A/N Seeing Double
Alt title: Seeing Double
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Kaykaykaykayan: They want more than his blood.
Hwang Manuel: The Runners know how to have fun.
Anyumaaka: The reason Zamaina chose Zero, is because he needs someone who is strong enough to survive his bite. But he refuses to gift his bloodline onto anyone who is weak willed, like Clementine. That, and he wants to see what'll happen if a shaman tattoo monk gains lycanthropy. Unique class combinations and all that.
Church21: No, if Edstrom had stood up to him she would've been bit and given the gift as well. Instead she cowed and tried to offer her body. It's been well established at this point, but Zamaina respects guts. And abhors cowardice. Pashurian was already shaking in his armor. And Edstrom had tried to prostitute herself. Any of them could've been given the gift. But only Zero had the balls to stand up to Zamaina.
As for the others? Zesshi may very well get the honors. It all depends on her first impressions with Zamaina and whether he deems her cowardly or not.
Some1call4MR-E: Yes, Evileye is attracted to the MC. She sees him as "The dashing rogue, here to steal her away to safety at his own peril."
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-Date, Time-
'Thoughts'
"Speech"
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-Re-Estize Capital, Hilma's Manor Grounds-
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Evileye POV
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"Sir Inazama!" I call out as I descend. "Are you alright!?"
I then catch sight of my fan. Slightly taller, in a brown cloak and white mask with red eye spots. Tan dress and brown shoes. Black hair just reaching her shoulders.
'Poser.' I think spitefully as we stare at each other. 'Is she staring? She is.'
What is she thinking? Wait, she's on a team with Sir Inazama!
"Uh, not to interrupt whatever this is, but help?" The Meathead says as she slowly spins in the air. "Oh not upside down again!"
"You'll be fine." I say as I turn to the giant lug, and then I smell it. Looking over, I see sir Inazama has blood on his lip!
And it smells so good. Maybe it's because I'm on a fifty year dry spell since my last feed. But the scent is sending a warm feeling through my chest alongside the already present warmth of being near such a perfect man.
'No!' I yell at myself, shaking the thoughts from my head. 'Bad Keeno! You're fifty years clean. Ignore it.'
"You're hurt!" I call out as I run up to the handsome man.
"He's fine." Lysithea says as she moves forward and grabs my cloak.
"Um, what are you doing?" I turn to my imposter. "He's bleeding. He could have broken bones or be bleeding internally!" I turn to the dashing rogue. "We should head back. My friend Lakyus is a priest and can heal you just fine! Then we can, um, well aaaah."
'Oh gods what do I do now!?' I think as I freeze in place. 'I just offered to introduce him to another woman. One who is much better looking than me! What do I do if he sees Lakyus and decides to ignore me? Wait, maybe he prefers smaller girls!'
It's been a few decades since I found a guy with those particular tastes. I'm due to find another, right? And one so handsome and strong to boot!
"I'm fine." He says holding a hand out to placate me before turning to the meathead.
'He doesn't want to worry me~. And even his voice is so gallant.' I note as I'm grateful for the mask. Otherwise I'd be making a fool of myself in front of the dashing rogue, here to steal me away to safety~
"That was levitation powder." He explains before tapping her side to keep her from spinning upside down. "Sorry, but you've got about twenty minutes of weightlessness left."
"Ah, fuck me." She curses as she crosses her arms.
'Hey! No! If that's an option then I should get first dibs!' I want to shout at the virgin chasing lug. 'Well, I'd like to at least have a candle lit dinner first. Or a kiss. I'd settle for being carried again if that's on the table.'
"Inazama, we should get back to the others." Lysithea says as she steps in front of me and blocks my view.
"Hrrmm." I grumble at the faker.
And she has the gall to butt bump me back! The bitch!
'Wait, is she and?' I think as I look between the two. 'I mean, on one hand. That means I might have a chance. He certainly likes littler, but does he like little? On the other, what are the odds I can get her out of the picture?'
There's also the possibility that she's just aiming outside her range. Or he's aiming for a younger girl, so that when he ages she'll still be pretty.
If it's the former. I can totally upshow her! If it's the latter, try beating never aging! Ha!
"Shorty!" Gagaran calls out, snapping me from my thoughts. "You got my leash, ya gonna stand there or follow?"
Looking up, I look over to see Sir Inazama is a few paces away. Turned to look back at me questioningly.
'Aaaaaah!' I whine. 'He probably thinks I'm dumb!'
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Lysithea "Ninya" Veyron POV
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"Sir Inazama!" The Adamantite caster of Blue Rose calls out. "Are you alright!?"
