Argentum: Alrighty next chapter is a go.
Grel'Slyfer: YES! Things are finally going to get interesting~!
Shadow: Heh… you sound almost evil there.
Cassandra/Chris: I agree.
Grel'Slyfer: Oh ho ho! If anyone here is evil then it would most assuredly be Shadow!
Shadow: Why I ought to…
Argentum: That's enough of that. We do have a couple of announcements after all.
Shadow: Tsk… Fine… First is why I'm here. We got another review we feel as if we need to answer.
Grel'Slyfer: Yes it's a review from a guest who seems to have misunderstood the story so far.
Shadow: We won't be too specific on it. But I do believe we've dropped a number of hints on just what kind of story we're doing. Most of what we put down had a purpose. Been this way for pretty much all of the Dark Guard stories. In this case though we'll give a couple of hints on what this story is. In fact the very first chapter has the biggest one!
Argentum: Another big hint… the title of the story. Another is the categories we put this story under.
Grel'Slyfer: And lastly… when have we ever said this was just a KonoSuba story?
Shadow: Yeah that's all anyone is getting from us. Saying anything else will be too much of a spoiler. Just be patient and wait, we know what we're doing.
Argentum: Well at least mostly…
Shadow: Way to give confidence in us… anyways… another thing we thought we'd bring up is the poll we put up.
Cassandra: Yeah so far we only have to votes. But on that note we do realize that for some reason it was glitched for the first two days it was up.
Chris: Yeah it wasn't showing up for some reason. But we've fixed it now so if you would be kind enough to vote that'd be awesome~!
Argentum: Whelp that's all we got for this reviewers section.
Shadow: Yep so as to finish off this comment section we hand the reigns over to Chris.
Grel'Slyfer: Indeed! So mind finishing this authors section off?
Chris: Okay… sure… Alright we here at the Dark Guard productions own nothing but OC's and reality building concepts. Everything else belongs to their respective owners. Now without further delay…
Everyone: Here's the story!
Hello= Regular talk
Hello= Thoughts
[Hello]= Radio
(Hello)= Telepathy/Mind reading
Chapter Ten: How I experienced my first play or… How I started hating top hats…
This morning I woke up with the worst headache I've ever had. "Ugh… why is the room spinning? And why does the light hurt?" I was not in good condition and the light from the window was blinding. So delirious was I that I didn't even recognize where I was. Or more importantly to me personally… what time it was. So I simply laid there on the bed, wondering just why I currently felt as if I was dying. Eventually I groaned in realization. "So this is what a hangover is? If this is what drinking is like than I'm never drinking again…"
"If you keep it down I'll agree with you familiar sounding voice…" Blinking in confusion I turned to my right. Not that it did anything good seeing how my vision was still too blurry. Though whoever spoke up sounded rather familiar.
That's when another familiar voice spoke up. "Hmm… I will admit that I did not expect the two of you to have such low alcohol tolerance." The second voice was coming just a bit beyond the first voice. So after a bit of rubbing my eyes I was finally able to see what was up. I and the two voices were in my room, with myself on the far right side of the bed. On the opposite side was Cassandra who seemed perfectly fine, and in-between us was Chris. Who seemed in worse condition than myself.
I could only have one question I wanted answered at that moment. "Cassandra… my lovely princess… how are you still fine?" Before she could answer, Chris who had also recovered someone spoke up a bit sarcastically.
"Yeah… asking the real questions here…" Cassandra gave a small laugh before answering my question.
"Well… I have very high endurance and I am also an elf. For despite not being as good as the dwarves, we elves do have some poison resistance. Proves very useful when at a social gathering." Though I couldn't see her do so, I knew Chris was glaring at Cassandra same as I was. Cassandra only laughed once more at our looks before stretching. "Well… that is simple biology working. Although… speaking of biology… do you two remember anything from last night's festivities?"
Though still in pain, I reluctantly sat up to answer her. "Actually… I don't remember a thing." Chris not wanting to try and even think copied me down to the letter. Sitting up herself Cassandra sighed while shaking her head. Her white hair bobbing around as she did so, she seemed a bit disappointed in our answers albeit still understanding of them.
"I thought not… well better ask now then. If only to clear up a number of things." With still blurry sight me and Chris looked at her waiting to hear Cassandra's question. We were not expecting any of her questions. "First two questions…" She looked at me first. "One… what do you mean you died before." While I processed her question she turned to Chris. "And what do you mean that Aqua is a goddess and she always made fun of you?" That technically was two questions, though they were pretty connected.
