Trickster Wukong

"I don't suppose you'd know if the Underworld has a front door."

Inside a small wooden hut, Vale and Thaddeus had slowly started to get used to Illian's quirkiness as Thaddeus rubbed his forehead and Vale chuckled.

"Yeah, it's called dying. Seriously, why do you ask these questions?"

Thaddeus, exasperated, had his eyebrow twitching as he tried to control himself.

"I told you, it's something I'm really passionate about. Will you just answer me?" Illian glared back.

"Well, there are tales told about some gods of Olympus visiting and returning alive. Like Hercules." Vale intervened, causing Illian to smile upon hearing this.

Olympus. The home to the gods. Illian was surprised to learn there were so many of them.

But upon learning some were gods of agriculture and miscellaneous concepts, he felt somewhat relieved.

"So it's possible!"

"No, she said it was possible for the gods of Olympus. We're just mortals." Thaddeus rolled his eyes.

'Mortal?'

For some reason, that irked Illian. It was as if he were forced to carry a lesser title.

But he simply shrugged it off. It wasn't anything he wasn't used to.

The underdog tale he had lived his whole life had long started to grow on him.

"What? Are you going to tell us you're some sort of immortal or godly being?"

Thaddeus asked sarcastically as he chuckled.

"Thaddeus, be nice." Vale hissed, her demeanor changing from kind to threatening.

But Illian didn't reply, instead staring into blank space.

"So you're saying the gods of Olympus have a way into the Underworld without having to kill themselves?"

Vale and Thaddeus turned their heads to Illian, staring at the boy who asked what they considered to be a ridiculous question with a straight face.

"I guess." Vale answered reluctantly.

'It seems they aren't even sure themselves. It makes sense.'

Despite this, Illian was happy. He was better off than he was an hour ago.

Now, he had a lead. Looking up, he inwardly smiled.

He knew where to start.

"Now, where did you come from?" Thaddeus asked, Vale also moving closer in interest.

"A small place called Ashton." Illian answered nonchalantly, Vale smiling in fascination as she repeatedly mouthed the word.

"Wow, that's amazing. We've never been outside this village." Vale answered.

"Now that you mention it, how did everyone here end up as slaves?"

Upon asking this, the mood inside the room suddenly changed to one of gloom.

Vale paused, looking down.

"This village wasn't always controlled by Philosia. We used to be a happy community with structure."

Thaddeus' condescension had long since disappeared as he continued to speak.

"Philosia?" Illian asked with a raised eyebrow.

In reality, anyone being so clueless as to not know Philosia would raise a dozen flags.

However, after the conversation they'd just had, the two siblings hadn't even noticed.

"Yeah, they're a kingdom just south from here."

Illian nodded, continuing.

"So what happened?"

Thaddeus pointed in a direction before he spoke.

"Philosia came, sending their esteemed prince to conquer our village. When we tried to retort…"

Thaddeus paused for a second as Vale frowned, lowering her head.

"They executed the chief…our grandfather."

Silence descended as Illian wore a straight face, looking down and understanding the third mattress in the room.

"Why here?" Illian asked.

It confused him why a major kingdom would want anything to do with a small village.

"We only know rumors, but from what I understand, Philosia was blessed by the ruler Zeus himself."

Illian's ears perked upon hearing this, his eyes widening.

Finally, this was something he could understand.

"Even if we somehow managed to fend off Philosia, we'd have to incur the wrath of Zeus."

Vale chuckled nervously as she said this, causing Illian to raise an eyebrow.

Illian knew Zeus was a figure with the emotions, thoughts, and even looks of a human, yet the two before him spoke of him in such an abstract way.

Despite this, these words repeated inside Illian's mind over and over.

This is what he needed.

"From what I hear, this location was given to them as a reward for their loyalty. There's supposedly treasure hidden underground, or something along those lines."

Thaddeus waved it off, unamused. After everything that had happened, it was a menial matter to him.

"So I'm guessing that manor is where they all stay, including the prince, right?"

Illian rose to his feet as he stretched, cracking his back.

"Yes…where are you going?" Thaddeus and Vale stared at Illian walking toward the door.

"Wait, you'll get in trouble if you're caught wandering around after curfew." Vale voiced her worries, her brother leaping to his feet.

"It's fine. Haven't you noticed? I'm rather calm for a guy who's been forced into slavery, aren't I?" Illian smiled as he looked back.

'Now that he mentions it, his reaction was nothing like ours when we found out.'

Thaddeus admitted, staring at the boy exiting the hut.

-CREAK

"Give me a few minutes…"

Before Illian could finish and Thaddeus could grab him, he pulled the door as someone cut him off.

