Chapter 6

The Town of Greenwater was on the horizon, and the group stopped in awe.

"Is that a fucking castle?" Gale demanded when she saw Bree's home resting on a little island in the lake, a stone bridge with large wooden pillars connecting it to the mainland.

"That is a mansion," Billie said.

"Like hell," Vern shot back. "That thing's big enough to fit like three mansions inside of it; there are even towers on it!"

"At least one tower doesn't look connected to the main structure," Zoey noted. As their travel companions attempted to find a reason for the mansion in the lake, Billie's eyes turned yellow, and she spoke to all of her followers.

"I will be passing through the town; I am undercover, so do not approach me; if you do, you must pretend you don't know who I am," She heard all of her minions confirm, and she groaned before adding, "Not you Zoey,"

"Of course," Zoey replied with a blush, having been about to introduce herself to Billie as though they had never met.

"It looks like old Belin got himself an upgrade," Gunter decided. "Remarkable. I leave for two months, and so much changes…"

"Why don't we track down your wife and ask her about it?" Vern recommended, "I bet she misses you,"

"You just want me to go because it will give you time to try and track down that pretty little thing you were flirting with the last time you were here," Gunter chuckled back. "What was her name again? Marry, was it not?"

Vern let out a sigh and made a face Billie had yet to see him make; Vern, the man she had only ever seen be irritable and grump, had a face of pure bliss, "Oh, my darling Marry, I long to hold her in my arms,"

"I do not mind," Billie said happily. "In fac,t I insist we stay the night,"

Over the four days they had traveled together, Gunter had developed a secondary theory on who Billie was. Based on their casual conversations, the trio felt it was the more likely option but kept the slave trader thing as a possibility just to be safe.

"It's entirely possible," Gunter had said to his friends, " That Ms.Zoey is a runaway slave, and Billie is either guiding her to sanctuary or was the one who freed her and their escaping the country together." After saying that, Gale and Bern glared at Billie with a softer but stern gaze.

 "She seems fairly nice, but she somehow talked the guild into letting her pay 13 coins for us; slaver or not, she's gotta be good at talking her way around others, so there's no real way to be certain till we get to Reopes and have her investigated,"

"Surely you must have a friend here as well," Gunter noted. "After all, to get so many live crabs is no easy feat,"

"Why, I had the pleasure of meeting the former owner of the town, Belin," Billie replied.

"Former?" Gunter asked. "So old Belin finally gave in, did he?"

"From what I heard," Zoey interjected, "He traded it to an elf to regain his youth," The trio responded with laughter.

"That sounds like the kind of yarn Belin would spin," Gunter said through his laughter. 'It seems he's finally gone off the deep end." The trio walked towards the town but again stopped when they realized a fight was raging in their path.

"Is that Olu?" Gale asked. Vern visibly seized up in fear at the name while Gale clutched her sword. "If he's fighting alone, it must not be serious, but we should still…"

"I do believe the person he is fighting is his commanding officer," Billie noted as Jaden swung her mace at Olu, who sidestepped the attack and, holding his sword in both hands, seemingly disappeared only to reappear behind Jaden, who turned on the spot and halted the strike with her shield.

The Chain mace shot back to her, and she swung it at Olu, who once again rushed out of the way at such speed most onlookers would have sworn he teleported.

"You're getting slow, old timer," Jaden cried out as she shot her chain at Olu, who managed to dodge it. Jaden swung her arm, and the head of the mace lit on fire. She swerved back around at Olu, who jumped over it.

"If I was your enemy, I could easily cut this mace of yours," Olu noted calmly.

"Feel free to try," Jaden shot back as she ran up to Olu with her shield ready. Olu jumped over her and sliced his Katana down. Jaden once again blocked, but upon hitting her shield, it burst into flames, and his sword stuck in place as she swung at Olu. The chain wrapped around his feet this time, and she turned and swung him across the air and into the ground. After a moment, Olu picked himself up and brushed off his shoulder.

"Seems I'm not yet ready to take your place as leader," Olu noted. "My skills are still too heavily tilted towards killing my foe over incapacitating them,"

"You'll figure it out," Jaden declared confidently as she let go of her mace and Shield. They both exploded into flames, and Jaden absorbed the fire into one hand while using the other to catch Olu's sword and hand it back to him.

"That is Jaden!" Gale realized in shock, "When did she become a fighting mage!" Jaden and Olu noticed the approaching group and recognized them.

"Is that Abigale I hear?" Olu asked, turning his attention to them. "My, it's been quite some time; I was starting to think you three were avoiding me," Olu looked at them happily before his eyes went dark; even Billie shivered a little as he turned to Vern. "Where's your sword, boy?"

"Oh, my sword?" Vern asked with the fear of god etched into his voice. "The guild repossessed it to pay off my tab," a dark aura enveloped Olu, who began slowly drawing his blade. Vern's fear visibly increased, "But it's ok; once I finish this job, I'll have enough gold saved up to pay off my tab and get it back; it's not like I would let the katana you gave me rust in someone else's collection,"

Before Olu could speak, Billie looked to Vern as something clicked in her mind. If Olu gave someone a katana, it would have to be good, and she had seen only one katana worth having in the guild.

"Did this katana have gold trimming with ruby eyes in a dragon-shaped hilt?" Billie questioned as she recalled the katana she had purchased at the guild.

"Yeah, let me guess, you saw it on display, right?" Vern said nervously, "With how much they're asking for it, there's no way anyone would pay for it. Anyone with that kind of money makes requests to the guild in the mail, so it's…" Vern stopped talking when Billie reached into her inventory and pulled out the very topic of conversation.

"You mean this sword I bought at the guild was originally yours?" She questioned. The dark aura coming from Olu grew so intense it became visible to the naked eye.

"I will give you literally anything for that sword," Vern begged as Olu stared at him silently.

