Chapter 104 - Friendships

Taen interrupted and held up a hand questioningly. “Keys…? I haven’t heard anything about keys, but I have to get this item to earn my freedom.”

Trey raised his eyebrows. He would have to ask Taen more about this numen of his, especially if he’s talking about earning his ‘freedom’ from her.

“I see.” replied the game master. “Well regardless, the ring was taken by a wraith by the name of Autash. If you wish to acquire the ring, you will need to take it from him. He is unlikely to part with it of his own free will.”

“What the hell is a wraith?” asked Jason.

Coctim scoffed. “Wraiths are a type of undead. Usually they’re phantoms who have become powerful enough to ascend the void and live in the mortal realms again, pretty dangerous. Like Coriana here but more powerful.”

The mage gave Taen’s phantom a meaningful look. Coriana was really strong as it was, so a wraith - the ascended version of phantoms - must be that much stronger.

“And you really have no idea where this wraith is?” asked Taen.

“I do not - other than knowing he is likely still in Ornthas,” replied the game master. “Xil might know, but I doubt he would part with that information unless you went through another set of his games.”

Yeah, no.

“Huh! Yeah… I can look for it on my own.” said Taen solemnly. “Thanks for the information though. Why wouldn’t he be in Gorgamin?”

The game master seemed to snicker at the lack of enthusiasm for completing another game, but didn’t comment on it. “An orun titan has somehow made it out of the void, and has taken up residence in Gorgamin. Xil and I regularly travel there to study the creature.”

Ezdeath suddenly looked ill when the words ‘orun titan’ came out. She slowly turned her head, and stared up at the giant stone creature. “Surely you and Xil know what would happen if…”

“This orun titan seems rather complacent in a quiet life of its own choosing,” replied the game master. “We are monitoring it. If it begins to rampage, we will take matters into our own hands before it can do any serious damage to the inhabitants of this world… though we are not sure we could put it down individually - together and with allies we would likely succeed. In the meantime, it is quite a fascinating specimen and we are learning much about the species by means of observation.”

None of the others knew what an orun titan was, and none of them asked. By the sounds of it - it wasn’t good. Trey’d already seen a titan back with Elise and her family during that strange blizzard that’d occurred a while back, and that thing had been beyond enormous.

“Apparently you were right Bann. We’ll avoid Gorgamin,” said Taen promptly.

The armored ghoul huffed in response and crossed his arms. “At least we have a lead, even if it is small.”

Taen pulled out a map and inspected it for some time before pointing to another ruin that seemed close by. “How about this one - Mazarine?”

No one had any objections as he scanned the room.

“Sure...” eventually said Izumi. “It’s your ring to find, boss man. We’re just along for the ride and the other treasures along the way.”

“Cheers to that!” Coctim said loudly along with his sailors as he downed a swig of alcohol.

“Alrighty then, pack up everyone. Let’s head out soon.” Trey got to his feet and bowed politely to the machine far above him. “Game master, it has been a true pleasure. I’ll be sure to come back to talk, if nothing else.”

“I look forward to conversing with you again, Vatosis Inferna. Xil is of the same opinion as I. May the fates be with you and may luck always be on your side. Feel free to drop by at any time.” The game master bowed slightly in turn before seeming to lay down.

Trey had taken a real liking to that strange, giant machine. He would miss this place, as odd enough as that was. Turning back to his belongings he bent down and began to ready himself for the trip to the ruins of Mazarine. He hadn’t been there yet, or at least thought he hadn’t been there. Some of the ruins he’d visited were without a known name to him, but at the very least he’d be able to have a more relaxed time than having to undergo the games here. Or at least…. he hoped that was the case.

***

A crack of thunder sounded loudly above them as the heavens poured forth their sorrows onto the lands of Ornthas. The tropical birds that so often voiced their songs to the sky now sat huddled against one another on their perches and waited for the storm to pass.

