Bim-bada-Boom, and the next chapter is here! XD
Chapter 12
"So where's this restaurant you want to show me?" I asked Thousand Leagues as she, Laurissa and I walked through hustling streets. "Because everyone's either doing a shopping spree like everything's on sale, or actively getting ready for the attack. Either way, doubt stores will be open in a panic."
A while ago, Thousand leagues said that me being cooped up in the back of a wagon wouldn't do my health any good and asked if I wanted to go to a restaurant with her. Laurissa came along too, but sadly I still had to wear my zero-point shackles. So, to the other people around us, I looked like a convict who was being escorted through the streets.
They mentioned their team and someone named Aurita. Turns out she was another member of the Slane Theocracy sent out on a separate mission to Thousand League Astrologer and the ones who brainwashed Shalltear.
Around us, civilians and groups of soldiers with upturned buckets on their heads marched by. 'Ooohhh yyeaa~, their the magic casters from episode four in the anime. Totally forgot they were Slane Theocracy soldiers.'
There were numerous people piling up wooden trailers pulled by horses with crates and furniture on board, or boarding up their houses to bunker down for the oncoming assault. Others who were fashioning weapons from left over wood and anything they could get their hands on, and I do mean anything.
It felt like foreveerrr, and still no restaurant. Instead I was amazed by how much this place looked like something out of my school history books. What with all the medieval armoured soldiers around and families either getting ready to evacuate or brace for it.
"Well this is a surprise," someone said from behind. "Garmadon Edward, walking through the streets with a par of gals on either side."
At the mention of my alias, I snapped round and standing before me, with arms inflated by muscles, a straw hat atop his head and a cheesy grin was someone I didn't think I'd run into again.
"Oh I remember you…..uh, Pea-tear-."
"Peter."
"Yea-he-heaaa, Peter. Yea, I haven't seen you since that griffon incident, how's things been?" I greeted, waving my left arm while giving a minor smile.
'I completely forgot his name.'
"Ah, we haven't been up to that much. After the house burnt down, we didn't have many options, so where here staying with Samantha's mother till we get back on our feet," his grin turned down for a bit as his expression went grim. "But fate's not that kind, this place's gonna go under by nightfall."
"Yeah, I've heared about that. Get this, the opposing forces are actually woodland creatures, possibly a few monsters in the mix."
Peter was confused by my statement. "Are you sure that's not from some absurd rumour? I heard it was an army of magic casters from another country using [summons]. I mean seriously, animals orchestrating an attack-."
"I'm sorry, but I appear to be missing something here," Thousand Leagues voiced. "Just how do you two know each other? No one in the Slane Theocracy should know of Garmadons existence yet."
Peter's smile returned to his face as a way of greeting her which curled into a slight grin of silent laughter. "Well good evening miss, I hadn't known Garmadon got himself a girlfriend."
Thousand Leagues looked stunned for moment before returning with anger in her face. "He and I are not a thing," she snapped, grabbing my arm and showing Peter my cuff. "If you can see, Garmadon here's under restraint by order of the cardinals, and I am no 'miss'. I'm a high-ranking magic caster of the Slane Theocracies military, Thousand Leagues Astrologer!"
"M-my apologies miss-I'm mean Thousand Leagues Astrologer," Peter bowed sightly. "I wasn't aware you were on official holy business."
Thousand leagues probably shouldn't have introduced herself like that with the Black Scripture being all 'black ops' and what not for the cardinals. But since she never said what division she's with, I guess it's okay.
"At least you know your folly. Now please answer the question, how do you know him?"
In the Slane Theocracy, any orders given by the cardinals are taken as the literal will of the gods and their decree. So it's common sense if you go against soldiers of the Cardinals or the cardinals themselves, you're going against their six gods.
Peter rose to his feet with a smile back on his face, but it felt like the emotions he was presenting weren't completely genuine. "Of course. Earlier this week, my family and I were attacked by a griffon at our farm and were nearly killed. I lost my arm defending my wife and child…," he said, rubbing his left arm as though it were saw.
'Hold on, does that mean I wondered into the Theocracy on my first day and then popped into the Re-Estize kingdom after?'
"..Garmadon here then came across and saved us all. I don't know all the details, I was unconscious, but he managed to regrow my arm and heal my wife after killing the beast."
"Did he use potions?"
"Don't thin-no, he didn't."
"Is that so?" Thousand Leagues mused, turning to face me. "So, you're not only capable of at least 3rd tier creation magic, but you can also use divine type healing magic. When we get the chance, I'm asking you a whole heap more of questions. Have anything to say?"
If I remember correctly, third tier magic isn't something anyone can have. Casters with that power might as well be platinum-rank adventures, at least, while divine magic composes of healing and restoration.
'Man that's a laugh, I managed to beat a pair of guardians 1-on-1 and you think those are my only attributes? Just give me my shard and I'll create a black hole for this world to study…..can I even do that?'
"Ieee….don't deny that's how Peter and I met, nor is that the least I can do. But to be fair, you never asked me about my capabilities. So it's your own fault."
"Don't think I'm not going to make that same mistake again."
"Hehehe, ahh. The more you guys bicker, the less I believe your claim you're not boyfriend and girlfriend," Peter chuckled with a grin back on his face that felt genuine. Before Thousand Leagues could chew him out again, he quickly changed the topic. "So who's the little one in armour."
Gesturing behind us, Laurissa was kneeling low while stroking a small fox-like creature with long, bloody orange fur and splodges of white at the ends of its long ears and tail. It seemed to be enjoying the petting, sitting with eyes closed and lightly purring.
"That's Laurissa Eshavalia, clear water scripture member," Thousand leagues said. "What'cha got there Laurissa?"
"Something cute," she mumbled.
"Okay, so she doesn't know what that is," Thousand leagues said, worriedly.
"But isn't that like a pet from around here, like a cat?" I asked, kneeling next to Laurissa to pet the animal as well.
"If that's a pet, it's not one I've seen before," Peter spoke up.
