Zool

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Done. My apologies for any spelling or grammar misakes in advance lol xD

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

MacKensie was affable and high in energy throughout the lunch. She was so glad that Alison was getting along with everyone and that her friends seemed to like the Rogue as much as she did. When Frederick looked to her for back-up about his new recipe, the frenchwoman was quick to testify to the quality of the spicy stew their host had come up with.

"Oh, it might be the best stew I have ever had in my life," she attested. "I have no doubt Frederick would be awarded a Michelin star for this one." The owner of The Mended Drum was oblivious to the meaning of 'Michelin stars' but, nevertheless, was looked proud to hear to MacKensie's words. "I would love to have that again, Frederick, thank you."

It was obvious by the atmosphere that everyone was glad to be all together again around a single table. This moment in the company of eachother was a microcosm of the comfort they all felt by sticking together through thick and thin. Their was a power in their friendship and MacKensie felt an aura of invincibility around them. Together they could overcome anything, this much had been proven. The ogres and skeletons, the direwolves, Zigmund, the wraiths, the cult... they had vanquished everything that stood in their way. In spite of the impossible task ahead of them, for once, right now - this one moment in time - MacKensie did not fear the future battle. She drew confidence not from herself but her amazing group of friends. The smarts of James. The toughness of Zell. The skill of Adam. The unrelenting force that was Fenna. The literal 'never say die' attitude of Clive. The power of Barracker. The projection of undoubtable confidence of Alison.

They could save Valhiem. She believed.

"I will never forget how my friend, Juliet," MacKensie told everyone, something that was said prompting her to chime in. "How she and I, became so close. I always knew her from my ballet class, as a youth, but we were not friends, per say. Then, I happened to see her when on a family holiday, in Aspen. Such a coincidence. The absent-minded girl had managed to lose her purse, her phone and her cards all at once." MacKensie laughed as she was immersed in the memory. "It was not the first time she had lost all of her things, and she was so frightened that she would be in a world of trouble. We spent all day learning how to contact her cell hone company and bank so that we could cancel her cards and SIM. It was quite the task, we had no clue what we were doing. But we managed it." The frenchwoman shook her head wistfully. "She would never have managed alone. We were fast friends ever since."

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

MacKensie laughed, bemused at the absurd notion of Zell trying to drag his friend out of an actual well. And I thought Juliet was a little dopey at times, she thought.

James almost choked on his drink in reaction. "Oh yeah? Sounds like the kind of idiot that would steal a horse," the Cleric replied.

MacKensie laughed, completely oblivious to the private joke being shared between her two friends. Once Clive and Zell went to the bar for a second round of drinks, and the food was served, MacKensie tucked in to her stew with her spoon. Bliss, was her review of the first mouthful. James turned the conversation onto the group's favourite food, with Barracker going first. MacKensie, cognizant of including Alison in the conversation, smiled at Barracker's choice before redirecting the question to the Rogue.

"What about you, Alison? I am sure you have sampled many a cuisine in your time," she remarked, rembering how easily Alison had pin-pointed almost down to the city. The older woman was no-doubt well-travelled. MacKensie was interested to know what her take on food would be and if there would be any stories to go with it.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@xenonI'm going out for a meal but I will post late tonight, even if I have to post drunk lol. Toodles xD

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Belle Trydant, MacKensie's mother, was everything a noblewoman should be. Although the aristocracy no longer existed in modern, liberal society, those of the upper class who could trace their bloodline back to the appropriate place - and who had the family fortunes and heirlooms to show for it - still, amongst themselves, recognised and practiced the way of life that was of the nobility of yesteryear. And Belle was a perfect representation of this. She was strong in her own way - in the ways of a traditional woman of class. A staunch supporter of her husband, doing all the little things in the background to make sure that he could go out into the world and conquer his lofty ambitions, shining as bright as he possibly could. He was the sun and she was the moon. Belle could be feeling ill or feeling down, yet still be able to tend to the emotional needs of her children and husband, and still find the energy to put on a brave face, go out into the world and conduct her charity events or formal social occasions with all the elegance and charm she was known for. MacKensie did indeed admire her mother. But, although there were a fair few adult figures in MacKensie's life worthy of respect and recognition, it was Sir Axel Trydant who was MacKensie's sole role model.

