Why THUNK Is THUNK This THUNK Taking THUNK So THUNK Freaking THUNK Long!

It was a good thing she couldn’t actually feel pain from her vessel and that she had reinforced it with magic to make sure it wouldn’t break easily. Otherwise it probably would have cracked from the repeated head bashes to the wall she had just done.

So what was wrong with this candidate for her hero? A Freaking Love Triangle! Who in their right minds would want a love triangle in their story!

What’s worse was the Angel and Demon didn’t even seem to realize they were in a love triangle! Like hello?? You both were having sex with her at the same time and somehow STILL don’t realize you were in a love triangle! How dense do you have to be!

Also that woman's libido was scary. Out lasting an angel was already super scary. But outlasting a demon of lust? Utterly terrifying.

Plus there was a fey in the picture now?? What's worse than a love triangle? An unnecessary fourth addition making it a love quadrilateral!

A depressed groan escaped her metaphorical lips (She wasn’t even in the mood for jokes!) as she leaned back from her table and sent all of her current scrying orbs back into her time prison that was in her bag. She didn’t feel like looking for a hero anymore today, she needed to destress.

“Uh.. Mam..” She looked over at her “Before Marrow and Yin come.. I wanted to finally give you my answer.”

Finally! She had been waiting on her answer forever. She could sort of understand The Maids concern. Big changes could be scary and all that. But she was the one who proposed the idea and she was never wrong.

The Maid took a deep breath and continued “Despite your horrible lack of boundaries, somewhat sadistic nature, poor understanding of social cues, extreme emotional swings-”

Uh.. She didn’t really need this weird start to the decision. Just an answer.

“For the first time in my life I didn’t feel hated. I didn’t feel unwanted by someone. I would like to stay with you for as long as you’ll have me but I can tell you are making this decision because you want what's best for me which is why” She gripped her dress tightly as she took a deep breath to steel her decision.

“Which is why I will place my faith in you on this and if you think that sending me to this person will be good for me.. I-I will do as you say!” She stuttered there in the end but it was leagues better now. At least when talking to her.

“I am glad you understand that. Not to worry though. They will be good people and help take care of you.”

“I don’t want to be taken care of.. I just want people to stop looking at me with disdain.”

“Eh, same thing. So do you want to do this before or after the celebration? Actually hold that thought. I want you to stay if for no other reason then I don’t want to be stuck alone with those two. I need someone on my side while I deal with these miscreants.”

The Maid let out the tiniest of smiles and bowed “As you wish m’lady”

“Right.” She got up and brushed her dress from a bit of dust that had gotten on there from her sitting in the same spot for who knows how many hours

“They have gotten more used to you if that is what you are worried about. Yes they still seem slightly uncomfortable in your presence but they have gotten better. And it has nothing to do with you anyways. All on them.”

She heard a knock on her door that was in the living room “Speaking of” She went into the living room and called out “Just come in. You never bothered knocking before why start now”

The door swung open and The Ranger marched in happily with her hawk on her shoulder looking around curiously. The Annoying Brat walked in behind her smiling happily.

“Thanks for having us on your day off! It is a real lifesaver” The Annoying Brat said to her and she resisted the urge to chuck him off the balcony yet again.

“Yes, well between the crying, begging and bribery. It was more effort to refuse than to just say yes” She responded in a cool tone which The Ranger turned around and narrowed her eyes at The Annoying Brat.

“Wait. You did something like that just so we could celebrate your being accepted into the court mages without getting reprimanded?”

Marrow looked away ashamed “No, not really…”

“He absolutely did” She quickly responded, causing the Annoying Brat to look at her with betrayal.

A very mischievous grin spread across Yins face as she grabbed Marrows cheek and leaned in to whisper into his ear “Aw! You naughty boy you. I think I might have to punish you later so you are to learn some manners~”

Their relationship was so weird. But still, if she was going to punish him for her she wasn’t going to complain. Saves her the trouble.

