Eventually their kiss broke. The end of the contact of their lips was far from the end of their reunification ritual. John was happy to hold Rave in his arms and just… sway back and forth, like a young tree in the wind. Romantic as the scene was, one of his hands travelled lower and landed eventually on her firm butt. It had been too long since he had felt that.
Rave did not mind in the slightest, gave him a mischievous wink instead. Eventually, she slipped a hand of her own into his back pocket and gave his butt a possessive squeeze herself. “So, will the princess have your ass?” she asked, simultaneously pulling off her headphones.
“No answer yet,” John explained and then remembered the flower he was still holding, the plant was in danger of getting squished between them. Breaking the hug, he presented the flower to her. “Only got one in the hurry,” he apologized but Rave took the red flower all the same.
“It is definitely pretty enough,” she smiled and smelled the flower. She was taken aback.
“What is it?” John wanted to know.
“It doesn’t smell like anything,” Rave said and eyed the odd flower.
“Of course, it doesn’t,” a hard voice chimed in. Lydia’s steps were accompanied by the clacking of a walking stick she carried with her. Besides that out of place decoration, the young woman wore a grey fleece jacket and a knee-high, loose skirt with black stockings protecting her legs from the direct cold. Well, what was visible between the skirt and the hiking boots anyway. “That is a camellia japonica, they don’t have any smell,” she explained as she walked up to the pair. She checked a watch halfway hidden under her leather gloves. “You are twenty-three minutes late, explain,” she demanded.
“Uhm,” Rave was taken aback by the princess’ demanding tone for a few seconds. Then, she bounced right back. “Usual airport stuff,” she said and made a wild gesture towards the direction she came from, like that would explain everything.
Lydia just accepted that with a nod. “Fine then,” she stated and pulled out her smartphone.
John barely saw the time management table pop-up, then she already had freed up her next 24 hours. “I will need to arrange our stay,” she explained and started making calls, leaving John and Rave to catch-up a bit.
“Where did you leave Aclysia?” John started, he didn’t see the artificial guardian anywhere. He could sense her though. After months apart, the mental connection he had with her was once again firm. Rave tapped on the handle of the trolley bag she had with her. “Had her shrink down and hide in here. There was an incident at the first airport.”
‘Master,’ Aclysia interrupted when Rave made a pause, ‘I was molested again, is that bad?’
“Uhm, what?” John asked out loud. Rave mistook that for him asking what had happened, either way worked.
“Well, she acted like a figurine inside my stuff but because she was pure metal the detector picked her up so I had to explain why I was carrying a solid metal figurine with me. They checked her thoroughly. Was quite the scene I tell ya,” Rave smirked, “She turned into plastic after that. No more problems. Different question, where did ya leave that newcomer of yours?”
“Mono?”
“Still can’t believe you’re serious about that name,” Rave laughed about something that went over John’s head.
“What? She is monochrome, black and white,” he explained. “So Mono works nicely.”
“Sure, sure,” Rave kissed him on the cheek, leaving John confused but he dropped the topic. “Where’s Mono then?” she repeated her question. If someone had told the Gamer that those glossy pink lips of hers were the reason for all poems mankind had ever composed, he would have believed them immediately.
“I left her in the car with Herman,” John hadn’t paid much attention to Mono on their way here, he barely remembered her getting in the car.
“Okay, where is your bestie then?” Rave asked.
“My what now?” John asked.
“Herman, what, you tell me you have other male good friends all of a sudden?” she poked fun at him. “Pretty sure he qualifies as your best friend at this point.”
YOUR BEST FRIEND, HE WILL FALL!
John’s eyes went wide when he remembered the prophecy of the Horned Rat. He clenched his fist, his whole body suddenly tensing up as those words flowed into his mind. He had pushed them aside for a while, forgotten them at the time because more important things had been ahead. The words that had shook the whole catacombs, he needed to…
Rave grabbed his hand. “Everything alright, John?” she asked, the worry in her eyes apparent.
The simple gesture of affection pulled him back into the now, “Yeah, sorry,” he mumbled. “I will explain it to you later.” Rave nodded but kept her hands in place.
He got a mental call from Mono, asking where they were, and soon both she and Herman joined them. “It is crowded even at this hour,” Herman sighed.
“People have a lot to do these days.” All of them looked at Lydia who was still making calls.
