that was the end of it, period."
'Sorry. But I am gonna put my two Lien on this topic.' Drake groaned seeing as Guy decided to share some of his 'infinite' wisdom. 'Please don't be the naïve romcom protagonist. We both know that role doesn't fit you at all.'
Sadly, he wasn't.
Telling Hephaestus she was beautiful even without her eyepatch might have been a mistake; even if every single word that came out of his mouth were nothing but the truth.
Drake could not only see the changes in demeanor coming from the Goddess soon after those words were said, but also the little ticks in her body behavior when they spoke after.
"… Why are women so damn needy?" his rhetorical question made some of them sigh, seeing as each had their own experience regarding the subject.
'I think forging her that hammer might also have something to do.' and so, Dr. Jude entered the conversation. 'Nobody probably ever gave her anything she truly appreciated or liked just for caring for the gesture. If that's the case, you pretty much raised not one but two flags in a single day.'
Drake groaned, hoping his brother was wrong in that assessment.
'Also, fuck you for using my disability as an example.'
The blonde chuckled, mentally apologizing as he did.
'Having said all that-'
"Would you please give it a rest already?" Drake asked seeing Zelos didn't want to drop the topic.
'Excuse me! For not wanting my best friend to die a virgin again, that is.' Zelos's statement made him adopt his usual blank stare. "I didn't die a virgin before arriving here and you know it."
'Coco Adel happened before your first death during the battle of beacon. Everybody knows the V card returns if you come back to life.' Zelos stated in a matter-of-fact tone, making everyone make a double take at him.
"Is that actually a thing?"/'Is that actually a thing?' they all asked, making the redhead nod solemnly in his head.
"Either way, I lost the damn thing again after that, so that stupid rule doesn't apply to me," Drake stated, face-palming right after as he could feel his best friend starting to inquire.
'… with who bitch!?'
"Don't even fucking bother. I think I speak with all of us when I say, 'I deserve some privacy', mister author." There were a lot of 'hums' in agreement.
'I said I was sorry, damn it!' Zelos shouted, just as someone knocked on the door of the bathroom from the other side in a rather rapid fashion.
"Are you with someone in there?" Lunor's voice was easily recognized, making him sigh.
"Just me and the voices in my head." He stated, making the waitress shake her head in resignation seeing it was not the first time he had given that kind of excuse as of late. And since he couldn't lie, she was starting to believe he was actually crazy.
"So yes, I am Busy," Drake shouted, not really feeling like dealing with anyone else at the moment.
Too bad the world didn't think otherwise.
"I think you might have a problem." Lunor said from the other side, making him groan as he gave the 'OK' to enter.
To his surprise, it was not only her but also Ryuu who entered the room. The Elf at the very least had the decency of averting her gaze as he lay in the bathtub, too bad the same couldn't be said about Lunor.
"Don't give me that look," Lunor said, moving her gaze off him once he caught her trying to stare. "It's not like I can see anything from here."
"Funny. So…" he raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to say what was so important. The answer he got came in the form of a slip piece of paper with something written on it.
'Bitch is onto you.'
He narrowed his eyes, recognizing whose writing was this.
"Context?"
Ryuu crossed her arms, her face turning into a serious one as she kicked away every embarrassing thought as she looked at him, straight in the eyes to boost. "Tsubaki came in with Shakti Varma about ten minutes ago, she managed to slip this to me unnoticed."
"… huh."
"You know her?" Lunor asked, seeing that reaction was not what she was expecting.
"We had a short interaction a while back, nothing big."
"Do you think this is about Aeshma Familia?"
Drake stared at the Elf. She had confessed to him she went her way to make sure he wouldn't do anything reckless that night; only for her to already be too late for anything.
"I have no idea what you two are talking about," Lunor said, faking ignorance about the whole subject.
"I honestly don't think so." He said, unconsciously scratching the wound on the left side of his neck as he started to ponder.
It didn't have to be related just to the Aeshma incident, if anything that was just the tip of the iceberg. The worst-case scenario would be Shakti knowing about him not being from this world, or that he was partly responsible for what happened the day he arrived in Orario.
