**Yesterday. Near Pardem**
A large man in a dark cloak stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking Pardem.
Smoke and chaos protruded from the once quiet town of bandits; now after the failed ambush of Daz and the Black Wolves, Pardem had now lain in ruin.
He watched as the Wolves Den had begun trudging off once collecting its members, and after Daz had proclaimed his warning to all of Riot Gang.
The sound of static sounded off from his beacon necklace.
Its adornment was the shape of a human skull, but because of the man's size, it appeared dwarfed upon his large chest.
"Connection lost," he uttered, voice muffled by his half-plague mask, speaking to another who was nearby. "And two more dead…"
A gust picked up and fluttered his plumed hat. Long horns still perched nicely upon it like a prize on his head, despite the battle lost down below.
The other had white, medium length hair with two clumps atop his head, resembling rabbit ears, but were not. His clothing was dark, and he also wore a half-plague mask on his face. He was smaller—lankier in frame, but he stood next to him as equals, itching an itch that could never be satisfied.
"I don't care…" he replied, his itching intensifying. "I'd like to undue Jinxu's magic now… it's itchy as fuck…"
"Do as you wish. Though, Master Wrath may want you to make use of his abilities later," the large man spoke, turning away as he let the zephyr pass through his black cloak.
"So long as his corpse doesn't rot by the time they arrive there, then I will still have it…" The other man turned to face the larger one as he walked off, gesturing to the mangled cadaver in a steel, person-sized case nearby leaking blood. The corpse was wearing gold and red, with a pale hand hanging out and over it. "Take him to my freezing chambers, would you?"
The large man halted and replied, "You all like to order me around like I serve you."
"No, but we serve Master Wrath. And if the Master wants me to use Jinxu's abilities again, the request is not for me, it is for him. Does that make sense, Gorran?"
Gorran said nothing as he stared at him sidelong. The other man began itching again, copiously.
"Understood," he replied at last.
"Good… Now the issue with the Rooster…"
"I'm looking into it. When we brought the Chimerabroods here, not all of them made it with my teleportation. Almost half of them got left behind somehow… I suspect it was him."
"Perhaps you're getting rusty, Ox… Thus explains your 'no.6' ranking among us."
"Watch your words, Rabbit. The ranking is based on usefulness. Be grateful the Master views your abilities as such, otherwise you would be groveling to my will."
"Calm down, Gorran, I jest…" the Rabbit said, finally reducing his profuse itching to a minimum. "I have an idea if you're willing to go on a field trip with me?"
Gorran sighed deeply. "Let me guess. You want to go to the Valley?"
"See… Bulls aren't so stupid after all. Castration has its benefits, no? You think a lot clearer when you are calm."
"Drop dead." He paused before proceeding to walk off, obliging. "If you're planning on releasing him, then you break the news of his abolished title. I prefer not to deal with other's tantrums."
"Fine by me."
"This is becoming very cumbersome. It seems as we forge ahead, we are constantly having to look back…" Gorran said before teleporting them both elsewhere, far from the Mountain jurisdiction. "That damn Rooster…"
***
**Present**
Greed:
There she was. The love of my life. Standing there like a dream. Like she shouldn't be here.
She definitely shouldn't be here.
"Babe. What the hell are you doing here!?"
"It's good to see you, too? Keeper, at least act like you're happy to see me…"
"No, like…" I stopped talking to head to the nearest window, checking for any Mountain Knight that would have seen or sensed her sudden appearance. "You just stepped foot in the Mountain jurisdiction!"
She made an innocent expression with a finger to her lip. "I did?"
"YES! Go back, I'll meet you there—"
And then Daz's laughter filled the space. "Look at him panic! 'Oh no, the Mountain is gonna arrest us again!', 'Oh no, they're gonna take my girlfriend!'" He cackled some more.
I stared at him blankly, feeling like Code when he looks at any of us…
"Did you forget what I said when we were back in the Valley?" Daz implied.
I raised a brow.
"Guess that's a no… Do you listen to anything anybody tells you?" He shrugged, and went on. "Wherever the Den is, so is the Valley."
That was right.
That's why Daz intervened when Envy attacked us back then. Even if we had moved our home miles away from the Valley Kingdom, the Den was still registered under the Valley.
