“Man, this is really awkward,” Rave said, lying in her bed.

It was now evening. John had cleaned up after the fight in a state of delirium, his low HP making the world a haze. He had reassembled Aclysia, then he had left the changed Illusion Barrier. He had found Herman curing a comatose Rave. He had panicked but as the apothecary explained, she had only collapsed due to malnutrition. Herman had been extremely sad to hear the news.

“In the end all of this was in vain, huh?” he had mumbled and sighed heavily, “the Abyss tends to be like this.” He had gotten Rave all pepped up but insisted they went to the actual hospital back in Springfield to see if none of Rave’s blood was compromised or anything in that way.

And so, they ended up in this room. It was only her and John right now. Well, John and his two Artificial Spirits, Mono and Aclysia, who stood next to the bed while he himself was sitting. The elemental girls were not back yet, repairing a Tier 2 body cost even more than Tier 1, and he had to repair 4 of them.

Rave sighed and tapped a beat on the blanket. John had just gotten through telling her about what had happened in the short time they were separated. “So, ya are now level 75?”

“That is correct,” John answered.

“That is a load of bull,” Rave giggled.

John stared at his hands, folded in his lap. “Jane, I am…”

“If ya follow that up with, ‘so sorry that you had to go through that,’ I will do something horrible to your testicles,” Rave interrupted him. “I decided to go along with this, we couldn’t have guessed how it would end up.” She extended a hand and smiled. Even though her bright pink hair had gone mostly white from the stress of the last few days and the scars of Thana’s claws extended from her throat down to her collarbone, she was the one smiling.

John took her hand into his own and they shared a moment of blissful silence. He did not know what to say or what to feel.

“It was weird though,” Rave eventually said, “sometimes she was ecstatic to kill, at others she looked sorry, one time she even cried. Whenever she fought against me she always made sure that she wouldn’t kill me, she would do everything else though.” John nodded, he had no doubt that Thana had been a good person somewhere. Circumstances just hadn’t allowed her to be anything besides what she was or, at least, hadn’t let her think anything else.

Which reminded him of another thing. “You tried to say something to me at the end,” he looked at Mono, “What was it?”

“I… no, it doesn’t matter. It was tactless anyway,” the Artificial Supporter answered. Aclysia carefully nudged her little sister and Mono slightly bowed a moment later. “It was just… slightly ironic that I was the only one left at the end.”

“She is new,” Rave said.

“There are a lot of changes, you will not believe how horny the elementals have gotten,” John sighed, happy to change the topic to something he regarded as normal. “It can become a chore.”

“I’ll be happy to take some of that off your back,” Rave purred, ever the ray of careless sunshine. He understood her stance towards death and danger a little better now. Events like this were expected in her world. “’Cause I am sick of fighting for now, I want to sleep for like two days, then I want to eat something nice and then I want to have sex until I fall asleep for another two days. Think ya can do that for me?”

John grinned, “I bet I can.”

“I wonder where my dad is,” Rave changed the topic, “I expected him to run right up here.”

“Herman promised to call him, maybe he forgot?” John suggested. As these things went, the door was suddenly slammed open the moment he finished that sentence.

Regan, for once wearing a matching outfit of a nice suit, half-covered by a dark trench coat, finished up by shined shoes, hastily stepped into the hospital room. The baseball cap in his hands betrayed that the outfit only almost matched.

“Jane!” he shouted and stepped over the bed.

“Hi, daddy!” Rave exclaimed similarly enthused, “how have you been?”

“Don’t you give me that, young lady!” Regan was not at all in the mood for niceness, “you will never do anything like that EVER again, do you hear me!”

“What do you mean by that?” Rave asked, taken aback, she had never seen her father this angry.

“It means you are under house arrest until the day I die! Also, YOU!” he pointed at John, “I will let you get away with it this time because you got her out of the mess but I told you to never get my daughter into dangerous situations again and what do you do? Leave her with some crazed maniac and get…”

“DAD!” Rave interrupted, “It was MY choice to go along, stop pinning it on John!”

“He is a bad influence!”

“Ya left me with TRAVOLTA when ya were gone on business trips, ya have no right to speak about bad influences!”

John cleared his throat, “Can I just say that I am so-“

“”SHUT UP!”” both of them turned to him.

“This is daughter-father business,” Rave told him.

“Yeah, we got this,” Regan agreed and the two were about to resume shouting at each other when Herman appeared in the still open door.

“Ehm, hello, I bring back the results of the blood test,” the somewhat meek apothecary said as he stepped inside. He closed the door behind him, “I also must implore you to stay quiet, my superiors are already not happy with me having you stay here for free…”

“Just out with the results!” Regan demanded, then he turned to Rave. “Results about what, Jane?”

