This is a continuation of the last chapter, also...towards the end, I won't spoil it, but there's something fun there...onward to the chapter!
Chapter 19
Scorching Desert
(Part 2)
At the Musel estate...
Troy sat at the dinner table with father and mother present, the former holding a letter, shaking in his hand...
"You want to explain to me, why I got this today, Troy?" with bared teeth.
The oldest boy gulped, "I uh...I think I know why...there was a mission I partook in..."
"Oh? A mission is it? please enlighten us!" Count Otto said, not hiding the sarcasm in his voice.
"Honey, I really think you should calm down-" His mother tried to intervene.
The count snorted, "If you only read what was on this letter, you wouldn't be as calm as you are now...there's no reason to be soft here," turning back to him, "Now what was this "Mission" and what did it entail...?"
Troy took a deep breath and began to relay everything that had happened during it, his parent's expression changing from shock to anger as he laid it out...finishing with a sigh.
"And that's it...that's everything that happened..." The blonde knight said with a darkened expression, "I'm...truly sorry, for all of this...I didn't know it would come back and-"
"Enough boy...Just...enough..." Count Otto said in a facepalm, "I get it, you were cornered into going, otherwise the Levantine girl would've punished you...Okay, say I believe you...but hurting the maid son?"
"I didn't mean to do it...I just wanted to get away from her, I didn't know it would hurt her that badly...and now we're stuck with this...I don't know what to do...it's clear what going over there would mean..."
His father nodded, "Yeah, certain death..." going quiet for a moment, clenching his fist after, "Those damn Levantines have been overstepping for far too long...I get that you were in her service, but the second you weren't comfortable with this...she shouldn't have shoved you there anyway...so I think I'm going to write a letter to Lady Claudia tonight...after the letter's done, Troy?"
"Y-yes father?" He asked in a worried tone.
"You and I are going to Lord Swain's estate tomorrow, wear your best clothes...you have to man up and make amends, I cannot do that for you..." The older man told him.
"But...she might not forgive me for it...!" Troy tried to protest but got a hardened glare from his father.
"Even if she doesn't, boy...It'll go on Record that you at least tried to make amends, and depending on how you do with it, you might just walk away with scars..." Count Otto said, standing up, "Now, I'm going to get started on the letter, once again my son, after I'm done, we've got some manning up to do..."
And like that, he left the dinner table, his wife sighing at his departure...
"That man...sometimes I wonder what drives him..." She said, turning to Troy, "You should get some rest too, after a story like that, I can't imagine how tired you are..." with a sweet smile.
Troy blushed, and stood up, "Thank you, Mother, you've always been the fair one in the family...no matter what happens during my trip there, I just want you to know, I've always loved that about you..." giving her a hug, standing there for a moment as she tightened it.
Eventually, they let go, the blond knight waving as he headed to his room.
"I'll see you in the morning, Good night Mother,"
"Good night, Troy..." She said waving back, before a worried look took her features...'I pray no harm comes to you or your brother...' glancing at a family photo of them together, 'Wherever he may be...'
Swain's estate...
Swain looked at some papers as he had a Calling Stone on the desk.
"Thanks to some powers, I was able to get some names. However, there's only much that can be done," he explained.
"How about the others?" it was Gronik's voice.
"I had to get some answers from a couple of Black Dogs that tried to infiltrate my estate." Swain responded, "Most of the Lightbringers are with them, the entire church is corrupted by lust, and there's the nobility that decided to side with the Black Dogs."
"That can't be good." Gronik mumbled, "Did you get word of something?"
"Unfortunately, no, they are very meticulous here in Ken," Swain said as a Dark Elf maid with glasses entered, nearly dropping the cup of tea, "I may need the help of two Dark Blades for the moment."
"I'll see to it," Gronik said before cutting the conversation.
Swain sighed before saying, "Mogganos, you need to be a little more on time."
"Sorry sir! I just tripped three times on my way here!" the maid apologized as she was bowing again and again.
"As you possess the soul and powers of a Croacka Demon, you need to be more balanced," Swain said as he grabbed the cup before it fell.
"But it's a bit hard to do with how I am." the maid pointed to her big chest.
"I'm still amazed by the fact that you point it out without humility." Swain shook his head before tasting the tea, "You put in salt, not sugar..."
