Kloudy
The Lore Savant
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Fantasy Realms of Aldaan ~Hend Republic~
- Thread starter Kloudy
- Start date
DJ UwU
Learning to word properlay.
- cool peeps
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Worthlessplebian
LazyDaze
Trywing
AI10100
Ambiloquous
kasigi
The Republic, known by outsiders for its beautiful scenery, that inspires the imagination of painters, its winds, that carry whispers of melodies for musicians to develop, and its roads, that tell the tales of unknown adventures to aspiring writers. It is not only a place where artists can develop beyond their dreams, but also a place where historians can research distinct cultures and how they interact with each other, as the clamor of the festivities and the solemnity of their various rites reveal the diversity of the races living within.True enough, its people are the main force behind the Republic, the sole reason it has been able to stand independent after the fall of the Kingdom. The constant travelers passing through the small nation are enough to divert conflict from other warlike nations, while its unique artistry and arable lands keep them as a trading partner. This sense of peace and security has been maintained with significant effort by the spokesperson and the senate, or that is what it looks like in the public eye.
Nobody really knows what happens behind the closed doors of the senate, as it is a secret closely guarded by everybody involved. However, it is obvious that something is going on, recently there have been some rumors floating around. One senator, who was involved in a carriage accident that left no bodies. Another senator was seen sold at a slave action all the way in Ironcrown. Another one was speculated to be involved in shady dealings with unsavory individuals. So on and so forth.
Although these kinds of rumors are well known, nobody is certain whether they are true, fabrications to divert eyes from the truth or a way to defame others. Nor does it matter, as the fact that the rumors exist are reason enough for people to be wary, especially the senators, most of whom rarely leave their homes. And those that do, usually are accompanied by loyal veteran guards.
However, when the unavoidable need to travel arises, mercenary work rises as those wealthy enough hire veteran combatants for defense, for life, even. Those who cannot pay, either because they are not wealthy enough or just do not want to, gather in groups to travel, combining their wealth to hire a large group. Some trust the local guard with their lives, with varying degrees of success.
Others decide to tempt fate.
For a few coppers, a town sergeant was tasked with hiring a mercenary group and, barely putting any effort, he went scouting. Not only was he paid a measly amount of money, but the reward was barely enough to attract a respectable group, but, surprisingly enough, he found one and sent them on their way to the manor.
From the outside the manor showed its age, the perimeter was defined by cracked stone walls with vines making their way up, its iron gate decorated with a sculpted arc with two guards stationed nearby. Stepping stones built the path towards the manor with separations made at various places, branching off towards other sections of the estate, all surrounded by a garden that, although it did not look bad by any means, it clearly had seen better days. At the center of it all there was a fountain, its defining feature being the sculpture of three elves, each carrying a jar from which water pours from.
The front of the building was as rugged as the walls in the surroundings; however, an attempt was made to clear up the most noticeable imperfections. Although the dark curtains were closed, movement could be seen from the outside through the many windows the manor had. Upon entrance the lobby showed a clear distinction from the outside. Bright and lavish, it was obvious that great expenses were made to decorate the interior. The lobby was very spacious, probably used for extravagant noble parties, with a rug that covered the entire floor. On a corner, towards the front, a small stage was built, with various instruments waiting to be used again. At the end of the room, a wide central staircase was built, which branched off into an interior balcony looking down at the lobby. Many arcs adorned the walls on each side, all guarded by a soldier. There were few guards at the estate, but they all looked like they had a lifetime of experience, most hiding their face behind the pulled down visors of their helmets, although a few showed off their scars, yet all had the same alertness of a seasoned warrior in their eyes. Their armor did not look weathered at all, on the contrary, it was well maintained, and one could assume the same of their weapon.
Finally, after a few minutes of waiting, a man rushed down the stairs towards the guests waiting at the lobby, wearing somewhat expensive clothes, enough to make a clear distinction in status, but not to seem like a noble. “My deepest apologies,” the man spoke, somewhat shaken by the hurry, but doing his best to hide it “the master will be down shortly. There are a few, um, ‘problems’ that need to be sorted out first. But, please, do make yourselves comfortable!” Having said this, he signaled a guard, who brought some chairs for the group. “I’ll stay and make sure to answer any questions you may have. If you have any, that is. Otherwise, feel free to do as you wish.” The butler stated, not thinking more of it.
LazyDaze
Elder Member
DJ UwU
The integrity of an artist. Something so seemingly strong, but easily torn asunder by the howl of an empty stomach. That very concept was the perfect juxtaposition of the very manor they stepped into. That uninspiring, uncaptivating outside containing the regal lavishness of the inside. It wouldn't deter Nine; after all, making it this far was nothing short of a miracle. A miracle Nine certainly wouldn't attribute to any of the gods, but one crafted from hard work and
Once they were inside the manor Nine did his best to keep from salivating. After all, you wouldn't see anything like this in Tribal Expanse. He was certain some of the others felt the same; nevertheless, they had a job to do and standing around gawking at the scenery would profit them little. So Nine did what any mercenary circus thief would do. He scouted the area. The butler's voice was just a little more than background noise, but he listened to him nonetheless. The guards were a little unsettling, but it didn't seem completely out of the realm of possibility to pull one over on the senator given his current security. That was when the butler said something that resonated with Nine.
feel free to do as you wish
"Ah, the freedom to follow our hearts you say. A loaded statement uttered so casually the gods probably scoff at our mindless pride, or maybe they laugh. Some people say laughter is the closest thing to god hood after all. That unseen force destined to traverse in the shadows. Concealed from reality, tearing it asunder from the outside, yes...I'm certain they laugh. Anyyway, I've said all of that to say that I have a bag of freshly baked cookies and I'm going to eat them!"
Nine slowly pulled out a bag of cookies. Handling them as if they were some contraband before placing them back in his pocket. "But first, I feel as if we haven't had a proper introduction! This is the our first post after all. Ahem lights! Music," Nine said extending his hands to the sky. Of course, there were no lights, there was no music, but in Nine's head a symphony of artistry was afoot and that was all that mattered. They might have been here on mercenary business, but they were a circus first, thieves second, and whatever the hell this down bad senator wanted them to do came last. Nine placed down his empty suitcase and begun prancing around the room.
"Strays we are, homeward bound to nowhere, bringing laughter and joy to all who fear
Strays we are, bringing you the show where, we will inspire all who hear
May you laugh, may you cry, every boy and girl
Today we set our sights, on each and every world
Chaotic nights consume you, before the light of day
Let our name be known! Cirque de Straixs!"
Nine then twirled into the center of the the many seats they had set out for them. "And now, as the circus master, I call upon the gods of heaven to etch the following names into the book of history and fame! We have traveled land, sea, and air, and then land again because birds and fish don't carry coins! Ahem, our first act, the burning sensation who is rooted in her cause to save every living thing under the influence of the breath of life. A solitary tragic tree living on a rock set ablaze by the sun. Good luck pronouncing her name on the first try. Is that a lantern? A torch? No, it's a burning tree! Wssespgsd;gnk....Wsser;udref;inof....pfft......Wssf;nsiek.........................................Wsser."
Ambiloquous
Nine then spun dramatically to the other side of the room to Sialun. "You've heard of giants, but this one prays! He's got armly arms," Nine said while pointing his staff at Sialun's arms. He would repeat this process as he continued. "He's got legly legs! His shoulders could carry the weight of a 40k collab, and it was said that he once repelled a sword simply by flexing during a prayer. The ladies love his height, the men too actually. The giant lady man killer, Sialun!"
kasigi
Nine then ran to the chairs once again, dancing around it as he hummed. He then pointed toward Mattheiu. "The one person that would be accepted in Ironcrown. Our ticket to normalcy and our shield to slavery, this isn't just any old knight of justice. This is an aqua knight. THE Aqua knight. Watch as the sea bows to his might and the rain bends to his will. Matthieu the Sea Divider!"
Worthlessplebian
Nine then pointed his staff across the room with a sinister smirk on his face. "And this shady bastard needs no introduction, but I'll do it anyway because well....we ALL need an introduction. The master acrobatic, the heartless leaper, the killer cook, so much edge his labeled race as half sword, Subaru will you be my Valentine!"
Trywing
Nine then scampered over to the chair and stood ontop of it, tap dancing horrible while trying to keep his balance before holding his hand out toward Uz. "Who says an ork and an elf can't be friends? I present to you, the most powerful, beautiful ork in all of Tribal Expanse! There is nothing she can't throw, nothing she can't cut, walls and clauses were made to be broken simultaneously, The clause slayer, The giant killer, the Red Riot herself, it's her world and we are living in it, welcome to the land of Uz!"
AI10100
"...And I'm Nine," Nine said flatly. He then reached into his jacket pocket once more to take out his bag of cookies. He loosened the bag then threw it in the air. He pushed off against the chair and allowed the cookies to rain down on him dramatically to punctuate their introduction. He waited a few long seconds before scavenging the cookies and putting them back in the bag. He then took his seat, crossed his leg as if nothing had happened. "Cirque de Straixs at your service." Despite being physical spent from all that dancing, Nine sat down with a smile on his face. You see moments before when he first started speaking, he had cast an invisibility spell on Dove, who was hidden within his jacket pocket. He then sent her to scout the place in his stead. Who knew what they were hiding. Information, riches, or nothing at all. Either way, Nine would be kept in the dark. "You heard the man, do as you please."
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Trywing
Masquerade
Subaru Valentine
'Lavish and aesthetically pleasing interior, guards that will stab me at the first mistep,' Subaru thought while looking around the spacious house, 'Do as you please... what a joke. I can hardly stain this rug with blood. I can't steal anything either.'
Subaru pouted quietly in his chair. He was feeling a little betrayed. He had signed up for a circus, to clown around, where he could do tricks, trips, and flips. It was something Subaru had felt uncertain about, but in the end enjoyed. He did not sign up to be a security guard. So when Nine without hesitation accepted the offer to guard a noble out of all people, well, Subaru wasn't happy at all. Nine was the boss though, and Subaru had no choice but to follow along. But as Subaru leaned back, he thought, 'I should revel in this feeling. I will remember it when I betray them myself.' Subaru quietly and maniacally chuckled at that thought.
Subaru pouted quietly in his chair. He was feeling a little betrayed. He had signed up for a circus, to clown around, where he could do tricks, trips, and flips. It was something Subaru had felt uncertain about, but in the end enjoyed. He did not sign up to be a security guard. So when Nine without hesitation accepted the offer to guard a noble out of all people, well, Subaru wasn't happy at all. Nine was the boss though, and Subaru had no choice but to follow along. But as Subaru leaned back, he thought, 'I should revel in this feeling. I will remember it when I betray them myself.' Subaru quietly and maniacally chuckled at that thought.
"Not even refreshments? What use is a butler if he can't even provide that? Oh well, it's a good thing that I brought my own."
With a glint in his eye that told the butler that he was just teasing him, Subaru took out a leather waterskin. The thing usually was meant to hold water, but this particular one would only ruin water. It had held cranberry juice in it for so long that the insides were stained dark and any water it might hold would forever be corrupted with a sour, fruity flavor. But it wasn't holding water, it held cranberry juice, which Subaru sucked on as he watched Nine do his introduction of the circus, which somehow was like a geese-imitation that felt like a swan. When it came time for him to react to his introduction, Subaru stood up and displayed a smile that exposed teeth stained red with juice. He gracefully bowed before he took his seat. At the end of Nine's little performance, Subaru couldn't help but put his hands together in a tiny smattering of applause.
"Bravo, Nine, but you're going to have to watch what you eat tonight, lest there's something poisonous hiding in there. How dare you suggest that I would ever take you out... on a date. On a date, not murder. I'd never murder you either though. Well, no, I would murder you, but not... whatever."
