The rest of the day and part of the night was spent in the kitchen of the ranch, where Amelia and her friends watched Forsythe tiredly make pizza dough and chop up peppers, olives, mushrooms, and even pepperoni. He insisted that he didn’t need help and that if he was going to teach Elisha to make what he called real pizza, he needed to do it step by step so she didn’t cut corners or miss out on the experience. Hunter agreed almost too easily, watching him and her daughter lazily until she left for work.
Raven at some point had vanished to go play some emulator she had discovered. It let her play all the games that had hit the free level for the past 50 years. She had ‘catching up to do’ as she so eloquently phrased it. Aidan left shortly after about halfway through the ingredient list to go play with his Graphic Design Job out of game mode on his terminal. He had mentioned to Amelia that he was going to make more customized light globes and see if he could start trading them in-game for information or small currency.
In another rare moment, it was just her and Forsythe. Elisha had left to go bother Raven when the pizza entered the oven at the predesignated temperature. Forsythe had warned her that when she cooked it alone she had better be keeping an eye on it to make sure it ‘melted and browned’ correctly. For now, he was willing to let her go, and once again she had widened her eyes and nodded sagely as if this were perfectly natural instead of incredibly strict.
Forsythe stared at Amelia in silence for almost a minute before he finally sighed. “What?”
“What?” Amelia answered back, staring owlishly. She was pretty tired but imagined he was exhausted. The battle he had just come from had to be mentally straining even if he hadn’t seemed overly stressed or fatigued. She asked him the question again when he didn’t reply, wondering what it was that he thought she wanted.
“You have a question for me.” He answered simply.
“Not really a question…” Amelia started, and then paused realizing she did have a question for him but just hadn’t found the right way to phrase it. “Okay, more of a query.”
“I’m a Leo,” Forsythe stated flatly.
Amelia blinked. “Ah hah. A joke. I am so proud of you.”
“Yes.”
“Why did War say that Raven was afraid of everything?” Amelia was sort of paraphrasing but she had thought it was curious. The same way she had thought it curious when Raven had momentarily flipped out and threatened to kill the mysterious man.
Forsythe paused, staring at her implacably. She knew he wasn’t outwaiting her from long experience, merely organizing all his thoughts and turning it into an answer that would satisfy her. “Do I look afraid to you?” He finally asked.
“No. Are you ever afraid? I mean you’re one of the most courageous people I know Fours. Except for, you know, that conversation, the one we had that one time, where I made you cry.” Amelia finally answered.
They stared awkwardly at each other, Amelia even breaking gaze once to look at the pizza timer which was still ticking away seconds instead of the minutes it felt like it had been.
“No. I am not afraid of anything with any frequency anymore.” He answered, blinking slowly, and incredibly dropping his gaze to the table and also dropping the matter she was referring to. “So, can I be courageous?”
“If you define courageous as not being afraid of things most people fear? Sure.” Amelia said, already feeling like he was leading her. “I suppose though, from the romantic view, then no, you’re not courageous.”
“Then, from the romantic view, I will tell you that Raven is the most courageous person I have ever met.” He put his hands on the table. “She starts from a place of abject terror and destroys everything in front of her so she doesn’t feel that way. You could say that Raven is the most fearful person in the world, and therefore, the most courageous. Someone who is terrified of the dark and journeys out into blackness so she can convince herself that there is nothing out there worth being afraid of.”
“Is she really that afraid?” Amelia asked softly.
“I may die tomorrow. I don’t like the dark. I don’t want people to look at me. I am afraid people won’t like me.” Forsythe repeated slowly. “Sometimes you can see these thoughts on her face. She is very easy to read.”
“Our Raven?” Amelia was having a hard time imagining Raven being afraid of any of those things. Raven did what Raven wanted, regardless of what other people thought about it. She rarely acted like the opinion of others mattered save for a very select few. In addition, she was always the first to throw herself into any fight.
“Yes. She is someone who is afraid of the dark and wishes to cower in fear. Instead, she goes out into the dark and laughs at it to prove that she is not afraid. It is a hollow proof.” Forsythe said slowly. “But I envy that fear and that courage.”
It surprised Amelia with how sincere his words were. “I guess I just can’t imagine her as being afraid.” She finally managed.
“She is the most terrified of dying, but she was the first to eagerly throw herself at any danger. She is determined to live as well as she can. I do not know her circumstances. I am proud to call her my friend.” Forsythe said, finally looking up into Amelia’s eyes.
Amelia snorted after a moment and smiled. “You know if she were here she’d say that you need to stop saying such embarrassing things with a straight face.”
“Yes.” He almost smiled. “I am proud because I know the distance she travels from fear to courageous is a greater distance than any I have known. She does this for almost all things.”
