I do not own Dragon Quest 11 or any of the characters.
A.N.: Taking a much darker turn with Jade's imprisonment, though, in all honesty, it was insinuated anyway, so...yeah. Also going to make some changes to Jade's Re-Vamp form, because it's my story and I can.
Rage
Kai took several long breaths, wiping sweat from his forehead. He'd flown too long. Pushed himself too hard. The two day trip had taken him only one, but flying for so long in one continuous go had burned too much energy. He needed rest. But he didn't have time. Somehow, he could feel that there wasn't time.
"Wotcher!" the man greeted Kai as he landed outside of Octagonia. "You 'ere for a bit of R 'n' R like everyone else, eh?"
"Define, R 'n' R," Kai said, using talking to this man as an excuse to rest his aching body.
"Well, people come 'ere to let their 'air down!" the man explained. "I met this girl on the roar, as it 'appens. She said she was 'eadin 'ere, too. Cor, she was a looker. Dressed all funny, she was. One o' them martial artist types, ya know. I was 'opin' to see 'er 'ere, if I'm honest."
Kai frowned. "A beautiful martial artist? Was she wearing green? A crop top and black shorts with a green half skirt?"
The man nodded. "That's 'er. Ya know 'er?"
"She's the one I'm looking for," Kai said. "Thanks for letting me know she's here."
He walked past the man, heading for Octagonia. However, as soon as he'd stepped inside, he stopped. This had definitely changed. The most obvious sign was that the statue of Hendrik which had once adorned the wall of the fight tower and faced the entrance had changed. Hendrik's body remained, holding up its greatsword, but his head had been removed and replaced with a bloated monster's head bearing a crown, large horns, three eyes, and huge, shark-like teeth. The next obvious sign were the monsters strolling around town calmly, some shouting for passers-by to visit the casino. Kai frowned. What casino?
"Welcome to Octagonia," a Hyperanemon, a demon-type monster with tan skin, greeted him cordially.
"So, monsters took over Octagonia," Kai mused. "And turned the fighting competition into a casino, right?"
"That's right," the Hypernemon nodded. "You're in the new Octagonia, now. There's no fighting here anymore. Only fun!"
"Fighting is fun," Kai countered.
The Hypernemon sighed. "Fighting is outlawed by Booga, best and most beautiful of the Spectral Sentinels!" He gestured at the statue. "Why don't you step upstairs and chance your arm? The casino's just upstairs. Who knows, it might be your lucky day!"
"Thanks, I might," Kai said. "Got a few people to check on, first."
The Hypernemon nodded and turned, walking away. As he did, Kai flipped over the side of the bridge, landing lightly in the lower levels of Octagonia and heading for the orphanage. He stopped on the way, however, as a War Gryphon was complaining about wanting to see a female martial artist again.
"What's this about a martial artist?" Kai asked.
"This sssweet, sssweet martial artissst went to the casssino," the War Gryphon hissed. "She had ssssuch lovely, jet black hair and ssssuch ssssensssuousss eyes. Booga may think he's got her all to himssself, but he doesn't love her like I do! No one does!"
Kai's eyes narrowed dangerously, but he nodded mutely, restraining his rage as he headed to the Orphanage, stopping for nothing this time, despite the attempts of a Dancing Devil to get Kai to talk to him by shouting about how the only rule in the new Octagonia was that there were no rules. Another Dancing Devil was lying on the ground outside the casino, complaining about the holy aura of the place. Kai pushed the doors open, then closed them behind himself again, looking around. Except for an elderly woman seated in a pew near the front, there were only children, but if he recalled correctly, the former champ was supposed to live there and take care of the orphans.
"Who are you?" a young boy standing at a pulpit asked.
"My name's Kai," he said. "I'm looking for...was it Vince? The former champ."
"He and Jade went to fight Booga," a young girl with blue hair tied up a bit like Jade's said.
"How long ago?" Kai asked.