Subaru took the edge off of his folly by sucking on more cranberry juice. The small smile that was on his lips didn't speak a word about whether or not he was joking. Or if the smile was because he enjoyed the cranberries. He turned his attention to the butler.
"So, what's the deal for this job? Will there be a chance for me to make things bleed? Can we spread chaos? Or, Venn forbid, will we be keeping things orderly?"
AI10100
Expert Lurker
The Hend Republic.
Uz had next to no idea what in the name of Kolo it was. Aside from the Tribal Expanse, Uz didn't have many experiences on the inner workings of a city. Her early travels rarely got her into a city or a town, preferring to keep to the outskirts than have to socialize inside. It wasn't that she was uncomfortable as they traveled into the Republic but she stuck close with the others. She would openly say that the beauty of the Republic wasn't lost to her. Everything looked decorated and stalls displayed beautiful works of art. She was tempted to take a flowerbed inside a box but decided against it when Nine was approached for a job.
Uz wasn't quite sure what had tempted Nine to take the offer. He didn't seem like the type to protect someone as he'd rather run than actively pursue a fight. Still, she wasn't going to complain. A protection quest meant that there's a chance she would finally get the thrill of the fight in her blood and she didn't have to hold back to make sure it was just a "training exercise" as she usually did with the other members of the circus. She appreciated the chances she had to get stronger with training, but there was something different when she was involved in a real fight.
When she entered the building alongside the others, something clicked in Uz's brain. Back when she and Nine first met, he had referred to himself as a trickster. He was also money oriented if she wasn't mistaken. She let out a huff of amusement from behind them, shaking her head a little. This would be fun. While she wasn't good at sneaking around, her other companions certainly were. She wasn't sure how they would be able to sneak around; the guards that were stationed there looked like they had been through a lot of experience already. They were the kind of people Uz would love to fight but she held her tongue. Unfortunately, she had come to realize that invitations to spar were not as widely accepted as a proof of respect as it was in her tribe.
Uz's attention was grabbed when the butler came into view. He quickly apologized for the extended wait due to some 'problems' but invited them to do whatever they wished. "Whatever we wished eh? Those are some pretty bold words." Uz chuckled as she crossed her arms, looking over to Subaru who then complained about their lack of refreshments before Nine began his tirade. An introduction to this circus of theirs. She referred to them as a circus loosely. She wasn't aware what a "circus" was before she had met Nine and he formed it. Apparently, they were supposed to be a bunch of performers but, as far as she could tell from who they hired, they were far from actual performers. Still, every group had their own unique thing, didn't they?
When Nine moved on to his personal introduction, Uz reached into the bag of ripped colorful paper that Nine referred to as confetti and grabbed a handful of it and crumpled it together into a tight ball. It wasn't wet so it would just explode in a flurry of individual pieces. Nevertheless, she aimed and chucked the compressed ball straight at Nine, just in time to rain down on him alongside the cookies he had thrown upwards.
"Look at the ringleader, downplaying himself!" Uz let out a rather rambunctious laugh as she headed over to him once he was finished scavenging each cookie from the ground and slammed her fist onto his back. She hadn't put enough strength to push him off the chair but it was certainly enough to off-balance him for a second. "After all that fancy shmancy introduction, you can't even make up one for yourself?" She questioned jokingly.
She brushed off Subaru's comment about killing Nine. Nine never paid it any mind so Uz isn't all that bothered that it kept happening over and over again. They haven't even traveled together for long and yet it certainly felt like it had already happened more than a dozen times. No, instead, Uz was more interested in his questions given to the butler.
"Yeah, this is a protection thing right? When are we gonna fight someone?" She looked back to where they came from. "You also have a bunch of guards here. Would we actually get to fight or are we just some props here?"
Worthlessplebian
Worthless pleb
Matthieu Huginn Lashley
How peculiar. It has been exactly: two months, three weeks, and forty-one days since Matthieu departed from Raufarnes. During that time, he met a long-range of colourful characters. Even the occasional bandit was interesting. Yet none could compare to this motley... gang, for lack of a better word. How he met them is nothing short of blurry, a fog. The only thing certain was that he was venturing deeper into the republic. And now armoured in his rusted shell, he travelled with them on a task. It all seemed so strangely choreographed. Simultaneously, a palpable yet inexplicable sense of danger befell the Sea Knight. A feeling that never came to him during his travels. His right hand gripped the scabbard. Eyes bounced from one end of the manor to another. Did it come from this house? This mystifying feeling? An impressive sight to be sure; not even his own house in the village was this grand. Although, the Lashley family DID prefer to live frugally. Regardless of fortune, Matthieu had a job to do—he intends to complete it fully. Or until the coterie screws this up.
The inside of the manor had robbed Matthieu of his breath. Incredible. A child in awe would be an apt description of Matthieu right now. He has seen stunning structures from the outside before but never from within. This is only the lobby too. However, as his gaze moved down, he noticed the guards. In contrast, the Sea Knight felt small. He could not help but compare himself against them. Their armour shiny and maintained while his was rusted and decaying. Their eyes hid the experience of battle while his eyes lacked the steely glare. It truly humbles a man to compare himself to his peers.
When the chairs were brought out, Matthieu nodded a silent thank you to the butler. Although, he wouldn't use them. When he looked at Nine, the cogs in his head started to twist and turn. Much like Uz the orkoid member: Matthieu wondered about Nine's decision. In the short time that Matthieu has known him, Nine flatly explained that he had been an archetypal trickster. Deceiver to his enemies and devoted mercantilist. In time, he thought, Nine's devious intentions would be revealed.
Some of the others, namely Uz, questioned the meaning behind "do as you wish." The poisoning smart-alec Subaru complained about drinks. For one, Matthieu would never ever drink anything that Subaru had touched within the past hour. "Bold doesn't begin to cut it, a proverbial tightrope." His coastal accent anointing him as a foreigner.
For now, Matthieu perished his thoughts as he listened to Nine's... poetry. Well, it was... charming at least. Afterwhich, he began introducing the members of the chorus. Fruitlessly, nobody cared. But, he did go along with it. Bowing and flicking his cape that was emblazoned with the Lashley family crest. In the end, when Uz chucked the ball of confetti and what-not, Matthieu could not help but chuckle. "Ah, Uz, the ringleader never wants to detract from his performers." A gauntlet of iron-rust and blue metal gripped Lashley's armoured chin. "Though, he should introduce himself as such: Wouldn't want the audience to mistake his 'bad' poetry for an act and toss rotten tomaytos at 'im." All in good jest, of course.
"Then why don't we ask him? What sort of trouble would drive somebody to hire outside help?" He announced his question to the butler openly, but shuffled over to Uz's side. Folding his arms, the blue knight bent his waist sideways. "The kind of trouble from the inside." He covertly, or as much as he could, pointed to the guards. That was his opinion, of course, and the truth may be different from expectation.
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Ambiloquous
Graphic Fanatic
— Wsser —
Stoic shrubbery expanding to take over new territories, mischievous vines crawling over cracked stone and gallant grasses sweeping across any free space and declaring it theirs dominated the area between cobbled paths and one particularly large fountain. The clamour of flora almost approached heartwarming, and it gave Wsser the tiniest pang of homesickness. The forests she had once journeyed through were much more vibrant places, but at least the vegetation here matched them in quantity of emotions if not quality.
When the tree had entered the grounds and seen the sight, she had nodded with a satisfaction reminiscent of a mother seeing her halfwit son finally do something less than foolish. The senator here must have been a highly virtuous mortal by their manner of front yard. Unlike the current fashion in the Hend Republic of carefully clipped, trimmed and manicured spaces of greenery with cultivated ornamental blooms, the senator’s garden was nearly overgrown and wild — exactly as plants should be. Unconfined and let loose from the constraints of those who would but see them as mere decorations, as if they were not lives of their own.
In the lobby, a man dressed in similar attire to Nine — garments were such odd things to drape on a person; were they not suffocating to the one wearing it? — had dashed down the steps from the second floor and promised to answer any questions the Circus had, and Wsser certainly had questions for the new man. She didn’t sit on the provided seat, being a tree who felt more comfortable standing than curving into that odd not-quite H-shape formal chairs forced people into, but she did give the guard a loud and considerate “thank you for your service” as was the custom. She beamed, proud of herself for remembering to thank people for their help, useless though it may be.
“What are the laws associated with forestry in the Hend Republic?” Wsser fired at the inhabitant of the manor. “What is your viewpoint on the role of trees in society and the process of deforestation? Please take a flyer — trees encounter too many undue tragedies in this era.” She handed over a piece of paper densely packed with child-like handwriting, selectively ignoring the fact that it too was made of tree.
Was it truly bold to say “do as you wish”? The strong ork’s statement baffled her. And what was a proverbial tightrope? (She had never heard of a proverb with a tightrope; this necessitated more reading.) Was it not customary to allow people to act as they wished, when they wished? It would be more odd to order others to do the converse of what they preferred to do, the tree thought. It would be a very contradictory and counterproductive social tactic.
Wsser noted that refreshments must be provided by a butler after the acrobat’s protest. It turned out that the newcomer man had been a butler; what an oversight on her part. It seemed that she had a great need to experience more societal norms. Books simply did not describe to the exactness of what a butler was in its essence.
At Nine’s introduction of the Circus — she gave him a pitying look while he was struggling and forgave him for pronouncing her name wrong; elf voice boxes simply weren’t meant to make such beautiful sounds, she knew — Wsser gave a theatrical flourish and bow. Taking a breath, she focused and spun clumsily on her feet, stopping a leaf breadth away from smacking into the newcomer butler. “I am Wsser of Circus de Straixs!”
She posed with a left hand on her hip, the right splayed in front of her face. It was performance etiquette, and performance etiquette came before all other etiquettes, Nine had said — she wished people just stuck to one overall manual for proper behaviour, they were all so confusing jumbled together.
Nine’s introduction was the fanciest of all; Uz had a different worldview from the rest of them, she was certain now. He made cookies rain down on his body! It was food to fill non-tree bellies for survival, and yet, the man used it on a display of pre-entertainment. Aqua knight’s utterance enlightened her to all the tomatoes that had been tossed in her direction — she had assumed they liked her enough to bestow upon her their sustenance. "Rotten tomatoes are excellent fertilizers after decomposition; there are always silver lines on every cloud!" She smiled, pleased with her use of idioms.
The tree’s eyes gleamed at Subaru’s mention of a date. He had announced that Nine had asked him out on one in the ringmaster's speech; how exciting! She knew exactly what dates were after reading a range of human literature. Dates were events where two people who weren’t relatives held hands and participated in romantic activities! Like — her mind combed through all the examples she had collected over the years — watching trees? That was a bizarre concept of a good time, she mused; they should at least converse with the trees. It was a convention that should change, she decided. She would add it onto the next flyer.
Everyone started expressing their questions after introductions and complaints were completed to a degree suitable for decorum, while Wsser stood smugly in silence. She had asked first, and therefore would get answers first — it was much smarter to inquire before introductions.
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kasigi
thoughtform
Sialun Yrais
Solitude within the Dacht Theocratic Conglomerate had meant alienation from nigh every bordering nation within Aldaan besides his own homeland. The Hend Republic, specifically, resonated with the religious swordsman's cultural integrity - much more than any other country. To visit a nation not too dissimilar from his own, Sialun embraced a particular warmth within his heart while treading through the bustling urban hordes that filled the streets of the Republic, the residents enjoying their daily lives with little worry of persecution pertaining to religion or race. The richness of Hend's tradition was practically tangible -- soil acting as foundation for the innovative, sprawling architecture, leaving those subject to the artistic excellence in awe. It was truly an ideal home for many, and Sialun felt rather fortunate to have made it his first destination in his, *hopefully*, extensive journey throughout all of Aldaan. This sentiment holds especially true when considering the other places he could have ended up in - namely, the Kingdom of Ironcrown. While a majority of the information he had gathered was merely by ear, he had only heard negative things about Ironcrown. The philistine warmongers bred only hatred within their walls - they were uncultured and vile filth, planting their roots to plague the very earth the masses sauntered upon. As a result, they were the only nation Sialun held disdain for - of course, the people born into such ideals weren't at fault.
