ltmauve
"Excuse me?"
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- She/Her
You're missing the '[' btw
The Villainess wants to be a Hero
- Thread starter dmclain2
- Start date
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Oh I completely missed that, thank you!
- Location
- Academy City
- Pronouns
- They
[X] "Halt, evildoer!" I raise my sword and shield and prepare for the most difficult fight of my life.
Mother Nyx
Mother of Elpis
- Location
- The Kei Klub
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] "Halt, evildoer!" I raise my sword and shield and prepare for the most difficult fight of my life.
I can't believe I wrote that scene and didn't even think about Minsc. I grew up playing those games. Shame on me.
ChiefTurtle117
The Sigillite
- Location
- Holy Terra
[X] "Halt, evildoer!" I raise my sword and shield and prepare for the most difficult fight of my life.
Ashe's might have some basis for thinking Ciel's dead from a distance. Ciel randomly showed up at Reitzland, bunch of knights mustered, a city destroying level of dark magic was suddenly cancelled, Reitzland went into lockdown for a day, and Ciel couldn't be found or sensed anymore.
- Location
- california
[X] "Hi, sis!" my sword and shield fall to the side as I collide with my sister's hip and wrap her in a bone-crushing hug.
- Location
- Rochester, NY
[X] "Halt, evildoer!" I raise my sword and shield and prepare for the most difficult fight of my life.
Committing to the bit! And hey, if we beat up our sister we might be be able to get her to join our party, them's the rules.
Committing to the bit! And hey, if we beat up our sister we might be be able to get her to join our party, them's the rules.
In which a Villainess is bullied by her sister
"Halt, evildoer!" I raise my sword and shield and prepare for the most difficult fight of my life.
"Ciel'othor'morg'dal, where have you been, and what in the maddening screams of Dys are you doing?"
My true name gouges crimson lines in reality, and I flinch. My sisters only ever used my full name when I was in deep trouble.
No. Wait. I was a soon-to-be [Hero]. I didn't have to subject myself to the tyranny of my elders. That's right. I would throw off this yoke of oppression and take a stand for bullied younger sisters everywhere.
"I'm an adventurer, here to end your villainous rampage." I brace myself in a defensive stand as I prepare for the inevitable—and violent—response.
"Are you, now?"
The speculative stare Ashe fixes me with makes me want to run to her and assure her that I was still her favorite sister. I couldn't do that, though. I was committed to my role. And only woe would come from the mixing of [Hero] and villain.
That is, unless my sister becomes a recurring villain that I finally defeat in the middle of a flaming caldera or something. Then, she'd be my most trusted and loyal sidekick. Unfortunately, I didn't even have to let my mind shatter to realize that wouldn't happen. Ashe just wasn't the kind of villain that eventually became a [Hero]'s sidekick. She was way too elegant for that—which was only appropriate for someone cool enough to be my sister.
"Yeah!"
"Is that so~?" she almost sing-songs the question.
Before I can respond, a shaping of mana explodes out from around her with a declaration of '[Maddened Sphere of Azathoth].' The sky shatters, and a field of pale silver eyes peer in through the cracks as a gibbering attention is drawn by the spell. For a moment, cause is unbounded from effect, space twists and warps, and a blood-red film covers my eyes, then a sense of stygian amusement wafts through the air, and the presence withdraws.
With his blessing received, existence tolls like a struck gong as the Tier 10 spell reaches its apex. A moment later, a cataclysm of mana scrapes jagged barbs upon this plane of existence as walls of madness wrought from the glow of dying stars shimmer into existence around us.
Despite my genius mind being almost totally focused on the scolding that was coming my way, I spent a moment worrying about my teammates. Aza's attention was fun in a screaming incoherently and clawing your eyes out sort of way, which would make it a lot harder for El to read her boring books. Markus would still be able to nap on my shoulder, though, so he should probably be just fine.
When the dome of pale starlight finishes forming above us, it unintentionally blocks the sight of our upcoming titanic struggle from view. Ashe turns to me, a brilliant, endlessly proud smile on her face. Despite the weight of our upcoming struggle weighing down on me, I can't help the urge to preen.
"I'm so, so proud of you, Ciel."
It takes a moment for her words to sink in. No one's ever said anything like that to me before. My skin flutters and feels hot. I feel myself grinning so widely that I think my face would split in half if it weren't held together by flaps of skin.
"Really!?!"
"Indeed." My sister flicks her hand, and [Bloodrose] appears in her hands. The whip twitches impatiently as she smiles at me. "I was worried that you would be content to stomp around, playing [Calamity] and hero with your toy cities forever. But this, this is brilliant."
I can barely think past the approval radiating from my sister. Other than becoming a [Hero], this was everything I had ever wanted wrapped up in a single moment, "Is it?"
"It's a plan worthy of Sopharanatoth or Ri'ankor'mal or even me."
My chest felt like a cup that had been filled past the brim, and liquid was spilling out over the sides. I never wanted this moment to end. "It is?"
"Yes." My sister nods in a way that says I shouldn't question her judgment anymore. "Deciding to seal away your [Calamity] skills so you can infiltrate the adventurers guild and sow discord and chaos from within the structures of mortal existence is ingenious."
Exactly, I would build up their trust in me, and when I was finally allowed access to the wardstones at Skyfall, I could…
My infallible memory pokes me, and the villainous plan dissipates from my mind. That wasn't why I was here. I was here to vanquish ancient evils and become a [Hero]—just like the characters in my books.
"That's not it at all!" I shout out my defiance of my evil sister. "I want to be a [Hero]!"
"A hero?"
My sister looks at me like she doesn't understand the words I'm saying, but that doesn't bother me nearly as much as the way she said 'hero': like it was a hobby people did to pass the time. I had to correct her. I was the expert on [Heroes] here. I'd read hundreds of books about them.
"No. A [Hero]. You know, with the class and a [Sword of Light] and an ultimate attack and-"
The snapping sound of [Bloodrose] decapitating a [Bloodforged] that had wandered too close interrupts me before I can really dig into my rant, and I see my sister frowning at me. "That's… where did you get the idea that… who told you that heroes were a class?"
I don't understand what she was asking. It was like asking me to describe how water was wet. A [Hero] is a class; the sun rises in the west—as simple as that. Still, Ashe was my older sister—and in a six-way tie for my favorite person—so I tried my best to answer her question.
"Well, I started with a book called The [Hero] and the Cat. It's about a girl who finds a sword in the forest and rescues a cat from an evil witch and the cat becomes a girl and they go on an adventure together to defeat an evil dragon and then they make kissy-faces at each other and-"
[Bloodrose] snaps again and then slithers out to wrap around the blood-dragon's neck and starts to squeeze. The blood-bones in its neck start to crack with a delightful popping noise. The dragon starts thrashing—because my sister likes it when things struggle as they die. As it collapses back into blood and slime, Ashe breathes out a noisy exhale and stares at me with an intensity that starts to smolder the air around me.
"Who put the idea of kissing into your mind!?!" Ashe's stare sharpens to a glare, and I can read the promise of painful death in her eyes. "It was that fucking [Lord of Fallen Flame], wasn't it? He will know suffering beyond mortal imagination. He will spend ten thousand mortal lives screaming in agony and another ten thousand begging me to die."
I pause to let my genius mind shatter, only to sigh when it comes back with an answer. It would not, in fact, be [Heroic] to sic my sister on my former overlord. "No. He was just boring and lame. And I always skip past those pages anyway. It's weird and gross."
"That's-" My sister's burning stare reverts to its usual intensity as she sighs in relief. "Just remember, when anyone touches you inappropriately, you should-
"Remove the limb touching me and then all the rest of their limbs just to make sure they can't do it again," I repeat a lecture I'd heard a hundred times from each of my sisters. It was one of their favorite things to do when we were all together. That, and make me leave when Riri started talking about her seductions—whatever that meant.
