Darkness and Hellfire

Chapter 47 Nicknames?

Isaac and Lenna left Charlie to his own devices for a while and tracked down James and Lenny. Once both boys were in the same place, their house, Isaac and Lenna explained their plan to put them as their next of kin. Suffice to say the boys were shocked.

“I… why?” James questioned while he tried to wrap his head around their decision.

“A few reasons, but all that really matters to you is that in the, rather unlikely, event that something puts both of us down for good, before you die of old age, someone from the Adventurers’ Guild will be trying to get in contact with you.” Isaac explained. “We have to tell them where to go and how to get in contact with you in a reasonable amount of time. We can’t have them running around the city harassing low-level criminals until one of them spills where you are, and having them go to Edward or Izen defeats the purpose of choosing someone who isn’t in the government or a guild employee.”

“Boss,” Lenny began. “you know that the people in the easiest position to get you killed are us, right?” As the main point of information gathering for Isaac and Lenna, Lenny couldn’t have been more right.

Isaac nodded. “Yeah, but I also know that if anyone knows exactly how hard it is to put either of us down, it is you.” He replied pragmatically. “You also can imagine exactly how either of us would react to betrayal, especially if it meant that something happened to the other.”

Lenny swallowed hard. He wasn’t planning on betraying them but just the image alone was enough to preemptively shoot any of those thoughts in the head with a ballista. “What about my secret identity?” Lenny asked without missing more than a heartbeat.

“That is why we are here.” Lenna replied simply. “How do you want them to contact you?”

—

“Oh, oh my, I am not, I would not like to be the one sent here in the unfortunate event that something happened to you.” Charlie stammered after he finished reading the contact plan for their next of kin.

“Why not?” Isaac asked. He thought it was rather simple on the guild’s part.

“Not only is the contact point an obvious front but the contact is going to, and I quote, ‘-will find you within the day and make contact.’ even though it is not necessary for us to leave any information at all with ‘whoever is behind the counter’.” Charlie frowned worriedly. “Lord Wexler, Lady V’Nova, is your next of kin an assassin?”

“Is that a problem?” Isaac stated his question with no inflection whatsoever.

Charlie wasn’t sure if it was a question or a challenge so he opted to answer the question as carefully as he could: “No… not technically. I will return to the capital with these as they are. Please, just remember that your next of kin still needs to be alive in the event that something happens to you otherwise the guild will assimilate your unclaimed resources.”

Lenna nodded and Isaac answered: “That’s fine.”

“I do have another question.” Charlie spoke as he filed the clipboards away into his Bottomless Bag. “How will you ensure that only the intended person makes contact with the guild employee?”

“That won’t be an issue.” Isaac replied. “Anyone with the balls to try and impersonate my next of kin won’t live long enough to make use of whatever the guild employee gives them.”

Charlie swallowed hard. It was times like these when he truly remembered that no one who made it to the upper levels of mortal power got there without killing people. It was a simple fact. There would always be someone who would try and take something simply because it was valuable and that thing would need to be protected. Whether that was a druid’s grove, a wizard’s tower, a sorcerer’s bloodline, an item, a piece of gear, or a symbol of an oath or deity, someone would always make a dumb decision that would end with them meeting the Reaper. Some of the upper echelons only had one person’s blood on their hands, some had thousands. Charlie didn’t want to know the exact number of those killed by Isaac or Lenna. He simply nodded and took them at their word.

“Well, I believe that is everything. If you have any questions, I will be staying in Safeharbor until the morning of the day after tomorrow. Otherwise your local C.A.S.T. branch should have most information on file somewhere or you can come to the capital where our main branch is located.” Charlie explained. “A fun piece of trivia before I leave, the capital of the Kingdom of Altia, built into the Altian mountain range, is actually built around our main guild branch.”

Isaac nodded and offered Charlie his hand. Charlie took it on instinct. “Thanks for your help but aren’t you forgetting something?”

Charlie took half a second to realize what he had forgotten before his eyes went wide. “Oh my, my most sincere apologies.” He said and quickly dug into his Bottomless Bag before he pulled out a pair of simple pine boxes. Each one was only a four inch cube where the top was obviously supposed to come off.