"About a week," a woman in an armored bra and panties with a helmet, vambraces, one pauldron, and armored boots, all pink, answered, walking out of a doorway off to the side. "They and a bunch of others from the MMA tournaments joined together to try and drive the monsters out, but none of them ever came back. I'm Whambelina, by the way. You're that guy who interrupted the tournament for a grudge match with Old Man Rab, right?"
Kai's eyes twitched as hatred roared through him for a moment. "Yeah. Do you know if the others are okay?"
Whambelina shook her head. "No one's seen any of them since. Except one."
"Who?" Kai asked.
"He's in here," Whambelina said, leading Kai to a room where a guy in a green martial arts uniform was lying in bed, bruised and broken.
"Hey!" he gasped. "You're Kai!"
"Yeah," Kai nodded. "What happened? Where's Jade?"
The guy shook his head. "We tried to fight them, a bunch of us, but they put us down hard. Jade was the only one still fighting when Booga showed up, but..."
"But what?" Kai asked.
The man sighed. "Booga took one look at her and started ranting about being in love. Said he was gonna make her his woman. She tried to fight him, but...she was no match for him."
Kai's blood roared through his ears. "Make her his woman?"
"Yeah," the guy nodded. "I'm sorry. That was weeks ago. By now, she's probably..."
Kai turned, storming out of the room, his scales forming over his feet and hands as his eyes blazed as they hadn't since his fight with Robert.
"What are you going to do?" Whambelina asked.
"I'm going to go and remind these monsters that this is Octagonia, not Puerto Valor," Kai snarled, pulling his mask on. "This is the home of the bravest, dumbest, strongest, and most violent people in all of Erdrea. And then, I'm going to rip Booga into TINY LITTLE PIECES!"
He shoved the doors open and promptly punted the Dancing Devil lying on the floor in front of it, sending him exploding into the wall of a building directly across from the orphanage, its body being crushed by the impact.
"Hey, hey, what are you doing!?" the Dancing Devil who'd been ranting about the lack of rules shouted. "Fighting's not allow-"
Kai picked him up by the throat, snarling. "The only rule in Octagonia is that there are no rules in Octagonia. So I'm choosing to enjoy that freedom by kicking you all the hell out!"
He smashed the Dancing Devil to the ground hard enough to kill it, then roared. Within seconds, all of the monsters in the city were swarming toward him. The War Gryphon from earlier charged first, only for Kai to kick its head off completely. A Drackmage that had been talking to the War Gryphon flew at Kai, but he backhanded it, sending it bouncing away. The Hypernemon that had met him at the gate landed in front of him, growling.
"I warned you that there was no fighting in the new Octagonia," he intoned darkly.
"Get out of my way!" Kai snarled.
The Hypernemon launched himself at Kai, but Kai caught his punch, crushing his hand, and the Hypernemon shrieked in pain. Then, Kai drilled a punch into the bottom of his sternum, shattering his ribs and crushing his internal organs before spinning, batting a pair of Dancing Devils aside with his body. Both survived the blow, but were left unconscious all the same. Kai turned, storming toward the stairs leading up to what was now the casino, and a Moosifer, a hulking, demon-type monster with red skin, horns, and goat legs, charged down the stairs at him, only for Kai to bend his knees, catch it by the horns, and then twist, hurling it over himself. It shouted in surprise and pain as it crashed across the ground, but as it rose to charge at him again, Kai snarled in annoyance, leaping from the stairs and drilling a punch into its face, caving it in and killing him. Several Magic Puppets dropped toward him from above, only for Kai to exhale a stream of flames up at them, incinerating them. He turned, storming up the stairs again, only for more than a dozen monsters to swarm him. As they did, however, he activated Tension, an aura of violet flames exploding off of him before he swiped a hand, razor-sharp wind ripping them all to shreds.
"These guy's nuts!" a Vampire Succubat shrieked.
"Booga will deal with him!" another cried as they fled toward the casino. "He'll turn him into a monster like the others!"