When considering a venture to Ironcrown, Sialun could only conjure feelings of hostility - they definitely wouldn't allow him within the borders for mercenary work, anyways. He is, of course, only one man - schemes of revolution are but futile daydreams to fill idle time. He has no reason to go there anytime soon, anyways. In fact, a lifetime without ever visiting such a godforsaken land sounded rather ideal.
Thinking back on how he got the Hend Republic, Sialun couldn't help but appreciate the comicality of it all. Sialun's homeland, the Dacht Theocratic Conglomerate, did not border The Hend Republic. In fact, they were polar opposites on the map, with the Conglomerate bordering the Northwest and the Republic bordering the Southeast. While initially using Nine's circus as a gateway to the rest of Aldaan, he ended up finding joy in playing along with the various antics the group got into. As a warrior, calling him a "performer" wouldn't be too far off. He liked to be flashy, even if he won't outright admit to it. Consequently, the flamboyant nature of the circus clicked with Sialun pretty easily. Not to mention the personalities within the circus. Different upbringings, moral codes, and understandings of the world itself meant that ideas were constantly bouncing off one another. They worked well together, despite their differences. That's what Sialun enjoyed the most, considering their short time together thus far.
Eventually, the circus ended up in The Hend Republic, which leads to the present. Sialun didn't think they'd be approached so quickly, but the mercenary work ended up finding them, rather than the other way around. One moment they were minding their own business, the next they were marching towards an aging estate. The footsteps signifying their approach was masked by the water pouring from each petrified elf, the statues showing as much seniority as the estate itself. Everything here had a history.
Deafening silence followed them into the mansion; the soothing burbles of water droplets failed to penetrate the study door that closed the group as they entered. Once inside, there were even more cultural intricacies to appreciate. The interior's decorations were extravagant and thoughtfully crafted, with both color and character grabbing the attention of all who entered. Sialun had experience with the homes of wealthy families - firsthand experience, in fact - but the minute differences between the Republic's idea of "classy" and his own were noticeable, even if he couldn't pick out the details specifically. Not to mention the guards who lined the walls. Soldiers ready to act at a moment's notice. Sialun didn't know any of the men and women personally, but he held a deep respect for them. Luckily, the silence was broken a butler bounded down the staircase, addressing the circus that had waltzed into the manor. After being provided with chairs, Sialun thanked the soldier who had brought one over, though did not sit thereafter. "Thank you. May the gods bless you." The chairs were a little tiny. Sialun preferred to stand, anyways.
While the willingness to answer questions was welcome, what the unaware butler said afterwards was a mistake. Otherwise, feel free to do as you wish.
"Hooo boy.. Now you've done it."
The remark quietly escaped Sialun's pursed lips, his mouth curving upwards into a smile thereafter - hidden under the guise of his traditional mask. This smile developed further into a light chuckle, trailing off. The comment was not out of irritation, of course: it was pure amusement. Uz and Matthieu were right - they were indeed very bold words. Thus, the introductions began! Once Nine got to him, Sialun couldn't help but dramatically curl his arms as they were introduced, audibly grunting. People always love the prayer story. "It's true. Sadly, I've no scar to prove it. I imagine it's not very hard to believe, though!" In one swift motion, Sialun slaps the back of his forearm. Surely, no one within the manor could have expected entertainment like this.
After Subaru's casual, affectionate semi-threat towards Nine, everyone began to voice how eager they were to get more information. Luckily for Sialun, any inquiries he could think of had already been addressed by the group - especially the ones pertaining to trees. "All my questions are covered." Mere moments after Sialun vocalized his complacency concerning questions, Nine would feel a looming presence at his side, met with a swooshing sound as the hulking Nebosi crouched down next to him - followed by a whisper."Psst. You're not thinking you're just gonna keep all those cookies to yourself, are you?" As subtle as can be, he held out a hand, beckoning over one of the baked goods. They had a little time to kill before the master addressed them - a quick snack to pass the time wouldn't hurt. Admittedly, Sialun was hungry. A living creature his size needed to get a proper calorie intake.
DJ UwU
LazyDaze
Trywing
AI10100
Worthlessplebian
Ambiloquous
Solitude within the Dacht Theocratic Conglomerate had meant alienation from nigh every bordering nation within Aldaan besides his own homeland. The Hend Republic, specifically, resonated with the religious swordsman's cultural integrity - much more than any other country. To visit a nation not too dissimilar from his own, Sialun embraced a particular warmth within his heart while treading through the bustling urban hordes that filled the streets of the Republic, the residents enjoying their daily lives with little worry of persecution pertaining to religion or race. The richness of Hend's tradition was practically tangible -- soil acting as foundation for the innovative, sprawling architecture, leaving those subject to the artistic excellence in awe. It was truly an ideal home for many, and Sialun felt rather fortunate to have made it his first destination in his, *hopefully*, extensive journey throughout all of Aldaan. This sentiment holds especially true when considering the other places he could have ended up in - namely, the Kingdom of Ironcrown. While a majority of the information he had gathered was merely by ear, he had only heard negative things about Ironcrown. The philistine warmongers bred only hatred within their walls - they were uncultured and vile filth, planting their roots to plague the very earth the masses sauntered upon. As a result, they were the only nation Sialun held disdain for - of course, the people born into such ideals weren't at fault.
When considering a venture to Ironcrown, Sialun could only conjure feelings of hostility - they definitely wouldn't allow him within the borders for mercenary work, anyways. He is, of course, only one man - schemes of revolution are but futile daydreams to fill idle time. He has no reason to go there anytime soon, anyways. In fact, a lifetime without ever visiting such a godforsaken land sounded rather ideal.
Thinking back on how he got the Hend Republic, Sialun couldn't help but appreciate the comicality of it all. Sialun's homeland, the Dacht Theocratic Conglomerate, did not border The Hend Republic. In fact, they were polar opposites on the map, with the Conglomerate bordering the Northwest and the Republic bordering the Southeast. While initially using Nine's circus as a gateway to the rest of Aldaan, he ended up finding joy in playing along with the various antics the group got into. As a warrior, calling him a "performer" wouldn't be too far off. He liked to be flashy, even if he won't outright admit to it. Consequently, the flamboyant nature of the circus clicked with Sialun pretty easily. Not to mention the personalities within the circus. Different upbringings, moral codes, and understandings of the world itself meant that ideas were constantly bouncing off one another. They worked well together, despite their differences. That's what Sialun enjoyed the most, considering their short time together thus far.
Eventually, the circus ended up in The Hend Republic, which leads to the present. Sialun didn't think they'd be approached so quickly, but the mercenary work ended up finding them, rather than the other way around. One moment they were minding their own business, the next they were marching towards an aging estate. The footsteps signifying their approach was masked by the water pouring from each petrified elf, the statues showing as much seniority as the estate itself. Everything here had a history.
Deafening silence followed them into the mansion; the soothing burbles of water droplets failed to penetrate the study door that closed the group as they entered. Once inside, there were even more cultural intricacies to appreciate. The interior's decorations were extravagant and thoughtfully crafted, with both color and character grabbing the attention of all who entered. Sialun had experience with the homes of wealthy families - firsthand experience, in fact - but the minute differences between the Republic's idea of "classy" and his own were noticeable, even if he couldn't pick out the details specifically. Not to mention the guards who lined the walls. Soldiers ready to act at a moment's notice. Sialun didn't know any of the men and women personally, but he held a deep respect for them. Luckily, the silence was broken a butler bounded down the staircase, addressing the circus that had waltzed into the manor. After being provided with chairs, Sialun thanked the soldier who had brought one over, though did not sit thereafter. "Thank you. May the gods bless you." The chairs were a little tiny. Sialun preferred to stand, anyways.
While the willingness to answer questions was welcome, what the unaware butler said afterwards was a mistake. Otherwise, feel free to do as you wish.
"Hooo boy.. Now you've done it."
The remark quietly escaped Sialun's pursed lips, his mouth curving upwards into a smile thereafter - hidden under the guise of his traditional mask. This smile developed further into a light chuckle, trailing off. The comment was not out of irritation, of course: it was pure amusement. Uz and Matthieu were right - they were indeed very bold words. Thus, the introductions began! Once Nine got to him, Sialun couldn't help but dramatically curl his arms as they were introduced, audibly grunting. People always love the prayer story. "It's true. Sadly, I've no scar to prove it. I imagine it's not very hard to believe, though!" In one swift motion, Sialun slaps the back of his forearm. Surely, no one within the manor could have expected entertainment like this.
After Subaru's casual, affectionate semi-threat towards Nine, everyone began to voice how eager they were to get more information. Luckily for Sialun, any inquiries he could think of had already been addressed by the group - especially the ones pertaining to trees. "All my questions are covered." Mere moments after Sialun vocalized his complacency concerning questions, Nine would feel a looming presence at his side, met with a swooshing sound as the hulking Nebosi crouched down next to him - followed by a whisper."Psst. You're not thinking you're just gonna keep all those cookies to yourself, are you?" As subtle as can be, he held out a hand, beckoning over one of the baked goods. They had a little time to kill before the master addressed them - a quick snack to pass the time wouldn't hurt. Admittedly, Sialun was hungry. A living creature his size needed to get a proper calorie intake.
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LazyDaze
Trywing
AI10100
Worthlessplebian
Ambiloquous
LazyDaze
Elder Member
Nine panted silently after his performance and awaited its aftermath; after all, delayed applauses were the sweetest. Everyone played their parts beautifully as members of Cirque de Straixs. It was hard to believe that they were just a random group volunteering to do the impossible. Well...one of them wasn't really a volunteer, but he doesn't have to know that.
"Ah what am I if I'm not humble," Nine said after spitting out some of the confetti that felt like a brick wall in the capable hands of the ork giant. In reality, he was running out of breath so he had to cut his introduction a bit short toward the end. As the rest of the crew assaulted the butler with a myriad of questions, demands, and statements. "I'll leave them to it then," Nine said to himself as he began picking up the cookies utilized in his performance. He made no effort to peel the confetti away since that would take too much time. That was when he felt a sinister presence creeping up beside him. Even the beads of sweat forming on his head raced down his face in order to escape the looming threat. Nine could only imagine that this was what it felt like to be a docile mermaid in Ironcrown. It was Sialun...and his keen eye must have discerned that these cookies would be used for more than visual effects. "I...I um," There was no way Nine would get out of this with all of his cookies, so he would have to cut the losses now before anyone else caught on.
"I suppose this is the way the cookie crumbles," Nine said turning to no one in particular, "(And hold for laughs) Okay Sia, I'll part with these crumbling delectables, but keep your lips sealed on this favor. I'll sooner be cursed by the gods than be in this world cookieless...(and hold for the laughs). Here and be quick," Nine said in a harsh whisper. He whipped out a second bag for Sialun to collect the remaining cookies while he whistled innocently to a standing position. Feeling as if the butler might be a bit overwhelmed, Nine took time to process the situation before speaking. Uz probably posed the most thought provoking question, with the number of guards already at the manor, Nine couldn't help but wonder why they were here. He had a few guesses. The likely answers to that question were lack of man power, or the fact that perhaps their enemy was already among them....but if you thought it through that much, why have them here anyway? Perhaps to protect their client from...his own hired help? "Aaaaag," Nine said as he scratched his forehead in frustration. The more the thought about it, the less it made sense. Sitting around worrying about things would get them nowhere fast. One thing they could all do was kick their feet back and pretend to be as regal as their surroundings.