Reaching out my left hand, the fox's ears twitched and eyes snapped open at me with sky blue cat eyes. For some reason the stare froze me for a-bit, an eerie feeling creeping into my heart. Those beautiful blue eyes peered deep into my soul.
The fox seemed to take no notice of this and darted away from us to scamper up the brick wall of a nearby house before disappearing over the edge of the roof.
'That was weird. For a moment there it felt like, I'd met that thing before,' I thought, starring after it.
"Well it's gone now, no point crying over spilt milk," Thousand Leagues said, shaking me out of my thoughts. "Err….Peter…..as I understand it you're acquainted with the geography of this town, aren't you?"
"He-yea, I wouldn't say well acquainted after three days here, but I guess I know my way around this place a fair bit."
"Can you help us? We're looking for an open pub or restaurant for a quick drink and we're having trouble finding one open."
"Haha, it shouldn't be that surprising!" Peter bellowed before looking around. "This place is more-or-less a soon-to-be war zone and people are scampering around arming themselves on account of being scared out of their wits. You should get going yourselves if you don't want to get swept up in the upcoming chaos."
"Actually….," Thousand Leagues skipped to Peters side so they're shoulder-to-shoulder, or elbow-to-shoulder, with their backs turned. I couldn't hear what they were saying but before they finished, Peters face looked shocked before returning into the conversation.
"Now that you mention it," Peter said, the secret conversation more than likely over. "I saw a couple of guys not giving a real dam about the attack announcement and bellowed they would drink at 'Quill saloon' on the East side of town. It's got good drinks but it has a reputation of being a 'holler'."
"What do you mean by 'holler'?" I asked
"Trust me heahea, that answer will show itself when you get there," he giggled.
'….Guess humans act crazy when they know their worlds going to end no matter where you go…'
Peter gave us the directions and we were about to head off, but before we got a chance Peter grabbed me for a moment.
"One more thing, I want to say thanks again for saving us. I didn't say this earlier, but Hannah spent two days straight praying to the gods as thanks for sending a hero to save us. See ya."
"N-no problem, you have a good one."
Now having a clear destination in mind, we made our way through streets with people still either running about or fashioning weapons. I even saw groups of citizens on their knees praying outside houses on carpets.
'Hero hu, I don't deserve that title. The real hero in this story is Ainz Ooal Gown, I'm just a bystander who stumbled on stage…. Oh shit I just realized something! If this is an anime world and the product of someone's creativity from my own as Vosdulite says, then doesn't that mean this is viewable? I know me my presence here is to change the religious system, but the Theocracy's religion is based on a concrete event in history. Surely the writers must've had a reason to appoint six Slane Theocracy gods, and if I were to change that religion the whole plot of this story could be thrown out of whack! Oooh man, I should have never voiced to take Shalltear on, or even interact with Ainz, this whole anime's going to go to hell if I don't set things back to the way they were. Vosdulite also said there was another person here, so they're probably doing their job properly. But I can't do anything while I'm powerless,' I panicked, grabbing my right arm and giving it a jiggle, the mechanical fingers still clinked about lifelessly. The insignia in the palm didn't look so bad as last time, the crack had somehow fixed itself and was now barley a nick on the side.
'Fuck'n twenty-four-hour time limit.'
Interlude: Slane Theocracy
A while passed after their encounter with the former farmer Peter, and while looking for the 'Quill Saloon' Thousand Leagues Astrologers mind was mulling over the conversation they just had and the relationship he and Garmadon both had. All the while, a faint sound of music had been growing louder and louder
"This is most certainly an improved state of development," Thousand Leagues murmured under her breath while looking to the ground. Her shadow stretched long in front of her so she could easily tell it was evening. "Not only has Garmadon crossed our boarders before without us knowing, but he also rescued a family. This could be useful leverage in the foreseeable future."
Turning to face him, Garmadon had a look of panic on his face while looking at his right hand which still hung lifeless. 'What is with that thing anyway?'
"What'cha thinking about?" her blunt question snapped him out of his train of thought as his focus shifted to her.
"Oh-oh I'm good," he stuttered, letting the arm hang slack by his side. "Just having an internal struggle."
'An internal struggle? Could it be his conscience nagging at him?' Thousand Leagues grinned greatly internally while trying desperately not to show it on the surface. 'Way to go Laurissa, if I'd known your idea was going to turn out like this I would've never sought to using force.'
"Having second thoughts on not helping us save this town?" she asked in a sarcastic tone with a smile, but that only made Garmadon glare at her with contempt, his right eye glowing dully.
"If you think a simple blast from the past will change my mind, you're deadly mistaken," he hissed with venom in his voice, but at the same time his lips were trembling. For all his negative talk he had a worried expression.
'This kid's got walls built around him,' as Thousand Leagues was making that mental note, they came to a fork in the road and a green blur came flying out of nowhere. It rammed straight into the left side of Garmadons temple and shattered to pieces on impact.
TSHHchuAA!
"DARRRRGHHH!" he screamed in pain, hunching over while holding his head with both hands.
Both girls were taken off guard by the sudden surprise attack and knelt down with him.
"Are you alright ,Garmadon?" she panicked, moving her hands closer to his own where the wound was.
"F'ckin no, it feels like I got hit by a base-ball bat!" he cried, his eyes squinting. A slight trickle of blood ran out from between his flesh and metal fingers and down the side of his head. "What the hell was that?!"
Thousand leagues was confused for a moment, the term 'base-ball bat' didn't hold any meaning to her, so she chocked it up as something from Garmadons' country.
"Wine bottle," Laurissa monotoned, while holding a piece of broken glass. A slightly-torn white label hung from it with pictures of grapes and the words 'blood grape' written below.
A concerned look was visible on Laurissas' face, normally she'd be able to sense oncoming attacks but she couldn't sense this one. Maybe because it didn't have any bloodlust behind it.
"….Hehe..tffff…guess we found our taven," Garmadon tried to joke while giving another wince.
From the direction the bottle had hurled from stood a building with double doors up a short flight of stairs hanging high above the floor on hinges. Above the balcony with upturned tables enclosed by a polished wooden railing hung a sign reading 'Quill Saloon'. The building itself was shacking from thumping within to the beat of music being played.