Rivia was in a particularly bad mood, and she kept Napoleon underneath her outer robe to shelter the imp from the storm as she scowled fiercely skywards. “Damnable storms.”

“THIS IS AMAZING!” screamed a soaked Ezdeath to try and let her voice be heard above the torrent around them. The succubus had shed her armor entirely, using the starred-locket around her neck to store her equipment - and only wore scant garments as water ran off her body to shimmer in the dull light. “I FEEL ALIVE AGAIN! I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M ACTUALLY FREE!”

“AT LEAST THAT MAKES ONE OF US!” Jason screamed back as Coctim and Claire hurried in a line behind them. Far ahead, Taen was cutting through the underbrush with Trey, Bann and Juila next to him.

Two dark shadows flew gracefully far above - through the storm clouds - and landed in front of their master to bow slightly before standing. Atharost and Sithis had returned from their scouting as rain drops beat onto their sleek, pitch black skin.

“FIND ANYTHING?” Trey yelled as Taen turned around hopefully.

The demons both nodded and motioned for them to follow. Happy that some form of shelter had finally been found, the party made haste behind them.

Within an hour, they'd come up to a large decrepit cabin. Pushing on the door originally provided no results, and Taen had to kick it down to make way. The door buckled and fell to smash hard against the dirty rotten wood of the floor, sending dust into the air as it hit. Soon their entire party had entered the relatively spacious building - with the exception of the weaver zombies and the flesh golem Butcher that stayed outside - and were rather happy to be out of the rain.

Except Ezdeath, who was enjoying being out of Xil’s tomb to a level beyond what she could express with words and couldn’t care less about being wet. She hadn’t experienced it in over a millenia.

“HAHAAA!” exclaimed Ezdeath in bliss as she shook her hair like a dog to splatter everyone around her.

“What the hell is a cabin doing out here in Ornthas?” said Coctim as he wiped a layer of grime and dirt from off the side of the near wall. “Though it looks like it hasn’t been used in decades. Figures.”

“It was locked,” stated Taen as he tried to wring out his clothes. “Kinda weird, don’t you think?”

“Ghouls likely use this place from time to time,” said Bann. “I don’t know why it was locked, but I am happy to be out of the storm.”

Sithis had barely fit through the cabin door after ducking down, due to his new infantile devil body, but was now able to stand to his full ten-foot height inside. The ceiling was thankfully quite high and he stretched out his new body to admire the musculature of his limbs.

Atharost laughed quietly to himself upon seeing this though he didn’t give Sithis any shit. Even he was slightly impressed, and was rather glad to have an archdemon of any sort on their team. The devil they’d fought earlier had been very inexperienced, as evidenced by the way it fought - and had likely just killed everything out of sheer power rather than by skillful maneuvers in the past. If atharost had to guess, that’d probably been the first or second fight it’d ever had to truly try at - and it had STILL nearly killed all of them… including an elite Warden of Necranoc.

“How much farther until we hit Mazarine?” asked Ashe as she stood nearby to brush the water out from her hair - momentarily startling as Coriana phased into existence from the void beside her. She scowled at the phantom - who wore an amused expression - then turned around and milked the water from her tail, shaking it out afterwards. “You said it was pretty close, right?”

“Yup,” replied Taen as he withdrew his map from the pack he carried. Thankfully the map wasn’t damaged by the water at all. It actually seemed impervious to most forms of harm, and Taen was thankful for whatever Maltetious had done to it to keep it that way. “I don’t know where we are now with all the rain obstructing our vision, but I would guess we probably will make it to Mazarine by nightfall tonight. Hey Bann, anything you want to share with us about Mazarine before we get there?”

The hairless ghoul had set his helmet down beside him on the floor, and was emptying out water from one of his metal-covered boots while he took a moment to think. “Mazarine is one of the smaller city ruins, but even it is pretty large. We will likely come upon a pack that isn’t ravenous. Seeing us with such formidable characters… I doubt they would attack us on sight like they did in the past. Some might. They may even think we are one of the demon tribes in the area. But if we are able to make contact, I can try my best to ask around for your ring or the wraith you seek - Autash. They’ll be more trusting of me since I am one of them.”