Ashe looks reassured that I've remembered their lecture—as though my infallible memory would allow anything less. "Right. So, back to the hero thing-"
"[Hero]." I, on the other hand, was starting to worry about her memory because she seemed to have forgotten the proper emphasis.
"There's no such-"
She cuts off whatever she was going to say mid-sentence and looks up to writhing tendrils of starlight above us. I recognized that look; it was the same one I used when I let my mind shatter into fractal patterns. So, instead of telling my sister all about my new teammates and the fire-bear I'd fought, I wait for her to finish.
A moment later, she looks back down from the "You want to be a hero?"
"A [Hero], yes." This was getting worrying. I might have to talk to Soph or Riri to let them know that Ashe may be going senile. She was the oldest one of us, after all.
"Well, I suppose I can leave Luminia on its own for a while," she smirks with vicious amusement. "I'm sure their [Archmages] will have fun trying to unravel the threads of this spell."
I nod in agreement at that. Aza's spells were so twisty and weird they even made my brain hurt a little, and I was a [Calamity] and a genius.
"If you're going to be a hero-"
"A [Hero]."
"Fine, Ciel, a [Hero]." She spits the word out like it pains her, and I breathe an internal sigh of relief. Maybe she wasn't going senile after all. "Then you will need an appropriately epic villain."
"I was going to use the [Lord of Fallen Flame], but I accidentally left his castle as a pile of rubble and killed off all of his minions except not-furry-Markus. So I don't know how good a villain he will be."
I try to keep my excitement under control. My genius mind was poking me about where my sister was going with this, but I didn't want to spoil it. Ashe was the super responsible one, always busy with her floating city. She never had time to play.
"A coward with a crown he refuses to use isn't worth a moment of your attention, Ciel'othor. He isn't a mote of dust compared to the [Calamity of Pride]."
"Really!?!" My eyes feel so bright that it's a wonder they aren't shooting out rays of [Hellfire]. My chest feels like it's about to burst open from the emotions rampaging within it. Instead of being responsible and working on her plots, Ashe was going to play [Hero] and overlord. With me.
"Of course." she smiles fondly. "If little Ciel needs a villain, what choice could be better than her favorite older sister?"
My head bobbles back and forth as I nod fervently. "You can create evil plots and I can gather my teammates to thwart them and then I'll find a super-relic sword and we can have an epic final confrontation where I learn that the true powers of a [Hero] are the friends I made along the way—that and giant hell-beams my super-sword shoots out—and-"
"Indeed," My sister cuts off my rant with a single word and a gleeful smirk. "But for you to be able to do that, we need to first set the stage so that the fools outside don't suspect a thing."
"What do you mean?" Sure, I couldn't reveal my secret heritage so soon, but what would be wrong with letting them know I would be fighting against a [Calamity] who absolutely wasn't secretly-my-sister for the next several arcs?
"Your fellow adventurers will doubtless have questions if you return to them unscathed." Her smirk shifts from glee to something a lot more bloodthirsty as she says that.
My grin widens to match hers. I knew from my books that fighting the main villain in the first arc almost guaranteed a loss, but there was no better way to become a [Hero] than to claw my way back up from that early defeat. "You're on!"
I raise my sword only to blink as I feel a wetness running down my chest. I look down at a rose shaped out of blood embedded just to the right of my fluttery heart. It was really considerate for Ashe to avoid my heart—without my [Calamity] skills, that would be dangerous.
My shield moves seemingly in slow motion to deflect the thorny edge of my sister's whip, but it snakes neatly around my attempted block and shreds through my [Thick Skin] as though it didn't even exist.
"I would say I'm sorry, Ciel." My sister smirks as a spire of blood erupts beneath me and impales my calf, "but I'm not."
"It's fi-urghle." My reply is cut off by blood-red claws tearing out a chunk of my throat. I cough out a spray of blood and try again. "It's fine, sis! Give me your best shot!"
"Oh, I will."
Stars explode in front of my eyes as a wall of pure force crashes into my face. I hear more than feel my nose break and spit out another mouthful of blood as I dizzily try to re-set my shield. I might as well have been trying to block the wind for all the good it did. [Bloodrose] flashes a dozen times and tears a dozen gouges into me.
Something flashes in front of me too quickly to see, and my leg cracks with an unpleasant sound. I topple to the ground, unable to stand. Blood drips into my eyes, and my vision grows dim until all I can see is my sister's boot as she steps up beside me.
Something latches onto my unbroken leg and lifts me into the air, and I think I hear my sister whisper something like, 'You did well, Ciel. Now, it's my turn.'
"I had intended for you all to die screaming, but the valor of this fool child has bought you time."
I feel myself being shaken, and I bravely withhold a pained groan as my bones scrape unpleasantly against things I was certain they shouldn't scrape against. A [Hero] never admitted to pain—which my books made seem a lot easier than it was turning out to be.
"Instead, I will offer you a game."
I scrabble uselessly against the thing holding onto my leg and try to look up through the blood gumming my eyes shut. No. She promised. If I could have spoken through the hole in my lungs—and the hole in my throat, too, I guess—I would have shouted that this wasn't a game.
"I will destroy your pathetic city-states from the inside. My minions will infest your feeble institutions and drag them toward ruin. I will take and turn the best and brightest amongst you, and they will betray you with a smile."
As my sister continued, I realized it was probably for the best that my shout came out as a burble of blood and other fluids.
"You will have one year. One year for the seeds of paranoia to take root within your minds. Until parents no longer trust children and wives no longer trust husbands. And at the end, when mistrust and fear have torn apart all you have built, I will return, and I will drown you all in blood."
Wow.
I was thankful the bones in both my hands and arms were so broken; otherwise, I'd have tried to applaud. That was an amazing villain speech and an even more amazing plan. I would have just rampaged until everything was broken, but this was so much better. Her plots would break their spirit, and then she'd come back to destroy them with her [Bloodforged]. It was no wonder why Ashe was the oldest. She was such an awesome sister.
My genius mind pokes me out of my awe. Right. I was the [Hero] that wouldn't let her get away with her evil plan. I would root out her corruption and put her minions to the sword. And I would start right now.
I wiggle a floppy, broken foot at the strap holding me upright. Take that, sis.
"What's to stop us from killing you right now?" A grating voice forces its way past the blood clogging up my ears.
"You?" I hear the smirk my sister wears right before she does something cool.
"Your life." An agonized shout is cut off a moment later by the sound of flesh and bone exploding. "Any other objections?"
I try and pout, but it hurts too much to move my face over my broken nose, and cheek, and jaw. Ashe never let me watch her boil someone's blood until they pop like a sealed kettle. It wasn't fair.
"Take your fool, and know that she is the only reason any of you yet draw breath." The strap holding my leg vanishes, and I feel myself tumbling through the air.
The air explodes out of my holey lungs and broken ribs as I land in a puddle of mud and gore, which was probably for the best because if I had any breath, I would have screamed at the agony coursing through me. And that wouldn't be very [Hero]-like at all.
I hear reality whimper as a [Hellfire Portal] opens in the sky above me, and if I could have moved, I would have waved goodbye to my sister. The most I could manage, though, was a hoarse exhale through a mouthful of blood.
As the pain from my beating rises to drown me in darkness and unconsciousness, one last thought echoes in the silence of my mind. Bye, sis. You're the best.
[Conditions met - Valiant Warrior Obtained!]
[Fighter consolidates into Valiant Warrior!]
[Valiant Warrior Level 8!]
[Rare Skill - Brave Soul gained!]
[Skill - Kindle Bravery gained!]
My eyes blink open, and I stare up at an unfamiliar ceiling. "Wh-" My voice trails off in a dry hacking cough, and I sink into the sheets surrounding me.
My eyes blink open, and I stare up at an unfamiliar ceiling. "Where?" My voice is a cracked whisper, but at least I can make it through the question. Unfortunately, no one is there to answer the question. I stare up for a minute or two longer before the weights on my eyelids drag them closed.