"Glad to see your sense of humour hasn't shattered," Thousand Leagues remarked, positioning her hands on either side of his head. "[Minor healing light]."
A pair of green circles in one another appeared around Garmadons head while his head glowed green as well. She did have healing potions for scenarios like this, but it's best to save them for another day. A few moments passed, and soft bone cracking sounded from his skull.
"There, that should do it," she remarked, the circles vanishing, and Thousand Leagues removed her hands. With slightly ragged breaths, Garmadon lowered his own hands and-
'His hands!'
"G-Garmadon your arm, i-it's not hanging limp anymore," she stuttered in surprise.
'What's going on here? He shouldn't be able to move his arm while wearing the [zero point shackles], his magic should be cut off!'
Garmadons own eyes widened in surprise at the development before holding his right arm in front of him once again but giving it a flick. The arm itself clicked together softly as his fingers flexed and his hand twisted on a disk below the wrist.
"Well so it has….," he faintly said. Suddenly he sprung back, spun on his heel and a pair of sticks practically grew from thin air in both hands from a flurry of brown sparks before stopping with a stomp.
Before they knew it, Thousand Leagues and Laurissa were staring down a pair of dark-grey barrels, each welded onto dark wood while held by Garmadon. His demeanour to that of something threatening while his eye glowed dimly.
"Now don't move an inch or I'll blow a hole in both your heads," he threated, the sticks were still trained to their heads.
"[Stride of wind]" Laurissa spoke under her breath-.
BOOM!
"NeeARRGHHH!" a piercing screech erupted from the girl's mouth as she fell to the ground and gripped her leg as it became a dark crimson with blood leaking onto the ground.
Thousand Leagues ears were sharply ringing while she tried to regain her bearings on what just happened. To her, there was a sudden burst of fire from the end of one of the sticks followed by highly condensed explosion magic sounding off, and now Laurissa is lying on the ground with a few holes in her leg and leg armour.
"Laurissa!" Thousand Leagues shrieked dropping to her knees beside the girls bleeding body, taking out a blue potion from her side bag and emptying the contents down her mouth. After taking in the liquid, Laurissa's leg glowed faintly blue as the wound closed itself up.
'How did he know, I could barely hear Laurissa chant her martial art, so how could he?!'
As she tried to understand why, the smoking end of the weapon went back to being pointed at Laurissa while the other was still trained on Thousand Leagues.
"I said don't move, you only have yourself to blame, Laurissa."
"How?" Thousand Leagues asked, slowly helping Laurissa to her feet. "How are you able to cast creation magic while wearing zero-point shackles?"
Onlookers stopped by to look at the events unfold before them. Garmadon noticed this and fired the weapon he had on Thousand Leagues twice into the air and yelling at them to get lost before tossing it aside and creating a replacement. The discarded weapon broke apart into small blue cubes which broke down into more cubes until disappearing.
"I thought about what you said last night," he said, shifting his grip on the weapons. His right eye began glowing purple dully. "You said these shackles negate magic, but I thought that would be next to impossible for lowly magic users of the Slane Theocracy. So, when I had a chance I used my eye and took a look at the restraints-."
Interlude: Garmadon
'In truth I just based my hypothesis on what Naberal said before she blew up those Skeletal dragons in the anime. But they don't need to no that, though I do feel somewhat….upset about insulting their kingdom again like this. Guess I still have a conscience.'
Interlude: Slane Theocracy
"You dare insult out kingdom again. Just what do hold so high above that that makes you so willing to insult others and gloat about that freaky eye of yours? What does it even do?" Thousand Leagues cringed in anger while her legs were shacking on the spot. The weapon he held spat fire like a dragon and roared just as loud as one, why wouldn't she be scared?
"Haven't I told you? This beauty is able to perceive the passage of time, space and the very atoms themselves. To put it in terms you can understand, I can pear into the depths of reality and see everything that cannot be seen," he grinned, obviously taking pride in explaining his eye. "Now as I was about to say before I was in-ter-rup-ted. I saw that the magic these shackles emit don't negate other magic, it prevents the activation of tier magic that's weaker than the restraints themselves. They're like a dam hold back a river, though my magic was too strong of a current for it."
'Wha-So did he know Laurissa was using martial arts because he saw it activate within her, and does this kid know more about those restraints than we do?'
"If that's true, what kind of tier magic are you capable of casting?"
"That's confidential, so let's focus on the now shall we? I have you both at shot-gun point and I intend to make demands before I leave-."
"You're planning on leaving Garmadon?" Laurissa practically yelped, surprising them both. Clearly she'd regained her energy after been shot point blank. "But I thought you'd change your mind if you got an understanding of what we're fighting for. I didn't think you'd be so selfish."
Garmadon gazed at her as she got back to her feet for a few moments before responding. "Laurissa, I'm sorry, I really am. But this isn't a selfish decision on my part. For this anim-world, it's best I leave and you forget ever meeting me. I can't give you the details yet, but there is something I must do, and someone I must confront, to set things right."
'I was right, something really did happen between these two when I wasn't watching….,' Thousand League realized.
"This thing you need to do must be really important if you're willing to talk to us about demands instead of running off first," Thousand Leagues pointed out.
"You have no idea~," he monotoned.
"…"
"…."
"…."
"…."
"Alright," Thousand Leagues admitted, closing her eyes after Laurissa snapped a surprised look in her direction. "But before you go, care to have a drink? We've come all this way, and it'll be on me of course."
There were a few more moments of silence as Garmadon was gazing slightly towards the tavern, considering the invite. "One drink," he said, lowering the weapons. "One drink, and then I'm gone."
"That's good enough."
'I can't believe I just said that!' Thousand Leagues screeched internally. 'Calm down calm down, I've still got [phantom shackles] cast on him and linked to me. So even if he makes another bolt for it he should come right back-.'
Garmadons' eye was still glowing dully as it occasionally flicked to his arms every now and again.
