Dantega:Volume 3 Chapter 3
(PART 3)
"Hey you got a bug on your neck Ubica." said Daey while pointing her finger at him.
Ubica raises his eyebrow and slaps his neck. "Did I get it?"
He looks in the palm of his hand to see if he did but nothing is there.
"No it's more towards the back, let me do it for you."
She hastily slaps the back of his neck to catch the bug before it flies off or stings him, but in doing so she hits him extremely hard, jolting his head forward.
”That was a little rough don't you think!?"
Daey puts her hands together apologetically and gives him a bashful smile when she says, "Ahh sorry, I hate bugs and wanted to make sure I got it."
“Well did you get it at least?”
She then leans her head close to him and finds that it was not a bug after all.
"Huh? What is that?"
Looking closely it actually seems like a small black tattoo in the form of a fly.
"What is what?" Ubica asks.
She gets even closer and pokes at it. "When did you get a tattoo?"
"I don't have a tattoo."
"Well there is one right here and it looks like a fly."
He backs away and looks really surprised, he thinks about it for a second and realizes that this mark came from Beelzebub back when they were at the tundra village.
He had almost completely forgotten about the fact that Beelzebub had poisoned him, and he still doesn't know what kind of poison it is and what the Demon’s intentions behind it are. Since there is still a mark on his neck, that means his body has yet to rid itself of it, and it makes him nervous thinking about just what it’s doing to him at this very moment.
Trying not to look panicky he smiles at Daey and says, "I would have never noticed it had you not told me."
"It was from that Demon with the flies right?”.
"It seems that way..."
"What do you think it means?"
Ubica rubs his neck and replies, "No clue..."
Daey can see that he is a little distraught about this so she tries to lighten his spirits by grabbing his hand.
With a smile she says, "Well you're alive now and you aren't sick, so we'll worry about that later. For now let's just get some lunch!"
"Sounds like a plan to me."
The two are walking down a long line of street vendors in the center of the town, they are trying to decide which food stand they want to stop at for lunch. It is the seventh and last day of the festival so they are getting ready to leave the town and head north toward the Gate. A lot of things have happened since the time they got here, but the week long stay was basically spent working and enjoying the festivities when they had time off. Leaving this place is bittersweet, this was as stress free of a week they've had since they were abducted, leaving such an environment and returning to the harsh reality they've found themselves in is not something they look forward to. But at the same time, enjoying themselves here is not getting them any closer to home, at least once they leave they'll be moving towards that destination.
After a few minutes, Ubica and Daey end up ordering from a food stand that serves fried meat buns. The two found an open table in a seating area where many dozens of other people are eating and enjoying the final day of the festivities.
"Wow this is delicious!" said Daey the moment she took her first bite.
She has never eaten something like this before, it is made with local meat and vegetables that are wrapped with salted dough and then deep fried until crispy and brown.
Back in Eiyalazo, this kind of thing would be considered peasant food to the royals; they only eat the most premium meals cooked by the best chefs the country has to offer. Out of all the kingdoms of the world, they feel that they exude the most class. This stuffy environment she grew up in would never have allowed her to enjoy a thing like eating meat buns from an unknown vendor around hundreds of drunken blowhards in the middle of the day.
Ubica is wearing a gentle smile as he watches her eat the food so excitedly.
As soon as she sees that he is looking at her she becomes flustered. She's blushing when she asks, "Is there something on my face?"
"There is, actually.”
He leans over the small two person table and takes a piece of the bun off of her face with his finger and puts it in his mouth.
This causes Daey to become even more flustered, she scrambles for words until she notices that hardly a bite has been taken out of his bun.
"H-Hey Ubica, you haven't eaten much... is something wrong with yours?"
He leans back in his seat and says, "No it’s good, I just don't eat much."
"Well you should start eating more... it isn't healthy you know."
"I’ll finish it eventually, I just found myself enjoying watching you eat yours more."
