Saiyan

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Frederick was back behind the bar. On arrival, the old man gave a curt little nod to Zell who returned the gesture with a bounce of his eyebrows. Frederick's assistant was sent off to other duties. As Zell drank from his glass, he caught a visual of gold in his peripherial and looked in time to see a blue cape and blonde hair disappear up the stairs. Zell sighed and turned about to his lean back against the bar with glass in hand. Only him and Fenna were left, but the Dutchwoman soon decided to be off aswell.

"Back to work I guess," she said to him as she made to leave.

"Alright mate," Zell nodded. "Catch ye later, yeah."

He absently watched her go until Frederick, who was buffing down the bar with a rag, piped up. "And then there was one."

With a smirk and a slight turn of his head, Zell acknowledged the barkeep, but his mind was soon back on MacKensie. He was deciding wether or not he should try to speak to her. There was a chance he could make things worse (Zell being Zell, this chance was not insignificant) but at least he could say he tried. The Englishman had lived his life boldly. The very opposite of risk-averse. But here he was, stumbling, fumbling and bumbling.

He finally came to a decision. "You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take," he said to himself - a phrase not uncommon from his mouth.

He took a deep draught of his ice water and put it down on the bar, then wiped his mouth with his sleeve and headed for the stairs. He arrived at MacKensie's room and knocked on the door, deciding against calling out, as he knew that she may not even open the door if she knew it was him. When she opened the door, he knew he'd have to be quick.

"Mac, can we talk? Please," he asked, ready to put his foot in the doorway so she couldn't slam the door in his face. "Come on, doll. We can't go on like this. It's killin me - not being able to have a laugh with you, like normal. The banter between you, me n James is half of what keeps me sane in this shitshow." His one-sided grin was soft, hopeful. Anything but the usual cocksure. "Everyone's gone. Let's just talk."

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

"Well undead or not, we’ll show that Saladin some good ol’ Texas hospitality and then some." the farmer laughed.

There was a split-second where Zell noticed... something. Something in Clive's face that the Englishman had never seen there before. Hadn't cared to see before. Also, he wasn't even sure what it was. It caused Zell to freeze momentarily before sharing in the laughter. "Yeah," Zell agreed. "Then pack em up and send them home." Just before grabbing a tray, Zell gave Clive a little pat on the shoulder. "You're a good man, Clive. Can always rely on you to hold sturdy."

On the way back to the table, Zell was in good spirits, but in his mind he began wondering. Had anyone really bothered to ask Clive how he was feeling? Not that Zell could blame anyone if they hadn't - Clive was the quintessential tough guy. That whole 'unshakable, confident' disposition Zell liked to carry himself with? Clive did it and made it look easy. The Texan was cheerful and friendly, but strong and self-contained with it. Point being: It would be easy to forget that the man had only recently been RESSUR-FUCKING-RECTED. What in the fuck was his first thought when he woke up? Was it like, right after Zigmund had damn-near twisted his head off like a bottle of Sprite, or had he been to some kind of afterlife for his brief stint out of the game? And how traumatic had that experience been?

I'll have to keep an eye on him, Zell thought to himself, his stupid grin on his face as he approached the table and began setting half of the group's drinks down. Maybe consider how to approach asking a grown-ass man to open up emotionally to another guy.

“Fenna, can you believe Tyrion has actually made that skateboard you told him about. All the kids from the orphanage are fighting over it and falling off it. Mother Anne is pulling her hair out.” Barracker laughed. Zell did too as he put his drink down and got rid of the tray on an empty table behind him.

Ha! Fenna giving the kids first-class ideas, he thought. Gotta love it.

“It is an interesting toy your son has, now that I have seen it, I am surprised Tyrion could visualize the contraption after hearing about it just the one time.” Barracker also went on to mention Adam's gift to the orphans. “And Adam has given yet another toy for them to occupy themselves with. He grew them a whole climbing frame in the Temple garden’s. It was quite the sight to see. It definitely took their minds off the war, and will bring much joy to them.”

"Oh that is bloody awesome, that is." Zell couldn't contain that one. He could just imagine the crazy-amazing jungle-gym Adam had concocted. Not to mention the looks on everyone's faces as the Druid conjured it up from the soil, just like how he'd grown that bridge back in the Mazy Hillocks. Zell could feel second hand joy for the orphans and it really brightened his day. Adam was a paragon of altruism. "Plant Man, you gotta heart of gold in that chest. Top notch, bruv."

