Sophia’s news came as a surprise to everyone sitting in the tent. Everybody stood silently and stared at the two girls who walked out of the portal. Even Paladin Zack was speechless. The silence was followed by the portal slowly sucking the air out of the tent. The fabric around the tent flowed towards the portal, along with the hair on everyone’s head. It felt like a gentle breeze was trying to take everyone in, but didn’t force anyone off their feet.
The soldiers and nurses began whispering to one another. Faith and her friends turned to one another, worried about what was going to happen next. Ali walked up to Sophia and they began their own conversation. They both had their eyes narrowed the entire time, which made Faith feel hopeless.
Abrianna walked up to Ruby with her head down and face scrunched. Her hands were clenched together in front of her and her ears were poking through her long blonde hair. Ruby turned to the elf and smiled gently. Parker watched as Ruby ran up to Abrianna and wrapped her arms around her back. She rested her head on Abri’s shoulder and closed her eyes. Abrianna, though shocked at first, wrapped her arms around Ruby with a comforting smile. Parker couldn’t help but feel warm at the sight of Abrianna being happy.
Paladin Zack: [Okay, everyone! Our celebration has to come to an end.]
Everyone turned to the Paladin as he stood tall and proud.
Paladin Zack: [I understand that this battle does not include the lot of you, so I am giving you permission to return to your kingdoms and be with your loved ones.]
RK Sophia: [That is… if you want to.]
Leviere’s goddess walked beside Zack and looked at the crowd of soldiers standing in front of her. Her brows furrowed and lips pressed, Sophia felt the sorrow of the worn soldiers. As they wore their torn armor and beaten faces, Sophia couldn't bring herself to raise her head to the crowd.
RK Sophia: [Leviere could really use your help against the demon lord! Of course, it’s your choice whether you want to or not. No one is forcing you to join a battle that isn’t yours.]
To Zack’s surprise, Sophia wasn’t using her ability to manipulate the soldiers. Her hair remained black, and not an ounce of mana was around her.
The tent fell silent again. No one spoke up.
Zack noticed Sophia narrow her eyes and sigh. Just before she could turn around, someone shouted for her to wait. It didn’t come from any of the soldiers or nurses. One of the other Paladins returned from the battlefield with Cody and Isaac carrying Omar, Vijan, and Erma. He crossed his hands and smiled Sophia’s way.
Paladin OJ: [Aveay will give Leviere their support.]
Sophia stared at him without saying a word. She was surprised, to say the least, but wasn’t going to turn him down.
Paladin OJ: [Okay, you can thank me later.]
He followed Cody and Isaac to the far right of the room and placed the bodies of his unconscious enemies on a rough mattress.
Paladin OJ: [We’ll have these two sent to Leviere, but since we waged this war, a high-ranking Aveay citizen must always be in surveillance.]
Paladin Zack: [Why don’t you guys hold them in your kingdom?]
Paladin OJ: [Aveay is the most advanced in technical research, but we hail in comparison to Leviere’s military power... even while they’re at their weakest. We would be able to hold them, but what would happen if they managed to escape?]
He smiled gently at the other Paladin then shrugged.
Paladin OJ: [Please, hold your applause. You guys asked for help so I decided to take the opportunity.]
Queen Ruby: [We won’t take your generosity for granted.]
Paladin OJ: [Oh, no need to worry about that. I’m just helping an ally.]
Faith got a strange feeling that OJ wasn’t acting like himself anymore. There was a tense aura building up around him that she couldn’t explain, nor really see… but it was there.
The soldiers sitting on their soft beds didn’t seem too excited about OJ’s decision. They all remained silent and worryingly looked at one another. All of the soldiers and nurses in the infirmary were from the Kingdom of Aveay, so helping Leviere just meant they had to go into another war.
Faith: [I- I’m sorry OJ… but your soldiers are still extremely injured.]
Faith nervously spoke up. Everyone turned to the sorceress, making her grow even more anxious to the point that she felt like she would feint.
Faith: [They need more time to recover.]
OJ shot a narrow glare at Faith.
