Chapter 6: Omega of Zell
"Our village is near, just up ahead."
"We'll make it quickly if we keep up this tread." The twin explained.
After getting hit by Lizen again, the group rode Shiku and Leo for an hour. Never in his life would Flores have ever thought about riding on the back of a limerick-rhyming stone dog. But after everything, he didn't know what to expect anymore.
"I must say, this is quite a daunting situation. No leads, zero reliable witnesses—and now we're throwing illusion magic into the mix. This is all just one big mess." Lizen complained as he inscribed another disc.
"Indeed it was; Riala was pissed."
"She sent her advanced guard, sensing something was amiss."
"The person who ran"
"Escaped without a plan."
"We think that he had help, and that was a twist." The twins deduced.
"So they had an inside man. What a twist indeed." Lizen hopped off of Leo and walked beside the stone dogs.
"Of course, it's just speculation. But I think we can all agree on who the traitor is, right?"
"Katarina." They all said it at the same time.
"Of course, she's the main suspect. We'll start our investigation after meeting with Riala."
"I don't know who this Katarina is, but she does sound disappointing." Flores thought.
Keeping up the pace, they soon reached a wooden gate. Shiku transformed back into her human form and knocked on the gate in a certain pattern. This caught the attention of the guard as the door was opened.
The guard was a lion with a greatsword on his back. And if Flore's memory was correct, it was a German blade called a zweihander.
"Those late-night YouTube videos were really paying off."
"Back already? did you find-" The lion looked over at him and cleared his throat. "Well, good job."
The lion opened the gate even further, allowing them in.
Flores felt bad for scoffing at the gate, since it was a lot larger on the inside. It was completely different from what was on the outside. Stone walls lined the borders of the town, with the buildings being similar to the ones in Ken'bitch. There was even a large castle at the end, much like the fort on top of the hill of Ken'bitch.
Flores was even more surprised when he saw the civilians here. They all had monster-like features, like Leo and Neila, and were the main population of the town.
"I see that you also found Lizen; guess what that would mean-"
"Ray!" Neila cheered as she jumped on the lion's arm.
"Little Neila is here as well. I didn't think you'd be returning so soon." Ray chuckled.
"Things became complicated, so our search had to cease."
"We need to speak with our sister so we can put together this piece."
The lion grumbled before scratching his mane. "If that's your plan, go for it. Just be warned; it's one of those days.
"Daughter of a bastard." Shiku, Lizen, and Leo both mumbled.
"Flores. If you ever have the feeling your soul is leaving your body, warn us immediately."
"The hell is that supposed to mean!?"
"Hopefully, you won't have to deal with it. Stay with Ray for now, Neila. And tell Jay I said hi."
"Okay Daddy."
Lizen rode off on Leo while Shiku lingered behind. Flores still didn't know whether or not the soul thing was a joke or not. So he immediately went on guard.
/~/
Entering the castle was easier than expected. It still made Flores question the security of this place, but if they're thriving, then he had no reason to complain. The castle was large on the inside. You'll have your usual stuff, like servants quarters and bookshelves. Then you'll have the odd stuff, like the ghost haunting the place.
At first, Flores thought he was seeing things. But the further he went up, the more ghost-like creatures he saw. The most he found were the ghosts of cassowaries filling the hallway. They walked on the walls and ceilings as they went down the hall.
He even freaked out a bit when he walked straight through one of them. That moment fueled the conclusion that this place was haunted. And then everything made sense once he finally reached the room of the omega.
Flores fell to the ground as he felt all the strength he had slowly fade away. He didn't have the strength to call out for help, but Lizen noticed and started to move his lips. He didn't hear a single word he said, but it seemed to alleviate some of the pressure, allowing him to stand.
"What the fuck?"
"So, how does it feel to have your soul pulled?"
"My what!"
"The whole reason why we're here." Lizen opened the door and immediately sighed at the sight.
When he entered the room himself, Flores was also at a loss for words. Bottles of wine were neatly stacked into some form of tower. Clothes littered the ground, and finally. A woman with black hair with red tips and wings sprawled out on her bed. She snored loudly and held a half-empty bottle in her hand. From the looks of it, it seemed to be some form of wine. A different brand from the ones stacked in the corner.
