Chapter 15:
Have a good death
“Live each day like it's your last,
'cause one day you gonna be right.”
– Ray Charles
* * * * *
Rubbing her painful head, Victoria shot a glare at Ambrose, who was trying to put out his burning sleeve, then casted a fearful glance towards Toto, who was laying on the side, weirdly twitching but probably not dead for good.
She even punches undead dragon spirits to unconsciousness… Busō-shoku no Haki?
Standing arm-crossed before the trio, a tall copper-headed woman was staring them down, slowly tapping her left armoured biceps with her right forefinger.
“Vicky, stop being so rash.”
“S’ry ma’am,” the dhampir contritely apologised.
“Kekeke. You have my gratitude, young Soulbound.”
A vein twitched on Athena’s forehead.
“We still need him for the quest. You can kill him later.”
“Roger Captain.”
“… Pity on this old man.”
“If you want to be treated like an old man, try to look like one,” Victoria retorted.
“Point taken. *cough* Well, I see you have-”
“And I thought you couldn’t materialized anymore,” the dhampir again interrupted.
“Mmmmh… There are circumstances…”
“You’re just lazy.”
“I have my reasons…”
“Whatever. Let’s just get done with this,” she sighed with a wide gesture towards the giant moth’s corpse a few metres away.
*cough* “Very well.” The ancient knight adopted a solemn face. “To complete the request, you will need to set free the soul of the Guardian imprisoned in its corrupted envelope.”
Victoria and Athena nodded in unison, although their thoughts weren’t exactly in synch.
“A ritual probably.” “Let’s burn it.”
““Eh?””
Both send the other a surprised glance. Opposite them, Ambrose scratched his chin a couple times then covered his mouth with a curled hand.
*cough* *cough* “Burning the remains would indeed work, however it might be a little disrespectf-”
“Washing by hand is such a pain, let magic remove the stain. [Laundry].”
Once again, the hot fog appeared, this time covering Monarch’s corpse and washing off the fireproof mucus.
“And~… Hear my command fire mighty, form a sphere which burns my enemy. [Fireball].”
A bowling ball sized fiery orb jumped out of the dhampir’s opened palm and exploded on the monster, which was instantaneously engulfed in flames. The perpetrator of this impromptu cremation nodded self-satisfyingly.
“Yep. It really burns well when you get rid of that irritant fireproofing. It’s a dead moth after all.”
““…”” – heavy gazes no jutsu.
“What?”
Victoria spun to face the others. Ambrose was staring at her with tired disbelief, while Athena just looked resigned to her own fate.
“Vicky…”
“What?!” The dhampir repeated, jumping back and adopting a boxing guard. “I didn’t do anything wrong this time!”
“No… Probably… Just… Why didn’t you use that [Laundry] spell earlier?”
“Ah. Because it only works well on inert targets. Actually, if you move too much in its area of effect, you’ll be boiled to death. Doesn’t work too much offensively on monsters though… I don’t know why. It’s a real shame.”
““…””
“What?”
“Vicky…”
“Yes?”
“Come here.”
“Ye- NO!! This is- OUCH!!”
- 10 HP
Rolling on the ground, the Princess held her head in pain. She cried a little, then she curled up in a ball, shivering and looking despondent.
“You-Your Honour, my husband is abusive.”
Athena resisted the urge to facepalm, instead muttering: “I’ll stop when you stop risking to accidentally boil people to death!”
“YADA!!”
The tall woman cracked her knuckles and raised a fist.
“Stop acting like a spoiled child.”
“Plus I think it actually turns me on…” Victoria mumbled, still on the ground.
The fist hesitated, hovering in mid-air.
Getting hit or endangering people’s life? … No. Knowing her, it might be both… Aaaah…
*sigh*
Unwilling to know the answer, the Shieldbearer opted for the safest option. She changed the subject.
“So… Ambrose, is that right? What do we do no- VICKY!! STOP TOUCHING YOUSELF!!”
“Spoilsport.”
“Kekeke. Young Soulbound, you have it hard.”
An amber glare, heavy of the killing intent of a hundred thousand murderers, dissuaded the venerable ghost of any further commenting.
Athena was gradually beginning to grasp the magnitude of the mess she had wilfully pulled herself in. An ever shifting mess gravitating around the being known as Victoria Sangbleu. At least that gave her undying anger an outlet, and her heavily solicited mind now barely had the time to dwell on her own shortcomings, real or imaginary. So overall it was very beneficial situation, but Athena had some difficulties to see that right now.
“Quest. Now.”
Two simple words, but everyone in the cave – Toto included – snapped back to attention.
“Yes. Well… It should be any second now,” Ambrose muttered, then turned towards Monarch’s burning corpse.
