ACT VI
THE AGE OF UNDEAD
“Hey,.. stop it.” Hans shouted, grabbing her hand, “That was the eighteenth…”
“Oh!, so you were counting—”
“You weren’t even counting!” Hans was flabbergasted, beaten blue, his face was full of contours, like he had gone through a thorough reshaping. Feeling the ups and downs by his hands, he sulked, “What will I tell others—”
“Just say you fell on your face…ha..that was refreshing.” She stated, stretching her shoulders. "Now we are even." She said glancing at his staggered appearance and finally broke into laughter. After a while when she had her fill, she asked him, “So what are you gonna do now? Chris wanted to give his chance to you. But this morning, your dear grandpa reached some sort of agreement with Unc…Bernard. So he asked Chris to bring something specific out of the Alliance treasury—”
“What should I expect from others when my own family is blowing away my chances” Hans interrupted, grumbling, “You can’t count on that geezer, always spoiling my plans. If Chris wanted to give his shot to me, he should’ve let him…”
“As I told you,” Delimira said rolling her eyes, “Chris is now Dean’s direct disciple. Well, he almost showed Dean’s exclusive skills so I saw it coming anyway…”
“Oh!… How I missed talking to you, Deli. Vanir is a dumb idiot.” Hans had mixed feeling as he was rubbing his face with ice that Delimira had brought before. "She came prepared," he thought but then suddenly heard someone from the back.
“Senior…” Vanir whined from the doors prompting Hans to continue his rant, “See, he is even eavesdropping…wait! You little shit you saw everything, didn’t you…”
“No senior. I have a condition where I go blind sometimes… I didn’t see you getting ..akhm, akhm.. I never saw anything.” He jolted out leaving Hans to cry in his frustration, “My reputation—”
“Stop whining,” Delimira interrupted, continuing, “At least I spared you some decency. You sent me to the infirmary you cruel—“
“Ah!” Hans gestured for her to stop, explaining, “You might not believe me, but I was not in control. I don’t even remember hitting you—”
“What an excuse… I was hoping for some…” she paused, staring at his eyes and continued, “Wait! you are telling the truth?”
“See.. how easy is to talk with you.”
“So why it happened?” She asked.
“I don’t have a frickin clue.” Hans chose not to disclose the reprogrammable tapeworm in her head. Steering the conversation in another direction, he asked, “So what happened when I was out cold.”
“As I said, Chris became Dean’s disciple and this morning he went in Alliance treasury and brought back some kind of sword.”
“That’s a third…Anything else?”
“And one funny thing happened, some people came to collect money from Dean. So he sort of lost it and levelled a loan shark. They were flashing the official County’s badge. So now, he is pissed as to who stole it.”
Hans turned sideways, mumbling, “Shit, I hope he doesn’t find me…akhm..” he coughed, steering the conversation again, “So Deli…You haven’t claimed yours, right?”
“Nah!, I knew you needed something from there, you don't work that hard for nothing, right? You even chose not to forfeit, even over my life.. right.?” Her eyes thinned and Hans started sweating bullets, excusing, “Well… You wouldn’t have liked losing that way either Winters.”
“Hmm..fine” She nodded, asking, “So what is that I need to bring out—”
"Nice!" Overexcited, in joy he jumped from the bed, right into her arms. “There is still a chance left.” He clasped Delimira, holding her tight, he stated, “From this day, you are my only friend Deli. Mhm..” He snuggled, however, a thought hit him, so he asked without losing his hold, “But, don’t you need something too—”
“What do I even lack? And even if it is true, I could just buy, it—”
Hans's eyes twitched hearing those words and he said nodding, “Even if you are condescending you are still my best friend, Deli.”
“Get off before this best friend blasts you off, Mr. Prince.” she warned.
“Fine.. fine…” He removed his hands, rambling, “Can’t a guy be happy—”
“Then hug yourself.” She remarked and Hans started his search for something, his hand traversing every pocket. “These are not my clothes.” He pointed out, lifting his head, “Where are my things?”
Delimira pointed at the small wardrobe and Hans lunged at it. He foraged his things and found a shiny pebble, the same size as his palm. He showed it to Delimira, “This is a coordinate stone.”
