Tremble! The Witch of Dragons is Here! (Re:Zero - Jeanne D'Arc Alter SI Chapter 3)
Flying under your own power is suppose a magical experience, based on any story I've read with superpowers.
Currently I am flying. With magic.
It was not a magical experience.
"AAAAAH! I'M GONNA DIE! I'M GONNA DIE!" Shouted Thug A.
"Stop. Shouting. In. My. Ears!" I cried back as I was trying to focus on landing.
Which was difficult, because how much fire is enough to slow down and float to land, rather and blast off into the sky again.
Also I may have dropped Thug A once or twice, so I had to circle back to catch him. Thus Thug A was latching too much onto me. The tears and snot to my side was not helpful either.
I got it down to falling in stages.
Fall. Fire down. Stop falling. Begin flying up. Stop firing. Fall.
Cycle repeated a few times, till we finally hit the ground.
We crash landed, kicking up a lot of dirt, and Thug A was still screaming his ass off in terror.
So I took the simplest action of picking him up by the scarf of his neck, expended my arm in front of me (wow, either he's light as a feather, or Rank A Strength is strong as fuck) and dropped him. Also I used fire on myself to remove the snot. Freshly cleaned.
Like a toddler with an 'OFF' button he shut up, looking around himself in surprise.
"We're... we're alive?" Thug A asked, bewildered.
"That we are, Thug A." I nodded with a smile.
"T-Thug? I have a name you know," he protested. "It's Rachins-"
I kneeled down and placed a hand on his shoulder, still smiling.
He looked down and up me, before blushing and then stilled in worry, once he met my face. No idea, why though. I wasn't 'scary smiling', I was 'normal smiling'.
"I'm gonna be honest with you, dude, I'm not gonna remember you." I said, and for some reason he looked like I hit him. "My life will soon have too many dangerous stuff in it, so I won't even have time to remember this little encounter. So, it's best for you to just be glad that you're alive and move on with your life." I stood up and turned to walk away. "Ah, by the way," I remembered one last thing. "You should probably stop being a mugger, you never know when you might meet someone stronger or crazier than you, that would mug you back."
"O-Oi, that was you!" He protested.
"So long," I just wave back and left.
Alright, I was now in the slums. Now I just need to find Rom's hut and meet Felt.
So I walked.
And walked.
And walked.
"Where the fuck am I?" I wondered to myself.
I mean yeah, this place looks run down, it's the slums and all, but... where the fuck is anywhere? Where do I go back to the main streets? Where's Felt's shack, or Rom's hut?
Seriously all these places look the same!
"Hey... You don't know where you're going, do you?" A familiar voice called out to me.
I turned to the side and saw...
"Thug A?" I shouted in shock. "Have you been following me? Dude, that's creepy as fuck." I pointed out.
"My name is Rachins, dammit! And no, you've been going around this block five times already." I cried out.
"Ah." I said, before frowning to myself. That makes sense. After all he was still sitting down where I left him. He wouldn't circle around to where I was, only to sit down to catch me off guard. That would be stupid and sus. "Damn." So I'm lost after all.
Thug A sighed as he stood and came up to me.
"Look, I know these areas, so how about I help you out? That way you can find what you're looking for quicker, and leave quicker and not like break someone's house around here or something." He said rubbing the back of his head.
"Huh..." I thought about it. "That's pretty nice of you. Thanks." I mean, it's a cliche, Jerk with a Heart of Gold, but it's a nice trope all the same.
"Oh?" An annoying smirk back to Thug A's face. "Since I'm so 'nice' isn't there something you should do? I don't work for free after all. Shouldn't there be something you would give me?" He said 'menacingly'.
"Oh yeah, totally." I raised a closed hand, then when I opened it, it was engulfed in flames. "Show me the way, or I burn your face off." Truthfully, I'd only remove his hair and eyebrows for the lulz.
"EEEEK!? What the hell, are you some kind of violent thug?!" He cried out as he jumped back.
You know, your comeback doesn't really hold up water when you're a thug yourself, Thug A.
"Said Thug A." I said back with a smirk.
"My name is Rachins Hoffman!" Thug A cried out.
So Thug-Licks-His-Chin-A-Lot was now my guide through the slums.
