I got the urge to do a bit of Lord Hunger/Gisena Blackrom shipping. Basically, Gisena found her own Artifact with mental corruption issues and like any self-respecting Rihaku protagonist, picked it up.
Project Candle Light Hate Date(630 Words)
It turns out Letrizia was part of the management crew for "Roosters", the nebulous community of mercenaries, contractors, and government operatives who explored the Voyaging Realm from the city known as the Roost. The payment for recovering her was generous enough to enable you and Gisena to relax for some time before having to take another contract. Letrizia tried to get an exclusivity deal with House Atriez out of you but the Tyrant's doom wouldn't allow it.
Some of the Roosters who came from Astral Rifts didn't even qualify as human though, more like human adjacent. Strange horns, clockwork robots, multi-armed angels, it was marvel that they could be understood at all. You thought you understood the dynamic you and Gisena had, but ever since that last contract where she salvaged a pitch-black crescent-moon/shovel/blade… thing with you and some of the nonhuman Roosters, it's been getting stranger.
"This is the third contract you've been exactly 11 minutes late to. Are all nobles this terrible at timekeeping?"
"You could ask me again in an hour? I'll probably remember and blurt it out of the blue once you've forgotten all about this."
Her supplies were immaculate, she somehow managed to get a Class 3 suit of power armor souped up to Class 4 levels, the weird polearm she found would be worthy of your panopoly if you didn't already have a connection to the forebears blade, and she effectively slaughtered Astral Denizens, regardless of her punctuality. She got more out of the textbooks and technical supplies she bought than you could. You suspect she's jumped a rank or two from wherever she was before.
You tried ransoming her slipper back to her after she repeated the stunt she pulled on the river. She let you keep it, then filched your left boot when you weren't looking. You don't hate her. Some part of you actually enjoys the banter, and she's almost as sharp as your sword is. She took your curses down a notch. It's just… frustrating. What is she trying to accomplish? Killcount contests are fun but not when they're every contract. Or her rubbing the fact she's picking up more of this world's techbase in your face.
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"What does she want?" you asked Righteous Open Hand, the multi-armed lion-headed angel that was in your party when Gisena found the shovel thing.
Righteous Open Hand let out a low, pensive rumble.
"I recall a story I heard of a dead race. Their love of competition was without peer. It was through competition and violence that they let their torrid passions out and became one"
You arched an eyebrow. Does everybody here think you're flirting?
"I'm pleased I don't have to worry about things like that anymore. I think Good luck." The angel said as you walked away.
She couldn't possibly be flirting, you don't exactly feel like explaining to her about your dead wife, and the Decimator's Affliction makes this a bad idea in general. This is wrong, this is… you don't know what this is…
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"There's a contract for Sapphire-Class Drake Cores. Do you intend to join me?" You ask Gisena.
"51-49 Split on the bounty, whoever kills the most gets the prize?"
"How about we make it more interesting and just spar instead? I'm getting tired of all these petty games."
"Thought you'd never ask. It's like what you always say about stealing whatever amount of joy you can, and I intend to take it all..." Gisena said with a wolflike grin on her face as she gripped the shovelblade.
The sparring match with her is in three days. You can't take this anymore. Hopefully this will be enough to get this out of both your systems and you can explain to her how this will never work out.