They sat in silence, Amelia mulling over this and Forsythe occasionally checking the pizza timer and looking in on the Cheatwave, a device that had long ago replaced the oven and microwave. The coils gave off a light that generated intense heat at manageable and consistent temperatures. “You should go to bed after dinner. You look tired.” He offered at last.
“Yeah. Busy day. For you too.” Amelia added.
“Yes, I will wait for Hunter to get home. We should still be able to sleep for 5 or 6 hours before its time to log in.” Forsythe got up and started to put hot pads on his hands. He had never bothered to take his apron off. This one simply read ‘Exist to Food’.
They all came together one last time several minutes later to quietly eat pizza and enjoy one another’s company before everyone slipped off to do whatever it was they were going to do before it was time to sleep and head back to the inevitable and protracted battle they had thrown themselves into in Awakened Aspirations Online. Right before she drifted off to sleep after crawling into her bed and under the synth heat covers, Amelia yawned heavily and decided that sometime later she would see about getting Raven a very cool and stylish nightlight. Something girly perhaps, that would send pink light into her bedroom.
Amelia woke once during the ‘night’. She had the nightmare again. It was worse this time, and it was a long time before she could calm down and get back to sleep.
*********************
Amelia chewed. She did her best to not look like she was grimacing as she did so. It was a hard thing. The Queen Grendel was delicious, but all she could think of as she chewed was that nightmare thing crawling across the floor at Forsythe and the hideous hissing it had produced. It was a lot like she imagined eating a live scorpion to be. A very delicious, mouth-watering and succulent, live scorpion. “It tastes like Turkey.” She finally said.
Forsythe ah’d at her and wrote it down in his cooking journal. She wasn’t sure when he had started keeping it but from the cover, he had already written a thousand or more pages. Certain journals began to give off a mysterious glow after a set number of pages had been written in, and this one was starting to give off the impression of a rather elaborate grimoire.
Skrilla, the Wolf Queen, rolled her shoulders as if willing her hackles to drop. The huge wolf was also eating the Grendel Queen. An hour before when they had logged on Forsythe had appeared in the forest camp dragging half the carcass. The wolves had immediately been on edge, none of them being able to believe that he had slain their natural apex enemy with relevant ease, let alone had decided to cook half of it before rejoining them. Amelia had secretly wondered why he was dragging it when he could have cut it into sections and stored it in his inventory when he had approached Skrilla and pointed, asking her which the choice bits were. He had apparently wanted to know how to fillet it before things got too serious.
The effect had been immediate, even astounding. Forsythe was now at the highest reputation level with the Wolves of Elysium possible. Skrilla had even mentioned, vaguely, that she was willing to view him as a possible consort for the future. She was willing to look the other way concerning his inherent furlessness and ugliness. He had politely refused, and Hunter had nearly plastered herself onto him after that, casting strange glances at the wolf. Things had gotten momentarily dangerous when Skrilla had thought the reason she wasn’t considered seriously was her form.
Moments later she had turned into a tall and busty grey-haired beauty that was modeled after Human and Silf. Everyone had pretty much freaked out. Hunter had run up to give the naked Skrilla a cloak and to shield her from Forsythe. Raven covered Elisha’s eyes. Elisha wondered what the fuss was about. Skrilla eventually returned to her wolf form, but not before everyone learned something interesting. Everyone who wasn’t the legal age limit in the real world had seen with her with clothes or a mysterious mist that kept her decency. Go figure.
“She is delicious.” Skrilla finally relented. “Though we do not cook our meat.”
“Yes, I kept yours absolutely rare but did not wish to insult you by not seasoning it and at least searing the edges.” Forsythe pulled his journal in front of her. “Delicious is not good though. What does it taste like?”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“I do not know which words you wish me to use human.” Skrilla warned softly. “It is mouthwatering. I feel sad as well as triumphant. Pleased and angry. I am furious but heartened. This has slain many of my kind and even one of my brave husbands. That I am eating it after it has been softened and not torn it myself from her still shuddering corpse is a marvel to me.”
“Fascinating.” Forsythe scribbled in his journal. “Better than normal Grendel?”
“I should think.” Skrilla agreed. “Do you have the heart?”
“Yes.” Forsythe said, and nothing more.
“May I have it?” Skrill prompted gently.
“You may not,” Forsythe answered. “She angered me as well. I’m going to flatten it and add some beans to it and eat it to see what I can get from it. I’m hoping for teleportation.”
Skrilla’s fur once again rippled visibly. She didn’t appear angry. Perhaps instead it had been a shudder of fear. Apparently Skrilla and the Queen Grendel were relatively evenly matched. Despite his reputation level and the worship he was being given, his presence seemed to unnerve her now. “Would you eat a wolf?”
“I have eaten wolf,” Forsythe answered without looking up. “It’s stringy.”
The hackles came back up.
“Forsythe would not eat your kind…” Amelia said slowly when she felt the situation deteriorating.