However we have hit a major problem.
"For fuck's sake, I said 'left' from the old rust smith's house!" Chins cried out.
"I didn't know if it was your left or my left." I said honestly.
"We're walking the same way! Your left is my left, you idiot!" Chins said.
Well now we have a problem.
"You know what, fine. I'll show you 'smart'!" I said fiercely.
"W-wait, what are you gonna do?" He said with a shudder taking a few steps back.
"Simply, I'll solve this whole dilemma in two jumps, Chins." I said with a proud nod.
"Wait, what-JUMPS! NO!" Chins tried to run. He was too slow. Should have been faster.
I grabbed him by the waist and went up.
Ah, that annoying screaming returned.
"Hey, do you see where Rom's hut is from up here?" I asked.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Came back Chins 'helpful' reply.
"If you don't spot it, we're gonna have to do this again till you do." I helpfully pointed out.
"THERE! THERE! THAT BROWN HOUSE NEAR THE WALLS THERE!"
Wow, look at you Chins being mister eagle eyes. But yeah, I could see it now.
"Alright, landing now."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
This time the landing was much eaiser since I used the fire at a consistent rate to slow down, that halfway down I was slowly float-gliding.
Wait, that's a problem.
"Thank you, Lord Dragon, sweet land!" Chins melodramatically fell on his hands and knees and started kissing the ground.
I did not land from where I originally jumped. Fuck, that 'gliding' part fucked up my mental map.
"Ho, an odd sight." A very beautiful elegant voice, that had so much Gilgamesh, I mean prideful haughtiness spoke. "A ruffian and..." The red eyes with a white pupil (somehow) of the orange haired noblewoman met my gaze. She tilted her head leaning it on the fan in her hands, and a self-assured smile came to her beautiful face.
Wait! I know this woman.
One of the candidates. Her name is... Fuck, why did my brain had to blank out on me now?
She's a fiery one. Her name starts with a... Flareon? An 'F'? No, 'F' sounds wrong, but Flareon sounds right. Maybe.
"You!" She pointed at me with her fan. "The wild vagabond, you'll be my knight for a evening. It seems I've lost my path while strolling and need to head back to the castle. Take me there."
"Heh?" Chins looked confused between us, before he stood up frustrated. "Hold up here, lady! We're not your servants, who do you think you are to order us?"
"Thug A, quiet. Don't you know when to be polite?" I said without looking at him.
"Wait? Why are you calling me 'Thug A' again? You were just calling me 'Chins' as a nickname?" He said looked shocked and near offended.
"Hey, maybe I'm just too stupid to remember you stupid name, Thug A." I said back in a dry tone.
"The hell!? You're holding a grudge!" He cried back.
"Hmm, 'Thug A', yes that is easy to remember." Flareon nodded to herself.
"Not you too! Actually who are you? You still haven't told us why we should listen to you!" He shouted.
"I will pay you a bag of dragon gold." She said dismissively.
"Right at your service, milady!"
Wow, Chins. I didn't know you knew how to bow.
"Ah, sorry," I said apologetically, while raising my hand. Then I realized that looked silly and put it back in my pocket. "But I'm already on a mission. Self imposed but," I shrugged. "Important all the same. Some people's lives I..." Care? Not...really? Does that make me a bad person? "Am responsible for," yeah, that sounded better. "Depend on me to do this. I would happily help you afterwards, Ms. Flareon but I don't think you would be patient enough to wait for me to be done."
"What did you call me?" She said in a sudden icy tone.
"'Flareon'? Sorry, I don't remember you name at the moment. I swear I know it, but it's gone from my mind right now. You know like when you have to give a speech and suddenly don't remember what words you prepared." I tried to explain.
"I'm afraid I can't relate, my muse always perfectly come to me when I need it." She said back with a self-satisfied nod.
"Some writers would kill for that." I nodded back. "Anyways, back to what I was saying, sorry I don't remember your name, only that you're the fiery red one, thus Flareon."
"Hmm," she didn't respond right away, covering her face with her fan, as she looked at me with narrowed eyes. "I suppose ignorance just this once is forgivable. Listen well then, engrave that name into your name for it is the name of your master!" She declared, closing her fan, holding it to the side to look at me directly. She has an annoyingly pretty face and kissable lips.