A strange phenomenon was taking place over there.
A greenish glow, of a colour similar to that of the beast’s lasers, was progressively seeping for the giant moth and floating up, mixing with the raising smoke. Under the curious gazes of the dhampir, the human, the dragon-puppy, and even the old ghost, the viscous light condensed, slowly… very slowly… taking the shape of an actual giant monarch – the butterfly <1> – shining with a light that could only be called heavenly.
*ting*
[Butterfly King “André”] will soon™ be revived!
A heavy silence filled the cave.
Athena was observing the ghastly being with inexpressive calculative eyes. Ambrose was looking away – from reality as a whole. And Toto was snickering, like the haughty dragon he theoretically was. As for Victoria, she was staring at the Butterfly King with dead eyes, livid impersonation of the kid who just discovered Santa Claus had sold his soul to industrial conglomerates.
Eventually, the rejuvenated dead elder broke the silence: “It is… a beautiful creature, is it not?”
“Yeah…” the Princess lifelessly responded. “But… André? It’s just…”
“Yes… In the stories of old, his mother was never renowned for her naming sense…”
“Mother?”
“Yes. The Guardian of these woods is allegedly the son of the Insect Goddess.”
“Oh… It’s… interesting?”
There’s an Insect Goddess? …What am I thinking? Of course there is… And I bet she hates me too.
Choas: That Goddess… She’s known amongst our kind as She-You-Must-Not-Be-Named-By.
“…that bad?”
Ka-hos: Yes. You don’t want to meet her other children. Sassy the Cicada. Bibi the Beetle. Gertrude the Ladybird. I won’t mention the name of the Cockroach King.
“Please don’t.”
“Who are you talking to, young one?”
“Chaos.”
“You truly are casual with the gods, are you not?”
He sounded impressed. Victoria just wanted to punch something, and to actually cause more damage to the target than to her fist.
*sigh* “More than I’d like… *sigh* So, Thena, any change with… *sigh again* André?”
“No… It’s just… sort of… hovering over there…”
“Should we go greet him?”
“…maybe?”
“OH! ANDRÉ YOU DUMB INSECT!! DO SOMETHING!!”
“““…”””
“What? Oh, not you too Toto!”
However the loud and rude outburst left the ethereal half-formed godly butterfly unmoved.
“…this is boring.”
Fed up with the lack of explosions, Victoria kicked a pebble away – one she had carefully chosen not to injure her foot – and loudly stomped her way to a fallen rock, where she sat down, her back against the boulder. She opened her interface and then the PM window.
From: Victoria Sangbleu
To: Siri
Yo, you there?
She did not wait long for an answer to arrive.
From: Siri
To: Victoria Sangbleu
VIVI!! Of course I’m here! … It’s not like I’ve anywhere to go anyway… Good timing! I was bored outa ma inexistent sinful ass. B.T.W., do you know how frustrating it is to meet all those horny virgin teenagers who ask me to modify their appearance to max their sex-appeal, yet not to have a body of my own to do ANYHTHIG, not even with myself?! Anyway… I was like “THIS IS BORING!” and then *BAM* you just call right before I call you. Is that synchronicity? It’s totally awesome! We’re sooooo BFF!!
So? What can I do you for?
Did she have that kind of personality? Are all AIs crazy in this game? Or is it only the ones I meet? Who came first, the chicken or the egg? She’s an AI, right? Not some comatose patient chosen to serve as one? I don’t know if that would be fucked up or awesome… Nah. It would be both.
From: Victoria Sangbleu
To: Siri
Just talk, really. I’m stuck waiting for a Butterfly King to regenerate. It’s slow.
From: Siri
To: Victoria Sangbleu
Well, it’s butter after all. It’s fat, not fast.
“…”
From: Victoria Sangbleu
To: Siri
I think I have a bad influence on you.
* * *
It took a full hour-and-a-half for André the Butterfly to finish regenerating. His former body was still slowly being consumed by flames, and Athena was slightly worried that the fumes would fill the cave and suffocate them, but apparently the place disposed of its own ventilation system, because the air was still as clear as when they first arrived.
Then…
*tata-TARATATAAAAAAAA*
[Butterfly King “André”] IS RRRRRRRREBORN!!!
“SILEEEENCE!!!”
Woken up from her nap by the trumpeting notification, Victoria ragingly grabbed the nearest pebble and threw it towards the supposed Goddess’ spawn. The tiny rock merely flew a dozen metres, then fell calttering on the ground, not even close to its target, nor in the right direction. Three pairs of pitying eyes converged towards the dhampir. By this point, nobody really cared about the giant butterfly anymore.