"Sorry, sorry, sorry-"
"Well, I'm going to put you in charge of attending to the girl that was found." Swain said after stopping the maid from apologizing more, "You will go and bathe her, tend to any wound she has, and you will go with someone to buy her some clothes."
"Is there a reason why?" the maid asked.
"She needs to be more presentable when I'd take her to Celestine tomorrow," Swain replied as a butler entered with a letter.
"My Lord, a letter from the Musel household," he said as he gave the sealed letter to Swain.
"Let's see... very interesting..." Swain read the letter before looking at the maid, "Go fetch El'gokal and tell her to prepare for the coming of guests tomorrow."
"Y-Yes!" the maid hurried on the way out... only to fall again.
"The fact that a Croacka Demon can be this bad is beyond me..." the butler commented.
In the northern airspace...
The Gryphon soared towards the large mountain, the cargo holding up well despite the speed the beast was going...eventually, it flew through the fake wall, heading straight to the hangar of ships, going for the Aveza...
When it got close enough, it touched down on the ground, the two riders dismounting it.
"Okay, let's get this off him, I'm sure he's tired of lugging it around," Traysek chuckled, pulling out a dagger, and cutting the rope tied to its leg, "There, that should do it...stay here with the ship, there's food onboard already,"
The Gryphon screeched, flying on the deck of the ship, going for a barrel of meat...
Erik whistled, watching him tear the barrel apart, "Hope you know what you're doing, leaving him here," grabbing the side of the cart.
Traysek pointed around, other winged beasts in here, "This is where they go, it's not like we can put him in our house, not even the basement would hold him..." grabbing the other side.
And with that, they made their way towards Gronik's building...slowly and painfully...
When they entered, they saw two Dark blades standing in front of his desk.
"I'm sure that Udemi explained it to you, but you have to help our friend in Ken," he said as the two Dark Blades nodded before vanishing like they weren't there.
Traysek sighed and walked up to the desk, "Hey there Gronik, we got that order you requested...it's outside if you or that orc woman want to take a look at it," feeling as tired as he looked.
"Don't worry about that, I trust you." Gronik smiled before taking a bag from his desk, "Here's your reward."
The Redguard took the bag, "A bit heavier this time, nice~ pleasure doing business, hope there are spicier jobs later...definitely know where I'm going now," motioning to Erik to follow.
"Nice to see you again, Sir Gronik, until next time," Erik said, with a bow before leaving to follow.
Outside, they found Arripe running with a pile of papers before falling face-first in front of them.
They both winced at the fall, before helping gather the papers...
"Ah Arripe, been too long, how's repairs going?" Traysek asked, handing him half a stack.
"There were some difficulties with the metal that you brought." the young Dark Elf said as he gathered some papers, "Runes don't stay in place; they either lose their power, or they melt the metal. That's why I'm conducting experiments with other metals."
The Redguard rubbed his chin, "Hmm...is that so? Well, I might have someone who can help you the next time you try it, a robot by the name of Omnico, a machine but, a very smart one, good with repairs...but for now," turning towards the weapons warehouse or direction of, "I have a book to buy, as well as some recipes...but should you need it, don't hesitate to find us, fifth district, house of wings...is where we are..."
"As for me, I think I'm going to look to see what kind of armor they've got...after seeing how yours looked, I kinda want a set of my own..." Erik grinned, "If not, we'll I can try my luck again," handing him the other stack, turning to head in another direction, "I'll be back at the house later, take care guys,"
"Take care, Erik, try not to get in too much trouble, alright?" Traysek waved, before turning to Arripe, "Well, I'll get going on what I'm doing, I'll see you around Arripe," with a friendly smile, heading towards to the weapons warehouse.
On his way to the warehouse, Traysek spotted the two adventurers they met before as the wolf boy had his hydra and also had two familiar swords.
"How are you going to use them?" the Dark Elf asked with a confused expression.
"I'll ask the General to put me in a training drill with others." the wolf boy answered, "Having a bow is good, but I need to train for close combat."
"But can you use two swords?" she asked again.
"I need to be ready in case I don't have the right element." the wolf boy answered, "Besides, those weapons are cool."
'Hmm...I remember them, saw them at the job board on our first run...maybe they just got back from the warehouse,' He mused as he passed by them, eyes going wide, 'I recognize those swords, we held them before I got the scythe...nice to know where they went to, still...Inigo's going to be disappointed to know it...' before turning his gaze to the building, 'Speaking of...after this run, then we can talk about what happened there...' heading inside...