Fury roared through Kai, intensifying the aura around him, and he stormed after the bats, all of Octagonia, even the city itself, trembling under the force of his wrath. A Ghoul rushed to stop him, but Kai slammed the back of his fist into its head, knocking it unconscious without killing it. He couldn't afford to kill any of the others. Not without knowing which were the MMA fighters who were turned into monsters. A Hypothermion lunged at him as soon as he stepped into the Casino, but Kai slammed the sole of his foot into his face, sending him exploding backward through several slot machines surrounding a pillar. Another Moosifer charged him, but Kai shot forward, ducking under its horns and drilling a fist up into its gut. It roared in pain, exploding upward into the roof of the casino, then crashed back to the ground. From further around the ring-shaped room, a pair more Moosifers charged, but Kai grabbed a slot machine and hurled it, sending it crashing into both of their heads at once, knocking both unconscious. Kai turned toward the stairs into the arena, where the high roller roulette tables were set up, seeing a Drackmage in his way.
"Move!" Kai snarled, and the Drackmage fled.
Kai stormed into the arena, then grabbed a roulette table and smashed it down on another, then kicked both into the third, effectively trashing all three. "BOOGA! GET OUT HERE!"
"Another lamb to the slaughter, eh?" a distorted voice asked as someone walked onto the stage, but it wasn't Booga.
"Jade?" Kai breathed, staring at her.
She was dressed in a black unitard and jacket combo with a bunny tail on the back, if the bunny ear headband was anything to go by, fishnet stockings, high-heeled shoes, a red, cloth choker with a gold heart attached to the front, and gold rings on her wrists but that was the least of the changes, and the least concerning. Her skin was now an unnatural reddish-pink, her irises were crimson, and her hair had paled to a reddish-brown.
"Kai," Jade smirked. "What are you doing here? Don't you have slaughtering to do? I heard Heliodor was put on its back legs, ripe for the slaughter. Have you killed them all already?"
"No, I forgave your father, like you asked," Kai answered. "What has Booga done to you?"
"Booga has made me his woman," Jade answered simply, spreading her arms and smiling. "I'm his, now! He's the only one that matters to me! My heart, my soul, my body! They're all his! And we don't like having any vermin in our love nest. Although, I suppose I could keep you as a pet, if you beg like a good boy."
Kai narrowed his eyes.
"What, are you afraid of a bit of fun?" Jade asked. "Don't tell me you don't know how to treat a woman. Maybe Booga would let me teach you, if you ask nicely enough."
The tower around them began to tremble as Kai's rage climbed steadily higher.
"Take me to Booga, so that I can rip his throat out and feed it to him," Kai snarled.
"And just why would I do that?" Jade asked. "I love Booga. He makes me happy. At least he's not a piece of filth, a lowly vermin, who's so afraid of a woman's body as to turn down a bit of fun."
"Take me to Booga," Kai growled again.
Jade's eyes narrowed. "I'm growing tired of you. It's time for you to leave."
"Jade, please don't make me hurt you," Kai pleaded.
Jade laughed. "What makes you think you can?"
Kai sighed, then stepped forward. Jade's foot flashed up, and he leaned backward avoiding it. She spun, throwing a side kick, and he sidestepped it. She threw a roundhouse kick, and his own kick met hers. For a moment, they matched each other kick for kick, as they had when they'd first met. But as Jade moved to throw a windmill kick, Kai stepped forward, drilling a punch into her gut, lifting her off the ground.
"You're too predictable," Kai informed her, then let her fall limply to the ground.
"Oh dear," a disgusting voice spoke up. "Well, isn't this awkward? You appear to have knobbled my number one croupier!"