She smiled as if she could see where my attention was at. Well, I'm a girl right now, so it's not like she could figure out I was checking her out.
Wait a minute? What did she say!? When did we become Master and Servant?
...No wait, she's a Gilgamash. She means master and servant without the capitalization.
"I am Priscilla Barielle, Matriarch of House Barielle and the next King of Lugunica." She said proudly and she crossed her arms.
Chins looks shocked as if he knew how high her family was or something.
Me? I was focused on something else.
"'Priscilla'! That's it." I said, snapping my fingers in satisfaction, that that little curiosity was answered. "Like a fluffy dragon lady world killer. I knew I remembered the name from somewhere."
"Oh? And who is this 'Dragon Lady World Killer', I supposed that sounds like someone that is acceptable to share a name with me." Priscilla said with nod, that she probably thought was humble. No, wait, this chick was never humble, right?
"I don't remember the full story, but I recall that she was born with a scythe that can kill anything, so the gods of her world put her in a painting, which was a mini-world for her to live in with all her needs met. Then the protagonist killed her for her tail or something like that." I tried to summarized what I remember from Dark Souls lore.
...I put off playing Dark Souls too. Dammit.
Priscilla didn't seem to like my story.
"I take back what I said, that dragon lady is unworthy to share a name with me, if she was to be killed off in some story. As the hero, clearly she should have killed the intruder, left her realm and slayed those pitiful gods, taking her rightful place as the ruler of the lands." Priscilla said with a frown.
I feel like she's projecting too much over here.
"Ah, sorry about that." I said, feeling awkward from how this conversation has gone. "So back to the main point, I can't go guide you till I finish my own thing. So-"
"Very well, I shall accompany you." Priscilla then went and took my arm into her own.
"Eh?" I tilted my head in confusion.
"What?" Chins added. I forgot he was there.
"What misadventure you seem to be on, looks fun. So I'll allow you to entertain me." Priscilla said with a nod, like she was being magnanimous.
Seriously how does her thinking work?
"Do whatever you want." I sighed.
"Do you want me to hold your hand too, my lady?" Chins threw out.
Priscilla scowled and so did I.
"No, you're guiding us, duffus, get moving."
Chins sighed in disappointment, as he began walking while looking down.
"Hmm, you are far too lenient with your minion. I would have had his tongue for that audacity, but I suppose I'll let you handle this for now." Priscilla said.
Rip his tongue out!?
"Anyone ever tell you, you're too extreme?" I said back.
Wait, is it me, or our breast are too big that they are now touched from the proximity?
"Some idiots that stood in my way. Some of my former husbands did." She said back nonchalantly.
"What happened?"
"They died tragically."
"As in you killed them, or accidents happened to them?" I asked.
Priscilla dug her finger nails into my arm, but I didn't feel it.
"Of course not, I'm not some vile brute." When she saw I didn't feel pain from her trying to nail or pinch me, she raised an eyebrow impressed and carried on. "Simply put, this world exists for my sake, and since they decided to do me harm, the world set their fate for them."
"Ah, I see." I nodded, okay, luck based power. Makes sense. "But did none of them love you? Or you love them back?" I wondered.
"It was a joining of opportunity and fortune for me. Their greed was what let to their downfall. Had they truly loved me, they would not have perished." She said confidently.
"Huh, I guess that's neat." I said to myself. I didn't noticed Priscilla's raised eyebrow in intrigued. "It would have really sucked if they loved you, or you loved them, or you both loved each other, but your luck ended up killing them because it was more fortunate for you."
"Of course not," Priscilla let out an elegant huff. "...But thank you for the sentiment, my knight."
"When did I become your knight?" I blinked at that. Did I miss something?
"Since now." She said assumingly, nodding to herself.
Before I could reply, someone crossed our path.
Not Rom or Felt, but someone just as good.
"That's our target!" I cried out. "Elsa the Bowl Hunter!" I declared and pointed at the sexy batshit crazy assassin, like Sherlock Holmes.
"Oh? And who are you little lambs-Wait, what did you call me?" Elsa suddenly looked confused.