Paladin OJ: [I know what’s best for my soldiers, Sorceress.]
Faith gently furrowed her eyebrows at OJ’s sass.
Paladin OJ: [We have a little less than a day until the first wave starts. Knowing Leviere, they can handle wave one with no casualties. Then after that is another queue.]
OJ unequipped his heavy armor and put on a clean black suit over a white t-shirt. He looked regal and ready for a business meeting.
Faith: [What are you planning?]
She growled with furrowed brows and tightened fists.
OJ: [Think of this as paying back a favor.]
As Sean watched Faith arguing with a superior, he began to think back to the way the old Felix would act. If he were in this situation, he wouldn’t fight back – let alone speak up. This world changed him.
Paladin Zack: [We’ll accept your help, OJ,]
He crossed his arms and looked OJ in the eyes.
Paladin Zack: [but only yours. None of your soldiers look like they’re ready to go into another battle.]
Paladin OJ: [I can’t refute a command from a superior Paladin.]
Faith grew even more mad.
Paladin OJ: [Fine, but what I said about team Hydra still applies.]
Paladin Zack: [That’s fine with me.]
OJ continued to command Cody and Isaac to walk through Ruby’s portal with Omar, Vijan, and Erma being carried with magic. After smirking Faith’s way, OJ followed the two generals and disappeared from sight. Ruby kept her portal open for any other volunteers, but no one followed after. Zack sighed out loud in disappointment as he walked through the portal.
Before going in, Faith turned to all of the soldiers lying around.
Faith: [Do you guys have a way back?]
A few of the soldiers nodded and then turned to Anderson which has been extremely quiet ever since Sophia’s return. He nodded at Faith signaling that he could take care of them, but she wasn’t quite sure he was in the right place.
Faith: [Okay, good luck!]
Ruby: [Look at you~]
Ruby silently cheered as Faith walked by. She giggled nervously before jumping through. Parker, Sean, and Abrianna followed shortly after. The remaining few were the Royal Knights and Ruby.
Both of the Royal Knights watched each other, both eagerly waiting for one to speak up, but no one said a word. Ruby looked at the two while centered between them. She didn’t quite understand what was going on, but she got the gist of it really quickly.
Ruby: [Ah, young love!]
She giggled. Sophia was quick to turn back to Ruby with a stale expression. She stared at Ruby’s smirk before clicking her tongue.
Sophia: [You have the wrong idea.]
She walked through the portal with her eyes closed and a frown. Ruby shook her head and turned to Ali, who was now visibly disappointed. He had a narrow glare towards his feet and looked gray.
Ruby: [You’ll get her one day! Just keep being yourself, okay?]
She smiled softly.
Ali: [Yeah…]
He raised his head and saw Ruby’s smile, which happened to lift his spirits a bit. Ali smiled back at her with a ray of sunshine coming from his dark brown eyes.
Ali: [I’ll give her my all.]
He ran towards the portal, but just before hopping through, he thanked Ruby.
Ruby: [Things won’t be so simple from here on.]
Ali nodded. She watched Ali turn back to the portal but stopped him once she came up with a sudden thought.
Ruby: [After the first wave, I want to talk to everyone about something. Can you get them together with your ability?]
Ali: [I will try my best.]
He jumped through the portal, and Ruby followed. The portal immediately closed once everyone went through.
-
Ruby’s portal led everyone to a large U-shaped table in Leviere’s council room. In the center of the table was a lifted podium and King Didus standing behind it. He had his hands behind his waist and sharp blue eyes facing his Royal Knights. Everyone had already been seated. Faith and her friends were over on one side of the table, separated from the royals and unconscious bodies. Sophia, Ali, and Ruby all sat together on the far left of the table and looked at the king.
This was Faith’s first time being in such a fancy and rich room. She couldn’t help but admire the decorative and physical aspects of the room. This was also Sophia’s first time in the room. Her Mental Abyss ability takes the memories of those around her and creates a fictional dimension using those memories. Nothing in the ability uses her actual memories.
RK Sophia: [How did contacting the others go?]
King Didus: [Seamlessly.]
