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The Misadventures of a Story Lover (A dark comedy)
Book 1, Part 1, Chapter 7: Annoying sympathies/Best laid plans

Book 1, Part 1, Chapter 7: Annoying sympathies/Best laid plans

Ugh!!! Why was it so freaking hard to find a hero! Why was there always someone who just didn’t quite meet the requirements! Stupid stupid stupid!!

She glared at the crystal orb from the guy she had been observing. Granted, the marble match was extremely fun to watch. But there was a horrible glaring oversight that she could not look past with this guy.

What the hell was wrong with his hair??? It was a multicolor mess that was twice the size of his head going in 6 different directions including inward! How does one even do that??? How is that even possible????

Plus she probably would have had to teach the Big Bad Demon Lord how to play games. And what kind of silly story would have a monster of extreme power be thwarted by what essentially amounts to a children's game.

She leaned back with a groan. This was taking too long. It felt like with every passing moment she was getting more and more tempted to just make a human homunculus and prop them up as the hero. But that was just too artificial! She didn’t want that!!

She let out a rather undignified whine that was unbefitting of a woman of her station… Well a woman of her station that she was pretending to be.

“Are you okay m’lady?” She looked over to see The Maid standing over in the corner looking a little concerned.

“Yeah yeah. I’m fine. Just annoyed over stuff, pressure trying to help save the world and all that.”

The Maid gave her a thoughtful nod which was nice. The Maid had gotten a lot more comfortable around her at least. It might have something to do with her no longer asking “Invasive questions” As The Maid put it but she still argued they were perfectly normal questions. If she was being totally honest with herself she was starting to enjoy The Maids presence. She knew how to make a damn good cup of tea.

She turned her attention back to her scrying orbs and let out a frustrated sigh. She needed a break. Even if she was putting more work into trying to find her hero she just couldn’t look every hour of every day. Not when there were books to be read!

She went over and sat on a rather comfortable looking chair. She didn’t really know how comfortable it was considering she didn’t have nerves. But it looked comfortable and that was what truly mattered.

“M’lady, would you like me to prepare some tea for you?” The Maid asked.

“You know, that would actually sound lovely. Thank you.” That would absolutely add some extra character to the scene. Dignified women sitting with a hot cup of tea, reading a book in a comfy looking chair as she overlooked the balcony to the town (City?). Ah! She was really enjoying these role playing moments even if she was the only one there to appreciate it. Thankfully The Maid was also here so that gave her an extra win!

She couldn’t believe the Queen had tried to take The Maid away from her earlier this year and replace her with someone they said was more suitable. It had taken a few well placed bribes to put a quick stop to that and her opinion of the Queen seriously took a nosedive afterwards.

The Maid had actually been super emotional about it too. Was practically sobbing out of all of her eyes thanking her profusely for keeping her employed. Kinda made her feel good in a way she wasn’t expecting or was particularly used to.

She looked up from her book and out towards the town (City?). Things just felt peaceful at this moment. It was nice this was basically her day off from Annoying Court Mage and Annoying Brat. If she had to deal with either of them she would undoubtedly-

Her door slammed open disrupting her thought process “TEACHER!!”

Why! Why did she jinx it! If she was a normal mortal she would think the gods of this world had it out for her! She sure as shit hoped that wasn’t the case! The last thing she wanted was a repeat of the last Material World she was in with stupid “Holier Than Thou JerkFace!”

She slowly turned towards The Annoying Brat who had burst through the door about to tell him to go jump off the balcony but paused when she saw how upset he seemed to be. Great, whatever was about to happen was going to take her entire afternoon wasn’t it.

“Teacher! I need your help! Please! I was out in the woods with Yin and her hawk blood wing but then some poachers shot down her hawk! Please! I don’t know who else to turn to here! I need your help!”

He somehow managed to say that all within a couple of seconds. Didn’t even realize humans were capable of talking that fast.

“Slow down Marrow. What are you even talking about?” She responded, pushing her annoyance of getting interrupted on her free day down since there was clearly something bothering him.

“Yins Hawk! They were shot by an arrow and are dead! Please! You have to help!”

“Hold on a second! What makes you think I can help a dead hawk?”

Marrows mouth opened briefly almost at a loss before speaking again “But you have to help! You have constantly bragged about how you can do anything with magic and there is nothing that you can’t do! Please!”

She almost let out a sigh as she stood up but felt like that would come off as insensitive considering he was very clearly distressed. “Alight alright. Give me a second.”

She looked at The Maid. “Would you care to join us? It’s not like I will be able to drink the tea you are preparing anyways.”

“Oh! Um… are you sure that would be wise?” The maid seemed nervous. This was perhaps a trait she did not like. She was constantly under the impression that if she was constantly going around the castle and being seen with her it would ruin her status or something. Personally she thought it added to it and if someone couldn’t see past their own prejudices that was their own fault.

“Yes I am sure. What kind of lady would I be if I walked around without my personal maid. A bad one that is what!”

“Can we please hurry!” The Annoying Brat responded clearly wanting her to move faster.

“You said the Hawk was dead right?” She looked at him and he nodded quickly.

“Yes, that's why we need to hurry!”

“Why though. They are already dead. It’s not like the hawk will magically become even more dead then the dead it already is. No point in frantically rushing about like a chicken with their head cut off.”

Marrow looked like he was about to cry again and she quickly course corrected. “Look, go and comfort your girlfriend, tell her I will be there soon and see if I can help, keep the hawk's body safe. I’ll be there shortly after you. I promise.”

The Annoying Brat nodded and began to run out the door calling out “We will be just outside the Queens forest by the Rangers lodge!” and disappeared from sight.

Cool… She had absolutely no idea where that was. She slowly turned to The Maid who looked at her and gave a brief nod “Not to worry m’lady. I know where it is.”

Thank goodness! She was starting to wonder what on earth she did without having an assistant/maid before. She was definitely going to make her own one when she finished with her story…. Assuming she ever found her blasted hero!!!