He gave the youngest member of their crew a thumbs up. Adam's considerate nature could not be overstated and it deserved mention more often. A month ago, Zell would have simply considered him soft - a typical 'nice guy' - but after being saddled with this hero business, Zell had realised that he needed to fix his mentality. Adam had no need to fix anything. He was perfect for the role of saving the world already. And how could the swordsman not respect such a principled, honourable and kind man? He was currently in the process of falling for MacKensie Trydant, in large part for these exact same qualities! While everyone here had a good heart, (Zell probably a little lacking behind the others,) MacKensie and Adam really stood out in that respect. They were do-gooders to the core and damn proud of it.

"Hey Kass, you'll have to bring us all to the orphanage after this is all over," Zell suggested. "Have a celebratory feast with your family."

The food was great. Zell gave the whole 'macho Englishman' shtick of, "Could do with being a bit hotter" - In England, watching the football and having a few pints, then going and getting the hottest fucking Vindaloo curry you could find was considered 'manly.' It was a strange phenomenon when one actually gave it some thought, but Zell didn't make the rules. His grandad did it. His dad it. His friends did it. And he did it too. But anyway, he did give the dish overall a complimentary review and joined in with the others when showering Fred with praise.

"The best airport food was in Prague. The most expensive beer I ever had in my life though... Other than that? My job had me moving around too much for me to do any real fine dining sadly. However, I was treated to a lovely restaurant in Italy. Real fancy place, had to put on a dress for the first time in... gosh, years? Anyway, they had this delicious champagne and a Veal... Buco I think it was called. Everything about it, the food, the atmosphere, it was... " As Alison drifted off into silence, Zell too was drifting off, her story about the restaurant prompting the recent memory of The Nightingale and his 'non-date' with MacKensie. Fine dining indeed. And could dining be any finer than when sat across from the most gorgeous woman in two worlds? His eyes strayed to MacKensie as he wondered if she was thinking about the same thing. "Sorry, just remembering that savory food and cool air," Alison continued. "But yeah, if I had the choice, it'd be that meal."

"That sounds like pretty damn good living, if you ask me," Zell said, dragging his line of sight off the Frenchwoman and smiling at Alison. "And no mistake."

Once everyone was finished, Alison wanted to see about getting access to the Source Comm message. Zell figured James, as their registered party leader, was probably the best man for the job. Zell himself, downed the last bit of his ice-water. "I'm gonna grab one more drink. Then head to the Military Centre. Was asleep all morning. I should probably go see what The Lions have been doing with their day."

All in all, it was an enjoyable lunch. Alison was a top lass, it was great to chill with everyone as a group and the food had hit the spot nicely. Very importantly, it was extremely fortunate to have met Alison after her coffin getting seperated from the the rest of them on arrival. Her experience - her errrm... Data Consulting... would be highly beneficial to the group's survival in this world. Of that, Zell had no doubt.

As people started to break away, saying their goodbyes, Zell gave a couple of 'See ya later's before heading to the bar to get another tall glass of ice water. Alison's story of that Italian restaurant had really got him thinking about that night again. Such a mess. But surely one that he could clear up. Surely? He didn't know. MacKensie was not like any girl he'd dealt with before. He'd never been so scared of fucking things up even worse, too.

He let a breath out as he leaned on the bar, staring at the barrels behind Frederick's assistant. "Cheers, boss," he took the glass and lingered for a second to take a sip and straighten things out in his head.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@Saiyan a bit of a moment shared between Zell and Clive.

@Dark Cloud

brokebackmountain.gif ?

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

"Nice," Zell commented, loudly impressed with Miss Data Consultant's disappearing act.

"This cloak of mine isn't just for fashion. I woke up with it. Seems to bend light in a way to make me as invisible as possible. It's not perfect. I can still make noise and if I move too fast, anyone with a sharp eye will see it distort. That and I can only use it a few times a day, but hey, I'm not complaining."

"And why would you?" Zell tacked on. It was less of a question and more an awe-filled compliment to the powerful cloak. Zell's eyes followed Alison as she went back around the table to her chair. "Unseen Alison, sitting in a tree..." he sang. It took him a moment to think of some more words. He managed it before the nursery rhyme was ruined. "...Draws her dagger, swoops down, R.I.P." He leaned his chair back onto two legs, clearly proud of himself. Nailed it. "Ha!"

James gave him a tap and Zell realised it was his turn to get medical treatment, so he scraped his chair backward and turned slightly to face his best friend. "You're a diamond, bruv... ow!"

