Anthology short story, Missing in Action, chapter 9

This is the last chapter!  The story clocks in at right around 33k words, so it's pretty meaty!

What did you think?    

This definitely isn't the last time everyone has seen these characters...

:)

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There was no doubt where Diore would be.  Without needing to speak about it, Nicole and Pasha headed toward the barn.  Nicole opened one heavy door, making the interior a bit brighter.  It’d already been lit up with magic lamps.

“Took you long enough,” groused Diore.  She’d laid out all of her gear and was busy detail cleaning every piece.  Diore was obsessive about cleaning her gear, and did so whenever she got the chance.

Nicole took a seat on a wooden box.  “If we hadn’t been heading back already by the time we met Tom, it would have taken even longer.”

“So what is this about?” asked Pasha.  She stood for a moment, but then shrugged, taking a seat of her own and drawing her swords, then an oil rag.

Diore relaxed, sitting back and resting her weight on her hands.  “I have news.”

“Bad news?” asked Pasha.  “Don’t tell me we have another demon attack to barely live through, where we lose a member of our team and don’t get paid for the job.”

Nicole noticed her friend hadn’t mentioned using up all their magic stones as ammunition, or giving some of their treasure to the man tagging along with them over the last week.

“Actually, it’s good news, and some is about that.”

“Oh?”

“Yes,” said Diore.  “I got a magic messenger bird today from the capital.”

“From Mensk, really?” asked Nicole.  Even with Thato’s help, she hadn’t expected Diore to get a response so quickly.

“Yes.  There are new people in charge of the government, but either they have their shit together, or the old system is still working, or maybe even working better.  Either way, I’m not complaining.”

She had Nicole’s full attention now.  “Well, what did the message say?”

Pasha casually oiled her sword blade and said, “I thought you said this is good news.  If the capital didn’t just tell us to go rot in a ditch, I’ll be shocked.”

“Well, they didn’t, so be shocked, Pasha.”  Diore’s stern expression cracked into a smile for a second before she smoothed her features and continued.  “I have been informed that we are going to be reimbursed for everything we lost last week, we are getting a large reward, and we are all going to be knighted.”

“What?” Nicole couldn’t believe her ears.  Being knighted in Mensk was rare, it was like a way to be a noble without getting a real rank, and actually was more respected.  She didn’t understand the details completely, but knew it was a big deal.

“Yes!  And we’re getting our own lands, and best of all, our whole team is being offered slots in the Mensk Officer Academy! Because of the attack on the city, they artistos have actually pushed back the day that classes start this year, so if we head to Mensk, we can make it there in plenty of time to attend.   If we do, we’ll be paid a stipend, and it’s more than we’ve ever made adventuring.”

At first, the entire set of rewards seemed too good to be true to Nicole.  But then she reminded herself that their team had basically protected a large area of the country, and had prevented what likely would have been a brutal, terrible, large-scale war.  Thato had said something like that about the portal--the longer it existed, the more demons would come into this world, eventually building a huge army.  Nicole hadn’t thought much about that aspect of the battle--that they hadn’t just saved Action, they’d protected all of Berber.  From this perspective, the rewards they were being given were actually sort of modest. 

“What were the actual words of the message?” asked Pasha.  She didn’t sound as excited as Nicole would have expected.

Diore nodded as if she had expected the question.  “It said that Dolos’ Chosen, our adventuring party, has been awarded slots at the Mensk Officer Academy, up to a total number of six.”

Pasha nodded in response, but still didn’t look thrilled.

Nicole frowned.  “Uh, there are only three of us.”

“Yeah, so...uh, I was fast and loose with the truth when I sent my first message to the capital,” admitted Diore.  “I said we were a larger team so we’d get more reward money in case there was one lump sum.”

“So what are you going to do now?” asked Pasha.

“I was thinking we could sell the extra two slots to nobles or rich merchants, let them be “Dolos’ Chosen” for a massive amount of money, probably more than we’d be able to make in five years just raiding dungeons.”  Diore’s smile was predatory.  “We can go to school, make contacts, and become filthy rich all at the same time!  I can finally have enough money to create the temple for Great God Dolos that I’ve always wanted to build!”

“Wait,” said Nicole, holding up a hand.  “Two slots?  Don’t we have three?”

“That’s the other thing I wanted to talk to you two about,” said Diore, sitting forward.  She looked them in the eyes.  “I have offered Tom a permanent position on our team, and he has accepted.”

Nicole exploded, “What!?”  To one side, Pasha began cackling.

“He is a great asset to this team.  I’m sorry if your personal relationship with him complicates this matter.”

Pasha laughed louder.

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” snarled Nicole.

Diore sighed.  “Pasha, could you please leave and give me some privacy with Nicky?”

