…
It’s been a while since I… died? I guess I can’t be too sure. The girl says I can call her Mary. She took me to her Caravel, and now we are travelling to an island. I asked her which one, but she looked at me quizzically and ignored the question.
It was a long trip.
…
“Ingrid. Wake up.”
“Ugh. How can she sleep in this situation? The Archon will be displeased.”
“Sister Mary, I’m quite surprised you actually managed to bring her. You were the least skilled of all of us.”
“…”
The air feels humid. I slowly get up, and I see I am surrounded by two men and Mary.
“Finally, you have awoken. I’m sure you have many questions. Please don’t ask any of them.”, said one of the men. He was big, but not muscly.
Mary is still quiet.
“Hey, she can ask SOME questions, can’t she? After all, I doubt she has any idea as to where she is right now.”, said the other man. He looked younger, but he was quite skinny, even when compared to me.
“Where am I?”
“Ah, so she CAN talk! Hmph. You are very rude, you know that? You don’t deserve to meet the Archon.”, said the big man.
Me? Rude? He should listen to himself.
Archon… Archon? A ruler? I don’t recall the Ravennians calling their leader an Archon. I swear I’ve heard the name before…
I should change up my tone. I need to figure out what’s going on.
“Please forgive me. I would like to see his majesty if it isn’t too much to ask, especially for a lowly commoner like me.”
The big man looked at me surprised, and laughed. Was it too much? I never was that good at acting, anyway.
“Fine. He is our leader, but he isn’t a ‘king’. You may lay your eyes on him.”
The big man grabs my arm and pulls me towards a wooden staircase.
“…Sir… I don’t think it’s-”, said Mary, under her breath. The big man glared at her, and she shut her mouth quickly.
It seems like she’s a low rank in this area.
I hear rustling nearby. At first, I thought nothing of it, but then I hear the noise again. I know better than to quickly look in the direction I hear the noise, so I squint my eyes to see what’s happening.
I’m surprised to see it’s another man. Only this time, he looks quite worried. He looks at me and mouths “run”. It unsettles me.
As we walk up the staircase, we walk past a couple of tents. We then approach another staircase, and as we ascend it, I look behind me, towards where I saw the guy. Doesn’t seem like he stuck around.
I turn back and I see yet person, hidden by the shadows. I can barely make it out, but I see an incredibly muscular man with a mustache and sleeveless robes, and a big quartz amulet on his chest.
Wait a minute.
IS THIS A CULT?!?
…
…
“Hey, Adjutori. Any new news I should be looking at?”
Adjutori quickly brings a pile of stacks from behind her and grabs a thin stack of paper. A newspaper. I, for one, am all too familiar with newspapers. It’s a perfect pass time, really it is!
“Heh, thanks. Let’s see, what’s been going on since I’ve been getting back on my feet?”
I grab the newspaper and flip it till I find something that looks interesting.
“Thousands of castaways visiting Redwake… huge influx of pirate’s as well as heroes… tsunami hits Palo Town, Mayor Tilly missing. Sounds like the world’s been rocking.”
I see Adjutori fidgeting in the corner of my eye.
“So? What do you want?”
“Boss, I think this is real bad.”, answers Adjutori.
“Eh? What do ya mean? All I see is better business.”
Adjutori frowns.
“Boss, I’m begging you to please read the entire paper.”
So, I did.
It turns out a whole ton of people suddenly got really strong in a short amount of time, and that bastard Lord Elius was found killed on Cirrus Island. Even my best men had trouble making a deal with that guy. If whoever had enough guts to kill Lord Elius, who knows what kind of bounty will be put on my head?
It also turns out that the ratio from Heroes to Pirates is a landslide, with Heroes arresting lawbreakers left and right. Who the hell gave these castaways steroids?
Damn it. Things were just getting good for me, and now I’ve gotta get my hands dirty, again?
“Do you get it?”, said Adjutori.
“Yeah, yeah. Things ain’t lookin’ too good, Adjutori. Looks like I’ll have to get my hands dirty.”, I mutter.
“But hey, let’s think about it on the bright side! More heroes means more of the Gravy’s dirty work getting interrupted, as well as the Assassins Syndicate. They’ll be needing the Sandrovoca product even more, now.”
Adjutori sharpens her sword.
“Hey, boss?”
“Yes, Adjutori?”
“Can I have a cannon?”
…
…
Holy shit. Cerynx, Archon of Greenwish, the leader of the Greenwish Cult. In front of me. My brother fought with him and beat him up… surely he wouldn’t remember me? How could I not have caught on sooner? I need to get out of here.
“Who did this?”, said Cerynx.
The 2 men pushed Mary in front of me.
“I did, Archon.”
“You speak with swagger. You must be proud of this… ability. You want Greenwish to make a deal with your people?”
“Yes, sir.”, said Mary. She bows down, but I can see her gritting her teeth.
“Tell me how to do it.”
“Archon, it isn’t that simple. You will need people like me to help you out. Dead Revival is not something you can look down on.”
The skinny man smacks a metal stick across Mary’s face.
“Don’t raise your voice on our leader.”
“Girl. You will tell me how to create such abominations, or we will sacrifice you HERE and NOW.”, said Cerynx.
At that moment, I heard a loud boom. A ship had crashed onto the island. Suddenly, a man with a sword on fire walked onto the grounds and proceeded to kill all of the cultists.
“What are you doing? Kill him.”
The other two cultists dashed towards the man, but they were swiftly killed in an instant. Evaporated.
I’m in danger.
Suddenly, someone pulls me away. It’s Mary.
“I shouldn’t have trusted them. I’m sorry sir.”
Who is she talking to…?
I hear another loud explosion, and through the smoke, I see the man wrestling with Cerynx, trying to impale him with his sword. I hear another loud explosion, sending hot rocks into our direction.
Mary sends a shadow magic blast that destroys the rubble and jumps back onto her caravel.
“NO!”
I hear another voice? It’s so chaotic. Cerynx, or maybe the guy fighting him is causing the island to waver.
Suddenly, the man who tried to tell me to run off appears, and kicks Mary in the gut.
“Back off!”, he yells, and roundhouse kicks her in the head, sending her flying into a tree.
“No…! No! Come back!”, yells Mary.
The man then proceeds to turn the caravel and send it as far away from the Forest as he can.
It’s been a while since I used my magic. I aim an attack at him.
“Woah, hey. I just saved your life, is this really any way to thank me?”
“Saved my life?”
I already had plans to run away from Mary too. She’s too quiet, and she gives off a sinister energy.
“You have really bad luck. From one cultist, to another.”
“…”
“Nothing to say, huh?”
“Thanks.”, I manage to spit out.
We say nothing, for a while.
The man speaks up.
“My name is Randal. What’s your name?”
“Ingrid.”
“Okay, hello Ingrid. Let me ask you a question.”
I’m not sure why he’s making a big deal out of a question. I nod yes.
“Are you dead?”
…