Daey drops her bun and hides her face in embarrassment; saying these sappy lines so casually is a trait of Ubica’s that she’s yet to get used to.
"Why’d you stop?"
"How in the world do you expect me to eat after you say something like that!?"
"Huh? Like what?"
"Damn it all Ubica, why do you have to be so dense?"
Before Ubica can reply, he feels a slight tug on his left sleeve, he looks over and sees a little boy who is looking at him with eyes full of youthful ambition.
He is a plain boy with brown hair and brown eyes, he looks to be around ten or eleven and is wearing clothes that look like they’ve seen a fair bit of sun and dirt.
"Uh... can I help you?" Ubica asks.
The boy scruffs his nose and replies, "You are the one that won the dance competition right?"
"Y-Yeah..."
The boy sighs in relief and smiles, he stretches his arms and says, "Thank goodness, I've been trying to find you and that girl all week." The kid then looks at Daey and raises his eyebrow. "Though... that doesn't look like the girl who was dancing with you."
"That’s because this isn’t her." Ubica replies.
The boy laughs really loud and pats Ubica's back quite hard. "Buahahah, amazing! I've never met a real player before."
"Player?"
"You know, those guys who always have more than one girlfriend."
They both jolt back in their seats, Ubica is becoming nervous because he can sense Daey's growing agitation at the boy’s presence.
The boy scans Daey from head to toe with his eyes and says, "And this girl is pretty cute too! Though her boobs are way smaller than the other one."
Ubica squirms in shock, even though it’s just a child, he feels that the kid was purposely inappropriate just to get a rise out of Daey. He slowly turns his head and sees Daey with the dark aura of death surrounding her.
A vein can be seen in her forehead as she steps off of her high chair and down to the boy’s level. "Is breast size the only value you put in a woman?”
The boy looks at her and is completely unfased by the passive aggression she’s exuding when he replies, "Doesn’t everyone?"
Ubica wraps his arms around himself and shrieks, he thinks this kid must have a death-wish. Daey is smiling, but her eyebrow is twitching as she restrains her anger, this rude and unrefined child had gotten under her skin the moment he showed up, and now he is hurling insults her way. Ubica can see the deathly dark aura explode around like a flame that just had gasoline tossed on it.
"Listen kid, if you want to live you oughta hurry up and tell me what you want or I recommend you leave now!!"
"Okay then.” The kid smiles, showing a lot more respect to Ubica than he did Daey. “I'll cut to the chase, I need you to help me find the God of Harvest!"
Daey’s anger subsided in her confusion at his request, and both she and Ubica tilt their heads and say, "Huh?"
"She shows up somewhere in town on the last day of the festival each year. You won that contest because you pleased the God of Harvest the most... since she knows who you are it might be easier to find her." the boy said as he shuffled his feet, now looking meek as if trying to invoke pity.
Ubica and Daey look at each other and then back at him.
"Why should we help out a shitty brat like you?" Daey asked bitterly, folding her arms with a huff of air out of her nose.
"Because I'll pay you." he bluntly replies.
This catches their attention and he knows it.
"Well I guess technically it won't be me who pays you, it'll be my boss."
Ubica is intrigued but he is also not interested in dealing with deities unless he absolutely has to. "Sorry kid, but we're leaving soon so we won't have time."
"You mean all seven of you?"
Daey frowns, the range of tones this kid has already presented her has progressively made her more mad at him. "Are you some kind of stalker or something!?"
He shrugs his little shoulders and replies, "You all stick out like a sore thumb to the trained eye of a merchant. But that's beside the point, my boss said that he will pay you two horse drawn carts if you find the God of Harvest before sun down."
This offer is one not so easily refused; a horse and a cart would make their trip to the Gate go twice as fast, plus all the added energy is always good, two of them would be like a godsend.