Marketplace...
Erik wandered around, checking out different sets of armor he wanted, finding a few to be either too slim or too bulky and heavy looking... he pressed on until he spotted a golden glint, turned to it, to find a bizarre set of armor, with eyes engraved into it, followed by a face in the torso, "Ooooh what's this?" giving it an overall look, before heading in, finding a minotaur tending to a large weapon, "Uh...Excuse me? Are you the blacksmith here?" with a smile.
The Minotaur, looking young, turned and looked down at Eric, "You want to see the old man?" he asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"Sure," Erik said with a furrowed brow, looking him up and down, "You the son of the owner here, you look more like an adventurer,"
"Can't say no to the old man." the Minotaur smirked, "The name's Rozak, Ebony ranked adventurer." he then analyzed Eric, "You sure need something better than what you have."
The Nord sighed, holding up his gauntlet, a ring hanging off, "Tell me about it, I've been using this set for so long it's actually beginning to wear..." giving it a flick, which popped it off, shaking his head, "That's why I came today, that armor over there with eyes and face on it got my attention," motioning his head to the madness armor.
"You need to see this with the old man for the price of that one." Rozak sighed, "But it depends if you have the gems."
Erik nodded, "Could you do that, I'm sure I'm packing plenty of gems here, but getting an actual price might help a ton,"
Not too soon after, Rozak walked out of the back of the shop with an older Minotaur.
"You want that old piece of failure?" the older Minotaur asked before eying Eric's armor, "Well, it's still better than what you have on." He then grabbed his arm and looked at the gauntlet, "Whoever made this was seriously bad at it. Not to mention the bad attempt at 'Reinforcing' it. No talent in it, just put a bunch of stuff and that's it."
"Well, it's cheap run-in-the-mill Iron armor, it was good for adventuring at first, light but tough enough to take blows, but now I truly think it's time for a new set," Erik said, turning to the crazy-looking armor, "And I'm liking the design on this one, reminds me of mad prince back home...bulky too, just around my style..." with a grin, "That's why I want to know how much you wanted for it,"
"Meh... one Diamond." the owner replied, "Of course, you can take it to an enchanter who can put a real enchantment using powerful runes... unlike the method humans use... and it can survive a fight against a living volcano."
"Seriously? For this nice set? deal!" Erik smiled, paying the owed diamond, "Now rune enchantments...those are a bit different than how typical ones go, I'll ask when I get the chance, thank you," giving a bow, before glancing at the Armor, "Now, do you deliver the whole thing or am I able to wear it back?"
"Take it and go." the old Minotaur went back to the forge.
Erik nodded, "No need to tell me twice, alright then," taking the armor from the mannequin.
Weapons Warehouse...
Traysek had two books on the counter in front of the clerk, one based around flintlocks and rifles and the other about different compounds for ammo, "And that's it for today, how much?"
"Ten Diamods." was the response he got.
He nodded, paying the ten Diamonds before grabbing both books, "Thank you, also has anything new come in?"
"Unfortunately, no."
"Ah, I see...that's disappointing, thank you anyway," The Redguard thanked, before taking the books and leaving the warehouse...
Airships docks...
A couple of Orcs brought a cart filled with ores.
"They're here, good." Garoka turned and roared, "Begin with the work you spineless idiots!"
All the Orcs and Dark Elves began to work quickly.
"Seems like you're quite busy." she turned and found a young Kitsune boy standing next to her.
"What're you doing here?" Garoka asked as she raised an eyebrow.
"I wanted to play with you!" he said as a grin appeared on Garoka's face.
With Greil...
Greil looked in the mirror at his new armor.
"Very impressive." he complimented.
"Had to work to make the metal alive." the Dark Elf explained, "Instead of needing to repair it, it can repair itself. Not to mention how resistant it is to hammers and spears."
"You never fail to disappoint." Greil said with a smile, "As the best Blacksmith in this world, we're lucky to have you."
"All I did was to find another way to make armor," he explained.
"And it makes them very resistant." Greil pointed.
"I mean, it's not like people outside the lady you brought to learn from me knows how to be specific about the craft."