He let out a sigh and continued at full volume.
King Didus: [We have less than a full day until the first wave of the demon hoard breaches our gates! We will enact Procedure 007: No Demon Standing.]
Parker raised a brow.
Paladin OJ: [Not to disrupt, but Aveay has different procedures for war protocol. Would you mind explaining the procedure? Maybe go in depth?]
Didus groaned again and shifted his attention towards the center table, where the Paladins sat.
King Didus: [Procedure 007: No Demon Standing, is a mostly defensive strategy in which a small portion of Mages and Wizards band together at the center of the breached city, and form a barrier strong enough to withstand large meteorites. That keeps the buildings and civilians in the city safe, leaving the soldiers out to take on the enemies.]
Paladin OJ: [Do you guys happen to know where the first target would be?]
Zack turned to OJ.
Paladin OJ: [I mean, I doubt that they’ll attack the capitol straight off the bat! They may be demons, but they aren’t brain-dead.]
RK Ali: [Using the change in the natural environment around the kingdom, we’ve come up with two spots that are most likely going to be attacked during wave one.]
Paladin OJ: [What kind of changes?]
Ali turned to the king and waited for permission to continue explaining. It took him a minute, but Didus agreed.
RK Ali: [There were large spirals forming around the two cities.]
Ali teleported to the podium and opened up his inventory. Shortly after watching him scroll around, a large image popped up behind him displaying a map of Leviere.
RK Ali: [Rosemary and Holland are the primary suspects of the attack, so they have already been properly evacuated.]
King Didus: [The spirals were transparent at first. Only those with spectacular vision could see them. Now, the red clouds made them more visible than the moon in the sky.]
Parker: [So you plan on sending all of your military power to those two locations?]
RK Sophia: [Of course not! Are you an idiot or something?]
Parker flinched while trying to cover his face.
RK Sophia: [The Royal Knights were put up with the task of handling the two cities. My team, which we decided to call: Set B, will defend Rosemary. Ali’s group: Set C, takes care of Holland.]
RK Ali: [The original plan was that Zack’s group: Set A, would stay at the capitol. Now that we have extras, we have to work things around.]
Ali scrolled around the map and zoomed into a portion of Leviere towards the north. As he zoomed in, information on it popped up. It was a small village with a population of a few dozen, but extremely rich in resources.
RK Ali: [The rest of you will take care of that point. There are no signs of attack, but we get the feeling it will be attacked.]
Sean: [Does that have anything to do with the amount of resources you guys produce there?]
Ali nodded.
Sean: [So you think the other cities may be a diversion?]
King Didus: [The Demon Lord is not an idiot. If he finds the opportunity to do something maniacal, he will take it.]
Paladin OJ: [So you want us to hold camp at a village that you assume will be attacked? I’m not a big fan of this plan.]
RK Ali: [What’s wrong with it?]
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Paladin OJ: [Leviere isn’t a tiny kingdom. There are dozens of villages and cities scattered around the place. What would you do if a village were to suddenly be attacked?]
Ali crossed his hands and turned back to the king. Seemed like he needed permission to answer any of OJ's questions, and that struck the paladin's interest. Eventually, the king allowed Ali to give a proper response.
RK Ali: [All Leviere civilians outside of the capitol have been escorted to a secure location. One so secure, no other kingdom knows of it.]
OJ crossed his arms and frowned.
RK Ali: [That being said, Leviere has gained permission from all of the other kings to install Quick Travel mechanics. If you happen to be in one city, and another is under attack, contact other group leaders before rushing in.]
A notification popped up in front of everyone’s faces in the form of an inventory interface. Anyone spacing out or giving their full attention was surprised by the sudden appearance of an invitation in their face.
RK Sophia: [To make sure we communicate swiftly, I just sent out an invitation to a group chat.]
Everyone agreed to Sophia’s invitation and returned to their previous activity.
King Didus: [With that being said, this meeting will be brought to a close–]
Faith: [Hold on!]
Everyone turned to the sorceress. The glares she was getting from the king made her feel out of place… like she was still unwanted, but she kept her head up. Her emotions were trying to get the best of her. She grew nervous as seconds of silence passed.