"I swear this woman has no dignity to speak of." Lizen walked over to the bird girl and tapped her on the neck. Chanting some quick rhymes. A surge of electricity leaped from his finger and onto the sleeping girl, jolting her awake.
Lizen pushed Flores out of the room before leaping out himself. The only thing Flores heard was a groan, followed by a train whistle and some sort of explosion.
"Okay, I think it's safe to go in now."
Entering the room once again, Flores confirmed that his ears hadn't deceived him. Bits and pieces of glass were all scattered across the room, with the wall missing.
"Alright, who- Oh great, it's you." The tipsy woman pouted as she looked at Lizen.
"Good evening to you too, Riala." Lizen scoffed.
"Ugh, and right in the middle of my evening nap." Riala drunkenly pushed them out of the room and slammed the door shut. This world will always confuse me.
"Well, you're still alive. It looks like she's sober enough to act rationally."
"I almost died, and that's the reaction you give?"
"Don't worry, hero, it's all very natural."
"Losing your soul doesn't mean death if you want to be factual."
"That doesn't make things any better!"
/~/
The throne room was pretty much any castle throne room that you'll see. There were two thrones, a big one for Riala, and one smashed up and in the fireplace. It was fireproof, however, since the chair refused to burn even after being in the flames for so long.
As Flores got closer, there was this one farmer dude who passed out on Riala's throne. His hair was disheveled, with stubble growing on his chin.
Usually, Flores wouldn't blame a person's unhygienic lifestyle on drinking. But the drinking was totally to blame. The signs of alcohol, to some degree, were obvious. Excluding the plethora of bottles around the guy. His clothes were drenched in wine and other drinks. And it was so bad that Flores could smell it from the other side of the room.
"Damn, this guy needs a shower."
"Alright, bitches, and Leo. I sobbed myself up for this, so let's get this- oh I forgot he was here. Melinda!"
"I'm on it." The cow maid groaned as she dragged the supposed farmer out of the room. On his way out, Flores couldn't help but notice a miniature rake on his hip.
"Guess I was right about the farmer bit."
"Don't question him; he's a drinking buddy of mine."
"You mean you go drinking with your landscape artist?" Flores joked.
"That's not important right now. Let's get this meeting underway."
Entering the room. Riala was followed by several other guards and a ghost-like hawk on her shoulder. She wore a black dress that went down to her knees, along with sandals and an odd red sash wrapped around her shoulder.
Out of all her soldiers, the one behind her caught Flores's attention. He was an elephant who dwarfed Riala in size, both in height and muscle. He wore a grey suit and fedora, along with a long, light blue coat that stretched down to his calves.
More importantly, his belt, hat, shoe, and coat were all lined with weapons. Daggers, boomerangs, swords, and even hammers were all equipped in some odd fashion. That's not even mentioning the hidden daggers he saw peeking out of his sleeves.
"Note to self: never mess with him ever."
"Ricten, you're back!" Leo cheered.
"I heard both of you succeeded; nice work, you two." Ricten began to scratch Leo and Shiku behind the ear.
"Guess having animal traits means you literally have animal traits. I'll test this out later with a stick."
"Alright, I want to get back to bed, so let's knock out the important stuff. Lizen, why are you here?"
"Is it suddenly a crime for me to enter the castle now? Seriously, no need to be such a bitch."
"W-wha?"
"In the derogatory term."
"Oh, fuck you!"
Riala got out of her chair but was stopped by Ricten.
"I thought you two were out of the pettiness stage already?" Ricten sighed.
"And stop messing with this beautiful stag? Absolutely not!"
"I'm a doe; thank you very much."
The tension in the room was high. Flores felt his soul start to get pulled once again as Lizen and Riala stared each other down.
"Guess it looks like I have to add domestic situations to the list of possible deaths here. Overall, this place gets a 6 on the safety scale."
"Perhaps we should change the topic to something more important," Ricten interjected.
"Give me a minute; I have to deal with my ex."