"You underestimate yourself a lot." Greil said, "You are blessed by the Earthmother, born to be the best Blacksmith of all time as your weapons and armor are divine."
"Sir, it's not that I'm not grateful, it's just that..." the blacksmith tried to talk, but Greil put a hand on his shoulder.
"Aklyn, you shouldn't put yourself down like that." he said with a smile, "You have a talent that a lot would kill to have, your vision is a vision of someone who should stand up like the hero he is."
Aklyn sighed before saying, "If you say so..."
"I'm sure that you'll get how important you are one day," Greil said before leaving.
Back at the house...
The Rest of the crew spent their time relaxing, Inigo was practicing his archery, while Yuriana was training with her hammer. Recorder on the other hand was hanging out at the balcony, spotting Traysek heading towards them.
"Hey, you're back! how'd it go?" She asked, jumping down to him.
The Redguard nodded, "It went pretty well, easiest money we ever made, got something to work on," looking around, "Where is everybody, we're having a family meeting soon."
"Inigo I think is working on archery, and Yuri is probably just training, as for Lucien...he went to the Archive for more magic he can study," Record answered, giving him a smirk, "And since you're a magic user too, I figured that could be somewhere for you to go, might have new spells there for you,"
"I'll check it out, but one thing at a time," Traysek said, turning his attention to his two books, "I have something else in mind for now, lets just say that certain things that I found out, will barely occur again," making his way towards the house, until...
"Hey, guys~ check out the new me!" They both heard turning around, finding a fully armored mad knight standing there, taking off his helmet to reveal himself.
"Erik...what is this?" The Redguard grinned, checking out his new armor, "That's some handsome armor right there, where'd you get it? Are those eyes and faces?"
"I got this from the minotaur blacksmith nearby, a set of madness armor," Erik chuckled, "Looks like something Sheogorath would wear, with all of this,"
Traysek nodded, "Yeah, especially if those were living faces...ugh..." shuddering at the thought, "Got a way to fortify it?"
"Something about adding runes to this, instead of how we normally enchant it, I can always find him later..." The Nord said, before looking around, "Where's everybody, thought we were getting this meeting started,"
"Lucien's the only one not here right now, can't start it without him..." The Redguard pointed, getting a confused look from Recorder.
"Okay...what's going on? that's twice that's been said now," She asked with a rose eyebrow.
Traysek sighed, "I...found out what happened while we were at the Caravan job...I don't want to talk about it out here, because there's no telling whos listening, so I'll wait until he gets back to go further into it...for now, I have my little project to work on, so I'll see you guys in a bit..." waving at them, heading inside...
Recorder had a worried look on her face, "Wonder what this project is...? hope it isn't something we'll get in trouble over..."
"I'm sure it isn't...it's not like he's doing something suspect with the dead or anything weird like that, he's not Shara," The Nord laughed, getting an eye-roll from her.
The Archive...
Being one of the many services of the Civic Services office, the Archive is a group of scholars and mages who keep a copy of every book that they come across. As well as translating books that are in a language that's unfamiliar to them or old. Anyone can come and read the books, but no one has the right to damage or destroy a book. They can also sell scrolls that contain spells that can be learned by reading them.
"Welcome!" a Salamander girl smiled brightly as she greeted Lucian as he entered the Archive.
The imperial walked in with a nod, "This place is amazing..." spotting the flying books in the great halls, "I thought the college was enough, never thought it would be outdone..." turning to the salamander girl, "Hello there, I was wondering if you had any books on history here, along with any spell tomes,"
"Of course." she went to a desk and wrote some runes on a piece of paper that she gave him, "The first set of runes will guide you to our history section while the second set will guide you to where the grimoires are put. Just one last thing..." now her smile was somehow scary, "Damage any book and you might regret it."
Lucien nervously waved him off, "Of course not, I'll be gentle with the books, appreciate this," before heading off to the history section.
On his way, there were a lot of people reading books while taking some notes on empty scrolls.
'Looks like a class with that many people here, wouldn't be surprised if there was one going right now' He noted, glancing around, 'Okay...now what am I looking for? hmm...' walking to a shelf, scanning through the books, "History of Yamakrohz... the history of the seven kingdoms...' eyes squinting on a book, 'Tribes of the outer kingdoms...okay, I'm definitely grabbing this one for sure...' taking the third book, 'These three should be good enough to research...' looking around for an empty table, spotting on with a stack of empty paper, 'Score...!' heading over to it, taking a seat, starting with the tribe book, "Be good to know more about the races outside of here, don't want any more mistakes like that..." opening it and reading it to himself...
