I Can't Get the Vampire Rogue to Romance Me

Chapter 11 - Special Confessions

The rest of the morning unfolded like a normal camping experience would for Evangeline. Food was made, bedrolls rerolled, and these relative strangers all gathered around the cookfire to eat in tense, thoughtful silence.

Finally, when it became unbearable, Hagor spoke up first. "So, um, what does everyone think we should do now?" he asked.

All five companions looked at each other, snapping out of their private revere's.

"Well, I don't know about you lot, but I think our first order of business would be to get these damn collars off," Valerian said haughtily, the only one not eating anything, leaning against a tree hiding in its shade from the circle of light the rest sat in.

"I have business deeper in this forest for sure, so yes, getting out of these collars would be helpful," Hagor agreed.

"We're headed—"

"We have business in the North," Sigismund interjected, cutting of Artmond, who looked a bit sullen, but didn't argue, only sulked like a sad puppy.

"And I have my own mission," Valerian agreed.

"Which is...?" Sigismund prompted.

"None of your business," the rogue completed smoothly with his signature grin. "And how about you ... the lesser rogue?"

Evangeline blinked as she realized, she had heard all this dialogue before. These were all lines from the game. She had just never heard them exchanged with anyone other than the main character before, but of course that wouldn't make sense in a real-life scenario. They would talk to each other, not just the player.

"Evangeline? You alright?" Hagor asked, tapping her shoulder lightly.

Everyone was staring at her. "Oh, yeah, I mean. I think we... I think..." She had no idea. She knew she should have an answer for what they should do yet, but it was hard to think about what it could be. This difficulty in remembering was just like how she had been last night...

"Um, one second, everyone," she said and called up her character table. She eyed her special skill, and the six tics behind it. "I can do this thing... it could tell us which way we should go if I do it..."

"Can it tell us how to get these collars off?" Sigismund asked.

"Not... directly, but... it might help us go in the right direction to find a way to do it?" Evangeline offered.

They all looked at each other confused.

"Look, it's a special skill I have. I just need to activate it," Evangeline continued to hesitate. She sounded so awkward.

"Well, go for it. It's worth a try," Hagor encouraged.

Letting out a breath, she focused on her skill line. "Meta."

There were no lights or sounds to indicate it worked. A tic simply disappeared from her table, and Evangeline remembered.

"Oh, okay. We should head to the local village."

"The village? What village?" Sigismund asked, furrowing her brows deeper.

"Oh, yeah, there is a tollhouse in a village not too far down the road from here," Artmond chimed in. "I've passed through it before. There should be a blacksmith there to help with the horses. Maybe we can chisel these off?"

"I highly doubt a regular chisel can cut through magic collars," Valerian noted.

"But the blacksmith will know something about these collars and how to break them. We need to find this blacksmith," Evangeline said confidently.

Valerian wrinkled his nose at her. "He may or he may not—"

"He will," she insisted, arching an eyebrow at him in challenge. Even if the dialogue was still out of order, this was still a game. Somehow, knowing that fact for sure infused Evangeline with a level of confidence she didn't have any longer in the real world. She knew challenging Valerian now wasn't going to have much of an impact on her ability to romance him later.

"Wow, Evangeline," Artmond said with so much genuine earnestness that she couldn't help but take him sincerely. "Are you a prophet or something?"

"I... no... I don't think I am officially, anyway," Evangeline said, doing everything in the world to avoid Valerian's prying eyes.

"Maybe we need or something?" Artmond asked, directing his question to Sigismund.

"It's none of our business," she rebuked, putting her fingers over his mouth as if that would shut him up.

Artmond didn't take the hint. "Though she is right. Going to the local village would allow a chance to get some supplies and some news as well," he added.

"You need money for that sort of thing, and I haven't got a drop of coin on me," Valerian pointed out. "Not that it will be a problem for someone of my skills."

"Oh, it's fine. I can just withdraw some funds from..." Artmond started to say, then Sigismund slammed her elbow so hard into his side, it sent him into a coughing fit.

"I think it best we just get to the village and then we all take care of our own business," Sigismund said primly as if she hadn't just assaulted her partner.

" which way to go?" Valerian asked.

"Yes, actually," Evangeline had to say.

"Ooo. Lucky us. Maybe we should start a gambling racket. Rake in some coin." Valerian pushed off the tree and sauntered toward the entrance of the sanctuary. "No time like the present, right?"

"I, for one, am glad we have some sort of direction to go. This has already been a bit of a crazy adventure," Hagor said, clapping a hand on Evangeline's shoulder and giving it a little friendly squeeze.

She smiled at him and sighed. "I'm glad I could contribute."

"Oh here," he said, passing her a small token the size of her thumb. She blinked at it, recognizing the emblem from the game. "I only had time to carve two of these, but I think you should have one." He held his up, palming it into his meaty fist. "Just think of the camp, and the door to this place will appear."

"How... how is that possible?" she marveled.

Hagor's cheeks pinked with a mix of pride and shyness. "This is my Special Ability. I thought it only fair to share mine with you since you had to reveal yours to us."

Though she understood the practicality of what he was giving her, Evangeline couldn't help but feel a little bit like she was being given a copy of his apartment keys.

To be continued...

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