After returning to Melusarej following their adventure tricking the Black Sun Empire into returning them to their time, Xander and Kayde begin the hunt for the friends they were separated from.
They check in with Sarge and the city guard in Melusarej, making sure they will notify them if they find Drakthar, Kali, Gwendolyn, Lunette, or Jorge. Next, they send out missives to both the Sacrosanct Empire and Desert capitals inquiring the same.
They receive letters back from each; the one from Oswald informs them that they haven’t seen any of their friends after the wedding. The one from Hector is different, he lets them know that Jorge has returned only a couple of days before they got the letter, it also has a note from Jorge suggesting they pay the Scientist a visit.
With that Xander and Kayde depart Melusarej to find the Scientist and discover why Jorge wanted them to visit him. They arrive at the small Silent Brotherhood safe house, hearing loud mechanical noises originating from within.
A man comes outside when he notices them.
“Oh thank Gwyn, Kayde you are here. Those two have been driving me crazy,” the man tells them, leading the two of them inside without the usual caution he shows to visitors.
Kayde and Xander walk inside to see both the Scientist and Lunette standing behind something that just exploded.
“I feel like it needed a bigger generator,” the Scientist notes, not having noticed the new additions to the room.
“No, it isn’t about the size of the generator, the specs were wrong. We need to add the second rotator like I suggested to begin with,” Lunette disagrees; slightly frustrated that he cannot see how simple this should be.
Kayde walks between the two of them and leans down to look at the busted metal box asking, “So what are we working on?”
“It’s a way to harness the… wait… Kayde? Kayde!” Lunette begins to explain before realizing that it’s him.
She throws up her arms and wraps them around him.
“Oh, what’s up?” Kayde asks nonchalantly as he looks down at her.
“I was sent to the Marshlands with Jorge, we woke up on this island with these mute guys that are immortal. They were all mad so they told us to leave, after that we went to see how Kali was doing, maybe drink from the fountain to get some luck. That didn’t work, we found her having sex with Drakthar, that was something. After that, we left the Marshlands and visited the Scientist to send us forward in time but he was like, no you should just wait. So I waited, also he is a worse scientist than I am and his name is also Kayde, it's kind of weird so I just kept calling him the Scientist,” Lunette erratically explains what happened in the past year to Kayde.
“Interesting, we actually did travel through time. Xander was all broody because Gwendolyn was missing so I dragged him to the Cult of Chaos or Black Sun Empire people, whatever they are calling themselves now. That guy from the underground was there; he created another portal and sent us back here. We did trick him though, that’ll probably come back to haunt us at some point but for now, we are just kind of looking for everyone else,” Kayde gives her his side of the story.
“Am I the first one you guys found?” Lunette asks, not seeing anyone other than Kayde and Xander there.
“Yup, why don’t you help us find the others?” Kayde asks, wanting to reunite with everyone.
“Sure, but I think you two should have a talk first. I’ve been telling the Scientist about all our adventures and he’s proud of your development or something like that,” Lunette explains, causing Kayde to look over towards the Scientist.
“You know, I never knew your name was also Kayde,” Kayde comments as he waits to hear what the Scientist has to say.
“Yes, it is. This personality you have developed, it’s so different from what I created you as. I never thought it actually possible for you to mutate in this way. No… mutate isn’t the word, evolve… yes evolve,” the Scientist observes, almost wanting to take a look at Kayde’s core programming to make sure it is unchanged.
“Oh don’t dwell on it. I think this would have happened no matter what. I think this sort of adaptation was inevitable given the people around me,” Kayde responds as he looks over at Xander.
“Yes, Lunette mentioned you were experiencing odd emotions you were not familiar with, could you describe some of those for me?” The Scientist asks as he pulls out a pad of paper and a pen.
“Uh… sure,” Kayde agrees, beginning to explain a bunch of different scenarios from how he felt in the presence of Alexandros in the Sacrosanct or the general feelings he has developed towards Lunette, making her leave the room for that part so she doesn’t hear.
“Interesting… Well, it’s almost like you really are a human at this point,” the Scientist comments as he scribbles down his last few notes.
“That’s what I’ve been telling people. Is that okay?” Kayde asks, uncertain if that is what the Scientist wants.
“It’s wonderful. Keep living your life Kayde, clearly staying with these friends of yours will help you find yourself even more so don’t let being away from me bother you. You deserve to live out your life like anyone else, free of the trouble I might have caused,” the Scientist tells him, glancing at Xander when he mentions the troubles he’s caused.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Okay, I will. That starts with finding the others, so we should probably get going. Those guys aren’t going to find themselves,” Kayde notes, looking to Lunette and Xander to leave with him.
“Alright, it was a pleasure to see both of you again. Good luck finding the others, let me know if there is anything I can do to help from here,” the Scientist bids them farewell.
Now reunited with Lunette, the three of them head towards the docking point of the Silent Brotherhood airships, hoping that if Gwendolyn was in this time she would have returned home.
After weeks of travel, they find the airships, docked in their usual spot between two large sand dunes. While they approach, Grayson comes out from the airship to greet them himself.
