Sariah bowed her head and knelt down.
“My apologies, Lady Gata. I didn’t mean to-”
The giant cat’s tail suddenly snaked its way under Sariah’s head, flicking upward to force the woman to look the cat right in the eyes. “I told you to stop it with that bowing nonsense.”
Sariah sighed, although it wasn’t an unexpected response. Gata had never been one to enjoy reverence, but Sariah just couldn’t help herself; how could she not treat one of the most legendary heroes of Planet ULTRA with the utmost respect?! “Sorry. Habit, I suppose.”
The gigantic black cat held her paw up and gave it a lick or two. “How have you been, dear? It’s been quite some time since you last came to visit.”
“My apologies, Lady Gata,” Sariah started again, quick to bob her head around the incoming tail flick at the formality of her words. “I’m not out on missions as often as I used to be, so I haven’t had much reason to bother you.”
“Oh? You’re not running around as much these days?”
“Rest is important,” Sariah said with a shrug, her words coming across a bit unconvincingly.
“Ah, yes, the rapid aging of mortals,” Gata replied with a smug smile. “Are you getting all wrinkly? Is your hair turning gray? Do your bones ache all the time now?”
“I’m only 35….and I only have to dye some of it.”
The giant cat giggled, bringing her enormous head down to the floor so as to remain eye level with the G13 agent. “It’s good that you’re taking breaks, though, dear. It’s never a good thing to overwork oneself.”
Sariah shook her head. “When it comes to my duty, there’s no such thing as working too much.”
She grimaced as Gata gave her a gentle headbutt. “Gentle” was the intention anyway, but it still proved strong enough to nearly topple Sariah over. “Oh, stop being such a stiff. Everyone needs to lay down once in a while; you should do the same. Perhaps with a nice man at your side?”
“Lady Gata-”
“Or woman! Whichever you prefer, dear.”
Sariah let out another sigh as Gata chuckled to herself, but she decided not to bother entertaining that topic any further.
Before she could pick a different point of discussion, however, the silver-white moonlight glinted off of Sariah’s necklace, catching Gata’s attention. “I see you’ve lost another life.”
Jaw tightening, Sariah closed her eyes shut and bowed her head. “My apologies, La-”
The tail whap!’d her on the side of the head, forcing her eyes open.
Gata smiled once more. “I’ve already told you dear, I won’t get upset whenever you lose them. They’re for you to use as you see fit while you carry out your duty.” The cat paused, tilting her head just a bit to the side. “Out of curiosity, how did you lose this one? Is it as exciting as the previous?”
“Sorry to disappoint, but no,” Sariah replied. “I didn’t set off a bomb inside a dragon god this time around.”
“Phooey.”
“Actually, the reason I came here to see you is because of how I lost that life,” Sariah replied. “I was shot by a crossbow bolt in my sleep.”
“Oh dear,” Gata said. “Were you naked?”
Sariah raised a brow. “No….What does that matter?”
Gata shrugged. “I’ve noticed some mortals sleep naked and some do not. I was simply curious which side you belonged to.”
“….”
“….Carry on, dear.”
“Anyway, I believe this crossbow bolt is the handiwork of a war goddess familiar to the people in the area.”
Gata’s ears perked up. “A war goddess? Interesting….”
“There was an incident the other day involving some damage dealt to a warehouse in a small village. It wasn’t anything especially bad, but it came amidst conflict with another nation, and seems like an attempt to frame said nation.”
The giant cat made the connection, though she took the time to give her paw another lick before speaking again. “This goddess wants to cause a war between the two nations in order to feed off of the energy created by it.”
Sariah nodded. “Exactly. However, given how small-scale the attacks were; those being a few spears striking the warehouse and a single crossbow shot, this war goddess seems to be incredibly weak and unable to conjure up anything more complex until she starts to regain her power.”
“Yes, another god wasting away in some hole, desperately clinging onto what little life it still has left,” said Gata in a fairly nonchalant tone given the somewhat harsh words she was speaking. “Do you know which war goddess it is?”
