[IC] Aether Saga: A Hero's Unlikely Journey (The Irish Tree and Xaltwind)

[The Irish Tree]

Gram would hum, considering Mammonie's words. "I can see why you'd be upset. I wasn't as hurt as I let on, by the way. If it were down to me and Vani, we could defeat that thing with a fair bit of effort. But I figured that I would see if a tense situation would prove you were the real deal." Gram would crack her neck, relaxing a bit. "I apologize for having to fool you and Vani. Anyways, the reason you should have faith in our side of the conflict is because that Cherubim hated your guts. They hate all Demons, really. So, since you've already defeated one, you're high on the Divine Purge's list of targets."

Sitting up, Gram would drop her air of superiority as she looked Mammonie in the eyes, before saying: "I'll give you everything within my power. My title, land, wealth...even my life by the end of this if you would wish it. I may be a necromancer, but even I cherish life in this world."

A cold wind was blowing outside, not reaching the duo but screaming at the mouth of the cave. The storm wasn't letting up anytime soon. Gram would sink back down to lie down, clutching her side. "...I will say...there were many that were against summoning a hero to our realm. So if you wish to blame anyone for your being here, that someone would be me," she confessed, closing her eyes.

Mammonie was under no obligation to help Gram at all...but either way, it seemed more of those beings would come for her.

[Xaltwind]

Awesome! So now I'm on the hitlist for Heaven because I defended myself from one of their cronies. Greeeaaaat... And they hate demons on principle. Good to know racism and prejudice is alive and well in this world too.

Those were Mammonie's throughts as she listened to Gram. She refreained from commenting on the matter when the dracowoman stated that she and Vani could have defeated the cherubiwhatsit on their own with a little effort... It sure hadn't seemed that way to the demoness, what with the Paladin barely being able to muster enough strength after the initial attack to even defend himself. Still, maybe he was holding back too, just like this other woman claimed she had been?

When the topic moved on to her apologizing for her decei in trying to force Mammonie to aawaken, and the subsequent offer of anything and everything she owned. Mammonie let out a sigh.

"What's the point in apologizing to us both if half of us ain't here? Look. You don't need to apologize to me. We're strangers, and the only thing that's currently keeping me by your side is the fact that, in this world and as it stands, I have litteraly no other options at the moment. So if you want to apologize, do it to that elf-fellow, since you two seem to be companions and all." She stated, very bluntly and earnestly. "I don't need your life either. I've got no use for it. I don't believe in things like owning others or having control over others' freedom. I'll settle for taking everything you have, including the clothes on your back, once we're done though." She continued and finished, with one eye closed and the other looking straight at Gram, with a sly smirk on her face.

She then stretched and let out ab elongated 'Hnnnnnnnnnmmmmgh!'-sound, arching her back while bothe arms were stretched above her head. Which is also when she noticed that she was still holding Chromecalibur in her hand. A look of bemusement crossed her face as she inspected the weapon.

"... It looks just like it did back in MOFU, huh? Higher resolution and better textures, of course, but still... Wouldn't mistake it it for anything else... How do I pu- Oh?" As she was about to ask how to put the weapon away - seeing as she lacked a holster on her person... or pockets for that matter... The weapon suddenly phased out of reality, but Mammonie could still feel the weapon. it had gone into whatever ethereal inventory-space that was currently inside(?) her own being - but at least now she knew how to bring it, and other things, back out into actual meat-space.

"Anyway. What're the chances we'll get ambushed by more of those cjerry-dudes? Or are there worse things that'll come after us now that they lost one of their goons? I'd sorta like to avoid nearly wetting myself from surprise by being caught off-guard by random, vehicular-destroying bombardments in the future." She paused. Tapped her chin, then looked over at the cave entrance. "Is there really any firewood around here, by the by? I only saw ice and snow and... Well, more snow, out there." She tried to focus her vision to try and see the floaty, game-like mechanic of Vani's name and current condition... It was a useful test, as it'd allow her to determine just how far away she could be in order to see someone's status. Might be useful to know, for a number of reasons!

[The Irish Tree]

"I doubt they'd throw more bodies at you so soon after one of their lower ranks was dispatched so easily. When next they come, they'll bring far more. As such, we can only hope that creating more of them will take time and that, by then, you're still more than a match for Divine's forces." Gram would say, explaining her theory that Mammonie at least had a bit of breathing room. Still, without knowing exactly how their enemy worked, something like that was a haphazard guess at best.