Meaning, we were technically not in the Mountain right now. I started thinking, if we never stepped foot outside the Den, could we have passed through the Mountain jurisdiction with that logic? Doubtful.
But on that note where we wrote the conditions, it also meant Belle didn't step foot in the Mountain. She stepped foot in an extension of the Valley Kingdom.
I exhaled a sigh, trying not to dwell too long behind the technicality of it and grabbed Belle's hand, pulling her away.
"Now where are you going?" Daz carelessly asked.
"To my room. To fuck."
"You indecent brat!" he spat, slamming his hands on the table.
"GG! Watch your words around me!" Jo complained.
Havoc's ice block of a head had finally melted enough for him to speak as he commented, "Yeah, be mindful of your side chick's feelings—"
Jo had frozen him again—his entire body this time, and part of the table.
Code shot to his feet and began reprimanding her, not for freezing Havoc, but for freezing half the table and it almost reaching him.
Nash and Brand bellowed in laughter as Daz had barely realized his hands had also been frozen to the table.
And as the scene escalated, Belle and I left.
I barely noticed, but I witnessed Kiki exit from the same standalone door that Belle had come through earlier, asking where she went just as we had already made it upstairs.
***
The sound of metal crushing dirt went off endlessly from outside as I sat up, bare backed; the sounds of our earlier moans lost in the trudging of the Den.
Belle lay naked on my bed, on her side, propping her head up with legs crossed.
"Fuck before talk as usual."
"Sorry… I missed you."
"What a sorry apology. It's okay, I would have done the same." She slipped behind me, wrapping an arm over my shoulder, with her head resting on the other. And the other hand…
"How did you get here anyway? Alice is preoccupied with caring for Star and Ophelia, she couldn't have retrieved you while she was doing that."
"True. That's why she made Kiki come get me. If she so allows, others can temporarily use her abilities so long as she herself is in her Pink Room the whole time. We had to take a detour because you all were so deep in the Mountain jurisdiction, but after picking me up from the Valley, we stopped by the Forest, and now we're here. Simple as that."
"Mmm…" I muttered, her stroking getting the better of me.
"Hold on… I think there's still more in there…" She slid her head down. "Best check to make sure…"
I let myself enjoy her for another ten minutes or so. Maybe quicker. I was like a drooling fool who easily succumbed to her whims. Pun intended.
When we got our urges out of the way, I felt my mind finally clear.
I opened the dark, sheer curtains and went outside, nude as could be, and leaned off the balcony rails.
Belle joined me soon after, throwing on a sheer robe that didn't do its job.
"I suppose we can check off 'fuck and receive a slop in the mountain' off our to-do list?" she swooned.
"Yes, we can." I gave her a coquettish smile.
"So this is what the Mountain jurisdiction is like." She scanned the desolate mountainous fields and cloudy sky as it elapsed. "It looks sad…"
I focused in on the sound of her voice, on that weighted 'sad' she uttered.
"So far… it's kinda been."
She tilted her head, and her eyes still gleamed off some unseen sun. The sky in them was what the sky above us wished it could be.
"Doesn't have to stay that way," she said, voice so soft.
"What do you recommend?"
She pulled away from me so quickly that my eyes were forced to follow her.
"And where are you going?"
She didn't reply, searching my room intensively.
"All right, seriously."
"I'm seriously looking for a book. Do you not read?"
"Uh…"
"That's a no."
"Why does everyone keep saying that like that's what my thinking means?"
"'Cause when you're 'thinking', my Greed, nothing is actually being thought."
I didn't respond to that for a good moment… "Touché."
"How far down is Alice's room?"
"Next door. Did you not know that after all this time?"
She shuddered, seeming to think of all the ungodly sounds we make on a frequent basis while her sister was right next door. She then sighed like it was a bother, still fully nude under her sheer robe as she exited.
"Babe, you're still—" She was no longer in the room. "—naked."
I threw on some boxers and proceeded to leave, following her, but before I could, she entered right back with a book in her hands.
"Found what you're… looking for?"
She held a geography book in my face, expecting me to understand.
"Help me out here…"
"So dense." She looked me up and down and smirked. "Both heads."
I smirked as well.
"One of those heads is denser than the other, and it's not the one you put inside me…"
"Damn, okay."