“If I’m pregnant,” she said in a dry tone. Regan was about to keel over when she corrected herself.

“No, see, the girl who held me captive had some infectious blood magic thingy and he wanted to test if it’s affecting me.”

 Regan looked relieved for a moment, then it dawned on him that that wasn’t better at all. Especially since he had to know what infectious blood they were talking about.

“Okay, so I can give you the clear, you are not affected by Thana’s blood,” Herman said and everyone sighed in relief. Except for Mono who kept standing there without a care in the world.

“Great,” John said and felt both his own and Rave’s hand relax.

“Back to your house arrest, sweetheart,” Regan said, about to open that discussion again when Herman cleared his throat.

“There is also a visitor for you,” he said.

“They will have to wait,” Regan said with certainty.

“No, sir, for John and SHE is very insistent,” Herman gulped, “as a matter of fact if I don’t let her in soon my superiors will probably fire me.”

“Who could be that important that…” Regan started then he remembered. Then John remembered, then Rave looked at both of them in confusion.

“Let her come in,” John said and then turned to Rave as Herman scrambled, “remember how I told you that I was in a barrier for a month?”

“Yeah?”

“And how a professional Fateweaver did that?”

“Yeah…” Rave had an idea where this was going, “how deep into the shit mire did ya sink?”

“500 Billion.”

Rave’s eyes approached the size of dinner plates. “Who would even give ya that much money?!”

“Her name is…”

“I can introduce myself,” came a hard voice from the entrance.

The woman who marched into the room was about John’s age. Her auburn hair was weaved into a single braid, lying decoratively over her shoulder. The reddish brown contrasted with the dark green of the military vest she wore, an article of clothing that seemed to belong in the 18th century. Same could have been said about the yellow shirt she wore underneath, with its big buttons.

An emblem was pinned to her chest, an ornate piece of gold depicting an eagle, the word ‘secundus’ underneath. From her hips dangled a rapier, the ornate heft reflecting the light. What struck John the most were her ruby red lips and her eyes. A pale blue, almost bordering on steel grey. Inside this modern magic hospital the noble figure looked like she belonged in a different time. That was, all things considered, just John’s perception though. When her tall marching boots hit the ground, they did so with absolute certainty. She closed the door behind her and put her hands behind her back.

“My name is Lydia Augusta the Fourth of house Hohenzollern. John Newman, I come here to collect my debt. I want you to come to Germany with me and fight in my name.”

“For how long? What purpose?” John asked. He had hoped it would be something simpler, like 20% interest, but this outcome was far from unexpected.

Lydia raised an eyebrow, “I see you did not inform yourself on the current affairs of Rex Germaniae and the upcoming tournament before you accepted our deal.”

“Tournament?” He answered with a further question. Regan quickly intervened as the princess shot John a stern look.

“Rex Germaniae has a tradition where, if the electorate fails to crown a new monarch three times, the candidates will instead fight in a tournament,” he laid down the facts.

“Really?” Rave asked, “that’s pretty cool, can I come fight too?”

Lydia kept her posture and asked, “And you are?”

“Jane Hollmey, his girlfriend, thanks for giving him the money to save me,” Rave chirped.

“You don’t owe me, if you tag along or not is entirely up to you. Albeit, I confess confusion as to why you would wish to aid me?” Lydia said, her tone not at all confused, probing would have been the correct term.

“’Cause it sounds like fun!”

“Jane, I will not let you go on another stupid adventure,” Regan interrupted.

“Try stopping me daddy, ya won’t like the result,” she stuck out her tongue. John stepped in before they could start bickering in front of royalty.

“Do I have to come with you now, or…?”

“Preferably, yes,” Lydia stated and crossed her arms. “I am not hard pressed for time, the last election is still a while off, but there’s always other matters to attend to.” With another glance at Rave she added “I will only pay the plane ticket for you, if your girlfriend wants to come along, whether she fights or not, she will have to pay her own.”

“Can do!” Jane said and, suddenly very energetic, swung her legs out of the bed.

“I have some things to take care of before that though,” John said. At the very least he would need to inform his mother, after all she would come back home in a few days to check on how he fended on his own.

Lydia sighed. “Fine,” she relented and pulled her wallet out of one of the many pockets, “I’ll stay at a hotel near the centre, this is my number. Contact me within three days.” She gave him a business card of incredibly simple design, white with the Prussian eagle in the upper left corner and only her name and number on it. Without further words, she turned on her heels and marched right back out.

“Adventure!” Rave declared. “Come on, let’s go pack our bags!” She pulled him up and they were ready to leave, although John was a bit overrun by these happenings.