“No, I do not care. The usual. Yes… no, of course not. How many rooms? That is more than enough,” Lydia kept talking to the person on the other end. There was a moment where she just listened before saying, “Great, have him be here in ten minutes.” She put away her phone afterwards.
“We will relocate. Until our drive arrives, I have a question,” Lydia abruptly turned to John, her braided hair falling onto her chest. “Who is he?” she pointed at Herman with her thumb.
John had never told her about the apothecary “He is a friend who I invited to stay over so I wouldn’t die of boredom,” John cut the explanation short. “…princess,” he remembered to add.
Lydia raised an eyebrow. “Why would you be bored? I left you fifteen books of riddles, a television and several training devices, not to mention the entire city of Cologne,” she said, her tone doubtful.
“Those aren’t exactly fun activities,” John drily stated.
“I agree on the television,” Lydia said, “but what is wrong with sudoku?”
“Nothing is wrong with sudoku, I just don’t particularly fancy it.”
“Is that so?” Lydia blinked a few times, “In that case I apologize, Newman, you didn’t communicate so I assumed your situation was satisfactory.” Her eyes went back over to Herman. She gave him a long muster, before continuing. “It seems like you fixed the problem yourself anyhow. You say he stayed with you?”
“T-that is correct, princess,” Herman chimed in, his tone nervous, “I hope that isn’t bad or anything?”
“No, it is fine, I would have preferred to be informed, however. You guarantee he will not destroy my property?” The question was directed at John again.
“Sure,” he answered.
“In that case you may stay in that house for the time being, if you so desire. I don’t have plans to use it in the near future anyhow. Leave it as clean as John found it when you move out.”
“Thank you,” Herman said and bowed, which got him a few interested glances from the passing people.
“No problem,” Lydia checked her watch once more, “We need to get moving, the taxi will come soon.”
“We are taking a cab?” Rave asked. John took a moment to hastily say goodbye to Herman.
“Thanks again for driving me,” John said and reached out with his hand.
Herman took it and, with a weak grasp, shook, “Anything for a friend.” Herman was about to go when John remembered something, “Could you do me one more favour? I left the metal spine-like thing in my room. If you have the time please bring it to me.”
The apothecary thought for a few seconds then he nodded, “I’ll find time,” he promised and then departed from the group.
“Yes, we currently get all services paid by Romulus himself, so I might as well abuse that,” Lydia explained things to Rave in the meantime.
“Romulus will pay for a normal taxi?” Rave asked. The princess' steel eyes rested on the techno-lover for a moment.
“No,” she answered after she deemed Rave’s question as a serious one. “We will take the tunnels.”
“The what now?” John was confused, but Rave followed the princess with enthused steps when they got moving.
“I never took the tunnels,” she squealed, “this is super ex-ci-ting!”
They went outside and, after checking her watch one more time, Lydia entered an Illusion Barrier. Rave followed quickly, as did John, despite his continued confusion.
All the cars that were moving around were replaced with a complete lack of any of the previous cars. Even the ones that had been parked were gone. All were replaced with a single stretch limo, sitting decadently on the street. A driver in a suit stood at the ready, holding a list.
“Please confirm your identity,” he said and read from the list, “Lydia Augusta the fourth of House Hohenzollern, together with up to four guests, is that correct?”
“It is,” Lydia said and showed the driver the golden emblem that she had worn when she had found John in the hospital. The driver nodded, then bowed, and the door to the back of the car opened with the soft whisper of relaxing hydraulics. Lydia got inside, Rave quickly followed and, with no other choice, John and Mono did as well. The driver took quick care of Rave’s trolley.
The seats were of beige leather and extremely soft. They wrapped as a continuous bench around a table. A selection of drinks was sprawled out at the centre. Through black-tinted windows they could look outside.
“So, just that I get this right,” John said while he was sitting down next to Rave. She put a hand on his leg and he took it a moment later. “This is a service that moves you through the city by using barriers, thus avoiding traffic altogether?”
“That is correct,” Lydia answered. “One of the least useful services the Fateweavers offer, utilizing Mobile Barriers for such decadence… alas, they know to use their monopoly well. If you pay enough you also can get your time dilated and so effectively get there quicker. Typically, I would avoid these services altogether.” She placed her walking stick off to the side. “This, however, is not on my dime.”
“Would have been really useful to know about this a few hours ago,” John sighed, “and Romulus is paying for this because you are a candidate?”