Now despite her questions for some reason I wasn't freaking out. In fact… I was more apathetic than anything else. Now it could've been because I still had a pounding headache, or it could've been because I always did plan to tell her about myself someday. Could've even been both those things. Or it simply could've been that I was focusing more on Chris. Our thief certainly seemed to freeze, hangover now completely gone.
Well whatever it was I had decided to answer first. "Well… I will admit though I never lied to you I did leave out certain details." Cassandra looked at me curiously as I continued. "You see I'm not from this world… I was actually from a place called earth. Unfortunately a war was going on and I died in a battle that was taking place in my city." My lovely elf looked at me in pity as I continued. "After death I met Aqua who then gave me some knowledge about this world and sent me over with a special power. I.E my Lyb'Craeft eyes. That's basically it for things I didn't tell before." I then smiled at her. "And I will admit coming here was the best decision I've ever made." Cassandra smiled while nodding her head. We then both turned to Chris who was smiling sad at me. "So… what's your story?"
Upon hearing my question and seeing both our curious looks Chris sighed before speaking. "Okay… though I'll be breaking some rules for this… I've already broken some by accident last night." She then gave a smirk. "However! If anyone asks just say its Aqua Sempai's fault. Teach her to constantly throw her work unto me…" Though she said that last part under her breath the both of us still heard her. In response I simply gave a smile and a thumbs up. Cassandra on the other hand gave the two of us bored looks. "Ahem… well to start… as you may have guessed I am a goddess. But not just any goddess! No I'm actually the goddess of luck and fortune! The one and only Eris!"
Now that got a reaction out Cassandra. "Wait… are you really?!" Chris or Eris just smirked as Cassandra processed her words. "Wow… just for your information my family have been your followers for the last five generations… but to see you with my own eyes… I do not have many words to describe this my lady." Chris grimaced at the my lady part before commenting.
"Yeah… about that… please don't treat me any differently, and please just keep calling me Chris. We are friends after all." Cassandra nodded while still contemplating this new bit of information. I on the other hand still had some questions I wanted answered.
"Well if that's what you want I'm okay with that. Besides at this point you're still our amazing thief before any goddess business." She smiled brightly at me as I continued. "However… I have to ask. Why are you currently in a…well for a lack of a better word. In a mortal form, and is your situation similar to whatever has happened to Aqua?"
Chris shook her head before answering. "Not quite… I chose to take up a human form so I could help the world better. That and I like interacting with everyone." I and Cassandra nodded our heads in understanding as Chris then scowled. "Aqua Sempai on the other hand… Well… while I didn't find this out till recently. Kazuma had apparently tricked her into coming with him." At our looks of incredulousness Chris laughed. "HAHA! Yep that was the same look I had when I found out! You see Aqua Sempai had apparently insulted Kazuma to such a point… that he had actually picked her as his one "thing" to take with him during his reincarnation. Now normally this wouldn't work, but the higher ups saw this as chance to get her to learn to take her job seriously. So they ended up allowing it, and now the only way for her to return is for the demon lord to be defeated."
After processing what she said Cassandra was the first to make a comment. "I have no words… I know that Michael said that Aqua's attitude was awful. But I never knew it was to this extent." Chris sighed while giving a strained smile.
"Yeah…she's always been rude, and selfish, and mean, and condescending…" As she continued Chris cried a bit and we both hugged her. After out thief goddess calmed down she spoke up again. "Sorry… it's just Aqua's always made fun of me. Calling me a lame goddess of a backwater world… in fact… a part of the main prayer of her followers is that it says that I pad my chest! So quite literally a part of her cult is literally making fun of me!" We both couldn't help but grimace at that part.
I for one couldn't keep quiet. "Wow… I knew she was petty, but never to this extent…" Cassandra nodded in agreement before asking a question.
"It does sound rather petty. But… why would she say you pad your chest? You don't seem to be doing so to me." The conversation had just gotten a bit awkward for me, but it seemed to embarrass Chris by quite a bit. In fact it took about three minutes of silence before our goddess answered.
"Umm… well… I will admit that I've always been a bit conscious of my chest size… especially when I'm performing my goddess duties. So while I may use the excuse that I'm trying to differentiate my adventure self and my goddess self more… the truth is that I do pad my dress when I'm performing my divine duties… please don't tell anyone!"