'…unless he knows about that spell and has already broken it~."
As they ascended the stairs, the music being played inside was a mix of flutes, drums and violins at a frantic and exciting pace with a gripping feeling. Beyond the doors was a massive hoard of partying drinkers, acting as if it were the end of the world.
The room was massive, about half the size of a barn shed but much cleaner. Most tables and chairs were still standing while others had been flipped by people attempting to dance to the music but looked more like wet rags flapping in strong winds.
Up the back, next to the counter with waitresses and a buff guy behind frantically serving customers who chatted amongst themselves as though old friends, was a stage. Atop sung a girl in a green dress with a light brown vest and blonde curly hair stretching down to her elbows. She looked like she was in her middles 20's.
"…This world, filled with false realities and truths, can you look beyond the lies and see the truth? …In a world that's just too small, can we truly see it all? Are these limits just the fantasies that we recall, Is it true?..."
'So this is what Peter meant when he said this place was a 'hollar'.'
Garmadon seemed transfixed with the music, but a light tap on the shoulder dragged him right back into reality. Preferring to not be soaked in by the happy crowd just yet they took seats near the entrance of the saloon away from the crowd that were miraculously untouched.
"Well this is quite something," Thousand Leagues practically yelled over the hollering crowd while looking around. "Got any preferences?"
The other two took a bit of thought on the matter.
"I'll have Halbrim beer."
"Would this place happen to have any carbonated drinks?"
The request made both girls look at him as though he'd gone a little mental.
"What's a 'carbonated drink'?" Thousand Leagues asked.
"Y-you know, carbonated drinks. Soda, lemonade… fizzy dinks," he stuttered with a slightly anxious look.
"Oh, you must mean champagne….doubt we'll find any here, you know for being a whole nobles drink and all," she said with a hint of suspicion.
"Acctualey…..Yes, yes that's what I meant, haha," he blankly laughed. "I got my words mixed up then, haha….. I'd like something light."
'This kid never makes any real sense, he just keeps piling up more questions,' Thousand Leagues thought, rubbing her forehead in irritation.
"Alright then, be right back," she replied getting back up. She crossed her arms over her chest as though she were about to take a leap of faith. "[Levitate]."
Her body rose slowly off the ground while wobbling as she tried to gain some balance in in the air.
The spell [Levitation] is mainly used on other objects to make them float, it makes for easy transportation with flight direction controlled by magic. The spell operates like the spell [fly], but it's altitude is greatly lesser than that spell and doesn't consume as much magic as a result.
The downside to it though, is that the affected objects' original centre of gravity plays a part in it. If it's too far to one side, the whole thing flips in that direction.
Interlude: Garmadon
With my eye active, I saw that Thousand Leagues had been enclosed in a vail of transparent purple light with countless loops around her, circling from above to underneath. I tried to ignore the dark purple chains snacking from Thousand Leagues to me since I knew they were the [phantom restraints] from last night.
'Oh wow, even flight magic looks like it invokes the principles of common science. She's like a planet with her own magnetic field,' I thought, one side of the ring of circles bulged out and Thousand Leagues was propelled in the opposite direction. 'This raises some questions in that field of science.'
Interlude: Slane Theocracy
The crowd below her was livelier from above than it did from the back. Most were certainly swaying to the music, but others were brawling it out in tight rings in the sea of people. She couldn't see them before from the people blocking her view, but a few even had girls against guys, and they were winning.
Thousand Leagues chuckled slightly as a slender girl hurled a big guy, twice her size, over her shoulder by using his own height against him before pinning him down. Many people outside the ring roared in celebration as she twisted his arm around his back into a dead lock position causing him to pound the ground with his remaining limbs while yelling out 'I give, I give!'
"Are you okay up there?" came a voice from below her.
Before she knew it, Thousand Leagues was now hovering above the counter. An elder teen waitress with short-cut grey hair tied back into a bun was looking up at her mid-serve of another customer.
"Argh- Yes, I'm alright," she responded, slowly descending onto a vacant stool by the counter before deactivating her [levitation] magic. "Could I get three mugs of Halbrim beer and a bottle of something that'll make you sober up quickly."
"Got it," she replied, handing a pair of mugs to a pair of cackling drunks. "Three mugs of Halbrim and a bottle of Voltig coming right up."
In their country, Halbrim beer isn't popular for being an extremely heavy drink. But being alcohol, too much could still make you dizzy. Voltig was, however, a well-known soberer beverage founded in the Slane Theocracy.
Mainly because the main ingredient's a flower that only grows in their region called a dandelion. After being laced with magic, the flower on its own can wake up even a hibernating dragon after a single whiff.
"Cough, cough….bear is weird," someone said to her right. "Excuse me, are you sure you don't have any carbonated drinks. You know, soda…He~lloo~."
'Carbonated….soda?'
At the mention of the words Thousand Leagues snapped at the source to see a young boy sitting next to her, a few years younger than she was. Had short dirty blonde hair and wore a dark green cloak with patches of even darker green, some were near black. In his right he held a mug of beer with a foaming top while the other was waving about trying to get the attention of one of the waitresses to no avail.
"Excuse me kid, but were you just asking for carbonated drinks," Thousand Leagues asked.
'A boy in blonde hair and dawned in a dark green cloak,' she thought while watching the boy. 'It couldn't be the boy Aurita was talking about, could he? I mean he doesn't have an unusual fox by his side.'
"Hnn, do you have any?"
"Well…no-."
"Then we have nothing to talk about," the boy answered, turning back to his drink to take another swig before cringing and forcing himself to swallow it. "Blugh…"
'Knows carbonated drinks, doesn't look like he likes liquors at all and has a slight attitude problem. This feels familiar.'
"I'm trying to ask where you learnt that word," Thousand Leagues pushed. "I know someone else who expresses knowledge in that topic and I'm wondering if two are from the same place or something."
"Knows about carbonated drinks…..," he murmured, laying his drink down and turning to face her. "Would this person happen to be a little older than me, blonde hair, stubborn attitude and wouldn't hesitate to hurt everyone within a 10 meter radius if pressed into a situation he doesn't want?"