She jumped on the bed, laying on her stomach, kicking her legs as she swiped the book from page to page, eagerly looking for something unbeknownst to me.
"Can I ask what you're searching for?"
"A lake."
"A lake…"
"Yes. And not just any lake. Like a beach—but here in the Mountain."
"A Beach in the Mountain?"
"Did you turn into a parrot, my Greed?"
She finally found the page, brought it to my face, and tapped it.
"Tahoe Lake. The closest to a beach here in the Mountain jurisdiction!"
I looked at the picture, and it was surprisingly beautiful. I had always expected anything in the Mountain to be cold, dull, and gray… but this…
"There's blue skies… You sure this is the right page?"
"Yes, my Greed. This lake is here. And if we're heading where I think we are, which is north, then it's on the way!" She closed the book and leaped to a stand. "Please tell me you have swim trunks?"
***
This place called Tahoe Lake was on the way, but I had to go to the engine room to tweak the course so that we headed straight there.
We'd be arriving in the next hour, but there was something I was concerned about.
I found Daz, lounging on the shared Den balcony with a cup of tea and a book.
"Are you done defiling the Valley's princess, young pup?" he asked without looking as I walked right up next to him.
"Yeah. She was great."
"You indecent punk!" he barked, almost spilling his tea. "Most people would be embarrassed that their sex life is out in the open for all to know."
"Most people are pussies."
"Hm…" He studied me. Displeased with my answer and took a sip. "If that helps you sleep at night…"
A short calming kind of silence found its way between our banter; he savored the sip as we basked in the peace of the mildly cool zephyrs combined with the scent of distant dirt.
"If you're wondering. Yes. The Mountain Knights are still on our tail. That was the agreement, did you forget?"
"Do you think it'll be a problem if we stop by a place here called Tahoe Lake?"
He raised a brow.
"I mean, if they see Belle, who wasn't here prior, they may see her arrival as a declaration of war… We need to come up with a plan so that she can enjoy her time here without any problems. She wants to go. There's also a chance that we may encounter an enemy at this location. You say that we won't be bothered for a while, but what if that 'tip' you got was false, and there's really traps everywhere?"
"Hmm…"
"What are we going to do about that?"
"Beats me."
"THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO BE AN IDIOT KING, IDIOT KING!"
"Relax! Do you always get your tits in a bunch when you finally get some downtime?"
"I just want to plan my steps accordingly. I'm cautious. A wise man once said that's not such a bad thing."
"Was this wise man, Asura?"
"What of it?
"I'd be careful confusing control for wisdom."
When he said that, it instantly made me recall the rest of what Asura said that day.
Back when I had last visited him, that was something he wanted me to heed after losing to his stupid game, once again.
Sometimes there are things that are just way out of our control. Had you focused on what you could control instead of what you wish you did, you probably would have survived…
Back then, Zeno, Rex, and Snow were all still around. I wish I had taken that more to heart… Maybe then, they'd still be alive?
"It appears you're playing Keeper," Daz said, interrupting my thoughts.
"Say what?"
"You're playing Keeper. Meaning, you're trying to cover every ground so as to not sink below when you pass by."
"And what's wrong with that?"
"Simple. It does nothing but stress and burn you out. Then something else happens that you will blame yourself for not 'preparing' for. Therefore… you're playing Keeper."
I said nothing. Didn't know this was going to turn into a therapy session…
Though, what he was saying aligned with Asura's teachings. And that was something I couldn't dismiss.
"If you were the one that wanted Belle here, then yes, you should have been more prepared. But it was of her own volition to come. She even planned it out with Alice, and I approved."
"Did you, now?" I raised a brow to him. "First time I'm hearing about it."
"Wouldn't be a surprise if I just up and told you, now would it?"
I snickered and faced outward. We were both watching the mountain valley ahead as we trekked along to our new destination.
"Just leave the specifics to me and Alice. You just worry about whether or not you have sunscreen."
"I'm struggling to find swim trunks…"
"Then it looks like you've got other worries than what the Mountain will do if this or that."
I huffed an approving sigh, and turned around.
"Thanks," I said almost out of nowhere, our backs facing as I stood and he remained sitting.
He didn't respond. He only took another sip of his tea and raised his book.
So I left.
