“So?” the excitable Drow asked, bouncing on her feet as she awaited the confirmation.
“The crossbow was an excellent choice,” Svaartal admitted. “Thank you, Dextra.”
“I knew it!” She grinned as she wrote something down on her pad. “My darling siblings refused to give it a try, though I guess they are all just stuck in their ways. Not even Soren picked it up, even though I told him he needs something longer range instead of the whip.”
“I couldn’t comment on that,” Svaartal awkwardly replied.
The two of them were alone in Dextra’s armoury, having commandeered one of the unused side chambers for Svaarti to recover and be monitored with the best electrical equipment House Mal’Kar could provide. Svaartal had been introduced to the House Armourer a few days after settling in, and was pleasantly surprised by how bubbly the Drow was, even more so when he learned that she was also a Mal’Kar.
The Secondborn sister was considerably lower on the family totem pole as dictated by the elder Izadora, but the drow was undeniably useful despite her lack of clerical or arcane power, instead being a prodigy with technology and systems that the magically and martially inclined Mal’Kars desperately needed. There were other Mal’Kars around that Svaartal had become at least passingly acquainted with, but he had built a certain rapport with Dextra that he didn’t really have with any of the others.
To that end, if he had to place his trust in any of the drow, it would be her. As well as being able to run and maintain the technology to allow his sister’s spell scars to heal and recover, she was also enthusiastic about her magical and mundane equipment as the House Armourer.
“Oh come on, we both know it, stop trying to be polite.” Dextra snorted. “Soren’s talented, but he refuses to try new things, the others just take whatever they want and barely acknowledge me unless they need me for something, at least with you I have a peer I can float ideas off.”
“I only have a rudimentary knowledge of the technical arts,” Svaartal reminded her.
“Hey, that’s why we complement each other!” Dextra smiled.
Svaartal sighed, knowing what Dextra was after. “You don’t need to flirt with me, Armourer. Just tell me what you want. While I don’t mind letting off some steam, you may be better suited taking your pick of the suitable house slaves.”
“Oh come on, don’t give me that!” Dextra pouted. “I suppose I could, but I don’t want to ‘take my pick’ out of the slaves, that feels kinda weird for me. But seeing as my sister took a shine to you when you first swore your soul to my family, I figured I’d ask.”
“I never swore my soul,” Svaartal calmly retorted, to which Dextra sighed, “I wasn’t being literal!” Before they were interrupted.
“You should take advantage of the slave stock, sister,” Soren purred as he entered the room. “Once you get past their snivelling and mewling you can find their company quite satisfactory, you know. As for ranged attacks, my wands will suffice. A shame Izadora forbade me from joining the Twins, I would have loved to face the Outsider to a proper finish. Our brief bout at school was cut dismally quick.”
“I’ll take a crack at him.” Dextra grinned. “I’ve been working on a new mechsuit that I wouldn’t mind taking out into the field.”
“That won’t be necessary. The High Matrons themselves have forbidden it. Though they’re likely going off of the rumours on the datanet, so Izadora feels that can be overridden with time.”
“It’ll give me enough time to work on it, at least.” Dextra shrugged. “If you’re able to get me some footage of him.”
“We shall see,” Soren dismissed with a small smile. He turned to look at Svaartal. “Izadora has called a meeting in light of the news of tonight’s attack. You too,” he added to Dextra.
“Really?” The bubbly drow asked in surprise. “What the hell does Chief Queef need from me?”
“Everyone is required, the High Matrons have given orders,” Soren purred back with an assertive tone, not allowing any dissent. “And Kravel wants to examine Devil’s Daughter’s staff as soon as possible.”
*****
“Hey boy, you’re going to be okay,” Jack whispered to Dante as he wrapped the lethargic ‘dog’ in blankets. The others hadn’t been able to get a reaction out of him, so Jack was the one who tried to feed Dante with some thinly sliced sausage that had been precooked and left in the fridge, with some water to go with it. The ‘dog’ only took some of the water and outright refused the sausage, which was very unusual for them. “You’re definitely not feeling great after that, but then again, who is?” he whispered to himself more than the ‘dog’. “I know you used some kind of power. I used my gun for far longer than I should have been able to, especially with the overcharges, and I think you must have helped out whoever you could with your mysterious abilities.”