“He is paying for everyone involved,” the princess took a small bottle of water from the mini bar.
The car got moving and Rave pouted as she looked outside the window, “I thought it would be cool,” she mumbled, “Instead all that’s happening is that we move through a trafficless night.” Turning to Lydia she said, “So we get that 100% discount too, or?”
“No,” Lydia denied firmly and took a sip of water. “Not yet. The tournament is not officially on its way and you are not involved unless you are confirmed as my fighters. The third election needs to end in another draw.”
“But you already wanted me here?” John asked, “Is it that likely to end in another draw?”
“In the last 300 years every single election has ended in a tournament,” Lydia sighed, “the system broke when the electors started to be more interested in the games than who leads the country. Let us talk about that tomorrow, there is a lot to it.”
He nodded, the day had been pretty long and he was growing tired. So was everyone else really. Except Mono of course. In addition, Aclysia sent an unhappy feeling to John. ‘We will see each other soon,’ John promised.
‘I am stuck between mistress’ clothes. She did not fold them properly. There are wrinkles everywhere.’ The maid’s discomfort was palpable.
After a relatively short drive, ignoring all traffic and its rules made moving incredibly fast, they arrived in front of a big house. It wasn’t quite mansion sized but it was the next lower thing. Two stories tall, a front with rows of windows, covered in decoratively cut vines. The brick wall stretched broadly in front of John as he stepped closer. Lydia opened the door without turning a key or even raising a hand. It just swung inside.
Rave placed her trolley in the entrance area and John quickly peeked inside. It was the exact same decoration style like the house he had just left behind. The only difference seemed to be that everything was bigger and more spacious. “You will stay here. Take a room on the upper floor. Don’t be afraid to use your powers, this house is enchanted to ward off unwanted attention. We will speak tomorrow at noon,” the princess suppressed a yawn as she vanished deeper inside the house.
“Man, that girl has a massive stick up her ass,” Rave whispered.
“Honestly, she was pretty nice today,” John answered and then yawned himself. “Let’s go sleep.”
“Speaking of sleeping… I suggest we take the room furthest away from hers, tiger,” Rave winked and John smiled back. Drowsy as he was, he could do one or two more things in his bed before he crashed in it.
Eventually their kiss broke. The end of the contact of their lips was far from the end of their reunification ritual. John was happy to hold Rave in his arms and just… sway back and forth, like a young tree in the wind. Romantic as the scene was, one of his hands travelled lower and landed eventually on her firm butt. It had been too long since he had felt that.
Rave did not mind in the slightest, gave him a mischievous wink instead. Eventually, she slipped a hand of her own into his back pocket and gave his butt a possessive squeeze herself. “So, will the princess have your ass?” she asked, simultaneously pulling off her headphones.
“No answer yet,” John explained and then remembered the flower he was still holding, the plant was in danger of getting squished between them. Breaking the hug, he presented the flower to her. “Only got one in the hurry,” he apologized but Rave took the red flower all the same.
“It is definitely pretty enough,” she smiled and smelled the flower. She was taken aback.
“What is it?” John wanted to know.
“It doesn’t smell like anything,” Rave said and eyed the odd flower.
“Of course, it doesn’t,” a hard voice chimed in. Lydia’s steps were accompanied by the clacking of a walking stick she carried with her. Besides that out of place decoration, the young woman wore a grey fleece jacket and a knee-high, loose skirt with black stockings protecting her legs from the direct cold. Well, what was visible between the skirt and the hiking boots anyway. “That is a camellia japonica, they don’t have any smell,” she explained as she walked up to the pair. She checked a watch halfway hidden under her leather gloves. “You are twenty-three minutes late, explain,” she demanded.
“Uhm,” Rave was taken aback by the princess’ demanding tone for a few seconds. Then, she bounced right back. “Usual airport stuff,” she said and made a wild gesture towards the direction she came from, like that would explain everything.
Lydia just accepted that with a nod. “Fine then,” she stated and pulled out her smartphone.
John barely saw the time management table pop-up, then she already had freed up her next 24 hours. “I will need to arrange our stay,” she explained and started making calls, leaving John and Rave to catch-up a bit.
“Where did you leave Aclysia?” John started, he didn’t see the artificial guardian anywhere. He could sense her though. After months apart, the mental connection he had with her was once again firm. Rave tapped on the handle of the trolley bag she had with her. “Had her shrink down and hide in here. There was an incident at the first airport.”