It might be that everything about MacKensie could be, in some way, sourced back to the desire to make her father proud. Her discipline, work ethic, self-control, spotless reputation, ambition... Axel Trydant didn't hand out praise easily, but MacKensie was not deprived of his approval. He let her know that she was a credit to the family name and this only made her more fierce in her determination to be the perfect daughter. The beauty and decorum of her mother, with the fire and backbone of her father, and a little something unique of her own to cap it all off. But since being whisked away to another world, MacKensie had been forced to grapple with the fact that she was not perfect. Far from it, in fact. Mytheria had tested her character, her limits and her courage. She had learned a lot about herself - grown in this chaotic but short space of time - but perhaps the most unexpected trait she had uncovered within herself, was that she was prone to hero-worship.

First, Fenna Postma. Right from the beginning, Fenna had attracted the admiration of MacKensie. The dutchwoman was a picture of feminine strength and beauty. Proud and firm, yet at the same time, humble and gentle. In spite of suffering great heartache, being a universe apart from her husband and children, Fenna dealt with everything that came her way with dignity, grace and resilience. Never once did the fire of determination to fight her way back to her family leave her eyes. Just being in her presence was of great comfort to MacKensie and the twenty-one year old looked up to her a lot.

And now there was a second woman who MacKensie had discovered an immediate desire to emulate. Alison Walker. She had connected with the American rogue so quickly, there was just something about her. A certain... je ne sais quoi - a va va voom. Just... so damn cool. Kind of like Fenna with a mix of Zell - a wild description, to be sure, and maybe not quite accurate enough, but it was hard to pinpoint, MacKensie had known the woman for less than a day. Whatever it was about her, MacKensie was detecting the seed of a feeling familiar to how she felt about Fenna.

"But then, this ball of light comes walking into the Brass Monkey..."

MacKensie was taken by complete surprise when she felt the iron grip of Alison's hand on her shoulder, wide-eyed as she was shaken about, forced to do her best impression of a human bobblehead. A smile slowly broke through the shock and she laughed as Alison finally relented, her characteristic nervous motion of tucking her hair behind her ear triggered as she shared her amused gaze with everyone around the table.

Alison asked for more answers and Adam sought to give them, providing a succint account of the most important details. "...So we know where to go next and why we're here, we just need to know how to get home. That's important, obviously.”

MacKensie's lips pursed in a solemn smile as she watched Adam's gaze fall on Fenna for that last sentence. The young man was so caring, always looking out for the best interests of others. His selflessness was a shining light - a moral compass for Second Chance, always pointing in the right direction no matter how the situation turned. Right from the start, when they had woken up in the village of Hommas, Adam had been the first to speak up and let everyone know that they should do the right thing and help the townguard fight the monsters that bore down on them. And since then, he was always - without fail - oriented towards that which was righteous.

What happened next was astonishing. MacKensie was put in suspense when Alison got up out of her chair and stepped back. Then... she vanished! MacKensie gasped a little and looked around half-expecting that the woman had teleported, as their party idiot was wont to do on occasion, but Alison was nowhere to be found. It was barely percpetible under the ambience of the tavern room but her sharp Ranger ears picked up the faintest trace of footsteps go past, behind her and she looked but saw nothing. Then Alison appeared behind Adam with that cool smile of hers and shrugged. "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."

Well that certainly answered Adam's inquiry! The conversation continued, Alison showing interest in the Source Comm system, to which, MacKensie chimed in. "I think it would be best if you saw it for yourself," she advised with an assuring nod before Alison went on to explain that The Thieves Guild didn't quite have the same level of amenities for it's contractors. "I see."

James, who had been listening in silence so far, entered the exchange here. MacKensie found herself glad that he did so. James was exceptionally intelligent and his input was always welcome and often illuminating. "...Sorry to butt in, I was occupied when we were presenting ourselves, my name is James Sirius, from Mexico, and I am the current leader of Second Chance, nice to meet you"

MacKensie smiled, not only for his good manners - something that was always appreciated by the frenchwoman - but for his characteristic frown. That was his happy face. And... his angry face. And, well... one tended to get used to it. The man underneath the expression was delightful.

"The Witch Queen," MacKensie began, her voice lowering a little. "She did not only hack the Emperor's message to us. She sent a message of her own." That message was as much for Alison as it was for the rest of them. "All of us were hit with quite a shock when we returned, tired and injured from our mission, to find that message waiting for us. Perhaps fresh eyes on the Witch Queen's words would gleen some new information from it?" She looked at James. "Although, I am not sure if Alison will be authorised for this. Do you think Lucy would allow it?" she was asking James, but then looked to the others too for an answer.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Okay I have returned! I was away for some time due to a sudden opportunity to visit some relatives I have not seen in literal years, sadly they live in the boonies so their internet connection is spotty at best.