Cassandra patted our thief gently on the back with a wry smile as I spoke trying to cheer her up. "I mean… you won't hear me ever say anything. And I'm sure Cassandra won't say anything either." As if to reiterate my words my princess nodded seriously as I moved on. "Though I will say that you shouldn't worry about such things. You're beautiful enough without trying to "add" anything to yourself, and I'm sure Cassandra agrees with me on that." Smiling Cassandra hugged Chris a bit tighter before adding on to what I said.
"I agree whole heartedly!" She then winked at the both of us. "In fact… in many ways you are as if not more so, as beautiful as I am~!" That got the two of us to laugh as Chris thanked her.
"Thanks… hearing that from someone as beautiful as yourself certainly lifts my spirits up." She then giggled. "Hehe… I always knew there was a reason I blessed your family with good luck!"
That got Cassandra to blink in surprise. "Oh! So you did help increase our luck… my family always guessed that you did. But to actually hear confirmation straight from you is a wondrous boon." Chris rubbed the back of her head before commenting.
"Well… your family has always been very kind and very generous to your people. So I figured why the heck not? Though this did change your eye color to match what I have while I perform my duties." That's when she changed her eyes to the same shade of silver as Cassandra's. "So… yeah…" I couldn't help but blink before making my own comment.
"Hmm… I must be incredibly lucky right now." Both looked at me as I smirked. "I have "slept" with two beautiful silvered eyed ladies at the same time." Both smacked my left and right shoulders as they rolled their eyes. Despite the pain I could only laugh before raising my hands in defeat. "Okay! I'll stop… though I will agree with what Cassandra said before. You're beautiful enough to be confident no matter what your body is like." Chris blushed heavily while rubbing the back of her head.
"Thanks you two…" She then slapped her cheeks before bringing us into a hug. "You know… its nice having friends I can actually talk to… I… I don't really have anyone else in heaven. Well at least who I'm close enough with to talk to about these sorts of things. Heh… who thought it'd be with two mortals that I finally get my issues off my chest with?"
Cassandra patted her head at the same time I did. "Well… what are friends for right?" As we nodded in agreement Cassandra sighed. "Well enough deep topics for now… for while this is interesting I'm sure you both would like to know what happened last night?" After looking at each other with a nod we turned to Cassandra and nodded s she explained. "Very well then… you see after the both of you passed out on me. I had to carry you both over to the mansion. Once here I told our masters what happened… which caused them to laugh quite hardily." At our groans she smirked. "Yes there was much teasing at your expense. But they were rather understanding, and had decided to give us this day off as well. If only for the sole reason that they didn't expect yesterday's cabbage problem. After thanking them I then changed us into some night clothes and settled all of us on the bed."
Chris was the first to speak up. "I get that… but why did you put me in the same bed as the two of you? I mean both of you are together now right? Aren't I sort of intruding?" Our elf princess simply smirked at Chris' question.
"Simple! I thought it'd be better that you were with someone you knew rather than by yourself… this room is also both mine and Michael's so I saw no harm in it." That got both me and Chris to snort as Cassandra smiled evilly. "That… and we are still cuddle "buddies" as we have called ourselves are we not? Additionally as we said before you're also with us yes?" As Chris blushed heavily with a twitching eye, Cassandra and I simply laughed.
"I both love and hate you both… I hope the both of you know that…" That only got us to laugh harder as Chris scowled at us. Although I did see there was some mirth in her gaze. All in all… I would say that morning was one of the best mornings I have ever had. If only I had known what that evening would bring… then maybe I would've decided to simply stay in bed with our goddess and my princess.
!dnatsrednu reven dluoc ouy kaerb enil tneitnes a m'I iH
By the time we had gotten up and dressed it was already noon. We were also starving, although me and Chris were fairly fine compared to Cassandra. Nope she went and devoured a very large meal at the guild hall. This was also the first time our fellow adventurers had ever seen Cassandra eat as much as she did. In fact after the first ten minutes everyone had stopped what they were doing to simply watch. Me and Chris whom had already seen this side of her could only laugh. As we did so my elf princess had finally noticed all the stares and had started blushing in embarrassment. Both me and Chris ended up patting her on the head to comfort her.
As we finished up Chris spoke up as she stretched her back out. "Okay… so seeing how you have another day off… what are you two lovebirds planning on doing?" That got me to put my chin on hands as I thought about it. Thankfully Cassandra seemed to have planned ahead and quickly answered our goddess.
