A Tale of Tales

Chapter 5: Threats and Allies

John was enjoying a lazy afternoon off when he heard a knock at the door.

"You expecting anybody?" he asked Prota, who shook her head no.
"I don't think we're supposed to be having visitors..." John said cautiously as he walked towards the door. His body looked relaxed, but his hand was ready to grab his gun at a moment's notice. Behind him, Prota continued to read a book, but her eyes began to glow.

"John," Purple said as the door was opened. "I wanted to thank you for giving me that bodyguarding job! It's working out great. The princess is such a kind person, and her friends..."

Purple went on for a bit about how great the job was, and John couldn't help but smile as he imagined Gwain's thought process behind hiring him. Likely, it was something like:

Human + new bodyguard = less work for me

"Well, I'm glad you're enjoying it," John said. "Anything else you here for?"
"Yeah, actually," Purple said. In a flash, his sword came out, the tip resting under John's chin. With a flick, he could end John's life.

"Why do you want to watch over them?"
"...huh? What are you talking about?"
"I'm not that stupid, John. The first time I met them, you had me watch over Geo. You said he was important, and to get involved if the mechanical dogs attacked. You're not the kind of guy to just do something for no reason. You want me watching them, right?"

John grinned as he lowered Purple's sword with his hands. "Fine. You got me."

Purple kept a fierce gaze locked onto John. "Answer my question. What do you want with them? If you're planning on using them for something..."

"Using them, huh?" John sighed. "It's been a while since someone put it like that. That doesn't exactly bring back good memories. Fine, let's have a chat."

The two of them were back at the table, Purple still staring intently at John.

"First. You didn't come up with this on your own, did you?"

"Hu- huh? I don't know what you're talking about," Purple stammered.

"Please. You're not the kind of guy to suspect people like this. The Queen put you up to this, didn't she? Regardless of what you answer, I'm going to assume that's what happened, so don't bother trying to cover it up."
"...fine. Yeah, she told me to confront you."
"Good. Now that that's out of the way, to answer your question, no, I don't exactly plan on using them. Not exactly. I want to be... let's say, on good terms with them."
"...why?"

John rolled his neck as he prepared to answer the question. He hesitated, sighed again, then closed his eyes as he prepared to give an answer that would satisfy Purple.

"Purple. Let's say this was a story, ok? The dogs are a precursor to a big bad enemy coming our way. That boy? He's the protagonist of the story, ok? Do you know what's special about protagonists in stories?"
"...they're the main character?"
"Something like that." John leaned in, his voice turning into a whisper.

"Protagonists almost never lose."

Purple frowned as he thought about that. Yes, it was true. Protagonists never lost, but that was because that was how stories were supposed to go. No one would read a story where the protagonist would end up failing to meet their goal at the end. That defeated the point of a story.

"So you're saying Geo is... a protagonist? And you want him... because there's a bad guy coming?"
"...something like that, yeah," John said. "He's not likely to lose a fight. Wouldn't you want someone like that on your side?"
"And you know all this how exactly?"
"I already told you a while ago. Just wait, Purple. I'll answer everything in due time."

Purple sighed and stood up. "Fine. But if you harm even one of them..."
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," John said, getting up as well to escort Purple to the door.

After Purple left, John sighed and fell back onto the sofa.

"Man, I hate lying to a nice guy's face."
"Don't lie," Prota said quietly.