'Wait, that's Evileye?' I can't help but wonder. 'She looks younger than me! How is she a fifth tier arcane caster? I'm sixteen and only just managed third!'
Wait, why is she staring at me? Is she upset I stole her look? Is she staring at me? The mask makes it hard to tell.
'Is this as awkward for her as it is for me?' I wonder. 'Because I really hope it is.'
"Uh, not to interrupt whatever this is, but help?" The maroon armored, manish looking woman asks as she slowly spins in the air. "Oh not upside down again!"
'How long have we been staring at each other!?' I think as I look away from the caster, at the same time my heart races -not really- as I smell something, alluring.
"You'll be fine." Evileye says, turning to the armored woman, before pausing and looking to Lord Zamaina. And staring for a decent bit.
Then it clicks.
'Oh hell no!' I feel myself shout and whine at the same time.
I already have more women than I care to count to compete with. That's fine, they're all Nazerick denizens. It's not fair to compare me to them. Like Neferpitou and her long legs, Shalltear's shapely figure, Albedo's, everything!
'But in no way am I letting this little girl weasel her way into, whatever this is!' I resolve.
"You're hurt!" The little girl cries out and runs towards Lord Zamaina.
"He's fine." I say as I reach forward and grasp her red, frayed cloak. Holding her back from running up to him and grabbing ahold of him.
Besides, he is fine. He only gets hurt if he allows it.
"Um, what are you doing?" The shorter caster turns to me. "He's bleeding. He could have broken bones or be bleeding internally!" She turns to my lord and savior. "We should head back. My friend Lakyus is a priest and can heal you just fine! Then we can, um, well aaaah."
She suddenly freezes and grabs her head as she has a mini panic. One that, catches me a little off guard. Mostly because I didn't expect it.
'Maybe she's unstable? In that case I really can't let her near Lord Zamaina! Not that he needs my protection, but he still shouldn't have to deal with mentally unstable fan girls.' I resolve to myself.
Besides, she has no chance! She doesn't know him like I do. And she's not his type. Not if Lady Neferpitou and Lady Shalltear are any indication.
As much as it hurts to admit.
"I'm fine." Lord Zamaina says with a hand out before turning to Gagaran.
While he explains the situation to her. I keep an eye on the little strumpet. No doubt planning ways she'll get herself into my lord's bed. Not that I think any of them will work.
"That was levitation powder." He explains before tapping her side to keep her from spinning upside down. "Sorry, but you've got about twenty minutes of weightlessness left."
"Ah, fuck me." She curses as she crosses her arms.
'Get in line.' I find myself thinking as I keep an eye on the red cloaked girl, who is in turn keeping an eye on Lord Zamaina.
"Inazama, we should get back to the others." I say, moving in front of the voyeur and blocking her view.
"Hrrmm." She grumbles at me, so I take a step back to shove her off. Shouldn't be standing so close!
'She wants to be with him, she has to go through me!' I think to myself. 'And then, just about, every member of Nazerick.'
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'Am I overreacting?' I think, following Lord Zamaina as he guides us out of the woods, turning back, I see the girl is stuck in place. Lost in lala land.
'No, definitely not.' I think to myself. 'Hmm, how would Lady Shalltear deal with this?'
Kill her. Hmm, too simple.
'Lord Demiurge?' I wonder.
Torment her until she's mentally broken into a puppet. Hmm, too time consuming.
'Lord Cocytus?' I ask myself.
Wait and see, then if she's a threat. Kill her. Hmm, maybe.
"Shorty!" Gagaran calls out, gaining the daydreaming caster's attention. "You got my leash, ya gonna stand there or follow?"
I watch as the girl pauses, and looks from the floating warrior, to us. Before running to catch up.
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James "Zamaina" Petrosky POV
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Well, optional objective complete. I guess.
It's a little hard to tell with Ninya near me. But I can smell arousal. And let's just say Evileye might need to change her clothes.
In terms of, reciprocating that. Well…
Let me put it this way, of everyone I've met outside of Nazerick. She's easily the most attractive girl I've come across so far. I'd put her strength around mid to low sixty. Overly specialized. But still. She's stronger than infinite magic. By a decent bit.
As a reference, we got her to cast a few spells without her magic items. And she passed out after a single tier four spell.
Pathetic.
All that being said. It's not that the optional objective was to get her attracted to me. Though I guess that's a bonus. No, the optional objective was to get her endeared to me or Momon without nearly sacrificing Entoma like in canon.