"Well… since we were interrupted yesterday. I thought that Michael and I could go and do something today instead. I believe the technical term would be a date? Or am I wrong… my family never got into the "lingo" of such things. We mainly called it courtship and whatnot."
Both me and Chris blinked a that as our thief spoke up. "Huh… despite watching over your luck I never really realized that till now." Cassandra simply shrugged as Chris sighed. "Well if that's the case I should probably find something to do myself." With her piece said Chris gave us a slightly sad smile as before standing up. "Whelp have fun you two." Our goddess then left to go look at the job board. As she left I couldn't help but frown a bit.
"Hmm… I think she wanted to hang out with us a bit more." Cassandra gave me once over while humming, as if appraising me of something. "What's with that look?"
She giggled before hugging my arm. "Oh nothing~. Just thought that we should get a move on. Now then… I've never been on a date before, and I'm excited to finally have one!" As she pulled me up I could only laugh at her exuberance. It made me happy that my princess was so excited. I was also rather excited by the prospect. It would be my first date as well, and while I was a bit nervous I was up to the challenge. Though as my girlfriend pulled me out of the guild building we ran into a familiar group of misfits. Though the condition they were in made the two of us pause in confusion.
Cassandra upon seeing them quickly questioned them. "Uh… why are the four of you covered in slime?" After an awkward laugh Megumin spoke up from Kazuma's back.
"Well… we had decided to go on the giant frog slaying quest… it didn't go too well and all but Kazuma were eaten." I would've made a comment but Darkness unfortunately spoke up.
"It was absolutely dreadful~! The feeling of being eaten and then covered in slime… and the stares! The lecherous stares from those around me only embarrassed me further~!"
Deciding to ignore her I turned to Kazuma. "So did you finish the quest?" My fellow reincarnee nodded his head.
"Yeah… though I will admit we barely did so." I simply nodded in understanding as he narrowed his eyes at me. "So… what are you doing today?"
Cassandra smirked and answered before I could. "Well we are currently going on our first date. I figured it was about time we did so and I am most assuredly looking forward to it." As soon as the word date left her mouth Kazuma looked as if her swallowed a lemon. This only made Cassandra's smirk grow before dragging me off. "Well that is our day's activity. I wish all of you the best now my friends~." After a few moments of walking away from the group we both heard Kazuma start complaining.
"Dammit! Why does he have to have not only the most beautiful… but also the most normal girl for himself?!" At that point his group started arguing with him. Aqua in particular seemed extremely offended by his words.
"Most beautiful and normal my perfect but! That Eris look alike has absolutely nothing on me!" At that point I could only shake my head, though I did get annoyed by what she said next. "In fact… I bet she pad's her chest just like Eris does!" Both of us paused for a moment, both tempted to refute her words and also slap her. In the end we decided to simply move on and be the bigger people.
As we moved away Cassandra sighed before making a comment. "It is strange… now that I actually know who Eris is as a person. Instead of simply considering some things as blasphemous as I once did. I now simply am angered by anyone simply insulting our dear friend." I gave out a small breath and simply nodded my head in agreement. "Well enough of serious talk! Let's start our date my love!" Smiling I kissed her cheek before agreeing.
"Sounds good my princess, and since I've been thinking about this for the last two days. I know exactly where to stop by first." With my piece said I quickly started to lead her to where I wanted to go first. As for my lovely companion she seemed simply excited about what I had planned. Our first stop for the day happened to be the nearby lake. I had wanted to start out with a small yet nice walk. Thankfully I happened to be a nice day for such a walk. It also happened to be a simple time to converse… to simply get to know the other a bit more.
Something Cassandra took to immediately as she started asking me things. "Hmm… you know… I've told you about my family, but you have not talked much about yours too much." I couldn't help but nod my head at that.
"I guess you have a point there. Anything you want to know specifically?"
Cassandra shook her head at that. "Not really… I was more of just wondering about what they were like generally." Rubbing my chin with a nod I eventually started sating her curiosity.
"Well I guess I should start out by saying I was actually adopted." I couldn't help but chuckle at my princess' look of surprise before continuing. "Oh yes… I believe that it was five now six years ago when I discovered that little tidbit. Before then I always thought that I was just my parent's son. If mostly due to how they had never treated me any differently. Apparently they could never have a child of their own despite years of trying. So they had decided to adopt a baby to raise as their own. I just happened to be said baby."