While the cleric worked, Zell listened to the talk at the table. His eyes flicked around but landed on the close-up of James, who had a face of concentration. Zell had to wonder just how many more times James would bail him out with his healing. The swordsman was a total fucking damage sponge. He'd had his insides shredded by a magical direwolf, his ribs broken, his arm almost cut off by a wraith, skewered through his abdomen. He'd had Clive's corpse thrown at him, he himself had been thrown by an ogre into a solid wooden gate (and now thrown into a wall by a vampire,) stabbed twenty-odd times in quick succession with ninja-turtle daggers. James had healed him through most of it, saving his life on several occassions.

Zell grinned at the Mexicano when he was done and gave him a wink. "Ppreciate'cha."

...

Eventually, Frederick came around and took orders, even making a suggestion that they try his new dish which was inspired by James' tacos from last week, looking to MacKensie to back him up about how good it was. "I'll give it a go, Fred. Cheers, mate."

He was glad when all the serious talk was over and they moved on to general chatter and banter. It wasn't that the serious topics weren't necessary, it was imperative that Alison be caught up on the situation, but it was nice just to hang out all together for an hour. The last week had been nothing but busy preparations and everyone had been split up, for the most part. Zell felt like he hadn't sat and shot the shit with James in ages, not to mention all the stressful paranoia and drama that had took up space in his head.

"Clive, does that horse of yours need feeding? Where does it go when it's not around?" And then, with a mischievious twinkle in his eye. "Hey James... have you ever ridden a horse? Something tells me you'd be a reckless bastard on one. Just a hunch."

"Ha, that reminds of this one random time that I had to save my dumbass mate. The idiot had fallen down a well."

Fun times.

Zell's attention was drawn to the back room, behind the bar, where he spied Fred emerge with the first plates. So he got up and asked around for who wanted a second drink, commited the requests to memory, repeated them back and nodded.

"Clive, fancy giving us a hand?" They went over to the bar where they were served by Frederick's assistant. "Hey, thanks, by the way..." Zell said to the Texan. "... for upstairs. For understanding and - you know - not making a big deal about it." Clive seemed the type that might have had to smack a friend around the head before, or at least wouldn't be afraid to, if it was necessary. Fight it out and shake hands after, that sorta thing. "To be honest, I needed some sense knocked into me. Kass did me a favour."

He started putting the drinks on the trays as they came.

"So... are you enjoying Valhiem, then?" Clive hadn't seen it, the first time, on account of being dead during their initial visit. "Pretty nice, ain't it. S'even better when it's not surrounded by the undead. You'll see, after we've given Saladin a slap."

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

A data consultant.

Zell automatically wiped his eyebrow and forehead with one hard stroke of the heel of his palm. The lazy effort to rid himself of the blood only resolved to leave faded red streaks around his temple, but he didn't care as he was paying attention to the conversation. Now: Zell was not the brightest bulb in the box. He had no idea what the hell a data consultant was, but it sounded like nerd stuff (Adam voiced a somewhat similar train of thought.) And Alison may or may not have been a lot things - who could know, at this stage? - but one thing she definitely wasn't... was a fucking nerd. In addition to this hypothesis, the Englishman had seen, first hand, how slick she ran her team of Thieves' Guild agents, down in that tunnel. How they moved with military precision and timing, as a unit. How they responded to her words, her hand signals... how they looked at her. How she looked. Like she was in control of everything. Like she wasn't to be messed with.

Another trickle of blood made it's way from Zell's hairline to his eyebrow, in right about the same path as before.

A data consultant.

Zell would have to tease her about this at a later date. He smiled easily as Alison shook MacKensie, putting an arm on the back of the chair next to him as he relaxed, thinking how the two women with the attention of the table looked like 'Big Sis' and 'Lil Sis' right now. It was pretty funny. Nice to see too. Zell had a feeling already that Alison would fit in just fine with the group, should she choose to join Second Chance. And surely she would join? They had the same questions... and this world had the same answers, hiding in the same places.

One thing at a time, Zell told himself. Let's survive Saladin's showdown first.

"Cheers bruv," Zell said to Barracker as he recieved his drink, giving him a friendly pat on the back as the paladin sat down next to him.

"And so here I am..." Alison drew Zell's grinning face from Barracker back to her "...finally finding a piece to a very big puzzle." The rogue leaned in, eyes gleaming for the first time. "So tell me, do you have any more?"