One of the thirteen heroes? Having someone like that endeared to us can only be a boon. A resource that may come in handy later on.
"Momon!" I call out as we reach the clearing.
He's kneeled over the ninja, Tia I think. And just got done closing her eyes. Nabe right behind as she looks up at us with her usual resting bitch face.
"Inazama." He says as he stands up, looking down to me. "You're back with the others, and unharmed. So I trust their were no issues?"
"Nothing worth mentioning." I say as I look down to the girl and squat down. Pretending to investigate the wound.
I'm the one who killed her. She had snuck into the shadows and was circling around to flank Entoma. Once I realized that, I activated my strongest stealth skills and slit her throat.
"Cut looks clean and even. Like a blade almost." I say as I look at her neck. "Odd, because I didn't spot any weapons on the ones we fought."
"The demon, Jaldabaoth he said his name was. He had an ability where he transformed parts of his body." Momon says as he looks down to the girl. "One of the forms I saw. Was claws, long and thin. Sharp as a blade."
"Damn." I hiss as I turn to the two roses. "I'm, sorry about your teammate."
"It's fine." Evileye says in a low voice. "Besides, Lakyus will be over in a bit. She can resurrect her."
"She can?" Momon says, his interest piqued.
We already have reports of those who can cast resurrection magic. But we have yet to actually come across any in this new world with the power. So, this is a good time to gain a bit of info.
"Yeah, raise dead. It's fifth tier." Evileye says as she turns slightly away from me. "Impressive, I guess."
Looking up to the floating Gagaran. I notice her staring at Evileye with a raised brow and concerned look on her face. Meaning this isn't usual behavior.
"I suppose." Momon says noncommittally before crossing his arms in thought. "Do you mind if I have any questions?"
"Hmm?" Evileye looks up to the armored man. "Not particularly. I can't promise answers but, I'll hear you out."
"Thanks." He nods, and I tune them out as I look over to the city. Just standard questions like distance, time lapsed, strength lost and so on.
In about twenty minutes or so. Demiurge will cast Flames of Gehhena. An area perimeter spell. Meant to buff any and all demonic summoning done inside the area. And has the secondary effect of working like an alarm system. Pinging the user of where and when someone crosses the line.
Meanwhile, Usani will use her skills and cast Nyx's Lullaby over the area. Rendering anyone of a specific strength and below unconscious.
Making things even harder for the kingdom. You can corral panicking people. But how do you move them in droves, if they're all dead asleep.
"Can it return the undead?" I hear a question that catches my attention.
Looking back, I see Momon had asked it. And Evileye sort of, pauses. Looks down, and then looks up. Her lack of a heart, and her mask making it very difficult to determine her mood.
"No." She answers. "Once something is undead, that's it. Their next death is permanent unless you find a way to raise them without destroying their mind through zombification."
It's Ninya who looks down this time. The zombie comment likely bringing up memories of her own friends.
"Thirty eight, thirty nine." I hear the floating warrior mutter.
"What are you doing?" I ask curiously.
"You said I have about twenty minutes. I've been counting." She crosses her arms as she turns away from me, unable to control her position in the air. "I got nothing better to do!"
"Fair enough." I mutter as I cross my arms and look back out to the city.
"Thank you." Momon says after a stretch of silence. "I should mention before I forget, but before he fled, the demon Jaldabaoth mentioned that this was retaliation. But I failed to ascertain what for. You wouldn't happen to know anything would you?"
"He mentioned something about an artifact falling into the wrong hands." I turn my head to speak up. "And that they've been in the city for a while."
"Could that be why the brothel, hmm." I hear Evileye mutter, before shaking her head. "What could this be retaliation for?"
"I got here just after he showed up. So who, or what does that leave?" I ask.
Just as I say that, I hear Gagaran suck in a breath. And it's not lost on anyone else here as the warrior looks away with a guilt ridden face.
"What did you do?" Evileye asks in a dark tone.
"Okay, in my defense." Gagaran starts as she turns midair.
"Look at me when you explain how you blundered this!" Evileye demands, and tugs the rope, only to spin the warrior upside down, and facing Momon.
"I would if I could!" She yells as she swings her arms to try and turn. Which leads to a rather comical exchange between the two. With Evileye tugging the rope and manhandling the woman more than five times her size.
"Hey, we can hash out blame and punishment later." I call back to the squabbling duo. "Right now, we just need the facts. And hopefully we can use them to sort out this mess."
"Y-you're right Sir Inazama." Evileye stutters, her tone notably lighter. Before turning to the female warrior. "Alright meathead, explain."