Both Napoleon and Ubica have been thinking about buying one, but that would take up a majority of the money that the group has made this entire week so they decided not to. A cart is quite expensive because many people rely on it as the base of their business and livelihood. For example, if a merchant's cart were to break on the road in the middle of a delivery being made to a different town, it would be as bad as a death sentence financially. He or she would fail to make a profit on the goods that they bought beforehand and was intending to sell at a profit. The fact that a shop owning merchant is offering such a high price to find the God of Harvest must mean that this task is important enough that it might actually be worthwhile.
Ubica glances at Daey with a shrug of his shoulders and then back to the kid.
"Alright," he shakes the boy's hand and asks, "so what's your name?"
The boy scruffs his nose and declares, "The name's Ian."
"Are we all ready to go?"
Napoleon has a large packed duffle bag over his shoulder, he is addressing the group in the lobby all crowded together with their travel gear.
Trojia pats herself to see if she had forgotten anything and replies, "Yeah, so all we need to do is wait for Ubica and Daey to come back and we're out of here."
"How sneaky of Daey to pack both her and Ubica's stuff just so they could go out and get lunch while we get ready..." Tsubiri said with a pout, "I should've thought of that."
Niomyo walks up to the lobby door and peeks out of the window. "Hey guys, they're back."
In comes Ubica and Daey, and to everyone's surprise comes a little boy as well.
"Who the hell is this brat?" asked Strauphius.
Before they could reply, Ian jumps in front of them and asks, "Who the hell are you?"
A vein surfaces in Straupius's head and with a voice full of anger he speaks through his teeth. "And he’s a cheeky one too."
Ubica jumps in between them and nervously laughs, he wouldn’t have taken his travel mates for kid hating bunch, but Ian has some kind of talent for immediately getting under the skin of the adults around him.
After a sigh, Ubica looks to Napoleon and says, "We need to hold back on leaving for a little."
Napoleon looks confused and asks, "Why?"
After telling them the story of why they should stay, Napoleon instantly agrees and now they are all looking for the God of Harvest. Since they had already checked out of the motel, the entire group is walking the streets while the festival is staging its last hoorah.
"So, can't you sense this deity Ubica?" asked Napoleon.
"The thing is, for some reason I can't." he answers.
"So you're telling me you accepted this job blindly?"
"Well yeah, think about how much those two carts will come in handy if we pull this off, I couldn't say no."
Napoleon sighs and rubs his head, "I guess you're right. Now we just need to figure out how to go about doing this."
Ubica turns to Ian and gently grabs him by the ear. "Alright kid, I'm sure your boss gave you some kind of clues on how to find the God of Harvest, spill it."
"Ow okay okay! Let go of my ear!"
Ubica releases his ear and Ian rubs it with a sour look on his face.
"I guess she comes at random spots all over the city. One year, some guy found her dancing around in the flowers outside of the city walls."
Ubica takes a deep breath and says, "Great... a wild goose chase that anyone else can win."
"No it's not! If you and that girl who you won the dance contest with looked around, I'm sure you'll find her easily!"
Ubica looks at Trojia and then turns to the group and says, "Alright guys, we’re going to split up and search around the city. Trojia, you'll be coming with me."
Trojia smiles and agrees wholeheartedly, but she is quite annoyed when he adds,
"Ian, you’re coming with the two of us."
The groups are now settled and are searching throughout the city. As a strategy to cover the most ground, Napoleon is searching the center of the city, Niomyo in the north, Strauphius in the east, Tsubiri in the west, Daey in the south, and Ubica's group is searching the outskirts of the city walls.
"Wow! This place is amazing!" shouted Ian.
His eyes are full of excitement at the sight of all of the different colored flowers that tatter the grassland.
"Haven't you been out here before?" Trojia asked..
Ian is wearing a wide smile revealing two missing teeth when he replies, "Nope!"
Ubica is taken aback by this, the city is quite big but it's nothing more than a half hour walk to its outskirts.
"Why not?"