After packing up her bag she gestured for The Maid to lead the way and began to follow her through the castle as she began to slightly reminisce. Ever since The Annoying Brat got into a relationship with The Ranger he hadn’t been visiting as much.

Which was to say he had been giving her a two day break every week instead of visiting every single blasted day. It was almost a little unsettling how quiet everything was when he wasn’t there.

Either way, helping The Annoying Brat court The Ranger was the best decision she ever made given that it gave her a free day or two every week. Obviously their extensive planning worked wonders.

Well she believed it did. The Annoying Brat said it was actually a disaster but they still ended up together so was it really a disaster? She didn’t think so. She’d figure out what exactly happened when she went back and watched everything since The Annoying Brat had been closed lipped on what actually happened.

She followed The Maid as they made their way to the stables where her carriage was kept. One of the stable hands spotted her and called out “Ah! M’lady, are you here for your carriage?”

She gave a brief nod “I am, I’m heading to the Queens forest briefly to deal with a silly matter. I won’t be gone for very long”

“Of course Of course. But I am sure you are aware of the fee to come and go from the stables, correct?”

“Yes yes, not to worry.” She took out a chunk of gold and gave it to the stable hand who grinned happily.

“A pleasure M’lady. Have a pleasant trip.” The man bowed towards her and gave a nasty glare towards The Maid before walked off to do whatever it was he did as she and The Maid got into her carriage

“Pardon me M’lady for perhaps speaking out of turn but..” The Maid faltered slightly.

“Well, speak up. Can’t start a sentence like that and then not finish it.” She countered and The Maid nodded.

“You realize they are taking advantage of you. I’ve seen how you constantly give away money towards people. There is no such thing as a fee to enter or leave the stables. It’s the same for many other things you’ve paid money for.”

Wait really?? But humans have always been so obsessed with money it almost made sense that they would try and charge people for everything. Huh.. Well, how was she going to explain herself without coming off as stupid.

“It is none of my concern. Money is worthless to me anyways and those who obsess over something as worthless as gold and jewels when they’re more worthwhile things one should focus on. While they may be rich in the physical. They are poor in the soul.”

Yeah, that seemed like a good enough excuse to her. Judging by The Maids expression it would seem her words had an impact on her.

“Besides” she continued as she ordered her carriage to move “I have a feeling they will get what's coming to them.”

She made her illusion smirk as she commanded her carriage to lurch forward at a high speed which then allowed her to hear a sudden yell of surprise followed by a scream of pain as the carriage bumped up slightly and moved forward a bit more.

“Oh dear, it would seem we hit someone, better back up to see what that was” She then ordered her carriage to back up and after another bump, and a crunch the air fell silent.

“Oh? Things are quiet now. Guess it was nothing then. Now where are we going Vera?”

Vera seemed a tad stunned before snapping out of her shock and quickly gave her where she needed to go and they sped off.

They sat in silence for a while longer as the carriage moved through the city. She was pretty sure she heard a few panicked screams as they moved but no screams of pain or unusual bumps so she didn’t worry about it.

They eventually made their way to the Queens Forest. When she had questioned the name at one point someone told her that the name would change whether their ruler was a Queen or a King which sounded unnecessary to her. Just pick a name and stick with it.

When she got out of the carriage she actually spotted The Annoying Brat and The Ranger kneeling by the Hunters Lodge with what she assumed was the dead hawk in front of them.

She actually had the original nickname for The Ranger be ‘The Annoying Brats Love Interest’ But aside from it just being a really long nickname, after she got to know her a bit more she thought the nickname ‘The Ranger’ was more fitting. Plus it just sounded cooler.

Making her way towards them, noting that aside from The Annoying Brat just looking really distressed, The Ranger had clearly been sobbing. Now she was starting to feel a little bad for taking her time.

“Right, soooo. This is the hawk?” She really had no idea what to say in a situation like this.

The Ranger looked up towards her. Her eyes bloodshot from having cried a lot, she tried to say something but couldn’t really form the words and so The Annoying Brat spoke up instead. “Can you do something? You said you could, right?”

Could she do something? Of course she COULD do something but the question was would she? That was a different matter. Once someone knows you can resurrect the dead it becomes an endless barrage of sob stories from everyone in all walks of life needing their loved ones brought back. It was a horrible pain in the ass.

She was about to reject them until she saw how distraught Annoying Brats face was and let out a very exasperated sigh (Wind magic~) “I will do as you ask. But I have a specific condition. The both of you, under no circumstances, can tell anyone what I am about to do. You need to swear to me right now.”

“I swear!” The Ranger said instantly, The Annoying Brat hesitated for a brief second before speaking.

“I swear also”

Well, not like she really could do much else without doing a special binding to them from the oath and she wasn’t entirely comfortable doing that with them, oddly enough she did trust them enough to think they wouldn’t break the oath.

“Alright, let's see the hawk.” She knelt down and picked the Hawk up briefly examining them. It was totally unnecessary on a technical level but absolutely necessary for theatrics.

She first healed the wound on the Hawks chest, performing a true resurrection on someone would be pretty pointless if you didn’t actually heal the wound that killed them in the first place.

Now it was time to perform a true resurrection. It wasn’t possible to perform such a thing if the being has been dead for more than 24 hours. Actually no, that probably wasn’t true, she was sure there was some work around but she didn’t know what it was and she never really bothered to experiment with it as she didn’t really see much point in the relatively useless spell. Heck, she only bothered learning it on a whim as she didn’t have nor was ever really going to have a real reason to use the spell.

She also briefly considered raising the hawk as an undead but she was pretty sure The Ranger wouldn’t want that, and that would mean The Annoying Brat would just get more upset so true resurrection it was.

At least it was a hawk, True resurrection took a lot of mana to do, even more so if she had to yank the soul out of a celestial or hell plane, yanking them from the well of souls should take a lot less mana and she didn’t really think any of the gods on this plane would bother with a simple hawk.