My eyes blink open, and I stare up at a familiar ceiling. "Where am I?"
"You're awake!" I struggle to turn my head to the voice that sounds an awful lot like El. "Here, don't strain yourself."
El materializes above me and helps me slide up until my back is placed against a pillow and my head is leaning against a cool, wooden headboard. "What happened?"
El scowls at me. She looks tired, as if she hadn't slept in weeks. I wonder why. "You charged a [Calamity], you fucking idiot, and she beat you an inch from death."
"At least she didn't-" my voice trails off with a cough, and a moment later, the edge of a glass cup is placed against my lips.
"Drink slowly, idiot."
El holds the cup up while I drink greedily, and when I free my hands from the sheets trapping them, she wraps them around the cup. After ensuring that I wouldn't spill my drink all over myself, she leans back and lets me drink at my own pace.
I let the empty cup tilt from my fingers and fall down to my lap. I grin. "Thanks, I needed that."
"You need a brain." El's scowl deepens until it's tinged with some strange emotion I can't even begin to identify. "What in the hells made you think charging a [Calamity] was a good idea?"
"It's…" my genius mind muddles through flashes of memories fed to it by my infallible memory, but I stop before I can blurt out the truth. "It seemed like a good idea."
"That's because you're an idiot." Well, that certainly wasn't true. I was a [Calamity], a soon-to-be [Hero], and definitely a genius. But my genius mind was also telling me that arguing with her right now was a bad idea, so I stayed silent. "From now on, you let me-"
"Chirp."
"Markus and I do the thinking for you."
That was an incredibly generous offer. It was always so much easier when I had a rampage target picked out for me. It's why I worked for overlords instead of creating my own plots. Still, I wasn't sure whether I should let my future sidekicks do the thinking for me. On the other hand, [Heroes] letting their super-smart sidekicks make plans was pretty common, so maybe it would work. I'd have to think about it.
"I'm not sure-"
"Nope. Sorry. We held a vote while you were busy almost dying!" El shouts the last two words at me for some reason. "We do the thinking now."
"Chirp."
I frown. [Hero] parties weren't democracies. I knew that much. I also knew that if I ignored my sidekicks too much, they would betray me at a critical, plot-relevant point in time. So, how was I supposed to handle this? I let my mind fracture, but when it reforms, I'm left no closer to a solution. My books were split almost perfectly evenly between what I should do. My frown deepens. Thinking was hard.
"Can I at least be the face of the team?" My voice definitely doesn't take on a plaintive tone as I ask my question. This was a critical point. If I didn't at least seem to be in charge of my party, I'd never become a [Hero].
El reaches out to pinch at my cheek, and I smile as I realize my face isn't fractured anymore. "Since Markus can't talk and I don't like dealing with people, that's all yours."
"Yay." I regret my exclamation when some still healing bit of something or other in my chest pulls unpleasantly. "Oww."
"Here," El reaches somewhere behind her and hands over a pale green potion. "There's shortages of everything after the [Calamity of Pride]'s appearance, but I'll be damned if I let my teammate wait in line for a healing potion like a peasant."
Her tone and words were yet more support for my hypothesis that El was a princess in disguise. Though, I still wasn't quite sure why she seemed so unconcerned about finding allies to regain her throne. I'm sure it would come up eventually. Besides, I could hardly complain about a teammate keeping a secret.
So, instead, I grab the potion in both hands and swallow it down in a single gulp. I feel a warmth settle in my stomach and begin to spread out to my limbs. The pain in my chest starts to fade, and I smile happily. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it." My partner grins at me for a moment before looking away.
My impeccable memory pokes at me and reminds me that I'd woken up several times before this. "How long have I been out?"
"A week," is the almost instantaneous reply. "The guildmaster came by a few days ago to make sure you weren't dead. The Council tried to come in, too. They blathered something about creating an accounting of responsibility, but I told them to fuck off until you woke up."
Was I really that important that people would come to see me while I was asleep? How strange. Still, the idea sparked a faint warmth in my stomach, and I grinned, "Thanks, partner."
"Heh. Well, someone has to keep those vultures away from you."
I wasn't quite sure what that meant, but since El was smiling at me, I figured it couldn't be that bad. Still, I did have a different question, one directly related to the evil plot my sister was currently enacting.
"What happened after m- the [Calamity] left?"
"You mean after she tossed your almost-dead body back to us like a used towel?"
That wasn't quite how I'd put it, but I was in a lot of pain and kind of dizzy from blood loss, so who was I to say? "Yeah, that too."
"It's been a bit of a shit show," a familiar voice calls out, and a second later the guildmaster strolls in. "That spell she cast fucked with a bunch of people—made them go crazy and attack whoever was nearest. We're lucky that it happened during the day, or we'd be dealing with the aftermath of a bunch of parents who went temporarily crazy and murdered their children."
"Guildmaster, how good of you to come in uninvited," El smiles in a way that doesn't look happy at all.
Guildmaster Alis shrugs, "When I heard Ciel here was awake, I came right over."
"Really? What for?" I scoot up on my bed. I didn't want my guildmaster to see me lounging like that—she might think I wasn't fit to be an adventurer.
"You spent the most time around the [Calamity] out of all of us." Her sword-cane taps on the floor as she walks over to me. She waves El out of her chair and sits down beside my bed. Dark green eyes bore down into me with an intensity that kind of reminded me of my sisters. "We're all a bit interested in why she let you live."
"Oh. I-"
I should have expected that this question was coming, but at first, I'd been too busy being amazed at Ashe's plot, and then I'd been terribly injured. I'd also apparently spent a week unconscious, so maybe it was understandable, but still.
"I think she was just amazed at how brave I am." My immaculate memory pokes at me, "I even got a new class from it. [Valiant Warrior]."
"Did you?" The oppressive aura surrounding her disappears, and she smiles. "An impressive class evolution, and you're not even level 10, are you?"
"Level 8," I respond instantly, preening at how impressed my guildmaster was with me.
El sighs and leans down to flick my forehead, "Ciel. Don't tell people your class and levels."
"But-"
"Didn't we just agree that Markus and I would do the thinking?" I stare at her for a moment and even open my mouth to argue, but she just looks at me with a confident smirk.
My eyes fell in defeat. I had just agreed to that. Still, "Yes, but you don't have to say that in front of the guildmaster."
"Heh," the guildmaster's chuckle cuts off whatever response I could see forming on El's face. "I had the same talk with a teammate when I was just starting. It ended up working out pretty well while we were a team. I hit things with my sword and he made plans and drew maps and wrote notes about things."
"Why'd you split apart?"
"You shouldn't pry into other people's past, idiot. What if something bad had happened?" I tried to lean back before El could flick my forehead again, but since I was stuck in a bed, she just leaned over a bit more and did it anyway.
The guildmaster waves away the concern, and I smirk triumphantly at my teammate. "It's fine. He earned a place at Skyfall, and I moved on to become [The Sword of Summer]."
"But I didn't come here to talk about my past." She pauses, and her face suddenly looks older than it had been a moment ago. "The Council's been bothering me. They think you've somehow been contaminated. They want to lock you up until this whole [Calamity] thing sorts itself out."
I hadn't even decided how to feel about that—a [Hero] at odds with a corrupt government was pretty common—when my teammate's shout echoes through the room, "What!! That's bullshit."
A moment later, Markus chirps stridently and hops from his spot on the dresser onto the foot of my bed, where he crosses his fuzzy arms and glares.
"Indeed. I told them that if they tried to arrest an adventurer for defending their city, they might not have an adventurers guild in the morning."
"That'd be the least of their problems," El scowls darkly.
"Heh. While I cannot, as an officer of the guild, undermine duly empowered civil authority. It's well known that adventurers stick together, and quite a few of us think we only survived the [Calamity] attack due to your… heroism."
My face blooms into a smile, and I try to sit up straighter, only to be held down by El's hand on the top of my head. Well, that was good enough.
"Really?"
"Really, really."