"But, of course, for all I know they're waiting for us to leave the cave before teleporting an army on our heads. As for Vani's little boy scout task, there are indeed trees. Just...buried under the snow," Gram would say, while Mammonie's visual interface would show Vani's name and condition...and that his MP was rapidly drained in a single chunk while a thunderous boom echoed throughout the area. "Vani will likely prove useful to you, in your adventures. He's a fool and a lush, but I doubt there's a stronger paladin out there."

Vani would return soon enough, hauling an entire tree's trunk with a set of ropes tied over his shoulder. "I'm back. Took a bit of doing, but I managed to find one below the snow." Vani would enter, after the sounds of some very fast hacking of steel against wood became audible, the elven paladin entering with an armful of hacked up wood. "Good to see you're awake, Gram. Feeling any better?"

"Never better. Glad to see you used your brain for once without me around."

With a small spark and a bit of paper wrapping from some of Vani's rations, the fire was started and the cave grew warm, a far cozier abode than it had been.

[Xaltwind]

Oh joooooooooooooy, son that thing was a lower ranking minion? And it could explode and entire carriage and shoot death lasers while being airborne. Awesome. Can't wait to see what they bring out as their big guns when they start getting serious...

These snarky coments were kept inside a monologue within Mammonie's head as she listened to Gram explain the situation and likely current scenario. Of course, the mention of having an entire army of some celestial host teleported onto their position as soon as they left the cavern wasn't exactly something to joke about. Especially not when her two comrades had barely scraped by when encountering this supposed low-level mook - on its own - just mere minutes ago.

"That's high praise." Mammonie replied when Gram mentioned Vani's apparent strength as 'the stronkest paladumb' in all the lands. "That mean I shouldn't rely on your strength then?" The demonette asked, a wry smile and raised eyebrow being the expression on her face. It was fine to talk others up and put them on a pedestal, but if their enemy had access to an army, even if Mammonie could hold on her own against a large number of them, she couldn't very well win alone. And just having a single lone ally that was capable wouldn't be enough.

"Welcome back, good work, Barney." She said, dryly, once the elf returned with his haul. She was actually moderately impressed the guy had managed to not only find, but also haul, the lumber back to the cave all on his own. Though, she couldn't help but notice his lack of a proper woodcutting tool. She knew that such things worked fine enough in a game-setting, but if this was a reality with game-like elements, then using your primary weapon -- which was a SWORD -- to cut up a frozen tree was probably not a good idea. Then again, the guy had mentioned he had a spare sword earlier... But did he have it on him? She couldn't remember...

Still, the newly sparked campfire was nice and toasty. Not that the cold bothered her overly much - despite her lack of atire. Maybe demons were just more tolerant to the natural enviroment or weather than humans? She knew for sure that if she'd come here in her own, human body, she'd been a popsicle by now. She mulled that over in her mind for a bit... Yes... Her actual body... Just what had happened to it? Had it been switched with Mammonie's body in MOFU and now there was a MOFU-avatar in-game that looked like her real self!? The thought was both horrifying and hilarious. She giggled to herself.

"Well, not much that can be done about that..." She mused to herself, forgetting she had two people nearby. "Oh well. So, what now? We wait for Gran here to rest up and then we get in the bone-cart again, or what? Not to be a jerk or anything, but I'd kinda like to get the hell outta these snowy deathfields and somewhere more... Hospitable, as soon as possible." The avarice demoness said while looking over her shoulder and back out through the cave's entrance... At the cold, cold snow and ice and wind of sub-zero temperatures...

"Recover... Yes... Hm, wait. Hold on." A thought occurred to the golden one and she paused for a bit. Closing her eyes, she felt around in her mental, meta-physical inventory that was both within and all around her. Eventually, she found what she was looking for, and with a bit of concentration and 'hnnnnnnn'-sounds, somethig suddenly... Popped... out of nowhere, into her hand. It was a small glass bottle, with some kind of lustrous ruby red liquid inside of it. Mammonie proceeded to tilt the bottle, inspecting it from one side and then another, feeling the small cork at its neck and rotating it to make sure there were no cracks or leakage.