“I-I-I’m a mage! Strength isn’t necessary!” the Progenitor stammered while blushing.
Athena walked up to her and comfortingly patted her head. The Princess pouted cutely, but it felt rather pleasant, so she voiced no complain. On the side, Toto was trying his best not to look jealous, while Ambrose looked at the scene, hands joined behind his back and with an endeared grandpa smile… extremely disturbing on his twenty-something year old face.
*thump*
The whole cave suddenly shook as a shockwave rippled through the air. Everyone stiffened – except Toto who was a plush and thus soft by nature – and turned their gazes towards the now fully formed, though still ethereal, monarch who was flying in circle around his own scorched corpse. It whole translucent body was slowly pulsating and with each flaps of his wing, flakes of light scattered and the surrounding relative darkness shimmered.
The flapping was getting faster by the second, as was the glowing pulsation. Victoria’s guts twisted.
“I have a bad feeling about this…”
Though she said it with a twisted smile…
And, as if to respond to her expectations, all light in the vicinity suddenly gathered around the reborn Guardian. Then [Butterfly King “André”]… exploded, like a greenish white orb expanding in all directions at once.
With a synchronous yelp, Ambrose and Toto reacted simultaneously. The ghost vanished on the spot and the plush rushed to Victoria, who, master at improvisation, opened her inventory in one sweep of her forefinger thought the air. Toto jumped and disappeared into the unexplored abyss of interdimensional storage.
Sole undead left in the room with no escape route, the Progenitor ducked behind Athena while the latter swiftly equipped her shield, slammed it in the ground and ducked behind it herself.
*WOOOOOOOOOSH*
For fifteen seconds, the tide of holy light washed over them accompanied by a thundering noise. However the Shieldbearer’s health didn’t decrease at all. In fact she could have removed her shield and stood up and no harm would have come to her. Yet she kept her ground, in order to protect the dhampir girl who was curled up in ball behind her, staring at her own depleting health bar and muttering: “…nononononononono…”
Then everything stopped as abruptly has it had started.
“…”
“…”
After the unexpected cleansing assault, tensed silence and darkness reigned in the cave. Neither André nor his corpse was anywhere to been seen and gone too was the ambient glow that had faintly illuminated the place until now. The lack of light didn’t hinder the two girls however, as both had natural night vision.
Then the silence was broken by a melodious outcry.
“Whaaat waaaas THAAAAT?! *cough* *wheeze* Did it just try go *pop* after forcing us to wait for… aaah-ah… for almost TWO FREEAKING HOURS?!?” *cough* *COUGH*
“No clue,” shrugged Athena as she surveyed the surrounding obscurity with vigilance. “More importantly. Vicky, are you alright?”
“Yeah, yeah… *cough* Safe…” the dhampir difficultly answered while squinting at her health bar.
The thin horizontal pipe-like icon was flickering red and the number besides it displayed a very concerning <1/210>.
She already felt like she was dying, her body was heavy and she could barely breathe. She slowly reached out to her inventory and took out a low level [Healing Potion]. One of the only “advantages” of being as frail as a new-born mollusc was that she made economies on recovery items, but she honestly didn’t care, though Athena might appreciate that fact.
Victoria’s movements were prudent as she drank the reddish liquid – Though it was red, it looked more like water mixed with grenadine syrup than blood – because she was afraid that one wrong move and she would die from biting her tong or something.
She didn’t need to be so cautious however, because health in Untold Tales didn’t quite work like that.
It would have been quite inconvenient and unrealistic if it did.
Imagine some mighty warrior, who for example was epically walking back towards his followers on background of setting sun after single-handedly defeating a dragon. The man would be burnt, covered in blood, probably slightly disremembered, with barely any life left, yet he would be crowned with the immense glory of his legendary achievement. How stupid would it be if he then swatted a fly in his cheek and died?
*Two seconds to imagine a bloody knight slapping himself to death…*
Ridiculous.
If someone’s HP fell to zero, death was circumstantial, not systematic. If the cause was a scimitar thought the skull… yeah. That was pretty much it. Bleeding to death was also quite… deadly. However if the cause was the dreadful encounter of your little toe versus the Demon Lord “Furniture Corner”, you would only collapse in a comatose state. Admittedly that still looked pretty stupid, but at least there remained a faint chance of being nursed back to life.
Of course, turning undead was also a possibility, but, with a few notable exceptions like vampires and liches, being undead usually sucked.
Victoria wasn’t one to focus on such details though. And Elric had very rarely fought against monsters which equalled him in power. His opponents had been either so weak he mowed them down while mentally completing his grocery list, or so strong he would barely have the time to think “…this might have been a mistake.” before at least half of his body was blasted out of the mortal plane.