“Whatever, let's just get this over with. Yin can you pull the table out to the center. I’ll go grab the food”

When she said The Annoying Brat had begged, cried, and bribed her to throw this celebration she hadn’t been exaggerating. Well the crying and begging part was but he did bribe her.

Apparently Annoying Court Mage thought that Annoying Brat getting accepted as a court mage was what he was supposed to do anyways and you shouldn’t celebrate what was expected as that would have made him complacent.

She didn’t really agree with that and seeing the look on the Annoying Brats face when his achievement was treated as nothing special almost made her have a word with Annoying Court Mage on his behalf but she settled for a middle ground with the bribe.

Apparently Annoying Court Mage had a bunch of super expensive bottles of alcohol that he had been hoarding and while she didn’t like alcohol as she couldn’t get drunk and the taste was horrible. She could see that as her way of getting back at him for denying Annoying Brats celebration.

The Ranger and the Annoying Brat did the heist of the century if their story was to be believed (She’d watch it when she got back to her pocket dimension) And even bagged a bunch of legendary bottles of alcohol made by some legendary brewer called Dragons Breath and Tears of sorrow. Cool sounding names. Shame they were attached to alcohol.

So now that brings her back to the present. She pulled out a large cake The Maid had baked for this occasion and placed it on the center of the table.

“Wow.” The Ranger looked impressed and said “This looks really good.”

“I believe you’ll find it tastes even better” She responded. She had given The Maid some extra special ingredients to really help make this cake pop with flavor. In her opinion. If you were going to make food for a celebration, you make it as delicious as possible.

She served them both a slice of cake, including one for the hawk (She didn’t discriminate) and they all sat down to eat making small talk.

Every bite she took of her slice, the black twisting flames that were her body devouring the tiny morsel. She had actually been staving off her hunger by doing all of this grazing and she really hoped she would be able to stave off forever.

That was actually another function of the 5th floor of her pocket dimension. It was to allow her to graze her food. The last thing she wanted was to become like her siblings who devoured everything and anything without care!

“Wha! What's happening!” She snapped out of her thoughts and realized the tower was shaking. She had accidentally let out more emotion then she meant too and quickly calmed down as The Ranger and The Annoying Brat looked around with panic while The Maid was clutching the wall she was standing by.

“Sorry, My mind just wandered into an unpleasant memory. Pay it no heed.” All of their attention turned to her in a mix of confused horror but instead of explaining she quickly changed the topic.

“So I got both of you a present each on account this is a celebration and all. And before you both even try to reject me, I have already gotten them so you might as well just accept them or they will be thrown away and wasted.”

Both nodded eagerly and neither seemed like they had even considered rejecting her. Yeesh, they could have at least given some false sincerity. Whatever. Let’s start with The Ranger first.

She pulled out a time prison which she was currently using to keep all of the alcohol The Annoying Brat stole as well as the two gifts. She pulled out The Rangers gift first and a sudden loud squawk was heard across the room and The Rangers eyes widened.

“Right, since you seemed to love that hawk so much I thought about getting you a second one. You have some kind of magic to tame simple beasts right? So it shouldn’t be too much of an issue for you.”

This gift was a little bit disguised as a gift for herself as well. Since she had improved The Rangers hawk after she did a true resurrection by modifying it slightly, she started to wonder if two hawks with the same slightly modified beings were to have a baby would they keep the traits of the parents?

So she got a lady hawk to go with the male hawk to see if that would be a yes or a no. She would just steal one of their babies when the time comes to check and give it back once she confirmed. Or maybe modify them more. She would decide in the moment.

“I love it!!” The Ranger Exclaimed snapping her out of her thoughts and getting up and taking the hawk from her “Look Bloodwing! We got a new member of our family! I’m going to have to come up with a name for you. Don’t worry, it will be a name to remember!”

Well she seemed happy at least. That just left The Annoying Brat who looked at her hopeful and eager as well. “Alright, I gave a lot of thought on what to give you. And since you are always bragging about how brilliant you are and how you can master any magic I can give you no matter what. I decided to take you up on that challenge.”