"Hey," a voice called behind him, "That's my place." it was a Dark Elf wearing some sort of robe and a pair of glasses, "Also, those are my papers." she then pointed to a name written on the table.
Lucien glanced up, spotting the elf, " Apologies, I thought this desk was open, I'll go ahead and be out of your way," closing the book up, and beginning to gather his books.
A snicker could be heard as the Dark Elf tried to hold her laughter, "S-Sorry, it's just that it's too easy." she then began to laugh as the name faded.
The imperial noticed, and chuckled, "Nice prank, my boss hasn't even pulled that one yet," sitting back down, reopening the book he was researching, "Good to know, jokes like this are alive here," he laughed, "I'm Lucien Flavius, scientist, and inventor, and you are?"
"The name's Mala, the Dark Flames of Purgatory." she replied with a smile, "Nice to meet you."
"Likewise Mala," Lucien slightly bowed, "So what brings you here today? I doubt it's to chat with this bookworm,"
"I'm here to know more about fire as an element." she replied, "And seeing what you have... you seem to be a history nerd..."
Lucien rubbed his chin at that, "Fire huh? Out of all the elements...I'm pretty versed there, at least in the form of gathering it in magic," holding his hand up with a small fireball in it, before closing his hand, "As for the history books, you got me there, I enjoy learning about cultures of the past and present...my belief in that is by learning from the past, we can prevent making the same mistakes..." clearing his throat, when he realized his excitement, "Sorry, I was rambling there, didn't mean to get too crazy there, but that's my reason,"
"When I talk about Fire, I talk about the element, not the magic." Mala cleared, "To be more precise, the Fire elemental plane."
"Ah, the foundation of fire itself...okay then," Lucien concluded, "We never had planes like these where we came from, almost sounds like oblivion or Hammerfell, no offense, seems like a very hot place to be,"
"Well, if your element is fire, you have nothing to worry about." she stated, "Of course, There's still the risk of encountering the Elemental Lords of the place, but it's rare that they move away from their palace."
Lucien nodded, "Interesting, not that I ever have any intention of going, but now I know what to expect," going back into the book of tribes, grabbing a paper and quill dipping it in Ink, "Before this war starts, I want to take the opportunity to know about the past and current tribes outside of here, that way we don't make the mistake of thinking they're an enemy,"
"Pretty smart." Mala smiled, "Way smarter than Musashi."
The imperial frowned upon that, "And whose that supposed to be?" with an eyebrow raised.
She showed him a ring, "I let you conclude it."
Lucien thought on that for a moment, before coming to a conclusion, "So...he's either bound into that ring, or...your significant other, if the latter, congratulations," with applause, "So when's the wedding?"
"He has still to give it to me." she giggled, "I think that he's a little shy, and perhaps a little scared."
Upon hearing that, he had a worried look on his face, "And why would he be afraid? I mean get the worst thing being a "No" from you, but still..."
"Well, ever since I-" she didn't have time to finish as her calling stone.
"Where are you?! Have you forgotten that we need to prepare the tests?!" a man yelled.
"Jeez, you're too loud," she replied.
"Just come here."
"Fine." Mala sighed before turning to Lucian, "See you later." she then went away.
Lucien waved back, "See you soon as well," before going back into the book, "Now...where to start...?"
A few hours later...
The imperial closed the book and held a stack of notes, 'Okay, looks like I've got plenty jotted down, hopefully, the guys make use of these...' standing up, stretching his back, "Time to head home..." leaving the desk.
Upon leaving the salamander girl thanked him for visiting, as he left the archive, heading in the direction of their house...
Once he returned, he found Inigo and Yuriana seemingly worried about something, as he frowned.
"Hey, guys? what's going on? what's with those faces?" He asked.
Inigo sighed, "Well, The boss and Erik are back, but..." rubbing the back of his neck.
"There's a family meeting coming up once he's done with whatever it is he's doing in the basement, said to send you to him if we see you," Yuriana finished for him.
Lucien gulped, "I...see...alright, I'll go to him now, after dropping these off," heading in the house.
...