So, basically, the Progenitor had no idea there existed a step between life and obliteration.
She was a very selective Knowledgeable.
*ting*
Quest update:
Rest in Pieces
Congratulation, adventuresses! André the Butterfly King was freed from his torments and arose back to his mommy in heaven to cry pitifully in her bosom. Don’t judge him. You too would feel like crying if you had been imprisoned in your own decaying flesh for three hundred years, then skewered by a stalagmite, beaten up, got your brain turned into bloody pasty and had your remains desecrated in fire. SHAME ON YOU!!
Consequences:
1. Though she kinda feels like turning you into a flea for butchering her son so crudely, the goddess Insecta nevertheless grants you an appropriated blessing… if only to piss off the gods of Light who always make fun of her. You received the Greater Blessing [Friend of the Butterflies]. From this moment on, no butterfly will ever wish you ill. As a bonus, the goddess threw in [Friend of the Moths] too… although it’s mostly because making a distinction is a pain, even for her.
2. Artefact: [Sacrificial Dagger of the Soul-Eater]. You might want to pick that up. It’s on the ground where the corpse was. No, no, don’t thank me.
Both Athena and Victoria received the same message announcing the completion of their quest, then another few windows popped up after that, mainly experience stuff.
Incidentally, the Shieldbearer gained a level while the Bloodsoul Mage gained three. Toto didn’t gain anything. Not because pets didn’t get experience, but because under his appearance of cute puppy Border Collie hellhound, he was a freaking ancestral dragon and he would have eaten Monarch the Undead Moth for breakfast if he had been at full power.
While Victoria, still sitting on the ground – she actually enjoyed sitting on hard surfaces –, was busy adding all her skill points in Agility as usual – she had gotten a bit more responsible with the management of her status, but she hated to think about it – Athena made a weird face.
“Vicky?”
“Mmmh?”
“Isn’t the quest update a little…” she trailed off.
“A little what?”
“Too personalized?”
The dhampir raised an eyebrow and checked the history of her log to once again read the earlier message. After a moment, tilting her head, she replied: “Nope… Seems like usual to me. Why?”
“Nothing,” the tall woman sighed while dropping her shoulders.
But then she raised her head again. She looked a bit like she was about to cry.
“Vicky…?”
“Yes?”
“[Friend of the Butterfly]… Is that really a Greater Blessing?”
Victoria shrugged.
“It was granted by a divinity, so… I guess?”
“Can butterfly even wish ill to people?”
The dhampir chuckled dejectedly.
“Yeah… I feel so blessed right now…”
Suddenly, a humanoid form emitting a faint glow begun to materialised in the darkness. Both the adventuress immediately jumped on their feet, Athena lifting her shield and Victoria mentally reviewing all the spells she could think of.
“Kekeke. Quite a fright, was it not, young ones?”
It was just Ambrose though and the two girls groaned in annoyance.
“From the power that lies within, come forth, blast the vermin. [Soul Blast].”
*WROOOSH*
“WOOO-HO!!” shouted the ghost while diving out of the way of the reddish blue ethereal fireball. “What was that for?”
“Reflex,” replied Victoria in a deadpan voice.
“Do not develop that kind of reflex, young one!”
“Whatever, old fart. By the way, how come a Butterfly King turned into a moth when undead?”
“Ah? Eeeeh… You see, young one, magic works in mysterious ways and-”
“Want me to let the dog out?”
“NOOO!!”
““…””
“…”
““…””
*cough* “I mean… That shall not be necessary. Enough of this. I only came back for a last formality.”
Without leaving time for Victoria to retort, the ancient Soul Mage clapped his hands once. A couple dozen orbs of bluist light of different sizes appeared out of thin air and began circling around him disorderly.
Confused at first, the dhampir then opened wide eyes.
“Are those?”
“Indeed. I believed you would like the opportunity of a proper farewell.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
A bright yet vaguely apoplectic smile spread on Victoria’s face.
“Oh, thank you old man! …and sorry for the [Soul Blasts].”
“…”
“And the dragon breath.”
“…”
“And the crotch bite.”
“… *sigh* I forgive you. Your anger is warranted. I also tricked you and abused your kindness, young knight. Let us consider ourselves even and leave this history of past mutual abuses behind.”
“Are we and old SM couple or what?” Victoria shivered at Ambrose’s wording.
“Well… technically…”
“DO NOT DARE SAY ANOTHER WORD!!”
“Kekeke… Now, I think there is someone here who would like to greet you first.”
He raised his right hand and the smallest yet brightest of the light spheres came floating towards it. He then mumbled something and gently dropped the ball on the ground. It began to grow, rapidly taking the shape of a little girl. Although she now was blue and translucent, there was no mistaking her long twin-tails and simple checkered dress.