“That’s what I like to hear!” Taen swatted him on the back. The young necromancer was in a rather chipper mood immediately after hearing it. “In the meantime are there any good places to look for loot? I’d hate to drag everyone along with me and not have some spoils for them after their efforts.”

“As long as you are ok dealing with ancient traps and guardians of the vaults, I can easily supply you with locations in Mazarine. I know of two vaults that most other ghouls also know of, but they have been formidable in terms of what guards them. Three other smaller vaults I have found myself there but haven’t tried to see what they hold because I was alone.”

Bann put back on his old boots, and sighed loudly as he noticed they were starting to rust.

“Kinda weird that these Ornthas people kept so many vaults. What gives?” commented Izumi as she wiped moisture away from her goggles.

Juila sat next to the Japanese girl, back against the wall and goat hooves crossed in front of her. Placing the stone maul she now used religiously in her lap, she shrugged. “They likely were the places that couldn’t be accessed, unlike the rest of the ruins.”

Ashe giggled as she was retying one of her boot laces with her back against an old rotting wall. “Or they’re probably just called vaults now, they likely weren’t intended to actually be vaults. At least that’s what I would guess about most of them. 100 bucks says when we get to one of the three vaults Bann is talking about - it isn’t actually a real vault.”

“Make that 100 gold pieces instead of bucks and you’re on,” retorted Izumi as she stuck out her tongue playfully.

Meanwhile, Trey caught himself staring at Sithis. The devil looked like an all around badass. “You know Sithis, it kind of feels weird not having you in my head anymore.”

Sithis chuckled and sat down beside his master. “I was thinking the same thing. Very strange. For you it is probably less strange, because you’ve lived your life without me inside your head before. But for me - my entire life up until now has been living in unison with you.”

Trey scrunched his mouth and wrinkled his nose. “Ya know I’ve never actually thought about it like that. Does that make me like your dad just like Eleknar?”

“As if.” retorted the much larger Sithis with a grin full of sharp black teeth. Or at least Trey thought he was grinning. Devils didn’t have lips if Azoth and Sithis were good examples to go off of, so their long, shiny, black teeth were always presented in what appeared to be somewhat of an evil smile. Sithis’ facial features did change though, just not as much as a human’s would. “Though I am happy to call you my greatest friend.”

Trey punched Sithis’ shoulder lightly. “You are family to me, Sithis. For sure…” He cleared his throat quickly. “In fact I consider all of you family now. You, Napoleon, Atharost, Ashe, Izumi, Rivia, and Talsh’Noc’Un. I would die for any of you.”

“Is that so… master...?” interrupted the greatsword as it sat next to him against the wall. “I can’t say… that I have… ever been treated… as a living thing… before… and I very much like it…”

Trey laughed with a glance at his prized weapon. “Of course you’re a living thing. You’re not just a sword, that’s ridiculous. You can speak, think, and even feel.” Trey put a hand on the base of the blade. “By the way, I wanted to thank you. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. But what do YOU want Talshy? What is it that YOU want from… life, I guess? What are your hopes and dreams? Goals?”

There was a long pause between them, and Napoleon made himself present as the imp scampered over to sit on Trey’s lap with his ears perked up. Even Sithis was intently listening as he wanted to know the answer too. The others in the room continued about their various activities seemingly oblivious to what Trey, Sithis and the godsword were talking about.

“I have never… been asked that question… before…” replied Talsh’Noc’Un. “I guess… that I do not know… I have always been there to serve… and you are… the first and only… of my three masters to ask…”

“Seems sorta shitty to me,” replied Trey. He lifted an eyebrow. “Would YOU want your own body? If I can do it for Sithis, I can probably do it for you too. Eventually anyways… I could figure it out.”

