Benjamin – Citadel #1 ‘Keep Out’
Standing out front of the nondescript white store front for far too long, one of me eventually traveled the last few feet of my short journey with trepidation at what may unfold. Meanwhile the other two of me remained tense at the prospect of the simple yet saddening fact of anyone still remaining inside to unfold it with.
Crossing the iris-ing doors threshold, all of me were relieved to note that at least some of my employees were still in residence and hadn’t absconded from their posts. It was a weird thing to not hold want to hold others to account for wanting to chase a life of free and lethal adventure, unprotected by the Citadels magically overpowered defenses.
Yet all of me can admit, we line in new and exceedingly different times.
Back to our stalwart minions.
The two in question were lounging in a matching pair of [Sturdy Deck Chair]’s that barely fit behind the counter of their spartan place of business. Funnily enough, when they became aware of me's we couldn’t help but smirk just a little, as they jerkily spilled their drinks in a panic before getting tangled in their misleadingly advertised chairs.
Wanting to keep the two startled teens on the back foot as a leverage mechanism in aide of easily extracting the rundown of happenings from the past month, a me took my pointlessly spikey, slit visor’ed helm off and asked goadingly.
“So this is what I’m paying you for is it?”
The look the black chainmail clad girl and boy shot me, warmed to cockles of my ridiculously enhanced and maladjusted heart as they subsequently shot each other a near uniform look of pleading horror before the curly haired girl stammered incredulously, in a Latin American accent.
“B-boss? We’ve been looking all over for chu!”
Schooling my expression to that of disapproving employer, a me counters with mock churlishness.
“Well you found me…Now what have I missed?”
Her brain seemed to stall for a moment before she rejoined.
“What ah…uh maybe chu should ask Toni...o-or Jürgen, I’m not...”
Pausing for another moment to look beseechingly at her still mute companion, her plea remained unanswered, forcing her to continue sheepishly.
“We’re not…we don’t exactly…know anything…so…”
Collectively grouching at my fruitless interrogatory efforts, a me queries in a far less authoritative manner.
“Ok, so I guess you can tell me where one of them is then?”
Both of them visibly relaxed at this, before the girl straightened, and I shit you not, salutes while she half barks.
“Sir yes sir!”
Before dodging past the obstructionist and misleadingly named furniture to disappear into the door behind her and her still recuperating and mute friend.
Quirking an eyebrow in question at the Japanese boy, a me asks while jerking my head in the direction of his departed accomplice in midday siesta.
“What’s the deal with the saluting?”
The words seemed to be sufficient stimulus to gradually bring the lad to his senses as evidenced by his nervous reply a few seconds after the fact.
“What? Oh ah that…T-Toni said we had to b-be more respectful to you Benjamin-Domo!”
Finishing his statement with an awkward as fuck bow, a me shook my head in wonder at the deferential young man while another of me internally and succinctly enunciated all my thoughts on the subject with a ‘What the fuck have I got myself into now’.
It didn’t take long for Jürgen to make an entrance and rupture the exceedingly awkward silence that had only managed to increase between me and the only other occupant in the room, by way of demanding.
“What the hell man? We thought you were dead or something!”
Collectively snorting at the notion any of me could be killed by a mere moon sized mind controlling demi-god, a me supplied with entirely earned bravado.
“In yer dreams mate!...So these two knuckleheads said you could catch me up on what I’ve missed?”
Scowling for a moment he sighed before adding.
“Fine…come up stairs and I’ll catch you up.”
Nodding to his annoyed offer I unanimously, if unceremoniously, followed him through the door and up the spiral white and pervasively illuminated stairs to come out into what looked like a cross between a decent sized book café and an office, mainly on account of the desk sitting near its back wall.
Taking a moment to nod appreciatively at the twenty by forty meter room’s functional yet comfortable black furniture, one of me made a mental note to properly investigate just what type of custom creature comforts we could generate with my administrative authority, rather than just delegating it to the stock layout functions we had been thus far.
The less desirable items in the room however where the stock still and at attention, ten black armored teens, with their attention focused like a laser directed squarely at me.
Walking briskly past them Jürgen commanded.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Give us the room please.”
Breaking their concentration, they all moved to obey and one by one, they each saluted me on their way out, while one of me struggled to keep a straight face and another me highlighted the fact that I might very well be a cult leader now. Meanwhile a third me hedged that I was probably more like a street gang captain at this point. And after the last of the stone faced teens had made their way down the bottom of the stairs the rest of me reluctantly concurred.
All this naturally lead a me to indignantly demanded of the youngster in black robes now situated behind the desk as it trudged toward him in exasperation.
“Ok what the fuck Yerg? I told you I didn’t need a fuckin army and now you got everyone saluting and yes sir’ing and shit!?”
Giving me a helpless gesture, the youth replies.
“Don’t look at me dude! Book keeping, asset management and squad roster-ing is more my thing… The whole pay respect to the boss was Toni’s idea…also it didn’t help that you went a little overboard the last time we saw you, seriously man what you did to that zone boss…like it was a game or somthing...what…I mean like what the hell kinda class lets you do that?”
Groaning internally, memories of the me’s wanting to impress the difference in power levels upon the impressionable flooded back in exceedingly high definition. Simultainously one of me began trying to pinpoint the exact moment when the teens fear and mistrust might have morphed into reverent adulation. Meanwhile another me posited that all things considered, I really did have myself to blame for this annoyance anyway, regardless of the traitorous young aboriginal woman’s fingerprints being all over it.