"Oi, you're out past curfew!"

Illian and the two siblings glanced outside, noticing an armored and gruff man with a rough-looking demeanor.

Illian stared for a second, recognizing this man as the same leader who put his hands on him.

"Boss, he was just looking for the bathroom. I'll straighten him up…"

Thaddeus hurried to stand between the two, but was denied by Illian's elbow.

"I was hoping I'd run into you."

Illian stepped forward, much to the confusion of Thaddeus as he tried to grab the boy.

"Illian, wait." Vale sharply whispered, but was ignored.

"You cripple, are you so thick you still haven't realized the position you're in?"

The leader arrogantly grinned as Illian now stood before him, looking up at the bulky figure who towered over him.

Illian said nothing as he stared.

But soon, his lips moved as they curled upwards, revealing a needle between his teeth.

"Expand."

-CRACK

"Huh…"

The leader and siblings all paused as their minds lagged to comprehend what had just happened.

It was the leader who moved first, slowly looking down as his eyes stared at the gaping hole in his chest, an arm-sized black pole piercing through it.

"Haha…"

The leader looked up, his eyes still wide as they met with the boy's golden pupils, seeing him grinning, the pole's end being held up by his teeth.

"Donut." Illian spoke the best he could with Ruyi in his mouth, chuckling with his next words.

"I told you, give me a few minutes."

Illian spoke, his eyes meeting theirs and snapping Vale and Thaddeus out of their trance as they took a step back, eyes wide and hearts beating rapidly.

"Shrink."

-VWIP

Ruyi retracted into its original size as Illian held it horizontally in his mouth, pulling back his head.

"As for you…"

***

"How much longer do you think we'll be posted here?"

"Who knows. But if I had to guess, I'd say a while. After all, these villagers are taking forever to mine…huh?"

Two soldiers, their armor far better than the soldiers inside the village, all their leather being switched for hard bronze, as well as their shield and spear being made of the same material, stood before a poorly built wooden manor.

One could tell they put little effort into it as it fashioned small empty spaces in its walls and roof while its door didn't lock, being pulled open by a rusty piece of metal for a handle.

It was clear they put little effort into it as they didn't even bother much with the lighting, a few candles dimly lighting the dark interior.

However, as they talked, one of the soldiers spotted something shooting through the sky right toward them, coming from the village.

And as it drew closer, their eyes widened as the outline of the object became more visible, causing one of the soldiers to yell.

"Jump!"

-CRASH

The figure in the air crashed into the manor, breaking the silence of the night and leaving a gaping hole in the wooden wall as the two soldiers dived out of the way.

"What the Hades was that?" One of the soldiers, rising to their feet, exclaimed as he stared at part of the manor that was now in ruins.

"I…think it was Oslo." The other replied, seeming as though he didn't believe his own words.

"That's the first person I've killed. But does it even count?"

However, before they could question any further, a voice interrupted their thoughts as they looked back, witnessing a small skinny boy with messy black hair and golden eyes.

"I'm pretty sure they said something about not much being known about Scenarios."

Illian contemplated as he walked toward the manor.

Before he entered the scenario, he made sure to ask around the auditorium. For those who did take the time to answer, he was able to learn each inheritor's scenario was different.

In the sense that they occupied their own "timeline" within their pantheon, making it impossible for two inheritors to meet in a scenario.

This brought up the question of what these worlds really were. Were they merely constructed to test inheritors with a quest or something else?

Were these worlds even real if all it took was the death of an inheritor to never hear from their world or timeline again?

It was a puzzle. To Illian at least.

He'd asked himself these previous questions when told about the scenario and even more so when he killed Oslo.

'Did I really just kill someone? After all, my body is simply sleeping in a pod right now. Is any of this even happening?'

He asked himself this because he felt nothing when doing it. It wasn't like the alley with Monroe.

Other than the sweet taste of vengeance against the asshole, it felt meaningless.

However, Illian grinned in the next second as he inwardly shrugged.

'Who cares. This just means I can go crazy!'

"I said who are you?!"

Illian looked up, snapped out of his trance as he noticed the two guards pointing their spears at him.

However, Illian didn't reply. In fact, he wasn't even looking at them.

Instead, his eyes stayed glued on the blonde-haired man with blue eyes, clad in shiny bronze armor with a sword on his hip.

The soldiers paused as this figure passed them. And when they realized who it was, they straightened their backs as they deeply bowed.

"Your Highness, this boy…"

Before the soldier could finish, the prince raised his hand, cutting them off.

"Yes, I saw."