Dante didn’t respond much beyond nuzzling Jack subconsciously in his sleep. He had set up a bed for Dante on the floor of his room so he could keep an eye on the ‘dog’ during the night if something happened, but also because he didn’t have many possessions and had the space. His condition hadn’t changed during the trip, however, and Jack felt he could leave him to rest for a while if Chiyo monitored his condition from afar while he helped out downstairs.
Alora was doing an excellent job of playing host where she could in comforting both Zayle and Vanya, being helped where possible by the others. Chiyo was doing her best to make soothing teas and pass them out to everyone while Sephy went through the bags of clothing they had picked up from the Prefect’s Lockup. Vanya was already wrapped up in blankets and was for the most part unresponsive, though she indicated with a bare movement of her head that the change of clothes Sephy had picked out for the Chuna would be fine. Zayle had adopted a comically oversized black t-shirt with a strange skull on the front on top of what she was already wearing, looking completely exhausted but still wanting to try and help.
“It’s alright Zayle, just drink the tea and it’ll help you sleep.”
“I don’t need special treatment,” Zayle stubbornly replied. “I’ve got to earn my keep for myself and Rayle!”
“Chill out, Zayle!” Nika grunted as she sat up from where she was on the sofa, putting a reassuring hand on Zayle’s shoulder. “You’ve stayed with us before and we’re happy to have you. There’s no pressure on you to do anything!”
“But…”
Your ability to commune with spirits, and Rayle’s affinity with nature, will be an excellent fit for our household. Chiyo interrupted diplomatically. However, this has been a harrowing night. Let us approach this later with fresher minds.
“Which rooms do you want?” Sephy asked them both as she gathered up bedding for their two friends.
“Any suitable place Rayle and I can use as a magical lodge, if you will permit this?” Zayle asked Alora, who nodded before noticing Jack’s confused expression. “A room we can use to better focus our spirit walking and rituals,” they smiled as they explained what that meant. “I will sleep anywhere that is suitable, the ground floor would be nice, especially if there are water facilities we can use to keep ourselves moisturised.”
“We can arrange that, it’s no trouble!” Alora smiled. “For now, Sephy can put you up downstairs next to one of the bathrooms.”
“Where would you like to stay, Vanya?” Jack asked, making himself useful.
“I don’t want to be alone,” the Chuna simply stated, cradling her tea.
“You won’t be, we’re all over the house and just a knock away,” Jack stated, trying to put on a warm smile while looking to Alora with a side glance to defer to her if needed. “What about the room we put you in last time you were here?”
Vanya made a slight indication with her head in agreement, before weakly finishing her tea.
“Now the medics gave you a sedative to take before you go to sleep,” Alora reminded her. “If you take it now, it’ll start to kick in when your bed gets made.”
“Okay,” Vanya replied quietly, taking the offered drink from Chiyo with said sedative and downing it quickly.
“Alright, let’s go.” Jack touched Vanya on the elbow to get her attention, then quickly realised his error when she recoiled and shuddered away from him before she composed herself. Inwardly cursing himself for his foolishness, he led Vanya along the short walk to where he had carried her the night of the Killer Klown’s first attack, quickly making the bed and indicating that it was ready. But Vanya stood at the door, looking unsure about something.
“Will you be alright, or do you need anything else?” he asked as gently as he could.
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“You can…stay with me if you want,” Vanya whispered, looking to Jack with hopeful eyes as she slowly moved towards him, slowly letting go of the blankets wrapped around her. “I told you I don’t want to be alone, and I haven’t thanked you properly for saving me-”
“No.” Jack held his hand out, gently holding Vanya away. He knew full well that it wouldn’t be morally right or healthy to entertain that line of thought in any way. “You’ve been through a lot and we all need to rest and heal from that. There will be time to possibly consider that, but it’s not now.”
Vanya’s expression changed to one of hurt for just a moment, before she sighed and nodded, completely exhausted, getting among the covers and throwing the blankets over her, not saying anything before her breathing quickly calmed to the same, uniform repetitive pattern of sleep.
Turning off the light and closing the door, Jack quietly made his way back to the living room, noticing that Zayle had also gone to bed. Chiyo caught his eye as he returned and gave him a nod of approval, clearly knowing what had happened.
