‘We’re glad to see that you are enjoying yourself,’ said Garovel.
Horatio and the other bodyguards caught up again, but they must have been growing accustomed to it by now, because none of them bothered to chastise Ibai. Horatio was looking even more haggard than the last time Hector had seen him.
“By the way, Garovel,” said Ibai, “the last time we spoke, I believe you promised me a story time.”
‘Ah, I suppose I did.’ The reaper began floating away, and Ibai walked with him.
Hector made sure to keep pace as well so that he would always be between them. He remembered what Garovel said about not antagonizing Ibai, but that didn’t mean he was going to leave Garovel wide open to a sudden attack.
‘What kind of story would you like?’ said Garovel.
“Something exciting!” said Ibai.
‘Hmm. Alright. Are you familiar with the story of the Dáinnbolg?’
“Of course,” said Ibai, “but I’d be more interested to hear a story of your own.”
‘It IS a story of my own,’ said Garovel.
That made the aberration blink. “What do you mean?”
Garovel spared a glance at Hector. ‘I mean I used to live there. Before all the devastation, that is.’
Hector had more than a few questions of his own now, but he decided to let their conversation play out.
Horatio Blackburn, however, chose to chime in. “You used to ‘live’ there? As in, before you were a reaper?” The man’s own reaper looked interested as well.
‘That’s right,’ said Garovel. ‘Chergoa and I grew up there.’
“Wow,” said Ibai. “What was it like? Was it fun?”
‘I suppose it depends on what you consider fun.’
“Were there birthday parties?”
‘No, I’m afraid there weren’t.’
“Pity. But there had to have been some parties, right? Seasonal celebrations and the like?”
‘Sure.’
“Then I think it could’ve been fun,” said Ibai. “But anyway, what was the story you wanted to tell me?”
‘Well, you see, when my sister and I were very young, we witnessed the slaughter of an entire village of people. It was quite bloody, and in the span of a single day, the village became a ghost town.’
Hector saw Horatio and the other guards shift uncomfortably, but it was Ibai who responded first.
“That’s horrible. I thought you said this story would be exciting.”
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
Ah, Garovel's testing Ibai. Smart.
ReplyDelete“Pity. But there had to been some parties, right? Seasonal celebrations and the like?”
ReplyDeletethe [been] looks awkward to me in this sentence.
"...I SAID there were parties, didn't I?"
ReplyDeleteIbai's a good brainwashed psychopath :3
ReplyDeletei think it should be "Pity. But there had to [have] been some parties, right?
ReplyDeleteIts kind of creepy to imagine a 30-odd year old man acting so adorable. Its also kind of funny how poor Horatio has to keep running after him when he ports off.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe the story gets more interesting later. It certainly is a good sign that Ibai seems bored by the idea of inflicting pain.
ReplyDeleteI agree: stealth isometric testing and personality profiling for the win. ;)
ReplyDeleteHeck, that's the only kind of party one of the four emperor-factions enjoy. Its kind of a pity that the only group that really know how to have a good time do it by making others sad, or at least making the next-of-kin of those others sad.
ReplyDeleteHey Mr. Frost... is everything alright? You've been awfully quiet the last few weeks, comment-wise. It's probably silly, but I'm getting kind of worried.
ReplyDeleteTypo:
"we witnessed the slaughter of a[n] entire village of people."
I think he's been sick or having computer trouble lately.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes, Frost! And not just because if you die nobody will finish the story.