‘Master,’ Aclysia interrupted when Rave made a pause, ‘I was molested again, is that bad?’
“Uhm, what?” John asked out loud. Rave mistook that for him asking what had happened, either way worked.
“Well, she acted like a figurine inside my stuff but because she was pure metal the detector picked her up so I had to explain why I was carrying a solid metal figurine with me. They checked her thoroughly. Was quite the scene I tell ya,” Rave smirked, “She turned into plastic after that. No more problems. Different question, where did ya leave that newcomer of yours?”
“Mono?”
“Still can’t believe you’re serious about that name,” Rave laughed about something that went over John’s head.
“What? She is monochrome, black and white,” he explained. “So Mono works nicely.”
“Sure, sure,” Rave kissed him on the cheek, leaving John confused but he dropped the topic. “Where’s Mono then?” she repeated her question. If someone had told the Gamer that those glossy pink lips of hers were the reason for all poems mankind had ever composed, he would have believed them immediately.
“I left her in the car with Herman,” John hadn’t paid much attention to Mono on their way here, he barely remembered her getting in the car.
“Okay, where is your bestie then?” Rave asked.
“My what now?” John asked.
“Herman, what, you tell me you have other male good friends all of a sudden?” she poked fun at him. “Pretty sure he qualifies as your best friend at this point.”
YOUR BEST FRIEND, HE WILL FALL!
John’s eyes went wide when he remembered the prophecy of the Horned Rat. He clenched his fist, his whole body suddenly tensing up as those words flowed into his mind. He had pushed them aside for a while, forgotten them at the time because more important things had been ahead. The words that had shook the whole catacombs, he needed to…
Rave grabbed his hand. “Everything alright, John?” she asked, the worry in her eyes apparent.
The simple gesture of affection pulled him back into the now, “Yeah, sorry,” he mumbled. “I will explain it to you later.” Rave nodded but kept her hands in place.
He got a mental call from Mono, asking where they were, and soon both she and Herman joined them. “It is crowded even at this hour,” Herman sighed.
“People have a lot to do these days.” All of them looked at Lydia who was still making calls.
“No, I do not care. The usual. Yes… no, of course not. How many rooms? That is more than enough,” Lydia kept talking to the person on the other end. There was a moment where she just listened before saying, “Great, have him be here in ten minutes.” She put away her phone afterwards.
“We will relocate. Until our drive arrives, I have a question,” Lydia abruptly turned to John, her braided hair falling onto her chest. “Who is he?” she pointed at Herman with her thumb.
John had never told her about the apothecary “He is a friend who I invited to stay over so I wouldn’t die of boredom,” John cut the explanation short. “…princess,” he remembered to add.
Lydia raised an eyebrow. “Why would you be bored? I left you fifteen books of riddles, a television and several training devices, not to mention the entire city of Cologne,” she said, her tone doubtful.
“Those aren’t exactly fun activities,” John drily stated.
“I agree on the television,” Lydia said, “but what is wrong with sudoku?”
“Nothing is wrong with sudoku, I just don’t particularly fancy it.”
“Is that so?” Lydia blinked a few times, “In that case I apologize, Newman, you didn’t communicate so I assumed your situation was satisfactory.” Her eyes went back over to Herman. She gave him a long muster, before continuing. “It seems like you fixed the problem yourself anyhow. You say he stayed with you?”
“T-that is correct, princess,” Herman chimed in, his tone nervous, “I hope that isn’t bad or anything?”
“No, it is fine, I would have preferred to be informed, however. You guarantee he will not destroy my property?” The question was directed at John again.
“Sure,” he answered.
“In that case you may stay in that house for the time being, if you so desire. I don’t have plans to use it in the near future anyhow. Leave it as clean as John found it when you move out.”
“Thank you,” Herman said and bowed, which got him a few interested glances from the passing people.
“No problem,” Lydia checked her watch once more, “We need to get moving, the taxi will come soon.”
“We are taking a cab?” Rave asked. John took a moment to hastily say goodbye to Herman.
“Thanks again for driving me,” John said and reached out with his hand.
Herman took it and, with a weak grasp, shook, “Anything for a friend.” Herman was about to go when John remembered something, “Could you do me one more favour? I left the metal spine-like thing in my room. If you have the time please bring it to me.”
The apothecary thought for a few seconds then he nodded, “I’ll find time,” he promised and then departed from the group.