"Oh," Billie noted, sincerely not wanting to part with it, "I was gonna give this to a friend of mine as a present," During the trip, Bree had spent amble time musing over the sword, switching from using it for decoration to giving it to one of her followers, she had just decided to give it to Silver as a present since the Dullahan had a built-in love for swords even though he was specked to be a ranger. 

She reluctantly sighed, "I do not care to watch an innocent man die, so I suppose I'll give it back to you; just know you now owe me," Billie handed it to Vern, visibly not happy about it. Vern looked like he was about to cry as he bowed to her.

"Thank you," he said, nearly in tears as she shivered with terror, "Thank you so much," he held onto the sword and turned to Olu, who still looked pretty pissed, "See…nothing to worry about, no harm no foul,"

"You should be grateful your new friend is generous," Olu said as he began sheathing his sword. Before he could put it away, Zoey saw her chance to get vengeance on Vern for decking her mistress in the face.

"I sincerely doubt Billie sees him as a friend," Zoey noted, "especially after he decked her in the face," Olu's death aura returned with a vengeance. "I suppose she's just a very forgiving person,"

"I can see you're not," Billie noted as she scratched her cheek awkwardly. Olu drew his sword and pointed it at Vern.

"Since you have been without your blade for some time, allow me to give you a refresher course," Olu said.

"Oh, I couldn't possibly cut into your time; we are in a hurry after all, so…"

"I say," Gunter began running his fingers through his beard as he spoke, "Didn't Billie say we were spending the night?"

"Seems you have time now," Olu suddenly appeared behind Vern and put his hand on his shoulder. "Come," Olu walked away, and Vern followed, looking as though he was on his way to his execution.

"I see you hold a grudge," Gale noted to Zoey.

"I do not forgive easily," Zoey replied.

"Jaden, it's been too long," Gunter said, walking up to Jaden, who had silently laughed at the ordeal before her. "I see you've finally got your hands on your dream weapon, and they're enchanted, too,"

"A gift from the town's new leader," Jaden said. "They're out on business at the moment and aren't expected to be back for several more days, so I doubt you'll be able to meet them today,"

"So Belin did sell?" Gale said, shaking her head. "Seeing as monsters are still here; I'm guessing you're now a part of Ozama?"

"We are not," Jaden informed. "We are still very independent," Jaden motioned to the town. "I have duties to attend, so I can't stay much longer, but Belin has been hanging around the Crab stand since he no longer needs to run the town; I'm sure he'll happily answer your questions,"

"Gale?" Gunter pleaded, "Could you go get some information from Belin? I would like to spend some time with my wife,"

"Sure, dump all the responsibility on me," Gale said with a groan. Gunter thanked her with a bow and then rushed down the street, turning down a side lane and disappearing. "Guess you two are with me," Gale said with a groan. "Come on then, let's go say hi to Belin,"

The trio went down the street, and Billie instantly recognized Belin. He wore the same outfit as before: a Robe with a sash, which was more form-fitting and made of material that could withstand his movements so he didn't have to walk around shirtless.

"I was told Belin would be here," Gale said, looking around. Belin turned away from his Crab legs at the sound of his name. "But I'm not seeing him,"

"Why if it ain't Abigale," Belin said, making Gale freeze before turning to look at him, "How have you been?" He said with a grin.

"Belin!?" she demanded in shock, and he stood up. " What the hell happened to you?"

"Ah, yes!" Belin proudly hit his chest. I gave ownership of the town to my new Mistress, and in return, she restored my youth!" Belin laughed at the look on Gale's face.

"What kind of crazy sorceress can do that!?" She demanded before gasping, "Did you swear to serve under Demon Lord Mimzy? I heard he can his subordinates younger or something,"

"Oh no," Belin said, his eyes shining, "I sold out to a far more majestic creature; I now serve an actual elf,"

"Bullshit," Gale shot back, "Elfs are just fantasy stories that the Demon lords made up to keep humans away from their nations under threat of being turned into trees and what have you,"

"It is true!" Belin replied, "This elf was protecting the last of the natural population of Axol-lights when Jacob Razzor, son of Arlow Razzor, right-hand man to Kind Odren, Killed most of them off while she was away. She did to them as she did to me, Granted them great power, and turned them into Axol-Mights," at that exact moment, there was a crashing sound, and they turned to see Bertram and a few of his fellow Axol-mights apologizing as they helped clean up an upturned cart and returned the items to it.

"That was so staged," Bree realized when she saw Bertram give the cart owner a thumbs-up and realized it was Annie in a long cloak. Why they had felt the need to stag it was beyond her, though.

"Holly crap!" Gale turned back to Belin, her eyes demanding he tell her more.

"After teaching him a lesson, the elf freed his Centaur from their soul bind and left Jacob with the Centaur; upon finding Greenwater, she offered to return my youth and make some of my protector stronger if I allowed her to bring all those under her protecting to live here," 

On cue, Silver cried out loudly to clear the streets, and they watched as Orion came bounding around the corner on all four, with Silver riding in his saddle.

"Olu is training some rando," Silver declared. "I gotta get in on that action!" 

"A Giant cat and some kind of Cloaked Oni thing?" Gale demanded, dumbfounded.

"I believe Silver is a Dullahan, although I'm not sure what exactly a Dullahan is." Belin scratched his chin in thought before shaking his head. "But back to the story, as she was setting up to move here, one of my protectors betrayed me and revealed themselves to be a subordinate of Odren's; upon trying to kill the Elf, he was killed by an army of enraged monsters, even though he admittedly failed even properly to grab her attention," 

Belin chuckled at the memory of seeing Doren attempt to Soul-bind Bree and being scared and witless for a second before watching him repeatedly fail even to get her to notice he was attacking. 