“Yeah, I get it. They come in pairs, always pointing to each other." She said, her eyes thinning in doubt again, "These are for couples, I think… wait what is this.” She picked up a bloody paper, “Hans what is this receipt—”
“Burn it. quickly.” Hans shouted and she didn’t waste any moment in scorching the paper. But her question remained, “What was it?”
Hans shook his head, denying, “Nothing—”
“You know… I read it. It said debt” She chuckled, “Pftt! You were the one who used your family’s sigil as collateral”
“Haa..” Hans sighed, there were no secrets when Delimira was around him. “Focus,” Hans pointed out, flashing the glass pebble, “You just need to take it in and bring whatever it points to.. hopefully they hid the sword in something trivial.”
“Okay,” Delimira nodded, adding, “But what will I get in return—”
“I knew it. It was all going so smoothly… you just had to ruin it, Deli. I was wondering when you’d ask that—”
“You started it,” Delimira prompted.
“No, I didn’t. It was you who started making deals with me.” Hans refuted as they both awkwardly stared at each other. Eventually, Hans broke the silence, “Let's forget the deals. We can do each other favours without asking anything in return, agree?” Hans forwarded his hand prompting her to shake and finalise the agreement and she did, adding, “As long as money is not involved.”
“Fine, you miser—”
“I wouldn’t have added it if you didn’t leverage your own grandpa’s sigil, Hans." She stressed, "And you are an exorbitant spender. If allowed, you might even empty our coffers.”
“You can't be sure, wanna try?” Hans smirked but several thoughts remained in his head. “My spells need money more than anything. I really need a source of income. I can’t take the task till the fourth year. The study work pays shit in Concordia. Grandpa gives so little and now I need the bare minimum of a few thousand of gold per month. Just which great person could give me this—”
“O! Squeaky…Prince Haaans.. hello,” Delimra waved her hand in front of his face, snapping him out of his daze. “What?” He prompted, his tone irritating Delimira. She asked, “Should I be worried about what we are stealing from them—”
“Stealing.. ha.. Winters, you are just taking away what you rightfully can.”
“Yeah… I’m the one taking it away, smartass” She stressed. “Not you, that’s why I should be worried about the consequences, right?”
“It's not something dangerous,” Hans stated rolling his eyes.
“So I just need to bring it out. Right?” She confirmed, prompting a nod from Hans and added exiting the room, “Then see you later.”
“You are leavin—”
“Do something about your face Mr. Prince… it looks horrible—”
“It feels horrible too… and Deli, seeing you powerful is nice. Don’t slack off. Or else—”
“You’ll beat the shit out of me—”
“No… I wouldn't go that far… at least when I am sane and conscious.”
“Leave it, Hans. You are irritating.” She left and Hans sprung up from his bed. He quickly got ready and hurried to leave this recovery room, yet stopped by the door. All were looking at him confused.
“Which bastard did this?” Rudolf shouted fervently looking left and right.
“I fell on my face, Grandpa.”
“Do you think I believe that.. its obvious someone beat you to pulp. Tell me which bas—”
“I.FELL.ON.MY.FACE. GRANDPA. leave it. ” Hans stressed while Vanir irritated him with his occasional snicker. He was going to chew him off, but his eyes fell on another individual trying to shy away. “So, your emotional distress is over, Chris?”
“Sorry about it—”
“What do you get out from Alliance treasury?” Hans interrupted not wanting to hear the whole drama again.
“Incarna, it's a blessed sword,” Chris answered, explaining, “It feeds off on aura and returns it as strength.”
“Yeah, just rub in my wounds.” Hans taunted making Chris speechless. He was walking on eggshells around Hans, unlike his usual friendly way. So Rudolf dropped in, saying, “He is just peachy because his ass was handed to him.” However, to his surprise, Hans didn’t fight back. So he asked him, “Why are you so quiet all of a sudden?”
“Hmm.. I come to respect my elders, Grandpa—”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing… just selling your name, but you do not need to know that...”
“You did something, didn’t you?” Rudolf asked, forcing.