***
Since we still had an hour until our detour, I decided to take a nap.
When I made it to my quarters, I heard the sound of a shower running from my master bath.
Belle was in there, washing away the stains of our bodily fluids down the drain. I should probably do the same.
Maybe I'll join her and make her have to wash herself all over again…
I undressed and headed in, seeing her silhouette through the curtains.
"The hungry wolf saw the desert rose and thought to himself, 'My, my… I haven't eaten in days… but this rose—" her silhouette twitched and the sound of a peep exited her mouth as I neared, naked and with my third leg rising. "—looks more like dessert than desert…"
When I pulled back the curtains, my eyes widened when I beheld her.
For Belle was not Belle at all.
"K-K-K-Kiki?" I stuttered.
We both stared at each other in frozen silence. And then she spoke.
"M-M-Master…" her eyes wandered downward. "… Greed."
The bar of soap in her hands slipped as we both remained in place. It felt like it had been falling for eternity.
It dropped and slammed the ground, then the wall, then back to the ground. Wobbling until rest; slow and painful.
"Apologies…" she bent down to pick it up, but as she lowered, she passed by my extended half and inhaled. "My, my… It does look more like dessert."
"KIKI! WHY ARE YOU—" I said but was interrupted by a sudden presence I felt from behind.
She looked over from outside the bathroom entrance, and I slowly turned, head creaking as I struggled to face whoever had also entered.
When I saw her blonde pigtails, I only had a single word ready to say.
"Fuck."
"Fuck is right," Alice said.
"Alice, it's not—"
"Hurry up and throw the towel over him, Kiki."
"Right away, Miss Alice."
I felt the towel cover my lower half so swiftly that I barely even noticed. When I took a closer look at myself, I was wet from head to toe… but I hadn't even stepped in the shower yet…
"Your hopeless, you know that?" Alice commented.
It felt like my head swayed when I tried to respond. Though, I managed to whip my head back to Kiki, only to see that she had been fully dressed, and it was me that was in the shower—not her.
"What the hell is going on?"
"Do you remember drinking a suspicious protein shake from the fridge?"
"No…" I thought harder. "Yes?"
Alice sighed. "You really should be wary of the things you ingest. Seems the drink you had was Star's left over 'concoction' from some unknown berries that aren't from our garden."
"How did she… When?"
"No clue. Honestly, I have no clue how she's still alive after everything she does. Seems she was saving that drink since LeHarla. Said 'It needed to settle before she drank it', whatever the hell that means…"
"LeHarla!?"
"Yeah…"
"How did Code not throw that out by now!?"
"She threatened him."
Fucking Star.
"Anyway, you fell on your face and passed right out on the main balcony with Daz. You're such a mess."
"What the f—"
Before I knew it, my hair had been blow-dried, and I was in house clothes, ready for sleep.
"You need to rest for now. When you wake up, take a piss… or a shit so your body detoxes whatever the hell you drank. I already gave you a remedy while you were out, so you should be back to normal within the hour."
"Thanks Alic—"
Before I had said my thanks, I was already tucked-in to bed, and both girls were outside the hall, with Kiki about to close the door.
She wiggled her fingers at me with a mischievous look on her face, and licked her lips. That was the last thing I saw before she slammed the door shut, and I was left to pass out, once again…
***
I opened my eyes, and I was back on that rooftop.
Shattered stone and debris were everywhere.
When I got up, I looked to my side and saw the hand of what appeared to be a child's.
And for some reason, I reached out to it and pulled it out from the rubble. However, as I did, the body it should have been attached to was not there…
Did I…
I pulled the rubble away. And she flopped over.
Her eyes were open wide. The color in them had left, and the dust had forever intertwined in her red hair.
Do this—
"Yes. You did. You killed me," the cadaver of the girl said. her orange eyes beaming into mine.
"No, I—"
"You. Killed. Me."
"I'm sorry…" I said, my voice sounding like one and many, all the same as I curled into a crouch, and forced my hands to the sides of my head. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry. I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!"
Silence.
And then a voice I had just recently came to know spoke gutturally.
"It's not good enough."
When I focused my eyes, I was on the ground, and that man was there, holding my neck down.
"You killed her… You killed Ari," Leon said.
I tried to speak, but I couldn't get the words out.