But even so, it still didn't answer the question of how she found out about it. If it were the Aeshma incident, only a few people in the Hostess knew about it besides Tsubaki and Hephaestus. As for the more critical information, only the latter two knew about his situation.
"Are you ok?" Lunor asked, focusing on his neck. "You have been scratching that for a while now."
His eyes widened, stopping any movement as he felt how the wound on his neck began to itch. The one other only time that happened was quite recent as well.
'Someone is following on your trail, and that wound is starting to act up; definitely not a coincidence.' Lloyd said.
"…" he didn't say anything. Instead, he simply stood up without any warning, making Ryuu cover her eyes with her hands while Lunor faked doing the same. She was soon filled with disappointment.
"Drake… why are you wearing sweatpants?" Lunor asked, her emotions clear in her voice as Ryuu stopped covering her eyes with her hands to see the blonde was indeed decent from the waist down.
"I decided to not take my chances in securing my nonexistent innocence in case that perverted peeping tom Elf next to you decided to see me naked again." Lunor tossed him a tower, snorting without care as the Elf's eye twitched, his nicknames for her were getting worse.
"Can you please stop calling me names?" Ryuu asked in a serious, yet annoyed soft tone. "The rest of the staff is starting to call me names thanks to you."
"It's either that or genocidal Elf; your choice," Ryuu said nothing, and simply glared daggers at him before sighing in defeat.
"So, leaving the usual Elf bullying aside," Ryuu groaned. "What are you gonna do with Shakti?"
"Leave that to me. Just keep working as usual… what?" he asked, noticing that Lunor looked away the moment he mentioned the word 'work' while Ryuu simply sighed.
"As you may recall, some of the staff of the Hostess may not have… the best backgrounds in the city." Lunor snorted at Ryuu's words, it was clearly an understatement. "Lunor and Chloe were rather arrogant during those times until they were… humbled."
"That wouldn't be the term I would use," Lunor stated, recalling the job that made her reconsider her life choices; the Gulliver brothers.
"Ok… I still fail to see where you are going with this."
"Shakti was the one that humbled Chloe… severely," Lunor replied, letting the words sink into Drake's brain.
"Oh…"
"I am a good kitty, I am a good kitty, I am a good kitty." Chloe Rollo said, over and over again as she sat in the corner of the kitchen with a somber face while her hands wrapped around her knees.
"… Should we do something about that?" one of the kitchen staff members asked May, whose eyes didn't take off the food she was preparing.
"Ignore her. The kitchen is no place for the weak of heart."
"And with Syr still off work due to her injury, we are a little short-staffed today." Ryuu continued as thunder rumbled outside. "And there's a big chance the Hostess will be full tonight due to today's weather. Therefore, Mia thought of asking you for your assistance today."
Drake sighed. "And even when I told her I was too tired…" he reluctantly nodded, making Ryuu's lips give a small smile before she started to make for the door.
"By the way… why are you even tired?" Lunor asked as a smug smirk formed on her face. "Did you do a little too much work with Hephaestus?" She still hadn't forgotten the whole milk incident with Demeter -nobody has- so Lunor thought that maybe she could get some fun out of him.
She never expected his next words.
"Oh absolutely." He replied carefreely, making Ryuu's head snap in his direction while Lunor took a step back. "There was a lot of heat and hammering. I went on it non-stop until the job was truly and finally done. A very taxing experience indeed. Suffice to say, the Goddess of the Forge was thoroughly satisfied with my work."
It was not his words that made both of the waitresses misinterpret what he did during his time with Hephaestus, it was the seriousness in his voice and his expression that really sold it off.
"I- You…" Lunor couldn't form a single word, while Ryuu just stared at him critically before she rubbed the bridge between her eyes after seeing through his deception.
"Never thought you would be so despicable."
"Hey, I just told the truth. It's not my fault that both of you have such a dirty mind your first thoughts were anything but pure. Shame on you." Lunor was about to retort to that, embarrassment clear on her face. However, Ryuu decided it had been enough and opted to grab her by the collar and drag her out of the room, not being able to find anything to say in the end.
Drake narrowed his eyes once the door was closed, cursing himself for almost scratching his neck again.