“Of course I would,” Forsythe answered directly. “Eating is life. I would not eat your wolves of Elysium because we are not starving. The world is vast, and we are friends. I don’t eat my friends.”
Skrilla seemed to be moderately mollified by this response.
“We must venture to the beach, friend Forsythe.” Victoria at least, seemed tickled at Skrilla’s discomfiture. “Might we conclude this cooking experiment?”
“Yes. Why are we going to the beach?” Forsythe asked blandly. Amelia was grateful he asked so she didn’t have to.
“A runner has sent word that there are ships approaching on magicked vessels. A dragon, it seems, is flying above them.” Victoria grinned. “A red one.”
“Ah.” Forsythe said. “Yes. I will clean the rest of the Queen.” He turned and drew his knife, eliciting discomfort from everyone. They all moved away while he hacked in silence.
The sea area and nearby plains that made up the future site of Blutonsi were largely as Amelia remembered them. Snow covered the ground lightly, the main difference being that the saplings currently sprinkled across the ground were fully grown trees in Amelia's Blutonsi. Without them, it once again seemed empty and desolate. Small Hair Doe variants flittered about but largely dispersed and disappeared altogether as the large group of Half and the Shadow Fall and War guilds made their way across the plain.
Amelia would have liked to have looked around as they traveled but Raven had immediately stuck herself to her side as they walked.
“Do you want to play the Shosho Kyotou Girls Academy 3: The Revenge with me tonight?” Raven suddenly offered.
Amelia made a face. “I thought you were making that up.”
“No way. Well, I was, but there is a game named Girls Academy 3: The Revenge, so I had to get it.” Raven confirmed. Amelia quietly thought this was the worst thing that could have happened.
“Sure. What’s it about?” Amelia finally relented. There was no real way to say no to Raven, and even though it sounded stupid things with Raven were usually fun.
“You are a girl with a mysterious past, enrolling at the prestigious Shosho Kyotou all girls academy!” Raven began, doing her best imitation of a serious and mysterious voice. “You are trying to discover the circumstances of your mother’s death!”
“How old was she?” Amelia immediately wanted to know. “She had a daughter in high school?”
“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter!” Raven said, confirming that it was in fact, probably a stupid game. “It’s a demon high school.”
“Demon high school?” Amelia was starting to get lost in the conversation.
“Yeah, 1 of her 75 fathers runs the school and he has just started appearing in the story!” Raven gushed. “How awesome would you be if you had 75 dads?”
“How do you..?” Amelia shook her head, a great steel door crashing down against dangerous thoughts in her mind. “Never mind. I don’t even want to know.”
“Ooh, lots of ships.” Raven was luckily distracted as they reached the shore. There were indeed a great number of ships resting lazily in the harbor. Small boat after small boat littered the sea as they moved in between the shore and the ships. There were already hundreds of Humans, Silf, and Dwarves busily constructing makeshift camps ahead.
“How did they get here so fast?” Aidan asked, surprising Amelia by suddenly appearing.
“A wild Aidan appears.” Raven supplied.
“I’m guessing that their ships are much faster. Before the 3 Heroes war technology was theoretically much higher.” Amelia shrugged. “Also, you know, to meet the deadline for the quest I guess you could say it’s for the plot?”
“Oh. So there is no reason. The timeline got truncated and we’re all supposed to look past it.” Aidan nodded. “Shoddy. Unlike the normal complexity of the game.”
Amelia was saved from answering as the Half Queen Victoria threaded through the small army, and upon seeing Amelia, made a come hither motion. “Time to play Empress.” She muttered.
“I’ll tag along if it pleases her worship.” Aidan teased.
“It does,” Amelia said regally.
Together, linking arms after a moment’s hesitation, they moved through the throng that was starting to slow down and met Queen Victoria. Together the three of them approached a waiting unit of mixed races. They were met immediately and challenged.
“Hold. Who approaches?” A tall human wearing brilliant red plate mail stopped them.
“I am the Half Queen Victoria, and with me are Empress Amelia of Elysium and... guest.” Victoria finished slowly. She met the man’s gaze, challengingly. “Please escort us to Hermania, Mardin, and Oresdin.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “The Kings and Queen have given no such order to expect you.” Amelia figured he was a little put off that Victoria hadn’t used honorifics.
“Present us,” Victoria commanded lowly. Such was the soft danger in her voice that the man, easily twice her height, straightened in alarm. After a moment he turned to one of his men and spoke softly to him. The man dropped the large sack he was carrying and immediately sprinted through the tents and fire pits that were being erected on the beach.
“I am Knight-Commander Alaric, I will escort you if it is only the 3 of you.” He allowed graciously. He turned without another word and began preceding them through the camp. Whispers had already started amongst the army. He ignored them, but Amelia and Aidan tried to listen as they passed.
“...dragon?”
“She’s so small.”