"You're serious?" Gale demanded, "An actual Elf lives here?" Gale looked at him in shock before looking around and leaning in. "Is...is she as hot as the stories say Elfs are?"

"Her Beauty is stunning," Belin declared. "And she is very kind so long as you don't try to kill her or her subordinates," Gale suddenly seemed more interested in the mysterious elf while Billie chuckled before clapping to gain Gale's attention.

"As fascinating as this is, Zoey and I will go to the inn. Do try to meet us back here in the morning, won't you?"

"I'll inform Gunter and Vern," Gale said, waving them off. "So, how long are her ears?" Bree and Zoey left Gale to question Belin, and instead of going to the inn, once they turned the corner, Bree tapped her staff and was rendered invisible.

"Zoey, you may return to the Mansion until tomorrow; you're free to undo your Glamor and return to your usual clothing; just remember to re-do your Glamor; if you forget about the clothes, just say the Inn gave you some, and we should be all fine,"

"Happily, my Lady," Zoey said before zipping past her. Bree stood silently before floating up and racing to see what Olu was doing to Vern. Upon arriving, she found Olu had already finished with Vern and was now teaching Silver the art of defending against a faster opponent. As Silver and Olu classed their blades, Orion cheered them on, and she spotted Vern sitting to the side with a fair amount of bruises and lumps.

"Oh good," Bree let out a sigh of relief. "I was afraid Olu was going to use his blade, but he seems to have used a wooden sword on him," Upon looking at him, she noticed that the strap that once held the knife he had lost during the Boar Goblin attack had been replaced with his sword.

Bree was about to leave Vern to nurse his wounds when she saw a woman in a yellow sundress and sun hat holding a med kit walking towards him. She recognized her as similar to Daisy in race, a Minotarlike Equine. Upon getting a closer look, her long gray ears showed her to be a Minotorian Donkey Centaur.

"Marry," Vern said, his demeanor changing upon seeing her. The sigh of you is all I need to help nurse my wounds." Mary chuckled and smiled at him, showing off her crooked smile, which only made Vern swoon harder. She sat next to him and began nursing his bumps and bruises while he fawned over her.

"Hu," Bree looked at the scene in silence. I see he's a man of good taste," she decided before flying away to check on Gunter. Finding him took a fair bit longer, but his choice of apparel eventually gave him away. He was in the housing district; the home looked like any other building. 

He was being chastised by a tall, angry-looking Woman. Upon closer inspection, Bree identified her as not human but couldn't place her species.

She had long, pointed ears, black hair, and orange skin with darker red splotches around her body. To say she was stacked with muscle would be an understatement. She wore a plain white tank top and shorts and looked like she would take on Minerva in an arm wrestling contest.

"Do you know how worried I've been?" She demanded angrily. "You haven't sent me a letter in weeks,"

"Eileen," Gunter said as he stepped back, "I sent a letter last week; you know how long it takes for the mail to come out this far," Eileen crossed her arms and gave an irritated huff.

"I don't like how long you stay away," She said in a hurt voice. "I haven't seen you in months,"

"Don't worry," Gunter said, setting his staff down. "If the stories I'm hearing around here are true and an Elf has moved here, then I might just have to ask Jaden if her offer to have me join the Protectors is still valid,"

"You mean it!" Eileen sounded elated, "You're leaving the guild,"

"I have to finish this last mission and take my client to the Capital of Ozama, but after that, I think I'm done," Gunter smiled slyly. "More importantly, I think it's time we finally come together and start that family you always wanted," Eileen grabbed her Husband, and Bree flinched as his large wife nearly squashed him

"Oh, I've been waiting for years to hear you say that," Eileen leaned in close and whispered something to him; Gunter turned red at the words.

"Well," He said nervously, "my client is planning to stay the night," No more words were said as Eileen opened the door to their home and carried him inside.

"This is not something I need to be spying on," Bree realized, quickly zipping away from the couple. Upon landing, she activated her communication spell and spoke to Jaden.

"I would like to make it known that as thanks for being my guide, all three of the humans who traveled here with me are welcome to join the Protectors,"

"I am more than happy to oblige," Jaden replied. "We could use more people with some experience on their hands," Bree decided to check in on Gale and found her still talking to Belin. They had moved past talking about the 'mysterious elf' and were now talking about Gale's armor.

"My wife and I put a lot of gold into this sucker," Gale declared proudly. "Thanks to the communication spell, I can talk to her every night regardless of where I am," Gale sighed. "Gods, I miss seeing her face every morning,"

"Ah, but you are heading to Reopes, are you not?" Belin asked before blinking and shaking his head. "I can't help but notice you've been demoted in rank again,"

"Yeah," Gale replied, "our last client was talking shit, and Vale decked the bastard; come to think of it, he almost always ends up beating on whoever hires us; it's a wonder Billie didn't decline us, even after being told we were liable to run out on her,"

"This Billie woman seems to be fairly nice," Belin noted. "Yet I sense you don't like her for some reason,"

"Ah, that Zoey person she's traveling with is a Glamored monster," Gale said. Bree stood in silence as she looked at Gale "and obeys her every word, telltale signs of an enslavement charm, at least that's what we think,"

"Oh God dammit," Bree face palmed herself in irritation. "Zoey must have let her tail slip,"

"But you found them in Irenfell and are taking her to Argits Domain," Belin noted while Bree panicked above. "Would it not also be possible she is attempting to take a runaway slave to safety?" Bree silently thanked Belin as Gale shrugged.

"We thought that too, but can't tell for certain," Gale shrugged. "But I told my wife and the guards will use magic to confirm if Zoey is a slave or not, so if all's good, I'll just have to find some way to apologize to her for calling her a slave trader,"

"Well, great," Bree groaned. "Now I have to figure out how to deal with all of this," Bree floated over the town as she tried to think of a way out.