Still, a lot has happened since the last posts.

James reaction after learning about Fenna's adventure

In lieu of recent events

Part of the gang

@Teyao

Lmao! 10/10 Teyao xD

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@LoksfjoerHave fun Lok! xD

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

So true. I don't think I'd be confident enough to really sell the CIA-quality aptitude in a character but AvaP has delivered on that front. xD

@AvaPYou seem to have a wide knowledge base when it comes to history, geography, war, government structure and things surrounding these topics. Is this true?

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Aw, you're a sweetie! Thnx @Jay009 xD

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Clive squeezing past her to get into the room and demand answers broke MacKensie from her stupor. She barely heard Zell's comment about their accents as she looked a little more closely at Barracker's face to realise that he was injured. "Barracker," she gasped, walking over to him and going to one knee so that she could touch his face. Her fingers gently guided the Paladin's jaw line up so that his cheek was in the light.

"It's nothing guys. Barracker and I are just screwing around and it got a bit out of hand."

She shook her head slightly in disbelief as she assessed the damage, concern knitting her eyebrows together. She then looked Barracker in the eye to see if he fought this obvious downplaying by Zell, disappointed to see that he wasn't going to, so she turned to look accusingly at the other frontliner, but her eyes widened to see the blood on Zell's forehead that was previously obscured from her vision because of her position at the door. "Sacre bleu, Zell... Barracker... what on earth have you been doing to eachother?"

She left Barracker to go over to Zell, all of the recent awkwardness put on hold for the minute. She dropped in front of him and took his face in her hands, a tad more roughly than with Barracker she moved his head a little to see his mouth, his lips, bloodied and slightly swollen. Then her hands moved to part his hair and squint to see where the blood was coming from. Fingers moving through his hair as her thumbs located the cut, she found herself wondering what she was even doing right now, as a wave of familiarity hit her. "You are seriously injured," she said aloud in a most uncertain tone, her eyes fixed on his.

"We're fine."

She pulled away, her self-conciousness now trumping all other feelings. She glanced over her shoulder at Clive, then back at Zell. "You are sure?" she stood up and backed away a step so that she could share her gaze with the two swordsmen. "You do not want us to call for James to heal you?" This had suddenly become so disingenuous and it felt awful, considering her friends were hurt.

"Go on," Zell told her and Clive. "We'll be down in a sec."

MacKensie, as much as she wanted to, made sure not to take that as a signal to run out of the room. In fact, she lingered to over-compensate. "If you are sure," she said, looking at Barracker too in order to see his reaction. Then she looked at Clive, a slight shrug of her shoulders and shake of her head. After that she left, glad to be out of the room, a sick feeling in her stomach as her mind replayed and replayed.

"You boys are so silly sometimes," she lectured Clive, who had done absolutely nothing wrong but just so happened to be with her as they descended to the ground floor. "I will never understand what drives you to such stupidity." She realised that she was lecturing the wrong person and smirked at the farmer from Texas to show she was being unserious. "Gorillas."

MacKensie was happy to see everyone gathering and greeted each of them, passing by the bar to place her hand on Fenna's and give her a smile, rubbing James' shoulder and asking Adam how he was doing. They moved two tables together to make one big table that they could all sit down at. Frederick was over, engaging in a little small talk and noting down, on his pad, anyone's order who was ready to give it, but there was no rush. When Alison entered the inn, MacKensie's eyes lit up and she rose from her seat to go over and greet the woman.

"Alison, I'm so glad you came. How are you?" MacKensie told her that everyone was here, then turned to walk with her to the table. "Umm, guys," she said to everyone. "This is Alison. Alison, meet my party, my comrades and most of all... my dear friends."

In spite of wanting it to be a surprise, MacKensie had already blabbed to Fenna, the night before, that Alison was from Earth - she simply couldn't help herself. But for everyone else, now that they had said hello as a group and heard Alison say hi back, MacKensie would now reveal, "If you could not tell by that accent..." she barely contained her giggles. "...Alison is from the United States."

Of course, the right thing to do in such a situation as this would be to introduce Alison individually to each person so that she could put a name to each face, and MacKensie would do so, when and where required, but the reactions of everyone would likely do most of that job for her, so she stayed by Alison's side, her good-natured amiability quietly encouraging a warm welcome.

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

@ZapdosI figured I may aswell use him again. Lol bullying the gnome is always a fun read xD