“Nope” Hans looked ahead and grabbing his junior, he jolted out, shouting, “I’ve something to do, see ya.”
“Where are you dragging me, senior.” Vanir almost pleaded, “I really didn’t see anything…”
“Give it a rest, idiot. Now tell me what Delimira didn’t?” Hans asked, shoving Vanir into a dark alley.
“For one, you are famous. A celebrity, if I say, at least for normal people. Your proctor blunder, as ridiculous as it sounds, made a mountain out of molehill. People are even speculating that it was Eclipse who wanted to form a rift between Alliance and Concordia by killing you—”
“Pftt..” Hans broke into laughter, “By all means, continue.”
“So Alliance was forced to investigate an incident that doesn’t exist. But your PM—”
“Not mine.” Hans interrupted.
“Okay, Parv’s PM used this to instil fear of Xandor in the public, probably using this chance to initiate a discussion about Eclipse after two days.”
“He is a snake, a really clever snake and you understand politics,” Hans commented, prompting Vanir to continue.
“It's not like he was hiding it. Rubbing them every moment." Vanir said thinking.
"Well, he is usually like that. anything else?"
"Ooh! I got to talk to my parents, they were wondering whether my decision to serve you was gonna backfire.”
“So what did you tell them?” Hans asked, curious.
“I said, I knew, it was gonna backfire but I assure them that even if you are ruthless… you..are good person to serve.” Vanir turned his face away prompting Hans to find his face, “Oh, you are embarrassed right? You are beet red, Vanir, pftt..”
“Stop it senior, you wanna know the rest or not?”
“Fine, fine, continue.”
“You displayed power like none. People will keep you in check even more aggressively. That monstrous form was something, but you displaying mastery over several weapons is bound to attract the annoying flies of Ancients. So be extra careful from now on." Before, Hans could ask what nonsense he was spewing, Vanir said, "That's what Parv’s PM asked me to tell you… and one more thing, I almost soiled my pants when he came.. the sad death wanted to meet you alone tonight.. The same place where you met him before. He was saying, he is going to give you some answers.”
ACT VI
THE AGE OF UNDEAD
“Hey,.. stop it.” Hans shouted, grabbing her hand, “That was the eighteenth…”
“Oh!, so you were counting—”
“You weren’t even counting!” Hans was flabbergasted, beaten blue, his face was full of contours, like he had gone through a thorough reshaping. Feeling the ups and downs by his hands, he sulked, “What will I tell others—”
“Just say you fell on your face…ha..that was refreshing.” She stated, stretching her shoulders. "Now we are even." She said glancing at his staggered appearance and finally broke into laughter. After a while when she had her fill, she asked him, “So what are you gonna do now? Chris wanted to give his chance to you. But this morning, your dear grandpa reached some sort of agreement with Unc…Bernard. So he asked Chris to bring something specific out of the Alliance treasury—”
“What should I expect from others when my own family is blowing away my chances” Hans interrupted, grumbling, “You can’t count on that geezer, always spoiling my plans. If Chris wanted to give his shot to me, he should’ve let him…”
“As I told you,” Delimira said rolling her eyes, “Chris is now Dean’s direct disciple. Well, he almost showed Dean’s exclusive skills so I saw it coming anyway…”
“Oh!… How I missed talking to you, Deli. Vanir is a dumb idiot.” Hans had mixed feeling as he was rubbing his face with ice that Delimira had brought before. "She came prepared," he thought but then suddenly heard someone from the back.
“Senior…” Vanir whined from the doors prompting Hans to continue his rant, “See, he is even eavesdropping…wait! You little shit you saw everything, didn’t you…”
“No senior. I have a condition where I go blind sometimes… I didn’t see you getting ..akhm, akhm.. I never saw anything.” He jolted out leaving Hans to cry in his frustration, “My reputation—”
“Stop whining,” Delimira interrupted, continuing, “At least I spared you some decency. You sent me to the infirmary you cruel—“
“Ah!” Hans gestured for her to stop, explaining, “You might not believe me, but I was not in control. I don’t even remember hitting you—”
“What an excuse… I was hoping for some…” she paused, staring at his eyes and continued, “Wait! you are telling the truth?”