She reached into her bag and dropped several large books onto the table. So many books that it took up half the table and stacked high enough that even if you stood up your head wouldn’t be able to come out on top.

“Here we have various notes, spells and theories when it comes to dimensions, planes, and void travel. Good luck trying to wrap your mind around any of that. And if you do succeed. Perhaps I’ll introduce you to the more advanced theories” She says with pride and The Annoying Brat stared at the stack of books with his mouth hung open before letting out a very high pitched squeal in delight and snatching the nearest book and opening it.

The Ranger let out a sigh “Great, I will have to drag him out of his room now just to make sure he gets some sunlight and eats.”

Heh. He did tend to get rather caught up when it came to magic. But that was a good trait to have in her opinion. Passion was the fruit of life.

“Alright, the both of you. Enough celebrating. I have something else to take care of today and can’t keep entertaining you. Marrow, you can send a servant to come pick up these books tomorrow or something. But not today”

The Annoying Brat looked at her almost pleading like “Why not today? Couldn’t you send Vera To do it?”

“No, she is going to be busy. Now up up up. Let’s get going. Yin said she was going to punish you from behaving like a child earlier so go suffer from that.”

The Annoying Brats face went red again and Yin grinned “Oh don’t worry. He is going to suffer a great deal. Thank you for the gifts Ms. Gates. I promise to take great care of this hawk!”

The Ranger grabbed The Annoying Brats hand before he could say anything else and dragged him out of the room. Well, glad that is all taken care of.

She then looked at the maid who was sitting at the table awkwardly. Despite the awkwardness she noticed her plate that had the cake had been licked clean. So glad she enjoyed her own baking.

“Alright. Vera” She stated causing The Maid to look up with some conflicting emotions “No backing out now. This is for the best. But if you still have trouble. Just remember this moment when you are worried and seem down. It will serve you well.” She rested her arm on a lower stack of the books.

The maid seemed confused as she looked at the books again. “Those are a lot of books.”

“Well dimensions and void travel can be a little complex. Not really sure what use Marrow will have with them actually. Even if he did start to decipher everything in here I don’t really see why he would need to go to another dimension much less a whole new material world.” She gave a wink towards her letting her know this was basically just her way to keep him super distracted by a complex puzzle more than anything else.

The Maids confused face got even more confused at that “Um.. Have you already ordered a coach to take me or am I taking a caravan?” she spoke trying to steer the conversation towards something she understood

“What? Why on earth would I send you on either of those things?”

The Maids eyes widen “You can’t mean to send me to this location with your carriage right? I can’t accept such a luxury from you! I am more than happy to travel with a caravan or even by myself if the caravan won’t allow me too!”

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Nah, I mean I don’t really need my carriage to go around. I mostly use it for aesthetic and roleplay reasons. No, I am going to send you over with the best mode of transportation. Teleportation!”

“Teleportation? I am afraid I don’t know what it is”

“Don’t worry about it. Be sure to play nice and make new friends, yada yada yada. And most importantly. Have fun”

She put her hand on The Maids shoulder. “Wait. I still don’t know what you me-”

Pop

And just like that she was gone. She was pretty sure The Necromancer Girl was still on that boat. Or at least she was when she checked in on her yesterday. The boat was also anchored so she didn’t think it would move too much.. Eh she’d be fine. The Maid could swim surely.

She settled down as the silence of her tower stretched for a good long moment. Now to properly destress and finally get some reading done. She opened up a book that she had been enjoying quite a lot and started reading. It was really starting to ramp up in the action. This dragon that had been hounding the Heros footsteps for past three books was about to have a final show down and things were about to get-

Her door swung open and in stepped… Someone? Noble #4? Ugh, even his nickname was forgettable. Why did she even bother giving those nicknames out? Also he interrupted her reading and he sure as hell wasn’t Annoying Brat.

“Get out!”