Pasha nodded, packed up her swords, got up, but didn’t stop giggling until she got to the door.  Then she started singing a song about finally having handsome men on the team, and how more should follow.  Diore waited until the woman’s singing had faded before turning back to look Nicole in the eye.  “What’s the problem.  You told me who he really is.”

“Yes, exactly!  I told you everything, so why in the world would you offer him a place on the team?  Everything about him is suspicious, and he went on the run because he killed his wife!  He’s even legally dead right now!”

“That’s part of why it makes sense,” said Diore.  Nicole stared at her until the Dolos’ Chosen leader began speaking again.  “Think about it, Nicky.  We have a fifth rank orb-Bonded man traveling with us.  Think about that again, he’s traveling with us, which means he’s here anyway, so why not make it official so we all share a cut of whatever treasure comes along?  He doesn’t have any records...we can just say he’s from Earth.  He really is too, so it shouldn’t be a hard thing to sell.  He’s already been living with a fake identity, so we can just get him a new, but more legitimate fake identity.”

“But why?  If we go with your plan to become...nobles, or students, and basically just get rich, why not just sell the extra slot while we’re in Mensk?”

Diore nodded seriously.  “Because he’s fifth rank orb-Bonded, because he’s quite possibly one of the most dangerous people on this planet, and because he’s loyal to you.”

“To me?  What the heck do you all keep--”

“Nicky, you’re acting stupid.  Shut up and listen to me for a moment.”

Nicole’s mouth clicked shut.  Diore very rarely talked to her like this, so she did as she’d been told and focused on what the other woman had to say.

Diore said, “You’ve never really spent much time in Mensk, Nicky, I have.  It’s a dangerous city.  This plan I’m proposing has its own dangers, and some might be worse than just tackling more deadly dungeons--I’ll talk to the team more about that later.  But whether you want to admit it or not, you have grown close to that man in a very short time, after doing something together that no human being should ever need to go through, much less with only one or two other people to rely on.  That sort of thing changes people at the foundation.

“He trusts you, and you trust him.  You’re orb-Bonded now, but you’re not invincible.  Take my word for it, having a handsome, loyal, unstoppable killing machine around might prove useful in a dangerous city where we’re bound to make some real enemies just by existing.”

Nicole grunted.  She was tempted to ask why the plan was worth it if it was so dangerous, but knew better.  Merely existing on Ludus was dangerous.  “What makes you think he’s loyal?”

“Oh, so you admit he’s handsome, then?”

Nicole scowled.  “What is wrong with you people?”  When Diore just chuckled in response, Nicole glared and folded her arms.  “So we’re really going to the capital?”

“Yes, but we’ll probably stop at a bank on the way.  We’re just shy of being totally and completely broke.  As it is, it may be smart to do some work around the farm here so we can lower the amount we need to pay the Fronse family.”

Nicole’s mouth twisted like she’d bit into a lemon, but she uncrossed her arms.  “I get it, fine.”

“So you are okay with this, then?”  Diore’s tone of voice was serious.

“Does it matter?  Why are you asking me?”

“Because now that Bentru’s gone, you’re the only one who might have a problem with it.  Also, so you don’t have to ask, I’ll be sending her the share of reward she should get, and I’m inviting her to meet us in Mensk, too.  I really doubt she’ll leave her retirement, though.  She’s planning to have children now.”

“Makes sense,” muttered Nicole.

“So what is it going to be?  I’d really like the entire group to be in agreement.”

Nicole thought about it for a while, and more importantly, she compared living in a city again to walking or riding for weeks, just to sleep in the rain and spend most of her money on new gear to continue to avoid being killed.  Fuck that, she thought.  “Yeah, fine.  Let’s go to Mensk.”

“Great!”  Diore smiled.  “Can you go get Pasha for me and tell her to talk to me privately, too?”

“Sure.”  Nicole left the barn, thinking furiously.  

Outside, she glanced around to make sure nobody was watching and used her pressure wave Energy Blast to blast away some rocks on the ground.  Using her power this way felt goofy, but was also satisfying.  So we’re going to be traveling with Thato for a while now, she thought.  It bothered her that the reality didn’t seem to really bother her.

There was one thing she knew for sure, and didn’t have any problem with, though.  She’d come a long way over the last few years from being a scared girl from California, suddenly dumped in a psychotic fantasy world.  By the time her group reached Mensk, she’d be second rank orb-Bonded.  Then she definitely wouldn’t be helpless.  But maybe Diore was right--having Thato around probably would be a bit of a relief.

After surviving Red Portal Night--what people in Berber had begun calling the true demon attack--she knew she could handle anything.  She was strong.  Nicole might bend, but she wouldn’t break, and she’d never question this about herself again.

She just hoped that Thato Jacobs didn’t drive her insane over the next couple of weeks.  She’d almost rather fight true demons again than deal with his constant teasing.

Almost.

Nicole began to hum the theme song from Rescue Rangers.  Maybe everything would be okay after all.