She actually felt the drain of her mana this time when she performed the spell needed. Grabbing onto the soul that had called the hawk's body its home and yanked it back to this world.

She let out a small breath of relief (Wind Magic~), but before she handed the hawk back she quickly pushed a bit more of her magic into the Hawks body. Doing some slight modifications to the hawk to enhance their body. Nothing super serious or anything. But it would be enough for them to easily dodge an arrow even if caught unaware. She really didn’t want to perform yet another true resurrection if she could help it.

She handed the hawk back to The Ranger “Here. They might be a little disoriented and perhaps a bit lethargic for a day or two. But they should return to normal soonish.”

The Ranger blinked with still a few tears in her eyes and looked down at her Hawk. “Blood Wing? Are you there?”

Blood wing? Her opinion of the Ranger went up as anybody who would name their animal a cool name like that had to be pretty cool too.

The hawk slowly opened their eyes and let out a tired little squawk before The Ranger gave them a hug and Marrow let out a relieved laugh and gave them both a hug.

Well alls well that ends well she guesses. “Now remember to not tell anyone that I can do something like this. It could lead to horrible consequences.”

The Annoying Brat looked up and asked the very obvious question she knew was coming. “But why though? Imagine all the good we could do by bringing people back from death. People wouldn’t have to mourn their loved ones! People wouldn’t-”

Nope! Time to play up the wise mentor. “I am stopping you right there Marrow. Do you realize the negative consequences of messing with the natural order of things? The consequences of performing something like this on a wide scale. Chaos, destruction, and unstable magic tearing apart the world. To go against such a natural order will always lead to consequences, something small scale like this won’t do much of anything at all. But a death through a thousand cuts is still a death. Remember what I said. Death is the great equalizer”

The Annoying Brat fell silent as he seemed to contemplate her words. Of course everything she just said was bullshit. They’re plenty of ways to cheat death for a time. Even ways that would be morally ethical by human standards. Why would death care anyways. Whether it was a hundred, a thousand, or a million years. Death still claims you.

Heck most of the downfalls she had seen with people who had achieved immortality or would regularly perform resurrections was usually their own doing that was completely separate from what the whole immortality or resurrection shtick.

“You understand the danger this poses right?” The Annoying Brat nodded and The Ranger also nodded before speaking

“Thank you though. I know this was a risk and I promise I won’t say anything or ask it again. But thank you for your help. I get why Marrow is constantly talking about you.”

She briefly glanced at The Annoying Brat who blushed from clear embarrassment. Well that is nice. Glad he held a high opinion of her. But who wouldn't? She was amazing after all.

“I’ll leave you three alone now.” She turned around and headed off with The Maid following behind and towards her Carriage.

“M’lady.” The Maid spoke and she glanced behind her to see her “You seem to be capable of doing anything with magic… Do.. Do you think it would be possible to make me look normal? For me to not be a forsaken?”

She froze and glared at The Maid who seemed to start to tremble from her glare. “Yes, I could. I could make you look like a human, look like the very people who ridicule and mock and belittle you. Wouldn’t that be just wonderful?”

“But then they wouldn’t be doing that to me!” She snapped and quickly gasped and bowed “I’m sorry M’lady, I shouldn’t have spoken out of turn like that.”

Ugh. She guess she could see why. But honestly she didn’t want to damage one of the descendants of her creations like that just to be like everyone else. It’s lame plus it would honestly just be a downgrade.

“If someone doesn’t like you then find someone else. And if you can’t find someone else then go ahead and make one or create your own community that is accepting. I don’t really care but I am not changing you when you are perfect as you are.”

Though if she was being honest she didn’t really know why she was getting worked up over that answer. Sure she was a descendant of one of her arts and crafts projects but it’s not like she was actually one of them so she didn’t really have any vested interest in letting her stay a forsaken.

Plus it probably would only take her a few minutes at most to make her fully human so it’s not like time was the issue.

Just something about The Maid hating her appearance and who she was just rubbed her the wrong way. Eh, she will figure it out later.

“Let’s just go. I feel tired and want to finish with this day. I will simply say this. Forsaken is an awesome name, you are a decent person, just cause others can’t see it doesn’t mean all will.”

The Maid didn’t seem entirely convinced with her words. She would need to think of something to help convince her otherwise. Just another thing she would need to do…

Actually… Why did she need to do this? This had no bearing on the actual plot of the story she wanted to create! Heck the hawk thing had no bearing on the plot either! Why did she…

She saw the melancholic look on The Maids face and paused.

Fine. She will figure out how to work that into the story. She was brilliant after all. Should barely take any effort at all.

Actually! A sudden idea formed in her brilliant beautiful head. Who said anything about adding The Maid into HER story.

Time to go see what the Necromancer Girl was up too

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Riez tapped his pen a little annoyed as he stared at Marrow and Yin who stood before him. “So you are saying that your frantic running through the castle to get Captain Gates was because Yins hawk was shot by a poacher but it only got its wing. In your panic you didn’t realize this and believed the hawk was dead.

“When Captain Gates arrived she pointed out the hawk was already alive and only had an arrow through its wing, after a quick spell to heal said hawk everything was fine.”

“Yes Grandpa, that is correct” Marrow responded though he wasn’t quite able to look directly at him. Yin however, being the better liar nodded.

“That is correct Lord Riez. I apologize for making a scene, I had a little too much to drink last night and wasn’t really feeling myself this morning. When I saw my hawk get shot by some poachers I got distraught and couldn’t really focus or believe what had happened. It was unbecoming of someone like me and I have learned the lesson to not drink so much again”

She gave a bow as an apology as Riez leaned back in his chair contemplating on whether to call them out or not. Finally he decided against it and gave them a stern glare.