"If they appraise me, they'll either find out I'm an elf, and this entire thing will have been for naught, or they won't be able to appraise me and might attack, and as Gale just said, even if I have Zoey undo her Glamour they'll still check for the spell just to be safe," 

"Oh well," Bree decided, "I suppose I can still make this work somehow,"

With the sun slowly rising, Bree summoned Zoey to her, and she appeared, now wearing her Maids outfit; Bree herself was now wearing a white trench coat with a purple fur shawl on her shoulders, a white undershirt, a pair of black pants, dress shoes, and a single red velvet glove on her right hand.

"I am ready to be glamoured," Zoey declared with a bow.

"Oh, no need," Bree said with a wave. "Your glamor had been found out somehow." Zoey was silent momentarily before changing from a bow to a groveling stance.

"I'm so sorry," She said, "The Crab legs were so good, and while I was lost in flavor, I let my tail wag like that of a lowly dog,"

"Oh, well, no worries," Bree said, waving her apologies away. "In retrospect, I should have had you act more human or have told them you were my sworn servant. Sadly, they plan to appraise you upon entering the city, and when that fails, they'll attempt to do so on me, and that will also fail, and I'm not one to surrender myself." Bree got up and smiled at Zoey, who looked like she would cry.

"Don't worry," She said, lightly patting her on the head to soothe her nerves, "On the bright side, if they think you are a slave, then the force in which they attempt to deal with me should prove enough of a judgment of character to answer my question of worthiness,"

"May I ask about your current clothing? Zoey inquired.

"Just figured I should spice up the human disguise, is all," Bree replied as she pulled on the trenchcoat, "now let us make haste to the Crab stand,"

"Happily, Mistress!" Zoey cheered in response. The two reached the stand and found Vern eating a few crab claws.

"Man, this stuff is good," He said as he failed to notice Zoey and Billie sit on either side of him.

"I agree," Zoey declared as the stand owner instantly gave Billie crab legs, having been asked to do so by Belin. Vern looked over at Zoey and nearly choked upon seeing her and Billie. While he succeeded in not choking, he failed to stay upright as he fell backward and onto the ground. Zoey propped her stool back up with her tail before wrapping it back around her waist and eating.

"Why, of all things?" He demanded as he looked at Billie and found her in a new outfit as well, "Is she dressed like a Maid?" he asked.

"That is my job," Zoey replied flatly.

"Oh, sweet heavens," Gale said, cutting Vern off from saying anything else as she ran to Zoey with a shine in her eyes. "Look at your little ears; You're so cute I could just eat you up,"

"Isn't she," Billie added, making Zoey blush at the compliment.

"So," Gale said, turning to Billie, "Care to explain why your friend was in a Glamore?"

"You're joking, right? You expect me to let her walk around Irenfell out in the open?"

"I hoped as much," Gunter declared, marking his arrival. "That said, I'll still be keeping an eye on you, but I see you took Vern's advice and upgraded your wardrobe,"

"Oh no, we had these all along," Billie noted, "But walking around in a maid outfit would make Zoey stick out, and she refuses to wear anything else, so me walking around like this with her in disguises just made me feel bad,"

"Yet you kept the staff," Vern noted as he picked himself up.

"I dislike being unarmed," Billie replied.

"Well then," Gunter said as he looked at the path before them. "Shall we be off to Reopes then?"

"Indeed we shall," Billie declared.

It was late evening when the capital city of Reopes came into view. Billie wasn't sure what she had expected, but she'd be lying if she said that an entire mountain turned into a massive city wasn't an exciting sight.

"That's a big city," She decided upon seeing it.

"Haven't you been before?" Gunter asked in surprise.

"Nope," Billie replied. "I've only recently arrived in these lands,"

"Oh, you some kind of settler, are you?" Gunter questioned, "Fascinating; however did you get to Greenwater then? You made it sound like you were only at Irenfell because you got lost,"

"I got lost in the forest and ended up in Greenwater," Billie replied. "Then, when trying to come here, I got lost in the forest and ended up in Irenfell,"

"Why didn't you just take the bleedin' road?" Vern demanded in confusion.

"It was a shortcut," Billie declared in defiance to her mistake.

"A week-long shortcut," Zoey replied, having been told to try and act more freely.

"Why are you more fun now that you're dressed as a maid?" Gale asked. "You were all, yes Billie, can I do that, Billie, before,"

"I like following orders, but I was told it makes other people uncomfortable when I act like I exist only to follow them," Zoey said.

"So long as you enjoy being you, there is nothing wrong with it," Gunter replied ."So long as the you that you enjoy being isn't a selfish person who harms others for personal gain, of course,"

"You don't need to add the disclaimer every time you say that to someone," Vern noted with a chuckle before slowing down, "Well, here you are, the city of Reopes; our job is done," Vern turned on the spot, "And I officially quit, adventuring sucks I'm gonna go become a Greenwater Protector, bet I'll make more and do less, hell even training with Olu is better than having to worry about Irenfells new Boar Goblin problem, and I'll be able to see Marry every day!"

"I have to agree," Gunter replied. Besides, it's about time I stopped living this pipe dream of being a level one adventure and enjoyed the dream I already have, my wife. Billie watched her two companions leave and looked at Gale.

"Oh, I'm just as done," She said ."Boar Goblins is where I draw the fucking line. Still, I wanna see my wife, so I'll go see about Greenwater on my own time," Billie, Gale, and Zoey continued on the path to the city.

"Such a shame," Billie said. "I was starting to grow rather fond of their company, to be honest,"

"Ah, don't bother chasing them," Gale said ."They both have their eyes set on someone else,"

"Oh heavens no, I have no interest in men," Billie corrected. "But they were fun,"

"Oh," Gale suddenly looked very interested. "Is that why you and your cat maid are running away to a nation of Monsters? So you and your monster girlfriend could live together in peace?"