“Master so nice nice.” Napoleon stated as fact, curling up and yawning atop Trey’s thighs.

The greatsword chuckled in a low tone. “You are kind… as I said earlier… you are… more than you first appeared… I am not sure you… could find a body that could hold me…”

“Won’t know until you try,” replied Trey. “Are you HAPPY like this?”

...There was no reply.

Trey sighed. “If you are, I'm not trying to pressure you into anything. I just… I just wanted to let you know. If you ever want it, I can try my best to help you find a body of your own.”

They were interrupted by Piggy and Telipe. Both of the slaves were wearing the collars Trey’d put on them earlier, and they presented food to their master and his demons before serving the rest of the company with what stores they had.

For the longest time there was again no reply, and Trey gazed at the sword expectantly as he chewed on some of the bread Piggy had given him, but eventually the greatsword came around and responded. “Master… may you forever remain the way… you are now… but as for now I am… content... and happy to be… in your service…”

“You would give up the greatest of the living swords to see it… happy?” said a melodic woman’s voice from up above. Trey was slightly startled from the unexpected intrusion, but recovered quickly as he realized it was Ezdeath. She was hanging directly over him by her tail with it wrapped about a beam above them, her arms wrapping around her smooth white legs overhead, and had she had come completely undetected. Trey was impressed. She let go of the beam and flipped gracefully to land in front of him before crawling over to lean against his shoulder - scantily clad and smiling teasingly. “Do you realize what you are speaking of? What the implications of that would be?”

Trey smiled back politely, trying not to be drawn into gazing at her curves and amazingly beautiful features for too long. “Talsh’Noc’Un… well, you once said that he-”

“He?” asked Ezdeath curiously. “Don’t you mean ‘it’?”

Trey shook his head. “He. Or even a she, but he sounds like he so let’s go with he! Talsh’Noc’Un is not JUST a weapon. In your own words, ‘Talsh’Noc’Un is not JUST a greatsword.’ But I mean it differently than you did back then. I get it, everyone keeps telling me that he will evolve as I do and I’ll get to swing around this badass weapon. But to me, I could never keep him as a slave if he wasn’t happy. He’s my friend. And I could care less about some new superpower if it meant helping him out.”

Ezdeath was dumbstruck. Trey certainly didn’t feel that way about some of the other slaves, as she’d seen the way he treated Piggy and Telipe. She looked over to Talsh’Noc’Un, curiously assessing what she’d been told. “Do you feel the same way about Trey?”

The greatsword responded immediately, surprising even Trey with the forcefulness of its response. “He is the best… of anything… to ever happen to me… May I help him attain… greatness… or any other goals he doth desire...”

There was an awkward silence, and Trey felt himself blushing. From across the room, Juila’s laughter intermixed with Izumi’s protests - and a crack of thunder sounded overhead amidst the pitter patter of rainwater on the roof.

Ezdeath muttered to herself, then spoke the next words loudly as her eyes drifted up from the floor. “Wow… and what about you Sithis? You were born from the void essence as an eternal servant to do his bidding. And yet I heard you telling him you considered him your greatest friend. Why?”

Sithis exhaled sharply. “You will not understand until you have been around him more. I realize your oat binds you to Eleknar and his Heir, but Trey is more than that to us. I would die for him without hesitation.”

Ezdeath smirked slyly. “But you have no choice other than to do so.”

“He would grant me freedom if I desired it, at any moment. Of that I am sure.” stated Sithis calmly.

“Hmmm. Really?” Ezdeath turned to Trey with a mischievous grin. “So you’d be willing to part with both the sword and Sithis if they so desired it?”

Trey nodded. “I wouldn’t want to see either of them completely LEAVE, but I’m not going to keep them here if they don’t want to be here.”

“They’re your friends?” repeated Ezdeath with another smirk, this time obviously unbelieving. “What about Atharost? And Napoleon? Would you let them leave too?”