With a nod of understanding she asked me another question. "What about your other parents? The ones who must have given birth to you. Did you ever find out who they are or even were?"
I shook my head at that. "No… though if I'm honest I never really cared all that much. I mean my parents, the ones who adopted me. Already gave me everything I could want when it came to good parents. So I never saw the point." Cassandra hummer a bit at my answer before commenting.
"I suppose I can understand that. But also seeing how I myself was raised by my birth parents, I cannot quite see how you'd not be at least curious about your heritage." I gave an understanding nod at her words.
"That's fair, though in any case I did die and have come here now. So even if I wanted to it's not like I can go out and try to find them now." She smiled sadly at my words and I quickly elaborated. "I'm simply just saying that I'm happy simply knowing the ones who raised me. I don't really need anything else since I know who my family is. And even if they're not blood related those who raised me are my family. It's just sort of the way it is with me." And wasn't that the truth… I just couldn't bring myself to care about whoever my birth parents were. To me I didn't need another set of parents, but don't get me wrong. If I did find out about the ones who gave me life then I'd be ecstatic. It's always good to know where your roots came from. But seeing how I'm now stuck in this over generic fantasy world. I didn't see any of that happening any time soon.
Feeling a kiss on my cheek I was torn from my musings. "If it means anything… I'm glad to have you here with me." I smiled brightly at my lovely princess before continuing with our walk. It was a beautiful day outside after all.
!dnatsrednu reven dluoc ouy kaerb enil tneitnes a m'I iH
After our small walk around the lake I ended up being dragged around the city. It was mostly the various food stands that we ended up visiting. Now I would like to say the amount of money I spent on snacks and treats surprised me… but then I'd be lying…
When we were done wandering around I once again took charge. So hand in hand I led the way to a large outdoor theater. Though it was a simple on stage performance that we were going to be watching. It was not only the closest thing I could compare to an a movie theater. I myself was curious to see how good the productions were. So after paying for our tickets as well as a bunch of snacks for my elven princess. We sat down in our seats and waited for the show to start. During the wait I had picked up Cassandra and had put her on my lap. I then used the extra seat to hold all of our snacks.
As we settled in I quietly spoke to her. "Comfy enough? Because I know I am." Cassandra giggled a bit before kissing my cheek and answering.
"Yes I find myself in a rather comfy position as well. This doesn't quite surprise me seeing how I know you are very cuddly." I gave a small smile, and while I would've said something else the play had started. "Oh guess it is beginning." As the curtains opened a man in black and trimmed with red walked out. The sound of his cane tapping on the ground as he moved to the center of the stage. Narrowing my eyes I couldn't help but feel something off about the man. Shaking my head and deciding it didn't matter I watched as he bowed, tipping his top hat as he did so.
Finally he spoke with a strong and confident voice. "Ah… once more I must welcome both new and old to our little show. I am Gruldo Cane and once again I shalt be your narrator for the coming events. Be warned now! The events about to be portrayed are not for the faint of heart! For it is an ancient story. One full of war, betrayal, and most of all… love. YES! For it is a tale of two star crossed lovers! One a dragon of elder might and power, and the other… a being of the darkest Abyss! Will these two find a piece of happiness for themselves? Or is it all an impossibility?! May we you all discover the answer." With a final bow the black and red dressed man left the stage as the curtains closed shut.
With a small hum Cassandra whispered to me. "If nothing else that man deserves much praise for his narration." I chuckled a bit but didn't refute her, the man's performance was pretty great. I just wished he didn't give me an off feeling. Shaking my head I paid attention to the stage as the curtains opened up. On stage was now a man dressed in dark grey leather, holding a dagger in one hand and a chain in the other. A brown and red roughed up wizards hat on his head, and a black eye patch covering one of his yellow eyes. Though it was a simple costume judging from the rough seams. It couldn't help but feel as if I knew the man being portrayed.
What is with me today? I then had another thought. Wait… is the alcohol still affecting me or something? Does alcohol even do that? Unfortunately before I could contemplate it further, the narrator Gruldo spoke up as the actor looked around warily.
