The trip to Honeydew Henrietta was quite productive thanks to these stamina elixirs Opix bought for us before we left. There were hordes of these 0-Star animals called “Tucaby” that looked like crosses between parrots and cranes dotting the open field. According to the Bestiary, they were highly territorial, and I’d begun to wonder whether Henrietta had employed the same Quest strategy against us that we did her. Cerus insisted that she didn’t though, saying that most Swingtails avoided killing animals whenever possible and that she wouldn’t willingly subject them to harm. The Tucaby were easier to kill than the Spotted Deer, thanks in no part to the Blood Amulet, but given the distance between us and Henrietta, I knew the strength buff it gave me wouldn’t last.
In the end, Opix and Cerus both passed the 40s. Opix unlocked a fiery version of his Wind Blast technique, and Cerus unlocked an instakill spell called “Mamudoon”. It excited her, though the HP cost it took to activate paired with its low odds of working dulled her excitement considerably. I, meanwhile, managed to hit Level 28. Hopefully, I’d hit Level 40 by the end of the day. My current stats were as follows.
Health: 17
Strength: 20
Stamina: 42
Intelligence: 23
Mana: 40
Dexterity: 28
It’d taken us about fifteen minutes to finally reach the Quest radius where Henrietta’s Alliance was supposed to be – an abandoned village bordering another thick forest. The entire area looked like it’d just been through hell. Most of the buildings had been reclaimed by nature, and the ones that didn’t looked like they’d just been blown up a thousand times over. There were channels running through the village, but the waters were blackened by ash and debris. The smells of smoke and burning rubber overpowered any other, and it’d taken effort not to audibly react to it.
We still had the element of surprise thanks to these stealth potions Opix bought for us. Henrietta and her Alliance must’ve had the same idea, as we couldn’t see them on the minimap. That didn’t mean they were invisible, though. In fact, they weren’t even hiding. They were smack in the middle of town, lounging around a dilapidated well. There were six of them and they were all anthropomorphized like Dogtooth. There were two women apart from Henrietta, a deer, and a panda. The rest were males; an eagle, a wolf, and a fox. I focused on Henrietta.
Honeydew Henreitta - Taurus Humanus
3-Star Native
Level 52
If you hadn’t seen Sonia by now, I would’ve told you that Honeydew Henrietta is the smartest woman you’ve ever seen! I mean it, she can craft all sorts of weapons and armor – some of it even better than the stuff you get from the Achievements! She’s probably not the kind of person you want to make an enemy of, but hey…
We’d been crouched behind the rubble of a destroyed building trying to get a good read on the situation only to be brought to attention by an obviously staged conversation by her Alliance member.
“What’re we waiting for?” The Panda girl groaned with mock impatience. “I thought they’d be here by now!”
Henrietta sat on the well and crossed her legs, speaking with a clear southern accent. “Don’t worry, Sying. They’re comin’, if they ain’t here already.” She leaned back, staring up at the sky. “We know it ain’t Ciz. That girl’s too busy chewin’ through the High Tier Zone. Y’all are either the Grimhaven team or the Galerose team. Or are you guys workin’ together? Either way, y’all wanted us, and now y’all got us. We can wait all day.”
Cerus: she carries herself like a true swingtail
Cerus: i am homesick
Grim: Do you have a furry form too? I know you already have the bee thing going on with the antennae. Am I gonna get a furry form once I end up in Swingtail?
Cerus: DO NOT EVER CALL A SWINGTAIL A FURRY
Cerus: HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF I CALLED YOU A MEATSACK
Cerus: RACIST
Opix: Can you guys focus? Henrietta and her crew know we’re here and these stealth potions only last five minutes.
Grim: I thought the plan was the same. I’ll hit her with Quests until she’s weak then we can jump in and finish the job, right?
Opix: That would’ve been fine a minute ago, but considering how prepared they are it makes me think that plan might not work. Plus, it’s rare for my System to compliment someone’s intelligence. We can’t discount the idea that they have plans for us just like we do them.
Cerus: you brought us here so you come up with the new plan bitch
Opix: I was thinking Grim and I could make this even easier. We’ll go up to Henrietta and try to fake some sort of peace treaty with her so she lowers her guard. Once she does, we can activate a Quest then pin it on Ysnik. In the confusion, we’ll kill her and her Alliance members.
Grim: I mean, that works. But… wow.
Cerus: so underhanded
Grim: Yeah…
Opix: Holy shit you guys it’s like you don’t want the Heavenly Gem.
Cerus: watch your language mister angel boy
Opix crouch-walked closer to me and whispered. “Let me do the talking this time, okay?” He turned to Cerus. “Stay hidden and keep an eye on our surroundings in case they plan something. If it comes down to it, you might have the perfect targets for your new Mamudoon spell. Keep it as a last resort, though, because if you pop it and it fails you’re out of a good chunk of HP and they’ll be alerted to our plan.”
She rolled her eyes. “Fine father, I will temper myself.”
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
With that, Opix and I stood from the rubble, revealing our positions. As we approached, I got a better look at Henrietta and her crew. They wore matching workman gear: light-blue long-sleeve button-ups with thick beige pants and brown working boots. While the rest of Henrietta’s crew looked at the two of us with varying levels of skepticism, Henrietta hadn’t budged an inch. She still sat cool as a cucumber with her legs crossed and eyes to the sky.
One of the main things I noticed about them, apart from their matching outfits, was the level of poise they carried themselves with. I found myself standing taller to try and match their energy. Considering I was a 0-Star Level 28, though, I doubted it mattered.
