Megumi entered the quiet guild hall and made her way back to the infirmary. She was tired from all the recon work she had done that day, but had a good feeling everything would pay off. A small voice deep within her that she had thought had been completely quashed over the years screamed at her for doing something so terrible as what she had done to that guard captain, but Megumi was able to silence it.
She would not let anyone get in the way of her vengeance. She pushed open the door to the infirmary quietly and stepped inside. Poro-tan was still sleeping and breathing hard. She resolved that if she ever got the opportunity for payback against that bitch warlock, she'd take it. Megumi stretched her arms above her head and pushed the heavy wooden chair that had more often than not been her bed over the past few days over to its customary spot and she sat down.
"Hang in there, Poro-tan. Don't leave me alone in this rotten world, as your master, I command it..." she bowed her head and leaned against Poro-tan's slowly rising chest. "...please."
Megumi had once again fallen asleep in that uncomfortable chair, and awoke to movement next to her. She had been dreaming of her past and the things she had gone through and done to get where she was now, unpleasant dreams, and so it was a relief to wake up. Poro-tan had been thrashing in his sleep over the past day or so and Aery told her that it was a good sign; it meant that he was fighting to survive.
What time is it? How long was Megu asleep for? She stood up and stretched her legs. Megumi knew that she would need to sleep in a real bed if she was to get any real rest, but it was hard to leave him there like that. While it was true that he was basically her slave, she knew that he cared about her and that made her care about him. It was an odd thing for her to admit to. In fact, she hadn't really cared about anyone other than herself since her sister had died.
Is it a betrayal to her memory and the memory of my parents to let myself care for someone once more? She shook her head and dismissed the thought. It wouldn't do her any good to go down that road anyway. Her stomach grumbled angrily at her and she realized that with everything that had been going on as of late, she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast the morning before. Her body was telling her that enough was enough at this point and despite not wanting to leave, she relented and decided that she could go grab something to eat in the common room; there was always a cook on duty, 24 hours a day, it was one of the best things about the Adventurer's Guild in Megumi's opinion.
The guild hall was quiet still, it seemed that it was still the middle of the night. It was time to consider her plans. She knew what she wanted to do, and it was going to be terrible. Did she care though? The world had basically pissed on her and she wanted to watch it burn, but something pulled on her... conscience? She went to the counter in front of the kitchen and saw a cook who was half asleep lounging in his chair.
"Megu would like something to eat. Can you make pancakes?"
The man eyed her with a sense of irritation. He clearly didn't like having to actually do any cooking this late at night. He sat up slowly and growled at her. "Can't wait until morning? It's the middle of the bleedin' night!"
Megumi didn't reply and instead just stared him down. They both knew that by the rules of the guild he had to do his job and take care of the guild members at any time of day. After a few moments of staring each other down, he gave in and stood up with a grunt. "Give me a few minutes."
Megumi simply nodded to the man and took a seat at one of the empty tables near one of the blazing fireplaces that kept the place warm and stared off into the dancing flames. Megumi would have Poro-tan enroll in the watch and then descend upon the palace like a slow moving plague.
The grumpy cook returned from the kitchen a few minutes later and slid a stack of three pancakes covered with strawberries across the table towards her. "Thanks."
All she received in reply was a grunt and the man went back over to his post by the kitchen. Megumi dug into the deliciously sweet pancakes as she enjoyed sitting by the warmth of the fire. After only her third bite, however, she heard the sound of screaming coming from the infirmary. She dropped her fork roughly onto the table and jumped out of the chair, running for the room. That was Poro-tan!
She slammed the door of the infirmary open and saw Poro-tan laying in the bed with his eyes still shut. His back was arched in pain and he was screaming. Megumi didn't know what else to do, so she ran back into the hallway and back to Aery's quarters. She banged on the door loudly. "Help! Something's wrong!"