The guildmaster nods approvingly, and while I bask in the glory of being heroic, she shoves a hand in her pocket and pulls out three silver bracelets. My eyes widen when I see that two of them are human-sized, while one is just a couple of loops linked together—perfectly sized for furry-Markus.
"I came here for two reasons—three, if I count the report I'll be giving to the Council about your new class, even those cowards should understand what it means to be a [Valiant Warrior]."
I open my mouth to ask what exactly it means—the characters in my books were [Heroes], not valiant-what's-it-means—but the guildmaster cuts me off with a smirk.
"It's a class whose conditions are met by showing bravery in the face of impossible odds and rescuing civilians from certain death." Her smirk turns a bit more wry as she continues, "If it were just the first part, our guild would be bursting at the seams with the class—we're all a bit touched when it comes to assessing danger—but of the dozen teams and solo adventurers that gathered at the gates, yours was the only one to come in with a wagonload of civilians."
"That's because we had El's cart to drag them with." It was important to clarify that despite clearly being a [Hero], I didn't do it by myself. Otherwise, my teammates might grow jealous of my awesome [Hero] abilities and leave me to die in the wilderness.
"Yes, that's definitely all I did."
My impeccable memory was telling me otherwise, but if she wanted to disagree, then I wasn't going to argue. "Yep. That's all you did."
"Ciel, if you weren't already hurt-"
"Before that, since I do have things to do today other than listening to a team bicker. Here."
She holds out a bracelet to El, who ties it to her left wrist with her other hand. Markus is next, and the guildmaster wraps it around his furry paw and then snaps it closed, which is nice of her. He has trouble working the latch on his adventuring bracelet. Finally, she leans down and I raise my arm so she can slip the bracelet around my wrist.
I hold my wrist up to get a better look at it. Silver. I was a D-rank adventurer already. Surely, no one other than a [Hero] could advance from unranked to D-rank in just a few days. The guildmaster's voice interrupts me before I can get too absorbed in pondering how quickly I am growing, though.
"E-rank is a stage of learning. It's where an adventurer takes her first steps outside of the safety of a city and comes face to face with danger. Many run from that first test. Some continue running for the rest of their lives."
Who would ever run from something like that? They'd never become a [Hero] if they did. Besides, the funnest-looking quests were all much higher than E-ranked.
"E-rank is not for fools who rush headlong into danger, nor is it a rank where an adventurer risks her life to save one of her fellows. Since you three have done both of those things, you are clearly not E-rank. This is not a reward. It is a recognition of what you've done."
The guildmaster pushes herself to her full height, her sword-cane hanging loosely in her hand. Her aura flows out and over the three of us with a prickly sort of warmth.
"Climb higher, young ones. To the limits of your abilities and beyond. Dark times have come to Dynegard, and I fear we will need that strength in the days to come."
Her aura vanishes, replaced by a tired smile. "And now that I've lectured at you, I have a Council to shout some sense into."
With that, she turns, her sword-cane tapping out a steady beat as she walks toward the door. When she gets there, she pauses and looks over her shoulder at us. "I don't believe in leaving things unsaid. You did good work out there, Ciel, but the Council has fingers in a lot of pies, and I can't guarantee you will remain free if you stay in Reitzland."
That was great news. Having to thwart my sister's evil plots while dodging a maybe-corrupt, maybe-just-cowardly-and-incompetent council was just the sort of thing [Heroes] were made from. "Thanks, guildmaster. We'll take care of everything."
"Heh. I'm sure you will."
With that, she vanishes through the door. A moment later, El turns to me and stares. "Whatever you're thinking, stop."
"But-"
"No. We will take the guildmaster's warning and leave tomorrow."
"What about-" I'm interrupted before I can ask about how we're going to uncover the evil hidden in the Council.
"Alis spent three years in Byregot as an [Inquisitor]. Leave her to uncover the truth here." El stares at me in a way that dares me to disagree.
"Fine~" I sigh out the word. There were other city-states we could go to. Ashe said she'd infiltrate all of them for her plot. "But since we're not leaving until tomorrow, let's do something fun today."
"I feel like I'm going to regret this, but ok." Markus turns to look at El and chirps softly. "He's right. Markus and I will make sure you don't pick anything too strenuous."
Pick as many as you want; at least the top option will win (maybe more, depending on how much I end up writing).
[] "We should go get a fancy meal somewhere. So we don't get too hungry on the road."
[] "We should find the adventurers we fought with in the siege. See how they're doing."
[] "Some nice old lady gave Markus and me a scarf; I want to see if she's ok."
[] "We should meet with the civilians we saved. One of them might have a relic they keep in their attic."
[] "There's got to be some kind of celebration for us having saved the city, right?"
[] "Go see some animals at the menagerie."
[] "Wander around the back alleys, totally not looking for trouble."
[] "Go buy some books, we can even go somewhere with boring books for you."
[] Write-in some other slice-of-life type activity here
[AN]
On the one hand, things are really shaping up for Ciel's quest to become a [Hero]. On the other hand, there's everything else.
"Ciel'othor'morg'dal, where have you been, and what in the maddening screams of Dys are you doing?"
My true name gouges crimson lines in reality, and I flinch. My sisters only ever used my full name when I was in deep trouble.
No. Wait. I was a soon-to-be [Hero]. I didn't have to subject myself to the tyranny of my elders. That's right. I would throw off this yoke of oppression and take a stand for bullied younger sisters everywhere.
"I'm an adventurer, here to end your villainous rampage." I brace myself in a defensive stand as I prepare for the inevitable—and violent—response.
"Are you, now?"
The speculative stare Ashe fixes me with makes me want to run to her and assure her that I was still her favorite sister. I couldn't do that, though. I was committed to my role. And only woe would come from the mixing of [Hero] and villain.
That is, unless my sister becomes a recurring villain that I finally defeat in the middle of a flaming caldera or something. Then, she'd be my most trusted and loyal sidekick. Unfortunately, I didn't even have to let my mind shatter to realize that wouldn't happen. Ashe just wasn't the kind of villain that eventually became a [Hero]'s sidekick. She was way too elegant for that—which was only appropriate for someone cool enough to be my sister.
"Yeah!"
"Is that so~?" she almost sing-songs the question.
Before I can respond, a shaping of mana explodes out from around her with a declaration of '[Maddened Sphere of Azathoth].' The sky shatters, and a field of pale silver eyes peer in through the cracks as a gibbering attention is drawn by the spell. For a moment, cause is unbounded from effect, space twists and warps, and a blood-red film covers my eyes, then a sense of stygian amusement wafts through the air, and the presence withdraws.
With his blessing received, existence tolls like a struck gong as the Tier 10 spell reaches its apex. A moment later, a cataclysm of mana scrapes jagged barbs upon this plane of existence as walls of madness wrought from the glow of dying stars shimmer into existence around us.
Despite my genius mind being almost totally focused on the scolding that was coming my way, I spent a moment worrying about my teammates. Aza's attention was fun in a screaming incoherently and clawing your eyes out sort of way, which would make it a lot harder for El to read her boring books. Markus would still be able to nap on my shoulder, though, so he should probably be just fine.
When the dome of pale starlight finishes forming above us, it unintentionally blocks the sight of our upcoming titanic struggle from view. Ashe turns to me, a brilliant, endlessly proud smile on her face. Despite the weight of our upcoming struggle weighing down on me, I can't help the urge to preen.
"I'm so, so proud of you, Ciel."
It takes a moment for her words to sink in. No one's ever said anything like that to me before. My skin flutters and feels hot. I feel myself grinning so widely that I think my face would split in half if it weren't held together by flaps of skin.
"Really!?!"
"Indeed." My sister flicks her hand, and [Bloodrose] appears in her hands. The whip twitches impatiently as she smiles at me. "I was worried that you would be content to stomp around, playing [Calamity] and hero with your toy cities forever. But this, this is brilliant."