Sympathy and fear shuddered in my eyes—a socket each, fighting over which should be the appropriate feeling. But even if one had won, my mouth felt like it had been sealed shut.
"I will crush you, and at least then, you will be reunited with your friends."
I spat, opening my mouth at last. But when I tried to speak, my throat was dry, and blood gushed from my lips.
Before me now was a man in a black cloak with a white, glowing cross on a black veil over his face. Chainmail hood. Wide brimmed-hat…
"This is what happens to bad children who don't listen to the Lord," Pride said.
My breathing trembled as I tried to repeat the words I had spoken that day.
Come on… Speak! Tell that asshole off like you did that day! Tell him! TELL HIM!
I seethed as sympathy and fear left by an uninvited guest.
Anger.
Anger was all I felt as my eyes nearly popped right out of their sockets.
"GGGG… GGGO…" I shivered. "FFFFFF!"
At last, the words came out. But just as it had…
"GO FUCK YOURSELF!"
There, Ari was on the ground, lifeless, as I stood facing her corpse.
My lips shuddered uncontrollably, and my head turned ever slowly. Like the only thing left to feel… was shame.
But before I could turn fully, Leon was there, having silenced me for good with a gunshot to the head.
***
I jolted awake, clothes and bed soaked to no end. My breathing was vicious, and my eyes still shuddered at what I had just dreamt of.
I felt my neck, and then my head.
I knew it was a dream. But why… Why did I linger?
This had been the first time I dreamt about that day so violently. Back then, they were just nightmares of shame that needed closure. But now…
I placed my hands on my face, resting on them for a while. And I was still sopping wet. Like I had just taken another shower without my knowing.
All those times had blended into one.
I took a deep breath, and lifted my head to face the ceiling. Eyes still closed. Trying to remember that feeling from that Silverthorn's domain… What was his name again?
But the feeling never came.
I allowed myself a moment before getting up. I didn't know how long I was sleeping.
When I looked to my balcony, through the sheer black curtains, I saw faint traces of the sky revealing through the clouds. And it felt like we had stopped moving.
That's when I received a ping from my comm on my nightstand.
When I checked the message, all it said was, Hey jackass, come down and help me, would ya?
I groaned, and forced myself up.
Before doing anything, I relieved myself in the master bath like Alice had directed me to, got dressed, and left the room. Surprisingly, I felt a little better after that.
The feeling was still there, but I pushed it away to the corners of my mind, and it didn't seem to persist. For now…
By the time I had made it to the dining area, I saw Code… in pink shorts and a yellow, opened button up?
"Nice fit, fruity."
Code barked, "I should be saying that to you. Are you gonna be swimming in uniform?"
I raised a brow, looking at myself. I was wearing what I always did.
"Shit… Does the extent of your memory only last for an hour? It's no wonder you forgot about your past."
"The fuck did you say!? That's a low blow man!"
"Yeah, yeah… Shut the fuck up." He tossed me a coaster and then snapped his fingers, replacing it with a platter of assorted, diced fruit, cubes of cheese, and other finger foods that gracefully landed in my hands. "Speaking of fruit… Make yourself useful and take that outside, would ya?"
Code placed the coaster he had snapped back to himself at the bar, effortlessly positioning a glass with sliced fruit over it. He then whipped out an aluminum cocktail shaker, and began shimmying it.
"The fuck you looking at me for? Drinks will be ready shortly. Take that fruit basket outside so the Demon spawn quits bugging me when food will be ready," he said without looking. "Oh, and change your fucking clothes man…"
He took the shaker in one hand, pouring the contents as he simultaneously snapped his fingers with the other.
Immediately, I was swapped from my Black Wolves attire and replaced with the same attire as Code, but different colors—white, open short sleeve button up and dark blue swim trunks.
"You can thank Belle. She knew you wouldn't have anything to wear."
My slow mind clicked at last. As I made it to the double door entrance, and opened it, I was welcomed with a calming breeze, the smell of crisp, mineral-rich mountains, and the beaming glitters off oligotrophic waters.
"Teddy, over here!" Star shouted as my eyes finally adjusted to the light. A light I thought was nonexistent here in the Mountain.
When I caught her waving, she and the other girls were already settled—swimwear and all—welcoming me to join them.