Isaac chuckled and took the boxes. “Thanks, Charlie.” Charlie nodded and left so Isaac and Lenna turned their attention to the boxes. “Pretty simple for something so important.” Isaac commented.

“Agreed.” Lenna said and opened her box without fanfare. Inside there was a simple pair of platinum plates on a chain with incredibly small links. On Lenna’s first tag it simply said: ‘Lady of Hellfire’

“Who chose our nicknames?” Isaac wondered aloud.

“I did.” Edward said and sat down next to them. Charlie had waited for them at the Celestial Dawn because the pair were the only reasons that he was even in Safeharbor so it was a little surprising to see Edward there. “Hey Cel, can I get some food?” The Guild Master called to the woman behind the bar.

“I’m busy, go get something from Leo yourself.” She told him without missing a beat.

Edward just looked dumbfounded. “You know, I used to think that I was someone important but then people like you and Fable show up and Cel treats me like I’m still seventeen.” He grumbled to Isaac.

Isaac chuckled. “Celeste is a mom. Mom’s are just like that.” He told Edward comfortingly.

Edward looked like he wanted to ask Isaac about his past but quickly thought better of it. “Yes, she is.” Edward agreed. “So? How are the monikers? The Guild Master of the local Adventurer’s Guild branch, or at least the one that has had the most contact with the adventurer, gets to choose the moniker when we request the tags.”

Isaac opened his and saw that it said exactly what he was hoping it would: ‘Lord of Darkness’ Isaac smiled. “They are perfect.” He told the Guild Master.

“Good.” Edward replied. “I was not going to put ‘demigod’ anywhere near those tags for fear that someone like the Guild Leader or Judgment would take direct interest in you but it looks like that precaution meant little.”

Isaac shrugged. “Thanks for the forethought but this is what I wanted anyway. I am the highest authority on dark mana in the world that walks on two legs. I haven’t met a black dragon yet to compare skills but as far as mortals are concerned I am the one and only Lord of Darkness. That is exactly what I wanted my tags to say.”

Edward nodded. “Good.” He said and rose to his feet. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go get my own food like a child off the street.” Edward then walked into the back and immediately began chatting up Celeste’s son while he was cooking. What they were saying couldn’t properly be made out over the clattering of dishware and cooking utensils, as well as the commotion in the dining area of the Celestial Dawn, but it was immediately clear that they were old friends.

“Now what?” Isaac asked Lenna and took her tags out of her box after he set his own on the bar in front of them.

“What do you mean?” Lenna asked while she pulled her hair out of the way and turned so it would be easier for him to put her new badge of office on her.

“Do we just go back to killing spiders?” Isaac questioned. “Until the silk is sold we are officially out of money once the rings are finished.”

Lenna turned back to look at him with a raised eyebrow and some concern on her face. “Really?” She asked.

Isaac nodded. “Yes.” He replied simply. “If we don’t find something big to hunt, neither of us will be getting a sword worthy of our levels anytime soon. We can barely afford the wedding.”

“We aren’t paying for the wedding.” Lenna said with some confusion on her face. Sera had not only agreed to host it but everything involved she would simply have her staff do.

“Exactly.” Isaac replied.

“Maybe… have you thought about that man, Branden’s, offer to have a concert?” Lenna offered.

Isaac frowned. “I’m not sure about how I feel about performing in front of people like that.”

Lenna raised an eyebrow in incredulity and question. “You perform everywhere you go.” She stated matter of factly.

“That’s different.” Isaac assured her. “Something about playing piano in front of a lot of people stirs something inside me but I’m not sure what or why. It definitely has something to do with my past but I can’t remember.”

“It seemed to be something that you really enjoyed.” Lenna commented.

“Yes but… I don’t know. There’s just these feelings that I don’t understand.” Isaac tried, and failed, to properly explain.

“What if, what if I played with you?” Lenna asked.

“The piano?” Isaac wondered with a raised eyebrow.

Lenna shook her head. “No, the violin.”