I can barely think past the approval radiating from my sister. Other than becoming a [Hero], this was everything I had ever wanted wrapped up in a single moment, "Is it?"
"It's a plan worthy of Sopharanatoth or Ri'ankor'mal or even me."
My chest felt like a cup that had been filled past the brim, and liquid was spilling out over the sides. I never wanted this moment to end. "It is?"
"Yes." My sister nods in a way that says I shouldn't question her judgment anymore. "Deciding to seal away your [Calamity] skills so you can infiltrate the adventurers guild and sow discord and chaos from within the structures of mortal existence is ingenious."
Exactly, I would build up their trust in me, and when I was finally allowed access to the wardstones at Skyfall, I could…
My infallible memory pokes me, and the villainous plan dissipates from my mind. That wasn't why I was here. I was here to vanquish ancient evils and become a [Hero]—just like the characters in my books.
"That's not it at all!" I shout out my defiance of my evil sister. "I want to be a [Hero]!"
"A hero?"
My sister looks at me like she doesn't understand the words I'm saying, but that doesn't bother me nearly as much as the way she said 'hero': like it was a hobby people did to pass the time. I had to correct her. I was the expert on [Heroes] here. I'd read hundreds of books about them.
"No. A [Hero]. You know, with the class and a [Sword of Light] and an ultimate attack and-"
The snapping sound of [Bloodrose] decapitating a [Bloodforged] that had wandered too close interrupts me before I can really dig into my rant, and I see my sister frowning at me. "That's… where did you get the idea that… who told you that heroes were a class?"
I don't understand what she was asking. It was like asking me to describe how water was wet. A [Hero] is a class; the sun rises in the west—as simple as that. Still, Ashe was my older sister—and in a six-way tie for my favorite person—so I tried my best to answer her question.
"Well, I started with a book called The [Hero] and the Cat. It's about a girl who finds a sword in the forest and rescues a cat from an evil witch and the cat becomes a girl and they go on an adventure together to defeat an evil dragon and then they make kissy-faces at each other and-"
[Bloodrose] snaps again and then slithers out to wrap around the blood-dragon's neck and starts to squeeze. The blood-bones in its neck start to crack with a delightful popping noise. The dragon starts thrashing—because my sister likes it when things struggle as they die. As it collapses back into blood and slime, Ashe breathes out a noisy exhale and stares at me with an intensity that starts to smolder the air around me.
"Who put the idea of kissing into your mind!?!" Ashe's stare sharpens to a glare, and I can read the promise of painful death in her eyes. "It was that fucking [Lord of Fallen Flame], wasn't it? He will know suffering beyond mortal imagination. He will spend ten thousand mortal lives screaming in agony and another ten thousand begging me to die."
I pause to let my genius mind shatter, only to sigh when it comes back with an answer. It would not, in fact, be [Heroic] to sic my sister on my former overlord. "No. He was just boring and lame. And I always skip past those pages anyway. It's weird and gross."
"That's-" My sister's burning stare reverts to its usual intensity as she sighs in relief. "Just remember, when anyone touches you inappropriately, you should-
"Remove the limb touching me and then all the rest of their limbs just to make sure they can't do it again," I repeat a lecture I'd heard a hundred times from each of my sisters. It was one of their favorite things to do when we were all together. That, and make me leave when Riri started talking about her seductions—whatever that meant.
Ashe looks reassured that I've remembered their lecture—as though my infallible memory would allow anything less. "Right. So, back to the hero thing-"
"[Hero]." I, on the other hand, was starting to worry about her memory because she seemed to have forgotten the proper emphasis.
"There's no such-"
She cuts off whatever she was going to say mid-sentence and looks up to writhing tendrils of starlight above us. I recognized that look; it was the same one I used when I let my mind shatter into fractal patterns. So, instead of telling my sister all about my new teammates and the fire-bear I'd fought, I wait for her to finish.
A moment later, she looks back down from the "You want to be a hero?"
"A [Hero], yes." This was getting worrying. I might have to talk to Soph or Riri to let them know that Ashe may be going senile. She was the oldest one of us, after all.
"Well, I suppose I can leave Luminia on its own for a while," she smirks with vicious amusement. "I'm sure their [Archmages] will have fun trying to unravel the threads of this spell."
I nod in agreement at that. Aza's spells were so twisty and weird they even made my brain hurt a little, and I was a [Calamity] and a genius.
"If you're going to be a hero-"
"A [Hero]."
"Fine, Ciel, a [Hero]." She spits the word out like it pains her, and I breathe an internal sigh of relief. Maybe she wasn't going senile after all. "Then you will need an appropriately epic villain."
"I was going to use the [Lord of Fallen Flame], but I accidentally left his castle as a pile of rubble and killed off all of his minions except not-furry-Markus. So I don't know how good a villain he will be."
I try to keep my excitement under control. My genius mind was poking me about where my sister was going with this, but I didn't want to spoil it. Ashe was the super responsible one, always busy with her floating city. She never had time to play.
"A coward with a crown he refuses to use isn't worth a moment of your attention, Ciel'othor. He isn't a mote of dust compared to the [Calamity of Pride]."
"Really!?!" My eyes feel so bright that it's a wonder they aren't shooting out rays of [Hellfire]. My chest feels like it's about to burst open from the emotions rampaging within it. Instead of being responsible and working on her plots, Ashe was going to play [Hero] and overlord. With me.
"Of course." she smiles fondly. "If little Ciel needs a villain, what choice could be better than her favorite older sister?"
My head bobbles back and forth as I nod fervently. "You can create evil plots and I can gather my teammates to thwart them and then I'll find a super-relic sword and we can have an epic final confrontation where I learn that the true powers of a [Hero] are the friends I made along the way—that and giant hell-beams my super-sword shoots out—and-"
"Indeed," My sister cuts off my rant with a single word and a gleeful smirk. "But for you to be able to do that, we need to first set the stage so that the fools outside don't suspect a thing."
"What do you mean?" Sure, I couldn't reveal my secret heritage so soon, but what would be wrong with letting them know I would be fighting against a [Calamity] who absolutely wasn't secretly-my-sister for the next several arcs?
"Your fellow adventurers will doubtless have questions if you return to them unscathed." Her smirk shifts from glee to something a lot more bloodthirsty as she says that.
My grin widens to match hers. I knew from my books that fighting the main villain in the first arc almost guaranteed a loss, but there was no better way to become a [Hero] than to claw my way back up from that early defeat. "You're on!"
I raise my sword only to blink as I feel a wetness running down my chest. I look down at a rose shaped out of blood embedded just to the right of my fluttery heart. It was really considerate for Ashe to avoid my heart—without my [Calamity] skills, that would be dangerous.
My shield moves seemingly in slow motion to deflect the thorny edge of my sister's whip, but it snakes neatly around my attempted block and shreds through my [Thick Skin] as though it didn't even exist.
"I would say I'm sorry, Ciel." My sister smirks as a spire of blood erupts beneath me and impales my calf, "but I'm not."
"It's fi-urghle." My reply is cut off by blood-red claws tearing out a chunk of my throat. I cough out a spray of blood and try again. "It's fine, sis! Give me your best shot!"
"Oh, I will."
Stars explode in front of my eyes as a wall of pure force crashes into my face. I hear more than feel my nose break and spit out another mouthful of blood as I dizzily try to re-set my shield. I might as well have been trying to block the wind for all the good it did. [Bloodrose] flashes a dozen times and tears a dozen gouges into me.
Something flashes in front of me too quickly to see, and my leg cracks with an unpleasant sound. I topple to the ground, unable to stand. Blood drips into my eyes, and my vision grows dim until all I can see is my sister's boot as she steps up beside me.
Something latches onto my unbroken leg and lifts me into the air, and I think I hear my sister whisper something like, 'You did well, Ciel. Now, it's my turn.'
"I had intended for you all to die screaming, but the valor of this fool child has bought you time."