Dorothy, no, Dorothy’s ghost stood there, looking uncomfortable, intertwining her fingers and hesitating to meet Victoria’s gaze.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, the dhampir sigh indulgently and called out in a mockingly scolding voice: “Hey, little Sis, Big Sister is home and you don’t even greet her properly? I don’t remember rasing such a rude little girl.”
“I…” Dorothy raised her head, then lowered it again. “So-*hiccups*-Sorry I lied, Big Br- Sister.”
“Oh, sweetheart…”
A gentle smile bloomed on Victoria’s lips, and Athena, who was observing quietly from the side-lines, felt a pike of jealousy in her guts for some reason.
She immediately reprimanded herself for being jealous that someone who wasn’t even her girlfriend – …yet. No! Don’t think that! – smiled lovingly at another girl. It was stupid, she knew, especially since the other girl was a NPC. A dead underage NPC at that. Though did age even mattered with undead?
However Athena couldn’t help but feel a little dejected, thinking that the crazy dhampir would probably never look at her in such a way… never look at her like she was something fragile which the pale girl wanted to cherish and protect.
She was a little taken aback that she actually wanted someone to think of her as fragile, after all this time spent building herself an image of strength and indestructibility. Maybe it was her true desire to be seen as who she really was and not as the armour she had constructed, constructed specifically in fear of the reaction others would have when seeing that true self? Maybe she knew Victoria wouldn’t judge, or even care, if she ever saw how broken Athena… no… how broken Eva really was?
For the umpteenth time since meeting the random girl, Athena found herself trapped in her own emotional roller coaster, her usually logic mind thrown off course.
The most ironic about the tall woman’s confusion was that she had yet to notice that, this gaze of Victoria’s she so desired, the Princess often had it when the Shieldbearer wasn’t paying attention. More specifically, in those moments when “Athena” was distracted and acted out of character, when bits and pieces of the frightened Eva leaked through the cracks of her hardened shell.
Although, being a shallow individual, Victoria also wasn’t conscious of the way she herself looked at her friend.
Towards the almost crying Dorothy, however, the dhampir somewhat knew what she was doing. She crouched on the ground, opened her arms and, with the tip of her fingers beckoned the little ghost to come closer. Finally, with an uncertain smile that soon turned into uncontrollable sobs, Dorothy rushed towards her.
“BI-*hiccups*-IG SIST…er?”
Jumping into her Big Sister’s opened arm, Dorothy was quite surprised when… she passed right through her. Victoria too was slightly surprised, but mostly she felt dumb.
“Ah… Right… Didn’t take that into consideration.”
She quickly casted the [Soul Grab] spell, spun around, crouched, and repeated the exact same gesture as earlier.
“Now, come to Big Sis.”
Dorothy was stunned for a couple seconds, then her tiny shoulders began to shake uncontrollably. Soon, she was bent in two, holding her sides and laughing. Victoria looked rather embarrassed.
After some time, the little girl rose her head again, wiping tears at the corners of her eyes, and beamed a bright smile towards the scatter-brained dhampir.
“Hahaha… Big Sister, you’re still an idiot are you?”
“Hoy!” Victoria stepped forwards and karate-chopped the laughing ghost. “That’s not a nice thing to say… though I’ll admit it might be true.”
The little sister rushed to her metamorphosed self-proclaimed sibling and tearfully hugged her waist. Victoria patted the crying girl on the head.
“Calm. Calm. Told you I’d be back... mostly. I might have lost a couple kilos on the way.”
*sob* “You-You got a few more in some places though… Hihi…”
“Ho! Naughty little demon. Who taught you those kinds of things?”
Dorothy chuckled, jumped a little and clutched her arms around the dhampir’s neck, forcing Victoria’s ear next to her mouth.
“But I think you’re prettier that way, Big Bro~ther,” she whispered.
“Ho-ho? Now you’ve done it! Tickle Punishement!!” the Princess shouted as she grabbed the little girl, imprisoning her between her own arms and mercilessly torturing her sides with her nibble fingers trained by hours of [Tailoring] and [Sewing].
Thankfully, [Soul Garb] gave the Bloodsoul Mage a greater apparent strength when handling spirits, otherwise her current self would have never been able to lift the little ghost.
After several minutes of back and forth between the unconventional siblings, player and NPC, ghost and dhampir, born girl and – kinda – former man, Victoria suddenly noticed another blue translucent silhouette staring at them from besides Ambrose.
The dhampir rose from the ground where she had been rolling with Dorothy, and faced the newcomer.