"Fuck my life. So much for enjoying the Hostess without Syr being here."
Shakti Varma sat in front of the counter of the Hostess of Fertility. Her chin rested on the back of her hands while her elbows rested on the counter, her eyes focusing solemnly on the glutton next to her.
The sound of thunder rumbling outside continued, becoming louder and louder with the passing of time. As a matter of time, Shakti could see how the dark clouds in the distance early in the afternoon were now above the city. In a sense, it was a good thing she was now in a pub that served as an inn, seeing as she wasn't gonna be able to return to her Familia HQ before the rain started to pour.
However, that was never the plan as she only followed Tsubaki thinking -knowing- that she was planning something. But the Blacksmith had only walked out of her place in complete silence the whole time with a pretty neutral expression, and it even remained now as she dug up a plate of food.
What's worse, the Captain of the Hephaestus Familia had the audacity to order curry; knowing full well it was her favorite dish, and even made sounds of delight with every bite she took.
Tsubaki had offered to order some for her. But she refused, thinking Tsubaki somehow would give a sign to Mia Grande to temper with her food, even if the latter wasn't that kind of character.
Still, better to be safe than sorry.
"How long are you going to keep doing this?"
Tsubaki shrugged at her question, munching as she gave her answer. "Until I am satisfied and full. I pretty much skipped every meal of the day until now. So-"
"Stop playing dumb." Shakti fought the urge to slam of fist on the counter. "What do you expect to achieve by bringing me here? Hoping Mia Grande would defend you in some way, I assume?"
"I know nothing." Both loved heads to see the dwarf cleaning a glass with a neutral face. "Nor do I want to know anything at all." She narrowed her eyes at them. "So don't you fucking involve me in that conversation."
"… Yes ma'am." Both replied, focusing solemnly on each other before Tsubaki sighed. "We already went through this dance a while ago; you will not be getting anything out of me."
Shakti narrowed her eyes. "Is that a confession for all of my previously asked questions?"
Tsubaki simply shrugged. "Who knows? Not that it will matter in a moment."
Shakti couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as her body tensed out of precaution, even though the Blacksmith's statements didn't seem that menacing.
"What's that supposed to-" a plate was suddenly placed in front of her. Her eyes darted at it almost immediately after her nose caught the distinct smell of the curry Tsubaki had been eating. "I didn't order anything." She stated, ready to push the plate away to not succumb to the temptation. But the sudden sound of a very familiar voice stopped her tracks in an instant.
"It's on the house."
Her eyes widened, slowly shifting her gaze up a little before focusing on the owner of the voice as the rain started to pour down outside.
Blonde hair, green-emerald dragon-like eyes, and a face that she remembered clearly despite only speaking to him once.
The foreign deity she was looking for information about was now standing on the other side of the counter with a neutral face. Although she could tell, there was something ominous about his gaze.
"It looked like someone had forgotten it was bad manners to eat in front of someone who wasn't doing the same." He said, clearly referring to Tsubaki, who snorted with her mouth full of food.
"Leaving bad manners aside." He focused on Shakti, who did her best to maintain her composure. "It's a surprise seeing the Captain of the Ganesha Familia here. A day off, perhaps?"
Shakti cursed Tsubaki's name again and again in her mind. She slightly moved her eyes to the side to see said Blacksmith digging her face into another plate of curry.
'This. This was your master plan!? Bringing me in front of the person I was told to avoid in the first place?!'
Shakti would have complimented Tsubaki for how well she set her up; had it not been for how bad the situation was for the enforcer.
Now that she thought about it. She recalled being surprised at seeing Ryuu working as a waitress here in all places. Although, the most worrying thing was that Tsubaki seemed to address her naturally…
'That should have been something to be worried about.' she thought, remembering how she met with the Elf the night of the Aeshma Familia massacre.
'Ryuu wasn't there just because of the feeling of something being wrong! She was there to check on him!' Shakti concluded, seeing as they apparently worked under the same establishment it made sense there was a connection between them.
"I thought I could have a talk with Tsubaki. But it looks like I have wasted too much time." She stood up from her seat. "I will humbly apologize for rejecting your food and take my leave."