I feel myself being shaken, and I bravely withhold a pained groan as my bones scrape unpleasantly against things I was certain they shouldn't scrape against. A [Hero] never admitted to pain—which my books made seem a lot easier than it was turning out to be.
"Instead, I will offer you a game."
I scrabble uselessly against the thing holding onto my leg and try to look up through the blood gumming my eyes shut. No. She promised. If I could have spoken through the hole in my lungs—and the hole in my throat, too, I guess—I would have shouted that this wasn't a game.
"I will destroy your pathetic city-states from the inside. My minions will infest your feeble institutions and drag them toward ruin. I will take and turn the best and brightest amongst you, and they will betray you with a smile."
As my sister continued, I realized it was probably for the best that my shout came out as a burble of blood and other fluids.
"You will have one year. One year for the seeds of paranoia to take root within your minds. Until parents no longer trust children and wives no longer trust husbands. And at the end, when mistrust and fear have torn apart all you have built, I will return, and I will drown you all in blood."
Wow.
I was thankful the bones in both my hands and arms were so broken; otherwise, I'd have tried to applaud. That was an amazing villain speech and an even more amazing plan. I would have just rampaged until everything was broken, but this was so much better. Her plots would break their spirit, and then she'd come back to destroy them with her [Bloodforged]. It was no wonder why Ashe was the oldest. She was such an awesome sister.
My genius mind pokes me out of my awe. Right. I was the [Hero] that wouldn't let her get away with her evil plan. I would root out her corruption and put her minions to the sword. And I would start right now.
I wiggle a floppy, broken foot at the strap holding me upright. Take that, sis.
"What's to stop us from killing you right now?" A grating voice forces its way past the blood clogging up my ears.
"You?" I hear the smirk my sister wears right before she does something cool.
"Your life." An agonized shout is cut off a moment later by the sound of flesh and bone exploding. "Any other objections?"
I try and pout, but it hurts too much to move my face over my broken nose, and cheek, and jaw. Ashe never let me watch her boil someone's blood until they pop like a sealed kettle. It wasn't fair.
"Take your fool, and know that she is the only reason any of you yet draw breath." The strap holding my leg vanishes, and I feel myself tumbling through the air.
The air explodes out of my holey lungs and broken ribs as I land in a puddle of mud and gore, which was probably for the best because if I had any breath, I would have screamed at the agony coursing through me. And that wouldn't be very [Hero]-like at all.
I hear reality whimper as a [Hellfire Portal] opens in the sky above me, and if I could have moved, I would have waved goodbye to my sister. The most I could manage, though, was a hoarse exhale through a mouthful of blood.
As the pain from my beating rises to drown me in darkness and unconsciousness, one last thought echoes in the silence of my mind. Bye, sis. You're the best.
[Conditions met - Valiant Warrior Obtained!]
[Fighter consolidates into Valiant Warrior!]
[Valiant Warrior Level 8!]
[Rare Skill - Brave Soul gained!]
[Skill - Kindle Bravery gained!]
My eyes blink open, and I stare up at an unfamiliar ceiling. "Wh-" My voice trails off in a dry hacking cough, and I sink into the sheets surrounding me.
My eyes blink open, and I stare up at an unfamiliar ceiling. "Where?" My voice is a cracked whisper, but at least I can make it through the question. Unfortunately, no one is there to answer the question. I stare up for a minute or two longer before the weights on my eyelids drag them closed.
My eyes blink open, and I stare up at a familiar ceiling. "Where am I?"
"You're awake!" I struggle to turn my head to the voice that sounds an awful lot like El. "Here, don't strain yourself."
El materializes above me and helps me slide up until my back is placed against a pillow and my head is leaning against a cool, wooden headboard. "What happened?"
El scowls at me. She looks tired, as if she hadn't slept in weeks. I wonder why. "You charged a [Calamity], you fucking idiot, and she beat you an inch from death."
"At least she didn't-" my voice trails off with a cough, and a moment later, the edge of a glass cup is placed against my lips.
"Drink slowly, idiot."
El holds the cup up while I drink greedily, and when I free my hands from the sheets trapping them, she wraps them around the cup. After ensuring that I wouldn't spill my drink all over myself, she leans back and lets me drink at my own pace.
I let the empty cup tilt from my fingers and fall down to my lap. I grin. "Thanks, I needed that."
"You need a brain." El's scowl deepens until it's tinged with some strange emotion I can't even begin to identify. "What in the hells made you think charging a [Calamity] was a good idea?"
"It's…" my genius mind muddles through flashes of memories fed to it by my infallible memory, but I stop before I can blurt out the truth. "It seemed like a good idea."
"That's because you're an idiot." Well, that certainly wasn't true. I was a [Calamity], a soon-to-be [Hero], and definitely a genius. But my genius mind was also telling me that arguing with her right now was a bad idea, so I stayed silent. "From now on, you let me-"
"Chirp."
"Markus and I do the thinking for you."
That was an incredibly generous offer. It was always so much easier when I had a rampage target picked out for me. It's why I worked for overlords instead of creating my own plots. Still, I wasn't sure whether I should let my future sidekicks do the thinking for me. On the other hand, [Heroes] letting their super-smart sidekicks make plans was pretty common, so maybe it would work. I'd have to think about it.
"I'm not sure-"
"Nope. Sorry. We held a vote while you were busy almost dying!" El shouts the last two words at me for some reason. "We do the thinking now."
"Chirp."
I frown. [Hero] parties weren't democracies. I knew that much. I also knew that if I ignored my sidekicks too much, they would betray me at a critical, plot-relevant point in time. So, how was I supposed to handle this? I let my mind fracture, but when it reforms, I'm left no closer to a solution. My books were split almost perfectly evenly between what I should do. My frown deepens. Thinking was hard.
"Can I at least be the face of the team?" My voice definitely doesn't take on a plaintive tone as I ask my question. This was a critical point. If I didn't at least seem to be in charge of my party, I'd never become a [Hero].
El reaches out to pinch at my cheek, and I smile as I realize my face isn't fractured anymore. "Since Markus can't talk and I don't like dealing with people, that's all yours."
"Yay." I regret my exclamation when some still healing bit of something or other in my chest pulls unpleasantly. "Oww."
"Here," El reaches somewhere behind her and hands over a pale green potion. "There's shortages of everything after the [Calamity of Pride]'s appearance, but I'll be damned if I let my teammate wait in line for a healing potion like a peasant."
Her tone and words were yet more support for my hypothesis that El was a princess in disguise. Though, I still wasn't quite sure why she seemed so unconcerned about finding allies to regain her throne. I'm sure it would come up eventually. Besides, I could hardly complain about a teammate keeping a secret.
So, instead, I grab the potion in both hands and swallow it down in a single gulp. I feel a warmth settle in my stomach and begin to spread out to my limbs. The pain in my chest starts to fade, and I smile happily. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it." My partner grins at me for a moment before looking away.
My impeccable memory pokes at me and reminds me that I'd woken up several times before this. "How long have I been out?"
"A week," is the almost instantaneous reply. "The guildmaster came by a few days ago to make sure you weren't dead. The Council tried to come in, too. They blathered something about creating an accounting of responsibility, but I told them to fuck off until you woke up."
Was I really that important that people would come to see me while I was asleep? How strange. Still, the idea sparked a faint warmth in my stomach, and I grinned, "Thanks, partner."
"Heh. Well, someone has to keep those vultures away from you."
I wasn't quite sure what that meant, but since El was smiling at me, I figured it couldn't be that bad. Still, I did have a different question, one directly related to the evil plot my sister was currently enacting.
"What happened after m- the [Calamity] left?"
"You mean after she tossed your almost-dead body back to us like a used towel?"
That wasn't quite how I'd put it, but I was in a lot of pain and kind of dizzy from blood loss, so who was I to say? "Yeah, that too."
"It's been a bit of a shit show," a familiar voice calls out, and a second later the guildmaster strolls in. "That spell she cast fucked with a bunch of people—made them go crazy and attack whoever was nearest. We're lucky that it happened during the day, or we'd be dealing with the aftermath of a bunch of parents who went temporarily crazy and murdered their children."