After he dropped off the notes, Lucien made his way toward the basement, hearing the sounds of banging and clanking...
'What's he doing down there? sounds like he's making something,' going down the stairs, "Boss? you down here?"
"Yeah! Is that Lucien?" A voice down the stairs called, "Been waiting for you, come on down!"
The imperial continued his descent down the stairs, finding a table full of strange components laying there, watching Traysek tinker with something.
"Glad you could make it, I take it the other two sent you to me?" The Redguard asked, getting a nod.
"They did, they also said you had a meeting later?" Lucien said with a rose eyebrow.
Traysek turned around with a stern expression, "Yeah...and I think you know why..."
The imperial gulped, "Yeah...I do...the Gnolls, right?"
"Yeah the Gnolls...but luckily for you, you get to make that up to me by helping me with my little project before we get to that meeting..." His boss said, turning back to the table.
"Sure, whatever you want, just name it," Lucien concurred.
The Redguard smirked, "Well then, how do you feel about, gunsmithing?"
"I beg your pardon, sir?"
Traysek sighed, directing him to the two books, "Earlier before coming back, I found two books explaining ways to craft different Flinlocks, rifles, blunderbusses, including silenced guns, and a book with different ammunitions..."
The imperial looked over the schematics and nodded, "These look a lot heavier than our current guns...even the ammunition...I like the idea, how many are we making?"
"How many of us are here?" The Redguard reminded.
"Right, good point, but..." Lucien started off, "Where are we going to get the metals to make it? seems like it takes specific steel to get it right,"
Traysek laughed, "The metal isn't that important, we already have plenty of metals to work with...we just need to apply it with this and we're solid," putting a hand on his shoulder, "And once we get the meeting out of the way, you get first dibs for helping me..."
"Really? I get the first choice on the guns? Well then sir, say no more," A bright grin now the imperial, "What are we starting with first?"
The Redguard smirked, "I thought you would never ask...for now, we can start with the flintlocks, it'll be a good way to see if these are effective or not...and if so, we'll make more..."
"Okay, I think I get what you're going with here," Lucien nodded, "Let's get started then,"
And with that, they got to work, the furnace burning even hotter that evening...
In a house not too far from Erdora...
A familiar Dark Elf was lying on the ground with her armor broken and lifeless eyes.
A young boy had walked into the room, noticing her opened eyes, "Oh, you're finally awake...do you know where you are?"
She didn't move, or blinked... it was like looking at a living corpse.
The boy cleared his throat, "Well uh...I see you're still like that, I see... I brought food and water, figured you would need that, despite not remembering who you are...everyone has to eat...right?" setting down the food, "I'll... let the others know," before turning to leave the house, noticing another empty basket, 'Good to know she'll eat...but...'
Once back outside, he approached two huntresses, the blonde one stepping forward.
"How is she?" She asked, getting a headshake from the boy.
"Still memory-less and lifeless..." Mikail said, turning to the shack, "But from the last basket she sent, she's at least eating..."
Ingrid nodded, "That's good on that end, but, if she's still in that mood and without memories, we will not be able to get our people back, especially if we hand her in like this..."
"Then what are we going to do?" Her sister asked, "It's not like we could cook up a potion that could just give her memories back in a flash..."
"Maybe we don't have to...we could instead, bring that spirit up first by making her feel welcome..." Ingrid thought up, getting a wide-eyed reaction.
"Are you crazy?!" Mikhail raised his voice, "Are you both forgetting that she along with that other dark elf is responsible for the destruction of our village?! All the deaths, caused by this monster! and now you want to bring her in, as part of the village..." hands on head, "I don't believe what I'm hearing, I could handle being a nurse, but this...?"
Ingrid sighed, "I get it, Mikhail...she killed your father, left you to die and you want revenge, but our people's fate rests upon her recovery, no matter how long it takes..." placing a hand on his shoulder, "I understand how you feel, more than anything I feel the same way...but we HAVE to do this, right now, is not the time to get even...this is a time of healing...that which includes her..." pointing at the shack "if we have to make her feel like she's apart of our village just to give her a purpose in life again? so be it...but understand it will be temporary, until then, I need you to hold it in, can you do that?"
The boy frustratingly kicked a rock with a defeated sigh, "Fine...I'll keep playing nice, for now..." walking off, "I'm going back to the village, it's your turn to care for the vegetable..."