The fox like creature with blood orange fur from earlier popped on the counter behind the boy and gripped the rim with its tiny paws before licking the mug's contents. In a matter of moments, it too began cringing before coughing the contents back into the mug. Meanwhile, the music being played had begun dying down
'Gross- THE FOX LIKE CREATURE FROM EARLIER?!' she internally yelled. 'Calm down- calm down, I should keep an eye on this kid, I have no real evidence anyway.'
"Yes, and to some extent with the whole 'everyone within a 10-meter radius' thing. It's more to everyone within the nearby vicinity," she responded, thinking about what happened outside.
Suddenly he jumped up and gripped the sides of Thousand Leagues shoulders and starred into her eyes. "Where is he, and what's his name?!"
"H-his names Garma-."
"-Garmadon," he interrupted. At this point, the music had come to an end and the blonde girl on stage was now leaving.
"Ye-t-that's right."
When Thousand Leagues responded, the boys grip on her loosened and had a hopeful expression on his face with a twitching smirk. "…there's a cha-ha-ha-nce….."
Before she could ask any further, a hand belonging to the girl from up on stage grasped the boys shoulder out from the wall of people around them.
"Alright Alex, it's your turn," she said with a smile, handing him a guitar. Alex released Thousand Leagues to take it graciously. "Knock 'em flat."
In a moment's notice, the boy's face, now known as Alex, snapped from being hopeful to being excited. "Oh, I intend to," he responded turning back to Thousand Leagues, the fox-like creature climbed his back to his shoulder. "Where abouts are you guys sitting?"
"At the back of the tavern near the doorway," she said, gesturing through the thick mass of the crowd. "If you're asking that then I expect you to answer some questions I have about him, and this 'Australia' place he's from."
Alex's smile grew into a grin with a giggle behind it. "Then I'm totally coming over. If it's who I think it is, this world's gonna change~."
Before Thousand Leagues could ask Alex what he meant, a trio of mugs followed by a tall slender glass bottle filled with green liquid and a small dandelion submerged inside landed right next to her on the counter.
"That'll be eight copper coins."
After paying the bill, Thousand Leagues turned to where the boy was before but he'd disappeared into the crowds. Giving a quick survey of the area, she saw him climbing the stairs to the stage with the fox still on his shoulder and the guitar in his hands.
'Guess the answers I'm wanting will have to wait. If my hunch is correct that this kid is from Australia, we might be hearing some pretty interesting music.'
Thousand Leagues turned back to the drinks in front of her and cast [levitation] on all five objects, including herself and flew back over to the rear table. Upon which, Garmadon and Laurissa were playing with a small black rectangle box that had been flipped open. Landing back in her chair, Thousand Leagues set the mugs and bottle down on the table before asking what she'd missed.
Apparently, Garmadon and Laurissa got chatting again, getting over the whole stick-up from outside and started playing games with some magical device Garmadon called a '3DS'. He'd created it using magic and dabbed a drop of blood on it.
"By the way, I found someone who wants to talk to you," Thousand Leagues said, the others took a swig from their mugs. "I think his name was Alex-."
"-BLUUTTTHHHH!"
Suddenly, Garmadon spayed the entire contents of what he drank at great speed in a random direction, you'd think his insides were under extreme pressure.
"Garmadon!" Thousand Leagues blurted out. "That's a waste of good alcohol!"
That was somewhat of a lie.
"Wha-cough-what the hell did you just say his name was?"
"I said his name was Alex, goodness. He's up there if you want to see what he looks like," while putting down her own drink, Thousand Leagues pointed towards to the stage at the boy she had spoken to earlier who was now playing his guitar on. He was plucking the stings at a fast pace while drums were thumping away in sink.
"There's no e'fin way~," Garmadon half chuckled as a smile trembled into his. Suddenly the guitars noise became the dominate instrument out of the others and practically vibrated through the air.
"Oh it's been getting so hard,
Living with the things you do to me.."
Thump!
A fist the size of the mugs hammered down onto the table, surprising the trio. Looking up was a big guy towering over 7ft with a bulging belly and thick arms stretching his white shirt with a brown vest on. He had short cut hair, near bald, and an angry scowl on his face which glared down at Garmadon.
"Are you the one that sprayed me….hick?" he demanded in a slurred gruff voice. He was obviously drunk, and reeked of it to. Looking down, they all saw a wet patch on the left side of his shirt which seeped down his leg to his ankle.
"..Oh, I see a man at the back as a matter of fact
His eyes are as red as the sun,-"
"…gulp…yes….," he vaguely said. That seemed to set the guy off as he drew his fist ready to strike. In the corner of her eye, Thousand Leagues saw Laurissa going for her swords but managed to stop her by leaping across the table and gripping her shoulders.
"And the girl in the corner let no one ignore her
Cause she thinks she's the passionate one…."
Interlude: Garmadon
'In terms of brute strength, this guy can squash me like a grape since I'm missing my own strength-,' having pulled it back far enough, the drunk hurled his fist at me. '-but strength doesn't win every battle.'
Engaging my eye, his movements slowed down to a perceivable speed. I moved out of the fists path, but with my reflex speed reduced it just grazed me.
"Oh yeah! It was like lightning-,"
In the moment when his balance was off, I gripped his right arm with mine while I pushed my left onto his thigh and hefted him up over my shoulder.
"Everybody was fighting-"
He landed with a thump and I negated my eye. Suddenly before I knew it, Laurissa had pushed Thousand Leagues off, ran at me before leaping by me.
"And the music was soothing,
And they all started groo~ving,"
Interlude: Slane Theocracy
When Garmadon flipped the drunk onto his back he ended up smashing some mugs underneath, right next to their drinkers. They looked surprised for a split moment before their faces contorted into anger and readied for a brawl of their own. Garmadon hadn't noticed it yet.
Suddenly, Laurissa force into Thousand Leagues, shoving her off, climb the table and leaped past Garmaodn and kneed an attacker in the face.
"Barrgh!"
Smash!