"Huh, well, whaddya know? It worked. Good thing I had some of these on me before you guys did the whole drag-me-here-deal. Here, try drinking this." She said, holding the bottle out for Gram to take. It was just a potion of lesser healing from MOFU. She had stronger ones on her, of course, but she hardly felt like giving one of those away, especially since there weren't any guarantees that consumables from her game-world would have any effect on anyone from this new reality. So, the best option was to experiment with something that wasn't too valuable. A potion like this wouldn't even heal 10% of Mammonie's total max HP anyway, so it was honestly just clogging up her hammerspace. "It might help you heal up." She paused, tapped her chin, looked up at the cavernous ceiling, then back down at Gram and smiled while tilting her head. "Then again, you might have an allergic reaction to it or something and just drop dead on the spot. Still wanna try it?"

[The Irish Tree]

At Mammonie's sarcastic question of whether she could trust Gram's strength, the dragoness offered not much more than a confident smile. A smile that would only be broken once the potion was offered, Gram's eyes looking it over cautiously. "As much as I appreciate the gesture, I'm mostly recovered now. Vani however may need someone to tend his aches," she said, tossing the potion to Vani, who'd catch it like a pro pitcher.

"We can leave as soon as Gram's able to summon her carriage," Vani said, uncorking the bottle and chugging it. "...Huh. Guess where you come from these are strawberry flavored. I'm used to lemon."

Gram would remove Vani's cloak and stand up, getting closer to the fire. "In another hour, the souls will return to me and I can summon them again. For now, we will just have to enjoy the pleasure of each other's company." Her words were accompanied by a soft smile, softer than any she'd shared before.

It'd be a somewhat informative conversation, mostly getting Mammonie up to speed on the general form of society in this world, before Gram's eyes suddenly went pale white, and her back arched violently, as if something had just slammed into her. Shaking her head, she would right herself.

"My entourage has arrived. Let us be off," Gram said, before snapping her fingers. The whinnying of horses would flood the cave, coming from the mouth. Just in time as the fire grew weak, puttering out.

Civilization, here they come!

[Xaltwind]

Mammnie wouldn't say much when Gram chucked her offered brew over to Vani. There was something weird about Gram, and weirder still about her health-bar... But that wasn't really important at the moment. What was important to note was that Vani seemed to beable to chug the potion from MOFU down with no immediate side-effects. Once more, it apparently tasted like strawberries..? Was that supposed to be a joke? Or was it actually true!? If that were the case, she'd have to be careful to not accidentally using them like soda pops...

... Like that'd ever happen.

The black-and-white woman then started a long and explanatory ... explanation! to as how things and stuff and people and other things worked in this world. To be honest, it was a lot of information to soak in and remember all at once, and most of it went in one golden ear and out the other. Still, the demonette managed to pick up on a few things and bits about society and how it worked. Yes... A society that was very different from her own... In all honesty, most of it sounded very primitive and backwards to someone like Mammnoie.

"Wow... You guys are like, almost completely medieval, huh? It's almost scary to think I've gone to somewhere that's close to what the Dark Age was like back home..." The demon stated, rubbing her forehead lightly with the tips of her fingers.

Then Gram had a spasm.

Mammonie rose from her seat out of reflex. After all, she'd had co-workers who'd suffered from epilepsy and seizures, but it seemed like the monochrome madame was fine... So, she sat back down. Only to have Gram rise from her seat and then, the noise of horsies whinnied through the cave. Casting a look over her own shoulder, Mammonie spotted the familiar carriage... Wait, was it the same one? Maybe they just looked alike? Though Gram had said that she was waiting for some spirits to return to her... But... Like... Those were horses made out of bones! Where would you store a spirit in something that was litterally just hardened bits of calcium!?

Regardless, the golden demon got off her soft tuckus, brushed herself off and then turned to walk on over to the wagon. This time, she didn't wait for gentleman elf to help her inside, but rather just flung the door open on her own accord, then got herself inside, taking a seat exactly where she'd sat in the previous carriage.

"Well, now that we're all fine and dandy, mind telling me where we're heading and why?" Mammonie asked while leaning slightly to the side, resting her elbow against the interior wall of the wagon and using it as a support to rest a cheek against her cupped palm. "While I assume there's more to us heading to civilization besides getting out of the cold?" She asked, an eyebrow raised inquisitively.