He raised an eyebrow. "With this rain and at this hour? I am sure we still have some available rooms. Let me ask-"
"There's no need to worry. A little rain will not harm me." She replied, doing her best to sound calm; especially when the rain's intensity increased as if mocking her was a thing today.
"If you insist." He shrugged, watching her leave without looking back at him. "Say hi to Adam on my behalf."
Shakti Varma froze at that very moment, stopping in her tracks trying her best not to look back at the blonde behind the counter. She resumed her walking, stepping into the rain without hesitation until she was out of sight.
Meanwhile, Tsubaki was looking at Drake with a widened eye; the blonde had his usual bland stare to her surprise. She had her suspicions about where Shakti got her inquiries, but nothing solid to point at Drake's past enemies.
"That didn't even take five minutes. Did the Darkness tell you they were affiliated right away?"
"Funny enough, it was just a hunch." He scratched the side of his neck again, making Tsubaki wince slightly at how red it was. "Her behavior just now pretty much confirmed it."
"… And that's it?" she asked, rather perplexed by how calm he was taking this. "No, burst of anger, no threats, torture nor interrogation?... kind of a letdown you are letting this go so easily."
"I am not gonna blow up my anger in the middle of a pub. Now, if you will excuse me." He looked around to notice it was indeed a full house of patrons due to the rain. "I need to cover up for a traumatized cat and a useless waitress. We will talk later." He moved the plate of curry that was supposed to be Shakti's in front of Tsubaki.
"Well… I am not gonna complain about this."
"Oh, and Tsubaki?" She didn't see his face, but she could only imagine the kind of face he was making by how serious his tone was. "You should know better than anyone that I never let things go."
Shakti cursed herself as she ran under the heavy rain.
Questioning herself how she never thought Tsubaki was guiding her right to him or made a connection the moment she saw Ryuu working there as well.
No.
There weren't enough conjectures to reach that conclusion at that time.
So, she decided to bury the thought of it as she focused on running.
It had happened pretty soon after she left the Hostess. All of her instincts as a First-Class Adventurer shouted at her to run. It was not because the blonde knew in an instant she and Adam were related, but because she felt someone… something was tailing her.
Shakti had managed to discern the sounds of steps in the heavy rain, but there was nothing there. Whenever she turned around there was nothing there. This initially made her speed up her pace to her Familia HQ.
But then she started to hear something else.
"…Shaaaakti~"
Her head snapped back so fast that any normal person would suffer from a snapped neck, only to see nothing once again before she decided to start running.
The sound of steps following her and a rather familiar voice calling her name in an ominous way continued. To make things worse, all the crystals of light in the street seemed to be malfunctioning at the moment. At first, she thought it was the rain, but the idea was thrown out of the window when her eyes managed to catch some sort of black energy surrounding the lights until they were out of energy.
It had to be him. That much was obvious, but she couldn't do anything against an enemy she couldn't see.
It was at this moment she blamed Adam for being incredibly vague -or rather refusing to talk- about the blonde's abilities as she turned the next corner at max speed as she spotted a dark figure in the distance. However, she let out a mental sigh of relief instead of raising her guard seeing as the person she was blaming in her head was ahead of her.
"Adam!"
The Bull Faunus didn't react.
Instead, he focused on a dark alley at the end of the street behind Shakti.
"Ad-"
He raised an arm as a sign to stay quiet. "Stand behind me and do not say anything."
She scowled, and the sense of dread faded as she prepared to argue back, but she never got the chance to.
"Why do I get the feeling you knew I was close by?" Adam asked, seeing it was pretty good for a coincidence they both of them know.
Drake simply pointed at his neck, the place where the wound Adam inflicted was placed. "You used divine Aura to make this. It appears to have some remnants of it and act up whenever you are close by." He replied, recalling the same happened when he was fighting Udaeus, that time Adam just happened to be one floor below.
"Such a J.K Rowling bullshit." The Faunus thought out loud before Drake focused on Shakti.
"She doesn't seem the kind to listen." Shakti's eyes widened as Adam gently pushed her behind him before staring at the same alley he had been staring at; it was so dark that she couldn't see anything. And yet, she could hear the steps coming from the alley.