“For causing such a disturbance in the castle Marrow, you will be cleaning the court mage's quarters and labs for the foreseeable future. As for you Yin, as a recent member of the Rangers, how you acted was not fit for someone of such a respected position. As I don’t really have authority over you I can not punish you I will be talking to the Ranger Captain and they will give you an appropriate punishment for this little incident. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes Sir.”

“Yes Grandpa”

“Good, you are both dismissed. Get out of here.” He felt a little bit of his anger slip through and they both quickly bowed and left as quickly as possible without trying to appear rude.

He then leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead. That certainly wasn’t what was supposed to happen.

“You may reveal yourself now” He spoke out loud and one of the shadows stepped out of a corner almost appearing out of nowhere.

“Lord Riez,” the shadow spoke bowing towards him. Her appearance was ordinary, in fact she could probably perfectly blend into a crowd should she step into it. Forgettable and perfect for a spy. She was also the one who was currently in charge of the Shadows while Ignes was gone.

“Are you sure you shot the hawk and killed it?” He spoke and she kept her expression neutral as she answered.

“I did not miss, that hawk was dead before it even hit the ground.”

“But you were ultimately caught. Something that you were not supposed to do.” Riez turned a glare towards her but she remained firm.

“I did as you said and made sure they spotted me as disguised as a poacher. However the information I was given was faulty in the talent that both your Grandson and Yin had. They managed to track and capture me without much effort at all by working together.

“While I probably would have escaped Marrow by himself with a bit of effort. I would have been hard pressed if it was just Yin. But the fact that either by themselves could give me trouble should be a testament to how good they both are.”

Riez let out a breath of frustration and a tad mix of pride. His Grandson, who wasn’t even trained that much in combat, could at least cause a bit of trouble with a shadow. It was impressive. But also the fact that Yin, who was one of the youngest Rangers in this kingdom's history could make her sweat too.

The frustration stemmed from the fact that they were both covering for Captain Gates. He had been trying to find a way to get Captain Gates to reveal to him the secrets of creating undead. A thing she had been extremely tight lipped about despite his hints and prodding.

Eventually he came up with this idea of using her fondness for his grandson and his grandson's fondness for Yin to try and have her use an undead spell towards Yins hawk and then he could just ask her outright and have her teach him.

What he didn’t count on was the fact that the hawk was genuinely alright. He trusted the shadow, if she said she killed the hawk then she killed the hawk. Then the question stood, why was the hawk alive? She had to have done something that wasn’t necromancy and he didn’t know what.

Stolen novel; please report.

He had hoped for the shadow to observe them from the sidelines so he could get her point of view but that went out the window when she was caught. He had to pull a few strings to get her released without any questions.

Then Marrow and Yin were tight lipped about what actually happened and he couldn’t even call them out without revealing what the plan was and that would probably lead to more issues.

But this also made the problem that he sort of already saw and did predict but hoped that it wouldn’t have been an issue which was Marrow was too close to Captain Gates.

He had severely underestimated her schemes and influence. It wasn’t just his grandson but half the nobility and a large chunk of the general populace too. Even the ones she would almost run over with her carriage whenever she went out seemed to love her.

He turned back to the shadow who was still kneeling before him “Thank you for your work. You may go back to your usual assignment. I am assuming Captain Gates suspects nothing?

“No, I don’t think she even realizes that I am there most of the time”

“Good, keep it that way” The shadow nodded her head and left to head back to her station leaving Riez alone with his thoughts. He was going to have to do something about Marrow. His allegiance was still towards him and the kingdom but his allegiance was also towards Captain Gates. That would probably be an issue. He would need to figure out something and fix that before it became a major issue.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Jacob adjusted the nice clothes awkwardly. When his parents bought them for him three months for the Barons daughter's birthday today they fit quite well. So of course he had to go through a growth spurt in that time making the outfit fit tightly.

He had asked Clair to fix it for him and she refused unless he paid. Saying she didn’t have time to work on anything for free anymore.

Ever since they had been “robbed” She had been working even harder and more frantically. Even taking the odd job outside of patching and sewing up clothes such as construction and who knows what else.

She was apparently so busy she wasn’t even going to attend the party they had been invited to. He wished she would just wake up and realize she wasn’t going to be leaving this place and abandon them.

Of course he also wasn’t entirely blaming her for skipping this party either. He had certainly considered it as why would he want to attend a party for some spoiled rich kid to get even more spoiled and rich.

Eventually though he saw some benefit when his dad pointed out it would be good for networking. The more influential people he knew that would give him a helping hand when he tried to get into the shadows the better.

Erin also told him it would be good practice for him as Shadows often attended high social events and it would be best to get some kind of practice now so it would increase his chances even further.

Speaking of Erin though, Jacob was perhaps a little upset he wouldn’t be attending the event with them. Even if he was a forsaken he was also probably the closest person he knew. If it weren’t for his status Jacob would even consider him his mentor.

After adjusting the outfit as best as he could he bid goodbye to his sister who was hunched over her table and she offered a grunt in response and he noted that the dark eye circles were getting bigger. He stepped downstairs where his parents were waiting him rather impatiently

“About time. Now let's hurry. We don’t want to be late!” His dad grumbled and Jacob left with his parents. His mom must have been slightly tipsy as she missed the first step of the carriage but soon they were all inside and the carriage headed off towards the castle.

They thankfully sat in silence through the whole trip which spared him the agony of listening to them both talk about how he better not screw up or how he better be on his best behavior.

Eventually they pulled up to the courtyard of the castle where the party was being held and all climbed out.

“So dad.” Jacob started and his dad looked at him “Who should I talk to that holds good influence and will be good for networking?”

His dad shot him a glare. “You are to do nothing of the sort. Your job is to stand by my side and smile and be a good son for once”

“I thought I would be meeting influential people to help increase my social standing.”

“You will increase your social standing by standing by my side and be known as a good son who loves his amazing father. I will not have you risk everything by going off on your own and opening your stupid mouth to say whatever stupid thing is going through your head. Am I understood?”