Faith: [What about Ruby?]
King Didus: [Address her with respect, you incel!]
Faith felt her heart quite literally break apart.
All of her built-up fear was beginning to show through minuscule tears that slid down her cheeks. Sean looked at her from the corner of his eyes and noticed her shaking. Just as he was about to stand up for her, Ruby shouted.
Queen Ruby: [DIDUS!]
She shot her narrowed eyes towards him. He flinched at the sight of Ruby furrowing her brows and scowling.
Queen Ruby: [Don’t you DARE talk to her like that.]
Didus clicked his tongue and turned away.
RK Sophia: [Her Highness will be joining you guys at Knarr. Her magic is still too rusty to be used on any of the confirmed fields. Unless... she has any problems with it.]
Ruby relaxed her face but kept the same tension with the king strong. She shook her head, agreeing with Sophia’s last-minute decision.
RK Sophia: [Then it’s decided. We can all leave.]
----------------------------------------
With less than a day left, everyone agreed to meet back up at the council room by dusk. Even though telling time was a lot harder now that the sky was covered by red smoke, there was still a timer counting down the hours until the first raid began. Going off of that, they planned to meet at half an hour before the event.
Zack and OJ went with Cody and Isaac to deliver the two Hydra members to the same dungeons as their leader. Sophia, Ali, and King Didus walked around the castle discussing several things regarding the first wave and the inevitable future of Leviere.
Ruby joined up with Faith and her friends to apologize for King Didus’ behavior. She approached them looking more apologetic than she had ever been, and the look didn’t quite suit her (Faith made sure to let that be known). At first, it started off as an apology that was quickly turned down by the victim.
Faith: [Don’t worry about it, Ruby.]
The queen of Penn was practically shoving her face in front of the once-banished sorceress. Faith could barely contain herself around Ruby’s peach-scented aroma.
Faith: [Really! Can you give me some space?!]
Ruby stepped back and turned to Sean, who was giving the both of them a stink eye.
Ruby: [How can you deal with people treating you like that?]
Faith pressed her back against the nearest wall and sighed in relief.
Faith: [I was black in the other world, remember?]
That came as a shock to Ruby.
Faith: [Being treated like an outcast was kinda the norm outside of Winooski. Even though it wasn’t this bad, I’ve grown kinda immune to it.]
Sean with a laugh: [Don’t lie to yourself. I saw you crying!]
He cracked Faith’s tough image, which seemed to make him laugh even harder. It took him a moment to calm down.
Sean: [No matter how much you try to keep it in, being insulted hurts everyone. Even the strongest of us can be torn apart with a few words.]
Parker: [Even in a world of magic, a person’s most powerful weapons are their words.]
Abrianna: [Look at you two~! Being all wise and shit.]
Parker smugly smiled.
Parker: [Feel free to call me Confucius!]
Sean chuckles: [Confucius my ass!]
He punched Parker’s shoulder and rolled his eyes.
Faith: [Man! I could go for some new clothes.]
Parker: [This is a video game, dude. All that matters is how durable your armor is.]
Faith: [Video game or not, wearing the same clothes every day kinda makes me feel dirty.]
Ruby: [That's probably because you haven’t showered in days.]
Faith: [Nah! It’s because of the clothes. Let’s go to the shopping district!]
Ruby and Abrianna enthusiastically agreed with her but were immediately turned down by Parker and Sean. Faith rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue while trying to hide her face.
Parker: [This kingdom is about to be driven down to the ground, and all you can think about is your apparel?]
Faith: [You expect us to fight in an uncomfortable position?]
The other girls synchronized a nod with her. Faith walked up to Parker and looked up at him with her large, soul-piercing blue eyes.
Faith: [Parker, we have twenty-four hours to live life like normal people. Where’s the harm in having fun?]
Both of the boys looked at each other in disbelief as Faith stepped back. They couldn’t fathom the idea of enjoying themselves before an event that would hit the history books, but they also couldn’t disagree. After having spent the last few days on a battlefield, they were also feeling out of shape.
