Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of updates lately. Work has been kicking my rear to kingdom come these last few weeks. It's still hitting pretty hard too, so updates may be a little slow for a while until everything calms down. Still, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 16: Return to Tristan
Landing back in the port town of La Nocher, Tlopfest slid off of Sylphid and started walking towards the market area, Wardes' hat still in his grip and Derf on his back. "I'll be back in a few. Keep an eye on Louise for me, will ya?" Continuing down the streets, Tlopfest eventually made his way to the 'Crystaline Gang's hideout. Knocking on their door, the door guardian looked out and let Tlopfest in, similar to last time.
"I hope you brought us results this time instead of more work, monster," the guard said.
Nodding, Tlopfest replied, "Yeah, I did."
Making his way down, the pigman eventually found Geoffry, barking out orders to the rest of the group. Turning, the leader of the group spotted the pigman finishing coming down the stairs and heading his way. "Well, if it isn't our local monster! You finish what we asked of you to do?"
"As a matter of fact, yes, I did." Tossing Wardes' hat on the nearby table, Tlopfest sat down while Geoffry made his way over as well. Looking over the hat, Geoffry nodded in satisfaction.
"Looks like you finally kept your end of the deal. So shall we. Oi, you-" Geoffry pointed to one of the miners. "Get that set of crystals ready to go. We finally got our payment back!"
"Actually, Geoffry, I need to alter our deal a bit."
Geoffry groaned. "Oh what now? You wanting us to be exclusive to you or something? Because that's not happening."
"..." Sighing, Tlopfest put his hands on his head. "Geoffry, your group sold these Vis Crystals to a FREAKING REBELLION that has staged a coup in the nearby country. That right there is gonna cause Tristan a lot of trouble, way more than even these snobby nobles deserve." Leaning over the table, Tlopfest glared at the man in charge. "I also happen to be on the way to report to the Princess about what happened in Albion. So…here's what's gonna happen. You lot are gonna stop selling these crystals, and only supply them to me or others that I approve of. In exchange, I won't tell the Princess that you lot sold them to an enemy of the state. Deal?"
Geoffry, for his part, didn't freak out from that statement, at least on the outside. Instead, he calmly stood up and pulled out his sword, pointing it towards Tlopfest's throat. "Or, I do you one better. You leave now, with your life intact and mouth shut about us, and we never see you in this port town again."
Lightly growling, Tlopfest changed gears for his plan. "Fine…" Heading towards the staircase, the miner finally came back with the basket of crystals. Tlopfest quickly reached out and grabbed a handful. "But I'm at least taking these with me. It's the least I-ack!" Dropping the crystals, Tlopfest put his hands to his head again as another headache came on. "Dang it, not now! Why did it have to activate now?!"
"Partner? You ok?" Derf popped out of his scabbard, concern in his voice.
"DO I LOOK LIKE I'M OK?!" Just as Tlopfest finished that shout, a strange mist started forming around him, quickly filling the room and causing a bit of commotion for the Crystalline Gang. Realizing what was going on, Tlopfest turned around and saw ghostly shapes starting to form in the fog. "...oh for the love of…"
Panic started forming in the Group as Eldritch Guardians started forming in the fog, looking at their surroundings. After a moment, the Guardians quickly started shooting Eldritch blasts and shouting indiscriminately, causing many of the group to drop to their knees and cover their ears in terror or falling back from the blasts. Tlopfest quickly got Derflinger back out, his runes shining under his glove.
"Oi, Guardians!" Tlopfest shouted, quickly gaining the attention of all the Guardians in the room. "Who told you idjits you could come here, huh?" Not waiting for a reply, the pigman quickly started swinging Derflinger around, dispersing some of the Guardians. A couple that were still hunting the Gang suddenly turned their attention to Tlopfest and attacked. Their attacks were blocked with Derf, and Tlopfest sliced them apart before they could shout at him again. As soon as the last one was defeated, the fog lifted, showing that quite a few of the group were either dead or terrified beyond belief. Looking around, Tlopfest noticed that Geoffry was among the terrified, thankfully unharmed for the most part. Walking to him, Tlopfest crouched down and put a hand on his shoulder, startling the leader.
"What….what were those things?"
"Eldritch Guardians. They came because of how much I had dabbled with this magic in the past. They will come to anyone that messes with this magic too much." Leaning closer, Tlopfest emphasized his point. "Are you willing to let those monsters run amok everywhere, harming anyone that is nearby, commoners included?"
Geoffry could only shake his head in denial, whimpering from the scare of the Guardians.
"Then start digging. Strip this entire place of Vis Crystals, not leaving a single one on the walls. I'll take them and make sure no one else has these issues. Understood?"
Geoffry quickly stood up and nodded vigorously. "O-of course! Everyone who is alive, dig like your life depends on it!" Everyone, Geoffry included, started shaking off their fears and picked up a pickaxe, chopping away at every last crystal in the place.
It only took them an hour, and by that time every last crystal was mined off the walls, not leaving a single one left. As Tlopfest left the hideout, he had with him a couple of large sacks full of the crystals, a few dozen stacks of them in each across all of the base elements of Thaumaturgy. Knowing he couldn't put it all in his inventory, Tlopfest had asked for these sacks, which, luckily, held just about all of the crystals. The remainder were stuck in Tlopfest's inventory. Making his way back to Sylphid, Derflinger popped out of his scabbard again.
"Seriously, what is wrong with your mind, Partner?"
"I told you, it was Thaumaturgy. I'll explain it a bit more back at the Academy, but for now keep quiet about it, alright? Don't want to make the others any more worried than they are at the moment."
