Necromancer For Hire- Arc 2

Arc 2, Chapter 13

The Meal

"Okay, everyone!" Matthew said loudly, a wide smile stretching across his face as he walked into the dinning room, Umbra close at his heels. "I'll throw down these boxes and then I'll grab you guys some menus so you can tell me what you want to eat!"

Victor glanced up from the table, staring at his fathers as they trekked into the kitchen. He wondered why Umbra looked so bothered, but he quickly pushed away the possibiliy of something bad having happened- Matthew was much too cheerful for that.

Umbra emerged from the kitchen door, politely sitting beside Victor. The man focused his steely gaze at Aunora, who was causually finishing off the last orange muffin. Aunora didn't seem to acknowledge the fact that Umbra was shooting daggers at her, as the demon horse continued to chatter loudly to Esper.

Four laminated paper menus hit the table as Matthew hovered over Victor's chair, holding a tray of drinks.

"Alright, so I got you guys your regular drinks, coffee for Umbry and Coke for Vic, but I wasn't sure about you two." Matthew explained, pointing at Esper and Aunora after he gave Umbra and Victor their respective glasses.

"I'll take some orange juice, sir." Esper said quietly.

Aunora picked up the menu and began flipping through it. "I'll just take some coffee. Like, are we ever gonna eat? All that's been going on is talking."

Matthew snapped his fingers. "Right! So, here at Silver Moon, you can start off your morning with a variety of breakfast food, including pancakes, waffles, French toast, brötchen-"

"Wait, what?" Aunora asked, flicking her eyes up to Matthew. "What are those things b-things, like German or something?"

"Uh, yes. They are." Matthew stared at Aunora awkwardly. "I'm German, so..."

"You don't look German." Aunora remarked.

Sliding down further in his chair beside Aunora, Esper was blushing furiously, seemingly feeling the social shame that the demon horse refused to experience.

"Yeah, Matthew. I think you forgot to put on your lederhosen and your blond wig this morning. Better watch out, people may mistake you for an American." Umbra hissed sarcastically, gulping down his coffee. "Matthew, just bring us some waffles, please. And ignore Aunora."

Matthew nodded his head, turning on his heels and speeding into the kitchen.

Around twenty minutes later, Matthew remerged, holding two large stacks of sweet smelling waffles and two cups.

"Breakfast is ready!" Matthew called cheerfully, sitting a plate in front of Umbra and the other before Aunora. He also placed down Esper's and Aunora's drinks, Aunora immediately drinking the espresso. "I hope you enjoy!"

Matthew took a seat beside Victor and grabbed a pitcher of syrup, drenching the steaming breakfast food in cool maple syrup. Victor quickly dug in, shuffling through the silverware that was wrapped in a silk napkin to find a fork. Matthew and Victor ate in a frenzy, the older man cutting up the waffles into smaller sections so Victor could eat it easier. Umbra, however, took a more refined path, politely slicing off small pieces and bringing them up to his mouth. Aunora tore into the food like a starving animal, barely giving Esper any chance to eat his fill.

Several minutes into the meal, everyone had slowed down their eating pace, and the silence that had hung over the dinning had became quite apparent. Matthew seemed pestered by the lack of conversation, so he hastily started speaking.

"So, Umbry," he murmured casually, winking at the dark skinned man. "How did you meet your new friends?"

"That's a story and a half." Aunora muttered, rubbing the fresh tattoos on her wrists. "But I'll try my best to condense it. Like, my friend Esper got kidnapped, so Commander Salty and the Boy Wonder jumped down into Ereith- aka Nagas-R-Us- to do me a solid. I ended up totally dying, so Viccy here made me his zombie. And then we all lived happily ever after."

The corner of Matthew's mouth twitched. "Umbry," he said, his voice strained. "You brought our son into Ereith?"

Umbra groaned, holding up his hands. "In my defense, I wasn't even aware those were the runes for Ereith. Plus, there's a fair amount of information that Aunora left out. Like, for example, that she was imprisoned and ultimately killed by the nagas due to her own stupidity." Umbra smirked as the demon horse's cheeks flashed red with fury and embarrassment. "But I'll explain all of this in full later, Matthew. Right now, I believe we need to head to the Mercenary Guild to sign ourselves up."

Author's Note- Sorry for the big delay. I learned that pain and lack of nourishment are excellent providers of writer's block. Luckily, I'm feeling better, so I can finally focus and write! Also, I swear this story is going somewhere. This arc has a whole lot more rising action than the previous one, and will hopefully be a lot longer. Thanks for reading! Don't forget to vote and comment!