“Yes father..” Jacob replied. Tightening his fists briefly

“If that is the case though, why didn’t Clair come with us so she can also be the good daughter.”

“Because Clair is already a lost cause in every way. The only reason I haven’t thrown her out of the house is because of how poorly such a thing would reflect on me. All that work she does and barely has anything to show for it. I know she is spending all her work money on drugs. I just haven’t been able to prove it yet” His father grumbled.

That was one of the recent things he started believing with Clair but he also knew it was false. He didn’t even know where this delusion came from but it also could have just magically manifested in his head.

“Now where is your mother?”

“Over there by the champagne table with a drink in each hand” Jacob gestured to where she was which earned a curse from his dad as he marched over, likely to try and tell her to moderate herself in the party at least until the end. Either way he left him alone and Jacob was going to take advantage of that. He appreciated the irony of him being grateful for once that his mom was such a drunk

He quickly moved and got himself lost in the crowd. He knew most people in here were influential figures within the city and even in the surrounding area. So long as he left a good impression or at least showed he was around the influential.

It hurt his pride to suck up to people that he saw himself above but if doing so meant that he would eventually be given what he deserves he’d happily kiss their feet. Then when he was where he belonged. He’d take their feet as payment for the humiliation.

A grin spread across his lips as he began to mingle with the crowd. Speaking when it was appropriate, laughing at the lame and stupid jokes. He couldn’t have been a more perfect guest. Make an impression but don’t stand out too much. He was playing a long game here.

He went through this for a whole hour and he slowly began to feel himself drained from all the socializing and he soon was looking for a way to get out.

None of the conversations he had were really noteworthy and were all dull and uninspiring which was of course which only drained him more. But some good did come from it. It pretty much cemented in his mind that he really was better than the rest of them.

He excused himself from a conversation and headed off to the bathroom where he hopefully could just get a moment to breathe and escape from all the people.

As he walked down a lavish hallway he heard a young girl's voice around the corner “Here kitty kitty. Come on. I promise I won’t hurt you. Come on”

Not wanting to get involved with whatever that was but too curious for his own good he moved and looked in the room where he heard the noise and saw some girl looking around the room. Likely looking for whatever cat she was calling out too.

Not really any of his business anyways, he started to move, crossing the doorway to go to the bathroom but the little girl caught sight of him and called out. “Excuse me mister! Have you seen my cat? I can’t find them anywhere.”

“Uh.. No. Sorry. Haven’t seen any cat anywhere.” He responded and the girl looked down disappointed and he took that as a means to walk away but the girl spoke something that made him stop.

“I need to find him. He was a present and I have big plans for him and I can’t do anything if he is gone” She let out a small sniffle and Jacob turned around and looked at her.

“Present? You wouldn’t happen to be the birthday girl this party is for would you?”

She nodded “I am. But if I am being honest I am a little disappointed in it. I wanted something more but daddy didn’t want to spend the money on it.”

“What? Well that is hardly fair. Someone as important as you should be spared no expense for such an important birthday for such an important person”

The girl smiled at his obvious flattery “That’s what I was thinking but I don’t think daddy would have seen it that way.”

“Well sometimes fathers aren’t all knowing. Now about that cat. How about I help you find them? Two sets of eyes is better than one.”

“Really?? Thank you! I will start looking in this half of the room and you take the other half!”

“Sounds good. But are you sure they are still in this room? The door was open after all.”

“No, I have been watching the doorway in case they did try to escape so that I would spot them. That’s how I spotted you after all.”

“Makes sense. Alright, let's start looking” As he started to look he only then realized he didn’t actually know the girl's name. He just hoped he wouldn’t be forced to call out to her before he found out.

He began to poke through all the various furniture and various decorative pieces. He was surprised at how much useless stuff there was in this room. Seemed beyond excessive. Likely just there to impress lesser people.

Moving up to the wall and peeking behind a bookcase with a ton of vases, smaller pieces of artwork, and few books, he saw a ball of white fluff with two eyes staring back at him.

“Hey, I think I found them!” He called out while not taking them without taking his eyes off the cat as scurrying feet quickly rushed towards him and peeked behind the bookcase to see the cat there.

“Snowball! There you are! Come here! You shouldn't be running away from your owner!” She tried to reach behind the bookcase but Snowball let out a hiss and backed up further. Swiping their claws at her but they needn’t have bothered as the girl couldn’t reach them anyways.

“Come on snowball! You have to listen to me! I am your owner! Now come here!” She pouted and tried to reach further in before the cat moved forward briefly and swiped at her hand and she quickly retracted letting out her own hiss of pain.

“You bastard of a cat! Just for that I am going to make sure I kill you slowly!”

“Uh.. What?” Jacob was instantly taken aback by the sudden outburst and the girl cursed before adopting her sweet girl persona that she had.

“Uh.. I mean.” She let out a small sniffle “Owwe. That really hurt”

“Yeah.. I think your cover is blown”

“Damnit.” She muttered and then looked at him with cold eyes “Look, if you don’t tell my dad or anyone else I will give you what I want. But you have to also get my cat back.”

“All I want is for you to play up how amazing and helpful I am to your dad and get me into his good graces. Do that and we got a deal”

“Deal!”

He found her sudden shift in personality somewhat amusing as she went from the spoiled sweet girl to some bully who believed she was better than everyone. It would have annoyed him were she not a ten year old girl.

“Though I have to ask. What are these big plans for the cat” Once again his curiosity got the better of him.

“Well one of the maids told me that a cat always lands on their feet and that’s why they are always okay when they fall from trees. Well I want to put that to the test and I am going to throw her out of the tallest tower and see if she really will survive. Do you have a problem with that?” she asked with no small amount of attitude

Jacob just shook his head “None of my business what you do with your cat. So long as you keep your end of the bargain I couldn’t really care”

“Good, Now tick tock. We don’t have all day.”

