Consumed by Greed

To see, one must live... to hear, one must survive, to listen; one must see.

~~~

Within the land of sand so tired, so scorched, and burned; there lies an event centuries untold. A hero wrote dead, laying upon the sun-kissed soil; a brave soul that all would mourn.

They buried him, blade in hand; gleaming in a yellowy light even after the sand covered his pale visage. This would be a heavy blow to the kingdom's future, how would the queen survive after losing another son... a great hero he was, one filled of dedication to the people around him; his name will be remembered for ages to come... Alexander.

~~~

"I get eaten, and then spit out by a giant worm; with the only reward I get being an icicle to the back... what the frick Auden!" Cried Clarence as he flopped upon the ground, feeling as though something hard had cracked within him.

"This happens every time, I always get the short end of the stick; this isn't fair!"

"Oh, but it is; and now you're also indebted Auden... what a great life you live!" Laughed Imogen before getting punched in the face by Auden.

Imogen slowly stood up, rubbing her face clamly; before staring into Auden's glaring eyes with a fire of her own. Either way, this would not end well, and Clarence knew this; so he did the only thing a logical person would do... turning tails to hide behind a rock.

"Have you forgotten YOUR place Auden, you are MY servant; nothing more!"

"Am I really, I thought I was your friend; I thought that about Clarence too... until you left him to die!" Spat Auden while feeling as though his energy to disobey was draining rapidly.

"No one's your friend around you, no; they're your tools!"

"Oh, so that's what this is about... I had good intentions; but that still gives you no right to hit me!" Growled Imogen as she slammed her fist into Auden's ribcage.

"GOOD INTENTIONS!" "Tell me, what's so good about leaving Clarence to die!" Screamed Auden while falling to his knees, unable to stand.

"I was never going to leave him, but you were too dumb to understand that, never got it through that thick skull of yours; and now you've ruined it!" Cried Imogen as she sent her knee flying into Auden's lower jaw.

"Do you ever think before you act, I know I don't, but I expected better from you Auden; I really did!"

"Now we'll pay the price, Auden... what have you done!"

"... I was only doing what I thought was right, funny how that differs from person to person; I was only trying to do what I couldn't before!" Exasperated Auden while gripping his head in pain, remembering what he longed to forget.

~~~

"Auden... it's time get up honey, the kids are waiting." Smiled a pale visage of a woman as she grabbed Auden's hand, and whisked him out of bed.

"Dadda!" shrieked a little girl as she ran up, and hugged Auden's leg.

"Can we go now, pleeease can we go!"

"Alright sweety, settle down, father's barely gotten out of bed; you'll have to wait a bit longer." Chuckled the woman while patting the young girl on the head before pushing her out of the bedroom.

For some reason, the sky's gone red, was that another one of your errant magics?" Inquired the woman while pointing to a window shrouded in red.

"... no, this can't be happening, you've got to take the kids; and run!" Gasped Auden as he ran to the window.

"Why's that honey, the sky's always changing color, that's why we moved her after all." Sighed the lady while suddenly the ground shaking.

"No, no, no!" Panicked Auden as suddenly, the roof caved in

~~~

"Oh, you're still alive, I guess I always need more puppets." Chortled a man as he pulled the half dead Auden out of the rubble, and dragged him onto a horse.

~~~

"Hey!" "You can't just fall asleep when we're having an argument, that's not how things work!" Snarled Imogen while picking up Auden, and throwing him into the rock Clarence was hiding behind; shattering it in succession.

"I might've been exaggerating when I said you doomed us, but you still caused a crap ton of problems; and it sucks!"

*𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝: -5 DEF points, you've failed to increase the bond between Clarence, and Auden; how pathetic

"Yeah, yeah; like I didn't already know... you useless tin can." Sighed Imogen as she rubbed her face in irritation before ripping a yew branch off a near by tree to vent her frustrations.

*𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐎𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦: Tin can? Are you forgetting I'm incorporeal, and living in your mana stream... one would think you should get more creative; you overgrown lump 'a lard

"Really... I doubt I have any lard on me, I'm a tick, remember; get more creative you shallow low life parasite.

*𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐎𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Parasite! I'm pretty sure there's only one parasite here, you're a tick, remember; you said it yourself

"Oh go to hell, I don't have time for this, nor the patience; never the patience."

"Imogen, you're staring into thin air again, it's unnerving; why don't you go apologise to Auden instead." Interrupted Clarence while walking up to Imogen, brushing the light coating of dust off his sheath.

"Apologise, am I twelve!" "If anything, he should be apologizing to me; he wasted my precious time!" Retorted Imogen as she slammed her halberd into the dirt.

"I mean, I do feel a bit bad... just a tad; but... PUNCH ME!"

"Punch me Clarence, you've done it before; FRICKING PUNCH ME!"

Clarence's face contorted in confusion, complete, and utter disbelief; how could one's attitude change so quickly.

"...What?" Replied Clarence whose face was still twisted in utter disbelief.

"I'm just kidding, why would you even believe for a second that I'd start screaming like a masochist; it's not like I have a track record of doing things like that." Coughed Imogen, who clearly just wanted to change the subject.

"Oookay, you're not random at all... NOW go apologize to Auden!" Snapped Clarence as he pointed to the groggy Auden who looked like he just got out of bed on a Monday morning.

"Oh come on, I just made the author write a whole sub-conversation to change the subject; you're not very respectful."

"Are you going to say something, or just stare at me for the next ten minutes... do I need to spell it out for you; you're being a dick!" Growled Clarence while punching Imogen straight in the face, breaking her nose almost immediately.

"Ha, you actually did punch me, how comical... although; my nose shouldn't of broken so easily... how fricking strong are you Clarence?"

"I don't know, but I'm up for round two, no weapons this time." Frowned Clarence as he uncliped his scabbard, and dropped it onto the sand below before raising his fists.

"Oh my god, I thought we settled this the first time, fighting between us is painful; in more ways than one." Sighed Imogen while walking closer to Clarence as she shook her head.

"Plus, you know I don't know how to brawl in the slightest... how would it be fair." Objected Imogen as she dodged a purposely slow punch from Clarence before getting pummeled in the shoulder by Auden.

"Ugh, that's all the energy I have left, sorry Clarence; but you're on your own." Apologised Auden while plopping upon the ground, crossing his legs to better watch the fight.

"Don't worry Auden, you wouldn't have been able to help anyways, you lost all that physical strength after becoming my servant; you'd only be a dead-weight to Clarence." Grinned Imogen as Clarence kicked her in the knee, throwing off her balance slightly.

"Hahaha, you'll have to hit harder than that to win this fight, weak boy; you're pathetic." Smiled Imogen while trying to replicate Clarence's kick only to have her leg caught, and twisted.

Clarence followed up with a quick jab to the sternum, slamming hard against Imogen's ribbs; but not quite cracking any. Imogen tried to retaliate with a sloppy punch to the face, but her arm was grabbed, and her elbow bent inwards.

Clarence gingerly kneed Imogen in the stomach before punching her twice in the face, as it was left wide open. At this point Imogen was becoming increasingly frustrated, her attacks becoming even more reckless; she even let Clarence punch her six times to get one punch in on his shoulder.

But even with this reckless strategy, and her impressive defence, she was slowly getting worn down; one could easily tell who was winning. The skill gap was just too high, and Imogen was just as mortal as Clarence, wounds accumulated all over her body; some of her bones even giving way... teaching her that she still wasn't invincible even with such ridiculous defence.

With one final blow to the stomach, Imogen fell to her knees, unable to fight any longer; and Clarence stood proudly above her.