Nulla looked outside and saw the nobles with their carriages. They had taken up shop in a clearing in the woods. They were sitting together, chatting and laughing, with servants standing aside. Nulla looked at them and tried to figure out those with the most desire and ambition, finding three intriguing individuals. One held unbridled ambition, a second ambition buried so deeply they were like a puppet, and the final one with nothing. No ambition. An empty shell.

“We’re here. Unless you two have something you really want to do, sit back while I deal with this situation,” Nulla left with those words, sneaking over to the three individuals. To make sure the nobles wouldn’t hear him, Nulla made a silencing barrier.

“What do you wish for?”

Startled, the ambitious one turned swiftly spun around, with the buried and the shell following.

“Who are you?” the ambitious inquired, eyes narrowing.

“I’m Nulla. If you have any wish granted, what would it be?”

“Easy, I’d be the king.”

“I’d have power personally,” the buried responded.

“A meaning in life.”

“Clarifying question, would you wish for it to immediately be completed, you’d have such a thing overnight, or would it be help to get you there?”

“Having power, but learning to use it properly is my job,” was the buried response, ambition beginning to burn.

“Getting on the path would be nice. A suitable power given alongside would be nice.”

“I don’t care. Any meaning is good.”

Nulla smiled, these wishes exciting him.

“Here then,” Nulla told them, handing each of them something. The ambitious received a compass that shows one part of fate. The no-long-buried received their power, and the shell received a letter.

Shocked, but hurrying off to his destiny, the ambitious vanished like the wind. Next, the buried thanked Nulla, and walked to the nearest town. All that was left was the shell.

“I accept,” they replied, having finished reading the letter.

“Great! A second employee. Now, do go join the other two in that carriage, while I’ll be dealing with your former employers.”

Without a word, the shell slid into the carriage. The two passengers had different reactions, Elizabeth responding with a sigh, and the assassin freezing in fear, before slowly calming down.

Nulla cleared out the remaining servants, telling them to hide at the edge of the clearing.

When everyone was out of the way and watching, Nulla grabbed Elizabeth and crafted a magical illusion on them both.

“Go along with it. We’ll have them gloat over their ‘Victory’, then reveal the truth. Assassin!”

“Yes!” the assassin yelled back, clearly startled.

“What’s your name?”

“Angela!”

“Angela. When I call for you, reveal yourself from the shadows. Got it?”

“YES!”

Satisfied, Nulla released the silencing spell. Nulla grabbed Elizabeth's hand and ran onto the scene.

“Hah, hah. People! Please, you have to help! We’ve been attacked!”

Nulla collapsed, energy drained.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Two of them didn’t hide their smile, while the third tried and the fourth was successful.

“How horrible. Why don’t you stick with us tonight?” the fourth asked, doing the best job of them all of actually appearing to be nice.

Taking them up on the offer, Nulla and Elizabeth crawled into a cursed tent. Nulla quickly dispelled the enchantment and replaced it with an illusion.

“There was a curse on this, it’d drain my lifeforce over the night and kill me. It’d paralyse you though.”

“So, how long are we going to wait?”

“Not long. They seem to be rather dumb, and are going to burst in a couple minutes.”

And just as Nulla predicted, they burst in.

“I have so much to say. Two main things: the first is that your curse will only really be in effect if you show up in the morning. And second, did none of you plan for if the assassins just took or killed Elizabeth, or if Elizabeth ran the other way? Your plan is full of holes.”

The nobles were shocked but quickly recovered.

“Doesn’t matter! You’re here now, and we already beat you up the first time, so if we call them over, you’ll be killed!” the second noble yelled.

“Did you not check on their status?”

The second noble was shocked, but before he could react, Nulla yelled “Angela!”

The four nobles turned and saw one of their assassins there.

“Mind telling your former employers what happened to your former colleagues?”

“Ah-uh-um” Angela started, before clearing her throat, “Hrm. I am the last survivor of the Garden of Nightmares. The rest were killed in action by Nulla.”

The nobles finally had fear as their expressions. Nulla drew his sword, stepping towards them. In response, they backed up. Nulla called out, and the servants poured out of the woods, holding popcorn and similar snacks.

“You! Deal with this monster!” the first noble cried out.

“But why would they? They all wish to see such horrible people as yourselves suffer.”

“Unfortunately, we have to stop you Nulla,” a new voice cried out.

The crowd parted, letting two individuals to come in. A divine presence, and a powerful one.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Null god,” Sca monotonely said.

“And a pleasure to meet both Sca, god of Balance and Dave Gilgamesh.”

Dave shuddered, feeling Nullas presence again.

“Oh great Sca! Save me!” the fourth cried out.

Sca turned to the nobles, and just stared. Hope began to creep into their expressions, replacing the fear already there.

“I hand them off to you Elizabeth Lance. It is up to you to deal with these nobles.”

“I thank you for the grand opportunity you have graciously provided me.”

Nulla quickly bound the nobles, and teleported them alongside Elizabeth to the kings chambers, sending a message to the king about how Sca gave Elizabeth control of their punishment.

“So, what have you come here for?” Nulla asked, subtly making an acoustics spell so the servants could hear.

“To figure out what to do with you. You’re either the worst or best of the Null gods. Granting wishes freely. Even those unasked.”

“But it’s something to do. You have your meaning in life, don’t you? You travel, summon heroes, tell your followers what they need to do, all for balance. What’s the difference between you and I? And you, Dave. You also have your own goals, to save and protect those who you love. Why, you’ve even told a lie to the world of why you were a hero.”

Sca narrowed her eyes, while Dave stepped back in fear.

The crowd was shovelling their snacks down, not questioning how they weren’t running out.

“W-what do you mean? I’m a hero because I want to be!” Dave stuttered out.

“Oh, but that’s a lie. Your ‘true’ reason is you were asked. And your real answer is…” Nulla rushed over to Dave, and whispered in his ear, “You have a crush on Sca and want to make her happy.”

Jumping back, Sca looked at Nulla with confusion, wondering what he said, while Dave rapidly began to blush.

“Since you wantonly grant wishes, then could you grant mine?” Sca asked, to which Nulla nodded. “Hide your true existence from the common people, erasing and replacing memories as needed. Do not grant the wishes unspoken, and wipe out our arrival here from the world and its records.”

“Hahaha! How fun! Then I must return to my minor emotions, for it was the unspoken wishes that made me act like this. Then I’ll leave your memories, and yours alone Sca. One note, I will grant the unspoken details of a wish. You wouldn’t want to forget this, and subconsciously want Dave to forget.”

Snap.

“Your wish is granted.”

Sca was now invisible, and the crowd began to disperse.

Nulla, with no reason to put on a show, grabbed Angela and the shell and left.

“Won’t people remember you Sir?” Angela asked.

“Good point. Not anymore,” Nulla answered, erasing his appearance and name from those who saw him at the party. All they would know is someone was Elizabeth's fiance. To keep up the charade, Nulla teleported Elizabeth a letter and continued to flee into the dark of the forest.