Jacob rolled his eyes and pushed her off to the side and out of the cat's eye sight as he got down on his all fours and reached for Snowball who tried to back up more but was already against the wall. As his hand got closer, snowball took a swiped at him but he quickly snagged the paw and yanked the cat out from the bookcase as they yowled in protest

The girl thankfully had grabbed some kind of blanket from one of the pieces of furniture and opened it up allowing Jacob to quickly put the cat into the blanket and the girl wrapped the fuzzy menace up as they struggled and yowled at them but there was nothing they could do now.

“Finally. Shame on you snowball! You better hope you don’t survive the tower fall cause otherwise I will make you regret going against me like that”

Before Jacob could respond a deep voice boomed from just outside of the room. “There you are! I was wondering where you were. The guests are wondering where the special little birthday girl is! What are you doing here Alice?”

Alice quickly adopted her previous persona and smiled happily as she skipped over to the Baron while holding Snowball wrapped up in the blanket “Sorry Daddy. I was trying to find Snowball but he was lost. Then that nice man came and helped me now only find her but get her out from where she was hiding.”

She let out an innocent giggle and the Barons eyes turned towards him and he instinctively straightened his back hoping to make a good impression. “Did he now? What is your name, son?”

“Jacob m’lord”

“Jacob…. Jacob.” He went cross eyed as he tried to see if he remembered his name before his face lit up

“Ah right! Aren’t you Manis son? It is a pleasure to finally put a name to that face” he smiled broadly and in good humor

“It is an honor that you knew of me.” Jacob bowed towards him and the Baron let out a laugh.

“Well it is nice to see a commoner with some proper manners for once. I am sure you will end up just like your father”

“I certainly hope not” The words left his mouth before he could stop himself and he wanted to curse himself for such an obvious slip up but then the Baron let out a laugh.

“Good humor too! I look forward to the great things you plan to do young man”

“Thank you M’lord” He bowed again and seeing his chance to butter the man up a bit continued. “I couldn’t help but notice all of those mounted animal heads on the walls around the mansion. Bears, wolves, and other dangerous predators. Did m’lord hunt all of those himself?”

“Ah! You noticed, did you? I happen to be quite an amazing hunter, no matter how dangerous a beast it might be, I have successfully hunted them all without even the slightest of injuries!” He proudly boasted, talking himself up before Alice let out a small whine.

“Come on daddy. Let's go. Can you have one of the maids bring Snowball up to my room? And make sure the maid closes the door. I don’t want poor little Snowball to be wandering the castle all by their lonesome.”

“Of course my little angel.” The Baron snapped his fingers and a maid came running towards them “You heard the girl. Make sure her precious cat is safely in her room”

“At once M’lord” The maid bowed and took the blanket bundle with Snowball inside and quickly left.

At that the Baron took Alice's hand and they walked off back towards the party together and Jacob let out a collective sigh of relief. This was more than he ever hoped for but talking with a member of the nobility was a little nerve wracking.

Also probably shouldn’t tell his dad what happened. Even if he responded well he’d probably try to take whatever achievements he got and find a way to twist it so he could take credit.

He was already probably in trouble over the fact that he “disappeared” during the party. But whatever. He got more than he could have ever hoped for by attending. If he managed to get into the Barons good graces more then there was a good chance he might send a letter recommendation for him and he was pretty much guaranteed to get into the shadows.

With high spirits he went back to the party though he hardly paid attention to anything that was happening. None of that mattered anymore anyways.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Sharrel swallowed as she started at the house from the alley she had been hiding in for the past couple of hours. She knew she needed to do this. But she didn’t really feel like she was ready either. But she was never going to be ready at this rate.

A cold strong hand was placed on her shoulder and she looked up to see Aster staring down at her, his mask was currently off and she saw his concern.

“Yeah, I know. I need to do this. I am just scared that the answer will be what I think it will be…” Even if she hated her parents. She felt the ache and longing. The hope for what could be.

She looked back at Aster “okay, I am ready. I am sorry to ask but could you put on your mask again. I feel like they will freak out of a masked individual. But they would freak out more if they saw how you actually look. No offense on my end.”

Aster smiled slightly and nodded before putting the mask back on his face and Sharrel gave him an appreciative nod before moving. “Right, let's get this done.”

They made their way as quickly as they could across the street and towards the house. The hunt for them hadn’t really died out but it had stalled. There were a lot less active searches for them but still, seeing a woman with her hood up along being trailed behind by a masked individual was bound to draw some attention even with the light of the sun slowly disappearing behind the walls of the city.

Soon they made their way to the house and taking out a lockpick she did a quick fiddle with it and clicked it open, easily stepped inside followed by Aster and she shut the door behind them, locking it closed.

She heard warm laughter pouring from a room off to the side and felt her heart clench before she took a breath and steady herself. Aster gave her a small nudge forward and a reassuring nod and she began to move forward with Aster staying by the front door. She knew Daisy was already guarding the back. The last thing she wanted was to try and confront them and for them to run away before she even got a single word out.

She made her way down the hallway of the house, getting more annoyed as she saw all the nice decorations and furniture that was thrown about before she reached what she assumed was the living room, peaking past the doorway she saw two figures lazing about some luxurious furniture.

Figures. She suppressed her anger and stepped out into view which instantly got the attention of both them quickly standing up in shock.

“Woah! Hey there, we don’t really have that much to rob. You’ll probably find much better stuff from our neighbor next door.” her dad spoke, clearly shocked at the sudden intrusion

She couldn’t help but frown, aside from the blatantly obvious lie given all the luxurious things around them, they didn’t even recognize her. “I am not here to steal anything from you.”

“Crap!” Her mom then jittered in a panicked voice “Are you with Harris? Or are you with Oroun? You can’t be with Whines, he is dead and our debt died with him! Plus our children happily took on our debt for us. You should-”

“HAPPILY!?!?!?! YOU LEFT US TO FEND FOR OURSELVES AND HAD WHINES BLEED US DRY SO YOU COULD LIVE HAPPILY OFF OF OUR WORK!!!”