The smile on Ian's face fades just a little. "Well, I've been working for my boss since I was six. I live at the shop so if I'm not sent out of the city, I won't leave. This is the first time I’ve gotten the chance to see outside the city walls!"
Ubica and Trojia can't help but think that this is just a little cruel; sure a job like his is important but it might as well be working in a cage under these circumstances. But the fact that he is finally experiencing the outside world makes them feel a little better about it.
Ian runs to a small hill and looks over the flower covered valley; numerous squares of wheat fields and other farmland stretch and weave through the many different colored fauna as far as the eye can see.
He takes a deep breath and turns to the two, as if sensing their pity about his situation, he shows another big smile and states, "But don't worry because one day, I'm going to see the entire world as a traveling merchant! Just like the boss was!"
These kinds of dreams and ambitions really give Ubica a lot of energy, dedication to dreams is something he had never had the ability to appreciate in people until he escaped the eternal pit.
"It sounds like you really look up to your boss. What's he like?"
Ian replies and speaks quickly with enthusiasm, "He is great! He let's me live in the shop and he teaches me everything I need to know about becoming a traveling merchant!"
Ubica walks to the top of the hill to join Ian, he pats him on the head and ruffles his hair. "That's good Ian, don't ever give up on the path you’re on."
"There's no way I will!" Ian says with a laugh as he runs around through the flowers.
Trojia walks to Ubica's side and gently nudges his shoulder, with a smile she says, "This is kind of funny."
"What do you mean?"
"You remind me of my dad."
"Um... is that a good thing?"
Trojia reminisces on Zurvick and replies, "Yes it is... you're good with kids just like him. I bet you'd make a good father."
Ubica has never even thought about having kids. That's actually the one thought he can positively say has never crossed his mind. Though he does notice that when he sees families that are happily doing things like shopping or going out to eat, he gets a little envious. Such normal activities that humans are blessed to be accustomed to really make him want to experience that kind life. But as quick as those emotions rise up in him, he shrugs it off just as fast and continues down the road he has to walk on.
The three are walking down a stone pathway that winds throughout the many small hills of the surroundings, out in the distance people are gathering bundles of wheat into silos to make many different kinds of bread. Most towns that are similar to this one would usually make rye bread because it's the least expensive and easiest to harvest, plus, it lasts much longer than any kind of white bread.
This city on the other hand, has an abundance of wheat so the cost of certain types of breads is the least of their worries, and in case of a drought, other crops of many different foods are at their leisure for consumption. No doubt, this is all the result of the God of Harvest and this is making Ubica very interested in seeing what this person is actually like. Most deities that reside in Purgatory only do things that result in being worshiped, and will occasionally act maliciously towards their subjects, so the fact that this one is seemingly humble is surprising.
"So... which one is your real girlfriend Ubica?" asked Ian as he threw a rock from the pathway off a hill.
Ubica's shoulders jump at the suddenness of that question and he doesn't answer.
Trojia raises her eyebrow and asks, "What do you mean which one?"
Ian turns to them and starts walking backwards. "He was looking really comfy with the other girl at lunch earlier."
"Oh? Is that a fact?" she replied, shooting Ubica a suspicious glare.
Ubica smiles awkwardly in reply to her stare and scratches his head.
"Neither of us is his girlfriend." she said, sighing away the look she had thrown at Ubica as if realizing she has no right to feel that way.
Ubica is relieved that she was the one to answer that on their behalf.
"Really? Well it sure doesn't look like it."
It looks like he is about to continue but Ubica interrupts him, "Anyways! So what does your boss want with the God of Harvest once we find her?"
"Well he met her once when he became a shop owner, she gave him advice and helped him become very wealthy. All he wants to do is ask her for help in future business deals again, they say that if you are the first to find her at the end of the festival, she will grant one wish that involves a harvest of some sort."
Although this seems like such a great gesture of generosity on the God’s part, the people of the city accepting the deity's help will cruelly be damned to Hell. With each passing day, they are losing their chance at becoming human once more and returning to Earth. Any chances of going to Heaven after that are completely blown by worshipping this gracious God of Harvest.