Seconds passed which felt like eternity before the guild master opened her door and ran down the hallway with her. Poro-tan was still clearly in agony and Aery rushed to the side of the table and put her hand on his head. "It's a resurgence. By the gods, this curse is truly something wicked. Stand aside, girl."
Megumi complied with the request and began to pace back and forth at the foot of the bed nervously as the healer placed her hand once more on Poro-tan's chest, her fingers glowing with white light. Megumi checked Poro-tan's status using her link with him and found that his HP which had been finally starting to recover, had started to drop again.
She ground her teeth thinking about how much she wanted to kill that warlock for this and watched as Aery went to work. After only a few moments and a lot less time than the first time it had been done, Poro-tan's body fell limp once more and his health stabilized. "Is he okay?"
"That should have been the last of it. He's a fighter, I'll give him that. Go get some sleep, you can take my room so that you're close. You look like you haven't slept in weeks. I'll need to stay here and keep a close eye on him, with luck, we should be out of the woods now."
"Megu is fine. Let me stay."
Aery stood up and came over to her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You need to take care of yourself. I'll send someone for you if anything happens. Go get some rest."
Megumi's eyes flickered over back to Poro-tan again before she finally relented. She turned and went to the guild master's room and sat down on the woman's bed. It was soft and inviting. Megumi took off her shoes and climbed up into it and leaned back against the wall, pulling her knees to her chest. She put her head down and closed her eyes tightly.
Memories and past traumas flooded back to the surface of her mind when she thought about how alone she now was. She saw an image of her holding her little sister's tiny hand in hers as they stared back at their home as they were urged onward by their guardian. Her mind flashed forward to when she once again held her sister's hand, this time as she died in a horrible orphanage after the head mistress had beaten her for not completing her chores fast enough. Megumi had tried to stop her, but wasn't strong enough.
Tears forced themselves out of her eyes. Why can't I ever be strong enough to protect anyone that matters to me? Part of her knew that it was irrational to think that she could have done anything to save either her parents or her sister, but it still hurt down deep into the depths of her soul. She knew that while she hadn't been able to protect the ones she cared about back then, and that she really had no blame in what had happened, she was to blame for what had happened to Poro-tan.
If she hadn't been so arrogant, she could have gone to the guild for help. They would've been able to go in with a full team and this wouldn't have happened to him. She needed to be more prepared in the future. Megumi flopped to the side and landed with her head on a soft pillow. She continued to relive memories of the past and she struggled with her emotions as they warred with one another on how she had been living her life. After a long while, she fell asleep.
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The next morning, Megumi awoke as sunlight streamed through the window of the guild master's room. She once again checked on Poro-tan's status and breathed a sigh of relief as she saw that his health had nearly completely regained. Is he awake? Megu needs to go check on him.
She jumped out of the bed and threw her shoes on quickly before running out of the room and down the hall in a rush. She opened the door to the infirmary and saw that Poro-tan was sitting up and talking to Aery. "Poro-tan! You're okay!" she ran over to the bed.
"I'm okay. I heard from Aery that you haven't left my side in days. Sorry to have worried you so much."
Aery turned her attention away from Poro-tan and towards her. "He is still in recovery. I don't want him leaving the guild hall for at least another 24 hours. As I told him, he's free to move about here though. I just want to be sure that there isn't any remnant of the curse left in him."
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Megumi nodded her agreement. She was just happy to see that her companion was better. "Want to go get something to eat? You must be starving? They've been force feeding you broth for days. How about we go have that cook make you a large platter of spicy meat?" She reached over and took hold of his hand, practically dragging him out of the bed.
Poro-tan simply gave her a smile and allowed himself to be dragged out of the infirmary. At first he seemed a bit wobbly on his legs, but after a few steps he was moving like normal. Megumi dragged him to a table and went over to place the food order. A different cook was on duty now and he was much friendlier.
Once her order had been placed, she went back over to the table where Poro-tan sat and sat down next to him. "Was it terrible? We will find that bitch and make her pay someday!"