Her yelling caused both her parents to fall to their couch, shocked as they stared at her “Oh my god, Sharrel? Is that really you?” Her dad asked with a stupid expression on his face

She growled “Yes. So glad that you managed to recognize me finally. Aion is doing fine by the way. No thanks to either of you”

“That’s amazing!” Her dad spoke happily as he got up

“You should go get Aion and we can live together again. As I am sure you know, Whines is gone so we can go back to being a family!” Her dad started acting like everything was completely normal, as if she just returned after only being gone for a day.

“And don’t worry about those other two people we mentioned. They don’t even know we were the ones who scammed them” Her mom boasted with a happy cheerful smile on her face that was disarmingly innocent and Sharrels fist tightened.

“So you mean to tell me that you had the money to help us, probably even enough to pay off Whines but instead just used it for you!!” She glared at the both of them who seemed to falter but her mom was fast to recover.

“We had too. If Whines knew where we were he would have killed us since we skipped out on a payment. Even if we had the money it wouldn’t have mattered. He would have killed us to set an example!” Both her mom and dad were acting distraught as she tightened her fists.

“It's true pumpkin. But we knew you and Aion were tough and would be able to survive. It’s why we left. When we found out Whines was gone we looked everywhere for you two but couldn’t find any trace.”

She had enough. “I… I will need some time to think about this… I will meet you at the large oak tree by the park nearby. You know the one I am talking about”

Both her parents nodded with some slight confusion to their faces and she continued. “If you both genuinely want a relationship with me and Aion. Meet me there by dawn. If you don’t show. I won’t blame you and let you go about your lives free of responsibility.”

She didn’t wait for a response as she turned and left. Nodding to Aster who gave a quick bow and left with her.

They made their way to the designated park and towards the tree that she had referred too. Night had fallen at this point and it was dark making it hard to see. At least for her. Clover told her that the undead had no trouble seeing in the dark.

She grunted as she sat down with her back against the tree. Aster still stood beside her and she let out another sigh. “Aster, I get you are worried but this probably won’t work if you are right next to me. Plus I’ll be okay. If things go how I fear. I’ll run and make sure to stay far away enough. Besides.”

She gave Aster a smile “I fully trust the goddess, you and the rest of the guardians. Do not worry”

Aster gave her a long look before nodding and stepping away making her lose sight of him and she leaned back against the tree trying hard not to think about anything.

She knew there was no way she was going to be able to sleep, not cause the ground was uncomfortable. It was actually more comfortable than some places she had slept. It was what her parents would do.

So she sat there, staring up at the sky through the leaves and tree branches of the oak tree. Her mind wandered through everything that had happened to her. Everything that probably would happen to her.

Slowly she got to her knees and bowed till her forehead touched the ground. She had no idea how to offer a proper prayer to the goddess of death so she just did what she had seen other people do when offering prayers to their own gods.. “Mighty goddess of death. I humbly thank you for everything you have done and I know you are watching over us. I know I do not pray as often as I should but thank you again. For everything you have done for me. And I promise to carry out your will and desire no matter what you may ask of me. I only ask that you please… Please help me now. Some kind of guidance. Something…. Anything… ”

She had sort of hoped to hear something from her but knew that would be unlikely. Likely too busy for someone as unimportant as her. The tears started to form in her eyes as she kept her head bowed and kept praying until.

Pop

Bonk

She let out a slight curse as something fell on top of her head and landed down next to her. Throwing a slight glare at the object wondering what the hell fell and hit her.

Her eyes widened in shock as she looked down. A bone white staff lay next to her that almost seemed to let out an ethereal glow despite the darkness. A black gem at the top of the staff that seemed to almost absorb the darkness around it.

With trembling hands she reached and picked it up. It felt cool to the touch but seemed to almost be handcrafted to fit into her hands perfectly.

Suddenly she felt something invade her head and she fell to the ground as words seemed to sear themselves into her brain. Every syllable overwhelming her senses and warped reality around her twisting and clawing at her sanity with every passing moment.

“You do not need my help, I chose you to represent me as my high priestess. Follow your heart and you will follow my will. Here is my gift to you for being such a loyal follower. This will be my final message to you for a long while, take heart and remember I will always be there to watch over you. Finally, I will send someone to you soon, please accept them for who they are and as they are. I trust only you in this my high priestess, my chosen.”

She let out a gasp of pained shock as the presence disappeared from her mind along with the otherworldly blessed pain and she was let on the ground staring up into the sky in disbelief.

Her goddess trusted her…. Her beloved goddess loved her!!! She started to hyperventilate as she clenched the staff that had been gifted to her by her beloved benevolent goddess!

Yes, there was no need to doubt. No need to seek the love of parents who did not care. Her goddess was the one she should love. Her goddess was the one she needed.

If anything she cursed the lack of devotion she held before. She worshiped her goddess but she didn’t truly love her. But this. When she asked for help, it was answered.

Her mind raced more. When she needed help back then her goddess answered. She personally came to her and gave her the gifts she needed! Her goddess! Her beloved wonderful goddess!!

She began to giggle a little as she hugged her staff. Her goddess. Yes, her goddess! She promised, whomever she sent to her she would accept and help.

Her goddess her goddess her goddess her goddess her goddess her goddess her goddess her goddess her goddess her-

A small rustle snapped her out of her reverence and she glared at who showed up only to see her so-called parents step into view.

“Ah! Sharrel! There you are” Her so called dad declared

“Glad you are here! We were worried you wouldn’t show up. But here we are. Where is Aion? Will you be taking us to him? We would very much like to meet him too?”

She took a deep breath and gave a shout “Clover! Yes or no?”