Kai narrowed his eyes as Booga finally emerged. He leapt into the arena, towering over Kai. He had green skin, pale yellow on his stomach, digitigrade legs wrapped in puffy, purple pants, a belt with a row of gold circles, each bearing three small, green crystals in them, gold armlets on his bloated upper arms and bangles on his wrists, one bearing a ring of small green orbs and the other bearing a ring of small purple ones, gold claws on the ends of his fingers, the Green Orb on a necklace of gold beads, a purple vest with a wide, red, collar with gold around its edge, red horns, three eyes, a long tail tipped with a tuft of red hair, and a crown atop his head.
"I suspect you don't know who you're dealing with!" Booga snarled. "Let me introduce myself. I am Booga, Spectral Sentinel, breaker of hearts, smasher of heads!"
"Oversized corpse that doesn't know he's already dead," Kai snarled, drawing his sword.
Booga narrowed his eyes before turning to look at Jade, who Kai had distanced himself from for the fight. Booga gasped, hurrying over to her. "Oh, Jade! My pretty little kitty cat! Look what this nasty vermin has done to-"
Kai's shin exploded into Booga's face, launching him away from Jade and into the spectator stands.
"KEEP YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF OF HER!" Kai roared.
"Ooww!" Booga shouted, holding his face, then glared at him. "You've come to steal away my pretty, have you!? No, no, no! That just won't do! Not after I went through all the trouble of putting her under my spell! Do you think it was easy turning such a lovely girl into a horrible monster!?"
"Cry me a river!" Kai snarled. "You won't have to worry about it, since I'm going to cut your head off and shove it up your ass, anyway!"
Booga's eyes narrowed before six shining spheres appeared around his enormous belly, then darkened to black. "You won't be taking my precious Jade! My casino has a zero-tolerance policy against troublemakers, you know. I should throw you out, but I'd rather crush you to a pulp!"
"Bring it on!" Kai snarled.
Booga laughed, then launched himself at Kai. As he fell, he hurled a Kafrizz at him, but Kai roared, a jet of flames redirecting the fireball past him, allowing it to explode harmlessly off to the side. Then, as Booga crashed down where Kai had been a moment before, the spheres spinning around him smashing through the ground, Kai leapt up behind him, kicking him in the head and sending him staggering away. Kai lunged after him, slashing between the metal spheres and splitting Booga's stomach open, then jumped, slamming another kick into Booga's face, sending him bouncing away. Booga snarled at he stood, seeing Kai charging.
"You have too much energy," Booga growled. "Mind if I borrow some?"
His third eye, which had been closed so far, opened, and a beam of violet energy struck Kai, immediately bringing him to his knees as his strength was ripped from him, streams of violet magical energy flowing into Booga's third eye. Booga laughed instantly, stalking up the steps back into the arena as Kai staggered backward, his sword slipping from his hand.
"What's wrong?" Booga asked. "Can't find the strength to hold your sword? Good, then you should be easy to command!" His third eye snapped open again, flashing this time, as it stared into Kai's eyes.
Booga peered into his mind, struggling to force it under his control. He enforced a simple order. Bow before Booga. He pushed hard, fighting against Kai's will, but something was wrong. Kai had no strength left, and yet his will wouldn't budge. Then, his will took form. A massive, black dragon formed in Booga's own mind, roaring as it tore at him. Booga wailed, clutching at his head, but Kai had a grip now, and Booga couldn't tear his third eye's gaze from Kai's own eyes.
"Gigaflash!" Kai snarled, a blinding light exploding from his eyes.
Booga shrieked and howled in pain, clutching at his face as smoke curled out of his third eye, which had been scorched and forever blinded by the light. "MY EYE! MY EYE! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?"
"Evened...the playing field," Kai panted, pulling his claws onto his arms. "Now shut up and die!"
He charged, but before he could reach Booga, the spheres around Booga spun in a blur, forming a massive cyclone around him and sucking Kai in, only for a sphere to crash into the side of his head and send him bouncing away. Booga cackled.
"I'm going to make you pay for ruining my eye!" Booga snarled.
"Will you?" Kai asked, standing from the dust he'd kicked up, revealing the scales that had shielded his face. "How?"