This is part of the plan to endear and ingratiate them to us. Make it seem like this is their fault. Because I know Entoma offered to part peacefully, making Blue Rose the instigator. Because it's one thing to be saved from a bad situation. It's another to have someone bail you out of your own fuck up.
Shaking my head, I turn back to the city. And see that Demiurge is slightly ahead of schedule.
"Hey Momon!" I yell back. "City's on fire."
"What did you do, oh." Momon turns to me, and sees the flames of gehena.
"What do you mean, what did you do?" I ask with a glare as I turn to the man. Indignation clear in my voice.
"We have more pressing matters." He says dismissively. "Miss Evileye, Miss Gagaran, how soon will Miss Lakyus get here?"
"Hmm?" The two look away from each other to look at Momon, then the city.
"Oh, that's bad." Gagaran says, before falling to the ground with an armored clank. "Ow!"
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Lakyus Aindra POV
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"They should be up here evil boss." Tina says as we hurry down the paved road.
We all agreed to meet up here after we were done with our respective raids. And the fact that we met none of the six arms, and neither did the other teams. It leaves me worried.
We're running along the road, when I feel my eyes drawn to the cloaked, leather armored man standing guard. He looks to me, his piercing blue eyes meet mine and I feel my breath hitch. Catching in my throat as I freeze in place. My face, chest, and groin burning as I take in his beauty. His full lips, chiseled jaw, strong nose and soft brows. Trimmed stubble and fair skin. Silky black hair-
"Evil boss." Tina says, now ahead of me as she looks back with a raised brow. "Are you sick?"
"Huh?" I ask, before shaking my head of impure thoughts.
'Now's not the time to fall to darkness.' I tell myself. 'No matter the source of temptation, I must prevail!'
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James "Zamaina" Petrosky POV
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Why do I have a feeling something annoying, yet funny just happened?
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-7 hours later-
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"Thank you all for coming." Princess Renner says to the cadre of gathered adventurers. "As many of you have witnessed, several hours ago a wall of flame emerged, centered mostly on the market district and towering to five stories high."
She goes to the map of the city on the table before us. Using a charcoal stick wrapped in cloth, she encircles the perimeter of the wall. Almost perfectly.
It, kind of irks me to see her draw on the map in a permanent way. Mainly because of how valuable decent maps are. Like seeing someone casually toss a smartphone on the table, uncaring of if it gets damaged or not.
"Not only that, but not long after. Demons started appearing in droves and kidnapping the citizens." She continues with a worried tone. "For some reason though, they ignored all of the children."
[That was your doing, right?] Momonga messages me.
[Yep.] I reply and cut the message.
The room bursts into a cacophonous mess of muttering. All discussing why demons would leave the children, and take the adults.
All logic and superstition of this world would suggest the demons would take the children first. Not the adults. So their confusion is understandable and very much warranted as this goes against their common sense.
And buys us more time to empty the kingdom's warehouses.
"Is there any reason you can think of for this?" Lakyus speaks up, looking to the guild master of the capital.
She's a stern, older woman. And it doesn't take a second glance to see she dislikes the Blue Roses. Most likely due to how they get involved with kingdom politics and crime stopping, in clear violation of guild policy. If Sebas's reports are anything to go by.
"None that I can think of." She shakes her head. "It's an antithesis of how demons operate."
Thinking of something, I speak up.
"Perhaps that's the reason." I say, earing everyone's attention. "Jaldabaoth spoke in a well mannered tone, and was well dressed. It takes a decent bit of intelligence to maintain one's appearance. And he claimed to have been in the city for at least a week. So that further speaks to his intellect."
"What does being smart have to do with demons not kidnapping, well, kids?" One adventurer asks.
"Everything." Momon says, picking up on what I'm suggesting. "If I was planning to attack someone, and knew my opponents had certain expectations of me. Then I'd act accordingly, and subvert those expectations."
"Thus adding a layer of surprise to their plan!" Ninya adds excitably, and I give her a little head pat.
"But that still doesn't explain why they wouldn't just kill them." Another adventurer adds.
"Jaldabaoth mentioned he was searching for something." I add. "A relic or artifact of some kind. If we assume that finding this artifact is his main goal. Then all of his actions make sense."
"What do you mean?" Lakyus turns to me, before blushing and averting her eyes away from my face. Causing Ninya to grumble beside me.
'What the hell?' I find myself wondering. 'I know I'm more attractive than the average man. But Lakyus is nobility. She should be used to good looking men.'
