Jill P.O.V

The knocks seemed superficial as someone entered without waiting for a response. Jill was surprised to see someone without red hair. Everyone, including the maids, had red hair. She almost thought the person was an intruder if not for the obvious resemblance to Red. The woman had short oddly green hair, and pointed ears protruded from curls. While she did seem somewhat similar to Red, she was way more beautiful. That thought might have been rude, but this woman was the kind person all girls wanted to look like. Elves were naturally fair-skinned and slender, but the lady in front of Jill was the prime example of those features. Red’s mom was gorgeous.

Despite her staring, Jill was not slow to react. She placed the teacup back on the table and rose to her feet quickly. She had learned of a lot of different noble traditions from her father, but she didn’t know how exactly how to treat an elf. She settled for the most common address. She tilted her head down slightly and introduced herself clearly.

“Hello, I am Jill.”

Jill managed to speak properly but was still absorbed by the woman’s beauty. She wore a simple red dress. It seemed like a long single piece of silk that had been wrapped around her body. She fit it perfectly. Red had said that her mother’s class made her sickly, but Jill didn’t see any evidence of that.

“Ohh, please sit down dear. Any friend of my daughter is always welcome here.”

Red’s mother was something else. Her voice was perfect. It wasn’t deep but it wasn’t girly either. There was a breathiness to it that made it mature, and Jill expected that she would never become like that. Her own mother was more of the gruff type, although she wasn’t really following in her footsteps either.

Jill followed the instructions and sat back down. This time she didn’t slump into the couch but tried to match the other woman’s posture. She kept her back straight and leaned forward a little bit. However, she knew that her posture was a poor imitation of Red’s mother. Red’s mother had pushed her dress out a little before sitting. The dress went all the way to her feet, and she had to move it slightly to sit without wrinkling it. She made even that gesture graceful.

“Thank you. Where is Red and what did you want to talk about?”

Jill spoke clearly. Red had said that her mother was kind, so Jill thought it would be okay to act a bit more comfortable. Even with the friendly nature of Red’s mother, Jill still felt a little awkward in the house. Red’s mother smiled pleasantly as she responded.

“I just wanted to hear how Eli, I mean Red, was doing. And I know you have a few young men in your group…”

Red’s mother didn’t ask any questions directly, but Jill got an idea of what she wanted to know. Jill didn’t miss the nickname either and imagined that Red would hate it. She would start using it. Jill didn’t immediately answer the question and considered what the Red’s mother was hoping to hear. What was she hoping for? Jill gave up trying to read the woman. Her expression was too natural to glean anything from it.

So, Jill decided to shift her way of thinking to Red. What did she actually think of the others? Were there any romantic feelings there? She didn’t think so. Every interaction Jill could remember, involved Red acting far more responsibly than the rest of them. She made mistakes sure, but she was usually the voice of reason. Honestly, both Mash and Luke seemed too childish for her. Jill shook her head and responded.

“We are all just friends. Well, maybe more like a family at this point.”

The conversation stretched for a little bit. It became a back and forth where Jill spent most of the time answering questions about Red. She did wonder where Red was, but she never got a succinct answer. Red’s mother kept talking about her daughter’s location but said that she was taking a nap. Jill had never seen Red take a nap of any kind. She wasn’t really all that worried though. For all Red disliked most of her family, her mother seemed to be the exception. The conversation took a sharp turn at some point, it happened when one of the maids suggested that Red would arrive soon.

“Well, Jill it has been wonderful speaking with you, but I do have one more thing I must request of you.”

Jill was surprised by the sudden urgency in the woman’s voice. Jill met eyes with the woman and saw the desperation in her gaze. Her eyes widened slightly like a puppy. Jill hesitated and responded carefully.

“What?”

“I want you to take this and record Eli.”

Red’s mother was excited and held a magical item out for Jill. She recognized the item instantly. Jill’s own mother had made one of these. It was a recording device that could capture images. The gem alone would do that though, the bracelet itself wasn’t necessary. She guessed that there was a secondary effect to the item like transmission. It seemed excessive and overbearing. Jill raised her gaze from the item back to Red’s mother. Her gaze was filled with hope and desperation in a way that Jill could only describe as overbearing.

“Uhm, you should probably just ask Eli. I don’t think– “

“I’ll give you ten no twenty thousand gold pieces.”

Jill coughed a little as Red’s mother offered a ridiculous price. It did make Jill reconsider the situation. Red wouldn’t mind a couple of pictures, right? It was a lot of gold, and he could give some of it to Red too. Red’s mother was so caring too, it would only be right. It was fine for a mother to be a little overbearing. Jill was about to accept, but something interrupted her. It took a second for her to recognize what, but then she heard shouting.