"Guys, look around you! We're in a mansion! In your wildest dreams did you ever believe we would legally walk in place like this? Grab a drink, raid the kitchen, hug a shrub, lest we end up like the sad face sticks on the upper wings. We were given the order to live to our fullest...er..do what we want.....same thing really." Nine then stood atop a chair with his arms out wide. "Everything else will take care of itself! There's so much undiscovered lore in this world and I'd say we start our exploration of that world with this mansion while time is on our side. Who knows what nefarious plots await to railroad our progress!" Nine finished his statement with a sinister gleam in his eye before quickly switching to an innocent smile. "Just this once let's follow orders aye?"
Nine leaped down from the chair, fixed his suit and pondered what his next move should be. He could only regret that he didn't bring a bathing suit.
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Ambiloquous
kasigi
Worthlessplebian
Trywing
AI10100
"Ah what am I if I'm not humble," Nine said after spitting out some of the confetti that felt like a brick wall in the capable hands of the ork giant. In reality, he was running out of breath so he had to cut his introduction a bit short toward the end. As the rest of the crew assaulted the butler with a myriad of questions, demands, and statements. "I'll leave them to it then," Nine said to himself as he began picking up the cookies utilized in his performance. He made no effort to peel the confetti away since that would take too much time. That was when he felt a sinister presence creeping up beside him. Even the beads of sweat forming on his head raced down his face in order to escape the looming threat. Nine could only imagine that this was what it felt like to be a docile mermaid in Ironcrown. It was Sialun...and his keen eye must have discerned that these cookies would be used for more than visual effects. "I...I um," There was no way Nine would get out of this with all of his cookies, so he would have to cut the losses now before anyone else caught on.
"I suppose this is the way the cookie crumbles," Nine said turning to no one in particular, "(And hold for laughs) Okay Sia, I'll part with these crumbling delectables, but keep your lips sealed on this favor. I'll sooner be cursed by the gods than be in this world cookieless...(and hold for the laughs). Here and be quick," Nine said in a harsh whisper. He whipped out a second bag for Sialun to collect the remaining cookies while he whistled innocently to a standing position. Feeling as if the butler might be a bit overwhelmed, Nine took time to process the situation before speaking. Uz probably posed the most thought provoking question, with the number of guards already at the manor, Nine couldn't help but wonder why they were here. He had a few guesses. The likely answers to that question were lack of man power, or the fact that perhaps their enemy was already among them....but if you thought it through that much, why have them here anyway? Perhaps to protect their client from...his own hired help? "Aaaaag," Nine said as he scratched his forehead in frustration. The more the thought about it, the less it made sense. Sitting around worrying about things would get them nowhere fast. One thing they could all do was kick their feet back and pretend to be as regal as their surroundings.
"Guys, look around you! We're in a mansion! In your wildest dreams did you ever believe we would legally walk in place like this? Grab a drink, raid the kitchen, hug a shrub, lest we end up like the sad face sticks on the upper wings. We were given the order to live to our fullest...er..do what we want.....same thing really." Nine then stood atop a chair with his arms out wide. "Everything else will take care of itself! There's so much undiscovered lore in this world and I'd say we start our exploration of that world with this mansion while time is on our side. Who knows what nefarious plots await to railroad our progress!" Nine finished his statement with a sinister gleam in his eye before quickly switching to an innocent smile. "Just this once let's follow orders aye?"
Nine leaped down from the chair, fixed his suit and pondered what his next move should be. He could only regret that he didn't bring a bathing suit.
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Ambiloquous
kasigi
Worthlessplebian
Trywing
AI10100
Trywing
Masquerade
Subaru Valentine
'Follow orders?' A cold sweat trickled down the side of Subaru's face as he faced the conundrum in front of him. 'I don't follow orders. Orders is for order. There is no room for chaos in order. No such thing as freedom when you're moving within the lines. Or is there?' The harum-scarum elf looked around the empty reception room, noted the excusable unpreparadedness of the butler, the possibility of a shock of unexpected lore ruining the vibe. 'Perhaps there can be chaos in order this one time.'
Subaru cautiously listened to Nine's suggestions and did the easiest of the suggestions, hugging a shrub. In his mind, it would be like a gateway drug into chaotic order. He found a bush and tentatively wrapped his arms around it in a warm hug, leaning his head comfortingly on it. Once he built up his confidence, Subaru even reached a hand on the top of the bush and ruffled its leaves affectionately. It was very therapeutic. Then, with a start, he realized that he had been hugging Wsser.
Subaru cautiously listened to Nine's suggestions and did the easiest of the suggestions, hugging a shrub. In his mind, it would be like a gateway drug into chaotic order. He found a bush and tentatively wrapped his arms around it in a warm hug, leaning his head comfortingly on it. Once he built up his confidence, Subaru even reached a hand on the top of the bush and ruffled its leaves affectionately. It was very therapeutic. Then, with a start, he realized that he had been hugging Wsser.
"I... you've got nice foliage. Hope you don't mind me giving you a ruffle. Also save the trees."
Subaru said those platonic words without shame nor grace, even though his face was already starting to turn red. To keep his hands busy, he took one of Wsser's flyers. He laughed at his own suffering and walked over to Sialun and gave the towering man a hug. His face was still beet red even after mentally telling himself he wasn't embarassed. But with this gateway into chaos, Subaru had a brilliant idea. He stepped over to one of the archways that led to somewhere else in the manor and before leaving, twirled on his heels and gave his fellow circuspeople an offer with a wicked smile and a dark look in his eyes.
"I'm going to go poison a rotisserie chicken and maybe give someone food poisoning. Mattheiu, care to join me? I think a good calamari sauce would be the perfect cursed addition to it. And Uz, do you wanna come along in case I need to behead the chicken? Or if there's a chance for us to spar in the kitchen?"
Ambiloquous
Graphic Fanatic
— Wsser —
At Sialun's mention of all his questions being covered, she smiled approvingly. A fellow circus member who understood using routine patterns of mortals to their advantage, though they did it without speaking queries at all. It was something she would aspire to the next instance there was a chance to ask anything of a person — or perhaps not; rarely did people vocalize the things she wanted to express in the fashion she wanted to express it.
Nine interrupted her exceedingly clever plans with a speech, as he was wont to do. In the tree’s wildest dreams, she had indeed not imagined coming here. To visualize a mansion in the midst of the deepest forests of the Tribal Expanses would certainly be a break in her usual habits of sleeping among visions of nature and her siblings pitching themselves off a cliff. She swore it wasn’t purposeful; she had long forgiven her brothers for calling her “shrub” accidentally, but old habits tended to stick to her like maple sap half dried. Wsser had grown since then and didn’t hold such petty matters to heart, but her dream-self kept grudges like a dandelion’s existence, it seemed.
Wsser tilted her head and furrowed her brows at Nine’s concluding statement, still in her stiff pose. Being partially tree, she was one of the best races at standing in place for long periods of time. “But I’ve heard no orders. If there are no orders heard, how can we follow such commands?” She ruminated for a second and hesitantly added, “You must have made a recollection error — unless both my ill-fated ears are going down the path of a swift reduction in the faculty of perceiving sound, which would be very unfortunate.”
Contemplating whether her ears were truly dying on her or whether Nine was the one who was wrong, the feeling of arms wrapping around her caught her attention. Wsser twisted around, blinking at the elf before her brain processed the words. The body temperature of the acrobat was higher than her own, which reminded her of heat stress but better in an contradictory way. If only he didn’t smell like those arrogant hussies(?), hemlock and nightshade, the squeeze would be almost pleasant.
“I agree, my foliage is very nice,” Wsser said with no embarrassment at the close interaction, nodding her head proudly. It was one of the traits other treefolk praised and envied, and one of her own sources of confidence. Height wasn’t all it was made out to be. “Save the trees! To remember the maxim at all times, such loyal support must be applauded.”
When the cook moved on to grab another flyer — she didn’t know why he needed it, but it ought to be for a good cause — and hug Sialun, she decided on her next plan of action. Unfreezing from her pose and curtseying gracelessly to the crowd, she declared, “Goodbye, I am going.” She mentally “patted herself on the back” as it were (three mortal idioms, what a genius she was!) for stating when she was leaving a room. Sometimes people needed to know you were vacating a space, and never let it be said that she was a rude guest at someone else’s home.
The tree could stay, but she had already showcased herself in the performative manner that was required, and there was nothing here that she particularly cared for. So turning to the doorway, she beamed at the thought of the garden. Hypothesizing the stories behind the emotions plants exuded was a great pastime, and it exercised her brain for her future ventures in people-watching. One day, she would discover the method to predict tales of people as well — nothing would be able to stop her then!
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Trywing
Masquerade
By order of the GM, who has deemed that the posting grounds in the Location Hub is uncharacteristically not somewhere that posts belong, this post has been regretfully moved over here.
This is a story from another world. Not one that impacts the world of Aldaan, but a story worth sharing nonetheless.
The cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and the city of Vistus was bustling with trade, cheer, and activity as people were leaving Metacrub after the conclusion of the Club King’s Tournament. Of course, the big man himself with the 10000/15000 statline (I'm not fucking kidding), X, was once again crowned King. With the conclusion of the three-day ceremony, everybody was tired and waiting for an opportunity to rest up. It was the perfect opportunity for assassination.
Subaru furtively pulled his hoodie further over his head as he pushed through the crowds of people in the marketplace. If his information was correct, King Valentine should be residing somewhere around here. A large gold-gilded building caught Subaru’s eyes. It was a building of tall spires, glassed windows, and beautiful architecture. Very similar to the bad drawing that the Assassin Guild had provided for him.
Subaru hid his twisted expression underneath his hood. Now all he had to do was find a way to get in.
Obviously, it couldn’t be done through the front door, so the next best thing was to head to the side of the building and vault up it. There was conveniently an open window, so Subaru knew that he could use that to get in.
Meanwhile X was standing across the room, staring out the opposite window with a blank expression. Those that knew him well would have been able to see by his unique “tells” that he was actually quite determined and serious. “I don’t think I can continue sneaking around like this. If Club Kingdom were to find out...there could be major consequences.”
X chuckled to himself after the statement then his eyes shamefully dropped to the ground. “The only thing worse than my actions is the lack of guilt I have,” X continued. “As the King of Club kingdom...I’m sure the disappointment would…” X cut himself short as he thought about his crime. He sighed before placing both hands in his pockets. “I know you’re from the heart kingdom…but I have to have you, I MUST have you; right here and right now, and not a second less,” X whispered harshly with a single breath. He then pulled out a pastry with the Heart’s insignia on the wrapper unaware of any misunderstanding his words might have caused.
The King of Club’s words definitely made the young assassin latched to the side of the building do a double-take. He carefully popped a peek at the interior of the room. But that sneaking glance only made Subaru more confused.
Subaru did not have his priorities straight. Of course, there were other thoughts running in his mind: ‘Would killing a prostitute from the Heart kingdom start a diplomatic issue? Why were they doing the sexy at a chair? Where was the girl? Was the girl invisible?’
‘If there is a Heart woman with the King of Clubs, I’ll kill her too,’ Subaru decided, a viper’s smile gracing his lips. With that in mind, Subaru jumped up to the balcony in the blink of an eye. He was so close to getting his target. And yet he had no idea where the Heart prostitute was.
‘Does this King have schizophrenia?’ Subaru wondered. There wasn’t anyone else in the room!
With no time to dwell on the matter, Subaru bolted forward, relying on his Serpent Breath to reach the King of Club’s side in less than a second. Subaru raised his trident, a rush of excitement making his hands go tingly, ‘Goodbye, King Valentine!’