Maybe she just has a thing for black hair? Most of the men in the kingdom have blonde or light brown hair after all. Maybe I just look exotic by her standards.
"Hmm, if I were searching for something." I say as I grab my chin in thought. "Then I'd first look on my own, then ask people for information."
"No offense but you don't expect a demon to ask around for directions, do you?" Another adventurer asks with a small, derisive chuckle.
"Why not?" I ask with a pointed stare at the iron plate adventurer. Causing the red haired man to stutter out a weak reply.
"B-because they're, they're demons. They're evil you know? Blood, death, torture. It's all in their nature." He defends himself.
Rolling my eyes at his defense filled with nothing but superstition and assumption. I continue.
"While it's true I don't expect a demon to simply ask. Wouldn't it be a hassle to kill everyone?" I put forth, and notice everyone giving me confused looks. "Put yourself in the demon's shoes. Your main goal is finding this artifact. Who is most likely to know where it is? And who is most likely to not?"
I see they're starting to get it. But still not understanding. So I continue.
"The adults, so the children are of no importance here." I offer.
"Again, then why not simply kill the children?" The guild master asks.
"Resistance." Momon speaks up, and everyone turns to him. "Once again, as Inazama said. We must put ourselves in everyone's shoes. In this case, the adults." He then turns to the guild master. "Miss Teynak. Do you have any children?"
She raises a suspicious brow. But answers affirmatively nonetheless.
"Now, imagine your son, a boy of eight winters is with you. When a group of demons bursts into the room. Hold you and your boy down." He starts to explain, much to the woman's stern discomfort. "Now, let's say I'm the demon in charge of the group and I tell you. Resist, and I'll kill your child, but if you come quietly then none of us will harm him."
It's then, that the group understands. Eyes widening as they understand the plan that Jaldabaoth set up.
Truth is, me and Momonga are still uncomfortable with the idea of mindlessly slaughtering children. So we told Demiurge not to kidnap any. And all of this is genuine speculation on why this would be, other than the truth.
"Diabolical." Lakyus spits out with gritted teeth. "So they intend to use the parents love for their children as bargaining chips."
"They are demons." I quip.
"You speak as though you have experience in dealing with demons." Evileye says from beside me.
"I have some experience." I say uneasily. "But in truth, I've more experience in dealing with Fey and the Undead."
Not a lie. I completed every fey event in Yggdrasil. They were always so fun! The tricks and traps and little things you had to pay attention to. Like, even little bits of dialogue from random NPC's off the main routes could get you decent rewards. Or spark an event you had to deal with.
I especially loved the way they spoke. Confusing people by speaking in roundabout ways but never lying.
"The fey, as in faeries?" Gagaran asks, though I can tell her tone is diverting. My guess is that she's steering me away from discussing the undead around Evileye.
"Yes." I say and turn to her with a gentle smile. "I just adore the beings of the feywilds. The way they speak and their odd mannerisms are something else. I once helped an elderly pixie carry a cake, and she gave me a leaf and told me if I was grateful, then my reward would be worth its weight in gold. Three days later that leaf turned into solid gold."
I can tell everyone is paying steadfast attention to us. Especially me. It's not often one speaks of the feywilds in this world. They know of it, but very, very few people ever go there. And fewer return.
"As fascinating as this is, we're losing track of the current task at hand." Gazef says as he steps forward. Having remained in a mostly observatory position thus far. "Princess, do we have a plan of attack?"
"We do, but." She trails off. "There's another concerning bit of knowledge I've yet to mention."
"And what's that?" Gazef asks.
"Not long after the first reports of demons kidnapping and running amok. About an hour or so in, the reports of happenings inside the barrier stopped." She says worriedly. "Now, any who get close to the wall of fire can hear a soft voice, and any who pass through fall unconscious as soon as they do so. With only a few guards being able to resist."
That would be Usani's doing.
"Not only that, but there's a pink werewolf running around and slaughtering all the guards who fall asleep." Renner adds.
That causes another uproar. To these people, werewolves are one of the most dangerous foes. Due mostly to how they're impervious to any and all low leveled attacks that aren't silver or strong magic. And by lower leveled, I mean damn near everything these people could throw at them. And by strong magic, I mean offensive magic above tier two.
"Yeah, he's a real beast." Gagaran steps forward. "Me, Evileye and Tia fought him. He threw us around like dolls. Even shattered my armor like it was made of clay or something."
She raises her hand to display a steel plated substitute to her normal maroon adamantite gauntlet.
"So we're facing a werewolf who can crush adamantite in its jaws?!" An adventurer yells.