“Definitely.” replied Trey confidently.

“Prove it.” said Ezdeath coolly. “ I don’t believe it for a second. No one would give up that sort of power. Having an archdemon and greater demon under your thumb - and the greatest of the living swords? To just throw it away for ‘friendship’? Laughable. Eleknar wouldn’t allow it, he is not that foolish. Sithis here would take off the moment you did, and so would Atharost. That’s my bet.” She gave Sithis a sideways smile , her golden eyes bored into him, and milked her snow-white hair of rainwater. “He won’t do it…”

Ezdeath’s eyes shot over to Trey pulling up his status screen and her voice trailed off. Atharost, Jason and a few of the others were now watching as well. Trey spared her a glance, and this time it wasn’t a friendly one.

“I’m quite frankly disappointed in you Ezdeath,” Trey commented as he found Sithis, Atharost, Napoleon and Ezdeath all labeled as his minions. Touching the screen and internally commanding Sithis to be freed of his control, he without hesitation unbound the chains that held Sithis to his will. A brief spark of energy between the two friends clarified that the deed had been done. Ezdeath’s jaw dropped.

“You gonna kill me now Sithis? You could always take the sword for yourself. I wouldn’t even try to stop you. You’d have the void essence too after you ripped it out of my soul - big daddy Eleknar could be yours. Or would you rather run off into the sunset?” asked Trey casually as he huffed. “Other than Ezdeath, you’re probably the strongest one here now that you’ve got that new body of yours.”

Sithis chuckled but remained where he sat to stare back at Trey with red glowing eyes, all four arms folded together and not moving.

Trey then turned back to the status screen and repeated the motions for Atharost. Within a few seconds the ifrit had been set free as well, and a spark of energy briefly flickered again as the action was made. “You’re free to go too Atharost. I’m not going to keep you here if you don’t want to be here. Feel free to leave.”

“Why would I? Stop that. Give me back my minionhood,” replied Atharost with a concerned look. “I feel naked without it.”

He was about to do the same with Napoleon, but the imp flipped shit and started whacking him repeatedly and cursing loudly.

“STOP STOP MASTER! I CLAW YOU BAD BAD IF YOU DO THAT!”

Trey recoiled at the last jab, grinning the imp’s direction and closing Napoleon’s status screen - but the grin didn’t last.

Trey then turned to Ezdeath. “Keeping them as minions allows me to compel them to achieve greater heights than they would otherwise be able to do on their own willpower. It also allows me to keep track of them if we ever lose sight of one another and vice versa. The others, like Rivia, Telipe, Piggy and Juila - they’re here because they owe me for sparing or saving their lives.”

He brushed off an insect with the flick of his wrist. “But if you’re not interested in being here either, you’re free to leave as well. In fact you’ve done more than enough - so if you’re tired with the oath and your contract, I’m terminating it now. I’m confident that with both Sithis and I evolving, and now that we have Taen and his minions - we’d almost certainly win if you tried anything this time around. So I’m not afraid of letting you go right here, right now.”

Trey lastly turned to his screen to select Ezdeath’s name. Unchaining her soul as well, a third spark of magic illuminated between the succubus and the demigod to signify the end to their pact. Ezdeath quickly brought up her own status screen and jerked slightly when she saw she had been completely freed.

Trey shook his head sadly and stood to his feet. “You may look pretty on the outside Ezdeath, but I won’t have anyone with a poisonous attitude along for our journeys. You were trying to drive a wedge inbetween me and my friends, and I won’t tolerate it.” Trey leaned down to look at the startled succubus directly in the face with his eyes narrowed and his voice low. “I’m going to take a stroll in the rain. Feel free to take some supplies with you, but I want you gone by the time I get back. You need to leave, so start packing now.”

With that, the infernal prince picked up his sword and walked out the door to leave the rest of his group in shock at what he had just done.