Chapter 52: Oh God Oh Shit Oh Fuck!

I hope we can all be mature enough and not be rude. But we can all collectively say… I told you so!

“What do you mean he just… sent you out!?” Bolato exclaimed, much to the amusement of Amir, who had rarely seen the soldier in such bitter spirits.

“He didn’t care! Skaldi showed him the battle plans, and the fucker didn’t care! He was ‘in it for the fun’. God… and he was such a prick too.” Florato paced back and forth while Skaldi held close on Bolato’s arm. This was not a comforting thought, that the one chance of things finally going., the ruler that was meant to protect them, essentially said ‘Who cares’.

The mood was notably dour, not even Vega could muster up some silly line.

“Are they always like this?” Well, except for Sorbet, she had for the entire time been exploring the room she was in. She had never seen poor people before, so it was an interesting experience. She briefly wondered what poor people tasted like.

“No-no Sorbet, they aren’t always like that-that.”

“Oh. Well I hope they feel better.”

“Is this a joke to you?” Bolato stomped right up towards Sorbet, to which he had yet to even be introduced to.

“No? I would be laughing or not fearing for my death now.”

“Gahh…” The soldier threw his hand up and walked away. Out of options, out of exits, and out of hope.

“Maybe… we could get the help of the mermaids or something?” Valiato offered an idea, but a look from both Skaldi and Florato shot it down.

“Sweet pea, that’s a good thought, but that wouldn’t solve the problem.” Skaldi let go of Bolato and knelt down beside the kid and brushed her cheek with his thumb. He spoke sweetly, trying to sooth her mood.

“We don’t need to escape. We need to save these people.” Bolato’s words set the tone for the rest of the party.

They weren’t in it for the money now, they were in it for survival. Starting then, each member began to go on about some grievance.

“What the hell are we going to do!” Skaldi started, setting off a chain of events that would lead to… something different..

“We just need… we just need to get Det! He was that leader back in Fort Jao!” Florato announced, with a bit of sweat on her brow. “Maybe we just need to tell him that-”

“That’s fucking stupid.” Bolato shut it down in a way he hadn’t before. Holding his head with his hand, he shook his head as he spoke. “We are stuck in here and any ship that leaves barely makes it out alive.”

“Ska, are we gonna be okay?” Valiato walked up to the elf, who could only offer a pained expression on his face. Everyone started to bicker. To fight. Only Sorbet and Vega were alone, out of it. The scarecrow backed away and curled herself into a ball.

“We’ll find a-a way. We’ll always find-find a way.”

Sure you have. Not like you’ve relied on other people doing most of the work. Just like those warrior prostitutes and those helpful mermaids.

Vega didn’t even bother to answer. She was too afraid. Everyone had begun to argue, on what went wrong, who did what. Vega didn’t join in.

What, finally given up? No more words to stutter out?

Most of them failed to see it, as they were too busy pointing fingers and trying to manage their worry. What they failed to see, that as the scarecrow clenched her fist, the Soul Gem beside her started to glow a pale light.

Was that speech you gave Runtaii and Sabere all for nothing?

The jar beamed streaks of green. A light. A moonlight. A moonlight grew brighter as her anger grew.

Come on! I thought you were-

“ENOUGH! I am tired of us fighting!” Vega commanded with dramatic projection. Everyone turned towards Vega, most surprised by her powerful and attention drawing voice. “We are not going to get-get anywhere by yelling at each other! I did not travel half a continent, an entire sea-sea, and fought multiple bad-bad guys only to see my friends turn on each other!”

Everyone was dumbfounded, but Skaldi was the one to try to approach her first.

“Vega, I-”

“No, ya are gonna listen! I have fought too hard… and… hurt-hurt too much… to lose now! Ya guys are stronger, smarter, and far kinder than this Oligarch guy-guy! We need to come together, not fall apart now! No steel, no fire, no army is gonna stop us! United we have a chance, divided we are doomed…”

Everyone held silent, admiring something majestic. No, magical.

“Together we are-are what we aren’t alone. So long as we have the will to fight, we will win!” The scarecrow raised her fist high, hoping for a rousing hooray, like the ones seen in comic books.

They… weren’t looking at Vega…

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They were looking beside her. Vega, curious to see what broke their attention, looked as well. Puffs of hay floated in the air, along with the petals of roses and violet.

On the ground was pitchfork!

Well, it was a pitchfork that hadn’t been there uhh… a second ago?

While everyone was in awe at what was happening, Vega immediately panicked and jumped into Florato’s arms.

“Ah! A pitchfork, please don’t kill-kill me! I’m too young to die!”

“Calm down! By the way, nice speech there.” The actress complimented.

“Thanks I made it mysel-can ya get me away from that thing! Please-please!” Vega turned her head away from it as Bolato proceeded to pull it out of the ground while Skaldi analyzed the tool. Not out of the ordinary beyond the fact it was summoned into existence.

Amir and Valiato instead walked up to Sorbet, who was holding the still glowing Soul Gem. They were both perplexed seeing that it was a makeup jar with gemstones on it. After a few moments the pale light faded and she seemed mildly amused.

“Huh, never saw that happen before.”

“~How the fuck did you get your hands on a Soul Gem sodomite?~”

“~Ari! You’re cursing!~”

“~I don’t care, ask the question kid!~”

“Sorry for Ari, he’s uhhh… anyway, can you tell us you got that Soul Gem.” Valiato pleaded, tugging on Sorbet’s hand to see it properly.

“I stole it!” She answered cheerfully, jumping up and down.

“~She stole it.~”

“~She? She did? Huh, clever girl!~” Amir was so impressed with the fact that he excused the awkward questions around Sorbet, much to her delight and convenience.