With that, the trident made its downward descent towards X’s back.
X turned at the last moment, making eye contact with his would be assassin before placing his hands back in his pocket and side stepping the attack. With his other hand, a very familiar green dice spun erratically. “...I could sense your killing intent long before you reached this room.” Finally it stopped….revealing the number 10. “...That’s a bad roll…”
Without warning, a wave of magical energy burst in every direction as he let his mana run wild. A single throne rose from the ground, and chains rattled violently before forcefully shackling him to the seat of his greatest weapon in the armory...Alexander. The walls crumbled under the might of the giant rook like columns manifested. Several other columns of similar size manifested outside the capitol building. However all of the canons pointed toward a single target...Subaru. X removed the pastry from his pocket as he sat in the throne of Alexander...resting his head on one fist, a leg crossed over the other. His dispassionate gaze was sure to reach the assassin even though he floated above the wreckage looking down on him.
“After I’ve had my meal...I’ll kill you,” X said without glee or vitriol. It was as factual as the saying the sky was blue. “Curious though...why were you trying to come between me and this pastry, or was it…you wanted it for yourself.” X never changed his expression and the citizens who carried on with their lives had learned to live with whatever crazy stunt X decided to pull on any given day. (Yesterday he was streaking down the halls looking for his rubber duck) X then took a piece of his pastry and dropped it into his mask. The countdown had begun.
Subaru zipped away from King Valentine, expecting something other than a building to appear out of thin air. He looked up to meet X’s gaze. They were like an antithesis: While X had a look that left no doubt that he was dead inside, Subaru’s gaze was filled with playful passion. That passionate look quickly turned into horror. He realized, ‘Wait the lucky lady was a pastry???’
‘I shouldn’t judge him,’ Subaru thought, ‘I’ve probably done worse.’
Subaru’s eyes darted around to look at the cannons aimed at him. He needed to find a way to get closer to King Valentine without getting shot. A look at the King defiling the pastry or whatever he was doing made Subaru realize he needed to find a way to get closer to X without getting shot by the cannons.
While speaking, Subaru slowly scootched forward in a stroll-around-the-park style walk. If he could get closer, he might be able to strike out again.
It didn’t go unnoticed that Subaru mirrored X in many ways. In fact, there used to be at least 15 others that shared his name and future, but that was a long time ago. Still, X couldn’t help but wonder if this boy truly knew what fear was. The pastry thief cut through his thoughts, dismissing what he said relatively quickly. It wasn’t uncommon for people to want to see under his mask and it wasn’t uncommon for people to shout unsavory things to him. “My plans,” X asked playfully. “They’re certainly nothing you’re capable of. Very few know how to truly enjoy a pastry you see,” X said, wiggling his brow as his thumb lightly glanced over the pastry wrapper. He tore another piece and dropped it into his mask yet again.
“You’re almost dead,” X said flatly as he chewed slowly...very slowly. Subaru was definitely planning something, but he was curious as to what it was.
Subaru continued his casual stroll forward at the pastry eating X.
As Subaru got closer to X, he reached into his back pockets. From it he pulled out, guess what, a pastry. Except it wasn’t a normal pastry. The pastry cream was infused with some of the poisons that the Assassin’s Guild had given him-- at least that’s what Subaru thought. In truth, he had forgotten to poison it.
Subaru split the cream danish in half and offered the other half to X.
X looked up to the sky as if in deep thought and then canceled his magic...dropping down in front of Subaru without changing his expression. He tucked the rest of his heart’s pastry away; after all, he would have to compare the two later. If he had a chance to taste a pastry greater than that of the heart’s kingdom, he would take that chance every time.
“I think I can manage that,” X said as he took the pastry. “MMMMMmmmm….oh my gawd…..ahh…..yes that’s just…..” X then took Subaru’s second half of the pastry and repeated the process, both of which involved dropping the pastry in his mask.
“You know...now that I’m here; you look awfully familiar. I don’t think we took a bath together...so did I ever kill you,” X said chewing his pastry thoughtfully.
Subaru looked at his hands in horror, ‘He’s way too fast. How the hell did he take my pastry away? I can’t stab him if he’s that quick.’ When he looked up though, Subaru didn’t allow the horror to show on his face. The snake of a boy tended to hide his true emotions underneath a layer of sadistic confidence.
Subaru searched X’s features trying to remember when he could have ever had the opportunity to meet the King of Clubs. He rubbed his chin in deep thought. Then the memory came to him with a ding of the lightbulb.
Sally wasn’t the girl’s name. But after the incident with the guy who joked that he was the King of Clubs, whenever Subaru harassed her, the name used was always Sally. The orphanage also changed a lot after the man who claimed to be the King of Clubs visited. Whenever Subaru tried bullying people, he had to win against them in a bout of martial arts beforehand. There also were the 10 forbidden words forged by the God of Civil Disobedience. Like the man had said, ‘fuck’ was just the same as saying muck, like the dirt that Subaru would throw down Sally’s shirt, except replacing the m with an F as if he were paying respect. It wasn’t by nature a bad word. Although it would have made sense for Subaru, a bad person using a bad word.
With that realization, Subaru had no choice but to look at the King of Clubs in a new light. This was no longer just a job, it was a job to kill someone familiar to him. Which added a new aspect of fun to it.
X stopped chewing his pastry for a moment before going completely silent, allowing Subaru’s words to hang in the air. No, he didn’t squint his eyes as he searched his memory, but he continued to stare through Subaru with his trademarked inexpressive gaze. That very gaze was fixated on Subaru for what probably felt like minutes before finally widening his eyes just a bit. The veil was eventually lifted from his eyes, revealing what he had missed before. “Wait...who the hell blew away my office?”
He swallowed the pastry and stood up a bit straighter, his expression more relaxed than before. “Also, her name was Sarah. You were Booger Baron right,” X said, casually pointing an accusatory finger toward Subaru. He had nearly forgotten about his short visit at the Heart’s Orphanage. He was only in that country because of an unfortunate circumstance of position and responsibility. That indirectly led to his brief encounter with an orphanage. “To think I’d actually see someone from that raggedy child farm. Can’t say I’m happy to see the shitty one, but who knows...it could be fate.”
X sat down on a piece of rubble and made a gesture urging Subaru to do the same. “So Captain Snot, how’s everyone? Has everyone been nice to the well proportioned lady?”
Subaru glared at X, but he really couldn’t do anything. The King of Clubs was far more powerful than the young assassin, and the words of bullies only had weight if they were stronger. And in this case, the power difference was beyond comparison. Subaru was fighting someone with more power than an Ace after all. He had no choice but to make conversation with the King. ‘When did this assassination turn into a chat down memory lane?’
That was a lie. Subaru had stabbed her when she was going outside to go pee in a bush during the late hours of the night. She was dead. But the King of Clubs didn’t need to know about that.
He didn’t need to mention how he broke Sally’s neck on the ground and made it look like she fell from a roof. Or how he was the one who pushed Annie down the well.
“Sure thing Steve the Runny,” X said as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, essentially ignoring his pleas. It was easy to reminisce about that troublesome orphanage. To be honest, he had forgotten all about them, or rather forced himself to forget. It wasn’t like they were kids from his own nation although one was currently standing in his office. Speaking of which…”Ah...So they’re all doing well. Maybe I’ll pay them a visit next time I’m in Valencia.”
X then met Subaru’s glare once more, this time his light heartedness was removed as he began to willfully release his intent to kill but this time his eyes crinkled into a rather cheerful expression that juxtaposed his aura. “...That said, I do believe we had a deal. I’m done eating, and I believe your preference was slow and painful, yes?” X stood up from his seat and began flexing his left hand. Slowly, and deliberately he walked toward Subaru. “Feel free to explain yourself at any time.”
Subaru backed up slowly til the heel of his foot hit one of the shattered walls of the King of Club’s office. A brilliant and not-too-sane look adorned Subaru’s face as he looked at death (not Deim) straight in the face. He always wanted his death to be as painful as those that he caused. But that didn’t mean that he wasn’t thinking of ways to escape. It was just that it seemed for now that Subaru could keep the King of Clubs from killing him by talking. So Subaru did his best to summon a nonchalant tone.
That really was how the Assassin’s Guild worked. Nobody there had even a semblance of a brain. There was no other reason why someone would have willingly taken a job to infiltrate the Joker base during the middle of the day after all. They wouldn’t have boasted that it was the ‘assassination of the century’ when it went even worse than Subaru’s attempt to kill X.
Subaru reached into his pockets once again and whipped out a long, thick, glistening object. It was a dark brown color, and unusually sizeable for its type. The cream inside was just begging to be let out.
X stopped yet again. Honestly, it was becoming a pattern at this point. “Hired?” It all made sense. This child from Valencia, pastries, the Heart Kingdom and now an eclair...dammit why’d it have to be an eclair. “Sentinel,” X began as he snatched the eclair as gently as one could before turning his back to Subaru. “I believe you’re unaware of what you signed up for.”
Yes this poor child was now in the assassins guild. Looking at him, he was a wholly different person from the sniveling bully he had met years ago and one could only wonder what he had been through with the wars and random acts of terror. X knew that look well...he saw it in the mirror everyday. “You were obviously sent here by the Queen of Hearts. You see me and Guin have a...complicated past. I was even her chairman at one point.”
X then turned around to show Subaru the eclair he had just snatched. “This is proof of what I’m talking about...but how could I expect you to know the hidden meaning in this message. Even so, I never thought she would use a dusty orphan child…”
X ran his fingers through his hair, looking rathered flustered for once. “You see Subaru you’re my...you’re our child....wew, glad I got that off my chest,” X then dropped the eclair in his sticky mask and began to wipe his hands off on a nearby stone while humming the latest song he had heard in the Valentine Gardens Casino.
Sentinel??? Ace????? What the heck does that furry have to do with this?
Ahem. Sorry. I’m pretending to be a furry after all.
Subaru was about to stab X when he turned his back on the assassin, but now, faced with this new information, it made him hesitate. Guineverre Victoria y Blanca, the insanely popular Queen of Hearts (fuck the lore), was not unfamiliar to the young assassin. She was the person who sponsored the Valencia orphanage after all. Her affairs with King Valentine also wasn’t unfamiliar to him, especially the one that involved a particular shoebox.
‘I’m sure I have parents,’ Subaru mentally pieced the puzzle together, ‘Or had, anyway. And I’m sure that neither Queen Blanca or King Valentine are elves.’
Subaru gave X a suspicious look. This wasn’t a lie, because Subaru didn’t really know if he was a mistake or not. In one of his fuzzy memories, he recalled asking his parents about it, but they simply dodged the question.
But Subaru decided to drop the suspicious look because X certainly wasn’t a sussy baka in comparison to Subaru himself. Instead, Subaru went a different route to call X out.
Subaru suddenly stopped, ‘Did I remember to poison these? Shouldn’t he be dead after that pastry if I did?’' He quickly grabbed another eclair and bit into it. There was warm creamy custard, fluffy pastry, and a sweet glaze. But no hint of poison. None at all.
Subaru lamented at his failure by turning around towards the wall and bonking himself on the head. He wasn’t going to allow X a chance to stab him in the back, so after punishing himself, Subaru turned to face X again.
X watched blankly as Subaru went through an array of emotions and even resorted to literally banging his head against the wall. X couldn’t help but think ”You were certainly a huge mistake,” but he said it out loud. Even when Subaru mentioned that the eclairs were supposed to be poisoned, X looked up in thought and shrugged.
“Never call me Daddy. No bastard of mine will be treated any different from what he is.”