A smack upside the head and a stern lecture later from Louise, the group finished making their way back to Tristan's palace. Touching down in front of the castle, the group was quickly surrounded by castle guards, although said guards quickly relaxed once they recognized Louise as one of the passengers. As the rest of the group made to get off however, Louise held her hand up to them.
"Sorry, but this is something that I have to do on my own. Just stay put, alright?"
They nodded in understanding, and as Louise made her way in, Tlopfest couldn't help but ask Derf what happened. "I know something bad happened, but what did that idjit Wardes do while I was under?"
"Well, he uh…kinda killed the Prince and most of his remaining army. He also ended up not only using another one of those crazy crystals, but almost killing you for real. You were glowing and almost falling apart by the time Louise was able to get to you."
Tlopfest held his head in shame. "If only I didn't lose control like that.."
After almost an hour or so, Louise made her way back out of the castle, tear streaks still visible on her cheeks. Once back on Sylphid, she only nodded to show that she was ready to head back. For the rest of the trip back to the academy, everyone was silent, with only the wind and sound of Sylphid's beating wings breaking the silence.
Finally alone on the balcony of Louise's room, Derf popped back out of his scabbard. "Alright partner, I've waited long enough, and we're finally alone, so come on! Start telling me what the hell is wrong with that head of yours!"
Looking at Derf from the corner of his eye, Tlopfest couldn't help but sigh. "Well, I already told you about Thaumaturgy being one of the more dangerous paths of magic where I came from, right?"
"Uh…not directly at least. Although I think I heard that before."
"Right, well, one of the troubles that Thaumaturgy brings with it is what is called 'warp.'" Tlopfest couldn't help but wince as another headache came on and his vision blurred. "Stupid warp…" Tlopfest muttered under his breath as he closed his eyes to try and save getting a non-warp headache. "It starts out small. A little headache here and there, maybe some paranoid thoughts. It can even just start by trying to reach out to the aura - essentially the fabric of Thaumaturgical magic, to gain a better understanding of it. Continuing down that path causes hallucinations, then psychological events turned physical, and eventually…well, you saw them earlier today."
"Those 'Guardians,' as you call them?"
"Right. They are supposed to guard the boundaries between worlds and/or knowledge, or something like that I suppose. All they tend to be though are absolute nuisances that want to make my warp worse." Turning back towards the courtyard, Tlopfest got a faraway look in his eyes. "I eventually found my way to one of their fortresses and, with the help of my friends, we pushed them a little further out of our reality. I was also able to gain a better insight as to how to control these effects. Thankfully, it worked, and I hadn't had a warp episode in a long time, ever since we first set first in that dreadful Emptiness."
Not even Derf was safe from the shiver that came when one uttered that dimension's name. "That..sounds ominous."
"It is. That dimension is the closest any normal living entity can get to the Void between worlds without being lost to it. I had somewhat forgotten about it honestly, until that first episode of mine back on Albion." Frowning, Tlopfest continued. "Truth be told, after having recalled and relived the issues that Thaumaturgy had given me, I am not sure I would even want to teach Louise, much less anyone else, about this magic, even if I do eventually find some redstone, or something similar to it at least," Breaking out of his stupor however, Tlopfest noticed Colbert heading out of the Academy gates, as well as Siesta having a suitcase in her hands, looking around for something. "Wonder what those two are doing…" Picking up Derflinger, Tlopfest headed out of the dorm tower to see what Siesta was doing, as well as possibly figuring out where Colbert was running off to.
"Oi, Siesta!" Tlopfest shouted, getting her attention. "You looking for something?"
"Oh, uh, no, not particularly Tlopfest. Although I was looking for you and Miss Louise."
"What for? Is it something to do with that suitcase of yours?"
"Y-yes, actually. I am heading home to see my family again. I was wondering if you and Miss Louise would want to come along."
"Ah, I see. While I would be happy to come along, I don't really know about Louise-"
"I shall come as well,'' said Pinkette announced as she walked up behind Tlopfest. "The headmaster actually suggested that I take some time off due to what we experienced back in Albion."
"Well, that's convenient." Turning to Siesta, Tlopfest smiled. "Then I suppose you can count us in for coming along."
Nearby however, Tabitha, Kirche, and Guiche could be seen overhearing their conversation. "Headmaster Osmond said that? Hmph, I doubt that." Kirche said.
"Still, it would probably be best for them to take a small break. They were the ones who had to directly deal with Wardes and everything…" Guiche commented.
"Well I have still yet to redeem my 'date' with Louise's familiar. Why don't we just follow them?"
"Stalker." Tabitha commented, still reading from her book.
"Wha-I am not! I'm just looking out for my favorite familiar and friend!" Kirche shot back, only to be met with a low growl from her own familiar. "Er…second favorite…You're still my own Flame, you know that right?" Flame grunted, turning away from Kirche in a bit of a pout.
"Smooth.." Guiche said with a small smirk.
"Oh like you're any better you playboy!" Over their arguing, Tabitha noticed Tlopfest, Louise, and Siesta riding out of the academy on horseback. Lightly grinning, Tabitha closed her book and headed back towards her room, leaving the other two to argue. By the time they stopped their ranting, the three that they were originally watching were long gone, and their blue-haired friend nowhere to be seen.
Yup, heading to Tarbes next! As I said though, work has been pretty crazy lately, so things may be fairly slow for a while. But as I said before, I'm a man of my word, and will definitely finish this story! If not for me then for you guys. I'm already this far in, may as well keep going, right?
Anyhow, hope you guys enjoyed. Leave a review/PM me if you saw something really wrong somewhere (or for any other reason really), and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!