“Did… she actually…” Skaldi couldn’t believe it, even though it happened in front of his eyes. Everyone was kinda losing their shit, well, for reasonable circumstances.

Never, and I mean never, had such a thing happened with Vega. Never had her emotions reached such a crescendo that it would… do something magical!

And before any of you accuse me of saying magic doesn’t exist for mere mortals, then remember how it was the Soul gem did all the fucking work! All the glowing shit and all that?

One more thing… Vega, as you can already tell, has more to her than meets the eye.

Skaldi already knew that but this just confirmed it. Looking at Vega with a mix of awe. It was truly amazing, no doubt about it. Sure, it was only a pitchfork and there was certainly no explosion. Yet making a pitchfork appearing out of nowhere was a real feat.

However, a new creeping doubt joined him, adding onto to his suspicions he got during the trip into Jantok Sky. He knew that the Voice had been attacking her constantly, but for what reason and under what terms?

What…what if the Voice had something planned for her?

“Is the pitchfork gone-gone!?”

On second thought… maybe not.

“Yes Vega, it’s gone. Calm down-I’ve heard you scream that loud. Ha!” Florato too was floored, more by Vega’s heartwarming speech. “Are you alright? Sorry if we were fighting too much…”

“Me too. Damn it.” Bolato walked up to them both. “Sorry if I was an asshole there, its just… I have no clue how to get out of this one.”

“I get that-that, but… that doesn’t justify you guys being mean to each other. We’ll find a way. If not-not… I’ll find a way.” She said, grabbing one of the rose petals that had spawned along with the pitchfork.

“~I thought only certain spirits could use Soul Gems.~” Amir's calm and lightly concerned voice brought their attention back to what Vega had did.

Using a Soul Gem on her own.

“Yeah, Air is right. Maybe we’re both not quite remembering it right, but don’t you need a Nymph or someone to do the thing Vega did?” Valiato looked at Skaldi, who often gave a shrug in response.

“Sweetpea, I think you’re asking the wrong guy.”

“Actually, I think-think I can answer that.” Vega raised her hand up. “Technically, only celestial stuff-stuff can use Soul Gems. But also technically, Oligarchs can too, since they often represent and worship spirits. If a ruler is powerful enough, or any person has a dying wish-wish, then they can do… what I did.”

After Valiato finished translating, Amir nodded his head in agreement, pulling out his journal and handing it back to his daughter.

“Huh. Amir wrote down other stuff that’s like that. Mostly dead people making Soul Gems, but some Patriarchs could. However they still needed help from celestial folk.”

“She’s right, you know.” Sorbet finally joined in, spinning the Soul Gem on her finger. “People would still need a little help doing it. I remember back when Naius still ruled, he had to consult a fairy once in a while. B-but then again, he never bothered me on the subject.”

“Why not?” Skaldi questioned, trying to grab the Soul Gem of which Sorbet held close to her chest.

“Well, I wasn’t exactly… his type? Is that how you say it Vega?”

“If you mean he wouldn’t fuck-fuck ya, then yes!”

“Y-yeah. What she said.”

“So, if someone normally needs help from a celestial, that means…” Valiato came to the conclusion that everyone had been getting to.

“Vega. You used a Soul Gem all by yourself.” And Florato put into terms that the scarecrow could clearly understand.

“Yes-yes?”

“And yet you don’t have the abilities of any magic thing before.” Florato continued.

“Along with Tibato saying that you’re… something entirely new.” Skaldi added, wondering what power Vega truly holds.

“Vega, I think… I think ya are incredible.” Florato spoke, as a friend appreciating another, not for their accomplishments, but for their potential.

“Aww! Stop it!”

“~Please do stop~.” Amir crossed his arms, disappointed that this discussion had been going on for so long. He could tell exactly what Vega was saying since her voice became all cheery again. If he could read any Iozian’s words, it would definitely be Vega’s.

“Bolato! I think we got an idea. A-a chance!” Skaldi tried to shake the solder, but he ended up just shaking himself against him.

“How? And I really mean that, how?”

“We still have time before the Tripolians get here. And we know the layout of Jantok Sky, right?”

“Yep! Plus I can show you guys where to go into the palace.” Sorbet spoke, as they all turned back towards her. The sudden staring made her a bit more shy. “W-well, I mean like make a map for you guys-I don’t know.”

“Good! That’s good. And we’d need Vega to…” Skaldi halted, trying to think up a way of how Vega could aid them. But Bolato put a finger on his lips.

“Hey. We don’t need to figure it all out now.” The soldier's composed and strong voice came back to him. “But we got an idea. We still got the battle plans. And we still got a chance. All we need to do is-”

Knock knock.

Silent. They all went silent. The knocks came from outside the door. No one knew that they were there, right? Except… for maybe the Assassin.

Bolato knocked on his head twice, and Amir went over to the wagon and tossed him a sword and buckler. He would have given him his rectangular shield, but that would be far too noisy. Skaldi and Florato stood in front of Valiato while she peered between their legs. Sorbet hid the Soul Gem in her dress as she too walked beside the elf.

Bolato, Amir, and Vega stepped quietly to the door. The Tripolian nodded towards her, as Vega reached out for the door, pickaxe in hand. She gently opened the door and…

“Hello? Who is in there?” A blonde haired middle aged man stood outside. His eyelashes were even, so Bolato decided to lay down his weapons.

“Yes sir?”

“Hello yes, you wouldn’t happen to have an object for an Oligarch, would you?”

“No-no?” Vega answered and tilted her head at him. How did he know about the box, she thought. “Who are ya?”

“Oh! My apologies. I am Oligarch Beo Fawx Glatrix. But please… call me Oligarch Glatrix.”