"Well, we've walked more than a couple miles now, should we head back to the city and look?" asked Trojia.
Ian shows a sour face because he is thoroughly enjoying being outside of the city walls.
Ubica agrees with her until he looks out in the distance and sees a batch of trees on top of a rather large hill.
He gestures towards it and says, "Hey kid, up on that hill where those trees are... "
Ian looks over to the small forest and asks, "What of it?"
"The wood that is made into the statue of the God of Harvest... does it come from that batch of trees?"
"Umm, I think so... Boss always said that the statue is made from local wood.”
Ubica grabs Trojia's hand and says, "I got a feeling that we will find her there, come on let's go!"
With that, they all rush through the flowers and up the hill.
"What's so special about that place?" asked Trojia as she is helplessly dragged along.
"Remember when they said that the winners of the dance competition are the ones that pleased the God of Harvest the most? Well, assuming that it wasn't just up to the judges, that would mean that she was watching us, and if that were the case she would be watching us through the statue that was overlooking the dance platform." Ubica purposes.
"So you're saying that since she was dwelling in the wood of the statue, she'd be in the place where the wood came from?"
"Yeah, if I'm right then that's where the God of Harvest will be. If I'm wrong, it was worth a try anyways."
Ian runs in front of them and excitedly says, "You're smarter than you look Ubica!"
They enter the forest and look around, and to their surprise it is actually larger than what it looked like from below..
"Hey do you hear that?" Ubica asked as he gestured the two to be quiet. "It sounds like humming."
With open ears, the sound of a faint humming of a woman can be heard deeper into the forest. They walk quickly toward the sound. Ian's face is brightening up with each step, and Ubica has found himself quite excited to see this deity as well; after hearing about all the good things she has done for this prosperous city, he’s been very interested in finally meeting a benevolent God.
A few trees away they can see the figure of a girl, though her body and face are being blocked by a tree, there is no doubt that this is the source of the humming. Her hands can be seen holding a palm full of seeds, she is tossing them on to the ground and within an instant, flowers bloom and small trees begin to grow. This sight leaves no doubt in their minds that they have found the ever elusive God of Harvest.
She is leaning against a tree as she takes a seedling from her hand and turns it into a stalk of wheat, moving closer to around twenty feet away her body and facial features can be seen. She is wearing a plaid painter's cap, a plaid button up shirt with its sleeves rolled up to her forearms over a small white thin strap shirt that makes the skin of her chest and belly visible. Small jean shorts barely cover her bottom and long black socks stretch from her brown boots all the way to her lower thighs.
She has astonishingly beautiful white hair and bright golden eyes. The sight of her sends a surge of electricity through Ubica’s body, the woman in front of them is Messor.
Ubica immediately let’s go of Trojia's hand when Messor shifts her attention to them.
"It's you! You look just like the statue!" shouted Ian with a big smile on his face.
Trojia finds it odd that he'd say that, because to her, the girl doesn't look anything like the wooden statue. "Are you the God of Harvest?" she asks.
Messor smiles and replies, "Indeed I am."
Ian starts jumping around in excitement. "This is so great! We did it!"
Messor chuckles gently and asks, "Were you looking for me?"
"Yes! We are the first to find you right!?"
"Indeed you are."
"Then that means that you'll help us!?"
Messor stands to her feet, patting the dirt off her black socks, "It would be my pleasure, you deserve a reward for your efforts in finding me."
Ian tells her the story of he and his boss while Ubica is still standing in the same position as stiff as a rock. The last time he saw her she appeared in what seemed like a dream, but this time she has shown up in reality just a few feet away from him, he can even smell the sweet fragrance of her hair from where he stands.
"Let's hurry back to the city guys!" Ian shouts.
With a cracked voice, Ubica responds, "Okay... you two go on ahead, I'd like to talk to the God of Harvest for a moment."