“So what do we do now?” Jack asked the others as he slumped down on the sofa.
Alora sighed. “Yet more things to add to the list of things to do.” She very uncharacteristically thumped her fist on her knee in frustration.
“Alora, you cool?” Sephy asked cautiously.
“No, I’m not!” she snapped. “Tonight was meant to be the first good night we could all share together without something messing it all up! I thought we had actually caught a fucking break for once!”
She paused and took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be snapping.” The Eladrie took a deep breath to calm herself down. “Yes, we all did well in combating the Klowns, but by the gods I wish we didn’t have to.”
“I think all of us agree with that,” Nika added, reaching out with her tail and patting her friend on the shoulder. “There will be other times, Alora, and things definitely could have been worse.”
“Yeah,” Jack agreed. “Jesus, had I not found Vanya and Kizzarith both would be dead, or worse. And thank fuck Clan Bharzum are stepping up to help the victims.”
The Hoduth Clans have a culture of honour, and wouldn’t break their word. Chiyo pointed out. We can trust Clan Bharzum to help our friends, however, third parties may take advantage of their weakened state if they sense an opportunity.
“Both that and the general chaos means work for us.” Sephy shrugged. “We might need it depending on how bad the attack was. Hyperinflation is a pain in the ass but it’s happened plenty of times before. And even if we’re not desperate for resources, it’s always better to have more for when we have a dry period.”
“I don’t want us risking our necks unnecessarily unless it’s for a damn good reason,” Alora cautioned. “And that’s not the point. We’ve been through so much, and we need a break from it all. That means stepping back and just being normal for a while. You know what I wanted from this party? I wanted Jack to experience some of the good this universe has to offer rather than the shit he’s gone through ever since he left the Temple of Hope!”
“Thanks, Alora.” Jack sighed. “It was a good idea, but you know we had no control over what happened. We just got unlucky.”
“I know,” Alora replied. “But I still hate it!”
“Contract for the hot tub is already locked in at least, so despite the chaos they should be doing it, though it might be delayed.” Nika shrugged. “An evening in - that would do me for some downtime. The only ‘normal’ thing I can think of is our homework for Industrial Vocation we still need to work on, we’ve got time to do it but we focused on the other stuff before the Pallid Pit Run.”
“That was for the spider-bot, right?” Jack asked. “I had fun in the class and maybe we can do that soon, but we’ve got other things we’ll need to do first. Vanya’s belongings are apparently secure, but Zayle said they and Rayle are in a tentative position at their place, maybe we could help them tomorrow?”
“Possibly, but let’s not commit to that time frame.” Alora yawned, leaning back on the sofa. “We have two more full days of the weekend and nights after school we can use, and I think I would prefer to help those that are hurt with my healing powers than go fetch Zayle’s belongings.”
“Well, we don’t all need to go,” Sephy pointed out. “It’s not like the Pallid Pit. We’re literally just getting our friend’s stuff. Don’t forget that Jack and I were able to successfully rob the Prefect’s Lockup, which we’re still profiting from!”
“Sephy might have a point,” Jack reasoned. “At the very least those of us that are up for it can go and take a look. If there’s a window of opportunity to get the stuff and leave, that’s great, maybe with a bribe or two to leave us be, but if it’s doable we can get it done. Plus, Zayle told you something about a vault they want to rob? That could always wait for a better time, but if the opportunity presents itself we could go for it. At the very least we could recon the area, unless you guys know the area?”
I don’t. Chiyo shook her head. And I think that’s historically how Rayle and Zayle preferred it. Their species benefits from a swampy environment and I got the impression that’s what their home had, but they might have been ashamed of it, hence why we’ve never visited.
“I’ve done a little bit of research on the general area before based on comments they’ve made in the past, but I’ve always kept it to myself,” Sephy added. “It’s a bit of a slumland to be honest, with shanty towns popping up on the outskirts. It got hit hard by the Klown attack last week, and local reports indicate a breakdown in what previously passed for ‘order’ over there.”
“Perfect opportunity for a takeover,” Nika replied. “It would make sense if Zayle’s Laird is trying to lock the place down and gather as many resources as they can, especially if they’re thinking about leaving with their loot. But also by doing that it means they’re scared and weak. Sephy might be right that there’s an opportunity to be had, and that we don’t all need to go for this one, though I’d prefer it if we do.”