“See.. how easy is to talk with you.”
“So why it happened?” She asked.
“I don’t have a frickin clue.” Hans chose not to disclose the reprogrammable tapeworm in her head. Steering the conversation in another direction, he asked, “So what happened when I was out cold.”
“As I said, Chris became Dean’s disciple and this morning he went in Alliance treasury and brought back some kind of sword.”
“That’s a third…Anything else?”
“And one funny thing happened, some people came to collect money from Dean. So he sort of lost it and levelled a loan shark. They were flashing the official County’s badge. So now, he is pissed as to who stole it.”
Hans turned sideways, mumbling, “Shit, I hope he doesn’t find me…akhm..” he coughed, steering the conversation again, “So Deli…You haven’t claimed yours, right?”
“Nah!, I knew you needed something from there, you don't work that hard for nothing, right? You even chose not to forfeit, even over my life.. right.?” Her eyes thinned and Hans started sweating bullets, excusing, “Well… You wouldn’t have liked losing that way either Winters.”
“Hmm..fine” She nodded, asking, “So what is that I need to bring out—”
"Nice!" Overexcited, in joy he jumped from the bed, right into her arms. “There is still a chance left.” He clasped Delimira, holding her tight, he stated, “From this day, you are my only friend Deli. Mhm..” He snuggled, however, a thought hit him, so he asked without losing his hold, “But, don’t you need something too—”
“What do I even lack? And even if it is true, I could just buy, it—”
Hans's eyes twitched hearing those words and he said nodding, “Even if you are condescending you are still my best friend, Deli.”
“Get off before this best friend blasts you off, Mr. Prince.” she warned.
“Fine.. fine…” He removed his hands, rambling, “Can’t a guy be happy—”
“Then hug yourself.” She remarked and Hans started his search for something, his hand traversing every pocket. “These are not my clothes.” He pointed out, lifting his head, “Where are my things?”
Delimira pointed at the small wardrobe and Hans lunged at it. He foraged his things and found a shiny pebble, the same size as his palm. He showed it to Delimira, “This is a coordinate stone.”
“Yeah, I get it. They come in pairs, always pointing to each other." She said, her eyes thinning in doubt again, "These are for couples, I think… wait what is this.” She picked up a bloody paper, “Hans what is this receipt—”
“Burn it. quickly.” Hans shouted and she didn’t waste any moment in scorching the paper. But her question remained, “What was it?”
Hans shook his head, denying, “Nothing—”
“You know… I read it. It said debt” She chuckled, “Pftt! You were the one who used your family’s sigil as collateral”
“Haa..” Hans sighed, there were no secrets when Delimira was around him. “Focus,” Hans pointed out, flashing the glass pebble, “You just need to take it in and bring whatever it points to.. hopefully they hid the sword in something trivial.”
“Okay,” Delimira nodded, adding, “But what will I get in return—”
“I knew it. It was all going so smoothly… you just had to ruin it, Deli. I was wondering when you’d ask that—”
“You started it,” Delimira prompted.
“No, I didn’t. It was you who started making deals with me.” Hans refuted as they both awkwardly stared at each other. Eventually, Hans broke the silence, “Let's forget the deals. We can do each other favours without asking anything in return, agree?” Hans forwarded his hand prompting her to shake and finalise the agreement and she did, adding, “As long as money is not involved.”
“Fine, you miser—”
“I wouldn’t have added it if you didn’t leverage your own grandpa’s sigil, Hans." She stressed, "And you are an exorbitant spender. If allowed, you might even empty our coffers.”
“You can't be sure, wanna try?” Hans smirked but several thoughts remained in his head. “My spells need money more than anything. I really need a source of income. I can’t take the task till the fourth year. The study work pays shit in Concordia. Grandpa gives so little and now I need the bare minimum of a few thousand of gold per month. Just which great person could give me this—”
“O! Squeaky…Prince Haaans.. hello,” Delimra waved her hand in front of his face, snapping him out of his daze. “What?” He prompted, his tone irritating Delimira. She asked, “Should I be worried about what we are stealing from them—”
“Stealing.. ha.. Winters, you are just taking away what you rightfully can.”