Noble #4 paused at her sharp response “Ah, come now Ms Gates. I am here for a request. You see Queen Cathryns Birthday was coming up and I was here to commission a-”

“Don’t care, get out. It is reading time for me.” She snapped. She really just wanted to read right now. The book was getting really good!

“Ms Gates please. I had to sneak all the way here just to ensure she wouldn’t know what I was planning and-”

“What part of get out do you not get! I! Am! Reading!” She felt her tone getting sharper as she felt her agitation increase.

He crossed his arms clearly not liking how she was addressing him “No, you forget yourself here and know that if I so wish. I could have you thrown into the dungeon for taking such a tone with me. I don’t know why you seem so obsessed with those books. Reading such fictional tales is meant for children and the common folk. A waste of time if you ask me”

“. . .”

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

Cathryn had her guards shove their way through the crowd of horrified onlookers until she could see perfectly the grotesque display before her.

“Ignes…”

Silence met her and she inwardly groaned as in that brief moment of shock upon the scene before her, she forgot that Ignes was still overseas. She could have really used him here right now in this moment as she gazed upon the cruelty that was displayed before her.

Marquess Yomas Errinas, loyal ally to her, was currently strung upside down thirty feet above her on the castles walls.

His legs were split apart on either side with each foot impaled by an earth spike, large gashes made across that likely made him bleed out from that position. It was likely a horrifyingly painful death. One that she would have trouble believing not a single person had noticed until now.

Above his mutilated body, the word “Sinner!!” Was written above. She could not begin to grasp what that could mean. Her mind spun with questions that came up with nothing.

She felt her teeth grind against each other as she cursed in every language she knew towards Captain Gates! She would have that conniving murderous womans head on a spike the moment she had the chance.

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

Sharrel slowly straightened back up from the ship railing. It had been close to a year since they had taken up residence on this ship after commandeer it from some merchants whose bodies were currently shambling about in the cargo hold.

She had never been on a boat before and was somewhat excited about it at first, however she quickly learned that it was not meant for her. How anybody could function with the constant swaying was beyond her imagination. How they couldn’t get sick was just as confusing.

The fact that Aion seemed to have zero trouble with the swaying of the ship had brought a barrage of bragging and teasing comments from him.

She smiled a little, glad he took such pride in not getting motion sick from the ship before feeling her stomach lurch again and she vomited over the ship again.

The first chance she got to leave this ship permanently she would. And then she would never set foot on another one of these cursed boats. No matter what she was offered! Never!

“You have been acclimating well to the ship I see.” A snarky voice came from behind her which could have only belonged to one person.

“Not in the mood Tulip” She grumbled.

“I am serious. You have made great improvements over the course of the year. If this keeps up I expect you to be able to go a full day without throwing up in about a hundred years. I look forward to the day”

“Is there something you want or are you here to just torment me?”

“I can do both, I am quite the multitasker after all” Tulip grinned a little. There was no malice behind his comments. Lavender said it was just his way of showing love but ugh. Now really wasn’t the time.

“Please just get to the point. Or at least wait till my stomach has settled”

“Of course. You see I was out by the market when-”

He was cut off by a sudden popping sound and before she even registered what had happened Tulip had drawn out a pair of daggers, this was then followed by a meek “eep!” And a sudden splash.

Sharrel blinked and looked back over the banister and saw a woman who had seemed to appear out of nowhere and was currently next to the bow of their ship thrashing around.

“Help! I can’t swim!” a panicked voice erupted from below.

Sharrel whipped her head to Tulip “Quick! Jump in and pull her up on board! Now!”

Sharrel watched as Tulip jumped into the ocean with perfect form and pulled the woman out of the water and brought her on board. Placing her down on the ship as she coughed up some water and Sharrel got a better look at her.

A forsaken? She looked at the woman and her mismatched appearance. She didn’t really hold much prejudice towards their species. If anything she felt some kinship towards them. Forced to deal with things that were outside of their control making their lives worse. Swallowed in a sea of cruelty with the general consensus of those who witnessed it thinking “Hurry up and drown already.”