The prince stood before Illian, backed by dozens of other soldiers, staring at him with a blank expression.

"You…you're just a child." The prince scowled, looking back at the hole in his manor then to the boy before him.

To this, Illian raised his eyebrow.

"And you're just a teenager."

Looking past the smooth skin, chiseled features, and sharp eyes, Illian could tell the prince was no older than 19.

The prince clicked his teeth as he sheathed his sword, pointing it at Illian.

"I, Leonidas, Prince of Philosia and heir to the throne, shall judge you for your crimes against my kingdom…"

"Uh huh."

Illian cut Leonidas off, taking a few steps to the side and turning his head to point his staff at the countless soldiers and manor.

"Expand."

-BOOM

-CRASH

With one word, an awe-striking pillar suddenly appeared, completely wiping the manor and soldiers off the small hill it was perched atop.

Not a speck of blood, a splinter of wood, or even a yell could be seen or heard as if they'd all just disappeared.

"W-Wha…"

Leonidas stammered, his mouth wide open as his perfect and sculpture-like demeanor crumbled.

"Shrink."

-VWIP

The pillar disappeared as the area returned to normal, Leonidas and Illian being the only figures on the hill.

Leonidas slowly turned his head, his eyes meeting Illian's as the latter grinned widely.

"Now, what was it that you were saying?"

***

"This way, right?"

Illian, still on the same hill, dug his staff into the dirt in a specific direction until it could stand on its own.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. That's the direction to Philosia." Vale answered him, seeming as though her mind was absent.

Thaddeus, he too in the same headspace as Vale, voiced his mind.

"So, you're telling me...you just blew the manor and the soldiers off the hill?" He asked, still staring at where the manor once was.

"Yeah, how many times are you going to ask me?"

Thaddeus looked back with a blank expression.

It was hard to believe the boy's words, but if the large pillar that looked eerily similar to the boy's staff that had suddenly appeared before on the hill wasn't enough to convince him…

'I can't argue with that.'

Thaddeus thought, staring at the prince whose hands were tied together and midsection was tied to Illian, stripped of his armor, leaving him in his undergarments as his head lay lowered, his hair disheveled and face bruised heavily.

"You're…going to regret this…"

-BANG

Leonidas muttered, his previous angelic-like demeanor and voice no more, but was abruptly cut off as Thaddeus swung his foot, digging it into the former's gut.

Leonidas coughed up the air in his lungs as he leaned over, struggling to catch his breath.

Despite Vale's usual soft nature, she stared at this scene with an expression of indifference.

Thaddeus looked away from the prince, taking a step forward and staring at the nonchalant Illian.

A few seconds passed as he soon raised his hand.

"Thank you." He spoke with a stoic expression, Vale smiling behind him.

'I didn't do it for you.'

Illian thought but didn't say out loud. He had his own reasons for his actions.

The boy prided himself on not being a hero, but he wasn't a monster.

He always put his needs before anything and anyone, like the weasel he was; however, he wasn't against the positive side to the philosophy of treating people like they treated him.

Like with Spencer's last wish after saving him.

Illian looked at the hand, then to Thaddeus. This was all it took for Thaddeus to realize his mistake as he darted his eyes to Illian's hands.

"Oh, sorry…"

Thaddeus fumbled, changing his hand to a fist bump, then widening his eyes and quickly changing to a high five.

"A simple nod will do." Illian smiled as he rolled his eyes.

"Here." Vale, chuckling as she witnessed this, wrapped a brown sack around Illian's neck.

"For your travels." She smiled as Illian's eyes widened upon knowing what was inside the sack.

'Food?! I haven't eaten since blowing up the bank.'

"Hey, now you guys have all that treasure to yourselves." Illian mentioned while turning, securing the rope attached to Leonidas.

"No, Philosia provided us with the equipment to mine. Without them, we won't be able to continue. Besides, now that we don't have a chief, we have bigger problems to deal with."

Thaddeus corrected Illian, causing the boy to stare blankly, a thought occurring to him.

"Do you have a plan? You're heading straight toward Philosia with their prince as their prisoner. Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Vale asked worriedly, to which Illian nodded, planting one of his feet atop his staff.

"Yeah, I've thought it through."

This is what Illian said, but he inwardly thought something else.

'Oh, I have a plan alright.'

He thought, the "plan" making him grin like a madman.

As they witnessed Illian preparing to do something, they instinctively stepped back, knowing what was coming.

"I'll see you around."

Thaddeus nodded as Vale waved at Illian's words as he grinned, looking back to the night sky.

'It starts now…'

"Expand!!!"