“Jill! Mash is in trouble!”

Jill sprang to her feet. She saw the surprise on Red’s mother’s face, and Jill contemplated what to do. Mash being in trouble wasn’t really all that unexpected. Honestly, she wasn’t even really worried. He would probably be fine, though she should go and deal with it. Jill grabbed the bracelet but made no promises.

“I will just use this to take whatever pictures I want, and Red will be in some of them. If you're fine with that I will do it.”

Red’s mothered smiled as the shouting outside continued.

“That would be perfect, I wanted nothing more than to keep an eye on my daughter. I do think you should go meet with this new guest.”

The look Red’s mother had was heavy. There was so much eagerness behind her gaze that Jill felt a little bad for her. The gaze of a mother was truly overbearing. AS Jill started walking towards the door, she shivered as the air grew significantly colder. That wasn’t Luke, was it? She sighed. She was just going from one overbearing family member to another.

Jill rushed through the hallway and exited the building quickly; Red was already outside, and she joined her. Arthur was indeed the one who had shouted. It was the first time she had ever heard the man raise his voice above a calm tone. Even now he was talking loudly, but his voice was oddly calm. Oddly, he didn’t sound as urgent as she would’ve expected. That first shout had been far louder and more urgent than the subsequent ones.

“Hello, Jill. Mash has been kidnapped and you are the only one who can teleport directly to him.”

Arthur spoke without even the slightest worry in his voice anymore. It was so flat that it made her wonder if there was any actual danger. She had to ask.

“How, who?”

She couldn’t even comprehend who or what could capture someone like Mash. Everything he did was large and explosive. Mash wasn’t the kind of person that got kidnapped. Killed was one thing, but who would go out of their way to kidnap him.

“I do not know, but we should go.”

Arthur responded with cold indifference, but he obviously cared. Jill nodded and then imagined teleporting to wherever Mash was. Time to find out who had managed to kidnap him.

______________________________________________________________________________

Mash P.O.V

Mash thrashed about in the water. He was taking hits from every conceivable direction. However, the water was helping him out at the moment. The others were struggling to generate any real force, and the hammer man was still trying to swim back to the surface. Mash had gotten used to his friends all having an ability to fly and forgot that it was actually on the rarer side as far skills went. His tail slapped into two different people at once. Both were quick enough to point their blades toward him. They struck his wooden tail and easily stuck it into them. it was a good attack all things considered. Although he was too large for something like that to be seriously effective. Ironically, they were like splinters to him.

Mash twirled in the water, smacking people about. Some were just struggling with the current his movements were made. The people were all close and most were losing the will to fight. Most were just attempting to run away at this point. The man with the hammer was lost in the water, and Mash hadn’t seen him again. Mash felt the rush of another level up. He didn’t even know how many people had been in the boat, and how many would die from his thrashing. He saw several projectiles headed toward him. Some were metal, but others were made of rocks and ice. Mash opened his wings out and pushed the water aside. The sheer weight of the water he pushed was enough to cause stop most of the projectiles.

Mash truly felt like a dragon now. His body was that of an enormous beast, and each of his movements cause the whole sea to stir. A swipe of his tail could easily affect everyone in the water. A beat of his wing would cause enormous waves to rise from the surface. He was getting into the fight, relishing in the great power he was able to explore. The sea was the perfect place to let out all of the power he would need to restrain normally. Mash turned his gaze to the remaining people. He didn’t know how many had died or fled, but the ones that were remaining weren’t giving up. They struggled against him; some even abandoned any hope of escape.

The remaining fighters would die, and Mash would be the one to do it. He didn’t know how he felt about that. They were going to fight to the death. The people before him were resolved for that much. Mash met that resolve head-on. He would not hold back. His brother’s advice still hung in his head, and Mash prepared to release a blast of lightning. He aimed toward the densest pack of people. Some of whom were continuing to throw or launch projectiles at Mash. They weren’t very strong. Without his skills being sealed, he could grasp just how big the difference was. He bet that most weren’t even level 100.

Mash opened his mouth, and water rushed in. He could feel through his wooden body, but thankfully that didn’t include taste. He was glad to avoid the feeling of a mouthful of salt in his mouth. The water began filling his mouth but only lasted for a second. A burst of lightning flew out of his mouth. It didn’t travel the way he intended it to. It dispersed quickly filling the water around him blindly. That would be fine if that was all it did. His resistance would make the damage minimal. Although, it did more than just that. It heated the water quickly, and within a few seconds, the water around him was boiling. He felt it too. The bubbling and burning water stung. It was like it danced across his own skin. If that was happening to him, he could only imagine what the unprotected people were going through.