Messor smiles kindly and says, "Please, call me Messor."
Ubica flinches at how easily she threw out her name; though, in Latin her name literally means Harvester. It's almost like he could have figured out the possibility of all this if he had given it a little more thought.
"Okay, we'll meet you at the bottom of the hill!"
Trojia looks back with a wary face but Ubica gestures for her to leave with a reassuring smile so she reluctantly follows Ian.
"And you are?" asked Messor sarcastically.
Ubica ignores her sarcasm, puts his hands on her shoulders and says, “I can’t believe you’re actually here...”
She smiles and says, "It’s been a long time."
She rests her palms on the back of his hands that are clasped firmly on her shoulders, she can feel them quivering.
Messor gently pulls his hands off her before walking over to the side of a hill; looking out to the view of the city a couple miles away she says, "You know, the people of this city, they have come to rely too much on their deity. I had to do something about that so I took her place."
“You took her place?”
“Well, more like I killed her.”
“But why? She was doing so much good for them.”
Messor sighs and turns to him, to her surprise she finds that he has moved close to her again as though he unconsciously gravitated towards her. With a smile, she puts her hand on his chest and says, “When I left the pit, I found myself feeling things I’ve never felt before. Things like compassion, and things like pity. These people are on the fast track to a much worse fate than poor harvests, who else would save them if not I?”
Ubica is surprised that she would do such a thing, as cruel as this may sound, she has done this for their own good.
“Have you not come to feel the same things?” Messor asked, “It would seem like we left the worst of us behind in the flames; even though I know I shouldn’t care about them I couldn’t control the fact that I did.”
“I do feel the same way, but I doubt that I would have killed the God of Harvest because of it. I’m not so sure I have the right to make decisions for anyone.”
Ubica looks troubled, this conundrum had left two undesirable choices that the two acted upon oppositely with the same good intentions.
“We may not have that right, but we have the power. What’s done is done.”
Gently stroking the side of his face, Messor smiles and looks into his green eyes, “All that really matters is that I am here with you now, where I belong. Are you happy to have me back?”
“To see that you’ve changed with me, not only am I happy but I’m relieved. I don’t know what I would’ve done had you tried to push me back to the past.”
“The past is irrelevant now, let’s start our journey forward.”
Ubica smiles and says, “Yeah!”
The two start walking through the forest and down the hill to meet Trojia and Ian. Birds can be heard singing and they are flying close and landing on Messor's hands at will. Ubica sees this and is amazed by it; back in the past, both of them were repellent to animals because they could sense their evil.
"So what now?" Ubica asks, watching her stroke the head of a very happy looking blue jay.
Messor releases the bird and watches it fly off when she answers, "I guess it is to meet that child's boss and grant his wish."
“I meant after that."
She turns with a little curtsy and replies, "You know what must be done. Our fight isn’t over. Our enemies may be different but we can’t live on in peace until we destroy them."
He sighs and shows a troubled face. “I wonder if we’re strong enough as we are to take on Damien and the Hierarchy.”
“We’ll have to make the others strong first. We need all the help we can get."
This catches his attention and he raises his eyebrow as she continues.
"Your comrades are in Purgatory and they are 'aware', I can teach them how to use the powers that come with having that knowledge."
"You can?"
"You know better than anyone that I have always been able to harvest the souls of humans, it’s just that this time I’ll be using my powers to their soul’s benefit. It will be as easy as flipping a switch, after that it’s all up to them."
Upon reaching the other two down at the bottom of the hill, Ian and Trojia introduce themselves and head toward the city.
Trojia slows down and walks to Ubica's side, Messor and Ian are holding hands as Ian dances and rushes her down the road.
Ubica can't help but smile tenderly at this scene, what he’s seeing is something he had never thought possible.
Trojia sees this and asks, "So what do you think of her? This God of Harvest."
