Yakubu walked ahead of Sam and Yoko as they kept their voices hushed and secret. Sam had gotten the rundown of events from Yoko, primarily what Yakubu, a native human of Domus had said about them.
It wasn’t anything good. Yakubu continually begged to be set free, though he was much quiet now that Sam and Yoko decided that their next stop would be wherever he came from.
Sam thought everything Yakubu had mentioned aligned with what he and Yoko had learned within the Tower. ‘Invaders’ would certainly be the Regalia Wielders coming to retrieve Regalia from other Wielders and the ‘Stewards’ he mentioned…well, since they were only three Sam had to assume they were the Regalia Wielders in charge of this world.
Sam had quite a couple of questions but to start with he lifted the food pouch Yoko had swiped from Yakubu and asked, “What are these?”
He glanced and said, “Mushroom Tongue. It’s a meat substitute.”
Sam believe it. The mushroom was red, curved like a petal but also like a tongue and had stripes traveling along its length. “Is this what you risked your life for? You and your friends?”
Yakubu stopped walking and turned a glare at Sam and Yoko, “She wouldn’t have died if you had just stayed in your world instead of invading ours.”
“Buddy, there’s hardly anything to invade and you’re forgetting we saved your sorry ass from those Kobolds.” Yoko sneered, her arms folded in annoyance.
“Saved me? You are…you are death bringers.”
“Enough,” Sam snapped, “Even if our presence here somehow caused your friend to die, the fact that there was only two of you foraging when you are a part of a tribe makes your tale suspicious. Keep walking.”
Yakubu’s lips curled in disgust at the both of them, fear extinguished from his eyes. He turned about and kept trudging through the forest, on a path neither Yoko nor Sam could affirm was the right one.
“Can we trust him? I’m starting to feel like we’re moving around in circles.” Yoko whispered.
“I wouldn’t. He’s trying to cover his own failures with our presence when it’s quite obvious he and that woman weren’t supposed to be outside.”
“You sound certain.”
“Look around, even if this is inside a Tower there’s no how this is normal for humans.” Sam said, gesturing at the sky and the asteroids in low orbit, “And there were only two of them, if they were some kind of Adam and Eve I doubt he has the strength to make stumps of all the trees we’ve seen.”
“Unless he’s a Regalia Wielder.” Yoko said.
Sam smiled, “Then he wouldn’t have let her die in the first place. He mentioned a tribe didn’t he? He’ll lead us to them, no matter how much he might hate or want us gone away from him, as long as we stick close he automatically shares the risk of encountering more Belua and being murdered.”
Yoko threw her hands behind her head and shrugged, “As long as I get a bed.”
Sam shook his head and decided to change the topic, “Did you notice? When we fight Belua here the RGP gets split between us.”
Yoko nodded, “I think they’re stronger or at least smarter.”
“We need to be the same. Stronger and smarter. I’d advise you keep your RGP expenditures to a low, the sooner we can level our Regalia the better.”
Yoko scoffed, “You don’t have to tell me. My most useful abilities cost RGP for every use.”
“We’ll have to manage somehow.” Sam looked up at the trees, suspicious of them ever since Yoko told him how she got ambushed, “Hopefully we’ll come across some low level Belua and fill up on RGP.”
“Hopefully.”
They continued the rest of the journey in relative silence, with Yoko periodically grumbling at roots snatching her feet and Yakubu muttering what had to be curses under his breath.
Sam spent this time mostly staring off into the night sky and watching Yakubu carefully. His lances hovered behind him with their bag of provisions and weapons. He wasn’t too concerned with how much Regalia Energy he was spending to lift the lances as after a few hours of sleep it had recharged itself so he had eleven full bars.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
His thoughts did explore what could be happening back on their earth. Nyx, Alex, Jess…how the world would be changing after monsters clearly leaked out of the Tower and went on a murder and existence erasure spree. What would it take for the other ninety-eight Regalia Wielders to reveal themselves and fight for their planet?
Sam theorized that some of the ghosts they’d seen within the Tower Domus could have been a couple of them. But that couldn’t be could it? Sam wasn’t certain about a lot of things and was moving via autopilot for the most part.
His life had changed abruptly and all he could do without Nyx and Alex, but stuck with Yoko was keep pushing forward. His gut was a knot every time he thought of what that meant— he’d accepted the fact within Tower Domus so they’d be set free of the windowless room but it was quickly becoming something that tormented the back of his mind.
How do I murder someone? His brain supplied a flurry of scenes from action movies but no, the better question was— How do I murder someone and live with it?