Natasha watched him walk off, "Should I keep an eye on him, sis? he's getting more aggressive by the day..."
"Yeah...we'll need to, anger can make a person do the unthinkable, and he's not himself right now..." The blonde sighed, turning to the house, "Then again, if someone who tried to kill me was there in place of, I don't I would be so forgiving either...I feel bad for the kid, but he could mess this up if he carries on with it..."
"Agreed, I'll make sure he won't try anything, can't be too hard..." Natasha said, heading back to the settlement, "I'll head back too, don't want him to plant any traps in case, well, you know..."
Ingrid nodded, giving her a wave, "See you back at the village," before turning her gaze to the window, with a deep sigh, "Now then...this is where I do my part..." heading towards the house.
To be continued
Omake: Apology
Troy stood next to the bed where Del was. The maid was lying there with bandages over her eyes.
He took a deep breath, dressed in his best clothes, that being a purple tailcoat for some reason...possibly fashion, as stared down at the damage he had caused...clenching his fist.
"By the goddess...I...didn't realize what I did to you..." Looking over the bandages, "I never meant to do this, I'm...truly sorry..." bowing his head, holding roses.
The room goes silent, Del unresponsive to it until...until...!
"Cut!" a voice rang out, the lights turning on, the voice turning out to be Traysek in a director's suit and hat, "Come on Troy, what is that?"
The blonde knight turned around, offended, "Apologizing,"
"No the performance, that's the worst apology I've ever seen...seriously, are you apologizing for burning her eyes out or kicking her dog?"
Troy tried to gain his composure, "I'm sorry, this is just a major role and I'm a bit nervous,"
"It's fine, just try happy," The director told him.
...
The scene restarts with him once again over Del with bandages over her eyes...
"Here I am, I'm sorry!" In a happy voice.
"Errh...give me unhappy!" The director's voice rang.
"I'm sorry..." In an unhappy tone, head down.
"Sadder."
"I'm very sorry..." Troy recited with a slight sob.
"SADDER." The director emphasized.
"I'm truly sorry..." The blonde said, adding more sobs to it.
"Come on, you're girlfriend's dead, Sadder!"
"I'm sor- Wait...I don't have a girlfriend..." Troy uttered back, thinking about it.
"Yes, you do!" The director spat, pointing to someone next to him.
When he looked at where Traysek pointed, he found a busty woman in holy armor, standing there flirtatiously.
But before he could get a word in, the "Director" pulled out a gun and shot her, making his eyes go wide.
"By the goddess, I'm sorry!" He cried, face into the covers.
"The director" sighed, turning to Vice Director Dihya, "Got any ideas?"
"Meh... How about... 'I'm sorry.'" Dihya suggested.
"I'm sorry," Troy recited again, only this time with her as in place of.
"You can do better than that!" The main director shouted.
"I apologize!" holding out the roses.
"Try a bunch of roses in both hands!" the vice director shouted.
The blonde knight held a large bouquet up, and by large, I mean massive, "I'm...sorry!" laying them down on top of her.
"Eh...Try holding them barehanded," The main director ordered.
The knight did just that...even if his palms bled, "Ugh...hope you accept these..." in a pained voice.
"Try saying it in the old language of the High Elves," Dihya said.
Troy only moved his lips as Ophilyana stood next to him saying, "Es tut mir Leid. (I'm sorry.)"
"Now say it in Thorn," Dihya added.
Troy was now completely out of the scene, as the director sighed...
"Not literally..." The knight immediately came back covered in pelts of wolves, "You know what? Forget everything... let's try something new," snapping his fingers, the pelts disappearing on Troy, "Let's try that one guy at the tavern, you know the one..."
The knight thought about it, until slowly nodding to himself, coming back into the shot, "Hey there gorgeous~ I'm totally sorry~"
"With your ballsack!" The main director added in.
"With my ballsa-!" he tried to finish, until Del's hand rocketed to his nuts, giving a very hard squeeze, -aaaaaAAAAAH!" his scream going high pitch.
The main director snickered as the Vice cringed from the crunching sounds.
"You know what, imagine this to be the best moment of your life." Diyha said, "All the battles fought, all your achievements, everything that you did was for this moment alone."