Sighing at my self-constructed gallows, a me endeavored to change the subject.
“Yeah nah, it’s more of a title thing than a class thing… So anyway…Have any trouble pop up during my unplanned vacation?”
He studied me intently, for a long and uncomfortable moment before replying seriously.
“Look, I get you don’t want to share whatever your class is but you don’t need to makes stuff up about titles being...You know what never mind…The Citadel has been dead quiet since you kicked out the Prince…although there was some really angry French girl demanding to know where you were, but Toni ended up handling her... Apart from that though, nothing else to report really.”
Before his frown came back and he proceeded to fiddle with a shining tooth of some kind as he continued.
“You still haven’t told me where you’ve been by the way…Some of the others were starting to make plans about going out for Monster Mayhem without you…”
Feeling the pit of guilt return with a vengeance, a me supplies.
“Sorry…I promise ill make it up, with interest!...I just had a bit of a holdup on something that was supposed to be like an hour of sightseeing then it turned into more of a thirty day underwater wellness retreat.”
His face smacked of rampant skepticism as he furthered whilst absently flipping the tooth across his knuckles.
“Right…You…You wouldn’t have happened to have been trying to complete the new T4 Phase Conveyance quest alone would you?”
Barely managing to resist the urge to face palm, while another of me screamed internally at the other me's about how completely potato I had become to have completely forgotten about the quest offerings at the terminals.
One of me gave into the yearning need to know more that was intensifying a little too quickly, By way of snappily demanding.
“Tell me everything thing you know about this quest! All of it!”
The poor teen lost his composure as I leaned forward to put my hands on the now groaning black desk whilst mid loom. This in turn led to the teens forgotten monster tooth bouncing off the desk to the floor.
To the lads credit he ignored the failure of his dexterity as he focused on the point of true importance by way of stammering.
“H-hey relax guy, I’ll tell you what I know alright?”
Collecting my selves as a me straightened up and nodded encouragingly for the font of information to spring forth, the lad to grudgingly acquiesced in a much more level tone.
“S-so the quest appeared up on the terminals about twenty or so days ago, near best as we can tell anyway. The quest information itself has a ridiculous fifty thousand manamote reward just for participating, then there is the level recommendation of ninety five!”
Pausing to ensure I was still following, he continues.
“If that didn’t stop people from already going to try their luck, the recommended group size was from one hundred thousand to three hundred thousand! I mean what the heck kind of monster needs three hundred thousand level ninety five people to defeat?!”
I feel a collective surge of glee, causing a me to grin as it thinks about about a certain octopus that had recently failed to juju me with mind magic, easily capable of fitting such a bill. Another of me reports that the teen is looking at me with a genuine mix horror and concern, so in a bid to move past my unilateral elation and put him at ease, a me presses.
“You sure you’re not forgetting any more info?”
Marshaling his face, he adds.
“No, of course not! wait, It also mentions something about an Zone Epsilon, a phasic boss and how defeating it will shift the planet to phase 2…”
Internal celebrations break out as this sounds exactly like what I need to break my level 99 bottle neck!
One of me tries to reason with the other two about how we should get more information and play it safe before we even try anything. After another round of thought bubbles come and go, consensus is reached about which course of action to take and I open a mouth to inform my minion, at least in part, about the coming itinerary he beats the me to the punch as he proffers.
“Oh, I almost forgot the most important bit…”
Eying the teen with suspicion like he’s messing with me's on purpose, he seems immune to our unilaterally deployed judgmental face as he continues.
“There was this warning at the end, about how if the boss couldn’t be defeated it would break its containment field or something to wander the other zones.”
Deflating my party balloons slightly, one of me insists my plan effectively remains unchanged, even with the new tidbit of information. Internal consensus still in effect, one of me once more endeavors to inform my minion about his part in it when another me reports that someone in chainmail is stomping quite angrily up the stairs to our rear.
Spinning to face said stairs we recognize a familiar face's angry glare from the room’s only entrance as it all too readily demands.
“What tha fuck Benji? Just where tha bloody hell did u piss off to that was so important to not let us know for thirty damned days!?”
The me on face time struggles to maintain it's composure, leading another me to launch into a brilliant diversionary attempt.
“I’ll fill you in later, I was just about to tell Jürgen to gather supplies for everyone for 8 days, allowing me to make up for the missed grinding sessions I owe you with interest. So if you can just gather the othe-”
Shaking her head, and while her curly black hair followed suit she instructs.
“Oh no ya bloody don’t! Yerg, gather tha supplies an tha troops. In tha mean time Benji ere can tell me jus wat was so flamin important he couldn’t show up fer almost a month!”
Looking for help from the already rising second in command he shot me a pitying look, before scampering off to do as ordered.
Cursing the teens failure to follow what should have been the proper command structure, we were left to face the annoyed and inexplicably domineering young woman, who by rights, should have been subservient to me and not the other way round.
Hurtful and demanding words struck all of me, signaling but the beginning of the third inquisition of my day. And as the questions that consisted of the accursed words became more invasive and uncomfortably demanding, one of me endeavored to endure the continued indignity as best it was able.
All the while, another of my minds shared it’s longing to be back amongst the not so crushing depths of an acidic ocean and facing off against a myriad of monstrous cephalopods, rather than continue to be constrained here by this pint sized and accusatory Aboriginal teen.
And as the words continued to strike unimpeded, the rest of me’s couldn’t help but agree.