Zell quietly cleared his throat and looked around to see if anyone else wanted to speak first. He wouldn't mind being the one to enlighten Alison on the situation, but would've preferred to let someone else, who hadn't already had the pleasure of conversing with the charismatic rogue over a drink, do the talking. Adam was the one to pipe up and Zell gave a couple of nods in confirmation of Adam's testimony before he took the opportunity to drain a little of his tankard.

As he was putting his flagon down, he knocked it lightly against Fenna's drink in salute, gave her a playful smirk and put eyes back on the conversation.

He was interested to see if Alison would unveil anything cool. Zell wasn't sure what Adam's orb did, nor James' holy symbol, but damn did Fenna's spear kick ass, and he was jealous as hell of MacKensie's gauntlet.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

bruh Alison's cool af

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@Jay009

dicapriocheers.gif

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Dumb. So dumb. But damn... did it feel good. To have an external opponent to fight once again, was a very nice sense of normality. To vent some frustration by punching someone, even if that someone was his friend, was extremely satisfying. Even the feeling of getting punched was nice, although Zell wouldn't be able to explain why. Zell looked at the paladin across from him with not just 'no hard feelings' but full-on gratitude for being the right person, at the right time, in the right place. Zell wasn't sure anyone else would have fit the bill and he felt closer than ever to the man, for doing him this solid.

“You hit like the very giants that created the Sibliconians.”

"A bloody good job too. It's like hitting a piece of iron, hitting you. Think I might've broken me hand."

Zell chuckled quietly. It was apparent in his speech that he'd busted his mouth open (probably Barracker's headbutt) and laughing any louder would have hurt too much. Additional injuries consisted of a split skull, courtesy of hitting his head on the corner of the drawers, when Barracker had damn-near put the Englishman through the fucking wall. A possible broken hand - it wasn't just banter when Zell attested to the toughness of Barracker's iron chin. Aside from being sore in different areas, that was about it. Truthfully, Zell knew he had got off lightly, picking a fight with Kass. The vampire probably could have destroyed him.

“I am not mad at you, only Baphomet."

"Yeah, same goes, mate," Zell interjected to agree.

"Only he deserves the blame for this mess.”

Zell nodded. Blood from the cut just above his hairline, had built up enough in his bed-head that a trickle came down to be caught by his eyebrow.

“You are cursed Zell, just like a hundred men before you. You do see it, don’t you?”

The nod of reply that followed, this time, was far more reluctant than the last. Zell's head lightly hit the wall behind him as his eyes went to the window. Maybe the vampire's stone gaze was too much for the moment. Maybe he was looking to the heavens, hoping they could hear him. "You know," he started. "In my world, when we say, 'I'm cursed' we're usually just decrying our bad luck. Fuck, if only. Who knew there'd be a world where being cursed means there's an actual Devil living in your head. Talk about 'Rent free.' I feel like I'm being slowly eroded to dust, bro. And there's nothing I can do."

Barracker assured him they would sort it and Zell assured him that he would cooperate. He also, not realising just how much the vampire knew, told Barracker that James had already put in hard work to help him and that he'd messed it all up by being insincere with his feelings. But he would be honest with both the paladin and his best friend, from now on.

Anything else they had to say was interrupted by a knock at the door and MacKensie popping her head in. Shit. And if anyone thought that things couldn't get any worse, more footsteps could be heard approaching and next was a Clive appearance.

"Well... if it isn't the two best-sounding accents in all Mytheria." Zell gave a guilty and nervous laugh as Clive folded his arms. It was clear by the faces of the Frenchwoman and American that quips weren't going to cut it. At the same time, Zell thought it bad enough that in addition to James, now Barracker was aware of what was going on. This was one too many already. Something told Zell that the more people who knew, the more unpredictable and problematic this situation would get. He just hoped that it was his gut telling him this, and not Baphomet. "It's nothing guys. Barracker and I are just screwing around and it got a bit out of hand." It was an obvious lie, but he hoped they would take it. "We're fine. Go on," he told them. "We'll be down in a sec."

Once they were gone, Zell took a breath and got to his feet. He waited for Barracker to be up, then they clasped forearms in Barracker's patented warrior's handshake, Zell pulling him in to pat him on the back. "Thanks for going along with that, mate," he said. "Everyone has enough on their plate, right now. After the battle, if everyone needs to know then, then fine. But let's just see about saving Valhiem before we go about tackling my problems, eh."

