The Crimson Champion

Chapter 18: Three Months Later

It's been a few months since the death of Yuri, and things couldn't be better! Lora and I have been able to just relax, and nothing's bothered us while we just live our lives and do the occasional jobs for the people in town.

A little bit after the day, Shana actually visited and she told us that Lonril was chosen as Solaris's new emperor when he went back, because he was the most trustworthy person available for the job.

He's apparently been doing a good job of undoing Yuri's bullshit, so it feels like things have turned out for the best. I'm glad that we can just be happy now.

A waiter comes up to where Lorelei and I sit at an outside table in Lazarus's main square. "What would the two of you like?" I shrug and look at Lorelei, then she smiles. "A pizza would be great, thanks!" The waiter nods and leaves.

I chuckle. "Good choice!" Lorelei smiles. "It probably won't be as good as yours, but I thought it would be nice to have." As we wait, a familiar person comes up to us. "It's great to see the two of you here!"

I turn to look and I see Cyprus. "Cyprus?! It's definitely a surprise to see you here, what's up?" She grins. "I'm here to get some supplies and pick up Shana, then we're going back to the ship!"

As Cyprus says her name, Shana runs up and smiles when she looks at us. "Mister Croissant, Goldie, I'm glad I can see you guys before I leave!" Lorelei gives her a confused look. "What're you leaving with Cyprus for?"

Shana gets a determined look on her face. "I want to find Rothzal. I know he's still out there somewhere, so I'm going to try and find him so I can get rid of him forever."

I nod. "Alright, good luck, Shana!" She smiles. "Thanks!" Cyprus turns to leave. "Alright, we should be ready to go, so let's get sailing!" As Cyprus walks away, the waiter comes back and sets a fresh and already cut pizza at our table.

Shana sees it and smirks, then before Lorelei and I can do anything, Shana picks up a piece in each of her hands and slaps the both of us! Shana giggles as we both give her confused and slightly annoyed looks. "Oh come on, it was funny!"

I roll my eyes but I smile and Lorelei laughs, then Shana turns to leave. "Alright, I have to go now, so see you later!" She sprints after Cyprus towards the docks.

Lorelei grins and shakes her head. "I hope Shana finds him." I nod. "Yeah, me too. Hopefully she can finally kill that purple bastard, he shouldn't be allowed to keep doing what he's doing..."

Lorelei and I start eating our pizza in silence, but after a little while, someone else comes up to us, an elven man with gray skin and a crimson robe. He clears his throat and speaks. "I hope I'm not interrupting something important."

I look at the man and my eyes widen. "Karnak, is that you?!" He smiles and nods. "It's been a while, hasn't it, Brutus?" I smile. "Yeah, it has! What're you around here for?"

Karnak sighs. "Unfortunately, it's not a social visit. I'm here to ask you a favor from Xerkhon." I give him a confused look. "Not that I don't like seeing you, but why didn't Xerkhon just contact me himself?"

He sighs again. "He sent me because you'll need my help with something. You see, Xerkhon wants you to retrieve an artifact from the elven city, Eclipse. He sent me to tell you where it is, but I also need to give you something of mine or they'll throw you out."

Lorelei looks at Karnak. "Why something of yours?" Karnak smiles. "Because while I haven't been back in a long time, I have a...certain presence there, I guess you could say." He turns to me. "Will you do it?"

I laugh. "Yeah, I will. It's not like I have much of a choice!" Karnak chuckles and he hands me a small red metal emblem shaped like a drop of blood with Karnak's initials on it, K.T. "Show this to the guards and they should let you in. As for the city's location, I unfortunately can't give specifics. To keep the city's secrecy, of course. So in order to get there, you must hold the emblem tightly and whisper "Guide me home", and you'll know. Trust me on this."

I pocket the emblem. "Alright...I'll trust you. Where can I find you after we're done?" Karnak thinks. "Hmm...you should be able to find me outside the city." I nod. "Alright, we'll go after we get some supplies together."

Karnak grins. "Excellent! I will see you once the job is done, then." He walks off, then Lorelei looks at me. "Do we really have to do this one?" I sigh. "Yeah. I owe Xerkhon for what he did for me, so let's go get this over with." She nods. "Yeah, that's fair. Let's do this!" We finish our lunch, then we go to gather supplies for the trip.

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Lorelei and I ride on Spiritus, following the emblem's guidance, but as it starts to get dark, I sniff and I smell ash and smoke. I freeze and I look around, then Lorelei taps my shoulder. "Is something wrong, Red?"

I get off of Spiritus's back. "Do you smell that...?" Lorelei sniffs. "Yeah, there's probably a campfire or something around here." I shake my head. "There doesn't seem to be anything like that. That's not a fire, that's the smell of an idiot!"

I bring my katana up to block just in time to avoid getting hit by a familiar orange shuriken. "I knew it! Akai, show yourself!" Lorelei immediately gets off of Spiritus and extends her spear. "What?!"

We hear a voice growl. "Gladly!" The shuriken flies back to land in the hand of a familiar man who's running at us. I glare at him. "Akai, what the hell are you here for?!" Akai smirks. "To defeat you, of course!" He roars. "INFERNIUS FLAMMUS!" His shuriken bursts into flames and he leaps at me.

I quickly sidestep and he misses. Spiritus spits a fireball at him but to my shock, Akai absorbs it and smirks. "Thanks for the boost, wolf." I sigh and I de-summon Spiritus, so Akai doesn't get any more accidental help.

Lorelei stabs at Akai but he lifts his shuriken to defend. "Akai, why are you doing this?" Akai glares at her. "Because he destroyed my life! Didn't he tell you that already?!"

Lorelei sighs. "Akai, if you'd stayed in the village, you'd have died. A few years after what happened to you, everyone but Brutus and I were killed." Akai looks at her in shock. "So you're saying the three of us are the only ones left?! What the hell?!"

I sigh. "It's true, Akai. I'm sorry about what happened to you, but please, stop this. We should work together!" Akai freezes for a second, as if he's thinking about it, but then he shakes his head. "No. I have to defeat you, to prove that I'm better once and for all!"

I sigh again as he backflips, then he slashes his shuriken in our direction, making a wave of fire come out of it. Lorelei jumps up in the air to avoid it, while I slash at it, canceling it out.

Lorelei brings her spear down at Akai, and while he dodges, the spear clips his shoulder and he grunts in pain. I take the opportunity to leap at him and I slice at his right arm, leaving a cut.

Akai jumps to the side and throws a fireball at Lorelei. She shoots a light beam at it and it cancels out, so I use the chance to leap at Akai and stab him in the left leg. He growls and stumbles backwards. "This isn't fair...two against one..."

Akai pauses and he gets an annoyed look on his face, then he speaks to seemingly no one. "No, I have to defeat him!" He looks at me and gestures for me to come over to him. "Just fucking fight me one on one, damn you!"

I glare. "Akai, I don't want to fight you!" He growls and he looks like he's about to leap at me again, then he pauses. "No, not yet, I still need to-" Suddenly, Akai disappears in a cloud of smoke and I look at where he was, confused. "What the...?"

Lorelei looks at me. "That was...interesting. Do you think we have to worry about going to sleep?" I shake my head. "No, I don't think we'll see him again for a while. Besides, even though he's the way he is, I don't think he'd try to hurt us in our sleep. He at least has the honor to want to fight me fairly, so I respect that."

Lorelei nods. "Yeah, you're right. Let's just go to sleep for now." She pulls camping supplies out of her bag and we set them up, then we go to sleep for the night, ready to continue on to Eclipse in the morning.