Returnal Days Left: 12:11:22
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They were almost through with the first day, twelve hours in already and already he’d observed the horrid death of a woman, the abuse done to her body and now he was shepherding a man that called them omens, invaders and other quite offensive titles.
What if we find Regalia Wielders there? At his home? Yakubu had mentioned ‘Stewards’ after all and they could really only mean one thing. How likely is it a Steward would be at a village or settlement or wherever it is we’re going?
Sam knew the answer before he asked the question, yet his feet continued moving. He glanced over at Yoko and for a brief moment, pictured himself as Yakubu and Yoko as the unfortunate woman to die to Belua cruelty.
Sam shuddered and gritted his teeth as he imagined even worse scenarios— Nyx, Alex, even Jess and his distant mother becoming victims of a Belua’s vile cruelty. His fingernails dug into his palm as he clenched a fist of pain.
Imagined as the scenarios were, the threat was real. Unless he returned with four Regalia at the end of his Returnal, Belua would continue to plague the world where everyone he remotely cared about lived without the powers he was now cursed with.
I’ll take penance in hell then but I won’t suffer it while I’m alive. Sam swore to himself, there was little point to his Regalia powers if he didn’t use them to secure the life he wanted. That was his entire reasoning behind joining the DSF, all that has changed now is— The threats are existential.
Yoko poked his shoulder and Sam’s eyes glazed away from the fear inspiring images his mind fed him. Yakubu had stopped walking and was looking for something between the trees. A stone ruin had appeared within the flats of the forest and the native searched them as well.
The ruins themselves looked like they could have been a church in some past life, though their location in the middle of a forest didn’t help reinforce that idea. There was moss growing over every concrete tile and slab, plants sprouting through cracks and some even bore green fruit that Yoko plucked.
“Don’t eat that!” Yakubu yelled, holding his arms out at Yoko as her mouth hung open to swallow the fruit, “I don’t know if Invaders can survive it but everyone I’ve seen eat it turns into a carnivorous plant.”
“Oh wow, anything thing else we shouldn’t touch, eat or breath?” She asked, tossing the fruits away.
Yakubu had already gone back to searching for whatever it was he was looking for and stuttered a response. Sam walked over to him, he was crouched close to the mossy concrete tiles that remained of the ruins, his fist testing nearly each one.
“What are you looking for?”
“The entrance. It should be here but if I can’t find it that means-”
“It means you have been locked out!” A voice boomed from above. Startling Sam and Yoko into ready poses with their weapons. The owner of the voice revealed himself atop one of the ruins walls, draped in wet vines.
It was a large man in a brown cloak, he held a staff and sat comfortably at the edge of the wall that looked like a lazy breeze could topple it at any moment. The man stood and rather than find a safe path to climb and meet them, he walked off the edge.
The tiles of the ruins dislodged themselves to form steps underneath his feet. A stairway assembled from the ruins mossy blocks as he approached the three with a heated glared locked on Yakubu. Sam and Yoko shared a wide eyed look and the same thought— Regalia Wielder!
A resounding smack returned their attentions to Yakubu and the new Regalia Wielder. Yakubu’s fell to the ground holding his cheek, tears streamed down the handprint on his face, “I’m sorry! We couldn’t take it anymore, we had to try we only wanted-”
“And now one of you is dead and the other has returned omens to my doorstep! Have some shame and own your failure, Yakubu!” The cloaked man kicked Yakubu in the stomach and raised his staff to flog him.
“I think that’s enough!” Sam interjected. He had little sympathy for Yakubu but he couldn’t stand to watch him abused. “Who are you?”
The man was brown-skinned as Yakubu was but far taller than either him or Sam. He was broadly shaped and Sam knew he wouldn’t be able to oppose this man without his powers and yet, even with them he wondered. What is his Regalia?
Underneath the hood that barely covered his face thanks to the large, white striped afro, Sam saw the man was well aged and had a bitter look to his face. He reminded Sam of General Sir if he were angry all the time.
“The better question is who are you? Are you a friend or foe?” he gestured at them with his staff, eyebrow raised questioningly. “I see now…you do not know. And this one couldn’t have educated you either.” He kicked Yakubu in the stomach so he choked on his sobs.
“Come and behave yourselves. I will educate, feed and shelter you until you know who you are and then, I will react accordingly to your choice.” The cloaked man turned towards the ruins and with a gesture from his staff the titles at their feet pulled apart, revealing an underground passageway.
He walked off without looking back, the path was open. Sam quickly helped Yakubu to his feet while Yoko followed behind them, stunned she said, “I thought we were going to murder for Regalia not follow them underground.” She spat and Sam shook his head.
“I thought you wanted a bed.”