“Xander, it’s been over two months, where have you been? You were supposed to be near the sand dragon but all we found was a giant hole,” Grayson asks, becoming increasingly worried, as he doesn’t notice Gwendolyn with them.
“I know… we fell through that hole. Underground was this advanced civilization that had died out. There were distortions and this monster that pushed us through these portals like the one from the tower. We were pushed through time… I don’t know where or even when Gwendolyn is,” Xander explains, getting more and more choked up as he goes on.
“I’m sorry,” he adds, barely holding it together.
“No, don’t be. Just find her,” Grayson puts a hand on his shoulder.
“We will halt all of our operations to search as well. So get back out there, I’ll let you know if I find her,” Grayson assures him.
“Drakthar, Fore, and Kali too if you don’t mind,” Kayde interjects, not wanting them to forget about their other friends.
“Of course, if we find any of them we will let you know,” Grayson agrees.
“I won’t let you down,” Xander assures Grayson once he has pulled himself together.
“I know you won’t. Good luck son, she’s out there waiting for you,” Grayson notes before walking back onto the airship.
The three of them head back to Melusarej to think of their next move. They decide to roam each of the major cities in both the desert and the Sacrosanct Empire.
They finish their search of the desert finding nothing, no sign of any of the four of their missing friends. They make it back to Melusarej, hoping to take a ship over to the Sacrosanct but before they can make it there they find a letter from general Avesa.
Xander opens it and an invitation falls out of it. He reads the letter where Avesa mentions a message she got from a mysterious man who is claiming himself to be a God. The invitation within the letter describes a tournament where the strongest warrior in the entire land would be determined.
The sight of it causes Xander to smirk.
“What is it?” Kayde asks, curiously watching Xander as he reads the letter.
“It’s a tournament that will prove who the strongest warrior in the world is,” Xander is all too glad to inform him.
Kayde and Lunette’s eyes get wide as they come to the same conclusion Xander already has... if Drakthar is anywhere in this time it must be there.
“Where is it?” Lunette asks, taking the invitation from Xander.
“An island far to the South. I don’t think I’ve seen it on any maps other than the one provided on the back of there,” Xander informs her as she looks at it.
“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s hire a boat to take us there,” Lunette declares excitedly.
The three of them find a captain that was already headed there, a large horde of hardened warriors on board, seeking to prove themselves at this mysterious tournament.
A month earlier, Drakthar, Kali, and Fore stand reunited in the room above the arena with God.
“Well, now the two of you are free to go. You are, of course, welcome to remain on this island. You have earned your freedom,” God tells them.
“Gwendolyn, let me go back into the Pits to earn her way out,” Drakthar demands, wanting to free her as well.
“Gwendolyn? Is she here?” Kali asks, having no background on what God wants or has been doing to her.
Drakthar’s eyes narrow at God, the relief of getting Kali back fading away as he remembers his friend’s position.
“She is here, he’s been torturing her so that she will sleep with him… but it didn’t work and now she’s not herself anymore,” Drakthar does his best to recap what has happened to Kali.
“What do you mean she isn’t herself?” Kali asks him to clarify, concerned for her friend.
“He’s been drowning her, she seemed okay for a while but now… she’s barely coherent. I don’t think she can hear when you talk to her,” Drakthar gives the best description of Gwendolyn’s condition as he can.
“You! You bastard! Take me to my friend right now!” Kali demands, drawing her sword and holding it up to God’s throat.
“Is that any way to treat the man that returned you to your friends? You should feel indebted to me regardless of what has transpired between your friend and I,” God calmly rebuffs the rage directed towards him.
“I don’t care, take me to her or you die,” Kali threatens, digging the point of her sword into his neck.
“Now now, that’s impossible. How many times have I told the two of you that I’m immortal? You could shove that sword through my neck but it would only end painfully for you. So what will it be?” God asks Kali, waiting to see if she will continue the sword’s path forward.
Kali lowers her sword, knowing it would be pointless.
“Fine, I’ll play your game. You like to make deals, so how about it? What do you want in exchange for our friend?” Kali asks him, knowing this is what he wants.
God answers her question by turning to Drakthar.
“I have an idea, one that will please you and entertain me. I will hold a tournament here, inviting all of the strongest warriors from across this world to clash in the arena you have become so accustomed to. The winner will get a chance to face me, getting whatever they want if they are victorious. But seeing as I am immortal I will kill whoever challenges me. You can try but Gwendolyn will remain where she is forever,” God smirks as he tells them.
“I accept,” Drakthar states, a wide grin coming across his face, not only will he get to fight God but also all of the people across the world who are considered worthy. God just gave him the opportunity he had been searching for his entire life, it wouldn’t matter if releasing Gwendolyn was a factor or not, he would never turn down this opportunity.
“Fine, I’ll join too,” Kali reluctantly agrees, seeing how excited Drakthar is by this idea.
“Perfect, in two months all of the world’s strongest fighters will assemble here and battle it out for my entertainment. I suggest the two of you begin to train, it won’t be easy,” God warns them.