“Jane!” Regan stepped between them and the exit, “I told you that…”

John was pulled away from their discussion by a sudden window.

“The fuck?” John asked. Nobody heard him. Aclysia was just happy to be safe again, Mono looked at her sister and waited for Gnome to come back, Rave and Regan were in a heated debate.

The future looked like it would hold some very weird things in store for him.

Man, this is really awkward, Rave said, lying in her bed. It was now evening. John had cleaned up after the fight in a state of delirium, his low HP making the world a haze. He had reassembled Aclysia, then he had left the changed Illusion Barrier. He had found Herman curing a comatose Rave. He had panicked but as the apothecary explained, she had only collapsed due to malnutrition. Herman had been extremely sad to hear the news. In the end all of this was in vain, huh? he had mumbled and sighed heavily, the Abyss tends to be like this. He had gotten Rave all pepped up but insisted they went to the actual hospital back in Springfield to see if none of Rave's blood was compromised or anything in that way. And so, they ended up in this room. It was only her and John right now. Well, John and his two Artificial Spirits, Mono and Aclysia, who stood next to the bed while he himself was sitting. The elemental girls were not back yet, repairing a Tier 2 body cost even more than Tier 1, and he had to repair 4 of them. Rave sighed and tapped a beat on the blanket. John had just gotten through telling her about what had happened in the short time they were separated. So, ya are now level 75? That is correct, John answered. That is a load of bull, Rave giggled. John stared at his hands, folded in his lap. Jane, I am If ya follow that up with, so sorry that you had to go through that,' I will do something horrible to your testicles, Rave interrupted him. I decided to go along with this, we couldn't have guessed how it would end up. She extended a hand and smiled. Even though her bright pink hair had gone mostly white from the stress of the last few days and the scars of Thana's claws extended from her throat down to her collarbone, she was the one smiling. John took her hand into his own and they shared a moment of blissful silence. He did not know what to say or what to feel. It was weird though, Rave eventually said, sometimes she was ecstatic to kill, at others she looked sorry, one time she even cried. Whenever she fought against me she always made sure that she wouldn't kill me, she would do everything else though. John nodded, he had no doubt that Thana had been a good person somewhere. Circumstances just hadn't allowed her to be anything besides what she was or, at least, hadn't let her think anything else. Which reminded him of another thing. You tried to say something to me at the end, he looked at Mono, What was it? I no, it doesn't matter. It was tactless anyway, the Artificial Supporter answered. Aclysia carefully nudged her little sister and Mono slightly bowed a moment later. It was just slightly ironic that I was the only one left at the end. She is new, Rave said. There are a lot of changes, you will not believe how horny the elementals have gotten, John sighed, happy to change the topic to something he regarded as normal. It can become a chore. I'll be happy to take some of that off your back, Rave purred, ever the ray of careless sunshine. He understood her stance towards death and danger a little better now. Events like this were expected in her world. 'Cause I am sick of fighting for now, I want to sleep for like two days, then I want to eat something nice and then I want to have sex until I fall asleep for another two days. Think ya can do that for me? John grinned, I bet I can. I wonder where my dad is, Rave changed the topic, I expected him to run right up here. Herman promised to call him, maybe he forgot? John suggested. As these things went, the door was suddenly slammed open the moment he finished that sentence. Regan, for once wearing a matching outfit of a nice suit, half-covered by a dark trench coat, finished up by shined shoes, hastily stepped into the hospital room. The baseball cap in his hands betrayed that the outfit only almost matched. Jane! he shouted and stepped over the bed. Hi, daddy! Rave exclaimed similarly enthused, how have you been? Don't you give me that, young lady! Regan was not at all in the mood for niceness, you will never do anything like that EVER again, do you hear me! What do you mean by that? Rave asked, taken aback, she had never seen her father this angry. It means you are under house arrest until the day I die! Also, YOU! he pointed at John, I will let you get away with it this time because you got her out of the mess but I told you to never get my daughter into dangerous situations again and what do you do? Leave her with some crazed maniac and get DAD! Rave interrupted, It was MY choice to go along, stop pinning it on John! He is a bad influence! Ya left me with TRAVOLTA when ya were gone on business trips, ya have no right to speak about bad influences! John cleared his throat, Can I just say that I am so- SHUT UP! both of them turned to him. This is daughter-father business, Rave told him. Yeah, we got this, Regan agreed and the two were about to resume shouting at each other when Herman appeared in the still open door. Ehm, hello, I bring back the results of the blood test, the somewhat meek apothecary said as he stepped inside. He closed the door behind him, I also must implore you to stay quiet, my superiors are already not happy with me having you stay here for free Just out with the