"No." Gagaran says, silencing him and returning some hope. Before she dashes it. "He caught my fist in his hand, and crushed it."
Once again, the moral if the gathered adventurers plummets.
"And Jaldabaoth is stronger than the werewolf." I speak up. "Or, at least we assume."
"What do you mean, assume?" Gazef asks with a cocked brow.
"Just that, what would a werewolf be doing, working for a demon?" I ask. "Werewolves tend to be solitary, or pack orientated. But almost never form a pack with non werewolves. Maybe it's nothing and this one is simply an exception. But it's still odd. My guess is it's being forced to work for the demon."
The conversation goes on in much the same manner. The leaders discussing plans and how best to handle the situation. With the rest of us stepping away to prepare. Which leaves me on my own with Ninya, Gagaran, Tina and Evileye. As well as a few other adventurers.
"So, you've been to the feywilds." A silver rank adventurer asks as I organize my arrows. "What's it like, and how did you survive?"
"It'd be easier to say what it isn't like." I answer. "Everything there, is so wildly different from our own realm. Some places have no concept of day, some don't have night. Others are bathed in a constant sunset. The plants are unlike anything you've likely ever seen. And the realm itself has rules."
"Rules?" Tina asks as she looks up from her tea kit.
It's poison. Everyone here knows she's preparing poison. She just calls it her tea kit.
"Yeah, that's probably the biggest thing that gets people stuck there." I say as I look up and think of how to describe it. Mixing earth lore, with Yggdrasil game lore. "They have rules that once broken, must be paid for. One of them, is that thieves are not people. If you get caught stealing anything. Then you are either beholden to the one you stole from, or try to negotiate with the fey."
"How do you negotiate?" Tina asks, saying more in the last few minutes than I've heard the entire night prior.
"That's, not something I can just answer." I say honestly. "For one, if you enter negotiation with a fey over anything, then you can't lie."
"Why not?" Ninya asks with genuine curiosity.
"Because in their words. A word once spoken, is a word never broken." I recite from The Witcher. "It'd take too long to really go into detail, so let's leave it at that for now."
I'm, out of things to bullshit. Any more, and I might let something slip that could be called into question later.
The topic dies down a bit after that. Mostly changed out to other mundane topics. Like what oil someone uses to keep their sword polished so well. Or how much someone else's boots cost.
"I'd imagine you have a wealth of unique experience." Evileye speaks up nervously. "Probably, been all over the place."
"Depends on where you mean." I say distractedly. "I've seen a lot, but there's always more to see."
"I understand the feeling." She says as I sense her take a step closer to me. "Sooo, I was wondering if, on your travels you ever met someone."
I can see where this is going. But it's too fun to mess with people. So, I can be forgiven this much.
"I've met a lot of someone's." I answer, and hear her breath hitch as she misinterprets my words. "Why, hoping I ran into someone you know?"
"Oh, oh that's what you ahem." She coughs into her fist, with her mask on. "No um, I was, uh, never- ow!"
Ninya had let her staff fall and bonk Evileye on the head.
"Oops." Ninya says dryly. "It slipped."
"I'll slip the back of my hand across your head!" Evileye yells at her fellow masked vampire.
"I said I was sorry." Ninya lies. "Just because you're short doesn't mean you have to be short tempered."
"Bwuh, I, you're barely taller than me!" Evileye shouts. Pointing angrily at the brown cloaked caster. "And you did not apologize!"
She's like, four inches taller. And she's right, Ninya didn't apologize.
"Hmm, I'm taller where it counts." Ninya says and puffs out her barely larger chest.
If Evileye is flat, then Ninya is a low B cup. Not much, but enough that she had to bund her chest. Ironically making her larger than Shalltear and Evileye combined.
"Barely." Evileye scoffs and crosses her arms. "Aren't you supposed to be some sort of fan of mine?"
You know, this is probably doing wonders for taking people's minds off of the impending battle. I know I'm enjoying this.
"You know what they say about meeting your heroes." Ninya counters with a disappointed tone.
"Should we stop them?" One of the adventurers asks.
"Pfft, hell no!" Gagaran barks with a smile as she crosses her arms. "I haven't had a show this good since Tia took me to that brothel and I saw a fight break out in the lobby!"
Okay then. I guess.
Oh, people are looking at me. Probably want me to weigh in on this.
"I'unno." I shrug. "Do I look like the responsible one?"
"Yes actually." Tina pipes up.
"Huh." I shrug. "Clearly I've been doing something wrong."