"I do not have to answer that," Billie replied.

"I would give my body to her without hesitation," Zoey added curtly. "And for the record, we will be living in Greenwater with the rest of my Lady's followers,"

"Ah, so you've brought your entire harem then?" Gale wiggled her eyebrows, and Billie repeated her statement about not having to answer anything.

"Well, that's the main entrance to the city," Gale said as the path split in three directions, and she pointed down the middle path before taking the left one. As for me, I'm going to the Underground area of the city, got some time to spend with my hot Dwarven wife,"

"Hu, why were any of you in Irenfell if you all have no human loves?"

"Low-ranking adventures have to stay at whatever guild they ended up at when they are sent out on duty, our last job landed us in Irenfell, and it took two fucking months before you came around with a request that would bring us home. Honestly, I was going to quit either way; being demoted from level four to seven just because the city you're in doesn't approve of your personal life is bullshit,"

Billie watched Gale leave before walking down the path to the city. The entrance was oddly empty, and she found herself in a large, rounded pavilion. Once she and Zoey made it to the center, a spell covered the entrance.

"Oh no, a trap; who could have seen that coming," No longer needing her false name, Bree instructed Zoey she could drop it as a large number of armed guards approached her; she recognized them all to be the same species as Gunter's wife, pointy ears, orange skin with red blotches, and Hair colors ranging from Green, Grey, and Black.

"Surrender your weapon and stand down," The Largest of the creatures demanded.

"And why should I surrender my weapon when I have done nothing but walk into your city, random gentle thing,"

 "I am Gor, the captain of the Hobgoblin guard," He declared, presumably to avoid being called a gentle thing any more than he needed to. "And I have been told that there's a chance that you are a slave driver; lower your weapon and surrender; if you are innocent, no harm will come to you, and your items will be returned to you,"

"You are being very polite about this, and I respect that," Bree said, "But I also must take extreme offense to being called a slave driver just because my Maid does what I ask her to do,"

"I apologize," Gor shook his head as he spoke, "But my hands are tied; if you do not surrender, we can and will use force,"

"I would be disgraced if I simply gave up my weapon in a hostile situation," Bree replied. "As is customary for my people, if you want me to surrender, you'll have to beat me into submission,"

"Very well," Gor replied, "I know not where you originate, but I shall honor that tradition," Gor held up his hand, and all his men did the same.

"Anti-magical seal, Anti-force shield," they called out in near-perfect unison. Bree expected little to happen to her and was delighted to see they were not aiming for her but instead for Zoey, who was covered in a bright Purple dome.

"What is this?" She demanded as she pulled her twin axes from her back and slashed at it to no avail.

"Knowing now that you will have to fight alone, do you still intend to fight us?" Gor asked.

"Of course, Zoey was never to fight anyway. Speaking of Zoey, don't try to break out; you'll just make us both look more like a problem than they already think we are." Zoey reluctantly stopped slashing and put her axes back in place.

"Very well, non-lethal force authorized," Gor called to his forces. "Take her down, not out." Bree watched as a volley of spells was cast at her. She stood in place and absorbed them into her staff with a smile.

"Paralysis, Sleep, Blindness, and even a few Petrifications," Bree noted once the volley of spells stopped. "I didn't appreciate the attempts to blind me or the attempt to turn me into a statue, but the other two seem quite alright." Bree used levitation to lift herself off the ground by such a small amount that her elevation didn't seem to change. Upon being able to move freely, she jolted to the right as a Spear was thrown at her shoulder.

"That felt somewhat lethal," She noted as more guards began converging on the area, having put the area in lockdown to keep any civilians from entering the area.

"Gor, what is taking so long?" A Hobgoblin who looked just as indistinguishable as the rest in his matching plate mail armor and helmet demanded, "How hard is it to arrest one Human,"

"Silence, Aer," Gor said. Being much larger than the others and having a different set of silver armor with a one-sided cape and no helmet, he was the only one Bree could distinguish as an individual from the ranks. "Now is the time for caution; we know not who this person is, and none of us could appraise her or her ally as they approached. I wish to avoid making an enemy here if I am not required to,"

"Fool," Aer said as he drew his sword, "You are truly our Lord Argits closest thing to a mistake,"

"He demoted you for a reason, Aer," Gor replied without malaise. "You will have your time to shine, but not here; return your platoon to keeping the lockdown in effect,"

"To this, I say nay," Aer said as he stood in a fighting stance. "Brothers, surround and attack; leave the first blow to me!" whether through loyalty or because they were used to following his orders, a large portion of the Hobgoblins pulled out their swords and ran at Bree. Aer was first in line and swung at her neck. The sword shattered against her skin, and he stepped back as more Hobgoblins rushed her from the side, and more weapons were broken against her skin.

"Impossible! No human could develop enough resistance to blunt force damage to break weapons against their skin," Aer raised his hand and cried out.

"Battle Storm!" The slightly cloudy day turned dark with a storm, and the Hobgoblins scattered as Aer retreated before turning back and raising his hand. "Behold my Ultimate attack, Lightning of the Gods!" A Gargatum Bolt of Lighting struck Bree, enveloping her entirely inside it. Bree tanked it.

"I do apologize," Bree said as she tapped her staff and proceeded to steal the entire storm from the sky, "But your attempt on my life has simply increased my offense to this entire situation,"

"Impossible!" Aer began sounding like a broken record, "Battle Storm mixed with Lightning of the Gods should have turned you to ash!"

"Oh, Honey," Bree laughed. "That kind of spell might have done something to Zoey, but against me, nothing," Aer looked to Zoey and clenched his fist when Bree gave him a warning, "That said, Zoey has agreed not to fight, so if you attempt to attack her, I will be forced to issue a counter-attack and mean it,"

"Battle Storm," Aer growled before pointing his hand at Zoey. 