Parker: [It would be nice to relax for once.]
Faith and Ruby high-fived and joyfully squealed. Parker wrapped his hands behind his head and yawned.
Parker: [I'll be at the most luxurious hotel taking a nap. Don’t come looking for me, I really need some sleep.]
They watched Parker walk off into the distance then erratically turned to Sean.
He stood alone in the center of three fairly attractive girls. They were all in the mood to do an activity he was against, but in his current state, he had no say. The girls slowly closed in on him looking like brain-dead sorority girls, squealing and breathing heavily with their eyes wide open. He couldn’t look any of them in the eye, forcing him to unconsciously turn away and blush. Faith and Abrianna’s large breasts eventually pressed against his body and forced him to let out a squeal.
Sean: [Fine!]
He pushed Faith back and waited for his heartbeat to slow down.
Sean: [I'll come with.]
Faith and Abrianna cheered as Ruby looked down at her chest with a hidden frown.
Faith: [Alright!]
She threw a hand in the air and smiled brightly. It was like there was a radiant glow emitting through her dark purple apparel.
Faith: [Time for a makeover!]
-
The four of them took a walk around the city in search of the shopping district. As it was Ruby and Abrianna’s first time taking a step around the city, Faith and Sean had already taken a tour. During their first day there, Zack showed them around the place. Faith had the excuse of her self-diagnosed short-term memory loss, but Sean was left in the mud. The girls made fun of him for not being able to remember anything – or at least come up with a good lie.
They spent several of their hours looking for the place. Located at the far left of the capital city is the massive shopping district that was renowned across the northern kingdoms for its glamorous and rare items. Though it wasn’t a black market, there were shops set up around the place that could very much be black markets in disguise.
Faith looked around the place like it was her first time, and Sean was beginning to regain his memories of the place. While Faith was away, he never visited the mall. Everything was too expensive and it was always overcrowded.
Ruby and Abrianna were in awe as they glanced at the display items. The girls would whisper to one another and laugh when they found anything that caught their attention. Whether it was a shop or an employee, anything and everything that made them turn was being talked about. Sean felt like a babysitter or older brother watching his younger siblings, which was odd. Back in the normal world, he grew up as the youngest in his family. His siblings were all girls, so he felt like the roles were switched.
Sean couldn’t help but smile as he walked with them. A hardly noticeable smile streamed across his cheeks as he lowered his face and closed his eyes. The girls were louder than the crowd walking about, despite everything that was coming out of their mouths being disrespectful.
It wasn’t until forty minutes in that they found a store with actual goods. It was completely unoccupied even though the district itself was bustling with people. Not a single mix-breed or regular person would even give the shop a glance… like it doesn’t exist.
Faith: [My mind’s telling me no…]
Ruby: [But my body…]
Ruby & Faith: [My body is telling me yes!]
Sean: [Listen to your minds for once. I get a bad feeling from that store.]
The four of them were standing right in front of the merchant behind the counter. He was a fairly tall pig-man – had pink skin, a snout, and floppy ears, but stood like a human and had the body of one too. He was exceptionally wide around the stomach and reeked of dirt and manure, which was most likely the reason Sean wanted to bail.
Faith: [But he’s got really good stuff! Look at that robe!]
Faith pointed to a light purple robe that had light armor coated around the shoulders, waist, and knees. Unlike her current apparel, this one had a hoodie, something she has always been fond of (even in the normal world). Its light purple and topaz color combination made her want to buy it.
Sean looked over towards the outfit, and couldn’t argue. Through an inspection tool, he checked out the outfit's armor levels and price. The selling price for the armor caught Sean off guard, with a price point of two emeralds. That’s insanely pricey for a piece of cloth. Then he turned to the armor levels. His eyes widened in shock.
Abrianna: [Looks like he likes it.]
Faith: [You think I should buy it?]
Ruby: [Hell yeah! It looks amazing.]
Sean closed his interface and then turned to Faith. He had that face of disbelief just like before, but this time it was only centered on her. The two of them looked one another in the eyes for a moment. The rowdy crowd was canceled out of their minds as they tried changing one another’s minds. Ruby and Abrianna awkwardly watched them.