X was quiet for a short moment before responding, taking in everything that he heard. There was no saving this lost child from his fate.“It all started with that night before the battle of Valencia. Hormones were raging and there wasn’t a chair in sight….anyway it’s too complicated for you to understand. It’s our love language or something like that; why else would I eat a dubious pastry? I’m not an idiot,” X said with pastry crumbs and filling all over his mask and fingers. This would be a difficult trial indeed. Teaching someone to be a son was easy...instructing one to be a proper bastard was difficult, and that was what X would have to do. “...You scowl just like your mother.”
Subaru put quite a bit of emphasis on that final word, an evil glint in his eye. It pleased him to see that someone as chaotic as X could be bothered by that specific word. X messing with people didn’t make him immune to Subaru messing with him.
Subaru off-handedly began to squish the pale skin of his face as he tried to figure out if he was scowling. It also was a great way for him to ignore how X called him a mistake. Or how X’s face was disgustingly smeared with custard and crumbs. Then he realized what X meant to say.
‘Haha, try to squirm your way out of this one, clown!' Subaru smirked darkly.
“The….relationship….the relationship started in Valencia,” X said as he watched Subaru comically contort his face to display a scowl. “Wait...you don’t think we...on the first day? Sorry, I’m a lot of things but easy isn’t one of them,” X said with a low chuckle. That said...with the time skips and all it did feel like it was just yesterday. After his laugh X couldn’t help but sigh, looking at this manchild once more it was easy to say he was a problematic child prone to a life of death and destruction and X was his...No, X wouldn’t even go that far. The thought alone was enough to make his body shudder. Being called dad was way more trouble than it was worth, and Subaru didn’t seem to be letting that go anytime soon.
“It can’t be helped,” X said, finishing his thoughts aloud. “Sawyer You might as well accept the fact you’re my mistake. The responsibility has fallen on my doorstep, so I’ll do it. I’ll teach you the correct way to be an orphan no one cares about.” X punctuated his statement with a gleam in his eye and an encouraging thumbs up.
‘No, I don’t think you did it on the first day,’ Subaru thought, ‘I question how I managed to magically get 4 years older if this relationship started during the third Four Suits Argossian war.’
Subaru stared blankly at X as he tried to process what was going on. Quite like X, Subaru didn’t have a good grasp on emotions. But unlike X, Subaru only didn’t understand good emotions. Love. Friendship. Intimacy. So it took a good long bite of his eclair for Subaru to grasp what X was trying to say.
X lifted his gaze to the sky before answering as if to give his question deep thought although it was already decided. “No,” X said flatly. “I’m going to take you in, teach you how to be a proper bastard, then release you back into the wild to be the tragic protagonist of someone’s twisted story.” If Guin were here she would say that X was simply hiding behind some ridiculous excuse to do some good in the world. Perhaps his true goal was to help someone who had the same dead eyes as he did. It would be a shame to have anyone grow up to be another X if it could be helped. Then again, maybe it was the truth as crazy as it sounded.
X surveyed the area as mages had begun repairing his room. X gave them a lazy wave to tell them everything was a false alarm. Fortunately this wasn’t the first time it happened so they merely rolled their eyes instead of prying. “One more thing...you’ll have to improve a bit before meeting your mother.” X gave Subaru a once over before continuing. “A lot...you’ll need to improve alot...either way, I doubt I need your help looking bad.” X said this last line with one of his false smiles realizing he wasn’t saying this to make Subaru feel any better, but merely stating a fact he firmly believed in. X, self admittedly, was indeed a horrible person after all.
But it made sense. If Subaru believed that other people who thought they were chaotic weren’t chaotic enough, then if he thought he himself was a bad person then it could be that he wasn’t bad enough. Subaru forced himself to look at X, even despite the mess of crumbs and custard. ‘But is he really a worse person than I am?’
‘Now that I look,’ Subaru realized as he bore into X’s dead eyes, ‘He looks like he has a lot of darkness in him too. Two peas in a pod if I accept, I guess.’
With a twirl of his spear, Subaru sheathed it onto his back. Somehow the assassination had turned into him almost dying, which then somehow turned turned into them enjoying eclairs, which now somehow turned to Subaru getting adopted.
‘If I accept that offer, someone can actually enjoy my eclairs,” Subaru noted warmly. While he was unfamiliar with the idea of comfy fulfillment, it was an attractive prospect. ‘And Valentine… Subaru Valentine… that has a nice edgy ring to it.’
It would certainly be a great name. A perfect name for a fake person’s character as the perpetrator sat back on his chair and watched the show unfold.
“Just call me X,” X said with a sigh as he offered his hand to his newly adopted son. It wasn’t lost on him that Subaru mentioned stealing from the Heart chefs. X nodded silently as he agreed with himself as he mentally plotted circumventing his lifetime ban in the Hearts kitchen. Subaru grasped X’s outstretched hand, a wicked grin on his face.
“It’s agreed then,” X said with a blank, but mischievous gleam in his eye. “I’ll teach you everything I know.”
Immediately after this Iris walked through a creaking door that was somehow left standing although the wall around the door frame was comically destroyed. She was holding a mess of papers, using her magic to scan through them to decipher what was important and what wasn’t. Like the other mages, she had seen it all (quite literally in fact) but she had seen far more than anyone else should have to bear with. “X once this is all fixed I’ll need you to sign these-,”
“Hey Iris, I have a son now,” X said with his trademarked eye crease.
Instead of reacting, or asking X what he meant. Iris simply turned around and shut the door behind her before heading to “anywhere but here”. X turned back to Subaru, his smile still in tact. He reached inside his jacket and unfolded a pink apron with a rubber duck on it then held it forward as if to offer it to Subaru. “Okay Sable, first lesson. How to make pancakes.”
Subaru looked at the hideous apron and wondered why he already was feeling like he was regretting his decision. “Cooking. Ugh. Cooking is for sissies and girls.”
But the experience that X provided Subaru would help propel him forward in his dastardly adventures, that including X’s cooking experience. X and Subaru’s alliance would also, funnily enough, mean that X did adopt an heir to endure the years-long timeskips. And what better way to show who’s pulling the strings, what better way to show who the true villain of this all is than an innocent collab that references aspects that shouldn’t be known for someone like Trywing?
Wouldn’t you agree, Kloudy?
This is a story from another world. Not one that impacts the world of Aldaan, but a story worth sharing nonetheless.
The cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and the city of Vistus was bustling with trade, cheer, and activity as people were leaving Metacrub after the conclusion of the Club King’s Tournament. Of course, the big man himself with the 10000/15000 statline (I'm not fucking kidding), X, was once again crowned King. With the conclusion of the three-day ceremony, everybody was tired and waiting for an opportunity to rest up. It was the perfect opportunity for assassination.
Subaru furtively pulled his hoodie further over his head as he pushed through the crowds of people in the marketplace. If his information was correct, King Valentine should be residing somewhere around here. A large gold-gilded building caught Subaru’s eyes. It was a building of tall spires, glassed windows, and beautiful architecture. Very similar to the bad drawing that the Assassin Guild had provided for him.
“Perfecto.”
Subaru hid his twisted expression underneath his hood. Now all he had to do was find a way to get in.
Obviously, it couldn’t be done through the front door, so the next best thing was to head to the side of the building and vault up it. There was conveniently an open window, so Subaru knew that he could use that to get in.
Meanwhile X was standing across the room, staring out the opposite window with a blank expression. Those that knew him well would have been able to see by his unique “tells” that he was actually quite determined and serious. “I don’t think I can continue sneaking around like this. If Club Kingdom were to find out...there could be major consequences.”
X chuckled to himself after the statement then his eyes shamefully dropped to the ground. “The only thing worse than my actions is the lack of guilt I have,” X continued. “As the King of Club kingdom...I’m sure the disappointment would…” X cut himself short as he thought about his crime. He sighed before placing both hands in his pockets. “I know you’re from the heart kingdom…but I have to have you, I MUST have you; right here and right now, and not a second less,” X whispered harshly with a single breath. He then pulled out a pastry with the Heart’s insignia on the wrapper unaware of any misunderstanding his words might have caused.
The King of Club’s words definitely made the young assassin latched to the side of the building do a double-take. He carefully popped a peek at the interior of the room. But that sneaking glance only made Subaru more confused.
“Do I get to kill her too?”
Subaru did not have his priorities straight. Of course, there were other thoughts running in his mind: ‘Would killing a prostitute from the Heart kingdom start a diplomatic issue? Why were they doing the sexy at a chair? Where was the girl? Was the girl invisible?’
‘If there is a Heart woman with the King of Clubs, I’ll kill her too,’ Subaru decided, a viper’s smile gracing his lips. With that in mind, Subaru jumped up to the balcony in the blink of an eye. He was so close to getting his target. And yet he had no idea where the Heart prostitute was.
‘Does this King have schizophrenia?’ Subaru wondered. There wasn’t anyone else in the room!
With no time to dwell on the matter, Subaru bolted forward, relying on his Serpent Breath to reach the King of Club’s side in less than a second. Subaru raised his trident, a rush of excitement making his hands go tingly, ‘Goodbye, King Valentine!’
With that, the trident made its downward descent towards X’s back.
X turned at the last moment, making eye contact with his would be assassin before placing his hands back in his pocket and side stepping the attack. With his other hand, a very familiar green dice spun erratically. “...I could sense your killing intent long before you reached this room.” Finally it stopped….revealing the number 10. “...That’s a bad roll…”
Without warning, a wave of magical energy burst in every direction as he let his mana run wild. A single throne rose from the ground, and chains rattled violently before forcefully shackling him to the seat of his greatest weapon in the armory...Alexander. The walls crumbled under the might of the giant rook like columns manifested. Several other columns of similar size manifested outside the capitol building. However all of the canons pointed toward a single target...Subaru. X removed the pastry from his pocket as he sat in the throne of Alexander...resting his head on one fist, a leg crossed over the other. His dispassionate gaze was sure to reach the assassin even though he floated above the wreckage looking down on him.
“After I’ve had my meal...I’ll kill you,” X said without glee or vitriol. It was as factual as the saying the sky was blue. “Curious though...why were you trying to come between me and this pastry, or was it…you wanted it for yourself.” X never changed his expression and the citizens who carried on with their lives had learned to live with whatever crazy stunt X decided to pull on any given day. (Yesterday he was streaking down the halls looking for his rubber duck) X then took a piece of his pastry and dropped it into his mask. The countdown had begun.
Subaru zipped away from King Valentine, expecting something other than a building to appear out of thin air. He looked up to meet X’s gaze. They were like an antithesis: While X had a look that left no doubt that he was dead inside, Subaru’s gaze was filled with playful passion. That passionate look quickly turned into horror. He realized, ‘Wait the lucky lady was a pastry???’
“What the hell are you going to do that pastry?”
‘I shouldn’t judge him,’ Subaru thought, ‘I’ve probably done worse.’
Subaru’s eyes darted around to look at the cannons aimed at him. He needed to find a way to get closer to King Valentine without getting shot. A look at the King defiling the pastry or whatever he was doing made Subaru realize he needed to find a way to get closer to X without getting shot by the cannons.
“Hey if you’re going to humiliate that pastry, at least take that mask off so that your audience can watch the show.”
While speaking, Subaru slowly scootched forward in a stroll-around-the-park style walk. If he could get closer, he might be able to strike out again.
It didn’t go unnoticed that Subaru mirrored X in many ways. In fact, there used to be at least 15 others that shared his name and future, but that was a long time ago. Still, X couldn’t help but wonder if this boy truly knew what fear was. The pastry thief cut through his thoughts, dismissing what he said relatively quickly. It wasn’t uncommon for people to want to see under his mask and it wasn’t uncommon for people to shout unsavory things to him. “My plans,” X asked playfully. “They’re certainly nothing you’re capable of. Very few know how to truly enjoy a pastry you see,” X said, wiggling his brow as his thumb lightly glanced over the pastry wrapper. He tore another piece and dropped it into his mask yet again.
