BXBX NOVEL Chapter 25 - 25
Chapter 25:
Arthur\'s Point of View
Temple atop Helmsforth
It didn\'t take long for the Zugal ferry to come and pick me up from the Reed Farmstead. Downright demeaning in my eyes, to use literal people as a transportation service, but new world, old solutions. At least they didn\'t have to carry a King in a palanquin or something, and they were quick. It was also only in rare cases. Me being one of them.
"We are pleased you decided to see us today, Arthur." Arceana said with a small smirk. "Please, sit." Gesturing to a familiar couch, I did as instructed and sat across in the same room as last time, but with both Priestesses present. "Hopefully, you have good news for us."
Elincia sat with her sister, and they certainly made quite the pair. "Please, Cea, I am sure Arthur would not come up all this way just to say no."
Leaning back onto the couch, I glanced at some of the guards in the room. "Then you don\'t know me that well. Being petty is one of my favorite pass times." The two sisters seemed surprised at that, but both eventually smirked.
"Then, are you here to say no?" Elincia inquired.
"That all depends on you two." Was my reply, and both Priestesses looked confused at that.
Moving on, I pulled Ayda\'s book out from under my armor and placed it on the table between us. "This look familiar?"
Arceana used her magic to float the book over and examine it. "I do believe this is from Ayda\'s private collection." Her eyes flickered up to me. "I\'m surprised she lent this to you."
"That\'s because it was a pain in the ass to get. Had to endure relentless questioning that I gave her the runaround on." I informed them, and Elincia found that amusing while her sister frowned.
"What about this book is so crucial that you would bring it with you?" Elincia inquired.
Gesturing to the guards that were present, I spoke. "I think you\'d prefer to continue this in private." Many of the guards were alarmed and offended by that.
However, Arceana merely smirked at me. "Very well." At once, every single guard present looked at her in shock as she turned to them. "Wait outside." Addressing their concerned looks about being alone with me while armed, she spoke. "Do not worry. My sister and I are more than enough to handle Arthur." Not wanting to say otherwise, I watched as the guards left.
Once they were all gone, Elincia crossed her arms. "Our guards have left. What is it you wanted to ask that you could not do so in their presence?" She questioned.
"It\'s not that I couldn\'t ask, but I wanted an honest answer." Gesturing to the history book, I spoke. "How much of that history book is true?"
"In general, or about us?" Arceana asked back.
"A general overview could be accurate or inaccurate, and I wouldn\'t care. No, I want to hear your personal thoughts about this book." I told them.
The two sisters glanced at one another, and Arceana moved her scepter in front of her to hold. "Our personal thoughts?"
Rolling my eyes, I leaned forward and tapped the book with my pointer finger. "How much of this is true?" I asked, more bluntly.
Elincia immediately answered. "Some, but most of it was falsified information to paint us in a better light." Arceana looked to her sister with a raised brow, and Elincia responded with a shrug. "What? It is true. When we went to war, we were covered in blood with the rest of our men. Neither of us floated on high or were untouchable."
Sighing, the other sibling spoke. "Sadly, my sister is correct," Arceana added after a moment. "Most of our history books hold my sister and I in a very high regard." Turning away, her face took on a darker look that surprised me. "Both of us had to make several decisions in our past that we regret to a degree. However, we would not be here if not for those decisions. Sometimes, the worst option is the best method." She finished in a somber tone, but her demeanor was more irritated than anything else.
"Good to see the two of you aren\'t liars and nor are as corrupted as I thought." Was my response as I leaned back in my chair.
"You thought we might be corrupt?" Elincia inquired.
Shaking my head, I corrected them. "No, I know you\'re corrupt, but I wasn\'t sure how you saw yourselves." Both looked a little upset at that, but neither said anything right away. "You don\'t live to be as old as you are without getting your hands dirty, and once they\'re dirty, they\'re never clean again."
"An interesting metaphor." Arceana replied.
Giving a knowing look, I replied. "Is it really a metaphor, though?"
Both Priestesses were not happy with my blunt attitude. "So, your answer is no then?" Elincia asked me.
I shrugged. "Not really. I\'m more than willing to accept your offer if you agree to a few conditions."
Again, the two Priestesses were surprised. "So, because you know of our \'corruption\' as you so mildly put it, you\'re willing to be our Knight?" Elincia inquired.
"With a few conditions." I restated.
"I must admit you are far more... Different, from how I thought you would be." Arceana informed me. "Not many would use one\'s confession of wrongdoings to make a decision in such a manner."
"Maybe not, but as you said, I\'m different." Gesturing with my head towards the door where the guards left, I continued. "I\'m not going to blindly follow either of you like your little worshippers."
The pink-haired Priestess frowned. "They don\'t worship us."
Scoffing at that and leaning forward got their attention. "Yes, they do." Then I pointed outside. "From what I\'ve seen, these people love you, and that\'s fine, but I\'m not like them. I don\'t care what you\'ve done for them or how long you\'ve lived and blah blah blah."
Miss blonde hair spoke up. "Careful, Arthur. We want you to be our Knight, but we do not tolerate insolence directed towards us."
"Is it okay if it\'s directed towards your guards?" I inquired, and both sighed.
"How about we move on to the conditions you had for us?" Arceana suggested. "Although, at this point, I am concerned for the future."
Chuckling, I crossed my arms. "Good. That makes both of us."
Rubbing her forehead, Arceana spoke. "This is all for the prophecy..." She mumbled.