“Yes, we currently get all services paid by Romulus himself, so I might as well abuse that,” Lydia explained things to Rave in the meantime.
“Romulus will pay for a normal taxi?” Rave asked. The princess' steel eyes rested on the techno-lover for a moment.
“No,” she answered after she deemed Rave’s question as a serious one. “We will take the tunnels.”
“The what now?” John was confused, but Rave followed the princess with enthused steps when they got moving.
“I never took the tunnels,” she squealed, “this is super ex-ci-ting!”
They went outside and, after checking her watch one more time, Lydia entered an Illusion Barrier. Rave followed quickly, as did John, despite his continued confusion.
All the cars that were moving around were replaced with a complete lack of any of the previous cars. Even the ones that had been parked were gone. All were replaced with a single stretch limo, sitting decadently on the street. A driver in a suit stood at the ready, holding a list.
“Please confirm your identity,” he said and read from the list, “Lydia Augusta the fourth of House Hohenzollern, together with up to four guests, is that correct?”
“It is,” Lydia said and showed the driver the golden emblem that she had worn when she had found John in the hospital. The driver nodded, then bowed, and the door to the back of the car opened with the soft whisper of relaxing hydraulics. Lydia got inside, Rave quickly followed and, with no other choice, John and Mono did as well. The driver took quick care of Rave’s trolley.
The seats were of beige leather and extremely soft. They wrapped as a continuous bench around a table. A selection of drinks was sprawled out at the centre. Through black-tinted windows they could look outside.
“So, just that I get this right,” John said while he was sitting down next to Rave. She put a hand on his leg and he took it a moment later. “This is a service that moves you through the city by using barriers, thus avoiding traffic altogether?”
“That is correct,” Lydia answered. “One of the least useful services the Fateweavers offer, utilizing Mobile Barriers for such decadence… alas, they know to use their monopoly well. If you pay enough you also can get your time dilated and so effectively get there quicker. Typically, I would avoid these services altogether.” She placed her walking stick off to the side. “This, however, is not on my dime.”
“Would have been really useful to know about this a few hours ago,” John sighed, “and Romulus is paying for this because you are a candidate?”
“He is paying for everyone involved,” the princess took a small bottle of water from the mini bar.
The car got moving and Rave pouted as she looked outside the window, “I thought it would be cool,” she mumbled, “Instead all that’s happening is that we move through a trafficless night.” Turning to Lydia she said, “So we get that 100% discount too, or?”
“No,” Lydia denied firmly and took a sip of water. “Not yet. The tournament is not officially on its way and you are not involved unless you are confirmed as my fighters. The third election needs to end in another draw.”
“But you already wanted me here?” John asked, “Is it that likely to end in another draw?”
“In the last 300 years every single election has ended in a tournament,” Lydia sighed, “the system broke when the electors started to be more interested in the games than who leads the country. Let us talk about that tomorrow, there is a lot to it.”
He nodded, the day had been pretty long and he was growing tired. So was everyone else really. Except Mono of course. In addition, Aclysia sent an unhappy feeling to John. ‘We will see each other soon,’ John promised.
‘I am stuck between mistress’ clothes. She did not fold them properly. There are wrinkles everywhere.’ The maid’s discomfort was palpable.
After a relatively short drive, ignoring all traffic and its rules made moving incredibly fast, they arrived in front of a big house. It wasn’t quite mansion sized but it was the next lower thing. Two stories tall, a front with rows of windows, covered in decoratively cut vines. The brick wall stretched broadly in front of John as he stepped closer. Lydia opened the door without turning a key or even raising a hand. It just swung inside.
Rave placed her trolley in the entrance area and John quickly peeked inside. It was the exact same decoration style like the house he had just left behind. The only difference seemed to be that everything was bigger and more spacious. “You will stay here. Take a room on the upper floor. Don’t be afraid to use your powers, this house is enchanted to ward off unwanted attention. We will speak tomorrow at noon,” the princess suppressed a yawn as she vanished deeper inside the house.
“Man, that girl has a massive stick up her ass,” Rave whispered.
“Honestly, she was pretty nice today,” John answered and then yawned himself. “Let’s go sleep.”
“Speaking of sleeping… I suggest we take the room furthest away from hers, tiger,” Rave winked and John smiled back. Drowsy as he was, he could do one or two more things in his bed before he crashed in it.