“Martha…”
The woman’s face was peaceful, a small smile had even invaded her lips. Yet Victoria still couldn’t feel at ease in her presence. Her wariness was again reinforced when she saw that ice was spreading from the spot Martha’s ethereal feet were touching the cave floor.
“I see you found my clothes to your liking,” the ex-torturer stated as greeting, with what probably was the closest thing she could express to a smug smirk.
“Ah… This… How can I say-”
“Princess,” Martha interrupted on a formal tone. “It’s a pleasure to finally see you again. You also, my lo-“ she threw a discreet glance towards Athena, who clearly was trying not to intrude, then corrected herself, “lady, I cannot thank you enough for the help you provided us, on both matters concerning Dorothy and milady Victoria.”
“Ah…” The dhampir awkwardly rubbed the back of her head. “It was nothing really. And I’m not sure if I can do much for your Princess.”
“It won’t be necessary. Just keep her soul safe and Master Corbin will take care of the rest.”
“He will?”
“I will?”
Both Martha and Victoria slowly turned towards the dead Soul Mage, each displaying a different shade of killing intent, respectively absolute zero freezing and promise of literally unimaginable agony.
“O-Of course I will!” he stammered... then his expresion became much more serious. “Of course,” he nodded.
The Ice Elemental Queen… eeeh… Martha’s ghost then reported her attention to the silent Athena. She observed her for a long time with enough intensity to start making the Shieldbearer feel uncomfortable. Then, although her face remained hard and mostly expressionless, Martha’s cheek suddenly gained a deeper shade of blue.
Did she just blush?
Victoria had witnessed chaos in many of its incarnations, yet for the first time she thought something was really wrong with what her eyes were telling her.
Martha coughed discreetly, a hand covering her mouth, – It was obviously to give herself countenance. Ghosts don’t cough. Duh. – and performed a military bow, fist above the heart and body slightly bent from the waist up.
“Thank you as well, lady warrior, for your help. Although no such obligations befell you.”
“Ah! No… I… I don’t deserve such…”
Athena was clearly uncomfortable with being thanked with such seriousness. For some reason Victoria found her friend’s flustered face irresistibly cute. Still in her embrace, Dorothy lifted her gaze. Seeing the endeared smile on her Big Sister’s face, she alternatively looked at the dhampir and the copper-headed near-giantess, a confused look on her face. Then understanding suddenly sparkled in her eyes.
“I helped her for my own selfish reason,” the tall woman concluded.
“Selfishness isn’t a sin. I’d be worried instead if you pretended to help out of pure goodwill,” Martha retorted. “Please accept my gratitude.”
“No, I…”
As expected of an ex-officer in charge of interrogations. Everybody has their own agenda. But this Martha, really, I never heard thanks that sounded so much like orders. And Thena, just accept her gratitude. You’re a great girl, just stop pretending otherwise.
As Victoria interiorly nodded to her own wisdom, she felt a tug on her sleeve and she lowered her ear to Dorothy’s level.
Cupping her hand secretively to keep her voice from the others, the little girl murmured: “The big woman, she is like Martha, right?”
“Like Martha?” Victoria whispered back for confirmation, although a possibility already had formed in her mind.
“She likes girls. I mean as… lovers?”
…Ragnarok. This is Ragnarok.
*cough* “Hum… yeah… she… Athena does.”
“But you’re a boy, Big Brother!”
“Yes. But she doesn’t know that.”
Dorothy gave her a surprised and scolding glare, and for an instant, Victoria saw Martha’s reflection in her adoptive daughter. She shivered.
“Lying is bad!”
“Then Big Sister is a bad girl.”
The little ghost glared for another second, then giggled softly.
“I knew that.”
“You…”
“Well, then Big Brother just has to stay a girl forever!”
“You say scary things sometimes… Though again I don’t disagree…”
Is this what they call a child’s truth?
During their whispered exchange, Athena had apparently ended up ceding in face of Martha’s unshakeable gratitude, and was now looking incredibly awkward.
And it wasn’t about to get any better, because Dorothy suddenly freed herself from Victoria’s hug – in truth, the spell’s effect dissipated and she slipped right through the dhampir’s arms – and floated up to the Shieldbearer. Stopping before the woman who was at least half-a-metre taller than herself, Dorothy stared at her like a father examining his daughter’s boyfriend.
Seriously… What has Martha been teaching that kid?
Athena was seriously beginning to wonder why everyone was so obsessed with staring at her. She casted a glance at Victoria, who raised her hands in helplessness. She had no idea either what her chosen little sister wanted.
Then Dorothy nodded, visibly agreeing to her own conclusions, and abruptly bowed deeply in front of Athena.