Sean: [It has more than a hundred times the armor points than what you have now.]
Faith: [That’s a good thing.]
Sean: [Have you even looked at it’s price?]
Faith: [Yeah. We’re millionaires.]
Sean sighed and slid his hands into his pant pockets. With her smug grin, Faith let out a chuckle and then turned back to the god-ugly pig-man patiently watching them. She bought the dress with no repercussions but waited for the right time to put it on. The other girls tried encouraging her but she wouldn’t agree.
They continued walking around the shopping district in search of any clothes for the princess since her kingdom’s capital was brought to the ground. Before regaining her memories, Heirloom had been taking care of her. Like a father, he would buy her a short supply of clothes and equipment to treat her hair.
Several hours slipped by as they walked around the bustling markets. All of the culturally unique and beautiful dresses were turned down by the person in question, which then led to them leaving the district with nothing in hand.
Disappointed, Sean groaned and walked towards the nearest hotel. Everyone was exhausted from the long day they had, and with sixteen hours left on the clock, they decided to knock themselves out.
Before entering the hotels, Ruby stopped to ask one more question. Slightly annoyed, Sean hesitated to stop.
Sean: [What?]
He was growing bags under his eyes and had a grumpy tone.
Ruby: [You guys said a diamond is a million dollars, right? How did you guys calculate the conversion?]
Sean: [It isn’t a perfect conversion. We looked for something that cost a single copper coin, then agreed that that would be a dollar in the normal world. You can exchange ten copper for a silver coin, so we decided that a silver coin is ten dollars.]
Ruby was nodding along with Sean’s explanation, but she could hardly keep up with him.
Sean: [Using the same exchange method, we decided the prices for the other currencies. One hundred silver coins make a gold coin – one thousand dollars. A hundred gold makes an emerald – one hundred thousand dollars.]
Ruby: [And ten emeralds make a diamond. The highest form of currency.]
Sean nodded his head with narrow eyes.
Faith: [Are we done here?]
She yawned and stretched her arms.
Faith: [I’m exhausted.]
*
Zack and OJ successfully delivered the remaining Hydra members to the dungeons and bumped into the Royal Knights sitting in the castle kitchen. They were sitting across from one another at a rectangular table covered in a silk-gold cloth and complemented with several tea supplies. Two maids dressed in white stood beside them without saying a word.
The two looked at the Paladins as they made a sudden appearance. They sat on the remaining sides of the table and took a sip of the tea prepared by the maids.
RK Sophia: [You just missed Didus.]
One of the maids delivered a crumpet to Zack’s plate.
RK Sophia: [If you’re looking for him, he said he went to see his wife.]
Paladin OJ: [We just so happened to bump into the two of you.]
OJ requested one of the maids bring him a crumpet as well, only complimented with a honey-based substance and covered by a purple jam.
Paladin Zack: [It was sudden, but I do have a question for the both of you.]
Ali turned his attention to Zack as soon as he finished his crumpet. The sound of the fireplace grew louder as they waited for the Paladin to empty his mouth. Once he put his knife and fork down, he looked at the Royal Knights individually.
Zack: [I don’t want Faith and the others to be involved. Can we take them out of the plan?]
Sophia raised an eyebrow and then pulled out a lollipop.
RK Ali: [Why? They are war heroes.]
Zack: [That’s exactly why. Those three have no idea how war works. They’re running off intuition for Christ’s sake! It’s a miracle that they are still alive.]
RK Sophia: [They showed up to the battlefield unannounced and were our most valuable forces.]
Zack: [The only reason they showed up was for a side quest. One that got a little out of hand.]
Both Sophia and Ali turned to each other in shock.
Zack: [Their real objective is to find two of our friends. I think it would be a better idea to send them out of the kingdom.]
Paladin OJ: [Hold on, I’m sort of confused.]
He put his knife on his crumpet and proceeded to wipe his mouth.
Paladin OJ: [The Sorceress, Druid, and Wizard unintentionally got themselves involved in the Hydra war?]