Poro-tan looked down at the table and ran his fingers across the grain. "I thought I was in one of the seven hells. It was a nightmare, I guess, but it was so real. I was tortured and my mind used my worst fears against me. It was terrible. I don't want to find that warlock, I want to never see another one of those mages for as long as I live if I can help it."
Megumi suddenly felt bad for what she had said. Of course he wouldn't want to hear about getting revenge on that monster of a magician. He just wanted to move on, and could she blame him? "Okay. Well... we have other things we need to do anyway. Megu has put her plan into motion already. You're going to join the palace guards."
"I know that you're focused on this mad goal of yours, but all I ask is for an explanation of why. What did that man do to you and why do you seek revenge so strongly?"
Megumi was taken aback a little by Poro-tan's direct questioning. She hadn't really told anyone the story of how she ended up where she was, but didn't she owe him an explanation at least? She cleared her throat and tried to speak, but found that it was hard to make herself talk about it.
She looked down. "Megu will tell you everything, but later, in private. Food is on its way, let's eat and enjoy the morning. Megu is glad that you're okay... I don't want to be alone in the world again..."
Poro-tan slowly put his hand on top of hers. "Don't worry, as far as I can tell, you're stuck with me for all eternity."
He gave her a weak smile and then took his hand away as two heaping plates of spicy smelling meat were put in front of him. Megumi was given a new stack of pancakes. This time it was covered with blueberries and some sort of light cream. It was a lot better than the ones she had a few bites of in the middle of the night. The pancakes themselves were fluffy as they should be, rather than dense and tasteless.
The two of them continued with small talk throughout the meal. Poro-tan ate like a starving man and in a short time, both heaping plates were gone. "I'm pretty exhausted, believe it or not. You wouldn't think I would be after sleeping for days."
"Go ahead and get some sleep, Poro-tan. Megu has business to attend to outside the guild." Megumi stood up and turned to head for the door. The guard captain had been alone in that inn for nearly half a day at this point. Megumi knew that she needed to go check on her and see if she was more willing to cooperate now.
"Don't do anything reckless. Also, remember that you said you'll give me an explanation later."
She nodded and headed out the doors and into the mid-morning light. At least it wasn't so cold today. She turned down the street and headed towards the inn. A few minutes of walking and she found herself inside the inn. A different person was at the front desk and Megumi told them that she was a guest, returning to her room.
The young man at the desk simply nodded to her and she went on her way. The old stairs of the inn creaked as she made her way up them and into the long hallway above. She went to the room and willed her undead to open the door for her. She stepped inside and found the guard captain just as she had left her.
Megumi walked over to the bed and stared down at the woman, whose eyes were bloodshot and staring dead up towards the ceiling. Megumi quickly removed the pressure she had been placing on the woman's soul and allowed for the woman to have control over her head again. "Are you ready to cooperate?"
Silence.
"Hello? Megu is talking to you."
The woman just stared up at the ceiling, eyes dead.
Damn. Megu must've gone too far. This woman is completely broken. Megumi willed the woman to sit up at the edge of the bed and Megumi went to stand in front of her. "Can you talk?"
Nothing.
Not knowing what to do, Megumi went over to the wash basin and grabbed the pitcher of water that was there. She forced the woman to take a drink, and then she dumped the pitcher of cold water over the woman's head, hoping for some kind of response. The woman blinked blearily, but still simply stared forward at her, or maybe through her.
Surprisingly, guilt flooded its way through Megumi as she stared at the broken woman. The captain had done nothing to deserve what Megumi had done to her. Was she really so much of a monster that she left this woman in such agony that she broke like this? Isn't that what you wanted, though? a voice said in the back of her mind.
No. Megu just needed a new tool to use to ensure Poro-tan could get into the watch. She paced around the room arguing with herself in her head, but ultimately decided that there was nothing to be done but to move forward. Poro-tan would definitely been against doing what she had done. She wondered why she cared about that though. It was true that he acted sort of like a counter-weight to her darker impulses. Maybe that was a good thing.