Going downstairs (and forgetting to clean himself up, therefore leaking a trickle of blood down his forehead and sporting a bloody, busted lip to boot) Zell said, "Hey," to everyone like nothing was remotely wrong at all. He spotted Alison come in but did not even look twice. He sat down like normal, then waited for MacKensie to introduce Alison to the group before doing anything, showing his acting skills by feigning his reaction to fit with everyone else.

"Zell Brooks. A pleasure." He offered Alison a one-sided grin and his hand to shake. "Any friend of Mac is a friend of mine." And if MacKensie had already revealed that Alison was also from their world: "Boy, do we have a lot to talk about."

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Torture.

Just the few hours of sleep Zell got felt like days. Weeks. Baphomet was entrenched deep now. Zell had forgotten what a good dream was like, or even a dreamless sleep. Just like every night since he'd first said those fateful words... "Take Vor, Baphomet" ...Zell was in the unending void of impenetrable blackness. This time he was on his knees with the pain Baphomet had filled him with.

It's not real. It's not real.

This is what he repeatedly reminded himself of to try and help handle the pressure. It had worked that one time when Baphomet tried this tactic. But that last time, the illusion was of physical pain. Zell was better suited to dealing with that. Hard training on the football pitch. Gym. A fight or two, in his past. A fight or six since arriving in Mytheria. Zell could handle physical pain. But this was different.

This time, his heart and mind were filled to the brim with overwhelming sadness. An incredible amount. Zell didn't know it was possible to feel this level of sorrow. He didn't have the strength to stand. He wanted to cry. His face was contorted with unbearable emotional damage. The sadness came first. Then came the thoughts of his family. How his mother might never get over his passing. How his father might be glad that he was gone. How his sister might not give a shit. After that came everyone else he ever knew. How his relationships were all shallow and transactional. How his friend he grew up with might be better off without him because he'd now get on the straight n narrow - stop being convinced by Zell to do Zell's selfish bidding. Or maybe he would get himself killed trying to step into Zell's shoes at Uni. Then came Mytheria stuff.

"You'll never evolve," Baphomet told him.

"I... I can be better," Zell said weakly.

"We are not enough."

"We are not the same."

"You don't have that kind of heart. That kind of nature. Face it - a sabrecat never cannot change it's stripes. And your fellow party members know it. They just tolerate you. They know you're not like them. They know you're no good." He could no longer reply. All he could do was feel like he was being torn apart by sheer sadness. "She knows it. You'll never be good enough for her." Zell could not deny this even if he had the strength. "Do you think they will ever see or appreciate that you came back? That you had the chance to leave but didn't? They'll probably think that you just didn't want to risk going it alone. Or something else that serves yourself. Because that's what you do. That's all you've ever done. That's what you're built for. A self-serving machine - good at it too."

"Stop. Please."

Zell awoke to the sound of his bedroom door being knocked loudly. His heart was beating hard. His temples were soaked with tears that had forced their way through closed eyes and streamed down the side of his face as he lay unconcious on his back. He took the deepest breath, relieved that it was all over. But why the hell was someone banging down his door like police!?

He sat up and wiped his eyes and then his face, then shook his head of cobwebs, swung his legs off the bed and quickly put on his trousers. The moment he turned the door knob, Barracker came barging in and just unloaded a stream of abuse at him. Zell was thrown off, but quickly caught onto the fact that the paladin had figured him out. Figured everything out. Fear crept up from the back of his mind. The thought of an upset, vampire paladin was pretty damn scary. But there was also another emotion. Anger. A flicker of disquiet at the verbal attacks, the disrespect, the barging into his room...

It was this negative emotion - anger - that Baphomet took and multiplied dozens of times over.

Who the fuck does this guy think he is?

“...Sound familiar?…” Barracker shoved the book he was holding into Zell’s chest roughly. “...Baphomet!”.

That was it - all Zell could take. His jaw clenched with anger and, without thinking, he fired a straight right-hand. His punch clocked Barracker square on the nose, taking the vampire by surprise. It must have, for a surprise attack was probably the only way Zell could beat vampire-speed. As Barracker reeled back, Zell realised that he was in trouble. He didn't mean to lash out like that - to hit his own friend. Oh crap, he thought. But also along with that thought was rage and a bit of fear that if he didn't press his advantage, Barracker was going to kick the shit out of him. And so he charged the vampire, slamming his shoulder into chest and sending his friend flying into the door that slammed shut with the momentum.

Zell pressed his attack and threw hard hooks... "The fuck. Are you. Talking to!?" ...a combination of Ascension and Baphomet's power giving him the strength to hurt Barracker with every hit.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@AvaP

predatorhandshake.gif