A wry smile etched itself upon Sariah’s face. “Does it matter?”
“No, it doesn’t. Good answer, dear.”
The giant cat let out a yawn, stretched her body out, and stood up on all fours. “Weakened as this war goddess may be, if she can still conjure up weaponry from nothingness, you may need a little extra help when battling her.”
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
Sariah turned her eyes away as Gata began to retch, as though she were spewing out a hairball. On one hand, she knew that Gata was granting her a special weapon with which to vanquish the war goddess, and shouldn’t be grossed out in the face of such a kind, beneficial act. On the other hand, the two had gone through this process before, and she knew for a fact that Gata didn’t actually need to gag up and vomit out this special weapon, and was doing it because she wanted to be a gross piece of shit just for the fun of it.
From Gata’s massive jaws came what appeared to be some kind of clawed gauntlet. It appeared to be largely made of orange metal, with black trim forming a stripe-like pattern around it. There was a single jewel inlaid on the back that shimmered in the moonlight.
As Gata wiped drool and various other fluids from her mouth with her tail, she stated, “This gauntlet belonged to-”
“Baagh the Tiger!” Sariah yelped out in excitement, almost like a little kid. She’d even taken a few hurried steps forward to retrieve the thing, but stopped halfway through, trying her best to compose herself. “I-It belonged to Baagh the Tiger, c-correct?”
Gata giggled. “Yes, it did. And now it’s yours.”
The G13 agent finished moving up to the gauntlet, kneeling down and cradling it in her hands. So enamored with the thing was she that the thick layer of goop around it didn’t even bother her. “It’s beautiful….”
“I’m sure you’ll have fun tearing that goddess to mincemeat with it,” Gata said, laying back down in the grass with another yawn. “I think I need a nap.”
Sariah had to stop herself from bowing once more. “Thank you for this, Lady Gata. I won’t fail you.”
“I know you won’t, dear,” Gata replied. “You know as well as I do: gods have no place on Planet ULTRA.”
Nodding, Sariah replied, “And I swore to you, I’d rid the world of them.”
* * * *
ULTRA KNIGHT
* * * *
The morning following the skelemental attack on Lunafei was, in contrast to the previous night, calm, quiet, and pleasant. The early sun hit the crystalline trees beautifully, and the little spirit animals all skittered about to stretch their legs and have some fun.
Aerin immediately began making her way down to where the Ecclesian Knights had been lodged for the night. She made sure to thank each one that she passed for helping to keep the town safe, though her destination was one Knight in particular, who was over in the bakery in the corner of the first floor of the inn.
“How much for….a bagel….?” Eurus asked, his jittery fingers trying to sift through the random heap of forcen coins and crumpled up bills in his opposite palm. “I only have, uh….five….six….se-”
Aerin rested her hand on his shoulder as she approached from behind. “Oh, don’t worry about that, sir. The Knights’ meals are on the house today. And feel free to have more than just a simple bagel, haha!”
“Oh….thanks….”
As the bakers began to work on preparing Eurus’s meal, the lanky Knight turned to face Aerin properly while simultaneously fumbling to get his money back into his pants pocket.
Realizing she’d have to take charge in order for this conversation to not take forever, Aerin bowed her head politely. “Thank you very much for helping protect Lunafei and its people. You made for quite the reliable leader in a pinch.”
Eurus sniffled up some morning snot that had unfortunately been slithering its way out of his nostril. “Thanks….Just doing my duties….Er, duty….”
“While I didn’t oversee everything you did,” Aerin continued. “I was told you confronted one of the skelementals’ leaders, and even warded them off in order to keep everyone inside safe.”
“Huh? Oh, right….”
“By the way, have you seen Commander Roy this morning?”
Eurus shook his head before wiping at his nose with the back of his sleeve. Or he would have, had he been wearing a long-sleeved shirt…. “No I haven’t seen him….Sorry….”