"Aer No!" Gor screamed out before raising his hand. Before he could act, however, Bree instantly covered the distance between herself and Aer.

"I warned you," She said before holding her hand out in front of his face. "Knockback," Aer shot backward like a bullet and was embedded into a wall; his helmet split apart as he lay unconscious in the wall, blood dripping from his now broken nose.

"That was Knockback," Gor said in fear. "You did that with a level one spell!?"

"I know," Bree said. That had more kick than it was supposed to." Bree pointed her staff at Aer, and several Hobgoblins slashed at her to no avail as she declared, "Restoration." Aer began glowing white, and when it wore off, his nose was cleared of blood and set back in place.

"Stop breaking your dam weapons," Gor said irritably as another Hobgoblin tried to stab Bree in the back. Gor looked at a loss as to what to do next when his ears perked, and he looked toward the top of the mountain.

"My lord?" he asked in shock. Before more could be said, a Red Blur slammed into the ground, breaking it as the owner came to a halt.

Bree turned to look at a Man with wild red hair. A single black horn was on his forehead, and his two upper canines pointed out. His skin was deeply tanned. His eyes had dark blue pupils. He had golden cuffs around his wrists and a gold chain herringbone necklace. He wore no shirt but had blue pants, a yellow cloth belt, and brown leather boots.

"The hell is happening down here?" He demanded, looking around. "I'm minding my own business, takin' a nap, and suddenly there's a battle storm in the sky, then Lighting of the Gods strikes, then the storm dissipates only to come the fuck back?" The man looked around with his hands up in a shrug-like position, looking at the Hobgoblins expectantly.

"Aer disobeyed me and attempted to kill a woman we were trying to arrest," Gor replied dutifufly, "She proceeded to tank Lighting of the Gods, and when he attempted to attack her subordinate, she knocked him out with Knockback."

"To be fair," Bree called out, earning the man's attention. I did warn him I'd have to fight back if he attacked Zoey. She agreed to stay out of the fight. Hell, she's in an anti-magic bubble and everything." The Man looked to Zoey, his men, then Bree before raising his hand to her.

"Appraisal," He demanded. Bree, respond in kind.

"Appraisal," she said, hearing the female voice.

"Argit the Orge, Demon Lord, High king of Ozama, among the 9 Demon Lords, he is ranked 3rd in power, 2nd in popularity, but only 8th in intelligence," Bree snorted at the last bit of Info, and Argit looked at her suspiciously.

"What!?" Argit demanded, "What did it say about me?" The look on his army's face was almost funny.

"My Lord," Gor said cautiously, "Are you suggesting this human woman…"

"That ain't no human lady," Argit declared proudly, "That there's an Elf lady, and I'll call shenanigans if she can't get a solid read on me," There was a moment of silence before the entire Hobgoblin army fell into panic.

"An Elf!?"

"Yeah, now hushy-hush, grown-ups are talking," Argit waived for them to be quiet as he looked at Bree. "I have to say I thought your kind was a myth; you gotta tell me where you have all been hiding,"

"Oh well, nothing looks the same anymore," Bree noted as she tapped her staff on the ground; her human disguise melted away, and her usual items returned to her. Argit lowered his gaze to match her natural height without so much as a hint of surprise at the sudden change.

 She replaced her temporary staff with her beloved Jade-bladed one, "Last I checked, there was a giant meteorite about to destroy everything, so I took all my favorite things and jumped ship; either I traveled across dimensions or forwards in time; I sincerely have no idea if any other Elf beside myself exists here,"

"A giant meteorite?" Argit asked, scratching his chin as he examined Bree's features. "Come to think of it…the Lunar Sea was formed a couple thousand years ago when a giant meteor struck the planet and ended most all life in that part of the world. I wonder if any older Demon lords were alive that long ago, Maybe Mimzy?" Argit sighed before smiling at Bree, "What a rare treat. Say, would you like to swear your allegiance to me? I'll treat you and all your people real nice, I swear,"

"Oh no, thank you though," Bree declined polity, "I've already started a small kingdom, and it would be disgraceful to just hand it all over to you,"

"Dam," Argit muttered irritably as he threw his arms up and leaned his head back into his hands, "And I bet you picked a far-off spot in the forest, didn't you," Argit groaned as he turned his head to one side, "I don't wanna commission another road,"

"I just bought the deed to Greenwater. I paid Belin by returning his youth and granting him great power,"

"Oh, you can do that too?" Argit almost sounded bored before blinking, "Wait, Greenwater?" Argit fist-pumped, "Yes, no road construction, so let me guess, you want my backing so you can go to war with Irenfell and claim some of its territories for your new empire?"

"Oh no, I'm more than capable of doing that alone. I wanted to see if forming a friendly alliance with this nation was worthwhile. Since Irenfell was my first introduction to this world, I was a little worried; they are sincerely awful,"

"Oh, tell me about it," Argit said with an eye roll. "If those idiots would just let monsters colonize the forests, they would easily kill off that Pig Goblin problem,"

"It's advanced to a Boar Goblin problem,"

"Boar Goblin?" Argit demanded, "Ah hell no, if I start getting reports of Boar Goblin attacks, I'll raid Irenfell myself," Argit scoffed and shook his head, "Boar Goblins,"

"Do any other nations border yours?" Bree asked, hoping to expand her world knowledge. Is your nation water-locked in some way?"

"Naw, we have two other monster nations run by one of the other Demon lords, Trish, and another that just has a chill King, although it had been a decade or two since I last checked in on them, and then the ocean,"

Argit shook his head and released an exasperated noise, "But oh boy, having a human-only nation as a neighbor is a hassle. We call ourselves monster nations, but we still let humans live here. Hell, I have an entire Platoon of Human guards who help keep the upper level of the city well protected; it makes trade routes a pain," There was a moment of silence as the two stood before one another with the Hobgoblins watching and Zoey still patiently waiting on the sidelines.