"Wait what!? You're Neila's mother?!"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"... that explains so much."
"What do you mean by that!?" Riala exclaimed, offended by Flores's comment.
"Um Sis. You do realize that you're talking to the assassin who tried to kill you." Ricten scoffed.
All eyes were immediately turned to Flores.
"I am?... Oh yeah, ha. Forgot about that." Riala chuckled a bit. "The darkness of shadow extends from my arm. Strike my foe and cause him great harm. [Star Shadow Spike.]"
Riala raised her hand. Her shadow mimicked the same action before shooting a dark projectile at Flores.
"Slab of earth, rise from the ground, protect my ally from the shadows abound. [Star Earth Barrier]"
Thankfully. Leo quickly chanted his spell and deployed a wall, stopping the attack before it could reach my heart.
"Sister, please. Leave violence for last."
"Trust in me; there is another to blast."
"Aww, I was going to make him a shishkabob for later."
"Before you try to kill him again, you two haven't formally met. Morale meet train, train meet Morale?" Lizen introduced.
"Morale as in inspiration? Your parents really wanted to gain favor in the church, didn't they?" Riala mocked.
"No, my name is Flores. I also think he means morale, as in the weapon I wield." Pointing to the obvious flag on my back, many of the guards in the room do a double take. Is it really that hard to notice the weapon?
"Wait. You're the holy hero? Oh, Miguel I just completely dodged a bullet there, my bad." Riala chuckled as she scratched her head.
"I don't know what's worse for the world. The fact that I'm down an arm. Or the train hero being both an intimidating powerhouse and a ditzy airhead at the same time."
"... Lizen, I think the world is doomed."
"I say that to myself every time I look at one of you."
"What does that mean?" Both Flores and Riala exclaimed.
"Anyway, I have reason to believe Flores was framed. So that means one of your spies spilled the beans."
"Katarina?"
"Most likely.
"We were planning on investigating after meeting you."
"We need to find out why she'll try this coup." Shiku and Leo explained.
"Well, I have nothing else to do. Might as well." Riala sprung out of her chair, performed a flip midair, and landed next to the group. "Ricten, are you coming along?
"You're asking your butler to help you track down a possible fugitive?"
"Absolutely!"
"Fuck it then; let's do it."
/~/
As they traveled through the bottom layers of the castle. More ghosts, or what Riala called "spirits," littered the halls. Apparently, Riala's was made after a powerful creature called the soul, Peryton. This allows her to do many soul shenanigans. Her favorite of the bunch allows her to rip the souls out of another creature's body and leave it in a ghost-like state.
This only added to the fear Flores had for the hero. The sheer number of ghosts in the place meant that she stole the souls of over a hundred monsters.
"And that's another person on the don't fight ever list."
After a bit of walking and a lot of stairs, they finally made it down to the residential hall. Many servants walk in and out of their rooms, going about their daily business. A few stopped to say hi, while others fell to the ground and praised the glory of the omega. Needless to say, those were the weird people in this place.
"So this is Katarina's room?" Flores reached over and turned the knob, but Lizen pushed him aside before he could open it.
"Geez Flores, ever heard of knocking?"
"You didn't knock when entering Riala's room?"
"It was second nature. You still need to have class when entering a girls room." Lizen cleared his throat and knocked on the door twice. When he went for the third knock, he instead kicked the door, knocking it off its hinges.
"See what I mean? Class."
"Oi, what's the big ide-. Oh, fuck."
Katarina stood in fear as the group entered the room. Flores quickly recognized what species she was. It was an Ahuizotl. A dog with a hand at the end of its long monkey-like tail.
"Katarina hey. We have some questions to ask." Lizen pulled out some rope before Riala entered the room.
"Before we begin, would you like a drink?" Riala produced a bottle of wine labeled "dragon killer" and tossed it over to Katarina.
/~/
"Alright, Katarina, it's time to play a game of piano or no piano. Katarina, do you want a piano?"
"No!" The girl cried out.
During Riala's drink break,. Ricten set up a mechanism that would make a piano fall if he cut all five ropes. Despite the odd way or torture Flores is witnessing. He could only question where the elephant got the piano from.