“You’re almost dead,” X said flatly as he chewed slowly...very slowly. Subaru was definitely planning something, but he was curious as to what it was.
“Ooh. Exciting.”
Subaru continued his casual stroll forward at the pastry eating X.
“When you kill me, can you make sure to make it as painful as possible? Make it as slow as how slowly you’re eating that pastry.”
As Subaru got closer to X, he reached into his back pockets. From it he pulled out, guess what, a pastry. Except it wasn’t a normal pastry. The pastry cream was infused with some of the poisons that the Assassin’s Guild had given him-- at least that’s what Subaru thought. In truth, he had forgotten to poison it.
“And can I have a last meal? I can share it with you.”
Subaru split the cream danish in half and offered the other half to X.
X looked up to the sky as if in deep thought and then canceled his magic...dropping down in front of Subaru without changing his expression. He tucked the rest of his heart’s pastry away; after all, he would have to compare the two later. If he had a chance to taste a pastry greater than that of the heart’s kingdom, he would take that chance every time.
“I think I can manage that,” X said as he took the pastry. “MMMMMmmmm….oh my gawd…..ahh…..yes that’s just…..” X then took Subaru’s second half of the pastry and repeated the process, both of which involved dropping the pastry in his mask.
“You know...now that I’m here; you look awfully familiar. I don’t think we took a bath together...so did I ever kill you,” X said chewing his pastry thoughtfully.
Subaru looked at his hands in horror, ‘He’s way too fast. How the hell did he take my pastry away? I can’t stab him if he’s that quick.’ When he looked up though, Subaru didn’t allow the horror to show on his face. The snake of a boy tended to hide his true emotions underneath a layer of sadistic confidence.
“I look familiar?”
Subaru searched X’s features trying to remember when he could have ever had the opportunity to meet the King of Clubs. He rubbed his chin in deep thought. Then the memory came to him with a ding of the lightbulb.
Sally wasn’t the girl’s name. But after the incident with the guy who joked that he was the King of Clubs, whenever Subaru harassed her, the name used was always Sally. The orphanage also changed a lot after the man who claimed to be the King of Clubs visited. Whenever Subaru tried bullying people, he had to win against them in a bout of martial arts beforehand. There also were the 10 forbidden words forged by the God of Civil Disobedience. Like the man had said, ‘fuck’ was just the same as saying muck, like the dirt that Subaru would throw down Sally’s shirt, except replacing the m with an F as if he were paying respect. It wasn’t by nature a bad word. Although it would have made sense for Subaru, a bad person using a bad word.
“How interesting. So you actually were the King of Clubs.”
With that realization, Subaru had no choice but to look at the King of Clubs in a new light. This was no longer just a job, it was a job to kill someone familiar to him. Which added a new aspect of fun to it.
X stopped chewing his pastry for a moment before going completely silent, allowing Subaru’s words to hang in the air. No, he didn’t squint his eyes as he searched his memory, but he continued to stare through Subaru with his trademarked inexpressive gaze. That very gaze was fixated on Subaru for what probably felt like minutes before finally widening his eyes just a bit. The veil was eventually lifted from his eyes, revealing what he had missed before. “Wait...who the hell blew away my office?”
He swallowed the pastry and stood up a bit straighter, his expression more relaxed than before. “Also, her name was Sarah. You were Booger Baron right,” X said, casually pointing an accusatory finger toward Subaru. He had nearly forgotten about his short visit at the Heart’s Orphanage. He was only in that country because of an unfortunate circumstance of position and responsibility. That indirectly led to his brief encounter with an orphanage. “To think I’d actually see someone from that raggedy child farm. Can’t say I’m happy to see the shitty one, but who knows...it could be fate.”
X sat down on a piece of rubble and made a gesture urging Subaru to do the same. “So Captain Snot, how’s everyone? Has everyone been nice to the well proportioned lady?”
“Do not call me those stupid nicknames. My name is Subaru. Like the Argossian vehicle.”
Subaru glared at X, but he really couldn’t do anything. The King of Clubs was far more powerful than the young assassin, and the words of bullies only had weight if they were stronger. And in this case, the power difference was beyond comparison. Subaru was fighting someone with more power than an Ace after all. He had no choice but to make conversation with the King. ‘When did this assassination turn into a chat down memory lane?’
“Mama Ellington? Not as well proportioned as you remember her. Dealing with the ‘shitty’ fights, the complaints about the ‘fucking’ meals, and being called a ‘bitch’ really made her lose weight. She quit last year.”
That was a lie. Subaru had stabbed her when she was going outside to go pee in a bush during the late hours of the night. She was dead. But the King of Clubs didn’t need to know about that.
“Sally died when she fell off the roof. Know-it-all Annie drowned in a well when she was trying to teach people about groundwater. Robert’s still alive, but he got ‘jester’ and ‘joker’ mixed up and now he’s a part of a terrorist organization.”
He didn’t need to mention how he broke Sally’s neck on the ground and made it look like she fell from a roof. Or how he was the one who pushed Annie down the well.
“Sure thing Steve the Runny,” X said as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, essentially ignoring his pleas. It was easy to reminisce about that troublesome orphanage. To be honest, he had forgotten all about them, or rather forced himself to forget. It wasn’t like they were kids from his own nation although one was currently standing in his office. Speaking of which…”Ah...So they’re all doing well. Maybe I’ll pay them a visit next time I’m in Valencia.”
X then met Subaru’s glare once more, this time his light heartedness was removed as he began to willfully release his intent to kill but this time his eyes crinkled into a rather cheerful expression that juxtaposed his aura. “...That said, I do believe we had a deal. I’m done eating, and I believe your preference was slow and painful, yes?” X stood up from his seat and began flexing his left hand. Slowly, and deliberately he walked toward Subaru. “Feel free to explain yourself at any time.”
Subaru backed up slowly til the heel of his foot hit one of the shattered walls of the King of Club’s office. A brilliant and not-too-sane look adorned Subaru’s face as he looked at death (not Deim) straight in the face. He always wanted his death to be as painful as those that he caused. But that didn’t mean that he wasn’t thinking of ways to escape. It was just that it seemed for now that Subaru could keep the King of Clubs from killing him by talking. So Subaru did his best to summon a nonchalant tone.
“Someone hired me. I don’t really care about the details, an opportunity to kill is an opportunity to kill. The guildmaster gives me a job, and I accept it without questioning. I work for the Assassin’s Guild, if you’re curious.”
That really was how the Assassin’s Guild worked. Nobody there had even a semblance of a brain. There was no other reason why someone would have willingly taken a job to infiltrate the Joker base during the middle of the day after all. They wouldn’t have boasted that it was the ‘assassination of the century’ when it went even worse than Subaru’s attempt to kill X.
Subaru reached into his pockets once again and whipped out a long, thick, glistening object. It was a dark brown color, and unusually sizeable for its type. The cream inside was just begging to be let out.
“Would you like an eclair before killing me?”
X stopped yet again. Honestly, it was becoming a pattern at this point. “Hired?” It all made sense. This child from Valencia, pastries, the Heart Kingdom and now an eclair...dammit why’d it have to be an eclair. “Sentinel,” X began as he snatched the eclair as gently as one could before turning his back to Subaru. “I believe you’re unaware of what you signed up for.”
Yes this poor child was now in the assassins guild. Looking at him, he was a wholly different person from the sniveling bully he had met years ago and one could only wonder what he had been through with the wars and random acts of terror. X knew that look well...he saw it in the mirror everyday. “You were obviously sent here by the Queen of Hearts. You see me and Guin have a...complicated past. I was even her chairman at one point.”
X then turned around to show Subaru the eclair he had just snatched. “This is proof of what I’m talking about...but how could I expect you to know the hidden meaning in this message. Even so, I never thought she would use a dusty orphan child…”
X ran his fingers through his hair, looking rathered flustered for once. “You see Subaru you’re my...you’re our child....wew, glad I got that off my chest,” X then dropped the eclair in his sticky mask and began to wipe his hands off on a nearby stone while humming the latest song he had heard in the Valentine Gardens Casino.
Sentinel??? Ace????? What the heck does that furry have to do with this?
Ahem. Sorry. I’m pretending to be a furry after all.
“You actually got my name right for once.”
Subaru was about to stab X when he turned his back on the assassin, but now, faced with this new information, it made him hesitate. Guineverre Victoria y Blanca, the insanely popular Queen of Hearts (fuck the lore), was not unfamiliar to the young assassin. She was the person who sponsored the Valencia orphanage after all. Her affairs with King Valentine also wasn’t unfamiliar to him, especially the one that involved a particular shoebox.
‘I’m sure I have parents,’ Subaru mentally pieced the puzzle together, ‘Or had, anyway. And I’m sure that neither Queen Blanca or King Valentine are elves.’
“But I was a mistake! So then does this mean…”
Subaru gave X a suspicious look. This wasn’t a lie, because Subaru didn’t really know if he was a mistake or not. In one of his fuzzy memories, he recalled asking his parents about it, but they simply dodged the question.
But Subaru decided to drop the suspicious look because X certainly wasn’t a sussy baka in comparison to Subaru himself. Instead, Subaru went a different route to call X out.
“How do you like the eclair? I made them myself this morning. I also poisoned them myself--”
Subaru suddenly stopped, ‘Did I remember to poison these? Shouldn’t he be dead after that pastry if I did?’' He quickly grabbed another eclair and bit into it. There was warm creamy custard, fluffy pastry, and a sweet glaze. But no hint of poison. None at all.
“I forgot to poison the eclairs!”
Subaru lamented at his failure by turning around towards the wall and bonking himself on the head. He wasn’t going to allow X a chance to stab him in the back, so after punishing himself, Subaru turned to face X again.
“So, Daddy, now that you know that these eclairs were supposed to be poisoned, are you still saying that these have symbolic meaning from the Queen? Wait… does your relationship involve periodic assassination attempts?”
X watched blankly as Subaru went through an array of emotions and even resorted to literally banging his head against the wall. X couldn’t help but think ”You were certainly a huge mistake,” but he said it out loud. Even when Subaru mentioned that the eclairs were supposed to be poisoned, X looked up in thought and shrugged.
“Never call me Daddy. No bastard of mine will be treated any different from what he is.”
X was quiet for a short moment before responding, taking in everything that he heard. There was no saving this lost child from his fate.“It all started with that night before the battle of Valencia. Hormones were raging and there wasn’t a chair in sight….anyway it’s too complicated for you to understand. It’s our love language or something like that; why else would I eat a dubious pastry? I’m not an idiot,” X said with pastry crumbs and filling all over his mask and fingers. This would be a difficult trial indeed. Teaching someone to be a son was easy...instructing one to be a proper bastard was difficult, and that was what X would have to do. “...You scowl just like your mother.”
“Okay, Daddy.”
Subaru put quite a bit of emphasis on that final word, an evil glint in his eye. It pleased him to see that someone as chaotic as X could be bothered by that specific word. X messing with people didn’t make him immune to Subaru messing with him.
“What a twisted love you and Queen Blanca have. Sounds real fun though. But I didn’t think you were the type that preferred chairs… Wait, do I scowl? I like morbid stuff, so I didn’t think I could even scowl.”
Subaru off-handedly began to squish the pale skin of his face as he tried to figure out if he was scowling. It also was a great way for him to ignore how X called him a mistake. Or how X’s face was disgustingly smeared with custard and crumbs. Then he realized what X meant to say.
“Oh! You’re saying that Queen Blanca doesn’t scowl. I knew deep inside she was a nice old lady. No other way she can run a dozen different orphanages. Wait, hold it. The battle at Valencia was 13 years ago. I’m 17, you know.”