But most importantly. Was this the woman her beloved goddess had decided to send to her? She gave it some thought and all the signs pointed to it. Her goddess gave a poor street urchin like her the power to get herself out of her position.

Now she sends a Forsaken. A species that is looked down upon and hated by those who believe they are better. It really did not seem like much a stretch to believe that her beloved, wonderful goddess wanted to help someone else who had been most likely in a similar position as her.

The woman was still coughing out some water and Sharrel reached over and gave her a pat on the back to help “Are you okay?”

The woman froze despite the coughing fit and glanced briefly behind her before looking at Sharrel with a mix of emotions. “Y-yeah. I... I think I-I am okay.” She managed to squeak out before the coughing fit resumed

“Alright, here. Let's get you out of these wet clothes and into something drier. Come with me. Tulip, can you please inform the rest of the Guardians and Aion that we now have a guest.”

Tulip gave a small bow “as you wish mam” He turned around and left as Sharrel took the somewhat hesitant woman down into the ship to the private quarters she had set up for herself.

“I don’t think I really have anything in your size but it will be better than nothing. I will be sure to have Tulip or Lavender find you some clothes that can fit you in their next outing.”

She began to dig through the clothes she had, trying to find something that might at least sort of fit. Before she had the guardians and some actual money she would always try to steal some clothes that were several sizes larger than her as she was still growing. But she hasn’t really grown that much in a while and the Guardians were insistent that she wore clothes that actually fit her more or less.

“Y-you really d-don’t need to. The clothes that I am wearing are perfectly fine f-for me. It. It. It really isn’t an issue” she managed to stutter out. Her entire posture looked like she wanted nothing more then disappear from sight

Sharrel then gave her a hard look “Those clothes are wet, and wearing wet clothes can leave rashes and chafing which is uncomfortable. And those are probably the better options of what can happen to you. It’s not like we are throwing away your clothes, just letting you wear something else while they dry.”

She left no room for arguing as she took out something that would likely fit the woman at least so she wasn’t too uncomfortable and began to help the woman change.

“I just realized. I never got your name. That was rude of me. What should I call you?”

“Oh! I am so s-sorry! Vera! My name is Vera It’s a pleasure to meet you!” She gave quick awkward bows while trying to put on the clothes at the same time leading her to almost stumble to the ground.

“My name is Sharrel, it is a pleasure to meet you as well. And there is no need to bow to me. I might be the high priestess of our goddess but I am not above anyone else in my opinion”

She smiled a little. While it was true she did not believe herself above others because of her station she still felt pride and joy over being chosen by the goddess to be her high priest.

“Um.. Our goddess? Forgive me b-but I don’t think I understand what you mean?” she shifted her weight uncertainly.

Sharrel tilted her head at what Vera just said. “The goddess. The goddess of death, the lost and the forgotten. Did… Did she not send you?”

Vera shook her head looking a tad uncomfortable “I’m afraid not. I was sent here by her l-ladyship Captain Gates. She had b-been trying to convince me to come here for over a year.. Saying that I would find a place or a home with the special people who would accept me for…. B-being a forsaken.”

Sharrel froze with her mind trying to process what she just said. “Did…. Did she really use the word special?”

“Huh… Um.. Yes?”

Tears welled up in her eyes as her knees buckled and hit the floor. Her goddess believed her to be special! Her goddess truly believed it and told other people! To think her beloved, beautiful amazing goddess would think so highly of her!

“Uh!” Vera quickly ran up to her, clearly flustered at seeing her starting to cry “I’m sorry. It wasn’t a goddess or anything. She was just”

“No!” Sharrel quickly cut her off and grabbed her by the shoulders and leaned in closely “Don’t you see! This Captain Gates person! They are the goddess disguised! Tell me! Tell me everything you know and everything you can!!”

They then spent several hours with Sharrel grilling Vera on everything that she knew and by the end of it she sat there in silence. Her goddess was truly amazing! She was having some trouble wrapping her head around why the goddess of death was trying to prevent such destruction to the kingdom but she knew that her beloved goddess was clearly a million steps ahead with whatever she was planning that Sharrel couldn’t possibly conceive with her tiny miniscule brain!!