"We begin our story over five thousand years ago. Back then the world was much different… darkness ruled and horrific creatures ran rampant through the land! And with no heroes or even gods to help stem the tide, it fell to the ancient adventurers to help maintain the peace." On stage the actor whipped the chain around before throwing it forward. It then seemed to snag something off stage before he pulled it. I couldn't help but snort a bit as a fake wyvern head flew to his feet. The fake even had some sort of red juice spilling out on the ground. "Back then anything that was sentient and capable of making decisions were allied as one. Humans, Orcs, Dwarves, Elves, phoenixes, demons, and the strongest of all… the dragons."
As soon as the word dragon echoes through the theater the man used some sort of spell to breathe fire into the air. Curious I quickly used my Lyb'Craeft to copy the spell. It was a rather decent spell, and I couldn't help but grin as the narration continued. "Yes the dragons… specifically those from the elder class were guardians. Powerful god like beings that protected the many realms of reality from evil. Our story focuses on the one known as the world walker… an elder dragon born in the dark reaches of the abyss. One who had rejected the evil of his world and moved on to become a hero… the Elder dragon known as Ginyul."
Again a pang of familiarity hit me as the narration continued. "His name a combination of two words taken from abyssal… in particular the words Ginily and Yuloto. Or translated meaning shadow hunter. We as an audience can only assume that this was not his real name. But a name he took upon himself upon his ascension to the side of good. And Ginyul took to his name seriously… hunting down the evil within the dark." On stage the man "fought" a few other individuals in shadow costumes. His black and white wig jumping around as he did so. "Ginyul even fought in the great war! The war fought between the Abyss, the Nether, The void, and The Aether! Siding with the Void and Aether Ginyul fought tooth and nail to save all!" On the stage it showed Ginyul fighting many different "Creatures", all the while not being hit even once.
"But during the war the dragon in human form met someone he did not expect…" That's when me and Cassandra nearly yelled out in surprise. Because there on the stage wearing a black wig with white highlights… was none other than Chris. Her posture was tense and her black and white dress costume seemed a bit big on her. Though the contacts she was wearing… they reminded me of Nel'Ren's eyes. They had the same black sclera as he did, but the pupils were instead a beautiful silver.
I couldn't help but whisper to Cassandra about this development. "Okay… when she said she was going to find something to do… I was not expecting this." Cassandra could only dumbly nod her head in agreement as the play continued. Only this time Ginyul spoke up.
"Ah! Another one of the fiends stands before me! Tell Darkwraith! What number art thou?!" Though it was slight I could see Chris take a small gulp while trying to muster her nerve. Unfortunately for her, our thief's nervousness was still noticeable as she spoke her lines.
"I am… Fernou… the fifty first Darkwraith. It is a… pleasure to make your acquaintance." Both I and Cassandra couldn't help but grimace in pity. Her voice was stiff and a little shaky. So much so we were both wondering just what had possessed her to do this in the first place. Though the name of her character… along with her look also seemed familiar to me. Shaking my head once again I refocused back on our goddess' terrible acting.
Thankfully her co-star continued on undaunted. "Fifty first… tis a high number you own. No matter! I! The elder dragon Ginyul shall end your life!" Then with a yell the actor charged forward swinging his chain. That was when I discovered where Chris truly shined. For taking out some sort of metal fan she batted the chain away from herself. Yep… it would seem they hired her for her fighting skills. I couldn't help but grin as Ginyul continued his charge swiping with his dagger. Once more Chris blocked the blow with her fan.
As the fight continued wowing the crowd, Gruldo spoke up once more. "And so our two stars met in a flurry of blows! The war making them enemies before they had ever met. Both Ginyul and Fernou the far flower fought bravely. Giving it their all until finally our dragon had enough." Back on stage the actor for Ginyul back up snarling.
"I see… thy power… tis greater than thy number wouldst suggest. How unfortunate that I must defeat thee. And I shalt!" What seemed to be smoke bombs dropped at his feet. Obscuring his half of the stage. After a few moments of sounds and someone roaring in the background for affect. The smoke cleared to reveal a rather large four legged dragon puppet. Its silver scales glistened as it bared its teeth. The four black horns on its head jutting from its skull and jaw made for an intimidating figure. It was a rather good prop I'd give them that. That's when the actor spoke up, though he did his best to distort his voice. "Ah… face now mine full strength!" The dragon then charged forward, albeit at a slow pace. As it attacked Chris with its prosthetic limbs, tail, and teeth. I could see that our goddess was deliberately slowing herself down even more.
