NOVEL NEXT 18: Damien’s Worsening Condition
As the sun was setting and dusk began to seep through the town, the nightlife began to liven up, with bars’ business beginning to wake up once more. Throughout the city, the inns were packed, people checking into rooms to stay the night.
In one specific inn, one of the nicer inns, one furnished with expensive curtains, soft beds, personal bathrooms, and good meals, was a party of 4. Sat in a circle around a game of cards, with several crates of beer and cider beside them, Damien slapped down a card, a wide smirk plastered on his face, “I win! You all are absolute suckers! How did you not see the simplest ploy from 19 miles away?!”
Pushing the cards towards the others for them to shuffle, Damien changed the topic, raising an eyebrow with an exaggerated flair, “Anyhow, while you shuffle, shouldn’t we continue the conversation we were having earlier? We came up with the Avengers, the Furious 4, and the Fantastic 4. Gonna be honest friends, these are straight doo-doo water, two of them are probably gonna get us in like... some inter-dimensional copyright trouble... and then like Furious 4??? That’s just like... Pepe cry...”
“You’re getting really comfortable with using slang, Damien,” Josephine murmured, reaching over to get some more beer, “Though I do agree with how all of our current names are... cataclysmic to say the least.”
“Therefore!” Damien chuckled, crossing his arms with a smug expression on his face, “I have a few amazing ones I thought of just now prepared! Deadass, I have the best ones! There’s Ass Clap Associates, Oedipus and the Motherf*ckers, and Guillotine Appreciation Squad!”
With dead eyes, Josephine, Oliver, and Rachel looked on as Damien sat there, not helping set up the next round at all while basking in the afterglow of his own brilliant ideas. Shuffling the cards before doing a bridge, Oliver raised an eyebrow, “I... hmm... I don’t know if having expletives in our team name is ideal... also why did you say pepe cry and then deadass two sentences in a row? This is getting worse Damien, do you need an intervention?”
Dealing out the cards, Rachel agreed, whispering while nudging Josephine, “So... Do you know if they have anything like... cringe anonymous here...?”
His back now flat against the wooden floor, Damien pursed his lips, reaching up towards the light hanging from the ceiling, “If I had to cast a vote I’d probably go for the Guillotine Appreciation Squad, then we could also refer to ourselves as G.A.S. What do you all think?”
Silence.
...
ACHOO
Sitting up after sneezing half of his brains out due to a dust mote falling on his face, Damien looked around, seeing the three having started to play another round without him.
“Really? ... Really guys??” Damien asked, his hands clenched together as he looked away, fake tears forming at the edge of his eyes, “I thought we were better than this... I thought we were ride or die...”
Looking up at him from across the circle, Josephine flicked a card at him, raising an eyebrow, “It’s not our fault that you decided to lay there like a star fish and zone out when we tried to call out to you. Anyhow, the three of us decided to go with Ass Clap Associates because we’re not trying to reenact the French Revolution.”
“But... But... NAPOLEON!” Damien cried out, saluting into the air before dabbing so hard he spun in a circle on the ground, “The short king!! VIVA LA VIDA! Long live! We can’t just forget about him!”
Lifting his head up, Damien could only watch as Rachel, Josephine, and Oliver turned away from him, continuing their bantering and conversation while pretending he didn’t exist. Hanging his head, Damien murmured to himself, turning away while grabbing a drink, “Fine... I’ll just hang out here by myself, me and my shadow dragon don’t need you all...”
-------------------
Meanwhile...
In a secluded mansion, one of the larger less furnished ones in the noble district, yet one still showing marks of being lived in was Kaitlyn.
Drooping off the side of her bed like a caterpillar, her face squished against the floor with her legs still on her bed, Kaitlyn held a letter in her hand, a just broken ice blue wax seal adorning it.
Pulling the letter out of the envelope, Kaitlyn tossed the envelope aside, planning on cleaning it up at a later date.
“Chelsea...? Why are you sending me letters now... Writing is like... your least favorite activity. You’d probably rather just take the two-week trip rather than write a letter.”
Opening the letter to read the almost indecipherable handwriting, Kaitlyn nodded to herself, the moonlight illuminating the smile coating her face as she saw her dear friend still hadn’t changed in that regard.
[Dear Kait,]
[I hope this letter finds you well... and preferably sometime before it's too late]
[I’m writing this letter to you to let you know about the upcoming monster horde, as usual my estate is sending a letter such as this to all major adventurers and leaders of kingdoms. This monster wave is anticipated to be the worst in perhaps a decade or two; therefore, extreme caution must be taken.]
[For logistics, those of you in the Rexas Kingdom should set off in about one month, that should give you ample time not only to sort out your own affairs but to also arrive with a fair amount of time to spare. As always, my duchy will provide housing for all arriving adventurers.]
[Now, for my dear friends, Kaitlyn this means you, don’t skip over this section, HELLO READ THIS PART KAITLYN. So we’ve recently found out from a reliable underground source that Nero has been active in the vicinity. Furthermore, there have been reports from civilians that someone similar to Nero was drunk in a bar one night and was boasting about how he plans on aiding the monster horde. As a result, we should plan for extra precautionary measures.]
[Lastly, I hope you’ve been well Kait, don’t worry the previous paragraph was not printed in every letter.]
[I look forward to dueling you again~ I’ve improved plenty, I hope you have too~]
[With warm regards,]
[Chelsea van Bastielian]
Putting down the letter with a resigned sigh and rolling over, causing her body to slide a little more off the bed, Kaitlyn could only muster up a wry smile reading the end of the letter.
With a bored stare towards the ceiling, Kaitlyn, though she’d never admit it outloud, was happy that Chelsea had sent a letter to her, but was also a little sad that tomorrow would be another jam-packed day. A day with an almost certain meeting in the morning with Jayce, Dexter, and Sasha, then questing with the otherworlders.