And it wasn't until lightning struck that she was able to distinguish a dark figure walking out of it into the street.
"Reminds me of a certain someone." Drake Aurion stated, wearing his hood on and scarf to cover his whole face from the rain; but she could still see the green glowing eyes staring at her. "Although I hope she's not nearly as stupid to let an invasion happen."
Adam snorted. "Comparing Shakti with Blake is a very low blow."
"Seeing as you are together, I assumed."
"Hilarious. We are not actually a thing."
Shakti could only see the exchange with a hint of annoyance at the meaning behind those words.
"We just happen to be on the same side, that's all."
"I see…" she could see a sudden pressure on her, almost forcing her to fall to her knees. "So that's why you told her to investigate me?"
"Funny enough. I told her the contrary, but it seems my words of advice went on to deaf ears." Shakti kept resisting the urge of submitting to the pressure, but it seemed rather hard the moment the target of interest was surrounded by black energy. "You know I am not lying."
"I know. But I still can't help but be pissed about her going after me for some kind of stupid reason."
"Stupid?" Shakti's murmur should have been impossible to hear, but Drake could hear her clearly. "Do you think it is stupid not to have some sort of insurance against someone with free reign of arcanum and could destroy the city in a raging fit?" she asked, gathering every bit of courage she could muster to even talk back at him.
"You see… you have a point." He raised his index finger. "However, I don't want to hear that from the bitch that's working with the people that pretty much wanted to destroy humanity once. Having said that-" he moved his finger down, making Adam's eyes widen behind his shaders before grabbing Shakti by the waist. "BE. QUIET."
The Bull Faunus quickly secured his hold on Shakti before stepping back several times as various chains made of darkness appeared close to them, most likely with the intention of trapping her.
"Do my words of advice mean so little to you that you are willing to antagonize him!?" Adam asked, stopping for a moment seeing as they were surrounded by several chains in the rain, moving as if they were snakes ready to jump at their prey.
"You see what he did to the Aeshma Familia! Someone like that should not be allowed to roam free!"
If Adam wasn't worried about an incoming attack, he would have face-palmed right then and there.
"Oh, that wasn't me. That was Yuri." He said, making Adam tense at the mention of one of the Guardians. "Aeshma though, that was me all right." Drake calmly replied, approaching them in the rain as all of the chains of Darkness opened a single path for him. "But I am curious, why does someone who claims to act for the safety of Orario be worried about a Familia full of rapists?"
Shakti gritted her teeth, preparing to answer. But it was stopped by Adam, who covered her mouth with his hand.
She struggled a bit, trying her best to get off his hold on her; but Adam left no room for her tantrum and opted to warn her what she was getting into.
"Look down you fucking idiot."
Shakti did as told, detecting the warning tone in Adam's voice. It was too dark, and the rain didn't make it any easier. It wasn't until lightning struck again that she was able to see something on the ground.
'!'
She couldn't say anything, watching in dread as it looked like her shadow was surrounded by some kind of massive flowing shadow.
"Good call… I was this close to making her relive what all of Aeshma Familia's victims went through. I wanted to see if she was gonna be able to spit some kind of anything regarding the subject." Drake rubbed the back of his neck, ensuring that the despair was so close to Shakti that she could feel something sinister crawling on her back.
The Adventurer couldn't help but fall on one knee as all the courage she had gathered vanished in but an instant.
"I don't expect someone whose sense of Justice is dictated by the norms of society to understand. Stay quiet for now…" Drake and Adam glared at each other. "Grown-ups are talking."
There was a moment of silence as thunder and lightning made a presence around them.
"I take it Ratatosk is not trying to end all mortals alive here." Drake eyed Shakti. "That is assuming you are working with Ganesha Familia, the so-called law enforcers in the city."
Shakti could feel his mocking tone at the mention of her Familia, but she didn't have it in her to say anything.
"That would be correct. And again, what Shakti did was out of her own volition seeing you pretty much don't have a leash around you."