"Yeah~, yeah~, yeah-yeah-yeah-"
Interlude: Garmadon
Snapping round, Laurissa had landed a foot into the face of another drunk who was now on the floor amongst broken glass and wood. I concluded they landed on a table with drinks on it, because onlookers on stools surrounding them were in shock before their faces to turned intoanger and faced the both of us.
"And the man in the back said everyone attack
And it turned into a ballroom blitz-"
Suddenly they all charged at us with fists clenched and hatred in their eyes.
"Geez, I need my eye for this one," I yelped, reactivating my eye and materializing a cylinder with a pin in the top which I plucked out and through at their feet.
"And the girl in the corner said boy I want to warn you
It'll turn into a ballroom blitz-,"
Foo-kchchcchhhh~!
A ploom of smoke exploded from the canister while materializing a pair of wooden bats in each hand. At that time the smoke began pixelating as being a product of my creation and wasn't in contact with me. Well that was the case before I leaped into the smoke.
"Ballroom blitz, ballroom blitz, ballroom blitz, ballroom blitz,"
Drunks came at me from left and right, but with my eye I was able to see through the smoke with x-ray vision and I could see everybody's movements in slow-motion. Swinging to my right, I thwacked one in the stomach, making him keel over to catch his breath before following it up hitting him in the back to the ground with my left.
"Oh reaching out for something,
Touching nothing's all I ever do-,"
In the momentum I raised my right bat, I rammed into another's jaw. Suddenly I was grappled from behind, forced to drop the bats and lifted up above my attackers' head before slammed on to the ground face first.
"Oh I softly call you over,
When you appear there's nothing left of you-,"
The impact hurt like hell and peeking behind, a fist gripping a broken mug to act as brace knuckles on it was slowly coming at me. It was perceivable so I moved, but my speed was still slow without my shard so it collided into my nose, practically chattering it on impact.
"And the man in the back is ready to crack
As he raises his hands to the sky-,"
"GLuurGGhh!" I wailed, gripping my bloody nose in both hands as the guy picked my back up and was held aloft with one hand.
"And the girl in the corner is everyone's woman
She could kill you with a wink of her eye~,"
I took this moment to materialize a hammer in my right hand and struck it into his head. The impact shattered his skull and caved in as the weapon lodged itself amongst his brains and bone.
"Oh yeah! It was electric
So perfectly hectic-,"
'SHIT!-I didn't mean to kill the poor bastard,' I panicked internally as I tried to wiggle the hammer out, but left it to dematerialize on account as to how stuck it was by the skull fragments.
"And the band started leaving
'Cause they all stopped breathing."
"RarrghHH!" someone suddenly came charging out of the smoke that still lingered and tackled the one I was still held by, despite the fact at being kinda…..dead. The tackler toppled the two of us to the ground and in the moment of a one-sided fight between the two, I pried the finger off my coat.
"Oh yeah! It was like lightning
Everybody was fighting
And the music was soothing
And they all started grooving"
The smoke had cleared up a fair bit by now as I got back up still holding my bloodied nose, looking around the whole place had gone to chaos in a matter of seconds. Chairs and tables were flying everywhere, I even saw someone soaring over the crowd wailing in panic before heading straight for Alex on stage.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah-."
Fli-thwack!
In a split second, Alex spun around on one foot and used the other to karate kick the flying soul square in the face. He landed onto the floor with a deep thump.
And the man in the back said everyone attack, And it turned into a ballroom blitz-,"
Someone then grabbed my left arm and gave me a yank. I was about to retaliate with another materialized hammer in hand, but stopped at the familiar pink haired girl before me.
"And the girl in the corner said boy I want to warn you,
It'll turn into a ballroom blitz,"
"We're leaving," she said, someone had noticed us and was about to land a blow. Before I could even warn her, Laurissa had karate chopped him in the throat, kicked him in the balls, slumping his knees, before sucker punching him in the forehead. As he fell to the ground, I noticed she was still holding my arm, and I my hammer in a striking stance.
"Ballroom blitz, ballroom blitz, ballroom blitz, ballroom blitz."
'Dam, she's better than I thought.'
"Oh reaching out for something,
Touching nothing's all I ever do,"
Dropping the hammer to dematerialize and negating my eye, Laurissa lead my through the crowd to the doors outside. There, standing for us was Thousand Leagues Astrologer with her arms crossed and a more than slightly disappointed scowl on her face.
"Let me guess," I joked, skipping down the stairs with Laurissa still practically dragging me to stand in front of her. "I shouldn't have lashed out at-."
"GarrGGHH!"
To my surprise, Thousand Leagues leaped out at me with hands outstretched and gripped my neck, shoving me to the ground. For a mage, she was pretty strong.
"You 'lashing out' isn't the issue here. It's the fact you committed murder in a public bar!" she screamed at my face while literally choking me.
"tujjchts narrgh te isshue hea, guuurrgh…..(that's not the issue here)" I croaked, my eyes hurt from feeling like they'd pop out of my head. Sitting down and rolling over onto my back I planted my feet under her stomach and shoved her over my head before sitting up and trying to regain my breath. "Gaaarghh-hooo…"
"Why do you fight Garmadon, and why did you fight that vampire?" Thousand Leagues pestered behind. The questions stunned me, turning round she was still lying on the ground from where I flipped her.
"What's with those questions?" I asked bluntly.
'This is the first time she's even remotely gone to those topics. And wasn't she just ringing my neck out like Christmas turkey not TWO seconds ago.'
"..sigh..I was supposed to ask you last night," she began, sitting up as well before turning round and going cross-legged. "But I was afraid the sudden questioning of your motivations, would've led to you distrusting us further than you already were. Though this has gone on long enough, and since you just killed someone, I believe this is a more than appropriate time to know what … makes … you … tick."
There was a little wait while I collected my thoughts on the matter. '..fuck'n…. I can't tell her. I can't tell her that I agreed with a being who's stronger than their gods to take on Shalltear. So what can I tell her that won't upset the balance of this world for the viewers any further?...screw it.'