"What!?" Booga gaped. "A Dragovian!? I thought the Lord of Shadows had you all wiped out!"
Kai narrowed his eyes. "Sorry to disappoint you!"
He charged again, and this time, when the spheres spun, Kai caught out, the others all slamming into it and bouncing away, crashing to the ground and fracturing it. Then, Kai leapt into the air, smashing the sphere into Booga's teeth, shattering them all and lodging the sphere in his mouth. As he dropped, he slashed Booga down the front. However, just as he landed, Booga's fist exploded into his side, sending him exploding into the edge of the arena and shattering the stone. Booga ripped the ball from his mouth, the others all racing back over to him, but as Booga turned on Kai, Kai rose, his Tension activating once again. Booga's remaining eyes widened as he stared at the ethereal flames raging around Kai. Kai turned, stalking toward Booga, who shouted in effort, shoving his hands toward Kai. The spheres around him all spiraled into a mass in front of Booga and exploded forward, and Kai leapt over it, only for Booga to grin toothlessly, yanking his hands backward. The spheres exploded into Kai's back, smashing him to the ground and returning to Booga, only for Kai to launch himself at Booga as well. The spheres spun, but Kai flipped over them, slashing Booga across the face, though only shallowly.
Booga howled in pain, punching blindly at Kai, but he ducked under the fist. Booga leapt forward at Kai, and Kai's arms snapped up, blocking the spheres, only for his claws to be knocked off of his arms and spin away. Kai snarled angrily, launching himself into the air. Booga swung, but Kai's tail flashed out, smashing into the top of Booga's fist and deflecting the punch downward before he drilled his own fist into Booga. Booga staggered backward, then swung a hand downward at Kai. A Kafrizzle formed and fired, and Kai roared, his own flames meeting it, only for the fireball to explode, hurling Kai backward. Booga struck instantly, his spheres shooting out in a line. The first to strike broke Kai's nose. The next shattered his left shoulder. The next cracked his ribs. The next three slammed into his stomach one after another, sending him crashing into the stands. Booga pulled his spheres back and launched himself across the arena, only for Kai to explode off of the ground, catching a sphere and slamming it into Booga's gut with all the force of an explosion, sending him exploding to the ground in the center of the arena. Kai plummeted toward him, aiming a kick at Booga's face, only for Booga to send a pair of Kafrizzles into Kai, sending him spinning into the sky before he crashed back down off to the side, bouncing off the arena into the pit. However, as Booga rose, so did Kai, his left arm hanging limply at his side.
"How do you keep getting up!?" Booga demanded, breathing hard. "I stole all of your energy! You shouldn't be able to stand, much less fight!"
"You don't know...anything...about me!" Kai snarled between labored gasps for breath. He reached his right hand over to his left shoulder, yanking on it before squeezing, manually pushing the shattered bones back into place, a shriek of agony echoing through the arena through the entire two minute process before he released his reconstructed shoulder. "My r...rage is...my...power! And...y...you...have no idea...how much rage I contain!"
His Tension's aura reformed, raging even more than before, vibrating the floor. Booga snarled in irritation, then charged. Kai ducked under Booga's ring of spheres, laying almost parallel to the ground, then grinned wickedly, drilling an uppercut between Booga's legs. Booga's howl of pain came out almost as a squeak as he sailed skyward, and as he sent his spheres speeding down at Kai, Kai jumped, his aura multiplying many times over as he slammed a kick into the clumped-together spheres. They scattered as they exploded skyward, but three crashed into Booga, two in the gut and one in the forehead. Booga crashed down hard, fracturing the ground, then roared in rage, shoving himself up.