Zack nodded.
Paladin OJ: [Now they’re about to participate in a war against the demon lord… but you don’t want them to?]
Paladin Zack: [It would be unfair to have them resolve one problem and force them to another!]
Sophia started blowing on a strand of hair that was covering a portion of her vision. Her efforts were futile and made her grow anxious.
RK Sophia: [Oh well, there’s nothing we can do about it.]
Zack silently growled as she manually moved her bangs away from her eyes.
RK Sophia: [How are the Hydra members doing? Did any of them wake up?]
Paladin OJ: [They’re in separate dungeons, all far apart from one another. So far, Vijan was the only one to wake up, but I’ve told Cody and Isaac to contact me as soon as any news comes forth.]
RK Ali: [The dragon… will the cuffs keep her down?]
Paladin OJ: [We are not sure. They prevent all magic from flowing within your body, but a dragon’s fire breath is less magic than it is natural. We can confirm that she won’t be able to transform.]
Paladin Zack: [As long as we keep the net around her, there should be no problems.]
RK Sophia: [Alright! That settles that.]
She stood up and stretched with an arm raise and a yawn. As soon as she lowered her arms, she smacked her lips together and began making her way to the kitchen doors.
RK Sophia: [I’m going to get some sleep before tonight. I suggest you guys do the same.]
A maid followed Sophia to the exit and held the door open. As soon as she walked out, the maid remained by the closed door and watched the three sit at the table.
Ali looked at the Paladins and shrugged. His stomach would turn and his mind would go blank whenever he was alone with any superior comrades. He couldn’t stand it. Without wanting to cause a scene, he instantly teleported out of the room and surprised everyone that was there.
Paladin OJ: [You can get some sleep if you want. I’ll meet back up with Cody and Isaac and monitor the Hydra members.]
The two walked out through the same exit used by Sophia and were escorted to their respective rooms by the two maids.
Zack went to his house towards the outskirts of the capital, while OJ headed towards the dungeons.
Before he took a step down to the dungeons, he asked his maid to get working on another task with a soft smile. She politely bowed and walked off. OJ made sure to watch her get out of sight before going down the dimly lit narrow stairs. There was a rough, brick texture on the walls, no railing, and stairs that made a loud creek with every step.
As soon as OJ made it to the dungeon floor, he walked towards an unguarded door with his hands behind his back. The steel door to the cell opened with a large burst of wind coming from the other side. OJ’s shirt flowed with the breeze.
There was no light coming from the cell. The person being held captive could only see a silhouette and shadow of a man walking into their cell with a large white grin.
Vijan – the person in the cell, watched OJ enter his cell with furrowed eyes and clenched teeth. There was a small chain connected to his handcuff that kept him to the ground and made him incapable of moving or using magic.
The door behind OJ shut and left the cell darker than black. Not a soul could be seen until OJ raised a hand and ignited a torch.
Paladin OJ: [Hello there, Vijan.]
He took a seat on the dirty ground and looked Vijan right in the eyes.
Vijan: [What are you doing here?]
OJ’s smirk quickly turned around.
Vijan: [Where are the others?!]
Paladin OJ: [In a situation similar to yours… but worse.]
Vijan: [Let them go!]
Paladin OJ: [Maybe… I have a request I’d like for you to fulfill. If you do it, I’ll consider letting you and your friends free.]
Vijan continued to glare at OJ as if he was a monster hungry for prey.
Vijan: [I’m never working for someone like you.]
Paladin OJ: [C’mon, don’t be like that. Think about it. You may never be able to walk around another day in your life.]
Vijan stared at the ground for a moment, thinking about OJ’s offer of freedom. Though he hasn’t been in the cell for long, the few hours that have passed felt like a nightmare.
Vijan: [What kind of request?]
OJ lightened up and stood back on his two feet. Vijan raised his head and looked at OJ standing above him.
Paladin OJ: [Trust me,]
OJ grinned maniacally at the helpless ninja below him. His eyes shimmered a crimson red above the torch in his hands.
Paladin OJ: [We’ll both be getting a kick out of it.]
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