"I… You're…not…real."
Thousand Leagues looked confused a bit while blinking her eyes at my sudden statement. "Wha-what did you say?"
"I said…you're not real. NONE of this is real," I yelped, getting up and gesturing to everything around us. "You're very existence is based off another's imagination, hell they probably didn't give that much original thought into your backstory. It's the same as any other typical character with humility in them."
While I ranted on, Thousand Leagues did nothing but sit there with eyes fully widened. Laurissa was no different.
"But that makes sense I guess, you're not the main character of this story-."
"You rant on like a madman!" she yelled back, getting off the ground to try and match my height but was just below eye level. "I asked for your motivation, this world is not fictional. It was created by the six great gods who chose humanity to be the dominant race and not by mortals like us."
"Oh I beg-to-differ, and do you know why? It's because I'm from the same dimension that created yours."
"You lie!"
"Oh contra, your world was created for the entertainment of mine and the majority of the Slane Theocracy's secrets. Like so, do you know what happened to the Shaman Princess's Crown of Wisdom?"
Thousand Leagues was stunned when I mentioned the Crown of Wisdom. "Tha-the theft of the Crown of Wisdom shouldn't be public knowledge. The Cardinals would have never released that information without consulting the Black Scripture first…"
"I never said it was stolen, but we both know who did the stealing now don't we?"
"Clemen-."
"-Clementime, yes. I know because I saw her twirling it around her fingers before she gave it to Zurrernorn."
A flicker of anger streaked across her face. "So do you know where she and the crown are right now? She must be apprehended because her crimes-."
"Oh she's dead. Literally bear hugged to death by the main character of this story. Turned the crown to dust while he was at it."
"And he's-."
"Ainz Ooal mother frigg'n Gown. Just without the 'mother frigg'n."
There was a bit of disbelief in their faces. Understandable, but I'm feeling sooo~ tempted to lord this anime's secrets in front of them. However..
"But that's all I'm going to say, I've already divulged to much information," I said while holding my hand in front of her, trying to breathe through my nose but got some pain in doing so and pinching my ridge in irritation with my metal fingers.
'Snap, I just remembered what happened to my nose.'
"The only thing you should be concerned with is that I'm real, you're not, me and that boy inside shouldn't be in this dimension and my motivation is to get the hell outta here before I cause any more damage to this story's build!" I yelled gesturing to the sky and pointing at the tavern. "I also believe the whole reason why I'm here is a load of bull!"
There was an unprecedented amount of shock and fear in Thousand leagues expression. Her curved down lips trembled as I panted from my ranting. "You-You're insane. Just what did Australia teach you when you grew up?"
I rested my face in my left hand at the response of the girl in front of me my nose throbbing but not hurting as much anymore. 'I don't have time for this,' I thought while sliding my hand down my face in frustration. 'I gotta get out of her and take Alex with me~.'
"I don't blame you for not believing him right out. Doubt anybody would if they knew him the way I did," someone spoke up.
We all faced the tavern where the voice came from to see the boy from stage standing on top of the stairs dawned in a camou cloak with the fox creature we saw earlier perched on his shoulder scratching its ear.
"A few years back, he none stopped lied to get out of troubling situations," he slowly walked down the stairs. "But he always laughed hysterically whenever he did."
"That's only when I thought the lies themselves were funny, Alex, and my subconscious thought so too until I got a handle of properly lying," I smiled while a swirl of joy swelled up deep within me as Alex reached the bottom.
"Great," Thousand Leagues sarcastically yelped. "Just what we need. Now that you're here as well, someone please tell me what your relationship is with each other here."
"…He's my brother~," I half laughed and cried internally. "And I couldn't be happier to see him right now~hehe~." Alex seemed to be doing the same before we both broke out into a run at each other and collided into a hug. "Haha, what the hell are you even doing here~?"
"What she didn't tell you~sniff~?" Alex asked pulling back with a smile still on his face after whipping his nose with his thumb. "Nur…. I'm the second party that Vosdulite sent to this world on account of it having so little belief in Christ."
'WHAT?! He's the other person-.'
"You're the other one Vosdulite sent? You're not as insightful about this anime compared to …. literally any other anime fan, so what gives?"
"She really didn't tell you anything, did she?" he asked looking at me concerned mixed with lingering happiness. "The knowledge of this anime, Christianity and your resources is why you're here, but I'm here because I have the desire to do it and the strength to back it up. That, and it's best since we both know each other. Think of it like you're a gun and I'm the guy who'll fire you into some poor snob's head."
'I guess that makes sense. Two people does 'up' the odds of a mission's success than one…but why didn't she send us here together if we were to work together?'
"Alex, how long have you been here?"
"Three days."
"THREE DAYS!... Well what have you been doing since then, and is there a reason why you weren't sent to where I was?"
'Okay, now that is quite a difference. I've been here for almost a week and the only time I was told about why I was here was after I almost died.'
"I asked that too, but it had something to do with you making contact with the main protagonist. I'm guessing it's that guy named Anz Owl Phone-."
"It's 'Ainz-Ooal-Gown,' you make sound like a telegraphic bird when you say it like that."
"What ev's. She was hoping this whole mission would be completed without interfering with whom the audience is most affiliated with. The disruption in how they'll see this anime unfold will mess with their 'acceptance' of it and if that's shaken too much, this dimensions' stability goes out the window."
"Ho-hold on, how does the audience's 'acceptance' interfere with this dimensions' stability. Isn't it something that's a given? The audience takes it as it is, if it's a confusing anime like 'Chaos Head', they accept it as one. If it's a gripping anime like 'Attack On Titan' they go crazy when Levi KO's a titan."
"Because we're not just in the anime, we're in the new anime 'Overlord' being released in 2015 and if need be the third season released in 2018. You're an anime lover and a Lego fan, you tell me how buyers are going to react when their product changes?"
I just stood there, as though in a daze. This boy, my own younger brother who doesn't watch as much anime as I do, has just single handily blown my mind. I arrived at the conclusion that this world truly is being watched by the control dimension as though it were a part of the original anime, but this development has opened my eyes even further.