"Nor will I." Drake cemented the idea, with no room for the argument being left for interpretation. "Having said that, what the fuck are you and Ratatosk playing at? Do you really expect me to believe that divine piece of shit is doing something for the good of all mortals?"
"He isn't," Adam confirmed without hesitation. "However, I don't think this is either the time or the place to have that conversation… especially seeing as you can barely hold back your anger."
Drake snorted, seeing as Adam noticed his flow of Aura was steadily increasing little by little. "Having to deal with a know-it bitch certainly didn't help." He motioned to Shakti for a moment. "That being said," his eyes narrowed. "What's up with you and Ratatosk moving around ten Aura signatures outside of the Dungeon's territory?"
Adam and Shakti's eyes widened.
"What? Being near the thirtieth floor wasn't good enough for you all?"
"You." Adam gritted his teeth, recalling how Ratatosk had been wary for some reason as they moved out of the Dungeon due to underground digging.
"It isn't funny when someone spies your every move, huh?" Adam knew that was directed towards Ratatosk, but said nothing about it.
"Since when-"
"Since I met you on floor thirty-eighth that day." He replied, recalling him taking his time to use his eyes to scan the Dungeon and see where Ratatosk and his group were hiding and keeping a close eye on their movements.
"Forcing my sight so much was a pain, but still worth it. By the way, tell him to take good care of my blade and the rest of my things, I may have the urge to go pay you all a visit one of these days." He said, with no amount of joy in his tone; laying his threat clear to all of them.
"… You haven't changed."
"Of course, I haven't. I am still the same piece of shit trying to be seven steps ahead of every fucking asshole that feels like threatening me or my own." He looked at Shakti one final time. "Make sure she learns that; because I won't be so nice the next time she goes after Tsubaki…"
He started to fade, making Shakti's eyes wide. "See you later Adam; hopefully not anytime soon, however."
"… wh-what happened to him?" Shakti managed to ask, noticing how the chains of Darkness faded before the light on the streets returned.
"That was his shadow… he was never here in the first place." Adam turned around, no longer needing to have a word with Shakti, hoping the Adventurer would think things better the next time.
"Just what kind of monster stepped foot in Orario?" she asked, realizing firsthand just what kind of being she was trying to find.
"A Dragon." He replied, leaving the scene and the Adventurer standing alone in the street.
"About time." Tsubaki's voice made him open his eyes slowly.
The captain of the Hephaestus Familia had been watching his body sitting in front of a table in his room, waiting for his shadow to return.
"So?"
He sighed, looking to the side to see Tsubaki sitting on his bed.
"One message delivered, and most likely a lot of problems to come in the future." He said, placing his elbow on the table before resting his head over his hand. "I will tell you the details tomorrow… also, I thought you would be fawning over your new forging tools."
"Oh, I did." She said, in a matter-of-fact tone as her new hammer and chisel lay next to her. "But I figured out I would have the damn urge of forging right away if I held them in my hands for too long ." She eyed her hammer, which was of a similar design to the one he had given Hephaestus. The only exception is this one was pitch black with crimson outlines. And just like Hephaestus, this one seemed to have some inner ref flame-like energy flowing inside its body.
"Speaking of which," she gave him a teasing smile. "How was it? Forging again?"
"A pain in the ass." His bluntness made Tsubaki lose her balance for a moment.
"Come on, it couldn't have been that bad." She said, trying to see if she could convince him to forge again.
"Make no mistake, I can deal with the constant concentration and the damn divine heat coming off the forge-"
She raised an eyebrow at the mention of the word divine, making Drake realize he never went through the details of how he forged those tools in the first place.
"But the most annoying thing was without a single doubt-" he looked up, as if looking at his own head. "- a certain someone's backseat driving."
'I didn't do any such thing!' Lloyd shouted in his mind, knowing his brother was talking about him.
"Yes, you did!"/'Yes, you did!' all of the Guardians stated. "You started to mumble how I was forging to the T. The only reason I didn't stop was that I would have lost my focus." He replied, making Lloyd stay silent and give a bow as an apology while Tsubaki just looked at him funny; already having an idea of how the conversation went on inside his head.
"Did my Goddess stay to watch?" she already knew the answer, seeing as Hephaestus wouldn't miss the chance to watch someone talented forging.
