A Knight's Loyalty | Food Fantasy AU Fanfic

Chapter 25 - Whose Victory?

Borscht fell to the ground, and Milt strove to regain her breath. Caviar, although it was unseen, let out a sigh of relief. All three of the Food Souls were tired, but even with an army of Fallen Angels, an SR can't beat two URs.

Caviar knew the meta things. About the game mechanics, the set storyline, and how new Food Souls can appear during a time that wasn't theirs. It didn't depress him, he just lived with it. Alongside that, he made sure to try for the happiest ending - for Milt, who was clueless.

Caviar walked up to the fallen Borscht, who was glaring at him with glazed over eyes. Caviar said nothing as he squatted down to her height.

"You've won now. So, go away," Borscht muttered to herself.

"How can I trust that?" Caviar asked dully. Borscht bit her lip.

"I've clearly lost."

"Then how are you still here?" Caviar's question put Borscht on edge. He had a clue of what was going on. Surely he had seen something like this before.

A giant thunking sound was heard behind Caviar, who spun to see Milt facing a Fallen who had just arrived. His shirt was grabbed, but he knocked Borscht's hand away before she could stab his neck again. Caviar dashed towards Milt to block the incoming damage. If he hadn't done so, Milt would be dead.

"We need to leave," Caviar stated, before picking up Milt princess-style. Without a second thought, he dashed off into the forest. For a moment he locked eyes with Milt's surprised expression. He quickly looked away with the one eye that showed.

~

Salty Tofu approached the door, hesitantly reaching for the doorknob. At last, he finally found the courage. That is, he found the courage to kick the door down.

The door fell with a thunk, and several pairs of eyes laid upon him. He tried not to appear embarrassed.

"Listen, I was thinking about what happened, and . . . I decided to try and find Spaghetti," Salty explained.

"You know where Spaghetti is?" Kuri exclaimed hopefully.

"I said I tried to find him. I never said I succeeded," Salty retorts. Kuri's expression becomes disappointment. "I never said I failed either."

"Then where is he?" Ryouri asked curiously. Salty looked at the young Attendant, and then answered, "There's a palace in the mist. I'm sure you know the tale, how it was the old castle. Well, apparently, there's a reason it was abandoned."

". . . A reason?" B-52 asked in confirmation. Salty nodded.

"Apparently, the blizzard appeared recently. It's only been there one or two decades or so. Before it even arrived, a seer told the king of Nevras to move his location, as a great blizzard was coming," Salty began.

"Wait, I know that tale," Kuri interrupted. "I found while I was reading some history books - historians just say it was coincidence or luck, while cults in and out of Nevras claim some divine evil being sent the seer to warn the king, knowing he would be too foolish to believe the idea." Salty held back shouting and the girl for interrupting and continued.

"Simply said, the seer was right, and a snowflake fell in the middle of summer. Each day the number of snowflakes that fell doubled - 2, 4, 8, 16 . . ."

Kuri joined the count. ". . . 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048 . . ." They both stopped counting.

"And then," Salty spoke. "On the 13th day, people woke up to find themselves neck-deep in snow. Houses could hardly support the weight, people couldn't leave their homes, and the king couldn't see his people. That's when he finally believed the seer - but by then, it was too late." He scratched his head. "There was more . . ."

"I remember," Kuri offered, and Salty didn't stop her as the audience shifted their focus. "Apparently, the seer had fled after the 7th day, knowing the king would refuse to believe him, and made a settlement outside of the to-be blizzard zone. The queen took the prince and princess with her as she left, the king claiming they'd regret the decision, but doing nothing more than that. Those who also believed the seer's warning went with them, and this town was founded. The queen, prince, and princess all made it in time, but the king was trapped, due to his own carelessness. That's when the queen administered the building of a new castle, and the fundamentals of Nevras were rebuilt, and the kingdom has prospered since. The queen has passed, but the prince -  now king, is doing a good job in my opinion."

"So," Ryouri spoke. "That explains it - even if someone wished to enter, it'd be impossible anyway."

"Mostly," Catcakes answered. "But I've heard that there was a counter. A certain medallion could be worn to avoid the effects of the blizzard on the wearer and his allies. Although, 'allies' is a loosely used term here - it's more of minions, people who have been infected with this certain serum."

"A serum? What kind?" B-52 and Brownie asked in unison.

"You either drink it or take it as a shot. Either way, it makes you a total zombie in a way. You still have your capabilities, but the medallion wearer is basically a slaveowner and whoever drinks the serum is his slave. Not a good experience I'm sure." Salty held his breath.

"Food Souls can also be affected, right?" Salty asked.

"Yeah," Catcakes responded. "How'd you know?"

"This could be bad."