No doubt trying to show how strong the creature was in comparison with her character. It was a decent way of doing it, albeit one that made the former fast pace fight now slow. But the affects for the dragon breathing fire was pretty good, and Chris seemed much more relaxed so it was decent.
After one last charge Chris or Fernou spoke up. "I will admit… your strength is great elder one. However I myself have also yet to use my full ability!" Upon saying that "Fernou", pulled out a scroll and brush from a pouch she had attached to a sash that was around her waist. Opening up the scroll she brushed black ink on it as it unfurled. Once more smoke bombs were thrown at their feet. As it dissipated we could see Fernou standing on a inky black creature. It had the general shape of a dragon but it was hard to tell with the ink spilling off of it. "I am a painter… and what I paint come to life! Now come! Our battle is not yet finished!" This time two separate roars echoed out as the two props charged one another. As they collided the curtains closed as the sound of battle continued.
After a moment Gruldo began to narrate once more. "And so the two fought… a battle that lasted for days, tearing up the entire landscape. No victor was found then, and neither was a victor found in the hundred years' worth of battle the two shared with one another. That is until one day… it all changed." The curtains opened to us and the scene was very different. Now standing over a bloodied Ginyul still in dragon "form" Fernou held a inky knife ready to end it all.
As she spoke I no longer could hear the shaking and stiffness in her voice. "I won… after all these years I finally won… after soo long… I finally come out on top…" Ginyul instead of sounding disappointed only chuckled.
"Indeed… thou hast found thyself the victor. Though only I can congratulate thee on thou victory."
That got Fernou to pause. "Congratulate me?"
"Aye… twas an amazing experience battling thou. Now even as I die to thee… I have no regrets." Another smoke bomb and Ginyul had "turned" back into a human. "No… I even grateful to thee. Now please… let us end this fight once and for all." Everyone was on the edge of their seats as we watched Fernou hesitate. Raising an eyebrow Ginyul questioned the Darkwraith. "Why dost thou hesitate? Thy victory is nigh… thou deserves it. I for one will not rob thee from it." The inky knife was now shaking in her hand, and I could see the hesitation and indecisiveness on her face. Finally she seemed to make a choice as she tossed the knife away. The confusion was plain on Ginyul's face as Fernou walked off and sat on her knees. "Why dost thou refuse? Tis this not thy victory?"
Fernou shook her head before answering. "I can't do that… no… I refuse to kill a friend." Struggling to stand up Ginyul questioned her further.
"Friend? Thou seest I as thy friend?" She simply nodded as he prodded her further. "But we hast been battling for a century… how can thou seest myself as thy friend?"
At that point she gained a wistful look as Gruldo spoke. "As she thought about the question being put forth. Fernou remembered all of their battles. Their witty banter, their advice to one another, the stories they told one another during their latter fights. But finally she thought of how their anger and hatred for one another disappeared over the long years. So smiling lightly at her old enemy she spoke."
"It's because I no longer hate you… because of all the time we've spent with one another… so no. I cannot kill a friend." Ginyul seemed taken off guard by her words, but after a moment he laughed.
"HAHAHA! So tis like this… I suppose I can see it from such a view. Yes… I can also call thou a friend." Moving next to Fernou Ginyul sat down. "Haha… dost this mean we shalt stop our battles?"
Fernou laughed before answering. "Hah! No… we can still continue. They have been fun have they not?" Ginyul simply grinned with a nod as Gruldo continued his narrating.
"And so… a friendship between two very unlikely individuals was formed. This friendship would then one day bloom into love." As we watched the two get up and hold hands I couldn't help but feel a bit irked. I had no idea at the time why that was. But I felt it even as I kept listening. "Eventually the two disappeared from the spot light. Their friends, allies, and enemies searched high a low for them. But they could never find a hair nor scale of either of them. Where they are now… no one knows. Maybe they're still happily together, or maybe they've now lost their lives. Who can truly say? But one thing there is for sure! Life is full of surprises, and love… love can find you no matter who you are." With that both Chris and her fellow actor bowed to the crowd as the curtains closed. As they did so Gruldo came out of the curtains clapping.
"I hope all of you enjoyed our show! And we all hope to see again sometime soon. So until next time… remember the world is your stage. And a stage… is a world opportunities." With one final bow he left the stage as everyone clapped. Even I and Cassandra clapped loudly, though we mostly did so for Chris' sake.