results! Regan demanded, then he turned to Rave. Results about what, Jane? If I'm pregnant, she said in a dry tone. Regan was about to keel over when she corrected herself. No, see, the girl who held me captive had some infectious blood magic thingy and he wanted to test if it's affecting me. Regan looked relieved for a moment, then it dawned on him that that wasn't better at all. Especially since he had to know what infectious blood they were talking about. Okay, so I can give you the clear, you are not affected by Thana's blood, Herman said and everyone sighed in relief. Except for Mono who kept standing there without a care in the world. Great, John said and felt both his own and Rave's hand relax. Back to your house arrest, sweetheart, Regan said, about to open that discussion again when Herman cleared his throat. There is also a visitor for you, he said. They will have to wait, Regan said with certainty. No, sir, for John and SHE is very insistent, Herman gulped, as a matter of fact if I don't let her in soon my superiors will probably fire me. Who could be that important that Regan started then he remembered. Then John remembered, then Rave looked at both of them in confusion. Let her come in, John said and then turned to Rave as Herman scrambled, remember how I told you that I was in a barrier for a month? Yeah? And how a professional Fateweaver did that? Yeah Rave had an idea where this was going, how deep into the shit mire did ya sink? 500 Billion. Rave's eyes approached the size of dinner plates. Who would even give ya that much money?! Her name is I can introduce myself, came a hard voice from the entrance. The woman who marched into the room was about John's age. Her auburn hair was weaved into a single braid, lying decoratively over her shoulder. The reddish brown contrasted with the dark green of the military vest she wore, an article of clothing that seemed to belong in the 18th century. Same could have been said about the yellow shirt she wore underneath, with its big buttons. An emblem was pinned to her chest, an ornate piece of gold depicting an eagle, the word secundus' underneath. From her hips dangled a rapier, the ornate heft reflecting the light. What struck John the most were her ruby red lips and her eyes. A pale blue, almost bordering on steel grey. Inside this modern magic hospital the noble figure looked like she belonged in a different time. That was, all things considered, just John's perception though. When her tall marching boots hit the ground, they did so with absolute certainty. She closed the door behind her and put her hands behind her back. My name is Lydia Augusta the Fourth of house Hohenzollern. John Newman, I come here to collect my debt. I want you to come to Germany with me and fight in my name. For how long? What purpose? John asked. He had hoped it would be something simpler, like 20% interest, but this outcome was far from unexpected. Lydia raised an eyebrow, I see you did not inform yourself on the current affairs of Rex Germaniae and the upcoming tournament before you accepted our deal. Tournament? He answered with a further question. Regan quickly intervened as the princess shot John a stern look. Rex Germaniae has a tradition where, if the electorate fails to crown a new monarch three times, the candidates will instead fight in a tournament, he laid down the facts. Really? Rave asked, that's pretty cool, can I come fight too? Lydia kept her posture and asked, And you are? Jane Hollmey, his girlfriend, thanks for giving him the money to save me, Rave chirped. You don't owe me, if you tag along or not is entirely up to you. Albeit, I confess confusion as to why you would wish to aid me? Lydia said, her tone not at all confused, probing would have been the correct term. 'Cause it sounds like fun! Jane, I will not let you go on another stupid adventure, Regan interrupted. Try stopping me daddy, ya won't like the result, she stuck out her tongue. John stepped in before they could start bickering in front of royalty. Do I have to come with you now, or? Preferably, yes, Lydia stated and crossed her arms. I am not hard pressed for time, the last election is still a while off, but there's always other matters to attend to. With another glance at Rave she added I will only pay the plane ticket for you, if your girlfriend wants to come along, whether she fights or not, she will have to pay her own. Can do! Jane said and, suddenly very energetic, swung her legs out of the bed. I have some things to take care of before that though, John said. At the very least he would need to inform his mother, after all she would come back home in a few days to check on how he fended on his own. Lydia sighed. Fine, she relented and pulled her wallet out of one of the many pockets, I'll stay at a hotel near the centre, this is my number. Contact me within three days. She gave him a business card of incredibly simple design, white with the Prussian eagle in the upper left corner and only her name and number on it. Without further words, she turned on her heels and marched right back out. Adventure! Rave declared. Come on, let's go pack our bags! She pulled him up and they were ready to leave, although John was a bit overrun by these happenings. Jane! Regan stepped between them and the exit, I told you that John was pulled away from their discussion by a sudden window. The fuck? John asked. Nobody heard him. Aclysia was just happy to be safe again, Mono looked at her sister and waited for Gnome to come back, Rave and Regan were in a heated debate. The future looked like it would hold some very weird things in store for him.