“P-P-Please ta-take care of my Big Sister!”
OH! Dorothy? What are you saying?
“I will.”
YOU AGREE?! And what’s with the overly serious tone?
The dhampir rubbed her forehead.
“Why do I feel like I just have been married of?” she mumbled to herself.
* * *
Many moments of laughter, tears, and awkwardness later – including cameos by several other villagers, all dead of course – the time for everyone to say their true farewell eventually came.
“Then, my ladies, I will take my leave. Once more, you have my gratitude. Princess, I reiterated my previous offer, feel free to consider my former home yours,” Martha said with yet another formal bow, the she – oh so faintly – smirked. “Of course, this includes my wardrobe.”
“Got it Martha, thank you… I guess,” Victoria shook her head.
“Bye, Big Sister Vicky! You too, Big Sister Thena!” Dorothy happily waved.
Victoria would have sworn she heard Athena blissfully repeat “Big Sister Thena” in a murmur. She wasn’t sure, but the tall woman had her creepy absent-minded Eva-style half-smile, so she concluded she had heard right. Moreover, with what Victoria had gathered about Eva’s idolization of her own elder sibling, she could understand how being called so would make the insecure girl feel good.
“Byyyye!” Victoria replied with a tensed smile. “I would hug you goodbye, but I actually managed to empty my mana pool with the last spell.”
Dorothy had insisted that she performed magic tricks and Victoria had been more than happy to comply. But now she felt tired and drained. Moreover, she suddenly had remembered a detail about their current situation, and this was why her smile was so tensed.
“Goodbye, Dorothy, Martha. It has been a pleasure to meet you,” Athena said in turn, having completely recovered her seriousness and also visibly tensed.
Nothing more dangerous or weirder than an exploding butterfly king has happened in the past three hours. Things are about to go wrong.
She sensed that somehow her definition of “weird” was starting to evolve in an uncommon direction, but she decide not to mind it and instead focused on discreetly surveying her surroundings. Nothing seemed off. And that was specifically what scared her.
Then she noticed Victoria was also tensed, and her mind nearly made an instantaneous shift to Defcon Four.
“Yes. Let us depart. Young ones, we will see each other again, if Fate wills it. However this time I honestly believe a long time shall pass before such occurence. At least as long as I have not found a source of magical power sufficient to enact my ultimate ritual.”
“Take you time, old fart, I’ll keep an eye on your angry beloved.”
“Thank you,” he bowed deeply, looking honourable and truly princely for the first time since Elric fist met him.
With a clap, Dorothy and Martha, one still waving and the other closing her eyes peacefully, turned back to their soul orbs forms and began once again to float around Ambrose. Then the latter performed a series of hand gestures and pronounced several words that Victoria recognised thanks to her intermediate [Ancient Language Mastery], though she couldn’t fathom their meaning… yet.
The dead Soul Mage lifted his palms up and, with the sound of broken glass, space itself shattered and a rift opened mid-air in the middle of the cave. Beyond it lurked abyssal yet comforting darkness. Immediately, the souls of the villagers were sucked up through the rift and disappeared within the darkness.
“Well…” commented the dhampir, “that was-”
But it was not over, as a loud wail suddenly shook the cave – Victoria was actually worried the whole place would collapse from all that repetitive shaking.
From the [River of Lost Souls], a literal torrent of murky white bodies took flight, rushing adamantly towards the opened portal to the Ether. Athena tensed, believing the catastrophe she feared was upon them, however the tormented spirits ignored them, too focused they were to finally obtain the peaceful eternal rest that had for so long been denied to them.
The gloomy fast-paced procession continued for what seemed like hours. And though it didn’t actually take that long, there was a whole river of those things to empty, so, yes, it took quite some time. Time during which Victoria kept glancing nervously at the entrance of the cave – the real entrance, not the once through which the two adventuresses had fallen. Of course, Athena noticed her actions and tensed even more, to the point she feared the joints of her bones would actually snap from the muscle pressure applied to them.
She wanted to ask her pale friend about what was going on, but a glance at the blood that was slowly flowing down Victoria’s cheeks decided Athena to keep her questions to herself for a little while longer.
Eventually the flow of the dead came to an end and the rift abruptly slammed close in a thundering crashing noise.
Ambrose, who had stayed immobile for the whole duration of the process, actually looked quite tired for someone who had been dead for two millennia.
“Wasn’t that a bit too grandiose?” Victoria asked. “I thought that, without a curse of some sort, souls would naturally be drawn to the Ether?”
“Normally, yes. However old souls who for too long have been chained to this world might have lost their ways to the other side.”
“Migratory instinct degeneration?”