"So," Argit said with a whistle as he waved his arms back and forth and then clapped them together, "you wanna seal this peace pact with a sparring match?"

"Why on earth would I wanna fight?" Bree demanded.

"Oh, come on," Argit cried, "I'm so bored. Being the fourth strongest Demon lord is so dull,"

"Actually, my Appraisal told me your third,"

"Oh God Dammit," Argit sounded sincerely pissed at the news, "This is what I'm talking about; there's no way for me to know because no one can be bothered to fight their own battles anymore; they just have their minions fight for them, I bet that's why Trish went down from third to fourth. At this rate, I'm going to become the top dog, and then nothing will be fun. I just wanna have a nice fight occasionally, you know." Bree was unsure what to do with all the information being thrown at her.

"Please?" Argit begged. "I can tell from your eyes you could fight me to a standstill, maybe even beat me. If you win, I'll…" Argit thought momentarily before hitting his fist and then pointing to her, "I'll let you have my favorite weapon, and if I win, I get…I dunno your cat girl?"

"You are aware that by offering that if I were to accept, I would then have to decimate your entire kingdom, are you not? I'd sooner die than lose any of my dear subordinates,"

"Oh, cocky one, are we?" Argit asked. "But I completely understand the sentiment. I would never let any of my men be taken from me. I could never part with such wonderful eye candy," Argit looked at his men with sparkling eyes. The reaction was, except for Gor, to Pose with great determination and passion for Argit's viewing pleasure.

"Please don't do this in public," Gor begged.

"My personal life isn't big enough to handle all of my love, so the public must experience it with you all; dance with me, boys! Dance the dance of freedom and love!" Argit spun at high speeds on one foot, and Bree laughed as some of the Hobgoblin began doing their own little dances with him.

"Very well, but if you don't want me to destroy everything, you'll have to settle for my staff as a prize. I'm sure you can understand not being willing to sell a precious follower for anything." Zoey looked horrified at the words as Bree held up her prized Jade-tipped staff.

"Mistress," She cried out. "That Staff is your favorite thing in the world; surely it's worth more than me,"

"Never before have such lies been said to me," Bree said as she looked at Zoey with a very serious expression, "Nothing in this world is worth more to me than my followers," Bree pointed to Zoey, "I'd rather die than lose even one of you" Zoey turned red at the statement as Bree turned back to Argit. 

"Yes," Argit cried out in glee, reaching into his inventory and pulling out a set of Twin Blades that looked like sword-sized Daggers. Each blade was easily the length of Argits arm from elbow to hand. The blades looked to be carved out of a black gemstone-like substance. "That's the kind of love that inspires your followers. Now fight me, Bree the elf. Fight me like your favorite pointy thing depends on it!" 

Bree spun her staff and pointed the Jade tip at Argit while Argit used one of his swords to point at her. In perfect unison, both cried out, "Here is to a good fight. Let us begin!"

Bree and Argit stood in a defensive stance, daring the other to make the first move. His desire for battle was much greater, and Argit gave in as he flipped his swords, holding one facing forward and the other facing behind him as he jumped and spun in the air. His blades hit Bree's, and the force pushed her back.

Bree held her staff before her, put both hands on it, and began spinning it. A volley of wind blades pelted Argit, who easily dodged the onslaught and started closing the gap between himself and Bree.

Argit swung his arms back and threw his Blades at Bree, who jumped out of the way and swung her staff upwards, hitting the heel of Argits boot as he attempted to kick her while airborne.

"Fantastic," Argit cheered. "How about we pick up the pace," Argit kicked off her staff and summoned his swords back to him.

"Men, someone grab Aer and clear out," Argit ordered. And Free the Cat Girl," Gor held his hand, and Zoey's barrier dropped.

"Zoey, it seems our time together has ended," Bree said, now floating in the air, "You're welcome to watch from afar, but you are not to interfere. If you do, I'll have no choice but to surrender my weapon to Argit in defeat,"

"I…I understand, Ma'am," Zoey said before moving at max speed to watch the fight from afar. Argit's men picked up Aer and began clearing out of the battle zone.

"Now then," Argit made sure he had Bree's attention before taking a deep breath and screaming out a torrent of Dark blue flames that engulfed the air above him. Bree dropped and held out her hand. Argit stopped screaming as the ground beneath him began glowing, and he jumped out of the way just in time. The area he had just been erupting into sparkling gold flames in his wake.

"Oh, your fire is gold, how fancy," Argit said with a laugh before throwing one of his swords through the flames; Bree smacked it out of the air and called back to him.

"Yours were a lovely shade of Blue," She turned on the spot and blocked his blade from sticking her as he appeared behind her. She then dropped as the blade she had knocked away shot past where her body had been a moment before.

Bree spun around while holding off Argit's blade and holding up her hand. Argit slammed into the building behind him, narrowly avoiding a bolt of green lightning; it suddenly arched toward him; he spun his blade and redirected the lightning toward the ground. Once the electricity was discharged, Argit took another deep breath and jumped out of the building as it crumbled around him due to Bree's earth magic. He screamed as his body lit up orange, and similar colored lightning shot out of his mouth at Bree like a bullet.

Bree stood her ground and tanked the attack.

"Ah," Argit said with a chuckle. "You have full eclectic immunity, but your dodging my flames suggests that they might have damaged you,"

"Maybe," Bree replied with a smirk. Argit took another deep breath and screamed more dark blue flames when thunder boomed out from above, and rain began pouring down. He stopped screaming and looked up, where Bree was floating with one hand behind her back while she twirled her staff, turning the cloud above her into a funnel and increasing the rainfall. After a moment, she threw her staff down, and the second the blade hit the ground, it began spinning and formed into a water twister.

