JRWI tings :P

No.2

//The Fated Campaign

Spoilers for both Arc 1 and Arc 2! (Mainly Arc 2 Episode 42 BUT there are mentions that happened earlier in the campaigns!)

This isn't very original? but basically, a carry on from the last episode of Arc 2 since it was discontinued?

Br'aad and the party find out about what Mountain has done ;')

pretty open ending too,,? So that's fun ;')

Mmm angst :D

TW//anxiety/paranoia, mentions of alcohol and drinking alcohol.

(if there's anything else lemme know!)

---

Music was surrounding the mostly drunk party. Sylnan was drinking along with Taxi, Taxi was drinking more than Sylnan. Velrisa was even drinking, though very indecisively and hesitantly. Br'aad wasn't drinking as heavily as Sylnan and Taxi (he wasn't ready for another traumatic experience with his dreams and his dad, thank you very much), but he was still having fun. While looking over his friends, more like his family at this point after everything they'd been through, he noticed that Mountain was missing. Br'aad remembered seeing Mountain go into the crowd, but then got distracted by Taxi screaming something to Sylnan and then the waiter, probably another drink for the two of them. The half-elf looked around the podium he and the others were on, looking into the crowd but seeing no sign of Mountain. He frowned slightly as he went to get up from his seat, before hearing loud and boisterous laughter from a corner of the crowd. Sure enough, Br'aad saw Mountain making his way through the crowd, laughing loudly with some kind of alcohol in his hand.

Mountain finally made his way up onto the podium and took a seat next to Br'aad, laughing and taking another swig of his drink.

"Where'd you run off to, Mountain? M'not too sure how long you were gone but this whole scene seems like the sort of thing you're into!" Br'aad spoke up, leaning closer to make sure that Mountain could hear him over the music and the crowd. He watched as Mountain finished off his drink and leaned over to grab another, as he did he saw a strange marking on Mountain's head. It almost looked like a tattoo? Before he was able to ask about it, Mountain had already gotten another drink and was now facing the slightly less enthusiastic bard.

"Oh, I uh- I thought I heard something so I went to check it out. Turns out it was nothing." The dwarf shrugged and took another drink, raising a brow when he noticed Br'aad's expression. "Uh- why? You miss me that much or something?" he chuckled quietly while setting the cup down.

Br'aad kept looking at Mountain, not meeting his eyes yet but just looking at him. Almost through him...It was probably just his eyes messing with him, right? Sure he had a weird vision of Ob'nockshai saying he was back or whatever but, that's normal for Br'aad. It'd be weird if he didn't have an ominous vision every so often! Plus, Mountain hates magic stuff, he wouldn't even listen to a deal if magic was involved, let alone take the deal! Besides, Sylnan had pointed out that Br'aad was being paranoid and more jumpy than usual, so maybe this was just another moment? Yeah..! It has to be...

"Br'aad!" Mountain shook Br'aad harshly, then pulled away and snapped in his face in hopes to get his attention. Br'aad yelped and jumped, letting out a sigh and shaking his head. "Seriously, it's freaky when you fuckin' stare at people like that. Knock it off...Gods, you're weirder than that other magic asshole..." While grumbling to himself, he takes another drink. 'Magic asshole'? Who else...

"W-wait- wait what? what other 'magic asshole'? What do you mean, Mountain? What're you talking about?" Br'aad huffed as he watched Mountain carelessly go to take another drink, quickly grabbing the cup and throwing it to the ground. "Answer me, Mountain! What the hell do you mean 'that other magic asshole'?! Tell me!" Br'aad's hands started to sweat and shake, trying to keep some kind of composure.

"What the fuck, Br'aad?! My drink..." Mountain went to go take another cup before being given another glare from the blonde. "Fine, fine... Uh... Shit, what'd he look like...he uh- He was pretty tall? Brown hair... weird thing on his eye? uh... he liked clocks?" Mountain shrugged before letting out a lazy burp, chuckling to himself.

No. No no, no. No way. There's no way in hell that Mountain spoke to Ob'nockshai. Why would... Br'aad quickly stood up, standing behind Mountain and looking again at the tattoo on his head, hitting it before speaking up, his voice wavering, "Did you get this after he spoke to you? Did you make some kind of deal with him?!"

"What the fuck! Don't hit me, man.." Mountain growled and rolled his eyes, "But yeah, yeah I made a deal with him..."

Before Br'aad could think of something to say, this conversation had caught the attention of the others sitting at the table. Velrisa was the first to notice, standing and making her way over to Br'aad and Mountain.

"Is... Is everything okay? Br'aad? You're shaking..." She frowned and watched as Br'aad just blankly started at Mountain, backing away slightly and almost stumbling before being caught by Velrisa.

"I-I... H-He's back... I-I told all of you that he's back and you all called me paranoid b-but I'm not! I'm not and he's back... M-Mountain spoke t-to him... He..." Br'aad trailed off, looking up at Velrisa and then back at Mountain. "H-He made a fucking DEAL with him! W-With Ob'nockshai! He saw a-and heard everything he's done t-to me... to EVERYONE and he made a DEAL with him!" Br'aad was shouting now, tears falling as he continued to shake, a reaction from both anger, fear. At this point Sylnan was standing, hearing what Br'aad had said and making his way to him, bringing him away from Mountain.

"What... What does he mean, Mountain? Is that true? Have you made a deal with Ob'nockshai?" Velrisa spoke up, ignoring the eyes that were watching her and the party as a whole as the crowd quietened down.

Mountain stood and scoffed, his drunken state still affecting his speech as he slurred out, "Yeah. I made a stupid little deal with him. But who cares, right?! It was a good and fair deal. And I meant to do it! Br'aad made a dumb mistake. That's not my problem. This clock guy said he'll help me, already has." Mountain rolled his eyes. "So what if I have some tattoo now, anything these days is enough to freak Br'aad out! It's just a deal. It's fine. Your Goddess couldn't help me so this God will." He shot a small glare towards Velrisa as he made his way off of the podium. Velrisa sighed annoyedly and looked back towards Br'aad, who was now being held by Sylnan. She looked over at the drunk Taxi and rolled her eyes, going after Mountain.

Br'aad stood there shocked, hearing what Mountain had said. Hurt as well as rage filled him as he was being hugged by Sylnan.

"It's okay, Br'aad. We'll figure this all out, okay? It's fine. We've gotten rid of this guy before, right? We can do it again. We've dealt with worse..!" Sylnan looked down at Br'aad, who was just staring down at the ground, shaking his head.

"N-no... no it's not the same, Syl... Ob'nockshai doesn't do fair deals... h-he doesn't care about helping people. He's a liar and he's manipulative. I... I should've never have tried to do magic in the first place... If I hadn't then I wouldn't have made him show up... a-and you wouldn't have died and-" Before Br'aad could continue to ramble, he was brought back in by Sylnan hugging him again.

"Hey, enough of that. C'mon. It wasn't your fault... You just wanted to help. And you did. And you do help. It's fine, Br'aad. We'll sort all of this out, okay? Mountain is just drunk. He's an idiot when he's drunk, we all know that. When he sobers up, we'll talk more about this, figure out what the deal was, and go from there.." Sylnan slowly rocked as he hugged Br'aad, the blonde hugging back tighter and nodding slowly.

"O-okay... Yeah, you're right... We'll figure it out.."