After a moment Cassandra stood up stretching her back and unruffling her dress. "I will admit… for a small local theater group that play was enjoyable." She then turned to me. "Although… we must go and ask why Chris she joined such a group. For while her acting in the latter half was amazing, she was very stiff starting out." I nodded my head as I stood up.
"Yeah… though maybe we should get some flowers as a job well done present? I think she might appreciate them." With a smile Cassandra nodded before grabbing my arm to go and find some flowers.
I couldn't help but laugh at her energy. Let's just hope we can find some nice flowers that a goddess might like.
!dnatsrednu reven dluoc ouy kaerb enil tneitnes a m'I iH
It only took us a few minutes to find something nice for Chris. A nicely sized bouquet of flowers that was full of variety. They were handpicked by my lovely princess who knew more about flowers than I did. Thankfully by the time we got back to the theater we could see Chris talking to Gruldo outside of it. As we approached I started to hear their conversation as Gruldo praised her.
"See now! I did say that you'd be a natural at the part!"
Chris seemed to sigh before agreeing. "I suppose you were correct… guess I don't have much of a choice but to keep my part of the deal." Gruldo gained a big smile as he clapped his hands.
"Wonderful! I look forward to working with you my dear." Chris scoffed while narrowing her eyes at him.
"Oh I'm sure you are… but remember no funny business." It seemed he would've said more but noticed us approaching. Upon seeing us a gleam seemed to enter his eyes. "What are you looking at?" Instead of answering her question Gruldo simply gestured to us.
Turning around Chris smiled before running up to us. "Hey you two! Enjoying your day?" Upon asking her question she hugged my left arm with a smile. Although it seemed a bit strained making the both of us worried. Thankfully Cassandra knew how to be subtle and quickly answered her.
"Oh yes! Today has been rather lovely thank you for asking." She then handed Chris the flowers while answering our goddess' unasked question. "We saw you up on stage, your performance was wondrous!" Chris blushed heavily at that before thanking her.
"Hehe… thanks… I honestly don't know why I agreed to do it, but I'm happy you two seemed to like it." She then turned to Gruldo. "Oh this is Gruldo the one who sought me out for the part of Fernou. No idea how he got me to go along with the idea. But he somehow managed."
Gruldo laughed before commenting. "Oh it was a simply process. One I'm glad worked for our fine young thief." He then hummed while looking at Chris. "So my dear are these the two you usually party up with?" Chris gave a strained nod as he clapped. "Wonderful! Then I look forward to getting to know them later. For now I'll simply introduce myself." Tipping his top hat he flashed his sharp teeth before standing straight up. "The names Gruldo Cane… a pleasure to meet you both." With a nod Cassandra introduced herself before I did.
"A pleasure to meet you. I am Cassandra, a simple mystic knight." She then gestured to me not letting me speak. "This is Michael Ferris Smith, the strongest Ranger in Axel." Wondering why she used my full name I simply a said hey as Gruldo laughed.
"High praise from two beautiful women! First from Ms. Chris and now from Ms. Cassandra. You're a lucky man Mr. Smith~!" I couldn't help but give Chris a sideways glance as she blushed. "But alas… I have much work to do." He then winked at Chris. "I'll see you tomorrow my dear~." With that he left with a bow.
When he was out of ear shot I spoke to Chris. "Okay what was that all about?" Our thief slash goddess could only sigh before replying.
"It's a long story… but suffice to say… I had just lost a bet I really wished I hadn't…" That got me and Cassandra to look at one another with worry.
This… this doesn't sound good… If only I had known just how much of an understatement that thought was… But even as it was, my life was about to once more take a turn. Yes… the next part of my story was just about to begin. And I for one… was not ready for it.
!dnatsrednu reven dluoc ouy kaerb enil tneitnes a m'I iH
Chris: Ugh… double acting is hard…
Grel'Slyfer: Oh don't be that way! You did great!
Argentum: I'll say! Great work there!
Cassandra: I can only reiterate what has been said.
Chris: Aww… thanks~!
Argentum: Anytime! Now beyond that I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It took me a bit to decide how to work it, but I hope it was enjoyable enough.
Grel'Slyfer: We put a lot of thought into it for sure.
Argentum: Anyways we once again beg everyone to vote on the poll.
Grel'Slyfer: Yes that's actually important at the moment. But in any case we should end this now.
Argentum: Agreed… Cassandra mind ending this for us once again?
Cassandra: I certainly do not… ahem… This has once more been a Dark Guard production now signing off.
Everyone: Goodbye!