He launched himself at Kai, punching and belly-bumping rapidly, his spheres spinning around him in a blur. For a moment, Kai managed to evade everything until Booga spun, all six spheres exploding into his chest, shattering his already-damaged ribs. Kai flipped, landing on his feet, only to encase his body in scales just before the spheres began to drill into him one after another over and over, Booga catching and throwing, punching, kicking, and belly-bumping them each time they returned to throw them again. Then, finally, he pulled them back as Kai's entire body was embedded in a crater the shape of his body and he was dancing on the edge of consciousness. Blood coated his face from both a cut in his forehead and his broken nose, his arms were both broken in many places, his ribs were pulverized, his skull was cracked, and his internal organs felt liquified.
"Finally," Booga huffed, turning back to Jade, his spheres vanishing. "Now, my pretty, let's get you somewhere more private so that you can clean me up and we can have some fun."
As he reached down to pick Jade up, the tower began to shake so violently that Booga stumbled to the side, struggling to regain his balance. All around him, the tower began to crack and split, chunks of the walls being shaken loose. Then, just as he began to turn, a blinding flash of light stunned him for a split second before a scaled, clawed foot the size of his entire body exploded into him, sending him exploding through the Arena floor and into the stands, which exploded apart around him. As he stood, his spheres flashed into existence, only for Kai's tail, which was as thick as Booka was tall, to explode down on top of him, cratering the floor. Booga rose to his feet, only for Kai's mouth to slam closed around him from above, knocking the spheres all to the ground. Then, Kai roared deafeningly as he raised his head, flames roaring out of his mouth around Booga for about ten seconds before he whipped his head downward, sending him exploding down in the arena floor, shattering it. Then, in a flash of light, he shifted back to his human form, gasping and panting for breath, but physically healed.
Booga stood again, only to stagger to the side, then roared, sending his spheres raging around himself to create a cyclone once again. "DIE YOU LITTLE PISSANT!"
"JUST FUCK OFF!" Kai roared, spreading and beating his wings, his Tension aura returning as he used the pull of Booga's attack to increase his speed.
Then, he flipped, using his scales to harden his body before slamming both feet directly into Booga's face, sending him crashing to the ground, though at the price of receiving a fist to his side. As both exploded to the ground, Booga groaned.
"I don't...feel...right," Booga panted. "My spell...No! It's...weakening!"
Suddenly, all around them, the monsters who'd been watching the fight began to transform into humans in flashes of pale pink light. Kai dragged himself over to Jade, lifting her gently into his lap as he struggled to keep himself conscious. Finally, in a flash of pink light, she was herself again, complete with her usual outfit, Meteorite Bracers, Mighty Armlets, and Catholicon Ring, all of which had been missing before. Her eyes fluttered open and she stared blankly up at him for a moment before she blinked, recognition setting in.
"Kai?" Jade asked, then gasped, staring at the blood still coating his face and chest. "Kai!"
"I'm...alr...right," Kai murmured. "Just...tired."
Jade sat up just as he pitched forward, only for Jade to catch him. "What happened to..."
She stared around at the destruction, then at Booga, who was beginning to push himself up, though unsteadily, and he collapsed to his knees twice. Jade lay Kai down gently and stood. As she walked toward Booga, Kai rolled his head after her, raising a hand feebly.
"You did this," Jade said, her voice icy and so even that it terrified even Kai. "You hurt him." The floor of the arena began to tremble as an ethereal, violet flame began to grow around her, Booga's eyes going wide with surprise and fear. "You're...Booga. Yes...Now I remember. I remember everything, in fact."
The flame leapt to a massive bonfire, the entire tower once again shaking violently, as it had at the height of Kai's use of Tension. Kai wasn't sure how much more punishment the tower could take. Already, the newly restored humans were fleeing from the tower, foreseeing its collapse, as Kai was.
"Have your wicked way with me, would you?" Jade asked, voice still horrifyingly even as she adjusted her gloves and bracers. "Beat my dearest friend nearly to death, would you?"