I mean I don't have any solid proof that he's telling the truth, yet the reverse is also true. But this just goes to prove another hypothesis I've been working on.
"Okay Alex, I'm gonna come out and say it. I think the issue with this worlds belief in God, Vosdulite told us, was a lie. I mean, there're a tone of fictional stories that don't even have a hint of a single divine 'father'. Take 'No Game No Life' for instance, several gods and the one that rains supreme is a gaming kid. I know it sounds odd, you might say that the 'acceptance' this anime got was enough to support it this whole time. But the fact is, I don't see any reason why we need to change things here when it's done so well for the past three years on its own. They've even started calling Albedo 'best waifu' and 'yandere' (that parts obvious as hell)."
"Urrrgh-what's a waifu?!" Thousand leagues voiced. In all honesty, I'd actually forgotten she was there for a moment.
"Oh, waifu is just another way of saying 'best girl', fictional girlfriend," I sped spoke 50 words/sec. "As a matter of fact, you're prone to being a waifu."
"W-w-well, am I?" she blushed slightly.
"…Get some screen time, then we'll talk."
"Huuu~…I'm afraid I can't bring myself to believe you, James," Alex said, his face now slowly becoming devoid of emotion. His eyes deadlocked with mine. "While you've compiled a fit argument there's nothing you can say that'll change my mind. Your interference alone has set things to change well beyond the planned 'subtle' changes."
"What are you saying?"
"Please materialize a chalk board for me. I know you made one when explaining things to Ainz for better clarification and I'll need one as well."
'I don't like where this is going,' I thought, outstretching my mechanical arm and concentrating on the wooden black board.
'The last time I made one of these, was to blow Ainz's mind, deliberately, in order to get my point across,' sparks flew, and the wooden frame with stilts materialized before being filled with the black board that grew from my palm. 'If my actions then had been integrated into the anime, Alex knows about it and will probably do the same.'
I went ahead and bit my thumb, smearing a streak of blood down the side of the frame before completely letting go and materializing a chalk in my left. It also had blood on it.
I tossed the chalk to Alex who snatched from the air with a bare hand and turned to the board. "Alright, pay attention now, it's lecture time," he gave a glance at our pair of onlookers. "This concerns you as well, so don't black out."
"Oh, don't worry," Thousand Leagues smirked, crossing her arms. "After the rant Garmadon gave here, I intend to hear where he's coming from."
"Hehe, well alright then~," he giggled with a grin turning back to the board, five medium circles were drawn crammed together inside a larger circle around them all.
He then went on, explaining nearly everything I told Ainz, but threw a little more vinegar on their understanding of the world than I have.
"Now you're defying the words of our gods….," looking back at Thousand Leagues, she was in one of her angry moods again. Fists clenched, frown on her face and shaking all over.
"Hush fizzy bottle. Don't blow your top while the teachers' talking," I spoke in a deep dead voice.
"What-!"
"Aaannyy way, this dimension isn't the only one there is. There are in fact, millions," Alex drew spirals in the remaining circles. "Where we are from, we call these stories. Created for the entrainment by those in the 'control dimension'-."
"You're just using my acronyms now, aren't you?"
"It's a lot easier to use a term already in use than make one right off the bat."
"Fine. So that's how things are," I took over. "And we're both beings brought here from the 'control dimension' for reasons already explained."
"You're half way there," Alex took control again, drawing another circle around the biggest circle and a pair of lines on either side drawn from the space between the outside space and the centre circle.
"What you didn't explain, or rather what you couldn't explain, was that when someone from the control dimension enters one of the product dimensions, it creates something akin to a rippling effect. The neighbouring dimensions are exempt from this, but any unscripted events that occur because of the new being's presence are considered as truth in the control. Though it's not like your time travelling, people still remember the original version of it, but all current one's are re-written. Anyone sent to a story dimension immediately end up in the same time as the beginning of the story, and whatever they do reflects on ours and becomes the norm."
"So why was it that when you were sent here, you didn't arrive at the same time I did?"
"It's because you were already here. Two people can't arrive at the same point in a story if they both left the control dimension at different times."
"I'm, guessing Vosdulite told you all this."
"She crammed it into my head like you wouldn't believe~," he grumbled, dropping the chalk.
"I'm sorry, but I can't accept this," Thousand Leagues interrupted. "The only beings capable of even traveling between dimensions are the gods themselves. And if someone were to travel, they'd still need magical energy on their level-."
"Vosdulite herself transported us, and she's a servant of a god far greater than yours," I said. "And do you remember when I said I knew of the massacre at Carne village? I knew because I watched it happen from my own dimension, I also know that the entire Sunlight scripture was not wiped out by Gazeff Stronoff, but by a sorcerer whom even I fear~."
Rubbing my neck, I recollected how Ainz held me in the air by my neck. I guess I could thank my healing for not letting it snap, but I pondered how I managed to remain conscious.
"Anyway~," Alex mused, dropping the chalk before crunching it underfoot. I couldn't see his feet because the cloak reached down to the ground. "To get back home, we need to save this world by changing it. And before you start, no I don't believe you with the whole 'we should leave things the way they are'," he said, wagging a finger at me. "But in situations such as these, we must look at the bigger picture and do what's right for ourselves."
I then remembered that Thousand Leagues had said there was an attack on a nearby village, and that all too soon, this place would be next.
"A-Alex, Vosdulite said to fix this world, w-we had to return the dead to rest and change this worlds' religion to Christianat-nity..," I stuttered looking him square in blue eyes. "To that end, I was granted my fictional character's powers. You haven't attacked any villages recently with what you've been given, have you?"
To assume Alex had abilities granted to him as well would be a fair assumption, the move I saw him pull on stage was more than a hint. After all, he was here because I wasn't doing my job and if he were the added help, it would be stupid not to send him in with tools as well.
Alex's face fell grim before looking down to the ground, Shredder looked as though he too shared the same feelings. "I-it hurt so much-,"
"THOUSAND LEAGUES!" someone was yelling down the street.