“You and Jack are the most injured out of all of us,” Alora cautioned. “Both of you should stay behind.”
“I should be good for it.” Jack shrugged. “I can take the hits, but I don’t have my gauntlet for the time being. If we do this right we won’t be getting into a fight anyway, though we’ll need to clear this all with Zayle. Besides, I’ll need to be there to carry stuff.”
“Only fair I come for the trip too, then,” Nika added. “Someone’s got to keep you idiots safe.”
“Rest first,” Alora asserted. “Planning later. However, before, that there’s something I need to talk to you about now that we’re alone together.”
Alora took a deep breath before looking to all of them. “Before the Klown attack, something happened during the party between me and Jack, and only a few of you know why.”
“Alora, I-” Jack began, having suddenly been reminded of those events, before Alora shut him down.
“Not your fault.” Alora pointed to him with a smile. “The fault lies with my family.”
“How so?” Jack asked with a confused look, shared by everyone else with the exception of Chiyo.
“My family is full of backstabbing shitbags,” Alora continued bluntly. “I am not close to them, and I was sent here when I was only a little girl to settle ancestral lands we haven’t claimed in millennia. I realise now I was not meant to survive, and it’s a miracle this district hadn’t been taken over at the time, but fortunately the Myrial survived.”
Everyone was silent, not even moving to get more drinks. Any self-blame that Jack felt towards himself for what happened evaporated as she told her story.
“Most of you already know how things went from there. I met and befriended Chiyo, then Sephy and Nika in short order and we all turned this place into a home.”
“Still working on it.” Nika grinned.
“I realistically haven’t paid my family any thought in years,” Alora continued. “Never had any contact of any kind, and I’m happy to keep it that way. As far as I am concerned, you four are my true family.”
Sephy slowly and subtly covered her mouth at that, but Jack saw that her eyes betrayed how happy she felt to hear that. He didn’t know how he truly felt about Alora including him as a surrogate family, but he could understand how she felt considering what she had been through.
“When Jack and I shared a moment, an empathic link that my family had placed on me reacted violently, and that is why I reacted the way I did,” Alora stated, looking to the human as she said it. “I knew something had been placed on me by various older relatives, but until earlier tonight I thought it expired over time. Part of it may have deteriorated, to be honest, but that isn’t good enough.”
Alora looked at everyone in the room to show she was being serious.
“I want the link broken,” the Eladrie stated. “I know it can be done, and I know how it can be done. However, before I do it, I need to tell you all that there will likely be long-term hostile repercussions incoming when I do it.”
“Say no more,” Sephy spoke up. “Do it. We’ll take down anyone that comes for you.”
All around the room heads nodded in agreement.
“Thank you.” Alora smiled, relieved at them all. “I thought you would be on board, but it would be wrong of me to do it without asking. It can wait. However, I also feel like we need to have a proper conversation on how this new arrangement between all of us will work.”
She indicated primarily towards Jack, and everyone in the room knew exactly what she meant.
Yes. Chiyo agreed. We are a close group, and I am honoured to call all of you my best of friends. Even after you try to copy my homework, Sephy! Whatever happens, I do not wish to compromise any of what we share.
“Hah!” Sephy grinned. “Yeah, I love all of you too. I don’t mind what happens with it all, as long as we all stick together.”
“We all want that,” Nika agreed. “And that’s why this might hopefully end up working out.”
“But why would your family be that bothered about that if they clearly want you out of the way?” Jack asked Alora, confused. “What’s up with your family?”
Alora gave a deep, deep sigh.
“As far as all of you have been aware, my family is one of the high noble families of the Eladrie people. We have a ruling High Council that ostensibly rules our people on a galactic level, made up entirely of members of these noble families that individually command countries, continents, even planets and entire solar systems. The number of seats a family can hold is ever-changing, and is far from an even or fair split. In the past, rare individuals have had the strength, will and purity to rule all of us, blessed and marked with potential by the Mother Tree herself in times of great need, though many do not.”
Jack took a deep breath in awe of that as he looked to Alora, bracing for what she would say next.
“My name is Princess Alora Glenphyranix, and by the signs of the Mother Tree, I am a claimant to the throne of my people.”