She swung her right arm down across her body, and the ethereal flame around her turned a bloody crimson, raging up around her so thickly that it obscured her from view entirely. Then, as it faded, her foot exploded into his face, hurling him backward to the ground, once again in her monster form, but this time, it was different. Kai's eyes widened as he stared at her. She wore the same outfit as before, but with the addition of her ring and the bracers and armlets Kai had given her, but there were more additions to the form. Her hair had burst free of its tie and had turned the pure white of snow, a pair of conical horns had grown from the top of her head, curving gently as they reached backward, and her ears had grown pointed.
"Xia," Kai breathed.
"Allow me to return the favor!" Jade offered. "With interest!"
Booga trembled in fear before Jade slammed a kick into him, sending him crashing into a wall, shattering it, then kicked him again, then again. For several minutes, she brutalized him with kicks before landing beside Kai and gently taking Xia's glaive from him before turning back to Booga. Booga cowered instantly, only for Jade to pull her spear back. Then, Kai's jaw dropped as lightning screamed along the glaive before she drove it into Booga's stomach. The electricity burst, blasting Booga backward. As he began to struggle to stand, Jade spun her spear before raising it. Violet lighting screamed along the Glaive before she stabbed it into the ground. A split-second later, a massive storm of violet lightning exploded down on Booga, blasting him into darkness. The Green Orb rolled to Jade's feet as she returned to her human form, the crimson, ethereal flames around her fading, and she knelt, lifting the Orb. Then, she turned, walking back to Kai.
"Are you alright?" Jade asked.
"You're..." Kai swallowed hard, nodding. "You're incredible, Jade."
Jade smiled. "You beat him alone. I couldn't have without the powers he gave me."
Kai shook his head. "I couldn't have finished him."
Jade smiled, then helped him stand. She held the glaive out to him, but Kai shook his head.
"Keep it," Kai said. "You're the only person I know who deserves it."
Jade's eyes widened before she smiled radiantly, nodding. He handed her its sling, and she pulled it on, slipping the glaive into it, then helped him walk out of the tower. They stopped at the inn, finding the former champ, vince, and several other MMA fighters resting in the beds. The monsters had all either fled, been killed by Kai, or transformed back to humans. Kai was happy to find he hadn't killed any transformed humans.
"Jade, Kai!" the innkeeper gasped. "Oh my God! What happened?"
"He fought Booga alone," Jade said. "He saved me."
"And then she returned the favor by taking over the fight and killing Booga," Kai said.
"Then, we have the two of you to thank for saving Octagonia!" the innkeeper smiled brightly. "You need a room, right? You're welcone to stay for free! Each room has somewhere you can get cleaned up, too!"
"Thank you," Kai smiled, Jade nearly carrying him to the room and into the washroom.
She left him in privacy, and he cleaned himself of the blood thoroughly before scrubbing his clothes and using his flames to dry them before putting on his underwear and pants. Then, he walked out into the main bedroom, dropping his, shirt, boots, brigandine, and scale armor beside the bed. Jade had taken off her green half skirt, the halter top, the choker, her boots, and her bracers and armlets, leaving her in her black shorts and midriff shirt.
"Is this okay?" Jade asked. "I sleep better without them on."
"It's fine," Kai promised. "As long as you don't mind me being shirtless."
Jade nodded, visibly relaxing, and both climbed into the only bed in the room. It was small, however, so in order for both to fit, Jade ended up laying against his side, her head resting on his shoulder. Kai smiled slightly, wrapping an arm around her to make it more comfortable and also to keep her from falling out of the bed.
"Thank you for rescuing me, Kai," Jade said after a moment.
"Of course," Kai said, his voice low with exhaustion. "I'd have been here sooner if I could."
"All that matters is that you came for me," Jade smiled. "I...I was afraid...I wouldn't see anyone again. That I wouldn't see...you again." She waited for Kai to repond, but after a moment she took a breath before speaking again. "Kai, I..."
A snore rolled out of Kai, and Jade sighed, smiling. She reached up, pressing her lips to his cheek lightly before setting her head back down and drifting off to sleep as well.
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