The day started as usual for Diana and Vita. Vita would, as always, force her awake the moment she was aware. This would be met with some degree of resistance while Vita dressed her up, did her hair and brushed her teeth. It was, frankly, like having a large doll to dress up. And what better way to get rid of any drowsiness, by flushing out the melatonin from the brain and body. As they lived on university property and had their own living quarters, there was a cafeteria where breakfast was served. With Diana's status as a Champion, the food was naturally free.
Diana, tray in hand and a carefree smile on her face, walked to the table where her friends sat. Vita stood, as usual, right behind her with all 7 eyes open and looking in every direction. And oh how it tickled Vita to see some snotty teenager freak out in the background when Vita stared at them for a little too long. There had been some idiots during the first week or so who had tried to bully Diana in their own stupid ways, but with the things Vita had done, everyone had secretly learned their lesson. Hearing one stupid soul whisper to their friend about The Wendigo Curse was the highlight of that day. Even better was that no one had bothered to question either Vita or Diana about it. Winning that tournament was worth it, with how people just accepted nearly everything Diana wanted.
She didn't' even need to pay for the breakfast.
Vita watched them all do their greetings, and took petty joy in how none of them spoke to Vita. If none of them would speak to Vita, then it's only fair to start the conversation for them. The design Vita had for the mouthpiece of Wendigo-Vita was actually made up of two parts. The actual mouth where the sound will normally come out of, like how people speak normally. But deep down the throat is another mouth, the one doing the human speaking. It was a little something Vita had experimented with, using the logic that a deep voice was deeper down the throat. Add some tweaks to a human voice box, add some bones to gnash against each other, and then repeat step one by having a couple more voice boxes to speak with to create the eerie effect Vita loved.
“Diana,” Vita giggled internally like a child at surprise on her face as she whipped around.
“I have set us up for a quest, invite your friends.” The surprise turned to annoyance and her grumbling about messing with her stuff, only for her to discover that indeed, there was a quest for her to complete. But as she was getting ready to complain, she also noticed where it was located.
“Hey, um, does any of you want to visit home city? I know we haven't been friends for that long, but it would be nice. Right?” Diana looked around the table, not sure what the group would answer with. But to her surprise, all of them didn't seem against the idea. Heracles took a break from eating a meaty stew to give her a thumbs up before going back in, and while Earl gave a quick “sounds good” before going back to his meal. Only Beatrice was more vocal about it.
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“Oh, I would love to! It must be pretty close by if you want to invite us.” She smiled with pure joy in her eyes, despite the early hours.
“And don't worry Diana, friends are less about the time you spend, but the feelings everyone has. Right guys?” Earl took that moment to wipe his mouth with a napkin.
“While it is a bit quick to invite us to your home city, it has been little over a week, but if it's something we do quickly, I don't see why not.” He nods to himself before continuing.
“So, when would we need to go? The closest city is a few hours away with a carriage. Maybe an hour if we use more magical ways of transport.” A valid question from Earl, and Vita would be damned if any of them thought Vita would carry them anywhere. It was acceptable enough to carry Diana around, with their relationship being that of cooperation between equals. To a degree at least.
“Well… It's Wolfheart, all the way to the east. Closest to the World's Tongue? And we don't have to worry about travel! Being Champion lets me and a party of nine travel around the Kingdom using teleportation circles, if I also have an approved reason for it.” She muttered out the last part, taking a spoonful of “nutritious” sludge that Vita made out of the food she actually had wanted to eat. Vita had done it without on the way to the table, and only now did she notice. She shot Vita an annoyed look, which Vita answered with a dead-fish stare back. Grumbling some more, Diana reluctantly ate some before making a face and stopping.
Oh well, Vita would just turn them into nutrient bars for her later. Maybe add some taste to them if Vita feels like being nice.
Heracles, taking the silence his friends had made as an opportunity, stops eating to speak.
“Wow, Wolfheart must be a pretty city if your parents named you after it. I wanted to do the same, but apparently there are laws against doing that.” And right back to the stew he went. Earl took off his glasses to rub his eyes while Beatrice very kindly explained who Diana Wolfheart was. All Heracles responded back with was a quick “cool” between bites. The teenagers continued eating their food and speaking about various topics of interest, usually studies or professors, while Vita watched over them.
Vita, deep inside, covered the cursed book with a new layer of bone and durable tissue as the strange crystals were broken down. While Diana and co would be more than busy with the quest for a day at the shortest, plenty of time for a victim or two to be created out in the wild. And surely no one would bat an eye if a goblin or two went unaccounted for.