"Well, that's sad. This was an expensive piece made from Yang Sho wood. It is very durable and can easily crush a body if it were to fall. Not that it would fall; that all depends on your answers." Lizen cut a rope with one of his arrows, lowering the piano a set distance before the other ropes stopped it.
"Don't you think this is a little too extreme? We don't even know if she's the culprit yet."
"That's exactly why we're interrogating her. We have more spies anyway."
"And if you want proof of her being a suspect,. Katarina is the only one I know that could have leaked your identity." Riala added.
"Really?"
"She's the only one I send to Ken'bitch. She does give intel sometimes, but she's mostly there to keep an eye on Neila."
"I met with her the day you went drinking. She drew a picture of you and everything so she could pass it on to Riala... which she didn't." Lizen added.
"Not to mention. Getting into the castle uncontested and out uncontested is near impossible. The animal guards will be enough to stop most intruders from entering or escaping. Especially with Akuma, the cassowary, and our twin Inu guarding the place." Ricten added.
"So the only way for someone to enter."
"Means that someone had to act as their mentor."
"A spy in this case."
"Has plenty of knowledge of the place."
"That's how they made it to the center." Leo and Shiku explained.
"All good points. Well, I guess dropping a piano on her won't be so bad then." Flores relented.
"I swear it wasn't me." Katarina cried.
"Not the answer we were looking for. Rope number 2." Lizen heartlessly cut the rope once more, dropping the piano another set distance.
"Alright, alright, I'll talk. Just promise you won't drop that on me."
"No promises. Actually, because you asked that." Lizen then cut another rope, leaving only two left. "Start talking!" Lizen threatened.
"Alright alright. There was this man who had this weird ability to summon boxes with items in them. He promised me money and luxury if I told him how to get to where the omega sleeps. I said no at first, but after he gave me this necklace, I couldn't help myself."
Since she was tied up in a chair, she gestured to the necklace on her neck with her head.
"And why mix Flores up in this?"
"It was only a suggestion. I mean, why would he try it? The hero was supposedly dead, right?"
"...Are you dumbass?" Ricten asked.
"Please, have mercy. I didn't think he'd try to kill you!"
"What did you expect was going to happen?"
"I don't know; he'll sleep with her or something. I know it's been awhile with your separation and all."
"...Lizen, another rope, please."
"With pleasure, honey." Lizen cut the fourth rope, dropping the piano just over Katarina's head.
"That's probably the first time they agreed with each other since we got here."
"Seriously, I can't believe you allow her to watch our daughter."
"What? She's a good babysitter."
"I'm sorry, how long have you two been separated for again?"
"Around three months." Everyone answered.
"Alright, I think we're done here. Lizen." Ricten sighed.. Lizen walked over to the final rope and started cutting.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait. He's from the dark hydra; he sent his subordinate to sneak in before leaving. That's all I know, I swear!" Katarina cried.
"You sure? I can finish cutting this rope right now."
"Yes, I'm sure! Please, I don't want to die!" The girl was crying even more, fearing for her life, as the elephant showed zero signs of mercy.
"Ugh. Dark hydra." Lizen groaned.
"Dark Hydra?"
"It's a mercenary guild of Arcadia's most devious. Their leader is unknown, but the 5 people under him are some of the most dangerous mercenaries. They call themselves the boys."
"Well, I've heard weirder names... This place never ceases to amaze me."
"Still. Fighting Riala is a stupid idea all around. She's arguably stronger than Yomiko, and she can hold her own against Mihare just fine. Even if she died, nothing would change. So why try anyway?" Lizen asked.
"We can go ask him ourselves." Ricten cut the final rope, releasing the piano. Pleading for her life, Ricten quickly moved the chair away from the impact zone, sparing her life.
"I'll take her to the cells. You guys prepare for departure." Ricten ordered. Pulling out a smaller piano from his pocket. Ricten slowly played a tune as he walked out. A tune you'll play while on a bizarre adventure.
"Okay, before we go. Give me a minute to drop off Hol, then we can go murder."
"Who the hell is Hol?"