“Is that really the self-proclaimed Empress?”
“What does this have to do with the terrifying golden god?”
“I thought they didn’t know we were coming?” Aidan wondered aloud, easily in the vocal range of being overheard by their escort Alaric. The man straightened slightly again but didn’t turn around to contest this or to challenge him.
“Indeed. Considering I sent Keristrazly ahead, it seems unlikely that they weren’t expecting us. That they are here already indicates they are aware of the danger.” Victoria said, missing the fact Aidan had said it just to get a rise out of Alaric.
“I don’t see him.” Amelia said, craning her neck. She had pulled her hood down, making an effort to use some of her rank to her advantage.
“Amelia.” Hunter said suddenly over the party channel.
“Go.” Amelia replied.
“Most of Shadow Fall is starting to appear in the Half town. Shall I have them assemble here or..?” Hunter asked.
“They are fine in the town for now. Have them look around and do whatever.” Amelia finally decided. “Wow, good for them for getting that many Chronicler’s leveled to the prestige job, Chronicler of the Heavens. Who else?”
“No Ominous yet,” Hunter said softly. “Although, we are getting a lot of groups that are showing up. I estimate a few hundred so far.”
“Gilduirn is probably going to show up in force,” Aidan interjected over the party channel.
“Only a few hundred?” Amelia asked, annoyed at how dejected she sounded over the channel.
“It’s hasn’t been long enough for a lot of Chronicler’s to level up to your… uhh… interesting prerequisites.” Hunter said, sounding a bit unsure herself. The required features to be a Chronicler capable of performing the task weren’t actually that prodigious in her eyes anymore. At first it had been startling but the more Hunter had thought about it the more she thought it wasn’t that big a deal. “Have some faith.”
“The Hero Kings will see you.” Alaric said, pulling both Aidan and Amelia from their thoughts and concentration on the party channel. Evidently the Silf Queen was being lumped in with the title King.
Amelia preceded Victoria into a large silken tent. It wasn’t exactly private, with flaps that moved in the breeze and lifted the sides a few feet off the ground, but it was large and spacious and not that easy to see inside so that was something. Aidan followed along after them, doing his best imitation of a bored hanger-on.
A man in golden armor stood at a large table with a map spread out in front of it. He was easily taller than the present King of Brack, and his eyes were dark and stormy. He had an outrageously puffy red-beard to go with equally red hair and a longsword and shield tucked in over his shoulders on his back. King Mardin, Amelia decided. It pleased her that he was a ginger, though she couldn’t have said why.
King Oresdin, likewise, was an equally intimidating presence. His hauberk was dark steel grey, or maybe graphite. He was rounder and stronger looking than the normal dwarf. His eyes shone with intelligence. On the table in front of him a single gleaming handaxe lay at the ready.
Queen Hermania in contrast wore some sort of beautifully crafted snow-white leather. Her golden blonde hair was plaited and reached well past her hips. She didn’t seem to be carrying anything. A quick glance around the tent revealed that an unstrung bow measuring almost 2 meters long lay casually within reach behind her propped against one of the tent supports.
The three seemed to be eyeing them with equal interest. Perhaps most interesting of all was the gentleman who stepped around the table. A red-skinned Half, which in turn made him shorter than the table and explained how Amelia missed him while reviewing the royalty gathered in the tent. He had dark hair and smokey golden eyes. His lips were peeled back in a somewhat familiar smirk as he moved forward, eyes locked on Victoria.
“Keristrazly?” Amelia murmured, feeling her eyebrows pinch in surprise. She had no idea that he could take the form of another race. Or that he would be a different skinned model of the Half. The other thing, Amelia hated to admit, was he was adorably cute. Like a little red-skinned James Bond almost.
Amelia could feel Aidan snickering behind her, even as Keristrazly frowned for a moment as his eyes darted to Amelia. There was no recognition, and after a moment he returned his gaze to Victoria. When he spoke, his voice confirmed Amelia’s suspicion that this was indeed the dragon. “We have made excellent time. I suspect I shall be rewarded for my effort, hmm? I have braved many dangers and lightning storms.”
“Yes, very impressive.” Victoria rolled her eyes and looked briefly at Amelia. Amelia blinked, realizing that Victoria’s cheeks were just the slightest bit pink. Interesting.
“Of course, that Vienne is the major reason they are here so fast. She helped them swiftly defeat the foes that were arranged against them, pushed their boats, and did it all at once.” Keristrazly sounded somber.
Amelia herself remembered Vienne showing up in three different dungeons at the same time. She must have done something similar. Showed up, said ‘disappear’ and then teleported them to the boats before they even know what was going on. The mental imagery of the pushy goddess made Amelia almost chuckle. The idea of the golden goddess shoving all the boats across the ocean without care or regard to the comfort of the people onboard killed that chuckle though. It must have been terrible.