It was amazing! But then she felt the frustration over what it sounded like was people taking advantage of her generosity and humility. She was trying to save them all from what was undoubtedly doom but they were too busy playing politics or trying to find ways to gain more power through her!

The people at the top were truly despicable! She sent a very quick prayer to her goddess to let her know she was rooting and supportive of her as well another prayer telling her that she would look after her new guest!

“Not to worry Vera. I swear upon my life! As the goddess as my witness, you will always be proteBLAAARG!” The ship suddenly lurched from a wave that made her stomach decide to spew out whatever was in her stomach which wasn’t much but it was still horrible and unsightly.

“Ugh! I hate this ship”

“Um.. If it might help!” Vera squeaked out hesitantly “her ladyship h-had once taught me how to make a kind of tea to help with upset stomachs. I am not sure how much it might help but it has to be better than… you know… nothing.”

For the second time today she cried tears of joy “You truly were sent by the goddess!”

Vera stuttered over herself a bit before awkwardly saying “If you say so…”

Sharrel couldn’t help but smile a little bit “You don’t believe me do you.”

“It’s a little hard to believe. I don’t think you can blame me… Can you?” She looked worried that Sharrel would actually blame her but she shook her head.

“No. I understand it might seem hard to believe. I am sure if I was in your shoes I too would have trouble believing it. But I also know that you will eventually come to understand and see what I see.” She smiled at Vera who still seemed a tad uncomfortable

A sudden knock on the door interrupted their conversation and Tulip called “Madam, may I enter?”

“You may” Tulip entered the door causing a frightened gasp from Vera. She would need to explain the guardians to her as well as the undead she currently had at the bow of the ship.

To her credit though Vera quickly bowed multiple times and spoke faster then a chittering mouse “I apologies for the sudden rude reaction! Also thank you very much for saving me when I fell into the water.”

Tulip flashed her a smile “Think nothing of it. I probably should have worn the mask since I knew we had a guest over.”

“Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?” Sharrel glared at Tulip.

“Because she is a guest. You are family. Any more questions?”

Sharrel opened her mouth and closed it again. “Whatever. What do you want?”

“Ah yes, a few things. One dinner is ready and Aion wants to meet the new guest who was sent by the goddess so I hope you don’t mind eating in his bedroom. Sharrel, before you join them for dinner I do still have a report I need to pass on to you if you wouldn’t mind”

Sharrel nodded. “Okay, it will give Aion some time to be able to say hi and talk with Vera” Sharrel turned to her.

“Don’t get him too excited. He still has trouble handling too much excitement and can sometimes pass out. If he does, don’t freak out, just give a shout out and someone will come.”

Vera nodded. Clearly confused but didn’t ask questions as Lavender came out from behind Tulip and gestured for her to follow and she did.

Once Vera was gone Sharrel looked at Tulip. “Alright, so what is it?”

Tulip nodded “it would seem that Oroun has grown tired of no results when it comes to finding you. He has hired a large group of mercenaries and they are now sweeping through the slums as well as mobilizing various gangs within the city as well.

“They are stealing, assaulting and attacking a lot of people. It would seem Oroun has given them a free pass in whatever they do. Some have tried to fight back but they were quickly squashed. Things are escalating and fast. I am not sure if we can keep hiding like this”

Sharrel took a deep breath to help herself calm down. So now they were just attacking and harassing anyone and everyone. The lost and forgotten. “Tulip.. No more running. Tell Clover that we are going to begin fighting back. It is time for the people at the top to face the consequences for the people they take advantage of.”

Tulip bowed towards her and then turned and left to go find Clover as Sharrel took a deep breath. This was inevitable. She knew that but she had hoped it wouldn’t be. She wasn’t the little girl who was helpless anymore. If they wanted war, then they shall have war. She did not start it but she will absolutely finish it.