“Yeah… I’m the one taking it away, smartass” She stressed. “Not you, that’s why I should be worried about the consequences, right?”
“It's not something dangerous,” Hans stated rolling his eyes.
“So I just need to bring it out. Right?” She confirmed, prompting a nod from Hans and added exiting the room, “Then see you later.”
“You are leavin—”
“Do something about your face Mr. Prince… it looks horrible—”
“It feels horrible too… and Deli, seeing you powerful is nice. Don’t slack off. Or else—”
“You’ll beat the shit out of me—”
“No… I wouldn't go that far… at least when I am sane and conscious.”
“Leave it, Hans. You are irritating.” She left and Hans sprung up from his bed. He quickly got ready and hurried to leave this recovery room, yet stopped by the door. All were looking at him confused.
“Which bastard did this?” Rudolf shouted fervently looking left and right.
“I fell on my face, Grandpa.”
“Do you think I believe that.. its obvious someone beat you to pulp. Tell me which bas—”
“I.FELL.ON.MY.FACE. GRANDPA. leave it. ” Hans stressed while Vanir irritated him with his occasional snicker. He was going to chew him off, but his eyes fell on another individual trying to shy away. “So, your emotional distress is over, Chris?”
“Sorry about it—”
“What do you get out from Alliance treasury?” Hans interrupted not wanting to hear the whole drama again.
“Incarna, it's a blessed sword,” Chris answered, explaining, “It feeds off on aura and returns it as strength.”
“Yeah, just rub in my wounds.” Hans taunted making Chris speechless. He was walking on eggshells around Hans, unlike his usual friendly way. So Rudolf dropped in, saying, “He is just peachy because his ass was handed to him.” However, to his surprise, Hans didn’t fight back. So he asked him, “Why are you so quiet all of a sudden?”
“Hmm.. I come to respect my elders, Grandpa—”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing… just selling your name, but you do not need to know that...”
“You did something, didn’t you?” Rudolf asked, forcing.
“Nope” Hans looked ahead and grabbing his junior, he jolted out, shouting, “I’ve something to do, see ya.”
“Where are you dragging me, senior.” Vanir almost pleaded, “I really didn’t see anything…”
“Give it a rest, idiot. Now tell me what Delimira didn’t?” Hans asked, shoving Vanir into a dark alley.
“For one, you are famous. A celebrity, if I say, at least for normal people. Your proctor blunder, as ridiculous as it sounds, made a mountain out of molehill. People are even speculating that it was Eclipse who wanted to form a rift between Alliance and Concordia by killing you—”
“Pftt..” Hans broke into laughter, “By all means, continue.”
“So Alliance was forced to investigate an incident that doesn’t exist. But your PM—”
“Not mine.” Hans interrupted.
“Okay, Parv’s PM used this to instil fear of Xandor in the public, probably using this chance to initiate a discussion about Eclipse after two days.”
“He is a snake, a really clever snake and you understand politics,” Hans commented, prompting Vanir to continue.
“It's not like he was hiding it. Rubbing them every moment." Vanir said thinking.
"Well, he is usually like that. anything else?"
"Ooh! I got to talk to my parents, they were wondering whether my decision to serve you was gonna backfire.”
“So what did you tell them?” Hans asked, curious.
“I said, I knew, it was gonna backfire but I assure them that even if you are ruthless… you..are good person to serve.” Vanir turned his face away prompting Hans to find his face, “Oh, you are embarrassed right? You are beet red, Vanir, pftt..”
“Stop it senior, you wanna know the rest or not?”
“Fine, fine, continue.”
“You displayed power like none. People will keep you in check even more aggressively. That monstrous form was something, but you displaying mastery over several weapons is bound to attract the annoying flies of Ancients. So be extra careful from now on." Before, Hans could ask what nonsense he was spewing, Vanir said, "That's what Parv’s PM asked me to tell you… and one more thing, I almost soiled my pants when he came.. the sad death wanted to meet you alone tonight.. The same place where you met him before. He was saying, he is going to give you some answers.”