“Honeydew Henrietta, correct? How are you? My name is Opix Gale, and I am currently joined by Grim Hearts. We’re two members of the Galerose Alliance.”
“Gale Rose. Not Gale Hearts, hmm?” Henrietta said, still staring up at the sky. “Where’s Rose?”
“Hidden,” Opix admitted. “Making sure things don’t go south.”
Henrietta crossed her arms as she finally brought her head down to look at us. She focused on me a bit longer than she did Opix. “For things to go south suggests they could go north.” She laughed. “Tell me, Opix. What plan could ya possibly have for us?”
He gestured to me. “We’ve been using our friend Grim here as a BP magnet. Considering you all were looking for us, I can only assume it worked?”
“There’re only two villages in the Mid Tier Zone, Opix, and we’re in one of em. Y’all weren’t hidden.” She smiled. “But violence in the village gets ya kicked out, so we had to wait for y’all at the border into the High Tier Zone.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Opix said. “We planned to go to the furthest point of the Mid Tier Zone and circle it until we eventually spotted you all. Lucky us, huh?”
“Lucky y’all, huh?” She questioned. “Sure it wasn’t them Quests?”
Opix’s face soured. “We’ve been dealing with those, too. It’s that Ysnik girl. She robbed us the other day before we were even on the Battle Board! We’ve been trying to refill our inventories, but she’s been pelting us with Quest after Quest.”
Henrietta smiled. “Sounds like she’s tryin’ to snuff you guys out! So that’s what y’all are after? An alliance between Alliances? How does that benefit anyone but you?”
“While the Solstice Serenade completes Battle Network Quests, the Galerose Alliance will take out anyone who pursues us.”
“Hmm… A sound plan,” Henrietta nodded.
I hadn’t mentioned it because I didn’t want to distract Opix, but as he was talking I’d begun to notice that Henrietta’s allies had slowly disappeared from my peripheral vision. They had been around Henrietta, but they’d slowly begun walking away from us. While I wasn’t sure whether I should call it out at the risk of messing up negotiations, Cerus held no such regard.
Cerus: the skinny deer girl and the sexy eagle man are flanking you guys
Cerus: i do not believe that i have been spotted but the panda, the fox, and the wolf are all creeping towards me
Cerus: i have disappeared into this empty tavern but i see them approaching it on the map
Cerus: they are too close for it to be guesswork
Cerus: as the earthlings say, it might be GGs
Opix: Thanks. Grim, don’t look. Keep your eyes on Henrietta and try to stay casual.
Grim: Got it.
“Say we do agree to this plan. Are you saying you all are simply giving up the opportunity to pursue a Heavenly Gem?” Henrietta asked.
“I–”
“You’ve said enough, honey. I want him to answer,” Henrietta said, chinning at me. “Answer, right now. No chatting. Stall and you can consider this negotiation as having gone south.”
I exchanged a look with Opix before I stammered my response. “We’re okay with clearing the Board! The Felzian Queen is too much for us. We just want to kill shit and get strong.”
Henrietta let out a hearty laugh before settling into a wistful smile.“Ellalaran purists! How long since folks adventured in the Ellalara Belt? No Felzian Queen, no Scourges, no world-endin’ threats… Just… adventurin’ n’ intrigue.”
Cerus: they are outside of the tavern
Cerus: if they step through that door i am casting MAMUDOON
Cerus: i have enough health potions for three free attempts
“God, I wish y’all were tellin’ the truth. I really woulda said yes.”
“What makes you think we aren’t telling the truth?” I asked.
“We all got Achievements for poachin’ a Quest before y’all got here. Pair that with the stealth potion y’all got on and the timin’ of it all…”
“The strength gap between our Alliances is massive,” Opix said, still visibly neutral. “I admit we did lie, but we really can work together to breeze through the Battle Board.” He chuckled. “It would’ve been foolish to approach you all while you were at full power. We would’ve ended up in the Beyondverse.”
Henrietta laughed with him. “Y’all are gonna end up there anyway. It ain’t personal, but we can’t trust y’all, same as y’all can’t trust us.” She stood from her seat on the well. “There’s a Heavenly Gem on the line, and we can’t afford the risk of betrayal.”
“But we’re too weak to betray you,” I tried, hoping to smooth things over. I still had my Quest Summons, but if she was prepared for them I doubted they’d do any good.
“Maybe, but I’m a safe-than-sorry kinda gal. I’ll keep you around, though. That BP magnet idea is great.”
“I’m sorry it came to this,” Opix sighed. “I’d rather not have to fight you, though.”
“Don’t worry, you won’t be fighting me.”
Before either of us could ask, she snapped her fingers and vanished. Moments later, the deer woman and the eagle man Cerus said were flanking us were in her place. Fortunately for us, she was nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately for Cerus, she was Henrietta’s target – alongside three of her allies.
SOLSTICE SERENADE has challenged the GALEROSE ALLIANCE to a fight! This battle will not end until one side is either dead or unconscious.
There are 711 Battle Points on the line. To the victor goes the spoils! Escape will be considered a loss. Good luck!
Cerus: oh my stars i am outnumbered
Cerus: also MAMUDOON is a close-range skill so this will not be a fun time
Cerus: FOR THEM
Grim: Do you need help?
Cerus: aww the thrall wants to help their boss i am flattered
Cerus: no thanks thrall haha
Opix: You can trust Cerus. She’ll be fine. We need to focus on these two. You ready?
Grim: I don’t really have a choice but to be ready, do I?
Cerus: thats the spirit
Grim: Also, Opix? I think I’ll handle negotiations next time. This shit sucked.
Cerus: HAHAHAHAHA
Opix: Fine.