"Hephaestus did more than that. She helped me a little bit with the preparation." He snorted. "She passed out soon after I started hammering though."
Tsubaki raised an eyebrow. "Passed out? My Goddess? What the hell were you doing that made her pass out?"
"Ask her yourself." He replied with a shrug. "By the time she woke up, I was already done with both hammers."
"I see… wait." She blinked, looking a little confused at him. "Both?"
"Yeah, one for you, and one for her." His reply made Tsubaki form a stupefied expression on her face before she groaned in annoyance.
"You do realize she's gonna be rubbing the fact someone gave her something over and over again, right?" She gave him an accusatory glance. "Great job, dumbass."
"Hey, I just wanted to thank her for help. And-" he pointed at her. "- It was you who said nobody ever gave her anything, and even complained about it. So, I decided to forge a hammer." He rubbed the back of his head. "Funny enough, I hope this doesn't bring any problems of the dramatic kind in the future."
'Oh Drake, you have no idea.' Tsubaki thought, hoping her Goddess didn't overthink things a lot. 'Hopefully, nothing else happened.'
"Anyway… let's drop everything, for now, I am exhausted." Tsubaki nodded at his words, actually seeing how tired he was since they met.
"Sure thing." She placed her tools on a nearby table and lay on his bed before scooting over to the side. Drake's eye twitched as Tsubaki patted the free space on his bed.
"No."
She rolled her eyes. "Mia said there are no more available rooms due to the rain, so here I am."
He narrowed his eyes.
"No"
"Oh, come on. I said I was sorry." Tsubaki groaned, it wasn't the first time they had shared a bed together. And it was for that very reason that Drake would prefer to avoid it; because apparently, Tsubaki Collbrande fought in her sleep.
And since 'Dragon Slayer' was an actual thing, her punches and kicks pretty much killed his sleep in an instant.
"I promise I will behave this time. And if I do something you don't approve of, I will let you kick me off the bed."
They just kept staring at each other, until Tsubaki broke off the tension by raising her pinky. "Do you want me to pinky promise?"
Drake sighed, rolling his eyes as he lay on the empty side of his bed, showing his back to the blacksmith. "Night, Baki."
The blacksmith simply hummed as both fell asleep in an instant. Well… only one of them.
Tsubaki simply stared at the ceiling as she heard Drake's small breaths next to her. She eyed him for a moment before carefully moving his body, so he was laying on his back.
'Wow, he's really tired.' she concluded, seeing as that didn't wake him up. She extended her arm and flexed her elbow to place the side of her head on her palm to watch him sleep.
The blacksmith started to think back to the day she met him and up to the present, thinking about everything he went through and how they supported each other. But now, it was her who felt like she was being a bad friend, seeing as he went far and beyond to help her advance forward with her dreams.
She really wanted to make it up to him. But she knew that was near impossible. Because the current Drake Aurion didn't have any kind of dreams or something he wanted to achieve… only to accept his situation and live with it.
That's why all she could do was continue doing as she had until now since that night in Rivira. Being there for him as his friend and support him however she could.
Her train of thought slowed down for a moment, seeing as he stirred a little in his sleep. In the end, his hand ended up landing over her, making her mentally chuckle before moving his arm below her. In the end, she ended up resting her head over his shoulder, watching him sleep as a thought came to mind, only to completely kill it in an instant.
'No. Not happening.'
It wasn't that she didn't feel anything for him, nor that the chances of 'something' were impossible. Rather, it was for the better if nothing of that magnitude ever happened between the two; because it would surely end up badly in the very long run.
So, Tsubaki resolved herself to continue things as they were, falling asleep almost instantly.
Drake Aurion would wake up at 5:55 AM like always a little sour, feeling something wet running down his body. His eye twitched at the side of Tsubaki using his shoulder as a pillow, drooling all over him before he mercilessly kicked her off the bed.
The Blacksmith would then proceed to complain with a massive growl before they started arguing, waking up all of the staff and patrons and making everyone who didn't know their antics think they were having a lover's quarrel.
Yeah, their friendship was just like that.