Aerin excused herself after that, checking in with a few of the other Knights and employees of the inn asking for Roy’s whereabouts, but none of them had any clue, as they hadn’t seen him since he dropped the Knights off upon first arriving in Lunafei.
She’d been worried about him ever since they separated the night of the attack, but she’d assumed he’d been fighting somewhere and had wandered back to the inn to get some rest after the incident. She herself had been practically knocked out after summoning the Spirit Queen, and hadn’t had an opportunity to go looking for him any earlier.
Her heart began to beat faster as she made her way through the city, manipulating the trees and branches to maneuver more quickly through it, but she couldn’t find even a trace of him.
Just as she began to fear the worst, however, she felt a spiritual connection to him flicker within her heart, just briefly, amidst her hurried walk. Retracing her steps, she felt the connection again, and as she stood still, it remained in place.
“Roy?” She asked aloud, spinning in all directions in search of him, but he was nowhere to be seen. She tilted her head back to search the branches high above her head, but could not see any signs of him there, either.
And then it hit her. Her eyes shot down to the grass beneath her feet, opening wide. The skelementals had emerged from beneath the earth, and their method of attack seemed to be dragging victims down below.
Aerin threw her palms out towards the grass beneath her, and the ground split open in a heavy burst that sent dirt and rock scattering in all directions. It caused a loud enough commotion to attract the attention of nearby civilians, but Aerin paid them no mind. All she was concerned with was desperately trying to find Roy.
As she dug deeper into the ground, she felt the connection to his spirit grow even stronger, which only further fueled her anxiety.
Finally, after digging several dozens of feet into the earth, she found Roy’s body.
Napping in an underground tunnel.
Of course, the sudden removal of the earth hanging over his head allowed the morning sunlight to strike him dead-on in the face, and, coupled with excess dirt dropping onto him, brought him to an abrupt awakening.
“Who?! What?! Huh?!” he roared in confusion, whipping his head around so frantically he ended up smacking his forehead against the walls of the tunnel he had been laying in.
He craned his head up towards the top of the hole Aerin had created, using a hand to shield his eyes from the sunlight. “Oh, Aerin! Morning!”
* * * *
ULTRA KNIGHT
* * * *
“Yeah, so the wackjob opened up some giant hole underneath me and I fell in,” Roy explained as he cut into his plate of steak and eggs. “Luckily I ended up in that little tunnel thing instead of getting buried outright. Tried finding a way out, came up short, and dozed off, I suppose.”
Aerin sighed. “You had me worried sick, you know.”
The commander gave an exaggerated shrug of his massive shoulders. “Well what was I supposed to do? I couldn’t find a way out, and I can’t magically shift the earth around like you, you know!”
“Don’t you have an Earth Install?”
“….Touche.”
Aerin let out another sigh, this one full of exhaustion. She had a hand over her head as she reached for her tea, which Roy took note of. “You alright? Not get enough sleep last night?”
“I got plenty enough,” the Lunafei mayor replied. “The summoning just took a lot out of me, is all.”
“Summoning?”
“I suppose you missed it, what with you taking a nap underground and all,” she said, cracking half of a smile. “I had to summon the Spirit Queen last night.”
Roy whistled. “Spirit Queen….Sounds like a big deal.”
She nodded. “Yes, she is….She managed to fend off the skelementals and restore the totems. Strangely, she didn’t seem very fond of the silver knight who was battling them.”
“Oh?”
Aerin ran a hand through her hair. “She told him to leave, and even threatened to slay him on the spot. Truth be told….she seemed harsher to him than the skelementals themselves.”
Biting into a forkful of steak, Roy responded, “I wonder why that is.”
“It’s difficult for mortals to understand the workings of divine beings,” she said. “But the Spirit Queen is a venerable being; whatever her reasons are, I trust in them.”
“I suppose that makes sense. Just….”
“Hm?”
“Be careful around gods, is all.”