A few of the others look between themselves uncertainly as the two adamantite, well one adamantite and one mythril boosted to adamantite using magic items, keep bickering. Now moving onto who's got the better cloak of all things.
"Well at least mine isn't tattered and filled with split ends like your hair!" Ninya counters.
"Says the girl with a boy's haircut!" Evileye counters.
"I'm growing it out!" Ninya's voice cracks, that last remark having hit a sore spot.
"Wonder if they'll ever figure it out." I hear Gagaran remark.
"Hmm?" I turn to her with a raised brow. "What do you mean?"
"Hmm, oh nothing." She scoffs, before looking me up and down with an appraising gaze. "Y'know, one of us might die later."
"Speak for yourself." I smirk at her. "Last I checked, I saved you." I say, poking her armored chest.
"And I'm grateful!" Gagaran laughs. "How about you let me show my hero some gratitude with a roll in the hay?"
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Okay hear me out. She may not be the most shapely. But she is damned strong. So, six out of ten in my book. And she comes off as more of a challenge. And I've no doubt I can make her submit.
But the prospect is very tempting to me.
"Hmm, not gonna lie." I give her a grin. "That's a tempting offer. Tell you what, you make it out of this in one piece and we'll see about that. Otherwise I might tire out one of our best warriors before the big battle."
She gives out a hearty laugh at my joke. But then Gagaran goes from smiling, to a look of utter surprise.
"Holy hell." She mutters. "You're actually serious."
"A word once spoken is a word never broken." I shoot back.
"WHAT!?" I hear two girls whine.
Looking to the two who've stopped their arguing to look our way. And I can imagine pouty or shocked looks on their faces.
"You're joking right?" Evileye says, looking to Gagaran. "How could you, I mean right before a battle!"
"Inazama, don't tell me that's your type?" Ninya whispers. "I, I can't compete with that. I'm not even sure if I'd want to."
"Look, I just said it to offer some encouragement!" Gagaran says nervously as she waves her hands between us. "No offense but, you're not my type."
"Oh I see." Tina mutters as she looks to the cloaked casters. "Well, it was effective at least."
No clue what she's on about. And I don't care to find out.
"Aw." I give an exaggerated sigh and slump my shoulders. "And here you got my hopes up. You're so mean Miss Gagaran! To break my poor maidens heart."
"Ha!" She barks out. "My man there's not a maidenly thing about you!"
She walks off after that. And Evileye walks up to me soon after.
"So um, the uh. Thing about coming back in one piece." She says shyly. "Is that offer, up for grabs? N-not for me of course! Just, asking for a friend."
Before I can give an answer. The leaders all come out and give us our assignments.
"Evileye, you'll assist Sir Momon and Lady Nabe in going after Jaldabaoth. Lysithea, you'll be on the east end assisting the guards after Sir Momon's group breaks through. Sir Inazama, you'll be assisting me on the north end."
"What!?" Evileye speaks up, making everyone turn to her. "I mean, wouldn't it be best to have Lysithea go with Sir Momon instead? They're more familiar with each other after all."
"Truthfully, it's because Lysithea is still in training." Momon speaks up. "So while she is a part of our team and she is strong. I'd rather have your experience miss Evileye."
"Besides, where else would we put you that wouldn't waste your abilities?" Lakyus asks with genuine curiosity.
"Well, um, since I am the strongest mage here." Evileye trails off before announcing. "You could have me and Sir Inazama hunt down the werewolf targeting the border! Werewolves are weak to magic and silver. And Sir Inazama has an abundance of the stuff and I have an abundance of magic so it would only make sense that we go after the second biggest threat together!"
We're all silent as we let her plan sink in. Before Lakyus finally speaks up.
"That's why we're waiting an hour to deploy." She says. "We've track the werewolf's patrol route and I intend to intercept him with Sir Inazama's expertise."
"Oh." Evileye sulks a little bit. "Then, that's a good plan."
"Evileye, are you alright?" Lakyus asks softly as she pulls the mage aside.
"Yeah." She shrugs her shoulder before skulking off. "Go enjoy your date with Sir Inazama."
Damn, wouldn't have pegged Evileye for the jealous type.
"D-d-d-date!?" Lakyus cries out. "H-How, I have no idea what you're talking about!"
'Lakyus, hmm?' I think as I eye her. 'Not bad. Not as strong as Evileye, but much more to my tastes in aesthetic.'
[What's going on?] Momonga messages.
[Turns out I got new admirers.] I reply.