His shoulders jump, knowing that she isn’t the Harvest God at all, he had completely forgotten about the prospect of having to reveal Messor’s true identity.
"I think she’s great. After talking to her, I think she's genuine in her desire to help the people of this city.”
“I’m surprised.” Trojia replies, “So far since we’ve gotten here to Purgatory, everyone has seemed to be bad.”
He nervously laughs and is quite passive when he says, "I’m as surprised as you are about this one, honestly.”
“Hmmm, hey Ubica, do you know her?”
“W-What do you mean?”
“I don’t know.” Trojia said as she held her chin and pondered, “I guess it just seems like you two are so much alike. I’m not sure why but I feel the same kind of energy from the both of you.”
“Is that so? And here I am thinking that I’m unique.”
“Oh you most definitely are one of a kind, but I can’t help but feel a similarity… so you really don’t know her?”
“This is the first time we’ve ever met.” Ubica replied quickly.
As soon as he answered that he was shocked by how easily he was able to lie to her. He doesn’t even understand why her identity is something he’d want to keep from her in this situation. But after his answer, he feels like he can’t possibly tell her otherwise.
“I see…” Trojia said, shrugging it off she smiles, “Well I’m glad she’s not like the last deity we came across.”
“Yeah, me too.” Ubica replied, attempting to hide his lie with a bashful agreement.
He’s still confused at why his instincts chose to react the way they did, and this makes him wonder how long he’ll keep this ruse up, and if it’s even possible to do so. It’s only a matter of time before Trojia and the rest find out, but as if there were something blocking him from spilling it now, he can only remain silent.
Whatever this feeling is that made him lie is brushed to the side when the four of them enter the gates of the city and back into a crowd of people enjoying the last day of the festivities. Almost relieved to push the pressure of this into the back of his mind, he sighs and grabs Trojia’s hand to help guide her through the mass of people.
The job has now been done; the three of them went to Ian's boss's shop and granted his wish. Though saddened at the fact that Messor, who is taking place of the God of Harvest said she planned on leaving after fulfilling her end of the bargain, Ian kept his head held high and said his thank yous repeatedly.
After acquiring the two carts they all wave their goodbyes and head off into the sunset, leaving the vibrant city behind.
"That was a lot easier than I thought it would be." said Ubica while scratching his head.
This past week has been a break from all of the dangers of the current situation they’re in here on Purgatory; having to leave a place where they shared in good times and gayety comes as bittersweet.
They are all sitting in their two horse drawn carts heading north once again, but this time there is an added person.
"Yeah, all I did was tell him what to expect in the market place in the next few months with the God of Harvest’s departure." said Messor, sitting casually in the cart as if she had always been there.
Trojia is sitting with the two along with Napoleon who is riding up front, guiding the reins for the horses, she smiles and says, "Ian seemed really happy that you helped him, he couldn't stop saying thank you."
Ubica adds, "It's probably because the more success that comes to his boss, the better chance it is that he will fulfill his dream of becoming a traveling merchant."
Trojia gestures to Messor for a handshake and says, "It was kind of you to help him.”
“It was nothing really.” she replied as she takes Trojia’s hand.
“We never got to properly introduce ourselves... It's nice to meet you Messor, I hope we can be good friends."
Messor looks delighted when she says, "It's my pleasure, I look forward to our journey together."
"I'm sorry to intrude on your conversation, but I am quite interested in how and when you will teach us how to gain abilities." Napoleon bluntly interrupts, his back turned to her as he holds the reins.
Messor giggles and sarcastically replies, "Nice to meet you too."
Ubica cringes when he notices Napoleon's shoulder twitch in annoyance, as much as Napoleon has started to lighten up since the beginning of this journey, he is still a hardened army man who’d much rather exchange important details than idle pleasantries.
“Napoleon.” He answers bluntly, not even a hint of cordiality in his tone.
The general isn’t hiding his impatience, and it seems that Messor senses this and decides to make him wait.