Her parents looked a little surprised for a second as silence overtook the park before her mom spoke carefully “Uh, Sharrel, sweetie, what are you doing”

She raised her hand telling her to keep quiet and waited until she spotted Clover stepping out of the dark with the mask over his face and a severed head in his hand. Her parents taking a step back in surprise and shock

“Sharrel!! What is the meaning of this??” Her dad demanded! Looking extremely nervous as he kept glancing over at clover

“It would seem you were correct Madam” Clover spoke with a somber tone

“It would appear they did try to sell you out and collect your bounty. They were going to have you lead them to where you were hiding so they could capture all of us in one fell swoop. That is what he said at least.” Clover tossed the severed head towards her parents' feet.

“Daisy, Aster, and Pansy are currently taking care of the rest of the guards they had brought with them.. I am truly sorry”

She looked at Clover, to the severed head and then towards her parents before bursting into laughter which seemed to have caught everyone else off guard and she proudly declared.

“Its fine. I was so caught up in worrying about my parents that I had sort of lost sight of what truly matters.”

She clenched her staff tightly and a smile blossomed on her face “I care not for them anymore. Clover, kill them. They mean nothing to me now.”

Clover bowed “As you wish madam”

“Wait Wait! This is some sort of misunderstanding we didn’t me-” Their voices were cut short as Clover cleaved off both their heads in one quick swing.

“Come on Clover. We have to get home. I will need to council Aion as he probably will be upset over what has happened”

Clover bowed “Are you sure you are okay mam?” His voice sounded unsure and she understood. She probably had been acting off. But she was free now.

“Yes. I am okay. Better okay even! I have got my beloved goddess on my side!” She boasted loudly, not caring who could possibly hear her! She was on top of the world and it was time to go home without a burden on her shoulders.

She practically skipped back to their temporary home, or at least she would have but it was too dark and that likely would have caused her to stumble and fall.

When they got home, which was currently an abandoned home in the slums, she turned to Clover. “Can you grab everyone, including Aion. I need to make an announcement.”

Clover bowed and headed off, Daisy, Pansey and Aster standing with her. Daisy gave Aster a questioning glance which he just shrugged before looking back to Sharrel, clearly wanting to ask what was going on but also knew they would find out soon anyways.

Soon all of the guardians arrived with Lavender holding Aion who looked just as confused as the rest of them. “Right, I will make this quick. Our parents are dead” She gestured towards herself and Aion making sure to monitor his reaction but he did not give any outward reactions.

“But before I confronted them the final time I had given a prayer to our goddess and she not only heard my prayers but also gifted me this” She held up the staff that had been gifted and guardians seemed transfixed on it and Azalea spoke hesitantly.

“I can sense a ton of power within that staff, it would undoubtedly strengthen necromancy magic and it would not surprise me if it helped strengthen undead around you. I am sure the rest of you can feel it” He looked at the rest of the guardians who all nodded.

“ She also spoke directly to me. She had informed me that I am to be her high priestess.” She tried not to cry tears of joy at that declaration, doing her best to keep herself composed as she continued on.

“Not just that but she will be sending someone to us for us to take care of. She did not specify a date but we will need to make sure we are ready to take care of them regardless of the date or time”

They got all the guardians to stand at alert and Sharrel continued “I think it’s time we start to set up or find a more permanent place of living. We need to start figuring out options for that. I want you all to figure out a good place for us to set up permanently and be ready to welcome our guest. I need to talk to Aion for a bit”

The Guardians bowed and Lavender passed Aion over to her which she took him gently and began to make her way up the stairs back towards his room silently.

When they entered his room and she laid him back down on his bed he finally spoke up “I take it mom and dad chose to sell you out?”

Sharrel nodded. She didn’t feel anything about her parents. If anything she was grateful for the betrayal. It was like the weight was lifted and now she didn’t ever have to worry about them ever again. But she wasn’t sure about how Aion would take it.

“How are you feeling?” She asked him and Aion sat in silence for a moment before answering.

“I feel more bad about the fact that I don’t feel bad about their betrayal, choosing money over us, and their deaths.”

She had told him that if they did sell her out then they would die, believing hiding that information wouldn’t do any real good anyways. He might have been soft, but he also had a strong will.

“Does that make me a bad person?” She blinked in surprise at Aion who looked up at her with concern

“The fact that I don’t feel anything for our parents. I’d be heartbroken if you died. And I know I would be upset if the guardians were to die. But I can’t muster any feelings for our parents. They feel like strangers. They are strangers. I don’t even know what they look like.” He seemed lost in thought as if trying to will a memory that wasn’t there into existence.

Sharrel reached over and rubbed the top of his head “No Aion, that doesn’t make you a bad person. I was the one who decided they would die, the guardians were the ones who killed them. Would you say they were bad people? That I am?”

“Of course not!” He almost looked offended as such an insinuation and she let out a small laugh.

“Well there's your answer. You don’t need to worry, but knowing you, you probably will. So I ask you not to worry too much. You are not a bad person. And anybody who would say otherwise is insane. Simple as that”

“Okay.” He clearly wasn’t fully convinced but she knew it would take him a bit to come around.

“Now come on. You should be asleep.”

“Well I was asleep but then you called a meeting and I was woken up by Lavender and dragged out of bed” He gave her a small glare and she raised her hands in defeat

“Alright alright. I get it. I’m sorry. I got caught up in the moment. It won’t happen again.” She tucked Aion into bed and turned to leave but stopped when Aion called back out to her.

“Hey Sharrel.” She turned around and looked over at Aion who was looking back at her “I want to help people.”

Sharrel tilted her head in confusion as Aion continued “The way the goddess helped you. She is also sending someone to us for us to help also right? I want to help people. People like us before you were saved by the goddess. The lost and forgotten…”

She looked at him for an extra long moment as she felt her heart resonate with his words. ‘Follow your heart’. Those were the words she had read from the note. Was that what her goddess meant.

“I too would like to help people” She said carefully “But first we need to make sure we are okay. But that will be our goal to achieve. Of course I will need your help if that is what we are to try to do”

“You can count on me” Aion responded. His voice was tired but held resolve.

“Now no more talk. Have a good night Aion.”

“Goodnight Sharrel”