"That is a cool ass staff," Argit said as the water twister began shooting out blades made of water, "Ah, I see, I found your weakness, and you, in turn, cancel it out," Argit realized as he grabbed his swords and ran from the watery attack.

"It certainly seems that way," Bree replied. "of course, I might just be leading you on a wild goose chase, but I don't feel like being on the receiving end of your flames,"

"The same could be said about your electrical attack," Argit noted. "But if you're immune to eclectic, then the basic principles of magic say you should at least be weak to earth-based spells!" Argit slammed his blades into the earth, and an earthy tornado formed, spinning in the opposite direction of Bree's water twister. Bree called her staff back as the solid rock mass ate her water spell. Bree swung her spear and smiled at the approaching earth attack before shouting.

"Ice and Snow, winter winds blow!"

"Oh, no way!" Argit watched excitedly as the storm above him turned into snow and hail. Argit tried screaming out more flames, only for a chunk of ice to embed itself into his stomach; his yell cut off, and with it, his flames as he slid back. He held up his hands, and his swords broke free from the earthy twister, causing it to fall into rubble.

Bree pointed her spear at him, "Ice age," She declared just as the swords went past her; a black spell shot out and hit him, causing his swords to drop.

"Dammit," Argit said as his lower body was coated in black ice; he attempted to break it, but his arms began freezing over as soon as they touched it; he tried to summon his flames, but the ice sucked the heat from him. "I surrender," he declared. Bree tapped the ground, and every active spell was sucked into her staff. 

Argit held out his hands and summoned his two sword daggers with a sigh before tossing them into the ground next to him.

"Man," he said in a sad tone, "I thought ice magic was a dead art,"

"I am part of a dead race," Bree noted, "and it's fairly easy to fake being immune to something if the person using the skill isn't all that good at it,"

"Ah, noticed that, did you?" Argit rubbed his head as he spoke, "Yeah, Lighting magic is not my strong suit. I thought I had you briefly, but you tricked me into showing you my cards. I just have to know, what kind of magic do you specialize in if it's not Lightning?"

"Oh well, it's kind of embarrassing," Bree laughed nervously, recalling the only school of magic where she had filled out every available slot with skill points, a magic tree with only one attack move, and dozens of passive buffs, "but I specialize in plant-based magic," Bree felt stupid admitting to her mastery of the botanical arts, "so I do have a weakness to fire, but so long as I wear this cloak it nullifies my weakness,"

"Ha," Argit laughed. "So I lost as soon as I challenged you," he shook his head. "I…I don't suppose you could teach me an ice spell or two, could you?"

"Maybe some other time, you have to become skilled in several kinds of weather magics before you can utilize ice magic,"

"Dam," Argit said as he pulled his swords out of the ground and put them in storage. "Maybe I should have used my favorite weapon, might have stood a chance with 'er," Argit reached into his inventory and pulled out a Fan Axe about, perfectly sized in his hands, comically large in hers.

"My enchanted Fan axe," Argit said as he handed it to Bree, who turned it to light and took it happily.

"Oh, how wonderful! If I ever need to transform, I'm sure this will be a good replacement for my staff. Thank you very much," Argit nodded momentarily before going bugeye for a second.

"You have a transformation power-up!?" he demanded. "And you didn't even try to use it against me?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Bree said apologetically, "But It's a very extreme power-up, a trump card of trump cards; I'd only ever use it on someone I wanted dead,"

"Wow," Argit said with a laugh, "Are you like an ancient Demon Lord, come from the past to force the world to bow before you or something?"

"No, I plan to just exist in peace," Bree replied.

"So you can transform," Argit repeated. So, how drastic is this transformation, like changing hair color or looking like a different race?"

"I could tell you, but I'm sure you'd have more fun imagining it; If at some point someone pisses me off enough that I activate it, I'll be sure to let your watch if I can,"

"Hell'z yeah, you will," Argit replied with a laugh, "Oh, and that friendly alliance thing is very much a yes from me. I'll even be generous and give you some land, lots of land, very useful land,"

"You just going to give me everything that borders Irenfell?" Bree asked suspiciously.

"Well, duh," Argit laughed back. Why the hell would I want them as neighbors when I could have you as one?" Argit offered Bree a hand, and she shook it.

"Well then, from this day onward, the nation of Ozama will back you and…your unnamed nation that I'll just call Greenwater until you come up with a name,"

"Oh Right, I guess It does need a name," Bree frowned and rested her head in her hand for a moment, "I kind of want people to know that I'm fairly mellow about most things,"

"Then I'll cut a few letters off of Mellow, add a couple, and call it…" Argit thought momentarily before snapping, "Melodia, led by Bree, the Elven Queen!"

Bree shrugged at the name, "Why not, Melodia, capital city Greenwater, with me as Queen,"

"Well then, Queen Bree of Melodia, wanna chill? I got some hot dudes we could look at," Argit raised his brows at her, and Bree shook her head.

"I'm not into men,"

"I have hot ladies, too," Argit assured her. "Still, no? Alright, do you need anything before I go home and nap?"

"I don't suppose you could ask a dwarf to come to Greenwater," Bree asked. Specifically, one married to a human named Gale?"

"Done," Argit replied. "I make no promises, though. Dwarfs do not like to be bossed around, so I gotta make it sound like it was their idea." Argit turned on the spot and jumped away, turning into a red blur as he shot to the top of the city back to the castle resting on the top of the mountain.

"Nice guy," Bree decided before clearing her voice. "Zoey, I'm opening a dimensional gateway home. will you be joining me, or would you rather walk?" Zoey zipped into existence next to Bree as she opened a rift. "Come then, time to go home and relax,"