"Guildmaster, how good of you to come in uninvited," El smiles in a way that doesn't look happy at all.
Guildmaster Alis shrugs, "When I heard Ciel here was awake, I came right over."
"Really? What for?" I scoot up on my bed. I didn't want my guildmaster to see me lounging like that—she might think I wasn't fit to be an adventurer.
"You spent the most time around the [Calamity] out of all of us." Her sword-cane taps on the floor as she walks over to me. She waves El out of her chair and sits down beside my bed. Dark green eyes bore down into me with an intensity that kind of reminded me of my sisters. "We're all a bit interested in why she let you live."
"Oh. I-"
I should have expected that this question was coming, but at first, I'd been too busy being amazed at Ashe's plot, and then I'd been terribly injured. I'd also apparently spent a week unconscious, so maybe it was understandable, but still.
"I think she was just amazed at how brave I am." My immaculate memory pokes at me, "I even got a new class from it. [Valiant Warrior]."
"Did you?" The oppressive aura surrounding her disappears, and she smiles. "An impressive class evolution, and you're not even level 10, are you?"
"Level 8," I respond instantly, preening at how impressed my guildmaster was with me.
El sighs and leans down to flick my forehead, "Ciel. Don't tell people your class and levels."
"But-"
"Didn't we just agree that Markus and I would do the thinking?" I stare at her for a moment and even open my mouth to argue, but she just looks at me with a confident smirk.
My eyes fell in defeat. I had just agreed to that. Still, "Yes, but you don't have to say that in front of the guildmaster."
"Heh," the guildmaster's chuckle cuts off whatever response I could see forming on El's face. "I had the same talk with a teammate when I was just starting. It ended up working out pretty well while we were a team. I hit things with my sword and he made plans and drew maps and wrote notes about things."
"Why'd you split apart?"
"You shouldn't pry into other people's past, idiot. What if something bad had happened?" I tried to lean back before El could flick my forehead again, but since I was stuck in a bed, she just leaned over a bit more and did it anyway.
The guildmaster waves away the concern, and I smirk triumphantly at my teammate. "It's fine. He earned a place at Skyfall, and I moved on to become [The Sword of Summer]."
"But I didn't come here to talk about my past." She pauses, and her face suddenly looks older than it had been a moment ago. "The Council's been bothering me. They think you've somehow been contaminated. They want to lock you up until this whole [Calamity] thing sorts itself out."
I hadn't even decided how to feel about that—a [Hero] at odds with a corrupt government was pretty common—when my teammate's shout echoes through the room, "What!! That's bullshit."
A moment later, Markus chirps stridently and hops from his spot on the dresser onto the foot of my bed, where he crosses his fuzzy arms and glares.
"Indeed. I told them that if they tried to arrest an adventurer for defending their city, they might not have an adventurers guild in the morning."
"That'd be the least of their problems," El scowls darkly.
"Heh. While I cannot, as an officer of the guild, undermine duly empowered civil authority. It's well known that adventurers stick together, and quite a few of us think we only survived the [Calamity] attack due to your… heroism."
My face blooms into a smile, and I try to sit up straighter, only to be held down by El's hand on the top of my head. Well, that was good enough.
"Really?"
"Really, really."
The guildmaster nods approvingly, and while I bask in the glory of being heroic, she shoves a hand in her pocket and pulls out three silver bracelets. My eyes widen when I see that two of them are human-sized, while one is just a couple of loops linked together—perfectly sized for furry-Markus.
"I came here for two reasons—three, if I count the report I'll be giving to the Council about your new class, even those cowards should understand what it means to be a [Valiant Warrior]."
I open my mouth to ask what exactly it means—the characters in my books were [Heroes], not valiant-what's-it-means—but the guildmaster cuts me off with a smirk.
"It's a class whose conditions are met by showing bravery in the face of impossible odds and rescuing civilians from certain death." Her smirk turns a bit more wry as she continues, "If it were just the first part, our guild would be bursting at the seams with the class—we're all a bit touched when it comes to assessing danger—but of the dozen teams and solo adventurers that gathered at the gates, yours was the only one to come in with a wagonload of civilians."
"That's because we had El's cart to drag them with." It was important to clarify that despite clearly being a [Hero], I didn't do it by myself. Otherwise, my teammates might grow jealous of my awesome [Hero] abilities and leave me to die in the wilderness.
"Yes, that's definitely all I did."
My impeccable memory was telling me otherwise, but if she wanted to disagree, then I wasn't going to argue. "Yep. That's all you did."
"Ciel, if you weren't already hurt-"
"Before that, since I do have things to do today other than listening to a team bicker. Here."
She holds out a bracelet to El, who ties it to her left wrist with her other hand. Markus is next, and the guildmaster wraps it around his furry paw and then snaps it closed, which is nice of her. He has trouble working the latch on his adventuring bracelet. Finally, she leans down and I raise my arm so she can slip the bracelet around my wrist.
I hold my wrist up to get a better look at it. Silver. I was a D-rank adventurer already. Surely, no one other than a [Hero] could advance from unranked to D-rank in just a few days. The guildmaster's voice interrupts me before I can get too absorbed in pondering how quickly I am growing, though.
"E-rank is a stage of learning. It's where an adventurer takes her first steps outside of the safety of a city and comes face to face with danger. Many run from that first test. Some continue running for the rest of their lives."
Who would ever run from something like that? They'd never become a [Hero] if they did. Besides, the funnest-looking quests were all much higher than E-ranked.
"E-rank is not for fools who rush headlong into danger, nor is it a rank where an adventurer risks her life to save one of her fellows. Since you three have done both of those things, you are clearly not E-rank. This is not a reward. It is a recognition of what you've done."
The guildmaster pushes herself to her full height, her sword-cane hanging loosely in her hand. Her aura flows out and over the three of us with a prickly sort of warmth.
"Climb higher, young ones. To the limits of your abilities and beyond. Dark times have come to Dynegard, and I fear we will need that strength in the days to come."
Her aura vanishes, replaced by a tired smile. "And now that I've lectured at you, I have a Council to shout some sense into."
With that, she turns, her sword-cane tapping out a steady beat as she walks toward the door. When she gets there, she pauses and looks over her shoulder at us. "I don't believe in leaving things unsaid. You did good work out there, Ciel, but the Council has fingers in a lot of pies, and I can't guarantee you will remain free if you stay in Reitzland."
That was great news. Having to thwart my sister's evil plots while dodging a maybe-corrupt, maybe-just-cowardly-and-incompetent council was just the sort of thing [Heroes] were made from. "Thanks, guildmaster. We'll take care of everything."
"Heh. I'm sure you will."
With that, she vanishes through the door. A moment later, El turns to me and stares. "Whatever you're thinking, stop."
"But-"
"No. We will take the guildmaster's warning and leave tomorrow."
"What about-" I'm interrupted before I can ask about how we're going to uncover the evil hidden in the Council.
"Alis spent three years in Byregot as an [Inquisitor]. Leave her to uncover the truth here." El stares at me in a way that dares me to disagree.
"Fine~" I sigh out the word. There were other city-states we could go to. Ashe said she'd infiltrate all of them for her plot. "But since we're not leaving until tomorrow, let's do something fun today."
"I feel like I'm going to regret this, but ok." Markus turns to look at El and chirps softly. "He's right. Markus and I will make sure you don't pick anything too strenuous."
Pick as many as you want; at least the top option will win (maybe more, depending on how much I end up writing).
[] "We should go get a fancy meal somewhere. So we don't get too hungry on the road."
[] "We should find the adventurers we fought with in the siege. See how they're doing."
[] "Some nice old lady gave Markus and me a scarf; I want to see if she's ok."
[] "We should meet with the civilians we saved. One of them might have a relic they keep in their attic."
[] "There's got to be some kind of celebration for us having saved the city, right?"