"Megu is sorry for what she did to you. Rest."
Megumi commanded the captain, whose name she still did not know, to lay on the bed and close her eyes. Hopefully some rest would do the woman some good. She made sure the woman wouldn't be able to talk and then silently exited the room.
Tonight, Megu will come again. If she isn't responsive by then, Megu will release her soul and let her die. It's a small mercy, but that's all that can be done. Poro-tan can likely get into the watch on his own merits anyway. With that, she exited the inn and headed back to the guild hall.
Spoiler: Poro-kun's Stats
Name Hideki (Poro-kun) Level 029 (57,644/59,230 EXP to next Level) Class Warrior HP 1871/2000 MP 75/75 TP 3 Adventurer Rank B Attributes Vitality 71 Magic 32 Endurance 66 Magic Resistance 37 Strength 63 Luck 6 Agility 54 Dexterity 45 Passive Skills • Warrior's Essence - Level 5 (+50 HP regeneration/min)
• Sword Mastery - Level 7 (+70% proficiency with swords)
• Tiger Style - Level 2
• Turtle Style - Level 2
• Stalwart - Level 1 (+10% natural defense)
• Fortify Health - Level 3 (+150 HP)
• Adrenaline - Level 2 (Killing an enemy gains you one stack of Adrenaline. Each stack adds +2 to Strength, Vitality, and Agility for 4 minutes. Maximum stacks: 5) Active Skills • Holy Blade - Level 1 (Envelope blade in holy aura for 15 seconds)
• Shockwave - Level 3 (Release shockwave from blade)
Spoiler: Megumi's Stats
Name Megumi Level 030 (61,500/65,513 EXP to next Level) Class Necromancer HP 475/475 MP 1550/1550 TP 0 Villain Rank C Adventurer Rank D Attributes Vitality 19 Magic 81 Endurance 12 Magic Resistance 53 Strength 6 Luck 19 Agility 10 Dexterity 10 Passive Skills • Mage's Essence - Level 6 (+180 MP regeneration/min)
• Fortify MP - Level 2 (+100 MP) Active Skills • None Necromancer Magic
• Sanguine Infusion (50 MP) - Level 15 (Absorb life essence of recently deceased, 15% chance to gain +1 TP from human victims [Cap reached. Lvl Requirement for Lvl 16, (50)])
• Corpse Explosion (30 MP) - Level 7 - (+70% damage from explosion)
• Corpse Absorbtion (10 MP) - Level 1 (Absorb a corpse's essence. Recover 80 MP)
• Raise Undead (20 MP) - Level 11 (Raise weak undead to fight for you. Max: 55)
• Undead Mastery - Level 4 (+20% to stats of Raised Undead)
• Summon Blood Golem (500 MP) - Level 1 (Raise a Golem to fight by your side by using the blood of the fallen. Max: 1)
• Blood Golem Mastery - Level 3 (+12 Minutes to summon duration. +15% defense, +15% attack power)
• Soul Trap (350 MP) - Level 2 (Trap soul of a recently defeated foe. Max: 2 [Cap reached. Lvl Requirement for Lvl 3: (60)] )
• Soul Trap Mastery - Level 7 (+28 to all stats of Summoned Soul, except luck. Max level reached. Lvl requirement for Lvl 8: 50)
• Spirit Barrier (100 MP) - Level 2 (Erect a barrier using souls of the dead for fuel. Blocks spells and projectiles)
• Magic Skin - Level 5 (Actively consumes MP to negate physical and magical damage. Higher levels lower the MP cost)
• Decay (120 MP) - Level 5 - (25% chance of success. Causes body to rot from the inside out causing extreme pain and slowing movement at joints)
• Siphon (70 MP) - Level 1 - (Drain health of enemy at a rate of 10 HP/second for up to 5 seconds. 30% chance of success.)
• Eldritch Blast (75 MP) - Level 14 (Unleashes a roiling ball of Eldritch energy that burns its subject on contact for 5 seconds)