[How does that keep happening? Like seriously. There's Ninya, the maids, Shalltear, Neferpitou, now you have two of the girls from Blue Rose.] He lists off.
[Okay first, none of the NPC's count.] I clarify to him. [Or do I need to bring up Albedo?]
[You were complicit in that!] He hisses over the message.
[I claim not guilty by reason of entrapment.] I call back.
[I don't even know what that word means!] He yells over the link.
[Then you have no prosecution by right of ignorance and incompetence. Should've gotten a better lawyer.] I quip before putting us back on track. [Look, none of the NPC's count because then we'd both be counting all day. The only reason they go to me with the offer is because I have the only bone you're missing. Ask any of them, and they'd be just as eager for you.]
…
[Momo?] I ask after a bit of silence.
[Low blow man.] He messages in a pathetic tone. [Still, that makes your count three.]
[At least my three are humanoid as compared to your one lizard.] I throw back again.
[We agreed not to talk about that!] He yells.
[No, you said not to talk about it. And I just grunted noncommittally.] I rebuke.
Hey, he constantly brings up the maid incident.
[It was a yes grunt!] He shouts.
[The fuck is a yes grunt?]
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Bonus
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-few nights after the Demonic Disturbance-
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Gagaran POV
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I'm, starting to think the whole Dark Lakyus thing, is just in her head.
Peeking into her room. Me and the girls watch as she does her bit with the sword.
"This is all your fault." She grits her teeth as she talks to the sword. "You fail to tempt me with destruction and violence, so you resort to temptations of lust and seduction!"
"Wut?" Evileye mutters our thoughts.
"You've done well to resist so far!" Lakyus says in a gravely voice, putting a hand to her face. "But how will you overcome this huh? You feel it far more vividly than the desire for battle!"
"To use such underhanded tactics." Lakyus says as she holds the sword with both hands again. "To target a maiden's heart. The one thing she is most weak to."
"You mean the one thing you are weak to!" Dark Lakyus says back. "Just give in, admit your desires. The thudding of your chest, the burning of your loins. Just be honest with your body and give in to it."
"This is getting uncomfortable." I whisper.
"Agreed." Tina says as she nods.
"Hold on, this might get interesting." Tia says, not even trying to hide her tastes.
"I wanna see what she's on about." Evileye mutters.
'Shorty, for one so experienced. You're an idiot.' I think to myself.
"You, you demon." Lakyus pants out. "You twist my thoughts and desires, abuse them and, and, and pervert them. I'm a pure maiden of the god of water. I would never have such feelings!"
"Oh yeah, she's got it bad." Tina says.
"She's not coping." Tia says.
"Has she never been horny before?" I ask, weirded out by how our leader is taking this.
"Wait, that's what's going on?" Evileye looks up to us.
'Two hundred years ladies and gentlemen.' I think dryly.
"Your desires are your own." Dark Lakyus mutters darkly. "Why resist your own thoughts? It's only natural to want to sin every now and then."
"I'm leaving." Tina says and walks away from the door.
"Gods, forgive me." Lakyus says as she gets to her knees. "But, it's not my fault. You've blessed Sir Inazama with such beauty!"
"What!?" Evileye yelps, and Tia disappears while I stand up and put my hands behind my head. Whistling and acting nonchalant while Evileye rolls away from the door and sits against the wall. Holding her hands over her mask to cover her mouth.
"Huh?" We hear Lakyus mutter, before hearing the light clacking of her armor.
She cracks the door open and nervously looks over to the shorty who had cast invisibility. And then to me.
Her eyes wide and face red. She opens her mouth to say something, but no words come out. Just bumbling stutters.
"Uh, wassup Lakyus?" I give a wave.
"Aaaaaaaah!"
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A/N
The reason Evileye found Zamaina's blood especially tempting is because it's divine in nature. And due to Zamaina having a negative karma rating. It's not harmful to her.
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Gagaran made the offer as a way to defuse Ninya and Evileye from eacalating. And Tina figured Inazama was in on it, and was just fucking with them all.
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As for Lakyus, The Garganach's Favor struck again! It didn't work on any of the other roses because it's chance based with the stronger you are, the less likely it is to work. And Evileye is immune due to being undead.
Lakyus just got unlucky. Or lucky, depends on how you see it.
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Ask about Zamaina's build!
His Gear!
His Abilities!
ETC.!
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More comments! I want them all! Every one of them! Especially speculation, I love speculative comments.
Fuel me my NOOBIANS!
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Find me in my channel, newb's-grotto, on the discord.
Link to the discord: discord .gg/DarkWolfShiro