‘Haha, try to squirm your way out of this one, clown!' Subaru smirked darkly.
“The….relationship….the relationship started in Valencia,” X said as he watched Subaru comically contort his face to display a scowl. “Wait...you don’t think we...on the first day? Sorry, I’m a lot of things but easy isn’t one of them,” X said with a low chuckle. That said...with the time skips and all it did feel like it was just yesterday. After his laugh X couldn’t help but sigh, looking at this manchild once more it was easy to say he was a problematic child prone to a life of death and destruction and X was his...No, X wouldn’t even go that far. The thought alone was enough to make his body shudder. Being called dad was way more trouble than it was worth, and Subaru didn’t seem to be letting that go anytime soon.
“It can’t be helped,” X said, finishing his thoughts aloud. “Sawyer You might as well accept the fact you’re my mistake. The responsibility has fallen on my doorstep, so I’ll do it. I’ll teach you the correct way to be an orphan no one cares about.” X punctuated his statement with a gleam in his eye and an encouraging thumbs up.
‘No, I don’t think you did it on the first day,’ Subaru thought, ‘I question how I managed to magically get 4 years older if this relationship started during the third Four Suits Argossian war.’
Subaru stared blankly at X as he tried to process what was going on. Quite like X, Subaru didn’t have a good grasp on emotions. But unlike X, Subaru only didn’t understand good emotions. Love. Friendship. Intimacy. So it took a good long bite of his eclair for Subaru to grasp what X was trying to say.
“Are you saying you’re going to take me in? Even though I’m a bloodthirsty murderer? Wouldn’t helping me make you look bad as King of Clubs?”
X lifted his gaze to the sky before answering as if to give his question deep thought although it was already decided. “No,” X said flatly. “I’m going to take you in, teach you how to be a proper bastard, then release you back into the wild to be the tragic protagonist of someone’s twisted story.” If Guin were here she would say that X was simply hiding behind some ridiculous excuse to do some good in the world. Perhaps his true goal was to help someone who had the same dead eyes as he did. It would be a shame to have anyone grow up to be another X if it could be helped. Then again, maybe it was the truth as crazy as it sounded.
X surveyed the area as mages had begun repairing his room. X gave them a lazy wave to tell them everything was a false alarm. Fortunately this wasn’t the first time it happened so they merely rolled their eyes instead of prying. “One more thing...you’ll have to improve a bit before meeting your mother.” X gave Subaru a once over before continuing. “A lot...you’ll need to improve alot...either way, I doubt I need your help looking bad.” X said this last line with one of his false smiles realizing he wasn’t saying this to make Subaru feel any better, but merely stating a fact he firmly believed in. X, self admittedly, was indeed a horrible person after all.
“I need to get a lot better at being a bad person? Well, that’s funny, innit?”
But it made sense. If Subaru believed that other people who thought they were chaotic weren’t chaotic enough, then if he thought he himself was a bad person then it could be that he wasn’t bad enough. Subaru forced himself to look at X, even despite the mess of crumbs and custard. ‘But is he really a worse person than I am?’
‘Now that I look,’ Subaru realized as he bore into X’s dead eyes, ‘He looks like he has a lot of darkness in him too. Two peas in a pod if I accept, I guess.’
With a twirl of his spear, Subaru sheathed it onto his back. Somehow the assassination had turned into him almost dying, which then somehow turned turned into them enjoying eclairs, which now somehow turned to Subaru getting adopted.
‘If I accept that offer, someone can actually enjoy my eclairs,” Subaru noted warmly. While he was unfamiliar with the idea of comfy fulfillment, it was an attractive prospect. ‘And Valentine… Subaru Valentine… that has a nice edgy ring to it.’
It would certainly be a great name. A perfect name for a fake person’s character as the perpetrator sat back on his chair and watched the show unfold.
“Then I’ll take up your offer… King Valentine… X… Father?" Subaru's expression twisted into a temporary look of confusion. As much as he wanted to call X 'Daddy' just to annoy him, he had heard that he was supposed to try to get along with his parents. "Whatever you want to be called, while I’m in your care I can make you all the pastries you want. I’m only good with doing eclairs and a handful of other recipes right now, but I can surely steal-- I mean learn recipes from the Heart chefs."
“Just call me X,” X said with a sigh as he offered his hand to his newly adopted son. It wasn’t lost on him that Subaru mentioned stealing from the Heart chefs. X nodded silently as he agreed with himself as he mentally plotted circumventing his lifetime ban in the Hearts kitchen. Subaru grasped X’s outstretched hand, a wicked grin on his face.
“It’s agreed then,” X said with a blank, but mischievous gleam in his eye. “I’ll teach you everything I know.”
Immediately after this Iris walked through a creaking door that was somehow left standing although the wall around the door frame was comically destroyed. She was holding a mess of papers, using her magic to scan through them to decipher what was important and what wasn’t. Like the other mages, she had seen it all (quite literally in fact) but she had seen far more than anyone else should have to bear with. “X once this is all fixed I’ll need you to sign these-,”
“Hey Iris, I have a son now,” X said with his trademarked eye crease.
Instead of reacting, or asking X what he meant. Iris simply turned around and shut the door behind her before heading to “anywhere but here”. X turned back to Subaru, his smile still in tact. He reached inside his jacket and unfolded a pink apron with a rubber duck on it then held it forward as if to offer it to Subaru. “Okay Sable, first lesson. How to make pancakes.”
Subaru looked at the hideous apron and wondered why he already was feeling like he was regretting his decision. “Cooking. Ugh. Cooking is for sissies and girls.”
But the experience that X provided Subaru would help propel him forward in his dastardly adventures, that including X’s cooking experience. X and Subaru’s alliance would also, funnily enough, mean that X did adopt an heir to endure the years-long timeskips. And what better way to show who’s pulling the strings, what better way to show who the true villain of this all is than an innocent collab that references aspects that shouldn’t be known for someone like Trywing?
Wouldn’t you agree, Kloudy?
Worthlessplebian
Worthless pleb
Matthieu Huginn Lashley
After all the fanfare and delivering his suspicions, Matthieu stiffened his posture. What he uttered to Uz had slithered up his spine. It might only be his imagination, but he feels as though even the shadows have their eyes set on him. Though normally, he would bat aside such convictions—he could not this time. A single drop of sweat poured down from his brow. Lashley's attention was partially broken by Wsser's comment about how rotten tomatoes make for excellent fertilizer. "Well, if we're talking about fertilizers, my leafy tree, fish byproducts treated with heat are excellent fertilizers—has all the nutrients plants would need to survive." Matthieu earnestly gave Wsser his advice.
Turning back to the butler, Matthieu shot him another question. "Good sir, I'd also like to know where security detail's quarters or training area? I'd love to sharpen my swordsmanship while we attend this manor."
With that out of the way—Matthieu turned to his companions who huddled around Nine. Rather it was Sialun, the towering behemoth who could cross rivers with a single bound. Leaning in, Matthieu heard that the big fella simply wanted cookies. Understandable, he wanted cookies too but, he did not want to spoil his stomach yet. After Nine's spiel, the Sea Knight pondered on what to do in this type of situation. However, it seems like somebody already had some mischievous plan in mind. And invited him to come along.
Subaru after hugging Wsser's barky body. This prompted the knight to tilt his head. He denied Subaru's offer. "Perhaps later, my good fellow."
LazyDaze
Elder Member
NINE
Nine's head dipped down sharply as it slid from the comfort of his palm. For a moment he had wondered if he had somehow got trapped in his own illusions. It felt as if he had been sleep for hours, but clearly only a few seconds had ticked while he was buried in the maze of his own thoughts. To be quite honestly, he didn't know if he was hallucinating or not, since he thought he dreamed of a plethora of troublesome things: Eternal stasis, a backstory of an edgy assassin, cubed god abandoning them, and a party on the beach. Then satirically....if you could even stare in such a fashion, Nine gazed upon an ornate vase. Funny how something so insignificant could seem to consume your mind when it was empty of purpose. He reminisced of the nostalgic brews of a tea shop he once frequented. Yes, the golden brown hues of the tea were akin to the hues of the sky painted by the sun so that the eyes could drink in the magnificent power of the world. Yet, even more powerful than the universe and its expansion was rambling. Uttering words for no purpose was purposely inefficient and a complete waste of time that could never be bought, or negotiated back. You were quite literally paying for the void with your life; after all this had nothing to do with anything and had everything to do with the fact that it felt like months would pass before they exit the static mansion and move on with life. After all, the universe's expansion would not wait for their stories to be told. It would only push them to obscurity the longer time progressed, boiling their life spans away until they were as insignificant as the ingredients that brought about that popular drink that reminded him of a purposeless dawn. Ah, how insignificant a person was. Makes you wonder why the water is boiling in the first place, but don't think about it too much or you will waste away.
Nine stood up and stretched, hoping the physical act would somehow trigger his mind to do the same. He needed to focus on the task at hand instead of vague philosophy and flashbacks. Almost on cue he felt something perch on his shoulder. . D O V E was back and she had some juicy things to tell Nine. "This party could use a Divertomento Jockey....a DJ as they would call it....but no such thing exists. Never mind the music, we need to discuss plans. BUTLER, dinner will be served shortly, there I can establish my plans for taking care of this shadow organization. Hurry, hurry, time is of the essence and we have wasted plenty of it. Find your master so we can talk."
The butler nodded npc'ishly and went to go fetch his master. Nine then sauntered to the large dining table while giving a knowing look to any of his troupe who stuck around. It was time to shake things up.
@Anybodywhoseleft. LOL
Nine's head dipped down sharply as it slid from the comfort of his palm. For a moment he had wondered if he had somehow got trapped in his own illusions. It felt as if he had been sleep for hours, but clearly only a few seconds had ticked while he was buried in the maze of his own thoughts. To be quite honestly, he didn't know if he was hallucinating or not, since he thought he dreamed of a plethora of troublesome things: Eternal stasis, a backstory of an edgy assassin, cubed god abandoning them, and a party on the beach. Then satirically....if you could even stare in such a fashion, Nine gazed upon an ornate vase. Funny how something so insignificant could seem to consume your mind when it was empty of purpose. He reminisced of the nostalgic brews of a tea shop he once frequented. Yes, the golden brown hues of the tea were akin to the hues of the sky painted by the sun so that the eyes could drink in the magnificent power of the world. Yet, even more powerful than the universe and its expansion was rambling. Uttering words for no purpose was purposely inefficient and a complete waste of time that could never be bought, or negotiated back. You were quite literally paying for the void with your life; after all this had nothing to do with anything and had everything to do with the fact that it felt like months would pass before they exit the static mansion and move on with life. After all, the universe's expansion would not wait for their stories to be told. It would only push them to obscurity the longer time progressed, boiling their life spans away until they were as insignificant as the ingredients that brought about that popular drink that reminded him of a purposeless dawn. Ah, how insignificant a person was. Makes you wonder why the water is boiling in the first place, but don't think about it too much or you will waste away.
Nine stood up and stretched, hoping the physical act would somehow trigger his mind to do the same. He needed to focus on the task at hand instead of vague philosophy and flashbacks. Almost on cue he felt something perch on his shoulder. . D O V E was back and she had some juicy things to tell Nine. "This party could use a Divertomento Jockey....a DJ as they would call it....but no such thing exists. Never mind the music, we need to discuss plans. BUTLER, dinner will be served shortly, there I can establish my plans for taking care of this shadow organization. Hurry, hurry, time is of the essence and we have wasted plenty of it. Find your master so we can talk."
The butler nodded npc'ishly and went to go fetch his master. Nine then sauntered to the large dining table while giving a knowing look to any of his troupe who stuck around. It was time to shake things up.
@Anybodywhoseleft. LOL