(Dramatic music ensures)
The holy stood over her once again, no flowers this time, and simply knelt, "I...truly apologize for what I did...punish me as you will,"
(Music cuts)
"Nah on second thought, do it how you did the first time, just shorter!" The main director ordered.
The blonde knight bowed his head the same way he did the first shot, "I'm...truly sorry,"
"And cut!" The director ordered, satisfied, "That's the best shot we're going to get, nice job today, Troy!"
The holy knight gave a relieved smile, "You really think so? The real one would buy this?"
"Hahahaha! No. the real one would've most likely bent you over a table in a not-so-gentle way," The director laughed, "Good thing that's a decoy, otherwise from all of that, you'd be paying for it...speaking of," turning to the vice, "Whose the decoy filling that role?"
"According to the papers, it's Recorder," Dihya replied as she opened a bottle of water to drink from it.
Traysek nodded, "Ah, I see...no wonder she did well, still... the ears are very life-like, wonder where she got those from?" taking a sip from his coffee.
There were footsteps approaching, the door busting open with Recorder out of breath, sweating harder than an NBA player...
"*huff* *huff* sorry I'm late!" she panted, wearing only the maid outfit, holding the wig, "Traffic was slow today, I hope you guys haven't gotten started yet,"
The director's eyes widened, "Record...? So...wait, that wasn't you?"
"No, I wasn't here yet," Before spotting the decoy, "I see you guys found someone already..."
"We didn't, No..." Traysek's face contorted to horror with Dihya's, "So...if Record's right here...then who's...?" turning back around in cold sweat.
Troy blinked twice upon that realization, seeing Record in a maid outfit, holding a pink wig, "Uh...are you the second decoy...?"
"No, I'm the first," Recorder said, folding her arms, "Not sure who that is..."
He then felt a tug on his sleeve from behind...
"Now that was a touching moment." horror was on the knight's face as he heard Del's voice, "Don't worry, I'll make sure that you won't forget about what you did." her sweet tone and smile only made it worst when she opened her eyes, revealing Demonic eyes, "I'm so waiting for the next chapter to begin."
The poor knight was screaming like a girl at this point, as the grip on his wrist tightened.
Traysek on the other hand was sweating, hard... "Hold on skippy," as her demonic eyes focused on him, "That comes after our family meeting, which is an entire chapter in itself,"
Troy took a breath of relief..."Oh, thank the goddess..."
"Not to talk about the scene where I'd begin those trials." Dihya said as she took a look at a script, "Interesting..."
"Can I keep him enchained here in the meantime?" Del asked with a cute tone.
Traysek sighed, "That's something the writers have to work out," turning to Del, "And no, you can't keep him chained up there, we're not running a BDSM scene, those are the guys next door!"
"Can I leave now...?" Troy asked in a frightened voice.
Del pouted before letting Troy go, "Party pooper. If only I could break an arm or a leg..."
"Well, I didn't say all of that...just that you couldn't keep him chained down," The director said, reaching into a bag, pulling out a baseball bat with "Fun" written on it, handing it to her, "Since this is an Omake after all, I'm inclined to let you have this..." with a smirk.
The holy knight then broke off in a sprint, "What kind of directors are you?!" he cried.
The maid smiled like a child who received a Christmas gift, "Thank you so much! I won't waste this chance." she wiped a tear before regaining her Demonic eyes and flew with great speed at the knight.
Traysek laughed as the sounds of the metal bat, thumping on a person could be heard along with shouting, "Hoo~ boy hope it doesn't end as violently," with a moment of worry, "Eh, he'll be fine,"
"Speaking of which, you need to be ready." Dihya said as she was putting her armor on, "You don't want to be late, right?"
The Redguard grinned, now back in his crimson garb, "You're not wrong there, onward to the next chapter!"
"Is no one going to help me here?! Ooow!" Troy cried out, as they left the studio room. "HEY!"
Omake End
I hope you all enjoyed that little omake we worked on, our inspiration for it comes from the video: Bad Directors from TomSka on Youtube, along with our own mix. In the future we hope to do more of these, if any of you have ideas for them, please let me know in the reviews, new ideas always help...speaking of as this progresses, I still have no idea who to pair DB up or if I should just let him do his own thing and see where the pendulum lands. feel free to give me your take on it about what I should do there as well...might even put it up for poll since the story went in a unique direction.
That's all for now, take care, everyone, stay safe, and may the gods watch over your stories.