“In a sense. Like they say, better safe than sorry. I could not risk some poor soul lingering in the mortal plane and suffering more. This is the calling of my House, and I shall uphold it to the bitter end.”
“I see.” Victoria was not snarky for once.
“Now, young ones, I truly must be going. This has been a most interesting partnership, but I need to rest.”
“See you, old fart. Take care.”
“Goodbye, sir.”
“Goodye, friends. Kekekekekekekekekekekekekeke…”
After Ambrose slowly dematerialised very creepily while laughing, the two girls stayed silence for a while. Then it was Athena who this time broke it.
“Are you okay, Vicky?”
“You above all persons should know how that question is annoying,” Victoria retorted, yet her tone was playful and she had already wiped the tears of blood off her face. “But, yes. I’m good.”
“She was a nice girl… Dorothy, I mean,” Athena continued while staring at the empty space where the rift had been.
“Yeah. And a little devil at the same time… But I suppose that little girls are supposed to be.”
“You sound like an old man.”
“Do I?”
“Yes. And I can quite see you being a terrible daughter.”
“Hahaha… Ha… Ha… Terrible daughter… yeah… What about you?”
Seeing Athena freeze at her question, Victoria knew she had stepped on a landmine. When the tall woman’s breath actually started to get rough, reminding Victoria of Eva’s freak-out Nicolas had witnessed, the dhampir immediately took action... meaning she spouted the most outrageous thing she had in mind in order to distract her hyperventilating companion.
“You know, I kinda wanted to keep her as pet. Put her in a plush. Or maybe stich a body up with corpse pieces. Probably a mix of human and animal parts. Or from monsters. Experiment a bit. I mean, come on! She considered me her older sister. You can difficulty find a more devoted spirit. Hehehehe. I doubt she would have protested to anything I asked. I always wanted my own obedient lab-rat slave. It’s a shame I had no managem in my inventory. Oh, and with a little train-OUCH!!”
“WHAT NONSENSE ARE YOU SPOUTING AGAIN?!! DO YOU EVEN REALISE HOW INHUMAN YOU SOUND RIGHT NOW?!”
Me and my stupid comforting methods…
“Owow… Hahaha… Of course I do… But those are just theoretical ideas anyway.”
“…yeah. Better be. Vicky, sometimes I really worry about your mental state.”
“That makes two of us, Cutie-pie.”
I’m actually a little scared that I would have done it if Thena hadn’t been there. Where would my morals stop me when weighing my hentai fetishes and the realism of this world against each other, I wonder? …Well, I can still use those managems another day. How many do I have again? I never bothered counting.
“Okay. Good.” Victoria clapped her hands like a satisfied Japanese finishing their meal. “With that out of the way… shall we run for our lives?”
That last statement took a few seconds to sink in Athena’s brain. Then her head snapped towards the innocently grinning girl.
“Wait… what?”
*rumble**rumble**rumble*
“RRrrrrRRRrrrrraaaaaah!!!!”
“…Oh, Vicky, for fuck’s sake!”
* * *
While an unknown threat rapidly advanced towards the Progenitor and her Soulbound…
Somewhere… Somewhere far away from our two heroines, yet so close…
In a plane avoided by all intelligent life forms, and even instinctively feared by the dumbest beings of the Creation – which was probably a way to say that Victoria was dumber than dumbest…
In an upside-down tea-house made of singing spoons and dancing clocks full of butter…
Where bunnies laid eggs and cowterpillars smoked dragonweed…
A tall man was floating leisurely, tapping the top-hat he was wearing above the formless multi-coloured whirlpool that he had currently on a whim decided to be its head…
Twirling in the air, the man was pondering…
“Now… Now… What am I going to do with you two? Hehehehe…”
Unable to answer, two glowing blue orbs simply continued to mutely hover above his gloved hand.
* * * * *
<1> Monarch butterfly:
Spoiler :
https%3a%2f%2fgettingdirtyradioshow.files.word...onarch.jpg [https://gettingdirtyradioshow.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/monarch.jpg]
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And here’s another chapter, a slow one, though long. Circa 6.7k I believe.
Also, I’ll be away on my Good Deed Week helping sick and old people proclaim their faith to God in an overly touristic pilgrimage location – though I never went there so I’m just stating prejudice here – and therefore, to my deepest shame, there won’t be more chapter until at least Monday the 24th.
However, I can say with certitude that a new main character will be introduced in said next chapter… well… “main”… Toto-level main… Part of the crazy party in other words.
Spoiler :
And thus, without further excuses, I thank you for your faithfulness and declare I shall see you next chapter…
PS: You could always read this to pass time: Harcore Op-ness by Mike777ac. You know, the one who writes Immortal Soul. This story is fucked-up.