"You see, the thing about that is, I find it hard to explain anything when I'm tired. How about I tell you when we set up camp tonight?"
She teases the tense chauffeur, smiling and shooting a playful glare into the back of his head that he can feel beating on him, he knows can't really object because he understands that if she is telling the truth, she is vital to the group's survival.
All he can do is sigh and say, "Fine."
The simultaneous sighs of relief from Trojia and Ubica can be heard as they lean back in their seats and head off into the upcoming night.
"This looks like a good place to make camp." said Napoleon as he pulls the cart into a batch of trees just a few dozen yards off the dirt road in which they were traveling on.
He jumps off and begins to set up the tents that they had bought back in town with some of the money from all of their part time jobs. From behind them comes the other cart with the rest of the group being driven by Niomyo, she parks and steps off to help him with the tents. With camp almost completely set up, the group and Messor have all been acquainted and seem to get along fairly well. Ubica is leaning against a tree from afar and watching her interactions with his comrades with a soft smile on his face.
Messor turns to him and heads over to his area, leaving the others behind and talking amongst themselves.
"You look relieved, Ubica."
"I guess you can say that... you weren’t ever this personable in the past."
She laughs and says, "You weren't either."
"Hahaha, well that is true."
Messor walks past him and proceeds deeper into the woods.
"Where are you off to?" Ubica asks.
She turns and sticks her tongue out. "Even someone like me has to pee every once in a while."
Ubica blushes and mutters, "Ah... oh."
"Oh? Could it be that you're having perverted thoughts about me?"
Ubica shuts his eyes and holds out his hands in a swaying motion.
"No I'm not! I'm not at all!"
"Awww how cute your flustered face is."
She turns to walk away and thinks back on how she has never seen that side of him before, looking back on him she sees that he is still standing there with a stupid look on his face.
"A little privacy?"
Ubica scrambles and shouts, "R-Right!"
He quickly walks away and heads back to the others huddled around the campfire.
Messor has a smile as she watches his back become smaller the further away he walks, but it turns a little sour when she loses sight of him and she says under her breath with a sigh, "It's not like it's anything you haven't seen before."
Messor walks into the dark of the trees until she can't hear the voices of the rest of the group. She reaches into the pocket of her skinny jean shorts and pulls out a small locket with a pentagram on it, she opens it and what lies inside is just a blank piece of black velvet paper.
"Have you joined them yet?" a man's voice is heard coming from the locket.
"Would I have answered your call if I didn't?" she answers combatively.
"How sharp your tongue is. I am inclined to suggest that you remember who rescued you from the eternal lake of fire before you use your usual tone of voice towards me."
She clicks her tongue and replies, "If it wasn't for you, I never would've been in that lake in the first place."
A chuckle can be heard from within the locket, "That is where you're wrong, do not blame other people for your own foolish decisions.”
Messor scowls at the locket and grits her teeth.
“Oh my, it seems that we are getting off topic." the voice in the locket says.
Messor takes a deep breath to suppress her anger and says, "So what do you want?"
"I just wanted to make sure you knew exactly what the plan is... and perhaps knowing your whereabouts would be nice."
She scoffs and answers, "Since the plan benefits me, it’s not something I’d so easily forget. As for where I am, I’m not going to tell you. I won't ever let you do something to harm Ubica."
"You are a walking contradiction Messor. I will find you eventually, it's just a matter of time."
She stretches out her arms and says, "When that time comes, I'll deal with you appropriately."
The voice coming from the locket slowly fades away, "Very well then; until that time I would like for you to keep this little secret between the two of us, none of our comrades can know about our plans just yet..."
The voice dissipates, leaving Messor with an unbecoming frown on her face. She shuts the locket and slips it back into her shorts.
Heading back to the rest of the group she turns the frown into a conniving smile and says, "Don't lump me in with that lot, Damien... my loyalty belongs only to one man, and I have my own plans for him."
Northbound Reunion: (END)
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