"I\'m glad you mentioned that. First, I\'d like to see this prophecy of yours. Where it is actually written." Then I turned my gaze to Elincia. "Not just word of mouth. Verifying this prophecy is important to me, and I want to make sure neither of you are lying to me."
"We would never lie. There is no reason to." Elincia told me.
"Oh, there\'s plenty of reasons. Shit, I do it for fun! Small lies that are so outlandish that they make you think it could be true." Elincia looked amused at that while Arceana shook her head. "Anyway, everyone lies, and I have no reason to believe you\'ve been honest with me. So, before I\'m Knighted, I want a look at the source of this prophecy. There must be a book, scroll, or even a tapestry of some sort, right?"
Nodding in agreement, Arceana tapped her scepter across the ground. "Very well. That can be arranged. What are your other conditions?"
Sighing myself, I answered. "I\'d like a place to call my own. A bold request, I know, but I don\'t like the idea of freeloading off the Reed family forever."
"Your concern is noted, but unnecessary. As our Knight, you will be given appropriate accommodations and compensation for your responsibilities." Elincia stated as if rehearsed. "Having our top-ranking general freeloading is out of the question."
Blinking at the stupidity I just heard, I looked at them before pinching the bridge of my nose in annoyance. "I want it to be noted that I think it\'s really fucking stupid that you\'re putting a man you know nothing about in charge of your military."
Arceana replied. "Noted, but you should note that you are not in charge. We are, and what we say, goes."
Pointing at her, I spoke. "Which brings me to my next condition. Since you two are prone to make bad decisions," Pointing at myself, I continued as I ignored their frowns. "I want the ability to veto anything you two say. That\'s not to say I won\'t follow orders, but if you ask me to agree to a request that\'s as equally nonsensical as making me your Knight, I won\'t do it." Leaning back, I shrugged. "That\'s the way it is."
"You are a very rude individual." The pink-haired sister observed.
"Tell me about it. It\'s one of the reasons I\'m so concerned about becoming your Knight. Pretty sure I was super racist to some of your Zugal Town\'s Guard as well." Shrugging again did nothing to calm their irritation. "Something you\'ll need to be aware of."
Gritting her teeth at this point, Arceana spoke in a strained tone. "Is that all?"
Tapping my fingers against the couch\'s backrest, I thought about it. "There are two more things." Holding up my pointer finger got their attention. "The Slavers will be dealt with by me, and any information you have regarding the subject will be handed over to me."
"And the last condition?" Elincia asked.
"I\'m not answering any questions I don\'t want to." I said firmly. "I don\'t think I\'m going to be a good Knight, which I\'m sure you\'ll come to realize slowly over time, or once I do something barbaric." Then I shrugged again. "Either way, those are my conditions. Your titles and land mean nothing to me. You want me to be your Knight; those are my conditions. If you don\'t like them, I\'ll likely be out of your hair within the next few days."
??"If you don\'t care for land or titles, perhaps untold wealth will persuade you to-" Elincia began, but I cut her off.
Standing up and moving towards the window, I looked down the mountain and saw a massive unending forest. "Cassidy told me the Hollow Forest is dangerous and that few people ever venture inside." Glancing over my shoulder to see their reactions, I continued. "I lived in there for a few days and didn\'t struggle all that much. I\'m more than willing to travel around from city to city, nation to nation, because I know that I can take care of myself."
Both Priestesses were quiet for a moment before Elincia spoke up. "So, if land, titles, and wealth mean nothing to you, what do you want?"
Sighing, I put my arms behind my back as I moved away from the window. "Neither of you can give me what I want. So, don\'t even try." Mostly because I\'ve already lost what I wanted more than anything.
"Your conditions are steep but acceptable. However, do not think we will allow you to ignore orders for mild reasons." Arceana told me. "You will be expected to perform to the best of your abilities."
Elincia then stood. "And after our small bout, we know your abilities are vast." A white aura covered her hands, and a pop could be heard. "As for your first condition," Teleporting a rather large blue book with strange runes on the cover to her hand, from who knows where, she handed it to me. "This is the book of Prophecies you requested."
Arceana stepped next to her sister and used her magic to flip to a specific page. "As you can see, there is a reason my sister was so invested in battling you. Not every day you run into someone from the book of Prophecies." She smirked. "Then again, this book only contains information regarding you. Perhaps there is something you recognize in this book?" You could hear the smugness in her rhetorical question.
My left eye narrowed when I saw a familiar drawing on one of the pages. Now I understood why both Priestesses were so interested in me and convinced I was the one from their so-called prophecy. On the page before me was the depiction of my right eye and the orb floating in the middle of my sword.
Many thoughts began racing through my mind, and I immediately thought the Star Creature might be behind this, but I knew better. Something else was at work here, and I assumed it was likely magic that foretold of my arrival. If this had to deal with the mystery I was supposed to solve, then perhaps it was the right choice to become a Lestranian Knight.
"Tell me, Arthur Pendragon," Both Priestesses said simultaneously. "May we see your right eye?"
They asked as they flipped the page and showed a cloaked male figure with two eyes similar to my right eye glowing from underneath the shadows covering his face. Most of his features were hidden aside from his mouth and eyes. My frown deepened upon seeing this. It was at this moment I was really starting to hate magic.
*********
The new goal for this week is to hit 700 Power Stones again for another extra chapter! If we hit 750, I will release an additional bonus chapter for hitting that goal as well! We know we can hit 700, but can we hit 750? Let\'s find out! Hope you guys are still looking forward to the coming chapters!