[] "Go see some animals at the menagerie."
[] "Wander around the back alleys, totally not looking for trouble."
[] "Go buy some books, we can even go somewhere with boring books for you."
[] Write-in some other slice-of-life type activity here
Level 8 [Valiant Warrior]
Skills
[Basic Weapon Proficiency]
Ciel can wield common weapons (swords, daggers, maces, staves, and spears) with a skill equivalent to one month of regular training.
[Basic Shield Proficiency]
Ciel can use shields with a skill equivalent to one month of regular training.
[Brave Soul]
When acting with valor, all of Ciel's skills are improved
[Enhanced Strength]
The first level of strength enhancement skills, it gives Ciel strength equivalent to that of a draft animal and is alternatively known as [Horse's Strength] on other continents
[Kindle Bravery]
Once per day, Ciel can use this skill to fortify the hearts and minds of anyone who can see or hear her.
[Superior Hearing]
One of six sensory enhancement skills required for [Superior Awareness]. It doubles Ciel's ability to hear things. This does not apply to sounds that would otherwise be heard.
[Thick Skin]
The first level of armored skin skills. It provides Ciel with resistance to injury equivalent to unenchanted leather armor.
Skills
[Basic Weapon Proficiency]
Ciel can wield common weapons (swords, daggers, maces, staves, and spears) with a skill equivalent to one month of regular training.
[Basic Shield Proficiency]
Ciel can use shields with a skill equivalent to one month of regular training.
[Brave Soul]
When acting with valor, all of Ciel's skills are improved
[Enhanced Strength]
The first level of strength enhancement skills, it gives Ciel strength equivalent to that of a draft animal and is alternatively known as [Horse's Strength] on other continents
[Kindle Bravery]
Once per day, Ciel can use this skill to fortify the hearts and minds of anyone who can see or hear her.
[Superior Hearing]
One of six sensory enhancement skills required for [Superior Awareness]. It doubles Ciel's ability to hear things. This does not apply to sounds that would otherwise be heard.
[Thick Skin]
The first level of armored skin skills. It provides Ciel with resistance to injury equivalent to unenchanted leather armor.
[AN]
On the one hand, things are really shaping up for Ciel's quest to become a [Hero]. On the other hand, there's everything else.
- Location
- Florida
What a twisted relationship lol.
Ooooooooooh one step closer to unlocking the [Hero] class.
These two are the best and I love them.
[X] "We should go get a fancy meal somewhere. So we don't get too hungry on the road."
[X] "Some nice old lady gave Markus and me a scarf; I want to see if she's ok."
[X] "We should meet with the civilians we saved. One of them might have a relic they keep in their attic."
Awwww, that's so SWEET!!!
[X] "Some nice old lady gave Markus and me a scarf; I want to see if she's ok."
Also, MORE FLUFF!!!
Also, more seriously though, that was genuinely adorable.
[X] "We should find the adventurers we fought with in the siege. See how they're doing."
[X] "Some nice old lady gave Markus and me a scarf; I want to see if she's ok."
There's a little voice in the back of my head that is afraid of what'll happen if Ciel's secret gets out. But lets ignore that voice for now and focus on the heroics whoooooo
[X] "Some nice old lady gave Markus and me a scarf; I want to see if she's ok."
There's a little voice in the back of my head that is afraid of what'll happen if Ciel's secret gets out. But lets ignore that voice for now and focus on the heroics whoooooo
ComfyOfy
A dreamy Trans Witch
- Location
- Lost
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[x] "We should find the adventurers we fought with in the siege. See how they're doing."
[x] "We should meet with the civilians we saved. One of them might have a relic they keep in their attic."
[x] "We should go get a fancy meal somewhere. So we don't get too hungry on the road."
[x] "We should meet with the civilians we saved. One of them might have a relic they keep in their attic."
[x] "We should go get a fancy meal somewhere. So we don't get too hungry on the road."
- Location
- USA
[X] "Some nice old lady gave Markus and me a scarf; I want to see if she's ok."
[X] "We should meet with the civilians we saved. One of them might have a relic they keep in their attic."
[X] "Go buy some books, we can even go somewhere with boring books for you."
[X] "We should meet with the civilians we saved. One of them might have a relic they keep in their attic."
[X] "Go buy some books, we can even go somewhere with boring books for you."
[X] "We should meet with the civilians we saved. One of them might have a relic they keep in their attic."
LOOT!
[X] "Some nice old lady gave Markus and me a scarf; I want to see if she's ok."
[X] "We should meet with the civilians we saved. One of them might have a relic they keep in their attic."
[X] "Go buy some books, we can even go somewhere with boring books for you."
LOOT!
[X] "Some nice old lady gave Markus and me a scarf; I want to see if she's ok."
[X] "We should meet with the civilians we saved. One of them might have a relic they keep in their attic."
[X] "Go buy some books, we can even go somewhere with boring books for you."
[X] "We should go get a fancy meal somewhere. So we don't get too hungry on the road."
[X] "We should find the adventurers we fought with in the siege. See how they're doing."
[X] "Some nice old lady gave Markus and me a scarf; I want to see if she's ok."
[X] "Go see some animals at the menagerie."
[X] "Go buy some books, we can even go somewhere with boring books for you."
[X] "We should find the adventurers we fought with in the siege. See how they're doing."
[X] "Some nice old lady gave Markus and me a scarf; I want to see if she's ok."
[X] "Go see some animals at the menagerie."
[X] "Go buy some books, we can even go somewhere with boring books for you."
[x] "We should go get a fancy meal somewhere. So we don't get too hungry on the road."
Can't go missing one of the 7 most important meals of the day, now can we?
[x] "We should meet with the civilians we saved. One of them might have a relic they keep in their attic."
LOOT
[x] "Some nice old lady gave Markus and me a scarf; I want to see if she's ok."
[x] "Go buy some books, we can even go somewhere with boring books for you."
Can't go missing one of the 7 most important meals of the day, now can we?
[x] "We should meet with the civilians we saved. One of them might have a relic they keep in their attic."
LOOT
[x] "Some nice old lady gave Markus and me a scarf; I want to see if she's ok."
[x] "Go buy some books, we can even go somewhere with boring books for you."
- Location
- Rochester, NY
[X] "We should find the adventurers we fought with in the siege. See how they're doing."
[X] "Some nice old lady gave Markus and me a scarf; I want to see if she's ok."
[X] "We should meet with the civilians we saved. One of them might have a relic they keep in their attic."
The best omnicidal older sister a Calamity could ask for!
[X] "Some nice old lady gave Markus and me a scarf; I want to see if she's ok."
[X] "We should meet with the civilians we saved. One of them might have a relic they keep in their attic."
The best omnicidal older sister a Calamity could ask for!
- Location
- Eastern Seaboard
[X] "Go buy some books, we can even go somewhere with boring books for you."
[X] "We should find the adventurers we fought with in the siege. See how they're doing."
[X] "Some nice old lady gave Markus and me a scarf; I want to see if she's ok."
[X] "We should meet with the civilians we saved. One of them might have a relic they keep in their attic."
[X] "We should find the adventurers we fought with in the siege. See how they're doing."
[X] "Some nice old lady gave Markus and me a scarf; I want to see if she's ok."
[X] "We should meet with the civilians we saved. One of them might have a relic they keep in their attic."
- Location
- Attached to a wall
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] "We should find the adventurers we fought with in the siege. See how they're doing."
[X] "Some nice old lady gave Markus and me a scarf; I want to see if she's ok."
[X] "Go buy some books, we can even go somewhere with boring books for you."
[X] "Some nice old lady gave Markus and me a scarf; I want to see if she's ok."
[X] "Go buy some books, we can even go somewhere with boring books for you."
I wonder if El will connect the dots between this and the enraged Calamity who went from "I will murder everyone here now and use your corpses to scour this continent because of what you did" to "I will murder everyone here in a year", hid what happened between them when Ciel confronted her, and let Ciel live.
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